Chapter 22 Humans

Theodore

“How is that possible? I thought the dragon queen and her orcs were a special case?” I couldn't help feeling frustrated.

“No sir, anyone that can use mana is immune to all conventional weapons. We don't believe they can endure nukes like the queen could, but we also could not nuke a few players or monsters every time they pop up.” The general read from her notes like a robot.

“How immuned are they?” I need to know exactly what I am dealing with.

“The first two test subjects were teenage females with no history of combat training. Ambushed by 40 soldiers equipped with semi-automatic weapons, standard ammo.” Did this bitch use teenage girls as test subjects? Her own sister? “Four hundred total rounds fired, twenty hand grenades, twenty Molotov cocktails, poison gas, drowning, electrocution, attempted close combat, no injuries.”

“No injuries?” I have seen those orcs on the video, but these are two human teenage girls.

“Not even a bruise, sir.” The general’s face was cold. Isn't one of the subjects her sister? What a scary bitch.

“So the only way to fight against mana users or monsters is with other mana users?” I had expected something like this after reading the research team's report on mana. “How many mana users do we have and can we make more?”

“A few hundred military personnel were trapped inside the domes all around the country. Those trapped inside the dome are supposedly special even amongst mana users. They are called players” The General looks down at her notes, reading from them and flipping the page occasionally. She is so calm that it feels unsettling. “We don't yet know the extent of the upcoming monster wave, but for the moment we can muster around 700 players and 30000 mana users. The creation process is difficult for the moment sir.”

“Not even enough to protect one city properly.” This country is fucked, maybe the whole world is fucked. I took out a pack of cigarettes hidden inside my desk.

“Mr. President, I thought you quit smoking?” The icy general asked me. Why would she care about this?

“Trying to take care of my health while there are dragons, superhumans, and monsters running around the world? What the hell is the point……” The cigarette tasted so sweet. All my stress is melting away.

“......” The general stood still after her report, waiting for her orders. After a while, she finally spoke. “Sir, what is our next course of action?”

“I need to talk to the dragon queen…..”

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Miyong

“Hey! Come here!”

Two weeks after its birth, the baby dragon has become mischievous. She has been drinking mana from orc warriors and almost killing a few of them. The orc did not complain they held a ceremony to worship some god.

“Is it a good idea to scold the princess like that? We don't know anything about dragons. Perhaps it's simply their nature.” Yue is very reluctant to impose his morality on the young princess.

“If Her Majesty doesn't say anything, we can assume she is fine with us teaching the princess!” I don't know about their world, but in this one, we don't kill our allies.

The pink baby dragon climbs out from behind the dwarve’s cute houses. Her big eyes are teary. So cute. I didn't know dragons could cry, but that won't work on me. She tried to jump on my shoulder like always, but I dodged. She landed perfectly on the ground and then turned to look at me with even more tearful eyes.

“Aw…..ahem, I won't play with you if you treat your servants like that. I don't know when you would do the same to me!” I shook my head and crossed my arms to show my discontent. The princess shook her head from side to side.

“Princess, there is a human ceremony that is very sacred to us. If you perform the ceremony with Miyong, then she will trust you. Is that ok?” Yue said to her. The princess nodded her head. Yue smiled softly. He took my pinky and let the princess coil herself around it. She is still small enough that this is possible. Very cute. “We humans called this a pinky promise. It is a very sacred promise that we make to each other. If you break this promise, it's the same as breaking the bond between the two of you. Ok?”

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I couldn't help but smile. This guy is so good with children I am suspicious if he has had children before.

“I promise to always love the princess if she treats her subjects with love and care.” I shook my pinky up and down.

Chirp Chirp Chirp!

The pink baby dragon made loud noises happily. Adorable. I can feel the queen smiling down at her daughter from the balcony of the tower.

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At night the princess retreated to her conclave behind the queen’s throne to sleep. We are not sure if dragons share the same day/night cycle as humans or if she simply copies the behavior of her caretaker, but the princess sleeps, eats, and wakes up generally at the same pace as ordinary humans.

I waited until the princess was asleep on her fluffy pillow before sneaking out of the conclave. I wanted to speak to the queen and the matter could not wait anymore. The red queen slept on her throne in front of the conclave as usual, however, as I walked around to the front of the throne, crimson eyes locked on to me from above.

