Hermit Wizard

1. Savior or Destroyer (22)

[There are certain moments when the entire race has to obey the leader’s instructions unconditionally. This is the case when the leader declares a ‘species crisis.’]

[However, information is essential for the leader to declare such a situation.]

[For example, if the leader learns about the disappearance of their people, it needs information about what happened in the past for the leader to judge whether it was the result of being hunted by the hostile species or the result of their own will. However, considering the nature of the species that it’s impossible to live in a group or form a very close relationship, judgment will not be easy.]

[So, we gave the tool to the leader.]

[Based on the fact that it is an Akashic record limited to the memories of dragons, we named the tool ‘The Dragon’s Scriptures.’ It’s also a name mixed with mockery of the Akashic Records’ owner, ‘The Scriptures Without the Last Chapter.’]

***

The Dragon Emperor with the crystal ball trembled. It couldn’t believe what it saw with both eyes.

“Is this real?”

Its mouth was wide open.

“… What nonsense!”

What the Dragon Emperor was holding was an object called ‘the Scriptures.’

No Dragon Emperors in history knew why such a name was given to that unknown tool that recorded its people’s memories.

The scriptures usually referred to a book in which the words of God were collected or written in praise of the deity. It was a name that didn’t suit the shape or function of that crystal ball.

Anyway, the Dragon Emperor had been witnessing the most shocking scenes ever since it inherited the Scriptures.

“I used the ‘power of exchange’ to make a deal with the Truth-Seeker in other worlds… and as a result, I had contact with a human? Also, that man made me like this?”

It put Mana to the valuable item handed down to the Dragon Emperors, and it first searched the records of its memories. At first, it was amazed to realized how many memories had disappeared from its head, and then, when it learned of the reality of the entity that caused that situation, it jumped out of place and almost broke the ceiling of the nest.

“Human?! Not demons?”

There was no realization that the reading of the memories recorded in the scriptures belonged to it. It felt unreal, as if listening to what other people went through.

That was because it was a completely erased memory in its mind.

“… I became like that because of one human being?”

It was useless to deny it.

At that time, the Dragon Emperor was surely convinced that its opponent was human based on the information and sensed it had acquired. It was looking into its memory of making that judgment currently.

The Dragon Emperor eventually roared in anger.

“How dare a humaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan?!”

Sound waves fluctuated in the nest.

“How dare you! A thing that was nothing like a bug! You, such a small creature!”

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-Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrhh!

“To me who inherits the noble name of Egonew!”

The dragon’s fury echoed in the air, shaking the huge cavity in the mountain.

-Ghhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

“… I won’t let you go!”

The old dragon barely breathed and thought after expressing his rage with his whole body after centuries.

“He is a human that the Truth-Seeker from other worlds would be interested in!”

It replayed the scene it saw.

“Moreover, he can use God’s spells that I’ve never heard of before. I got caught up in it and already been beaten helplessly once!”

It barely regained its coolness while immersed in its thoughts. The old dragon was quick with emotion. It looked back at all its lost memories.

“Lucette-Eigar and some other dragons, even though I deliberately neglected them before I lost my memory, were all struck by the human group, but it doesn’t seem like they borrowed the power of that unknown God against them.”

Even though the Dragon Emperor knew what the man was doing to some of its people, it left them alone. Following another dimension’s Truth-Seeker’s advice, it created the perfect environment. It waited for the human to approach, but the old dragon was struck by even though it did that.

A spell that appeared to be mental magic that had buried the entire surrounding area in the dark and at the same time rendered itself to be unable to fight.

“What kind of God is it?”

The Dragon Emperor noted that the wizard triggered the artifact just before the magical effect was invoked.

“He made God’s spells into artifacts? That means that it is also a spell that has no choice but to have a burden for the caster.”

Once those artifacts were consumed, it was possible to expect that there would be no spells charged right away.

There was no reason to mobilize artifacts in that way if the sacrifices were easily available and the nature of the sacrifice didn’t burden the caster.

It didn’t know what kind of God it was, but it had to be a deity who demanded a terrible price. There was no doubt that the wizard was reluctant to keep the spell on his body and delayed the offering.

