A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale-Chapter 533: The Corruption Eater.

With Galiladrak guiding us, we all went deeper into the nest, until we saw Michalik waiting outside an entrance. Inside, equally as draped in treasure like his uncle, the nephew of Galiladrak resided in this beautiful, almost artistic cavern. Painted portraits, sculptures, pottery, and so many other art-related crafted items could be found here.

Yet, despite the beauty, this place wasn’t as pristine, though. Like a typical atelier, the cavern might be filled with art, but certain sections besmirched the image. Unfinished products, broken down tools or materials, and even a dirty, metal- and paint-spilled area with a smelter. Looking at the small stone vessels filled with jewels and ore, I believed the artist was turning precious stone minerals into coloring or materials for the sculptures.

“Sanzaphon! Son!” Michalik called, summoning an elven man from behind a small house in the corner of this place. “Ah … you were still painting? I told you—Forget it! Just stay in that form, it’ll be easier.”

The elven man, possessing a similar pattern of horns like his father, waddled out of the house with a paint-covered face and attire, looking like he had played in mud, as I could see clay and dust covering his hands, stuck in between his scales and claws. Yet, in the next moment, all of it disappeared as mana mist escaped his body, not having changed at all aside from a few dirty scales falling on the ground.

“Yo, pops! Oh, and uncle, too! Sorry, got a bit too invested, haha. And, yooo, Taimatrak! Glad to see you around and not trapped inside that basement storage of yours!” the man shouted, sounding lackadaisical.

“Not because I wanted to. My mother ordered me to come here with my new sister because she still can’t trust your father, and you know why enough. Also, don’t call my lab a storage facility when your place doesn’t look any better. Still able to smell the sulphur stones you use in that latest mix of yours,” Taim replied with a slightly disgusted face, but unlike how he spoke with Michalik and Galiladrak, I couldn’t sense any dislike.

I suddenly heard Kramps say, but when I asked to elaborate on it, he told me that was all he could say and to just “trust him.”

In any case, after a quick introduction where Sanzaphon didn’t really pay much attention to me, I was told by Galiladrak that Sanzaphon would be the one responsible for the purification, just as Kahalameet told me. When I was told that he was a mana dragon, I took this chance to actually learn how they worked biologically, just to feed my curiosity. That time when I had the chance to evolve into one but chose not to has turned into a small regret for me.

However …

“… Nothing’s different. Just ask your … I guess your companion on your back is a fairy, right? With those rainbow-colored insect wings, it must be so. Just ask her. It’s all pretty much normal aside from the fact I’m more drawn towards mana than before, and that I can survive on absorbing it now. Nothing special,” he said, still disinterested. “Now, if you’re done asking me, how about you bring out that catalyst, already. I want to get this done now so I can return to that statue!”

I slowly turned to Taim, who reciprocated it with a shrug. [“Hey, I would act the same way. If you weren’t my sister, I would also like to be left alone with my stuff.”]

Two peas of the same pod …

Ignoring these two antisocial dragons, I began making my request, not only asking for their help with [Providence’s Will] but also with grandmother’s crown and Vifi’s demonic issue. When Sanzaphon heard of this, his eyes started to shine. Literally, like two flashlights emitting light.

… Two peas of the same pod, seriously! That’s exactly what happened when Taim got interested in Vifi’s problem! What the hell!

Regardless of how I felt about these two, I still ended up bringing out grandmother’s crown and pushed Vifi forward, telling Galiladrak that I would be leaving [Providence’s Will] for last since I wanted my two first requests to be done first before the “special” job. Seeing nothing wrong about it, he accepted it.

Whether he could guess that Kramps had told me to be wary or not, I didn’t really care. I needed to understand why Kramps told me not to allow Sanzaphon to touch the catalyst first, and since he didn’t say anything about grandmother’s crown, it should be all right for him to touch it.

“Th-these are her scales! And his scales! Oooooh!” Sanzaphon cried out when Tasianna handed him the crown, jumping up and down like a bunny or hyperactive kid after receiving their Christmas present. Though, for some reason, he stopped and turned his head up to his father. “These are their scales, right?”

“Son …” He shook his head, stopping himself from saying anything. “Yes, they are. They smell exactly like Emperor Kargryxmor and Empress Inferatsa. It might have dwindled over how many years since this crown has been made, but I can feel some of their ancient mana within them, not to mention hints of their scent.”

“Yet, it does not look like it was stored safely. Those scales might be indestructible even after two millennia, but age is showing, especially on the former empress’s scales,” Galiladrak stated. “Princess Hestia, where did you find this? Even if the Emperor dislikes his father, he would never treat the scales of his mother with this much neglect. Her Majesty’s crown looks like somebody had digested it and puked it out.”

