Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: West (3)
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Suspicious Ignatius's movements. I interrogated her and finally uncovered the hidden truth.
"A hatchling for a thousand years...? Hatchling means baby dragon, right?"
"Can't you tell just by looking? Why do you think this body, which has shared history with the Empire, is so small?"
"I thought it was just your taste."
The Emperor, the Goddess, the world's greatest warrior, dragons, and so on.
Isn't it common sense that beings at the pinnacle of power all look like little girls?
...Or is it not? This might be too much bias from my past life.
In any case, the truth Ignatius had been hiding. She was a sleepy baby dragon.
Ignatius, still sprawled across my lap, snorted as if it was absurd. I gazed down at her for a moment before asking.
"Let me ask this first. How long do normal dragons sleep?"
"Normally, there's no great need to sleep. But instead, we sleep in bulk, so to speak. For example... yes. It's like a bear hibernating."
"Huh..."
"If I set my mind to it, I could stay awake for over a hundred years. Of course, it's not always with eyes open; like any race, we take rests in between. But when the sleep period comes, I must sleep for at least twenty years."
"Staying awake a hundred years only to sleep twenty seems inefficient."
"What of it? Humans spend a third of their day sleeping too. By ratio, this body is far more efficient. Moreover, a dragon's sleep isn't just for rest and recharge."
"Sleep is sleep. What's more to it?"
"Of course. A dragon's sleep is also the process of growing the body as much as the mana in the matured heart. In other words, you get stronger just by sleeping!"
Ignatius boasted while limp and sagging. But soon after, strength drained from her slender frame.
"...This body hasn't slept for a thousand years, though."
"A thousand years. It's impressive you could endure that long to begin with. No, forcing yourself to hold out when you shouldn't has left you in terrible shape now."
"Right. The first three hundred years were endured by will alone. But my will wasn't perfect, so with the help of various magics and drugs, I've held out until now... but I'm reaching my limit."
"...If you fall asleep now, how many years until you wake?"
"I don't know. As the last dragon, there's no one to ask, and I've never heard of a dragon enduring sleep for a thousand years. Even so, one thing I can say for sure..."
Ignatius let out a deep sigh. In that short time, she somehow seemed even drowsier.
"It won't end in just a few decades."
"A hundred years awake means twenty years asleep, so by simple math, ten times that would be two hundred years."
Having seen Wild Hunt, I could assert it. The Mage Tower was strong, preparations thorough, but defending the West for over a hundred years without Ignatius was impossible.
"Of course, this body hasn't been negligent in preparations. In the end, the key is the Dead Dragon Mortheus, isn't it?"
"Wait. Earlier, didn't you say Mortheus was your father?"
"...That was long ago. There's no room for hesitation against a kin who betrayed us and became a mad undead."
"I see."
I couldn't ask more, given Ignatius's curt tone.
Truth be told, no need to ask. I'd just seen her mercilessly drive him off the cliff.
"Anyway, back to the point. This body has prepared for its absence long ago. Specifically, for the endlessly resurrecting undead horde or the Dead Dragon Mortheus. To completely seal one or the other."
"A complete seal..."
"Mm. As a Dungeon Master, that phrasing might be uncomfortable to hear. Let me correct it: a seal to hold until this body awakens."
She must have recalled that the Dungeon seals the evil god's lower half and blocks the countless monsters it spawns. Ignatius added sheepishly.
"Fine. I get the gist. The dragon-tooth soldiers enhanced using Zahav's power are one of them. Once you sleep, you can't produce them like now, so treating them as expendables will hit limits fast."
"...The Zahav of that era was clever. No, always so in matters of combat. Correct. If they can't be used once and discarded, the best is to make dragon-tooth soldiers that last long."
With that, Ignatius held out the onahole she'd borrowed from me earlier. Lacking strength, she gripped it carefully with both hands.