“It’s hard to charge such spell again. Maybe he has already paid the price of the first spell, and now he’s out of the spell.”

Of course, the Dragon Emperor had to consider the possibility should things not go as it thought. Moreover, what if he had one more powerful spell that wasn’t easy to deal with, even if it wasn’t exactly that magic?

The dragon’s worries deepened. How would it take revenge on such an opponent? How would it repay the disgrace it suffered?

The choice of not taking revenge was already out of its mind. The Old Dragon Emperor was an inevitable dragon, too.

“Hmmm.”

The earliest curiosity aimed at that human being came from the vague prediction that it might be a clue to “to lead the race to perfection” proverb handed down to the Dragon Emperors.

Currently, the motive of repaying disgrace had been added. It wouldn’t kill him easily, but it had no intention to make fun of it either. The old dragon was going to research while harassing him as much as it could.

“When I accepted the deal, I was curious about the human being. I was trying to figure out what the hell he was doing to get those beings interested in him. He wasn’t even killing other dragons anyway.”

With the secret observation that time, he was powerful enough for the dragon itself to intervene and subdue him. It thought so until it was directly targeted by ‘such magic.’

“Is it possible for the opponent to expect more hidden cards? But what about the damage if left as it is?”

That man had already caused considerable damage to the dragon kind. The first few ended up losing their memory and Mana quickly, but it even had its limbs cut off. If the rest of the other people became the same as Dragon Emperor itself, it would be enough to make Ramumings on that planet go extinct.

“Yes, that’s it.”

The old dragon found a point where its personal desires and its sense of duty as a Dragon Emperor matched, and a fishy smile flashed on its face.

The Dragon Emperor began to rationalize itself.

As the thought progressed, a motive in its heart began to form and elicit its conviction.

“Yes, that guy is dangerous even from the race’s point of view. Although it hurts my pride to admit it!”

He attacked the kids in the neighborhood one by one, so it was watching that guy, but it turned out that he was still a bastard that would cut off all the kids’ limbs if he made up his mind. It was the Dragon Emperor’s turn to protect its people.

‘Even if it put aside personal grudges.’

Considering the tendency, the old dragon was the only one who would voluntarily step up to deter him. Lucette-Eigar and several more could join the force considering personal grudges. The Dragon Emperor could make up a good excuse of how it found the main culprit.

‘But… can we really deal with that human being?’

The Dragon Emperor continued its rationalization. Yes, the opponent was that dangerous entity.

“At this point, this is a species crisis.”

Usually, the ‘species crisis’ was declared only when it became clear that another species had killed its people. The fact that even one individual had been killed implied the possibility that if indifference continued without a species-level response and individual breakouts continued one by one, it could lead to extinction helplessly.

Looking at the current situation, no individual had died yet. Still, it had been confirmed that a particular entity, which was difficult to grasp the bottom of its power, was very deeply interested in their people.

Some humans could make dragons incompetent, and some could cause fatal losses to their bodies.

Although no dragon had been sacrificed so far… would it be the case in the future?

What was more, if they didn’t necessarily kill him, one day, the planet might run out of Ramumings if he kept cutting their limbs as he did to itself. That was because the monkey’s reproduction rate was limited.

After all those considerations, the Dragon Emperor made a ‘rational judgment’ that the current situation was very dangerous for their kind.

The Dragon Emperor felt very ‘satisfied’ with its judgment.

“Yes, this is a species crisis!”

The Dragon Emperor didn’t like the assumption that it was dealing with the wizard by gathering several individuals.

However, what if all the dragons of that world gathered together?

“Khuhuhuhuhu!”

The best part was that the cold-headed reason as the Dragon Emperor agreed that that choice was right.

“Then…”

The Dragon Emperor concentrated Mana on its hand that held the Scriptures. It figured out the location of each dragon in that world. The dragons who received the message later would mistake it for using high-level magic that even tricked their people’s senses as always until that time.

The Dragon Emperor opened its minds and transmitted communication magic to his kind on the entire planet.

“To all our people in the world, I announce it in the name of Egonew.”

The replies of their same kinds about the sudden communication of Dragon Emperor raged like waves. Instead of responding to it, it shouted the words it had prepared. It was a command that could be said out loud since it was reasonably judged, although personal desires were involved at the same time.

