Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Dragon-san Becomes a Little Girl Part 9

Sensing the magical power, the sealing tool activated and began to absorb it, but soon reached its capacity and shattered to pieces.

Then, responding to my magic which was being suppressed until just now, the spirits began to amass around me, causing a huge storm with torrents of rain managing to find its way even inside of the buildings.

Because of that, people in the hall have finally become aware of my presence, while doing their best to protect themselves from the raging elements.

Seeing this the mage’s eyes widened in surprise, and while he was trying to press the knife against the child’s throat my spirits charged at him and managed to blow him onto the ground.

「You little shit!」

There was someone who was trying to attack me from behind, but I managed to blow him away with my tremendous magical power without even noticing.

Suddenly noticing that the children were involved in all of this, it would be troublesome to let my magical power run rampart in this closed space, or letting it spill outside so that it would cause a disturbance for the people outside. So I limited my magical power only to this building and prevented it from spilling out.

A metallic sound echoed throughout the hall, as if the key was being turned inside of the lock.

I could see a chair and a human sitting on it, as if spectating this whole scene.

It was disturbing.

The man moved his arm a little bit, and a clear passage was made as a result of that.

There was someone walking to the center of the stage, holding in his hands a small child that was wriggling about, crying and screaming.

I make sure that all other children were asleep because of the sealing tools, let out a deep breath and look down on the mages taking part in the ritual.

「H, how dare you to taint the place of our sacred ritual with your presence!」

During that time, the man I beat up managed to get right up, so I attempted to interrogate him.

「What is the purpose of all this?」

I was surprised just how low my own voice sounded.

But the man only laughed and sniffed with his nose.

「This is the sacred ritual dedicated to the devil we are worshipping, Gustuguss-sama! My brethren and I are going to sacrifice an abducted child to the demons in order to win ourselves Gustuguss-sama’s favour!」

「Hee, I see. If that’s so, then where is this so-called devil you worship?」

This guy was saying some truly interesting things, so I looked back towards that person who was sitting in his chair, overlooking the whole hall.

The man sitting atop the golden chair was wearing a richly ornamented robe.

At the very least, at first glance he looked to be human.

He was trying to expand the reach of the ritual, and so I interrupted him by setting up a barrier large enough to seal the whole hall.

「It’s no use trying to escape using Teleport. ‘Gustuguss’.」

When I said that, the magician –– Gustuguss –– clicked his tongue while resting in his chair with his chin resting on his hand.

「Tch, and here I was hoping I would get to consume some more souls. Oh well.」

「Gustuguss-sama!」

Saying that name, all of the men present fall to their knees in a show of respect.

While I’m amazed on how well-disciplined they all are, Gustuguss speaks to me.

「How dare you interrupt my precious rituals! I got my eyes on these kids first, so don’t try to get in my way!」

I had a really bad feeling about this, but there was something I absolutely wanted to hear.

「Are you the one who thought them meaningless rituals like that?」

「Hm? That’s right. The act of ceremony may be meaningless, but it is always fun to mess with humans one way or another. Besides, with more sacrifices, I can increase my own magical power tremendously. So what’s wrong with that?」

「That is not your true form, is it not?」

「Ahh, this thing? It was a certain mage who attempted to summon me a little while ago. But after the contract was made I was displeased with his soul, and so I wanted a replacement. But this is what I ended up with. Hence, I am unable to leave this body for the time being. And so I am collecting magical power to fix this problem. Because of the contract I need something to feed my body and soul. All these are just means of survival, they cannot really be helped, right?」

The demon began to laugh maniacally, to which I tried to respond in a calm manner, trying to conceal the emotion that were swirling inside of me right now.

「In that case, I do believe you are ready to face the consequences of your actions?」

「I’m not the one to blame here. These humans wanted to be useful for me, and so I introduced them to these tools so they could do just that. And it was brilliant, I didn’t even think that mere humans could grant me so much entertainment.」

I could clearly see that he was enjoying every evil deed that was committed because of him to the fullest.

