The End of the Dragon Era (1)

With the other children having reverted to natural phenomena and even Erebos having fled, I gazed upon the remaining dragons in that moment.

Dragons born from scales bestowed upon dinosaurs, evolving from them. Offspring born from those dragons pairing off and thriving in great numbers, enough to blanket the land. The vast majority of those dragons were now bowing their heads before me.

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

I spoke in a low voice. But no answer came.

Even with thousands of mouths, no words emerged. If they truly understood their mistake, they should stop making it. Why, then, did they keep repeating the same error?

Was it because they were living beings? Would they be satisfied only after shedding the shell of life and discarding the seven emotions and six desires? But then, they could no longer be called alive.

I looked upon the dragons with sorrowful eyes.

"What should I do with you all? How can I make you accept your wrongs? I truly have no idea. What is it you desire that eats away at my heart like this?"

I couldn't even understand myself properly—how could I understand others?

As I looked down at the dragons, one in the front raised its head. It was the old blue dragon, the first to receive Thetis's scale.

"Forgive us, O Genesis Dragon."

"I'm not asking for apologies. What did you hope to gain by waging that war?"

Killing them all would be easy. But I didn't want to.

They were the children of my children. Grandchildren born from those children. I didn't want to take their lives.

"We... wish to become complete beings."

"Complete beings?"

The blue dragon spouted something utterly unexpected.

"What do you mean by 'complete'? Are you saying you are incomplete as you are now?"

"Shamefully... yes."

"Hah..."

That body? One that soared freely, wielded immense strength, manipulated mana at will, and unleashed powerful breaths? And that was incomplete?

"Why do you call it incomplete?"

"The Genesis Dragon granted us magic, giving us a measure of completeness, but we are shackled by our flesh, unable to achieve perfect completeness. Our parents told us that if we won the war, that wish would be fulfilled."

"Shackled? By flesh?"

The blue dragon bowed its head quietly.

"As time passes, we hunger. We cannot resist sleepiness and must slumber. We must pair to see our descendants. How can such a being be complete? Isn't completeness a state where nothing more is needed?"

Nothing needed, existing solely and wholly alone—is that what completeness meant?

"Like the Genesis Dragon, we merely desire that completeness."

"You thought that was completeness?"

How could they be so foolish? To call the instincts of life incomplete.

"Do you know what happens if you abandon those things?"

"We believe we will become solitary, self-sufficient existences reliant on nothing."

I turned my gaze from the blue dragon and addressed the surroundings.

"Do all of you think the same?"

Surprisingly, a great many dragons nodded in agreement with the old blue dragon's words.

They truly believed that. No food, no sleep, no descendants—that was completeness?

In the completeness these dragons spoke of, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.

If that was completeness, then I—and my seven children—were complete as well.

Ah... so that's it.

These children had seen their parents. They wished to become like their parents.

They wanted to transcend, shedding their mortal forms.

I nodded faintly. Was that their desire?

"Then, what do you wish to become?"

"Just as the Genesis Dragon transformed us into this form, we ask that you change us into even more perfect existences."

By "transformed," they meant... adjusting the ratio so dragons could exist as mana beings.

Currently, dragons were composed about 80% of natural phenomena. They wanted that ratio shifted to 100% natural phenomena.

Did they know what that implied? To abandon being living creatures.

I felt profound sadness.

"Is that the desire of all?"

A great many dragons nodded.

"Are there any who don't want this? Raise your hands."

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠few dragons raised their hands. No—some were scolded by nearby dragons and lowered them again.

How tragic, how utterly tragic.

"Very well. If that is your wish."

I spoke without showing my sorrow.

"Those who don't want this, come behind me. There. And don't persecute others for their choice. This must be your own decision, not swayed by others."

A few dragons approached from behind me. Young ones, hatchlings freshly grown.

"Only you all..."

I said with sad eyes.

"Why do you look so sorrowful?"

"How could I not be?"

The completeness these children spoke of was nothing like what they imagined.

How could I not grieve watching them make ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this foolish choice in ignorance?

But they wouldn't listen to me anyway. If they had, no war would have broken out.

"Then... let us begin."

I sent the young dragons behind me and cast magic upon the bowing dragons.

Altering the ratio of natural phenomena and biology within them, raising the natural phenomena from 80% to 100%.

The bodies of the dragons prostrated on the ground began to writhe.

"Guhhh...!"

"Kuhuk! Kuwoook...!"

"Kahak! S-stop...!"

The dragons cried out in agony.

But what could be done? Separating soul and mind entwined within flesh was bound to hurt.

That was the price of shedding the body.

The dragons clawed at the earth. Their vibrant scales grew filthy with dirt.

Yet the magic did not stop. Not until hearts ceased, blood halted, bodies stilled.

Only then did the dragons shed their flesh, reborn as beings of pure natural phenomena and mind.

The dragons, freed from flesh, were briefly intoxicated by their power. Was it the sensation of shedding that heavy, cumbersome shell? How could they not know it was armor protecting their soul and mind?

The anomaly began subtly.

[Hm?]

The bodies of the dragons, now natural phenomena, slowly lost form.

I merely spoke in a sorrowful voice.

"Did you not know how fragile mind and soul are without the armor of flesh?"

Flesh, mind, and soul are inseparably linked. Force them apart, and what happens?

"You aren't dying."

I said in a voice heavy with grief.

"Your souls are merely changing into forms they can sustain."

Though they gained power from my children's scales, it was all based on their original dinosaur flesh. Without that sturdy body, they couldn't maintain it.

The mental forms of the dragons, now natural phenomena, began shrinking to appropriate sizes.

As time passed and all power drained away, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the dragons of natural phenomena became... small entities bearing pure natural essence.

They resembled their parents... like spirits.