Arc | Chapter. 23: Dragon of Flames

Chapter. 23: Dragon of Flames

I had two options, one was to block the attack and expose myself or the other one was for me to grab everyone and run.

The choice was obvious⁠—

Rory hurriedly pulled out her staff and screamed.

“[Mass teleport]!”

And she slammed it, in an instant we were shrouded in a crimson light as we appeared hundreds of meters away, and in a blink she collapsed panting. Ceylon hurriedly rushed to her and at that moment, part of the forest exploded into a blazing inferno. I heard death, hundreds of monsters die, and in the air the dragon faced down upon the fires before snapping its gaze in our direction.

“Consider this a warning.” His voice echoed in my head. “Stay away from this place and my territory, hero of the system. I shall not deal with the likes of you again.Your kind does not belong in this world.”

The dragon turned and flew back to the mountain in the distance. To be honest, I was interested in the dragon, he had known I was a hero just at a glance, perhaps he just had the so called [Appraisal] skill, however, there was also the fact that he said I didn’t belong in this world.

I turned back to Rory, who was now sitting upright with deep breaths. Ceylon seemed to be tending to her, giving her water and simply giving her back pats. I turned to her, as she finally recovered herself to speak up enough.

“So there really is a dragon…” She sighed. “I don’t know why it didn’t continue attacking us, but we should consider ourselves lucky.”

I nodded. “Yeah, it seemed strong too.”

Though, dragons were supposedly only S Tier or SS Tier… I looked at the sky. Why the question marks then?

“All dragons are at least S Tier,” Rory said with a weird tone. “Thankfully, we now have information. So the request can be considered completed.”

“What about proof?” I asked.

“Oh, that…” She shook her head. “Aside from eye-witnesses, there are crystals of memory. We can use those to show a specific memory to a person. They can be a bit pricey, but they are certainly worth the concrete evidence and have a lot of limitations such as the memory has to be one week old at most⁠—” Then she paused. “Well you should know all of that.”

“I don’t know about it,” Ceylon said from the side. “Where can you even buy one?”

“Most magic shops sell them,” Rory said with a chuckle. “Their use is rather easy too, so it shouldn’t be a problem to claim the money from the request.”

“Do these crystals include sensory things like what we heard or thought?” I asked from the side.

“They do.” Rory nodded, her smile bitter. “It’s unfortunately part of the tradeoff.”

I blinked. That’s… troublesome.

She laughed. “You know, plenty of secrets have gotten out because of them, they are rarely the first choice for evidence due to it, but right now I do feel like it’s the only way for us to complete the request.”

She finished by looking at the ground, somewhat pensively. I could see sweat trailing down Rory’s forehead as her breathing finally came back to a normal rate. Finally she turned to look at me.

“Arc you keep a lot of secrets, so I assume this method is off the table for you, yeah?”

I nodded. “Unfortunately, this time, yes.”

She smiled. “Then, since we are technically a party I can complete the request for both of us, that way you don’t need to fail it in order to keep your privacy.”

I blinked. “Are you serious?”

“Of course,” Rory nodded as she slowly stood up using her staff. “Think of it as a token of friendship. So, we should probably get going, best to not linger here anyway.”

Ceylon blinked, and I also paused. “You should probably go ahead, we have a few things to take care of, Ceylon does too.”

Rory halted and turned. “I could probably stay around if it’s not too much.”

“Well, she wants to meet the Hermit,” I said simply. “And I need to check some things nearby.”

“That’s not suspicious at all, but the Hermit…?” She tilted her head, her crimson hair hanging for a moment. “He hasn’t been heard of in some years now, but we could try to search for his hut and see if he welcomes us.”

Ceylon nodded, placing her hand on her chest just like when she first explained the Hermit to me. I found it weird, but didn’t ask about it. Instead, it seemed like I had come to an agreement with Rory, though… I still didn’t trust things.

Taking a breath, I handed Ceylon a small crystal just like the one I had given the trader back then

“Break it if something happens,” I said, meeting her gaze with seriousness.

She nodded. “I’ll do so, but what will you do?”

“I’ll tell you later.” I shook my head. “You two should get going, we’ll meet up later.”

Rory nodded, drinking a flask as she gestured to Ceylon. Though, after the two were together she asked.

“Will you be alright alone by yourself?”

“I will.”

She nodded strangely and they went on their way shortly after, all while I was left pondering for a few moments. If I was honest, it was probably a bad idea to do what I was planning to do, but at the same time I was certain about surviving a deadly encounter against anything.

Besides, no SSS Tier being has been confirmed to exist in the history of the world, wouldn’t it be quite lucky of me to encounter one?

I smiled, I just wanted to ask it some questions.

And if I got to fight it, it would be nice too.

* * * * *

The Dragon of Flames, lay in the darkness surrounded by its large hoard of bones and treasures. Piles of bones mixed with the precious treasures that littered the large cave, wealth enough to fund a country for centuries. His massive lumbering figure heaved in an attempt to enter slumber for the next century.

Draliz had entered a time of peril, one where his treasures were highly vulnerable, and so he was going to shut himself off from the world once more. Re-emerging once this demand for wealth and treasure disappeared.

He had many names, he was one Grand Dragon Elders, he was the Creator of the First True Flame, and the Herald of Crimson, but humans knew him as the Hermit. His wisdom was widely sought after, his power always a point in politics, and his background a mystery.

But none of that mattered, not when his hoard and home were in peril. Still, with no successor to the throne Draliz entered an instability that he never thought would be possible.