“… Let’s just say, what I did was easier to do than asking my father for it.”

“Regardless of how, now is the most important!” Sanzaphon stated with a big grin. “If this truly is the founder’s crown gift to his partner, then it must be further immortalized! Such an important piece of history! Oi, Taimatrak, lend me a hand in scribbling this on some paper!”

However, before this bandit could run away with the item, his father slammed his giant wing into the ground, digging out soil as he pulled it back up. Lowering his head, glaring at his son, the artist turned back around with a pained smile.

Coughing, he cleared his voice. “… I will clean the crown if you will allow me to at least make a scribble of it, just to allow me to immortalize it on my canvas.”

“Will it be hard?” I asked.

“Pah, easier than making luminescent paint! As easy as drinking, as I am a [Pearl Fae Dragon]. I did not choose my evolution for the sake of fighting—to my family’s chagrin—Ahem!”—he looked up to his father and then back to us—“I chose it because the best way to make paint without needing to rely on some production method that I believe is too obtuse to adapt to my constant needs is to make it myself. I do not have to deal with some whiny dwarf, unimaginative dragonewt, or pride-filled elf whenever they complain about how specific each of my paint types should be. The nerve! To make a masterpiece, I require good tools and keen craftsmanship; even a skilled chef would find it hard to make something edible out of rotten cadavers!”

[“… That’s a bit extreme?”] Beth commented, and I couldn’t help but agree.

[“This dragon seems, at least, uninterested in the general affair of the nest. Maybe that is why Prince Taimatrak seems more amicable towards him than his relatives,”] Shay added.

Vifi, though, scoffed. [“Really? I think it’s because both of these guys are a bit messed up in the head with how single-minded they are with their hobbies.”]

[“Hey, one of those eccentrics is my brother, okay! Chill with him, he’s helping us!”] I retorted, yet despite my words, Hikari shook her head. If I called these guys eccentrics, then we were ones, too.

Anyways, once his father told him to stop, the discussion returned to the crown. Although looking annoyed, Sanzaphon continued his explanation, “My unique skill I received from my mutant evolution was [Corruption Congealer]. It allows me to turn arcane corruption not only into food, but it allows me to absorb mana ‘corrupted’ by the elements and turn it all into either a gel—which is the food; quite delectable even—or normal mana which I breathe out. Though, being a [Pearl Fae Dragon], my diet has, uh, been restricted to anything that I can eat with the skill and, well, pearls.”

“… Pardon?”

What did I just hear?

“You heard it correctly, Princess Hestia. My nephew took this evolution purely for his artistic desires, and is now cursed to only consume mana gel or pearls … which our marine farms actually have an abundance of since pearls are one of our most valuable commodities,” Galiladrak said. “You can possibly see why his mutation would be so skewed. Yet, neither my brother nor I can fathom why he would forsake a normal diet for this.”

“I-I see.” I expected to get a headache from this encounter. I didn’t expect to get it from this reveal. “Well … I-in any case, so can you do it?”

With a nod, Sanzaphon held the crown with both hands as his arms turned from white to purple, the same color that always warned me of arcane corruption. There were tints of red and brown here and there, but it was mostly the former.

Hikari?

‘On it with mana eyes,’ she answered as I felt a slight sting in my brain. The entire place was a deluge of mana, coming from the direction of Galiladrak’s room, probably due to the giant holy crystal. This flood felt so suffocating with [Mana Eyes] on that Hikari was more preoccupied with ignoring certain information than actually analyzing what Sanazaphon was doing,

“I can detect some distinctive mana, but most of the crown is seeped with mana you can find anywhere in Inferno Nest. There are also some traces of random monsters here and there … I see, you lost it somewhere in the molten depths, huh? Some monster stole it?” the artist dragon said as mana mist of a similar color began to exude from his shoulders, forming a slime-like object around his neck.

I should ask. Hikari, you keep up with the mana flow.

“You can tell it all from the mana?” I asked, prompting him to nod.

“Too used to spicy fire mana, so I can tell. Urgh, I would rather you had given it to me a bit earlier, though. The elemental stuff tastes good, not the arcane corruption crap. I might have a mana body, but this purple goo really wrecks my focus,” he said. “This stuff might seem easy, but it still requires mana to purify everything … but, thankfully, it’s quick. Done.”

He handed it back to me, allowing Tasianna to feel it out to see if he had done as he said or not. Fortunately, he did, as Tasianna commented that there seemed to be less mana than before.

[“You should check on it with [Mana Eyes] later on, otherwise, he held onto his part of the bargain, my lady,”] she said.

