Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Blood and Egg (3)
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Ronan widened his eyes at the bizarre sight. The blood still lingering on the ground was bubbling and moving somewhere.
"What the hell is this?"
It looked just like veins bursting out of torn skin. Looking closer, he could see countless thin streams of blood crawling through the dirt. It was grotesque, yet oddly captivating.
Ronan followed the procession of blood as if entranced. Thousands of thin streams were all crawling in one direction. Before long, he spotted what he was looking for.
Ronan stopped in his tracks and spat out a curse.
"This is insane."
All the blood was flowing into a dark crimson pool. The streams he'd followed were doing the same.
Marfez's egg floated in the center of the pool.
The pool's level was steadily dropping. Ronan frowned as he pieced it together. That monstrous egg was absorbing the blood.
Asel, who had followed behind him, shouted.
"W-What's that?!"
"Beats me, man."
Ronan strode forward and picked up the egg. The blood in the pool bulged and surged upward, as if protesting the theft.
"You didn't do this, right?"
"O-Of course not."
Ronan stared at the egg in disbelief. Mana wasn't enough, so now blood?
What kind of creature had influenced it to lay something like this?
-Thud.
In that moment, the egg twitched slightly. Ronan jumped back and yelled.
"It-It moved!"
"For real?!"
"Hell yeah, man! About time it hatched!"
Asel scurried over. Sure enough, as Ronan said, the egg was shaking little by little. The two boys clenched their fists in excitement.
-Tap. Tap tap.
"I'm not imagining this, right?"
"No, I hear it too..."
A tapping sound came from inside the egg, like something knocking. The intervals were shortening—it was definitely trying to get out. Ronan tapped the shell back, like knocking in reply.
"Don't tease me, come on out already. Show me what kind of monster you are."
Tap tap! It tapped back as if responding. But after several minutes of waiting, nothing more happened. Asel, deep in thought, spoke up.
"Maybe it needs more nutrients?"
"Hm?"
"It's still sucking up mana like crazy."
Asel could see it. The egg was greedily devouring the surrounding mana. If he let his guard down, it might even steal his own.
"People need food for energy, right? Maybe this egg needs more blood or mana to break out of the shell."
Ronan nodded. It made sense. He dipped the egg back into the pool slightly. The pool dried up in an instant.
"Not bad, Mr. Mage. Smart thinking. Guess it needs more blood, then."
"Yeah. I was thinking we could go back to that clearing where..."
Asel was midway through his sentence when a faint vibration hummed at Ronan's feet.
-Rumble...
Asel didn't notice. Ronan lifted his head, sensing something ominous.
"What the...?"
"What's up, Ronan?"
"Nah... I hear something."
"Really? I don't... Anyway, there were dead animals in that clearing earlier. Maybe we could..."
"Hold up, Asel. Something's off."
Ronan clamped a hand over Asel's mouth. The vibration was growing closer. He narrowed his eyes and scanned the surroundings. It wasn't quite water splashing, nor wind—it was a sticky, thudding sound that kept coming.
"That...?"
Then, something red caught his eye in the distance. It didn't take long to identify the rippling shape rising above the tall grass.
"...Asel."
"Yeah?"
"What do you think it'd feel like to bathe in blood?"
"W-Why ask something like that out of nowhere?"
Asel blinked his big eyes. Ronan silently pointed toward the clearing. It was now close enough for Asel to see.
-Roooar!
A torrent of blood crushed the underbrush as it barreled toward them at terrifying speed.
"Kyahhh!"
Asel screamed like a girl startled by thunder. The dark crimson surge writhed like it was alive. It was all the blood from the beasts slain in the clearing earlier.
"I-Invisible Hand!!"
Asel's staff slammed the ground desperately. Their bodies shot into the air.
"Urp...!"
Asel gagged. The egg was siphoning mana in real-time, making his spell unstable. He focused desperately to hold the altitude.
-Roooar!
The swirling blood flow twisted into a massive spiral horn, surging toward the egg. Asel saw mana pouring from the egg, violently pulling in the blood.
-Thud, thud thud thud.
"This little shit's got no chill."
The egg shook more violently than ever. Ronan laughed in disbelief. For something not even born yet, it was making one hell of a racket.
"Fine, have a drink."
He stared at the egg in his hand, then dropped it into the center of the blood flow. It plopped in and vanished into the crimson depths. The spiral collapsed as absorption began.
"No way it's gonna drink all that?"
Ronan and Asel watched from midair in awe. The blood flow slowly morphed into a massive orb, spinning beneath their feet.
It took less than five minutes for the shrinking orb to vanish completely. Confirming the blood gone, they landed.
"D-Done?"
"Seems like it."
Despite guzzling all that blood, the egg looked unchanged. Ronan picked up the rolling shell. A curse escaped his lips.
"What the fuck?"
What he held was an empty husk. A huge hole gaped on the surface, as if something had burst out. The shell that Schlieffen couldn't even scratch lay shattered in fragments.
