Chapter 68

Overwhelmed by the dragon’s presence, Yuseong reflexively opened his mouth.

“My name is Han Yuseong.”

-What I asked was not your name. I’ll ask once more. What kind of person are you.

A moment of silence.

After contemplating, Yuseong decided to try having a conversation.

Although he didn’t know what this dragon was thinking, if it had hostile intentions, it would have attacked or tried to subdue him right away rather than bothering to ask questions.

‘The fact that it attempted conversation twice despite that means it either has no intention to fight or is in a situation where it cannot fight even if it wants to. Looking at the situation, it seems closer to the latter?’

Of course, he was mentally prepared to run away at any time in case his prediction was wrong.

“Would you like a brief explanation, or a detailed one?”

-Speak in detail.

“Then let me explain from the beginning. First of all, this place is called Earth.”

While watching the dragon’s reaction, Yuseong calmly laid out everything he knew – what had happened so far, what purpose he came here for, and everything else – without any exaggeration, just as it was.

He didn’t lie.

He had a strong feeling that any hastily made-up deception wouldn’t work on this dragon.

“That’s everything I know. Now let me ask you. Who are you?”

-Aindel. One who volunteered for noble sacrifice for the sake of Dragonia, the world of great dragons.

“You’re saying you volunteered for this situation?”

-That’s right.

“…I don’t understand. What is Dragonia, and why did you specifically come to our world?”

Speaking in a solemn voice, Aindel continued while looking down at Yuseong.

-Han Yuseong. You have brought joyous news that has pleased me, so in return, I shall answer your questions.

There was a world called Dragonia.

A world where all races submitted before the dragons’ mighty power and authority.

The dragons, who lived for as long as thousands of years, did not stop at one generation but continued their rule for multiple generations, reshaping the world to their liking.

They mixed dragon blood with other races to make them reborn as dragon-kin and dug into the planet’s core to obtain infinite resources and energy.

An era of glory that seemed would continue forever.

However, the age of dragons came to an end for reasons no one had expected.

-Beings from other dimensions began appearing in our world. At first it was nothing significant, but as their numbers grew, they became overwhelming even for armies to handle.

As time passed, the cycle of invaders’ appearances shortened, and the types of attacks also diversified.

One day, normal land would suddenly change overnight as if transformed into another world with different physical laws, and another day, an unknown plague would spread rapidly causing massive casualties.

The war continued for hundreds of years with accumulating damage.

Finally, the dragons acknowledged that winning the war was impossible and decided to seek another solution.

-That’s how the migration plan was decided.

Literally a plan to abandon the ruined world and migrate to a new one.

They poured massive effort and technology into creating a city capable of crossing dimensions and withstanding the impact, and they selected and froze those with suitable abilities and bloodlines to revive Dragonia.

On the day all preparations were complete, the dragons executed the plan without hesitation.

And after some time had passed since beginning the journey, several problems started to arise.

As they drifted through dimensional gaps for an extended period, they began running short on energy to maintain the journey and barriers.

At first they used the massive resources brought from Dragonia to produce energy, then they used artifacts, but still the journey showed no signs of ending.

-The city needed new energy to sustain itself. And the only beings with that much energy were us.

However precious a dragon’s life might be, it could not compare to the fate of their entire race.

Ten dragons volunteered for sacrifice, and when they perished, another ten dragons stepped forward, repeating this cycle.

-We were the last. Even as my companions died one by one and I remained alone, I desperately endured thinking I couldn’t let Dragonia’s lineage end, yet to think we would arrive at a new home. What joyous news. Now I can rest.

Seemingly overcome with emotion, tears began forming in Aindel’s large eyes.

However, Yuseong could only wear a dejected expression.

‘It sounds nice to call it migration, but in the end isn’t what you’re doing also invasion? How are you any different from those invaders?’

They say when you do it it’s romance, when others do it it’s adultery.

The dragons’ actions were exactly like that.

He had hoped for a peaceful resolution seeing how they were willing to have a conversation, but it seemed that was a vain hope.

‘What should I do? Should I try persuading them by emphasizing that Earth is also under invasion and that fighting amongst ourselves would gain nothing? No, these guys want to change the environment itself to suit their tastes. No matter what other beings might appear, none would be as dangerous as these guys. Then…’

“Huh?”

Desperately racking his brain to find a way to breakthrough the situation, Yuseong suddenly realized something and tilted his head.

“Lord Aindel, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

-Speak.

“Didn’t you say you carefully selected migrants to revive Dragonia?”

-That’s right. Those with strong dragon blood, those with outstanding abilities in various fields, those with various technical skills – talents selected through rigorous discussion and deliberation. They are essential for reviving Dragonia.

“It seems they’re all dead though?”

Aindel’s eyes, which had been curved in apparent pleasure, twisted downward.

-There are jokes that can be made and jokes that cannot. I’ll forgive once, but not twice.

“This isn’t a joke, it’s the truth. Those carefully selected people you mentioned are the ones in the glass containers, right?”

-That’s right.

“I saw it with my own eyes on my way here. Those people are all dead.”

-…

Silently staring at Yuseong, a small eye made of magical power appeared on Aindel’s forehead.

The eye flew high into the sky and went outside through the door Yuseong had entered through, and Aindel’s face twisted hideously.

-W-What is the meaning of this?

-Eek?

Aindel thrust its head toward Yuseong, who was comforting the startled Alice.

