Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

"Graaaaah!"

The leviathan roared, rearing its head high and sending deep vibrations through the cavern walls. Dion, still in his Berserk Monk form and Gina, who had expanded to her massive size, remained completely unfazed. As the leviathan brought its gaze back down on them, Gina inhaled deeply and unleashed a torrent of purple flames.

"Graaaaah!"

The leviathan countered, spitting a concentrated beam of blue fire.

Blam!

When the purple and blue flames collided, a violent explosion erupted, filling the cavern with thick smoke and shaking the stone walls. Bursting through the haze with a razor-sharp smirk, Dion flipped directly in front of the monster’s colossal face.

Blam!

Dion brought his heel crashing down onto the leviathan’s head, driving it violently into the lake. The sheer impact lifted the beast’s long body clean out of the water.

"Gina!" Dion shouted as he plummeted back down.

"Gruuuuu!"

Gina charged forward into the lake, grabbing the leviathan’s thrashing body and hauling it back out. As its head broke the surface, she clamped both hands around its neck.

"Groaaaaar!"

The leviathan lunged to bite her head off, but Gina dodged nimbly, swaying her head from side to side. Suddenly, Dion materialized behind the leviathan’s head, sliding down its nape.

"Claw Barrage!"

Moving like a blurred shadow, Dion slashed, stabbed, and shredded his claws hundreds of times into the back of the leviathan’s neck while Gina held it fast. By the time he finished, the neck was hanging by a thread.

Crack!

Gina ripped the head completely free from the body and tossed it aside. The giant leviathan’s carcass drifted lazily on the water’s surface, and Dion landed smoothly on top of it with a acrobatic backflip. Gina shrank back to her tiny form and floated over to him.

Slap!

Dion and Gina shared a crisp high-five, after which Gina settled back onto Dion’s head. Dion looked down at the floating leviathan carcass beneath his feet.

"Hmm... Man... If Luna were here, she’d know exactly where to find the core... Guess I’ll just have to hack it open," Dion mused.

"Kyuu?" Gina squeaked, tilting her head in confusion.

Without another word, Dion plunged his claws into the leviathan’s back and dragged them backward, ripping the creature completely open from end to end. Floating nearby, Gina’s eyes bulged and her jaw dropped in utter horror. It looked like a live autopsy performed right before her eyes, a scene straight out of a nightmare for the little dragon.

"Kyuu... kyuuu... kyu," Gina squeaked, clearly protesting the gruesome sight.

"Oh... sorry about that. I didn’t mean to butcher it like this, I’m just looking for its mana crystal. A beast this size has got to have a massive one inside... totally worth it," Dion explained.

"Kyuuuuuu," Gina sighed, resigning herself to watch him in defeat.

After carving up the entire leviathan with his bare claws and getting thoroughly caked in monster blood, Dion finally unearthed a massive, yellow-blue magic crystal from deep inside the carcass. He turned to look at Gina, who was glaring at him crossly.

"Hey... don’t be mad. I don’t do this to every monster I fight... I just really needed the crystal, and I had no clue where it was located," Dion reassured her.

"Kyuuuuu," Gina grunted, shaking her tiny head. It was the first time the little dragon looked genuinely exhausted by Dion’s antics.

Dion leapt onto a nearby rock, letting the dissected carcass sink into the lake as he clutched the heavy magic crystal. He glanced up toward the massive opening in the cavern ceiling, then turned to Gina, who had just landed on his shoulder.

"Go ahead and transform back into your big form so we can fly out of here," Dion instructed.

"Kyuuu," Gina nodded.

Boom!

Gina floated into the air and expanded into her massive dragon form. Dion leapt onto her back, and together they soared up through the cavern opening. Bursting into the open air, Dion looked down at where they had just been. It wasn’t an ordinary cave at all, but the overgrown ruins of an ancient civilization, buried beneath centuries of soil and dense forest.

As they cleared the canopy and flew over the trees, Dion realized they were in the eastern expanse of the forest. The ruins below were likely a forgotten shortcut leading directly into the Eredor Kingdom, a realm usually accessible only by trekking deep through the woodland.

"Hmm... This spot isn’t too far from my territory. It actually connects right through the back," he muttered.

"Gyuuu," Gina growled softly.

