◈ Episode 247. True All-Dragon Convocation: Black Dark Dragon.
Looks like that really was directed at me after all.
A satisfied voice flowed from Yunaxus’s lips.
“It is Kudhanax’s Fear.”
Kudhanax?
Who the hell is that supposed to be?
Calling someone he’s never even met by a dreadful name like Black Dark Dragon!
If I could, I would have grabbed him by the collar.
I wanted to ask if he had some kind of grudge against me.
But I couldn’t.
[Hidden Piece: Dragon Temple]
Because beyond the rift in dimensions, I could see the temple’s scenery.
As expected of a temple of dragons, its scale matched their size. The towering pillars alone made my chest swell just by looking at them. However, befitting the modifier [Hidden Piece],
not just anyone could enter.
[Appropriate Level: Only dragons may enter]
A condition specified in place of a level.
A place solely for dragons.
It meant that if you weren’t a dragon, you couldn’t even enter. And that was exactly why I couldn’t protest even against that dreadful epithet, Black Dark Dragon……!
Yunaxus continued.
“Black Dark Dragon. There could be no epithet more fitting to describe Claudi than that.”
That’s right.
Thanks to that damned epithet, Black Dark Dragon,
I had gained the qualifications to approach.
[Hidden Piece: Dragon Temple]
It wasn’t merely talk—a message had actually appeared.
[Black Dark Dragon (黑暗龍): Your unrevealed renown is not excessive even when compared to a Black Dark Dragon swimming through the darkness, and thus you are worthy of bearing the name of a dragon. - You may enter ‘Hidden Piece, Dragon Temple’]
……
A positive mindset is always important.
‘Right. Thanks to this, I can enter.’
I had broken through the Ice Dragon’s Snowy Mountain and come right up to the destination. If I hadn’t met the conditions and couldn’t enter here, I might not have died of shame—I might have simply lost all strength and died on the spot.
And that wasn’t all.
‘You did well unsummoning Diend too, Hoyeol.’
If Diend had witnessed this situation, would he have stayed still with that personality of his?
He would’ve gone around blabbing it everywhere.
That among the dragons, I was known as the Black Dark Dragon.
‘It’s only a matter of time before the whole world finds out.’
And among those people of the world are my enemies.
Even now, in Number 3, Lee Yerim’s contacts, I was saved as “Endlessly Deep Darkness”……. And as if that weren’t enough, Black Dark Dragon?! Even as a man, Lee Hoyeol had no confidence he could endure such humiliation.
Lastly.
‘……Still, at least it isn’t Black Flame Dragon.’
If it had been a title like that, there wouldn’t have been any room for excuses.
Good. Positive thinking.
Having managed to pull myself together thanks to that, I opened my mouth.
“An epithet befitting Claudi, is it.”
It was something I said as if merely letting it pass.
But Yunaxus did not let my words pass by.
He even went out of his way to add an explanation.
“If it was Kudhanax, who lived in the same era as this old dragon, then he must have suspected it. The immeasurably vast truth of Claudi……. That is why he could not easily trust my words. But now that he has realized it even at this late hour, this old dragon has shed one lingering regret.”
Please, could you stop gilding the Claudi family there?
This is painful in more ways than one, seriously…….
But since I’d resolved to make use of it,
I had no choice but to endure through sheer grit.
Above all, now was not the time to be shaken.
‘Dozens of dragons are waiting for me.’
And the majority of those dragons were clearly hostile toward me.
If I had not remembered the covenant,
it wouldn’t have been strange if I had been reduced to ash by the breaths pouring down the moment I entered.
But whatever the specific circumstances were,
in the end,
I was the one who had dragged out the covenant.
[You have entered the Hidden Piece, Dragon Temple.]
What entered my vision
were all dragons,
bowing their heads in unison
toward Yunaxus and me.
As I said, the majority of dragons were not friendly toward me. So much so that I could tell at once that they were bowing their heads only because of the covenant. Their displeasure was conveyed as it was.
Grit—
How bad did it have to be for the sound of grinding teeth to be this loud?
Even the vast mana flowing from their enormous bodies.
