Dragonlord

Ep 111. Long Time No See. (1)

“Um…if you’re heading back, it…might be faster to use the machine…”

“Hmph. You expect human inventions to outspeed us? Be thankful we’re not razing your nation to cinders.”

“Erm…”

While Eline stammered to answer, yet another dragon turned away from the human girl with his brethren.

One by one, the kin left the throne room to take into the air – many carrying the formerly imprisoned with them. As the dragons departed, the once-crowded chamber quickly regained to its former void.

And soon, the only ones that yet remained were Serenis, Raizel, Eline, and Theolus…along with Bruton and Aether.

The dragonlord threw a curious glance towards the elderly couple.

“…I wasn’t expecting you two to remain.”

“Haha. Well, someone ought to take our two newest brethren.”

Bruton gestured towards Eline and Theolus. Aether likewise nodded to her husband’s words before answering.

“Unlike the others, there isn’t much reason for us to return to the valley. Ilias isn’t home, and Raizel’s also…”

“…”

Aether’s voice drowned out as her eyes locked with Raizel’s. A cold stare met her gaze.

Ridden with guilt, the elder dragon sunk her head before finishing.

“…Raizel…I’m sorry. At least when you’d grown, I should’ve told you everything…”

“Never expected you to.”

“…”

Sensing the atmosphere growing heavier yet again, Serenis hurriedly changed the subject.

“Bruton, Aether. Since you’re both here, could you speak on what exactly happened during the empire’s invasion? Even without a lord, I fail to see how the empire could bring the entire dragonkin to heel.”

“That’s…”

After a long sigh, Bruton slowly began to answer the dragonlord.

“There was nothing to speak of regarding the empire’s soldiers. Even a hundred soldiers were of no threat to a single dragon. The problem solely lied within their emperor.”

A heavy shadow crept over the elder’s forlorn shadow. Bruton swallowed down his hesitance to continue speaking, reluctantly reminiscing the events of the past.

“The emperor…imitated the kin.”

“Imitated?...In what way, exactly?”

Bruton stretched out his hand in response, summoning a black ember into his palm.

“I’ve been told that magic rests within the realm of thought among mankind. To the kin however, magic rests within the realm of intuition. This is but one example: there is no human magic that replicates these flames.”

Serenis nodded her head to the elder’s explanation. Because mankind’s magic functioned on a completely different basis from a dragon’s, it was long established that man and dragon could not learn each other’s magic.

But Bruton began to deny this established truth.

“However…the emperor was different. A mere glance was all he needed to replicate my flames. In fact, I’m…inclined to say that his expertise was surpassing my own.”

“…What?”

“And I was not the only one. No matter who he faced, the result was the same. The emperor would imitate and improve upon our magic to surpass us every time. It wasn’t long until he was wielding several of our magicks at once.”

Serenis narrowed her eyes.

‘…Is that even possible?’

Dragons relied on their sense and intuition to use magic.

In other words, dragonkin’s spells had no calculation involved, nor could their spells be reduced into formulas that humans could use. It was no different than attempting to formulate the makings of a soul: the very premise was nonsensical.

‘However…’

Serenis spared a brief glance towards the fallen rubbles. Not long ago, it’d been a spellbound barrier that prevented entry into the dungeon beyond it.

If Bruton’s words were true, then the spell that had surrounded the dungeon’s parameters also made sense – if the emperor had somehow replicated the barrier within Vulka’s grave.

“Then, what of their physical capability? Surely they couldn’t have endured the dragonkin’s onslaught with just magic. A human body would be trampled underfoot with ease.”

“…He imitated that as well.”

“What?...”

Bruton’s expression grew grim. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out of his mouth.

Instead, it was Aether who continued with the explanation for Serenis.

“…During the empire’s invasion, the kin had elected a temporary leader amongst ourselves. It was a dragon named Ephea.”

“I’ve heard. What of it?”

“Ephea engaged the emperor in combat on numerous occasions. It’s just as you said: after learning of the emperor’s aptitude in magic, Ephea began to rely on her raw strength. Though she failed to inflict any fatal wounds, she successfully drove off the emperor many times. But as our conflict continued, the emperor was eventually…imitating Ephea’s true form.”

“Nonsense!!”

Serenis reflexively shouted back. A short silence had to pass before the dragonlord cleared her throat to regain her composure.

“…Mimicking the kin’s magic may be possible under exceptional circumstances; humans do use magic of their own, after all. But a dragon’s true form is a reversion to their natural selves. A human could never simply ‘imitate’ that.”

As soon as Serenis finished, Raizel’s comment immediately followed to deny any sort of respite.

“You say that lord, but it clearly happened.”

“…”

“I’ve heard things too, you know. It’s why the old bones were so reluctant about having another leader. The last one had their true form stolen by a human, and things ended in a disaster.”

Serenis couldn’t say anything to challenge the youngling’s words.

It happened.

The fact that it had happened made short work of whatever denial Serenis may propose. It was something that had already happened, and the event’s victims were right in front of her; shrugging off the emperor’s feats as an impossibility was pure ignorance.

“Still…is he not human himself? He must have limitations. How…”

“Um…”

When Eline cautiously opened her mouth, the dragons’ gaze fell upon her in unison.

Although the herbalist’s creeping fears churned within her, she forced herself to swallow them down. It was easier when the eyes weren’t so full of resentment.