"Oh... So while they were transporting us... you woke up, transformed into your giant form, and we ended up crashing into those ruins?" Dion asked.

"Gyuu... gyuu," she chirped.

"Hmm... I see. So their plan was to smuggle us into the Eredor Kingdom all along... But for what?" Dion wondered, scratching his head.

"Gyuu?"

"Oh... you’re right. Mei might know something about this... Alright, let me head back, Gina," Dion said, patting her neck.

"Gyuuuuu!"

Gina veered westward, speeding back toward Dion’s domain. Flying in a straight line, Dion could see the back of his territory from a distance, including the high hill where his parents’ grave rested.

"So they bypassed our defenses through the back... Thank goodness it was just me and Gina they grabbed... What if they had taken anyone else? Argh... Man, I should have interrogated those guys before killing them... I’m terrible at this," Dion thought to himself.

Keeping his persona active, Dion rode on Gina’s back, returning to the hill behind his mansion within minutes. Gina landed softly and shrank back down, while Dion touched down safely with the massive magic crystal cradled in his arms.

"Dion!"

Dion turned to see Cleo hiking up the hill, staff in hand. But as she reached the top and took in his appearance, shrouded in a dark reddish aura, clad in ancient martial arts gear with razor claws, glowing red eyes, and covered head-to-toe in dried blood, she froze.

Thud!

Cleo dropped her staff in shock. Her gaze shifted to Gina, who was perched on Dion’s head with a blood-smeared snout, and then to the gigantic magic crystal cradled in Dion’s arms. Cleo went deathly pale, looking as if she had just walked into a real-life horror scene. She raised a trembling hand.

"W-What... what... what on earth happened to you?!" Cleo stammered out.

"Oh... this? I ran into a Cave Leviathan back there," Dion replied casually, holding up the crystal.

"Huh... A Cave... Leviathan?! An S-rank monster?! Where?!" Cleo shouted, looking around frantically.

"Long story short: Gina and I were just kidnapped," Dion said flatly.

"What?! Kidnapped?!" Cleo gasped, her panic mounting.

"Alright, alright... Take a deep breath. Let’s head back down first. I need to speak with Mei," Dion said, deactivating his persona.

"Right... Yeah... Let’s go down," Cleo replied, still in visible shock, her eyes glued to the bloodied pair.

After a bit of coaxing, Cleo retrieved her staff and walked back down the hill alongside Dion, with Gina floating quietly between them. Once at the bottom, Dion instructed a servant golem to summon Mei. Standing beside him, Cleo turned to look at Dion closely.

"What really happened back there?" Cleo asked quietly.

"Gina and I were snatched by the Shadow Hand... that secret intelligence organization from Eredor," Dion stated casually.

Thud!

Cleo’s staff hit the ground again. Dion jumped slightly at the sound, startled by how genuinely terrified Cleo looked. She spun around and grabbed Dion by his shirt collars.

"You were kidnapped by the Eredor Kingdom?! And... this blood... where did it come from?!" Cleo asked, her voice tight with panic and genuine concern.

"Calm down... Take a slow breath... The blood isn’t what you think... I had to butcher a Cave Leviathan to dig out its mana crystal... Don’t get mad at me," Dion said, leaning back slightly as Cleo pressed close to his face.

"Kyuuu," Gina chimed in, raising a paw as if to say, "He’s telling the truth."

"This isn’t a minor issue! You were just abducted... and if the Shadow Hand is moving, this situation is getting dangerously serious! Even coming from Lutherias, I know all about the Shadow Hand’s terrifying reputation in Eredor," Cleo pressed.

"Which is exactly why I want to ask Mei about it. You get what I mean, right?" Dion asked.

"Are you... suspecting Mei?" Cleo asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Huh? No, not at all. I just want to know if she’s the target the Shadow Hand was after... or if there’s something else going on," Dion clarified.

Cleo searched Dion’s face intently, her eyes squinting and her eyebrows furrowed tight in the center. Dion grew increasingly flustered, forcing a awkward, strained smile that made his face look completely ridiculous.

"Um... how about I explain later? I really need to take a bath first... I’m completely filthy... and so is Gina," Dion stammered, pulling the floating dragon beside him into his arms. But despite his plea, Cleo refused to back off, leaning in even closer with a dead-serious look that left him completely frozen in his tracks.