Cracias, the Greedy Dragon
Cracias had existed since the dawn of Kurayan.
Though it took the form of a dragon, no one in Kurayan—not even other dragons—considered it a dragon.
Cracias's epithet was the Greedy Dragon.
It had devoured and collected every miracle and supernatural power in Kurayan.
Its colossal three-kilometer body was the embodiment of those powers.
Though it stood at the pinnacle of the world called Kurayan, Cracias wielded no influence over it.
It merely observed, like a god.
In truth, among the gods that had existed in Kurayan, none could rival Cracias's power.
Beneath Cracias's impassive gaze, wars raged daily across Kurayan.
Kurayan was vastly different from Earth.
Its civilization had advanced similarly to Earth's, but through entirely different means.
Magic and all manner of supernatural abilities had blossomed humanity's civilization, not science.
Its inhabitants differed from Earth's as well.
Humans, elves, dwarves, and other heteromorphs, along with magical beasts, each claimed their territories and maintained a precarious balance.
With limited land and so many races, wars never ceased.
Had one side clearly dominated, the wars might have ended sooner. But the forces of humans and heteromorphs were evenly matched.
The wars, stained with hatred and rage, dragged on for thousands of years before abruptly ending one day.
Because the apocalypse had come to Kurayan.
The sudden cataclysm destroyed everything.
The earth flipped over, and the world was engulfed in lava.
Oceans and rivers evaporated, the skies choked with black ash. The planet itself began to crumble.
No one knew the reason or cause.
In the face of this abrupt end, three-tenths of the heteromorphs and humans perished.
Plunged into despair, humans and heteromorphs alike turned their last hopes to Cracias.
They begged it for salvation.
Cracias spoke.
"This world's destruction is inevitable. For the beings of this world to survive, another world must pay the price. Is that acceptable?"
The representatives of humanity and the heteromorphs replied:
"The desire to live is the fundamental instinct of all life. How could that be wrong? We want to live. Even if it means trampling another world. If survival is possible, we'll do anything. Are you not Kurayan's guardian deity? Great one, mightier than any god—please look upon us with mercy. We are all like your children."
Cracias pondered their pleas at length.
"Very well! I shall search for a world where you can migrate."
Cracias cast a dimensional detection spell to find a place for Kurayan's lifeforms.
Even then, Kurayan was collapsing, with little time left.
Cracias had to hurry.
The world it ultimately found was Earth.
Given more time, it might have located a lifeless planet, but unfortunately, there was no such luxury.
"The land I've found is already home to billions of humans. If you wish to live there, you must inevitably kill them and seize it. Is that acceptable?"
At Cracias's words, humans, heteromorphs, and even other dragons declared it didn't matter.
No—there was one who objected.
Akaruk, one of humanity's representatives.
"No. How can we justify taking another world just to save ourselves? I oppose this."
Akaruk's epithet was the Noble Knight.
From head to toe, he embodied the ideal knight, and he could not accept migration to another world.
Wars among themselves were one thing, but invading another world was on a different level.
He stood alone in opposition, facing them with a single sword.
But one hand cannot stop ten.
And those gathered there were among Kurayan's strongest.
In the end, Akaruk was slain by them.
The Gold Dragon Hai Elton turned his corpse into an undead.
Hai Elton made Akaruk and his followers into undead guardians.
In preparation for after the migration to Earth.
Cracias unleashed all its powers to open a dimensional gate. It crossed to Earth first.
Only possible because it wielded the power of an entire planet.
Upon arriving on Earth, the first thing Cracias did was reshape the environment to resemble Kurayan's—a process known as terraforming.
It was essential for Kurayan's lifeforms to settle successfully on Earth.
But this terraforming caused a problem.
Cracias's power was immense; the spell seemed to succeed. But then a tremendous backlash struck it.
As if Earth itself rejected subordination to Cracias and Kurayan.
The backlash brought catastrophic results.
It turned the entire Earth into a desert and killed Cracias.
As Cracias vanished, all the powers and abilities it had devoured scattered across Earth.
Earth's humans awakened because of that.
Thus, the world became a desert, and Awakeners appeared.
"Whoa! Fuck! So Earth's like this because of those Kurayan bastards?"
Zeon's face twisted upon hearing the tale.
He never dreamed the desertification of Earth hid such a backstory.
Now he understood why Dayton trembled at the sight of heteromorphs.
If he'd known all this from a hundred years ago, even he might have sunk into rage like Dayton, slaughtering any heteromorph in sight.
Dayton asked,
"If you're a guardian, that means the dragon's not far from here, right?"
