Chapter 124. The Dragon Hides Its Offspring (1)
The priest of the Elahu-Fraaga cult felt a profound sense of awe.
Before him, the most beautiful light in the universe flowed like waves. It was a torrent that seemed to wash the soul in sacredness. Everything visible was divine blood—what unbelievers falsely called "Talant." The evidence of the god the cult worshipped filled the space entirely.
Though he had witnessed this scene many times since his baptism, every time he visited this place, the thrill remained undiminished. Though now in a spiritual state and unable to cry, he knew that when he returned to his body, he would be overwhelmed with hot tears. Just as he and his fellow priests always were, choked with emotion, overwhelmed by the fullness.
'Beautiful.'
The priest was now in the place from which the cult took its name.
The dwelling place of the primordial race.
Elahu-Fraaga.
'I want it.'
As if enchanted, the priest's spiritual form moved. He tried to reach out, toward the magnificent display of colors.
But he knew he could not. He disciplined his mind, which was beginning to cloud.
'I must not absorb the divine blood for the time being.'
All of this was the consequence of a sinner's actions.
A missionary dispatched to the dimension known as Earth, longing for eternity after the apocalypse, betrayed the cult. As a result, he extracted an excessive amount of divine blood from this place.
The fact that the Talant yield was always lower than expected was well known to the Committee. But due to the drastic changes, they were taking various measures, alarmed.
Therefore, the cult had issued an order to refrain from absorbing divine blood temporarily. The judgment was that further provoking the Committee at this point would be unwise.
They hoped that over time, as the Talant yield naturally increased to compensate for the abrupt reduction, the Committee's suspicions would be alleviated.
'After all, they have no way of knowing what happens here, upstream, nor the ability to find out.'
The priest looked in the direction the light was flowing.
Down below, following the current created by the divine blood, there was a gate guarded by vile unbelievers.
A place they blasphemously named the mining site.
Recently, the Mint Bureau, under intense pressure, dispatched a search team beyond that gate, trying to figure out what was happening inside. They repeated an attempt they had always failed at for years, foolishly.
In the end, none of them managed to make it upstream to this place.
=Priest!=
At that moment, he felt a mental wave calling him. Turning, he saw the spiritual form of a comrade.
=Yumtus Priest!=
This was the person he had been waiting for.
As they sought a method of communication the Committee could never eavesdrop on, they devised this method: meeting in Elahu-Fraaga in a spiritual state.
=How is the Incarnation?=
Yumtus replied with a bright smile, his mental wave radiating satisfaction.
=He grows in majesty and glory by the day. Perhaps due to this, I feel my soul also being filled as I serve him. It is truly a blessed experience.=
=Are you managing to endure life in that world?=
=Endure? I wouldn't call it that! Shamefully, there hasn't been anything I'd call hardship. Every day is a succession of learning and enlightenment. Observing how other species who serve the same god express their faith in their own ways, my confusion clears, and I am filled with clarity and awe. I am learning a lot.=
=Are you attending worship with the believers there? I thought you wouldn't be able to move freely to avoid the Committee's watch.=
=Not exactly. Thanks to the arrangements of the Incarnation, I have been able to access various teaching materials and religious promotion materials.=
=Hah, even in death, that sinner didn't neglect his missionary work, it seems.=
After inquiring about the welfare of his homeland dimension, Yumtus got to the point.
=Then, I shall relay the Incarnation's words.=
Though the other was in a spiritual state, he deeply bowed, showing his respect. Yumtus began to speak as the priest listened intently.
=He has instructed us to temporarily postpone the preparation for the scheduled ritual.=
Given the current situation, this was inevitable. Additional extraction of divine blood was not possible.
=And the Incarnation intends to assign a task to those who believe in the primordial race.=
=······?!=
The priest's eyes gleamed. Since revealing himself in this world, the Incarnation had rarely made any demands of their order.
Yumtus continued.
=We must now devise a way to deliver the divine blood collected at the altar in the other dimension to him.=
This was the task Min-jun had assigned.
