Chapter 404: Episode 77 – Final Dragon (1)
Metatron scanned the desolate, ruined conference venue. Demon Kings and Archangels wielding their respective weapons up until a short while ago were all lying still on the floor.
The Fable of Good and Evil was scattering away.
The effects of the Chaos Points that broke past the critical point were now invading into the grey sphere.
One of the Angels still conscious reached out towards him.
[Scribe....]
Along with ‘Peo-geo-geok!’, Michael’s heel smashed that Angel’s head into meat paste. He kicked the dead Angel away, before pulling out an Archangel the size of a small child hidden inside its robe.
The unconscious Archangel dangled in Michael’s hand as she was brought up in the air.
[Should I kill Raphael as well? It’s a bit of a waste to let her go like this....]
[If that’s what you want. It doesn’t matter if you let her live. The Chaos Points have been filled to the maximum already, anyway.]
[Well, in that case, what about that Demon King?]
Metatron shifted his gaze over to the corner of the sphere, where a heated battle was still taking place. Agares and his heavily-wounded body were there.
Asmodeus and other ‘Seekers of the End’ were pouring out coordinated attacks on him, but Demon King Agares didn’t show any signs of collapsing, even though Fables streamed down from all over his body, even though his two eyes burned in resentment like a dreadful phantom.
While stuck inside the deadly battle, the Demon King continued to suck on his cigarette. Not just one, but several of them, in fact.
[Stigma, ‘One Ciggie for Prodigious Strength Lv.???’, is in activation.]
[Stigma, ‘One Ciggie for Agility Lv.???’, is in activation.]
[Stigma, ‘One Ciggie for Magic Power Lv.???’, is in activation.]
That was Agares’s Stigma, [Universal Cigarette], at work. Its speciality, developed after living as a smoker for a very long time. A unique Stigma for the Demon King that possessed the Fable to overclock the Incarnation Body’s abilities.
Even after receiving the combined attacks of five, six Demon Kings, Agares remained standing, prompting Asmodeus to say something in admiration. [As expected, the renown of the ‘Ruler of East Hell’ wasn’t for nothing, I see. However, how long will you be able to hold on like this?]
Agares didn’t reply, simply choosing to pull out a new cigarette and light it up.
Metatron and Michael crossed the now-dead battlefield and approached the Demon King.
Agares spoke. [Metatron, you better think again. You won’t be able to protect the ‘Good and Evil’ in this fashion. What meaning is there in being remembered after everyone has perished??]
[As long as it’s remembered, it shall revive again sometime in the future.]
[Revive? Like your accursed Corrupted Angel?]
Michael frowned deeply.
[Demon King, ‘King of Corrupted Angels’, is unleashing its Status!]
Michael’s Status crashed in like a surging storm, causing Agares to back away while losing more of his Fables. However, the Demon King’s gaze was still firmly fixed on Metatron.
[What point is there in trying to carry on like that? That is not us. We reviving in that manner will no longer be ‘Metatron’ or ‘Agares’, but merely the ‘Scribe of Heaven’ and the ‘Ruler of East Hell’!]
[That is precisely what we are, oh, ‘Ruler of East Hell’.]
A certain everlasting Fable was now flowing behind Metatron’s back – Fables that he had read, lived, and believed in.
[The Most Ancient Good is smiling widely.]
This was the ‘Scribe of Heaven’, the one who recorded the ‘Good’ of the world. An existence who judged what was ‘Good’, and would become its leading standard.
While looking at his oldest rival, Agares too sensed the Fable unhurriedly flowing next to him.
[The Most Ancient Evil is tilting its head.]
That was the immeasurably lengthy history of ‘Evil’ he had pursued so far – a history of resisting the ‘Good’, eliminated by it, and being punished for it.
At that moment, Agares sensed that the thousands of years of his life were now being summarised into a single comma.
This ‘flow’ would not end here as long as the ‘Ruler of East Hell’ was alive, and the ‘Scribe of Heaven’ continued to exist. As long as they fought against each other, and repeated their wars over and over again.
Even if Metatron and Agares were killed, someone else would become the ‘Scribe of Heaven’ and ‘Ruler of East Hell’.
[If such a thing is ‘Good and Evil’, then....]
Agares spat his phlegm on the floor and formed a bitter grin.
[....I shall give up on ‘Evil’.]
A cigarette flew up from Agares’s fingers. It spun in the air while emitting dense smoke.
Asmodeus hurriedly shouted out. [Stop him!]
The swirling, spinning smoke enveloped Agares’s entire body.
[Stigma, ‘One Ciggie for Cowardice Lv.???’, is activating!]
Greyish, murky smoke exploded as the attacks rained down.
The smoke dissipated, and the only thing remaining on the spot was a single cigarette. The ‘Seekers of the End’ had no choice but to withdraw their weapons in bitterness.
Metatron looked at the discarded cigarette on the floor. Thick smoke swirled in the air from its tip.
His enemy was gone, and only the ‘Good’ remained. Was this a sense of loneliness, or a type of freedom he felt? Metatron couldn’t tell.
