Life and Death (2): Death Aura
Death aura. This energy born from death would need a bit more investigation, so I'd tuck it away for now. Who knows? If I could process this dangerous stuff properly, it might come in handy. And if I used life force well, it seemed like I could suppress death aura too, so some level of control looked possible.
"For now, it seems life energy can suppress that death aura... but I need to look into it more, so I'll take this with me."
I picked up the lump of frozen death aura, time halted around it. I couldn't just leave something this hazardous behind. I had a rough idea why it was emerging... Probably from the dragon bodies buried underground, rotting away over time. Tsk. Those carcasses were still causing problems even after all this time.
Especially the aura that had clung to that black dragon child... Even if it held back to keep her body intact, it had withstood my mana. I figured the death aura leaking from those buried bodies had been trapped underground by the darkness spirit, accumulating and condensing into this sticky mess.
Ah, so the death aura coming out from now on won't be as tenacious as what stuck to her, right?Hmm... I'd have to check later.
"Urgh..."
"Hm?! You're coming to? Ceres?"
"Where...?"
At the Dragon Lord's words, the black dragon called Ceres slowly opened her eyes.
"Uh... human...?"
"Looks like you're not fully awake yet. Judging by appearances like that."
"Don't be too hard on her. She was half-dead and came back to life—it's only natural."
"True, but still..."
Anyone dragged back from the agony of their body rotting alive while dying wouldn't grasp things clearly right away. The fact that she could even open her eyes properly was impressive.
"Uh... ah! Are you the Genesis Dragon?!"
"Mm. So you recognize me."
"Of course! Who else has horns like that on a human head?!"
I touched the pair of horns on my head. Yeah, with these, anyone would know it's me. Hiding them felt like it weakened my output somehow, so it was inconvenient. Hmm... but I can't just make a human with horns on their head either. Maybe I need a disguise identity or something? Eh, later. Later.
"Anyway. How's your body feeling?"
"My chest feels a bit heavy, but nothing hurts. If anything, I feel more energized than before."
"Your chest?"
I placed my hand on Ceres's body, letting my mana seep in to check her chest area. A faint clump of death aura had gathered inside her chest. And unfortunately, right in the worst spot.
"Oh dear. Looks like death aura has taken root in your dragon heart."
"What?!"
I'd thought I'd pulled it all out, but a remnant had gathered in her dragon heart. I'd figured even if a bit was left, the life force would eradicate it completely. But it had rooted itself in the mana-rich dragon heart and was hanging on. It was converting the dragon heart's mana into more death aura, resisting the surrounding life force—maintaining a balance without spreading further. What to do? Fish it out with mana like before? But would death aura stuck to a mana powerhouse like the dragon heart come loose easily? And its position... right on the dragon heart. It kept trying to corrupt her mana and grow, only to shrink and purify under the life force, repeating the cycle.
"This is tricky. I didn't root it out completely."
"What?! Do I have to hurt again?! I hate pain!!"
"Yeah... It must have gotten special from condensing so long. I didn't expect it to be this stubborn."
To turn even a dragon heart into this after latching on. What a vicious energy.
"My goodness... Genesis Dragon, is there no other way?"
"Another way... Probably not without abandoning your body. Or carving out the dragon heart and making a new one..."
"That's no different from dying..."
When I'd tried ripping it out by force before, it clung until her body nearly broke. At this rate... As long as her life force stayed vigorous, the balance would hold. But any lapse, and the death aura would take over. Like living with a poison bomb strapped to her heart.
"Ugh... I don't wanna die... I hated the pain, but..."
"If you boost your own life force enough, you can suppress the death aura in your dragon heart."
"Really?! Teach me how!"
How... "You grow life force using mana. Simple, right?"
"Huh?"
Ceres tilted her head, not getting it.
"Genesis Dragon. Ordinary dragons can't do that."
"Hm? Why not? Just do it."
"Huh...?"
I just tilted my head slightly at the Dragon Lord's words.
Long story short.
"This was possible...?"
"I told you it works a bunch of times!"
After dozens of tries, the Dragon Lord and Ceres finally grasped how to draw out life force with mana.
"You never even tried! Just 'no, no, impossible' over and over!!"
"S-sorry..."
"But it's not easy. Dragon mana has fixed attributes, so making it do something else is hard. I never knew it could work like this."
Hmm... Is that so? I never had attributes in my mana, so I wouldn't know. The other dragon kids probably struggled because of their set attributes.
"Still, boosting your own life force turned out doable once you tried."
"True, but..."
"And you can even transfer that boosted life force to others."
The two dragons just nodded slightly at my words. Why gripe that it was impossible when it worked? Sheesh. Tsk tsk. Back in my day, I just tried everything. That's how dragons and humans got made—by messing around.
As Ceres practiced boosting her life force, she suddenly piped up like something occurred to her.
"But if life force can drive out death aura... couldn't we eradicate the death aura rising from that ground?"
"The death aura rising from the ground?"
I thought for a moment. I didn't know exactly how it emerged, but given how life force and death aura repelled each other...
"Mm... Possible, yeah."
Of course, life force seemed to decompose and fade outside a living body. But if I made a barrier with it... maybe block the death aura from escaping? Though I had no clue how much it'd take. And constantly replenishing the fading life force... massive drain. Hmm. Or something to store life force would help. Like a gem. Or a stone. Seal it in and make a barrier... way easier.Yeah. Note that for later. Can't let that death aura keep leaking.
"Hmm... But with death aura rooted in my heart, couldn't we use it somehow?"
"Hm?"
"What are you saying, Ceres? Use the energy that tried to possess and kill you?"
"No, but bro—if it's there anyway, why not use it? Mana mixed with darkness and death. Sounds super cool, right?"
"Sigh. You immature kid. Ah, sorry, Genesis Dragon. She's one of the younger ones among us..."
Black dragon wielding death aura... Black Death Dragon? Felt like my inner chuunibyou stirring... "You could use it, but it won't be easy. Slack off even a bit, and it'll possess you."
"Mm. So I can use it if I try? Since we're stuck together anyway, I'll make it work! I can always suppress it with life force!"
Hmm. Immature or just innocent?
"Using that power might get you shunned by other dragons."
"Shunned? Already got that! Discriminated for my scale color on everything. Not fragile enough to get hurt by it now!"
"S-sorry, Genesis Dragon."
Hmm. Shunned for scale color... All Erebos's fault. He got the darkness spirits shunned too, now black dragons discriminated.
"Tell the other dragons: no discriminating by scale color—we're all kin. If it's too bad, I might get mad."
"Ah, got it! I'll pass it on!"
That should make them reflect. Even if I'd never actually get mad.
"Oh, and Ceres."
"Y-yes?!"
"If other dragons discriminate because of the death aura in you, come find me."
"Huh?! Gonna wipe out the dragons again?!"
Why does it always go there? I have a track record, sure.
"Someone with death aura who wants to use it would help with what I'm planning now."
"Huh? Me, helpful?"
"Yeah."
Managing an afterlife would need staff—a dragon seemed fitting. Perfect timing with her death aura too. Hmm. Probably need about three managers for the afterlife. One could be the biggest shade among the darkness spirits.Hmm.
"What kind of thing?"
"Preparing to collect dead souls, judge them, and reincarnate. Still early stages, but once done right, it'll tidy up the souls wandering this world."
Not many wandering souls yet, but they'd pile up. Needed a proper system to handle them in time!