Chapter 1188: 175. Turning Everything Upside Down

The black dragon puppet was made with exquisite craftsmanship. Its dragon head was ferocious, its wings were breathtakingly beautiful, and even the patterns on its scales looked vividly lifelike. Under the skillful control of the fine strings, the dragon’s body moved with elegant grace, as though a real dragon had been shrunk countless times and was about to descend upon the city in the story.

Of course Muen found that dragon very familiar, because for a long period leading up to this moment, he had suffered under that dragon’s “oppression” and “torment,” especially from those dragon claws...

It was actually very difficult for humans to distinguish the appearances of nonhuman creatures, but the moment Muen saw those claws, he realized that his recognition could not possibly be wrong.

There was no other reason.

There was hardly any part of that dragon’s body he was familiar with.

Only her hands.

“In that case, the story being told here is...”

Tars, eight hundred years ago?

Muen was inwardly astonished. Of course he knew how Tars had ended. In that phantom of the past, he had personally watched the pitch-black dragon reduce the city to ruins.

But...

Wasn’t this simply a story about Miss Dragon discovering the Pollution in Tars, destroying Tars, then failing to wipe it out completely because of one small accident and hunting the remaining rats for eight hundred whole years?

“No, that’s not right... The story probably isn’t as simple as I thought...”

Muen immediately rejected that naive idea.

Or rather, even he himself did not believe it.

Miss Andri in Annabawei.

Priscilla hiding here.

Tars...

New Tars...

Miss Dragon’s excessive obsession with Tars...

That inexplicable sentence Miss Andri had spoken...

And...

Those repeated cries of “Dragon Sister.”

All of it seemed to indicate that what had happened in Tars was not a simple story of a destroyer and the destroyed.

Before the destruction arrived, far more had happened there—stories that even now had not completely vanished beneath the dust of history.

It was just that Muen had previously believed such things were not particularly important, so he had never thought deeply about them.

After all, all he needed to do was follow Miss Dragon as she swept through everything in her path and dragged those hidden rats out of their holes.

But now...

“Those rats really aren’t behaving themselves... What are they trying to do by putting on a story like this? Play the emotional card?”

Muen rubbed his chin, his expression strange.

No matter what, however, he had become even more interested in what would be performed next.

This play definitely could not be merely a local story from New Tars.

The shadow of the Tars survivors was undoubtedly hidden behind it.

It was even possible that choosing this exact time to perform it had been deliberate.

“She was a pitiful dragon.”

The narration continued, and the very first line nearly made Muen lose his composure.

That dragon was pitiful?

She was...

Huh?

“She lost her family in a terrible disaster. She lost her friends. She lost something precious to her... She was even gravely wounded.”

The dragon puppet slowly descended.

When it entered the area of the city backdrop, Muen discovered that it had indeed lost all of its previous elegance and beauty.

Under the manipulation of the strings, it swayed unsteadily. Its head drooped, and its mechanically controlled eyes opened and closed, portraying its weakness with astonishing vividness.

Fine.

It did look rather pitiful now.

“She was on the verge of death. She had lost her home and had nowhere left to go.”

“And so... the gentle people accepted her. They gave her a place to stay and helped her recover from her injuries. The dragon was very weak at the time. The gentle people knew how powerful and dangerous she would become once she recovered, yet they still gave her their most sincere care and assistance.”

The music became cheerful again.

The puppets representing the people of Tars surrounded the dragon puppet, singing, dancing, and leaping joyfully.

...

The scene reminded Muen of last night.

Miss Dragon had been the same then, surrounded by the simple Notata people as they jumped and danced to the music.

At that time, Miss Dragon had been frighteningly quiet.

As though, to her, that too had been something extremely beautiful...

“But the gentlest people in the world were all deceived.”

RUMBLE!

Muen’s recollection was abruptly interrupted.

The sound of thunder rang out across the stage once more.

All light disappeared.

It seemed to be a silent night.

The singing and dancing came to an end, and all the puppets fell asleep while still immersed in the lingering joy and happiness.

