Chapter 714: Meteor (2)
Meteor Dragon gently stroked Seo Ye-in’s hair as she looked at me.
“So you really aren’t surprised.”
“I’d already suspected as much.”
No matter how friendly those dragons were toward humans, I’d figured there had to be another reason they’d become Hyeseong’s guardian dragons.
Same went for how close they all were with the godfathers and their niece.
That super finisher wasn’t something just anyone could learn.
Since it had enough power to threaten even S-rank, if only for a moment, it pretty much counted as a unique skill.
The fact that Seo Ye-in had learned it meant there had to be a very close connection to Meteor Dragon.
There had been plenty of other clues too, large and small, so lately I’d been almost certain.
Meteor Dragon gave a small nod.
“There was no way I could have deceived a human as exceptional as you in the first place. I think it is finally time for you to know the truth.”
Then, with the meaningful addition, “And if not now, there may never be another chance,” she turned around.
“Come inside first. This will likely take a while.”
Before long, we moved into the mansion’s sitting room.
Sky-Healing Dragon Jupiter and Neptune seemed to have no intention of joining the conversation, taking places off to one side of the room.
Meanwhile, Seo Ye-in apparently wasn’t merely a little happy to see her grandmother again. She kept burrowing into her arms and occupying her lap.
Meteor Dragon went on stroking her granddaughter’s hair as she began speaking.
“I met him a very long time ago. There were many twists and turns, but in the end, we promised each other eternity.”
“......”
“And then we built a family, and time passed... Before I knew it, my son had grown tall as well, and found his own lifelong partner.”
“Him” was obviously Chairman Grandpa, and “my son” was obviously Father-in-law No. 1.
That was more or less what I’d expected too.
The Seo father and daughter pair both had gray hair, as if proving they’d been affected by Meteor Dragon.
Their general air was similar too, along with the fact that both found everything a pain and answered most things with short replies.
On the other hand, I’d only ever seen Mother-in-law No. 1 through crystal-orb calls, but there were plenty of ways she differed from the sloth father and daughter duo.
Her hair color was much more ordinary, for one thing. And from what I’d heard, she was so diligent that she not only served as a director at Hyeseong, but stayed busy with outside activities too.
While I silently praised Mother-in-law No. 1 in my heart, Seo Ye-in pointed at herself and summarized the story so far.
“Quarter dragon.”
Then she flopped right back onto her grandmother’s lap.
Meteor Dragon kept stroking the gray hair as she finished explaining.
“It is not especially rare for dragons and humans to come together, nor for them to build a family. But this child is particularly special. Do you know why?”
“You mean her talent?”
“Yes. Though she is only one quarter, the blood of our lineage runs through her more strongly than anyone else’s.”
“So that’s why she can use Meteor’s power too.”
The super finisher itself was a unique skill, but even if somebody else somehow learned it, there was no way they’d be able to use it casually.
It demanded an absurd amount of power, and the backlash was just as vicious.
Seo Ye-in was only reduced to Unlucky Sloth for a week because she was Seo Ye-in.
Meteor Dragon nodded.
“You truly are quick to notice. Then I assume you have also guessed something about Ye-in’s ‘eyes.’”
“I knew it was a trait, but it seemed like the rest had been hidden.”
I’d openly asked Seo Ye-in about it now and then too.
What exactly did she have that made her eyes so good?
But the only thing I’d gotten through sharing back then had been [???], and since she herself had only tilted her head in confusion, I’d put it off for later.
FWOOOSH—!
As if saying that now really was the time for the answer, a numinous light flowed from Meteor Dragon’s hand and was absorbed into Seo Ye-in.
Then she shared the trait that had previously been nothing but question marks.
[Dragon Eye]
That’s one of the very best eye-type traits there is.
It allowed the user to see the flow of mana, skills, traits, and the unnatural points within them, and through that, identify weak spots.
If taken even further, it could partially read the other person’s information too.
Naturally, something that broken was next to impossible to acquire.
Not only was it a dragon’s unique trait, it manifested only in an extremely small minority even among dragons.
And this girl had it.
As a quarter dragon, no less.
That was the moment the phrase the blood of our lineage runs through her more strongly than anyone else’s really sank in.
Next, I decided to ask the thing I was most curious about.
“Does her unusual luck have anything to do with that too?”
“That alone is difficult for me to answer with certainty. Even for me, this is the first time I have encountered such a thing.”
Well, if Lucky Charm luck had come from Meteor Dragon, then it should’ve shown up in all that endgame-player big-data memory.
I’d have to leave that one as an open question a little longer.
“Those first two talents alone are already incredible.”
“If she had been trueblood, she could easily have aimed to become the next Lord. But extraordinary talent is not always a good thing.”
“I imagine the burden is enormous.”
She had to bear power greater than trueblood with the body of a quarter dragon.
On top of that, with [Dragon Eye], the moment she opened her eyes, all kinds of information would come pouring in like a flood.
At that point, it was only natural that she’d always be sleepy, always find everything bothersome, and always want to keep her eyes closed.
Meteor Dragon answered,
“It seems she has grown much better now, thanks to you.”
That was probably because [Core] had risen to A-rank, and she’d also gained [Great Sage’s Ring] through sharing.
It had become much easier for her to control that massive energy.
Maybe that was why her average sleep time had recently dropped from the usual twelve hours to around nine and a half.
By normal human standards, that still made her a complete sloth, but for her, it was tremendous progress.
The fact that she talked more than before was another small improvement.