“I left your grandparents’ mana inside, don’t worry. Everything else is out. It can probably do whatever it needs now without an issue, but this is still some ancient object at this point, so don’t expect it to work at full capacity,” Sanzaphon said, earning him my thanks and also the right to scribble the crown.

“I’ll handle it,” Taim interjected, turning into his dragonewt form before taking the crown. “You—continue with the rest.”

“Haha, thanks for that! You’ve always had the better eye for details, so I expect you to capture as much as possible, okay? Make sure the rust specks and so on are included! I want everything to be as authentic as possible!”

“Yeah, yeah, just hurry up so I can go home.” With that, Taim entered Sanzaphon’s house.

Continuing with the process, it was finally time for Vifi. Surprisingly enough, once again, the two ancient holy dragons did not say a thing, leaving the deal brokering to Sanzaphon. However, unlike with the crown, he didn’t seem too invested in Vifi’s demon problem, forcing Taim to shout how he was interested in the matter and demanded his eccentric friend to document everything down while he continued his scribbling.

With a loud sigh, Sanzaphon approached Vifi with hesitant eyes, sizing her up before he raised his brow. He kneeled, staring at her stomach for an uncomfortable amount of time. Vifi was starting to get embarrassed, taking a step back, only to be told to stand still so he could concentrate.

“… You have a rather peculiar mana source coming from your liver and heart, demonkin,” he stated. “I’ve seen your kind before, but usually, your demonic mana is a real turn-off to me. You’re a bottle even worse than all the ones I’ve met before, and I think it’s because of that whatever-you-called-it.”

“Original Sin powers. Essence of our demonic ancestors condenses into a blood core that allows us demonkin to harness their power, empowering our innate racial abilities,” Vifi explained.

“Yes, yes, that. I don’t really care about it, but these organs of yours … The mana composition in them is even more peculiar than what I sensed from Her Highness. Mind you, I can’t really see the flow of mana perfectly, but I’m more attuned to it as one with a mana body. I’m nowhere at the level of a lesser fae or elemental,” he said, which applied to Tasianna as well. From all I heard, it really did seem like a mana dragon was just an overgrown lizard fairy.

He continued, “How did you get these organs? Her Highness is easy to explain since she’s a mutant like me, so there will be something unnatural to our biology compared to normal dragons. That solar core of hers is the prime example. You? You can’t evolve, so something must have happened. Did you wander into some highly contaminated area?”

“You can say so, yeah. An area made after the detonation of a dungeon, and then was further destroyed by Plesia’s wrath. I trained there to get stronger due to desperation, and after a little encounter, I’ve been able to produce this red lightning.”

“Did you get yourself checked up?”

Vifi nodded. “As you said, liver and heart were most affected—the alchemists said my demonic blood absorbed most of the elemental mana, and since I was aligned with lightning as I grew up, the chaotic mix-match of mana caused my organs to mutate, and that affected my lightning. Blood flows through them, after all, and that is where our demonic mana comes from—our blood. People joked my voltaic lightning was ‘blood lightning’ and that Vivachel had her eye on me.”

“… Your organs are probably too seeped with that mana over the years. Everything in the world can absorb mana from the air, water, and earth, although some are less effective at it, which is how some minerals gain their popularity amongst humanoids as ingredients for anti-magic equipment. Fairnite, as beautifully white as it is, is such an example,” he said, going on a tangent again. “When mana is absorbed and remains in your body, you take on elemental alignments. Molding mana into different elements either through spells or racial skills begins the process, but living inside an area drenched in mana accelerates it to the point a ‘pure’ person turns ‘impure.’ If an ‘impure’ person remains in an area with a new elemental-alignment, that person becomes even more ‘impure’ and can even gain an additional element, albeit weaker than their original.”

The terms Sanzaphon was using were diluting the explanation a bit, making it harder to understand, but this was essentially Mom’s talk about gaining elemental alignments. When Saori’s students officially joined our party after the Griffonpeak attack, Mom gave this lecture on how to help our mages become better at their preferred elements.

The basics was clear: If the mana in your body became more fire-aligned, you gained natural fire resistance and proficiency boost while receiving a weakness to water. My entire life was dominated by this fact as I had high light and fire resistances at the start, but was weak to water, dark, and ice, to the point that gaining the resistances for these latter elements required me to go truly masochistic with my training.

As such, what I understood from this was that Vifi was naturally lightning-aligned, but the mana inside her “mutated” during her time in the Twin-Elemental Lake. Her organs started producing mana that discolored her lightning to red, while also granting her a natural proficiency with electromagnetism. Her skill set and her Territory all revolved around these magnetic powers.

