The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 387

Wendy dashed straight to where the dragons were.

When it was said that they were going to the Lord’s nest, I wanted to go too, but I held myself back because I was asked to stay and protect the Academy.

There’s nothing quite as exciting as getting tangled up with dragons, and it felt like the sky was falling to think I’d miss it right in front of my eyes.

But then again, it was also incredibly exciting to wait for the dragons’ companions to storm the Academy, yet it didn’t seem like they were giving up on those five dragons at all.

After all, they were locked away in such a large cage for everyone to see.

“Well, I guess we could say they’re abandoned.”

“Maybe news just hasn’t arrived yet? I mean, it only happened yesterday.”

“They’re teleporting over, so if they wanted to save them, they would have done it by now.”

This should have been done in the first place.

I was waiting to verify if they were truly unrelated to the Dragon Lord, but since Atlas came last night and confirmed they weren’t, I needn’t worry about it anymore.

Stepping out of the mansion, I walked briskly towards the dragon zoo that was quickly becoming the Academy’s new attraction.

“Can we cover all those cages with black curtains?”

“Cover them?”

Upon arrival, Wendy told the magician from the Magic Tower to seal all five cages containing the dragons.

“Right. I want them completely isolated so they can’t see or hear each other.”

“Hmm… Well, they can’t use magic, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Then do it immediately.”

The magicians were already informed by the Tower Master and were keen to oblige the Royal Knight Order as much as possible.

As they cast the spell, a massive tent appeared overhead, obscuring all five cages.

“Is this good enough?”

“Yeah, that’s great.”

As soon as the isolation was complete, Wendy picked a tent and slyly slipped inside.

“Uh… uh?? What do you think you’re doing right now??”

“I’m going inside, so open the door.”

“You’re going in there??”

Without hesitation, Wendy instructed the magician from the Magic Tower to open the door to our cage.

Even though they were all isolated, the thought of opening the tightly locked cage astonished both the magician and the entourage that had followed.

“Are you serious?? You want to go in there while the dragon is locked up??”

“Does it sound like I’m joking? Hurry up, I’m a busy person.”

The dispatched magician from the Tower thought Wendy was a crazy woman.

Did she think what was inside was some cute puppy or something?

“The cage doesn’t just seal their magic; it’s designated to only restrict dragons! If you go in, even a knight can’t use their aura!!”

“Just open it already.”

[Crack..?]

The dragons, who had been listlessly lying around, turned their eyes towards the ruckus happening outside their cage.

‘Is she really going in there?’

Even without being able to use magic, their brute strength, standing at 20 meters tall, remained intact.

It was incomprehensible what kind of confidence allowed this human to want to enter such a space, but they merely chuckled.

Was it knightly bravado? If she stepped inside, they thought they could either eat her on the spot or take her as a hostage to escape.

“W-we can’t help you!!”

“Is this the key?”

“Huh? How did you?? Knight!!!”

“Wendy, wait! Think about it one more time! Are you sure about this??”

While the dragons watched with interest, Wendy sneakily took the key from the magician’s pocket and boldly stepped into the cage.

The magician wanted to stop her, but nobody had the courage to follow her inside.

Inside was a magician’s graveyard where magic couldn’t be used; surely, a mere magician would be in mortal danger the moment he stepped in.

But the same went for the knight using their aura.

How could they have such confidence when they wielded the strength to cut through rocks?

While knights were known for their arrogance, this was beyond what anyone expected.

The magician’s head throbbed as he thought of what to write in his report.

Wendy, seemingly unconcerned about the magician’s headache, had already reached right in front of the dragon.

“Hey. How have you been? If you’ve overstayed, you need to pay rent; when are you going to stop lounging around in there?”

[… You foolish mortal don’t know the value of your life and dare to act tough.]

The dragon lifted its massive head to look down at Wendy.

It was amusing how, after being unilaterally beaten and kept captive, it still had the pride to act strong, and Wendy couldn’t help but smile.

“You lied. How dare you, a dragon, impersonate the Dragon Lord’s name? You really don’t value your life at all.”

[I don’t understand what you’re saying. We are here on the orders of the Dragon Lord for sure.]

“Do you think if you keep denying it, I won’t know? Gemma already went to the Sanctuary and confirmed everything; you can’t keep denying it!”

