Even though the Seer’s body was already turning into stone, he maintained his composure and looked towards the golden dragon.
“And you, Dragon God. Well done. I can praise you honestly, for overcoming my strategies.”
The dragon raised his barrel with a disinterested snort.
“Strategies? Overcome? I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“And I have no idea why you are asking. You saw through all of my schemes and demonstrated wisdom that surpassed them. It is no time to be modest.”
“…Pfftt…!”
The dragon began to chuckle.
As if the Seer was telling a wonderful joke.
“Bwahahaha… Ahahaaha! I was wondering what you would say, and then you start talking about strategy. About concealing true intentions? This is… Hahahah. It is too much… Hahaha!”
“…What is so amusing about that, wanderer of worlds?”
“Then listen to me. Why did you let victory slip through your fingers earlier?”
“Victory? But it was not possible.”
Furukamuto frowned in displeasure. The dragon raised his finger cheerfully.
“Send the entire infantry against the Demon King’s army. The Hero should then retreat with the cavalry and return to the capital. It was not a difficult move.”
“But! The Demon General and kobold’s attacks…!”
“After that, you could station a few cavalry and dragoon units at equal intervals and send them against the general as expendable soldiers. And then you could use your prized generals and special units to hold back Sheto.”
“Such a thing would be…!”
He tried to rise to his feet at the dragon’s words, but his legs were already petrified to the knees.
As he cursed his restraints, he tried to regain his composure.
“That is nothing but a simple retreat… A pointless waste of men. It is hardly a strategy.”
“Hah…ahahahahaha!!”
The dragon’s unrestrained laughter made his entire body tense. His nerves prickled with irritation. The dragon must have enjoyed this reaction, as he continued to laugh even more loudly.
“Your divine rule allows you to rebuild your army as many times as you wish, as long as the Hero is alive. And once you reached the capital, you would have been able to summon sixty thousand fresh troops that are scattered across the lands. In the meanwhile, how do you think the Demon General’s army would fare?”
There was certainly some logic to the Dragon God’s argument.
But if he had done that…
“But if you had done that…”
The words came as if the dragon had read his mind.
“You would have been forced to show the kings of the three nations your Hero, now a pathetic and defeated shell of himself. He would have had to kneel and beg for aid.”
After allowing the silence to linger, the dragon continued.
“And you would never bring yourself to do something so disgraceful. Not to mere humans. Isn’t that right?”
“Ah…”
“Up until now, you have sought to win battles perfectly in every way. You tried to make Salia withdraw before the battle began, you drove Keita into despair so that he lost the will to fish, and deliberately held back in front of the Demon General in order to make defeat seem inevitable.”
Furukamuto gripped his armrest and struggled, as if trying to escape from his body.
But his body continued to turn into stone, and be exposed to the dragon’s mouth.
“The divine rule of Reset was nothing more than a prop to create the illusion of perfection. That you could never make a mistake. All of that had been screaming at me the whole time.”
“Wh-what are you…”
“Your weak heart, which was afraid of defeat…”
Dragging his giant frame, the dragon moved closer. With the smile of a beast closing in on its prey.
“You could not bear it. Losing, being covered in dirt, and being laughed at by the masses. That is why you desperately trample over others, strive to stand above your enemies, and seek the comfort of feeling safe.”
“Bu-but…tha-that is true for everyone!”
“Of course, everyone is afraid of losing. But what you did was beyond that. And because of it, you were easily led by my strategy.”
The dragon said with a grin.
“From the moment I said that I had been through your divine rule, you were dancing in the palm of my hand. You were caught in the illusion of a grand battle that I created.”