Chapter 37

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Chapter 37: Dragon Fall

But now, Naya was sure—she wouldn’t hate Iris.

If she challenged Iris and ended up getting killed, it would be nothing more than her own fault.

If there was anyone to blame, it should be herself.

It was her recklessness that had led to the system’s death.

But really, what had she done to make the system sacrifice itself to save her? What exactly was a system?

Back when she was still a human on Earth, she’d read plenty of web novels where travelers had systems, and she took it as normal.

But a system sacrificing itself for its host? That was something she had never seen before.

“Maybe… the previous system wanted to free me from the shackles of the mission, turning me into a dragon girl, erasing my memories, and letting me fall in love with Iris to prevent me from foolishly getting myself killed again. Why should I feel guilty? If I recall my past memories, remember the system’s sacrifice, and then abandon my peaceful life now, wouldn’t that be betraying the system’s effort for me?”

[Host, a system can’t judge a person’s sexual orientation. How did the previous system determine you’d fall in love with Iris? Stop deceiving yourself.]

“At the end of the day, these are just your words. We don’t know what the previous system was thinking. Maybe it was trying to help me let go of the so-called main mission, or maybe, as you said, it turned me into a dragon to get close to Iris, erased my memory, and planned for another system to connect with my consciousness later and assassinate Iris.”

Naya looked at Illya’s soft, adorable face and saw glimpses of both Iris and herself. The few strands of white in Illya’s hair were proof that she was their daughter by blood.

Every time she felt her daughter’s presence, Naya became even more determined to protect this family she loved.

“No matter what, the fact remains that the system wanted me to live. The only way I can honor its sacrifice is to live well.”

[Okay, okay, you win.]

“System, why don’t we work with Iris to unravel the mystery behind the main mission? Why does it have to be about killing Iris? What kind of nonsense mission is this? Is it really just because the Lord God favors humanity?”

[Yes.]

[???]

[Haven’t you noticed? The world revolves around human forms. Only humans are considered the proper form of existence. The Lord God values humanity more than any other species.]

“Then… if the Lord God is standing in the way of our happiness, we’ll kill the Lord God. Anyone who tries to keep me and Iris apart can go to hell!”

After Naya said this, there was a dead silence in her mind.

[System?]

Was it angry?

Or had the Lord God heard their conversation? Was the system being dragged off for a ‘talk’?

She hoped the system was okay.

Naya let out a small sigh.

If the Lord God was truly omnipotent, why did they need to use a system to inhabit hosts to wipe out the dragon race?

Oh right, the Holy Spear repair blueprint. Time to check that out.

Naya found that the system’s functions were still operational, even though it had gone quiet.

Holy Spear repair blueprint.

The repair would result in the Blazing Fire Spear, adding flame enchantments.

Required materials: 1 spine from a 30-year-old python, 100 liters of magma from a volcano over a thousand years old, 10 superior-grade magic crystals, and 10 scales from a dragon of gold rank or higher.

The materials and blueprint would be consumed upon use.

The earlier materials were manageable and could be gathered by asking the maids to help.

But scales from a golden-ranked dragon? In the human kingdom, they were sold, but in the Dragon Empire, dragon scales represented a dragon’s dignity. Where could she find them? And asking for such materials might raise suspicion among the maids.

Would she have to buy them during a future trip?

That system sure was intent on getting her away from Iris by giving her this recipe.

Sigh…

For now, she’d have to put off the Holy Spear forging.

Night came.

While Illya slept again, Naya and Iris slipped out of the castle.

Walking under the bright moonlight, Iris held Naya’s hand and stopped in an open field—the same spot where Iris had transformed into her true form earlier that morning.

“Transforming into a dragon is simple. You just need to do this.”

Iris raised her hand and placed it on Naya’s forehead.

A soft red glow spread from Iris’ palm, and within a minute, she released Naya.

“That’s it.”

“That’s all?”

Naya blinked in confusion at Iris.

“Yes, just try to recall what I gave you. Since you were born in human form, you don’t know how to transform into a dragon. I’ve placed a suggestion in your mind. If you focus on it, you’ll be able to grasp the transformation.”

“Alright.”

Naya closed her eyes.

Sure enough, she could feel the suggestion Iris had planted.

It was like a compressed file, and once opened, there was a program—a switch for the transformation.

“Iris, step back a bit.”

Iris retreated to give Naya more space.

A brilliant silver light burst forth from Naya’s body.

As the light expanded, dimmed, and faded away, a towering silver dragon stood proudly. From a distance, it resembled a great silver lotus in bloom.

“I did it, Iris!”

Feeling the changes in her body, Naya looked down at the tiny Iris.

She gazed at her own silver forelimbs.

She was a silver dragon.

The silver scales gleamed in the moonlight, giving her a sacred, goddess-like aura.

If any human saw Naya, their first thought wouldn’t be of fear but of beauty. Even her expression was gentle, her sharp teeth appearing soft, and her long tail trailed behind her like a graceful white serpent.

Spreading her wings, her wingspan was almost three times her body length.

“I… I’m really a dragon.”

The feeling was indescribable.

Before, in her dragon-girl form, the idea of being a dragon hadn’t fully sunk in, but now, she was a real dragon. Her dragon-girl form wasn’t just cosplay.

Iris looked up at her and smiled.

“How does it feel?”

“I think I might succumb to dragon instincts, Iris! This is so cool! I want to try flying.”

“Go ahead.”

“You can ride on my back. I’ll take you to soar through the skies.”

Naya crouched down, extending a wing for Iris to climb onto her back.

Once Iris was settled, she stroked Naya’s silver scales, noting that they felt softer than her own.

“Hold on tight, Iris. I’m about to take off!”

“Mhm.”

After confirming that Iris had a firm grip, Naya flapped her wings, her body slowly lifting off the ground before accelerating upwards.

At that moment, Naya felt like, Who needs a bicycle or a plane when I can fly myself?

She gazed at the jade disc in the sky, gathering all her strength to charge forward. In this otherworldly sky, she wanted to explore whether it was the vastness of the heavens that was pure or corrupted, or if it was simply an unreachable expanse filled with chaos.

Boom…

Wait a minute, it felt like we just passed through some kind of barrier?

Naya turned her head and looked.

What was below them was not their home. What she saw was not the solitary castle but rows upon rows of grand palaces.

This was… the royal palace?!

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