Chapter 100
Chapter 100: You’ve Arrived Just In Time
“Hah! What do I think? I think that to be human means to uphold justice!”
The red-haired guardian’s fiery eyes locked onto Naya with unwavering determination.
This reminded Naya of that fool Zelan.
“But what if one day, you’re captured and turned into a dragon using the Dragon Transformation Secret Art? Would what you consider justice still being defined as ‘being human’?”
“If I became a dragon, I wouldn’t go on living in disgrace…”
As soon as the red-haired guardian said this, his expression froze, and a flood of memories surged into his mind.
He shut his eyes in pain. Then, he burst out laughing.
“Yes… That’s how I died… So that’s how I died! Enough talk, dragons! Let’s fight to the end!”
The red-haired guardian began to struggle fiercely in Iris’s grip.
“Stop struggling. What did you just remember? How did you die?”
Naya didn’t know why the guardian suddenly lost it, but based on his behavior, it seemed he had recalled something significant.
However, despite his fury, in Iris’s hands, he was nothing more than a fish on a cutting board, ready to be sliced.
The guardian was visibly frustrated, prying at Iris’s dragon claws and shouting, “Let me go, dragon! Let’s have a proper battle, and I’ll tell you how I died!”
“Can you win, Iris?”
“I can.”
“Then let him go.”
Iris released her grip, allowing the guardian to drop to the ground.
He immediately scrambled forward, grabbed the broken greatsword lying on the ground, and stood up, gripping the hilt tightly, the sword tip is raised.
“Flame, unsheathe!”
The shattered greatsword erupted into a blaze of flames, reshaping itself into a fully restored form.
“Raaaah!!”
The ground trembled with the guardian’s roar, and an endless stream of earth energy surged into his body.
With a mighty slash, it seemed as though he split the very space before him. A massive wave of fire roared forth like an ocean tide.
Iris opened her mouth and, after a brief charge, unleashed a beam of blood-red light.
The clash of the laser and firewave lit up the sky, breaking through the clouds like a comet streaking across the heavens.
The red beam relentlessly pressed against the firewave, while the guardian poured more and more energy into it.
But within ten seconds, the red beam pierced through the flames, driving straight through the guardian’s body. The fire was instantly snuffed out.
As the blinding light and heavy smoke faded, Naya saw the red-haired guardian kneeling on the ground, still gripping the hilt of his great sword. A gaping, bloody hole stretched from his chest to his abdomen.
“Could it be that even the soul of a guardian can be killed…?”
The black-haired hero, still shaken, stared blankly at the guardian who now looked utterly defeated.
The guardian, barely able to speak, replied weakly,
“You’ve won, Dragon kin… After you killed my father, I was exhausted. My body had sustained irreparable injuries. I collapsed, gazing up at the gloomy sky, awaiting the end. But then, a Dragon kin found me. She used the secret art of dragon transformation and turned me into one of her kind, healing all my wounds. I didn’t feel grateful, nor did I thank her. Instead, I repaid her kindness by challenging her. Just like you, she killed me without mercy.”
“You held onto your sense of justice.”
“Enough. There’s no such thing as justice in this world. I simply didn’t want humanity to perish. The cultists were impossible to eradicate, and we humans paid a steep price, but still couldn’t wipe them out. In the end, just before my death, I witnessed the birth of the Dragon God.”
“Dragon God?”
“Yes, the ultimate mystery of dragon transformation— the Dragon God. The Dragon kin gathered around a dragon hatchling, proclaiming their victory. They believed the Dragon God would bring painless evolution. All they needed to do was follow the Dragon God, and gradually… their ears would sharpen, dragon horns would sprout, and they would grow tails.”
“And then?” Naya pressed on.
“And then… I died. My soul was buried within this land, and today, I was awakened by the energy of the earth veins, to guard this place and prevent anyone from uncovering this history.”
“What exactly is the Dragon God?”
But as Naya asked that question, the guardian had already closed his eyes.
