[Mek-pendragon] Here it is! Please let me know of any grammar errors and the like!

----------------------------------------

Chapter 8: Molested By A Goddess?!

“Halt! A putrid dragon like yourself has no place here. Begone you lost soul.”

A pair of “reapers” obstructed my way. These scythe wielding spirits introduced themselves as such. The vengeful spirits that hanged around me like a shadow called them enforcers of the afterlife. According to their menacing laughters, these beings in front of me are a force to be reckoned it seems.

“What lies ahead that you do not want me to see?”

I responded to their provocations with an attitude that didn’t seem to care. Having a gigantic tree planted in the core of these barren wastelands made it look important. My only concern is to see what lies ahead—whether these reapers are in agreement or not.

“That’s none of your concern, dragon.”

“Meh, is that so? I’ll go anyways.”

I nonchalantly continued my walk, only to be halted by the reapers once again.

“This is your last warning. Withdraw, unless you want your soul cut in twain.”

The reapers brandishes their sharp looking scythes in an attempt to scare me. However, with the current me, I can’t seem to feel afraid no matter how fearsome they become.

“Hmph, try me.”

“You’ll regret defiling us.”

The air was still and soundless, apart from the flapping of my wings. I slowly levitated from the ground and flew high up. I felt something sharp swooped overhead. It was the reaper’s scythe.

While the other reaper threw its weapon like a spinning projectile, the other chased me above ground. It was spinning its scythe as if they were one, and with each strike towards me, a vengeful spirit dissipates into nothingness.

“I see. So all I need is to avoid getting hit.”

The dark sky even darkens, and thunderstorms started raining on my direction. Not the lucid thunderstorm that I’m used to seeing, the color of those bolts were crimson, and each strike seemed to penetrate the cracked soil quite deeply.

I tried to avoid both strikes, but with me still getting used to having wings, it was tough to manage my course.

“Aaaargh!!”

I screamed the moment they surrounded me, and a deadly shock wave generated around me as the core. I grabbed the reaper’s skeletal head as it staggers.

“Dissappear.”

I merely thought of erasing it, and the same malicious energy that blew mountains apart gathered in my palm. Cracks started to appear on the reaper’s head, and in the next instant, that dark energy concentrating in my palm obliterated it to ashes. That region of space where my energy descended disappeared without trace.

I said it before but I’ll say it again.

“Hopefully, the lord of the underworld wouldn’t mind.”

I turned around to face the remaining reaper. It was just floating there, silently holding its scythe without mentioning a single world. Or so I thought. Because of its unchanging expression, it was hard for me to discern if it’s actually doing something. But the moment I caught a glimpse of its mouth moving, I immediately thrust my hand on its head, my fingers pumping a sharp hole on its solid bones.

“Sneaky bastard, you’re trying to cast a spell, huh—”

My calm demeanor disappeared, when out of nowhere, multiple swords landed on my shoulders, pierced me behind, struck my heart and drilled various holes on my chest.

Was this supposed to be a sure kill technique? Cause I can’t feel anything in regards to what I call pain. While blood was indeed flowing down on my lips, my senses remained normal.

“Hehehehe! Die!”

Even with my hand thrusted on its skull, the reaper laugh maniacally, speaking of my supposed death. It reaffirmed its position and I noticed its hand tightly gripping the long metal handle of its scythe.

Before it could start swinging, I slashed my hand downward, ripping the skeleton in two, and with my other hand, I disposed of the reaper similar to what I did with the first one.

“Whew, hopefully, that’s all of them,” I sighed as my feet touched the ground.

One by one, I started taking out these blades stuck on my body parts. My wounds healed instantly, the moment that gap opens after I pulled the swords.

Of course, not feeling any pain even after my heart was pierced definitely confused me. But with how abnormal things had traverse ever since I got here, I decided to just accept that it was the truth. It could be regarding the sudden change in my body. I don’t really know, but it hit me that it has something to do with that.

How did I even acquire this overwhelming strength?

Is this part of my transition in the afterlife or is this the real me?

It felt like whatever conclusions I might reach, I would end up regretting it in the end. Something that I would just hope I didn’t knew.

But since I’m here already, I decided to pursue the path leading to this gigantic tree. I hovered and flapped my wings the rest of the way. It would be foolish of me not to use such a convenient body part, is what I thought.

With this, I quickly reached the middle.

I stood on top of a healthy grass that comes up to my knees. The air smells clean and crisp around it, and the gigantic tree leaves that laid passive on that grassland gave me the inkling that it would feel comfortable to use them as bed sheets.

I smiled and picked up some flowers.

“Arara, what do we have here? It’s quite unbecoming of a mighty dragon such as yourself to be around picking flowers. Have you grown tired of destroying the world again and again?”

Some wind blew behind me, accompanied by an enchanting voice of a lady who seemed like she’s confined herself inside a tower, where nobody can reach her, for centuries. That was the impression that she gave me, just from hearing her beautiful voice.

