The Dragon Lord's Heart
I found the Dragon Lord's Heart among the remains of the Dragon Lord and pulled it free.
The Dragon Lord's Heart was a blue jewel. Resembling a sapphire, it was so large that one hand could not fully close around it.
Of course, the original Dragon Lord's Heart had not been this small. Looking at the remains alone — comparable to a modest hill — there was no way the real thing could have been this size.
They call it a heart, but it isn't a real heart. More like everything the Dragon Lord ever was.
When the Dragon Lord died, all of its power — mana included — had gathered into the heart and crystallized. That was this heart.
In the original story, Kyle used the power of this heart to force his way up a full rank from the highest tier of Aura Master, ascending to Grand Aura Master. As a bonus, he gained near-infinite mana.
Honestly, I wanted it.
If I took it back to reality and consumed it… my mana stats would skyrocket.
Yuria is basically an extension of my power. If she gets stronger, I get stronger. Same difference.
I shook off the greed.
Thinking about it rationally, having Yuria — the greatest genius in this world — consume it was far more efficient than having someone with zero talent like me take it.
Before handing the Dragon Lord's Heart to Yuria, I gave her a warning.
"Yuria. You do need to consume the Dragon Lord's Heart… but this isn't the one you take. There's another heart."
"…Pardon?"
Confusion clouded Yuria's eyes. I calmly pulled the information from my memory.
"If you pour mana into this heart, you'll be drawn into a mental world. Inside that world is the real Dragon Lord's Heart. Consume that, and you'll gain the heart's power and return to reality. You'll become a Grand Aura Master. As for what the heart looks like… you'll know it when you see it."
"…I see. I understand what I must do."
"The critical moment is when you're pulled into the mental world. I think your Absolute Mind might become a problem."
Absolute Mind.
It absolutely blocked all mental attacks. In this case, that could work against her. She needed to enter the mental world, but Absolute Mind might prevent her from going in.
Fortunately, Absolute Mind was fairly flexible. If she consciously decided to accept a mental attack, Absolute Mind would not activate.
"I understand what Master is concerned about."
Aside from that, there was nothing special to worry about. What Yuria would encounter in the mental world would be… fragments of the past, just as Kyle had in the original. Yuria would handle it. There was no way she would fail at something the original Kyle had managed. All I had to do now was wait until she finished. The original description put it at about half a day, so Yuria would almost certainly be faster.
I placed the jewel-like blue heart into her hands.
Our eyes met. She smiled faintly.
"Master. I have not forgotten our promise for even a moment. I am very much looking forward to when I return."
"Of course. I haven't forgotten either."
I kissed her. At the light kiss, Yuria looked briefly startled, then smiled with pure happiness. She poured mana into the Dragon Lord's Heart resting on her palm. Blue light bloomed from the heart.
The blue light reached not only Yuria but everyone else present. Elena with her startled expression, the unconscious Terius, Kyle shouting, Baron Glebet watching carefully — and me as well.
The moment the light touched them, they all closed their eyes as if fainting. I did not. Something tried to pull me in, but I resisted.
…Damn it. This was an area-of-effect skill?!
In the original, Kyle had been alone. With no one around him, there had been no way to know it was a wide-area effect. I hesitated, then chose to let myself be pulled in.
Kyle, Terius, Baron Glebet… those three could become variables. I need to go in and help Yuria!
My consciousness was sucked into the Dragon Lord's Heart.
Baron Glebet opened his eyes. He had felt himself being sucked somewhere, and when he opened his eyes, he was in a familiar place.
His bedroom in the western region of the Rapheli Kingdom. Rising from the bed, he worked through his thoughts. The memories of moments before slowly returned.
If what Yujin Frucus had said was correct, this was probably the mental world.
This is the mental world of the Dragon Lord's Heart! If I find the real Dragon Lord's Heart somewhere in this world and consume it… I can obtain overwhelming power…!
Greed stirred.
Looking around, he saw no one. The others had probably been dropped in separate places. Before greed, Baron Glebet checked the possibilities — the chance that he could obtain the Dragon Lord's Heart before anyone else.
It's not zero. No — in a certain sense, I actually have the advantage.
Baron Glebet removed his upper garments and checked the purple magic circle drawn on his right side.
As expected. Being in a mental world doesn't sever the contract.
He gently stroked the mark of the contract.
"Vitsol."
He called the name of the demon of desire.
"Vitsol. Show yourself. I have something to discuss. Vitsol. Vitsol. Vitsol."
Glebet called the demon's name endlessly. The demon of desire, Vitsol, was the lazy type, so even on ordinary days one had to call many times.
"What."
Vitsol appeared. Baron Glebet lifted his head. Instead of emerging from the magic circle as usual, it appeared from the ceiling. Baron Glebet felt something odd about that, but let it pass. This was a mental world, after all.
Vitsol, a high-ranking demon of desire, had a form that was crude compared to its notoriety. Less than fifty centimeters tall, its body and head resembled a rat's, with two pairs of fly wings on its back and a black cross-shaped tail.
"Vitsol. Help me. I need to find the Dragon Lord's Heart somewhere in this mental world."
"Go find it. When have I ever interfered with your actions? Do as you please."
"You haven't. Vitsol never cared what I did. But this time is different. It's urgent. I need your help! Help me! I must find the Dragon Lord's Heart faster than anyone! To face that monstrous maid, Vitsol's power is essential!"
