Volume 8, Chapter 34 – The Past of the Continent of Alexia

“…My lord, what is this? A wild duck?”

Laxy’s perplexed expression left Yisi at a loss for words for a moment.

“L-let go of me! Damn you, angel! Are you still trying to imprison me now?!”

“A talking wild duck? A monster?” Cynthia looked from side to side at the struggling World Dragon in Laxy’s grasp. Probably because the World Dragon looked harmless, Cynthia even curiously patted its head. “Huh, this cold, soft texture… it doesn’t feel like it has a physical body. Could it be a soul that possessed a monster after death? But even a soul that possessed a monster should have the monster’s body. It wouldn’t be this cold. And for some reason, I have the urge to slaughter this thing, as if it has offended me.”

Since Cynthia had said that the loosening of the sealing barrier was caused by the World Dragon’s impact, if she were to reveal the fact that this stupid goose was the World Dragon, it might be dismembered by Cynthia on the spot. She had only wanted to get rid of the stupid goose, not to the extent of executing it. Yisi walked from the window to Cynthia’s side and changed the subject with a smile.

“How was the spar between you and Laxy?”

“Hm? Ah, you mean Laxyphinia, right? She won. I was completely convinced of my defeat. Not only was the level gap too large, but even my proud sword skills were utterly defeated. Fighting her was like facing an impenetrable wall. No matter what strategy I used, it was ineffective. I slowly fell into a disadvantage and was then defeated. Although I gained a lot from this spar, it really lacked passion. It’s more fun to spar with you, Yisi.”

“If you’re just pursuing fun, then it’s not called sword skills,” with a wry smile, Yisi handed a handkerchief to the post-spar Cynthia, then turned her gaze to Laxy, who was still clutching the World Dragon’s neck. “Laxy, can you give me that thing?”

“Yes, but doesn’t my lord like fluffy creatures? With all due respect, I do not think this is a cute pet. It is too noisy. Perhaps we should make a muzzle for it and only take it off when it eats.”

Hearing the suggestion that Laxy made in a serious tone, the World Dragon, which had been flapping its wings and stretching its neck to try and peck her, immediately froze in mid-air. Then, as if it had heard nothing, it sheepishly retracted its head.

The dignity of a dragon is weeping.

I wonder what the dragons living in the present day would think if they saw the state of the World Dragon.

It was worth mentioning that, according to the historical records Yisi had seen, the dragons of this world, like those in ‘Ragnarøk,’ had short forelimbs and developed hind limbs, with wings on their backs, resembling large, bipedal lizards. A dragon that manifested as a domestic goose like the World Dragon could definitely be considered an individual difference.

When she had taken the World Dragon from the sealing barrier, at its strong request, Yisi had also collected its long-dried corpse. Although most of the corpse was badly decayed, Yisi could still make out from the outline that it was the head of a large domestic goose. This also showed that the World Dragon’s current appearance as a goose was not a deliberate transformation, but its original form.

“A good proposal, but I have no intention of keeping this World Dragon by my side… leaving it with Andrea would be troublesome too. It’s better to let Evelyn handle it. I have a feeling Evelyn has a special knack for dealing with this goose.”

“My lord! Don’t hand me over to someone else!”

“Then you can spend the night at the slaughterhouse.”

“Urk.”

“My lord, what exactly is this thing? Although I can’t feel any threat from it, there’s a sense of disgust coming from the depths of my soul. If you hadn’t taken it from my hand just now, I might have couldn’t help but crush it to death.”

Laxy asked again.

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“Well…”

Yisi’s gaze drifted away.

“I’ll be leaving first. Remember to thank Mary for the tea for me. And help me pass on a message: Alice will be waiting for her at the refugee camp outside the city tomorrow. Because she was in the army and is one of the Fallen, Alice has no friends other than me. Although I think it would be better for her to get to know some noble young ladies, if she has her own ideas, I will only support her.”

“Cynthia is such a good older sister.”

“Hmph, you’re not so different. Even if no one told me, I can see from your eyes that you cherish Mary and the others very much. Well then, that’s it.”

Turning to wave at Yisi, Cynthia soon disappeared at the end of the corridor.

She probably sensed that the reason I’m unwilling to reveal the identity of this stupid goose is because she’s here. She presents herself as a very independent and belligerent person, but is she actually very perceptive? Such a person is well-suited to become a powerful figure who holds sway over a region.

For some reason, Yisi had a feeling that with just a little more experience, Cynthia could become a person in power.

Gently closing the door, Yisi, while holding the World Dragon, invited Laxy to sit on the sofa.

“Just as this stupid goose said, its identity is the World Dragon that was sealed by your predecessors, Laxy, when it challenged the gods thousands of years ago.”