Though, I kinda already understood this when Vifi told me about her powers. The only thing new was the fact her organs were responsible for the production.

“Remove your liver and heart and replace them with something new, and you might probably lose your red lightning,” he said. “The mana produced there feels different than elsewhere … They look like the mana strong magnets would emit. Hehe, every thought of donating those organs to give somebody else the powers.”

“Hey, I know this is rude to say, but can you stop going on tangents like this?” I said as I noticed Vifi squinting, remembering she had mentioned that one of the reasons for her deserting Bole’Taria was the danger of her organs being harvested if she were to return after her defeat at the Elyonda siege.

“Listen to your princess, Sanzaphon …” Michalik glared at his son, equally as annoyed as Galiladrak.

I felt a bit bad ganging up on the poor guy, but seeing Vifi letting out a silent sigh through her nose validated the decision to me. This was a sore spot. While I wanted to know more about it, it would be better to let it come naturally.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop! Sheesh!” The artist dragon scratched his head, looking exhausted. “Okay, let’s leave those organs out for now. However, the reason why I brought them up in the first place is because those are also the organs with the most demonic energy.”

I raised an eyebrow as I turned to Vifi with [Mana Eyes], but it looked like always. Demonic energy wasn’t colored differently to me. Vifi was a mix between blue and red—pure and her voltaic lightning mana—so I couldn’t tell a wrath demonkin from a human unless the former used their abilities.

As such, I perked up my ears, and so did Vifi. Did she not know this either?

“Mana circulates around your body like your blood, although they use the mana paths and permeates throughout your body that way. It’s harder to block the flow of mana compared to blood, but healing these mana paths is far harder if they get damaged,” he explained, causing me to relive that time my wings were unusable ‘cause of a healing mistake of mine. “Your mana paths are damaged, but not for your normal mana. Here, at your heart and liver, there is leftover demonic energy circulating within those two, unable to leave through your mana paths. Do me a favor, produce some demonic energy.”

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She nodded and used [Emotion Surge], causing her four sword-shaped lightning horns to appear.

“Yeah, got it correct,” he said, prompting me to look at her body as well, but I couldn’t tell a big difference.

There was a spike in mana flow, but it seemed normal. What exactly was going on?

“You can feel your mana entering your heart and liver, right?” he asked, and Vifi nodded. “Good, because that’s the issue. Only your mana is going in, but your mana paths are diffusing this gloomy darkness that is your demonic energy around your heart and liver, and turning it back into mana and stamina. There is a tiny amount still going inside normally, but they have a hard time exiting those organs. They just fade away over time. From the look of it, your body seems to have put a ‘lock’ on the amount of demonic energy you are allowed to let flow around your body. A restriction.”

He guessed [Original Sin: Satanael]’s ‘curse’ without us speaking about it? My mouth went agape as I heard this, and I wasn’t the only one as Vifi’s eyes blossomed open. She stared at Sanzaphon as if he were blackmailing her.

[“… Donut, that is what Lady Klea had told me, although with less biological details,”] Vifi told me telepathically. [“The solution was for Lady Klea to unlock my ability to process demonic energy above my limitations. Or, instead of using normal demonic energy that I produce through my body, I gain it from an outside source with a higher potency. Getting a new sin crystal is fine, but she also said that over time, Ellaine could produce demonic mana nearly as pure as the original archdemon of lust. I should be waiting for that but … I want to try it.”]

I can’t heal anything mana-related. We need a mana surgeon, although in this case, somebody versed with demonic energy. Either Klea or Sanzaphon.

I nodded, giving her permission to push Sanzaphon for a possible cure.

“I can’t get rid of it,” he said. “Not only does it reek, I honestly think it would be like poison to me. Demonic and Peolynca mana are different in nature, and you require not only the Divine System but also the natural mana flow of the world to turn the former into the latter. Demonkin can turn pure mana into demonic energy in a similar manner to how us true dragonkin do it for our dragon energy, but while I can eat the latter, I can’t do the same for the former. Like I said, I ‘process’ impure mana and then eat the pure gel, but my body can’t process this.”

“Would it be similar to how you get sick from ‘overeating?’” his father asked.

He nodded. “This will be like my ‘arcane corruption.’ Every faefolk and mana monster are different, to the point it feels weird to call me ‘part fae’ despite some of the peculiars features. Like, you can’t see this exact flow of mana, right, Fairy?”

Tasianna shrugged. “I can sense it, but unlike you, Lord Sanzaphon, I was unable to follow understanding with my eyes. I also do not eat mana like you.”

Ahh, finally. So just agitate or make him interested, and this guy will actually be serious with the answers. A fairy and a mana dragon aren’t the same at all. This is like comparing an ice dragon to a fire drake. Both are dragonkin, but they have different needs and characteristics.

