The Temple of Fire (4)
Rune felt his eyes grow warm from the scorching heat.
Even if his inner darkness and the water element hadn’t cooled his body, he might have felt as if his brain was melting away long ago.
Thinking this way, Rune looked at Perdikion.
“Kyu-uu.”
[What’s up?]
When Rune asked, the Red Dragon hatchling hesitated for a moment before opening his beak.
“Kek.”
[Rune. If I lack the qualification to receive the trial, I will lose the heart containing all of my being.]
Rune had already guessed it.
He nodded calmly.
“Kyu-uk.”
[As I expected. I had guessed it.]
After hearing Rune’s reply, the Red Dragon hatchling looked toward the altar inside the temple.
“Kya-ak.”
[That means one who is a dragon but cannot be a dragon. Like……]
A brown dragon abandoned by elves and dragons.
The hidden subtext was conveyed through silence.
Perdikion continued speaking after a moment.
“Kek.”
[Even if I become that, will you remain my brother?]
Rune gazed at the Red Dragon hatchling.
The proud, unrestrained youth was asking while standing on his heart.
Would he betray him even at the moment when he might become miserable?
Rune felt a surge of relief once again.
[Originally, he befriended me to win the Red Dragons to my side.]
Thanks to his past life, Rune knew a great deal about himself.
Since he already knew, he didn’t have to hesitate with his answer.
“Kyu-uu.”
[Of course. I’m always on your side.]
There had been times when his personality had led him into trouble, but it remained unchanged.
It was precisely because he could do this that he stood closest to ascension.
Perdikion lifted his head at Rune’s unhesitating words.
“Kya-ak.”
[Thank you, Rune.]
Perdikion took a deep breath into his chest, then shifted his foot from where he had been standing on the temple.
Even though he was staggering, he looked incredibly solid.
[Work hard, brother.]
Rune raised one front paw and shook it.
“Kyu-uu.”
[See you later, brother.]
Perdikion raised his red tail and straightened his face, then stopped abruptly. He nodded only with his head before continuing forward.
Soon the altar and Perdikion were swallowed by a giant pillar of flame.
The trial had begun.
After bidding farewell, Rune explored the intensely hot surroundings.
[There’s no place that seems like it needs a key.]
He tried just in case, but he couldn’t enter the temple.
Not even a similar door was visible.
[So this must be it.]
Clink.
Rune looked at the key, then slowly took a deep breath and drew in the mana inside his body.
[Can I do this?]
This was what Rune was trying to attempt now.
Mana Cat’s Cradle.
He intended to use it to duplicate the key.
[No, there must be a way.]
If it was an invisible path, he already knew it.
And if a key and a path existed, Rune could find them.
With his strength concentrated, the end of the key began to vibrate and ring.
Uwoong!
Fire flowed out from the vibrating key and spun.
[Just a little more.]
Rune murmured inwardly and squeezed the fire mana contained in the key.
Using darkness as the spindle, a delicate thread of fire was woven.
Uwoong. Uwoong.
As if shadows swaying in the flickering flame, fire and darkness gradually met and connected into a path.
Tsuzut!
Rune wore a faint smile.
[I found it.]
Rune gazed beyond the door.
And he opened his eyes wide.
[Sun… no… dragons?]
Red dragons surrounded entirely by flames were burning in a vast void.
And the eyes of the souls thrown inside them were all turned toward Rune at once.
They were all young dragons.
Or hatchlings.
“……!”
Uwk.
Rune barely suppressed the urge to retch at the sight.
The instant he sensed their true nature, a chill ran through him and his scales stood on end.
[The Red dragons who failed to receive the trial…!]
Rune froze in shock at the shocking scene.
[There must be a reason they are showing me this.]
Even as he frowned, Rune didn’t turn away.
They were about to pour out, so he ran toward the passage he had created.
-Kwaang!
Rune’s body tumbled in the silent shockwave.
But the door was far too small for them to come out.
-Kwang!
He didn’t have the strength to break through the unseen barrier.
-Kwaang! Kwang!
Most of them had lost their minds and were biting and fighting each other.
The Red dragons, left only with instinct.
Before Rune could examine them closely, he felt a much greater gaze and looked up.
[Who has entered this unfinished world?]
It was only a resonant incantation.
He couldn’t estimate its age.
Or rather, he couldn’t even tell whether it was truly alive.
The difference was enormous.
It was dangerous.
The moment he sensed it, something enormous descended from above.
He didn’t know what to call it, but if he had to describe it, it would be a hand.
[I have to escape here. If I’m wrong, I’ll get caught in it.]
Rune quickly pulled his body back and ran down the dark passage.
The passage that had been short now felt incredibly long.
Still, almost at the end, Rune turned his gaze back behind him.
“!”
Beyond the passage that hadn’t yet closed, a scene appeared.
The Red dragons fleeing in panic from the giant hand.
And a voice came from the resonant sound.
[Darkness…?]
Beyond the predator-like roar, he saw the giant hand enveloping the red dragons.
The red dragons writhed in confusion, trying to escape the hand.
Rune saw the passage close with them as his final image.
“Kyu-huu…… Kyu-hu…….”
Rune, gasping for breath, finally stood up his body with effort.
The temple atrium of the Temple of Fire, filled with hot and sacred flames.
