Ch.425Chapter 425 – Dragon’s Revelation

“Kay!”

As the black space collapsed, Chris’s voice reached me.

Slightly startled, I looked around to find the same sacred ground where we had just fought the shadows.

“Um, Kay? Are you alright?”

“Chris?”

I looked down at Chris with surprise, and she sighed in relief.

Eve and Sarah looked at Chris with puzzled expressions.

“What happened?”

“Chris? What’s wrong?”

“Just now… ah, you all probably didn’t feel it…”

Chris seemed to ponder for a moment how to explain.

Meanwhile, I quickly asked Sarah.

“What happened?”

“Nothing happened. We just heard a voice saying we had proven our qualifications as the priestess’s shadow disappeared.”

“Everything went dark for a moment, then immediately brightened again. That’s all.”

Eve added that it happened in an instant.

Apparently, the moment when Metis summoned me was extremely brief in real time.

“We were wondering what happened and about to discuss it with Sarah when Christina suddenly changed expression and approached Kay.”

“Sia too.”

At Sarah’s words, I looked at Sia, who indeed stood there with a slightly altered complexion.

She was positioned a bit farther away than Chris, apparently having approached out of concern for me.

While looking at Sia and Chris, Sarah seemed to remember something and turned to Beatrice.

“Beatrice, did you sense anything?”

“…No.”

Beatrice answered, biting her lip slightly.

“I hate to admit it, but even as a fairly skilled mage, I’m still human. It takes time for me to detect things. For truly momentary occurrences involving magical or divine power, my detection ability is inevitably inferior to Sia’s or the nun’s… at present.”

‘At present?’

That seemed like an odd thing to say, but anyway, Beatrice had apparently missed that moment too.

While we were concluding that my being pulled away by Metis had truly been just a fleeting moment, Chris spoke up.

“You see, just now I realized that the owner of the divine power filling this place intervened with Kay. Or rather, should I call it a fragment of divine power?”

“A fragment? Is it similar to a seal?”

“I think so. Though it’s invisible.”

It seemed there was no actual mass of divine power itself in this land, like Evgenia’s seal.

“Perhaps this land itself might be a fragment of that divine power… but let’s set that aside for now. What’s important is that the fragment deliberately intervened with you.”

“While manipulating time, no less.”

Sia spoke, and Chris added:

“As everyone mentioned, we only felt it for the briefest moment. During that time, the fragment pulled away Kay’s consciousness.”

“And because that moment was so brief, Christina couldn’t protect you from the divine power’s intervention.”

Chris bowed her head apologetically.

While it hadn’t been dangerous in the end, I understood her overreaction—if it had been someone like Emiris instead of Metis, it could have been perilous.

“I think the fragment called you for a conversation to provide some information, am I right?”

I nodded quietly at Sia’s question.

As Sia’s expression sharpened, Chris asked with a worried face:

“Was that really all? Kay, are you truly alright?”

Chris leaned in close as she asked.

Feeling her genuine concern, I smiled quietly and gently stroked her head.

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s a relief…”

Chris blushed slightly, perhaps from having her head patted.

“Then, can you tell us what happened?”

“I will tell you, but…”

Metis hadn’t specifically told me to keep what she said secret, so speaking about it wasn’t particularly difficult.

Besides, these weren’t matters I could resolve by pondering them alone.

What Metis had said about Emiris trying to create his body through difficult means when easier methods existed, about not wanting competitors, and about trying to grasp everything in his hands for that purpose.

Some statements would benefit from further investigation.

‘But this isn’t something to just blurt out.’

I thought quietly.

If Metis had intended for all of us to hear this information, she wouldn’t have used such an elaborate method of briefly intervening just to quickly relay the message to me alone.

Since the information would be passed through me anyway, she could have just told everyone directly.

The fact that she used such an elaborate method and conveyed it only to me suggested she was wary of Emiris.

