Chapter 341
Chapter 341
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 341
Chapter Title: Side Story 25. Blue Spring to You (7)
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Everything around was red.
An even fiercer flame storm was raging.
The flames transformed from Navardoje's shell were being absorbed into Garagrens.
His originally amorphous body was gradually regaining its original form.
【How long... it has been a time of endless suffering.】
Garagrens closed his eyes.
The days he had endured to reach this point flashed before him like a panorama.
It all started when Ronan's father, the Savior, severed his horn.
Losing the horn—an organ that gathered power and a symbol of his pride—was an unbearable tragedy for Garagrens.
Unable to contain his resentment, he went mad with rage, and eventually, Navardoje, fed up with his rampages, stripped him of most of his power and banished him.
'Mother was truly merciless. Burning down five or six cities of those vermin—what's the big deal?'
In truth, up until then, Garagrens had been living quite comfortably in his own way.
Even after losing nearly all his strength, he was still a top-tier red dragon.
Building a lair and lording over the surrounding lands was child's play, just like any other dragon.
Until that pitch-black dragon came looking for him.
【Orse... Once I get out of here, the first thing I'll do is rip you to shreds.】
Garagrens ground his teeth.
Even thinking about it now made his scales stand on end.
Orse had burst in suddenly and torn apart Garagrens, who had been focused on rehabilitation.
If he hadn't spiritized his body just a moment sooner, he would have met his end right there.
'Damn it, if only my body had been in normal condition...!'
The aftermath was a tale that couldn't be told without tears.
Garagrens, barely clinging to life and trapped in a crystal, had to battle solitude for over a decade.
Only after regaining some strength and being able to assert his presence could he devise this resurrection plan.
【Speaking of which... Mother hasn't changed a bit. I can't absorb it all.】
Finishing his reminiscence, Garagrens let out a hollow laugh.
Even though he had recovered nearly half his prime strength, the flames showed no sign of dying down.
It was hard to believe this was mana from mere shed skin.
She was the mother who bore him, but she was an absurd monster.
Garagrens spoke.
【Mother. Do you know what I'm going to do from now on?】
There was no reply.
Navardoje, in the midst of shedding, still had her eyes closed as she peeled away her aged shell.
The corners of Garagrens's mouth curled up.
【First, I'll go out and burn every living thing I see. I can't stand bugs crawling around my homeland, even if just for a short while. With Mother in this state and my siblings scattered across the nations, there's no one to stop me.】
Garagrens was confident he could turn Adren into a sea of fire.
He was once called the Red Death.
Once he regained his full prime strength, no one could stand against him.
【Next is the world of the mortals. I'm certain many of my kin will support me. They've just gone mad from the recent chaos, but dragons can never coexist with lesser creatures. Destruction is our essence.】
【...】
【Of course, I can't beat Mother. I might have to run for the rest of my life, but I don't care. What matters is that this dreadfully boring peace meets its end!】
Garagrens's voice grew heated.
His power was surging, and his emotions were boiling over.
His rapidly regenerating body had now returned to its original form everywhere except the horns and tail.
A little more, and he would fully reclaim his prime strength.
【No one can interfere with me! Dragons shall reign, and the crawling vermin shall bow their heads beneath our wings!】
The trivial silence was over.
The vermin would tremble once more under the shadow of dragons.
As he burst into maniacal laughter amid the flames.
"Big dreams you've got there."
【What?】
A unfamiliar voice echoed from somewhere.
Garagrens flinched and looked around.
Aside from Navardoje in the midst of shedding, there was no one.
What was that?
It had clearly come from nearby.
【Which rat is this...?】
It wasn't a mistake.
Garagrens's brow furrowed.
His massive wings unfurled explosively.
【Show yourself! You vermin!】
Kwaaaah!
A convection of fire swept through the palace.
The intensified inferno rode the winds, creating dozens of large and small whirlwinds.
The Savior and Orse.
Garagrens, who had been screwed over by smaller beings until now, had developed a personality that couldn't overlook even minor provocations.
Soon, the whirlwinds subsided.
【...Hmph.】
Garagrens snorted.
No signs of life remained.
Whatever trash had sneaked in, it was surely incinerated now.
What a pointless waste.
As he, now nearly fully regenerated, prepared to take flight.
Slash!
A green line was drawn across his pair of horns.
【Wha...!】
Garagrens hurriedly looked up.
A human girl stood atop his head.
In her small but sturdy hand, she gripped a longsword shimmering with green mana.
"I wondered what kind of guts you had, and it turns out you've got a big shot like this backing you. Fire Dragon clan, huh."
Naviroje said.
Perception interference magic rippled around her.
As Garagrens opened his mouth to shout something.
The green line split open, and the yet-unformed horns scattered as flames.
At the same time, the accumulated mana backlashed, causing an explosion.
Kwaaang!!
A shock like a siege ram smashing his head enveloped Garagrens.
【Kraaaah!!】
The massive body staggered greatly.
Naviroje didn't miss the opening.
Reversing her grip on the sword, she thrust straight into Garagrens's left eye.
The blade, stained with Ronan's blood, pierced the eye—still more spirit than dragon—without resistance.
Splurt!
Crimson flames surged in place of blood.
【You bastard!】
Garagrens thrashed in pain and swung his arm.
His enormous forelimb smashed down on his own head, but Naviroje evaded by a hair's breadth.
