Chapter 182
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: The First Named: Bone Dragon (1)
An unseen darkness, a bottomless pit.
An endless fall. A bottomless descent. Dark figures brushed past on either side. As if paying us no mind as we returned to where they once lived, they simply ascended, seeking the light they despised. As if their very principle of action was to stain that light with their own color.
Blink, blink.
[Floating State]
[Duration: 9 seconds]
In a corner of my vision, the duration of the Levitation Potion flickered. The duration of a Levitation Potion is shorter than you'd think. I'd used one before during the raid on the world boss, the Green Dragon, but never to descend a cliff this deep.
I looked at Chris, the source of the warmth I felt in my hand, and whispered just loud enough to be heard over the rushing wind.
"Chris. The Levitation Potion's about to..."
"Yeah. I think we're almost there. I can see the bottom."
Chris's gentle kindness, returning my words with a reassuring smile, calmed my heart.
Challenging the unknown and confronting the past are always unsettling. It was a negative feeling I'd unconsciously experienced during my time playing solo.
But today, I wasn't anxious.
I felt good.
Because it felt like the times I spent with my old companions.
*Thud.*
Chris and I landed at the bottom of the long, straight chasm carved into the earth.
The gap between the cliffs on either side was wider than I expected. Fortunately, perhaps because it was a perfectly vertical fissure, enough visible light filtered through the thick black mist to illuminate the interior and allow us to distinguish objects.
I looked ahead.
We had jumped into the southern starting point of this fissure.
For now, our path led north.
It seemed we just had to follow the path etched into the earth.
Thankfully, it seemed all the nearby monsters had fled, as there were almost no mobs in the vicinity.
*Step, step.*
*Clomp, clomp.*
"It's deep."
"There are similar things on Earth, right? If you watch YouTube, you see things like sinkholes. And the ocean has blue holes."
"Ah. I have heard of things like that."
I nodded.
Holes in the earth formed for various reasons, like groundwater drainage or the dissolution of underground rock.
"But this hole..."
"Yeah. It's artificial."
"...Anyway, I have to ask today."
I steeled myself and clenched my fists.
I'd been too embarrassed to ask properly before, but I needed to know how Chris had accessed this continent's past.
*Chris, where on earth did you see all this?*
As we walked forward, I listened to Chris's story.
As the story progressed, my eyes widened, and soon my mouth fell open without me realizing.
Eventually, I covered my eyes with my palms.
"B-Bernhard left a record like that..."
"Those boys must have really looked up to you since they were young, huh? Hehe."
"...They were just plucky kids who wanted to help."
I gave a faint smile.
Leoner, Bernhard.
*You didn't forget me.*
*And even my master.*
Although the heroes of the past were forgotten, their deeds remained, still influencing this world.
And the nations they founded have endured for a thousand years.
I clasped my hands to my chest and quietly savored the warmth that had been passed down across a thousand years.
A memory I wanted to forget, one that had ended leaving only a great wound.
The dissonance between the memories of my past life and the brain of a child, which had confused me right up to the final battle with the Demon King.
If only I had been a little stronger, if only I had become a Hero complete in both mind and body.
A memory full of regrets.
But now, for some reason, I was facing it head-on again.
*Have I grown enough now?*
Even back then, I had some desire to overcome my timid personality. I think I wanted to bid farewell to my headache-inducing past life and live like a girl my age.
Was it because I said something like "When this fight is over..." to Bernhard and Leoner? I regretted all sorts of things.
In the end, the main reason my personality became so extreme was the painful memory from my final moments in this world.
Chris watched me for a moment, walking in silence, before feigning indifference with a small cough.
"Ahem, you met quite a few people in this world, didn't you?"
"Umm... I suppose so."
"So, um... what did you think of the princes?"
"The princes? Bernhard and Leoner?"
I tilted my head.
*Why is she suddenly changing the subject to that?*
*She must have plenty of other things to be curious about.*
I searched my memories of the past for a moment.
"They were admirable boys. Even in a desperate situation, they stood back up and vowed to save humanity. And in the end, they succeeded, founding the two empires we see today, right?"
The two great nations players first encounter in 'Astria Online'—the Alpharion Empire and the Betarion Empire.
Their will had carried on, even after a thousand years.
Suddenly, Chris shook her head vehemently.
"No, not that! ...Th-this is so frustrating!"
"......?"
Chris suddenly started hopping up and down as if she were terribly frustrated.
"Hah, well, I guess that's fine. It seemed like the princes gave up in the end anyway. ...Th-then. What about your companions? The dwarf, Ain, was just an old guy, and I've spoken to Mama Igraine myself... S-specifically, what about Melissa, or Elena?"
