Chapter 81
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: The Fiery Honored Guest (1)
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The volcano had collapsed.
It was an unimaginable turn of events, but I finally managed to pry my mouth open.
"Is... is that even possible?"
It was a mountain that had stood tall for nearly a millennium.
"D-Don't tell me it was because of that earthquake at dawn yesterday?"
-No, it's the opposite. The ground shook because it collapsed.
The Western Regional Director spoke up before the Intelligence Chief could.
-This is an event that should never have happened. The active volcano is the very symbol of the West.
Behind his deeply furrowed expression, I could see the chaotic scene in the Western Administrative Office.
A crowd twice the size of the one in the South.
-But the refugees fleeing to our country all say the same thing.
Padre Montes's tense voice echoed from the scrying orb.
-They heard a dragon's roar.
"D-Dragon, you say!?"
A completely unexpected name popped out.
-...Why would the ancients...?
The dragonkin Drin Asqurin scowled.
Only the Eastern Regional Director, the wind spirit, tilted her head curiously and asked.
-Aren't dragons already extinct?
-Many have vanished, yes. But some still linger. One of them is the red dragon called the "Master of the Volcano." She's aged, but still alive.
"My God, a dragon..."
A name born in the mythic age from fear of natural disasters—a creature truly dangerous enough to be apocalyptic.
To hear it mentioned here of all places.
Suddenly, a grim thought flashed through my mind.
"Senior, does that mean...?"
-There are two possibilities.
Padre said with a hardened face.
-Something happened to the Master of the Volcano.
"..."
No one could speak.
A calamity had befallen a dragon.
It was as if one of the world's fundamental laws had been twisted.
Since the mythic age, dragons had symbolized nature itself.
But his next words were even more shocking.
-Or she flew into such a rage that she demolished her own nest and territory.
*****
-Rumble! Boom!!
Rocks, ash, and lava sprayed in every direction.
The sky was blanketed in charred black clouds, and the acrid stench of sulfur hung heavy over the land.
Apocalypse.
The sight of the entire world crumbling had unfolded in the Western volcanic region.
And from beneath it, a wounded, enraged dragon bellowed.
"I'll kill you all! I swear on the underground lava and the heavenly flames, I'll devour every last one of you!!!"
Her vast, majestic wings hung in tatters like a ripped tent.
Though dulled, her once-tough scales were cracked in places, oozing blood.
-Scrape! Crunch!
She tore into the collapsed volcano with her claws.
Her crimson eyes, sickle-shaped slits, scanned the surroundings ferociously.
The calm, gentle demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, she madly excavated the primordial mountain she had shattered herself, desperately searching for something.
"Insolent vermin! Filthy insects not even worth tearing apart!!"
Every time she flailed her wings in frenzy, hot blood splattered everywhere.
-Sizzle...
The droplets that hit the ground burned the rocks, sending up plumes of smoke.
And finally,
"U-Uwaaah!! Spare me, please spare me!!"
A survivor buried in the ash heap revealed himself.
A man with one arm already crushed by a boulder.
Realizing escape was impossible, he wept as he pleaded with the dragon.
"D-Dragon! Master of the Volcano! I was wrong. I'm just a lowly hunter who followed the dragon slayer! Mercy, please...!"
But Mnatsil took one look at him and drew in the deepest breath she could.
"N-No, no no no!!!"
Then, with all her might, she unleashed her hatred upon the loathsome human.
-Whoosh!
"Gaaaaah!!!"
A scream echoed through the inferno before fading away.
All that remained after the dragon's breath was a charred human silhouette.
-Crunch! Grind!
Mnatsil tore into it without hesitation, biting down so hard not even a shape remained.
Yet the dragon's fury had not subsided.
"Dragon slayer...!!! I know you're hiding somewhere here!"
Dragon slayer.
She sought the man who wore that arrogant title like a badge of honor.
The one who had slain her kin, who had exhausted every ounce of their strength just a little before time would have claimed them anyway, and boasted of it as his achievement.
He had broken the ultimate taboo.
Targeting not an adult, not a hatchling, but an egg.
It was no different from a curse to end an entire lineage.
But the dragon slayer hadn't stopped there.
She recalled what he had said when his cursed mithril arrow tore her wing.
-We will rule over you.
Rule.
'He wasn't just aiming to destroy me and my egg.'
Mnatsil saw the ambition burning in his greedy eyes—to place an entire race beneath him.
Thus, in her rage, Mnatsil gathered all her remaining strength and uttered her final dragon word.
The one power that could bend the laws of the world.
Dragon word.
"[Immorta Dehin Tur Kashai!]"
⟨ (The primordial mountain shall bury you!) ⟩
With those brief words, the vermin calling themselves an "expedition party" were all swept away by ash and rock.
But it wasn't enough.
'I can't let that one live.'
Even if he was dead, she had to find the corpse and make an example so no one would ever dare even think of such a thing.
Desire spreads like a plague.
