Reincarnated in a Shounen Manga - Chapter 256

Chapter 256 - Army? I Gotta Get One Myself!

Carpy narrowed his eyes at the Gardens of Babylon and concentrated on the man with the green hair.

This was someone Master Kon had known from the original story—the False God, whom Perenelle had strived to create for so long. He had a dangerous special ability, but Carpy knew he shouldn't assume the guy still had the same powers, considering how much things had changed.

However, this guy was the offspring of the people who had killed Master Kon. There was no way Carpy could allow someone like this to continue living!

Carpy opened his draconic mouth wide, gathering Ord at the back of his throat. The dark-green-haired man's eyes widened, undoubtedly sensing the power behind the incoming blast. However, even if he did, it didn't matter. In less than a second, Carpy had amassed all the Ord he needed and unleashed a fiery pillar towards the Gardens of Babylon.

The roar was so hot that the clouds above evaporated, and the sky turned a fiery red. With the speed the flames moved, they were almost about to hit the Gardens of Babylon in an instant. Carpy held nothing back in this attack, which possessed more than enough power to obliterate the Gardens of Babylon.

However, just as the blast was about to hit them, the Gardens of Babylon shimmered in and out of existence, teleporting away from the blast at the last moment.

Carpy felt annoyance surge through him and closed his mouth, ceasing the beam. However, whatever remained from the fire pillar flew into the distance and crashed into the sea, causing a massive explosion. A mushroom-shaped cloud of salty mist rose, and the entire ocean trembled, heating up the shores around Avalon Island.

Though Carpy was frustrated that his attack hadn't connected, he decided against launching another assault. It was clear that the Gardens of Babylon could teleport to safety. Nevertheless, his attack hadn't been in vain; he had learned about their teleportation ability.

Furthermore, this also revealed the green-haired man might not have been powerful enough to withstand the dragon's breath attack or stop it by himself.

The latter was merely an assumption, and Carpy kept his guard up. The dark-green-haired man could have been acting to lower Carpy's defenses.

With that, Carpy decided not to confront either of the newfound powerhouses. Both sides had armies at their disposal, while he had none. There was something that needed to be done about that.

To beings as powerful as them, armies might appear as nothing more than an inconvenience. Carpy, however, knew better. Even a small opening could be exploited against their opponents.

He was never going to underestimate his enemies because that would be failing to live up to Master Kon's expectations. Master Kon, after all, would never be foolish enough to underestimate an adversary.

With this in mind, Carpy descended and submerged himself in the scaldingly hot seawater. There were lifeless fish and demons' bodies floating on the surface, casualties of the aftermath of his blast.

Despite the destruction, Carpy remained composed. He swam deeper, extending his senses.

Both the Gardens of Babylon and the local Avalon residents had ultimate class creatures in their armies. He needed some of his own ultimate class demons.

He continued his descent until he reached a depth where even light couldn't penetrate. The underwater chaos from his earlier attack hadn't reached this far down.

With a deep growl, he released an underwater roar that reverberated through the sea, creating a tsunami poised to strike Avalon Island. However, the threat was abruptly thwarted by a colossal sand palm, one of the many abilities of the creatures on Avalon Island.

Carpy paid little attention to the halted tsunami; it wasn't his intention to  create a tsunami with a roar.

The clamor of his roar roused the sleeping demons on the seafloor. Most appeared furious, ready to engage him in combat, until he unleashed water blades, swiftly killing many of them. The survivors he nodded to, saying,  "Good, you will do. Join my army and let's fight against my-... I mean, our enemies in the land and sky."

A whale-like demon with crab legs, an ultimate-class, challenged him, "Who are you to awaken us from our slumber and then order us around?!"

Carpy responded sternly, "Well if you don't want to join me, that is also a choice. Though if that's the case then you have no use to me and I will kill you all."

That said, he increased the water pressure, nearly crushing them all, including the ultimate-class whale demon.

Their defiance waned, and they bowed their heads—some, their whole bodies. Most were high-class demons, with a few formidable middle-class and two ultimate-class. While not the most formidable army, it would do for now, considering it had been hurriedly assembled by Carpy.

"We are honored to serve you, Lord Dragon," one of the demons said, and soon after, many repeated the same words.

The whale demon seemed dissatisfied, but any meager feelings of annoyance were quickly overshadowed by the fear he felt for Carpy.

Without much questioning, the demons followed Carpy as he swam upward. He used his water control to bring some cold water from below to the surface.

As they approached the shore, Carpy flew up before his scales touched the sand. The other fish looked at him strangely, and their gazes turned toward the shore. Most of their strength would diminish once they were on land, but it was clear that Carpy wasn't giving them much of a choice.

However, they remained somewhat hesitant until the second ultimate class demon under his command, resembling a mermaid, stepped forward. As she landed on the ground, her lower fish body transformed into human legs. She stood up, a bit unbalanced but still smiled at Carpy, her silky blue hair serving as her only clothing, her diamond-like eyes locked onto him.

"Lord Dragon, my kind are weakened on land. But I will follow you to the other side of the world," she stated.

Carpy nodded, and his eyes flashed. In an instant, a dark blue dress appeared around her body, and the mermaid's starry eyes shone even brighter. "Is this the rumored magical powers of dragons? It is so amazing! I have never seen something like this!"

"Don't worry, I won't let you fight on land either as that would be too big of a disadvantage for your kind," Carpy stated, casually ignoring the mermaid's strange look in her eyes, reminiscent of the one Anika had when she stared at Master Kon.

Just like his master, Carpy was going to handle this the same way and act as though he hadn't noticed anything.

Instead, he gathered a large glob of water from the ocean, smashed it into the island, creating a deep canal, and turned it into a river where the water demons could swim.

The water demons immediately entered the river pathway and began swimming, following Carpy. However, there was an exception as the mermaid maintained her human form, creating a water platform to sit upon and fly next to Carpy.

She wore a smile on her face and hummed gentle tunes. Mermaids were known for their beautiful and hypnotic singing. But to Carpy, being a dragon, this was nothing more than a beautiful melody.

"You should go with the others of your kind down there," Carpy suggested. "I think I spotted a couple of mermaids."

"Technically, they're called sirens," she clarified. "Mermaids are just the ultimate class among our kind."

Despite her explanation, she chose to stay by Carpy's side, prompting the dragon to fix a scrutinizing gaze on her.

"You know, my people and the whale demon's army were preparing for war before you came," the mermaid remarked with a smile. "It still feels a bit surreal, as if some God just came and landed on us. He threatened us with our lives if we didn't follow him. For a second, as your power washed over us, we realized how insignificant we were and how useless our worries were compared to absolute power."

The mermaid chuckled as if she were living in a bizarre dream. She had her own affairs before Carpy appeared out of nowhere and told them what to do.

Carpy, too, recognized that from her perspective, the whole situation was absurd, "Yet, despite my show of power you decided to stay here with me."

The mermaid nodded.  "Of course, you seemed kind of in a hurry. I couldn't help but wonder what the worries of someone as strong as a dragon could be. For ultimate class demons, gathering armies is quite easy, but I have never heard of someone doing it as fast as you. No doubt you could replace us all if you wanted."

Carpy ignored her questions and continued shaping the river's water to cut through a mountain.

"Are you married?" she suddenly inquired.

"No," Carpy replied, still manipulating the river.

"Thank the gods for that," the mermaid sighed in relief, turning toward Carpy. "Then, how about we consider getting married after this fiasco of yours is over?"

Carpy couldn't help but be taken aback.

'Lady, we just met not even ten minutes ago. So why are you asking crazy things? I don't even know your name!’