“She’ll improve even more once she reaches S-rank.”
“It won’t be as easy as you make it sound, but you should be fully capable of drawing Ye-in up there.”
There was something oddly lonely in Meteor Dragon’s expression as she said that.
As though she were leaving behind words entrusting her granddaughter to me.
Seo Ye-in seemed to sense something similar, because she tilted her head and asked,
“Grandma, are you going somewhere?”
“It is time for you to hear it too.”
“...?”
“The Cult Leader is coming. Sooner than planned.”
Suddenly, I remembered what Dark Dragon Lord had said during that crystal-orb call.
“Make sure it does not go past one month. Meteor Dragon says the time allowed is not abundant.”
So it really had been because of the coming clash with the Cult Leader that a time limit had been set.
And the reason it had been moved up was probably because the “obstacle-removal operation” at the ruins had failed so spectacularly.
No matter how Hyeseong responded, he was probably going to force his way in now.
A question occurred to me, so I asked it directly.
“Is there any reason you have to face him? You could leave for a while if necessary.”
“It is a destined meeting. And if I step away now, the Cult Leader’s blade will turn toward Hyeseong.”
In other words, if it was a fight that couldn’t be avoided anyway, she intended to meet it herself so the aftershocks wouldn’t spread to the surrounding area.
It was a completely understandable reason, and her resolve seemed firm, so I didn’t try to persuade her otherwise.
Instead, I asked the next question.
“What do you think the result will be? You don’t seem like you’d lose easily.”
At the present moment, Meteor Dragon was probably the dragon closest to EX-rank.
And the guardians were all S-rank too.
If it came down to it, Chairman Grandpa was around as well.
The Blood Cult’s side would bring the Cult Leader, two or three other S-ranks, and their combat divisions, but we still had the advantage.
At that, Meteor Dragon smiled faintly and raised one hand.
Light gathered there, no bigger than a fingernail, glittering like a star.
“I spent some time contemplating the days ahead among the stars. And this is the future that has been ordained.”
So she had preserved the result of her astrology as a memory.
I gave Seo Ye-in a look, and together we accepted the tiny star.
Then, after quietly steadying myself—
FLASH—!
My vision blacked out.
And in the next moment, what spread out before me was the area near this very mansion.
Though it had turned from a resort into a battlefield.
The mansion had already been smashed to pieces, leaving only wreckage behind, and all the surrounding land had been overturned as well.
The dragons floated high in the air, casting spell after spell.
When Sky-Healing Dragon Jupiter spread both arms wide, a golden magic circle was inscribed across the sky, and a gigantic halo appeared.
Then, with a grand tolling bell, golden pressure descended.
DOOOOOONG—!
Neptune was positioned much closer to the ground.
When she pointed her trident, as tall as she was, at the enemy, the water that had formed a nearby lake heaved violently, rose high like a tidal wave, and then crashed straight down at the enemy.
ROOOOOOOAR—!
Dark Dragon Lord was casting time magic as well, apparently. Patches of the battlefield all over the place were stained gray.
TICK— TOCK— TICK— TOCK— TICK— TOCK—
Right in the middle of that chaos, over a hundred martial artists in red martial robes moved as one body, swinging their swords.
They were deploying a Blood Cult sword formation.
Inside the domain created that way, even the golden pressure, the tidal wave, and the time magic couldn’t easily intrude.
That seemed to be largely because of the martial artist serving as the central axis.
On this battlefield, he was probably the strongest human after the Blood Cult Leader.
The chief protector.
His rank was obviously S.
Soon enough, while directing the sword formation, he unleashed a technique toward the dragons.
SHRRAAK—!
Together with the illusion that the sky itself had been sliced in half, a sword strike came flying in.
Dark Dragon Lord dissolved it by sweeping the entire gray-stained space.
Then he continued casting even faster.
Meanwhile, even more vicious exchanges were happening higher up in the sky.
ROOOOOOOAR—!
Blood-red force aura surged wildly, staining the entire area crimson.
The one who’d released it was, of course, the Blood Demon.
Meteor Dragon faced him from the other side, and with nothing more than a light wave of her hand, the onrushing blood-red energy faltered.
Then dozens, hundreds of shining stars poured down like rain.
That was the super finisher unleashed in its original form.
FWAAAAASH—!
The Blood Cult Leader blocked it by practically smashing his sword through empty air.
Then, with a dissatisfied look, he glanced down at his blade.
The edge was badly chipped, deep cracks ran through it, and it looked only a step away from crumbling apart.
Soon he muttered to himself and tossed the sword away.
“Without the Blood Wind Sword, it keeps leaving something to be desired.”
One of the martial artists maintaining the sword formation somehow heard that and opened something that looked like a golf bag.
Then he pulled out a sword and hurled it upward.
WHIIISH—!
The Cult Leader casually stretched out a hand, caught the sword, and started unleashing techniques again.
Blood-red waves and clusters of stars tangled together in confusion.
ROOOOOOOAR—!
Most of the star clusters drove back the opposing force.
That meant the flow of battle was favoring Meteor Dragon’s side.
The Cult Leader obviously knew that better than anyone, and yet he once again tore through the sky with a blood-red sword strike.
SHRRAAK—!
Then he threw a question at the figure opposite him.
“I have heard that you can read the heavenly secrets. So let me ask. Do you see my death?”
“Sadly, that time has not yet come. Nor is it my role.”
“Of course.”
The Blood Cult Leader smiled boldly.