Chapter 391: Dragon Emperor (4)

The familiar hatchling approached the group. But the being inside was no longer Floke.

Karnak muttered with a chuckle. "No wonder the breath was so pitiful. You've become quite adorable, dragon emperor."

Grateria fluttered his little wings and flew onto Serati's shoulder. Since his form was identical to the usual Floke, she hesitated for a moment. Should I hold him?

However, this was the legendary dragon emperor. Wouldn't that be disrespectful? Thankfully, Grateria landed on her shoulder on his own. "I had no choice. Do you think I wanted to take over a child's body?"

With a deep sigh, his round eyes rolled slightly as he glanced around at the party. "But say..."

"Yes?"

"Would you happen to have something to eat? This body gets hungry awfully fast."

The once-chubby hatchling's belly had noticeably shrunk. He clearly hadn't eaten anything in days. Karnak shook his head and pointed outside the cave. "Let's step out first."

Those waiting outside were equally shocked.

"Floke..."

"...is the dragon emperor?"

"How did that happen?"

Karnak offered a concise explanation. "Same deal as Dios."

"Ah."

With precedent, it was easy enough to understand. Leven asked, "So, what now?"

"He wants food."

"That's also exactly like Master Dios."

***

The cave where Grateria had been hiding was a perfect temporary shelter. There was no need to move elsewhere, so they simply lit a campfire at the entrance and began preparing dinner.

Karnak's group had brought ample provisions just in case, so adding one small dragon to the mix posed no problem at all.

Everyone unpacked their lunchboxes and enjoyed a late meal. Naturally, the one most invested in eating was—unsurprisingly—the great dragon emperor, who hadn't eaten in days.

He buried his snout into a bowl and licked away furiously with his tongue, to the point where it was almost concerning to watch. Milia and Lapicel, who had always doted on Floke, stuttered beside him.

"P-please eat slowly..."

"You'll get a tummy ache..."

Lately, there had been quite a few elderly folks ending up in the bodies of younglings, and the two seemed confused on whether to use formal speech or not. Only after quite some time did Grateria, now round-bellied, wipe his mouth. "I finally feel alive again."

Strangely, he looked content. It was an expression unfitting for someone who had lost both his power and his body, reduced to a helpless hatchling.

"I suppose it's been about 3,000 years since I last needed to eat..." Clicking his tongue, he turned to Karnak. "Now that I've tried it again, it's rather enjoyable. I can understand, at least a little, why you gave everything up."

Karnak's expression stiffened slightly. "You seem to know quite a lot about me."

That wasn't normal. At this point in time, there was no reason for Grateria to have any connection with him.

"Naturally, I don't know. But my future self seemed to know plenty." The dragon emperor shrugged. "And I happen to have a few tricks to peek into that."

Karnak's face relaxed again. "The Dragon Eye of Insight is hardly something one should call a trick".

When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. Since the future Tesranach had usurped Grateria's soul and body, it was only natural that Grateria had also seen into Tesranach's soul.

Which means Tesranach must already know exactly who I am.

Shifting into a more formal posture, Karnak asked, "What exactly happened to you?"

The hatchling tilted his head. "Why ask, when you already know?"

Grateria had been in his usual slumber in his lair, asleep for centuries. There had been no need to wake without any threat to the world. However, his future self had attacked out of nowhere and invaded both his soul and body.

"I resisted in surprise, and when I realized it was futile, I fled."

A dragon's power, born of draconic mana, wasn't as specialized in application as the powers of humans or elves. As such, Grateria was capable of methods resembling necromancy. He had barely managed to extract his soul.

He glanced at Dios and Leven before continuing. "Surely I wasn't the only one. You must've experienced something similar."

Karnak pointed to Grateria's current body—Floke's. "I'm asking why you possessed that hatchling. There must've been other dragons."

"Ah, that's what you meant." Grateria nodded and explained. "As you know, when a dragon like myself possesses another species, the side effects are severe."

Thus, he had to choose either a living dragon or dragon bones. Though neither could last long, they were far better options than inhabiting a human or elf. The real issue was that Tesranach was none other than his future self, and another dragon emperor.

No living dragon could escape his rule. There was only one way out: die and return as an undead, just as Karnak had once created dragon liches using dragon bone.

But Grateria could not become undead. His opponent was the Monarch of Death, a being far more skilled in darkness and death than he was. Alive, he was subject to the dragon emperor's rule. Dead, he would fall under the dominion of the Monarch of Death.

Grateria clicked his tongue and tapped his own body. "Only this child was outside his influence. I had no other choice."

Serati, who had been listening quietly, gasped in surprise. "Floke?"

"Yes." Grateria nodded and studied her intently. "Thanks to you making him your vassal."

"Pardon?"

Serati was confused. Retainer? What is he talking about?

