Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

Following Yuna’s bracelet, the group reached a secluded spot.

Of course, "secluded" was relative—out here in the uninhabited Far North, everything was snow-covered and desolate, one place looking much like the next.
As they moved, Senior Diane pulled a compass from her pocket.
The compass showed direction and a series of coordinates.

“Are we going to keep moving forward? The positioning compass says we’re already quite far from the teachers,” she pointed out.
The compass was a special tool for students who hadn’t yet mastered tracking magic, designed to prevent them from getting lost in the snowy wilderness.
Yuna glanced at her bracelet, noting the almost constant glow.

The bracelet’s light, now steady rather than blinking, indicated they were incredibly close to the “thing” it wanted them to find.
Yet, looking around, they couldn’t see any visible landmarks or structures.
“Is the bracelet just blinking for show?” Anton scoffed.

Yuna sighed. “Seems like we were excited for nothing. There’s nothing here.”
Running her finger over the bracelet her father had given her, she couldn’t hide her disappointment.
“Not only did we get our hopes up, but we also wasted time we could’ve spent capturing dangerous creatures.”

Anton sneered, “This assessment score is as good as ruined.”
Once someone starts being negative, it spreads fast. While they were used to their regular banter, being out here empty-handed dampened their spirits further, leaving only Anton’s complaints hanging in the chilly air.
But Noa wasn’t ready to give up.

She scanned their surroundings, seeing nothing but endless white snow.
Yet, every time Yuna took another step forward, the bracelet’s steady glow would turn to a fast-paced blink.
This meant whatever the bracelet wanted them to find was right here; going further or back would take them out of its range.

But if there was no obvious structure nearby...
As she pondered, Noa looked up at the sky, then down at the snow beneath their feet.
She crouched and began brushing away the snow. Looking back, she called to Yuna, “Senior, can you try placing your bracelet here?”
“Oh, sure.”

Yuna quickly came over, crouched beside Noa, and placed the bracelet in the spot Noa had uncovered.
As Noa had guessed, the light intensified, almost as if saying, “Here! This is it!”
“The reason we can’t see the object is because it’s buried beneath the snow,” Noa explained, standing up and addressing the older students. “Let’s melt the top layer of snow with dragon fire and see if anything shows up.”

Yuna, Diane, and Raymond were on board.
Anton muttered something about “taking orders from a kid” but readied his dragon fire as well. Even Helena conjured a small fire spell.
“Noa, you don’t know dragon fire?” Yuna asked.

Hearing this, Anton jumped in, “For a young dragon, not knowing dragon fire is pretty lax, isn’t it? When I was in the Young Dragons Division—”
Anton’s bragging was cut off by a sharp, crackling sound.
Noa held a ball of lightning in her hand, the blue light casting a cool glow over her small, calm face. “My element is lightning. I haven’t studied a secondary type yet, so I’ll have to rely on all of you.”

“Amazing… to be able to control lightning at such a young age,” Yuna murmured in admiration. “My dad would try to recruit you if he saw this.”
Noa dismissed her magic and shook the residual sparks off her hand. “Thank you, Senior. Let’s get started; if there’s nothing here, we should head back.”
The group got to work immediately.

Dragon fire melted the snow layer by layer.
Soon, they felt their dragon fire hit something that wouldn’t burn through.
Once the snow cleared, a massive stone slab was revealed beneath them.

“There’s actually something here!” Diane said excitedly.
“But what’s this stone slab for?” Raymond asked.
“Why don’t we just take a look?” 

Anton jumped down onto the slab and crouched to examine it.
The slab was covered in ancient dragon text and intricate magical runes.
“These words seem to tell a story—a piece of our ancestors’ history,” Anton explained. “And these runes… look like a seal of some kind. It seems to require specific magic to open it.”

Anton ran his hand over the slab. “It’s less of a slab and more like a door. Beneath it lies the real thing the bracelet was trying to lead us to.”
Noa blinked, leaning toward Yuna. “He actually knows a lot.”
Yuna chuckled, “Anton’s from a very old clan. He knows these things well.”

Noa nodded.
While Anton might be a bit arrogant, he did know his stuff.
The others jumped down to join him, landing on the slab.

“So, how do we open this door?” Diane asked.
Anton turned, reaching a hand out to Yuna.
“What?”

“The bracelet. Give it to me.”
“Fine. Just don’t break it, or my dad will have a fit.”
Yuna handed over the bracelet with a word of caution.

“Relax, I’ll replace it if it breaks.”
Anton took the bracelet, crouched down, and pressed it against the center of the slab.
They waited.

Nothing happened.
A moment passed.
Still no sign.

“Well, looks like our little treasure hunt ends here,” Raymond joked.
Everyone else sighed in disappointment.
Just as they were about to leave, the slab began to shake violently beneath them.

