CHAPTER 24

Dragons’ Den

We head east after leaving the village. Just like the shop owner mentioned, the terrain gradually becomes rocky until we find ourselves no longer walking on a grass field but a rocky expanse with stones of all sizes littering the ground.

More importantly, this rocky area is massive… I should have asked that shopkeeper for more details on the location of the cave.

Elulu suddenly shows me her hand.

“Ristie, look.”

A crest shaped like a dragon illuminates the back of her hand. The same crest is shining on the back of Mash’s hand as well.

“Heh. I’ve never been here, but I can feel it. The cave is that way.”

Seiya and I advance with Mash and Elulu leading the way. They soon stop before a gigantic stone wall as high as the eye can see. A gaping hole slowly begins to open at the bottom.

“Looks like we’re here.”

Seiya takes out a torch and lights it. From here on, he takes the lead as we walk into the cave. Seiya slowly treks through the cave ever so cautiously until we reach a dead end a mere fifty or so steps in.

“Ah! See?! We’re at the end already! I knew we weren’t going to need those torches,” I say with a smug look on my face.

However…

“Who cares? Look at this.”

Seiya points at the stone wall right before us.

O-oh, so it’s not important when you make a mistake, huh?!

I’m beyond annoyed to the point that I actually wish I could have a personality like his!

Anyway, a large mural of the dragonkin crest is painted on the wall. Underneath the painting are two handprints, making it obvious what Mash and Elulu need to do to break the seal.

“You ready, Elulu? Let’s do this!”

“Ready when you are!”

As they’re about to place their hands over the prints, I suddenly hear something like cracking bones coming from Seiya’s direction. Everyone turns to him only to see that he has his platinum sword unsheathed before the enormous stone wall.

“S-Seiya?!”

He begins slashing relentlessly at the sturdy wall so quickly that each strike leaves a blur like Phoenix Drive. The screeching echo is so unbearable that I want to cover my ears.

“Seiya! What are you…?”

I try to stop Seiya, but…I soon find myself captivated by him. He viciously pounds at the bare rock as if he was swinging a whip, making perfect crescent motions. I’ve never seen such graceful and gorgeous yet fierce swordsmanship. Seiya isn’t even getting winded.

“…By intensely limbering my arm and wrist joints, I am able to strike horizontally, vertically, diagonally, and straight all in one attack. Then I repeat as necessary. The name of this skill is…”

Out of nowhere, a fissure appears in the solid rock! And in the blink of an eye, the wall in front of us comes crumbling down with a heavy crash.

“…Eternal Sword.”

However, Mash and Elulu are even more amazed than I am after seeing Adenela’s special move.

“The hell?! He broke the seal with brute force!”

“H-he didn’t even need us!”

Seiya walks ahead, ignoring the heartbroken dragonkin children.

After I cheer up Mash and Elulu, we follow Seiya through the hole…and are greeted by a rather disappointing sight. I was expecting there to be a big treasure chest or something, but it’s just some narrow room.

“Wh-what the…? I thought the ultimate weapon was supposed to be here.”

I look around but find nothing. The only noteworthy aspect of the chamber is a magic circle etched into the ground. Just as I’m about to curse our rotten luck, the magic circle begins emitting a radiant light, which is then followed by a dignified greeting.

“How far you’ve come, brethren. Truly, the blood of dragons is strong within you.”

“Wh-what the…?!”

The male voice seems to be coming from the magic circle.

“Young Hero…come forth. Please stand atop the magic circle. In so doing, the door to Dragon Village shall open. There, you shall receive the ultimate weapon: Igzasion.”

Igzasion…! So this is the ultimate weapon that can defeat the Demon Lord!

“Guys, this is probably just like the gates I create. The magic circle will teleport us to their village!”

“Dragon Village…! That must be where we’re originally from, Elulu.”

“Y-yeah! I’m so excited!”

“Then there’s no time to waste!”

Moments before we step on the magic circle, Seiya extends his arm and stops us.

“Wait. It’s too dangerous. It’s probably a trap.”

“Huh…? A trap…? Seiya?”

Seiya catches a lizard crawling on the wall, then places it on the magic circle.

“All right, we’re on the magic circle.”

Then he blatantly lies while facing the magic circle.

What?! But we’re not! That’s a lizard!

“Very well. Then I shall warp you to Dragon Village.”

The lizard is immediately showered in light before disappearing as if it were absorbed by the magic circle. Before long, a dignified yet somewhat confused voice echoes from the magic circle.

“Um… There appears to be a lizard here, but…”

“Good. Now send that lizard back here.”