The earth veins had released his soul, freeing it from the land.
His body dissolved into golden specks of light, merging with the ground.
Naya furrowed her brow.
“Did he really just die like that? Iris, did you kill him?”
“No, I didn’t even fully destroy his body. After he regained his memories from the earth veins, his soul found release. It wasn’t me who killed him,” Iris defended.
“What a letdown. Why didn’t the earth veins let him finish talking?” Naya sighed, then bowed her head, gently rubbing Iris’ hair. “I hope your soul finds peace in heaven, unknown guardian.”
“Rest in peace, guardian of humanity,”
Iria mimicked Naya, offering her own blessing to the departed soul.
They had enjoyed the guardian’s story, so out of respect, they offered a little reverence.
“Let’s keep moving, Iris.”
Iris glowed red, shrinking back into her human form. The two dragon maids by her side also reverted to their human forms.
Naya glanced back at the seven minor heroes trailing behind.
“You lot, it’s best if you stay here. Once we’ve claimed the sacred relic of the earth veins, the mist surrounding the earth veins will disperse, and you can leave the forest.”
Without another word, Naya picked up her daughter and, with Iris and the two dragon maids, followed the system’s guidance, heading deeper into the forest.
The black-haired hero stared blankly at the retreating figures of the Dragon kin.
“Thank you,” he mumbled.
What they didn’t know was that Naya had intentionally led them here to use them as cannon fodder to scout ahead.
She hadn’t expected them to encounter the earth vein guardian and be so easily defeated.
Now that they were no longer useful, Naya naturally didn’t bother to take them any further.
“Boss, are we really just going to stay here?”
“Of course! I’m already this injured. What do you expect me to do? Gibber, get over here and heal me! What are you standing around for?”
“Yes, boss!”
The hero named Gibber immediately tore his gaze away from the Dragon kin’s retreating backs and knelt to heal the black-haired hero’s wounds.
“Ah~”
The black-haired hero let out a groan.
His underlings sat down around him, reflecting on the story the guardian had just told.
“Boss, what do you think justice is?”
“Justice is having a full stomach! Who cares what it is?”
The black-haired hero glared at the young hero who had asked the question.
“Listen, kid. Don’t go around thinking about saving the world. That’s the job of geniuses. We just need to live our ordinary lives well.”
“Yes, boss.”
The black-haired hero knew the capabilities of his underlings all too well.
“But, we can still have our own little dreams. Like next time, let’s find some capital-grade treasures and sell them for a good price. We’ll eat like kings.”
“It always comes back to food.”
“If you like eating northwest wind, I won’t stop you.”
He lectured his underlings a bit, teaching the young ones to set aside their pointless idealism.
On the way, Naya and her group encountered some minor undead soldiers, but they were easily wiped out in no time.
They didn’t run into any more earth vein guardians.
Out of boredom, Naya resumed the conversation the red-haired guardian hadn’t finished.
“Iris, do you know what the Dragon God is?”
As the Dragon King, there was no way Iris wouldn’t know this term, but it depended on whether she was willing to share it with her.
“Yes.”
Iris nodded lightly.
“So, what is it?”
Naya tightened her grip on Iris’s hand, while Illya, who was cradled in Iris’s other arm, also looked up curiously at her cold expression.
“Mother, what’s the Dragon God?”
“It’s an entity more powerful than the Dragon King, a branch of the Star Gods. It can directly transform human genes into dragon genes without the physical pain of transformation and without the risk of impure dragon blood. It allows humans to become Dragon kin with zero losses or casualties.”
“That powerful?”
Naya’s surprise was half due to the Dragon God’s power and half because Iris had so directly answered her question.
“However, I believe the Dragon God the guardian mentioned was a false god created by cultists.”
“But its effects weren’t much different, right?”
“Yes.”