“Huh?”

Unable to accept the reality, Laxy wore a look of utter confusion. If this were a manga, the panel she was in would be filled with question marks. Anticipating this reaction, Yisi explained helplessly.

“I went to the Dragon’s Spine Mountains earlier and met it in the barrier created by the angels. Because I felt it was pitiful, I brought it back. As you can see, it is now just a wisp of a soul, so fragile that a little force could kill it. It can’t pose a threat to anyone.”

“…If it were anyone else, I would definitely not believe such an explanation. But since it is my lord who says so… It’s incredible. To think that the World Dragon, which was always considered the primary threat by Lady Trino, would become like this. In my impression, the World Dragon was an existence capable of destroying the Land of the Gods.”

“Well, I can probably understand how you feel right now, but this is indeed the World Dragon. Mmm—seeing Cynthia reminds me of something.” Yisi placed the listless World Dragon, which looked as if it had lost all hope in life, on the coffee table. Everyone in the room once again focused their attention on it. “Hey, wake up. The next questions are very important. They concern your reputation.”

“I’ve fallen to the point of being bullied by a little angel…”

Its dejected appearance was reminiscent of a defeated dog.

Has this guy been hit so hard that he’s gone stupid?

Yisi continued to ask.

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“Did you or did you not ram the barrier that sealed you a month ago, causing it to loosen?”

“Hm?” Hearing something that concerned it, the World Dragon’s eyes widened, and it abruptly looked up. “Wasn’t it you, my lord?”

“Of course not. A month ago, I was still in the Taris Marquisate, next to the Royal Capital. But looking at your expression, you’re not the one who loosened the barrier either. I thought it was strange from the beginning. In your current state, it’s impossible for you to shake the barrier set by the angels.”

The World Dragon’s current magic power was less than Mary’s. If it were to break the seal from the inside out, it would need at least over four thousand points of magic power to break through in one go. That was even touching the peak of her own magic power in her normal state. Of course, if she were to use ‘Third Form Awakening,’ her magic power limit would increase from 4270 to 10000.

“When I brought you out of the seal, I remember you said to me, ‘You should be like the three people before who wanted to let me out.’ That means, before me, there were others who wanted to let you out, right?”

A look of incomprehension was in its tone. In the World Dragon’s view, Yisi was an ordinary person who was in league with the previous three, and even much weaker than them. With its simple mind, it couldn’t understand at all why Yisi was asking this question.

“Yes… Although the magic power of those three was far less than mine, they were stronger than most of the bipedal creatures I’ve sensed. Mmm… about the same as this angel. One of them has already surpassed this angel.”

“The one who destroyed the barrier wasn’t the World Dragon? Then who was it?”

Edith, who had been listening on the side, frowned.

Yisi also shook her head.

“I don’t know either.”

From the World Dragon’s description, ‘those three’ were very likely the Divine Religion’s hero party. The red-haired and purple-haired members of the hero party were about to break through level 40, which matched the description of their strength being close to Laxy’s. And the hero named Lin was an existence whose level far surpassed the other two.

I don’t understand why the hero party would want to release the World Dragon, or how they managed to break through the blockade of the Dragon’s Spine garrison and enter the sealing magic formation created by the angels.

Yisi sighed quietly.

Although the hero party did indeed want to release the World Dragon, judging from the timeline, the ones who actually destroyed the barrier were probably not them, because the three of them, like her, had just arrived in this city, while the barrier had loosened a month ago.

Was it someone else, or an accomplice of the hero party?

Without sufficient evidence, she couldn’t make a rash judgment. But this matter reminded her to pay more attention to the hero’s movements in the future. They might not be as wonderful as their name sounded. ‘Hero’ was relative to the Divine Religion. To the kingdom and others, they might not be so simply defined.

Come to think of it, the people who had been causing chaos in the city these past few days might also be related to the Divine Religion. Yisi nodded slightly. Whether it was the person who had blown up the city wall on the first night she had arrived in the capital, or the person she had caught who had wanted to blow up the Ymir Temple, it was hard not to connect the two.

Yisi glanced at the [Omniscient Map]. The three heroes were still not within its display range.

“Why do you ask me this, my lord? Ah~ ah, you must think I’m too strong, so you subconsciously thought that. Although I’d like to say I did it, since I didn’t, I can’t just take the credit. Of course, if you give me enough magic power, I could easily blow the barrier away.”

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Ignoring the World Dragon’s inexplicable boasting, Yisi jumped to the second question.

“Second question. You said just now that there are two others on this continent who are as long-lived as you. Who are they?”

