Chapter 59 - Dragon God
A pillar of golden light came crashing down from the Heavens above, piercing a hole right through the dark clouds hanging overhead and appearing like a monolithic tower of God from afar.
This light, taking on the role of a celestial spear, penetrated the heart of the artificial ice age magical field and blew all the mist away.
Witnessing this otherworldly spectacle, nobody expected anyone to be able to survive such a blow, quite literally smote by the Holy God Himself, no matter how strong they were.
Woosh~
However, when all obstructions were wiped away with the wind, what remained in the middle of it all, struck by that spear of divinity, was not Jae.
Rather, something else entirely had at some point taken his place.
At the core of where the Seronian Royal Palace once resided, a colossal white mountain now stood; unaffected by the devastating Judgement entirely, that once impending divine light soon dissipated, vanishing as if it never were.
But, upon closer inspection, this was no mountain.
“Wh-what... the... hell...?”
Incomparable to any creature they had ever seen or even heard of, it wasn’t only the Otherworlder students of the royal academy who gazed upon this mythical beast, but all the citizens, knights, and nobles of the city, too.
Many instinctively cowered before the behemoth that appeared out of nowhere, and as something showed up that couldn’t be labelled as simply a ‘monster’, there was only one assumption they could make about the thing.
“...Dragon... God...?”
A primordial being thought to belong only in ancient myths and legends.
Something nobody was sure ever even existed in reality; a creature so incomprehensibly titanic and overwhelming... And yet, matching that very description, something appeared.
In the end, the beast could only be on that kind of transcendental level, and considering it appeared amidst such a thunderous waterfall of holy light and divinity―as if sent down directly from the Heavens to the earth―it couldn’t be anything less than a deific being worthy of that title.
"""........."""
The whole world seemed to halt in its tracks with the appearance of this 'Dragon God', and as even the wind and rain abruptly ceased before its exalted self, the creature’s giant, golden eyes scoured the surrounding land at its feet, freezing the blood of all that met its dominant gaze.
And as he slowly took his time to examine everything around him from a brand new perspective, Jae inwardly thought to himself.
...Holy shit...
Perhaps it was only natural that he couldn’t help but be amazed. After all, the Unique Skill he was afraid might not work as he wanted―had actually succeeded in the exact way he hoped. And, perhaps in a manner that was only natural.
Conditions met
Jae felt an innate sense of ‘something’ sprout from within him.
Title 「Apostle of Sin」 has activated
Gazing down at all the commoners, adventurers, and nobles who all looked like the same tiny dots from up here, he could only imagine them as no more than ants.
You have acquired a '■■■-grade' skill
At that moment, Jae felt his heart thump, and in the same manner, he vividly perceived the intense magic energy surging around his massive body.
You have acquired the Unique Skill: 「Pride」
Suddenly, his perception of the world shifted, and everything appeared insignificant before his eyes.
Glancing around, nothing seemed out of his reach, and as if all it would take was a simple thought, Jae unrestrainedly felt he could do anything.
But it didn’t last long.
Skill 「Mental Abnormal Status Nullification」 has activated
Ultimately, a wave of something refreshing washed over him, cleansing the sinful toxin from his mind.
Uoh. It happened again, after so long...
Not knowing how to even comment about the embarrassing acquisition of Pride, Jae quickly moved on to thinking about something else before he was tainted even further.
Greed, that guy...
Escaping from death with barely a narrow hair's breadth of time, transforming into something that could effortlessly withstand the brunt of the Hero’s Judgement, and towering over the rest of the world with a body equatable to that of a transcendental being, the tables had turned completely.
Adapting to the bizarre sensation of his body growing into something hundreds of times larger than normal, Jae’s eyes passed over the description of the Unique Skill he had integrated into Greed.
「Perfect Imitation [Enhanced]」- Allows the user to temporarily take the form of any living creature within sight.
When transformed, all Status values become identical to the target's except Health, Mana, and Luck. Additionally, all of the target's skills excluding Active Skills and Unique Skills are also temporarily copied.
Strain is placed on the user if the disparity between the normal Status and copied Status is too wide.
Imitation duration lasts for 1 hour.
Costs 30% Maximum MP, plus 1 MP/s while transformed - increased based on Status gap up to 100 MP/s. Maximum cost of 30% (+ 360,000) Maximum Mana.
