Dark Energy. Further investigation is needed regarding this energy originating from death, so let’s put it aside for now.
You never know. If we process this dangerous energy well, it might come in handy.
And if we use life aura properly, it seems we can suppress the dark energy, so it appears somewhat controllable.
“First, using the energy of life, it seems I can suppress this Energy of Death… but more research is necessary, so I’ll take this with me.”
I held the frozen lump of death energy that had stopped time in my hand. After all, we can’t just leave such dangerous energy alone.
The reason this energy is emerging… I have a rough idea, though. It’s probably because the dragons’ divine bodies buried underground are rotting away.
Tch. Those female bodies are problematic even after all this time.
Especially the energy clinging to this Black Dragon child… Even though I controlled my power so their body wouldn’t break, it was strong enough to withstand my magic.
Hmm… Perhaps the death energy emanating from the bodies buried underground is trapped by the dark spirits and continues to accumulate, concentrating into this sticky death energy.
Ah, then will the death energy coming out there stick as stubbornly to others like it did to this child? Hmm… I should confirm that later.
“Grrr…”
“Hm?! Are you regaining consciousness? Seres?”
“Where am I…”
At the Dragon Lord’s words, the black dragon called Seres slowly opened their eyes.
“Eh… Human…?”
“You’re still not fully awake. Judging by appearance alone…”
“Don’t be so harsh. Coming back from being half-dead is natural, isn’t it?”
“That’s true…”
If anyone had been dying while their body rotted alive in agony, recovering from such a situation would naturally make it hard to fully grasp things.
On the contrary, it’s quite impressive that they could even open their eyes at all.
“Eh… Ah! Could you be the Creator Dragon God?!”
“Hmm. As expected, you recognize me.”
“Of course! Where else would you find a human with horns on their head?!”
At those words, I stroked the pair of horns on my head.
Indeed, with these, anyone would recognize me.
Though hiding them makes me feel like my power diminishes somehow—it’s uncomfortable.
Hmm… Can’t exactly create humans with horns on their heads…
Maybe I should think about some kind of disguise?
Whatever, I’ll think about it later. Later.
“Anyway, how’s your body condition?”
“My chest feels heavy, but there’s no pain. In fact, I feel more energetic than before.”
“Your chest?”
I placed my hand on Seres’ body, letting my magical power seep in to examine their chest, where I detected a small amount of death energy clustered inside.
Unfortunately, its location wasn’t good at all.
“Oh dear. It seems the death energy has taken root in your Dragon Heart.”
“What?!”
Despite thinking I’d completely removed it, part of the residual death energy inside the body had gathered in the Dragon Heart within Seres’ chest.
I thought it would be eradicated by the energy of life, even if a little remained when I extracted the large mass, but it seems the death energy managed to hold on by attaching itself to the magical power-filled Dragon Heart.
It seems the surrounding life aura keeps the death energy in check, preventing it from spreading further while maintaining a balance as it converts the Dragon Heart’s magical power into death energy repeatedly.
Should I try fishing it out with magical power again? Would death energy attached to a massive magical power source like the Dragon Heart easily fall for that?
Besides, it’s attached to the Dragon Heart itself. While the death energy tries to corrupt Seres’ magical power, increasing its size bit by bit, the surrounding life aura reduces and purifies it repeatedly.
“Troublesome. It seems I couldn’t completely get rid of it.”
“What?! Do I have to suffer again?! I don’t want to feel pain!!”
“Indeed. This death energy seems to have become especially tenacious after long concentration. Didn’t expect it to be this stubborn.”
To make the Dragon Heart look like this just by clinging once—what a nasty energy.
“My goodness… Creator Dragon God, is there no other way?”
“Other ways… Without giving up your divine body, it would be difficult. Or we could remove the Dragon Heart and make a new one…”
“Isn’t that choice basically the same as death…”
When I tried to forcibly remove it, the energy clung so stubbornly that it wouldn’t detach until the body broke.
So, if life energy remains abundant, the balance between life and death energy won’t cause problems, but if life energy falters even slightly, the death energy will attempt to reclaim the body.
It’s like living with a bomb filled with poison in your heart.
“Ugh… I don’t want to die… I didn’t want to suffer either…”
“If you bolster your own life energy sufficiently, you can suppress the death energy lodged in your Dragon Heart.”
“Really?! Teach me the method!”
Method…
“Use magical power to boost your life energy. Isn’t that simple enough?”
