Chapter 171: Lizamone
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171: Lizamone
Lizamone.
The great dragon from the Western Regions had a twisted personality.
She was a Red Dragon, a Fire Dragon, yet she possessed a heart colder than ice.
Her body was hot, but her heart was cold, so it was only natural that her personality would have two sides.
She wasn't always like this.
There was a time when she was a small lizard who loved to chatter and chirp.
A young lizard who slept in her family's embrace, anxiously worrying whether the flame on her tail would go out.
Back then, her heart was certainly warm.
But as time passed, she began to change.
It was the memory of losing something precious.
When she lost her parents to the Thunder Bird, the flame in her heart was extinguished.
Clutching her little brother's hand, she fled, only to encounter the Ice Dragon.
After that, her heart froze over.
She had lost her precious ones, one after another.
The her of today was not bound by the memories of her past.
Rather than dwelling on what she had lost, she craved to fill herself with something new.
Scorching fire and glittering treasures.
The Red Dragon began to obsess over them fanatically.
I must make my body hotter.
I must gather more shiny things.
Only then could she fill the void left by what she had lost.
Only then could she melt her own frozen heart.
…
And there was something even more important than filling herself.
Not having what was hers taken away.
Her parents, separated from her by the Thunder Bird's attack.
Her younger brother, frozen to death by the Ice Dragon's chill.
She could not lose anything precious ever again.
That was her vow.
Later, upon returning to the volcano, she met a precious being.
It didn't resemble her brother, but its actions were similar.
It, too, loved to burrow into the Red Dragon's embrace.
The Red Dragon swore that she would never let anyone take this lizard from her.
And then.
The cold wind blew once more.
The same piercingly cold air that had snatched her brother away.
The Red Dragon followed her vow.
A vow to protect what was hers, even if it meant using slightly drastic measures.
\*
The Red Dragon clutched her chest.
"I didn't expect it to be this severe."
My attack had pierced through her ruby scales while she was in her dragon form.
Though the wound wasn't visible now that she had returned to her human form, it must have been a fatal blow.
The fact that she changed back to human form mid-battle likely meant she could no longer maintain her dragon form.
But it wasn't over yet.
In her human form, the Red Dragon was strong enough to overwhelm Baek Rang.
She should still have plenty of strength left to fight.
I had to keep moving, even if my body was breaking.
My attack had succeeded, but the Red Dragon's strike had also managed to hit me.
We had essentially traded ultimate attacks, and both of us were severely wounded.
Based on appearances alone, I probably looked to be in more danger.
I didn't know the principle behind it, but her injury had vanished the moment she returned to her human body.
Now that her momentum had faltered slightly, I had to end this.
Just as I was about to follow up with another attack.
"…I lost."
She raised both her hands.
She was admitting her defeat.
What was this?
Was this some kind of hidden technique?
A way to buy time and suddenly recover all her strength?
…No, a convenient skill like that probably didn't exist.
"Why, do you think I'm lying?"
Then why was she doing this?
She clearly had strength remaining, it wasn't as if she was exhausted.
Despite that, the Red Dragon reined in her fighting spirit.
"I gave my word. How can I take it back now?"
As if she was truly acknowledging her defeat.
"That last exchange was my complete and utter loss. Goodness, I never dreamed you could pull off an attack like that."
She had definitely said we should end it in one clash.
Did she really mean to settle the match with just that last blow?
Even though we both had fight left in us?
The Red Dragon chattered on as if a weight had been lifted from her chest.
A thousand thoughts raced through my mind.
But I decided it wouldn't hurt to listen for a moment.
It was a good chance for me to recover some stamina as well.
The Red Dragon's golden eyes stared at me for a long time.
I couldn't tell what emotion her eyes held.
"I thought I would be the one to embrace you."
All I knew was that she looked somewhat sad.
"But it was you who embraced me."
She muttered words I couldn't understand.
What did she mean by "embrace"?
We had just been fighting as if to kill each other.
"The memory is hazy now, but I once made a vow to never have what is mine taken from me again."
Plop.
The Red Dragon sat down on a nearby protruding rock.
Her posture was completely defenseless, as if she truly had no intention of fighting.
"A terribly cold chill took everything from me."
Fwoosh.
A small flame flickered to life at her fingertip.
It wasn't a flame for combat.
Her little flame took the shape of a certain lizard.
Crack.
When the Red Dragon clenched her fist, the flame that had been brightly illuminating the area went out.
"Do you remember when I told you there was something even my flames couldn't melt?"
The Red Dragon's flame could be considered fire energy itself.
It boasted enough firepower to melt even my Dragon Scales, which I'd gained after evolving into a Crushing Dragon.