“So you can’t do anything?” I asked. “It’ll be all right, though. I do want to help my friend here, if possible, but letting you harm yourself isn’t part of the plan.”

Sanzaphon’s face contorted into an unsure expression. “Well, it isn’t that I can’t, it’s just,”—he paused for a moment before letting out a sigh—“I can try. Just a bit, though … In exchange, I want you to broker a proper meeting for my uncle and Frozen Nest’s dragon ruler. To speak terms, you know.”

I turned to Galiladrak and Michalik, eyeing them sharply as I wasn’t that dumb to not notice the sudden telepathy between them and Sanzaphon. Trying to hide it in such a boorish manner was a great way to make me keep my guard up, instead of lowering it … but then again, an appropriate compensation had to happen eventually.

The first was a freebie. If this would harm Sanzaphon, then the least I could do was to ask Uncle Alex to speak with Galiladrak. Speaking would cost us nothing, as long as the discussion happened outside of Frozen Nest.

“Sure,” I agreed, causing Sanzaphon to grimace. He looked at Vifi and took in a deep breath, mentally hyping himself up.

Meanwhile, I was questioned by my party telepathically if this was all right, prompting me to give them my reasoning just now. While the others were satisfied with it, Vifi was the only one who was sceptical. Cold feet, if you asked me. I could see that she was still having trouble actually grasping for anything that would give her hope. She needed people to push her along, and I gave it to her figuratively and literally.

“You don’t need to be fully healed, as long as you can prove to yourself that you can beat this curse, that’s enough. A small boost in Aurora’s ex-Warbringer is enough to make me feel safer,” I said with a smile, silencing Vifi’s complaints as she took the step, reaching her hand out for Sanzaphon to grab.

Looking down at it, the dragon hesitated, unwilling to go forward only for him to jerk backward for a moment. He took a large gulp as he grabbed Vifi’s hand in a hurry, tightening his grip and gritting his teeth.

It only took seconds for his white-scled and pinkish skin to be dyed in purple, red, and black, causing him to groan out loud. Vifi didn’t respond, simply staring at Sanzaphon as his legs began to wobble, causing his entire body to shiver. Mana mist still streamed out of his shoulder to produce some gel, but the process had slowed down compared to before.

Eventually, Sanzaphon let go of Vifi when his face started to change color. He rushed over to a nearby paint bucket and puked. At the same time, the gel production stopped and his skin started to turn back to normal.

As my party stared in shock at the reaction, Michalik walked forward and unfurled one of his wings, holding it above his son as a white mist started to descend on it. The latter breathed in the mist as if he had been holding his breath for over a minute, taking deep breaths with his chest expanding and deflating at a rapid pace until he fell onto the ground, leaning against a nearby chair. He still looked out of breath, but the purple, red, and black discoloration was completely gone.

“I-is he okay?” I asked.

Galiladrak replied, “Somewhat. This has happened before where he tried to absorb too much mana, causing his body to reject the excess, like a hatchling overeating. As a being of mana, we cannot heal him with our holy magic, but offering him our mana would calm his body down. He will need time for himself to cleanse whatever it is that is disturbing him, otherwise, he will be well. Demonic energy shouldn’t have any consequences.”

“It probably won’t! Hopefully …” Sanzaphon eked out, exhaustion making his voice meeker. “I got some of that demon mana out, but nowhere near as much as I believed I could. Well, I don’t know if it actually helped, so maybe try it out?”

“Can you raise it above 15 percent?” Tasianna asked Vifi. “Do you feel any different?”

“I can’t really tell …” she answered in a hush tone. “When I lost the ability to materialize my elemental arms, I’ve gotten used to my current state of [Elemental Armament]. I could still conjure my weapons, so I could still fight like normal. I feel the same, I think.”

Vifi then produced red lightning from her hands, creating her halberd and hammer before turning both into a giant gauntlet and a staff. She then pulled her rapier and catalyst from her hip and began to channel electricity through them. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

[“Use [Emotion Surge],”] I suggested.

However, even after using it three times to confirm, Vifi’s brows furrowed as she shook her head in disappointment. She clicked her tongue and turned to us. “Two percent.”

“… So 17 percent?” Shay tilted his head, earning him a nod from her.

“The improvement is barely noticeable, and I rolled the dice thrice to increase my emotions, but the highest I’ve gotten in all three is 17.”

“Uh, well, it does show that we can beat it now, but—”

“But I don’t think he will want to do it again.” Vifi turned to Sanzaphon, shaking his head slowly. “I … it’s nice to see proof that this isn’t permanent, but hope really is a bastard. Thanks, but I don’t think it was worth the deal you made, Hestia.”

