As it stood, the fat guard was useful for something. Whether it was according to natural selection or not, I reckon that everyone had a meaning to their life. While others worked hard to raise families and earn income, certain people were meant to serve an alternative route to benefit others. It was the inescapable grips of natural selection. The sick would pass and the dumb would perish.

My stomach approved of this statement.

I’ll admit, I was impulsive about the situation. In my defense, between the slipping control of the transmutation magic and my hunger - good decisions were optional. Says the commander of the largest war legion in the Hellion Kingdom.

Thankfully, I doubted anyone saw my form in the pitch black of the night. My scales barely reflected in the moonlight covering the grassy plains and due to growing up in consistent war, I’d learn to control my noise output.

Below, the forest ground seemed distant, as I towered above my surroundings trying not to snap at a smaller tree. Alerting everyone and their neighbor of a loud disturbance in the woods was not the move.

My head rested near the top of the canopy, enough to stand at my full height. Unfortunately, that meant if I were to stretch my wings, they would stick up from the tops of the trees.

Too risky. Not like there was a twelve-meter dragon in a clear field minutes ago.

Despite the cramped space of the forest, I could feel my body relax without the extra drainage of mana. I did try to stretch my left wing once I had trudged further into the forest.

Needless to say, my attempts to proceed quietly had been foiled. As soon as I found a clearing in the woods to do so, I slowly pushed the muscles out into a straight motion. Immediately, sharp pain flashed up the wing of my body, and it took everything not to exclaim from the pain.

The wing had healed more than I expected it to. Strange, as it had not been more than two days since I departed from Hellion.

The rips had started to mend themselves, many of them showing scarred tissue. It felt more stable, healing-wise. Still, it would take considerable time before it was ready to be flown on. I was still grounded.

All I could do was wait and maintain the human form, so the healing was more concentrated throughout a smaller body. It was the best course of action now, considering I didn’t have access to the high-level healers back at the castle. There wasn’t much I could do but wait.

I let the left wing lay straight, as I lay down in the wooded clearing. Better to allow the muscles to stretch to prevent them from cramping up next time, despite how painful it was.

My head was big. In both ways. Physically though, I had to lay it along my front legs awkwardly to avoid impaling the nearby trees with my horns.

I just know that Dagon would be hunched over crying if he saw how I was positioned. Adbeel would be fussing, trying to eliminate all the trees that made me uncomfortable.

Head bent at an awkward angle, just barely avoiding hitting the nearby trees. Truly, it was unbecoming for the framed dragon prince of the demon king.

My image proceeded itself. Luckily, this wasn’t Hellion. Here, I was not the Third Prince, Arsylm Morningstar. No, I was Asta, the dragon that was trying not to impale the wildlife.

Really, it felt like imposter syndrome.

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I could imagine his face contorted in laughter, waving that stupid staff around while doing so. I still needed to contact him, but it was better to wait till my mana restored itself a little.

Instead, it was time to enjoy the peace of the forest.

The trees were thickly covered, extending to the tops of the canopy to allow thin streams of moonlight to cascade down to the forest floor. Views like this didn’t exist in Hellion, a place of war and blood. Most of the land was worn over in bloodied battles and the terrain was riddled with poisonous plants.

That’s why this sight was…

Well, I’m not sure if there were words to describe it that would do it justice.

The moonlight streams turned into a stagnant rain shower that illuminated the entire floor of the clearing.

I exhaled, burying my head in my legs and enjoying the moment.

But my luck never lasted long.

The snapping of a twig ahead of the clearing alerted me to an intruder. Wait, I was the intruder. Who would say no to a twelve-meter dragon though?

My eyes shot toward the direction of the noise, hyper-fixating on the silhouette of a weasel or what some called a Bajang. It was a lower-level demon that was more of a spirit. I huffed loudly, a puff of smoke coming from my nostrils to communicate that it had been spotted.

