A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

NooARRGH!

[Terror (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Hikari and I froze up as we were inflicted with [Terror (Moderate)] by the System Voice, leaving my body entirely to our draconic instincts to control. A primal fear similar to death and isolation took over it, compelling my body to run away like a yelping puppy, abandoning any pride I had as a rank B dragon and rank A hunter.

I couldn’t look at all. I didn’t want to hear it croaking. Worst of all, the rotten egg smell had gotten so bad the moment this monster appeared that I was choking on it!

T-toaaaad! Whyyyyyy?!

Kramps tried to calm me down, but it all went into one ear and out the other, as I couldn’t form a single rational thought. My body immediately flew towards the magma ocean hole, intending to flee this place as soon as possible, but with lightning fast reflexes, I jerked back as I sensed [Danger Perception] activated.

Even though I was facing away from that monster, I saw its stretchy tongue lash out from over my shoulder, whipping through the air in the front of the hole. The croaking afterward sent a shudder through me as I snapped my head away from the beast. I flew away from the hole, back into the smog above, only for the creature to start breathing in more of the volcanic gasses, destroying the yellow cloud I had been hoping to hide in.

You stupid asshole!

Kramps went silent after I screamed at him, prompting me to continue, You knew I have ranidaphobia, but you still sent me to one. Why couldn’t you even warn me of it! Arrrgh, no, no, no! You stupid asshole! Stupid!

How do you not know? You read my memories like Aurena did!

that intrusive! I know just enough about you to know you fit well as my Champion and how I should interact with you.>

I had a similar moment already!

I had this moment after the Belzac forest! I had this after I reconnected with you in Griffonpeak, during the damn elven post Ques—Shit!

My body once again dodged an incoming tongue whip without my control; however, Hikari quickly warned me that [Foresight] was predicting a flurry of it was incoming. If my body lacked the fine control to dodge those attacks, that would mean the toad’s tongue would touch me. Its icky, slimy, slobbery tongue would touch me! Ewwww!

Knowing this could happen was enough to scare me into taking back control of my body, completely overriding the [Terror (Moderate)] through another deeper fear—getting touched by a frog or toad! Still, I slammed my eyes shut and relied on my skills alone to evade all the high-octane whips, zooming around as loud sonic explosions nearly knocked me out of the sky.

It only ended when the toad croaked and unleashed what was, presumably, a stream of noxious gas like they had a perversion of a dragon breath. Strangely, the toad wasn’t taking any breaks at all; the attack felt endless. [Foresight] couldn’t tell me the reason why the breath kept happening, it only told me it was happening and I should continue flying away from it.

<… You have fought against numerous dragons—rank A and B—and showed claws sharp and bold enough to even agitate a rank S. The true mark of my descendant—the potential to become another ruler of the skies! … Yet you are shaming yourself against a puny amphibian of all enemies? By all who reign the heavens, my descendant will not have that on her epitaph! Fight, Hestia!>

Then you shouldn’t have sent us into this toad cave in the first place! If you knew we would end in a fight, you should have told me it’s a damn toad!

… How am I supposed to be mad at you if you start arguing like a rational person?

‘It is getting dicey!’ Hikari chimed in. ‘There is nowhere to escape but the giant tunnel behind the toad or back to the magma opening, but in both cases, we have to risk getting touched by the beast. We can’t continue running away like this.’

I’m not opening my eyes. I’m not looking at that thing, or touching it.

‘Agreed.’

Being serious here, he was right. This irrational fear I had for frogs and toads was a liability against those sorta enemies, and I knew it well. Regardless of whatever logic said, however, I couldn’t get myself to look at one, nor could I help myself from feeling disgusted by the idea of being touched by one. Some people were afraid of spiders or heights; I wasn’t one of them, but my phobia was, unfortunately, frogs and toads.

Even imagining killing this toad and how its long, noodly limbs would spread on the ground was frightening me to no ends. A chill was running down my spine by the mere mention.

Yet, I had to get past it. The longer I kept running around with hasted breath, almost hyperventilating, the more oxygen would be used up.

We have to fight without seeing and touching it.

‘Magic and relying on [Foresight] and [Detection Sensor]. Got it, I’ll concentrate on that then,’ Hikari replied. ‘Just don’t squish it, burn it, or eviscerate it. Just bury its carcass in the ground or something.’

