The blue flame swelled aggressively, trying to swallow me whole.
It was quite a rough and strong movement, but it didn’t really matter.
No matter how much power an Intermediate Angel of the Demon Race had, it didn’t mean anything to me at my level now.
After casually extinguishing the fire, I picked up a stone and saw a faint something.
“What is this… a knot?”
A faint knot surrounding the blue flame.
Compared to the ‘water surface’ and ‘light’ knots I had seen from the ‘Earth’ before, it was much weaker, but its size was quite massive.
It looked as though it was embracing the ‘whole’ beyond the blue flame in front of me.
The reason I couldn’t see the situation outside the magic array I had felt earlier must have stemmed from that knot.
As I tried to untie the knot with my hand, I felt space separating.
‘This is…’
A Broken Cradle.
Above it, countless dragons were engaged in their respective tasks, and at the very top was a dragon missing one wing.
‘Dragon Lord Sharurodo.’
Sharurodo was in the midst of a ‘pact’ for a dimensional migration plan to escape the war, and the Dragon Hearts of seven dragon kings, including him, were preparing to become a knot.
It seemed to be a similar timeframe to the memories of the dragons I had seen from the ‘Earth’ before.
The Light Dragon, Sharurodo, looked at another dragon king with earnest eyes.
“What’s going on? Inanie.”
“Well, I realized there’s a bit of a problem with the plan.”
‘Inanie?’
If it’s Inanie, that means she’s the Void Dragon.
Most of the Void Dragons are the betrayers known as the ‘Dragon of Chaos,’ but they weren’t the only ones.
Among them were also those who were wrongfully captured by demons and forced to become Void Dragons through experiments.
Inanie was one such example.
‘I thought Inanie was dead… Was she alive at this time?’
As she looked at Sharurodo, exuding an alien aura with her purple skin, he nodded.
“I know the plan isn’t perfect. But I can’t prepare any more thoroughly than this. Gathering the seven Dragon Hearts and moving forward using powerful life as fuel. Even if minor disturbances arise, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about later.”
“Later?”
As Sharurodo questioned, Inanie brightened her eyes and subtly expanded her senses.
She looked vigilant, as if wary of being overheard by anyone.
The sight of Sharuroido, cautious as if someone might be listening.
Doubting fellow dragons wasn’t a good act, but Sharuroido didn’t say much about it.
After all, it was the ‘Dragon of Chaos,’ the betrayer of dragons, who had taken one of Sharuroido’s wings.
Still, as a Dragon Lord, he felt he should say something.
“Inanie, the dragons left in the cradle are trustworthy companions. Being too wary isn’t wise.”
“Maybe for now.”
“…? What does that mean?”
“As you know, I have been subjected to experiments by the demon race. Through endless pain and time, I gained various knowledge and became stronger. Of course, my lifespan has drastically shortened.”
‘It’s hard to even call myself a dragon.’
“…That’s true.”
“What? Are you feeling sorry for me? No need for that. We’re all victims here.”
“I know. So, what do you want to say?”
“The cost spent on dimensional migration and what we expend… If my calculations are correct, we might lose all existence by the time the migration succeeds. No, we will definitely lose it.”
“…That makes some sense.”
“Exactly. Sharuroido.”
Sharuroido showed a slight shrug, but in reality, Inanie’s words were true.
The seven Dragon Kings, having come down as meteors, had lost their very essence.
In their place, the seven children—new masters of power—were born, and their exact identities remained undisclosed.
Whether it was reincarnation, mere shells, or entirely different third entities, even that was unknown.
Sharuroido kept silent for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head.
“I don’t care.”
“…You don’t care?”
“Anyway, the primary purpose of this plan is to ensure the survival of the dragons. If a descendant remains, that’s all that matters. I’ll be the first to expend my life for that.”
“…You’ve always been that way. Alright.”
“Haha. Is that what you’re worried about? Well, other dragons with inflated egos might not appreciate it, but don’t worry. They all talk big, but they’re decent folks at heart.”
“I know. I’m not worried about that. Given my lifespan, I’ll probably die first anyway. If we run low on power, take mine first.”
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
“Now is when the real purpose begins.”
