The Ancient Dragon God's Treasure Vault

Basara shook her head.

"You haven't grown at all, little brother."

Outwardly he had grown stronger, but his mind remained exactly as it had always been. He was no different from the man Wilhelm had killed. She could respect that he still stopped at nothing to get what he wanted — but to treat the Blade Dragon God's weakness as the legion itself? There were degrees of stupidity, and even blood kinship could not soften her disappointment.

He died because he was weak. That is all.

Basara brushed the speck of idle thought from her mind. The weak die. It was the natural order of things — even if the dead shared her blood. Isera had been a fool who made the wrong choices, and so he had died. She felt no sadness, no regret. Only disappointment. She had expected at least a little growth, yet he had remained as hopelessly stupid as ever. Sooner or later, he would have died regardless.

…Still.

Basara strolled the streets with an easy expression. Isera had failed, but she had achieved her own purpose.

"Did you see that? The God of the Black Egg!"

"You mean from the Jeju Island Disappearance Incident?"

"I heard the people who lived through it on Jeju Island worship the God of the Black Egg like a real deity."

Whispers rose from every direction. Everyone was talking about the same thing — the God of the Black Egg who had subdued a rampaging Dragon God in a single stroke.

The God of the Black Egg. That was Wilhelm's true form.

But Basara had already identified the black shadow with perfect accuracy. The one that had left the Dragon Vein and re-entered it was unmistakably Randolph — Wilhelm's true body. She was certain of it.

Creating a Dragon God and controlling it. A concept I never even imagined.

And the way he had dealt with Isera this time was equally extraordinary. Crafting a Dragon God to suppress ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the invincible Isera with another form of invincibility! He had already known Isera's weakness, then deliberately guided Isera into discovering the Blade Dragon God's weakness in turn. A complete inversion of thinking — a method even Basara had never conceived.

Ah.

Basara trembled.

…Wilhelm. You are still the same.

His unpredictable actions remained unchanged. He always surpassed every goal she could imagine and put the results on display. He was still so lovable. A man she simply could not help but love.

Once more, Basara longed for — and longed again for — the day he would kill her. Assuming, of course, that there would be a next time.

But even you will struggle to control the venom nested in Isera's heart.

The Blade Dragon God's Frenzy had worsened ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over time largely because of the venom dwelling in Isera's heart. It was a poison that could kill even gods — a monster that could never be controlled. By taking Isera's heart, the Blade Dragon God had crossed a river of no return. The Frenzy would continue for eternity.

You'll have no choice but to give up and kill her.

Isera's venom would completely consume the Blade Dragon God and drive everything around her into ruin. Even sealed within the Dragon Vein, she would eventually break free. There was no solution but to kill her before it was too late.

But the one she was dealing with was Wilhelm.

My dear… how will you surprise me this time?

Would he resolve this impossible problem in some equally extraordinary way? Just picturing his face brought a smile unbidden to her lips. His appearance now was different from before, of course — but that, too, was a transformation wrought by the Golden Rule. She could guess the rest as well. Randolph was almost certainly a man living in Korea, and he was closely connected to Park Taewoo, the one who had summoned the Dragon God Lucaria.

In that case—

"What brings you here?"

Basara stepped into a particular building, looked at the receptionist at the desk, and answered with a sly smile.

"I wish to join the Hero Alliance."

"Ah… are you a warrior?"

"Yes."

"P-please wait a moment."

When she nodded, the receptionist looked thoroughly flustered. A warrior applying to join the Alliance the moment the war ended? The reaction was understandable — but an Alliance desperate for manpower would have no choice but to accept her. The war had claimed far too many warriors.

I'll need to stay in this world a little longer.

If she remained at Park Taewoo's side, she would naturally come into contact with Randolph as well. And this world, she was discovering, held far more interesting things than she had expected.

Drip. Drip.

Countless beads of sweat streamed down my entire body. I was more careful now than I had ever been in my life.

Separating a Dragon God's heart was difficult even under ideal conditions. I was doing it while maintaining a near-death state. The moment that state lifted, Hana would regain her senses and release the Eye of Dreadful Omen — that much was certain.

Tear out the mana circuits.

I wasn't ripping out the heart itself. I was dismantling the countless circuits engraved upon it. Thread-like lines of mana that had been invisible before now stood out with perfect clarity. I had to unravel every single one of those mana threads to complete the separation.

Slowly. Delicately. As if performing a piece of music.

Huff. Huff.