“Huh?”
Confused, Seres tilted their head at my words.
“Creator Dragon God. Normally, that can’t be done.”
“Hmm? Why not? Just do it.”
“What…?”
At the Dragon Lord’s words, I simply tilted my head in mild confusion.
—-
To sum up:
“Is something like this possible?”
“I’ve told you several times it works!”
After dozens of attempts, the Dragon Lord and Seres mastered the technique of boosting vitality using magical power.
“Without even trying directly! All you did was complain it couldn’t be done!!”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Still, it’s not easy. Dragons’ magical powers have fixed attributes, making other actions difficult, so discovering this was surprising.”
Hmm… Is that so? I didn’t realize since I never had attributes tied to my magical power.
Well, maybe it’s harder for other dragon children since their attributes are set.
“Still, boosting your own vitality directly turned out to be manageable, right?”
“That’s true…”
“It’s also possible to transfer the boosted vitality to others.”
The two dragons merely nodded slightly at my words.
Why were you muttering it couldn’t be done when it turned out this way? Pfft. Tch tch.
Back in my day, we just experimented with everything first. That’s how dragons were made, and humans were born—just through trial and error.
Thinking about that, Seres suddenly spoke up while cultivating their own vitality.
“If we can drive out the death energy using this life energy, couldn’t we eradicate the death energy rising from the ground?”
“The death energy rising from the ground?”
I paused to think. Not knowing exactly how the death energy rises from the ground, considering the tendency of life and death energies to repel each other…
“Hmm… It’s possible.”
Of course, life energy, which exists only within living beings, gradually decomposes and disappears outside a body, but…
If we create a barrier using life energy, perhaps we could prevent the death energy from escaping.
Still, it’s hard to gauge how much life energy would be required.
Moreover, we’d need to continuously replenish the gradually disappearing life energy, which would surely consume vast amounts.
Hmm. If we had something to store life energy, it would be convenient—like gems or stones. Using them to create a barrier would be much easier.
Hmm. I should record this as something to tackle later. We can’t just let the death energy keep leaking out.
“Hmm… Since death energy resides in my heart, can’t we use it somehow?”
“Hmm?”
“What do you mean? Seres, you want to use the energy that was trying to consume and kill you?”
“No, but Big Brother. If we can use it, why not? Magical power mixed with darkness and death sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?”
“Sigh. Such an immature kid. Sorry, Creator Dragon God. This one’s on the younger side among us…”
A black dragon wielding death energy… Black Death Dragon…? Something about it stirs the middle-school syndrome deep within me…
“You might be able to use it, but it won’t be easy. A moment’s carelessness and it will try to consume your body.”
“Hmm. If I can use it, I’ll give it a shot! Anyway, I can suppress it again with life energy, right?”
Hmm. Are you naive, or just fearless?
“If you use that power, other dragons might shun you.”
“Shunning? Please. I’ve already faced that. Discrimination based on scale color? I’ve endured it all. I’m not weak enough to be hurt by that anymore!”
“I-I’m sorry, Creator Dragon God.”
Hmm. Discrimination based on scale color… This is all Erebus’ fault. By causing the dark spirits to be rejected, black dragons are discriminated against too.
“Tell the other dragons for me: We’re all kin, so stop discriminating based on scale color. If it gets too extreme, I might get angry.”
“Ah, understood! I’ll make sure to pass that along!”
With that, the dragons will likely reflect on themselves.
Though I doubt I’ll need to get angry.
“Ah, and Seres.”
“Yes, yes!”
“If you face discrimination from other dragons because of the death energy within you, come to me.”
“What?! Are you planning to extinct the dragons again?!”
Why does it always end up like this? I do have a history, though.
“Since you possess death energy and intend to use it, you might be helpful in what I’m trying to accomplish.”
“Me? Be helpful?”
“That’s right.”
Because someone needs to manage the afterlife world I’m creating, wouldn’t a dragon fit perfectly?
Conveniently, you already possess death energy. Hmm.
Roughly three managers for the afterlife realm would be ideal. Assigning the largest Shade among the dark spirits might work. Hmm.
“What kind of task is it?”
“I’m preparing to collect, investigate, judge, and reincarnate deceased souls. It’s still in the early stages, but when completed, it will help organize the wandering souls in this world.”
There aren’t many wandering souls in the world yet, but as they accumulate, it will become troublesome.
A system to handle them promptly is necessary!
