Chapter 1: Got Caught

“Die, vile dragon!”

A flash of cold light sliced through the air.
The sword blade shattered a thick tree trunk, sending wood chips flying.
Charis, hiding behind the tree, hurriedly dodged out and sprinted toward the depths of the forest.

“Run, you dead legs, run!”

Charis didn’t dare pause for a moment.
The white-haired sword saintess behind her was relentless, as if pumped with adrenaline.
Missing her strike, she immediately turned and chased with her sword raised.

“Stop right there!”

The sword saintess pursued with ferocious tenacity!
Her clothes were disheveled, flapping open, but she didn’t care—she was fixated on catching Charis.

As for why Charis was being hunted, it was just bad luck.
All she wanted was to fill her stomach and maybe snag some gear!

Since her rebirth as a young dragon, Charis was frail.
Freshly hatched with no one to care for her, she was chased by tigers, bears, and even wild boars in the forest.
Every day was filled with fear, with no fixed home and barely enough food to survive.

If she hadn’t heard that the Demon King was inclusive of other races, Charis wouldn’t have come to the Demon King’s territory seeking shelter and a meal.

But her luck was rotten.
With frequent clashes between adventurers and demons, she only dared to scavenge corpses on the battlefront for scraps.
Crossing the frontlines was too risky—she could get caught in the crossfire.
Though scavenging leftovers kept her fed, today she stumbled into a massive battle between the Demon King and the hero’s party!

The Demon King vanished after the battle, and the hero’s party lay unconscious, half-dead.
Charis thought to scavenge from the hero’s party—maybe even help “clean up” their bodies.
After all, in the Demon King’s territory, humans rarely survived.

She smoothly nabbed the saintess’s clothes to wear and munched on the assassin’s rations.
But when she unbuttoned the sword saintess’s clothes, the woman’s eyes snapped open!
She drew her sword, bellowing, “Die, vile dragon!”

When a dragon’s luck runs dry, even drinking water gets stuck in their teeth!

“Good sister, stop chasing me! I didn’t mean to undo your clothes! Besides, there was nothing to see! No need to kill me over it, right?”

“You dare slander me, vile dragon?! Stop and face your death!”

For some reason, the sword saintess, Ophelia, grew even angrier.
Despite her grievous wounds, her face twisted with rage, blood streaking her cheeks as she pursued Charis.

“Good sister, let me off just this once! I’ll repay your kindness!”

“Scram! Take this, vile dragon!”

Ophelia unleashed another sword technique.
A ferocious pale sword light nearly tore a corner of the forest apart.
The terrifying force swept toward Charis, who dove behind a large rock for cover.

Boom!

The rock was effortlessly pulverized by the powerful sword light.
The shockwave sent Charis flying into the air.
She crashed onto a tree branch, the treasures she’d scavenged from the saintess and assassin dangling precariously around her neck.

“Ow… that hurts like hell.”

Charis clutched her waist in pain.
In an instant, the murderous sword saintess reached the base of the tree.

Damn! She’s so fast! This woman is completely unreasonable!

Charis cursed inwardly but didn’t dare move a muscle.
Killing her would be effortless for Ophelia.
If not for Charis’s knack for escaping chases and her lucky landing in the treetops, she’d be done for.

“Phew… where did she go?”

Ophelia panted heavily, her longsword gleaming with chilling white light.
Her white hair was matted with dust, and her red eyes scanned the surroundings for Charis’s trace.

Don’t fall, don’t fall!

Charis tucked her neck in, terrified that the pendants and trinkets scavenged from the saintess and assassin might slip off.
They were already teetering dangerously.

“That damned dragon! How dare you do such things to me and my companions! I won’t let you go!”

Ophelia raged helplessly, slashing wildly at the surrounding weeds.
Her icy sword aura was terrifying—worthy of someone who could defeat the Demon King.

‘Since ancient times, sword saints never look up. I have to survive this.’

Charis prayed silently, but the branch seemed uncooperative.

Crack.

“Huh? Aaaah!”

Betrayed by the treetop, Charis plummeted with the broken branch, crashing right in front of Ophelia and kicking up a cloud of dust.

“Cough, cough…!”

Charis struggled to rise in pain, but an icy sword pierced through the dust, pressing against her neck.
The freezing aura sapped her body heat, leaving her stiff and unable to move.

“Vile dragon, finally caught you. Keep running, why don’t you?”

Ophelia sneered, her gaze piercing.
The invisible pressure made breathing feel like swallowing ice shards.

