#121
“Ha…”
Even though I had believed it to some extent, to have my last remaining hope shattered in this way. I was so dumbfounded that I nearly lost my soul for a moment, then horrified by the tail charging at me again, I threw my body aside. My sword flew off somewhere.
‘Shibal.’
I barely avoided the dragon’s attack, but being thrown onto the deck with tremendous force, I unintentionally entered the attack range of the two merfolk. The sword that flew away would probably return on its own, but for a moment I was left empty-handed facing enemies. The merman warriors drove me like prey, blocking my escape route and stabbing down with spears and swords from the air. My stamina was running low, I was out of breath, and my fingertips were trembling.
“Carlisle!”
When I squeezed my eyes shut and involuntarily called out Carlisle’s name.
Crack!
I was finally caught between the dragon’s sharp teeth. Now those massive teeth would pierce through my body in an instant, breaking my bones and…
‘…Huh?’
But the pain I had anticipated didn’t come. I was definitely caught in its mouth, but my flesh wasn’t pierced nor were my bones crushed.
Whoosh—I felt my body quickly cutting through the waves. I cautiously opened my eyes. I was definitely inside the mouth of a gigantic beast. But the massive creature that was gently holding me in its mouth while swimming freely through the water was…
“Yongyong?”
It was a white dragon.
At the sudden appearance of a new dragon, not only the merman warriors but even Carlisle stopped fighting and looked this way with astonished faces. The dragon circled through the air once magnificently as if showing off its majestic appearance, then carefully set me down in a corner of the deck.
Like acting spoiled, or as if checking whether I was okay, it gently rubbed its head against my body before backing away, then suddenly twisted its long body and soared up. And like lightning, it charged toward the warriors.
What stood protectively blocking them was the blue dragon.
A battle broke out between the two massive dragons. Their long, enormous bodies became entangled and terrifying roars split the air. Even though we were underwater, every time they collided, lightning flashed and created the illusion that the sky was splitting. Due to the vibrations that seemed to turn everything upside down, I had to desperately grip the railing to avoid being swept away by the fierce currents.
While the two dragons engaged in their fierce battle, I thought the merman warriors would continue attacking me and Carlisle. But they, like me, were only focused on gripping onto something to avoid being swept away by the waves. What was strange was that rather than being unable to attack because of that, they seemed to have suddenly lost the will to attack me.
‘What is this? What’s this atmosphere?’
The white dragon was, according to the setting, a divine beast that protected the lake and Sacred Tree. The merman warriors also seemed more likely to be of the same type rather than monsters, considering that my blood’s purifying effect didn’t work on them and they were tasked with guarding the hidden dungeon that concealed Fragment of the Sacred Tree. The blue dragon that obeyed them would be the same.
So, to put it simply, they all felt like they were on the ‘same side.’
‘Then what, shouldn’t I stop them from fighting like that? Whether it’s one or both, they could get seriously hurt fighting like that.’
“What’s going on? Don’t tell me you summoned that thing? How?”
Carlisle, who had approached me at some point, asked while unable to take his eyes off the tremendous battle between the two dragons. He too, no different from me or the merman warriors, was hunched over gripping the railing with difficulty.
“…I’m not really sure about that either.”
I did summon it… right? Although the doll had broken, Yongyong appeared right after I called, after all.
Fortunately, the bewildered and confused state didn’t last long. The moment the white dragon gained the upper hand in battle and bit the blue dragon’s head.
“Stop! We acknowledge our defeat.”
The merman warrior urgently declared surrender. The surrender came faster than expected. It might be to protect the blue dragon because of its precious existence, but…
Despite the terrifying noise and vibrations, neither dragon seemed to have suffered serious injuries. Only a few scales had peeled off and fallen. As soon as the battle ended, the blue dragon immediately transformed into smoke and disappeared. I took advantage of the chaos to quietly pick up and pocket the white and blue dragon scales that had fallen around me.
‘Seiz or Eira would be happy if I brought these to them.’
Once the outcome was decided, the merman warriors put away their weapons and opened the entrance they had been blocking.
“We will tell you where what you seek is located.”
They even went so far as to tell us the location of Fragment of the Sacred Tree so we wouldn’t need to wander around inside.
