Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

“Damn it.”
Adam spat out a mouthful of blood. Though his right eye, recently shot by Rebecca, could barely make out nearby figures, he glared weakly {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} at Leon.

“I guess I’ve fallen into the hands of you lowly humans today. Do what you want—kill me however you please!”
Ever since he became a mercenary, taking on jobs for money, he had always known this could be his end.  
What Adam didn’t expect was to meet his downfall at the hands of a human.  

His challenge to Leon, “kill me however you want,” wasn’t spoken in jest.  
Adam had always been ruthless in his dealings, making his targets suffer a fate worse than death, never granting them an easy end. So, as death stared him in the face, he assumed Leon would do the same.  
Leon, however, heard the implications behind his words and paused momentarily before responding.

“I don’t torture the dying. Don’t lump me in with scum like you.”
“General Leon always grants his opponents a swift end,” came a calm voice beside him. “Isn’t that right, Old Konstantin?”
“Hmph… Humans. Mercy to your enemies is cruelty to yourself.”

Adam shuddered, biting his tongue almost to the point of severing it, but managed to utter one final taunt.
“Don’t get cocky. I may be soft sometimes, but the one I brought along isn’t.”
“What—AAAH!!”

Before Adam could react, a sharp pain pierced his remaining eye. Blood streamed uncontrollably from the wound, the sensation akin to acid burning into his flesh.
“My eye… my eye!”
Realization dawned on him—he’d been ambushed. But even then, the torment wasn’t over.  

Konstantin stepped forward and, with a swift motion, slashed Adam’s throat with his dragon claws. Thick blood clogged his windpipe, his agonized screams reduced to a muffled, wet gurgle.
“Ugh… UGH!!”
The intense pain rendered Adam unable to do anything but flail wildly. Konstantin, showing no mercy, crushed his shoulders and thigh joints, leaving him unable to move anything but his torso.

Leon stood silently, watching the brutal scene unfold. Normally opposed to such excessive violence, he found himself strangely unfazed.  
Both he and Adam, in their own ways, had earned such a fate.  
Before long, Adam fell silent. The shattered Dragon King slumped against a boulder, his breathing faint and heartbeats slowing to nothingness.
“Mind if I take this scum back with me?” Konstantin asked in a low voice.

Leon nodded. He understood the dragons’ deep-seated need for vengeance. Konstantin wouldn’t be satisfied with merely crippling Adam; he’d want his revenge to be absolute.
“Do as you please.”
Leon remembered the last time they kept an enemy’s corpse too close. The dragon head mounted on their door had turned into a monstrous amalgamation, hellbent on revenge. He didn’t need another repeat of that horror.

Letting Konstantin take Adam to his domain, where he could deal with him in whatever way he saw fit, seemed like the most practical choice.  
“I’m going to find Noa and Helena.”
Leon turned and headed in the direction Rebecca had indicated earlier.  

As he neared the cave, he saw a group of children and teachers helping Noa and Helena out.
“Noa!”  
Leon called out anxiously, running up to his daughter.  

He knelt in front of her, placing his hands gently on her small shoulders. Wiping the dust and blood from her face, he felt a pang in his heart. Her round little face was pale and exhausted.
But the moment Noa saw him, the shadows in her eyes vanished, replaced by pride and determination.
“Dad… I held out until reinforcements arrived… Wasn’t I… amazing?”

Looking at his dust-covered, pitiful little girl, Leon’s heart softened. Despite her exhaustion, she still sought his praise, and it took everything he had not to break down into tears.  
Surrounded by so many people, Leon suppressed his emotions, instead pulling Noa into a tight hug.  
“You were amazing, Noa. The best.”

Her eyelids drooped, and her consciousness began to fade.
“That’s good… Dad… I just want to… sleep for a bit.”
“Noa? Noa!”

Leon called out in concern, but the academy’s medic quickly reassured him.
“She’s fine. She’s just overexerted her energy. A few days of rest, and she’ll be back to normal.”
Relieved, Leon took her small hand in his own before lifting her into his arms. Feeling the warmth and safety of her father’s embrace, Noa finally let herself drift into a deep, peaceful sleep.  

“Mr. Leon, we’re deeply sorry. We had no idea the Warhammer Dragon King would show up here. If Christina hadn’t alerted us in time, Noa and Helena’s situation could have been far worse.”
A teacher approached to apologize profusely.  
Leon gave him a glance, neither outright forgiving nor scolding him.  

“It’s not your fault. By the southwest entrance of the forest, there might still be some of your people alive. Adam injured them, but when I passed through, they were still breathing. If you hurry, you might save them.”
“Thank you, Mr. Leon. Let’s go check immediately!”
As the medics hurried off, Leon’s mind lingered on one thought.  

On their way here, he and Rebecca had encountered several ferocious beasts slain in a gruesome manner. In the deeper parts of the forest, he saw more creatures with similar injuries.
It was undoubtedly Adam’s handiwork.  
But was it purely an act of wanton slaughter? Or was there another purpose behind it?  

This might be worth investigating further.  
“Uncle Leon! You’re so cool!”
“Uncle, can you sign an autograph for me and my brother? We’re from the Golden Sand Dragon Clan! Emperor Morgan said you’re his buddy!”

“Me too, Uncle! I want an autograph!”
“…”
Leon: ?

“Stop, stop! Hold on, I’m not some celebrity. No need for autographs…”
In a flash, the children swarmed him, surrounding him entirely.  
Behind the children, a teacher carrying the unconscious Helena chuckled.

“Adam has terrorized our clan for years. No one could stop him. Today, Mr. Leon, you stood up and fought him. Calling you a hero of the dragons wouldn’t be an exaggeration. You’re far more than just a celebrity.”
“Great. Now I’m a hero to the dragons again?”
Leon muttered, overwhelmed by the situation.

“Oh no, I’m surrounded by baby dragons!”
“No, no, no!”
As much as Leon liked children, his social anxiety couldn’t handle dozens of excitable little dragons all clamoring for his attention.  

“Wait a second. Didn’t someone just say this was a ‘good thing’?”
“It is a good thing.”
Leon glanced at his sleeping daughter and whispered with a smirk, “Noa, let me teach you a life lesson. Good things are best when shared with friends.”  

With a mischievous grin, he looked at the children and said, “This victory wasn’t just my doing!”  
“Huh? Was there another hero?”  
“Of course!”  

Leon gestured toward Konstantin, who was standing nearby. “That guy over there played a big role. Why don’t you go ask him for an autograph?”  
“Yay! Let’s go! I’ll get the first autograph!”  
The children cheered and rushed off toward Konstantin.  

Konstantin, still solemnly contemplating his revenge on Adam, suddenly noticed a horde of baby dragons running toward him, shouting about autographs.  
He glanced at Leon, who was standing a distance away, grinning like a mischievous devil.
Got it. This was all your doing.  

“Leon… I will deal with you later,” Konstantin muttered under his breath, his stern face twitching slightly.
“Uncle Konstantin! I read about you in my textbooks! You’re amazing!”
“Uncle, you’re not scary… right?”

Leon smirked from the sidelines, thoroughly enjoying the sight of the usually stoic Konstantin surrounded by excitable children.  
And thus, Leon thought, at least for today, peace was restored.