C314: The Dragons’ Secret – The Beginning

“All dragons…”
“Will disappear?!”

It was such a disturbing statement that everyone held their breath.

Satisfied with our reaction, the sinister child continues talking.

“Do you even know what we dragons are?”
“The strongest race on earth!” immediately answers Veil, but the ex-Geyser Dragon only laughs in response.
“And I ask you, why are we the strongest on earth? All creatures in this world were created by gods—land creatures by the god of the earth, sea creatures by the god of the sea, and sky creatures by the god of the sky.”

But what about dragons?
They weren’t created by any of the Three Realm Deities.

“Gaia, the Mother Goddess of All, and the creator of this world itself, created us…”

Dragons are transcendent beings unbound by the world’s law.
I caught a glimpse of their secret.

“In the past, the world was created by the Mother Goddess, who later created the rest of the deities and entrusted it to them. However, some of the deities became arrogant and tyrannized the mortals on earth.”

Distressed by the situation, the Creator created “sentinels” to prevent her children from doing as they pleased.

“That is what we dragons are. We watch over the gods, restrain them when they overdo things and correct their haughty attitude.”
“No way!”

The ex-Geyser Dragon’s story shocked not only us mortals but also the other dragons present.

“That’s why we have enough power to compete with the gods. We were created with a mission, and we are not allowed to thrive on our own.”
“Is that the reason behind what you said earlier?!”

That all dragons will disappear whenever a new Dragon Archon is chosen.

“The rest that has lived until then will be erased and become one with the new Geyser Dragon. Then the Geyser Dragon will clone itself to increase in number to create an army against the gods. That’s how our ecology works.”
“But why?”
“To remind them of the mission they were given.”

As long as a creature continues to live, its way of being will change in response to the environment, forgetting the meaning and destiny it had.
This is sometimes called growth or evolution.
Even one individual can transform in a lifetime under special cases. But the more they change as a species over time, the more unstoppable they become.

If dragons are left completely on their own, their evolutionary transformation as a species will cause them to forget the mission they were once given.

“To not make them forget, they have to regularly press the reset button?!”

Every time a new Geyser Dragon arises, their species will be destroyed and start from scratch.
By doing so, they can forever be the faithful executors of the mission given by the Creator.

“That’s right… Even if we are proud of being the strongest species on earth, we are no more than god’s tools,” says the ex-Dragon Archon with a jaded expression. “Still, I tried to resist my fate and reign as the Dragon Emperor forever…!”
“So, that was what the succession struggle was all about?” asks Alexander, his eldest son.
“Yes. Me removing you from the candidate list because I didn’t fancy you favoring mankind was all an excuse. I simply wanted to stay as the Dragon Emperor forever.”

And then, using the throne as bait, he made his children fight and took advantage of the opportunity to steal their power.

“Thinking about it now, that controversy was just accelerating our demise caused by the succession. The end result of only one dragon surviving remains the same…” he says, laughing sarcastically. “I was supposed to be that last dragon. I planned to defeat you last and take your power too, Alexander. I would have regained my youth and become an immortal Dragon Emperor, but Ardheg shattered those ambitions of mine.”

Forsaken by the Dragon Ball, there was nothing more he could do.
He can only quietly accept his fate…

“But! I could at least tell you what lies ahead for our race and sardonically laugh as you perish, desperately holding on for dear life! Now, come fight for the Dragon Ball! Only the winner will survive! Oh, I can only imagine the thrill of this event!!!”

Al Gor, the former Geyser Dragon, keeps on laughing hysterically.

Beside him, I call for Sensei.

“Sensei, Sensei.”
“Yes?”

It’s a coronation ceremony, so Sensei’s here too.
More people celebrating is better.

I asked him to summon a certain deity with his magic.
It’s Gaia, the Mother Goddess of All.

She is the origin of all deities.
And we’re going to ask her a favor.

“Could you please make it so that dragons won’t die even if their ruler is replaced?”
“Sure, dear.”

The law of the world has changed, and the dragons are now free from the harsh fate of being wiped out with every new successor.

“Huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!”

The former Dragon Emperor is shocked at how easily the problem was solved.

“Just… Just like that?! If we can survive this easily, what of my efforts until now?!”

Yeah, tell me about it.

“The world will change even if the dragons doth not, yes?” comments the summoned goddess, Gaia, the Mother Goddess of All. “Oh, that looks scrumptious. May I have some?”
“Please, go ahead, Your Radiance.”

She spots the feast meant for the coronation and takes some.
Then, she says, “It was for the purpose of monitoring mine own foolish sons and daughters that I created thee. But even those fools have grown wiser with the passing of time. Except for the foolish Zeus, I no longer see any need for surveillance.”
“Understood.”

Hades and Poseidon, our frequent divine visitors, are pretty nice too.

“Furthermore, Zeus was recently incarcerated by his own children, so the matter is resolved. I shall release thee from the task I gave thee, so go forth and live freely.”
“Huuuuuuuuuuuh?!” says the ex-Geyser Dragon in astonishment.

The other dragons don’t seem to be particularly upset compared to him.

“Well, even if we’re told to live the life we want…”
“We’ve been doing that from the very beginning. What more freedom do we need?”
“I think you need to be tied down, Sis.”

I see.
Indeed, they’ve always been carefree with their lives.

“This is but a trifle. Truly, the mischievous ways of the gods have long since ceased. The dragons, too, once roamed freely. This change serves merely to expunge that which had already fallen into obsolescence,” gently says the Creator. “Live freely, dragons. Thee, too, art denizens of this world. Behaveth as thee wish and leave behind a legacy that reflects the purpose of thine existence.”
“Yahoo!!!”

Don’t get excited on your own like that, Veil.

“Well, now that all the hassle is out of the way, let’s get to the real issue at hand!”

The real issue?
What was it again?

“You forgot, Master? Today is Ardheg’s coronation to become a Geyser Dragon. We just need this, right?”
“Ah!”

Veil snatches the red jewel from the ex-Geyser Dragon and doesn’t hesitate to aim at Ardheg.

“Take thisss!”

Her fist that held the Dragon Ball sank into Ardheg’s gut.

“Bwaaah?!”

I’m not surprised he reacted like that.
The Dragon Ball is no longer in Veil’s hand, but it’s obvious where it went.

“This makes Ardheg the new Geyser Dragon!!!”
“OHH!”

The people around him applaud generously.

“I had considered erasing the Dragon Ball along with its superfluous mission, but perhaps a leader to unite their race is still necessary. I shall leave them be, so use them freely,” serenely says the Creator.

Thus, a new Dragon Emperor is crowned, and a new era came not only for humanity but also for dragons… I guess?