"...Mama Igraine?"
Chris's expression suddenly grew more serious as she gulped and pressed on. It seemed she was determined to ask everything she was curious about now that the topic had come up.
"Your companions."
I cupped my slightly flushed cheeks.
With Chris here with me now, I can recall them with a little less pain.
Whenever I think of them, a corner of my heart aches, but at the same time, it feels warm.
I said quietly.
"I loved them. ...As much as I love you, Chris."
"...I see. S-sorry. I'm just so curious about everything."
"It's okay."
Seeing my reaction, Chris seemed to snap out of it, her expression tinged with guilt.
My scars will never completely disappear. But now, I have someone I love as much as the women in the Hero's Party—Chris.
And even now, that feeling was growing, little by little.
It's a different feeling from the affection I had for Igraine, who was like a mother to me. The feeling you get for a beautiful woman with a personality and appearance you admire. As someone who has only just begun to see myself as the girl Iseulbi, I couldn't yet define this feeling.
I squeezed the dejected Chris's hand and smiled brightly.
"Why are you apologizing? I'm okay now."
"*Sniffle.*"
I ended up being the one to comfort Chris, who was sniffling with reddened eyes. I scratched my face awkwardly, but continued forward, holding her hand.
Before long, something came into view on the path between the cliffs.
"Oh."
"This is..."
The canyon had widened considerably. The gap was now dozens of meters across.
And blocking the wide central path was a large structure made of white bones. No, were they the bones of a giant creature?
"Rain, do you know what this is?"
"They look like... dragon bones."
"Aha, I've fought a few of those."
Chris nodded, crossing her arms.
The world boss of Verbeia Forest, the Green Dragon.
The first named boss of the previous raid dungeon, the Tree of the Abyss, the Black Dragon.
Their sizes varied, but both were massive creatures, large enough to crush a human underfoot.
"Creatures and monsters, drawn here by the negative energy, the thick demonic qi, met their end in this place."
In other fantasy novels, dragons are often depicted as a superior race with endless wisdom, living for over ten thousand years and enjoying their leisure.
But the dragons of the Astria Continent, as we've seen so far, are nothing more than giant lizards. Of course, depending on the individual, they can wield energy corresponding to the color of their scales.
This dragon, now just a pile of bones, what color was it?
The Green Dragon from Verbeia Forest, which spewed poisonous energy? The Black Dragon from the Tree of the Abyss, which wielded dark energy akin to demonic qi?
Just as Chris and I took a step toward the massive pile of dragon bones.
—
"...?"
I thought I heard something.
*Shing, thwack.*
"Chris, wait."
"Huh?"
When I suddenly drew my sword and stretched out an arm to block her path, Chris let out a bewildered sound.
What if the path we're on isn't the way to a dungeon located somewhere in this area...
...but is the 'Blue Overlord's Resting Place,' the raid dungeon itself?
In a way, you could say we skipped the first mob section at the entrance, thanks to Eleonora's help.
If that's the case, then this being, the first one we've encountered since entering...
"A named boss."
*Rumble, rumble, rumble.*
The cliffs trembled, and rocks and pebbles of all sizes tumbled down from both sides.
Along with the vibrations, the massive bones scattered ominously all around...
...began to gather in one place.
*Creeak, screeech.*
A bizarre sight.
The proof of a creature's death.
Its bones, its remains, began to move.
Like the 'Nightmare Fusion' I saw in the Heavenly Basin.
The negative energy, the demonic qi, has the power to animate even the inanimate.
If so, what kind of beings could that power raise?
A spine that looked ready to collapse at any moment dragged itself across the remains of a shattered sword, while razor-sharp ribs burst forth from the earth like teeth.
*Creeak, screeech, craaack.*
Small bone fragments flew into a cracked skull, and the bones forming the knee joints struggled to raise the body.
In an instant, from within the vortex of tangled bones.
—Flash.
The Bone Dragon opened its eyes.
The eye sockets staring into the void were empty, yet an ominous aura radiated from them like an abyss.
The form of this massive undead dragon, though a lifeless, inanimate thing, asserted its presence as if it were alive.
*Clack.*
Its massive jaw slowly opened, and the ghastly sound of bone striking bone filled the canyon.
Finally, the vibrations ceased, and the fully formed skeleton...
—ROOOOAR!!
*RUMBLE!*
...unleashed a silent roar, accompanied by another violent tremor.
The named boss interface that soon appeared before our eyes reconfirmed that this was indeed the first named boss.
However, when we saw its total HP, both Chris and I couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
"One billion...!"
[1st Named]
[Level 58 Bone Dragon]
[HP 1,000,000,000 / 1,000,000,000 (100%)]