I spun around. I don’t know what inclined me to do it, but I approached her and slid that flower on her left ear. Seconds later, and I only realized I’m standing in front of a splendid figure. I wasn’t talking about her bountiful breast that was wrapped beautifully by a single piece of white cloth crossed around her neck. And definitely not because her attire was so revealing I can see her belly button.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Her hair is as fresh as these grasses, further emphasizing her compassionate gaze. Her eyes, no matter how crimson, showed a sense of audacity. Maybe that’s also why I felt so comfortable around her. Because I am the same. Sometimes.

“You’ve changed a lot, brother.”

“Have I? I don’t really remember. Wait, did you just call me brother?”

“Yes, according to the ancient pact, that is our relationship,” she placed her hands on her back and leaned forward, as if she was studying me all over. “Hehehe, brother looks confused.”

I kept my mouth and sucked the air in my nose. My heart pounded so hard in my chest. Perhaps it was due to her smelling like a flower I’m so familiar with, yet I can’t remember. It certainly wasn’t coming from the one that I just slid on her ear.

“I am confused,” I finally managed to speak despite the seductiveness this girl had become. “Tell me, why am I here? What is this place? And what do you mean by ancient pact?”

“One at a time, dear brother. One at a time,” She put a hand on her mouth and held her laughter inside. “That aside, shouldn’t brother be asking for my name first?”

“Name? Sorry, that was rude of me. Umm, may you grant me the pleasure of knowing who you are?”

That sounded really weird. I’m embarrassed of myself for saying those cheesy words, but there’s no turning back now. It left my mouth, so what needs to be done needs to be done.

“I can’t refuse brother if he ask so sincerely like that, right?”

She sounded so happy, I almost felt guilty. I nodded my head and she started.

“Well, my name’s Aestrea. I govern this realm of life and death or what the people in the surface refer to as the underworld. I guide these poor spirits to their destined reincarnation.”

One of the spirits circulating around me flew to her and followed the movements of her index finger. The spirit spun merrily, as if forgetting the words it used to cursed me from before. Eventually that spirit disappeared and it left white particles. And those particles gathered and became a ball of light.

“It sounds easy, yet it sounds so confusing at the same time. How do they exactly reincarnate?”

As I asked that, she guided the ball of light towards the tree. It passed through inside and I felt the tree react to it. Soon, a single flower sprouted on the ground, just a little bit where we stand.

Aestrea knelt and gaze at the flower. “See? I’m not so stingy as Wuxeria. Without me, these souls would be lost forever.”

“I still don’t understand. What about the ones that dissipated from the fight I had earlier? If you govern this realm, then you surely knew about those reapers, correct?”

I chose my words carefully. Aestrea lifted herself up and faced me, and when she did, she was puffing her cheeks. I was expecting a nasty reaction, something that will show her true colors, but it seems like I was wrong.

“If I don’t have guards, spirits will be begging me to revive them to no end! Even if I’m not stingy, even I needed my rest! And they needed to be disciplined anyways.”

Man, so much for being the mistress of the underworld, you act and sound like a child.

“You still haven’t answered my question. What will happen to them?”

“They’re gone.”

“Gone?”

“Indeed, they can no longer reincarnate.”

After she finished saying that, she revealed her scythe. It was blood red—the same color as her eyes—and soon, tattoos of the same color appeared and glowed on her clear white skin.

“Brother, you wish to reincarnate, right? You wish to live once more.”

Ah, I have so many questions for her, but it feels like she’s ready to end this meeting. As unfortunate as that sounded, I fisted my hands and answered her with determination.

“I do.”

“Then why do you wish to live again? If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

For some reason, her words pierced me inside. My skin sears and the overwhelming pain in my chest could not be compared to when I was stabbed earlier.

Why did I even want to return? I feel like I could ask that question for as long as I live and I’ll still not reach a conclusion. However, my instincts told me that I have to do it. I have to return.

“I don’t know why, but I think…… I think someone is waiting for me. That’s why.”  

“Hehehe.”

She laughs softly, but with that scythe she held behind her back, she doesn’t look cute at all! Rather, it feels like she’s plotting something without me knowing. Or I’ve completely fallen to her web. She’s giving me an overwhelming sense of peril.

“As I said, I’m not stingy like Wuxeria, I can return brother back to where you belong, for a price. Are you ready to pay that price to live once more?”

Damn, I knew it wouldn’t end like how I want it to.

“Alright, tell me what I have to do.”

“Take this. Once you’ve returned, you’ll know what that sword is for.”

A black sword with a dragon’s claw embedded on the handle. As menacing as it looks, it also gave me the feeling that it’s alive.

“What is—”

“See you later brother!”

It was soft, tender, and delicious. She pressed her lips against mine for a quick moment, and after that, she swung her scythe at my direction.

However, my mind was so bewildered I haven’t had the chance to collect myself.

I think… I just lost my first kiss?

And only then, after I realized, that everything turned into blackness.

----------------------------------------

Fun Facts  [Mek-pendragon]

Spoiler :

Aestrea is the Goddess from Re:Answer and

Wuxeria is the Godess from Oh, My Beautiful Moonlight Goddess