EP.17
Dragons are the most noble of races.
They are the primordial race created by the goddess and demon god who fashioned this world, and they are the coordinators of all realms.
Although their significance has faded over time, it does not mean that the status of dragons has diminished.
At least up until a few hundred years ago, dragons possessed an incredible magnificence. It was generally notorious, though.
Anyhow.
Among them, the Red Dragon, which could be considered the foremost, had no rivals.
Thus, Rehilis was confident.
She believed she could defeat any creature that challenged her.
But that confidence just vanished.
Jörmungandr, Azure Dragon.
The mere display of their presence sent her mind spiraling, almost as if she was about to lose consciousness. Truthfully, she was on the verge of losing it, but still.
What mattered was this.
Rehilis Altreyne realized the vastness of the world.
[P-Please, just spare my life! I’m so sorry!!]
Without hesitation, she bowed her head.
She had not had a long life since becoming an Adult Dragon.
After trembling in fear during her childhood in the lair, she finally became an Adult Dragon, only to meet a stronger monster and face death right away.
She absolutely did not want that.
The majesty of a dragon? Pride?
It meant nothing if she were dead.
Thus, Rehilis was able to bow her head without any reluctance.
‘A m-monster…’
She trembled upon seeing the serpent before her.
For some reason, it appeared smaller than before.
Yet that form was still several times larger than Rehilis.
‘At first glance, it looks ordinary…’
There was no overwhelming aura present.
In fact, its existence felt so faint that she could hardly determine whether Jörmungandr truly existed or not.
That made it even more terrifying.
Rehilis recalled the aura that Jörmungandr had revealed.
Even with just a little display, the overwhelming presence made her entire body tremble. Moreover, it felt like something more than just a simple display of power. Surely, the weight of existence accumulated over the creature’s lifetime could not be compared to her own, but beyond that, she could sense something divine emanating from it.
It felt like a completely different class of existence.
[Stop. Raise your head.]
[U-You’re not going to kill me?]
[I had no intention of killing you in the first place.]
Upon hearing that, Rehilis lifted her head.
Jörmungandr was quietly gazing at her, its eyes transparent and devoid of any hostility. Only then did Rehilis feel a sense of relief and carefully curl up in a corner of the cave.
Jörmungandr looked at her as if it found it absurd that she had thrown away the dignity of being a dragon.
Feeling slightly pricked by that gaze, Rehilis turned her head.
What greeted her was the cave.
It was extremely spacious, and for some reason, it was filled with the strong scent of humans.
And what was that statue in the middle of the cave?
A carved wooden statue that looked like an imitation of Jörmungandr stood ponderously in the center.
As Rehilis’s gaze fell upon the statue, Jörmungandr shook its head.
[The people who worship me have made it a bit too large.]
Worship, huh.
It made sense.
It would be strange for such a being not to receive any worship.
Rehilis nodded.
Even she had those who worshiped her.
The squirrels, deer, rabbits, and such in the forest.
Although they weren’t particularly strong, they were quite pleasant to be around.
Ah, speaking of which, the deer might be worried.
Rehilis glanced over at Jörmungandr.
A lingering gaze.
Feeling that gaze, Jörmungandr nodded amiably.
[Well then, if there’s something to do, go ahead.]
[Yes, thank you so much for your kindness!]
The Red Dragon bowed deeply, completely devoid of her previous arrogance.
[Ah, take this with you.]
As Jörmungandr spoke, it handed Rehilis a scale that shimmered with a muted hue, gleaming like obsidian.
Rehilis accepted it absentmindedly while tilting her head in curiosity.
[Why this…?]
[If something dangerous occurs, just tap it.]
[Y-Yes…]
Rehilis nodded readily.
She felt a bit apprehensive about what trick Jörmungandr might have up its sleeve with this scale, but realizing that someone of its caliber could easily bypass any defenses she might employ, she humbly accepted the scale.
…And it sparkled wonderfully.
Rehilis bowed her head to Jörmungandr and soared into the sky, returning to her lair.
Hoping that this would be the last meeting with it.
*
Having attained divinity, some things had changed.
First of all, others no longer cowered when they saw me. To be more precise, I had learned how to conceal the aura that I had previously unconsciously emitted, you could say.
Before, no matter how much I tried to hide it, a faint aura would leak out.
That slight aura likely frightened people upon sight.
Now, that wouldn’t happen.
Of course, the fear stemming from my appearance still existed, but I could address that gradually.
