The Hero Returns

"I-isn't that….?"

"A marble?"

"No, wait. That's no ordinary marble. Something about it's…."

The reactions from the dragons had changed—even those that heeded Karne's orders to attack Su-hyeun. Most of them were staring at the Cintamani in a trance-like state. Some even shed tears without noticing.

"Could it be….?"

"The… C-Cintamani??"

Some of the dragons born before the war recognized the Cintamani Su-hyeun had pulled out. Unsurprisingly, Blanc was included in that group.

"Is, is that the real Cintamani?!"

Perhaps he found it too incredible to believe, Blanc enhanced his vision with magic and took a closer look at the marble.

The Cintamani Forest. No one remembered the original name of the place. Understandable, since no one cared for it, and the forest simply existed without any living animals calling it home.

But its name was changed to the 'Cintamani Forest' after the very object it was named after went missing inside it during the chaos of the great war.

A handful of dragons had loudly voiced their opinions, saying that the lost Cintamani had to be recovered. But Karne and other dragons shot it down. They said that the Titan Turtle's presence made the idea impossible to carry out.

More importantly, the item called 'Cintamani' didn't hold much meaning to them anymore.

People argued about it for centuries, the fight gradually went out of the pro-search group, and, eventually, the Cintamani had been almost forgotten.

But now…

The forgotten Cintamani had reappeared right before their eyes. And a red dragon, to boot.

"Why am I suddenly tearing up….?"

"Just what is that thing?"

"Sir, what is the Cintamani?"

Questions poured in from everywhere.

The dragons born before the war who knew of the Cintamani explained what it was to the younger generations.

"You know exactly what this is, don't you?" Su-hyeun asked Karne directly.

Karne held his gaze and scowled deeply.

The tone of Su-hyeun's voice had changed abruptly. Even in the past, the human didn't seem to be a fan of Karne, but at least he didn't speak with such contempt in his voice.

But now wasn't the time to argue about such matters. Indeed, the object resting in Su-hyeun's hand presented a far more pressing issue than picking faults with the manner of Su-hyeun's speech.

"How could I not know?" That item wasn't something he could keep secret, anyway. So, while firmly suppressing the frustration welling up in his chest, Karne replied, "The Cintamani. The treasure of the dragon race that reputedly only the descendants of the dragon king could handle."

Every dragon focused on Karne's voice. It was the same for other dragons belatedly arriving on the scene. They too had sensed the power of the Cintamani, and realized that Karne knew about this item.

"The existence of the Cintamani alone greatly amplifies the strength of our race. The item is known to grant an explosive increase in power to those who hold it, as well as the ability to freely command the powers of the heavens and the earth."

That was what the Cintamani was—not a simple, symbolic treasure of the dragon race, but an item that could actively amplify their power.

That was precisely why the dragons wanted to recover the Cintamani after it went missing. Because the precariously balanced war between themselves and the demonic beasts might come to an end if they could rely on the Cintamani's power.

But no red dragons capable of wielding it had survived, and that meant that the Cintamani was nothing more than a regular rock to them.

But this….

<< With this, chasing the red dragon away is as good as impossible now. >>

The Cintamani itself had triumphantly returned along with a red dragon.

There were already quite a few among the dragons that wanted to welcome the red dragon into their fold. To them, the red dragons were symbolic of the excellence of their race, as well as their strength. This was especially true for the older dragons.

The influence of a red dragon was ingrained not just in their heads but deeply in their genes.

But now, a red dragon had regained control of the Cintamani? This development was more than enough to turn those among their race who originally opposed the red dragons to change their minds.

"But, that's not everything," said Su-hyeun.

"….Not everything?" Karne snorted derisively. "Don't make me laugh. You, a mere human, dare to claim that you know more about the treasure of the dragon race than me?"

"No, not that. I also had no clue what the Cintamani was until not too long ago, you see."

"So what then?"

"Well, I didn't pull this item out to say, 'Look how amazing it is!', you know?" Su-hyeun said, before handing the Cintamani over to Miru. Then he swept his gaze over the gathered dragons around him. "Now, look closely, everyone."

Chomp-

The moment Miru bit into the Cintamani Su-hyeun had given him over…

"Look at what kind of a guy your leader is."

Flash-

The red Cintamani suddenly began emitting bright light. The rays were so strong that the observers couldn't open their eyes for a moment. But, compared to the loud, eye-catching reaction, the emitted magical energy they could sense wasn't all that great.

"What's going on here?"

"Give me a break. I thought something amazing was about to happen."

The confused dragons began chatting in disappointed voices. But then….

"Isn't this magical energy….??"

"Sir Ellid??"

The dragons from the era before the war were deeply stunned by the magical energy coming out of the Cintamani. Not because of the amount emitted, but because they recognized the master of the energy.

Shu-wuwuwu-

The reddish light brightening their surroundings eventually gathered into a single spot. Then, the rays began turning into a single, complete figure: a gigantic red-scaled dragon with red eyes and a proud horn that rose up high.

The red dragon.

The master of the Cintamani, the first descendant of the dragon king, and the greatest dragon of them all….

"It's Sir Ellid!"

"Ah, aaaah!!"

The lord of all dragons, Ellid.

The projected image was large enough to completely block out the sky. Even though it was an illusion created by nothing more than a few rays of light, the sense of presence it emitted was truly powerful.

<< It's still amazing, even on second viewing. >> Su-hyeun thought while dazedly staring at Ellid's image. Then, he sneaked a glance at Miru next to him. Despite being the same species of dragon, the two were completely different, maybe due to the difference in their ages.

Gya-ong?

Miru tilted its head this way and that, wondering why Su-hyeun was staring at it. Su-hyeun instantly felt sorry and quickly averted his gaze.