There was one silver lining to this situation, though, and that was [Mana Eyes]. The outline of the frog’s body created from its mana was obscured due to the cloud of volcanic gas around it, meaning I wasn’t completely blind to its attack, but the moment it ejected that gas with its mana, my entire vision became blurred with blue. Not to mention, I was keeping my eyes shut, so I could even see the mana flowing through my eyelids.

[Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Various Spell Buffs] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Regardless, with such a setup, the fight between me and the toad finally began for real. I chose to rely on holy and wind spells, doing my best to ignore its constant croaking causing me to turn squeamish. Aside from this, this toad was just like any other of my past rank B prey.

Sure, it was level 37 and seemed pretty good at dodging with its long legs, but I’ve faced far more fearsome enemies, just as Kramps said. The main issue was the fact it was quite sturdy and had a good amount of health, and due to the risk of asphyxiation from all the gas, I couldn’t even use my [White Flames] or [Corrosive Fire]. Especially not my purple flames! The last thing I needed was more unbreathable air.

‘[Sacred Smite] and [Banishment Beam] are pushing the beast back, but we need a hard-hitting attack to break through that carapace,’ Hikari reported before rummaging through our spell songs. ‘Let’s fortify the ground and use a [Cyclone Madness]. That will eviscerate the beast if we also add [Strength and Wisdom] on top of it to boost ourselves.’

Agree on the [Terra Wall] on the ground so we don’t accidentally break the cavern, but why [Cyclone Madness] here? Just ‘cause it’s less destructive than other options? Atomize this thing so we don’t have to see it later! [The Heir of Hope] to boost [Ramuh] and we’ll just tank through our spell with [Gloria Ascendance].

‘What? We barely have any oxygen left to create a bubble once the [Ramuh] destroys the damn floor! We break it, then the whole cavern will get atomized with the toad! The toad might not have [Lightning Resistance], but if you want a similar attack, then use [Omnictus]! Even if its [Holy Resistance] is rising, we can probably kill it with the spell.’

You sur—

Just as we continued our tactic conversation, the frog roared out for the first time since this battle began, its air sac growing in size. The volcanic warts on its body bloated up into bulbs and began sucking in the volcanic gasses like a vacuum cleaner, something we could pick up even with our eyes shut and relying only on our skills.

Just as I was assessing what was happening with the monster’s body through [Mana Eyes], the ground, wall, and ceiling started forming cracks as volcanic gasses leaked into the cavern. It only took a second for me to realize how light-headed I was becoming.

The oxygen!

My lungs didn’t have any issue breathing in the gasses, but my body couldn’t use it for respiration. The toad was trying to suffocate me!

The bad news only got worse when Hikari sent the monster’s description to me.

Volcanic Breath Raknacabra: A mutant amphibious monster who evolved with the [Tyrant Queen’s Crown] glued to its head due to an accident with a lava slime. Due to the scales of the God of Dragons and Oaths, Kargryxmor, attached to the crown during his mortal days, a mutation occurred, turning the amphibian into a lesser dragonkin with higher-than-average magic growths for its kind. Due to the lingering mana of the crown’s previous owner, the raknacabra has fully adapted to life in the magma chambers with a special organ that allows it to turn any type of gas into breathable air to sustain it. Utilizes toxic gasses to suffocate even the most hardy volcanic monsters. Rank B

… Hold on, this thing actually has a cool evolution! No, forget it, it can turn any gas into oxygen? That’s cheating!

If that was the case, then suffocating me by filling the entire cavern with noxious gas was a viable strategy, as I had no way of turning the gasses into usable oxygen like it did. Using [Air Shield] was completely meaningless here as the spell didn’t create oxygen, it just created a barrier from the surrounding air and encased you in it.

Panicking at this prospect, I had to abandon our plans, as I had to find a way to secure a way to breathe. Depending on how long the tunnel behind the toad was, and if it even led me directly to the surface, it might actually be impossible to escape this situation. I might actually die from this toad and make Kramp’s nightmare come true … Huh.

… Well, hell no!

“Kraaaaghhhh!” Unleashing a [Tyrant’s Voice] at the toad, I blew the monster back, interrupting its gas production while I used [Terra Wall] to close up the cracks in the cavern, before taking out my [Room] runes. Opening it up, specifically, to my Mom’s roosting place.

Looking around, I let out a sign in relief that Ryra wasn’t inside, meaning he woke up and was resting somewhere else. I wished I had asked Svena about him before I had to close the subspace, but the toad ambushed me a bit too early for that.

