Dragon's Legacy (2)
Crunch.
The dragon's head, carved from stone, turned. At first glance, the sight was utterly grotesque. If it had only turned its head, it might have been less eerie.
'Eyes?'
Eyes had formed on the dragon's head as it turned toward Kim Jehyun. Watching the process unfold, goosebumps prickled across his forearms. This wasn't magic or anything of the sort. He couldn't sense even a trace of mana from the dragon's head before him.
I welcome the successor's visit.
The moment their eyes met, a majestic voice echoed in Kim Jehyun's mind. His legs nearly buckled at the sound. The voice itself carried an overwhelming dignity no human could approach.
—Snap out of it!
A flash.
Alkasha's voice struck his eardrums like thunder. Thanks to it, he regained his faltering focus.
Grit.
Kim Jehyun ground his molars to the breaking point. He didn't know what the being before him was, but even a moment's lapse in vigilance felt like it would swallow him whole.
The conditions are met. I shall test if you are worthy to be the successor.
The voice boomed once more, threatening to crush his mind. And in that instant, a blinding golden light erupted from the dragon's head, strong enough to sear the eyes.
A massive pillar of light pierced the pitch-black night sky. It was visible only to Kim Jehyun.
'Ah…….'
Sensing the solemn aura from the light, he was swept into the pillar.
What was the strongest race on the surface, the pinnacle of all species?
The dwarves, with their artistic craftsmanship and immense physical strength? The elves, who communed with spirits and possessed profound magical talent? The beastkin, who could unleash extreme power through their animalistic traits depending on the situation?
—There are many races that excel in specific fields. But they all have weaknesses depending on matchups and circumstances. Strengths come with drawbacks.
Among them, some could be considered the most outstanding, but none were overwhelmingly dominant.
Except for one.
The undisputed strongest, the supreme race. The lords of magic, who had ascended to the demigod realm. The great dragons.
Beings created by the gods yet possessing the authority to challenge them. No one could deny that dragons were the ultimate race.
Arkanios was the strongest among those dragons, hailed as the supreme dragon lord.
'Where is this……?'
As the light enveloping him faded, Kim Jehyun realized the scenery had changed. It was a vast cavern, large enough to house an entire apartment complex. The interior was empty. At the center stood a massive stele.
He tried to move toward it but froze in shock. He felt no sensation in his body.
'……!'
His physical form was gone. Only a faint silhouette remained. Looking down, he could see the cavern floor transparently through his palms.
A spirit state.
Startled at first, he willed himself to move calmly. Fortunately, even without a body, he could advance. But there were limits—he couldn't stray beyond a certain range.
'What's going on? Alkasha. Can you hear me?'
He called out, but no response came. Was it because of his spirit state? The contract link with Alkasha felt even more vivid. He was still connected, yet he couldn't grasp the situation.
Crack.
Then, fissures began spiderwebbing across the stele.
—You've finally awakened.
A voice with immense presence boomed from behind. Turning, Kim Jehyun beheld a being larger than any he'd encountered—the body stretched hundreds of meters, covered in golden scales, with three horns on its head and two pairs of wings.
'A dragon?'
It matched the records perfectly. Overwhelmed by its majesty, his breath caught just from looking.
—My child, Arkanios.
From the dragon's words, he realized the "stele" was no such thing—it was a massive egg. What had hatched was a tiny version of the being behind it.
'So that's Arkanios?'
Kim Jehyun gazed at the newborn hatchling, Arkanios. In that moment, Arkanios locked eyes with him.
—……Arrr.
Perhaps because it was newly born, it uttered an incomprehensible sound. It clearly recognized him.
—Hmm.
The presumed parent dragon followed Arkanios's gaze toward Kim Jehyun. Even in spirit form, chills ran down his spine as those golden eyes swept over him. Fortunately, the parent didn't pinpoint his presence.
But Arkanios clearly recognized him.
Time flowed like water.
—Now, go forth and claim your independence.
Arkanios's parent, Algraas, declared. Centuries had passed since the hatchling's birth. Now a full adult dragon, Arkanios left his parents' lair to build his own.
'Hey. Arkanios.'
Kim Jehyun called out.
—…….
No reply. Arkanios no longer perceived him. Right after birth, it had seemed aware, but once its ego fully formed around a year later, the recognition vanished.
Kim Jehyun persisted without giving up, but never once got a response.
'It's a miracle he didn't go mad.'
Five hundred years. From the hatching to adulthood.
Of course, he hadn't experienced the full five centuries consciously. Only snippets—days at first, then more days sporadically. Time jumped in leaps of decades.
