Chapter 174: Side Story 11 |
Drea wasn’t someone who would ever leave Shaik under any circumstances.
Especially not now, when something strange had happened to him.
It wasn’t Shaik’s arrogance, but rather his conviction.
Even if Shaik had fallen ill and couldn’t believe in anything, there was one thing he believed in, and that was Drea’s feelings towards him.
The small dragon that imprinted on him as soon as she was born stubbornly clung to him no matter how much he pushed her away, tormented her, or acted indifferent.
Unfailingly, like a fool, she stood up again and smiled.
Whether it was love, obsession, or greed, Shaik dared to be certain that Drea’s feelings for him would never change.
Sometimes, it looked so beautiful that it made him feel awkward.
“Shaik! I like you!”
It seemed like he was getting used to it, even more.
‘Drea… This foolish dragon.’
Actually, Shaik was lying a little.
The first thing he expected to see when he opened his eyes was not his mother Kalia, but a noisy white dragon.
He was worried that she might be crying and upset because he was in pain, but the girl wasn’t near Shaik.
It was strange.
‘The dream I was having wasn’t a dream about Drea… Why did I wake up thinking of Drea…?’
Why did he automatically assume that the child would be by his side?
Shaik wanted to look deeper into his heart, but he simply didn’t have the energy.
He could only think about why Drea wasn’t here, where the child should be.
“Drea…”
Amidst the fading consciousness and blurred thoughts, Kalia’s voice sang a lullaby to Shaik.
“…went… to… save… you…”
‘…What? What are you saying, Mother?’
He couldn’t quite make out the words that sounded like they were being cut off.
Shaik furrowed his brow slightly and tried to open his eyes, but his consciousness had already stepped into the deep currents of the dream.
His consciousness didn’t comply with his will.
He couldn’t confirm whether what he heard was true…
And at that moment.
“…Shaik!”
A clear voice, refreshing like raindrops on flower petals, resounded through the air.
It was a voice that instantly pulled Shaik’s consciousness, which seemed impossible to escape.
As he blinked his closed eyes, a bright white gate appeared above the empty space.
Countless white flower petals also poured down from above his head.
‘…Snow?’
Shaik thought absentmindedly.
Does the scent of warm sunlight on the brightest day feel like this?
A warm and gentle fragrance enveloped him.
The soft flower petals brushed against his cheeks and forehead as they descended.
Shaik was completely buried in the shower of flowers.
A startled Kalia reached out and embraced the descending Drea in the air.
“Drea!”
“I’m back, Kalia Mama!”
With disheveled hair, a broken knee, and a long cut on her cheek, Drea appeared and hugged Kalia with a bright smile.
“What on earth…!”
Kalia looked bewildered as she stared at the two people coming in one after another through the gate.
“Grandmother… and Nua too?”
“Hohoho! I was so worried about this little one, so I went to pick her up! Finding the gate was difficult, but Gaia cleverly sent a bluebird to the spirit realm. I followed that child.”
Leah’s words made Gaia proudly spread her two fingers to make a V gesture.
Nua gently stroked Gaia’s head.
“I went and saw. This little one fought very bravely. She courageously brought back a white flower!”
“What? What is all this…”
At the mention of a fight, Kalia tightly held Drea in her arms again.
Up close, she noticed small bruises on her face here and there.
Seeing the disheveled appearance of the child, Kalia’s eyes turned fierce.
“Drea, did you fight? With whom? Who would fight with such a young child…!”
Kalia’s angry voice became sharp.
Drea smiled awkwardly and tightly hugged Kalia.
“Drea was brave. She fought valiantly while thinking of Shaik. Like Kalia Mama, Drea and Gaia became a wonderful team and fought together!”
“That’s right. Drea was amazing.”
In response to the excited words of Drea, Gaia clapped her hands and chuckled.
Drea and Gaia, both covered in wounds, were laughing. Nua and Leah, who were watching them with proud eyes, and Kalia, looked at them with a perplexed gaze.
