[Vol. 8] Chapter 14: I'm a Professional at This
Next to a particularly tall Ghostwood tree, the priestess, who had finally gotten away from the imperial spy [Graeme], stopped walking. After giving a brief explanation, she gently placed her hand on the rough tree trunk, as if silently trying to sense something through it.
Not far away, the dragon girl frowned slightly, clearly annoyed by how ugly the undead creature looked.
“In the end, it was just a fake dragon made from bones and scraps. If you had let me chase it, I could’ve turned it into a pile of real bone dust. Why did you let that beast go on purpose?”
Still resting her hand on the tree, the black-haired girl simply turned her head and smiled instead of answering directly. She asked,
“Xiao Guang, do you think it’s really our enemy?”
“...Huh?”
The dragon girl tilted her head, clearly confused.
“Isn’t it? That thing just attacked us, didn’t it?”
The priestess still didn’t give a direct answer. She smiled and nodded slightly.
“Then let’s say it is our enemy. As for why I let it go… well, it’s simple. You have to let out the long line to catch a big fish. That bone dragon might not be a big deal for us, but whatever’s behind it might be. If we don’t give it a little space, how are we supposed to follow the clues and find out who created it?”
“And there’s another reason, too.”
Seeing the blonde dragon girl getting worked up again, Violet gently shook her head. With her free hand, she reached out and patted the dragon girl’s head, trying to calm down the Miss Dragon God, who was mad because her dragon pride felt hurt.
“Xiao Guang, you have to remember, you’re not the Dragon God right now. That role is temporarily being filled by Light, with Lenka helping her as the priestess. They’re the ones staying behind in the Dragon Temple, facing danger, protecting your many followers, and dealing with countless outsiders with hidden agendas. That’s what gives you the freedom to travel around with me at such a critical time. Especially after you just revealed your true strength and made the Dragon Mountains the center of attention around the world.”
“The title ‘god’ doesn’t just mean honor, respect, or high status. It also comes with huge responsibilities. Unless you want to become some crazy evil god who acts without any care or reason, you have to take responsibility for the people who trust and worship you.”
“Right now, Light is carrying that burden for you. So you need to be more careful about what you do, and always think about how it affects her. At the very least, don’t reveal your real identity in public. That bone dragon’s strength was already beyond the peak, maybe even close to becoming a pseudo god. If you suddenly rushed in and tore it apart in front of everyone, it would mean something very different.”
“...I see. I’m sorry, Master. I didn’t think it through...”
Realizing how serious it was, the dragon girl paused and lowered her head a little, something she would never do in front of others. She then quickly wagged her soft, fluffy tail and wrapped it around the black-haired girl’s leg, gently rubbing the tip of her tail against her smooth, pale skin like a cat trying to get attention. Her anger instantly disappeared.
“There, there. I’m not blaming you,” Violet said with a smile. “I just thought it was important to remind you. That Light has given up a lot for us. As her big sister, you should try to think from her point of view more often, okay?”
“...Okay, I got it...”
While gently patting the dragon girl’s lowered head, Violet looked up at the large crater in the distance, where the forest had been torn apart. That was where the three-headed bone dragon had burst out of the ground and flown into the sky. The destruction it caused was so obvious that it didn’t take long for them to find the original location.
Just as Violet had said, ordinary skeletons or undead mages like Lorga were not a big deal. But this bone dragon was different, it had taken a full-power attack from the Judgment Saintess, using the “Judgment Holy Sword”, without a scratch. That meant its true strength was probably at the false god level, possibly equal to a fully grown mythical beast.
On top of that, it had an unusual ability to keep coming back, almost like it couldn’t die. If the dragon girl wanted to completely destroy it with one hit, she would most likely have to use the power of the [Primordial Flame] or another very powerful skill.
But right now, Xiao Guang wasn't hiding her dragon-like appearance. If she showed too much strength, it might lead others, especially the Austre Empire, to guess that she was connected to the newly revealed Dragon God.
The Twilight Council was also becoming active again, and no one knew exactly what kind of deal they had made with the empire. Exposing too much information about themselves this early wouldn’t be a smart move.
After all, even those mysterious council members probably didn’t know yet that there were actually two Dragon Gods in the world~
While pretending to apologize, the dragon girl had secretly used her big fluffy tail to get a bit of attention and affection. Feeling pleased with herself, she tilted her head and finally began to pay more attention to her surroundings.
“By the way, Master. Even though that fake dragon was disgusting... undead creatures that strong should be very rare in this world, right? Or maybe they weren’t supposed to exist at all? Since I woke up, I’ve felt that the magic in the air, and even how some ‘law’ works, seems different. Could that be a sign the Council is about to invade?”
Violet shook her head.
“Do you remember what that girl Lorga said earlier? She was one of the first undead of this group, but even she was only created about two weeks ago. Since all those skeletons were made from the leftover parts of the bone dragon, that means the dragon itself was also created recently.”
After thinking for a bit, Violet shared her theory.
“According to my talks with Sethlin, we believe that when you used the [Primordial Flame] to burn away a huge amount of leftover fate and karma from the Wheel of Destiny, it didn’t just disappear. The power of that divine flame is meant to refine and purify, so maybe that massive amount of energy didn’t vanish, it was absorbed into the world’s natural system. That would explain why the energy levels of the whole world seem to be rising quickly.”
“In the future, we’ll probably meet more and more powerful creatures like this. I think the balance of the entire world is about to change in a big way.”
“Eh...”
The dragon girl blinked and tilted her head again, not fully realizing how serious the situation was.
“So that thing had that much energy inside? I mean, I tore it apart pretty easily... but Master, what are you doing over there, anyway?”
Seeing her dragon finally getting curious, the black-haired girl smiled mysteriously and looked back at the tree she had been touching the whole time.
“This is a [Tree of the Dead], which draws in and holds the souls of the dead. Since this Forest of Death was once a battlefield, every tree here contains spiritual energy formed from the souls of those who died. Most of it might have already been extracted, but as long as the trees still stand, the spirits won’t completely disappear.”
“They quietly stand here, silently recording the stories and faces of everyone who once walked across this land. It’s just that no one else can see those memories.”
“But… Xiao Guang, do you know what the job of a Spirit Fox Shrine Maiden is~?”