Elrek, the imperial capital of the Holy Empire, bore a name that carried endless prosperity and glory. Yet the streets that should have been bustling with traffic were now completely deserted. All thirteen million residents of the imperial capital had shut themselves inside their homes with their doors and windows tightly closed. The cause of all this was the gigantic creature in the sky, relentlessly smashing into the magic array.
Its body was around thirty meters long from head to tail, granting it immense strength. Every flap of its wings stirred up fierce winds, driving its massive body into the magic array. With such a size and appearance, it was undoubtedly a dragon, the species at the very top of the Holy Continent's food chain. It roared without end, its golden slit pupils filled with fury, as though it had sworn to destroy this national protective array.
"Why the hell is this happening?! You, tell me why a black dragon has come to attack the imperial capital! Who provoked the dragons?!"
Inside the magnificent palace, Keske XIII angrily smashed his favorite White Stone cup. He violently dragged a marquis out from among the gathered officials in the hall and demanded an answer.
"I-I don't know... Your Majesty, please rest assured. Even dragons cannot destroy a magic array painstakingly created by countless mages."
How could the poor marquis possibly know why the dragon had gone mad? He could only soften his tone and try to comfort the enraged emperor.
"I know that, but that is a black dragon. Don't tell me you don't know what a black dragon means?"
Keske XIII took several deep breaths to calm himself. He regretfully glanced at the victim of his temper, then pulled his gaze away from the pile of fragments and swept his eyes over the people below. An ordinary dragon naturally would not have made His Majesty so furious, but a black dragon was different. It was the symbol of a nation's destruction.
The black dragon's infamous reputation was second only to that of the poison dragon. Every resident of the Holy Continent knew the legend of that black madman. Hundreds of years ago, before the Holy Empire could even be called an empire, there had already been a powerful empire on the continent. Yet no one had expected that empire to be destroyed overnight, and the cause had been merely a single black dragon.
As for why the black dragon had destroyed that nation, people learned the reason from those who had escaped with their lives. After hearing it, they could only sigh in disbelief.
On a pleasant morning, the empire's mage corps had been hunting an Elemental Spirit. Everyone knew what a precious thing an Elemental Spirit was, but the problem arose during the pursuit. Perhaps they had become irritated from chasing it for so long, but some foolish mage cast a large-scale spell at the Elemental Spirit. The spell struck the face of a cliff instead, causing rocks to tumble down and hit the black dragon sleeping below.
After that, the black dragon tore apart half of that empire with bloodshot eyes. Black dragons were already the strongest warriors among dragonkind. Their tough hides were completely immune to magic below the eighth tier. The only ones capable of fighting them were mages at the rank of Archmage, yet even Archmages could only barely wound them and could not kill them. That battle made humanity, which had believed itself to rule the continent, realize who truly stood at the top of the food chain.
Within the shattered palace, the emperor of that empire calmly looked at the black dragon before him and asked who had orchestrated everything. At that point, he only wanted to know who could command a dragon to target him.
"Sorry, I was half-asleep."
The blood-soaked black dragon looked around at the hellish scene, yawned without the slightest remorse, and slowly flew away. Upon hearing that, the emperor failed to catch his breath and died of rage in the ruined palace. Of course, politics showed no mercy. The badly weakened empire was divided among the surrounding nations, and from then on, later generations gave the black dragon an affectionate title—the Black Madman.
According to a tale sung by a certain bard, the Black Madman's true identity was actually the Black Dragon King, an existence on the same level as a God Mage. As for why he had been sleeping there that day, only the gods knew.
While Keske XIII was throwing his tantrum, the Pope had already gone personally to maintain the magic array. Floating in midair, he looked at the black dragon's body, bleeding from its repeated impacts, and felt deeply confused. Why was it willing to injure itself so badly just to attack the imperial capital?
For the Holy Empire, the only good news now was probably that this black dragon was not very strong. After smashing against the array for roughly two hours, it finally exhausted itself and collapsed against the magic array, panting heavily.
Light Magic [Light's Sealing Swords]
Seeing this, the Pope immediately ordered the magic array deactivated. As the black dragon's body began to fall under gravity, long swords formed of light surrounded it, preventing it from going berserk and slowly lowering it to the ground.
"Young black dragon, please tell me why you attacked the imperial capital."
The Pope approached the black dragon and asked. That was right—judging from its build, this black dragon had not yet reached adulthood. It was merely a young dragon still in the midst of growing.
"Waaaah! Aaaah!"
Grief and indignation flashed in the black dragon's eyes. Two streams of tears flowed from eyes far larger than the Pope's head, and it opened its mouth and launched into a frenzied outburst, spraying the Pope all over with tears and snot.
"...Speak human."
The Pope did not get angry. He merely wiped the liquid from his face and said calmly. The black dragon also seemed to realize that humans could not understand its words. Under a strange power, its body gradually shrank until it finally became a child of around ten. With black hair, black eyes, and an adorable round-cheeked face, he could have made countless aunties scream and scoop him into their arms—if he had not been a black dragon.
