EP.16
[It’s so noisy…]
In the pitch-black cave, a massive body curled up began to stir.
The bright red scales resembled precious ore, and its blood-red eyes shone like rubies.
It was a gigantic being dominating the cave.
Easily a 50m long living being, a progeny of the Dragon who mastered Magic and created the world, a catastrophic disaster uncontrollable by anyone.
The Red Dragon.
Rehilis Atrein opened her eyes.
She was in a rather foul mood.
The reason was simple.
There was a disturbance near her nest.
[I’m sure I warned them last time…]
She was a noble dragon.
With a noble body that differed from any other species by birth, she rarely made her way out personally.
Because she was precious.
She had no luxury to concern herself with trivial matters.
All she did was swiftly rush out to gather any gold she found, scare passing humans subtly, and since some time ago, slumber peacefully like the deer that had entered her cave.
But she had been quite busy.
Anyway, such disturbances were bound to bother her.
At first, she tried not to care.
However, with the sound of the waves echoing so loudly and the wind howling as if it were trying to burst her eardrums, how could she possibly fall asleep?
[Hoo… I guess I’ll have to sort this out.]
As she raised her massive body, the sleeping deer startled and jumped up.
Rehilis patted the deer’s head a couple of times to calm it down and created a magic circle.
Teleport.
A spell that moves objects.
Normally, it would be impossible to use it on living beings.
Every moment, biological signals change, and everything that composes that being alters in incredibly short intervals.
Precisely matching those changes for teleportation is impossible for any creature.
[But I am different.]
Not just any creature but a dragon.
The master of that great magic, the mighty species that first taught magic to all races in this world.
So this task was a piece of cake for her.
[Hmm… quite far away.]
It was located at least several hundred kilometers away from her lair. But perhaps it was her acute hearing, or that noise was just that loud. Although it had quieted down for now, Rehilis was curious about the source of that sound.
[Years ago, I thought the disruption was over…]
Back then, she was still a young dragon and too afraid to leave the cave, but this time was different!
Now she was a full-grown dragon, Rehilis.
Moreover, being a Red Dragon, known to be the most ferocious and powerful among dragons, there was nothing she needed to fear.
Above all, the sound of that immense nature stimulated the curiosity of the great Red Dragon Rehilis.
Dragons are inherently curious beings.
It’s hard to resist the temptation to pick up the gold lying on the roadside, but resisting curiosity was even harder.
With her eyes sparkling with curiosity, Rehilis completed the teleportation and thrust her body forward.
And there, she found…
[……?]
[Hmm…]
Two creatures were there.
Monsters that appeared to be dozens of times larger than her!
The moment their gazes met, Rehilis’s body stiffened.
‘N-No way!’
Was there a creature larger than me?
And that snake!
What in the world is that size?
It was a scale that stretched from horizon to horizon; just looking at it was overwhelming.
To think there were two such monsters!
Moreover, those mystical eyes were looking at me with interest.
Rehilis felt as if she had become a mere bug before a dragon.
But!
‘I, I am! A proud and great dragon!’
Even if they were a bit larger!
‘Not just a bit larger, but significantly larger!’
Size alone shouldn’t have any advantage in this world!
In fact, being that large would only have disadvantages in combat. Rehilis, being a dragon with a size of 50m, considered her size just about perfect.
If she were any bigger,
she might miss the precious gold because it seemed too small, or she could be left hungry, unable to feel full.
Exactly.
Rehilis’s body was that practical.
‘Combat is different.’
Besides that, she was a dragon.
The pinnacle of all living beings!
She was on a different level compared to just a larger snake or a bizarre catfish with strange whiskers.
[Hrrmm…]
Rehilis squared her shoulders.
And then, she confidently bared her teeth at the two.
[Grrr! Who are you two?!]
Even she thought it was a brave cry.
[Huh…]
[Ugh…]
The fact that those two were trembling and couldn’t say a word only confirmed how scared they were!
Rehilis gained confidence.