'Still, remembering key events from those spans is odd.'
It felt like major milestones were summarized and imprinted in his mind. He suspected it was because his own stature couldn't handle the full duration.
'Hey, explain what's happening.'
He asked Arkanios anyway, knowing it wouldn't hear. Unrecognized, he watched Arkanios's life in solitude(?).
Building his first lair, amassing treasures and guardians, wandering the human realms for amusement, aiding in defense against angelic and demonic invasions, entering long slumbers for growth.
Two thousand years passed. He became a worm-grade dragon and met another.
—So you're Arkanios.
A red-haired female elf appeared with a smile. Kerisha, a red dragon clan member born a millennium later than him.
Dragons were rare. On the vast Grandrsha Continent, larger than Earth, their numbers barely reached fifty.
The two, born around the same era after millennia, quickly bonded.
Time flowed, and six thousand years after Arkanios reached adulthood, as he entered the early ancient dragon stage, disaster struck.
—Arkanios. What do you think this is?
Kerisha brought something even the millennia-old Arkanios had never seen: a small orb from a recent meteor, less than 50cm in diameter. Seemingly innocuous, it contained an otherworldly energy—turbid yet holy, calm yet violent.
—This bodes ill. We should inform the lord and elders.
—Hmm…… If it goes to the elders, we might never see it again. Let me study it a bit.
—Kerisha.
Arkanios spoke firmly, but it didn't sway her.
—No way. I found it. You know my personality—curiosity kills me. I have to figure out what this energy is.
Arkanios's eyes wavered. Kerisha was special to him. His mate. They regarded each other as such, making it hard to pull rank as an elder.
—It feels wrong. I'm worried.
—Don't be. Am I a hatchling? I'll be ancient-grade soon. Just a quick study.
She wasn't wrong. Few could match her besides fellow ancient-grade dragons.
'Ugh.'
Watching it all, Kim Jehyun's vision blurred.
Your qualifications are still insufficient.
It had been ages since he'd seen a system window. What became of Kerisha, or the events on Grandrsha Continent afterward, he couldn't know.
One thing was certain.
Kieeeee! Grroooowl.
Unfamiliar aberrant monsters swarmed the continent.
All races of Grandrsha failed to stop them. Dragons vanished without a trace, and Arkanios merely watched the invasion through his Dragon Eye from his lair.
'Mu-mutants?'
What shocked Kim Jehyun wasn't that. The monsters dooming Grandrsha looked familiar.
'Why…… mutants?'
His pupils trembled like an earthquake. Weren't mutants dungeon monsters warped by anomalous mana? And why had dungeons appeared on Earth in the first place?
Long-accepted phenomena chained together in his mind, tangling it.
'What the hell…….'
With that question, his vision blacked out again.
'Here.'
Regaining sight, Kim Jehyun looked around. Not Arkanios's lair. An open plain stretching to the horizon. Nearby loomed a massive crystal emitting mystical energy.
'Arkanios.'
He called. Arkanios stood guard before it, vastly larger than last seen: six horns, three pairs of wings, a body easily exceeding hundreds of meters. Time lost all meaning.
—Kim Jehyun.
Chills. Arkanios's eyes turned to him—the first recognition since birth.
—Watch this battle closely.
No further words. He fixed his gaze forward.
Rumble rumble.
The ground quaked under countless footsteps. Aberrant monsters—the mutants from Earth—filled the plain. Their numbers were beyond counting: millions, perhaps tens of millions.
'Hellfire Storm'
No gestures, no mana flow. Just Arkanios's will, and the atmosphere responded.
Vrrr.
Immense mana converged, the air roiling violently.
Whoosh.
Golden fireballs manifested in the sky. No ordinary flames—the eternal, unquenchable Hellfire, dubbed the flames of the abyss.
Thousands, tens of thousands hovered, filling the field with excruciating heat.
Splat!
Under Arkanios's will, the Hellfire Storm descended, erasing over a third of the mutants instantly. Those caught melted without a scream.
Kraaa!
Survivors wailed horrifically. Even those just outside the range lost their minds to the heat and mana vortex.
They faltered, battle will broken by one spell.
Vroooom.
Then, a grotesque sound from the rear chilled the soul.
"Grroooowl."
Mutants' eyes refilled with murderous intent. They surged at Arkanios again.
In that moment, watching the fray, Kim Jehyun realized he had become Arkanios.
'Wh-what?'
—I shall observe your capabilities.
Arkanios's voice echoed in his ears. Dazed, Kim Jehyun stared at the ant-swarm of tens of millions charging him.