169. “Fafnir.”
"Something more precarious?" Oulan was perplexed. If those monsters weren’t the problem, it meant that something completely oblivious to him was actually threatening the entire planet's safety. Something capable of endangering the entire dragon species.
"Yeah," Arima smirked and directed his gaze toward the ground. Oulan frowned. "Tell me, do you know what is situated at the heart of your planet?"
"In… our planet?" Oulan was confused. "I'm not sure to understand what you mean…"
Arima chuckled. "Well, do you know what is at the center of a planet?"
"Well, the planetary core?"
Arima laughed and Oulan looked at him strangely. "Sorry, it’s just a little funny since I had to deal with some really big cores just before, but you're correct. What I am asking you now is; do you know what is at the kernel of YOUR planet?" He inquired again with a more serious tone.
Oulan hesitated. The center of the planet he had lived on for hundreds of years? If you asked him what was on the surface of this planet, he would have been able to answer. But he had never even thought about what was in its entrails.
He didn't need to in the first place. He also had no reason or way to check it. But now, Arima had managed to root an odd fear in him.
"…I want to be sure if I understood correctly," Oulan said. "Are you saying that what is susceptible of destroying our land is situated right in its core?"
Arima smiled. "Yes. That’s what I mean. It’s something I sensed when I arrived," he stated. "It's weak but certainly there. Furthermore, its aura is rising quickly. You may not be able to feel it since it's still incredibly frail and transparent. But it is definitely getting stronger as we speak."
"Normally, I’d say that not even I would be able to detect it. But something woke it up," Arima added. "So, although the Téra are not a threat to you, it seems that they still bring you misfortune," he chuckled and Oulan smiled bitterly.
"Do you have any idea of what it is?"
"That's what I should be asking you," Arima retorted and shrugged. "I don't know. But it's not like I have no idea either. You know, dragons are a very important and powerful race. They are all noble, strong, wise, and incredibly popular among humans…"
Arima paused and his eye twitched when he spotted Layla and Karma stuffing themselves with cakes next to him. He realized that he would need to eat a tremendous amount of food from now on. He shook his head and cleared his throat.
"There are many legends about them in every world and plane," he resumed as if nothing happened. "This place is supposed to be the homeland of dragons. There’s no way to guess what kind of disaster would be dwelling at its center," Arima declared and Oulan stared at the ground with a raised eyebrow. It was peculiar to suddenly learn that there may be a life-threatening entity living right below his home.
"Well, I may not be able to recognize who or what it is, but I know someone who should," Arima added and Oulan looked up.
"Who is it?"
"The inheritor of Jörmungandr," Arima replied and Oulan blanked out. "Well, I could also ask Leviathan but I didn't even meet the guy yet. I could contact Chulainn to know where they are right now but it's not worth it…" he continued to speak and the old dragon listening almost choked.
‘How does he have such acquaintances?!’ He shouted in his mind.
"I'll ask him after all. Another favor for him is no big deal," Arima muttered and both Karma and Layla looked at him in curiosity. Both of them weren't present when he met Jorga.
"{So, you're gonna ask Jorga, huh?}" Night was the only one who knew him. Jorga had also sort of been his teacher for a day.
"{Yeah,}" Arima responded and focused on the link he had created with Jorga some time ago.
***
Meanwhile, Jorga was casually getting rid of the Téra around the forest with a lazy expression when he suddenly received Arima’s call.
His azure eyes widened to the maximum. Earlier, he had considered calling Arima because of the Téra but he forwent the idea because he didn't want to waste his favor.
"{It's been a while, Arima. Why are you calling?}"
"{I just kind of need your help here.}"
"{'Here'? And where is that?}"
"{Fantasia,}" Arima responded and Jorga gaped.
"{How the hell can you be there…? What happened for you to end up on Fantasia?}" He was shocked. "{It's like… one billion miles away.}"
"{One hundred billion,}" Arima corrected him and Jorga huffed.
"{That doesn’t it make it better!}"
"{It’s a long story. Things… happened. Anyway, there's a little problem here and I’d like you to lend me your wisdom. I may have my own share of knowledge right now, but I don't think I can beat Jörmungandr's when it concerns dragons. He was one of the prototypical dragons after all.}"
"{…Fine, I'm willing to go there. But first, you will owe me another one. And two, give me a fucking way to get there. Even if I use all of my mana, I don't think I can make through half of the distance.}"
"{No problem,}" Arima accepted. "{Just wait a few minutes. I'll call you back.}"
Jorga sighed when he cut the link with Arima.