「Human children are the best vessels. You can force them into making the contract easily, their souls are better than anything and you can savor the taste of raw magical power accordingly thanks to them. The adult humans can do that as well, but are not as good as the young ones. Not to mention that they are easier to procure. Soon, there will be no monster hunting in this world. Yes, even you……」

「That quite enough, Gustuguss. You can shut up now. Also, don’t move from over there.」

As a result of my magic-imbued command, Gustuguss’s mouth closed as if was sewn shut.

He stared at his immobilized body astonished, then looked at me.

Having done with that for the moment, I looked around at the people who were surrounding me.

「Since you are not surprised at all, I guess that you all know very well what you were worshipping. So, what were you going to do?」

Their expression varied. Even with their faces concealed I could understand that.

Some of them couldn’t quite stomach this situation. Some of them looked like they were afraid of me. Some of them were suspicious why their leader was unable to move. And so on and so on.

「You may not understand that, but with Gustuguss-sama’s power we are trying to reform this country that the mages now rule! We want to regain the glory and wealth that was our to begin with! Little girls like you are only getting in our way! So scram!」

「That’s right! That’s right!」

「You’re just a child who does not understand anything!」

One of them stood up and yelled at me with anger, and when he did, more shouts began to rise from all directions.

That made me understand. There was no need for any further explanation.

Nectar was doing his best so that mages could leave peacefully in this country. And while Kyle may have complained about his work all the time, he, too, was giving it his absolute best to make a brighter future for everyone.

As far as I could tell, it was already bearing results. Slowly but surely, people were growing to understand one another and look towards one future.

But these people couldn’t appreciate that. They didn’t understand and were not even trying to.

They were blind to what they had, and did not care about the sacrifices they had to make to make their dreams a reality.

Without knowing what they signed up for.

Ahh, just shut up already.

I silenced them all with but a single stomp of my feet and sheer magical pressure.

「Ligurila.」

Only my own voice echoed in the otherwise silent hall. There was so sign of anyone using teleportation spell, but alas, the golden-haired beauty appeared right at my side.

「I must say, it is unusual for you to call me, Obsidian. I know it is middle of the night, but you realize I am quite busy –––– Huh, oh my?」

Ligurila appeared out of nowhere, tying her hair and looking at me, but then she just blinked.

「Your current appearance is pretty intriguing, Obsidian. It lights my creative spark, you know?」

「There are certain circumstances behind all this. Anyways, thank you for coming.」

I smiled brightly as I thanked her, but then Ligurila looked around and her face got steep.

「……Why is this group of men so angry?」

She was speaking in modern language, and all of the men were gazing at her with pale faces, probably not because of her beauty, but because of the spiritual pressure her gaze was emitting.

As expected of Ligurila, her sheer presence was something else entirely.

THUD! Looking at the source of the loud sound, it was Gustuguss who somehow managed to break out of his restrains, and fell over together with his chair.

「Why the Great Demon is here is this town!?」

「Oh my, I thought it was rather strange, but are you a demon as well?」

Ligurila gazed upon Gustuguss and laughed, as if she suddenly understood something.

「If you truly don’t understand this, then I’m honestly surprised how you were able to deceive such a large group of humans.」

She told him something like that, to which Gustuguss could only remain silent under Ligurila’s stern gaze.

「So, Obsidian? What’s in it for me?」

「This group here was mainly hunting humans for some time now, I know you don’t usually hunt demons but can you make an exception just for this time?」

「Huh, demon hunting, is it? Interesting.」

The look that Ligurila gave to Gustuguss might have been as cold as the absolute zero.

In the end, it seems that Ligurila have arrived at the very same conclusion.

It was the first time for me to see her like that, but I also couldn’t forget that she was a demon and that demons had certain responsibilities as well. Some things may never be overlooked. I should keep that in mind.

However, right now Ligurila’s sight was truly terrifying.

「This group is nothing when it comes to the sheer fighting force, so they would probably fall apart if you leave them alone. But I think that’s not really much of an option here due to that small demon’s influence.」

「Oh please, and what can you do without your magic? Are you going to fight them using only your physical strength?」

「I think I’ll manage somehow.」

We both glanced at each other vividly, and I responded to Ligurila’s question like that. Gustuguss screamed and tried to escape, but was stopped by Ligurila who flew after him and restrained him with a whip that appeared in her hands.

