Chapter 6: The Dragon’s Lair
1
“Well then…”
Having settled things with Goz and his companions from Onigashima, I was walking slowly through the forest with Kuraia, whom I had taken hostage.
Really slowly, as if taking a stroll around the neighborhood. Seeing me like this, Kuraia had a puzzled look on her face.
By the way, I had long since let go of Kuraia’s hair. The rough behavior of grabbing her hair and forcing her to stand or walk was a show of force for Goz and Klimt. Doing so added credibility to my words, “I’ll kill her if you follow.”
Now that those two were gone, there was no need to continue the act. Of course, I hadn’t bothered to explain this, so Kuraia must still be feeling hostility and wariness towards me.
That aside, the reason I was staying in the forest instead of returning to Ishka was to address one of my concerns.
Previously, the Elven Sage had said this about dragon species:
True dragons have no egg stage. They are Mythical disasters born with flesh and blood when the world’s conditions are right. That is what dragons are.
If these words are correct, then Tittis Forest, where Hydra appeared, now has the right “world conditions.” In other words, there’s a possibility that a second or third dragon species might appear.
Of course, it might not happen, but without knowing the details of these “world conditions,” everything is just speculation.
So, I decided to find out.
Using the Hydra that was pretending to be dead.
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I realized Hydra was faking its death when I cut off all eight of its heads earlier.
Until now, whenever I killed an enemy whose soul I could eat—be it the Fly King, the Snake King, or Jininbo—a large amount of soul would flow into me the moment I killed them.
But this didn’t happen with Hydra, and I was certain the venomous dragon was still alive. The reason I didn’t finish it off immediately is as I just explained.
Pretending to be dead means that Hydra has a consciousness that “doesn’t want to die.” We can also assume it has the intelligence to understand the difference in our strengths.
Once I, the threat, disappeared from sight, Hydra would surely try to escape. If I followed it then, I might be able to pinpoint the conditions for the appearance of dragon species. That was my thinking.
Even if this idea turned out to be off the mark, it wouldn’t be a problem. In that case, I could simply finish off Hydra and devour its remaining soul.
—And then, things began to unfold just as I had predicted.
“I see, so you hid the crucial last head inside the body,”
I muttered to myself as I chased after Hydra, which was moving north through Tittis Forest at an incredible speed.
The ninth head that emerged from the body mass that had lost its eight heads and eight tails—this was probably Hydra’s true form.
After all, this head that appeared by eating through its own body, bit off the part connecting it to the body and began moving independently.
Its snake-like form, slithering quickly on the ground, showed none of the sluggishness it had when moving while dissolving the ground with poison.
Now, where could it be heading? As I was carefully tracking Hydra while pondering this, a flustered voice came from nearby—specifically, from around my chest.
“U-um, Lord Sora!?”
Looking down, my eyes met with Kuraia’s, whose face was filled with confusion and embarrassment.
“Be quiet. You’ll bite your tongue.”
“Y-yes. But, I think this position is somewhat problematic…!”
Apparently, Kuraia was concerned about being carried in my arms—what you’d call a princess carry.
Well, I suppose it would be unsettling to be carried by someone you were seriously fighting just moments ago. I understand that, but I didn’t think the exhausted Kuraia could keep up with me on her own, and if I carried her on my back, I wouldn’t know what she might do outside my field of vision. Of course, leaving her somewhere was out of the question.
Considering all that, carrying her in my arms like this was the best option. In this position, I could respond immediately even if Kuraia tried to attack me.
“Bear with it,”
I told her mercilessly, and Kuraia lowered her eyes as if resigned.
While having this conversation, I continued to move through the forest as if flying. At one point, we passed through an area that had turned into a sea of poison, and I thought it would be troublesome if Hydra dove in there, but it just glided over the poison sea without showing any signs of submerging.
If Hydra was simply looking for a place to hide, it would have dived into the poison sea without hesitation. But it didn’t even show signs of doing so.
This means Hydra has another clear destination in mind. Perhaps it has a nest like the Fly King’s vertical hole, probably in the deepest part of Tittis.
As if confirming this speculation, Hydra quickly passed through the deep area and reached the lush deepest part of Tittis.
It was also my first time setting foot in the deepest part.
The air in the deepest part was clearly different from what we had experienced so far. Not in a metaphorical sense, but the quality of the air had actually changed.
In a word, it had become denser.