“What’s going on? Can someone please explain in more detail?”
Leah gently stroked Shaik’s cheek, buried in a pile of flowers, and smiled quietly.
“The person involved knows the situation best, don’t you think?”
Upon hearing that, Drea rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Then, when her eyes met Kalia’s, the child smiled and spoke.
“That’s…”
* * *
While she appeared as a grandmother in her human form, she was by no means an old woman in her manifested state.
She skillfully and flexibly moved Drea around, like an experienced elder, with ease and grace.
Even when Drea used her unfamiliar power of illusion, Drea was overwhelmed and had difficulty defending herself.
‘No, I’ve seen and learned a few tricks too!’
Nevertheless, Drea was raised by a war hero’s hands.
Perhaps it was because she grew up watching the continent’s best magician that she was exceptionally good at avoiding attacks.
She had always been remarkably agile from birth.
Then, as Demetri’s attack struck and sent Drea flying far away, she gasped for breath and swiftly returned, leaping around.
“This is bad! You said you were only using 10% of your power! How is this just 10%?”
“Well, even though I didn’t use all of it, are you already tired?”
“Liar! You used 20%!”
“As I’ve said before, I do not lie.”
Deme calmly retorted and unleashed magic without a moment to breathe.
Small ice and fire spells were automatically defended by Simon’s armor, so she didn’t suffer much damage.
Instead, what troubled Drea was Deme’s melee attacks.
“These are good magical tools. They’re even sturdy. The durability is quite high. They should be able to handle even area-of-effect spells easily, right?”
Deme’s words made Drea proudly straighten her shoulders as if she had received a compliment.
“Of course! They’re made by the best magician on the continent!”
“Nevertheless, it belongs to just a mere human.”
“He’s not just a mere human! Papa is incredibly amazing!”
Dodging attacks and responding agilely, Drea boldly retorted while twisting her body.
Most of her outbursts were about how great his Mama and Papa were.
Deme found Drea’s innocence pitiful and at the same time, she found it suspicious how the dragon showed such intense trust in the imprinted one and her family.
‘…Most humans are unaware of the existence of the White Dragon, so how did she grow up loved and so well raised?’
She couldn’t help but be intrigued by the clothes Drea was wearing or the trusting eyes of the child.
Those eyes were the eyes of a child who had received love from those around her.
“Kid, now that I think about it, it seems like I have nothing to gain if I win this bet. It’s not a fair game, is it?”
Drea furrowed her brows at Deme’s words.
“It’s okay. You should have checked all that before the game started! It’s petty to try to change the contract now, Grandma.”
Deme chuckled in response to Drea’s words.
“You’re quite a cunning kid, aren’t you?”
“Life is about survival!”
“Who said that? Papa?”
“No! Shaik did. So it’s only natural to beg and be cunning. I believe Shaik’s words.”
Each retort from Drea was adorable.
Because of that, Deme became even more ambitious.
She wanted to raise that child splendidly within the sacred lands.
The human world was filled with uncertainty, especially with frequent wars.
Humans often used dragons in those wars, resulting in many dead dragons.
To them, non-human races were simply ‘tools.’
Even if they could shed blood, hold conversations, and make eye contact just like humans, they could be treated like animals or discarded like tools as needed.
Humans were weak. That’s why they were more cruel and more ruthless.
Deme’s companion, the Golden Dragon, fell into the trickery of humans and demons and turned into a mad dragon, dying in the process.
She didn’t want her companion to go mad anymore.
What was more humiliating was that his death was exploited by humans and demons.
That’s why she made up her mind to kill him. She asked the only human capable of killing him instead of being held captive by the demons.
‘…That man’s name was Shaik.’
A pitiful and kind soul manipulated by the gods.
He claimed not to be one, but he was excessively righteous.
It was a strange occurrence.
She hadn’t thought of that person once in hundreds of years, but now he kept coming to mind in front of this little dragon.