“From what I’ve heard, his majes…I mean, the emperor’s frequently struggled with mana and health issues in the past. He’d often complain about being born human. And the solution he turned to was…”

Eline’s gaze slowly drifted over towards the dungeon. Though the dragons were no more, spoils of their imprisonment were still plain to see.

“…He sought to make the dragonkin’s abilities his own. Their scales were crafted into items, blood into elixirs, and…I…believe he also consumed their hearts on several occasions.”

“Then, the dungeon’s spoils are…”

“…Ingredients. For his own use.”

“…”

A long sigh followed as the dragonlord closed her eyes.

She couldn’t even be bothered to question what this emperor’s motives were. Whatever it was, the method he was using to approach it was nigh insanity. Or perhaps it was because he was insane that Akeia was able to achieve such feats.

Serenis scanned the throne room once more. Except for the elderly couple, not a single kin who’d arrived from the valley remained.

Partially, it was because Serenis had convinced them to prioritize saving their imprisoned kin over razing the empire. But the dragonlord’s words hadn’t been the sole deciding factor.

No, what had really made them leave was Eline’s admittance – that the emperor may be returning here at any point.

Afterwards, even the most vengeful of the kin had turned their back to head home – as if challenging the emperor wasn’t even an option.

‘…To think the kin would flee from a lone human…’

At this point, learning about Aymeia and Kelador had become secondary objectives. Finishing unfulfilled duties of the past was important – but as she had said to her kin, the present took priority over the past.

Even now, her stomach churned at the thought of her kin suffering in the dark for over a century.

And its perpetrator would suffer just the same. If not worse.

Watching the dragonlord quietly seething in anger, Bruton likewise shut his eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh.

“My apologies. I’m afraid this is the extent of what we know.”

“…It’s alright. What you’ve all told me is invaluable. I wouldn’t have known anything about the emperor otherwise.”

Although it was still a mystery as to how the emperor was ‘imitating’ the dragons, that was no reason for Serenis to turn away. She couldn’t let an individual like this roam free.

His prized prisoners had escaped. Doubtlessly, he’d come after them once more – and history would repeat yet again.

‘It’s time. I should…’

Just when the dragonlord was about to dismiss them, Raizel widened her eyes, voicing her sudden thought out loud.

“Wait, there is one. He’d know more about this stupid emperor than anyone.”

Curious gazes fell upon the youngling. And among them, Eline was the first to speak.

“Do you mean…the court mage? I believe he’s already…”

“Huh? No, I don’t even know who that is. There’s someone else…a scum who was very close with the emperor.”

Raizel felt a slight pant of guilt, but the youngling didn’t mind the feeling much. It wasn’t like she’d promised him to keep it a secret.

And if Serenis beats him to death because of this, then…well, good riddance.

✧ ✧ ✧

“…My ears are burning.”

Putting down the books he’d been sorting, Karas took a brief moment to tap the side of his head several times.

Ilias, who’d been watching the professor from the shelf’s opposing side, quizzically tilted her head.

“Come to think of it…professor, where ARE your ears?”

“That’s a secret.”

“? That’s an odd secret to have.”

After aligning her own pile of books onto the empty shelf, Ilias audibly groaned, stretching her arms and back. Although the books were hardly heavy, being holed up sorting books in a library was boring, tedious, and most importantly, mentally exhausting.

“Blegh…we’re not even close to finishing. I don’t know how librarians do this all day.”

Soon, the red dragon gave herself a small break, turning away from the remaining book piles. After passing down several rows of unassorted bookshelves, she could see Light sitting at an empty table, reading the thickest tome she’d ever seen.

Ilias skipped along to wrap her arms around the studying half girl. However, the returning response was rather…lukewarm.

“Light~! Are you reading again?”

“…Oh…yeah, I am.”

Soon, only the sounds of flipping pages filled the ambience. Unlike what Ilias had hoped, Light didn’t even spare a single glance to her sister, her eyes were firmly fixed onto her book.

Wearing a bitter smile, Ilias let go of the half girl, gently tapping her on the back several times.

“Hey, uh…get up and walk around sometime! Sitting too long is bad for you.”

“…Okay. I will.”

“Is there something you wanna eat? We could go get donuts together?”

“…I’m fine. I ate already.”

“Oh. Uh, y, yeah! Okay. Then, let me know if you change your mind!”

“…Okay.”

After their conversation came to a close, Ilias awkwardly turned around, leaving her little sister alone to read.

At first, the red dragon had tried to read together with Light. But the half girl’s books quickly grew thicker and complex, being filled with jargons beyond Ilias’ understanding. Now, even their titles were practically alien to her.

Returning to Karas’ side, Ilias quietly whispered to the working professor.

“Hey…professor. What’s Light even reading? It’s like, over a thousand pages long!”

“’Advanced Synthesis Formulation Theorem.’”

“…??? What?????”

“An old textbook.”

“Wh…why’s she reading that? Is it fun?”

“Not in the slightest. In fact, the class that used the book was abolished because no one ever signed up for it. I was quite surprised when she asked me for the book.”

“Okay, but why’s she reading that then…?”

After sliding in another book into the shelf, Karas threw his gaze over towards Light’s direction. Before, she hadn’t been able to sit for a single hour reading her textbook. But now…

A quiet sigh escaped the professor. Strangely, he found it difficult to welcome the studious student Light had become.

“…Who knows?”