War of the Dragons (1)
There were various reasons for the dragons' declining birth rates, but the biggest was their arrogance. Back when they were mere creatures, instinct would have whispered that they needed to leave offspring behind. But now, nearly 80% of them had transcended their biological origins. It was only natural that their sexual desires and urges to produce heirs would fade.
Still, their lifespans had grown even longer... Even with plummeting annual birth rates, they should be able to maintain their numbers somehow.
But.
"So lonely..."
Lately, the kids who came to visit me had grown scarce. Even the Lizardmen, who used to drop by occasionally, now only showed up once a year to offer meat—and that was it. The only ones who visited now and then were the seven children I'd gifted scales to.
Was this the feeling of being a forgotten old recluse? At least it was some consolation that the overall environment was starting to stabilize. The dinosaurs, who'd teetered on the brink of extinction, were slowly recovering in numbers. Frictions among the dragons—and the chaos they caused—were dying down too... Well, since they weren't coming to me anymore, they probably were. The Lizardmen were multiplying as well. Hopefully, at some point, mammals would diversify enough to spawn primitive humans.
Hmm... And so, as I leisurely passed the time watching over the world's broad state of affairs, a wave of sleepiness washed over me. There had been all sorts of tiring things lately, after all. No wonder I felt drowsy.
Yeah. I scrawled a note in my cave saying I was off for a short hibernation, then flew to the peak of a tall mountain and dug out a massive cavern. No one should bother me here.
And with that, I began my first hibernation. Well, "hibernation" just meant my body slept—my mind stayed wide awake. Might as well spend the time properly browsing the internet from other worlds. Time should fly by nicely.
How long had I been asleep? Suddenly,
"War!!!"
A deafening roar echoed all the way to the mountaintop where I slumbered. War? What war out of nowhere? Had aliens invaded? Or had some transcendental octopus-headed monster from the abyss awakened? Or...
No way.
I slowly worked the stiffness out of my long-dormant body. Ugh... How long had I been out? It took dozens of days just to loosen up.
Once my body moved smoothly again, I burst from my cave and soared into the sky.
"What the hell is this."
I beheld countless dragons filling the heavens, blasting Breath at one another.
"No, what the— What the hell is going on?"
Not content with Breath, they whipped each other with tails, tore scales with teeth and claws—a hellish sight. The blacks were mostly on the receiving end, set upon by reds, golds, and blues. Chaos everywhere.
And in the midst of it—
BOOM!!!
A fireball came flying from somewhere and exploded against my face. Hmm, a bit toasty.
"A silver giant dragon...? No way!"
"The Genesis Dragon, vanished centuries ago?!"
"Genesis Dragon or whatever—don't stop the attack! This time we'll burn every last black!"
"Genesis Dragon! What a tacky name!"
"It's just an outdated relic anyway! The world belongs to us black dragons now!"
Tsk. These brats and their filthy mouths. Rude little lizards. A most unedifying glimpse into how badly my seven children had raised their own offspring.
"What do we do about the Genesis Dragon?!"
"I don't know! Counterattack first!"
"Breath! Dodge!!"
The black dragons frantically evaded another blast of fiery Breath. The missed shot slammed into me once more.
BOOM!!!
Flames hot enough to melt rock into lava in an instant. To me, though, it was just a mildly warm puff of breath.
But the damage from such an attack wasn't the issue here.
Daring to hit me with Breath?
I fixed my gaze on the red dragon who'd fired it. A massive specimen—not some immature hatchling, but a long-established adult.
I slowly beat my wings, closing in on the red dragon.
"H-Hiiik?!"
It panicked at my approach and kept spewing Breath. But such lukewarm flames couldn't even warm me properly.
"These modern brats... No manners at all. Blasting Breath at your elders like that."
As I drew near, the red dragon freaked out and tried to flap away.
But.
"Too slow."
My claw seized its face far faster than it could flee.
"Ifrit's let the young ones' education go to hell. Just look at this mess."
"G-Guhk!"
The red dragon thrashed to escape my foreclaw, but its feeble struggles couldn't budge a single talon.
"Wanna die?"
"Grrrgh..."
Something twisted and snapped in my grip. The red dragon's groans faded into gurgling silence.
I let out a small sigh at the sight, then opened my claw. Its skull crushed and bloody, the red dragon plummeted limply.
"......"
Silence blanketed the battlefield. Every eye fixed on me; not a sound.
I spread my wings and flew elsewhere.
My old dwelling from before. The cave where dragons came during disputes. My home before hibernation.
The war had collapsed the mountain, burying the cave completely. The nearby Lizardmen temple—built by piling stones with such care—was now just rubble.
I sighed softly and looked up at the sky. A maelstrom of colossal dragons locked in aerial combat. The shockwaves shattered the earth below. Towering trees blazed and toppled; countless dinosaurs and beasts fled their homes only to meet death; tiny creatures frantically dug burrows to survive—a vision of hell.
In that scene, I let out an irritated sigh and murmured lowly,
Stop.
My sincere words carried mana without my realizing it. The dragons they reached froze mid-motion, then plummeted powerlessly.
A flicker of annoyance rose in me. What the hell had happened to make these fools start a war?
"Wh-What is this?!"
"My body won't move...!"
I looked down at the dragons, who'd cratered the ground in dozens of pits, and swallowed my irritation.
"What happened while I slept? You there. Speak."
I addressed a black dragon groaning in agony at the bottom of one crater. It looked up at me.
"G-Genesis Dragon...! Spare us your killing intent!"
"Didn't put any in it."
"Then why can't we move?!"
Who knows why? Maybe because I woke from a sweet nap to noisy brats—grandkids, really—trashing the world I'd been tending?
Well, probably because I'd spoken with true intent. I spoke again, infusing sincerity.
Move.
The dragons, freed from their paralysis, groaned in relief.
"Explain slowly why this happened."
"W-Well... It's a very long story..."
"Summarize briefly."
"A rude gold dragon attacked our hatchling! One sacrificed itself!"
What? A hatchling? When birth rates were already in the gutter and every one was precious?
"You, gold. That true?"
"W-Well..."
"Speak straight."
"It's true we attacked their hatchling... But the blacks expanded their territory excessively first, invading ours!"
So the blacks messed up territory first, pissing off the golds enough to hit a hatchling? Then why were the others involved?
"You, red. Blue. Why'd you join the fight?"
"Blacks were wrong! We couldn't just watch them rampage on numbers alone!"
"They even reached into the sea! That's unfair!"
Hmm... Territory issues, in the end. I sighed softly.
I called my seven children's names, and they materialized before me.
"Guh?! M-Mother?!"
"What is this...? Mom?!"
The suddenly summoned kids gawked at me in shock.
"Explain. What happened while I slept?"
Facing my thoroughly pissed-off expression, the seven couldn't easily open their mouths.