Raon continued to tilt his head.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
His heart was beating wildly.
It was not painful.
Nervousness? Fear? Joy?
Raon could not figure out why his heart was beating like this.
"What are you doing?"
Raon could see Cale, who grabbed his front paw that was pounding his chest.
"Youngest, I want to know why you are doing that!"
Hong had walked up underneath the floating Raon and was looking up as well.
Raon started to smile.
"It's nothing! My heart is just beating really fast! It must be because I am the great and mighty Raon Miru!"
Raon could see Cale's suspicious gaze at that moment.
"Is it a cold again?"
That question made Raon recall how he had gotten a cold when they went to visit the Whale tribe village a long time ago. He was a great and mighty Dragon, but he had still caught a cold.
Raon puffed up his chest and responded back.
"No! I am not sick! It is not a cold! I am great and mighty, so I will never catch a cold again!"
'Aigoo.'
Cale started to shake his head. Raon used temperature management magic on On, Hong, himself, and the rest.
"Oh! It's not cold at all!"
"I am great and mighty!"
Raon and Hong were running through the white pebbles or in the sky even with the snow falling on them. Cale then turned his gaze.
"Mmph!"
He then flinched.
"…Eruhaben-nim?"
Eruhaben was standing right next to him.
However, Eruhaben was not looking at Cale. He was looking at Raon with an odd gaze before turning toward Cale and casually making a comment.
"…Something is weird."
"Excuse me? Weird?"
Cale knew that Eruhaben's gaze had been on Raon just now and quickly started to speak.
"Are you talking about Raon?"
"No. You."
"…Excuse me?"
The ancient Dragon sternly responded back to Cale, who blankly asked in confusion.
"That crown in your hand."
Mercenary King Bud Illis chimed in at that moment. He had left his highest-grade mage friend, Glenn Poeff, to deal with the issues and accompanied Cale's group here.
"I think… Even I think that something is weird about the thing in your hand as Eruhaben-nim mentioned. What is it?"
Bud's eyes were sparkling with curiosity.
Cale unexpectedly responded the way he wanted to respond after seeing the look on Bud's face.
"I don't want to tell you."
Seeing those sparkling eyes made him not want to answer.
Smirk.
Bud smirked as he answered back.
"Then don't tell me!"
'…This weird bastard.'
Cale could not figure Bud out. Bud didn't care as he started to speak again. The others gathered around him.
"Honestly speaking, we came here because you said the Dragon Slayer village might be here, right? Isn't that the case, Eruhaben-nim?"
"Correct."
Bud seemed more excited after hearing Eruhaben's response and raised the tension as he continued to speak.
"This place!"
He picked up some white pebbles in both hands. The pebbles just fell out through the gap between his hands.
"There is nothing here!"
'…What?'
Cale 's gaze headed toward Bud's eyes.
"This is a place where only these white sand pebbles, white trees, and the white snow exists."
Ron chimed in as well.
"This is somewhere that life cannot grow."
The thought of dead mana crossed Cale's mind.
"It is not because of dead mana."
However, Ron's explanation made him push that aside and question the reason.
"Why can't life grow here?"
Ron and Bud both responded to that question.
"I do not know, young master-nim."
"No idea!"
Bud shrugged his shoulders as Cale's expression turned stoic.
"That's why it's one of the Three Restricted Areas! Someone who walks in here will most likely die of starvation from losing their way."
Bud pointed toward Cale's crown.
"That is why I find this item that is showing you a way to be quite interesting. Is there really something here in this land of nothing? Hmm?"
A curious set of eyes were thoroughly observing the crown. Cale felt iffy about those eyes and debated whether he should find a bottle somewhere to give to Bud.
"There's also something else that is not here."
Cale looked toward the ancient Dragon and could see where his finger was pointing.
"Ah."
Cale immediately understood what Eruhaben was trying to say.
The ancient Dragon's finger was pointed at the sky. Cale's expression turned odd after looking up.
It was snowing.
There were a lot of clouds and a thick fog.
He could not see the sun because of that.
He heard Eruhaben's voice once again.
"There are no nights nor days here."