“So, our real goal on this trip isn’t just to search for earth vein energy, but also for your plan of global unification, right? By exploring the earth vein’s memory, you want to find the method to create a Dragon God and use it to transform humanity into Dragon kin more efficiently.”
“Yes.”
Iris nodded without hesitation.
“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier? You always keep things hidden.”
“I thought witnessing certain events firsthand would leave a deeper impression. You can also learn from the memories of the earth veins how these people thought and acted.”
“Sigh, I don’t care about thinking. I only care whether my wife can achieve her imperial ambitions.”
Naya hooked her arm around Iris’s.
If it weren’t for Iris, she wouldn’t have cared about all this past history. If Iris weren’t the Dragon King, Naya wouldn’t have spared the guardian a glance—she would have transformed into her dragon form and flown straight to the densest source of earth vein energy.
Trailing behind the family of three, Flanna and Bella exchanged amused smiles, watching Naya cling to Her Majesty like a dainty little bird.
This couple never missed a chance to show off their love.
Iris, feeling the warmth and softness of Naya’s grip on her arm, allowed a slight smile to appear on her lips.
Naya’s unconditional trust was a great source of comfort to her.
Holding her daughter in one arm and her wife in the other, Iris was completely immersed in the sweetness of happiness.
As they walked, Naya suddenly realized she hadn’t heard the footsteps of the two maids for a while. She quickly turned her head.
“Flanna? Bella?”
Naya’s clear voice echoed in the vast forest, but there was no response.
“Flanna! Bella! Where are you? I told you to stay close and not wander off, but you still got lost?”
After waiting for a while and hearing no reply, Naya shot an annoyed glance at Iris.
“Iris, don’t you have a sense for living beings? How could you not notice when they disappeared?”
Iris, faced with Naya’s reproach, sighed and explained,
“They disappeared suddenly. One moment they were here, and the next, they were gone. It’s not my fault.”
[Host, Flanna and Bella did indeed disappear suddenly. The space here is flowing quickly, like the pages of a book. You just happened to turn to the next page, and a gust of wind left them on the previous one.]
[That’s pretty mystical.]
[Yes. Please hold Iris tightly.]
[Alright…]
Naya tightened her grip on Iris’ arm, her slender fingers sinking deeply into its softness, unable to let go.
“Sorry, I wrongly blamed you. Stay close to me, we can’t afford to get separated.”
“Alright.”
“And be careful with Illya. Don’t lose her either.”
Noticing Naya’s anxious expression, Iris smiled softly.
“I won’t. Don’t worry.”
“Mama, I’ll sing a song. As long as you can hear me singing, you’ll know I’m still here!”
Illya, knowing her Mama was a bit of a worrier, decided to sing along as they walked.
“Alright.”
Naya wasn’t worried about attracting other heroes since they had hidden all their dragon traits.
“I’m walking alone on the little path in the countryside, bringing some cake for Grandma to try～”
Wasn’t this the lullaby Naia used to sing to Illya to help her sleep?
Naya didn’t expect Illya to remember it so clearly.
Her daughter’s innocent singing eased the tension in her heart, and Naya’s expression softened into a gentle smile.
“She lives in a faraway, secluded place. I need to be careful in case there’s a big bad wolf nearby. When the sun sets, I’ll hurry home to sleep soundly with Mama～”
“You sing beautifully.”
It was the first time Iris had heard this song.
It seemed to be a human lullaby.
Illya kept singing happily, and Iris found the cheerful tune oddly soothing.
The lyrics, fitting with the eerie atmosphere of the forest, seemed oddly appropriate. However, Illya wasn’t walking alone—her family of three was together, adding a warmth to the misty, desolate surroundings.
“Who’s singing?”
Suddenly, a childish voice broke the harmony among the three.
The clanking of armor and the crunching of footsteps on leaves accompanied it.
Two figures gradually emerged beside Naya.
“It’s you?!”
The newcomers were none other than the knights of the Goss Empire, Semiya and her daughter, Semira!
Night Day
This family is so cute!