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An unprecedented situation—I could hear the voice of an ancient dragon.

Even I was flustered by such an unimaginable turn of events.

How could I understand the words of an ancient dragon?

That question quickly led to a single conclusion.

‘The Remnant of the Dragon.’

The dreadful curse implanted in me after it left Nikita.

Perhaps the true origin of this curse wasn't merely to torment, but a means for the dragon to communicate with humans.

Nikita’s bloodline was once devoted to serving the ancient dragons.

In the game, it was said that they were cursed with the dragon's remnant after betraying the dragons.

But history often gets distorted with time.

‘Maybe they had the dragon’s remnant implanted from the very beginning.’

After all, one must be able to communicate with dragons if they are to serve them.

The dragon’s remnant was a tool for such communication.

‘It wasn’t a curse after all.’

Come to think of it, from the dragon’s perspective, making someone a "dragonkin" might have been an act of goodwill.

Turning inferior humans into beings more like themselves.

The remnant was proof that a dragon favored you.

Of course, from a human point of view, it was nothing short of a disaster.

Becoming dragonkin meant losing reason and becoming a flesh-craving monster driven by instinct alone.

But for dragons, a few wild humans dying was hardly something to worry about.

Once again, I was reminded just how vastly different a dragon's perspective was from that of humans.

And just how incompatible our coexistence truly was.

‘Now I get why dragons go berserk when they see someone with a dragon's remnant.’

They went out of their way to pick out promising bugs and gave them the means to speak with them.

And yet those bugs betrayed them.

No wonder the dragons lose it at the mere sight of a remnant.

Like how a dog that bites a person must be put down.

From a dragon’s viewpoint, it’s the same.

I glanced at Duke of Whitewood.

She was still engaged in a standoff with the Ice Dragon.

My eyes shifted to the Ice Dragon.

It glared at me, its eyes filled with rage.

It must’ve been tormented quite a bit by Zerion.

‘It can’t even tell me apart from Zerion.’

Well, people often can’t distinguish between others just by skin color.

If we’re using the same power, we must look like the same human to them.

I wondered if I could speak now.

When Duke of Whitewood and I talked earlier, the Ice Dragon showed no reaction.

That means they probably don't use vocal cords like humans.

Indeed, the Ice Dragon’s voice never reached Duke of Whitewood.

‘Didn’t seem like it used its mouth anyway.’

So dragons must have a unique way of communicating.

My hand reached up to my right eye.

If I could hear it, I should be able to speak too.

I’d tried to restrain it, but this time I had to loosen the dragon’s remnant a little.

The ever-burning flame of ash within me slowly dimmed.

And the remnant, long cowering within me, slowly rose.

My pupils fully shifted to those of a dragon.

Fangs grew in my mouth, and some scales began to sprout.

Signs of accelerated dragonkin transformation.

Zzzap!

A sharp headache stabbed through my skull.

As if my thought process was forcibly reorganizing and expanding.

I winced and endured the pain.

When it passed and I opened my eyes, an unexpected scene awaited me.

The massive Ice Dragon that had filled the mountains was gone.

Instead, a tall, ethereal beauty with long blue hair stood in its place.

Yet the pressure she exuded was unchanged.

An overwhelming, suffocating presence.

I’d felt this aura moments ago.

〔 Ice Dragon. 〕

The voice that flowed from my mouth was not the same as before.

The Ice Dragon’s gaze turned to me.

〔 Don’t you dare call me that. I have a name. It is Glacia. 〕

With a contorted expression, she barked back.

Her eyes still burned with fury—there was no doubt she was the Ice Dragon.

‘Am I seeing this form because of the remnant?’

Perhaps Glacia saw me as a massive celestial dragon as well.

Thankfully, she now fully mistook me for Zerion.

Duke of Whitewood was still unaware of the current situation.

Sharin, too, was silently observing from afar.

〔 What’s happened to make you suddenly so talkative? 〕

If we could converse, everything would change.

Persuasion was always better than a meaningless clash of strength.

I asked, and Glacia scoffed.

〔 What happened? After provoking me so brazenly, you dare ask such a thing with a straight face? 〕

Provocation.

Just like with the Earth Dragon, dragons have strange trigger points.

〔 That wasn’t provocation from our side. If you give us information, we’ll verify and punish whoever’s responsible. 〕

〔 Save your breath. To me, all of you mongrels are the same. How am I supposed to tell the difference? Bringing in some random guy saying 'He’s the culprit!' is worthless. Better to wipe you all out so you can’t do it again. 〕

Classic dragon logic.

I frowned.

〔 Fine, then. 〕

Crackle!

Red lightning surged from my entire body.

Glacia flinched, pressing her legs together.

The terror engraved in her from the Celestial Dragon still held sway.

〔 You can choose not to believe me and return home with nothing. 〕

But she'd be beaten senseless for rampaging like that.

I packed the warning into my words.

She knew it too.

Biting her lower lip, she turned her head away.

〔 Zerion, do you think you can stop all the other dragons? I’ve heard with my own ears—those who stood with you are no longer alive! 〕

〔 Yeah, they’re dead. So what? I’ve got you right here in front of me. 〕

I smiled, and her expression twisted.