Swoooooooosh-
They heard a swoosh as wind wrapped around the group. The ancient Dragon's wind magic was delivered to the group.
Eruhaben kicked off the ground with a white gold colored wind at the tip of his feet. He moved forward and started to speak to Cale and the others.
"Follow me. I know the path here."
The direction he was heading toward was the same as the direction that the white crown was showing. He looked around and casually commented.
"The path to the last Dragon Lord's grave and the path that the crown is showing are the same."
The last Dragon Lord.
Those words made Bud, Ron, Choi Han, and Beacrox start to follow the ancient Dragon.
"The Castle of Light. I will show you the truth about that place."
Eruhaben turned back around and started to move.
Cale opened to Raon and Hong to quickly follow them. The two of them started to move with excitement as well. He then lowered his body.
"On."
He picked up On who had a complicated expression on her face.
"What's wrong?"
On had been quiet earlier when Raon and Hong were happily playing around. She had only looked up at the sky.
"…Nothing. It's nothing much."
On shook her head and jumped out of Cale's arms and started to run. Cale ran next to her. He heard On's mumblings as they ran.
"…Something is weird."
Cale just quietly continued on.
However, he clearly remembered it.
Raon and On.
Both children said something was weird as soon as they entered this area.
Cale trusted the two children's words quite a bit. His reddish-brown eyes quickly started to look around.
He also looked at something else that was weird.
Ooooooong-
The white crown had been shaking since earlier.
Cale's expression turned odd as he looked at the crown.
It was crying.
– …I will kill him.
Cale heard the crying and comments in his mind.
– I will definitely…kill…the bastard who took away all my precious things. I will definitely…kill him.
The voice was familiar.
Why?
The Dominating Aura.
It was the same as the voice who had told Cale that this bluffing power was great for scamming people.
Cale followed behind the group and brought the crown up to his mouth. He then whispered to it.
"Shut up. Otherwise, I will break you."
The crown became quiet.
Cale then increased his speed with a satisfied expression.
He didn't care what the crown had to say. This crown had become a useless item he needed to destroy at some point from the moment it had aimed for Raon.
Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-
A cool breeze brushed past his face as he flew through the air.
* * *
They moved like that for a whole hour.
The group finally arrived at the spot where the crown's strand of light ended.
Eruhaben stopped once he got to that location.
"There's nothing here?"
Bud looked around with a confused expression. Choi Han and Beacrox also turned their heads and looked around.
All they could still see were the white pebbles, the snow, and the white trees.
It was at that moment.
"That's what it seems like."
Eruhaben was laughing. He brushed back his hair and glanced around.
"Dragons return to nature once they die. They become a part of nature and leave no traces."
He pointed to himself.
"I will probably turn to dust and be dispersed into this world after I die. That is the death I wish for."
"You still have a long way to go before you die! You are going to live for a long time!"
The red Kitten Hong peeked around before sharing his opinion.
"Ahem."
Eruhaben let out a fake cough before continuing to speak.
"Dragons consider those kinds of deaths as the most beautiful deaths."
This was the reason Dragons became upset and angry about Dragons who were murdered, forcing their dead corpse to remain in the world without even being able to rot away to return to nature.
"However…"
A corner of his lips started to go up. It was a cold smile.
"In front of our eyes is a Dragon who died and was unable to return to nature."
Choi Han asked a question.
"Is that Dragon the last Dragon Lord?"
Bud, who was standing there with an odd expression, also asked a question.
"…In front of our eyes?"
Eruhaben nodded his head and gave a short response back.
"Yes, in front of our eyes. Can't you all see it?"
Eruhaben reached his hand out. The white pebbles flew into his palm. Eruhaben clenched onto those pebbles.
They spilled out through the gaps between his fingers.
"The last Dragon Lord."
Eruhaben's eyes headed toward the black Dragon. The little kid's round eyes were focused on him.
"That white Dragon's attribute is something that Dragons have known about for generations."
The last Dragon Lord was a White Dragon.
"It was very famous."
All Dragons have some sort of natural attribute.
Eruhaben's was dust, while Raon's was the present.
"The White Dragon created this Castle of Light. This white ground and the white snow. Everything here are traces of that Dragon."
