◈ Episode 247. Convocation of the True Dragon
Dark Dragon.
It seems that what you said to me was true.
A satisfied voice came from the corner of Eunaxus’s mouth.
“It must be Kudhanax’s roar.”
Kudhanax?
Who is he?
He calls me, a mere mortal, by the horrible name of the Dark Dragon!
I want to grab him by the scruff of the neck if I can.
I wanted to ask him if he was being mean to me, but I couldn’t.
I couldn’t.
[Hidden Piece: Dragon Shrine]
I could see the shrine from across the dimensional gap.
It’s a dragon’s shrine, so it’s scaled to match its size, and its towering pillars are awe-inspiring to behold. However, as befits a Hidden Piece, not everyone can enter.
[Appropriate level: Only dragons can enter].
A condition stated instead of a level.
A place for dragons only.
That meant that if you weren’t a dragon, you couldn’t even enter. And that was why I couldn’t resist the terrible name of the Dark Dragon……!
Eunaxus spoke up.
“The Dark Dragon. I can’t think of a more appropriate name for Claudi.”
Indeed.
Thanks to that damn nickname, the Dark Dragon.
It’s what makes me qualified to access the [Hidden Piece: Dragon Shrine].
It wasn’t just the words, it was the message.
[“Your reputation as an unseen dragon can only be compared to a Dark Dragon gliding in the darkness, and you are worthy of the name of a dragon. – Access to ‘Hidden Piece, Dragon Shrine]
……A positive mindset is always important.
‘Yes, I can get in.’
If I hadn’t been able to enter because I didn’t fulfill the conditions, I might have died of exhaustion instead of shame.
It didn’t end there.
‘You did well to unsummon Diend, Hoyeol.’
If Diend had witnessed this, do you think his personality would have stayed the same?
He’d be spreading the word everywhere
That I’m known among dragons as the Dark Dragon.
It’s only a matter of time before the world finds out.
And that includes my wensu.
Even now, No. 3, Lee Yerim, has me in her contacts as “Infinite Deep Darkness.”……. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Dark Dragon?! Even a man, Lee Hoyeol, can’t stand such shame.
Finally.
‘……Yet, how is that not a Dark Dragon?’
With a title like that, there would be no excuse.
Okay, positive thinking.
Thanks to this, I composed myself and opened my mouth.
“Nickname worthy of Claudi.”
It was a slip of the tongue.
Eunaxus didn’t hear me.
He’s not listening to me.
“As a contemporary of the old dragon, I’m sure you’ve already guessed, Claudie the immeasurable truth of……. That’s why you couldn’t easily take my word for it. But now that you have realized it, the old dragon is relieved of one regret.”
Please, can we please stop with the golden shoe on the Claudi family?
It’s painful in so many ways, really…….
But I’m determined to use it.
I have to make do with what I have.
Above all, now is not the time to falter.
‘There are dozens of dragons waiting for me.’
Many of them openly hostile to me.
If I didn’t remember my oath the moment I entered.
It wouldn’t have been strange if I’d been oxidized by the pouring breath.
But whatever the specific story.
In the end.
It was I who took the oath.
[Hidden Piece, you have entered the Dragon Shrine].
And what came into my vision.
Me and Eunaxus.
All the dragons shook their heads in unison.
As I said, the majority of dragons were not in my favor. I could tell at a glance that they had been forced to bow their heads by their oaths. I could feel their discomfort.
Grrt!
The sound of grinding teeth could never be so loud.
And the vast amount of magic power flowing from its massive body.
It’s only keeping its head down.
‘It’s clearly intimidating.’
But no matter how intimidating.
This is not the pride of Grandfell to be intimidated.
I slide off Eunaxus’s back and step to my feet.
I straightened my clothes nonchalantly.
Of course, I, Lee Hoyeol wasn’t nervous either.
‘As long as the Oath exists.’
The dragons would not be able to reveal their hostility to me.
They would have to give up their lives to do so.
In that sense, I had nothing to lose.
It was a life I would have given anyway.
On the Arcana Continent, you can die and not be dead.
‘This is why I am [the Last Adventurer].’
So.
Now, let’s get down to business.
What was said and done at the All-Dragon Summoning?
How you tried to kill Eunaxus for trying to follow the World Tree’s will, and even ignore Claudi’s oath. I want you to come up with an excuse.
Ttogak─
I stopped in the center of the dragon shrine.
Stares poured in, but I’m used to it.
The first time I stood in the lectern of the Crystal Hall, parachuted into the Magic Tower.
That’s what I got back then.
I opened my mouth, trying to ignore them.
“Let’s begin, Eunaxus.”
I said brazenly.
“The last of me, now that all the dragons have gathered.”
Willingly embracing my new name, the Dark Dragon……!
“A true meeting of the All-Dragon.”
.
.
.
The Dragon Shrine.
A human had set foot in a place that only dragons could enter.
What it meant was simple.
Kudhanax had spoken.
That this man was worthy of being called a dragon.
They were the only ones who deserved it.
Claudi.
Indeed, Claudi had returned.
Young dragons of Frostnax’s age did not realize the gravity of the situation. A body that grows with each passing day makes the past seem insignificant.
However, it is past hatchling age.
The full-grown dragons had a clue.
Claude has reappeared on the Arcana continent.
What will he do to them?
Eunaxus spoke up.
