That day was a day like any other.
A clear, sunny sky without a single cloud, a cool breeze blowing pleasantly, and from the shore came the quiet sound of waves breaking—a perfectly ordinary moment.
However—.
[Horus.]
The change began with a single word calling him.
“Yesh?”
[Come here.]
At the solemn voice of his guardian, the Elder Dragon Shurihartgen, resounding inside his head, Horus—who had been holed up in the magic laboratory as usual, devoting himself to training—tilted his head.
‘What’s going on?’
Lately, Shurihartgen had said little, merely watching him in silence.
But that puzzlement lasted only a moment. After blinking a few times, Horus immediately stopped what he was doing and turned around.
‘I’ll know when I get there.’
A moment later, mana stirred lightly, and the squat little blond child’s body floated gently into the air.
Whooosh—
And then his body shot through the air in an instant, cutting through the wind toward the inner part of the lair.
In the blink of an eye, Horus crossed the dwelling and arrived where the one who had called him waited.
What appeared before his eyes was, without the slightest exaggeration, a golden life-form with a body as large as a hill.
‘...No matter how many times I see it, it really is incredible.’
A massive body where an oppressive presence that made one bow one’s head of its own accord coexisted with a beauty that left one entranced.
Golden scales densely covered the enormous body spanning dozens of meters, scattering the surrounding light and radiating an overwhelming presence in every direction.
If there was one flaw in that perfection, it was that the luster of those scales, which must once have shone brilliantly, had now become somewhat dull and clouded.
Horus glanced over that form from the corner of his eye, then trotted toward Shurihartgen’s head and opened his mouth.
“I’m here. What ish it?”
Perhaps because his tongue was short, whenever he was not paying attention, the ends of his words would inevitably slip.
He had tried correcting it many times, but seeing as it was still like this, it seemed he had no choice but to simply accept it as one of Horus’s quirks until his body grew up...
[I will die soon.]
“Huh?”
But as if scattering those idle thoughts, the enormous old dragon before him calmly dropped a bombshell.
At the content that did not match that composed tone at all, Horus froze for a moment, and then his eyes gradually widened.
“Uh...”
It was not a joke... probably.
Of course, he had guessed that such a day would come eventually.
Hadn’t Shurihartgen said it himself on the very day he first came to meet him?
That his lifespan was now nearly at its end.
‘No, even so.’
But Horus had never expected him to announce that day as though it were nothing important, and so suddenly at that.
They had spent quite a long time together, yet Shurihartgen had shown no particular sign of it, so Horus had assumed that, as expected of a long-lived dragon, his sense of time was simply different.
“...When you say soon, when exactly?”
And so, even though Horus knew it was a foolish question, he could not help but ask.
Who knew?
Perhaps that “soon” was measured in years.
[Right now. Here, in this place.]
However, his cautious question was immediately swept away by Shurihartgen’s decisive words.
The answer was so brisk that it was hard to believe he was talking about his own death, and Horus could not bring himself to say anything more.
[To be more precise, I should say that I have only now properly finished preparing to die. If it were merely a matter of enduring for a long time, I could still manage for several more years, but prolonging my life in such a way would be meaningless.]
At that point, Horus understood how Shurihartgen could so confidently foresee his own death.
In other words, he was declaring that he would no longer cling to life and would end it himself here and now.
Was this what one should expect from an old dragon who had already lived for thousands of years?
“No, even sho, you should try to live as long as you can!”
At that, Horus frowned with an instinctive refusal that burst out of him before he knew it, protesting as though in rebellion.
No matter how tempting the clan’s legacy that he would inherit after Shurihartgen’s death might be, how could he simply stand by when someone with whom he had formed a bond over more than a year was voluntarily choosing death?
[Horus, had you not been here, I would have.]
“...Yesh?”
But even at that reaction, Shurihartgen merely looked down at him calmly, and yet with a hint of pride, before speaking in a composed voice.
[For me to forcibly endure any longer here would be no different from twisting the power of causality and shaving away and burning up everything I am to use as fuel. Not only the mana and life force within my body, but the rank and karma I have accumulated, and even the fate allotted to me.]
It was a gentle explanation, like a grandfather telling a story to his grandson.
He continued speaking calmly, so that Horus could understand why he had made such a choice.
[However, even if I forcefully gained more lifespan that way, nothing would remain. I would literally become nothingness. Of course, if the extinction of our clan had been certain, I would not have cared about such things and would have endured for as long as possible...]
Then he stopped speaking and lowered his huge golden pupils, taking in the small boy standing before him.
[But now that another method has appeared, I must choose the most efficient path for the current situation.]
If he was going to end things anyway, should he not at least leave behind one proper gift?
After looking down at Horus like that for a moment, his eyes curved softly, a smile gathering within his pupils.
“......”
Faced with that one-sided goodwill, Horus could not bring himself to say anything.
What more could he say here?
That he was not a “real” dragon worthy of such expectations?
That even if Shurihartgen entrusted something like this to him, he was nothing more than an outsider who could leave this world at any time?
...No, those were not words to say to an old dragon who had made up his mind and was preparing for his end.
He knew well that this, too, was deception, but even that felt meaningless to point out now.
‘To begin with, my very existence is practically a fraud...’
When he had first heard about the legacy, he had only been excited and pleased, but perhaps because they had spent longer together than expected, he had grown somewhat attached.
Strictly speaking, their bond was not so deep that he should be falling into such sentiment, yet the fact that he felt this troubled said enough.
In the end, unable to find the words, Horus let out a deep sigh and muttered quietly, as though voicing a complaint.
“...Then what am I, what am I shupposed to do from now on? Honestly, I don’t even have a clue what I’m meant to do.”