Enhancement: Can be used to imitate any creature the user has seen at least once
It was a skill Greed had acquired, as one might expect, from a Doppelgänger.
[I never thought I’d see something like this...]
All of a sudden, Envy spoke as if taken aback. Jae could understand where the reaction came from, and he replied as if still in disbelief.
It’s amazing, isn’t it?
[Hmn, indeed. To think you would get this even after it was stolen. Kekeke...]
Something about what Envy said was strange, and hearing that jarring laughter like chalk on a board, Jae found it much too odd.
You speak as if you know something I don’t... What is it?
[Hm? Keh. Originally, I wanted to keep it as a surprise, but looking at this, that doesn’t appear to be an option any more.]
His ears perking in intrigue, Jae listened intently, and what Envy said next shocked him.
[My true form is a Doppelgänger. The skill you are using right now is the one I was born with, and it was stolen from me when that bastard killed me.]
Huh... Wait. Greed was the one who killed you?
[Indeed. Blame him for preventing you from attaining greatness.]
What? So, you’re saying that if Greed didn’t kill you back then, I would have gotten this ability instead of the Soul Discernment or Power Imitation ones?
[That’s exactly right--]
[Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I’m solely to blame for that, would you?]
Interrupting Envy, Greed’s voice chimed in.
I thought you were resting?
[Now, how could I sleep when you pull a stunt like this? I died shortly after hunting this poor guy down, so I was never able to use it, but I’m sure even he never turned into something as absurd as what you are right now.]
[Hoh? That injury got you in the end?]
[It certainly did, despite my best efforts.]
[Then we’re even.]
Unable to come up with something to say, Jae simply listened to Envy and Greed come to some kind of conclusion with each other, still bewildered by the fact they “knew” each other before dying. In any case, with a little further explanation, it seemed to be the case that Envy’s Perfect Imitation was replaced by an inferior version, ‘Power Imitation’, because he lost the original skill just as he died.
I see... By the way, is Wrath here also?
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[No. I think that one is preparing his own Dungeon for your imminent arrival.]
Hm, it’s a shame. I wanted him to see this and try to come up with some shitty excuse about why I would still need a thousand years or whatever to catch up.
Pushing such matters aside for now, Jae brought his attention back to the situation at hand. Having studied the surrounding land, he already knew which direction to head in to return to the Demon castle, and having wasted much more time here than he originally intended, Jae wanted to return as soon as possible.
More than anything else, he was incredibly reluctant to risk increasing the Level of Pride from 0 to 1, resulting in its awakening.
I also forgot to select a Class before killing the king, meaning another 50 levels worth of potential stat points were wasted... Well, being able to borrow Aphy’s body like this is worth infinitely more than any number of stat points I could’ve realistically received, so it’s fine.
With nothing left to gain from Seronia, it was finally time to leave. Confirming that Amy was still stowed away in his enormous shadow, Jae moved the phenomenally large pair of wings on his back, almost forming a hurricane with just a flap, and took off.
Just like that, the mythical Dragon God disappeared over the horizon, and Seronia felt an immeasurable weight drop on its shoulders.
----------------------------------------
Lifting a brow at the emergency information Nicholas just brought him, Ryan frowned.
“‘Dragon God’? The fuck kinda monster izzat?”
“And in the middle of Revel, too... Just what happened there right after we left?”
Kaitlyn found it extremely hard to believe the news that something called a ‘god’ suddenly appeared in Seronia’s capital city and destroyed the royal palace, but seeing the expression on the out-of-breath Nicholas’ face, as well as the lively commotion going on outside, she had no choice but to accept it as the truth.
“It’s a rather heavy exaggeration, but still... Should we head back and find out what exactly happened?”
“Why the hell would we do that? I told you before, but we ain’t going back. The palace is gone? Honestly, good fuckin’ riddance. I was gonna go and do it myself otherwise, so this is a nice surprise. I’ll cross that one off the list.”
Suddenly feeling awkward after Ryan’s merciless reply, Kaitlyn and Nicholas were left speechless. On the other hand, Amelia, reading the hastily-procured newspaper about the incident, put forth a supposition.
“Do you think it has something to do with Jae?”
Pausing, Kaitlyn looked at her strangely. “That’s not something we can tell just with this. Is your boyfriend a dragon?”
“Or a god?” Nicholas added.
“...Well.” Amelia glanced between the two of them. “I suppose that depends on who you ask.”