"Xelio, I will have to leave soon. Take care of those monsters for me. Ask Lifa for help if you're struggling," he warned the sky dragon who was hunting the Téra with him.
Xelio was the dragon that Arima helped to retrieve his egg. He had reached the tenth level since then and his child was playing around on his back. When he heard Jorga, he nodded without any hesitation.
Jorga was at the Fourth Sky of the Earthen Realm so he knew it was a big loss but when he thought about the small black cat on the shoulder of a certain innocent girl, he shivered and instantly let go of his worries.
"I'll go tell everyone of my departure," Jorga declared but as he was about to jump back into the sea, a light flickered around him.
"{It's finished. You can come,}" he heard a voice then disappeared before he could say anything.
Xelio blinked and his child looked on with a surprised face.
"…Should I tell them myself?" He muttered.
***
Arima had drawn a multi-layered magic circle on the ground and then a blue light illuminated the mountain top. Just after that, a large and magnificent gray serpent had teleported in front of them.
Jorga looked around with blank eyes and then flew off with his long body although he didn't have wings. He looked around one more time and his expression twitched.
"What the freak is going on…? How the hell did you teleport me here so easily?!" He snapped at Arima who was below. "Huh? Wait a second… aren't you… bigger than before? And of a completely different race?"
Jorga had felt Arima's familiar aura when he arrived but he was so shocked that he didn't even have the time to see his appearance. He descended and halted at the level of Arima's head. He himself was quite big, even more than when they met back at the continent.
Jorga's entire body out of the water was fifty meters long and around ten meters large. He was an imposing serpent. But even like that, he was quite small compared to Arima.
The latter laughed. "A lot happened," he said again and Jorga frowned. He glanced at Layla and Karma and extended his frown.
Arima sighed and then spent the following ten minutes to tell him the important things.
***
"Hm, hm,” he nodded. “So, you met a goddess and the inheritor of Chronepsis after leaving the continent then because one of them was dying, they fused to create this girl here."
Layla smiled and waved her hand.
"And that girl over there is your sword…" Karma did the same as Layla. Jorga turned awkward and skipped that part. "Then, you taught some kids in the Main Land and met Kerberos. After that, you left to prevent Heaven's destruction but, in the end, you not only failed to save it but you also had to destroy Hell in the process. Also, Pandora opened and released the Téra and because of that, you ended up being stuck in a Full Resonance with Night and turned into a dragon."
Arima nodded.
"And while you were there, you found Origin, who you named Deva, and used her to escape Hell's chaos and to come here to fulfill the promise you made with The Silent Watcher," Jorga nodded as well and started laughing.
Oulan was completely lost at that point. No, to be exact, he started wondering how the hell he had gotten himself into a conversation that involved Gods, Hell, Heaven and a war between both.
"Hahaha! You're not funny at all, so I suppose it's the truth. That's something!" He laughed for a moment and then curled on the ground like a snake and gazed at the sky.
***
"So, that's why you called me?" Jorga asked with a serious face as he looked at the ground. After he had recovered from the outrageous story he had heard, he was finally able to concentrate.
"Yes," Arima nodded.
"Well, you were right that something is waking up at least," Jorga affirmed. "At first, I thought it was the Moon-Eater, Bakunawa. But even if the aura is similar, Bakunawa was banished by Bathala long ago as the legends say. Solely based on the power signature, there was also the possibility of Kukulkan, also known as Quetzalcoatl. But in truth, Quetzal is a lovely lady who came to visit me a hundred years ago or so. So, it’s not her."
"The only creature who truly fits this kind of malevolent aura is none other than another one of the Five Dragon Kings, Fafnir."
When Arima heard that name, his expression turned into a contemplating one.
"Fafnir was a greedy dwarf who turned into a dragon, right? Did not Siegfried kill him?"
Jorga shook his head. "Yes and no. The legends transmitted to the mortals have their limits. Siegfried indeed killed Fafnir. He died but came back from the dead by an unknown method soon after. The gods of that time concluded that it was because Odin's powerful curse on the Nibelungen Gold made him mutate even further."
"But since that day, no one even heard about Fafnir again and the gold he was supposed to guard had vanished from the place he died the first time," Jorga said and stared at the ground. "This is bad. Back in the day, the Five Dragon Kings were renowned as the most powerful dragons to have ever existed. Tiamat, Chronepsis, Kukulkan, Fafnir, and Kur. Fafnir was the weakest among them but you can imagine what kind of strength he had to be included among these five."
"If he lived all of those years alone with his gold, I can't predict what kind of evolution he went through and if we consider what Chronepsis told you," he paused. "He must have gone beyond the Third Divine."