"Yes."
"Heh heh! Gold Dragon Hai Elton, eh."
Dayton bared his white teeth in a grin.
Akaruk shuddered.
The madness radiating from Dayton was so intense it instilled fear even in an undead like him.
"Human!"
"Speak, Noble Knight."
Dayton's tone shifted.
He hated everything from Kurayan, but he couldn't extend that to Akaruk.
Akaruk was a true knight.
When all decided to migrate to Earth for survival, only he opposed it.
He fought alone to stop the wrong decision, paying with undeath.
One could not treat a man of honor and justice lightly.
Akaruk said,
"Dragons are strong."
"I know."
"You are strong now, but not a match for a dragon."
"That I know too."
Dayton answered calmly.
He had hunted a dragon before.
Not alone.
With hundreds of Awakeners.
One-third of those Awakeners died in that hunt, and most survivors were crippled.
The injured didn't last long, soon following the dead.
Only a scant few, Dayton included, emerged unscathed.
That's when he truly felt a dragon's might.
A dragon was magic incarnate.
It also possessed immense anti-magic resistance.
Magic-type Awakeners' attacks barely scratched it. Its scales, tougher than adamantium, repelled martial-type strikes.
Without countless Awakeners' body assaults and suicide attacks, they never could have killed it.
Even then, Dayton was formidable. Yet before the dragon's overwhelming presence, he'd felt despair.
And that dragon was the youngest and weakest among those that came to Earth.
Capturing even that one cost most early Awakeners their lives. He couldn't fathom Hai Elton's strength.
But Dayton never despaired.
For a hundred years, he roamed the desert without rest, honing his skills relentlessly.
His power now dwarfed what it was during that first hunt.
Akaruk handed Dayton his sword.
"Take my sword. It's blessed by the gods. It will aid you."
The blade Akaruk offered was etched with indecipherable runes.
Characters from the gods, inscribed when it received their blessing.
Most gods perished with Kurayan's fall, diluting the sword's blessings. But the remnants would still help.
Dayton accepted Akaruk's sword.
"I'll use it well."
"Though humans and heteromorphs persuaded Cracias, the dragons instigated them. Remember that."
"That doesn't absolve Kurayan's humans and heteromorphs."
"I... know."
Akaruk's body was nearly dust now, leaving only his upper torso and face.
Gazing at the ashen sky, Akaruk murmured,
"I wanted to see a blue sky before dying..."
Whoosh!
His face crumbled to dust, and he fully vanished.
At that moment,
The silent undead knights stepped aside.
A path opened between them.
Dayton and Zeon knew what it meant.
"Let's go!"
"Yeah!"
The two walked the path the undead knights had cleared.
When they were midway,
The undead knights suddenly raised their swords skyward in unison.
A ritual mourning their lord Akaruk while blessing Dayton's path—their way.
Zeon memorized each knight's face.
Until moments ago, they'd seemed mere husks of morale. Now, a faint warmth touched their features.
Their sight stirred something profound in Zeon.
He felt he understood the will that defies even death.
As the two nearly passed through,
Whoosh!
The undead knights began crumbling to dust, swords still raised.
With Akaruk at peace, they too were freed from undeath's bonds.
Not just the knights—the massive fortress in the desert's heart disintegrated without a trace, scattering as dust.
Thus, the grand fortress and undead knights vanished behind them. But Dayton never looked back.
Nothing could make him turn.
Dayton pressed forward, eyes fixed ahead, where a dragon awaited at journey's end.
The being he'd sought for so long was near.
Hummm!
Dayton glanced at Akaruk's sword.
As if sensing its master's death, the blade wailed.
Clayon resonated too.
Gazing at the swords in each hand, Dayton merged them.
Clank!
Clayon and Akaruk's sword disassembled into parts.
Their blades fused into one. The already red blade glowed like the sun.
The hilts did the same.
Two hilts became one, reborn anew.
The swords combined part by part into a new form.
Suddenly, blinding light erupted from Dayton's body.
Zeon shut his eyes against the eye-searing brilliance.
Even through closed lids, dizziness overwhelmed him. He could only wait for it to fade.
Thankfully, the light soon vanished.
Only then did Zeon cautiously open his eyes.
"Whoa!"
An exclamation escaped him unbidden.
Clayon, fused with Akaruk's sword, had transformed.
Akaruk's runes now adorned its massive blade.
Its overall form had grown far more imposing.
Just facing Clayon felt like it could cleave his soul.
Gripping Clayon's hilt tightly, Dayton murmured,
"My friend... it's almost time."
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