At that, Kaitlyn’s face froze, and Nicholas impulsively spouted.
“What??”
“Nevermind.”
Looking over to Ryan, who seemed to be watching something out the window of the inn’s second-floor room, Amelia asked.
“Anyway, since we’re on that topic, can we get going to that place you promised to bring me already?”
Without turning his head, he replied bluntly.
“Impatient, eh?”
“...Do you think I wouldn’t be? This concerns--”
“Yeah, yeah. Level what, 36, right? It’s good enough.”
The moment Ryan’s words dropped, it hit the atmosphere of the room like a bomb; instantly, Nicholas whipped his head up to stare at him, and Kaitlyn acted similarly, peeping at Amelia’s face with a look of concealed excitement.
“Hey, hey, does that mean what I think it means?”
“Nick, don’t be silly. Everyone knows you don’t think at all.”
“Huh? Hey...”
“Anyway, that means what I think it means, Ryan, doesn’t it? We’re finally going?”
The place they had been waiting to visit ever since leaving the Seronian palace.
The country they would inevitably check out after summoning Amelia.
“Is it... The Demon Country?”
The only ones in the world who might have a clue were Jae was―or at the very least, some of the only people they could logically think of who might know something.
“Well, if it ain’t them, it’s the Empire.”
“It was confirmed that there was actually no ongoing war between the Demons and Seronia, wasn’t it? Only that preparations were being made for war with the Empire. Then, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about in terms of hostility... Well, hopefully.”
“Oh, I remember! That’s what those knight guys were talking about back then, right?
Recalling the time he infiltrated the royal knight captains’ meeting regarding the disappearance of Jae’s body, Nicholas snapped his fingers. As he did, Amelia looked at him with a certain spark in her eyes. Although the people of Seronia were said to be untrustworthy by the rest of the group, she relied heavily on those knights’ words.
If the people involved right at the heart of the matter were saying they didn’t know where he went, but claimed the most likely suspects to be either the Demons or the Empire, then one of them must know something.
The Empire was notoriously vast, meaning it would take an exceedingly long time to properly investigate anything even worth mentioning, and that’s if they were lucky. For that reason, visiting the Demon Country first, which was far smaller by comparison, made more sense.
And, now that Amelia had reached a Level capable of defending herself against most common monsters and potential enemies, they were finally ready.
Jae.
To travel to Onyxia, the Demonic Capital of Asphal.
Wait for me.
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, in one of the Demon Castle’s spare rooms.
“Here, water.”
“Yes?! Uhh, milady...! Fresh water!”
That same person the group was looking for―
“Water? Good, pass it here. Now, Jae, drink this slowly, alright? Slowly.”
“Th-thank y--Bleeeeuuurrghhh...!!”
―Was dying.
“Ah-?! Milady...!”
“Tsk... You, clean this up.”
“Y-yes...!”
“And Shadow Girl, go fetch someone for me. She should be in...”
Currently, the situation within the Demon Queen’s Castle―No, the entirety of the city of Onyxia―was rather complicated.
Immediately after Seronia’s royal palace was erased from the map, various rumours began to spread, and although the Plaentic Great Forest occupied most of the space between Seronia and Asphal, it didn’t take long at all for news to reach the Land of Demons. Of course, since the primary subject of the rumour itself was a creature as large as a mountain flying through the sky, it would be impossible to prevent others from finding out no matter what.
For the people of Seronia, the threat of the so-called Dragon God greatly diminished when it disappeared over the horizon into the northeast, but the same could not be said for the Demons who witnessed the behemoth vaguely in the distant sky before it vanished into the uninhabited Grand Sierra. That very mountain range―the largest of its kind in the known world, sitting just north of the most northern point of Plaentic and preventing access between the east and west sides of the mainland―was where the Dragon God was said to slumber at this moment.
More precisely, however, that was simply where Jae had fled before the time on Perfect Imitation’s transformation was due to run out. At that time, he thought he had safely made it out of all the mess and looked forward to returning to the castle for a few days.
But, little did he know―
Time Remaining - 0h : 00m : 00s
Imitation duration has ended
After-effects of strain will commence
―The real trouble was only just about to begin.
“Gaaaaaaahhk...!! Aaaaagghhh...!”
“He’s heating up again! Quick, apply the ice magic!”
