Chapter 53
Before the true form of the colossal dragon, Drugan.
Clang! Clang!
Dmir simply brought his hammer down.
The hammer carried the pride of his people.
And the courage of a hero.
—
“I will build an altar.”
That was what Dmir had told Eldrin before the battle.
A platform constructed by blending her ritual magic with his alchemy.
“Drugan is too strong. We cannot seal away such overwhelming power on our own.”
Dmir had to find a way.
His heart was pressed with urgency.
The dragon was so monstrous that it never simply killed the two tribes rebelling against it.
It could have obliterated them in an instant.
Instead, it drew the war out for a hundred years.
A century of agony, nothing more than entertainment for Drugan.
“Then what must we do?”
Back then.
Eldrin had despaired.
She regretted.
What if they had never rebelled?
If a few had suffered, might others have lived ordinary lives?
Even if they had lost freedom, would they have avoided such torment?
Those thoughts pierced her heart.
“We must impose prohibition.”
“Prohibition?”
“Not sealing all its strength. A mental seal. With your ritual, it can be done.”
“Ah, you mean…”
Eldrin flinched.
She trembled, realizing there was such a method.
The ultimate ritual she knew of.
Sacrificing her own life to prevent the enemy from destroying anything with their own hands.
The so-called Prohibition of Destruction.
“If it works, even Drugan, no matter how mighty….”
“What use is strength, if it cannot destroy? Every attempt would only backfire.”
They could not kill the dragon.
They could not seal its power.
So what then?
Let the power exist, but render it unusable.
That was Dmir’s solution.
“You… you truly are a genius…”
Eldrin, moved, fell silent.
Her ritual was incredibly demanding.
To work, it required an enormous altar—not an ordinary one.
Especially as it targeted the mind of a colossal dragon.
“Sacrifice. That will be the offering.”
Eldrin knew.
She knew the resolve behind Dmir’s words.
—
Clang! Clang!
The dwarf kept striking his hammer.
Even as Eldrin blocked Drugan’s relentless charge.
“He only creates.”
From the blank canvas of the world, something new arose.
Soft clay hardened, old roots rose up, and upon them cool steel spread flat.
—What trickery is this!
The dragon roared.
But Eldrin drew her bow without flinching.
Her arms ached as if torn apart.
Her body was covered in wounds.
‘Hold on.’
‘It hurts.’
‘It feels like my limbs are ripping apart, but I endure.’
‘That is how my people live. That is how we find freedom.’
She endured.
The more she held, the redder her body grew.
Her energy ran dry.
“Dmir!”
Eldrin screamed.
“I’ll bury my blood and bones in the altar!”
Her flowing blood gathered and rushed to the altar.
The ritual had begun.
“With my life! No, with the life of the forest itself, I swear!”
Her voice rang with desperation.
“Colossal dragon! Your wickedness will no longer torment the world! Your power will flow, but it shall not be used!”
Splurt!
Black blood poured from her mouth.
“Good. I, too, swear upon the pride of stone.”
Black blood flowed from Dmir’s lips as well.
Their blood fused into a black orb.
“…”
They no longer resisted the dragon.
They merely stood upon the altar, glaring at it.
—What foolish act is this?
Drugan scowled.
They bled themselves dry while blocking him, then muttered incomprehensible words.
He could not understand.
But one thing was certain.
It felt wrong.
Deeply wrong.
—You toys dare such schemes. I would have played longer, but…
The dragon raised its foreleg.
—Just die.
Whoosh!
Its strike cut the air.
Eldrin and Dmir only looked up.
With smiles on their lips.
Then.
Thud.
The dragon’s paw halted inches away.
Its muscles twitched, but nothing more.
It could not strike down.
—What? What is this?
Drugan panicked.
It strained, thrashed, but in vain.
It could not control its body.
The black blood branded upon it kept it from destroying.
—Y-You! What have you done!
Its roar shook the world.
‘Insane.’
Even watching made my chest tighten from its malice.
Beside me, Dagnard trembled, brows furrowed.
But still.
Eldrin and Dmir’s eyes were unwavering.
Eyes that could almost be called sacred.
As though it was their destiny to bind the dragon.
“Vile dragon.”
Dmir’s lips moved.
“Not being able to use your power—that will be a torment worse than death.”