“........” The queen looked at me with her powerful gaze. Instinctively, I knelt. Yue hypothesized that her claiming of the earth has put a complete halt on the alien game. The system still functions, and we can still receive quests but the game's influence has drastically been reduced. We are not sure yet about the connections between the queen claiming the world and what that means, however, our primal instinct that was going wild before has pretty much been extinguished. I felt it when I was near her, her majesty’s grace.

The Matriarch of Flame is more than just a dragon, she is the genesis of mana. Yue still hasn't realized it yet, the reason why all of these monsters follow her. He always analyzes and deduces reasons for everything, but he needs to feel what she is to know.

“Your majesty, your servant, wishes to ask for a sliver of your grace.” Words that I have never used before flow out of me. I kept my eyes on the floor, waiting for her response. After a while, the queen did not respond but I was still alive, so I continued. “Our family is stuck outside the safety of the forest. The outside world is decaying at a rapid rate. If your majesty would allow it, we wish to bring our families under your majesty’s grace inside the forest.”

“.......They have my permission.” The queen spoke softly. As I looked up at her, she had already closed her eyes and went back to sleep. I carefully sneak back into the conclave to not disrupt her rest. Yue was sitting in bed. He heard everything.

“I have already sent words to our family. They will come to join us in a week” Yue was holding a phone in his hand. We don't know how it works but mana seems to enhance the phone’s capabilities, even allowing it to receive signals and connect to wifi from a massive distance. Yue has been using the wifi channel of a certain popular coffee franchise for weeks. We don't even know where the actual store is located.

“Sorry for not consulting you…….. I wasn't sure how you would react.” I said meekly as I borrowed my face from his chest.

“It's hurtful that you don't trust me. But I will get over it.” He kissed my forehead. Sometimes, I am not sure why he likes me at all. I am impulsive, lying, and not smart. Does he just like my body?

“If you are thinking something dumb then stop right now before you make yourself cry.” I heard his voice from somewhere far away. Swallowing my self-pity, I pulled myself back from those thoughts. How did he know?

“You should just say something nice during these times!” I bit his shoulder hard enough to leave light marks.

“Ow……… domestic violence is banned.” He said as he caressed my hair.

“Is it the right thing to keep staying here while the outside world will eventually be overrun by monster waves?” The same conversation we have had a few times already.

“........ Before knowing the queen, the princess, and even the monster tribes outside, I would have led the human army to raid Nevani personally,” Yue said as we both lay down in the giant fluffy bed. “But this city is peaceful. The monsters are kind. They don't even trade or use currency. Everyone helps each other because it's just what they do. This is as perfect a utopia as I have ever seen. And all of it is only possible because they follow a strong, just, and incorruptible leader. We humans have no such thing, not even close.”

“..........humans are not so bad, Yue. We are humans too. Our families.” I have always felt that Yue is very distant from other people. Aside from me, himself, and his family, Yue mostly disregards other humans completely. “Shouldn't we try to help humanity fight the monster waves even if we don't wish to harm this place?”

“We can help them if you don't put yourself in harm's way.” He looks at me with an intense gaze. Ah, he is angry about me always rushing into a fight.

“It's kind of funny.” I giggled

“What?”

“I don't care about killing people, but I wish to save humans if possible.” I point at my face, then point at him. “You don't care about humanity at all, but you don't want to kill people. What's wrong with us?”

Yue was silent as he pondered what I said. He kept looking at my face until I felt self-conscious. The bitterness in his eyes, where is that coming from?

“What are you seeing that I don't see?” My curiosity spilled out.

“This world is doomed. It's only a matter of time. We can stave it off a bit with a lot of sacrifice, blood, and tears, but we can't stop the end. It won't be some monstrous alien game or majestic dragons that destroy our world. Our end will come by the hands of humans.”

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????

Silence embraces the throne room like a lover in the dark. Crimson mana twists around the black throne where the Dragon Queen rests. A sudden appearance of foreign mana rang out within that silence. Her majesty’s ruby eyes open in the darkness.

“Dragon, why are you messing up our game?” Darkness spoke.

“My daughter likes this place. It is the place of her birth. You can run your game, I will not interfere.” Fire answered.

“Did you realize the potential of this race? Do you wish to foster a Prime here?” Darkness laughed.

“Do not touch my city and my people. I don't care about anything else.” Fire rises.

“Oh! I did not come to fight. This is our harvest world, don't destroy it.” Darkness left.

Fire seethe in complete darkness, and slowly dimmed. No matter how bright the flame, darkness slowly encroaches.