She puffed up her body even more and gathered a threatening breath in her mouth.
For most creatures, this alone would instill overwhelming fear, and they would tremble at her feet.
[Aren’t I asking? Who are you two?!]
Ah, can’t they speak at all?
It was satisfying to see them trembling without a word before her might.
Moreover, the fact that such a large snake remained still before her filled Rehilis with great satisfaction.
‘As expected, they are just big, not my match at all.’
Of course.
She was the pinnacle of living beings, a dragon.
Her confident red eyes were fixed on the two.
As they locked eyes for a moment, they both simultaneously released their identities.
[I am Jörmungandr.]
[I am the Azure Dragon.]
Of course, their introduction never reached Rehilis’s ears.
[Huh.]
The moment they unveiled their identities, she fainted and plunged toward the sea.
The last thing she remembered was,
‘Ah, the sea looks clear.’
Splash—!
Somehow, she wanted to swim.
* * *
[…….]
Jörmungandr looked at the dragon collapsed on his body with an expression of disbelief.
Suddenly appearing and then being so startled they trembled—it honestly made one think, is this really a dragon?
Also, seeing it puff up its small body confidently like a scared chick was frankly just cute.
When it suddenly dropped to the ground, he caught it, but now he didn’t know what to do.
Anyway.
First of all, let’s set aside the dragon matter.
[Azure Dragon, you don’t know what kind of place this is either, do you?]
[No. One day I woke up and found myself in a place like this—a place with different mass, size, and people.]
Mass, size.
I could roughly guess what he meant.
This planet was on a different scale than Earth.
As far as I know, the circumference of Earth is about 46,250 km.
However, this planet was on a completely different trajectory than that. The fact that my body could wrap around it twice was part of that. While it is difficult to measure accurately, a rough estimate would put it at several hundred thousand kilometers or more. At this size, I could wrap around Earth several times.
Naturally, such a size would be incredibly burdensome to live on Earth.
So I thought this couldn’t be Earth…
[The people are different too?]
[Yes. Their appearances may be the same, but there is something fundamentally different about them. I don’t mean to say they are evil; it simply means their essence is different.]
Something fundamentally different.
That seemed to be a matter worth pondering more deeply.
Of course, now that I could see humans with my own eyes, I could perceive their essence and even their souls.
But that’s only true when there’s a basis for comparison.
Not knowing what kind of essence the humanity of Earth possessed, I found it impossible to distinguish between the two with my current understanding.
Nonetheless, I had gathered information.
‘This world is not naturally formed.’
This overwhelming mass proved that.
Typically, a planet of this size would have an immensely overpowering mass, making it impossible for humans to endure its gravity.
Above all, a star with such mass would usually be a sun of some kind.
‘However, the mere fact that it doesn’t behave like one proves that this world is artificial.’
It wasn’t all that strange.
After all, it was a world where beings called gods clearly existed.
Creating a planet to their liking would be a trivial task for them.
Though I also became a god-like entity… it was unavoidable that I lacked the divinity compared to those who are truly called gods.
‘On top of that, bringing in a guardian beast like Jörmungandr would mean something more.’
I didn’t know the purpose behind it, but it was certainly not a trivial matter.
‘I’ll have to think about it a bit more.’
I was curious about the thoughts of those who brought me here, but for now, that information remained elusive.
Thus, I conveyed to the Azure Dragon that I too had been brought here, and Jörmungandr returned to his cave, carrying the small dragon.
‘As expected, a cave is more comfortable.’
Could it be because I’m a serpent?
Being around human civilization felt less stable; I preferred curling up in nature like this.
How much time passed while I carefully laid the Red Dragon down?
[Hmm…]
The dragon blinked its eyes as if shaking off sleep and looked at me.
[Have you woken up?]
[Eek…!]
Upon locking eyes, it jumped up in surprise and curled up in a corner of the cave, trembling.
[P-Please just let me live! I’m so sorry!!]
Hmm.
It seemed thoroughly scared.
Next chapter coming soon!
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