"You… are… who…" Dauf asked slowly. That was just how he talked.
"Put the Claymores down first."
"No… can't…" Dauf had to bring them back.
"Too greedy." Kid totally changed the subject. In the original story, Dauf and Riful had a daughter, so clearly, the two had been a real couple for a long time. But Dauf had no backbone—Riful made all the decisions at home. Total henpecked husband.
"?" But Dauf didn't get Kid's dirty joke at all. He just stared blankly, unsure if he should hit Kid or just ignore him.
Guess I'll have to do it myself. Kid leapt lightly and used Phantom Mirage Devil Fist. In an instant, he swiped all three Claymores.
Dauf didn't even realize the girls were gone until he felt his arms lighten. Kid laid out all four Claymores in a neat line, head to head, feet to feet—his obsessive need for order was kicking in.
"You… what… doing?" Dauf was not happy about Kid's actions.
"Go back. I already spoke to your Riful. From now on, we're not catching Claymores anymore. You can go home."
"…" Dauf didn't really buy it.
"Don't look at me like that. Go ask Riful right now if I'm telling the truth."
"You… come… with me… to see… Riful…" Dauf said slowly.
Not dumb after all. Kid raised his opinion of Dauf a notch. But this meant there was no way around it now. Whatever—saving lives came first. If he didn't act now, that straight-haired Claymore was going to die.
He couldn't worry about the flesh chunks inside the Claymore anymore. Ripple—activate!
The Ripple's shock made Dauf take a step back. He couldn't get close. The energy surged into the Claymore's body. This one had chunks of Dragon Descendant flesh. The Ripple invaded those too. Dragon Descendants were beings of sunlight, so the Ripple's healing still worked on them.
Kid felt something awakening inside the Claymore. His long-standing fears were proving true. The Dragon Descendant flesh was absorbing Ripple energy and boosting the Claymore's power at the same time.
The flesh used by Claymores was a fusion of pre- and post-transformation Dragon Descendant parts, merged into a new type of flesh. It couldn't be simply labeled as one or the other.
Dragon Descendants didn't eat humans. But once their flesh fused with other parts, it became parasitic cells. And parasitic cells needed to devour humans to replace hosts. Still, these cells carried all the traits of Dragon Descendants. Now those genes were waking up.
"Ah—!"
The sky darkened. Clouds gathered. A strange phenomenon rocked heaven and earth. But this wasn't Kid's doing—it was the Dragon Descendant genes reacting. Still, aside from the visual impact, it didn't do much. Just some dramatic rain.
The straight-haired Claymore vanished. Kid felt layers of scales brush across his palm. A massive, wingless creature soared into the clouds over the city.
Many Awakened Ones looked like snakes, with similar heads.
"Roar, roar—"
The thunderous roar woke the other three unconscious Claymores. The first thing they saw was the huge creature half-hidden in the dark clouds above.
"Awakened?" Jeanne said with sorrow. But that aura—what was it? It made the heavens tremble, worse than even an Abyssal One.
Kid realized with growing pressure that he'd accidentally healed someone into an "Awakening." He didn't expect the Ripple to turn a Claymore into a monster. That was on him. But it was fine—he could fix it later using the same method he used to heal Luciela and Ophelia. Still, what was with this overwhelming youki?
Did the Ripple accidentally unlock all the energy in the flesh chunk?
Now and then, scales flickered in and out of view within the clouds. But the creature didn't leave. It just circled above their heads.
Dauf felt the monstrous youki and didn't dare to attack. But just because he held back didn't mean the straight-haired Claymore had forgotten what happened. Suddenly, a massive golden-haired head shot out from the clouds, grabbed Dauf in its jaws, and flung him away.
Dauf didn't matter. Throwing him off was just venting steam. The monster turned and looked at Kid and the others.
Two huge round eyes—each the size of a lantern—locked onto Kid. They were spaced so far apart, Kid wondered how the thing even focused its vision at such close range.
"Thank you." The creature spoke, but it was still the voice of the straight-haired Claymore. Not the usual dual-toned voice of a typical Awakened One.
Awakened Ones usually had two sources of power inside them—human and parasitic cell—so their voices overlapped like a duet. But this one was different.
Kid noticed too. She wasn't giving off any killing intent.
"Thank you for letting me return to my true form."
"What do you mean by that?" Kid was genuinely confused.
"I am of the Dragon Descendant clan, a direct descendant of true dragons. But over the long ages, we've lost the ability to transform into dragons. We could only become half-formed monsters."
"…" Now that she said it, Kid really looked. She did look like a dragon—not the Western kind, but an Eastern dragon. Long turquoise body, four strong claws, crocodile-like jaws, golden mane, and small, faint horns on her head.
He hadn't noticed before. But now? It was obvious. Way too similar.
Dragons were famous for their lust. Since the era of primordial chaos, the dragon race had a reputation for being lecherous. Aside from the Dragon Kings who worked for Heaven and kept the peace for humans, wild dragons were totally out of control.
Dragons had nine sons—and none of them were even the same species. If dragons had only mated among themselves, how could they have produced such bizarre children? That's how the Dragon Descendants ended up so weird. Strange sons gave birth to stranger grandsons. Those grandsons gave rise to even weirder great-grandsons. Generation by generation, the Dragon blood thinned.
Now, even though Dragon Descendants knew they were born of dragons, they couldn't awaken the dragon bloodline anymore.
It was simple. Back in primordial times, dragons had kids all over the universe. Some of those kids didn't leave in time and got stuck behind. The humans on Einstein Planer were originally barbarians that dragons had captured to serve them. But over time, the dragons left. Only humans and the stranded dragon children remained.
Humans built countless nations on the Continent of Flames and spent endless years at war. Now, only two nations remained. The Dragon Descendants left behind no longer even looked like dragons. It was a sad sight.
But today, Kid's Ripple had awakened the Dragon Descendant's gene, turning a Claymore into a flying dragon. That was crazier than plastic surgery. No one could've predicted this outcome.
The genetic memory let the straight-haired Claymore see her ancestors' history. She understood the sorrow of the Dragon Descendants. She didn't want to eat anyone—she just wanted to thank Kid.
Kid listened to everything the dragon girl said, completely stunned. He had only one thought: 'This makes no sense.'