Hermit Wizard

1. 1. Savior or Destroyer (14)

=What?!=

The Dragon Emperor reached out. The light wave that swept over Mrs. Pearl’s body began to rush toward me.

However, my magic was faster.

-Wheeeeiiiik!

A dark veil emanated from the spot where the artifact was shattered and covered the flash created by the Dragon Emperor.

=This is…=

The Dragon Emperor’s face reflected sheer confusion.

=Impossible! If you receive a spell from a god of this nature, what should you offer in return?! You are crazy!=

I muttered to myself.

It was okay and on credit.

The ritual of giving that spell through artifacts was a kind of post-payment system. Unlike usual, the spell was completed first, and secondly, only after a certain point came, then God would take the ‘offering.’ That God had a great favor on me and allowed it exceptionally. As a result, the power of the spell had weakened a little.

In other words, if I hadn’t cast the spell forever, there would’ve been any sacrifice, but I ended up using it. I prepared it for an emergency, but I didn’t expect that moment to come that soon.

“I can’t do it this way… twice.”

I could cast that spell only once. Recharging was also a long way off for the time being.

Due to the dragon’s habit, I had no choice but to believe that the entity in front of us called the Dragon Emperor was the strongest dragon in that world.

I had no choice but to hope that there would be no use of such means in the future. Of course, if the Truth-Seeker’s soul was found in the Dragon Emperor, it was the icing on the cake and the best scenario.

In such a thought, darkness came and covered everything in sight.

***

-Gwaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh!

Lucette-Eigar, a young dragon flapping its wings, was in an extreme frenzy.

It was soaring into the air through a layer of cumulonimbus clouds. Lightning struck its wings, but it didn’t care. Even if the moisture particles in the cloud struck its skin, the powerful body protected by Mana didn’t even recognize it as pain.

Finally, Lucette-Eigar, who rose gracefully above the clouds, felt the atmosphere’s density getting much lighter. Reaching an environment with less air resistance, it began to fly away with much greater Mana than ever before.

-Wheeeiiiing!

The wind broke frantically at the tip of the wings. The destination was the Dragon Emperor’s nest.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Originally, it was about to turn according to the advice and eat humans from other regions. It was an enlightenment that brought its head back to the Dragon Emperor’s nest. While continuing its conversation with a friend, Grime, the young dragon shuddered in front of the conclusion made after reasoning with each other.

“Somehow, no less than… hundreds and decades-worth memories have disappeared?!”

It roared once more in anger.

The two young dragons realized that their conversations kept falling apart and eventually found the cause. Lucette-Eigar had lost 120 years’ worth of memory.

“The oldest point was the case 120 years ago, so I guess so… In fact, the memories of even older than that may have disappeared!”

Lucette and Grime had a big fight with each other 120 years ago and then cut off each other (Lucette only understood why Grime called him ‘Eigar’). Just like the dragon’s tempered head, they didn’t speak to each other until today. Of course, it was an incident it couldn’t remember at all from Lucette’s point of view.

It made the dragon speechless, and then, heat soared.

“Memory! My memory!”

It didn’t think it would be that angry if it lost any treasure it cared about. If it lost any jewelry or artifacts, it could find them again or create them. How did it find the lost memories?

“No, in the first place, how can it be erased like this? This is unusual. I need to discuss this with the Dragon Emperor!”

After seeing that strange phenomenon, Grime didn’t actively try to help. It was all a short comment, ‘Why don’t you discuss it with the Dragon Emperor later?’ It was a dragon-like response. In the first place, Lucette didn’t expect anything more.

It was then…

“Huh?”

At that moment, Lucette wondered if there was something wrong with its vision. It blinked its eyes several times. Nevertheless, the surrounding landscape didn’t change.

“… Why did it get dark?”

It was still a long time for the night to come. It wasn’t because it was cloudy since the dragon was flying above the clouds. Nevertheless, the surroundings were dark as if night had come.

“What is that?!”

Lucette witnessed another strange sight. It could now tell the saturation of the night. A pitch-black vortex, which could be called the source of darkness, existed in the direction it was heading for. It was none other than the Dragon Emperor’s nest.

That was as if the darkness from the destination slowly eroded the surrounding space.

-Hey Grime, what is this? Are you watching the same scene?

Grime’s reply came back in time.

-… I’ve been trying to communicate with the others, but everyone is upset. It seems that the whole planet is now under a night sky regardless of the contact surface of sunlight, the whole planet…

Lucette was dumbfounded and asked back.

-What nonsense is that?!

-It’s ridiculous, but that’s what it’s like.

-Have you tried contacting the Dragon Emperor? This darkness seems to have started from the side of its nest. He’s not answering my communication now!

-Same here. By the way, where the hell are you now?

-… Well, it looks like your nest has already passed. If I go a little further, it’s the Dragon Emperor’s nest.

-What? Are you already there? Are you going to ignore the Dragon Emperor’s advice?

