Chapter 170

Polymorph Curse…?

Recalling memories, I tried to remember the stories I’d heard. But I couldn’t recall anything even remotely similar. The only thing that came to mind was that dragons use a technique called Polymorph to transform into humans.

But that couldn’t be a curse, right?

Still, since the word is the same, maybe there’s some connection?

-It’s a curse developed by the Demon King, Grimudo. A curse that turns humans into something other than human.

Hearing the explanation, I wasn’t even surprised anymore.

Grimudo. Grimudo. Grimudo again. How many times am I going to get tangled up with that guy? At this point, if something goes wrong, I might as well suspect him first.

“Don’t tell me, Lady Araidel, the Saint of the Holy Church…”

-Yes, she’s been cursed with the Polymorph Curse. Now, she’s become a bird, forgetting how to speak or think. She’s just living by instinct, like a beast.

“A curse that turns people into animals? Then, don’t tell me Yurinel, Lucia, and Parnell too…!”

-You could say they’re fine, or you could say they’re not. They haven’t turned into beasts. But right now, they’ve been captured by Emperor Harmail, and there’s no way for them to escape.

What…?

For a moment, my head spun. I collapsed without realizing it. Even though we’re apart now, we were once a team.

I couldn’t believe they’d met such a tragic end. But no matter how much I thought about it, there was no reason for the goddess to lie to me. What would she gain by lying about the Hero Party’s situation?

It must be true. Even knowing that, it was hard to believe.

“What exactly happened to the Hero Party?”

-I saw it firsthand through Araidel and Reinhaim’s eyes. I don’t know the details, but the Hero Party clashed with Grimudo. They couldn’t even hold their ground and barely escaped with their lives. But before they could recover, Harmail attacked them. And just now, she completely captured them.

“If you knew the situation so well, then why…”

Every word was shocking. I was so dumbfounded that I had to ask for more details and listen to the full story.

If all of this is true, why did she let things get this bad? Were the heroes just disposable pawns?

-It’s entirely my fault.

“Of course it is. Why did you abandon them?”

-Pride. And fear. I was afraid that Elysia or Hilrae would take my position if I let this opportunity slip. The Supreme Goddess of the Continent. Drunk on a meaningless title, I tried to maintain my position by handling everything in secret. It wasn’t until just now that I came to my senses.

The goddess sighed and looked at me. Then, she suddenly approached and knelt before me. I tried to stop her, but she continued before I could.

-The one behind you. She simply showed me the truth. That what I pursued was meaningless.

-Being the Supreme Goddess was just an empty title others gave me. I abandoned my own daughter to protect that hollow title. I left her in crisis. In the end, it was too late.

-You have a mission. A mission to go to the Arctic. I can’t ask you to change course now and go to the Demon World to save the Hero Party from Harmail. But someday, if you get the chance to help them…

-Could you… help them then?

I closed my eyes, shook my head, and fell into thought for a moment. Both the Temple and the Imperial Palace are in disarray after fighting each other. We can’t expect reinforcements, and Harmail is no joke.

Even if Roka, Lady Kisea, the Princess, and I changed course to the Demon World, could we really save the hostages? That’s a tough task. It’d be easier to just defeat Harmail.

We’d have to extract hostages who’ve been neutralized by the Demon Emperor. If the hostages die, the rescue would be meaningless. It’s a task that requires a lot of preparation.

This isn’t something we can achieve by rushing in with people. As much as I want to help, there’s nothing I can do right now.

The only consolation is that, according to the goddess, Harmail has no intention of harming the hostages for now. That’s at least some relief. It means we can handle the urgent matters first without being too late.

“…If the opportunity arises, I’ll help without hesitation.”

I’m only human, and when things pile up like this, I have to prioritize. Splitting people up for this would be even more nonsensical.

Roka would go to the Arctic with me, Lady Kisea would go to the Death God, and the Princess would go to the Demon World. Just thinking about it, the outcome is clear. Grimudo wouldn’t change much no matter how many people we send, but the Death God and Harmail would turn even a possible success into a guaranteed failure.