Vifi slowly walked over to Tasianna and stood still like a tree, only breathing and listening, like a guard. Personally, I didn’t think it was as bad as she was making it out to be, since this was a massive information dump for me. She was being a bit short-sighted, laser focused on the number when the meaning behind Sanzaphon’s explanation meant that I might be able to help.

If this was related to her heart and liver, then shouldn’t [Miraculous Grace] be able to help by regrowing her organs? Yeah, it might not work since her special lightning relied on those two organs to be produced, but the ability to work with this information was totally worth this deal.

As Master Kush always said, “Mages should pursue knowledge.” Knowledge was power! I believed this truly.

Just have to figure something out until Klea comes. Actually … now that we have the crown purified, maybe we can use it to control Vifi’s curse?

As I was thinking that, I let out a sigh as I felt the stares digging into my back. It was time and I couldn’t delay it for any longer, but the issue was that how should I do this? Kramps told me to not let Sanzaphon touch [Providence’s Will], but up until now, he needed to touch the item or person for his skill to work. He was holding onto Vifi’s arm for his dear life.

Sure, he could absorb mana in the air like everybody, probably better than Tasianna, but Hikari and I both came to the conclusion that to activate his [Corruption Congealer], he needed physical contact so the mana could directly flow into his body through mana control. His body then separated the impureness of the mana, exuding the latter from his body through the mist around his shoulder, while the rest stayed within him. The arcane corruption or elementally-aligned mana would then slowly get processed out.

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That was why Vifi’s demonic energy was so toxic to him. As a mana bodied dragon, arcane corruption could not harm him unlike us with blood and flesh, but I suspected high doses of non-holy-aligned mana could still be harmful to him. Which was what Galiladrak probably talked about. The excess would remain in his body. He would take on the problems of others.

Ha, that’s a holy-related skill, all right. Selfless skill, even if his real reason for having it is due to his art obsession.

In any case, I pulled out the catalyst while I tried to form an excuse to adhere to Kramps’s warning. As [Providence’s Will] appeared out of my storage, the holy dragons immediately let out gasps of interest, eyeing it as if it was the most prized treasure in the world. Even in its bronze shell, the radiance of this alchemical tool, created with the remains of the Light Elemental Emperor, the former primarch of the holy element before Aurena took it over by defeating it, shone brighter than even the brilliant quartz in this cavern.

“Beautiful …” Michalik stated, entranced.

“The remains of a demi-god—the essence of the demi-god who once ruled our world. Its shine is still impeccable even after so long.” Galiladrak could not take his eyes away from it.

Even Sanzaphon seemed to have gotten over his pained body. “I take it back … the crown isn’t as great as I thought. The remains of a naturally formed god-to-be is so much better. Can only be beaten if we could get something Aurena made.”

“Do not speak that usurper’s name in the presence of Their remains, Son!” Michalik lightly chastised, not loud enough to actually sound like a lecture.

To the humans, Aurena was the Goddess of Light, but to these holy dragons, the deceased Light Elemental Emperor was their god.

“… I had heard from Michalik about your initial refusal to show him the catalyst, but to show it to us now, you either must be desperate or are unable to properly release its full power. No matter!” Galiladrak shouted with a wide grin, not looking at me at all. “Princess Hestia, allow us—Yes, allow us to release the full power of this catalyst. To witness the birth of the Light Elemental Emperor’s power in the hand of Sacred’s Nest claws would be the greatest moment since our father’s birth! Accept this power and claim th—” He turned to me with eyes sparkling like camera flashes. “Claim thy role as the empire’s savior!”

“This is a divine power able to bring nation’s to their heel!” Michalik praised, genuflecting before the catalyst like a reverent believer. “The demonkin, the Empire of Man, the otherworldly invaders—they will be unstoppable before you, Your Highness! Yes, yes, show us! Show us its power! Son, purify it at once! We must see its true power!”

“This will be a masterpiece!” Sanzaphon cried out, flexing his fingers as he greedily looked at my catalyst. “The taste of a god—Ooooh, how will this mana taste?”

Clink. A metallic sound stole my attention, prompting me to look down as I saw [Providence’s Will] back up to me, slowly.

Is it … Is it trying to stay away from Sanzaphon?

“Hold on!” I stated as I covered the catalyst with my scales, pulling it closer to me. “What’s with these reactions? I know you’ve been waiting for this, but I would think you remembered what I said, Lord Michalik. ‘I do not need your help to unlock its full potential.’ I came here with three requests, yes, but I know each would have a price. I accepted and will pay the prices for the two previous requests. So, before you touch my catalyst, I would like to hear what you want for your services.”