Lucette seemed to be the dragon closest to the Dragon Emperor’s nest in the current situation. Lucette-Eigar insisted on a dragon-like mindset and behavior, saying that its situation was more urgent, whatever the Dragon Emperor’s situation was. It protested.

-It’s more urgent to tell my story! Now this phenomenon is also something weird. Maybe it has something to do with my memory loss!

-… Well, it’s your problem. Do whatever you want. I will make it clear that I have delivered the Dragon Emperor’s words to you.

The communication was cut off after Grime’s sour response. It didn’t want to get involved anymore.

Lucette lamented deeply and speeded up its pace. The young dragon couldn’t follow Dragon Emperor’s advice not to approach, but it was an emergency. It must see the Dragon Emperor, who didn’t respond to the magical communication face-to-face, explain that situation and discuss how to deal with it.

Including the strange phenomenon that the sky was suddenly dark now, maybe everything could be a sign of infiltration by the new demons. A creature-level response was required. Lucette prepared in its mind the reason why the Dragon Emperor had to help it.

It was about to speed up even more.

“… Hmm?”

Lucette’s eyes gliding through the sky were colored with hazy light. It happened as soon as its body entered the area corresponding to the center of darkness.

“…”

The dragon quietly asked itself.

-Where am I going right now? What was at the end of this direction? Why was I flying so fast?

Even while asking questions inward, its body gradually headed toward the center of the darkness, the Dragon Emperor’s nest ahead. Lucette’s consciousness became farther away as he approached the place.

He asked a question once again.

Anyway… who was I?

“… Hugh!”

Lucette-Eigar suddenly came to its senses with a quick breath.

Something changed before strange energy completely engulfed it, feeling like something inside helped it. The dragon felt like someone could endure a situation that it couldn’t handle alone and overcome it.

“… It must be an illusion. What the hell is this reason?”

The dragon paused in the air for a moment and looked around. Since it approached the Dragon Emperor’s nest quite closely, the darkness’s saturation had grown to the limit, and the sight had already lost its meaning. However, Lucette-Eigar tried to replace the five senses by using Mana like a dragon. It wasn’t perfect, but Lucette was able to recognize its surroundings.

When looking at the situation, it seemed that something terrible had happened to the Dragon Emperor’s nest. Due to the nature of dragons that only they knew, Lucette thought that it should check on the Dragon Emperor, knowing that it was obvious that there was no one of its own relatives to ask for help.

Even in such blind darkness, it began flying again. It had to wander in the direction several times because of the darkness that disturbed its senses.

Never had the strange phenomenon been eroded again.

***

The Dragon Emperor was in deep darkness. It was somewhere like a deep abyss where nothing was conscious.

There was nothing in sight. While looking around with its Mana, he soon quit it because he forgot the reason to do so.

After stopping the search using Mana, the only thing he could recognize was his own body. He perceived his arm by touch, and he was confused as to whether that really was a physical accessory. The primate’s forearm seemed to be very close to himself and, at the same time, felt as if it were incredibly distant.

‘The primate’s forearm?’

Dragon Emperor realized the contradiction.

‘I am not a monkey. I am a great species… But what is my name?’

In the depths of consciousness, the answers came to his mind as if floating.

Tezaha-Egonew. An honorable dragon that inherited the name of Egonew.

‘But why is my forearm looking like a weak and vulgar primate?’

He couldn’t understand. He couldn’t remember.

‘Yes, this sensation is not originally my body. Let’s go back to my original body.’

The Dragon Emperor had canceled the magic around his body. Although invisible, his own body was returning to its original great form. It was still felt in the sense of disparity that appeared to be close and distant. It had daunting claws, hard scales, a beautiful neck, and elegant wings.

‘Yes, I am a dragon.’

Tezaha-Egonew. Those who performed the glorious mission to protect the people of that world.

Dragons were powerful but arbitrary. Their pride and self-esteem were great, and they never exposed their weakness to each other. There was a lot of conflict between their own people since they didn’t try to bend over their will. Since the first appearance of a dragon in that world along with the ‘Root Stone,’ that nature of their kind had only been getting worse.

According to an old saying, it wasn’t that way from the start. Over the years, the dragon’s ego had become sharp and angular, independent and alert, and had always been the top priority.

As the way of the thought changes, the Dragon Emperor muttered inside as if it were a pledge.

‘I have to lead my people.’

In that world, where there were no species capable of confronting dragons, the most frequent causes of dragon deaths in history were wars with demons infiltrating from other worlds, and secondly, the killing of their own people.

The Dragon Emperor continued to become the source of the solidarity power to fight against the demons, improved Ramumings to increase the chances of survival of their people, and mediated disputes between dragons.

‘Yes, the Dragon Emperor protects the dragons.’

The previous generation of Dragon Emperor created the rule that if a dragon were killed, all their people would come forward to take revenge or punish. If there were no such force, whether they ate dragons or not, the demons would’ve been left unattended in the past, and the dragons would eventually face the extinction of the species. Looking at the dragon’s nature, it remained that way.

Tezaha-Egonew recalled an old saying that was only passed on to the Dragon Emperor.