<< When will Miru become like that, I wonder? >>

Su-hyeun stared at the sheer majesty of the huge dragon and smirked softly.

<< Of course, I'll probably die of old age before Miru reaches that stage. >>

The lifespan of a human and a dragon was very different. A dragon could live for thousands of years at the short end, and even for tens of thousands of years at the long end, but, compared to them, humans could at best live barely past one hundred years.

When he thought about that, Su-hyeun wondered whether it was okay to proclaim himself as Miru's parent. After he lived his life and died of old age, Miru would have to spend the rest of its life all alone.

-I can speak now, right?

Ellid's voice could be heard above the mutterings of the crowd

-I never knew that setting the right mood would be this tough. Plenty of you kids are seeing me for the first time, but I'm pretty sure that all of you can sense my greatness just from this. Yup, definitely.

The magic of the Cintamani delivered one's intention via a clear voice ringing in the heads of the listeners.

The lord of dragons, Ellid continued on.

-The Cintamani must have been recovered, since I'm here, right? I dunno how long it's been, but I hope you're all living well. Hehehe.

Compared to his appearance, Ellid's voice was surprisingly cheery. So much so that his chuckles came across as a bit frivolous, even. But that was what he was really like, that was how the older dragons remembered him.

"The red dragon who was our dragon lord looked like that…."

"He's a lot different than what I imagined, though?"

"Maybe something's wrong with his head, or…."

"No, Sir Ellid was always like that."

"That old man's still the same even after all this time."

A handful of dragons who still remembered Ellid smiled warm, gentle smiles. On the other hand, though, the complexions of some others were getting paler by the second.

"Wait a moment, isn't this…."

"Spirit Revival spell?"

"Why is a magic that only activates after you're dead….??"

Just as their clamor grew louder, Ellid's voice continued.

-Are you all doing well? I'm really curious about how our race will change after my death. I wish I could witness it with my own eyes, but… I didn't know that being unable to see it, nor even imagine it, would be this heartbreaking.

Dead.

Ellid, who was thought to have run away, was dead.

When that hard-to-misinterpret word came from the red dragon's mouth, the gathered dragons fell into a state of panic.

"He, he, he's dead?!"

"He didn't run away after all?!"

"Wait, could this be a fake??"

"No, it can't be. The Spirit Revival spell can only be activated when the user is dead, for sure. This is definitely not fake."

The Spirit Revival spell. The highest tier of magic that allowed you to record your memories and words while still alive, then manifest them after your passing.

The fact that the magic had been invoked meant that Ellid was truly, irrefutably dead.

-Hey, Karne. you doing alright, kid? I hope that little tyke is leading our race properly. I mean, it just didn't feel right, asking a little kid to look after our race after we're all dead. But, what can I do? None of us five will remain in this land, after all.

There were only five red dragons.

The reason why they all had to disappear was…

-We're planning to disappear along with that demonic beast who looks like our kind. To a world really, really far away from this dimension, probably. And all of our souls will most likely get ripped to shreds in the process, but… it should be the same story for that bastard, too.

Fafnir. The worst monster of them all, who nearly drove this world to the brink of total destruction. The reason for the bastard's sudden disappearance had now been made clear today.

-Live a good life, you hear? You younglings should listen to your elders, too. I'm saying all this for your benefit, get my drift?

Even after death, he was still nagging them. For a long while afterward, Ellid kept talking about useless stuff. Most of it were things he wanted to talk about —things that were incomparably insignificant, common, and so, so ordinary in nature.

Ellid continued to speak in a cheery voice, but then, he became gravely serious in an instant.

-Looks like it's almost time. Dammit, this bloody magic eats up magical energy like no one's business.

The expressions of the dragons anxiously staring at the image of Ellid formed out of red beams of light all fell. This was really their final goodbye.

-Hey, Karne. you're watching this, right? I can't even imagine how you'll be leading our race. But I'm sure the pressure's been terrible and it must've been really tough for you. But, what can we do? We're no longer there and you're the only one left.

Ellid's voice became much heavier than before.

-I'm sorry, Karne. And please…. I leave the future of our race in your hands.

Shu-wuwuwu-

The light emitted from the Cintamani gradually weakened. Soon afterward, Ellid's figure completely vanished, and heavy silence descended on the surroundings.

Everyone's gaze was now locked on Karne. And, standing behind them, Su-hyeun said the one thing none of them could bring themselves to say.

"Why don't you explain yourself?"

"…It's all a lie."

Grit-

Karne bared his sharp fangs and glared at Su-hyeun. "You bastard, what game are you trying to play here?!"

"Game? You think this is a game?"

"I didn't hear anything of the sort from Ellid. Leaving our race in my hands? They sacrificed themselves?? It's all lies!!" Karne turned his head and shouted at his kin. "Don't fall for his tricks! It's all a lie! Drag this human away this instant!"

Su-hyeun scanned the surroundings. Hundreds of dragons couldn't all come to the wrong conclusion after hearing Karne's shouting.

He asked them, "Everyone, did it look like a lie to you?"

"…No."

"Without a doubt, that was Sir Ellid's magical energy."

"Besides, this human wouldn't have known what Sir Ellid looked like, to begin with…"

Quite a few dragons agreed with Su-hyeun's opinion. They were all from the era before the great war. They always believed that Ellid would never abandon them, and, through this incident, came to realize the truth of the matter.

Indeed, Ellid and the other red dragons hadn't abandoned them. No, instead, they had sacrificed their lives to save this world—and that's why they all disappeared.

But now…

"We were…."

Blanc's glare stabbed into Karne.

"Being lied to?"