Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: The Giant Dragon's Demise: Former High Elf Queen
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The Giant Dragon's End
Former High Elf Queen.
Serphin—or more precisely, the Giant Dragon—had been moved right into the center of the battlefield.
The method was simple.
Just relocate the Moonlight Arrow that Eldrin had fired.
- Groooar, you bastards! Won't you release me right now?
The dragon, bound by the golden seal and unable to break free, came along naturally.
- Release me now! If you do, I'll at least spare your race from extinction!
All while spouting such absurd nonsense.
That was the moment the Giant Dragon's true form was exposed to the entire world.
"......Who's that?"
"Serphin?"
"Isn't that the damned elf queen? Why is the queen tied up there?"
The dwarves fell into shock.
And they had every reason to.
Serphin was known, alongside Vulcanus, as an untouchable transcendent being.
No one could have imagined her captured in such a helpless state.
Even more astonishing was...
"......Die!"
"You vile dragon who toyed with our kin! Did you think you could hide the truth forever?"
"It's the dragon that defiled the forest! A wicked fiend!"
The elves were glaring at Serphin with faces full of rage.
Only then did the dwarves start to believe, one by one, what I had told them.
It took seeing it with their own eyes for things to change.
But we weren't there yet.
I needed to drive the point home even further.
"Eldrin."
I called out to her, borrowing the body of Bonesam.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Tighten the gap in that arrow a bit more."
So it could shrink into a slightly smaller form.
To the size of Vulcanus, to be exact.
I planned to reveal the truth about their leader to the rock clan as well.
- Hmph, cheap tricks.
But the Giant Dragon quickly grasped the situation.
All the gathered races, with itself paraded before them.
A being like a dragon couldn't possibly miss what that meant.
- Hoo.
The dragon let out a faint sigh.
Then, without hesitation, it transformed into Vulcanus.
Ho, so confident, huh?
- Innocent warriors of the rock clan, hear me!
The roar of Leader Vulcanus echoed thunderously across the battlefield.
- Why are you so foolish? Haven't I always told you? The elves' sorcery is more insidious than any dragon! You're being deceived. Fallen for the schemes of that wicked High Elf Queen, you're oppressing me, your leader!
The dragon's final gambit.
To win back the dwarves.
- Remember! In the 500 Years' War, who was the true force holding them back? Do you think the rock clan can have a future without me? Will you only pound the ground in regret after I'm gone?
The Giant Dragon's gaze swept across the battlefield.
"W-What's going on?"
"I don't know what's true anymore!"
"What if the leader's right? What if Joo Dong-hoon turns out to be an elf spy?"
"Hey! Joo Dong-hoon wouldn't do that!"
"He could be a spy trying to win favor! Honestly, who else but the High Elf Queen could capture the leader?"
The dragon's words weren't wrong.
The dwarves were indeed naive—no, downright stupid.
To fall for such blatant incitement.
"......"
The dragon kept persuading, and the dwarves plunged into utter chaos.
Their leader, trusted and followed for 500 years.
And the recent benefactor who appeared.
"Tch, sorry about this."
Dagunar, who had been watching, shook his head.
"Who knew our kin could be so dim. It's embarrassing; I can't even show my face."
Then.
He stepped forward one pace beside me.
The Amplification (A-rank) skill was a technique that applied to a fixed area.
Thus, Dagunar was under its effect too.
- You idiots!
He bellowed, putting strength into his gut.
- Why do you close your eyes again even after the blindfold is ripped off and the truth is shown? Did you abandon your brains when you set down your hammers, you worthless shits?
Dagunar's biting curses.
'Hoo?'
I watched from a step back.
Yeah.
Clan matters should be settled among your own kind.
No matter how high the affinity at 100, I was still an outsider.
"What? Worthless shit?"
"Who's that guy?"
"It's Dagunar! The one next to Joo Dong-hoon!"
"What makes you think you can talk like that, you punk!"
In an already chaotic situation, the sudden barrage of insults sparked fierce backlash from the dwarves.
But Dagunar didn't back down.
- Hmph, failing to show respect even with a great ancestor right before your eyes—what else but worthless shits are you?
Had he overheard the stories of Demir and Eldrin earlier?
Some dwarves flinched.
- Here! The soul of the great Demir is watching! Stop showing such shameful sights! Rock clan! If the leader is truly mighty, why is he trapped in that crude arrow? I saw it! I saw it clearly with my own eyes! The leader is a wicked dragon! And it was thanks to our great ancestor's grace that we escaped the dragon's tyranny and could limit ourselves to fighting the elves!
Dagunar's speech was simple and crude.
But it had undeniable persuasive power.
'As expected, knew he'd be helpful.'
I smiled.
Dagunar was one who valued his race over himself.
That sincerity hit even harder.
- Look at the elves over there! Take off your colored glasses and see! Do those tears look fake? Like crocodile tears? They're genuinely furious! About their own queen, Serphin! About the Giant Dragon that deceived us for 500 years!
- Shut up!
That was when the dragon interrupted.
- The naive dwarf is the one brainwashed! Will you believe the words of some kid elf-sorceried over your leader, who worked for you for 500 years? Are you really that stupid?