169. “Fafnir.”
"Something more precarious?" Oulan was perplexed. If those monsters weren’t the problem, it meant that something completely oblivious to him was actually threatening the entire planet's safety. Something capable of endangering the entire dragon species.
"Yeah," Arima smirked and directed his gaze toward the ground. Oulan frowned. "Tell me, do you know what is situated at the heart of your planet?"
"In… our planet?" Oulan was confused. "I'm not sure to understand what you mean…"
Arima chuckled. "Well, do you know what is at the center of a planet?"
"Well, the planetary core?"
Arima laughed and Oulan looked at him strangely. "Sorry, it’s just a little funny since I had to deal with some really big cores just before, but you're correct. What I am asking you now is; do you know what is at the kernel of YOUR planet?" He inquired again with a more serious tone.
Oulan hesitated. The center of the planet he had lived on for hundreds of years? If you asked him what was on the surface of this planet, he would have been able to answer. But he had never even thought about what was in its entrails.
He didn't need to in the first place. He also had no reason or way to check it. But now, Arima had managed to root an odd fear in him.
"…I want to be sure if I understood correctly," Oulan said. "Are you saying that what is susceptible of destroying our land is situated right in its core?"
Arima smiled. "Yes. That’s what I mean. It’s something I sensed when I arrived," he stated. "It's weak but certainly there. Furthermore, its aura is rising quickly. You may not be able to feel it since it's still incredibly frail and transparent. But it is definitely getting stronger as we speak."
"Normally, I’d say that not even I would be able to detect it. But something woke it up," Arima added. "So, although the Téra are not a threat to you, it seems that they still bring you misfortune," he chuckled and Oulan smiled bitterly.
"Do you have any idea of what it is?"
"That's what I should be asking you," Arima retorted and shrugged. "I don't know. But it's not like I have no idea either. You know, dragons are a very important and powerful race. They are all noble, strong, wise, and incredibly popular among humans…"
Arima paused and his eye twitched when he spotted Layla and Karma stuffing themselves with cakes next to him. He realized that he would need to eat a tremendous amount of food from now on. He shook his head and cleared his throat.
"There are many legends about them in every world and plane," he resumed as if nothing happened. "This place is supposed to be the homeland of dragons. There’s no way to guess what kind of disaster would be dwelling at its center," Arima declared and Oulan stared at the ground with a raised eyebrow. It was peculiar to suddenly learn that there may be a life-threatening entity living right below his home.
"Well, I may not be able to recognize who or what it is, but I know someone who should," Arima added and Oulan looked up.
"Who is it?"
"The inheritor of Jörmungandr," Arima replied and Oulan blanked out. "Well, I could also ask Leviathan but I didn't even meet the guy yet. I could contact Chulainn to know where they are right now but it's not worth it…" he continued to speak and the old dragon listening almost choked.
‘How does he have such acquaintances?!’ He shouted in his mind.
"I'll ask him after all. Another favor for him is no big deal," Arima muttered and both Karma and Layla looked at him in curiosity. Both of them weren't present when he met Jorga.
"{So, you're gonna ask Jorga, huh?}" Night was the only one who knew him. Jorga had also sort of been his teacher for a day.
"{Yeah,}" Arima responded and focused on the link he had created with Jorga some time ago.
***
Meanwhile, Jorga was casually getting rid of the Téra around the forest with a lazy expression when he suddenly received Arima’s call.
His azure eyes widened to the maximum. Earlier, he had considered calling Arima because of the Téra but he forwent the idea because he didn't want to waste his favor.
"{It's been a while, Arima. Why are you calling?}"
"{I just kind of need your help here.}"
"{'Here'? And where is that?}"
"{Fantasia,}" Arima responded and Jorga gaped.
"{How the hell can you be there…? What happened for you to end up on Fantasia?}" He was shocked. "{It's like… one billion miles away.}"
"{One hundred billion,}" Arima corrected him and Jorga huffed.
"{That doesn’t it make it better!}"
"{It’s a long story. Things… happened. Anyway, there's a little problem here and I’d like you to lend me your wisdom. I may have my own share of knowledge right now, but I don't think I can beat Jörmungandr's when it concerns dragons. He was one of the prototypical dragons after all.}"
"{…Fine, I'm willing to go there. But first, you will owe me another one. And two, give me a fucking way to get there. Even if I use all of my mana, I don't think I can make through half of the distance.}"
"{No problem,}" Arima accepted. "{Just wait a few minutes. I'll call you back.}"
Jorga sighed when he cut the link with Arima.
