"M-Mr. Sukuna! A dragon is attacking the village!!"
A dragon?
Damn, why is your village so unlucky?
First the bear and now a dragon...
Sukuna grabbed the Erde by the collar and lifted her on his shoulder before rushing towards the village at quick speed.
Erde stared at the quickly changing scenery in surprise and horror.
By the time she understood what was happening, she was suddenly dropped off.
"Is that the one?" Sukuna said while pointing at the red dragon flying in the sky raining down fire.
"Y-yes! That's it!"
Erde shouted while looking horrifyingly at the fire.
"Tsk."
Sukuna clacked his tongue, then waved his hand, sending an invisible slash straight towards the dragon.
He has thought that a dragon with its tough scale and high magic resistance might not be hurt by a slash, but it seems he was overestimating the monster.
The slash cut through its back and completely severed one of its wings while cutting the other in half.
*Roar*
Along with a painful cry, the monster came crashing down towards the ground.
Sukuna's figure appeared beside the dragon, who was about to fall to the ground, and kicked it, changing the trajectory of its fall to the forest.
*Boom*
A large sound rang out as the trees were uprooted and the ground trembled under the dragon's immense weight.
Sukuna appeared above the Red Dragon's head and said with a smile.
"And I was wondering about making armor for fun... hehe, dragon scale armor sounds powerful..."
The dragon's eyes contracted as its head was separated from its body.
Looking at the loot before him, Sukuna quickly went to work and grabbed several wooden barrels from the village, quickly filling them up with dragon blood.
Honestly, he had absolutely no idea if this dragon blood was useful in any way, but since it was available, he decided to grab it because why not?
After he filled up four barrels, Sukuna started skinning the dragon, carefully extracting its tough hide from its body using his technique.
At the same time the villagers arrived around the site, staring at the scene with wonder, confusion, and some fear.
Erde was among them; she was staring at Sukuna easily skinning the dragon's tough hide with bright eyes.
'Mr. Sukuna is so strong!'
She thought in her mind while holding her clothes.
'Is this the power of magic?...'
Very quickly, Sukuna was done with taking off the hide and looked at all the dragon meat before him.
After thinking for a moment, he turned towards the villagers and asked in a loud voice.
"Hey! You guys want to eat a dragon?"
Eat a dragon?
They had heard that dragons taste delicious....
The villagers looked at each other.
"I'll get the knives."
"I'll start a fire."
With the promise of a meal, the villagers quickly got to work and started taking the meat and cooking it.
Since the prey was so big, it took them some time to dismantle it.
Though it did make up for quite a feast.
Sukuna ate the juicy dragon meat and thought in his mind.
'Even without spices, it is pretty good.'
The villagers sat around the place; several of them were even sitting with him, offering alcohol.
It was a weird sight indeed.
A demon eating and drinking with humans.
Heh, it will be difficult for anyone to accept such a thing.
As Sukuna was eating, Erde suddenly came and sat beside him.
"Mr. Sukuna, thank you for saving the village again."
Sukuna looked at her before saving.
"I have heard dragons usually live near labyrinths. Do you know anything about it?"
"I don't know about a labyrinth, but there is a large cave up north..."
Sukuna noted the location in his mind before casually asking.
"By the way, what's up with the monsters? Aren't you guys a bit too unlucky?"
"This..."
A difficult look appeared on Erde's face as she wondered if she should say it or keep quiet.
"What is it?"
Seeing Sukuna's inquiring gaze, she opened her mouth and then said in a small voice.
"It's because of demons....."
"Oh? Demons? Can you elaborate?" Sukuna asked with an interested look on his face.
"Due to the war with demons, all the knights and adventurers are busy defending the borders and have no manpower to help out our village..."
It wasn't just their village; almost all small villages that were too far from the cities suffered the same fate.
"Sounds rough," Sukuna said while chewing on the meat.
Erde suddenly raised her arms and added.
"Of course! Mr. Sukuna is different! Which means not all demons are the same; they also have good ones like you—"
Before she could continue, Sukuna interrupted her in a serious tone.
"No, you are wrong."
"All demons are bad."
Silence suddenly enveloped the place as Erde and the surrounding villagers quietly looked at him.
Sukuna finished the meat on the bone before raising his voice and saying.
"Keep this in mind: never trust a demon."
The villagers looked at him. in surprise and confusion.
"They will act like they are human, do everything to gain your sympathy, and then kill you without any remorse on the first chance they get."
He got up from the ground, patted the dirt off his butt, and said.
"If you want to live a long life, don't ever trust a demon—"
"Mr. Sukuna."
Suddenly one of the villagers stood up and shouted.
It was the burly man whose arm he had repaired before.
"You helped me read my arm, saved us from monsters, and healed our children. I believe you are not a bad demon."
He said in a strong voice while patting his chest.
At the same time, a fire seemed to burn inside the villagers as several of them quickly stood up and surrounded Sukuna, saying in passionate voices.
"Yes, Mr. Sukuna! You're not evil; you saved my life!"
"My son is alive because of you; please don't say such a thing..."
"I can walk again thanks to your help, sir...."
Sukuna rubbed his head hearing the grateful words filled with sincerity these villagers were giving him.
But this could be fatal for them.
Loudly clapping his hands, he made them go silent and said in a calm tone.
"I am, of course, different, but never think that other demons will be like me."
"Just keep this in mind, alright? Enjoy the meal; I'm going to sleep."
He waved his hand, then turned around and left under everyone's gaze.
----