“B-but why would you…?”

“Just do it. Don’t tell me you can’t.”

“V-very well…”

A few moments go by before the lizard is sent back, which Seiya watches with interest.

“Hmm… There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. It appears this isn’t a trap to teleport us to another dimension to dispose of us.”

“…I—I wouldn’t…d-do something like that…”

The once-dignified voice of the magic circle now sounds flustered.

…Eventually Seiya deems the magic circle safe enough for us to use, and we get teleported.

“Welcome to Dragon Village.”

I turn in the direction of the voice—the same one emanating from the circle…

“Eek!”

…and scream.

He’s standing on two legs like a human and wearing hemp clothes, but…he’s a giant lizard. Small fangs grow from his protruding mouth, which produces human speech.

“I don’t blame you for being surprised. We dragonewts look quite different from humans, after all.”

The dragonewt narrows his reptilian eyes while skewing his lips. I’m guessing he’s trying to smile.

“However, you aren’t the only ones surprised. I wasn’t expecting to welcome a tiny lizard to the village.”

“Y-yeah, we’re really sorry about that.”

The dragonewt giggles.

“Well, I feel a lot safer knowing that we’re leaving the fate of the world in the hands of someone so cautious… Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Lagos, protector of the Dragons’ Den.”

Lagos walks ahead and reaches for the door to the room.

“Now come, the Great Mother of Dragons awaits you in the sanctuary. Allow me to guide you.”

Once outside, we find ourselves in the middle of a city, but it’s different from any village or town we’ve ever seen in Gaeabrande. It’s called Dragon Village, so I was expecting someplace more pastoral. Instead, it’s closer to the unified spirit world. If I was to compare it to Seiya’s world, I’d say it’s very baroque with elaborate and artistic architecture.

Lagos leads the way while we try to take in all the unique sights.

“Our village is on the continent of Yulea to the far west across the ocean from where you were. Yulea is a phantasmal continent unreachable by humans. The only way they can access these lands is through that magic circle.”

…Interesting. Dragons are close to deities in all worlds, it seems. As long as there isn’t any trouble in the human world, they live in secrecy and keep to themselves.

As Lagos leads us to the sanctuary, some dragonewts we pass speak up when they see Mash and Elulu.

“Is that Lord Mash and Lady Elulu?!”

“Lord Mash! Look how strong he’s become!”

“Yes, and Lady Elulu grew up to be such a beautiful woman as well!”

Fully aware of the dragonewts’ envious gazes, Mash strikes up a conversation with Lagos to hide his embarrassment.

“H-hey, so…why do Elulu and I look so different from everyone here?”

“We dragonewts descended from both humans and dragons. However, for most of us, our dragon side is more dominant due to having more dragon blood than human.”

Then Seiya chimes in.

“So these two are failures without much dragon blood?”

“We are?!”

“We…are…?!”

Mash and Elulu fall into depression, but before I can chew Seiya out, Lagos gives a hearty laugh.

“No, no, no! Quite the opposite, actually! Lord Mash and Lady Elulu are the chosen ones! They are destined to perform great acts that normal dragonewts are incapable of!”

“Like what?”

But Lagos shakes his head in response to Mash’s question.

“You should hear that directly from the Great Mother of Dragons herself.”

After Lagos falls silent, Elulu suddenly asks:

“Hey, Lagos, do we have any family around here? L-like a mom or dad…?”

Seconds of silence go by until…

“It truly pains me to tell you this, but…both of your parents passed away over a decade ago due to an epidemic in our village. From what I’ve heard, this epidemic tragically claimed the rest of your family as well…”

“O-oh…”

“Elulu… Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine! I figured as much! Besides, I have Mash!”

Lagos smiles at Elulu as she does her best to act cheerful.

“Please think of everyone here as your family. In fact, the Great Mother is everyone’s mother, in a way. She is really looking forward to seeing you two.”

“Really? I can’t wait to meet her!”

Elulu’s smile returns.

The Great Mother of Dragons… I wonder if she’s noble and kind to everyone like Ishtar is to us goddesses?

Lagos ends up bringing us to a luxuriously built sanctuary that rivals that of the spirit world. At the end of an excessively long red carpet sits the Great Mother, the queen of dragons, surrounded by her dragonewt attendants. Perhaps noticing our arrival, she slowly stands from her seat.

“You’ve come a long way. I am the ruler of Dragon Village, the Great Mother of Dragons.”

Her voice alone reveals her nobility. She wears an expensive-looking necklace and an olive-green dress that trails on the ground. However, from what little I can see, her skin is ocher and reptilian. She has a cold gaze that is impossible to read and a protruding nose and mouth.

