### Chapter 13: War of the Dragons (1)
The drop in dragon birth rates had a bunch of reasons, but the biggest culprit was the dragons’ arrogance.
Back when they were still biological creatures, their instincts must have whispered about the need to leave behind offspring. But now, they’ve transcended biology—like 80% of them aren’t even “living” anymore.
So, it makes sense that their libido and desire for descendants would take a nosedive.
On the bright side, dragons live way longer now… Even if the annual birth rate takes a hit, they should be able to keep their population stable somehow.
But,
“How lonely…”
Lately, fewer kids have been stopping by to visit me.
The lizardmen, who used to come over occasionally, have dwindled their visits to just once a year to drop off some meat as an offering.
The only ones that show up now are those seven kids that scored my scales. Is this what it feels like to be an old coot, stuck in the back room?
At least there’s some relief in the fact that the overall environment seems to be settling down.
The dinosaurs, which were nearly extinct, are slowly bouncing back, and the squabbles among dragons have lessened… Well, they’re not coming my way, so that’s gotta count for something, right?
Plus, the lizardmen are multiplying too. I do hope mammals diversify soon and maybe even some primitive humans pop up. Hmm…
So, I spent my time lounging about, monitoring the world’s situation, when suddenly a wave of drowsiness hit me.
Given how chaotic things had been, it’s only natural to feel sleepy. Yeah.
I left a note in the cave saying I was headed into hibernation and flew up to the peak of a tall mountain to dig out a massive cave.
This should keep me from being bothered by anyone else.
And thus, I kicked off my first hibernation.
Well, even though it’s hibernation, my body was asleep while my mind stayed awake.
Might as well catch up on the internet of other worlds while I’m at it. The time should fly by.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
How long had I been snoozing?
“WAR!!!”
Out of nowhere, a deafening roar reached the mountain peak where I was dozing.
War? What’s this sudden war about? Did aliens invade? Or did some ancient tentacled monster awaken from the abyss?
If none of that… could it be?
Having slept for so long, my body felt like an old log, and it took some time to get moving again.
Ugh… How long was I out? It took days just to get my limbs moving right.
Once I shook off the stiffness, I burst out of my cave and soared into the sky, only to witness—
“What the hell?”
Countless dragons soared through the air, breathing fire at one another.
“What the actual heck is going on?”
Not content with just breaths, they were swinging tails and tearing at scales with teeth and claws in a horrific display.
The little black dragonlings were mostly on the receiving end while the reds, golds, and blues were busy ganging up on the blacks.
Talk about chaos! In the midst of it all…
Boom!!!
A fireball came flying in from who knows where, smashing right into my face and exploding.
Hmm, a bit warm.
“A huge silver dragon…? Could it be?!”
“Is that the Creator Dragon God from hundreds of years ago?!”
“Who cares if it’s the Creator Dragon God! Keep attacking! This time, we’re gonna roast every last black dragon!”
“The Creator Dragon God? What a cheesy name!”
“It’s just an old thing that can’t keep up with the times! The world belongs to us black dragons now!”
Tsk. What’s with these kids and their trashy language? Such rude little lizard brats.
What a not-so-enlightening moment to witness how badly the seven have been raised.
“What do we do about the Creator Dragon God?!”
“Dunno! Just counterattack!”
“Breath! Dodge it!!”
Once again, the black dragonlings scrambled out of the way from another blast of fire.
And the missed shot? Yup, it found me again.
Boom!!!
A breath of fire that could melt rocks into magma in a flash. But to me? Just a warm puff of air.
But honestly, the real problem isn’t about getting hit or not.
How dare they. Breathe fire at me?
I turned my gaze toward the red dragon who let loose on me.
A pretty hefty dragon. Not a naïve little one, but a full-blown adult dragon.
I slowly flapped my wings and approached the red dragon.
“Eek?!”
The red dragon froze, clearly scared of my looming figure, and kept breathing fire at me. But that weak flame? It didn’t give me even a hint of warmth.
“Kids these days… no manners whatsoever. Breathing fire at their elders like that.”
As I neared, the red dragon freaked out and tried to flee, flapping its wings. But—
“Slow.”
I was a whole lot quicker to grab its face than it was to escape.
“Ifrit really dropped the ball on teaching these young ones. What a sad state of affairs.”
“Kuh, kuh?!”
The red dragon struggled to wriggle free from my grip, but its feeble attempts meant nothing against my claws.
“You looking to get yourself killed?”
“Uuugh….”
Something twisted in my grasp as I could hear it struggling.
And the groans of the red dragon slowly faded away, losing all form.
I let out a small sigh while watching the red dragon, then opened my claw.
With a head now bleeding, the red dragon fell like a rag doll.
“……”
Silence engulfed the battlefield. All eyes were on me, all noise vanished.
I spread my wings and glided off to another location.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
To a place I used to call home. The cave I once visited when dragons fought. The spot I’d resided in before my hibernation.
The cave was totally sealed up due to the mountain collapsing from the conflict.
Even the lizardmen’s temple nearby was reduced to ruins.
The little lizardmen’s hard work stacking stones had turned into a pile of rubble.
I sighed lightly and lifted my head to the sky.
Massive dragons engaged in aerial battles, attacking each other, and the fallout was wreaking havoc on the ground.
Gigantic trees were ablaze and crumbling, many dinosaurs and creatures lost their homes and met their end in a desperate scramble, while the smaller animals were desperately digging burrows to survive in a hellish scene.
Amidst this chaos, an annoyed sigh escaped my lips as I muttered softly,
[Stop.]
Unknowingly infused with magic, my sincere words silenced the dragons; they froze mid-strike and plummeted to the ground.
A bit of irritation bubbled within me. What on earth happened to spark this childish war?
“What is this?!”
“I can’t move…!”
Looking down at the dragons who had fallen into craters, I swallowed my annoyance and said,
“What the heck went down while I was catching some z’s? You there. Speak!”
I addressed the black dragon groaning in pain, and it looked up at me and pleaded,
“O, Creator Dragon God…! Please lift your killing intent!”
“I didn’t even have any killing intent, you know.”
“Then why can’t we move?!”
Why indeed?
Maybe I was rudely shook awake from a good nap, only to find the world I nurtured getting wrecked by these bratty little creatures?
Well, I suppose my sincere command played a role in all this.
Once more, I spoke from the heart.
[Move.]
Suddenly, the dragons who had been struggling to regain their freedom found themselves able to move.
“Take your time explaining what happened.”
“Well, it’s actually a long story…”
“Make it short.”
“An insolent gold dragon attacked our hatchlings! One hatchling was lost!”
What? A hatchling? In a time where the birth rate is already in the toilet, and each is precious?
“You there, gold dragon. Is that true?”
“Uh, well, that’s…”
“Speak plainly.”
“We did attack the hatchling, but… Black first overstepped their territory and invaded ours!”
So, black made the first mess of things, and gold retaliated against the hatchling because of that?
But what’s up with the others jumping in?
“You two, Red and Blue. Why did you get involved?”
“Because Black was in the wrong! We couldn’t just stand by and let them run amok!”
“Black even reached the sea! That’s unfair!”
Hmm… So it’s a matter of territory at the core.
I let out a small sigh.
[Erebus. Shamash. Ifrit. Thetis. Sylphid. Sagarmatha. Yggdrasil. Appear before me.]
I called out the names of my seven kids, and the ones summoned stood before me.
“Ugh?! M-mom?!”
“What the heck…? Mom?!”
The suddenly summoned kids were taken aback to see me.
“Explain. What happened while I was out?”
Faced with my furious demeanor, the seven kids hesitated, unable to speak.
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