The massive meteor pierced through the clouds, revealing its colossal form.
The dragons’ eyes widened in shock, fear, and despair at the sight.
“H-Holy Mother?! What is this?!”
“Mommy?! Please calm down!!!”
“My goodness….”
I’ve never exerted such power before, yet here I am using my hands directly.
“Mom! We’ve done wrong! Please forgive us!!!”
“I-I’m sorry, Mom…”
“If that thing lands, the world will shatter! Everything will be destroyed!!!”
The immense pressure from the giant meteor weighed down on the world. Even the mighty bodies of the dragons struggled to move under the overwhelming force.
Even before the meteor had fully descended, massive craters began forming in the plains.
If this is just the prelude, what will happen when the meteor actually hits?
Of course, it would bring about the end of this world.
“I merely showed you what I am capable of because you underestimated me too much.”
“Mother?!”
“Naturally, I have no intention of letting that meteor hit.”
For what I desire is not the destruction of this world.
I simply wanted to demonstrate a fraction of my power to these foolish children.
I dispersed the clouds completely, revealing the true form of the meteor as it passed through the atmosphere, glowing red hot like a mountain-sized inferno.
Should it strike, the earth’s crust would be overturned, molten lava would surge forth, and the shockwaves would send rocks and soil flying, blanketing the world in a thick dust cloud.
But such destruction isn’t what I want.
I gathered my magical power and unleashed a powerful breath from my mouth.
A silver beam filled with the essence of annihilation – a breath that erases everything it touches, converting it back into raw magic.
A single streak of silver light, reminiscent of the Milky Way, struck the meteor directly.
“Mother’s Breath…?”
“There’s no way that breath could possibly destroy that meteor…!”
Despite their words, despair still lingered in the children’s eyes.
It seemed as futile as pouring a cup of water onto a raging wildfire – understandable given the circumstances.
But…
BOOM!
The situation changed dramatically the moment the breath made contact.
Like piercing soft tofu with chopsticks, the breath cleanly penetrated the entire meteor, then spread across its surface, enveloping it in silvery mist.
The silver fog erased everything it touched, converting it back into magic. Within mere seconds, countless cracks appeared in the silver glow, and the massive meteor shattered into pieces, scattering into nothingness without leaving even a fragment behind.
The dragons were left speechless at the sight.
“Have you forgotten who spread life throughout this world? Who granted you your forms? Though I could destroy this world alone if I so desired, you thought I would simply sit idly by?”
Fear, astonishment, and dread filled the children’s eyes.
It was too late now. There was no going back.
But perhaps this was for the best.
“My children, return my scales.”
I spoke softly.
“You failed to properly manage your own children. You neglected your responsibilities, showing no progress while exploiting loopholes to cause chaos.”
I approached the nearby children.
Sylphid.
“You shall return to the wind.”
“E-Eema!”
As I removed the silver scale from Sylphid’s lower jaw, her body dissolved into a gust of wind.
She hadn’t been destroyed or erased.
She’d merely lost her physical form, causing her consciousness to scatter. Like Ifrit before her, she would eventually return to her original state over time.
“Thetis.”
“E-Eema…”
“Return to the sea.”
“No!!”
Though Thetis shook her head in refusal, it was already too late.
Hadn’t I given you countless chances? Hadn’t I offered numerous opportunities?
If you didn’t want to return, you should have managed your children better, shouldn’t you?
With the silver scale removed from beneath her jaw, Thetis dissolved into water.
When this water flows to the sea, she will awaken once more.
“Sagarmatha.”
“Sorry, Mom.”
“Return to where you belong.”
Sagarmatha silently accepted her punishment without resistance, handing over the shining silver scale.
Her brilliant scales turned into dust and scattered away.
The silent forehead of the world would return to its proper place.
“Yggdrasil.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. We should have done better…”
“Regret always comes too late. Return to your original form as a tree.”
As I removed the silver scale from Yggdrasil’s jaw, her green scales transformed into leaves of the same color and scattered away.
When new buds sprout, leaves grow, and flowers bloom on the great tree that is Yggdrasil’s true form, she will awaken.
“Shamash.”
“E-Eema…”
“Shamash.”
“I-I’m sorry. I… I…”
“Shamash.”
I called Shamash’s name three times before they finally extended their scale.
“I-I’m really… sorry…”
“This is your punishment for failing to properly manage your children.”
“Eema…”
“And it’s also my punishment for failing to manage you all properly. Though we share no blood, it’s the punishment of reclaiming the precious bodies of my children.”
As I removed the silver scale from Shamash’s jaw, they dissolved into blinding light.
And finally…
“Erebus.”
“Mother.”
The pitch-black child looked up at me.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“I’m sorry. I was too foolish. Too hasty.”
“You shouldn’t be apologizing to me. You should have apologized to your children.”
What must it have been like for those children who sacrificed themselves following their parents’ greed? What must it have been like for them to follow their parents’ orders despite everything?
That’s why I couldn’t leave Erebus be.
Unlike the others, Erebus was intelligent and kind-hearted, wanting only a family.
I couldn’t leave them be.
“Return to the darkness.”
I should have paid more attention. But could I have paid even more attention than I did? Would going back in time yield better results?
I don’t know. It was impossible to tell.
I was simply exhausted.
“Take back your scale.”
As my hand touched the scale under Erebus’s jaw…
“Guh!”
A magical explosion erupted from Erebus’s silver scale.
“Erebus? What have you done?”
“I’m sorry, Mother.”
Because of the explosion, the silver scale under Erebus’s jaw had split into two pieces.
“I’m truly sorry.”
And then, Erebus quickly sank into the shadows and disappeared.
“Erebus? Erebus?!”
No matter how many times I called their name, they didn’t respond.
[Erebus! Appear!]
Even calling out with sincerity and magical power yielded no result.
Did they not want their scale taken away that badly?
Why were they so consumed with greed?
All I wanted was to live peacefully with the other children. How did everything go so wrong? Was it wrong from the start? Was it giving scales to the children? Or was it when they gave scales to other dinosaurs like me?
All I feel now is regret.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The Creator Dragon God is the primitive faith unique to lizardmen, believing that this world was created by a massive silver dragon. This belief system maintains that those who sin will be taken away by the Destruction Dragon God, who pairs with the Creator Dragon God.
Scholars argue that this faith originates from ancient dragon worship, pointing to the era when dragons ruled the land as its source.
To the primitive lizardmen who inhabited the land before humans, the powerful and fearsome dragons would have been akin to gods.
This Creator Dragon God faith mentions the Existence of the Destruction Dragon God, who ends everything, claiming that when the world becomes full of sin, the benevolent Creator Dragon God will become disillusioned and transform into the Destruction Dragon God.
Lizardmen claim that obsidian spears gifted by the Creator Dragon God are proof of its existence, and that the anger and wars of the dragon-filled age awakened the Destruction Dragon God.
They assert that the Destruction Dragon God then destroyed most of the dragons who had disappointed it, though academic circles do not accept this claim.
The most likely cause of the end of the Age of Dragons is said to be the impact of a massive meteorite capable of destroying the world. The theory claims that countless dragons sacrificed their very lives to stop the meteorite.
This is supported by evidence from dating the numerous dragon corpses excavated from the Dragon’s Tomb, and the thick magical strata created by the enormous magical power used to destroy the meteorite, both of which date to the same period.
This remains the most widely accepted theory currently.
– The Faith of Lizardmen: The Creator Dragon God
And the Age of Dragons.