The priest's face grew serious.
=Transporting that much divine blood through a jump line would be detected.=
=Yes, the unbelievers would notice. So, it's impossible through normal means.=
=What about using priests to carry it in a spiritual state…=
=It would take an enormous amount of time. The amount that can be carried by one person's soul is limited. If we ignore this and try to move too much at once, we'd end up like that sinner.=
=Or, what about the Incarnation descending into our dimension, to the place where the altar is?=
Yumtus shook his head.
=Unfortunately, he is currently unable to move freely between dimensions.=
Though the lockdown on their home dimension had been partially lifted, travel was not entirely free. If someone other than their kin tried to enter that dimension, the Committee would undoubtedly take notice.
=A difficult problem.=
There was another issue.
Though the Incarnation's existence was theologically proven, most of the priests in the cult had yet to see or feel his presence directly.
There would undoubtedly be priests who would resist the command to hand over all the divine blood that the cult had accumulated over many years to Min-jun.
=I will do my best.=
The priest returned with a heavy heart.
"Suna, the time has come."
Choi Seon-ah looked at her foster father with a pale face. Choi Pan-seok had the same gentle expression as always. The same expression he showed only to her since his wife had passed away.
"There is something you were instructed to do, isn't there? I believe you can foresee it again by now. Go ahead and do it."
His tone was ordinary. To an outsider, nothing would seem amiss. But the content of his words was something he would never utter if he were in a normal state.
"It would be best not to disappoint him. You should do your utmost."
Her foster father was still under Min-jun's brainwashing.
Choi Seon-ah felt a chill down her spine.
'How can this be?'
None of their colleagues or aides seemed to have noticed anything. This was because Choi Pan-seok's words and actions in areas unrelated to Min-jun hadn't changed at all. He could carry out his daily tasks without any issues.
But when they were alone like this, he became her watchman, a loyal servant of the man who had brainwashed him.
Choi Pan-seok had an unconditional and irrational trust in Min-jun. Choi Seon-ah felt that his attitude resembled that of a devout religious follower. This realization made her shudder even more.
"…Yes, I will."
Suppressing her complicated emotions, she closed her eyes.
A few days ago, realizing there was no escape, Choi Seon-ah had complied with Min-jun's orders. What he wanted was to find a future where certain conditions were realized, and the path to reach that point.
Choi Seon-ah had explained to Min-jun that these conditions had to be very simple and intuitive, like when she simulated a future where she could survive.
Upon hearing those words, Min-jun pondered for a moment. Choi Seon-ah's ability was not infallible. Although she had foreseen him grasping the handle of the blade, she hadn't been able to predict the ensuing catastrophe. While she had survived in the end, there had been errors in her interpretation.
To achieve greater precision, multiple experiments would be necessary from different angles.
So, what kind of future should he have her try to find?
He considered futures like "a future where Min-jun wins" or "a future where all his kin awaken," but these weren't specific enough.
After some thought, Min-jun gave his command.
Simulate a future where I witness the downfall of the Committee.
He had calculated that for such an event to occur, the primordial race would have to awaken anyway.
Choi Seon-ah was shocked upon hearing this.
What is this man working towards? Why must I foresee such a future?
But she had no choice but to obey.
It was the only way for her and her foster father to survive.
"······."
Under the gaze of her foster father, Choi Seon-ah concentrated on her precognition.
She had already tried several times but had never been able to see a clear vision. It could simply be a failure in controlling her ability, or it could be evidence that such a future would never come to pass.
But she couldn't stop trying. Min-jun had the ability to read memories. If he realized she hadn't given her best effort, there would be consequences. Choi Seon-ah knew how cruel he could be when he deemed it necessary. She had already foreseen it.
After several failures, she decided to change her approach.
Up until now, she had focused solely on the event of the Committee's collapse. However, there was another condition that Min-jun had set: that he would remain intact during that event. At the very least, he would need to be present to observe it.