“To think a hero would show up…”

He had no clue how strong the hero was, but thankfully as one of the Grand Dragon Elders, he was strong, perhaps he was the weakest of them all, but being just a few levels away from the fabled SS Tier, there was nothing to fear. Not as long as his Tier was also obfuscated to others. It was a tradeoff of one of his skills; his Tier would become invisible to others, and others’ would become invincible to him.

However, it had worked numerous times in the past and scared numerous heroes off across the centuries. Which is why, he could relax now⁠—

And a gust of wind swept through the cave, the Hermit blinked as piles of gold fell, and in front stood a familiar person. White hair, clear blue eyes, pale complexion, an ice-like appearance.

[Heroine of Ice. Tier: ???]

“Hey, we should have a small talk,” she spoke with a smile. “There are a lot of questions I want answered.”

The Hermit, Dragon of Flames, Creator of the First True Flame  rose, towering over the small human as it roared.

“YOU DARE INTRUDE UPON MY LAIR?!”

* * * * *

Ceylon traveled along with Rory towards the Hermit’s hut, it was somewhat of an attraction so it would move locations every so often, being rebuilt every few years. Though, being unable to find it wasn’t even in her mind. Even as she noted the lack of monsters in the vicinity and how peaceful the trek was, Ceylon’s mind was elsewhere.

She was simply focused on Arc, she seemed… distant. This was the first time Arc didn’t want to accompany her. And she was worried that something was off, perhaps it was because the journey was coming to an end?

Ceylon thought about things, reminisced about her first encounter with Arc, how she had been saved by the hero. A hero, a newly summoned one that didn’t know much about this world, and her job was to guide her.

If she was honest, she hadn’t been doing the best job, and maybe she was taking a passive role rather than an active one in terms of introducing things to Arc, but how could she? Arc was a hero, an existence that Ceylon just felt inferior to. It was hard to defy her, to push her towards things, everything was hard.

But Ceylon really thought she was doing a great job at it, but maybe, that wasn’t the case…

She lamented as the journey continued, and finally after close to an hour they reached a hut. Except its door was wide open, the insides of the wooden disheveled shed empty.

“That’s strange,” Rory said with confusion. “Do you think it’s related to the dragon?”

Ceylon paused. “The dragon…?”

Then it clicked. They had just faced a dragon. And the reason Arc was acting strange…

The voice of her companion resounded in Ceylon’s head.

“... That thrill, that feeling of pride and superiority, and now I seek for more. To grow stronger, to overcome my limits over and over again…”

That’s when she realized, her eyes going wide.

“Is she going to fight the dragon⁠—?!”

And at that moment an unholy roar of hatred resounded across the mountains, sending shivers down her spine.

* * * * *

He was furious. How dare she come to fight him all the way here⁠—

“Woah, I’m just here to find out more, I’ll leave after, okay?” She said, confused.

Her words gave him pause, was she just here to ask questions? She had said so, but⁠… The Dragon of Flames looked at her, and her gaze was simply looking at him, uninterested in the glistening treasure all around her. Not only that but [Truth Divination] had told him that, indeed, that was her only intention.

The Creator of the First True Flame shook his head, fighting a hero was always tiresome, they were always abnormally strong for their Tier, they were perfect killing machines made by the system. And so, it was best to entertain the demands.

“Fine, what is it that you want, young otherworlder?”

She nodded. “You said my kind does not belong in this world, what is it?”

The Dragon of Flames let out a long breath.

“The System is or was considered a plague by the Ancient Dragons, and mounted attacks on its heart. Fortunately or unfortunately they were unsuccessful, stopped by the likes of heroes. Now, none of my ancestors remain, and the now damaged System summons heroes every few decades in the name of that non-existent duty.”

“So I heard,” she pondered. “Does that mean I can ignore the System’s demands and do everything I want without repercussions?”

“Based on what I've heard and know, yes.” The dragon nodded. “Through the centuries no hero has received divine punishments regardless of their acts. Any other questions? If you can return home perhaps?”

She shook her head. “No, that’s all I suppose. I might come to ask more later.”

The Dragon of Flames frowned, but supposed that was a good compromise if they signed a ceasefire agreement⁠—

“Oh, I almost forgot, I’m looking for the Hermit, do you know where I can find him?”

“The Hermit…” He blinked. “What does someone like you need his presence for?”

“It’s not for me, it’s for my companion,” she said, crossing her arms. “She needs his help to rescue her family.”

The Dragon of Flames blinked. He was being sought after to just save someone’s family…? That, wasn’t that⁠— disrespectful?!

He was the Creator of the First True Flame, the Herald of Crimson, one of the Grand Dragon Elders, and he was being asked to save a girl’s family?!

He snorted, flames coming out. “Impossible, he wouldn’t help with that.”

“Do you know where he is?” She asked, raising her brow.

“Of course I know, but I wouldn’t tell you even if we fought.” The Dragon of Flame shook his head. “Forget about him, press any further and your life will be forfeit.”

The Hero might have been strong, but she wasn’t strong enough to overcome him, that he knew of. He wasn’t willing to compromise any further for this woman. She was an S Tier hero just like most, perhaps strong, but nothing he couldn’t deal with.

“So you will fight me…?” She asked strangely.

“Not fight.” The Dragon of Flames rose from his spot, his oppressive aura filling the room.“I will kill you.”

The woman began to shake for a moment, and grinned at him, and at that moment he felt it. The power. His eyes went wide.

This woman was SS⁠—

“Then let’s fight⁠⁠—” She spoke with happiness as her arm raised towards the air.

The legendary beast shivered. “Wait, don’t⁠—”

“[Judgment of the Ice God]!”

And the cave exploded.