The Bajang scurried around, its fully black smoked form inching from the bush that it had been hiding.

“I’m claiming the area at the moment,” I announced, not bothering to lift my head at such a small creature.

The weasel-shaped figure chirped, tucking its tail between its shadowed legs.

“Sweak!” It roared meekly.

Excuse me.

A tone like that? You got to be kidding me.

Was that attitude I sensed? I did not have the patience or energy to deal with a creature that was smaller than one of my scales. I rolled my eyes, lifting my head over the small creature that stood near my rear leg, close to my opened wing.

I let out a low growl. Truly, it wasn’t menacing but enough to get my point across. It’s not like I could use authority over it. Demons that roamed these parts weren’t ruled by the Morningstar bloodline. I was a little different though, I had authority from a monster standpoint. My demonic energy was one of the strongest of the demon race.

A strong huff would kill this pipsqueak.

It stood on its hind legs and growled. That was a growl.

“SQUEAK!” It bared its fangs.

I audibly gasped.

All right, it had balls of steel.

“You talk to your mother with that mouth?” I was mortified.

Actually, I never knew my mother, but the statement still stood.

“I’m sorry but you’ll have to find another place to sleep tonight. I don’t feel like moving and I think anything I try to do to move you would kill you.” I explained, observing the small sounds it gave in rebuttal.

Another squeak. Instead of trying to reason with such an attitude, I flashed my fangs and glared.

“...squeak,” It chirped in defeat, retreating to a nearby path and disappearing.

I listened to the fading footsteps of the small creature, only resting my head down when it was far enough away.

Jamie had mentioned that there were monsters in this forest. They were low-level demons that didn’t belong under my father’s reign. Besides the Bajang, I sensed larger demonic energy within the forest. They were bound to be lurking along the woods but unlike the Bajang, these ones were smarter. I could tell they didn’t dare come to my location in the forest.

I would be unbothered for the rest of the night.

All there was to do was kill time till sunrise. I could call Dagon through the necklace, but that would mean getting back into human form. I’ll do that while I’m walking back to the town.

For now, I should figure out a story to tell the identification card teller. It would need to be believable.

Think. This body looks around sixteen in human years, so I’d build my bases around that information. Plus, I was to have run away from my home. Not to mention, it seemed like most humans in this town were physically incapable.

So, I could say that I was a mercenary-for-hire troop. It would cover those bases. Rough living conditions…Check. An explanation for physical and combative skills…Check.

The only hoop I had to jump through is how I knew magic. I would need to ask Jamie about why he was surprised in the morning. Surely, there were conditions to knowing magic that I remained ignorant in.

Right. It was a stable plan to work off. But nothing was concrete, plans bent around the changing situation. That was the primary premise of war.

Hah. This reminded me of the hours that I would spend in the territory’s office. Adbeel oversaw training the troops and Dagon could provide information. After they finished their other duties, the three of us would devise plans and methods to oversee battles and sieges.

I know humans thrived on their mundane lives, wishing for peace. But it is just a different environment in Hellion. Different values, expectations, and traditions. There was never a moment to relax. You had to be prepared to fight at any moment. Still, it was home.

Those days devising and constructing attack routes were a collection of my fondest memories.

Memories that existed in the past, as I would not know when the next time, I would be able to return.

I’d never admit it verbally, but the human world wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. The town functioned as the inner section of Hellion did. Just families trying to make a living.

Of course, this meant nothing to my distaste for humans. I still didn’t like them. And at the end of the day, I was only using Jamie to navigate through human society better. Trane would allow access to learning how human armies functioned.

I could also try to learn about ARC.

It was a mundane waiting game.

None of this would matter when I came back with troops and decimated these same towns and kingdoms.

Till that time came, I was going to enjoy this break.

As much as I could.

The moonlight continued to flutter in from the canopy. Sounds of critters added to the sympathy of the forest.

For once in my life, it was peaceful.

I’m not sure if I liked that.