[Nothing. This situation is not something that can be resolved now by entrusting it to a single hatchling. Until the time comes, you need only live as you wish. Even if, as a result, our clan goes extinct with you as the last one, Horus, that too cannot be helped.]
Compared to the expectations he had shown until now, it was an extremely irresponsible thing to say.
Though it was certainly realistic.
[For now, we have succeeded in buying time by passing things on to the next generation, so what comes after must be left to Lord Drakarion’s will. You are a clever child. When the time comes, seizing the opportunity will not be so difficult for you.]
With those peaceful words as his last, Shurihartgen slowly closed his eyes.
As though that was all he had to say.
“Um...!”
Just as Horus, hesitating, was about to speak again—
As if it could wait no longer, the change finally began.
Flaaash—
An enormous magic circle appeared, filling every surface of the vast cavern, and in response, a dazzling golden light brightly illuminated the interior.
At its center lay the old dragon, his enormous body stretched out on the floor.
Each and every one of the dull golden scales covering his massive body began to glow, and before long, his entire form was enveloped in light, emitting a tremendous amount of energy.
[It has been enjoyable, Horus. I will give you a farewell gift. You will likely like it. It will help you more than anything else as you are now.]
Right on cue, Shurihartgen’s voice echoed once more inside his head.
And the moment he heard those words, Horus instinctively realized that the greatest reason Shurihartgen had made this decision was because of that “gift.”
‘Just what is it, for him to go this far?’
Amid the storm of surging energy, he struggled to steady himself and cried out inwardly, but the situation had already begun to flow beyond his control.
It did not take long for Shurihartgen’s body, resonating with the magic circle of the lair, to transcend the framework of a living being and transform into a mass of mana in the shape of light.
[Ahh—Lord Drakarion.]
An energy aggregate the size of a hill slowly lost its form.
At the same time as it oxidized into the air with a brilliant light, a portion of it began to gather and compress into a single point.
From a volume that had filled this entire space, it shrank to the size of a small hill, then to the size of a large boulder, and finally—.
[Horus, then this...]
“Lord Shurihartgen!”
With that voice, scattered before it could finish speaking, as the last thing left behind—
A golden crystal the size of a child’s head appeared in the empty air at the center of the vacant cavern.
Against the backdrop of the cavern’s magic circle, which still emitted a soft glow, it revealed its presence: a crystal several times larger and more beautifully shining than the hatchling’s Dragon Heart that had served as his medium.
...No, it was not a simple dragon’s heart, but something akin to a concentrated mass of power, created by an Elder Dragon who had lived for long ages by processing his own spirit and flesh.
Though, in the process, a considerable loss had occurred.
‘That’s...’
As Horus stared blankly at its form, shedding light as though tempting him, he swallowed without realizing it.
He knew he should not, yet for some reason, he could not take his eyes off it.
Thump!
In the midst of that, the crystal that had been calmly floating in the air suddenly began to beat violently with an enormous flow of energy.
And then—
“Huh? W-wait...!”
The crystal flew toward Horus in an instant, burrowed straight into his chest, and was absorbed as though melting into him.
Still pulsing with a tremendous amount of energy within.
‘Ugh! This is...!’
Horus staggered, then collapsed onto the spot and clutched his chest.
Even though a crystal the size of his head had entered his body, there was no outward sign of it whatsoever, but such physical phenomena did not matter right now.
Clutching his chest, he understood instinctively.
He was still far from prepared to fully handle the power of this thing.
His body, plastered over with all sorts of corrections, had already far surpassed the limits of a hatchling, yet even in that state, drawing out even an extremely small portion of the power contained within this required considerable mental effort.
‘...There’s no way I can absorb all of it right away. First, I need to somehow calm this thing down...’
Was it responding to Horus’s panic?
Even after entering his body, the thing had been spewing energy in all directions and fiercely asserting its presence, but it gradually grew quiet. Then, gathering up the energy it had been leaking, it began obediently submitting to control.
As expected of a gift he had prepared with such care, it seemed he had already considered at least this much.
‘Phew, that startled me. Still, if he was going to give me a gift like this, he could have told me beforehand.’
Though he grumbled for a moment, it was nothing more than a brief bout of petulance.
Perhaps Shurihartgen, in his own way, had hurried so that they would not grow any more attached.
Horus recalled the way Shurihartgen had treated him stiffly from beginning to end, then, feeling somehow wistful, gently stroked his own chest several times where that heavy power could be felt.
‘I never thought things would proceed so suddenly.’
Was this what it meant to live together forever within one’s heart?
Although Shurihartgen’s soul had departed the moment the ritual ended and no separate ego remained inside it, Horus nevertheless felt strangely reassured. He patted his chest and grinned, then sprang up from where he had fallen.
And at that moment—
《The individual’s potential is being forcibly blossomed. Limits are expanding, and growth is accelerating.》
《The individual has fulfilled the conditions and is growing. Special Skill “Elder Dragon’s Heart” acquired.》
《Authority has been granted as the final Gold Dragon. Special Skill “Golden Treasury” acquired.》
Messages began appearing one after another before his eyes.
The changes brought about by Shurihartgen’s final gift, and the authority that would allow him to head to the clan’s legacy, which had been planned in advance.
Up to this point, he had more or less expected it, but...
《Achievement accomplished! You have become the last remaining “Final Gold Dragon” in this world.》
《You have become the one and only Gold Dragon of the Auterica dimension. As a reward, the privilege “Dragon Lair” has been granted.》
《By accomplishing an achievement, you have had a great influence on the world. Karma increases additionally.》
The contents of the messages that followed were things even he had not anticipated.