Chapter 261: Era of Dragons (3)
With Elaudia's words, the bodies of the party members floated up gently. Kim Minwoo examined Elaudia's information through the Demon Eye.
[Species: Water Dragon (Ancient Dragon State)]
[Armament Level: Very exceptional.]
[Characteristic: One of the Ancient Dragons over 10,000 years old. Daughter of the Dragon Kingdom, Dragonia's Minister of War. Currently serving as the Vice Commander of the Northern Capital.]
[Thoughts on the Target: She has no particular thoughts about you. She is just feeling intense sorrow.]
Elaudia, who had approached, asked.
"There's no time, so I'll explain as we go. Are you the representative of the humans?"
"Good. Kim Minwoo. We will choose and focus. Because teaching you also carries a risk."
"What risk are you talking about?"
"...I will explain only once. This will be the standard for all your activities. Keep it in mind and listen well."
Soon after, Elaudia stopped for a moment, and her tone became infinitely serious.
"Let's make a light assumption. Now, do you see that statue over there?"
"Are you talking about the statue resembling a large dragon?"
"...To be precise, it's the statue of my father, that is... the massive red dragon you just saw, Rynax. Now, let's assume you stole that statue. Then what would happen?"
"Find the thief and beat them up?"
"That could happen. Or maybe for some dragon, seeing Rynax's statue is the only joy in a hellish day, so if the statue disappears, they might go crazy. That crazy dragon might join hands with the mad dragons outside and throw open the protective barrier. So what if this city perishes overnight because of that?"
"...That's absurd. Is that a horse or a fart (nonsense)?"
At Nakazawa's question asked with a scoff, Elaudia's face became cool as a sheet of ice.
"You are existences that 'must not exist' right now. Because this is the past. But you exist. Because of our arrangement. The changes that will arise from that will be infinite. They can neither be predicted nor controlled. Even for a god, it would be the same."
"So, be careful with every single object?"
"Even if you are careful, you won't be able to completely stop the changes. Even the fact that I am spending time on you right now was something that didn't originally exist. So..."
Suddenly sighing, Elaudia spoke quietly.
"We must choose and focus. At least until you gain something, so that this city does not collapse."
At the dragon's heavy tone, everyone's faces became serious.
"Excuse me, young lady! About that, well then isn't there something like positive changes? Putting it that way makes us feel like we're poison mushrooms or something..."
The Fist King asked cautiously while scratching his head.
Seeing him, Elaudia's eyes darkened.
Soon she spoke quietly.
"Do you think calling future existences to the past would be easy?"
"...I don't know well, but it must be difficult."
"Correct. It must be difficult. That's why we also hadn't created the arrangement yet. To be precise, we were only preparing it. But... the fact that you came... means one fact. That we perished. So, we had no choice but to execute the last resort."
The Fist King shrank back into a 'crouch'.
Elaudia stared intently at Kim Minwoo.
"The question that arises here is?"
"You said the arrangement was still in preparation, but we are already here?"
"Right. It's a contradiction. We will now pay the price for that. And because of that, the future will also change."
"Did you deem the knowledge to be passed on important enough to pay that price?"
"It is important. Since it is something that analyzed, processed, and reinterpreted the power of an Outer God."
It was at that moment.
[The 'Resisters' pay the first price!]
[The Manager of the Northern Capital.]
[A giant dragon of 20,000 years.]
[The Dragon Kingdom's Minister of War, Rynax, has entered eternal sleep.]
[The price of the scale is still insufficient!]
[Rynax's body is handed over to the Dragon Lord!]
Elaudia's eyes trembled violently.
It was the same for Kim Minwoo.
The massive red dragon they just saw.
...He seemed to be the leader of this place.
That such a leader died in an instant.
Even his corpse was headed to the Dragon Lord...
The chaos that would ensue from this would be beyond imagination.
"Uh, um... over there... S-Sorry."
Park Siwoo hurriedly offered an apology, seemingly flustered.
"...What you have to do now is not apologize, but learn."
The Sword Saint's aura, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, suddenly turned cool.
Pitch-black dragons flocking in hordes toward the barrier were visible.
Soon after, the sword was drawn from the Sword Saint's scabbard.
"Elaudia, you said it. That choice and focus are needed."
"For us, these three are enough."
And finally, Han Siah.
The Sword Saint pointed to the three and continued.
"Defense, we will help too. Shouldn't we defend for even one more day?"
"Just in time! My brain doesn't work well because I'm old anyway. I like punching! Since they're dragons, the impact will be amazing, right?"
Grinning, the Fist King cracked his knuckles as if agreeing.
The Divine Spear's cool spear pointed at the Dragon Race above the barrier.
The Poison Demon also took out his signature hidden weapons.
"Haha! Sword Saint! This is great! Let's bet on how many we catch this time!"
The Sword Demon grinned and drew his beloved sword.
At Elaudia's shout, a green dragon flew in immediately.
"Lady Elaudia! Minister Rynax..."
"Enough. I know. Take those humans to the fortress wall. I will go soon too."
“Understood. Humans, get on my back.”
Thus, the party split up.
