The Sub-dragon let out a thunderous roar.
The shockwave was powerful enough to repel the falling raindrops. It seemed the creature had already identified us as its prey.
Then, more Sub-dragons emerged from the foliage behind the first. There were five in total; apparently, they traveled in packs. It was an unusual ecological trait for a dragon species.
"Heh..."
Facing the pack, Henry’s mouth twisted into a grin. He bared his teeth in a ferocious smile and shifted into a combat stance, his hands already gripping his bow and arrows.
"Haha! Giving us a welcome already, are you?"
Henry radiated a dense killing intent. The Sub-dragons flinched instinctively, gripped by a primal fear. However, their racial pride refused to let them flee. They clearly intended to make a meal of us right here.
"Hey, Boss."
"What is it?"
"Can I kill 'em?"
Henry looked ready to snap at any second. His entire body trembled with a fine quiver as he desperately fought to suppress his impulses with what little reason he had left.
Seeing this, I gave a small nod. "Go ahead."
"Alright! Let's have some fun!"
Elated, Henry raised his arms. He loosed his arrows with a speed that defied belief. Two shafts, fired in a near-simultaneous blur, shattered the eyes of the lead Sub-dragon. Robbed of its sight, the beast let out a piercing scream and charged toward us, thrashing its head wildly.
"Whoops!"
Heedless of the thick mud, Henry sprinted sideways to evade the charge. He fired again even as he rolled through the dirt. The Sub-dragon’s hind leg was pierced, ruining its balance, and a final arrowhead burst through its forehead from the inside. Henry’s shot had perforated its skull entirely.
As the massive Sub-dragon tumbled toward me, I deployed a layer of defense magic. I avoided the collision at the very last second.
Henry gave no thought to my safety—a sign, perhaps, that he felt I simply didn't need the protection. While I suppose that counted as a form of trust, I still wished he’d show at least a modicum of concern.
"Now, which one's next? Come on, hurry up and get over here!" Henry shouted, his voice full of provocation.
Covered in mud, he looked more vibrant than ever. To an ordinary person, confronting a pack of Sub-dragons would be the height of despair—a situation where one prepares for death—but for Henry, this was clearly a moment of supreme bliss.
The remaining Sub-dragons groaned with frustration. They hesitated to attack, shaken by the death of their comrade and wary of the man before them.
At that moment, a high magic power signature approached. It wasn't more Sub-dragons or another wild monster. Dorda appeared from the flank, brandishing his axe.
"Give... me... heads...!"
Flickering with purple lightning, Dorda moved at a blinding speed and lopped off a Sub-dragon’s head in a single stroke. He kicked off a tree to pivot, severing the neck of yet another beast in the same breath. It was a terrifying display of raw power and velocity. The Sub-dragons hadn't been able to react at all.
As two heads fell into the mud, Henry gave a wry, slightly dissatisfied smile and shrugged his shoulders.
"Hey now, I don't appreciate you snatching my prey. Fine then—this one's mine."
The arrow Henry loosed casually flew in a wide arc. It caught the throat of one of the remaining Sub-dragons, but the trajectory shifted upon impact. Bending at a sharp angle, the arrow pierced through the eye of the final dragon and exploded out the back of its skull.
Both Sub-dragons suffered fatal wounds simultaneously. He must have calculated the exact deflection of the arrow to hit the second target. It was a level of marksmanship that was utterly impossible to imitate; he had long since abandoned the realm of common sense.
Watching the creatures collapse and breathe their last, I felt a fleeting sense of pity for them.
"Still... not... enough..."
Dorda lowered his axe and began to wander. He seemed to be searching for more prey, but the other monsters in the vicinity were already in the middle of a frantic retreat. They had smelled the blood of the Sub-dragons and sensed the overwhelming danger. His decapitation impulse would likely go unsatisfied today.
Wiping the mud from his face, Henry walked back over to me. He looked down at the carcasses and hummed in thought.
"Hmm. Were they a bit tougher than the ones back home?"
"The magic power concentration is higher here," I explained. "It likely affects the entire ecosystem."
Watching them fight, it was impossible to gauge the true strength of the enemy because my subordinates were so overwhelming. However, from a purely analytical standpoint, the monsters of this land were of a high standard. Creatures comparable to natural disasters were rampant here. This was not a region humans could easily traverse.
"If they're constantly fighting monsters like this, we can probably expect some decent quality from the local soldiers," Henry noted.
"I've heard that conflicts and wars are constant across this entire continent. We shouldn't be disappointed in that regard."
"That's great! Sounds like I'll have plenty of fun."
"I... will join... too. Cut... heads..."
Henry and Dorda each voiced their approval. Both were among the most notorious battle junkies in the Demon King’s Army. As allies, they were incredibly reassuring, and I intended to let them wield that power to its fullest in the days to come.