‘As much as I hate to admit it, we shouldn’t underestimate his power.’

Currently, he could only operate behind the scenes through his avatar Somnus or exert power by transferring part of his main body’s strength, but Emiris was a god who had obtained the power of almost all gods.

He was arguably the closest thing to omnipotence at present.

If we discussed his affairs carelessly without proper precautions, he might notice and interfere or strengthen his defenses.

So if I were to share this information, it should be in a place safe from his eyes.

‘Fortunately, I know such a place.’

I thought quietly while looking at Chris.

‘Evgenia’s seal in the snow fields.’

Our final destination in these snow fields, where Sarah’s grandmother presumably hid the Philosopher’s Stone.

There, we could both complete our journey and safely share this information.

‘Until then, it’s best to keep it secret.’

I concluded that caution was advisable, just in case.

“…Kay, why are you suddenly so quiet?”

Sia asked carefully, perhaps because I had been lost in thought for too long.

Seeing the worried faces of Chris and the others, I quickly smiled and said:

“I’m just tired. I’ll tell you about what I heard later, after I’ve organized my thoughts.”

“Can’t you tell us now?”

“Not now.”

I answered Sia’s question with some force.

Perhaps because I emphasized “now,” Sia quietly nodded and said:

“I see, it’s about that motherless bastard.”

“That’s right.”

I suddenly wondered if Emiris had anyone he could call a mother.

Since he came from a different world, it’s possible he truly didn’t have one.

While briefly entertaining such idle thoughts, Chris looked at me and spoke:

“Kay…”

I smiled again at the worried Chris and said:

“It’s fine. I really am just tired. We’re all exhausted, so we should rest first.”

Showing an attitude that I wouldn’t discuss it further, I stroked Chris’s head while quietly looking around.

I noticed Sia with her slightly singed cheek, Eve with cuts in various places.

People who had been injured fighting the shadows of the hero’s party caught my eye.

“…Let’s spend the rest of today treating wounds and recovering our strength.”

Some might say we’re wasting time, but since this wasn’t our final destination, we needed to regroup before continuing our journey.

When I finished speaking, Chris looked at me with sad eyes for a moment.

But she soon shook her head several times, and quietly smiled as she said:

“I’ll do that.”

As Chris finished speaking, Noah chimed in with good timing:

“Then I’ll go get Sonya.”

“…Alright. Sia, let’s start with those burns…”

Sarah nodded and approached Sia.

Sia didn’t press me further and went with Sarah, who soon produced the same ointment she had applied to me before.

Eve and Beatrice looked at me for a moment, then nodded and slowly approached Sarah.

Meanwhile, Chris looked at me and quietly said:

“Well then, Kay. First, let me examine you…”

“Take care of the others first.”

I smiled at Chris and gently turned away, leaning against a stone lantern.

Perhaps from all the movement earlier, my heated body was gradually cooling down.

“I’ll just cool my head for a bit.”

I felt the need to think about and organize what Metis had told me.

As I mentally replayed Metis’s words, I quietly closed my eyes.

A peculiar coolness began to chill my body and mind.

+

At the same time Kay’s group was at the Warrior’s Sacred Ground, Lizinis was praying in the shaman’s room within the lizardmen’s territory.

In a room filled with incense made from special herbs native to the lizardmen’s territory, Lizinis was clearing her mind to receive divine revelation.

What she was performing was a ritual to receive guidance about the future from the master of dragons, whom the lizardmen worshipped as gods, in order to lead her people.

Recently, because her sister Lizanis had caused trouble and the time for the ritual was approaching, Lizinis was conducting this ceremony.

‘They say there used to be no messages at all in the old days.’

But at some point, revelations had begun coming to the lizardmen.

Chronologically, it had started with her great-predecessor as shaman.

These revelations had greatly helped many lizardmen live prosperously in Bestia, and the shamans who could hear these messages gained solid standing and power within the tribe.

