< 159. The Dream of a Sinner (2) >
The Great Dragon, Raymond Wong, woke up from a terrible nightmare.
He was in the lair beneath the recently partially destroyed mansion.
'What kind of dream was it?'
He felt weak and his whole body was heavy. The Elder Dragon soon gave up on trying to recall the dream. It had been happening frequently lately. His joints ached and his scales felt loose. Moving even a single finger was a struggle.
"Master Raymond."
Hearing the voice from outside the door, he realized he had been noticed as awake.
"Come in."
The butler hesitated and then showed his face. After the recent rain of dragon's blood scattered by the employer, most of the staff had taken sick leave, leaving only humans to assist.
Raymond himself appeared as unwell as those who had taken leave. In a bedroom designed for a dragon, the brain dragon lay coiled and slack. The secretary reported cautiously.
"Great Dragon Jenkins has sent a message. The content is a proposal to move up the Dragon Lord election scheduled for 93 days from now and a note that the response to the recent committee's hostile actions cannot be postponed until after the election..."
"Tell him that I and all the dragons who support me agree with Jenkins' opinion and delegate the decision-making authority regarding the new schedule to him."
A brief silence followed. The butler was flustered by Raymond's tone, which sounded like he was reciting a prepared script, and was also shocked by the content.
"Uh... I'm afraid I might have heard that wrong."
The Great Dragon was suddenly enraged. Exhausted and weak, his frustration was aggravated by the butler's persistent questioning.
"Don't make me repeat myself and just get out!"
"Yes, yes!"
The butler, flustered, retreated. Normally, messages between great dragons were delivered directly by the dragons themselves, especially for such important matters.
However, Raymond truly lacked the strength to do so. He let his head fall back down weakly and rested it on his rounded body.
Though neither the butler nor Raymond himself could see it, his vitality was severely depleted. It was dangerously close to running out.
In the brief time he had slept, it had decreased drastically.
Even the memories of the dream just before seemed to have been abruptly cut off. The Great Dragon felt a moment of bewilderment but quickly forgot it.
He focused inwardly. Although his strength was waning, strangely, he wasn't hungry. His stomach felt full, yet his energy was mysteriously drained.
He murmured to himself.
'I can't endure this any longer. I need to sleep again.'
The Great Dragon closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
And once again, he dreamed a nightmare. Black mist gathered from all directions, sharply stabbing his body. Blood flowed endlessly from his wounds, filling the lair and creating a red lake.
The dragon screamed in the dream, but no sound was heard.
The wind was torn apart. Searching for the missing dragon, he raced through the sky on Adkiel's back. The ground below flowed like a mighty river. The weather was clear with no clouds. The forest meeting the sunset approached him at a brisk pace and then receded behind.
'Where could it be?'
The identification tag embedded in the creature didn't respond to the livestock management system. It was a chronic issue with magic-powered devices. Of all times, the power failed now.
He had to resort to primitive methods. He cast tracking spells repeatedly during flight, covering all directions. Then he backtracked the creature's path. It was a tedious and repetitive task with significant magical energy expenditure. It would be nice if a single spell could cover the entire planet, but that's still in the realm of fantasy.
'I need to improve the identification tag. I should start by changing the material. And also the power supply method.'
While part of his consciousness focused on finding the dragon, another part pondered the development of the system.
'Instead of embedding metallic foreign substances, it would be better to replace the identification tag with an organic material. The tracking function should not only cover basic tracking but also monitor livestock history. It should update information automatically. That would make management much easier. For example...'
He soon devised the most suitable model.
'What if I mix it with blood? It would become more of an identification fluid rather than a tag. The power would be replaced by the dragon's life force. It would never run out.'
The idea, sparked by frustration from the difficult task of finding a dragon in the mountains, was gradually taking shape.
Of course, it was still just an idea and he lacked the technology to implement it in reality. But he knew that all improvements started like this. It seemed worth developing further.
'Hmm?'
His contemplation on improving the livestock identification tag was momentarily interrupted.
'This direction...'
He refocused on the original task of locating the missing dragon. The path led to an unexpected location.
'No, this one?'
He clicked his tongue.
