Life and Death (1)
The glossy scales were parched and cracked, and the flesh visible between them was half-rotten, oozing pus—a black dragon. It was as if its body was rotting away while still alive.
“What in the world is this…?”
“A sinister and eerie energy seeped into this child’s body, causing it to start rotting while still alive. We tried to drive out the energy with our mana as best we could… but we couldn’t improve its condition. All we managed was to maintain the status quo.”
I approached the suffering black dragon hatchling.
Hmm… this energy…
“I sense an aura close to death.”
It resembled the faint energy I’d felt from a dead human corpse, but the aura permeating this child was incomparably more intense and tenacious.
I summoned my mana and tried to push out the energy clinging to the black dragon hatchling’s body and making it rot, but it only retreated momentarily before sticking back to the rotting flesh and scales.
Hmm… so it won’t budge with just a light shove.
I channeled my mana again, pushing harder this time.
Crack!
This time, unable to withstand my mana, the half-rotten black dragon’s flesh began to split open.
“Genesis Dragon!”
“Hm, the force was too strong for this child to endure.”
Too strong, and its body shatters. Too weak, and I can’t drive out the energy. What a dilemma. A real pickle.
When physical expulsion won’t work, it’s best to help the child overcome it on its own.
I infused my mana into the black dragon hatchling once more, but this time I used it differently.
That energy is death aura born from dead corpses. So, if I make it distance itself from death, I can peel it away. The opposite of death is life. If I boost this child’s vital energy, it should repel the death aura, right?
Using my mana, I activated the vital energy—life force—within the black dragon hatchling’s body.
The life force, which had been reduced to a tiny remnant pushed back by the death aura, began to grow in size, empowered by my mana.
Hm. It’d be nice if life force could be quantified clearly, but reality isn’t that forgiving.
Still, I can roughly sense it by feel. Good enough.
I continued to draw out the black dragon hatchling’s life force.
It started moving more vigorously, pushing back against the parts invaded by the death aura. As if the child itself was rejecting death. As if craving life.
Empowered by my aid, the life force grew stronger. Vital energy repelling the death aura. The life energy, amplified by my mana, began driving the death aura out of the black dragon’s body bit by bit.
Of course, the death aura resisted fiercely, refusing to yield, but the bolstered vital energy relentlessly pushed on. After a short while…
The death aura that had blanketed the black dragon’s body had yielded half its territory to the vital energy.
No, why is it so stubborn? By my intent, the death aura should’ve been completely extracted by the vital energy! It should be fully recovered by now!
Ugh… Is this as far as the child’s own vital energy can go?
Well, at least its life isn’t in immediate danger now, but… half its body is alive, half is dead. If I forcibly push out the remaining death aura, the child might die first.
Hmm… tricky.
More importantly, why is the death aura so thick? Even a rotting human corpse wouldn’t produce this much!
I’ll have to investigate the dragons’ burial site later.
“How is it?”
“I’ve stabilized its life for now… but I couldn’t fully expel that energy.”
“I see…”
“By the way, what prompted you to investigate that place? The shadow spirits are scattered because I assigned them separate tasks.”
The dragon lord replied in a fluster.
“You did?! Ahem. Unaware of that, we thought a major incident had occurred and hastily ordered an investigation.”
“Those guys who stay quiet no matter what happens elsewhere.”
“But the shadow spirits are his offspring, aren’t they? If they started moving somewhere, we thought he might have returned…”
Ah, so that’s how it is.
“Moreover, the place they dwell is where the foolish ones are buried—a site we patrol once a month. It’s only natural to investigate an anomaly there.”
Fair enough. From the surviving dragons’ perspective, it’s their family’s burial ground. They’d have to check if something went wrong there.
This is… my fault for proceeding without informing the dragons beforehand.
“Sorry. I should’ve told you before assigning the tasks. I thought it’d be fine since you all were quietly minding your own business…”
“N-no, Genesis Dragon, there’s no need for you to apologize. It’s this child’s fault for approaching so carelessly.”
At those words, we both looked at the black dragon hatchling.
At the grotesque form where half its body was dead and half alive.
“Still, an energy potent enough to corrupt even a dragon… How did something like this appear?”
“Just my guess, but perhaps the death aura from the buried bodies down there condensed because the shadow spirits couldn’t release it.”
“Condensed, you say…”
“Then, when the shadow spirits left, it welled up from underground and clung to this child who came to investigate…”
Enough to corrupt dragons—if this stuff gushes out everywhere, it wouldn’t be surprising if all surface life vanished.
To think my thoughtless actions caused this…
Ugh… Reflection later. First, deal with this child.
This time… not just boosting vital energy, but trying another method.
Forcibly pushing it out might kill the child… so let’s lure it instead. If pushing doesn’t work, pull.
I infused mana again, boosting the child’s vital energy while placing a bit of my mana in front of the death aura.
The death aura latched onto my mana without hesitation, and I yanked it out like I’d been waiting.
It thrashed like a live fish in resistance, but once stuck to my mana, no escape.
As the death aura was dragged out by my mana, the vital energy seized the chance to push it further.
I kept pulling, loosening when it seemed about to snap—like fishing—guiding the death aura.
“Whoa.”
A sticky, pitch-black sludge-like death aura emerged, clinging to my mana.
I severed the mana attached to it, and the death aura devoured it all, then tried spreading further as if unsatisfied.
“Hmm… fascinating.”
I froze the death aura and the surrounding space; it iced over completely, immobile.
Hmm. Looks just like that black alien goo from some hero movie. Kinda slimy, too…
I’ll investigate it separately later. For now, with most of the death aura extracted from the black dragon’s body, the corpse-like half rapidly regenerated.
The rotting flesh regrew bit by bit, filling out, and the dry, cracked scales recovered their original black sheen.
After a short time, the black dragon hatchling began breathing peacefully, the pain of its rotting body gone.
“Is it over?”
“Seems like it for now.”
Its appearance is fully normal now. Probably fully resolved.
“To drive out an energy that corrupts both mana and flesh… Did you boost its life force to repel it?”
“Exactly. I figured life could repel death. Forcing it out with my power alone would’ve been too much for the child.”
Like using medicine too potent to cure but kills the patient instead.
“So I shifted from extracting the death aura to maximizing its life force, letting it expel the death aura with its own power.”
And the vital energy moved so vigorously… probably thanks to a strong will to live.
Hm.
“Thank you, Genesis Dragon. How can we ever repay this grace…”
“Grace? It wasn’t a big deal.”
“But…”
I lightly flicked the dragon lord’s forehead as it tried to say more.
“No more words. And stop worrying about the shadow spirits. It’s not some anomaly.”
“Understood. Then what about that sinister, eerie energy?”
“You mean this?”
I glanced at the unpleasant energy rolling on the ground.
An aura that even overwhelmed a dragon brimming with life force and mana—any other creature would rot on contact.
Until now, the shadow spirits must’ve been suppressing it…
Hmm… this is a problem. I’ve got plans for those guys.