His foot moved up before pushing back down again.
Boooom!
A loud vibration started with Eruhaben at the center.
"Aaah!"
Bud's body started to shake.
Choi Han was already regaining his balance with On and Hong in his arms. Even Ron and Beacrox slightly stumbled.
They could see a large white gold whirlwind coming out of Eruhaben. The white gold dust particles were roaring and creating a whirlwind.
Boom!
Eruhaben stomped his foot once more.
"…Huh?"
"Ah."
Both Bud and Beacrox gasped.
Swooooooosh-
The white gold whirlwind started to disappear. It ran into something before it disappeared.
And in place of the whirlwind…
The group could see a large shield.
No, it was a castle gate.
It was a large white castle gate in the shape of a shield.
They could also see the scenery past the castle gate.
"The last Dragon Lord's attribute was protection."
Eruhaben laughed as he continued to speak.
"Can you see the shield?"
His hand pointed to the gate. He then pointed beyond the gate.
"You can see that tall and beautiful castle as well, right?"
A white castle that was sparkling appeared in front of the group.
"…The Castle of Light."
Bud mumbled the name of this location.
He thought he could finally understand why it was called the Castle of Light.
A beautiful and holy looking white castle.
The traces that the last Dragon Lord left behind.
Bud was so absorbed in its beauty that he subconsciously started to walk toward the white castle. However, he had no choice but to stop.
The large gate prevented him from going any farther.
"You cannot go in."
Bud turned his head.
"All living Dragons tried to enter that castle once the Dragon Lord died. That was because the next generation's Dragon Lord had not been decided."
Eruhaben thought about the ancient Dragon who had told him about the situation at that time. The information about what happened had been passed down orally from Dragon to Dragon for generations.
It could not be helped.
"However, that castle did not open its gates for any Dragon."
The castle gates did not open.
No Dragon could destroy the castle gate either.
The Dragon Lord's strength was that strong.
The Dragons had realized something after having all of this information.
Inside that castle…
"It is currently protecting something."
The Dragon Lord was definitely protecting something.
"The last Dragon Lord created this castle to protect something. They created a castle that nobody could enter. It has been that way even after the Dragon Lord's death."
Numerous Dragons had tried to destroy this Castle of Light for ages.
However, nobody could enter. They could not even get past this shield.
"The last Lord killed themselves. They then left this Castle of Light behind."
It was at that moment.
"Cale-nim!"
"Youngest!"
Choi Han, On, and Hong's voices cut through the group.
The rest of the group quickly turned their heads toward Cale and Raon.
"Ugh!"
Cale's left hand was shaking. He was frowning while trying to get rid of the shaking. However, he couldn't help but be angry.
"T, this damn crown!"
He grabbed his left hand with his right hand.
However, Cale's left hand with the crown was trying to move on its own accord against Cale's will.
The white crown was trying to control his left hand.
It was at that moment.
Cale heard two voices in his mind.
It was the Dominating Aura and the white crown.
– Open the castle gate. I need to keep my close friend's last request.
The Dominating Aura was the first to speak.
Then came the white crown.
– Open the castle gate.
The voice continued in a sad tone.
– There will be nothing inside there.
Cale's left hand could no longer be controlled and slowly headed toward his head. The crown was about to land on his head.
It was at that moment.
"Youngest!"
"Raon!"
Cale heard Hong and On's shouts and quickly turned his head.
He could see Raon.
"…Oo oo… oo..."
He could see Raon struggling with his paw on his chest.
"Raon!"
Pow!
Cale smacked his left hand with his right hand. He then started to walk toward Raon.
Everybody stopped moving at that moment.
Screeeech-
An unexpected sound could be heard.
It was a sound that nobody here had expected.
The group turned their heads.
The gate was opening.
The Castle of Light.
The large gate was opening.
Cale could then see it.
There was someone inside the castle gate.
This existence was half transparent.
It was a small white Dragon about Raon's size.
The Dragon with dark blue eyes started to speak.
"Welcome, my child. Welcome, the person who has carried on my close friend's will."
The young White Dragon's eyes were looking toward Cale and Raon.