Sre, the Ice Dragon’s hatchling and bearer of a fragment of the Demon King’s fragment, was not alone.
Inside Sre’s body dwelled ‘Sugarado,’ the once king of the Ice Dragons, who was now asleep but could exert influence at any moment.
Having two souls in one body.
Under normal circumstances, such an abnormal harmony would be impossible, but it was feasible because Sre was born from Sugarado’s ‘arrangement.’
In other words,
“Ertarn might be capable too. No, it might actually be easier.”
“Hmm.”
Ertarn could also carry a child within herself.
Even if considering oneself a successor, asking for unity might seem a bit much, but in a way, it made perfect sense.
“Ertarn is the world itself.”
It’s no exaggeration to say that everything born and raised in the world came from Ertarn.
The giants of this land were creations directly molded by Ertarn as well.
They were practically part of Ertarn’s body.
Furthermore, the child that Ertarn harbored resembled her both in nature and power.
It wasn’t much different than how Sugarado created Sre for his alternative vessel in the future.
As I said that and petted Sre, Ertarn nodded, stroking her child as well.
“Indeed. That’s a method. Isn’t it?”
“Yes. Even if something goes wrong later, sharing a part of the body would be fine. It would be much more stable than Sre, who is a living being.”
[Can that happen?]
[Sre does have it.]
[?]
[Ohhhhh.]
[Wasn’t that ice dragon dead? LOL]
[Sre is so cute.]
[Hmm, Lily…]
[That was legendary back then.]
[For real LOL.]
[Ah.]
[I freaked out during the Dragon Raid.]
The viewers seemed to get nostalgic and started flooding the chat with stories from the past.
Although not much time had passed, the moment I first met Sre felt like quite a while ago.
After all, so much had happened since then.
“I never thought about it. You’re unusual. Still.”
“It’s not an easy matter to think about. Especially if you’re an ordinary living being.”
No matter how similar it may seem, who could carelessly hand over their body, powers, and everything else to ‘another’?
Even family or lovers would find that impossible.
I had countless opportunities to try it myself but never dared to.
If Ertarn were a typical living being, I would have suggested another way, but it was precisely because she was Ertarn that it was possible.
“An existence born from a non-living being.”
“Become an existence.”
The subject ‘I’ was faintly born, making the boundary with ‘others’ vague as well.
“To humans, the resident next door is a stranger, but to Ertarn, they are infinitely closer.”
Whether it’s the giant living next door, plants and animals, or even a towering mountain.
Everything was born within Ertarn’s ‘inside.’
While it may not have been the case in the past, over thousands of years, everything has come under Ertarn’s influence.
Ertarn continued to look down at the child sucking on a baby bottle.
“…I see.”
“Right?”
“So, how do we do it?”
“First, it’s simpler than you think, but the soul…”
I explained in detail to Ertarn how to become one with the child.
To be precise, it felt more like a landlord and tenant living in the same building than truly becoming one.
Even if it’s not exactly co-ownership, the child would gradually gain their own rights while living in the building.
It wouldn’t be surprising if, having obtained even a fraction of the authority in the world ruled by Ertarn, one ascended to a divine position.
“The scenario quest will definitely be cleared, of course.”
It couldn’t have been a smoother and more comfortable process.
“…So, you need to combine a part of the self-consciousness that has spread widely across the world with the child’s soul in a cross format. Like how waves spread sideways from above—”
[What the heck?]
[LMAO]
[The professor is lecturing again.]
[???]
[The celestial being seems dazed.]
[Huh?]
[LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO]
[Are you really understanding this?]
[So, is this really going to work then?]
Why? I explained it super simply.
Compared to the magic of the demon race, this is quite easy.
If one possesses upper-level authority and rank, it’s definitely a manageable difficulty.
I explained while even drawing pictures in the air using divine power and mana, and after hearing the whole story, Ertarn stared at me with a blank expression.
“…That’s the basics for now. I’ll gradually let you know any additional modifications afterward. Understood?”
“……”
“Ertarn?”
“Not a single bit.”
“What?”
“Not a single bit. I don’t know what you mean.”
“Huh?”
“Can you explain it again?”
???
Did they really not understand that?