“What… what’s happening? An earthquake?”
“No, we’re on a snowy mountain! Snow causes avalanches, not earthquakes!”
“Oh, good, no earthquake then.”

“Guys! An avalanche is still dangerous!”
In a panic, they prepared to climb back up.
But just as they moved, the slab split down the middle and opened sideways, causing them to lose their footing.

Gravity took over, and all six of them plummeted through the opening, falling into a seemingly bottomless cavern.
Their screams rose with the wind and snow but were soon lost in the blizzard.
---

Noa didn’t know how much time had passed before she slowly opened her eyes.
“Ugh…”
Struggling to sit up, she looked around as her vision returned.

They were in a spacious, grand hall, with ancient dragon script carved into every stone step and column. Torches along the walls illuminated the area, casting light onto magnificent dragon reliefs carved into the stone.
The ground beneath her was made of a polished, reflective material she didn’t recognize. This structure must have been here for thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands, of years.
Her gaze shifted, spotting Yuna and Anton lying nearby, but she couldn’t see Helena, Diane, or Raymond.

Panic rose in her chest, but she forced herself to stand despite the pain wracking her body.
“Helena! Helena, where are you?!”
Her voice echoed throughout the vast hall but received no answer.

Just then, Yuna and Anton groaned as they regained consciousness.
“Ugh… that was a rough fall…”
Anton muttered as he stood, looking around in confusion. “Where… are we?”

“Below the door.”
Yuna hesitated before adding, “Or rather, beneath the Far North’s ice layer.”
“What kind of place is this, though? It’s deserted,” Anton muttered.

He also realized that Raymond and the others were missing. “Where’s everyone else?”
Yuna shook her head. “Maybe we got separated when we fell?”
“Helena!” 

Noa’s voice interrupted them. She was making her way toward the only visible doorway in the building.
“Noa! Don’t go wandering off! The assessment rules say that in case of an emergency, we should stay put and wait for help,” Yuna called after her.
Noa stepped onto the stone stairs, turning back with determination. “I have to find Helena. She’s here because of me—I can’t let anything happen to her.”

"But—"
Before Yuna could finish, the ground began to tremble once more.
Anton lowered his center of gravity, keeping his balance. “Not again! We can’t even fly yet!”

Dragons only began to learn transformation and flight after twenty. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have fallen down here in the first place.
This time, however, the ground didn’t cave, nor did any doors suddenly open.
Boom… boom…

Heavy footsteps echoed from behind the only doorway.
The three held their breath, staring intently at the door.
With a thundering crash, the door creaked open.

A massive stone giant strode through, each step heavy enough to shake the ground.
The giant stood over ten meters tall, nearly as large as a full-grown dragon. Its eyes glowed with an eerie white light, and a crystal shone on its forehead.
Each step sent a wave of pressure washing over Noa and her companions.

“Hey… this can’t be a Class-A threat, can it?”
Anton backed away. “Yuna, we have to run!”
“Run? Where? The only exit is behind the giant. We have no choice but to go through it!”

With that, Yuna summoned dragon fire and hurled it at the stone giant.
The flames struck its body but vanished instantly, leaving no trace.
The giant seemed angered and quickened its pace toward them.

Yuna and Anton launched attacks in a desperate bid to stop it.
“Kid, get out of the way!”
Anton shouted, sending two streams of dragon fire toward the giant.

But the result was the same—their combined attack couldn’t harm it.
“Damn it… no effect at all,” Yuna muttered, face tense.
Anton was already sweating,

 swallowing nervously. “What… what do we do?”
Yuna wanted to mock Anton, but now was not the time.
They needed a way to take down the giant before it turned them into paste.

Suddenly, two arcs of lightning struck the giant, leaving it unharmed.
“Kid, don’t make things worse! Stay back!” Anton yelled.
Noa glanced at him calmly. Interesting, she thought, how he could be dripping with sweat and still have the nerve to tell her not to interfere.

She turned back to the giant, carefully observing it.
She recalled the recent attack in Aunt Isha’s Red Dragon Sanctuary, where the Dragon King Konstantin had used a body reinforced with steel rock mammoth parts, rendering regular magic ineffective.
The only way to harm such a body was with either her mother’s Primordial Magic… or physical attacks.

“I wonder if Dad’s Nine Gates of the Inferno technique will work. And if I combine it with a lightning charge…”
With this plan in mind, Noa ran to gain some distance from the giant.
“What…? That kid’s quick to escape! I didn’t even get to see her cry yet!” Anton taunted.

“Anton!” Yuna shouted.
“What?”
“Noa’s not running away.”

“She’s not? Then what is she… what is she doing? That stance…”
A sharp, crackling sound filled the hall, echoing off the walls.
Explosive lightning surged at Noa’s feet, kicking up clouds of dust.

