From head to toe, completely drenched in blood. The skin was cracked like a drought-stricken field.
What could possibly happen to a person to end up like this? Roka also tightly closed her eyes. As the Divine Power seeped in and healed the wounds, she barely managed to look human again.
After quietly laying down the blood-soaked Princess, Lady Kisea followed us leisurely. She was holding a lizard with its tail cut off and was startled when she saw the Blood Pool soaking her feet.
“Is that Ardein? The First Princess of the Empire? Master ended up like that, barely clinging to life?!”
As if she had seen something horrifying, she quickly threw the girl named Yanid, whom she had been carrying on her back. The girl fell with a thud, still unconscious, unable to open her eyes.
[That body is more like a half-dragon’s. No matter how many humans there are, they can’t possibly match it. A weakling like you would be finished in one hit.]
“What?!”
[Oh, don’t glare at me like that. I’ve already figured out the hierarchy of your group. I know that you, Kisea, are the weakest in the group.]
Azahadaka began to openly ignore Lady Kisea. The Wolf King, with a bewildered expression, was momentarily at a loss for words. Meanwhile, the lizard muttered.
[But even I find you suspicious. You look divine, but that’s not divinity. It’s absolutely impossible. What exactly are you drawing your power from?]
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
[Don’t try to brush it off. This is really important. The existence beyond you, the one that surpasses even that, no one has ever seen such a thing before.]
I stared intently at Him. The dragon who introduced himself as Azahadaka met my eyes and was startled.
“I don’t know the Lord. But now, I think I understand one thing.”
He is the one who, in every sense, is most fittingly called a God.
No further description is needed. None of the gods I’ve encountered so far could even compare to Him. The gap is not relative. It’s a fundamental, absolute difference.
[God…]
The dragon fell silent upon hearing my answer.
[Whether it’s a god or not, it’s the same as a god to us.]
The lizard’s gaze shifted to the forehead of the sleeping girl. A white mark suddenly appeared, flashing brightly and beginning to bind the girl.
While traveling the continent, you often encounter priests of the Three Divine Gods. It’s impossible not to know whose Divine Power it belongs to.
The Divine Power of Hilrae, one of the Five Great Gods of the continent, greedily bound the girl. It seemed that the reason the child couldn’t wake up was because of that.
[And those who call themselves gods, they probably are the same.]
“That’s the Divine Power of Goddess Hilrae! Why is it suddenly… Were Oberta and Hilrae in cahoots?”
[You need to learn to use your head.]
The lizard glared at Lady Kisea and spoke again. The wolf, who had been making a fuss, also growled and glared at the lizard in its hand.
[Originally, that girl was a chimera created by the Hilrae Church. They made something like that after obtaining my heart. And to control it, they engraved a mark. A mark directly connected to the goddess Hilrae.]
“Then why wasn’t it there earlier?”
[It’s engraved on the essence, so of course it wasn’t visible. You’re really empty-headed, aren’t you? That’s not something to be proud of. You need to study more.]
So, the mark wasn’t on that body, but on the girl named Yanid. That’s why it didn’t activate when Oberta took over the body.
“You keep provoking me, you know that? I’m holding back because of the treasure mountain. If that’s a lie, just wait. I’ll chew you up alive.”
[Me? You’re quite the joker. Aren’t you afraid of breaking your teeth?]
Crunch!
At the sound from behind, I turned my head in surprise. No way? Surely not. Surely, someone old enough wouldn’t be showing off how strong their teeth are by… crunching on hard candy.
That’s what I thought, but it seems my expectations were too high.
Crunch! Crunch!
Munch, munch.
It certainly had an effect. The lizard shrank back.
It looked at Lady Kisea with a somewhat strange expression and made a comment.
[If you weren’t a swordsman, you’d have made a fortune in the circus with your wolf act. Chewing rocks like that. It’s not something you can do without serious determination.]
Even the dragon sees that as a rock, not candy.
It must be too hard for a human to chew.
Anyway,
We have work to do.
[Anyway, forget it. I don’t have time to argue with an ignorant human like you. Hey, priest over there. Hurry up and put me back in there. This body was made as a weapon. There’s no freedom in it.]
“You still can’t give up, can you?”
[Why would I give up? They took my heart! Hurry, quick! After all this, are you going to let the goddess take that body?]
Sometimes, there are moments like this. Moments when you know something is wrong but have no way to correct it, so you have to choose tragedy. Fortunately, the Lord always provides us with a way to avoid such situations.