[…?!]

The dragons felt a serious tremor of anxiety upon hearing that Gemma, who had tried to secure their safety, had already gone to the Sanctuary.

The reason they had been able to maintain their calm until now was that they believed mortals wouldn’t dare to understand anything about the Lord, so they thought they could keep denying it without any repercussions.

“I was wondering if you’d just tuck your tail between your legs, but it doesn’t seem necessary. If you keep acting like this, it’ll just be more fun for me. Now I’m going to have a good time.”

Wendy unsheathed two swords from her waist.

Twin swords were a rare sight even among knights.

It’s a well-researched fact that channeling the strength of both hands into a single sword is far more efficient than fighting with one in each hand.

Swinging around with both hands only serves to dilute one’s power and is generally a technique that flimsy knights try then give up almost immediately.

Though, using one short dagger as a semi-shield instead of a buckler does see a few practitioners, Wendy was not wielding those types of twin swords.

But none of that mattered to the dragons.

What would they care if a little mouse was swinging toothpicks in each hand?

[Do you think you can even scratch my scales with that?]

No matter how much mana was restricted, it was still a dragon.

Even if they couldn’t use mana, the flowing Dragon Heart in their body prevented any inability to circulate mana, so the defense dubbed the strongest armor—dragon scales—remained unscathed, and the innate power emanating from their massive body could easily crush rocks.

In contrast, what about this mere mortal woman?

Given their size compared to dragons, she was akin to a mouse and couldn’t use aura to enhance her body.

What could be called a fight here was nothing more than a disgraceful one-sided assault.

How does an ordinary human catch a mouse?

They stomp it or beat it to death with something in their hand.

Regrettably, dragons had no such club-like weapon, so it was simple enough to stomp on the audacious mortal who dared to charge at them.

Killing her would mean losing the fun, so perhaps they would just consider targeting her legs; it would be difficult, but the dragon felt confident.

– WHOOSH!!!

The dragon stomped down towards Wendy.

Not taking their eyes off her for control, the dragon saw Wendy’s form flickering oddly before it, like it had doubled for a moment.

‘What was that just now?’

There wasn’t any mana or aura to be found in this cage, so it must have been an illusion.

The dragon’s enormous foot completely obscured Wendy’s presence.

Oh no.

It veered off course due to the flicker moments ago.

At this rate, contrary to their plan, Wendy would get crushed and die.

– CRUNCH!

The dragon thought it was a pity to see red blood splattered on its foot.

But it was a useless concern.

The red blood was not Wendy’s but rather from the dragon’s split foot.

[Oh?]

And from behind that split foot came a small something that started climbing up the dragon’s leg with incredible speed.

[What kind of trick is this!!!!]

The dragon resorted to all means to shake off Wendy, who was climbing up its scales.

It tried feeling around with its hands and wildly thrashing to throw off Wendy, but it wasn’t that easy.

– CRUNCH!!

But not happy with its flailing, Wendy severed all the tendons in the dragon’s arms that were trying to shake her off.

The dragon’s arms, which had been furiously striking at its body, drooped limply.

[Ugh… AAAGH!!!!]

Feeling Wendy reach up to its chest, the dragon tried to roll on the ground, shaking its body to throw her off, but suddenly, it felt a sharp pain in its neck.

– THUNK!!!

“Do you feel that? If you push down further, you’ll hit your vertebrae. You know you’re built similarly, so if this breaks, you’ll be crippled, right?”

Though it might not have learned that, the sincerity in Wendy’s tone was terrifying.

What kind of human could push a dragon, even without using aura, into such a precarious position?

The dragon, who had always stood at the side of the strong, felt incredibly weak.

“Alright… I don’t have much time, so I’ll ask you simply. Who sent you to kidnap the daughter of the Dragon Lord?”

The dragons knew well that they should not speak of that.

Turning slightly, they saw nothing beyond the pitch-black tent, with no way of knowing what was happening outside.

“No one will know if you tell me. I’ll make the same offer to everyone, so even if you hold out alone, if one of the five speaks, my job is done. And I have no intention of sparing anyone who isn’t cooperative.”

The dragon’s complexion paled rapidly.

[It really won’t be revealed?]

“Right.”

The dragon, having made up its mind, finally opened its mouth.

[Actually, it’s like this… ]