—Silence! You wretched insects!
“But there is no choice. Unless you take another as sacrifice, this prohibition will never lift. For eternity.”
—Me! The great me! Do you think I’ll accept this?
The dragon raged.
It wanted to destroy everything around it, but could not.
Flap!
At last, it spread its wings and fled.
Without breaking this curse, it could do nothing.
“…”
Watching it retreat,
Eldrin and Dmir only smiled.
Fsshh!
And then, as if time itself caught up with them,
Their bodies aged in an instant.
Skin shriveled, decayed, and dissolved.
Sacrifice.
Yet their lips still curved upward.
In that final moment,
Only they knew what thoughts remained.
[Skill: Memory Reenactment (S-rank) has ended.]
The world flashed again.
—
“Mmm.”
I let out a low murmur.
“Haa…”
Dagnard sighed in regret.
On the altar at the base of the dragon’s seal, we stood in silence.
Time passed.
Then Dagnard spoke.
“Our ancestors… to think they were such people. It makes my heart ache with pride.”
“The elves were incredible too.”
“I agree. Back then, we were a people of unity. How did it come to this?”
His arms drooped.
He looked drained.
“It’s maddening. I hesitate to say this of my own kind, but compared to the great Dmir, our chieftain is a petty fool.”
“…”
“Dmir sacrificed himself for his people. But our chieftain? He’s obsessed only with killing elves. And why? Because they won’t hand over Dmir’s relics? Ridiculous.”
He wasn’t wrong.
The reasons for the war were flimsy at best.
“But don’t you think it’s strange?”
“Hm?”
“Why are the elves even guarding this place?”
I stretched and stepped onto the altar.
“I didn’t tell you this, but the High Elf Queen definitely led me here.”
“Truly?”
“Of course. Why else would she invite me and you into her village, right to the seal itself?”
The request for crafting was just an excuse.
Serphin had deliberately put me here.
That much was clear.
“But why?”
Dagnard tilted his head.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, it hit me.
A chilling, likely truth.
“Damn it, I knew something was off.”
“What?”
I clutched my head.
“How did I miss it? It never made sense.”
“I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“Think about it. Does it make sense that either the chieftain or the High Elf Queen alone could wipe out an entire race?”
“Well… they are strong, even if small-minded.”
“Pfft. Come on, Dagnard.”
I sounded exasperated.
“You saw Dmir and Eldrin. Were they anywhere near as strong as the chieftain or Serphin?”
“Uh?”
He blinked, then answered after a pause.
“No, our chieftain does seem stronger.”
That wasn’t the only odd part.
‘Their favorability didn’t register.’
Favorability was part of the system.
And the system governed everything here.
If it didn’t apply to them, then maybe they weren’t really part of their races.
“When I read the memory, the dragon was still alive. Just bound, not buried here. For 500 years, it’s existed in this world.”
“T-Then what does that mean?”
“What do you think it means? There’s only one conclusion!”
“…”
“Why would the chieftain forbid dwarves from making weapons? Why would the High Elf Queen force her people into war without reason?”
“…”
“And why did neither of them ever join the battles?”
I lifted the black orb from the altar.
[Orb of Prohibition]
[Briefly awakens the power of the dead.]
“The dragon cannot destroy. All it can do is sow conflict.”
[Choose one tribe to aid and resolve the conflict.]
Convincing the tribes was just bait.
The real quest of the Forest and Rock stage was—
To hunt Drugan.
“Don’t tell me you’re saying Volcanus and Serphin… are actually the dragon?”
“What do you mean don’t tell me? They are!”
“Wha—?!”
“The colossal dragon was the cause of this war. It fueled the conflict between the tribes!”
“This is insane!”
Dagnard shot up, jaw dropped.
Of course.
To learn his people had been toyed with for 500 years by one being.
How could he not be shocked?
And then.
“Get ready.”
I muttered.
Volcanus and Serphin had sent me here on purpose.
Which meant.
They might be right nearby.
Gulp.
I swallowed, bracing myself.
Clap, clap, clap.
Footsteps echoed from the stairs.
Step, step.
The High Elf Queen, Serphin, appeared, clapping.
“Outsider.”
Her lips twisted in a grotesque smile.
“You’re sharper than I thought.”