The Great Mother, standing upright, looks no different from any of the other giant lizard-like dragonewts.

Er… She’s nothing like Ishtar. And calling her beautiful…would be a crime.

Her reptilian eyes open wide while she speaks with a note of seriousness.

“Now then, the situation is urgent. Precisely as the late Yellow Dragon Emperor foretold one hundred years ago, evil is starting to swallow this world. The Demon Lord has established his domain in the frozen northern continent of Alphoreiz, and he is steadily expanding his territory even as we speak.”

The moment I hear that, I raise my voice.

“The continent of Alphoreiz…! So that’s where the Demon Lord is!”

I put my long-held idea into words.

“Now that we know where the Demon Lord’s castle is, we could just use Seiya’s Meteor Strike to take him out!”

But the Great Mother shakes her head.

“That won’t work. The outside of the enormous castle is protected by Reflect, so if you try to hit it with a meteor, it will bounce back and hit the caster.”

O-oh… I guess it’s not going to be that easy…

“But do not fear. That is why we have Mash and Elulu, after all.”

She squints while looking at them, then motions Mash to approach.

“Mash, come here.”

“Huh?! M-me?”

After he timidly makes his way to the Great Mother, she places a hand on his head.

“I shall teach you how to transform.”

In a flash, her hand begins to glow. And then, right before our eyes…

“M-Mash?!”

The skin on his face, arms, and legs begins to turn ocher! His body and face change as well…

“Wh-wh-what the…?! What’s happening to me?!”

By the time Mash cries out, he’s already a full-fledged lizardman—er…I mean…a dragonewt!

“Someone bring us a mirror.”

As Mash gazes into the hand mirror one of the attendants gave him…

“Wha—?”

He bemoans the man he has become. The Great Mother follows with a laugh.

“Hoh-hoh… I know it must be a surprise to see yourself like that all of a sudden. However, Mash, you are far stronger now than you once were.”

“R-really? …Rista! Can you check for me?”

“O-okay!”

I use Scan and immediately swallow my breath.

MASH
LV: 16
HP: 1,381	MP: 0
ATK: 9,210	DEF: 8,770	SPD: 7,900	MAG: 0	GRW: 57
Resistance: Fire, Ice, Poison
Special Abilities: ATK Boost (LV: 5), Dragonewt Metamorphosis (LV: 3)
Skills: Dragon Thrust, Dragon Slash
Personality: Brave

…His level hasn’t changed, but…

“M-Mash! Your attributes are ten times better now!”

“B-but now that you mention it…I feel like I can do anything!”

While originally upset about the change in appearance, the current Mash swells with pride.

“Master, look how strong I’ve become!”

“Indeed. Don’t get too close, though. I might mistake you for a monster and kill you.”

“…?! Hey! Who are you calling a monster?!”

“Still, this is a surprise. Good job, Mash.”

Mash seems really happy to be complimented by Seiya for a change, but…

“Now your attributes are about one-thirtieth of mine.”

The casual statement is a gut punch to Mash’s self-esteem.

“What…? They’re only one-thirtieth of yours…? Even after transforming into a dragonewt? Y-you’ve gotta be kidding me…”

And just like that, Mash returns to his human form in low spirits. Seiya pats him on the shoulder, oblivious to his feelings.

“Congratulations, Mash. Now you can carry even more stuff.”

“Th-thanks…”

H-he was so happy to be ten times stronger…only for this to happen. I feel so sorry for him…

Wait a second. Seiya is thirty times stronger than that? Just how strong is this Hero?!

The Great Mother cheerfully smiles at Mash, as down as he is.

“Mash, continue training, and when the time comes, you will be able to transform from a dragonewt into a dragon god, becoming exponentially stronger than before.”

“R-really?!”

“Of course. You are the chosen one of the dragonkin. A great power sleeps within you.”

“Yes!! I’m gonna train so hard!”

As Mash’s heart fills with hope and dreams, Elulu cries out, unable to endure the feeling of getting left behind any longer.

“G-Great Mother…! C-can you do that to me, too?!”

“That will not be necessary for you, Elulu.”

“What…?! B-but…”

Elulu is on the verge of tears, having been pushed away by not only Seiya but the Great Mother of Dragons as well. However, the queen affectionately reassures her:

“Do not worry. You have an important mission that awaits you—one even greater than Mash’s.”

“R-really?! What kind of mission?!”

As Elulu’s eyes sparkle in wonder, the queen sticks out her long, forked red tongue.

“Elulu, you shall give your life for the holy sword—Igzasion.”