In the past, I would unconsciously harmonize with nature based on my emotions. When I was angry, thunder would crash, and storms would sweep everything away.
It caused quite a bit of trouble.
Now, I could fully control such weather.
For instance, I could summon rain wherever I wished.
I could bring rain to drought-stricken areas or turn a completely dry desert region into a sea.
Beyond controlling the weather at will, I could entirely transform the very landscape. It was undoubtedly deserving of the title of divine power.
Let alone, my body had also fully matured.
Whereas I could only wrap around mountain ranges before, now I could encircle an entire planet.
Of course, if I were to actually wrap around a planet, all the creatures in that path would perish, so I would grow to a size that either floated in the sky or hidden mass.
To say that a planet could be my domain was no exaggeration.
With this body, I could cover an entire planet—what else could that possibly mean if not that it was my domain?
However, it wasn’t like I could know everything that happened on the planet. Strangely enough, this planet had quite a few restrictions, so even becoming a divine being didn’t mean I could rampage without any limitations.
In fact, it felt like becoming a divine being brought even more restrictions upon me.
But regardless.
Most of the things I wanted to do became possible.
For instance.
[It’s about time to repay my debts.]
Like ending the war that had persisted for thousands of years between the human realm and the demon realm.
[The Demon King.]
*
It had already been thousands of years since the war between the human realm and the demon realm began.
During that time, both realms had continuously sent troops to each other, maintaining the frontline over long years.
Naturally, due to the vast size of that frontline, there had been more than a few precarious moments.
Both sides constantly devised strategies, and after long years of conflict, new heroes emerged to barely hold the front lines.
Sure.
To be honest, the demon realm had always been ahead in this battlefield.
It was an unavoidable reality.
The demon realm was continuously giving birth to demon beasts and demon monsters.
When the magical energies saturating the demon realm became dense in certain terrains over time, they would coalesce and manifest as demon beasts or demon monsters.
Because of this, the demon realm’s forces were constantly replenished. No matter how much they killed, they could never eradicate all the demon beasts.
Pushing the frontlines was also impossible.
The areas where portals connecting the human realm and the demon realm appeared had already been polluted to an immense degree by magical energies.
Most people who approached those areas would find their flesh rotting and transforming back into demon beasts.
There was once a party of heroes that set out to find a portal.
A party consisting of 20 heroes, 300 knights, 300 mages, and 50 clerics.
There were rumors that they found the portal and crossed through it, but the news ended there.
The moment they traversed the portal, all communication ceased, and they vanished for decades.
Since then, no one dared to approach the portals anymore. Not knowing what lay beyond, they merely struggled to maintain the frontlines.
One of those many frontlines was Askeral.
The commander and heroic leader of that frontline, Argemiach, furrowed his brow.
“The frontline… is concerning.”
Recently, the number of demon beasts coming through the portal had decreased.
To be more precise, the demon beasts that had continuously charged toward the frontline began retreating en masse.
Had they finally instilled a fear of humanity in the demon beasts?
“No. That can’t be right.”
Erasing such hopeful thoughts, he thoroughly and coldly pondered the reasoning behind it.
With one error, the lives of tens or hundreds of thousands were at stake.
Thus, he thought and analyzed meticulously.
He made sure not to overlook even the slightest mistake.
Argemiach frowned as he unfolded a map.
“They disappeared right here.”
He pointed to a forest, Keras, far from the Askeral frontline and close to the portal.
At some point, the demon beasts began vanishing into this location. It was extremely unusual. He had always thought that the only things driving demon beasts were their insatiable impulses for slaughter and combat.
In the decades Argemiach had maintained the frontline, he had never once seen the demon beasts retreating.
“It’s strange… very strange.”
He wanted to find the cause, but the information was far too inadequate.
His ability was to derive the most ideal strategies based on the information presented, not to predict events that had yet to occur and act upon them.
Just as he was deep in thought, furrowing his brow, the door burst open.
Boom——!
A knight rushed in urgently.
“Hey, I’ve told you time and time again to knock before entering…”
“It’s a disaster! Commander! The demon beasts have launched an attack in the western forest, Artel!!”
“What?”
“The number is… thirty thousand… an unprecedented number…”
“……Gather all troops immediately.”
The western forest, Artel, was the exact opposite direction of where the demon beasts were emerging from the portal.
That made it the most vulnerable area for defense.
Argemiach put on his armor and stepped out the door.
“It seems the demon realm is aiming for an endgame.”
A massive war that would be recorded in history was about to begin.
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