'There's nothing to eat around here, so why did it come this way?'
Upon another confirmation, there was no doubt. The dragon's traces led to the place where he had laid his late master to rest. It was an unimaginable destination for him.
"It seems to be around here."
He lowered one hand and scratched Adkiel's chin, giving instructions.
"Let's land here and then search on foot."
"Grrr!"
Adkiel, showing agreement with a growl, lowered its altitude.
Since the sun had already set by the time they departed, the surroundings were quite dark. He dismounted from the dragon and set foot on the ground.
"Where did you go, you little rascal..."
He walked through the deep forest with Adkiel, searching. The dragon seemed delighted to have its owner all to itself, running ahead and looking back to urge him, or following leisurely behind while sniffing the surroundings, occasionally rubbing its tail against his shoulder to get his attention.
"······!"
Suddenly, Adkiel stopped. The atmosphere around the dragon changed abruptly.
"Grrr!"
Before the golden dragon growled at a specific point, he already knew what was there. He had deliberately chosen to circumvent this area based on prior knowledge.
Before them was a patch of seemingly ordinary weeds. It didn't look special. However, he and Adkiel were focused on what was beneath.
Finding the lost livestock was important, but having seen it, he couldn't just pass by. He licked his lips, feeling the heavy magical energy.
Swish!
An intangible force scraped the ground. Rough noise echoed through the forest. Invisible claws tore into the earth, digging to a certain depth and lifting the soil. Clumps of weeds and dirt were scattered into the air. Several rather heavy rocks were also thrown up.
The ground's inner layers were exposed without any hesitation. What had been hiding in the soft soil...
Wriggle! Wriggle!
"Grrr!"
The dragon barked with a hostile spirit.
"Ugh."
He couldn't hide his disgust as he scowled.
The dug-out area resembled a snake's den. But the writhing creatures tangled together in thousands had elongated bodies covered in brown fur instead of scales. Creatures that typically live in darkness writhed in panic, their movements distorted by the still potent sunlight, even though it was dusk.
"So there was a den of Kavaites here."
It was too close to the livestock pen. The dragons searching for food might accidentally touch them and get bitten. He decided to clean this place up and move on.
The method was the same as usual. Since these creatures were vulnerable to the cold, he would freeze them quickly and then crush them. He aimed with his hand, intending to freeze the creatures tangled together, writhing, and struggling, just as always.
The process would be painless. They would freeze before even noticing the change in temperature.
'One shouldn't be cruel to harmful beasts. It's better to send them off as comfortably as possible. And... it's wise to carefully consider completely exterminating them out of convenience.'
A nostalgic voice lingered in his ear.
According to what he had heard, the master had struggled immensely with a creature called the Logras when developing this ranch. It was a flying beast with transparent wings and a beak adorned with sharp spikes. Due to the harm it posed to dragons, the master exterminated every single one of them. As a result, the balance of the planetary ecosystem was disrupted, causing considerable trouble for a while, as he had heard repeatedly.
Thus, the master did not exterminate the next harmful creature, the Kabites, and they continued to persist.
Although they were of no use to him or the dragons, they must be contributing something to the planetary ecosystem.
However, it was correct to kill any near the ranch on sight.
With just one spell... those creatures could be made to pass away peacefully without suffering...
Crack!
Despite the repeated thoughts.
'Huh?'
The stench of raw, disgusting matter assaulted his nose as he came to his senses. He looked down. Somehow, his moving foot had stomped on a group of Kabites. Their long bodies burst open, spilling organs and soaking his shoes with various bodily fluids.
"Yaaaaa! Yaaaaaaa!"
Feeling threatened, the Kabites opened their mouths and attacked his legs. But they couldn't penetrate his protective gear. He swung his hand with an expressionless face. An invisible blade traced a path across the ground.
Thud!
The beasts were cut into pieces and soared into the sky. Even though their bodies were sliced into five parts, they did not die. They continued writhing on the ground, their bodily fluids sloshing around.
And he saw it. Like protozoa, the severed pieces were showing signs of trying to regenerate. The fact made him extremely uncomfortable.
If they don't die even when cut into five pieces.