“Swordsman, you will head to the training grounds. Priest, you... the Penance Room would be good. Finally, you, Necromancer...”
Elaudia stared intently at Kim Minwoo and asked.
“Besides the knowledge of the Outer God we analyzed, is there anything else you want to learn?”
“I would like to learn Dragon Architecture.”
Hail, summoned before she knew it, saluted Elaudia while holding a blacksmith’s hammer.
“...A very peculiar skeleton. I understand what you mean. It means they can have jobs, right?”
“Did they learn from Dwarves perhaps?”
“Can you tell by looking?”
“You know one thing but not the other. Dragons are the disseminators of all knowledge.”
“The knowledge given to the non-human races. It means the origin of that knowledge is us dragons. The original and the derivative. Do you understand if I explain it ?”
So, strictly speaking, the non-human races’ knowledge is essentially knock-offs.
Does that mean this side actually holds the jackpot technology?
Swallowing his saliva, Kim Minwoo spoke urgently.
“Then by chance, could I learn other things besides architecture? Blacksmithing, alchemy, runes, tattoos, things like that.”
“As much as you want, if you wish.”
It was truly a jackpot.
Kim Minwoo immediately summoned a horde of skeletons.
[A horde of Intermediate Skeletons is summoned!]
Four production classes.
Plus the remaining jobless ones.
A total of five groups of skeletons were summoned.
Five dragons of various colors flocked toward them.
The skeletons began to move in groups following the dragons' guidance. Park Siwoo and Han Siah also moved following other dragons.
Only Elaudia and Kim Minwoo remained.
Soon she flew toward the massive castle.
Entering the room there, she turned around.
“Do you know about the situation here?”
“I know roughly. The Dragon Lord who feared aging. He obtained the power of an Outer God and was corrupted.”
“Right. The Dragon Lord absorbed life force and used it as his nourishment, dreaming of eternal life. But he failed. Because it was too easy.”
“Right. To put it bluntly, absorbing life force is low-class. Also, the efficiency is low.”
“...Then why did the Dragon Lord do that? From what I heard, he seemed like a very great person.”
"Because he already tried everything he could. Since those didn't work, he touched even the lowest method. But he failed. What the Outer God handed to such a person was exactly 'Compression'."
Sighing soon after, she said.
"Usually, a larger size means stronger power. Since mass is destructive power. However, the logic of an Outer God is different. If you crush a huge mountain and forcibly stuff it into this fist, what would happen?"
"The weight remains the same, but only the volume decreases?"
"Correct. The Dragon Lord compressed his massive true body into the size of a human. Not simply a transformation like Polymorph, but he crumpled the very density of his existence to the limit. Even that is not the end. The things sacrificed as offerings. Plus his own kin there... he compressed all of it into that small body."
Her eyes shone coolly.
"So the fist he throws is not a human arm, but like the mass wielded by a mountain range itself. Power that mocks the laws, that is Compression. The durability is also at a nonsensical level. Enough for a mad body to overcome the passage of over fifty thousand years..."
"...Then, are there no drawbacks?"
"There are. Endless madness. If you keep compressing, it is bound to become endlessly smaller. The mind is the same. One loses their self and becomes easily swept by madness. Also, one becomes vulnerable to the whispers of the Outer God."
He roughly understood.
Why all the Dragon Race members he met in the Dragon's Corridor were crazy.
"I thought an Outer God would eliminate such drawbacks, but I guess not?"
"Even a god cannot accomplish everything. Also, that might not be a drawback to the Outer God. To the Outer God, a madman might actually be a sane person."
Answering quietly, Elaudia took out a book.
"Anyway, we have been analyzing the Lord's power. Compression, the bizarre knowledge of the Outer God. It is not an authority a 'living being' can accept with a sane mind. It is impossible. So we changed our thinking. What if the target is not a living being? For example... an item?"
"Don't tell me, was that possible?"
"We went through numerous trials and errors. We also went through modification to some extent. In conclusion, it is possible."
Elaudia added, her eyes shining.
"The Outer God's authority truly compresses everything. Without missing a single piece of flesh or a drop of blood, it greedily devours everything. But our method is different. We leave only the essence and compress. Discarding the unnecessary shell, but leaving only the nature to increase density to the limit."
Elaudia's blue pupils rippled like water.
Just for this moment, she looked like a pure researcher, not a commander.
"Not only items. What about skills? Objects like buildings? We discarded the Outer God's madness but took the advantages."
She handed over a heavy ancient book.
"This is the countermeasure we prepared, and the knowledge you must learn."
[You have been acknowledged by Northern Commander Elaudia!]
[You have achieved the qualification condition to read 'Reflection on Compression'!]
Content floated above the book Elaudia handed over.
[Reflection on Compression (Special)]
[Qualification Condition: One who has been acknowledged by Northern Commander Elaudia.]
[A skill book containing the Dragon Race's reflections and analysis on the Outer God's authority 'Compression'. Numerous researches were conducted to block the Outer God's whispers and eliminate madness. Reading it seems likely to generate a special skill.]
Kim Minwoo's eyes flashed greedily.
"There's no reason to refuse."
This, at a glance, smells like a jackpot.