Side Story 15
「…So? What brings the Celestial Dragon, a member of Dragon King, to this forest?」
The first to speak is Elibel.
Her voice is laced with obvious caution.
「Hmph, no need to be so wary. I didn’t come here for you lot.」
The Celestial Dragon retorts with unabashed arrogance, turning his gaze towards the Giant Lizard.
「I’m just here to clean up the trash that’s lying there.」
『Trash?』
Ann responds with a flicker of surprise.
『You can’t possibly mean the woman lying over there, can you?』
「Woman? …Ah, so that’s a female.」
The Dragon’s reply is filled with disinterest.
「Yes, that’s it. The giant… ah well, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, I came to clean up that enormous piece of trash. All her companions are dead. She’s the only one left.」
『What… did you say?』
The giant lizard, lying on the ground, reacts.
『Everyone else… is dead? Even the chief… my father… no…』
「Huh? You’re still alive? How annoying…」
The Celestial Dragon casually raises his right hand.
From it, an extremely thin blade of water materializes.
「For now, die trash.」
The water blade, launched at high speed, aims straight for the Giant Lizard’s neck.
But the blade does not sever her neck.
It’s deflected by Ann’s Earth Dragon Sword, with a loud “clang!”
「Wha…?」
『!?』
Both the Celestial Dragon and even the Giant Lizard voice their surprise at the turn of events.
「What are you doing?」
『It’s our line. She is our prey. We won’t let anyone snatch her away, no matter who they are.』
『Black ant… you are…』
Ann turns her gaze towards the Giant Lizard for a moment.
『Please don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t change the fact that we’re going to kill you. We just don’t want that dragon to steal our kill.』
『………』
Ann readies her sword, facing the Celestial Dragon.
This causes the dragon’s face to contort in apparent displeasure.
「Huh? Who are you pointing that sword at?」
The atmosphere shifts.
A chilling sensation races down their spines.
It’s not just Ann.
Even Feru and Elibel are trembling.
「Lowly creatures… how dare you defy me!」
Enormous magical power floods from the Celestial Dragon.
Hundreds of water blades form, covering the area with the threat of brutal harm aimed towards Ann and her companions.
Elibel whispers into Ann’s ear.
「Ann, just hold out for thirty seconds. Then I’ll open the teleportation gate, and we all escape to the dungeon.」
『Elibel…』
Ann is surprised by Elibel’s unusually pessimistic words.
That means their adversary is seriously formidable.
「Disappear, pests.」
Just as the water blades are about to be launched at Ann and her companions, they have only twenty seconds left to open the teleportation gate.
―――We won’t make it.
Just when she thinks this, a brilliant flash emanates from far behind them.
The beam passes over their heads, piercing the Celestial Dragon in front of them.
With a thunderous sound, the Celestial Dragon is blown apart, his remains scattering like rain.
「―――!?」
『What… just happened?』
What they saw was nothing more than a flash of light, but it was clearly a magical attack.
And it was an attack that Ann found vaguely familiar.
「The magical signature of that attack… Could it be… but…」
Elibel mumbles to herself, lost in thought.
It seems she too has some idea about the nature of that light.
Pieces of the Celestial Dragon’s flesh and the water blades rain down around them.
Questions race through Ann’s mind.
The abrupt end.
The incomprehensible development.
『What… what just happened?』
When Ann looks behind her, there’s a small silhouette in the distance, the size of a grain of rice.
However, it’s too far away to make out any details.
But, conversely, that means whoever it is has just released such a powerful attack from that far away. It’s definitely a monster with terrifying power.
But at the same time, there was a sense of relief.
For reasons unknown, the Celestial Dragon had perished.
Such an explosion of its body, yet living seemed impossible―――
「「「―――「「What,「Do」You think「「You’re」」」Doing…」」」」…」」」」」
『Wha—?!』
Voices echoed.
Not just from one location, but from several places at once.
Scattered bits of the Celestial Dragon’s flesh came together to form a single entity once again.
『What… it’s still alive…』
「Tsk, what’s your game, ‘Queen of the Earth’? I’ve no interest in quarreling with you.』
The Celestial Dragon, having regained its form after a few seconds, spoke while gazing far beyond where Ann and the others stood.
「Besides… the feast is close at hand. There’s no need to be in such a rush.」
With a fleeting glance towards Ann and her group, the Celestial Dragon spoke again.
「Now then, about this trash…」
Just as the Celestial Dragon uttered those words, a flash of light identical to the one before shone once again.
This time, however, the Celestial Dragon twisted its body to dodge.
「Tsk, is that it then? You want me to say it’s theirs?」
The Celestial Dragon muttered under its breath.
「My interest is waning. I’ll leave this trash to you lot. Cry in gratitude for my mercy, you lowly creatures.」
As the Celestial Dragon spoke, a faint light began to emanate from its body.
Shortly after, that light enveloped the entirety of the Yuguru Great Forest.
『Ah, it’s blinding…』
「This light… it’s teleportation!?」
「Goodbye then.」
In an instant, the light subsided and the form of the Celestial Dragon disappeared, along with the potent presence that had been looming far behind them.
「What in the world was that?」
In the ensuing silence, Elibel spoke first.