- Shut your trap, dragon!
- What?
- Just thinking of what you did still boils my blood! What have you ever done for us? Start a war and then sit back watching? Or bury our blacksmithing arts and force even the young dwarves into battle?
- You punk?
- Even if you were the real leader, you're impeached, you bastard!
- Bastard? Graaaaaah! You little runt of a dwarf! Want to die?
"......"
Correction.
It wasn't just the dwarves who were stupid—the dragon was too.
In this world.
Do they only know how to smash things, so their brains didn't develop?
"......"
I had no need to step in.
This was clearly Dagunar's show.
The dwarves' sentiments had already turned.
The funny part was, the recovered loyalty wasn't due to anger at the dragon...
But simply because of Demir.
"Yeah, that craftsmanship. It was our ancestor's."
"That...... hammerwork wasn't ordinary. So it was the great Demir?"
"I felt my heart race for the first time in ages. Even though it's been 200 years since I set down the hammer...... We're born blacksmiths, after all."
"But the leader oppressed us."
"He wouldn't let us pick up our hammers. He suppressed our freedom."
"Freedom...... suppression...... Giant Dragon."
"Yeah, the leader was the dragon."
One by one.
They came to their senses.
Yeah, after being played for 500 years.
If they fell for it again, it'd be their own fault.
"Yeah, why are we even fighting the elves? The reason's ridiculous. Suffering 500 years just to find one ancestral relic...... Does that even make sense?"
"Right, back in our ancestors' time, we were all kin, weren't we?"
"Forest or rock, it's all nature. No reason to fight."
They were simple folk, with little stubbornness to match.
A fine race that acknowledged truth when it came.
'Perfect.'
It felt like just yesterday I entered this dungeon, 'Forest and Rock.'
Yet already, the two races had halted their war and regained their senses.
"Outsider."
Demir murmured from beside me.
Eldrin drew near and spoke.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, all preparations are complete."
"Preparations?"
I tilted my head, and she nodded.
"Yes, now we must seal the dragon completely."
"Huh?"
That thing.
Could be sealed?
"The ritual's conditions are already met."
Eldrin looked to the sky.
Though her face was bone, was that a subtle smile? Or just my imagination?
"The condition was complete harmony between the two races. As long as that harmony holds, the dragon can never emerge into the world again."
"Ahh, a conditional ritual, huh."
A seal based on harmony.
Not a perfect seal, but fitting for this world's lore.
Like something a 'god' had set.
"Don't fight.
Or face punishment."
Something like that.
- Heh heh heh, fine. You've won perfectly.
Did it sense the ritual succeeding?
The dragon gave up.
Grumbling as it let everything go.
Worn out from 500 years of effort, its face full of fatigue.
- But you can't seal me completely. Wait and see. One day, I'll return and drag you all to ruin!
Ssssh!
The dragon's tone was grandiose.
With a low warning, it gradually faded from the world.
Sucked into the orb of the golden seal.
Rooooar!
With immense pressure, the Giant Dragon's shadow briefly loomed over the battlefield.
Its true form, sweeping across the world.
"Huhk!"
"......That's the dragon's true form?"
Elves and dwarves alike.
Gaped at the sight.
That colossal presence made the warning hit harder, more terrifyingly.
It shook both races to their core.
How much time passed like that.
I cautiously spoke up.
"......Is it over?"
"Yeah, it's all done."
Dagunar grinned.
The first bright smile I'd seen from him.
The kind that comes from genuine happiness.
"Thanks to you. In that short time, I experienced so much. 'Benefactor' feels too small a word for you now."
"......"
"Our rock clan will honor you forever. We'll erect your statue and record your name in all our annals."
A pure expression of gratitude.
Dagunar wiped the sweat from his hand on his clothes and extended it to me.
I clasped it with a smile.
'Nice.'
A subtle feeling.
Was receiving pure goodwill from someone this pleasant?
Different from the respect hunters gave top rankers, my old dream.
My dream of becoming a ranker.
The respect from hunters as a ranker was different.
"You heard, right? No harmony, and the dragon returns."
"Haha, heard it. Not just me—everyone here did."
Soon after, the quest clear message appeared.
[Congratulations!]
[At last, the conflict between the two races is resolved, and peace is restored.]
[Rewards incoming!]
'Rewards!'
That meant one thing.
The true awakening of Bonesam and Bonyuk!
Accordingly, Demir and Eldrin approached.
"Thank you, outsider. Thanks to you, I can rest easy. But a promise is a promise, right?"
"We'll follow you sincerely until our souls fade. We'll be your limbs, fight for you."
Hearing "fight for me" felt so reassuring.
"Yes, I look forward to working with you."
I bowed in return.
As they followed me.
I'd give them good memories too.
The joy of leaving this world, traveling others.
'Now, time to leave the dungeon soon?'
Fortunately, time remained.
Full clear message only after complete seal, it seemed.
'Fine by me.'
Gotta grab what I can.
Textiles from the elves.
Minerals from the dwarves.
Elves would obey Eldrin's word blindly.
Dwarves had my deal with their doctors, so they'd hand them over.
I smiled genuinely.
Somehow, it felt like the happiest moment since entering this dungeon.