The unrealistic scene he had seen vanished like a horrible nightmare.
But Rune’s body was ice cold.
[What exactly was that? An unfinished world?]
Rune was seeing and hearing something for the first time in his life.
Especially something like that hand…….
A texture that overwhelmed and a size greater than mountains.
It felt as if he had seen a monster that swallowed the sun.
If he had touched that hand, he surely would have been crushed like the red dragons.
And what happened after that?
Rune discovered that he couldn’t even breathe properly.
He consoled himself.
[Stay calm.]
Controlling his breathing, the hot air heated his insides.
Only then did he realize that his body had been as cold as ice.
Sweat ran down his back.
“Kyu-huuu.”
Continuing to breathe consciously, warmth began to return.
Finally calming down, Rune chewed over the scene he had just seen.
[Something I couldn’t know even with the transmission knowledge from Christina. But.]
Rune raised his right front paw.
“……Kyu.”
[It felt faintly familiar somehow.]
Rune murmured lowly and tried once more to recall the scene from before.
It was an extremely faint feeling, like adding alcohol to a large bathtub, so it was hard to grasp exactly.
But if he thought a little longer, the memory would come.
As Rune checked one by one, he suddenly stopped breathing.
[I know.]
Unbelievable as it was.
The hand he had just faced had something similar to Rune.
Exactly, that hand was also something mixed with many attributes.
It was so jumbled that its shape was hard to recognize, but the foundation was the elements that exist in this world.
Kwaaaa!
At that moment, a pillar of flame shot up from the spot where the altar was.
“Kyu-hu.”
[Perdikion… has it ended?]
Rune watched the pillar slowly shrinking and sensed that Perdikion had succeeded.
Thud. Thud.
Perdikion’s face as he walked out was triumphant.
“Kya!”
[I did it, Rune!]
It was fortunate that the place was hot enough to make one sweat profusely.
Rune couldn’t smile, but he nodded as much as possible and greeted him with his usual voice.
“Kyu-uu.”
[You worked hard, brother.]
“Kek. Kya!”
[Yeah. Look! This is my trial.]
The emblem of the trial held in his front paw.
The jewel he had received while risking his heart was an oddly alive jewel that felt full of vitality.
Looking at it, Rune thought.
[One thing is certain. This guy has nothing to do with it.]
If Perdikion had known that another group of Red Dragons had entered another place, if he had known about this horrible scene, he wouldn’t have come back smiling so cheerfully saying he had received the trial.
“Kya.”
[By the way, was there only one key?]
Rune looked at his front paw.
The key he had used to go to the strange space was gone.
Just in case, he checked the energy inside his body, but even the mana energy connected to that path was gone.
[The path is gone. Completely.]
It was likely the owner of that hand who had cut it off.
While changing the other key into mana and carrying it in his body, Rune opened his mouth.
“Kyu-uu.”
[Only one.]
Fortunately, Perdikion only tilted his head slightly and didn’t dig deeper.
“Kya.”
[Oh? Perhaps I misread it because I was worried about the trial. You’re right.]
He was a little puzzled, but the joy of having safely completed the trial seemed even greater.
Perdikion, proudly clenching something, shouted.
“Kya!”
[Come on! Let’s go down. The others will be waiting.]
“Kyu-uu.”
[Yes, brother.]
For now, this was the best for Rune too.
He needed time to think about how he would tell the others about the scene he had seen.
As they left the temple with Perdikion, the remaining ones greeted them.
“Whoa! You succeeded! I believed you would return safely, Jed!”
“Ppi-yak!”
Before anyone else, Jed and Baekya greeted them.
Perdikion nodded in reply.
“Kya. Kek.”
[It’s nothing at this level. Of course, it should be obtained.]
The guy who had given him a weak voice earlier spoke well.
Heungmi came laughing and jumped at Rune, hugging him.
“Rune-nim! Huh? It feels refreshing.”
Earlier it was really hot, right? Heungmi tapped Rune’s scales.
Rune answered appropriately.
[I used fire and water attributes. It’s too hot here, so.]
“Rune-nim, you get hot too. Heungmi is a little warm too!”
Smiling broadly, Heungmi’s ears perked up as she spoke, and Jed nodded.
“Indeed. I’ve handled every kind of fire, but this enormous heat is the first time I’ve felt it! If I had been a dwarf’s body, I might have been roasted whole.”
Rune looked at them silently and opened his mouth.
“Kyu.”
[Yeah. Let’s go back.]
“Kya-ak.”
[Yeah. I want to discuss the trial quickly too.]
“Ohho! The trial! I’m so curious about what it is!”
Excited, Rune gave Jed a glance for a moment and said.
“Kyu.”
[Use the return stone, Jed.]
“Hua- yes!”
He seemed eager to leave quickly and talk about the trial, yet he looked a little sad to leave the Temple of Fire.
Jed used the return stone after taking one last look around.
“Ouch!”
“Ppi-yak!”
“Ouch!”
Clang. Clang.
Rolling.
Jed, Baekya, and Heungmi fell first.
Heungmi alone spun in the air and landed gracefully.
Baekya bounced lightly a few times on the ground with her plump body.
Behind them, Perdikion and Rune appeared.
“Kek.”
[I’m tired, but I’d like to discuss the trial. Are you all okay?]
Rune nodded, and Heungmi immediately threw in her vote.