The Mages (2)
Even after creating my domain, my head was still noisy. That is... when the wishes of countless believers started drilling straight into my ears.
Actually, one very rational option did pop into my head. Just wipe out the believers indiscriminately. Slaughter them mercilessly so they can't make any wishes or prayers to me, erasing them from the world entirely. That might even grant me some inner peace.
But give it even a moment's thought, and it's utterly absurd. It might work temporarily, sure. But I've already achieved feats and possess divinity. As long as I exist in this world—as long as I keep rampaging—I'll never be forgotten.
Merchants setting out to sea, fishermen hauling in their catches—they all fear the storms and tsunamis disrupting the ocean. That's why the Sea God can never vanish. The Sea God might die, but only the current one. In the end, a new Sea God will rise, twisting their fear into awe and sustaining its divinity.
Apply that logic to me, and the situation becomes crystal clear. If I eliminated my current followers right now? People would fear the Red Dragon and pray to me to spare them any harm. So wiping out believers is just a band-aid solution. Not exactly practical.
More than that...
'I declared it.'
I gave them choices. To the elves: join me or die. To Aidon's survivors: as long as you don't oppose me, I won't touch you. I had zero intention of breaking those words.
I'm a dragon, and dragons don't lie. It was my rule—my pride.
'So... I need another way.'
That's why I drew the picture again. To solve this. To block out their voices. For my peaceful life.
I focused my entire mind.
And in that focus...
—Hey? Something's there?
—Looks like a mage!
—Should we tell Lady Elenoa? Could be someone meaning harm to the Red Dragon.
'...Hoo.'
I spotted one possibility.
*
"Hm, nothing special today either."
Rajier muttered as he peered at the Red Dragon's Citadel through his telescope.
Truth be told, surveilling the Red Dragon's Citadel was pretty damn boring. For starters, the Red Dragon himself rarely stepped outside. Sure, whenever he did, it ranged from toppling a city to shaking an entire kingdom. But the frequency was low.
On top of that, his lair was deep in a forest thick with foliage and trees. Staring at it alone all day? Even for a mage with ironclad mental fortitude, it was grueling.
"All they do is send Draconic Elves on patrol... and that's inside the chaos domain, so whatever."
But Rajier knew full well this was the better alternative. No news is good news, after all. The Red Dragon staying put was ideal. Every time he moved, something got obliterated or suffered equivalent devastation.
So no matter how much it sucked for Rajier, it was necessary for world peace.
"...Phew, hope nothing happens today."
He gulped down water and kept watching the citadel.
—Rustle, rustle.
"...?"
...Until that sound.
Rajier instantly recognized it as footsteps. The stealthy tread of forest elves approaching without a sound, perfect for ambushes.
But he wasn't green enough to miss it. He casually gripped his staff from his robe, pretending to stay focused on the citadel to lower their guard.
—Step.
As their sounds drew dangerously close...
"[I shall hide in the veil.]"
He swiftly chanted the black mist spell, blinding their vision.
"...Kuh!"
"He's fleeing! Catch him!!"
Rajier bolted in the opposite direction from the Draconic Elves.
Too many foes for instant teleport. If they interrupted his concentration with attacks, capture was inevitable. He needed distance, a safe spot to cast properly.
'...How the hell did they spot me? I had a perception-blocking field up!'
Rajier couldn't process this. Elves had sharp eyes, sure, but not enough to pierce his magic. Without talent to see through spells themselves, it was near impossible.
Especially Draconic Elves—info pegged them as martial evolutionaries, not visual specialists. No way they had that too.
"Everyone, fire!!"
—Swoosh—thwack!!
"—?! Damn it!!!"
Still, they pursued. Tracking his footsteps through the dark mist, doggedly chasing.
Arrows grazed his legs, cheeks. It ignited his survival instincts.
"Damn...! Damn it all...!!"
Yet all he could do was run. Even if gaps appeared. Even as a multi-caster.
He couldn't easily unleash attack spells.
The reason was simple.
'Can't kill them. Slay Red Dragon's kin, and who knows what happens...!'
Draconic Elves—Red Dragon's limbs. He knew the fate of those who harmed his protected. Aidon's fall, its current state—he knew too well.
So he fled blindly, direction unknown. Just onward, endlessly.
"Haa...! Haa...!!"
When the pursuers' presence faded...
"Shook 'em...! Quick, return, heok, heok...."
He relaxed, starting the teleport chant.
—Ruuuumble....
Something stirred.
No—he finally noticed the space underfoot.
Charred ashen earth. Barren woods devoid of life. The once-clear sky choked with reddish chaotic clouds, no stars readable.
Impulses gnawed his mind, whispering inward.
—I don't want to die.
—No, I want to die.
He'd run here to survive.
Yet somehow, he craved his own death.
'Ch, chaos domain...!'
The toll of this realm on him. The price of stepping in.
Red Dragon's land. Chaos land.
He felt its terror to his bones.
'Kuh...! No...! I, I'll survive this...!!'
Still, he was a mage. Mental fortitude unmatched.
Rajier's indomitable will pushed him to retry the chant.
But then.
A voice. Deep, terrifying, resounding in his ears.
"...Ah."
Rajier looked up at the citadel peak, entranced.
There he was. The calamity... the Red Dragon. Now the God of Chaos.
Staring down with signature golden pupils.
—Thud.
He landed before Rajier.
Rajier could do nothing. A different league entirely. No escape no matter what. Overwhelming violence impossible to resist. Mere existence bred terror, eroding his mind.
He was even reading his mind. Dissecting it, reciting his deeds, purpose.
Rajier grasped the principle. Telepathic magic. Read and transmit thoughts.
He knew how to block it.
'N, no...! Can't...!!'
He concentrated harder than ever. To show distractions, hide the forbidden.
Poured mana into his head, staring fiercer into those golden eyes.
But.
—Groooowl...!
"Aa, ah...!"
Beyond those eyes, he glimpsed... multitudes screaming, praising. Storms raging under clear skies. Calamity, chaos, destruction—concepts flooding his vision.
—Drip....
"...Ah."
Blood trickled from nose, ears, mouth.
Staring too deep into the monster... the Red Dragon.
Rajier lost sanity.
—Thud.
He collapsed.
The Red Dragon eyed him with faint disappointment.
"Mm, we'll take him alive anyway. You want to contact the Mage Tower, right?"
Elenoa beamed at his grumbling.
"Yes! I'll bind him so he can't do anything stupid. Then we'll formally protest to the Mage Tower!"
Rajier fell to the Draconic Elves' lure, captured without resistance.
"Ugh...?"
"Oh, you're up. Now cast that teleport."
"Wh-who are y—"
"I said teleport."
—Crackle!!
"—Gaaah...!"
Leviathan opened a portal to the Mage Tower.
Elenoa entered with Leviathan and some Draconic Elves.
—Boom!!
They smashed through the Mage Lord's door, announcing themselves grandly.
"Hi, you're the Mage Lord, right?"
"Let's make this quick. Our king has lots to do."
"Wh-what is this...?! Rajier, you okay?! Y-you! Release him ri—"
Darkul was mortified.
"Ahem."
Realizing the voice was no longer hers, he had no choice but to listen.
Darkul had no reply.
Because it was... too tempting.