"Do you know what that thing is?"
The fur of a Fire-light Beast.
That probably wasn't the answer she was looking for.
No matter how much Fire-light Beast fur you wrapped around something, it wouldn't stop it from being burned from the inside.
"My heart."
…Her heart?
The Red Dragon's heart?
"It was frozen solid, and nothing I did could thaw it."
The Red Dragon continued without waiting for my reply.
"I thought if I kept raising my fire energy, if I soaked my body in lava, maybe I could melt it."
The Red Dragon looked up at the sky.
"The rain falls."
Pitter-patter…
A light drizzle began to fall, cooling the volcano's heat.
"And flowers bloom."
The Red Dragon looked down at the ground.
Nameless flowers filled the cracked earth.
"The simple, natural changing of the seasons melted my heart."
The Red Dragon's gaze turned to my face.
"It seems what I needed wasn't the heat of a volcano, but the warmth of a spring day."
She continued in a calm voice.
"I was just joking around, I didn't even know if a 'True Dragon' really existed. But it really turned out this way."
The corners of the Red Dragon's lips curled upward.
"So, what I'm trying to say is…"
Was that the Red Dragon's real face?
She showed me a radiant smile, different from any I had seen before.
"Thank you."
…….
Was she trying to smooth things over like this?
I could not forgive the Red Dragon.
I could probably get over the fact that she tortured me.
That was something I could just endure on my own.
But hurting Baek Rang was unforgivable.
To torment someone so much weaker than herself so mercilessly.
And to do it while knowing full well that she was connected to me.
Putting on a kind act now wouldn't make me let this go.
"And I have a favor to ask."
Fwoosh.
Fire energy flared up once more.
What it formed was a chain made of the same material that had wrapped around my body.
I could feel the intense, condensed fire energy.
The red chain was wrapped around her neck.
Tight enough that the slightest pull would choke her.
The Red Dragon held out the end of the chain to me.
"Will you take my inner core?"
…What?
"I want to give my baby a reward, but the gold scattered around here is useless."
The Red Dragon glanced down at a half-shattered golden statue.
"And if I offer you a Purple Spirit Pill, that's no different from asking you to let me go."
I couldn't just let the Red Dragon go.
Just as she said, she could simply run away.
She might even attack me when my guard was down.
…So her conclusion was for me to kill her?
How could she say something like that in such a calm voice, so nonchalantly?
"It was only for a moment, but I'm satisfied with having felt that warmth."
The Red Dragon's inner core.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted.
It would surely surpass the cores of Odusa or the Human-faced Bird by a vast margin.
I took the end of the chain the Red Dragon offered.
If I just pulled this, I could obtain her inner core.
I would gain an enormous amount of experience points, too.
In any case, I couldn't just let the Red Dragon go free.
Was there any reason to refuse a chance to deal with such a powerful foe without a struggle?
….
Right.
[Would you like to recommend the Gaegaek Faith to 【Red Dragon LV???】?]
Just her inner core wouldn't be enough to break even.
I'd have to bleed her dry until she was nothing but a bone dragon to get my money's worth.
The Red Dragon's pupils widened.
She looked at me with slightly surprised eyes, then let out the same nasal sound she usually made.
"You can't be so soft."
Grip.
The Red Dragon's unbroken arm grabbed my hand that was holding the chain.
"Hmph."
Smirk.
The Red Dragon wore the same seductive smile as always.
Shhh-rattle!
The chain I was holding changed its form.
The searing fire energy that burned the flesh was gone.
It had transformed into a single string that held the warmth of spring.
Tuk.
Only then did the Red Dragon let go of my hand.
As a result, my hand was left holding the string.
What kind of trick had she pulled to make a face like that?
My gaze shifted to the red string.
My eyes followed the string to its end.
"Baby."
My gaze landed on the Red Dragon's neck.
The warm red string was touching her neck.
In a different form than when it was a chain.
"No, wait. Should I be calling you Divine Beast now?"
It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a collar.
"Pleased to be in your care, my Divine Beast."
The Red Dragon smiled brightly once more.
She glanced at her injured arm, then looked back at my face and stuck her tongue out slightly.
It was a playful expression, as if she had just pulled one over on me.
I couldn't keep up with her fickle emotions.
But I could understand one thing.
The persona she had shown until now was an act, and this playful side was her true self.
The warmth of spring had melted the cold ice.
But this wasn't over yet.
"Gek-ge-gek."
I'll give her a stern talking-to, then check on Baek Rang.
…Huh?
"Ge-ek?"
…….
"Ge-ge-ge-ge-ge-gek!"
Why can't I speak?