Chapter: 52
Deathly Aura. We need to investigate this energy that comes from death a bit more, so let’s just hold onto it for now.
Who knows? If we process this dangerous energy well, it might come in handy.
And if we use vitality properly, it seems we can suppress the deathly aura, so we might have some level of control over it.
“For now, it looks like we can suppress this death energy using life energy… But I think I should do a bit more research, so I’ll take this with me.”
I held the frozen chunk of deathly aura in my hand. We can’t just leave such dangerous energy lying around.
The reason this energy is appearing… I have a rough idea. It’s probably due to the decaying bodies of dragons buried underground.
Yikes. Those bodies just keep causing problems over time.
Especially the energy that was attached to this Black Dragon child… Even though I adjusted my power to keep the child’s body intact, it still had enough strength to withstand my magical power.
I suspect that the deathly aura emerging from the buried bodies has accumulated and concentrated here, unable to escape due to dark spirits, resulting in this sticky deathly aura.
Ah, so maybe the deathly aura coming from there won’t be as clingy as the one that attached itself to this child? Hmm… I’ll have to check that later.
“Ughhh…”
“Huh?! Are you waking up, Seres?”
“Where is this…”
The Black Dragon, named Seres by the Dragon Lord, slowly opened its eyes.
“Uh… Human…?”
“Still not fully awake, I see. Don’t judge by appearances.”
“Don’t be too hard on me! I was half-dead after all!”
“That’s true, but…”
If anyone were dying in the agony of their body decaying alive and just barely came back, it’d be hard to get a grasp on their situation.
Honestly, it’s impressive that this child can even open its eyes right now.
“Uh… Ah! Are you perhaps the Creator Dragon God?!”
“Yep. You guessed it.”
“Of course! Where else would you find a human with horns like these?!”
At this, I patted the pair of horns on my head.
Truthfully, with these horns, anyone would recognize me.
But hiding them… feels like it reduces the kind of power I can wield naturally, which is inconvenient.
Hmm… But I can’t just create humans with horns, either.
Should I come up with some kind of disguise?
Well, I’ll think about that later. Later.
“Anyway, how are you feeling?”
“My chest feels heavy, but there’s no pain. Actually, I feel more energized than before.”
“Your chest, huh?”
I placed my hand on Seres’s body and let my magic seep in to check the chest area. I noticed a small amount of deathly aura clustered inside.
Unfortunately, it was in a pretty bad spot.
“Oh no. It looks like the deathly aura settled in the Dragon Heart.”
“What?!”
I thought I had pulled it all out, but some of it seems to have lingered, gathering in Seres’s Dragon Heart.
When I extracted that chunk, I thought whatever was left would be eliminated entirely by life energy, but it must be holding on because it found refuge in the powerful Dragon Heart full of magical energy.
It seems to be maintaining a balance by continuously converting the magic power from the Dragon Heart into deathly aura, while the life energy surrounds it, preventing further spread… What to do here?
Should I just fish it out with magic power again? Would the stubborn deathly aura clinging to the Dragon Heart, which generates tons of magic power, easily be hooked out?
Moreover, since it’s stuck to the Dragon Heart, the deathly aura attempts to grow by absorbing Seres’s magic but gets shrunk back down due to Seres’s surrounding vitality, with its purified magic power cycling back out.
“This is a hassle. Looks like I couldn’t completely deal with it.”
“What?! Do I have to hurt again?! I hate pain!!”
“Exactly. It seems like this deathly aura was special since it had been concentrated for so long. I didn’t expect it to be this persistent.”
To think it would cling on even to a Dragon Heart. That’s some serious toxic energy.
“My goodness… Creator Dragon God, is there no other way?”
“Other ways… Unless you’re ready to give up your physical body, I’d say it’s pretty much over. Or you’d have to carve out the Dragon Heart and make a new one…”
“Isn’t that pretty much choosing death…?”
When I tried to yank it out, it was too tenacious to detach without wrecking the body first.
If things stay as they are… If life energy is strong enough, we won’t have problems because of the balance between vitality and deathly aura, but if vitality shows even a little weakness, the deathly aura will try to take over the body again.
It’s like living with a poison bomb attached to the heart.
“Ugh… I don’t want to die… I hated suffering too…”
“For now, if you can boost your own vitality enough, you should be able to suppress the deathly aura in the Dragon Heart.”
“Really?! Please teach me how!”
The method…
“Use magic power to increase your vitality. It’s that simple!”
“Huh?”