「If it was only me, I would probably payed you no mind, but since I was asked by that person, I am going to do it. You really dare to call yourself a demon when you are weak like that?」

「Stop bullshitting me! Why is the Great Demon being ordered around by some stupid brat!?」

Ligurila looked back at me, while Gustuguss was trying to break free of the whip’s grasp, by inserting his hands under the whip that was bound around his neck.

「Obsidian, there is no need to hold back anymore, is it? Anyways, this fool doesn’t seem to know with who he is messing with.」

「Eeh? Ahh, I see how it is.」

For a moment out there I was unable to understand what Ligurila meant by that, but then I remembered that I was still but a small child, suppressing my magical power. With that, I reverted back to my normal human form.

When my physique changed and an orange dress was changed into that of jet-black night, with black hair with tinges of red mixed in them, Gustuguss seemed to be as shocked as his human followers.

It looks like my appearance was quite famous.

「Shit, you are that dragon!?」

「It looks like you finally understand.」

Seeing how oblivious Gustuguss was up until that point, Ligurila couldn’t help it but let out a deep sigh.

「For starters, this town was always a part of my territory. It was you who just barged in as if you owned the damn place, so I think that fact alone gives me the right to punish you…… I know. How about Bora Bray Mountains? I heard that the density of monsters there was shifting towards the third stage already. I can throw you there and watch your very core getting destroy bit by bit, to the point where you won’t even be sure of your own sexuality or identity.」

Ligurila smiled gracefully, dragging Gustuguss back to where I was.

However, even now, his motivation to escape doesn’t seemed to be waning at all.

So in order to be done with that, I ordered him using my magical authority.

「If you want to live, you will keep on hunting bad monsters until you match it with the amount of lives you so unreasonably ended.」

I watched Gustuguss with cold eyes as Ligurila dragged him towards me, while my magical power oozed out of me in such quantities that could easily cause some serious damage.

「Well, if that’s the case I’ll leave this to you, Ligurila. And sorry for having called you here so suddenly.」

「Oh well, I am willing to forgive you this one time. I am partially at fault, since I wasn’t able to detect this fool here at all. Just treat me to something later. Also, let’s not forget that my shop is also in this town.」

I was honestly surprised just how easy this whole thing was.

「EEEHHH!?!?! Is, is that so!?」

「Yes, that’s right. At first, when I entered the place as an apprentice, I thought about killing the shopkeeper many times over, but recently they even let me to arrange the shops design.」

Hearing how proud Ligurila sounded, the levels of my excitement meter started to hit the MAX border.

「Kyah! Way to go, girl! I’m looking forward to see what you can do!」

「Y, you don’t have to go out of your way just to come and see me, you know? J, just…… before you do that, could you let me know in advance, just so I would have some time to prepare myself?」

「Roger that!」

I answered with words of honest gratitude, to which Ligurila showed me a bitter smile.

I scratched my head, feeling somewhat relieved.

「Is there something wrong?」

「Not really, I am somewhat surprised that you aren’t more angry with the situation, this isn’t like you at all.」

Maybe it was all in my head, but I got a feeling that Ligurila wasn’t bothered with what I just said.

「Right, since my job here is pretty much done, I’m going to be on my way.」

「N, no, stop……」

「Now then, have a good day.」

Ligurila finally dragged Gustuguss to our feet, his face twisted in sheer terror. As Ligurila wave her whip, a magic light spreads and he disappeared. Casually, Ligurila dusted away the leftover magic particles and tidied her skirt from the dirt.

Then she turned around and walked off, waving her hand at me.

「Now then.」

Where they surprised that the existence they worshipped was someone insignificant in the demonic hierarchy? They were just standing there, dumbstruck, with pale faces. When I turned towards them, they looked as if they were about to scream.

「Whatever shall I do with you guys?」

Then, one of the men at the back stood up and said:

「You, D-Dragon! This is human’s country! Why are you intervening in our affairs!?」

I smiled at the man, knowing full well how to handle such arguments.

「Because I don’t like it, you see.」

「Wha……!?」

Seeing a young and beautiful girl smiling at him, the man’s response was somewhat delayed.