Inanie explained.
After migration, all who were once dragon kings will lose their existence in one form or another.
In their place, ‘something’ born of that power will appear, and that ‘something’ will unleash the overwhelming might it holds in its grasp.
Something would unleash tremendous power held in my hands.
The Dragon Kings can control it since they have an ego that matches their strength and a history to back it up, but that existence cannot.
‘Just like Celestials and Demon Races.’
“There’s a high probability they’ll wield their power recklessly and destroy the new homeland, just like the Celestial and Demon Races. The dragons in hibernation might get eaten.”
“That’s… definitely a problem. One of them needs to regain consciousness to maintain control.”
The seven Dragon Kings were already tied up in knots.
To ensure a safe migration, we needed everyone’s strength, and even if one or two fell short, there’s no guarantee the rest could be controlled.
“Is there a way?”
“Let’s create a suppressant. We’ll make a challenger with equal power so they can’t run wild.”
The challengers of the dragons.
I sensed the existences that the Void Dragon Inanie was speaking of.
‘The Reverses.’
Monsters that share the power of reversed heavens and rival the Dragon Kings’ powers.
The identities of those unrecognizable monsters were a measure devised by the dragons for controlling future successors.
The abnormal strength of the Reverses was also influenced by the magic that utilized the powers of the dragons and the knowledge of the Void Dragon’s Demon.
“Gaining immense power while forsaking most of their ego…”
“If they gain too inflated an ego, they could kill successors with similar power. As long as we insert only a suitable level of orders, they’ll become challengers for the successors without becoming dangerous.”
“Are we creating a common enemy?”
“Exactly. If there’s a common enemy, they won’t want to fight each other.”
‘Though they’ve fought quite a bit over such a thing.’
Inanie’s plan was only half successful.
Creating a challenger was good, but that challenger was far too close to a beast, and it was insufficient to stop their fights.
They couldn’t have predicted this situation from the beginning, so something must’ve gone awry in the plan.
After all, it was nearly impossible for dragons to use the magic of the ‘Demon Race.’
Sharurodo, after taking in Inanie’s plan, returned to the original space after consulting the Dragon Kings for their opinions.
“Lady Lily?”
[?]
[???]
[What the?]
[Looks fine.]
[What’s with just turning off the lights? LOL]
[Lily disappeared again, then appeared.]
[Where have you been?]
[What’s that in your hand?]
“Oh, this?”
I lifted the dark blue stone in my hand.
I lifted the stone.
A challenger made by the Void Dragon, a stone imbued with the power of reverse.
Previously, I untangled a knot bound to the Earth all at once, but this knot is tied to all the reverses in Teshiniria, including this stone.
That’s why I couldn’t untie it all at once, but I could sever it unilaterally like this.
“It’s the power that Kalhim swallowed. It’s safe now since it’s separated.”
“It looked incredibly dangerous earlier.”
“It was indeed dangerous.”
The blue flame of reverse tried to engulf me.
If I were a being below intermediate level, I would have been completely helpless, but after I cut it off, I could learn the truth about reverse.
One thing is certain: the Grim Reaper didn’t carry out this deed alone.
The extremely dangerous reverse that users deal with, manipulating the Demon Race’s magic is knowledge that a user could never know alone.
There’s probably a collaborator within Teshiniria.
Thud.
“…How on earth…”
“Do you know about this stone?”
As I held it out, the Elder staggered back in horror.
However, he seemed to have some strong negative feelings about the stone, his eyes burning with anger.
“…The stone of reverse is an extremely dangerous item. It was that stone that summoned endless death in the past. It was discarded after all the masters fell asleep, so how…?”
“Are you saying a discarded item is roaming around? Who discarded it?”
“Most of the priests at the time gathered to carry it out. Due to the nature of the item, complete destruction was impossible, so ultimately it was sealed in a darkness that could never be reached for eternity.”
“Darkness?”
If it’s darkness, Yena handled it.
Then could it be that the seal that was there was lifted after the darkness vanished?
But even so, it’s impossible without collaborators.
Even if the disappearance of the darkness had acted as a trigger, someone must have been helping the Grim Reaper.
“Where is that place?”
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