In any case, if I couldn’t find any air inside this room, then I had to bring some outside air into the room! Air and mana could move through fast travel without an issue, unlike people, so what if I used [Aerokinesis] and pulled the oxygen from inside the room out and placed the volcanic gas inside? Well, my answer to combat this thing, of course!

Air Shield!

Gathering as much breathable air as possible, I surrounded myself in a barrier of it, while using my scales to protect it from breaking from an attack. I then closed the portal and used [Terra Wall] to push the toad back into the cavern before I closed every single possible exit from this room.

Using [Ramuh] and [Cyclone Madness] was out of the question now, as I needed a way to vaporize the frog from existence without destroying my barrier. The only option was [Omnictus], as it couldn’t hurt anything inorganic, so using it means keeping the general structure of the cavern intact so lava wouldn’t suddenly seep inside and burn the barrier away. I also had to add [Gloria Ascendance] to protect the [Air Shield] from the spell itself, as mana-based structures still could be destroyed by the spell.

Hikari, time to play—

However, before I could start my preparations, the toad suddenly jumped up, forcing me to dash out of the way with [Wind Blast]. It then unleashed a stream of its gas breath that pinned me against the wall until it finally stopped with its attack, only to start sucking in air once again; only this time, it was also draining what little oxygen I had. My scale barrier couldn’t stop it from leaking out!

Within a moment, all that oxygen I had gathered from my subspace was gone. I couldn’t create a breathable space without killing this toad first, so I stopped exhaling what little oxygen I had left in my lungs, and turned to attacking the monster.

With a barrage of [Sacred Smite], [Banishment Beam], and [Tornado Bullet] spells, I was capable of keeping the toad off my back, but never for long enough for me to finish casting [Omnictus] without [Purple Flash]. I still had the arcane corruption accumulation from a day’s worth of fighting the dragons and the mana used to swim through the magma ocean to this place, so using something so mana-intensive would probably knock me into [Arcane Fever] territory.

Considering I still had to use mana to get out of this place, using [Purple Flash] sounded very dangerous. Having my wings blow up from high arcane corruption still lingered in my memories like an itching scar.

After a while, I had to reopen the [Room] to breathe in as much as I could before resuming the fight, only to see the toad gouging out large rocks from the ground and wall, using it to hurl at me. The slow moving projectiles were easy to dodge, but each one crashing against the cavern caused fractures to form.

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Too many of them forming in the same area and it would splinter apart for volcanic gas to enter the room, forcing me to spend time and mana to close it, leaving me wide open for the toad to tank through my spells to land a tong—

‘Got the timing!’

“In the midst of the desert ♫

A bright ray of light shines ♫

Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”

[Shield of [The Light]] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

A barrier of iridescent light covered my body just in time as Hikari finished activating [Aerokinesis] to play our spell song. Due to my constant fear of the toad, [The Heir of Hope]’s requirement to create a barrier was fulfilled. As long as one person who heard my song had [Fear] or [Terror], the light barrier would form, even if that person was me.

Only one person hearing the song also meant the barrier was woefully weak, immediately shattering upon contact. Still, it was enough to deflect the toad’s tongue into the air, giving me enough time to pull one of my solar core catalysts out and absorb the energy within and gather it into my right claws.

I slashed forward, shooting out the solar energy with [Drakonian Sunlight Edge], successfully slicing the tip of the monster’s wiggling tongue off. As it yelped in pain, I unleashed a [Tyrant’s Voice] to blow the cut tongue and the toad against the wall, using this time to breathe in the last bit of good air.

Hikari, switch over to full magic with your [Multi-Cast] slots. I’ll continue [Aerokinesis].

‘Got it. I’m shutt—’

Let’s go for [Strength and Wisdom] for now. Give me Wisdom, System Voice!

“As I open my hand, releasing the sound of searing hot metal. ♫

But I tighten my grip, the pain that follows me with every single thought. ♫”

You have chosen the Wisdom option of [Strength and Wisdom]

All right, let’s—Wait.