Then, within the darkness, the dragon opened her eyes.

Her molten-gold pupils blazed brightly.

There was no longer any trace of her former weakness or pitifulness.

Only coldness and ruthlessness remained.

“The gentle and courageous people of this city were all deceived.”

“The dragon did not come here because she had nowhere to go. Nor did she come because she was pitiful and helpless. She came in order to... bring destruction.”

“To cruelly and mercilessly bring destruction upon the entire city!”

“All of it was part of her scheme!”

RUMBLE!

Scarlet lightning tore through the silent night!

Pulled by the strings, the dragon puppet shot into the air and circled above the city backdrop.

The city began to collapse.

Flames ignited everywhere.

The dragon swept across every part of the city, pushing everything into the abyss of destruction.

No one knew how many pitiful puppets died like that in the silent night and within their beautiful dreams.

Of course, some rose up to resist.

But how could they possibly be a match for that terrifying dragon?

Everything gradually began to overlap with the ending Muen already knew.

“In the end, the dragon successfully destroyed everything. This ‘place free of all worries’ was completely reduced to ruins.”

“The beautiful city of Tars was destroyed and buried within history.”

The music disappeared.

Only the sounds of thunder and flames remained.

The entire plaza became exceptionally quiet.

It seemed that the story had now reached its complete conclusion.

“Waaah... That’s horrible.”

Daphne, sitting on Muen’s shoulders, wiped away her tears.

“That evil dragon was so horrible. She actually... actually destroyed such a beautiful place.”

“...”

Muen remained silent, not knowing what to say.

Ultimately, he had not truly experienced any of it, so he had no right to say much.

However, he still could not understand what the purpose of this play was.

Had the survivors simply staged it to vent their resentment?

Or...

“But this is not the end!”

Daphne suddenly raised the puppet in her hand.

“This story definitely won’t end so easily!”

“That’s right!”

As though responding to Daphne...

Or perhaps responding to the feelings of the many spectators gathered in the plaza...

The narrator’s voice became impassioned once again.

“Nothing will end, because...”

CLUNK.

The lights on the stage came on.

They illuminated several “figures” standing upright among the ruins.

They were also puppets, only even more lifelike.

“We still have the Great Heroes!”

The narrator’s voice thundered.

“...???”

Question marks began appearing above Muen’s head. He had only just been slightly affected by the sorrowful atmosphere.

Wait.

What were they doing now?

The Great Heroes they were talking about couldn’t possibly be those people who had been hunted for eight hundred years and had not even dared to show their faces, could they?

“At the critical moment, the Great Heroes turned the tide and drove away the evil dragon!”

“???”

“Unfortunately, most of the city had already been destroyed by then. With no other choice, the Great Heroes could only seek another place and rebuild the city.”

“???”

“And so, the Great Heroes chose this place. They drove away the monsters and evil that had occupied it and rebuilt New Tars here...

They are the true heroes!”

“???”

Muen felt as though there were so many question marks above his head that there was no longer enough room for them.

Yet none of the surrounding spectators doubted those words in the slightest.

They shouted with excitement and fanaticism, raising the “hero” puppets in their hands and roaring together with the surging crowd.

“Great Heroes! Great Heroes! Great Heroes!”

Daphne shouted more enthusiastically than anyone.

“However! Even after all that, the evil dragon still has not given up! She continues circling outside this city, searching for an opportunity to destroy it!”

Accompanied by the music, the narrator’s voice grew increasingly impassioned.

“But there is no need to be afraid! This time, the Great Heroes will surely defeat the evil dragon and protect this city! The tragedy that once befell Tars will never be repeated!”

“Defeat the evil dragon! Defeat the evil dragon! Defeat the evil dragon!”

The spectators became even more excited.

Their cries surged like a tsunami, echoing through the sky above New Tars.

A sudden chill ran through Muen.

As though sensing something, he stiffly turned his head.

Then...

He saw that fiery-red figure.

At some unknown point, she too had arrived in the plaza.

She stood there silently, watching the crowd’s celebration.