Choi Seon-ah rolled another die in her mind, adding another thread to the web of causality. As more conditions were added, the precognition became more difficult, but it also became more concrete.
The collapse of the Committee.
Yeo Min-jun.
As she concentrated on these two elements and gazed into the future...
"Ugh!"
She let out a groan between her lips. The orc was alarmed.
"Are you alright, Seon-ah?"
The affection and concern in his voice were genuine. Although he had been brainwashed, his emotions were not controlled.
"···Ugh!"
Veins bulged on her forehead.
"This, this is...!"
Sensing that something was wrong, the orc stood up from his seat.
At that moment.
"···Kyaaah!"
"Seon-ah!"
Her scream tore through the air. Before the orc, his foster daughter collapsed, vomiting blood, her face twisted in a ghostly expression, eyes rolled back.
"Seon-ah, stay with me. Seon-ah!"
This was the second time she had reacted like this.
Shaking in her foster father's arms, the precognitive was barely able to mutter, her face cracked and half-destroyed in pain.
"...Dad."
The future seen through her precognition becomes clearer the more people are aware of the event in question.
For example, a personal event known to only one person next year is less clear than an event known to everyone on Earth.
And the future Choi Seon-ah just saw...
"...It's too much."
"What do you mean by that?"
The information from the future she glimpsed was so vast that it overwhelmed her cognitive abilities. The weight of it pressed down violently on her brain. It was so vivid that she ended up missing a lot.
With a voice tinged with fear, she continued.
"Perhaps..."
After a brief hesitation, she murmured ominously.
"If this future really comes to pass... everyone in the dimensional system, every species, will be affected."
The orc thought that was an obvious statement, considering it was about the collapse of the Committee, a massive event.
But he couldn't understand why his daughter was struggling so much...
"You're inviting me to the Dragon Council meeting?"
Min-jun raised his voice, conscious of Blair sitting nearby.
He was called to Jenkinson Tower out of the blue and wasn't sure what to expect, but this was it. After a long hiatus, the dragon meeting would finally resume, and there was a request for Min-jun to attend. The message had been delivered through Blair from the Dragon Lord's secretary's office.
Jenkinson, in his polymorphed form, nodded and said, "You've been deeply involved in most of the issues I'm planning to bring up at the meeting, haven't you?"
The issues Jenkinson referred to were as follows:
The incident where a dragon developed a virus to exterminate its own kind.
The incident where the lair of the dragon storing that virus was raided.
The incident where a dragon kidnapped another dragon to save it.
The incident where a creature that was a mix of a dragon and an alien spider was discovered.
All these events were closely related to dragons and were of significant severity. Naturally, they needed to be discussed at the meeting.
And another common point was that all these incidents had been resolved by Min-jun.
Jenkinson spoke cautiously, "Of course, I understand that attending this meeting might be burdensome from the perspective of other species."
Min-jun had been entangled with dragons in various ways since arriving on Earth. He had been invited to their gatherings before, but the largest and most grand event he had attended was the Dragon Lord's divorce celebration.
Everyone knew that the Dragon Council meeting was on a completely different level.
Literally, almost every dragon residing on Earth would gather.
From dragons who had become conglomerate heads in East Asia, to dragons enjoying a hermit lifestyle in the Himalayas. From dragons so old they were revered even among Elder Dragons, to young dragons who had just shed their hatchling status... all of them would be there.
Imagining this scene, Min-jun...
"..."
He couldn't help but feel a warmth spread in his chest.
His heart felt strong and full. It was a kind of nostalgia.
He imagined it. Big dragons, small dragons, thick dragons, thin dragons, old dragons, young dragons, horned dragons, wingless dragons, burrowing dragons, finned dragons...
Just picturing all of them gathered together was satisfying. It felt like he wouldn't need to eat; he'd be full just from the thought.
'Yes, I've been away from such things for far too long.'
Thinking this, he said, "I'm fine with it. I'll attend."
< 124. The Dragon Hides Its Young (1) > End