Shut Up Malevolent Dragon I Dont Want To Have Any More Children With You Chapter 722

[ … words ]

Leon’s gaze fell once again on the girl named Safina.

“So she’s the second human here, aside from me…”

Meeting a fellow countryman while traveling abroad was rare. Leon was definitely going to pay close attention to her story.

Safina remained seated with perfect posture, showing no nervousness whatsoever.

“I was born in a small human kingdom where the living conditions were harsh. The only way to improve our homeland was through small-scale wars, seizing land from other nations or tribes.

My family had two children—me and my younger brother.

When we were still young, we lost our parents to war. We survived by relying on the generosity of others, growing up under the care of strangers.

My brother was determined to join the royal court, because in a nation as poor and broken as ours, the only way to ensure a better life for oneself and one’s family was to become part of the ruling class.

And he succeeded. For a long time, our lives gradually improved.

Until… the old king passed away, and a new king ascended the throne.

The new ruler completely reformed the kingdom’s structure and purged the royal court.

It didn’t matter if they were scholars or generals—the purge affected everyone.

But because of my brother’s exceptional abilities, he was not expelled from the royal court. Instead, he was recognized by the new king and given an important position.

But as the years passed—almost a decade—we began to realize his growing ambition and cruelty. However, by then, my brother was already too deep to escape and could only continue serving the new king.”

Safina was about to continue when another trial participant interrupted her.

“Aren’t we supposed to be sharing our own backgrounds? Why are you only talking about your brother?”

“Are you trying to cheat your way through this trial by avoiding talking about yourself?”

The suspicion in the trial participant’s voice was reasonable.

And at this point, no one objected to his questioning.

After all, everyone here was fighting to earn their place in the trial.

This wasn’t some charity storytelling session—people were only sharing their pasts because it was part of the trial rules.

If they wanted, they could just get up and fight, and whoever won could walk out of this room to participate in the next trial stage.

Yet from the moment Safina started speaking, she had barely introduced herself, instead, she had been talking about her brother the entire time.

But this stage was called “Heart’s Inquiry”, and the Divine Stallion Tribe’s referee had explicitly said that their inner desires would be judged based on what they shared.

If Safina wasn’t actually as calm and collected as she looked, if she was, in fact, some unstable killer, she could be trying to dodge the test by only talking about other people instead of herself.

“Yeah, if you keep rambling off-topic, even the Divine Stallion referees won’t be able to evaluate your real thoughts,” another trial participant added.

“The referees did say we could talk about whatever we wanted, but you’re taking that a bit too far, don’t you think?”

“If this counts as a pass, then I might as well start talking about how my neighbor’s slime pet gave birth to a bunch of baby slimes last month.”

Leon didn’t voice any opinion.

Instead, he mused to himself,

“Actually, I would be kinda interested in hearing about the baby slimes. Wanna tell us more?”

Shaking his head, Leon dismissed the random thought and turned toward Albert.

The black-skinned warrior remained expressionless.

Neither Safina’s story nor the complaints from the other participants seemed to interest him at all.

Leon shifted his focus back to Safina.

“Apologies,” she said, her tone steady. “My brother is the only family I have left in this world. I unconsciously ended up talking about him more than myself.

Alright. I’ll refocus on my own story from here on.”

“Hmph. That’s more like it.”

Safina took a deep breath—then slowly exhaled.

From her expression and gaze, it was clear that the previous interruptions hadn’t shaken her at all.

“In order to survive in a nation like ours, I had to undergo rigorous training from a young age.”

As she spoke, Safina began unwrapping the bandages around her hands.

The moment the bandages came off, the entire room stared at her right hand, their eyes filled with shock.

Despite being such a clean and beautiful girl, her hands were covered in old scars and calluses.

After showing them, Safina expertly began rewrapping her bandages, looping them neatly around her fingers and palms.

“My profession is Fighter. No guns, no weapons, no flashy magic, just a collection of scraps of martial arts manuals scavenged from battlefields.

I’ve trained with these fragments of techniques, patching them together, step by step, to reach where I am today.

I can’t stop—because that tyrannical new king could kill anyone at any moment.

No one knows if my brother or I will be his next target in one of his sudden killing sprees.

So before we reach the point of no return, I must become as strong as possible.

And that is why I came here, seeking the Fire Spirit Divine Stallion’s blessing.”

After finishing, Safina closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath before reopening them.

Her gaze was calm as it swept across the room.

“That’s all I have to share.”

She then turned to the two trial participants who had questioned her earlier and added,

“If you still think that’s not enough, then I have nothing more to say.

As a human, my lifespan isn’t as long as yours—so up until now, my life may seem ‘thin’ compared to yours.

But…

This trial is called Heart’s Inquiry. And perhaps, a better word to describe it would be Purity.”

Leon had always admired those who were pure in purpose.

Because he, too, appreciated clarity in motivation.

Safina’s life wasn’t shallow, nor was it as thin as she described it.

She came here not for revenge, not for war, but for survival.

That alone already set her apart from most of the trial participants Leon had met so far.

Of course, what Leon thought didn’t matter.

What mattered was what the Divine Stallion Tribe’s judges thought.

The judge quietly noted something in his notebook before looking up with a warm smile.

“Alright, Miss Safina, thank you for your story. Now then, let’s hear from our big guy next.”

Leon turned toward Albert.

In this entire room, only he was worthy of being called a “big guy.”

Albert remained as unshaken as ever.

He licked his lips, rubbed his hands together, and after a brief moment of thought, he finally spoke.

“Even though I’ve lived for several centuries, there aren’t many things worth sharing.

I once had a beloved wife. In our second year of marriage, we had a daughter.

We lived a peaceful life in the Thunder Elephant Tribe.

But then—our tribe frequently clashed with outsiders, and these skirmishes eventually turned into small-scale wars.

So, I joined the battlefield.

A hundred years ago, to strengthen our tribe, I and a few others were sent here, seeking the Fire Spirit Divine Stallion’s blessing.

But after that trial—our entire race was banned from participating.

We left with nothing—and when we returned home, the war continued to consume us.

Until one day…”

At this point, Albert’s emotions shifted.

Leon noticed the change and listened even more intently.

Albert lowered his head, staring at the tip of his boots, before continuing in a hushed voice.

“Until one day, a man in black robes arrived in our Thunder Elephant Tribe.

He used some unknown spell to control several of our strongest warriors, forcing us to slaughter each other.

In the end… I was the only one left.

Not a single member of my tribe survived—not even my daughter.”

A man in black robes, a massacre during war, and something about dark magic…

Leon couldn’t help but think of the self-proclaimed ‘New God’ who sought to reshape the world.

He continued listening as Albert spoke.

“But I did not come back to this trial for power, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) nor for revenge against the black-robed man.

My life no longer holds anything worth clinging to.

The only reason I came back—was for the promise I made a hundred years ago to that damn fire-breathing dragon.

I just wanted to fight him one more time.”

A deep sigh escaped him.

A sigh heavy with exhaustion and helplessness.

“But even that… seems impossible now.

So, my reason for continuing this trial is probably different from all of you.

You all came here seeking power.

Some for revenge, some to win wars for their tribes, some simply to protect themselves and their families.

But me…

I came here simply to die.”