An overwhelming smell of life. The power that the world creates—mana—filled the air, and I could feel my whole body filling with magical power just by standing there. If someone like Miroslav came here, they could probably use magic several times, maybe even dozens of times more powerful than usual.
The unbelievable density of magical power was almost eerie.
Feeling somewhat overwhelmed, I slowed down my pace and advanced cautiously, keeping an eye on my surroundings. The further we went, the stronger this strange, eerie feeling became.
What amplified this sensation was the scenery around us.
The plants in the deepest part of the forest were different from those in the outer areas or even the deep areas. It’s not that there were new species I had never seen before. All the plants I could see were familiar species.
However, their growth exceeded my knowledge.
For example, a grass called Korsira on my right should only grow to a maximum of one meter, but here it was naturally growing over two meters tall. The fruit of the Pararu tree should be at most the size of a fist, but here it had swollen to the size of an adult’s head.
Every plant I could see was in a similar state.
A forest of deformities that had deviated from their original forms as species due to continuously absorbing such dense magical power. This was the appearance of the deepest part of Tittis, rumored to be inhabited by Mythical species.
I don’t know why such magical power is generated here, but at this rate, we should assume that not only plants but other things have mutated as well. There’s a possibility that magical beasts have been significantly strengthened.
I put Kuraia down on the ground and manifested my Soul Eater. It felt like the right thing to do—or rather, my instincts told me it would be dangerous not to.
Kuraia seemed to feel the same way, as she brought out her own Soul Equipment following my lead.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the direction Hydra had gone was marked by a path of felled trees, so there was no danger of losing its trail.
I continue onwards, keeping a wary eye on my surroundings.
Looking closely, I could see branch-like growths already starting to emerge from the cracks in the trees broken by Hydra. This was a growth speed impossible for natural plants.
Thinking about it calmly, Hydra must have been born in the deepest part before heading towards Ishka, so the plants around here should have been submerged in the sea of poison once. Or they should have been blown high into the sky along with the ground by that scarlet tornado.
Nevertheless, there were no traces of that to be seen. The plants in this area must have drunk up Hydra’s poison with their abundant vitality and regained their usual appearance in just a few days.
As mentioned earlier, the poison sea still remained in the deep area. However, in the deepest part, there was no trace of the poison sea left. It was certain that there was [something] in the deepest part.
Just as I was thinking this, my vision suddenly swayed.
I hurriedly steadied my feet and shook my head. It was like feeling intoxicated—my body felt strangely floaty and I couldn’t keep my footing. You might experience the same sensation if you drank alcohol excessively.
Additionally, I had been feeling a dull pain similar to heartburn in the pit of my stomach for a while now.
It was clear that these abnormalities were caused by the magical power. Originally, magical power doesn’t harm the body; on the contrary, it activates both mind and body. Even non-magic users can benefit from magical power.
However, just as too much of a good medicine can become poison, excessive intake of magical power can over-activate bodily functions. This was manifesting as physical and mental abnormalities.
While poisons can be defended against with Od, in the case of magical power, the body absorbs it involuntarily, so Od can’t protect against it. In a sense, it was more troublesome than Hydra’s poison.
Staying in this place for too long could literally be life-threatening. Without realizing it, I had increased my speed in pursuing Hydra.
How far had we come since then?
Kuraia has been covering her mouth and retching constantly. I myself was suffering from dizziness and nausea, feeling like I might collapse if I let my guard down.
Honestly, I was relieved that no magical beasts attacked us. The beasts in this area probably fled in fear of the Hydra, so I’m grateful to that dragon species in this regard.
Thinking about such things, I encourage my weakening legs to keep moving forward.
That’s when [it] came into view.
There’s a gaping hole in the ground.
A massive, incredibly huge hole. The moment I saw this enormous cavity that could swallow not just Ishka but even the royal capital, I felt every hair on my body stand on end.
A torrent of magical power gushing from the depths of the earth. Compared to this magical power surging up as if trying to reach the heavens, the density of magic that had been tormenting us until now wouldn’t even reach one-tenth.
To begin with, I’m not even sure if we can call this magical power. Isn’t this more like elemental power or divine energy, something from the realm of mythology?
A miracle, or perhaps a nightmare, where infinite power wells up endlessly.
Ah, it’s understandable that Mythical species could appear here without any surprise.
I had never seen such a sight before. But I knew about it as knowledge.
A hole opened in the earth, with primordial power overflowing from it. It’s said that throughout history, heroes who founded dynasties invariably built their capitals on top of [these].
This is, without a doubt, a dragon hole.
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