“But I don’t know if that opportunity will come, or if it’ll come to me. If such an opportunity does come my way, I promise I won’t miss it.”

-That’s enough to be grateful for.

The hesitant goddess left one last word before departing.

-The Polymorph Curse is irreversible. At least with our power, it’s impossible. So, the only one who might have a chance to undo it is you.

The Polymorph Curse, huh? I’ve never undone something like that before, so all I can say is that I’ll do my best. I can’t even be sure if I’ll get the chance to try.

But maybe Azahadaka, the dragon, knows something about Polymorph.

I thought I’d ask him when I get the chance. At least if I know exactly what the curse is, I might be able to gauge the possibility of undoing it.

***

Boom!

Now, moving around the damaged core of the magic circle, Ardein forcefully drove the Dragon’s Sword into it. Then, as she poured magical power into it, Azahadaka inside the sword repaired the magic circle.

“Wow, you’re truly amazing!”

“As expected of the master of magic! The great race! Transcendent beings far beyond earthly creatures!”

The royal mages assisting with the work all exclaimed in admiration. The dragon’s pride swelled at the praise, but since it was inside the sword, no one could see it.

“But, oh great one.”

Ardein approached the sword and spoke respectfully. This dragon returns the favor when treated well. It was easy to understand, and the Princess always treated the dragon with utmost respect.

[Hmm. Speak.]

“Is it possible for you to take on a human form? Ah, is it because you’re not in your complete form yet that you can’t use Polymorph?”

[Poly…morph?]

The black dragon, shaped like a lizard, widened its eyes. It looked like it was thinking, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

[What’s that?]

“There are records that the great ones who once walked the earth used a method called Polymorph to take on human form, so I was just asking…”

[First time I’m hearing about it.]

Ardein, flustered, started rambling. Surely, the dragon should know more about this than her, but since it didn’t, she was just bewildered.

“Well, our royal family is descended from a dragon who took on human form and a human…”

[Wait, really? I thought it was just that the dragons shrank in size and then, you know, did that… thing with humans to produce hybrids? That’s not it?]

Imagining dragons shrinking to human size and doing “that” with humans, Ardein felt nauseous and shook her head to dispel the thought.

No matter how much she tried to convince herself that the birth of life is a noble thing, she never wanted to think about it again. She prayed that this wasn’t the true history.

‘Could it be that Polymorph was just a lie?’

Shudder. She trembled. If it were true that their ancestors were born that way, it was obvious why it was kept a secret. No one would want to proudly talk about something like that.

No matter how noble the dragon’s bloodline is, a dragon who turned into a human and a pure-blooded dragon are completely different. There’s no way they could spread such a story in front of the people.

In the end, they must have made up the lie about Polymorph.

[What nonsense…]

The nearby mages turned red and desperately pretended not to hear. But one of them pulled out a small notebook and quickly recorded the conversation. One female mage even blushed.

But they were wrong. While their attempt to interview the dragon and uncover the truth was commendable, they forgot that the dragon had been punished for a long time.

Azahadaka was punished during the early days when dragons descended to this planet. The exchange of knowledge between dragons and the Demon King happened later.

Polymorph is a technique developed by the Demon King and passed on to the dragons. Azahadaka, who had never seen Grimudo, didn’t even know such a technique existed. A dragon turning into a human? Nonsense.

‘Anyway, I hate this.’

Thinking about her kin after so long made her feel bad. The evil dragon frowned as she looked at the sky.

Her kin, who had left this planet long ago, abandoned her and disappeared. She had endured the predetermined sentence, but even after her term was up, no one came for her.

The punishment of extracting the heart and imprisoning the dragon’s soul within it is like a prison sentence for humans. Of course, there’s a term. Once the term is over, other dragons bring the body back and reinsert the heart. It’s like being released from prison, free to live again.

‘Really. I’d rather live here with these monkeys.’

But even after her term ended, no one came for her. She felt utterly betrayed by her kin. The betrayal cut deep, leaving her speechless.

She didn’t want to go find the kin who had abandoned her on this planet. Even if she regained her body, she planned to stay here. Living among humans who worshipped her didn’t seem like a bad choice.