“My mother’s will is realized through the death of the old dragon. It is to sprout the seed of the Mother World Tree within my body. In order for that seed to sprout, the old dragon’s humble body must serve as nourishment.”
Yes.
With an oath.
Mother, why you command us to fulfill the will of the World Tree.
Pap-duk!
But there was no denying it.
Even though I knew it was my mother’s will that I could not defy.
Like Eunaxus.
They too carried the seeds of the World Tree in their bodies.
They couldn’t accept it.
“……Why us!”
Because they were born to be kings of all things.
Did you say we were born to bear that responsibility?
That’s not even funny, Eunaxus.
“What is a king?”
Living for eons.
But those eons.
They had spent most of them in slumber.
For they were too powerful.
They had wings, but they could not fly over the Arcana at will, could not even raise a cry to keep the continent from trembling in fear.
And yet.
“You handed me the title of King of All Things, and now you want me to take responsibility for it? Are you asking me to give my life? We will not allow it. We cannot accept it, even if it is our mother’s will……!”
Eunaxus did not reply.
‘You are right.’
Elder Dragon.
He had lived the longest of all his kind.
He had seen it all, and he could understand their feelings.
That is why…….
‘Perhaps I did not resist.’
His own mother’s will was full of contradictions.
I was secretly thinking about it.
In that case.
‘I am……. of my mother’s kind. I have committed a great sin against all of them.’
So.
I may have accepted death.
But there is no turning back now.
Eunaxus looked at Hoyeol.
‘Now that Claudi has spoken.’
Since he mentioned the oath.
There was no veto for Eunaxus and his people.
Finally, Hoyeol broke the silence and spoke.
“Indeed, as I expected.”
As expected, you were observing everything?
“If that’s what you mean, then it’s right not to obey.”
That’s right.
If that’s what you mean, then it’s right not to obey……?!
Eunaxus was dumbfounded.
The unexpected words had just come out of Hoyeol’s mouth.
“……?”
He wondered if it was really time to close his eyes.
He looked around, wondering if he was going deaf, and saw…….
The expressions of Kudhanax and his people were no different.
All of them were shocked.
Even a hint of hostility.
For a moment, it faded.
Faces full of questions.
But the questions didn’t last long.
Because Hoyeol spoke.
“The World Tree is alive and well at this moment.”
“……!!!”
.
.
.
From the Roundtable at the Magic Tower.
The Imperial Council of the Yusra Kingdom.
To the AAU’s branch meetings.
I’m not one to miss a meeting.
So I listened to the agenda of the All-Dragon Conclave.
I nodded repeatedly.
‘……Still, I think I’m very fortunate if this is enough.’
For one thing, unlike the elves, who never seemed to have a chance at rehabilitation.
Moreover, Dragons had good reason.
Dragons, born to be kings of all things, were not free.
I had an idea why.
‘The system.’
Before the Cataclysm.
When Arcana was just a game.
Balance was everything.
‘For example.’
When players were only level 100-200.
Let’s say there are level thousands of dragons flying around the continent.
Naturally, the Arcana continent wouldn’t be as developed as it is now. A single Dragon Cry would have stunned every living creature on the continent, making it impossible for them to do anything.
‘Unlike the elves, they rebel for a reason.’
Let’s put it this way.
Wouldn’t I have felt the same way?
What do you do when you’re born king of all?
You never even get to use that power.
In that case, maybe the Dragon Magic War was really just pure fun for the dragons.
Why, they’d never had anyone to play with in their entire lives. Imagine the mages coming along and shooting their magic at them.
What fun that would have been.
Of course, I’m not alone in thinking that.
Sacrifice of the small for the large.
Because the thing I hated more than anyone else was Grandfell.
Even if it was the will of the world, who am I to argue?
Besides.
“The World Tree is alive and well at this very moment.”
As he said.
The Arcana continent was alive with a new World Tree.
A new World Tree was alive and well.
You all look like you can’t believe it.
Why, do you want me to tell you its exact place name?
Formerly the Predator Swamp.
Now it’s the Secret Garden of the World Tree.
If you still don’t believe me, I’ll show you the quest window.
[World Quest: Seeds of the World Tree].
The Arcana Continent is on the brink of extinction.
In the midst of a great crisis.
Sprout a new hope.
─Sprout the seed of the World Tree. (Ongoing)
●1 World Tree Seed currently found / Unknown
●1 World Tree seed currently sprouted / Unknown
Sprout the World Trees scattered across the continent of Arcana.
That was the goal of the World Quest I was on.
So I wasn’t talking for nothing.
“I told you, Eunaxus.”
“……what?”
“No mother wishes to see her child die.”
“!”
That’s right.
If the World Tree was indeed meant to use the corpses of dead dragons as nourishment to sprout its own seeds.
I was an unwanted interruption to the plan, the one who sprouted the World Tree’s seed through Hiel’s blessing.
There would have been no reason for the World Tree to give a blessing to me, an uninvited guest.
In other words.
I turned to Eunaxus and the other dragons.
“Dragons, have you truly swallowed the seed of the World Tree?”
“……?”
“I am asking if the World Tree you witnessed is truly the World Tree.”
“……!!!”
At that point, I got the feeling.
Between the World Tree and the Dragon.
The same ploy.
There was only one race that couldn’t understand the subject.
Yes, demons.
The Demon Hunter’s instincts kicked in.
My eyes flashed.
This is what I’ve been waiting for.
[Class Quest: The Tree of Good and Evil].