"Xelio, I will have to leave soon. Take care of those monsters for me. Ask Lifa for help if you're struggling," he warned the sky dragon who was hunting the Téra with him.
Xelio was the dragon that Arima helped to retrieve his egg. He had reached the tenth level since then and his child was playing around on his back. When he heard Jorga, he nodded without any hesitation.
Jorga was at the Fourth Sky of the Earthen Realm so he knew it was a big loss but when he thought about the small black cat on the shoulder of a certain innocent girl, he shivered and instantly let go of his worries.
"I'll go tell everyone of my departure," Jorga declared but as he was about to jump back into the sea, a light flickered around him.
"{It's finished. You can come,}" he heard a voice then disappeared before he could say anything.
Xelio blinked and his child looked on with a surprised face.
"…Should I tell them myself?" He muttered.
***
Arima had drawn a multi-layered magic circle on the ground and then a blue light illuminated the mountain top. Just after that, a large and magnificent gray serpent had teleported in front of them.
Jorga looked around with blank eyes and then flew off with his long body although he didn't have wings. He looked around one more time and his expression twitched.
"What the freak is going on…? How the hell did you teleport me here so easily?!" He snapped at Arima who was below. "Huh? Wait a second… aren't you… bigger than before? And of a completely different race?"
Jorga had felt Arima's familiar aura when he arrived but he was so shocked that he didn't even have the time to see his appearance. He descended and halted at the level of Arima's head. He himself was quite big, even more than when they met back at the continent.
Jorga's entire body out of the water was fifty meters long and around ten meters large. He was an imposing serpent. But even like that, he was quite small compared to Arima.
The latter laughed. "A lot happened," he said again and Jorga frowned. He glanced at Layla and Karma and extended his frown.
Arima sighed and then spent the following ten minutes to tell him the important things.
***
"Hm, hm,” he nodded. “So, you met a goddess and the inheritor of Chronepsis after leaving the continent then because one of them was dying, they fused to create this girl here."
Layla smiled and waved her hand.
"And that girl over there is your sword…" Karma did the same as Layla. Jorga turned awkward and skipped that part. "Then, you taught some kids in the Main Land and met Kerberos. After that, you left to prevent Heaven's destruction but, in the end, you not only failed to save it but you also had to destroy Hell in the process. Also, Pandora opened and released the Téra and because of that, you ended up being stuck in a Full Resonance with Night and turned into a dragon."
Arima nodded.
"And while you were there, you found Origin, who you named Deva, and used her to escape Hell's chaos and to come here to fulfill the promise you made with The Silent Watcher," Jorga nodded as well and started laughing.
Oulan was completely lost at that point. No, to be exact, he started wondering how the hell he had gotten himself into a conversation that involved Gods, Hell, Heaven and a war between both.
"Hahaha! You're not funny at all, so I suppose it's the truth. That's something!" He laughed for a moment and then curled on the ground like a snake and gazed at the sky.
***
"So, that's why you called me?" Jorga asked with a serious face as he looked at the ground. After he had recovered from the outrageous story he had heard, he was finally able to concentrate.
"Yes," Arima nodded.
"Well, you were right that something is waking up at least," Jorga affirmed. "At first, I thought it was the Moon-Eater, Bakunawa. But even if the aura is similar, Bakunawa was banished by Bathala long ago as the legends say. Solely based on the power signature, there was also the possibility of Kukulkan, also known as Quetzalcoatl. But in truth, Quetzal is a lovely lady who came to visit me a hundred years ago or so. So, it’s not her."
"The only creature who truly fits this kind of malevolent aura is none other than another one of the Five Dragon Kings, Fafnir."
When Arima heard that name, his expression turned into a contemplating one.
"Fafnir was a greedy dwarf who turned into a dragon, right? Did not Siegfried kill him?"
Jorga shook his head. "Yes and no. The legends transmitted to the mortals have their limits. Siegfried indeed killed Fafnir. He died but came back from the dead by an unknown method soon after. The gods of that time concluded that it was because Odin's powerful curse on the Nibelungen Gold made him mutate even further."
"But since that day, no one even heard about Fafnir again and the gold he was supposed to guard had vanished from the place he died the first time," Jorga said and stared at the ground. "This is bad. Back in the day, the Five Dragon Kings were renowned as the most powerful dragons to have ever existed. Tiamat, Chronepsis, Kukulkan, Fafnir, and Kur. Fafnir was the weakest among them but you can imagine what kind of strength he had to be included among these five."
"If he lived all of those years alone with his gold, I can't predict what kind of evolution he went through and if we consider what Chronepsis told you," he paused. "He must have gone beyond the Third Divine."
