Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Eldrin and Demir (2)

Facing the proper form of the Giant Magic Dragon Drughan, Demir only kept striking with his hammer.

—Clang! Clang!

The pride of his race was imbued in that hammer, and the bravery of a hero resonated with it.

* * *

“I will create an altar.”

These were the words Demir had spoken to Eldrin before the battle.

He was to construct an altar by masterfully combining Eldrin’s ritual spell with his alchemy.

“Drughan is powerful. There’s no way we can seal all of that immense strength with our power alone.”

Demir had to find a way. He felt pressed for time.

The dragon was so terrifying that it didn’t kill the two races rebelling against it, even though it could have wiped them out instantly. It prolonged the conflict for a hundred years—a painful century-long war with the dragon. And, of course, even that was just a game to Drughan.

“What should we do, then?”

At that time, Eldrin was despondent and filled with regret. She wondered if she should not have gone against the dragon. Some might have suffered, but others would have lived relatively ordinary lives. They would have lost their freedom but at least escaped the pain they were enduring now.

Many thoughts pricked at her mind.

“We will impose a restriction on it.”

“A restriction?”

“We won’t seal away all its power. It’s only a mental seal. Your ritual should be enough to achieve that, right?”

“Ah, so you must mean...” Eldrin shuddered.

The thought of such a method had never crossed her mind; she trembled as she remembered the ultimate ritual she knew. It was a ritual in which she would sacrifice her life to prevent the target from ever breaking anything again—a spell of peace known as the Prohibition of Destruction.

“If... it truly works, no matter how powerful Drughan is...”

“What’s the use of power if it can’t be wielded for destruction? Every time it tries to destroy something, there will be consequences.”

The dragon couldn’t be killed, and its power in itself couldn’t be sealed. So then the only option left was to leave its power but make it unusable. This was the solution Demir proposed.

“You truly are a genius...” Eldrin, awed, fell silent because her ritual was quite demanding.

To perform it smoothly, they’d need a magnificent altar, which had to be extraordinary primarily because the ritual would target the mind of a dragon.

“A sacrifice... That must be the offering required for the ritual.”

Eldrin understood what Demir had resolved to do.

* * *

—Clang! Clang!

The dwarf continued swinging his hammer even as Eldrin held back Drughan’s rampage.

“Just build.”

He created something from scratch. Soft clay turned solid, and old tree roots sprouted from it. Over the top of the roots, cold steel was flattened.

“What in the world are you trying to pull?”

The dragon roared.

Eldrin pulled her bowstring indifferently. Her arm muscles ached as if they would tear, and her entire body was covered in wounds.

I have to stop it.

It hurts.

My limbs feel like they’re being ripped apart, but I have to endure it.

This is how our people will survive, how we will find freedom.

She endured and endured. With each moment of endurance, her body turned red with blood. The energy within her was draining away.

“Demir!” Eldrin shouted, her voice tearing. “I will bury my blood and bones in the altar!”

Her flowing blood gathered and moved toward the altar as the ritual had begun.

“I swear on my life! No, on the life of the forest!” Her voice was full of zeal. “Giant Magic Dragon! Your evil will no longer torment this world. Your power will flow, yet it will not.”

—Gush!

Black blood spurted from her mouth.

“Good. I, too, swear on the pride of the rock lands.”

Black blood also flowed from Demir’s mouth. Their bloods combined, forming a black orb.

“...”

They no longer resisted the dragon. They simply stood on the altar and glared at Drughan.

“What are these sudden theatrics?”

The magic dragon furrowed its brow.

“Hm?”

“Why are the elves guarding this place?”

I stood up. I stretched my body and stepped onto the altar.

“I didn’t tell you this, Dagnar, but the high elf queen led me here.”

“Is that true?”

“Think about it. Why would the high elf queen let someone like you and me into her village, especially here, to the seal?”

The request to craft items for them was an excuse. Seraphine had definitely led me here. That much was certain.

“But why would she do that?” Dagnar tilted his head in confusion.

“Oh?”

Suddenly, a thought struck me. In that instant, a possibility dawned on me—a dreadful yet highly probable possibility.

“Damn it, I knew something felt off.”

“What?”

I grabbed my head with both hands and muttered to myself, “How could I have missed it? No wonder... It didn’t make sense.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Dagnar furrowed his brow. “Explain it so I can understand.”

“Whether it’s the Chief or the high elf queen... Does it make sense that either could annihilate an entire race with a single move?”

“Well... They are indeed strong, even if they’re narrow-minded.”

“Listen, Dagnar,” I spoke with frustration. “Did you see Demir and Eldrin? Do those heroes seem as powerful as the current chief or Seraphine?”

“Huh?” Dagnar blinked. “Now that I think about it, our chief seems a little stronger,” he replied after a moment of thought.

It wasn’t just that that was strange.

Those two. They weren’t even affected by the favorability system.

The favorability system was part of the overarching rules governing this world. If they weren’t affected by that system, it could be that the Chief and the high elf queen weren’t even one of their respective races.

“Based on the memories we read, the dragon is still alive. It was only sealed; it wasn’t even buried here in the seal. It has been alive and present in the world for 500 years.”

“Wh-Which means?”

“What do you mean, ‘Which means’? There’s only one conclusion!”

“...”

“Why did the Chief stop the dwarves from producing weapons? Why did the high elf queen force war on her people without reason?”

“...”

“And why haven’t either of them participated in the war?”

I lifted the black orb from the altar.

[This is the ‘Orb of Restriction.’]

[It temporarily awakens the power of deceased souls.]

“The dragon can’t destroy anything. It only sows discord.”

[Assist one of the races to resolve the conflict.]

Trying to persuade the two races was a distraction. The true quest of ‘Forest and Stone’ was to defeat the magic dragon Drughan.

“No way. Are you saying Vulcanus and Seraphine are actually the magic dragon?”

“What do you mean, ‘No way’? Of course, they are!”

“Gah?”

“The magic dragon has been the cause of this war. The source of the conflict between the two races!”

“This is madness!” Dagnar sprang to his feet, his mouth wide open in shock.

Of course, that was the natural reaction. A single being had manipulated his people for 500 years. How could he not be surprised?

And then...

“Prepare yourself,” I murmured.

Without a doubt, Vulcanus and Seraphine had intentionally sent me here, which meant it could be right here.

—Gulp.

I swallowed, steeling myself.

—Clap, clap, clap!

At that moment, a presence could be felt from the stairs.

—Step, step.

It was the high elf queen, Seraphine, applauding.

“O being from beyond this world.” Her lips curled into a twisted smile. “You’re smarter than I expected.”