She crouched slightly, gripping her right wrist tightly as a dark blue spark flickered in her palm.
“This distance… should be enough!”
Noa had only begun practicing the Nine Gates of the Inferno, and her body reinforcement technique was limited.

However, when combined with the piercing nature of her lightning charge…
Her chances of success skyrocketed.
Yet, if she failed, the consequences would be dire.

But to find Helena as soon as possible, Noa had no choice but to take the risk.
With a blast of lightning, Noa shot forward, the floor shattering in her wake.
In an instant, she closed the distance, becoming a blur before the stone giant.

The giant was too slow to intercept her.
Leaping high, the girl thrust her sparking hand toward the giant’s chest.
Boom!

The impact sent a cloud of dust soaring through the hall.
“Noa!”
Yuna cried out, rushing forward.

As the dust cleared, Noa stood in the center of a pile of rubble, breathing heavily, her right hand trembling from the strain of the attack.
“Noa… are you alright?” Yuna asked, her voice filled with concern.
Noa bent down, picking up a white crystal from the giant’s forehead, examined it briefly, then slipped it into her pocket.

“I’m fine. Let’s go find the others, Senior.”
Noa brushed the dust off her face, stepping over the rubble as she climbed the stairs to the only door.
Yuna glanced at Anton with a smirk. “Maybe you’re the one holding us back, kid.”

Anton flushed red, saying nothing.
The two quickly followed Noa, passing through the door and moving further in.
“Helena! Helena, where are you?!”

“Diane! Raymond! Can you hear us?!”
Only echoes answered their calls.
After walking a bit further, Anton suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Yuna asked, looking back.
“Yuna, do you think… they might already be—”
“Don’t jinx it, you idiot. We’re going to find them.”

Anton shrugged. “And where will we look? We have no support, no map; we’re completely blind in here. If another giant shows up, what’s your plan? Make the kiddo use her lightning strike again? She’ll break her right hand at this rate.”
Tension mounted, the joking turning to bickering.
“So what’s your plan? Just stand here and wait for death?”

“Moving forward will just lead us to the same outcome. What’s the point?”
“It’s better than standing here like fools, waiting to get crushed!”
“…”

The argument continued.
Noa was too tired to try mediating.
She was exhausted, feeling a growing urge to sink down against the wall and sleep.

That last attack had drained nearly all her magic, and she had no idea how many more giants they’d face.
Would she be able to find her friend before it was too late?
She didn’t know.

All she could do was “keep moving.”
Dragging her weary body, Noa forced herself to take another step forward.
But her vision blurred, and she found herself leaning against the wall for support.

As she lowered herself, her sharp eyes caught sight of something.
It was… a fine strand of hair.
A faint blue strand.

“Blue… it’s Helena’s!”
This was Helena’s clue for her!
Revitalized by the discovery, Noa pushed on with renewed energy.

Following Helena’s trail, she felt her way forward.
The others, seeing this, fell silent, abandoning their quarrel and hurrying to catch up.
The trail stretched onward, guiding Noa to her friend.

They passed through long corridors lit by torches, dodging more stone giants and navigating through traps.
Noa felt an instinct—she was close to finding Helena.
“Stop!”

Noa raised her hand abruptly.
“What is it?” Yuna asked.
“There’s someone in the room ahead.”

Noa gestured toward the end of the hall.
Yuna and Anton followed her gaze.
Indeed, a faint light spilled from the room ahead, along with murmured voices.

Noa stashed Helena’s blue strands into her pocket, then walked forward quietly.
The others followed, careful not to make a sound.
At the doorway, Noa could hear the voices clearly.

“So, this is the Primordial Dragon King, Noah…”
“The ancient texts and murals on the wall confirm it; this is indeed Noah’s resting place.”
“Yes… I can feel it. The Primordial Power… it pulses within.”

“Senior, this magnificent power will soon be yours!”
“Fehr, I have to thank you. Without your help, I never would’ve reached this point—oh, wait, it seems we have some new visitors.”
The three outside froze, realizing they had been discovered.

They turned to flee, but it was too late.
Several dragon guards emerged from the shadows, capturing them and dragging them into the room.
The three children struggled, but they were already exhausted, no match for the adult dragons.

“Another three. Seems we’re not the only ones interested in the Primordial Power, huh, Konstantin?” Fehr remarked.
Konstantin?
Noa stopped struggling, looking up at the two dragons before her.

One of them was the hero dragon from her textbooks, the Crimson Dragon King who had been defeated by her father twice…
She stared in disbelief, her eyes widening.
“Konstantin… you’re still—”

The blazing Dragon King took a step forward, his voice deep and commanding.
“Yes, children, I have returned.”