“A-ah! Right! Of course, we do apologize, Your Highness,” Galiladrak said without bowing. “We were overwhelmed by how magnificent this catalyst’s power is, even after being separated by Andira for so long. Ahem, you are quite correct. For what I want … Well, I truly wish to form that alliance with Frozen Nest, as combining our power underneath you would better benefit your ambitions for the succession crisis. You are our princess, and as such, we must support you in any way possible! Protecting you from rival dragon rulers will become easier when Alextraxus and I combine our power, as your mother isn’t allowed to directly interfere with the results.”

“So the deal is to help you broker an alliance?”

“Correct. That would be more precious than all the wealth in the world.”

“I see … So first a talk with Lord Alextraxus to follow up with an alliance discussion. I can see that happening, yes.” I paused, trying to hide my displeasure at this. The headache was getting worse. “I think I can work with that. Before I accept, though, can you tell me how you’re going to purify the catalyst? Unlike the other two cases, this problem isn’t really blocked by some sort of mana, but by the stubborn artificial intelligence inside the slime-like catalyst.”

“Oh, it’s actually as easy as the first problem!” Sanzaphon said. “Actually, it’s even better since this is holy-aligned mana, so it won’t cause my inside to churn like the second request. Maybe I would get a whiplash from how pure this mana is, but the result will remain the same—I can remove the ‘corruption’ of this slime’s core and simply leave the inherent mana inside.”

“What do you mean by removing the slime’s core?”

“Exactly as I said!” Sanzaphon replied with unbridled enthusiasm. “From what the books mentioned, Andira created the catalyst using the Light Elemental Emperor’s essence after They were defeated by Aurena. The powerful essence granted her a magnificent power as she could wield divine power before she became a subordinate goddess, making her an extreme force during the demon war. That was what the chroniclers wrote when they documented everything from my grandfather’s side.”

Yngvaldr, right?

“The remaining mana of the emperor was almost perfectly preserved within this catalyst, but it also created this slime-like intelligence that made it impossible for every person to control. It chooses its owner and wielder, and we presume it bonded well with Andira, to the point it even now tries to uphold her interest. Most likely, since Erithia is Andira’s sister, it also spent time with her. The slime might have inherited their will and now enforces them.”

… Seriously, Erithia, as well? Okay, this slime shouldn’t have heard anything about how Erithia dislikes me, so let’s not overreact. The only reason the slime doesn’t like me is because Aurena and Andira forced it onto me

“Therefore, the only way to remove the restriction and allow it to grant you its true power, the correct way to solve this is to kill the slime core without destabilizing the mana it controls. That is why I am probably the only person in the mortal realm who can do this without any issue. Since I can separate ‘corruption’ from pure mana. I can fine tune it even further by leaving the elemental mana inside and only removing the impure, like arcane corruption! As I did with the crown, by leaving Kargryxmor’s and Inferatsa’s mana behind.”

Kill?

“Is … Is this the only method?” I asked, looking at the shivering catalyst.

“Well, no, but it’s the most effective. As I said, the restriction is made by the catalyst’s slime. It sets how much power its owner can wield, and as such, can keep the ‘balance’ by granting less worthy owners less powers so they don’t abuse it. It can completely cripple the user’s control over it if it assumes the owner is unworthy of it. I presume this is the case for you?”

Yes, it still doesn't like me! I answered but kept it to myself as I came to realize the truth behind this procedure.

I shook my head. “Then … no deal.”

“W-what!” Sanzaphon and Michalik shouted, while Galiladrak stared at me with widened eyes.

“I apologize, but I cannot accept such a result,” I replied, leaving even my party confused. “I personally believe I am a hypocrite. I say something and want to uphold ideals, but emotions or circumstances sometimes lead me to do something entirely else. I make mistakes, in other words. I do not consider myself a hero, but I wish to uphold those ideals, yet I can and will act like a feral dragon if sufficiently angered. I condemn my enemies and have accepted to kill them if I believe they will endanger my family and friends. Still, even with all that said, I personally told myself to draw the line on somethings to never fully return to being that feral dragon that roamed the Belzac forest in the first year of my existence on Peolynca.”

I turned my head to the catalyst. “This is one of the lines I do not want to cross—taking somebody’s life when I do not deem it necessary for my survival.”

“The power, Your Highness! This does involve your survival!” Galiladrak lowered his head, close enough for me to see my reflection inside his giant, yellow eye. “This power is divine, nay, primeval! You can wield the power of not only a subordinate god but a true, naturally-formed, faith-created demi-god! This is pure mana! The leftovers of an elemental primarch! The succession crisis is near, and you’ve made an enemy of Maustoovaka, yet you would deny such power! Think, young scale! Think!”