"Tzitzik, tzik-tzik-tzi…"
Vitsol laughed low. A rat laughing looked exactly like it was mocking someone. Rage surged through Glebet in an instant.
"Vitsol!! I'm asking you to help me!!!"
His voice thundered through the bedroom.
"Hhk!"
Swallowing a breath and coming back to himself, Glebet was flustered. He had never shouted so savagely in his life. And the one he was shouting at was a high-ranking demon — Vitsol! His heart dropped into his stomach.
"I-I'm sorry. Vitsol. My emotions got the better of me for a moment…. No, wait… the fact that my emotions flared…"
Stimulating desire and influencing emotions. That was Vitsol's authority.
Glebet's face went rigid.
"Vitsol…. Did you use your authority on me?"
"I did not use it on you alone. I used my authority on this entire mental world."
"What does that mean?"
"This mental world has mixed together fragments of my mind, yours, and the others' as well. An extremely rare occurrence — and one that looks extremely entertaining. You think I'd miss an opportunity like this? I mixed my authority into this mental world. Tzik-tzik-tzik!"
Glebet desperately forced down the surging emotions.
It was exactly the kind of thing Vitsol would do. A demon that would do anything for its own amusement. And what Vitsol loved most was observing humans whose desires and emotions had been provoked.
Showing emotion here would only delight Vitsol.
"I understand perfectly what you've done, Vitsol. Now help me."
"No. Tzik."
"……What?"
"If you want something, go get it yourself. I have no interest in any Dragon Lord's Heart. Simply watching the situation unfold is satisfaction enough. Tzi-tzik."
Snap.
Glebet felt something in his head break.
"You damned rat bastard!!! I'm your contractor!!! Help me!!"
Glebet roared and lunged at Vitsol. Vitsol laughed with a tzik-tzik and slipped up into the ceiling.
"Your base nature…! How amusing! Tzi-tzi-tzik! Since you are my contractor, I'll give you one piece of useful information. Even if you die here, you will not actually die. In this place, it doesn't matter how many times you die. So don't give up. Tzi-tzi-tzik!"
Leaving behind that unpleasant laugh, Vitsol vanished.
Rage climbing to the top of his skull, Glebet stomped the innocent floor over and over.
"Damn it! Damn it!! Damn it!!!"
After venting on the floor for a while, once the anger had somewhat subsided, Glebet quietly caught his breath.
Even without Vitsol, I can do this alone! Kyle and Terius! I'll use those two!
To do that, he needed to find Kyle and Terius first. Glebet hurriedly put his upper clothes back on, opened the bedroom door, and stepped outside.
"……!!"
Beyond the door was an asphalt road with cars rolling past.
When I opened my eyes, I calmly surveyed my surroundings. A familiar house. Not a mansion from the Baekhwan world — a house from the real world.
I tried to move, felt something off, and checked my body. Then I froze in shock.
"……!!"
My body had shrunk. My hands were small and delicate, and the floor felt strangely close. I felt myself over carefully. Definitely smaller. Judging by age, roughly eight years old or so.
No way!
I urgently pulled down my pants and checked below. Despite the small frame, it was still heavy. It had shrunk a little along with my body, but only a little.
It's a bit weird without the hair, though.
I gave my cock a squeeze. Blood rushed in and it stiffened. Looking at it standing tall, I felt relieved. The cock was fine.
Important check complete…
I recalled what needed to be done.
The most important goal in this mental world was for Yuria to find and consume the Dragon Lord's Heart. Therefore, my job was to support Yuria.
Kyle, Terius, Baron Glebet. Those three are the variables. Yuria and Elena are on our side, so I need to find them and join forces.
The troublesome ones were Kyle and Baron Glebet. Terius was fodder.
Kyle might try to kill me the moment he saw me. Baron Glebet — that one was more than capable of cooking up schemes.
I need to find Yuria and Elena and link up as fast as possible!
I ran to the front door, opened it, and stepped outside.
"Uh…?"
My legs stopped.
A sight I had never expected was spread out before me.
A half-destroyed mansion and garden.
It wasn't my mansion. It also wasn't a mansion I'd never seen. It was a mansion and garden I knew from having seen them many times.
The Valdert main house. Elena's mansion! Of course…! This is a mental world, so things like this are possible. But why is it half-destroyed? Was it already like this from the start?
KWAANG! KWANG!
A thunderous crash. Startled, I looked up toward the sky where the explosion had come from. Something was falling.
"…Elena!!"
Elena lay collapsed on the ground. Parts of her clothes were torn, and blood ran from her head. Elena looked at me with unfocused eyes.
"…Yujin, is it."
Elena coughed blood and raised her left hand. From her trembling hand, a single blue butterfly appeared.
"Worst possible timing. Run. I'll buy you time to—"
A pitch-black bolt of lightning fell from the sky onto Elena. Elena died. Her body turned to ash-gray dust and vanished.
"So this is where you were, Master."
Yuria appeared. She wore her maid uniform as always, but traces of combat marked her body in places. Looking at me, she smiled with her eyes crinkling.
I flinched. It was a beautiful smile. But something was different. A chill ran down my spine. Before I could even open my mouth, she approached. She knelt, matching eye level with my shrunken self.
"You've gotten smaller, Master."
Before I could speak, her hands moved.
"Rest assured, Master. No matter what state Master is in, I will protect you. I've already taken care of the thieving cat."
Click.
A collar locked around my neck.
Yuria's eyes, fixed on me, glittered with ecstasy and madness.
"Ah… my Master…"
She crushed me into her arms.