「Hey, do you even understand? If someone have wealth, power and honor, and they are also someone who is stronger than you, what do you think that person would do? I pretty much can do anything to you all and no one is going to make any complaints.」

「This, this is……」

「That’s right, because you see, that is exactly what you guys were trying to do just before to these helpless kids.」

「Hiiii!」

「You guys were playing with fire, meddling with things you have no control over.」

At that time I reached out my hand towards that man, wondering whatever should I do.

<>

I stopped my hand, hearing Nectar’s voice echoing inside of my mind.

「Uh, uwaaahhh!!!」

The man I held let out a loud scream. Nevertheless, Nectar continued speaking again.

<>

「Oh, yeah, they’re okay.」

Hearing that Nectar’s feelings became somewhat complex, but I could tell that he was relieved.

<>

Without lifting the whole barrier, I erased the part of it that covered the door. They almost immediately burst open and Nectar run inside, carrying his staff in his hands.

He was initially surprised to see a group of masked men and women, but his expression grew even steeper when he saw the ritual’s main stage and the children that were laying there.

「Lava, this is……」

「Members of the devil worshipping cult that tried to sacrifice the children to the demon in exchange for favors and riches. The demon was genuine, but it won’t try to do something like that ever again. I am now about to teach those guys some lessons.」

I gave him a short explanation of the whole situation, and even in this dimly lit room I was able to tell that he mostly understood what was going on.

I continued speaking.

「The children are still asleep, but you might as well carry them out of here. I imagine they wouldn’t want to be in the same room as their captors. After that we might think what to do next.」

「No, Lava.」

「Why, though? They are trying to undermine everything you have done without making any effort to do something themselves. And for the sake of their own selfishness they were going to kill innocent people. …… I wouldn’t mind getting rid of them.」

Hearing my words, the people gathered started to make their way towards the door, trying to escape. They stopped dead in their tracks when I sawn their shadows to the ground.

But suddenly Nectar came in between me and the escaping bunch.

He arrived before me, to which I cocked my head a little and he said:

「I understand that you’re angry, Lava, but please, can you let it go this one time?」

My boiling emotion came instantly to a stop when Nectar took a hold of my hand and enclosed it in his own.

I was confused, and Nectar said to me.

「Of course I am angry as well, but they are the offenders, and we need to press charges against them. It may not be done in one day, but they have to answer for their sins. This is the way in which we do things now.」

「Nectar……」

「It make me happy that you’re getting angry for our sake, but that is exactly why I don’t want you to kill these people.」

「But, Nectar, did you know? I……」

Have you ever killed someone?

Even though I wasn’t able to put it into words, Nectar nodded without looking away.

「Killing a person is an excruciatingly heavy burden, so please don’t do this as I don’t want you to carry that weight. I know that I’m being selfish here, but please I want you to do this only when it’s absolutely necessary.」

「………」

「All of the children are safe thanks to you. You can leave the rest to us.」

This Nectar, doing nothing but thinking about me even at a time like this.

I couldn’t do anything else but to let out a big sigh.

It seems that more blood rushed to my head than I initially thought.

「…… Okay. I’ll do as you say and leave this to you guys.」

Nectar smiled at me, relieved.

Seeing that, I responded by smiling myself.

But honestly, some part of me still couldn’t accept the fact to leave the matter this way. Even if this way would eliminate the problem eventually. Feeling a bit uneasy, I approached one of the people who were near Nectar, still having their shadow bound to the ground.

「Lava……」

「It’s okay. I’m not going to kill them or hurt them in any way. I don’t want you to hate me, Nectar.」

「There’s no way I would ever hate you.」

「No way, you say? But, I’m the same way, I could never bring myself to hate you. That is to say, it’s not like I can really force you to like or dislike me, so that’s that, I guess.」

I answered Nectar while also trying to tease him just a little. In response, his cheeks flushed deep shade of red.

Wh, what’s that all about?

Not wanting to have to deal with inner struggles of my heart and having others see me embarrassed, I shook my head vigorously and looked towards the other people.

「However, that’s only if you’ll be nice and behave, right?」

I smiled and then laughed, as I watched how their eyes got slowly filled with sheer terror.