Particularly in Lizinis’s case, since her sister was the Great Warrior, she was treated as the de facto leader among the lizardmen.

This was quite unusual considering that strength was the top priority among beastkin, but the reason she was treated as virtually a leader was because Lizanis was excessively simple-minded and impulsive, leading the lizardmen elders to make that decision.

However, Lizanis herself recognized her own shortcomings and acknowledged Lizinis’s authority while admitting her own deficiencies.

In other tribes, someone with greater strength might have rebelled against being treated as subordinate, but this was irrelevant to these close sisters.

Thus, Lizinis led the lizardmen as shaman, and Lizanis protected them as Great Warrior.

This relationship had continued since the sisters became shaman and Great Warrior, and they still cherished each other.

That was precisely why Lizinis was performing the ritual.

‘Please show me a way to help my sister.’

With voices of discontent rising against Lizanis due to her recent mistakes, Lizinis wanted to resolve the situation.

She was praying for a revelation that would allow her sister to shine.

Perhaps due to her sincere prayers?

Or because the white dragon from the revelations was nearby?

Lizinis’s ritual succeeded.

‘A revelation…!’

Lizinis’s face brightened as she heard the voice resonating in her mind.

And when the message ended, she murmured blankly:

“…Protect the white dragon from the demons?”

Lizinis quickly regained her composure and shouted:

“Is anyone outside!”

“Yes!”

A lizardman warrior immediately entered the shaman’s room.

Lizinis quickly shouted:

“Call the Great Warrior who’s under discipline! Gather the warrior unit too!”

“What?”

“Hurry! Danger approaches the One!”

Seeing the fidgeting lizardman warrior, Lizinis shouted impatiently:

“What are you waiting for?”

“Well…”

The hesitant lizardman warrior finally confessed the truth.

“…Liza sister—I mean, the Great Warrior took the warrior unit to the snow fields…?”

“Many warriors tried to stop her, but…!”

Looking at the genuinely apologetic warrior, Lizinis felt her mind go blank.

She hadn’t expected her sister to act on her own while she was secluded for the ritual.

But soon regaining her composure, she thought quietly:

‘Since the White Dragon headed to the snow fields, this isn’t entirely bad.’

Reinforcements needed to be sent quickly anyway.

With proper handling, this could be an opportunity to clear up the uncomfortable relationship with the White Dragon and start anew.

The problem was that it wasn’t someone else who went, but Lizanis herself who left without informing her.

Lizanis, who already had a history of causing trouble.

‘There’s no guarantee she won’t cause more trouble…!’

Even in her own view, her sister Lizanis was too simple-minded.

Her current departure was probably not for some noble reason like sensing ominous energy.

She had likely stormed off alone for some ridiculously foolish reason.

‘Has my plan failed…?’

She had believed that having her take bride lessons might make her more docile.

Lizinis worried that it might have stimulated something strange in her instead.

‘…I can’t just keep blaming my sister.’

She had intended to dispatch Lizanis, the lizardmen’s greatest fighting force, to protect the White Dragon anyway.

Though concerning, the situation wasn’t completely ruined since the forces she planned to send had simply departed earlier.

What remained was how she herself would act.

“Count the remaining warriors and have them come with the wyverns! We will join the Great Warrior! I will go personally, so make it known!”

“Yes!”

Upon her command, the lizardman warrior quickly left.

Lizinis also hurried to her room.

She needed to prepare herself as much as possible for potential battle.

‘By the way, demons, huh.’

She thought the term seemed rather grand for describing the White Dragon’s enemies.

Why use the expression “demons” specifically?

‘…Demon race? Or some entity I’m unaware of?’

Unfortunately, Lizinis lacked information to make a judgment.

‘…It seems we need to be more thorough in updating our foreign intelligence…’

While grumbling about the lack of information, Lizinis quickly began packing her belongings.

She deliberately ignored the fact that her grumbling stemmed from an ominous feeling about the revelation’s content.