Chapter 536: The Real and the Fake (Part 4)

Tauro introduced himself to the group of imposters.

There is little reaction from anyone other than the fake Tauro, who was surprised and panicked.

“Alpha! Help me!”

The fake Tauro, unable to break free from Tauro’s firm grip on his arm, called for his comrades to help.

Then Tauro kicked the fake’s leg, knocking him to the ground, and swiftly tied up his arms to restrain him.

Alpha and the others, who were are to find an opening to move because Aeris was exerting intimidation and caution, kept their guard

“…Well then, since we’ve managed to capture this noisy fake, it’s just you guys left… You look strong. Oh, are you guys members of the ‘Golden Lion,’ the elite unit directly under the Emperor?”

“…”

Alpha and the others still didn’t say anything at Tauro’s words.

“Ah, I guess I’ve hit the nail on the head. Now that I think about it, you with the scar on your forehead—you were one of the people who was there when they tried to kidnap the Saint in the Prime Minister’s territory, right? So, I guess I’m correct?”

Tauro, stalling for time and doing a little psychological warfare, taunted Alpha and the others.

“’The Golden Lions’? Hahaha! That’s ridiculous. Even I, a citizen of the Empire, know that such tales are just legends, fairy tales, really.”

Fake Tauro who was tied up and lying at Tauro’s feet, laughed at what Tauro (the real one) was saying.

“…I see. So, this fake was being used by you all without even knowing your true identities. The goal was to use his ‘Charm’ ability, wasn’t it?”

“…”

The Alpha and others neither confirmed nor denied it.

“…Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Theta—why aren’t you saying anything back? We’ve never heard about the ‘Golden Lion’… Aren’t you part of the Empire’s intelligence agency, ‘109’?”

The fake Tauro, anxious and unasked, blurted out whatever came to mind.

“Mo-teo, stop talking. This is unexpected, but… if we all take him down here, it’ll make things easier. Let’s do it.”

　Alpha readies his sword and calls out to fake Tauro by his code name, then signals to the other members.

As soon as he did, Alpha, Beta, the man with the scar on his forehead, and Gamma all attacked Tauro.

Delta and the woman Theta attacked Aeris.

Tauro drew his short sword, ‘Tauro Kai,’ and poured magical power into the short sword, turning it into a sword of light as long as a regular sword, and slashed at who seemed to be their leader, Alpha.

Alpha narrowly dodged his sword of light and leapt backward.

Meanwhile, Beta and Gamma moved in on Tauro from either side, trying to stab him with their swords.

However, Gamma’s attack on the left was blocked effortlessly by Pella, a slime emperor disguised as a mimic, and Beta’s attack on the right, the one with a scar on his forehead, was cut in half along with his sword by the returning edge of Tauro’s sword of light.

“Cut in half… with that sword?!”

Beta with the scar, stunned, muttered in disbelief before dying.

As for Aeris, she used the spear of light extending from the tip of her ebony staff to impale Delta, who was rushing at her, then struck Theta with the handle of her staff, knocking her away.

“No way… They’re avoiding our attacks and even taking us out without a scratch…!”

Alpha’s calm demeanor from before suddenly changed and he began to grind his teeth in frustration.

“Now, it’s just you and that Gamma over there. Surrender.”

Tauro, confident that he wouldn’t lose if it was two against two, offered them to surrender.

“You underestimated us… Sure, I was surprised by your movements, which are far beyond the intel we had, but we can’t back down now. We’ll fight to the death and take you down here!”

Alpha exchanged glances with Gamma, nodded, and just from that they both understood what they should do. Both reached into their pockets and pulled out a small bottle.

Just in time, Ragune, Ankh, and Zion arrived to join the fray.

“This makes it 5 against 2. It’s over. Please give up.”

““Shut up!””

Alpha and Gamma denied and drank the contents of the small bottles.

Now what—

“Whoa—!”

They let out fierce roars, and in an instant, Alpha and Gamma transformed into monstrous beings.

The armor he was wearing was torn to shreds and his clothes tore apart under the strain of their larger bodies.

“Graaaaaah—!”

They let out agonized screams as they fully transformed into dragon-like forms, losing all semblance of being human.

“This is beyond what I expected…!”

Tauro was slightly shaken as he faced the now Alpha Dragon.

“It’s like the transformation of the northern dragon people,”

Aeris spoke as she recalled a transformation scene she had seen in the past.

“That’s not right, Aeris. Even the mighty dragon people of the North wouldn’t bother transforming into such lowly little dragons!”

Ragune calmly corrected her.

“either way, looks like we’re suddenly fighting dragons now?!” 

Ankh drew his great sword and faced two dragons twice his size.

“Are these people even sane?”

Zion, cool and composed, also surveyed the dragons calmly.

“Looking at his eyes… I don’t think they’re in their right minds.”

Just as he came to that conclusion, the alpha dragon swiftly lunged to bite him.

Tauro dodged sideways at the right moment, swinging his sword of light at its neck.

The dragon’s magic resistance caused it to repel the attack with a shrill sound.

“Everyone be careful, it’s magic-resistant!”

Tauro warned and then called out to Pella, who was on his shoulder.

“Pella!”

Pella, sensing his will, cloaked Tauro’s ‘Tauro Kai’ with a camouflage mimicry, transforming it into a sword that resembled a black blade.

“Alright, everyone. I’ll leave that dragon to you!”

Tauro decided to leave defeating the gamma dragon to ragune and the others while he and aeris take on the Alpha Dragon.