“Regretting it all would only taint my efforts, or the dream that we hold. ♫

Of course, brush it aside! ♫

These tears will dry, and this rage will cool ♫

As I realized that the world ain’t stopping for me. ♫”

“And from my despair, awakens a pyre ♫

I will heed her wish and soar all so higher ♫

This stage that she left, the light shines anew ♫

With heavenly fire, this dragon is here for you! ♫”

Hikari and I froze in place as we heard two songs play in tandem, contrasting each other due to the tone, even if I could hear myself sing in both. [Strength and Wisdom] and [The Heir of Hope] were playing without any issues, consuming two [Multi-Cast] slots for myself and Hikari, respectively.

‘Then how?’ Hikari and I both said simultaneously as we looked into our Profile.

Effects: [Terror (Moderate)] [Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Various Spell Buffs] [Shield of [The Light]]

… I then looked at my stats, and after doing some quick math with all our buffs, I noticed we had the 10% all stat boost from [The Heir of Hope], but also [Strength and Wisdom]’s 25% increase in intelligence and wisdom and the 30% decrease in strength, vitality, and stamina. Both spell songs were applying their buffs on us, as if we were in our dragonewt form. Without the [Musical Renaissance Diva] from my unique Job, I shouldn’t be able to do this!

I knew this, as I had tested this out with my parallel minds countless times, throughout our numerous battles! Every single time I wanted to play a second song in my dragon form, the last song’s effect would stop immediately, replaced by the next. I played [Strength and Wisdom] under the assumption that it would cancel out Hikari’s song.

… Yet, how was I able to play two spell songs in unison? How? I hadn’t gained any new musical skills.

However, before I could answer that question, [Foresight] activated and I dodged that bloodied tongue of the toad’s. Although she was equally as flabbergasted, Hikari had the presence of mind to cast seven [Banishment Beam], pinning the toad down and stopping his continued attack.

… Hikari, play [The Will to Fight and Survive], meanwhile, I’ll do [Slave to My Love].

“Is this the fated battle, the light shines ♫

It’s blinding my sight ♫

But I’ve gotta hold on, the stage calls ♫

The cries of a thousand, the flames of war will descend ♫”

“Shining bright, all for your smiles ♫

This is me, my music will rage like fire ♫

Open up! ♫

Listen here! Hoo hoo woah! ♫”

Both songs played and were applying their respective effects, like infinite stamina and also the [Taunted] status effect on the toad. Once again, both spell songs could be played alongside each other.

5% decrease on the enemy’s wisdom and a 10% boost to holy attacks from [The Will to Fight and Survive]. 30% holy power increase from [Slave to My Love]. [Strength and Wisdom]’s wisdom boost might be higher, but …

I raised my arm up, sending my mana into the white magic circle forming on the ceiling … The unique power of my dragonewt form’s Job were my bard-like abilities supporting my spell songs. I was only able to play two songs as a humanoid, yet here I was, playing two songs with my dragon form’s stats.

… Ah, I see. What if we could play four spell songs at once as a humanoid? Hahaha … Yeah, I can imagine myself taking over as a diva with all the spotlights on me, right now. Omnictus!

[Music Resonation (Major)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

I unleashed the orbital laser spell into the entire cavern, basking the entire room in its glaring light as I gathered mana into my throat. The light from [Omnictus] hadn’t even faded before I shot out a white [Hellflame Breath] on the toad, fully eliminating the beast as the satisfying feeling of my health and mana being refilled washed over me.

Experience for development Jobs has reached multiple breaking points.

[Star Idol]: Lv. 5 -> Lv. 45 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 11 Lv. 44

[Lightbearer]: Lv. 28 -> Lv. 35 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 6 Lv. 34

[Tyrant Hatchling]: Lv. 26 -> Lv. 30 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 13 Lv. 2

Prestige requirement achieved! Job max level has increased. Experienced accumulation and reward quality increased.

[Lightbearer] Max level -> 40

[Tyrant Hatchling] Max level -> 40

You may spend your prestige points when you are ready

Evolution Points: 19/50

Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor] has risen from [Level 32] to [Level 34]

Attributes have increased due to level up

Acquired 1600 skill points

As the light vanished, Hikari and I stopped playing our songs as our body unleashed a loud victory cry before we finally collapsed on the ground. I opened my eyes, breathing heavily as I opened my subspace to gather as much oxygen as possible to surround me in it with [Air Shield].

Once I felt my lungs gratefully thank me for a full, deep breath of fresh air, I raised my head, flinching as I saw the remains of the damn toad. Its body had survived the fight … I blew off its head and the carapace was scorched from [Omnictus] but its charred legs were still around. Even cuisses de grenouilles—frog legs—was a bit too much for me to stomach.