"So, I ask you. Dragon-tooth soldiers made from the intense solar mana and this body's fangs and scales infused with its flames should surely hold back the undead."
"That alone won't be enough."
"Of course. While the dragon-tooth soldiers handle the undead, other arrangements this body prepared will deal with Mortheus. No need to worry."
"No. I'm not asking if there are no other preparations. I'm asking if all of them together are enough."
"..."
Ignatius pursed her lips tightly. I explained the sense of incongruity I'd felt while listening so far.
"If you knew you couldn't hold out long and had prepared beforehand, why hide it? You said the undead here have lost most reason. You could test it every Wild Hunt."
That way, of course, to gauge if preparations were adequate and where they fell short.
As Wild Hunt became easier to handle, the burden on Ignatius herself would lessen.
But she hadn't. As always, she flew out herself, used breath and magic, showed off power to the Mage Tower folk, and pushed back Wild Hunt.
"There must be major flaws in all those preparations you've made so far. This incident is just another desperate flail to snag something."
"..."
A wry smile tugged at Ignatius's lips as she looked up at me, clutching the onahole with both hands.
"...Really. Zahav is such a pain. Sharp in these matters, then and now."
I'm not Zahav.
I swallowed those words inwardly. Meanwhile, Ignatius seemed relieved, as if unburdened, and spoke.
"Enoch. You're right. This body truly made many preparations. I embedded dragon heart fragments into magic tools, stacked over a hundred ready-to-activate grand magics, even took a disciple to raise a replacement..."
Ignatius glanced at Meikin as she said that.
Meikin looked stunned, unaware of her master's plight, but Ignatius merely shook her head apologetically.
"But all failed. Dragon hearts remain connected to the body even when separated. Thus, only one this body personally approves can use the magic tools made..."
"The problem is you'll sleep not decades, but centuries."
"Indeed. The approved one might betray, and even if they devote themselves to the world till the end, what after their lifespan ends?"
Overlapping too many magics eroded the surroundings, drawing otherworldly beings.
Even establishing the Mage Tower to pass on secrets, too few disciples reached grand magus level, and none could challenge Mortheus alone.
"...Truth be told, this body didn't expect much. It was just flailing, unable to do nothing."
"Is Mortheus that strong?"
"Yes. Though he became undead, lost reason, and can't wield magic naturally... he's the last Dragon Lord. With just his flesh and corrupted death mana, he'd devour this place's young ones in one bite."
"I see."
In the end, the West's fall was inevitable, and Wild Hunt rampaging unchecked across the Empire a foregone conclusion.
What in the world is this?
I'd just planned to sell my body modestly(?) for pocket money... Never dreamed comfortable exile life was a pipe dream.
"Ignatius. Even if I help make enhanced dragon-tooth soldiers, it won't definitely stop Wild Hunt, right?"
"More than that—even enhanced ones likely won't suffice. Of course, Zahav's bloodline ability pairs well with this body's attribute, so maybe unexpected results... but."
But I'm not Zahav. Strictly, what I have isn't solar mana, but pure fire-attribute mana.
In other words, same lineage as the red dragon Ignatius.
No. Even so, an elixir from a mad alchemist can't compare to a dragon heart—it's inferior at best.
The slim chance Ignatius hoped for never existed.
Then, no choice.
I really didn't want to use this method, but my exile life and countless Empire lives were at stake.
No time to be picky.
Steel resolved, I asked Ignatius in a serious tone.
"Ignatius. Dragons manipulate magic, right?"
"A bit exaggerated, but this body could be called the teacher of all modern mages."
"Then you could cast even first-seen magic or magic memorized visually without knowing the principle, right?"
"Depends on the magic, but most should be fine... What are you getting at?"
Ignatius tilted her head curiously. Suppressing disgust like spewing bile, I said to her.
"By any chance. Ever heard of the black magic called Thanatos's Bed?"
It was the black magic that first drove me to the brink of death.