I pressed both palms against the mirror, denying what I saw.
At that moment, the mirror suddenly turned black. Startled, I took a step back, and an image began to form on its surface.
“Our purpose is singular!”
A man in silver plate armor raised his sword and shouted. The dozens—no, hundreds—of people lined up behind him raised their swords in unison.
“To slay the wicked Black Flame Dragon!”
“Waaaahhh!”
The roar of voices nearly burst my eardrums. The mirror showed an endless procession of humans.
“Black Flame Dragon…?”
Only then did something click. Last night before sleep, I’d read a cliché fantasy web novel where the Hero’s party defeated an evil Black Flame Dragon and became heroes.
No way… I’m the final villain—the evil Black Flame Dragon—in that novel?
It made no sense.
I shook my head, trying to deny reality. But the mirror began showing another scene.
“Before the Subjugation Army is wiped out, we must eliminate the Black Flame Dragon ourselves. Let’s pick up the pace.”
A man with dazzling golden hair spoke firmly to those in front of him.
“Clearly they’ve lost their wits. A week ago, the Black Flame Dragon massacred and burned the Haxeller Barony of over three hundred people.”
A gray-hooded man shook his head as he replied. Beside him sat a man in white robes, and next to him was a disheveled fellow with dark-gray hair.
It was obvious—they were the Hero’s party from the novel. Only then did I understand the situation.
They were all approaching me to kill me.
And in the book I read, the Black Flame Dragon was brutally slain.
“…I’m doomed.”
If I resisted them as in the original, they would kill me. I had to find a way to survive.
‘I’m not really a dragon. I just woke up one day looking like a dragon. In truth, I’m a gentle soul who couldn’t even kill an ant.’
I even considered convincing them with words—but nobody would believe that. It was too absurdly obvious.
“Wait—right now I’m human…?”
In the novel, the dragon never appeared in polymorph form. That meant perhaps the others didn’t know a dragon could take human shape.
I had no reason to behave like the Dragon King of the novel—no urge to conquer the world, hoard treasure, or guard this worthless lair.
So there was only one choice to survive: run like hell.
In life, there are times you doubt if you’re heading the right way. Standing before a fork in the road, I crossed my arms and wore a serious expression.
I must have gotten lost.
Resolved to abandon the lair and escape, I bolted from the cave. But half a day in the forest later, I was still wandering the same tangle.
The forest was vast, and since no one traveled here often, there was no path to follow.
“I should’ve used a path-finding spell…”
I vaguely recalled such a spell in the grimoire where I’d learned Polymorph magic—and also how to use Subspace.
I stopped and opened my Subspace to find the grimoire. Instead, I saw a chaotic pile of useless junk.
Before leaving the lair, I’d scoured every room for anything useful. The cavern where I first awoke had been ridiculously large; one chamber even held piles of gold and jewels.
With no time to sort, I’d shoved everything—needed and unneeded alike—into Subspace.
“When will I ever sort this out?”
Muttering, I rummaged through Subspace for the grimoire. Then a sudden chill ran down my neck.
Sensing something amiss, I closed Subspace and began surveying my surroundings warily.
According to the book on dragons, a lair thrums with miasma, attracting only horrific monsters.
It said miasma is generated endlessly by a Dragon Heart—and that other monsters fear a dragon so much they dare not come near.
So no monster should be skulking nearby. The only answer pointed to one source.
The Hero’s party.
Hiding miasma as best I could, I pushed through the underbrush toward the troubling presence—and stumbled upon a group of people.
“Hey, isn’t that a person?”
One of them spotted me and shouted. Unwillingly, I became the center of attention.
Four people sat around a campfire staring at me. They were unmistakably the Hero’s party I’d seen in the mirror.
“Alone? What are you doing here?”
A man who’d stood and stepped forward sized me up from head to toe.
His bright blue eyes shone sharply like a clear sky. His hair gleamed golden, as if sunlight were trapped in it.
With that dazzling appearance, flowing cloak, and sturdy build, I guessed he was the novel’s Hero.
“And unarmed, too.”
He studied me warily. I dredged up the most ordinary explanation I could—though in this situation, anything sounded suspicious.
“I… got lost.”
It was my first real conversation since taking the dragon’s form, and I realized I sounded strangely like the Black Flame Dragon from the book.
“Lost?”
My flimsy excuse confessed I was a stray child. As expected, he furrowed his brow and asked again.
“You say you wandered unarmed and alone near a wicked dragon’s lair and got lost?”
“…Then?”
I thought it might not be unheard of. People make mistakes; perhaps one or two innocents strayed into the dragon’s forest.
“Well, you’ve been lucky so far,” said the man in white robes with a friendly smile. For a moment, I breathed easier.
“But if you stay wandering in these monster-infested woods, you’ll die. There’s no helping it. Come with us.”
The wary man made an unexpected offer.
I should’ve refused. I’d fled into this forest to avoid them. Walking into their company voluntarily was suicide.
“No thanks. I prefer being alone. Just tell me the way out, and I’ll be grateful.”
“So you want to keep wandering alone through this monster-filled forest? You must be insane—or not exactly human.”
The man who’d spoken before narrowed his eyes.
I thought I’d slipped past suspicion, but evidently I was still deemed odd. I masked my dismay and glanced at the others.
Their wary eyes tracked me. Though I wore a calm face, sweat trickled down my neck.
“Well then…”
“Come with us.”
I didn’t want needless suspicion from the Hero’s party.
Best scenario: act harmless and ordinary to dispel their doubts, then slip away unnoticed and be forgotten like any passerby—long before they found the Black Flame Dragon.
“All right—just until I get out of the forest…”
No sooner had I reluctantly agreed than my stomach rumbled loudly.
I’d been hungry the entire time since entering the woods. My empty belly’s cries were only natural.
I scowled, trying to hide my embarrassment, and the man flinched.
“So you want to come with us?”
“Yeah.”
Only then did the man relax and extend his hand to me.
“My name is Kyle Delos. I’ve come to kill the wicked Black Flame Dragon who owns this dangerous lair.”
Hearing his name, memories of him surfaced.
Kyle Delos—the seventh prince of the Helrana Empire and the novel’s Hero. Blessed by protagonist buffs, he was incredibly handsome, bold, and skilled with the sword.
In the original story, Kyle defeated me and earned the title “Dragon Knight.”
“My name is…”
I hesitated, unsure if I should share my name. But I didn’t recall the Black Flame Dragon’s name ever being mentioned.
It wasn’t distinctive enough to single me out. So I decided to tell him.
“…Rishian.”