‘The Dragon Emperor protects the people who began to stand alone in this world and contributes to bringing the incomplete species to completion.’

What was stand-alone? Before that, who was with our people? Also, what did it meant that a great kind like us was still imperfect?

It was a saying full of riddles, but the previous Dragon Emperors had always been seriously exploring the subject.

After the accident so far, Dragon Emperor asked a question again in the void. Come to think of it. It seemed like I found a good research topic at that moment, something that might become a valuable resource for our people!

However, I couldn’t remember.

‘What was I trying to do at that moment? No, before that… I thought I should start with that… By the way, what was my name?’

-Kwzzzzzzk! Pricccck!

It was the sound of something ripping and popping that interfered with the Dragon Emperor’s thoughts. The sound quickly disappeared back into the darkness. The Dragon Emperor just forgot that it had just heard it.

The Dragon Emperor concentrated on the sense of its body it felt currently.

Come to think of it… It seemed that something had changed.

The existence of the right wing, which was recognized just before, couldn’t be felt at that moment. Aside from the close and distant problem, there was no sense at all.

‘But… what’s important about that?’

The Dragon Emperor felt sleepy. Its consciousness became dull and slow, and everything felt bothersome.

… What was my name again?

No, it’s good.

It didn’t seem like a very important thing anyway.

***

-Pezzzzk!

I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

Even in the deep darkness, I recognized the surrounding objects with my Mana. I, the spell’s caster, was the only one who maintained proper reason in the ‘center of the night’ covered by the most condensed darkness. Even Maru, the Truth-Seeker’s fragment, lost its power to hold my body and was sobbing, so I tied its tentacles to my waist well.

I calmly but quickly finished cutting the right wing of the Dragon Emperor.

-Kwooong!

With a loud sound, the wings fell to the ground. However, even those vibrations and sounds were quickly buried in the dark.

I sensed my surroundings. Mrs. Pearl, who had lost herself in the dark, stood with a blank expression. The Dragon Emperor that returned to its original body was no different. Due to my magic, one of its wings has just been cut off, and blood was flowing like a river, but it stared into the air with blank eyes without feeling it.

Even if it looked like that, it was only in confusion while remaining conscious. The mental barrier wasn’t completely gone. I had to make sure to distinguish its soul.

I wiped the spot where the shattered necklace was. Even after the artifact was activated, that deep darkness continued to spread to that world like a fog, a wave, and a big sea with that place as the origin.

I recited in my mind the name of the God who made that terrifying spell. The act of receiving spells from the deity itself was dangerous, so the God of the dangerous nature was deliberately forced to charge the spells into artifacts. The one whom I had to plead for its favor even by weakening the spell’s power to delay offering as much as possible.

Rufeidos, whose true name is ‘Eternal Night.’

The darkness hid and concealed everything. Those who entered that magical realm were swallowed up entirely by the darkness with divine properties. The black veil hid even their ego, and those who had lost themselves become like living bodies paralyzed with memories, senses, and reason.

-Puuck! Phzzzk!

I continued to dismantle the Dragon Emperor. It wasn’t an easy task. That was because it was a body that maintained its strength by being naturally associated with Mana. It was possible because there was no conscious resistance.

I cut off the two wings, four legs, and the dragon’s tail according to the efficient movement. So, there was a bizarre body in front of me that seemed like a giraffe’s neck on a log. Other creatures would die soon because of bleeding, but the dragon’s strong body would endure for a long time.

“This should be enough.”

It was time to distinguish the soul.

If I summoned the demons there at that moment, they would be caught in the influence of the spell. Instead of eating away the dragon’s Mana, they would lose their purpose and flow like spilled water on the floor. I had to first restrain the dragon’s body in the dark, cancel that spell, and summon the demons as the final step. Garam would be able to determine the soul of the Dragon Emperor, whose mental barrier had collapsed.

However, that land wasn’t a prepared hunting ground. The restraint magic circle wasn’t there. As soon as the darkness disappeared, there was a risk that the restraint magic unfolded without a magic circle could be easily destroyed. However, there were restrictions on moving that huge body to the magic circle.

So, what should I do?

The answer was simple. If I couldn’t restrain its actions with magic, I could cut out the body parts needed for movement in advance. That was why I picked the part that wouldn’t make it die even if I cut it.

“Even after the darkness has receded, it’s like killing two birds with one stone to make it impossible to fight back by magic and to make way for the demons to penetrate its body easily.”

As far as I know, the dragon nation was originally said to be a body that didn’t work well with recovery magic. Therefore, that job also aimed to make the Dragon Emperor recover for the time being even after the soul judgment.

That dragon was too dangerous. Even for the time being, if they only competed with physical firepower, I couldn’t guarantee victory or defeat.

“Now, shall we go?”

It was time to bring Garam, the soul judge. After getting ready, I floated myself to the sky with the Dragon Emperor and Mrs. Pearl. Since I didn’t have to worry about the Dragon Emperor, I flew openly and moved.