According to the lizard, this girl has been an experiment of the Hilrae Church for a long time. The church, while outwardly preaching kindness and mercy, was doing such things behind the scenes. That’s why all this tragedy happened.
-Ultimate Chimera?
Beyond the mark, something wrapped in a gentle light could be seen. But its true nature didn’t seem so gentle. She smiled upon discovering this girl.
-So, it wasn’t lost after all. Well, at least we’ve salvaged something.
When she reached out her hand, I also reached out.
No noisy process is needed. It’s natural now. As if the Commandment Bell had been in my hand from the beginning, it quietly rested in my palm, emitting a faint light.
Ding.
The miracle (汽笛) that calls forth miracles (奇蹟) spread out in faint waves. This sound is the Lord’s response to those crying out in agony.
Even a tightly tied knot will come undone if you pull on its weakest part.
The Divine Power of the goddess that bound and restrained the girl writhed like a poisoned rat and disappeared. The mark shattered, and the voice beyond it let out a scream.
[Ahhh!]
Actually, screams were also coming from behind me. The lizard flailed in the air, squawking loudly. Lady Kisea had to struggle to hold onto it to keep it from escaping.
[Did you really have to do that?! Please. What did I ask for? I’m old now. All I want is this one body!]
“Hey, you…! Stop moving!”
[I, who was once the ruler of all creatures, the master of magic! Must I spend the rest of my life in the wild in this form? Is this really right? I can’t live like this!]
“Then just die.”
Fortunately, when Roka pointed her sword, it quieted down.
“I can kill you cleanly with Sunset Slash. Do you want that?”
[…Are all you people with ears on top of your heads this ignorant?]
The lizard muttered in a small voice, but didn’t dare meet Roka’s eyes.
It seemed to have realized that our Roka is someone who follows through. Having lived so long, it had sharp instincts.
Anyway, the lizard finally calmed down and continued.
[Ahem, I showed some disgrace. Anyway, without me, that body won’t last long. Dragons and humans are too different. That body is a forced fusion, an unnatural creation.]
“You’re really persistent. Isn’t it time to give up?”
[You should be quiet. Anyway, without an experienced dragon like me constantly adjusting the body, the balance will be off. The cells will rapidly collapse in a matter of days.]
Well, then we’ll just have to reconstruct the body so that doesn’t happen. It’s not that hard…
The Commandment Bell disappeared, and in its place, the Firefly Meringue appeared. Roka’s eyes sparkled when she saw it. She seemed to want it.
…You’ve already eaten it once, so it won’t have any effect if you eat it again, right?
Anyway, I crushed the meringue in my hand and fed the golden juice that came out to the girl. Suddenly, the girl’s eyes flew open. She looked at me with a somewhat panicked expression, but seemed to realize it was good for her and kept drinking the juice.
[Wait, is that…]
Whether the disharmonious parts disappeared or not, I couldn’t tell. Before I could even notice, the girl, having finished the juice, quickly moved away from me.
Whoosh!
Bang!
Without saying a word, she spread her wings and flew away. Honestly, if you woke up and saw a bunch of strangers, you’d want to get away too.
Thanks to that, there’s now a person-shaped hole in the ceiling that’s still intact.
“The wing shape is perfectly carved. It really came out like a work of art…”
The shape of the hole was so precise, like a carefully crafted piece, that it somehow drew attention. Lady Kisea, who had been clicking her tongue, soon realized that the lizard she was holding wasn’t saying anything and quietly looked down.
“Whoa? That scared me!”
Startled by the lizard’s intense expression, she threw it away. Fortunately, before it could escape, Roka quickly caught it in her mouth and landed.
It probably doesn’t feel great to be in Roka’s mouth, but Azahadaka didn’t seem to care and was glaring at me. Specifically, at my hand, which still had some residue.
I thought it might burst into anger because Yanid ran away, but that wasn’t it.
[Give that to me. Now.]
Suddenly, a terrifying thought crossed my mind.
This Firefly Meringue can reconstruct a body to be stronger than before, no matter how badly damaged, as long as the person is alive. So, if Azahadaka eats it…
Could it be that the dragon’s body would be reconstructed and reborn?
[Bring it to me! Right now!]
Such a dangerous thing couldn’t be risked, at least not now.
I scattered the remaining Firefly Meringue and quietly met His gaze. It seemed like I had a lot to discuss with this dragon, Azahadaka.