‘… Hestia, do you remember how [Split Soul Autonomy] mentioned how the skill ‘elevated’ our split soul into individual personalities with a shared Profile? The only difference from [Parallel Minds] was some slight variations,’ Hikari informed me. ‘Well, it also states it allows us to take control of our soul’s ‘body and spell minds.’ Technically, a normal person can only gain up to eleven spell slots through [Multi-Cast], but we can go up to 22. Could the exact reason for this be that we are two people stuck in the same body, at least according to the Divine System’s assessment?’

… So you’re saying that it never worked up until now ‘cause the parallel minds were not considered separate from me, but rather a part of me. But with [Split Soul Autonomy], the ‘autonomy’ part is literal. You are considered your own person, even though we share the same Profile.

‘Yeah … we kinda figured that out during our tests, but … I guess, when it comes to ‘spell minds’ we each have our own usage limit. So … why can’t it apply to our ‘spell song slots’ as well?’

… Humanize.

[Music Resonation (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Ready?

‘Ready.’

A one, a two.

‘A one, two, three, go!’

“Is this the fated battle, the light shines ♫

It’s blinding my sight ♫

But I’ve gotta hold on, the stage calls ♫

The cries of a thousand, the flames of war will descend ♫”

“In my purgatory, I make the devil cry ♫

In Hellfire ♫

All you hear are his screams, begging to be released ♫

It’s Music ♫”

“Staring out the window while it rains ♫

No one here to talk, silence is all I have ♫

So I delved into my thoughts and wondered, “What if?”♫”

“In the midst of the desert ♫

A bright ray of light shines ♫

Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”

[Music Resonation (Major)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Two songs were played by Hikari with [Aerokinesis], meanwhile I played one of them with the skill and sang and danced along with the last. I looked up at the ceiling as numerous fire meteors were forming as I snapped my fingers, producing some white flames. Seeing how brightly it was burning, I suspected [The Light]’s demonic-warding holy element was added to it by [My Darkest Thought] and [The Heir of Hope].

I then stopped playing the song and transformed back into a dragon. As I shook the dust from my body, I let out a deep sigh.

… I have an idea for a new spell song.

‘Same. A duet.’

The more specific the “Target Demographic” condition was, the more potent the effects would become. [Slave of My Love] gave me an incredible boost in holy attacks and also immunity from [Arcane Fever] as long as it played, but everybody would receive [Taunted] and I would receive 25% more damage from all of them.

On the music market, collabing with other musicians and doing duets with them was also a “Target Demographic,” as certain people loved listening to two people harmonizing together. Now, I didn’t need to use such a reason for the Idol System to work like that, I only needed to think of a way to make this duet into a condition the Idol System would accept.

‘Occupy two spell song slots from the two people singing this song.’ That is the condition, or if we want to be even more specific, ‘Occupy two spell sling slots from the two people singing this slot as long as they share the same soul. Meaning, only we can perform this song to its maximum effect …

‘Or, we can finally add a debuff-focused song while signing a buffing one in our dragon form. We have to start using that ‘Target Demographic’ thing more seriously.’

… Yeah, [Idol], once again, proves to be broken. And I think Aurena didn’t think of this when she made this skill for me. Right, Kramps.

Ahahah … Yeah.

However, just as the excitement of this new discovery made me want to experiment with a new spell song, my body suddenly fell to the ground. With a loud slam, I hit my head, dazing myself.

I’m tired …

After I pulled some more breathable air from my [Room], my eyes closed as I slept through the night and for however long I needed until I woke up. After eating some breakfast and renewing my air bubble, I groggly went over to the toad corpse with my eyes closed, shivering in disgust as I could still smell it decomposing.

Using [Mana Eyes] and [Unheiliger Engel] as dissecting tools, I managed to harvest the crown and the organ responsible for the toad’s special gas conversion. If I could turn this into a catalyst, my friends might find some use for this, though I adamantly refuse to use it. Due to this fear, I couldn’t even bear putting the rest of the toad’s body into my storage, despite knowing it was a rank B.

You stupid frog from Earth. This trauma is all your fault.

[Divine Quest: Trial of the Black Tyrant’s Empress] completed. You have done well, Champion, please accept your reward

Kramps, may I have a word with my grandmother?

I wish to speak to her, if that is possible. She should be an angel, right? An aide like Yeostar’s many angels helping him train his Champions? If this is her crown, then I wish to speak with her.