Sure, they had their heads lowered.
‘But this is clearly intimidation.’
However, no matter how much they tried to frighten me,
Granfell’s pride was not something that would break.
I climbed down from Yunaxus’s back and set foot on the ground.
Calmly, I straightened my clothes.
Of course, I, Lee Hoyeol, wasn’t scared either.
‘As long as the covenant exists.’
The dragons would be unable to reveal hostility toward me.
Because to reveal it, they would likewise have to stake their lives.
In that sense, I had nothing to lose.
After all, my life was already on the line anyway.
On the Arcana Continent, I would not die even if I died.
‘I may not look it, but I’m the [Last Adventurer], after all.’
So then.
Shall we slowly hear the full story?
Just what sort of discussion had taken place at the All-Dragon Convocation
that they had driven Yunaxus, who intended to follow the World Tree’s will, to his death, and had even tried to ignore Claudi’s covenant? Go on, spit out your excuses.
Click—
I stopped at the very center of the Dragon Temple.
Unkind gazes poured down on me, but I was used to this too.
When I first stood on the podium of the Magic Tower’s Crystal Hall as a parachute appointment,
the looks that poured down on me then had been exactly like this.
I opened my mouth as if it were nothing.
“Begin, Yunaxus.”
Then I shamelessly continued.
“Now that, with me as the last, all dragons have gathered.”
While willingly accepting the epithet Black Dark Dragon……!
“The true All-Dragon Council.”
...
The Dragon Temple.
A human had set foot in that place, where only dragons could enter.
What those words meant was simple.
As Kudhanax had said,
that man was an existence worthy of being called a “dragon.”
Among humans, the only ones qualified for such a thing were them.
Claudi.
Claudi had truly returned.
The young dragons of a similar era to Proznax did not understand the seriousness of the situation. A body that grew day by day made it all too easy to dismiss the distant past as trivial.
However, those who had passed the hatchling stage.
The dragons who could be considered adults had an inkling.
Claudi, who had once again appeared on the Arcana Continent.
What judgment he would pass upon them.
Yunaxus opened his mouth.
“Mother’s will, realized through the death of an old dragon. That is to cause the seed of Mother, the World Tree, that exists within my body to sprout. In order for that seed to sprout, this old dragon’s lowly body must become its nourishment.”
That’s right.
Using the covenant as his authority,
he would command them to carry out the will of Mother, the World Tree.
Grit!
But they could not acknowledge it.
Even while knowing that it was Mother’s will, which could not be defied.
Even though, like Yunaxus,
they too carried the seeds of the World Tree within their bodies.
They could not accept it.
“……Why us?!”
Because they were born as kings of all creation.
Was that why they were naturally supposed to shoulder that responsibility?
What a laughable thing to say, Yunaxus.
“What king do you speak of?”
They had lived through eons.
But those eons.
They themselves had spent most of them in tedious sleep.
Because they possessed power far too immense.
Though they had wings, they could not fly freely over the Arcana Continent as they wished, and to keep the continent from trembling in fear, they could not even let out their cries.
And yet.
“You hand us the hollow position of kings of all creation, and now you ask us to bear responsibility for it? To offer up our lives? We cannot allow it. Even if that is Mother’s will, we cannot accept it……!”
Yunaxus did not answer.
‘Those words are right.’
Elder Dragon.
He was the one who had lived the longest among his kind.
Because he had experienced everything, he could understand their feelings.
And that was why…….
‘Perhaps that is why I did not resist.’
He too had unconsciously thought
that Mother’s will was filled with contradictions.
In that sense.
‘I……. have committed a grave sin against both Mother and my kin.’
So.
Perhaps that was why he had accepted death.
However, it was now something that could not be undone.
Yunaxus looked at Hoyeol.
‘Now that Claudi has stepped forward.’
Now that he had mentioned the covenant,
neither he nor his kin had any right to refuse.
And at last, Hoyeol broke the silence and opened his mouth.
“Indeed. Just as I expected.”
So as expected, you had been observing everything.
“If that is the sort of will it is, then it is right not to follow it.”
That is correct.
It is right not to follow such a will as th……?!