My breathing grew ragged. But I had no room to notice the sound of my own breath — my concentration was absolute. The mana circuits were so fine and so sharp that the slightest mistake would force me to start over from the beginning.

It was like untangling a knotted ball of thread. One wrong pull, and the whole thing randomized itself back to the start. The problem was that there were easily thousands of such threads to unravel.

My senses dulled. My hands and feet went ice-cold. Cold sweat poured down without pause. The urge to simply let go of consciousness pressed hard against me.

Just a little more…

But it was too early to give up. This was the only chance I had to correct my mistake. I could not afford to lose it.

It felt as though she had been dreaming for a long time.

Hana slowly opened her eyes.

This place is…

The Dragon Vein. Her nest. Her home. But something was strange. After losing all her children, Hana had fallen into Frenzy — a curse-like state that should never have ended unless she herself died.

My body feels so light.

Moreover, her body felt far lighter than before. As if tangled mana had been sorted clean. She soon confirmed it was no illusion.

A window floated before her eyes. Looking at her status, Hana could only find the elevated attributes baffling. How had the Frenzy State been lifted? And what did it mean that her mana circuits had stabilized?

"…Who are you?"

But she had no time to pursue the thought. Two unusual beings were already kneeling before her.

"We greet the Queen."

"We greet the Queen."

Both children were Demon Blood Species clad in dragon scales — yet their forms were nearly human, much like her own. One was a man of masculine features and crimson skin. The other resembled a lovely young girl with pure white skin. Both of them were strong enough that Hana tensed on pure instinct.

But the moment she saw them, she knew. She understood, by instinct alone, why her Frenzy had been lifted.

"You are… my children."

They had been born from her own spawning nest. But under Frenzy, everything stopped. Everything should have stopped. No new children should have been able to be born.

"Yes. By the grace of our Queen and our Lord Randolph, we were born as Overlords. I am Isera."

"…I am Lucaria."

The names were somehow familiar. But resolving her questions came first.

"How were you born?"

"Our Lord fed the Dragon God's hearts to the spawning nest. The nest, which had fallen still, created us — transcendent beings — so that our Queen would never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grieve again."

Through the Dragon God's hearts, the spawning nest had produced something extraordinary. Overlords. Transcendent beings who surpassed their own species.

"Why do you keep those names?"

"Because I carry Isera's memories. If they displease you, I will change them."

"…I as well."

Simple and clear. So Hana asked again.

"Did our Lord permit this?"

"Yes."

"Then it is settled."

If Lord Randolph had permitted it, her own opinion was unnecessary. Regardless, the lifting of her Frenzy was thanks to these transcendent beings. Frenzy activated when she lost every Demon Blood Species under her command. So long as even one remained, it would not trigger. The two Dragon God hearts had forcibly reawakened the stalled spawning nest, created the Overlords, and thereby released Hana from her Frenzy.

My consciousness is connected again.

And that was not all. She could feel her consciousness re-linked with her Lord, Randolph — a powerful bond, far tighter than anything that had come before.

Hana slowly began to walk. Not far from where she stood, she found him.

Lord Randolph.

"Ah…"

Hana let out a short gasp at the sight of him. He lay collapsed, his face deathly pale — half-unconscious from total exhaustion.

What should she do?

After a moment of fretting, Hana approached Randolph's side. She knelt, and with trembling hands, gently brushed his cheek. To touch one's Lord was sacrilege — something that must never happen, that should never be allowed. And yet Hana slowly stroked Randolph's cheek and half-curled her body around him.

He had looked so cold.

Then Hana gazed at the sleeping face of Randolph, smiled, and spoke.

"May you dream sweetly, my Lord."

After resolving the Frenzy problem, I headed there to claim my reward.

The Ancient Dragon God's Treasure Vault!

The moment I stepped into the golden warp, I couldn't help but gasp inwardly.

Whoa.

Countless treasures glittered before my eyes. The problem was their grade.

…Insane. How many Unique-grade pieces of equipment are there?

This place was like another world entirely. Unique-grade equipment lay scattered so thickly I was practically tripping over it. The Ancient Dragon God — a name I had never heard before. But a dragon's treasure vault was a direct reflection of that dragon's prestige. To wield this kind of power… I couldn't even begin to imagine how formidable a being it must have been.

The Ancient Dragon God's gaze was the least of my concerns. The treasures laid out before me demanded every scrap of my concentration just to examine them.

What's that?

Among them, something caught my eye amid the mountain of treasures, and I couldn't help but tilt my head.

…Primal grade?

Because sitting there was a piece of equipment of a grade I had never seen before.