At my words, Seres tilted their head as if they didn’t understand.
“Creator Dragon God, normally, people can’t do that.”
“Huh? Why not? Just do it.”
“Wha…?”
At the Dragon Lord’s words, I just tilted my head slightly.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
To put it simply.
“Was this even possible…?!”
“I told you so many times already!”
After dozens of tries, the Dragon Lord and Seres finally figured out how to use magic power to boost their life force.
“Without even attempting to do it yourself! Just saying it can’t be done over and over!”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“But it’s not easy! A dragon’s magic has fixed elements, making it hard to perform different actions, so this is the first I’m hearing it could be done like this.”
Hmm… Is that so? I didn’t know because, well, my magic doesn’t have those elements.
But maybe it’s difficult for other dragon kiddos since their elements are set.
“But still, boosting your own life force directly like this isn’t too difficult, is it?”
“That’s true, but…”
“It’s also possible to pass that boosted life force to others.”
The two dragons just nodded slightly at my words.
Why grumble when you can do it? Tsk, tsk.
Back in my day, I’d just try everything first. That’s how the dragons were made, how humans were born, and all that.
While Seres was working on boosting their life force, they suddenly seemed to remember something and said.
“But if we can drive out the deathly aura using life force… couldn’t we eradicate the deathly aura that’s breaking through the ground?”
“The deathly aura rising from the ground?”
I thought for a moment. I’m not sure how that deathly aura is coming from the ground, but if we consider how vitality and deathly aura repel each other…
“Hmm… There’s potential there.”
Of course, the life energy that can only exist within a body will slowly decompose and disappear if it doesn’t enter a living being’s body.
If we create a barrier with life energy… maybe we can stop the deathly aura from escaping?
Sure, I have no clue how much life energy would be needed.
Plus, I’d need to keep replenishing that life energy as it gradually fades… That consumption would be staggering.
Or if there’s something to store life energy, like gems or stones, and we can make a barrier… that sounds way easier.
Hmm. I’ll need to note this down as a future task. We can’t just let that deathly aura keep oozing out.
“Hmmm… But since the deathly aura is sitting in my heart, can’t we use it somehow?”
“Huh?”
“What are you saying, Seres? You want to use the energy that tried to consume you?”
“No, but brother. Since it’s already there, wouldn’t it be better to put it to use? Energy mixed with darkness and death. Doesn’t that sound totally awesome?”
“Oh boy. You foolish child. Ahem, I’m sorry, Creator Dragon God. This one is one of the younger ones among us…”
A Black Dragon that wields death energy… Black Death Dragon…? I suddenly have the urge to unleash my inner middle schooler.
“Sure, you could use it, but it won’t be easy. A little negligence and it’ll start trying to take over your body.”
“Hm. So I can use it? Since it’s living with me now, I’ll just have to go for it! After all, I can shove it back down using my vitality!”
Hmm. Is this recklessness or just naivety?
“If you start using such powers, you might be ostracized by other dragons.”
“Ostracized? I’ve been dealing with that long before! I’ve faced discrimination because of my scale color. I’m not so weak as to get hurt by that anymore!”
“I-I’m sorry, Creator Dragon God.”
Hmm. Discrimination due to scale color… All Erebus’s fault. Just like they ostracized dark spirits, now the Black Dragons are getting judged too.
“Tell the other dragons too. We’re all one kin, so no more scale color discrimination. If they take it too far, I might just get a bit angry.”
“Ah, understood! I will definitely let them know!”
Saying this should at least make the dragons think things over.
I really doubt I’ll need to get angry.
“Ah, and Seres.”
“Yes, yes!”
“If you get discriminated against by other dragons because of the deathly aura inside you, come find me.”
“What?! Are you trying to make dragons extinct again?!”
Why does this always head in that direction? I mean, there is a history for it, but still.
“If you, who bear the deathly aura and are thinking of using it, could be a help for what I have in mind.”
“Me? A help?”
“Yep.”
If I create an afterlife, I’ll need someone to manage it, and a dragon would fit that role just fine, especially one holding the deathly aura already. Hmm.
I think having three managers for the afterlife would be great. One can be the biggest shade among the dark spirits. Hmm.
“What’s the task?”
“I’m preparing to gather the souls of the deceased, investigate them, and reincarnate them after judgment. We’re still in early planning, but once it’s fully functional, we’ll be able to organize the souls that roam this world.”
There aren’t many wandering about the world just yet, but if they keep piling up, it’ll lead to trouble.
We need a proper system for timely processing!
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