Someone trampled on the dying bud and killed it off.
[The Most Ancient Evil is closely observing the new ‘Evil’.]
He raised his head to find Asmodeus grinning primly towards him. [What a miss that was. I was thinking of taking over Agares’s ‘Wall’, you see.]
Metatron looked at the Demon King and replied. [You’ll soon possess it.]
Whatever the case might have been, the intended purpose had been accomplished now.
[Current Chaos Points: 100]
The Chaos Points were now maxed out, and the Apocalypse Dragon had entered the revival sequence. And soon, the apocalypse would begin.
[Conference venue is disintegrating.]
The grey sphere wrapped around the conference venue crumbled away bit by bit, and the corpses of the Archangels fell to the ground below.
Asmodeus asked a question, seemingly enjoying that spectacle in the meantime. [By the way, will this really be alright?]
Metatron remained silent. Time to argue whether it’d be alright or not had long passed by already. He watched the angels falling, and provided the most textbook-like reply he could think of.
[Everything is according to the will of ‘Good’. In order to reach the most ideal ■■.....]
‘■■.’
The dearest wish of all Constellations, as well as where the story of a star would come to an end.
Asmodeus spoke. [■■.... It seems that all Constellations that seek it end up becoming quite similar to each other. You really do resemble someone I know. Your dispositions are completely opposite of one another, though.]
Just before Metatron could ask who that was, he heard the Dragon’s Howling tearing through the sky.
Guwaaaaahh-!!
Dragons, easily numbering well past several thousand, were freely roaming around the skies to wage a bloody war. Explosions rang out seemingly endlessly. Dragons and their torn wings were crashing back to the earth.
This was not the spectacle Metatron expected to see.
....The Apocalypse Dragon hasn’t revived yet?
[What are you so surprised about? We aren’t the only ones pursuing ■■, after all.]
Asmodeus stared back at a certain man looking up at them from the ground and grinned brightly.
*
[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is roaring out!]
The Black Flame Dragon was indeed strong.
It rose up like a meteor while ripping apart dozens of Dragons blanketing the sky, and announced its presence through the display of its mighty Status.
As expected from one of the strongest Constellations in the ‘Ways of Survival’.
Han Su-Yeong became excited as her sponsor went on a rampage and shouted out while waving her bandages around. “I’m proud of you for the first time ever, Black Flame Dragon!! Kill them all!!”
“Be strong, Chimera Dragon!”
Shin Yu-Seung tightly clasped her own hands and looked up at the sky with an ardent look on her face.
[Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’s sense of presence is strengthening!]
[Chimera Dragon’s sense of presence is strengthening!]
Every time Black Flame Dragon and Chimera Dragon defeated their opponents, their statuses (ED: normal usage. Not Statuses) also rose up higher. Seeing their spirited battle, even my heart felt like it was pounding away powerfully, too.
After studying the Dragons for a little while, I signalled Yu Jung-Hyeok with my eyes.
“Got it.”
He replied to my gaze and along with our other companions, made their move. His job now was to get in touch with the Nebulas near us before the Apocalypse Dragon made its move.
And I too had something to do in the meantime as well. I observed each of the Dragons flying in the air and thought to myself.
This wouldn’t be the first time the Apocalypse Dragon had revived. It was quite likely that the previous ‘Apocalypse Dragon’ was also among the ranks of the Dragons overhead.
[Several Dragon Kings have sensed your presence.]
“Damn it.”
Kuwaaaaaah!!
I reflexively activated [Lightning Transformation] and defended against the Dragon Breath. A few Dragon Kings glared in my direction, but then, flew away again while tilting their heads. It was as if they had seen something rather strange.
....What was up with them? Not to mention, I wasn’t even a Dragon.
But then, I heard a certain message.
[You are eligible to enter the ‘Dragon’s Festival’.]
....What?!
[Will you enter the ‘Dragon’s Festival’?]
My head temporarily blanked out after that message suddenly floated up to my view.
No, hang on a minute. I might be a Constellation, but I was definitely not a Dragon, so how come such a message.....
“Why aren’t you participating in the proceedings?”
....Just when did this guy get this close to my side?
I raised my guard up and turned towards the voice’s origin.
A remarkably beautiful humanoid, whose gender was indecipherable, stood there. Its hair shone in a bright reddish colour; I couldn’t sense any powerful Status from it, but still, its outer appearance did possess a certain, unexplainable mystical aura.
....A Reincarnator?
Could be.
This island was home to a tiny number of truly powerful beings who were hiding their powers, like Yu Ho-Seung, the ‘One Invincible Fist’.
“I asked you why you haven’t participated yet.”
“I’m not sure what you mean, but I lack the qualification to do so.”
“Why not? Do you not possess the heart of a Dragon?”
Only then did I finally realise it.
[Fable fragment, ‘A Young Gold Dragon’s Broken Heart’, is stirring!]
Now that I thought about it, my heart actually used to belong to a Gold Dragon, a fragment of a Fable I absorbed back in the ‘Story Horizon’ a long time ago.