The pitter-patter of rain started again.
『I don’t know… But…』
Standing in the pouring rain, Ann gripped her sword tighter.
『I have a feeling… we will meet that dragon again.』
With an almost certain tone, Ann expressed her thoughts.
『We must become stronger before we meet it again.』
「Well, that depends on how hard we work from here.」
『Yes.』
However, Elibel noted.
「I’m impressed you could stand up to the Celestial Dragon in that situation. Even I hesitated for a moment.」
『Honestly, I don’t understand it either. But the moment the Water Blade was directed at her, my body moved on its own.』
「And after that, it was just going with the flow, I suppose?」Ann said, with a hint of self-deprecation.
Elibel widened her eyes at hearing this.
「Goodness… You and that idiot are quite something…」
『What do you mean?』
「Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself.」
With a playful smile, Elibel’s words left Ann a bit puzzled. But Ann, not really understanding, chuckled lightly.
Meanwhile, Feru and the forest monsters shuddered at the sight of these two laughing even in such a situation.
The aftermath was a constant procession of tasks, involving the forest monsters.
Firstly, about the Giant Lizard.
She had already passed on.
It seemed she had died a short while after the Celestial Dragon left.
Ann had been speaking with her at the end, but she did not reveal what their conversation entailed.
When they cut open the lizard’s belly, sure enough, they found two eggs about a meter long, covered in barrier magic.
According to Elibel, these eggs would not hatch until the barrier was broken.
「It’s easy to break the barrier, but we can’t get them to be the dungeon defense because they can get too big.」said Elibel.
The eggs were left as they were for the time being, but it was safe to say that they had unexpectedly gained a powerful ally.
Next, they had to deal with the sudden appearance of the Celestial Dragon.
Elibel’s Wraiths and bird-type golem homunculus were tasked with gathering information.
Their destination was the Harp Meadow to the west of Yuguru Great Forest.
They needed to investigate what had happened there.
The survey would take time, as there was no teleportation gate and the distance was considerable. Still, it had to be done.
Lastly, the restoration of the forest.
To be honest, other than caring for the injured, there wasn’t much else that was needed.
Thanks to the magical energy leaking from Earth’s dungeon, the trees were recovering quickly and would return to their original state within a month.
The monsters whose nests were destroyed would be sheltered temporarily in the middle and deep layers of the dungeon.
That said, those sheltered monsters would gain unexpected power from the high concentration of magical power, but that’s another story…
『――――And that concludes the upheaval in the forest, initiated by the Giant Lizard,』
Ann reports to Earth from the depths.
『…Is that so?』
Earth listens to Ann’s report with a mix of astonishment and half in dismay.
He never anticipated such happenings while he was enjoying his gardening pastime.
Around his feet lie a plethora of peculiar fruits, grown through careful pruning and magical cultivation.
『Well, I’ll leave the matter of the Celestial Dragon and the Giant Lizard’s egg to Elibel. She can handle this far better than I ever could.』
『The acquisition of the Giant Lizard’s offspring was indeed fortuitous. If they come to view Lord Earth as a parent due to imprinting, they’ll become quite a formidable force.』
『Despite looking nothing like me…』
“Well, it’ll work out somehow”, Earth says nonchalantly, picking up a fruit from his feet.
It’s delicious. The concentration of magical power and taste are perfect.
Truly, my hobby is paying off.
He passes one to Ann.
『…This is delicious.』
『Told you, it’s a masterpiece.』
For a while, only the sound of crunching resonates in the depth as they chew their fruits.
Licking the juice from his fingers, Earth casually mutters.
『However, that Giant Lizard… Quite amazing, isn’t it?』
『In what way?』
『Think about it. That creature tried to entrust its child to the very being that was trying to kill it. Such a thing isn’t something just anyone can do.』
『Ah…』
Earth’s casual remark lands with a sudden force, hitting Ann like a hammer.
She remembers the image of the nameless Giant Lizard, an adversary she had fought to kill, yet, in its final moments, it didn’t beg for its life, only sought to entrust its child to them.
Her last word was…
『Please forgive me… and thank you.』
Could she have done the same, had the roles been reversed?
Could she prioritize her child over herself?
Suddenly, Ann feels incredibly small.
The four newborn Queen-types she’d birthed recently―she had been overtly keeping them away from Earth.
She had been afraid of them getting more affection than herself.
She didn’t want to lose her place beside him.
But was she willing to risk him, and the dungeon, over such petty emotions?
But even before that, she wonders, was she so narrow-minded as a ‘parent’?
『―――――!』
The realization is devastating. Without thinking, she crushes the fruit in her hand. It drops to the ground with a squelch.
『Wha… Ann!? Was it… not delicious?』
Lifting her bowed head, Ann looks directly at Earth.
There is no more uncertainty.
『Lord Earth, there is something I need to ask you. The other day…』
She is narrow-minded, and foolishly jealous of the attention her children may receive from Earth.
But that’s precisely why she wants Earth to name the four Queen-types, and the Giant Lizard’s offspring.
To give them a name they can be proud of, a name as respectable as that of their parent, herself.
So they can continue walking forward, together with Earth, their Lord.
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