"Where'd the thing inside go?"
Ronan narrowed his eyes and turned—just as thwack! Something flew in and smacked the back of his head.
"Fuck!"
Ronan clutched his skull and dropped to his knees. It felt like a punch straight to the brain. Startled, Asel rushed over, staff in hand.
"R-Ronan... you okay?"
"No!!"
"W-What hit you?"
As Asel scanned around, thwack! Something struck his head too.
"Agh!"
Asel let out a short scream and flipped his eyes back, passing out cold. Ronan drew his sword as he stood.
"You damn pest! Show yourself...!"
Mid-sentence, instinct made him dodge. Whoosh! Something impossibly fast grazed his cheek. It made the poachers' arrows from Caribolo look like toys.
"Shit."
Blood trickled from the graze. Ronan's face hardened. Another hit like that could kill him.
-Screee!
Its presence was erratic—not a projectile, but a living thing. Impossible to track with eyes alone.
"What a pain in the ass..."
Ronan exhaled, focusing his mind. His vision narrowed, time stretching. The mystery creature tore through the air with a shriek. He swung his arm.
Thud! Something soft gripped in his hand.
"Gotcha, you little shit!"
He reversed his grip on the sword, aiming at the catch. Just as he raised it to strike—
"Ppyat!"
"Huh?"
Ronan's eyes bulged. An apple-sized creature tilted its head in his grasp. Nothing like what he'd imagined.
"You the one that came out of this?"
"Ppye?"
Ronan alternated stares between the eggshell and the bizarre critter. Instinct told him it had hatched from the egg.
It looked too freakish to be any normal animal.
"...What the hell are you?"
It had feathers, but its skeleton wasn't bird-like. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't place it. Then Asel stirred, rubbing his head.
"Ugh... uuu... what was that...?"
A lump protruded from Asel's skull. Ronan silently shoved the weird creature in his face. Asel recoiled in horror.
"D-Dragon?!"
"Ppyat!"
"A dragon?"
Only then did Ronan recall a certain fantasy species. A dragon hatchling. He'd never seen one in person, but it matched the illustrations perfectly.
"Now that you mention it, kinda. Only thing it got from its parents are the feathers, though."
Its sturdy four legs stood straight despite being newborn. The two pairs of limp wings were abnormally long compared to its body.
The main difference from a hatchling: feathers covered spots that should have scales. Except the face. The only part resembling Marfez—its fluffy feathers—were a deep, raven-black.
"Still... gotta call it a Dream Bird, right?"
Scratching its neck elicited a purring rumble. As Ronan petted it, he muttered.
"...Pretty face on it, at least."
Its vine-like tail swished as it stared at Ronan. His reflection rippled in its large, cat-like eyes.
"Still, that ain't cool, you nearly killed me."
"Ppye?"
Ronan turned to show his cheek wound. The previously docile Dream Bird suddenly thrashed. As he loosened his grip, it climbed onto his shoulder.
"Hey? What's up?"
The Dream Bird eyed his wound. Asel's eyes widened watching. A tiny magic circle formed before its eyes, and the bleeding gash began to heal.
"R-Ronan! The wound's gone!"
"What?"
Ronan brushed his cheek and chuckled dryly. Smooth skin, no trace. Satisfied, the Dream Bird nuzzled his cheek.
"This thing's a keeper."
"I-It's cute... Seems to like you, Ronan."
A living potion. Then its wings began to unfurl. Four raven-like wings spread fully, drawing in nearby mana.
"Huh...?"
Not just mana. Lingering blood droplets floated up, soaking into the fluffy feathers. Bloodstains on their clothes gathered into beads and dripped off.
"What kind of sorcery is this, Asel?"
"I-I don't know..."
Asel shook his head. Magic using blood as a medium, alongside mana? Unheard of.
Grotesque, almost ominous. But that didn't matter. Ronan was smitten with the little weirdo.
He extended his arm. The Dream Bird folded its wings and hopped onto his palm.
Ronan met its gaze.
"Wanna come with me?"
"Ppyaa!"
It chirped shortly, like agreement. Ronan swung his arm experimentally, but its talons gripped his finger tight.
"Alright, that's a yes."
He scooped it up. No resistance, just blinking eyes—adorably cute.
"Gotta name you. What'd be good..."
Ronan stroked his chin thoughtfully. After all the effort to hatch it, he didn't want something half-assed. A memory surfaced, and he nodded.
"Yeah, Sita it is."
"Ppyat!"
Sita chirped back, as if understanding. As he reached to pet its head—Sita shot into the air.
"Uwaaak!"
Asel, traumatized, clutched his head and screamed. But Sita ignored their heads.
-Screee!
Like a coiled spring, Sita rocketed off, vanishing between distant trees. Seconds later, a crash and dying shriek echoed.
"Gaaahhh!"
Ronan and Asel exchanged glances and bolted toward the sound.