Grateria continued nonchalantly, "You're not seriously thinking the changes in this child's body, and in yours, are just coincidence or your imagination, are you?"

Of course she wasn't. Even Serati was beginning to suspect something was going on.

"I thought it was something trivial, something that let me turn dragons into hatchlings..."

"Rather than that... Well, let's save that story for another time." The hatchling shook his head. "What matters now isn't what happened to me."

Then he cast a meaningful glance toward Karnak. "It's what happened to him."

There was no need to ask who he referred to. Karnak quickly clamped a hand over Grateria's mouth. "It's already late. Let's talk more tomorrow."

If they began discussing Tesranach, it would inevitably lead to the subject of Karnak, the Monarch of Death. And that was not a conversation he could afford to have in front of Lapicel.

It was not fear of the Martial King Lapicel that made Karnak hesitate now. Even if Lapicel in her prime were to appear, Karnak and his vassals were more than capable of subduing her.

But if her consciousness were to awaken, the memories of that horrific torture would awaken with it. Her very sense of self could collapse. That was why he had tried to steer the conversation away.

But the dragon emperor refused. "She must know as well. The time has come."

He, too, seemed to have grasped the situation, perhaps even more keenly than Karnak himself. Grateria turned to Lapicel and asked a curious question. "Haven't you already been dreaming?"

It was a question so cryptic that the others were left puzzled. But Lapicel remained calm, her expression showing that she had some inkling of what he meant. "Yes. I've been dreaming."

Karnak's face stiffened slightly. Has it already progressed that far?

That made things even more dangerous. But the dragon emperor is far wiser than I am in matters like this.

He chose to trust Grateria. "Understood."

Karnak sat back down after giving consent. Grateria flapped his small wings and flew over to him. Then, in a voice steeped with solemnity, he spoke. "Karnak of Zestrad."

His voice still carried that deep, commanding weight. It was hard to fathom how such a voice came from Floke's body, since the vocal cords still belonged to the hatchling. "You can extract my memories and show them to everyone, can you not?"

The volume of information was far too great to be conveyed verbally, and there was too high a risk of distortion. Projecting the memories directly would be more accurate.

"I ask this of you. I no longer have the strength to do it myself," asked Grateria.

"It's possible, but..." Karnak hesitated. "Are you sure you're comfortable with me seeing your memories?"

"I don't mind. You'll only be able to see the parts I choose to show you."

"Is that really possible? You've lost your power, haven't you?"

"This has nothing to do with power. It's merely a matter of organizing thought."

That meant Grateria could compartmentalize and curate his thoughts and memories like a vast library.

Karnak gave a wry smile. "Humans can't manage their thoughts with such precision..."

Indeed, the dragon emperor, who had lived a life bordering on infinity, was built of something else entirely. Reassured, Karnak cast a spell of chaos magic. A large magic circle bloomed around the campfire.

As the memories began to project, Grateria spoke. "This is the story of another me, of the past, and of the future, who became Tesranach."

Slowly, a single image began to rise in the minds of everyone present.

***

Like most living creatures, he remembered nothing of his childhood. This was even more true for dragonkind, whose early years were far more primal and vague than those of humans or elves.

All dragons were born from eggs, lived as beasts, then roamed as monsters, before finally becoming sentient beings. Even the mightiest of dragons, one worthy of the title dragon emperor, was no exception.

In the haze of fragmented memory, he first became aware of his selfhood upon reaching adulthood. It was an era when humankind existed, but human civilization did not. When elven civilization existed, but was not yet beautiful.

Back then, Grateria was ordinary. He was not markedly more gifted than other dragons. But he did have one peculiar trait. Unlike his indifferent kin, he was fascinated by other races.

Once he gained sentience, he began observing humans and elves. He saw the civilizations they built and the beings they worshiped. And through them, he naturally came to know desire.

Dragons were beings who awakened to strength within a predetermined fate. No dragon had ever escaped that destiny, and none had even considered doing so.

Grateria was different. Once he learned desire, he also learned how to pursue it.

He discovered that one could train oneself, set higher goals, and strive toward them. The world was a marvelous teacher.

Time passed. The average lifespan of a dragon ranged from one thousand to fifteen hundred years. However, Grateria lived over three thousand years. He was no longer ordinary.

He had outlived his kin by more than double and ascended above them all. He ruled and reigned as their sovereign.

Yet Grateria did not rejoice. This was never what he had truly wanted. His deepest wish was to witness the world—forever. But such a wish was forbidden to mortals. To transcend that final boundary, he would have to go even further.

So he offered his soul and made a pact.

—O world, let me be your eternal guardian.

And the world answered. The will of the goddess descended upon him. Thus, he became the Guardian of the World, Grateria, the dragon emperor.