“When I accepted that I was a hypocrite, I thought it was all right to continue that way. Though … I’ve had important people tell me otherwise. To be better than my current self. Not to wallow in self-deprecation and to stubbornly continue on a path of ruin, it is better to stop and look behind at what I left behind. I do not wish for this catalyst’s ‘life’ to end, just because I was too impatient in trying to win it over. I would be no better than the people I truly hate.”

“There is nothing to be left behind in this case! This ‘life’ is not real. This slime is created through an imperfect preservation of the Light Elemental Emperor. It might have inherited some of the demi-god’s personality, yes, but it is only an imitation. Nothing else. A mark of shame for Andira’s masterful creation. A failure we will solve! What my nephew will solve! It will bring out the perfection of the Light Elemental Emperor back to the world, granting you the might needed to defeat anything in your path! Those enemies you talked about? They will be nothing! Those leviathans that harassed you, nothing as well! Maustoovaka’s minions? Insignificant! You can rally all the ancients in Frozen and Sacred Nest with this power, and you wouldn’t still give it up?”

“… Yes,” I replied to the silenced ancient. “Because this wouldn’t be my power. You will not flock to me, you will flock to this catalyst that was once your god. What difference would it make from now with how difficult it is to gain this catalyst’s trust?”

Galiladrak squinted his eyes and shook his head. “No, you are our princess.”

“We are both dragons. ‘Power’ is the real reason. Currently, I am weak. You want me to become stronger. I don’t know what you actually think, but that is what I’ve understood from meeting all the dragonkin up until now. Power is part of our culture, and that is something I sadly cannot change …” I let out a sign as I remembered Uncle Kary’s outburst. “I apologize for wasting your time, elder scale. I did not think I would hesitate before the last step.”

“… No, it is fine,”—he raised his body back up and moved towards the cavern’s entrance—“As I said, Princess Hestia. Sacred Nest will do anything you wish. If you believe you can still bring that catalyst around, then I will believe you. Come, allow me to see you off, but do not forget our deal, yes?”

“Of course, Dragon Ruler Galiladrak.”

Hope you’re happy about this, Kramps.

… Huh, you wish.

As such, we left the cavern in an awkward state. I didn’t know if Galiladrak was actually fine with everything, but I could tell this wasn’t what he wanted from how he reacted. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to bite me in the future, but what was done was done.

Once Taim finished his exchange with Sanzaphon, we left Sacred Nest with the trumpeting roars of the true dragonkin. After leaving Taim behind at the border, his goodbye was rather lukewarm as my brother had nothing special to say outside of, “Good work not causing another fight with an ancient!”

That wise-cracking ass … Pah.

“Love you too …” I pouted, causing him to smile, teasingly. “Haa, whatever, Big Bro. Could you do me a favor, though? I already told this to our empress-mothers, but I will be leaving for an expedition, tomorrow or the day after. If possible, could you ask Ryra to join me to the north.”

“To the glacial north? Eh, sure, I guess?” he shrugged as he left, leaving me flabbergasted as I wasn’t sure if he would act on what he said or not. Regardless, we left for Frozen Nest.

In any case, once I informed Uncle Alex and Sieg about everything, he thanked me and told me the preparations he made for my expedition was done, leaving me awestruck at the amount of rations and supplies we received. Outside of accidents and problems, the expedition should be set when it came to warm water, food, and items to make travel through the glaciers a breeze.

After we said our goodbye to Pradreo, the digital media guild, and the Kleodrastia clan members, our party got ready for the trip the next day. After a rather heart-warming goodbye from my uncle retainers and a guilt-tripping meeting with my fire wyverns—as I couldn’t bring them with me, therefore, I told them to help out Clan Nordor while I was away—our party went to the shore to meet up with our sixth member of this expedition.

However, to my surprise, the person Mother, the empresses, and Taim had called wasn’t my preferred partner-in-crime, Ryra, but another brother. The fourth prince.

“Yo, little scamp!”

It was Nong! Nongramos, that peacock dragon! Well, he wasn’t an actual peacock, but just like our first meeting, this emerald-feathered dragon posed the moment we met, flapping his tail and wings as if he were doing a mating dance. All just so he could say—

“These beautiful feathers of mine will protect you from the event of the strongest hurricanes, my dear young sister! I, Nongramos, am here to conquer the glacial storm with you!” He then stomped the ground and shrieked like a raptor before transitioning to a dragon’s earth-quaking roar.

… Tinnitus. I will get tinnitus during this trip, 100 percent.