"You damned humans killed my fiancée!"
Though the light swords restricted his movements, the black dragon boy still shouted in his childish voice.
"Is that so? Tell me the truth, and I will help you seek justice."
The Pope nodded in understanding. If it was the hatred of losing a wife, then this young dragon's actions made sense. Dragon slayers were rare desperadoes, but there had never been a shortage of people willing to risk everything for the magical materials covering a dragon's body.
"My fiancée was so powerful, so beautiful. But before I even had the chance to mate with her, I heard that she had died because of a human curse. You will all be buried with her!"
"May I ask your fiancée's name?"
The Pope felt that something was increasingly wrong. Why did his description sound so much like that child? So he asked cautiously.
"Mayuna."
"...Wait, wait. I've never heard that child was engaged to a dragon."
The Pope felt utterly awful. He would rather believe that the God of Light and Demon King Satan had made peace than believe that the cold and distant Mayuna would get engaged to someone—especially a nonhuman.
"Among dragons, when we look for a mate, we knock them out and drag them home."
The black dragon boy shook the hair that had grown out on its own after he turned human, seemingly finding it rather bothersome. Dragons were recognized across the continent as a race of robbers. Finding mates was no different. Male or female, if they saw someone they liked, they simply used force to take them away. It was that barbaric.
"But you can't beat her..."
"Hmph. Only a woman who can defeat me is qualified to become my mate. Isn't that only natural?"
"Ahem. Every grievance has its culprit. You can go find the one who cursed her."
The Pope discovered that this black dragon was actually a masochist. Though he did not know what grudge existed between Mayuna and him, he still patiently tried to persuade him to find the real culprit. The Pope had been keeping careful track of this matter.
"Why should I do something so troublesome? Wouldn't it be easier to just kill all humans?"
Confusion shone in the black dragon boy's eyes. To dragons, humans were like ants. Rather than waste effort finding one especially filthy ant among them, it was easier to kill them all.
"As expected, dragons are all simple-minded... I mean, you can't do that alone."
"My dad is Douglas."
The Pope's expression changed considerably when the black dragon boy spoke his father's name. Douglas was the Black Dragon King who had destroyed half an empire. He had not expected this black dragon to be the son of a king.
"Even if he is the Black Dragon King..."
"My dad is Douglas."
"Can we have a proper conversation?!"
"My dad is Douglas."
"Enough, enough. Light Magic [Holy Light]."
The Pope gave up trying to reason with such a barbaric creature. This was no longer mere stubbornness; his brain simply could not provide him with a second idea. Besides, this was not the place to talk. The boy was still completely naked, and this was the street of the imperial capital. The Pope casually cast a spell to cover the black dragon boy's private parts. No matter the angle, all anyone could see was dazzling holy light.
As the Pope began leading the way, the light swords sealing the black dragon boy carried him into the air and followed the Pope into the cathedral.
"Listen, black dragon. What I am about to tell you must remain secret."
The Pope released the light swords binding the black dragon boy. He took a deep breath and carefully gathered his words before finally saying in a relieved tone, "Mayuna... is still alive."
"You're trying to deceive me. My dad said not a single word humans say can be trusted."
The black dragon boy was not that stupid. He doubted the Pope's words, because rumors about Mayuna had spread wildly across the continent. He had attacked the imperial capital today, yet she had not appeared to stop him. Did that not mean she was dead?
"I'm not deceiving you. This is a soul candle. It can record whether someone is alive or dead."
The Pope took a burning candle from his spatial ring. Unlike an ordinary candle, its flame was emerald green. For the person bound to a soul candle, the stronger its flame burned, the healthier they were.
"Then... then where is she?!"
The black dragon boy could smell Mayuna's scent in the magic power emanating from the soul candle. That convinced him the Pope had not lied, and he immediately asked in agitation.
"I don't know. I can only tell you that she is alive."
The Pope truly did not know where Mayuna was. After she had left, he watched over her soul candle day and night. At one point, its flame had grown so weak that it was nearly extinguished. But gradually, as though someone had pulled her back, the flame became stronger and stronger until it finally returned to a healthy state. The Pope had grinned foolishly with joy for several days because of it.
The Pope did not know who had saved Mayuna. Perhaps she had been lucky enough to meet some great hermit deep in the mountains, or perhaps she had agreed to some condition that prevented her from returning. None of that mattered. Being alive was the best possible outcome.
"As long as she's alive, I'm relieved. Thanks, old man."
The black dragon boy happily transformed back into a dragon, smashed through the ceiling, and flew straight out. Now that he knew she was alive, it was time to find his fiancée.
"My roof..."
The Pope looked at the shattered cathedral and let out a mournful sigh. It seemed that he was the only victim of this black dragon attack. Still, he had gained quite a lot. Much of the dragon blood left behind had already been collected and could be used for magical research. Even more valuable were the black dragon's tears. Dragons' refusal to yield even in death was well known. Obtaining dragon tears was ten thousand times harder than killing a dragon. Only an immature young dragon would cry so loudly.
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PS: Time to snatch a heroine.
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