‘Isn’t this too kind?’
Before entering the hidden dungeon, I looked back at the dragon. The white dragon was slowly circling above my head.
I cautiously reached out my hand. This massive dragon didn’t feel as close and comfortable as a guardian animal or pet, but since I had received help, I wanted to express my gratitude.
The dragon, as I had seen in memory fragments, swam toward me while gradually becoming smaller, becoming the size of a small stuffed doll and rubbing its head against my palm. I expected it might settle back as a keychain on my waist, but after circling around me once as if greeting, it disappeared like smoke just like the blue dragon.
After seeing off Yongyong, we entered the hidden dungeon through the entrance the merman warriors had opened for us.
The interior was no longer underwater and had completely changed into a different space from before. It resembled the passenger corridor of a 5-star hotel or super-large cruise ship. The carpeted floor was clean, and the interior of walls and doors was luxurious. Paintings that seemed carefully chosen hung on the walls like in a gallery, mainly depicting mysterious deep-sea creatures and landscapes, and mythical beings of the sea.
Since entering hidden dungeons had generally been safe so far, I relaxed my tension a bit. Our destination was the captain’s cabin that the merman warrior had told us about. We climbed the central staircase heading to the 3rd floor.
Carlisle was walking alongside me. With my mind in turmoil, I wasn’t in a state to start a conversation. It was Carlisle who spoke first.
“Raon.”
“Yeah.”
“Earlier… what kind of visions did you see?”
“Ah…”
I thought he might ask. I organized my thoughts for a moment and chose my words.
“The first one I saw was a vision of Eira. It was Eira pouring poison into the river.”
“Hmm.”
No particular response. Well, Carlisle had been convinced from the beginning that Eira was the culprit of the poison incident.
“The second seemed to be when I went ghost hunting at your house with the village children when we were young… probably the first day I saw you.”
I added my speculation, but again Carlisle showed no reaction. He was just walking quietly, looking at the floor with a deeply thoughtful expression.
“The third was.”
I opened my mouth but words didn’t come easily. How should I put this?
“The third was?”
When I hesitated, this time Carlisle looked at me and urged me on. I took a breath and quickly recited the scene I had witnessed.
“The third was me terribly contaminated and collapsed… and you stabbing me with a sword. The priest was crying beside us, and your expression was frightening.”
“……”
“I thought only the second was true, so I answered that way, but the merman warrior said it was wrong. And as you heard, he asked if that was the only answer.”
“……”
“Then what else was supposed to be true? At least one of the remaining two must have been true.”
“……”
I actually should have asked Carlisle directly right now. Did you really stab me with a sword? Was that something that really happened? But I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
My feelings were complicated. Naturally, I didn’t want to hear that it was true. Because I didn’t want it to be true. But even if I heard it wasn’t true, I wondered if I could believe those words. No, regardless of the truth of that matter, even this Carlisle who was here now…
“Raon.”
While I hesitated without asking what I should ask, Carlisle changed the subject.
“Not about what just happened, but can you tell me what happened when you entered the ocean dungeon alone? You said you saw a baby earlier? Anything other than that?”
Was I relieved to avoid the frightening topic? No. Anxiety and suspicion were still making me uncomfortable. But it was also true that I needed more time to compose myself and organize my thoughts before confronting the truth.
“When I opened my eyes after wandering alone…”
Unable to shake off other thoughts, I answered Carlisle’s question appropriately.
“This shipwreck appeared before my eyes and I was attacked by ghost sailors. I barely defeated the captain who was the boss mob, at least that’s what I thought… but you said it was a hallucination.”
“When you were fighting the merfolk earlier, it seemed like you were using blood.”
Carlisle said while grabbing my arm. Blood seeped out again from wounds that hadn’t healed yet. My face automatically scrunched up from the sharp pain.
Clang clang.
“How did you come to think of fighting that way? How did you breathe without items? It seemed like you left behind everything you got from Seiz.”
He seemed more interested and intrigued by my ability to fight using blood than by my wounds. Beyond being disappointed or anything like that… somehow I felt my blood running cold.
“Somehow, you seem like you’re interrogating me.”
A cold tone flowed out without me realizing it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