’Have I truly grown old? I’m having so many thoughts.’
Deme chuckled and thought that she should wrap up this battle soon.
“Anyway, kid. If I win, you have to grant me one thing I want.”
“There won’t be such a thing! Because I’m going to win!”
Despite the messy appearance, Drea shouted bravely.
Deme laughed and twirled in the air.
“Save that talk for after you win, little one.”
And then, in an instant, Deme teleported behind Drea and struck her side with a large, muscular tail.
It was too late to dodge, and they were too close.
‘It’s over.’
That was the moment.
Just before Deme’s tail dug into Drea’s side, Drea’s form disappeared.
It was undoubtedly too late to evade, and there was no trace of teleportation, but the child’s figure vanished in the blink of an eye.
Deme was rarely taken aback.
The child’s figure disappeared right in front of her eyes, with both eyes wide open.
“What, what’s going on? Where did they go?”
“Lux. Did you read teleportation?”
“No! No, it wasn’t a trace of teleportation.”
“That, really?”
The dragons, who were munching on popcorn, were all startled and murmured in confusion.
It was an impossible event.
Deme hesitated for a moment and focused her mind to read the child’s presence.
The faint presence of the child, which she thought had completely vanished, could still be faintly felt.
But at that very moment, something pricked Deme’s tail.
At the same time, the presence of the vanished child reappeared above her tail.
-I won.
It was such a small voice that it could easily go unheard.
Deme widened her eyes to examine the pain she felt in her tail.
Something was wriggling on top of it.
It was so small that it would be invisible if she didn’t squint her eyes.
What is that… huh?
“…Ha!”
Deme burst into laughter at that moment.
She nervously shook her tail to get rid of something.
Then, something like dust that was attached to the tail fell off and quickly transformed in appearance.
“Ta-da!”
Drea, whom she thought had disappeared, appeared with her two fingers spread wide.
“Was it a bit ticklish, Grandma?”
In the giggling Drea’s hand was a sword of Amuntia.
On Drea’s left wrist shimmered a transparency bracelet she received from Shaik when she was very young.
“You…”
Deme, seemingly incredulous, suppressed a chuckle and asked:
“What have you done?”
“Grandma said it, right? That it’s okay to just tickle. So… I tickled! I thought I could never deliver a fatal blow to you.”
Drea laughed softly as she spoke.
Drea’s best magic was changing appearance.
Though she was good at it, it was a magic she didn’t need to use often. And when she did, it required quite a lot of energy, so it wasn’t her favorite.
Nevertheless, Drea thought she would utilize that magic for the final strike.
Moreover, she could also use the bracelet borrowed from Shaik.
Smartly enough, she waited for Deme to make a close attack, knowing her own weakness against direct hits.
And finally, when Deme’s tail approached her, she shrunk herself to the smallest size she could.
At the same time, making her body transparent was the most challenging part.
She had to activate her magical tool while using magic.
But fortunately, Drea was strong in crisis and successfully made her small body transparent.
As the presence of the child diminished greatly, it took some time for the other dragons and Deme to realize it. In the meantime, Drea summoned Gaia.
Since Drea had shrunk, the bracelet also resized to fit her.
Drea, gripping the sword that Gaia had turned into with both hands, forcefully thrust it between the scales of Deme’s tail.
It probably felt like a sharp sting, but it was enough.
“I tried a little wit. What do you think? I won, right?”
Deme referred to that ‘wit’.
The massive white dragon’s body gradually shrank.
Deme, who returned to a more familiar human form than that of a dragon, saw Drea’s triumphant look and burst into laughter.
“You really are an amusing child!”
Deme flew towards Drea and scooped her up.
“Yes, child. You’ve won. Your cleverness defeated me.”
“Wow!”
“Take the white flower as you wish. But make sure to visit again.”
At Deme’s words, Drea smiled even brighter than the white flower.
She, lifted high up into the sky, tightly hugged Deme’s neck and exclaimed:
“Thank you!”