‘Am I going to die here?’

Charis swallowed nervously, trying to appear harmless and compliant.

“If you put the sword down, I swear I won’t run. Uh… can we talk this out? I meant no harm.”

“Give me one reason not to kill you. You stole my companions’ clothes and items! And you undid mine!”

Ophelia squinted, sizing Charis up.
Silver-white hair cascaded over a loose saintess’s robe, and a pair of clear blue eyes posed no threat.
If not for the golden horns on her head and the scaly tail dragging behind, this dragon could pass for a helpless, adorable human girl.

Unfortunately, humans and demons were sworn enemies.
Ophelia had no intention of sparing Charis, especially since the dragon’s cherry-lipped mouth wasn’t good at talking.

‘I’m doomed. She’s not going to skin me alive or lock me up as a pet, is she?’

Charis didn’t want to die or become someone’s slave.
She grabbed a handful of dust to throw at Ophelia to obscure her vision, but an icy chain shot from the sword, binding her neck first!

“Cough, cough! What did you do to me!”

“Obvious, isn’t it? Thinking of running? A cunning, talking dragon who looks human enough. Seems like you’d be valuable to study.”

A cruel smirk crept onto Ophelia’s cold, beautiful face, as if eager to punish Charis for her earlier taunts.

‘Isn’t she supposed to be a righteous hero? Why does she seem more villainous than the Demon King right now!’

Charis felt she hadn’t lied—she’d spoken only the truth and needed to keep going.

“I-I was just kindly trying to collect your corpses! You treat my good intentions like garbage, and now you’re doing this to me.”

“Collect corpses… heh. Did you need to strip our clothes for that?! And we’re not even dead!”

Ophelia’s face darkened with anger.
This little dragon girl was shameless, still spouting nonsense!

“Who knows if you were fully dead? Without taking off clothes to check for a heartbeat, how could I tell? And the clothes—I was just borrowing them, not keeping them.”

“Tch… you’ve got a sharp tongue, huh? If I’d woken up any later, would you have pressed your ear to my heart to listen?”

“Of course. Your frame is the slimmest, so it’d be easiest to hear compared to the others. They’re too… sturdy, so I thought they were dead…”

Charis kept blurting out truths, oblivious to Ophelia’s face growing colder.

‘Slim frame… you really know how to talk, don’t you.’

Recalling the dragon sitting on her and unbuttoning her clothes, Ophelia sheathed her sword and yanked the chain, hoisting Charis up!

“Ugh!”

“Say that again! Who’s got a slim frame?! Keep talking, and I’ll freeze your tongue!”

Charis, bound by the chain, tried to speak, but the icy chokehold silenced her.

Only when Charis’s eyes rolled back from struggling did Ophelia release the chain.

Thud.

“Cough, cough, cough!”
Charis, slumped on the ground, gasped for air, glaring at Ophelia with resentful blue eyes.

“You’d better shut up and behave, or death is all that awaits you.”

“Hmph… fine, if you don’t want to hear the truth.”

Charis huffed defiantly, which only irked Ophelia further.

As the books said, dragons among the demon races were arrogant and rude, no wonder their kind dwindled!
This dragon was proof!

But that’s exactly why every dragon was so valuable—especially a humanoid dragon, rare among rarities, priceless in any market!

A strange desire to conquer welled up in Ophelia.
Taming a dragon would surely be entertaining.

“Move.”
Ophelia tugged the icy chain without mercy.
Charis’s neck tightened, forced to follow behind.

‘Sword saintess, huh? I’ll remember you!’

Charis mentally vowed revenge.
Why was no one helping her?
This reborn life was just too miserable!

“Hm? …I’m not dead?”

A voice suddenly echoed in Charis’s mind, familiar—it sounded like the Demon King who vanished on the battlefront!

‘Could it be… my savior has arrived!’

“Your Majesty, the Demon King! Save me!”
Charis shouted excitedly in her mind.

“Hm?”

The Demon King was baffled.
How had her soul ended up in this little dragon girl’s body?
And the archenemy sword saintess was right there!

The sword saintess’s back was turned—a perfect chance for a sneak attack!

The Demon King quickly adapted, whispering orders to Charis.

“Dragon, I am Talos, the Demon King.
Use your sharp claws and fangs to tear the sword saintess apart, and I shall grant you honor, status, and endless wealth!”

“Huh? Are you serious? Me, fight the sword saintess?!”