Landing on the ground, she swept her sword widely.
Slash!
The encroaching flames extinguished in an instant, like snuffed embers.
【The fire...?!】
Garagrens recoiled.
It was the first time he'd seen such a sight since hatching from the egg.
A mere mortal extinguishing a fire dragon's flames.
Though it was residual fire from his mother's shed skin, it was unbelievable.
'This much, huh. I need to end it quickly.'
Naviroje bit her lip.
She had to finish before Ronan's blood fully dried.
She could move unscathed through the blaze because she could cleave the approaching flames.
A dragon's weaknesses: horns, heart.
And the reverse scale somewhere on its body.
Horns severed—destroy either of the other two, and it would likely vanish.
As Naviroje charged for the heart.
【Don't get cocky, you rat!!】
Suddenly, Garagrens's maw gaped wide.
His swollen lungs glowed fiercely.
Sensing danger instinctively, Naviroje leaped back.
"Kuh...!"
She activated Evasion, but the size difference rendered it useless.
Flames poured from the cavernous maw.
Not something she could dodge or parry.
The highly concentrated blaze, akin to a laser, struck precisely where Naviroje had stood.
Kwaaaaaang!!
A massive pillar of fire erupted with a deafening roar.
【Some gutter bug!!】
Though Naviroje was engulfed in the explosion, Garagrens didn't stop.
He swept his head around, spraying flames everywhere.
Explosions raged in the flames' wake.
Finally, having emptied his lungs' fire, he roared savagely.
【Kraaaaah!!!】
The Flame Palace shook.
As the explosions settled, the ruined interior was revealed.
Melted chandeliers and corridors.
Shattered glass windows everywhere.
He had finally breached the barrier and inflicted damage.
No survivors this time.
Garagrens gathered the remaining fire in his mouth.
【...Wasted effort.】
In his excitement, he'd used more power than necessary.
The extremities of his flame-transformed body evidenced the waste.
Not a fatal issue, of course.
Navardoje's flames still remained in abundance.
Time was a bit tight now, though.
【Damn...】
Garagrens growled.
Short encounter, but a lasting impression—that mortal.
Not content with cleaving fire, she'd wounded him.
He hadn't expected the horns to be severed again.
【I've changed my mind. I'll utterly destroy Adren.】
Anything less wouldn't sate his mood.
Soon, the absorption ended.
Garagrens, now regenerated everywhere except the horns, gaped his maw.
Kwaaaaa!
The straight-fired laser struck the inner wall.
The rapidly melting wall finally collapsed.
'Finally.'
Garagrens's wings unfurled again.
The massive wings were fully restored.
The red-hot membrane evoked a wall of fire.
Beyond the new hole, Adren's night sky gleamed.
The full moon was beautiful.
Outside, students' laughter echoed—they hadn't noticed yet.
【I'll remind you of the fear you've forgotten.】
Garagrens laughed.
Soon, that laughter would turn to screams and wails.
With a flap, his body lifted.
As he soared, stirring a storm, and raised his head.
"Don't move... huff, you lizard."
【How...!】
A familiar voice resounded again.
Garagrens whipped his head around.
The girl who should have vanished without a trace stood in the center of the Flame Palace.
Naviroje, breathing raggedly, continued.
"Right now, outside... my students are... enjoying their youth."
【...Impressive. Why are you still alive?】
Garagrens was genuinely awed.
She looked barely alive.
Her sword was broken and shabby.
Her waist-length hair was now a short bob.
Beneath her half-burned uniform, her skin bore horrific burns.
The result of Ronan's blood drying while blocking the flames.
"Don't breathe your filthy breath... on those kids living days brighter than anyone's."
Yet Naviroje didn't care.
Her body was wrecked, but her eyes shone like stars.
She aimed her half-broken sword at Garagrens.
【Ha, hilarious. I never imagined seeing such a rare sight right after regaining my power.】
Garagrens chuckled.
For the second time in his life, he felt awe toward a mortal.
Now fully regenerated even his horns, he spoke in a tone of disbelief.
【I'm done. I'll spare your life for your courage—a special mercy. See if you can survive in that state.】
"Stop..."
【Instead, I'll collect the price from your students. I'll tell them as I breathe fire: you're dying because of your insolent master. I look forward to their faces.】
"Fight me... here."
Naviroje pleaded, but Garagrens ignored her.
No time to waste on the dying.
Spreading his wings again, he sneered.
Moonlight filtering through the hole was still beautiful.
As the red head glanced at the hole.
【... ?】
Garagrens's body froze.
The full moon had vanished.
The hole in the wall, his shedding mother wreathed in flames—gone.
'What...'
Nothing was visible.
The world was plunged into utter darkness.
In his confusion, Garagrens noticed another change.
His body wouldn't move.
In this sightless, soundless world, a soft hissing spread like leaking wind.
Shaaaa...
Right behind him.
Suddenly, his scales bristled.
A serpent too massive for his eyes to take in coiled around him.
The viper, thicker than his neck and covered in burns, met his gaze and spoke.
"I told you... to stop."
【...!】
It was Naviroje's voice.
Simultaneously, three slashes carved across his body.
Over the horns, wings, and chest scales.
When the world brightened again, it was all over.
Slash!
Garagrens, all vital points destroyed in one go, plummeted to the ground.