Yunaxus flinched.
Because words he had not expected came out of Hoyeol’s mouth.
“……?”
Wondering if it was truly time for him to close his eyes,
or if his hearing had gone dull, he looked around……
But the expressions of his kin, including Kudhanax, were not much different.
Everyone was shocked.
Even the hostile air
faded for a moment.
Their faces were full of questions.
However, the questions did not last long.
Because Hoyeol continued speaking.
“The World Tree is still alive and breathing even at this very moment.”
“……!!!”
...
From the Magic Tower’s Round Table Conference,
to the royal council of the Yusra Kingdom,
and even the AAU branch leaders’ meeting.
When it came to meetings, wasn’t I someone who was thoroughly sick of them?
That was why I listened closely to the agenda of the All-Dragon Council.
And as I did, I kept nodding.
‘……Still, I suppose this much is a great relief.’
First of all, they’re different from the elves, in whom there wasn’t the slightest sign of any possibility for rehabilitation.
Above all, the dragons had a justifiable reason.
Why dragons, born as kings of all creation, had not been free.
I had a guess as to the reason.
‘It’s because of the system.’
Before the Cataclysm.
Back when Arcana was nothing more than a game.
Balance was an incomparably important element.
‘For example.’
Imagine a time when players were only around level 100 to 200.
Now suppose level-thousand dragons were flying all over the continent.
Naturally, the Arcana Continent could not have developed as it had. With a single Dragon Fear, every creature on the continent would have fainted, making even proper activity impossible.
‘Unlike the elves, this is a rebellion with a reason.’
Let’s try thinking from their perspective.
Even I would have felt wronged, wouldn’t I?
What’s the point of being born as a king of all creation?
When they had never even been able to properly use that power.
In that sense, to the dragons, the Dragon-Magic War may truly have been pure and simple amusement.
Why, imagine that for their entire lives, there hadn’t been a single being capable of playing with them, and then suddenly, mages came along and started firing off fascinating magic, pew-pew.
‘How fun must that have been?’
Of course, that wasn’t just my own thought.
A sacrifice of the few for the many.
That was something Granfell hated more than anyone.
Even if that was the will of the World Tree, would he ever follow it?
Besides.
“The World Tree is still alive and breathing even at this very moment.”
Just as I had said,
on the Arcana Continent,
a new World Tree, inheriting the first World Tree’s place,
was alive and breathing.
Everyone had expressions of disbelief.
Why, should I tell you the exact location too?
The former [Swamp of the Predator].
Now the [Secret Garden of the World Tree].
If you still can’t believe it, I’ll show you the quest window.
[World Quest: Seed of the World Tree]
The crisis of extinction that has come upon the Arcana Continent.
In the midst of this great crisis,
sprout a new hope.
─Germinate the Seed of the World Tree. (In Progress)
●Current Seeds of the World Tree discovered: 1 / Unknown
●Current Seeds of the World Tree sprouted: 1 / Unknown
Sprout the World Trees scattered across the Arcana Continent.
That was the objective of the world quest I was currently carrying out.
So I hadn’t spoken without reason.
“Did I not tell you, Yunaxus.”
“……What?”
“There is no mother who wishes for her children to die.”
“!”
That’s right.
If the World Tree had truly intended for her seeds to sprout by using the corpse of a dead dragon as nourishment,
then I, who had sprouted the Seed of the World Tree through Hiel’s blessing, would have been nothing less than an uninvited guest to her plan.
There would have been even less reason for the World Tree to grant a blessing to an uninvited guest like me.
So.
I asked Yunaxus and all the dragons.
“All dragons, did you truly swallow the seeds of the World Tree?”
“……?”
“I am asking whether the World Tree you witnessed was truly the World Tree.”
“……!!!”
By that point, I had a hunch.
Between the World Tree and the dragons,
the only race brazen enough
to enact such a petty scheme
without knowing its place
was only one.
That’s right, demons.
The moment the Demon Hunter’s intuition stood on end,
my vision flickered.
Well, now. It had been a while since I returned to my main occupation.
[Class Quest: Fruit of Good and Evil]