At first, when Jae transformed back into a human and suddenly collapsed, screaming in agony, Amy had no idea what to do. They were in the middle of a vast mountain range, in a foreign land with not even a hint of civilisation anywhere close, and on top of that, the sun was beginning to set. In the end, her skills as Shadow Master came in clutch, and she managed to “shadowstep” all the way to the Demon Queen’s Castle in a matter of hours by taking control of the massive shadows that formed as dark clouds passed overhead, momentarily blocking the sun. As the sun finally passed over the horizon, she had made it to the castle’s entrance. Fortunately, the guards on duty at the time seemed to recognise Jae from just the other day, and as he squirmed in extreme torment before their very eyes, they called for help immediately.
That brings us to the present time, where Jae lies on a bed in one of the castle’s guest rooms, surrounded by maids and Jiera as they try all they can think of to cure him of this mysterious affliction.
“His body is hot, but ice magic isn’t making a dent on his temperature, and he’s in this much pain, but healing magic isn’t doing anything either... Just what the hell is going on...!?”
The consequence of taking on the power of Aphyllanthes―a power he shouldn't have had―was not a malady that could be cured with but a simple healing spell.
“Nghh-- Gaaaahh...!!”
Of course, although Jae recognised healing magic would never work, he was not in the right state to communicate such information with the people trying to help him. As for anything he could do himself, Jae could only think of either trying to find another Unique Skill to incorporate into Greed that might help, or killing himself and letting the automatic resurrection process put him back to normal.
But, again.
“Hey! Hang in there. Someone is coming to help soon.”
Jae really wasn’t in the state to go sorting through the entire list of Unique Skills, and neither was the latter an option on the table when he was barely even allowed the room to think.
Eventually, someone knocked on the door to this room with its atmosphere stretched taut. Jiera seemed to be expecting them, as she didn’t appear surprised, but as Jae’s narrowed, watery eyes glanced at the door gradually opening at the edge of his vision, his already miserable expression quickly distorted even further.
“Wh-- Bleeeuurrrgh...!?”
Instantly thrown into panic, he didn’t even have time to question what was going on as his guts began to rise through his throat once more. Just like that, unable to resist, Jae could only watch the visitor slowly approach him. Then, standing above the bed and looking down with crossed arms, Ariel spat out after a moment of hesitation.
“...He looks a lot worse than last time. I suppose His divine judgement finally fell upon you?”
In a way, the angel was right; but there was no way Jae would say that even if he could speak his mind, so he only glared daggers with his eyes.
Meanwhile, Jiera asked Ariel.
“Is there anything you can do?”
Glancing between her and Jae, Ariel responded bluntly.
“Fortunately, no.”
Seeming to not want to just leave it at that, she continued.
“I don’t know what kind of illness has befallen him, but My Lord’s holy magic would only serve as a cause for further bodily destruction, not healing. Of course, even if I possessed the unholy power to save this sinner, I would have to refuse; it is a blessing to witness divine punishment with my own eyes, especially on one to whom my touch was previously restricted. See it as no more than the proof of karma bestowed by My Lord.”
Her brows furrowing at the excessiveness of the Seraph’s words and attitude, Jiera gave a short sigh.
“Then, is there nothing you can do to alleviate his suffering at least? Even if you are incapable of fully healing him in this state, you should be able to do that much as a minimum. I’m sure even someone as righteous as yourself doesn’t receive pleasure from seeing another in agony like this, do you?”
Ariel was quiet for a few seconds after Jiera’s passive-aggressive tone, but eventually conceded.
“...Very well. It is true that no one, including My Lord, gains anything from prolonged suffering. Unnecessary suffering begets excess sin; I’ll listen to your request, Demon Princess.”
Speaking in such a bizarre way, Ariel ultimately decided to do what was asked of her. Holding a hand above the struggling Jae’s body, she muttered.
“Rest.”
And as that single, dry word fell from her lips, so did a strange, warm energy emanate from her palm, drooping slowly in thin strands to Jae’s body below and gently wrapping around him like vines.
Then, as his squirming body was gradually wrapped tighter more and more, the writhing consequently slowed to a halt.
“......”
Eventually, the anguished groaning ceased entirely, and with it, Jae appeared now in just an ordinary slumber.
But, even after he was finally allowed to close his eyes and rest after everything that’s happened...
[Heya~ Been a while, huh?]
Someone else was waiting for him.