Even if I couldn’t handle the others, I could beat her.

To face dragons, you had to think like one.

You want to wipe us out?

Then we’ll wipe you out too.

As that truth sank in, Glacia stepped back, swallowing hard.

Dragons lived their entire lives high above in the skies.

Born as the strongest, they never knew fear.

While most living things learn fear in childhood, dragons never did.

As a result, they were vulnerable to it.

Rarely did they experience it, but once they did—it lingered forever.

〔 Since our side caused trouble, we’ll mete out punishment. If that’s not enough, so be it. 〕

I played my gamble.

Right now, I had to be Zerion in every way.

Arrogant, but powerful enough to back it up—the transcendent great sage.

Thinking of her, I exerted my strength to the fullest.

In truth, I am of Zerion's bloodline that leads to Niflheim.

Since Zerion's blood runs through Vikamon as well, the will of hers reflected in the past wasn't a lie.

〔 …… 〕

Glacia’s silence stretched long.

But her trembling eyes betrayed her hidden emotions.

Would she choose to fight me, who was pretending to be Zerion?

Or would she obediently return home?

She was forced to make a choice between the two.

〔 ……I shall let this one pass. Just this once. 〕

In the end, it was Glacia who backed down.

Raging with fury is meaningless when one stands no chance.

An ancient dragon only moves once per purpose.

She wouldn't want to clash without reason.

〔 But there will not be a next time. If you disturb my slumber again, I will freeze this entire world. 〕

〔 Tell the other ancient dragons as well. 〕

〔 I’ve already heard it all. How dare you command me! 〕

So… the ancient dragons could all hear each other’s conversations like this?

Now I understood why stopping one ancient dragon would stop the others as well.

Thud! Boom!

She appeared to be a tall, slender beauty on the outside, but with every step Glacia took, the mountains trembled.

The same was likely happening with the other ancient dragons too.

They probably calmed down and quietly returned home.

As Glacia departed, I finally caught my breath.

Just thinking that I had faced an ancient dragon directly made my spine tingle.

If Glacia had gone berserk and chosen to resist to the death, that would’ve been the end.

She would’ve confirmed Zerion’s death and brought about the end of the world.

The red lightning began to fade slowly.

My body, which had barely moved under the immense pressure, started to regain some movement.

“She backed down.”

Duke of Whitewood also realized Glacia had fully retreated and sighed in relief.

Then she raised her hand and gently tapped my shoulder.

“Good job on the staring contest, kid.”

“It was nothing.”

Apparently, Duke of Whitewood couldn’t hear the conversation between the ancient dragons.

Meanwhile, Sharin fluttered down from the sky.

“Honeyyy, is it overrr?”

“Yeah. It all ended well.”

I decided to hold back from mentioning the conversation with Glacia for now.

“Kid, it’d be best if you control that first.”

“Oh, right. Of course.”

What Duke of Whitewood was pointing at was the remnant of the ancient dragon.

The remnant I had unleashed to speak with Glacia was now fiercely trying to consume me.

Letting it remain any longer would be dangerous.

The small ember of ash that had nestled deep within me rapidly grew in size.

At that, the ancient dragon’s remnant struggled for a moment in irritation, then retreated back into my right eye.

Plop – Plunk –

The scales that had sprouted on my face and neck fell away.

Had I been a little slower, my head would’ve completely transformed into that of a dragon.

My throat felt dry.

And I could tell that my body was far from normal.

It was still too soon to use the True Celestial Dragon Transformation offensively.

“Lord Duke of Whitewood, there’s one thing I’ve realized from all this.”

The conversation I just had with Glacia.

Within it, I noticed one important fact.

“A realization, you say?”

“It seems that I’m not the only one capable of wielding ancient dragon magic.”

To converse with an ancient dragon, one needs the remnant of a dragon.

Glacia already knew of Zerion’s death.

If she had known all along, she would’ve reacted sooner.

The fact that she only just found out means someone must have told her.

That means—there is another wielder of ancient dragon magic in this world.

Duke of Whitewood’s brows slowly furrowed.

“What lunatic…”

Though it’s ironic to call someone a lunatic when there’s one right in front of her.

Still, it was clear they weren’t sane.

On top of that, I’d heard a similar story not long ago.

“Could you check on the court mage for me?”

It was something I’d heard from the Blue Tower Master.

And now, there’s a suspicious figure.

We should confirm it.

“Hm. I can do that. It’s not difficult.”

“And lastly, a vampire mystic who brings the dead back to life is stirring chaos within the Empire.”

Duke of Whitewood’s frown didn’t fade.

Trouble had piled up while she was away, understandably frustrating her.

“Sigh… What in the world is the Empire planning?”

If we don’t deal with Celestial Grace soon, the Empire will spiral even further into chaos.

The best scenario would be having definitive proof that he made a pact with a dark lord, but so far there’s no hard evidence.

Still, the time will come when his vile schemes can no longer remain hidden.

“And lastly…”

I closed my eyes.

“Please… take care of the rest for me.”

And with that, I lost consciousness.

I’d already long since hit my limit.