“Hm?” As if it had heard something unbelievable, the World Dragon suddenly widened its eyes. “Have they also been sealed by the angels? That shouldn’t be. They are only stronger than me, not weaker. Even if the gospel book and the first angel are very powerful, it’s impossible for them to defeat them. How could no one have heard of them?”

“If by ‘very powerful’ you mean the demon lords, there are currently three: Styx, the overlord of the seas; Tartaros, the demon lord of the earth; and Ouranos, the master of the sky. Which two are you talking about?”

“Only my lord is qualified to question me. You are very noisy, you human—er, I’ll talk, I’ll talk.”

Startled by the flames in Camilla’s hand, the World Dragon explained in a fluster.

“I was just saying… How could anyone not know about Styx and Tartaros? Those two, like me, were the first to be born on this continent. We can be considered the natives. You angels are all outsiders like the gods. We are the true gods of this continent.”

After saying this, the World Dragon glared at Laxy with resentment. But the latter showed no intention of getting angry with it. On the contrary, she recounted slowly in a proud and dignified tone.

“A god should be a benevolent and powerful existence, capable of making sinners repent and the wise pay homage, and treating all things as their own flesh and blood equally. Only in this way can they be recognized as a god from the bottom of all beings’ hearts. Although I have never served the Goddess, from the descriptions of the first and second-rank angels, the Goddess never boasted of her identity as a god. A creature like you, who proclaims itself a god just because it was the first to be born in this world, is at most worthy of the title of elder or ancestor. You are still a long way from being a god.”

Laxy is overestimating this stupid goose. Yisi grumbled to herself. This guy still has a long way to go to even be called an elder or an ancestor.

“So, the strongest demon lord, Ouranos, was born later?”

Camilla’s question gave the World Dragon, who had wanted to argue but was at a loss for words, a way out.

“I don’t know who this Ouranos you speak of is, but I can tell you that Styx and Tartaros are stronger than me, at least above level two hundred. After such a long time, it wouldn’t be surprising if they’ve touched the threshold of level three hundred. Mm, no, if they often fought with the angels of the Land of the Gods, it’s not impossible for them to have reached level four hundred. This is the power of an ancestor. If you had let me recover my strength earlier, I might have been able to be your protector at a critical moment. You should be thanking me.”

Was Ouranos also an outsider?

But in all the records, it was warned that Ouranos was the strongest of the three demon lords. If Styx and Tartaros had a strength of nearly three hundred levels, Ouranos’s level might be close to her own.

Of course, these were all likely things of the past.

Yisi didn’t take the World Dragon’s words to heart. Firstly, Ouranos was dead. Secondly, she had already felt Tartaros’s strength—far weaker than her own. Only Styx, whom she had never met but had had dealings with, remained an unknown.

The ‘dealings’ here referred to the high-ranking demon and the large number of green slimes she had eliminated in Gota City in the Taris Marquisate. According to the fallen angel Sandra, the green slimes were created by the high-ranking demon, and that demon, which she had cut in half with a single sword strike, was from Styx’s faction. The reason Sandra had appeared at that time was because she had been sent by the Demon Lord Tartaros to clean up the bugs in his back garden.

The back garden referred to the Taris Marquisate, and the bugs were the high-ranking demons under Styx.

Having said this much, Yisi threw out another question she had been curious about for a long time.

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“Since you were sealed by the angels for challenging the gods, how powerful were the gods you challenged?”

“Huh? The gods you believe in have never summoned you? That’s too irresponsible. In that case, let me tell you the truth. Your gods are pitifully weak. Mmm… their magic power is even less than this angel over here. If the angels hadn’t stopped me at that time, those gods would have been defeated by me long ago.”

“Wait, you said ‘those’?”

“Yes. There were many outsiders at that time, at least tens of thousands. But they all obeyed the orders of a few individuals. I could only feel a threat from a very few of those individuals.”

Could it be that the gods are not the God-like existence I had imagined?

Mm, no.

If one had to be pedantic, a true god was just a concept.

And it could also be that the World Dragon was describing the scene too poorly. For example, the gods were actually standing on clouds, leading tens of thousands of angels to bring salvation to the world. In that case, it would feel very god-like.

The World Dragon suddenly coughed twice.

“Ahem, that… my lord, seeing as I have sincerely answered so many of your questions, could you please not throw me into the slaughterhouse tonight…”

“That will depend on your future performance. But for today, at least, I’ve decided to let you stay here.”

“That’s great…”

Like a goose that had just finished a marathon, the World Dragon collapsed onto the coffee table.

“Everyone, the tea is ready.”

Mary’s energetic voice came from outside the door.

Yisi glanced out the window—the moon had already risen high in the sky.

Is it getting late?

With a long stretch, Yisi let out a comfortable moan.

That’s enough for today.