“Now, we are facing a species crisis!”

***

[The leader is the one that is the center of the dragons. Thanks to the intelligence tools inscribed in the genes, all dragons will naturally come to common sense that they must obey the leader’s unconditional order under some crisis conditions. Also, all dragons spread this knowledge when raising their young.]

[Most dragons can’t know until the end of their lives. Even if their parents don’t pass on that knowledge, they are all designed to ‘instinctively’ follow the leader’s instruction when a certain moment comes. Except for the leader, they live without knowing that when they give birth, they have no choice but to educate them about the rules of the race ‘instinctively.’]

[The discipline that will be regarded as their own unique culture and wisdom once their intelligence level has risen is, in fact, a kind of command that is forcibly stigmatized by genes. These are steps we have taken to ensure the survival of the dragon species.]

[The condition under which that order is issued, as mentioned earlier, is for the Emperor to declare a ‘species crisis.’]

***

As soon as the Dragon Emperor declared, the replies like waves of their people that were pouring out toward it stopped all at once.

-…

In quiet silence, all dragons on the planet were waiting for its next command.

The Dragon Emperor continued its communication magic with a smile of remorse.

“Remember all the images I’m delivering now!”

The Dragon Emperor spread Yoon Min-joon and Mrs. Pearl’s image, which it had witnessed, with communication magic. It didn’t stop there but also checked the Lucette-Eigar’s lost memories and transmitted all the party’s image with them.

“These are peculiar entities that can be a threat to our species!”

The Dragon Emperor ordered all the dragons in the world to find out where they were.

“Even if you find them, never touch them and share information first! And, as soon as the whereabouts are identified, all dragons in this world gather into my nest.”

The Dragon Emperor’s plan was very simple. It was overwhelming the offensive quantities!

Since the beginning of the dragon civilization in that world, there had been no other tactics. After their tremendous power was concentrated, no enemies survived.

Until that moment, the demons who invaded that world had never been able to be eradicated in that way.

“After everyone gathers in my nest, then we will attack all at once!”

The Dragon Emperor gritted its teeth by dreaming of revenge.

It tried to mobilize the entire kind whom it had to protect as a Dragon Emperor in the affairs involving its desires and personal motives, but it didn’t feel any guilt about it.

The old dragon sincerely thought that that choice was for all of its people, beyond its interests, and as an action to fulfill its calling as a Dragon Emperor.

***

Dragons from all over the world flew into the sky at once.

The village of humans, or Ramumings that could see the nests with the naked eye, were horrified.

The violent and swift movement of the dragons were different from usual. Those in the position of dealing with the old records noted that it could be interpreted as a sign of a battle between the dragon and the demon, and fear and confusion spread among the native species of the world except for the dragon.

The dragons, who didn’t know what was going on the ground and wouldn’t care at all, even if they knew it, skimmed the planet with magic from the high sky. They then began to search for small creatures that match the appearance the Dragon Emperor said.

-Find them!

-It’s a species crisis!

-Find those small creatures that the Dragon Emperor said!

None of them noticed, although the world of consciousness was slightly different from the usual.

Currently, the Dragon Emperor didn’t explain the situation that their people were murdered, unlike usual. It was simply declared as a species crisis.

Nevertheless, no one could easily disagree. Those dogmatic and independent dragons suddenly move in a row like thoroughly brainwashed soldiers.

The dragons, who noticed with a keen sense that even the dreams they had just dreamed of had been stolen, didn’t question that part at all. They all seemed to be insensitive.

How long had it been like that?

Yoon Min-joon and Mrs. Pearl, who were wary of the Dragon Emperor’s search and maintained impenetrable magical security, didn’t get caught searching for the dragons, even though they were closest to the Dragon Emperor.

However, Yoon Min-joon companions, who didn’t prepare thorough security measures like him since they were already out of the dragon’s territory, were left in the Ramuming’s village with an identification number starting with 15.

They were discovered by a young dragon named Grime-Tepamine, whose nest was geographically closest to them.

-Dragon Emperor! I found small creatures that match the look you sent!