[LMAO]
[They didn’t get it, Lily.]
[Ugh.]
[What would a stone head know?]
[Lily looks so flustered, it’s hilarious!]
[The professor has taught many classes, but they didn’t understand even 10% LMAO.]
[Is that true?]
[Did I think it would be easy?]
[Even the progenitor can’t handle this.]
“Well, you know, this is easier than I expected.”
It’s natural for users to struggle with understanding mana due to their low comprehension.
But Ertarn is the master of this world and its residents.
They already possess a power similar to mana within their bodies and can handle magic to some extent.
It’s just that they prefer physical combat since it’s derived from non-living beings.
With their upper powers and ranks, it’s only natural for them to understand things even if they don’t want to.
“There might be one or two students in the academy who can understand. And of course, Lasty’s magic is more difficult.”
Why can’t they understand?
I wondered if maybe Ertarn just didn’t want to.
“Well… even if you say that… I don’t know.”
Looking into those innocent eyes, it was clear they weren’t avoiding it.
They genuinely did not understand.
“Hmm… this is unexpected.”
This was a magic formula that even the demon race or lower celestial beings could understand.
Not understanding this was beyond my expectations.
It seems Ertarn is more like a rock than I initially thought.
“Can you do it for me?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You seem to know well.”
[Right]
[Lily, just do it]
[Hahahahahaha]
[How can a rock understand magic;;]
[Didn’t Lily do it before?]
[Like Sre, go go go]
“I want to do that too, but…”
To be honest, I’d prefer doing it myself.
If I wanted to, I could do it without needing to explain or help them understand.
In the past, it took me hours because my power was heavily sealed, but now an hour should be enough.
The only problem is…
“The situation is a bit different now compared to then.”
“Situation?”
“Yes. It’s true that it’s easier for non-living beings to bond than with living creatures, but they are very vulnerable to third-party influences.”
Back then, Sre and Sugarado, while similar, had a clear sense of self.
So even though I intervened to bind their souls together, there weren’t any significant changes or issues.
Self-awareness is an important protective device against external interference.
“But on the contrary, Ertarn and the child have weak self-awareness. The distinction between ‘others’ and ‘me’ is almost laughable.”
If they had resonated with each other and become one on their own, perfect symbiosis might have been possible…
“But that creates a problem.”
“Yes. There could be psychological issues. They might even completely lose their sense of self.”
“I could completely lose Arl, you know.”
“I’m neither from Ertarn nor do I have anything in common with it.”
“For stability, Ertarn must perform the magic directly.”
Ertarn was deep in thought.
“If it’s for the child’s survival and succession, it’d be better to just leave it be.”
“But even so, there’s my request, and there will be more users coming to target the child regardless of me.”
“Of course, Ertarn is strong, but she can’t hold them off forever.”
“Just giving it away wouldn’t work, right?”
“Rank?”
“Rank or whatever. Not fully, but…”
“That’s even riskier.”
“Given that the child already lacks agency, dividing Ertarn’s rank would be like creating Ertarn mk.2.”
“The child would just get ‘disposed of,’ and the quest wouldn’t be cleared, which isn’t what either of us wants.”
[Hmm]
[So what do we do?]
[Let’s just kill it, hahaha.]
[Can’t Lily do something?]
[This is tricky.]
[Sniff.]
[Let’s teach it to study like a rock.]
“Or I could talk to Lasty to see if there’s an easier way. Magic isn’t my specialty.”
“Yeah. I’ll try my best too.”
“By the way, do you need anything?”
“Huh?”
“Creating a successor is also part of fulfilling my request. I’m willing to help if I can.”
Even if we just study without much else, we’d clear the quest, but I wanted to help within my means.
Ertarn seemed to ponder for a moment before pointing with a finger to something beyond.
“Over there.”
“?”
“Something I’ve caught. A burden.”
“A burden? Are you talking about challengers?”
“That’s not it.”
Then what could it be?
As I tilted my head, Ertarn sighed, imagining them while petting the child.
“Go take a look. Feel free to beat them up too.”
“Uh… Sure.”
Being classified as a burden by Ertarn, the world’s master, when I’m not even a user—what the heck could it be?
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