-Did you deceive me? Didn’t you say our children were reviving Dragonia? Then why are they all dead without a single survivor!

“I don’t know that either. You’d better ask Nord for the details.”

-Nord? Who is that?

“Ah, well, he seems to be a lizardman who’s currently in charge of overall command…”

-Lizardman? Why does a lizardman appear here?

Aindel, who had simply thought it had arrived in the world called Earth and the awakened migrants were reviving Dragonia, realized it had been greatly mistaken as it listened to Yuseong’s detailed explanation.

-So you’re saying this lizardman Nord claimed to be the ruler of Dragonia?

“He also claimed to be the high priest of the Dragon God Religion.”

-This is madness! Mere slaves dare to covet their masters’ position?

Overwhelming killing intent so intense it was visible.

Despite protecting his body and mind by circulating magical power and Internal Energy, sensing the ominous atmosphere, Yuseong felt a powerful shock as if his heart had stopped.

“Slaves? What do you mean?”

Though he could roughly guess what was going on, Yuseong asked with the most innocent expression possible as if he knew nothing.

-Lizardmen are the lowest inferior species among all dragon-kin who inherit dragon blood! They are slaves meant for menial tasks and simple labor! You’re saying such lizardmen are ruling Dragonia?

“As I’ve said several times, I’m an outsider so I don’t know what happened. However, looking at the situation, I can guess what might have occurred.”

-What is it?

“It seems the lizardmen staged a rebellion.”

This wasn’t slander or anything else but a reasonable deduction.

The fact that no other dragon-kin were visible and only lizardmen remained.

The fact that Nord called himself the ruler of Dragonia and high priest.

The fact that the underground facilities showed absolutely no signs of maintenance.

There was overwhelming evidence pointing to a lizardmen rebellion.

‘Of course, that’s not necessarily the case.’

There were other possibilities.

This city called Dragonia had some similarities to a generation ship traveling through space over a long period.

During the potentially hundreds or even thousands of years drifting through dimensional gaps, generational changes would have inevitably occurred, and in that process, knowledge passed down through countless generations would have been gradually lost or distorted.

It was entirely plausible that as this accumulated bit by bit, at some point the lizardmen completely forgot their duties and history, and used the remaining fragmentary knowledge to build their own independent civilization.

“Ahem.”

However, Yuseong decided not to mention this possibility.

-I’ll not leave a single one of these bastards…

Woong!

As Aindel tried to rise, it was blocked by a magic circle that appeared in mid-air and collapsed back down.

“Are you alright?”

-…To think even leaving here would be impossible.

Yuseong couldn’t say anything to Aindel, who wore a dazed expression.

While he had succeeded in driving a wedge between Aindel and the lizardmen, he lacked the materials or motivation to do anything more.

Though they were having a leisurely conversation, from Aindel’s perspective, he was clearly an enemy.

The conversation had flowed naturally until now so it didn’t seem to notice anything strange, but if he were to bring up things like what to do about the lizardmen or whether the barrier could be removed, he would instantly become suspect.

How much time had passed?

Finally seeming to accept reality after continuously sending eyes made of magical power outside as if still unable to believe it, Aindel looked at Yuseong and spoke.

-You said you came here to remove the barrier and defeat the lizardmen, correct?

“That’s right.”

-Very well, are you someone who keeps their promises well?

“I try to keep them when possible, but I easily break them if circumstances aren’t favorable.”

-A person who admits to their own lack of trustworthiness. I’m not sure whether to be pleased by such honesty or not.

Letting out a small laugh, Aindel immediately put on a serious expression and spoke words like a bolt from the blue.

-I, Aindel, the 32nd Lord of Dragonia, recognize you, Han Yuseong, as the 33rd Lord of Dragonia.

As soon as Aindel finished speaking, a crest made of light appeared on Yuseong’s hand.

An elaborate crest depicting a dragon roaring toward the sky.

Aindel spoke in what seemed like a relieved voice to Yuseong, who was staring at the crest with blank eyes.

-With that crest, go to the control room on the top floor and you will be able to use all of Dragonia’s functions. As the 33rd Lord of Dragonia and legitimate ruler, deliver appropriate punishment to the slaves who dare impersonate a Lord.

“…Why give this to me?”

He couldn’t understand what Aindel was thinking at all.

It knew it couldn’t leave this place.

He understood its feeling of betrayal by the lizardmen.

But what did those things have to do with passing this crest to him?

-Rather than watch mere slaves possess Dragonia and proudly call themselves dragon-kin, I thought it better to pass it to an outsider. Can you not understand?

Yuseong briefly tried thinking about this situation in terms of humanity.

Humans facing extinction from alien invasion use all their power to build a spaceship headed for a new planet, and enter cryogenic sleep aboard it.

But when they wake up, they find artificial intelligence or some force has rebelled and killed all the crew members, spouting nonsense like ‘We are the true humanity.’ What would someone who witnessed such a scene think?

“I think I can understand.”

-Good. New Lord, now go and fulfill your duty.

Yuseong quietly left the cavity without saying anything more.

Though he had received an incredible unexpected gift, it wasn’t given out of pure goodwill, and it was clearly an invader who had tried to conquer Earth.

It was an awkward situation to either say thank you or promise not to forget its grace.

A slight bow before leaving the cavity was the most sincere gesture Yuseong could manage.

-…

And in the cavity after Yuseong disappeared, no more sounds could be heard.