Then slicing them into smaller pieces should suffice.
He couldn't understand what he was doing. No matter how seawater might be, such cruel slaughter was unnecessary. Nonetheless, he couldn't resist the pulsating impulse. Upon introspection, he realized this was a momentary, delayed recognition.
Anger.
An uncontrollable, boiling rage.
It was different from usual. He didn't understand why. He couldn't provide a peaceful death to those repugnant creatures. He wanted to torment them in the most brutal manner possible. The most miserable pain that his nervous system could endure.
Whiiir!
Energy whirled in the air. It was a structure of very small blades spinning rapidly. He slowly lowered it from the air. The wild beasts still desperately attacked, but it was futile.
Crack!
Chunks of flesh and blood splattered everywhere. The magical blender took on a spherical shape. It rolled over the Kabite group like a ball. Following its path, the Kabites were pulverized and dispersed.
He muttered.
Not enough, still not enough.
More... more cruelly.
Compared to what I, we, have endured...
"...?!"
Fwoosh!
The heat scorched his cheek.
His trance snapped back to reality. He turned his head.
Adkiel was facing the Kabites. Dragons don't normally eat such disgusting creatures, but it seemed Adkiel thought he should help after seeing Minjun's actions.
But there were far too many beasts. Adkiel was flustered. So urgent was the situation that he even used fire, which his master strictly forbade.
'That guy!'
His mind fully returned to normal. And he was startled by the scene before him.
Many masters performed surgery to remove the flame-throwing organs from a Fire Dragon's throat, but both he and his master were opposed to such human-centric, cruel practices. Thus, while Adkiel could breathe fire, he controlled the impulse very well.
However, in such an emergency, instincts took over.
'It could start a forest fire!'
A forest fire.
The worst disaster he could think of as a dragon slayer.
At that moment, a Kabite shot powerfully into the air. Targeting the blind spot of the Fire Dragon, it clung to the back of its neck. Adkiel's eyes widened. The Kabite's body, once thin like a whip, rapidly ballooned. It was an astonishing speed.
"Rarara!"
Adkiel, screaming in apparent agony, spewed fire in all directions. Before that fiery display could incinerate the primeval forest, he reached out.
Crack!
Adkiel lost a scale. "Rarara!" Alongside the screaming beast, the Kabite clinging to its neck was shredded. Thud! The pieces falling to the ground contained not only the Kabites' green bodily fluids but also bright red blood.
'It has consumed so much in such a short time!'
He felt extreme annoyance and anger. However, this anger was somewhat different from the one that had burned his mind moments earlier. It was anger that touched the realm of reason. The impulse to slowly slice the Kabites for a long time was barely resisted.
Ultimately, a few minutes later, he had completely eradicated the Kabites.
No living sea creatures remained. There were no writhing pieces to be seen.
"Kiiiiing!"
Adkiel approached with tears welling in its large eyes. It had been injured and sought attention, presenting its neck.
He clicked his tongue. Such a fuss.
He applied medicine from the spatial pocket and scratched Adkiel's neck. Soon, it purred contentedly as if it had never cried.
Leaving the creature momentarily, he pondered while cleaning up the Kabites.
'Aggressiveness is gradually increasing. Now they target dragons on sight. Would it be better to just wipe them out and exterminate them?'
Had he been in the previous mental state, he might have made such a decision. But he had already regained his composure.
'Let's keep that as a secondary option for now. But it's clear that it's a stage that can no longer be overlooked.'
The economic loss from the bloodsucking was negligible. It was a matter of pride as a dragon slayer. It was unacceptable for beasts to covet the blood of the livestock he raised.
And while it was okay now, it could create new problems over time.
He recalled and contemplated a plan he had thought of earlier.
'Instead of eradicating the species due to the problem, it would be better to eliminate the potential for the problem.'
The best solution would be to make those sea creatures no longer need to target dragons.
More precisely, the dragon's blood.
'How about changing the dragon's blood into something the Kabites cannot consume?'
His thoughts expanded further.
'No, not just the Kabites...'
Something that no one, excluding his kin, could consume.
< 159. While the Sinner Dreams (2) > End