Kramps turned silent for a moment before returning.

… Thank you, Grandmother. Kramps, how long have I been asleep?

Mhmm, I’ll hurry.

I flew as hard as I could through the tunnel, frowning a bit as the path turned out to be an absolute maze. Wisely, taking out the toad was the correct move instead of recklessly trying to escape through this path with no information.

After making some progress, I felt some constant rumbling from above. Nothing too severe like an earthquake, but rather it felt more like someone stomping from the floor of an apartment above you. A nuisance for someone on Earth, but to me, this wasn’t a good sign, considering who those stomps might belong to. I refocused and flew even faster.

After I finally made it to the surface, I took in a deep breath as freedom graced my body. Sadly, I only allowed myself to enjoy this moment for a second as my eyes couldn’t turn away from the giant icicle tower looming in the horizon.

Yikes …

I flew as quickly as I could in that direction, flinching internally when I saw a section of Inferno Nest having been frozen solid. The magma streaming onto the glacier wasn’t melting it at all; in fact, the ice was slowly cooling it down to the point it turned into stone, again. This was true ice. Without a doubt, Vifi and the twins successfully relayed my rescue message.

Inferno Nest’s worst nightmare had arrived, and I could now smell her, which meant she could smell me.

[“Hestia!”]

Like a sport’s car zooming towards me, Mom’s figure appeared in the sky for a second before she rushed over to me like a rocket. It almost felt like watching myself use [Flash Fire].

Bracing myself, Mom stopped just far enough for the wind pressure to not harm me before she pounced at me like a puma, embracing me with both of her arms before she wrapped her long neck around me. Her heavy breath and the small tears forming on her eyes told me how worried she was.

[“I should have joined you. I’m sorry, I don’t want to become that ‘helicopter mother’ you were so afraid of, but I should have listened to my instincts! Maustoovaka … the moment I wasn’t around you, he dared!”] Mom’s love quickly turned into rage, burning hotter than even my flames.

[“Mom.”] It prompted me to touch her face, looking her deeply in the eye, to calm her down. [“Your daughters are strong. Hikari and I are both okay.”]

[“I … No, I appreciate your words, but not this time. This time, a crime worthy of shaking this Empire has appeared in the form of some idiot dragons overstepping their boundaries in what is right to do to protect their home. Stubbornness prevailed.”] Mom closed her eyes. [“And I am one of them. A mother should believe their child, but at this moment, I should have acted like a mother. Protected you, even if it would have made you mad at me. I apologize, Hestia … I should have known better.”]

[“Mom!”] I shouted, but revised my original words before speaking. [“I love you. I’m safe now, because you are here, right?”]

[“Hestia … Yes, no matter what happens now, as long as you are protected by my wings, nobody will take you away from me! NOBODY!”] Putting me on her back, Mom flew back to where she was.

There, peering down, I saw an army-worth of dragons gathering in this place, where ice and fire had met. A battlefield between two elements had scarred this area, equally as much as it did to its participants.

I hadn’t noticed it just now, but Mom’s face, chest, and arms were all scorched, blackened with a large slash wound on her shoulder. She had frozen it up as an impromptu bandage, but I had to take it afterwards.

She fought … them, huh?

Maustoovaka and Arkanator, the two dragon rulers of Inferno Nest, both looked like they had gone through an icy hell with how ruined they looked. White- and yellow-scaled dragons were casting healing magic on them right about now, with one of them looking up at me with a burn scar on his left eye.

In addition, aside from these wounded, there were also other injured fire dragons and wyverns, along with a couple ice ones, as well. It looked like Mom had called in a fighting squad to rescue me.

Yet, all of these dragons were nothing compared to the imperial members attending this meeting. A few of my elder siblings were here—Kahalameet, Phsothophus, Wendriosa, and Nong. Three dragon empresses were also around—none wounded—and all of them were guarding … Eltharion, my father.

He’s wounded …

Just like Mom, Eltharion’s body was riddled with injuries, but while Mom had a deep gash on her shoulder, Eltharion’s two wings were frozen solid with cracks on them. It looked like they were about to shatter into nothingness.

I see … So this was why Kramps told me to hurry.

[“Whelpling,”] Eltharion called. [“You have seen the situation. Now, speak. Tell me your side of the story. What have you done?”]

Sure, but tell me, how will you react when I tell you the truth?