If not uprooted completely, it infects others and grows even larger upon return.
Mnatsil shook her body violently and extended her claws once more toward the buried expedition below.
No, at that moment.
"Cough...!"
Blood suddenly gushed from her mouth.
"Urgh... ugh...!!"
Pain followed, as if her entire body was being torn apart.
She slowly lowered her head to gaze at her chest.
-Flash.
Pure white mithril gleamed amid her red scales, utterly out of place.
An arrowhead forged from the world's hardest metal had torn through her skin and embedded deep in her chest.
"..."
Though it was a pathetic human attack, the dragon slayer's weapons were made from the corpses of her kin.
A blow of mithril and dragon claw pierced her scales all too easily.
-Drip, drip.
Mnatsil stared vacantly at the blood flowing from her wound and mouth.
That was when it happened.
[Mnatsil. Master of the Volcano.]
The fire spirits emerged from behind a single rock—the only one not swept away by the landslide.
The dragon jerked her head up and demanded.
"The egg! Is the egg safe!?"
In response, an intact egg without a single scratch appeared.
Relief finally spread across Mnatsil's face.
"Thank goodness... thank goodness..."
Forgetting her pain, she caressed the egg.
They had sacrificed their bodies to protect it.
While she crushed and shattered over a hundred humans, these two friends had given everything to guard the egg.
"I owe you a debt beyond words. Even as dear friends, I shall repay this."
[It matters not. We merely fulfilled our duty as hosts.]
"Wait just a little longer. Once I've slain these vermin, I'll rebuild the nest—"
[No. Stop.]
Mnatsil whipped her head around at the unexpected reply.
Then she gasped at the color of their flames.
Violet.
Not the usual gentle orange, nor the blue of rage.
The violet of sorrow.
"What do you mean, stop? You saw it! I must kill them all to eliminate any future threats!"
[This place is no longer safe for your offspring. Moreover, friend, your fire is fading.]
"That's all the more reason not to leave any!"
[Embers die from even the slightest breeze or rain. You need a safer haven. This is no longer it. Friend, what do you see?]
"..."
Mnatsil had no answer.
Instead, she slowly looked around.
-Rumble...
This had once been the strongest place for fire energy, the most impregnable fortress.
Surrounded by sheer cliffs and lava—a natural stronghold.
No longer.
The mountain had collapsed.
And soon, the whole world would know.
That something had happened to the Master of the Volcano.
Moreover, having uttered her final dragon word, she had nothing left but an ember smaller than a dying spark.
An aged dragon who had expended all her power.
Injured, with an egg in tow.
What would happen if the world learned of this?
-We will rule over you.
Nature abandons the weak.
And humans never miss an opportunity.
The opportunity called desire.
"...You're saying we should leave."
Her rage slowly subsided.
In the end, she had gone this far because her offspring was in danger.
This egg—she had to protect it at all costs.
"But where?"
Where could possibly be safe?
The first thought was her fellow kin.
'The only ones I can trust are them.'
But how many remained?
She dredged up ancient memories.
'The frost dragon of the North died to time, and humans claimed its name.'
'The dragons of the South swore to enter the sea and never return to land.'
'The wingless dragons of the East ascended to the skies, becoming nature itself.'
None.
Mnatsil sighed at the harsh reality.
"No one left to rely on..."
The timing couldn't be worse.
She and this egg were the only dragons left in the world.
If she were just a century younger, these vermin wouldn't have left a scratch.
The wound from the mithril would have healed instantly under her heart's power.
But now, all that was impossible.
She was isolated.
Not the proud solitude of the strong standing alone,
But the isolation of the weak, eyed from all sides.
"You're right. This place... it's no longer safe."
She had to leave.
Abandon this home of a thousand years.
Not for herself, but for the egg.
-Fwoosh.
Forcing her torn wings open, she carefully lowered her body.
"Climb on. I don't know how long my body will hold, but it'll be faster than walking."
[Where to?]
"..."
Mnatsil fell silent for a moment.
She had never once considered making anywhere but here her home.
'Is there any being who wouldn't covet this egg?'
Who would turn down the prestige and wealth of possessing a dragon's body?
Not just humans—other races would crave this power too.
Those seeking the title of "dragon slayer" would be everywhere.
Then, she recalled what the fire spirit had once said.
'Crossroad Kingdom.'
Where lines clash.
And there, the most anomalous human.
Finally, Mnatsil made her decision.
"...Guide us to this Central Officer."
Was this truly the right choice?
Fleeing humans only to seek refuge with one.
But she had no time for calm deliberation.
Her already limited time was now devouring her very heart.
-Throb.
The mithril arrowhead buried deep in her chest was slowly inching toward its target.
And the blood seeping from her wounds was steadily draining her life's warmth.
"Choice is now a luxury I can't afford... I can only pray this path is true."
For the first time, entrusting herself not to conviction but to fate,
-Flap.
The dragon took to the skies.