[Fable fragment, ‘A Young Gold Dragon’s Broken Heart’, wants to participate in the Dragon’s Festival.]
I was wondering why my heart was pounding away so madly since earlier.... Was that the reason why?
The Reincarnator asked me again. “If you’re truly a Dragon, you should really be enraged by this situation.”
“....What kind of a situation is this, then?”
“A situation where the great and noble Dragons are being spent as materials for some scenario.”
Right then, my wildly-beating heart suddenly cooled down rapidly.
The Reincarnator continued on. “‘Good and Evil’, communicating, the cycle of life.... Inside the great themes of the <Star Stream>, Dragons have continuously been exploited. If you’re truly a Dragon, then you must enter the Festival. Become the Final Dragon that will bring the Revelation to reality and contribute towards the annihilation of the world. And witness the end of the scenarios that have stolen your identity, your existence.”
I carefully studied the Reincarnator.
Good and Evil, communications, Samsara.... If one was a Reincarnator that lived for a very, very long time, it was possible to experience all those themes of the <Star Stream>.
If one was indeed a Reincarnator that lived for a really long time, that was.
I pondered for a little while before replying. “Not every story of the scenarios is interconnected by a series of misfortunes. Some things were discovered only because scenarios exist. You might not have been aware of it by staying in the Isle of Reincarnators, but without a doubt, scenarios are changing.”
I hated myself for saying those words, but still, I was being genuine with at least half of them.
I could see Yu Jung-Hyeok and my allies rendezvousing with other Constellations.
The mysterious Reincarnator watched the same scenes as me before replying. “Changing? How did the scenarios change, then? Can Dragons or monsters become the protagonists of the Fables now?”
“There are Fables like that already.”
“However, they must be quite unpopular.”
“Some are rather popular, actually. Some are even from the past, too. I’m sure you’ve heard of them before? Such as, in ⸢The Song of the Nibelungs⸥, or ⸢The Legend of Saint George⸥.....”
“Dragons were never the protagonists in those stories.”
Several Dragons in the air lost their way and crashed into one another before falling back to the earth.
The Reincarnator continued on. “Dragons were always hunted beings. Referred to as the origin of all evil, and portrayed as nothing more than pathetic villains who kidnap human princesses or hoard mountains of gold. When you think about it, it’s a rather funny story, isn’t it? Why would a Dragon be interested in gold or females of other species?”
“Those aren’t the only stories out there. There are a lot of scenarios where Dragons come out to the human world to have fun, as well. For instance....”
“Dragons that ‘polymorph into beautiful humans’. Do you really think they are pure Dragons, then?”
I found myself unable to reply.
The Reincarnator spoke. “Tens of thousands of years ago, Dragons were being exploited in the exact same manner. In the end, every single scenario was meant for other species, for other Constellations.”
As it continued to talk, I sensed an ominous Status leak out more and more from its voice.
“Not one scenario has treated a Dragon as a Dragon. Dragons were always exploited, were chained to restrictions, and were seen as the scenario’s target of subjugation. Probably, nothing has changed greatly even now.
It was getting harder and harder to breathe. The surrounding air was shifting unstably.
The Status capable of tying a Fable-grade Constellation like me to the spot – the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, roaring towards the sky until then, hurriedly began flying in my direction.
I stared at the Black Flame Dragon and spoke up. “I’ll change it.”
“You will? But, how?”
“I’ll make sure that Dragons don’t suffer that miserable fate ever again.”
[Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, is looking at you.]
The gazes of the stars were gathering on us.
[A massive number of Constellations are looking at you.]
[Many Constellations are freaking out after seeing who is next to you!]
The ‘Reincarnator’ looked at me with emotionless eyes. “Interesting.”
Its external appearance began changing next. It was ‘polymorph’, the magic often employed by Dragons out to have ‘fun’.
“Tens of thousands of years ago, there was a Dokkaebi that spoke to me of the exact same offer. It said that it’d create a world where Dragons could become the master of the scenario.”
It felt as if everything in front of my eyes grew darker. All five of my senses didn’t want to listen to me. My dimmed vision began shaking around uncontrollably, as Fables leaked down from my nostrils.
Shin Yu-Seung cheering on collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut; blood was pouring out from Han Su-Yeong’s mouth and nose as she was staring at us in shock.
Even as the tinnitus loud enough to rupture my eardrums roared on, her message somehow managed to enter my head.
– Kim, Dok-Ja, what, the hell, is this....
My hands and feet were shaking. I fell down on my butt, and tried hard to raise my head up.
How could this even be called ‘Status’??
[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’, is urging you to run away!]
[Constellation, ‘Queen of the Darkest Spring’, is looking at you with an urgent expression!]
[Constellation, ‘Father of the Rich Night’, is.....!]
The boundless Dragon Voice rushed into my ears next.
[The Dokkaebi that deceived me back then has become the ⸢Dokkaebi King⸥ now.]
The sun vanished and the whole world was now covered in something’s shadow.
The Dragon of the end times, the Final Dragon of the Book of Revelation, unfurled its wings of Calamity at last.
<Episode 77. Final Dragon (1)> Fin.