Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 326

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 326 – Battle with the Black Dragon Part 2

“…Oh.”

The Black Dragon let out a sound of admiration. Ain’s aura had transformed into something entirely different.

The pressure from the two beings facing each other caused the ground to crack and lava to spew forth from beneath.

“What do you mean I’m a dragonkin’s servant? First, I’ve never heard the term ‘dragonkin,’ nor have I ever heard of a dragon clan’s paradise.”

“You—even after all this time—”

“That’s what I should be saying. Besides, I came here chasing my own enemy. Why am I being blamed by a complete stranger? I don’t get it.”

Then, the Black Dragon narrowed its eyes into sharp slits.

“You’re telling me you genuinely know nothing?”

“I’ve been saying that from the start. I don’t deserve to be blamed for your misguided assumptions.”

“…If you insist on sticking to that line…”

The Black Dragon extended its arm.

Ain guarded against it, sword drawn, but the black dragon did not attack.

“Let me take a look at your very core.”

“Gah—! What are you—?!”

A searing pain shot through Ain’s entire skull.

It was a piercing sensation, like something was trying to rip his brain out.

The pain forced him to his knees, but he glared at the Black Dragon, his face contorted.

“What the hell did you do to me?!”

“Merely observing. Too much commotion reveals your limitations.”

“You…”

His fluency was irritating, but the pain was worse.

But…

“Oh, a soul bearing rare memories.”

As the pain faded away with a soft whoosh, the Black Dragon spoke with evident amusement.

“Kwahaha… That accursed dragonkin. Did they send an elf and a human child to reclaim your incomplete soul?”

“So you…! What did you do to me!?”

“Children cannot choose their parents, but you were toyed with by that dragonkin, too. Hahahaha!”

“Parent…? I was born from my Mother’s division and never complained.”

“What nonsense. It wasn’t a dryad who brought you into existence.”

“…Huh?”

What utter nonsense is he spouting?

This thought flashed through his mind before anything else, but simultaneously, Ain recalled events from several years prior.

“The one who first gave birth to you wasn’t a dryad! Liar!”

“Hey! You liar, liar!”

When he visited the elf village and met the two tree spirits, they blurted out similar words.

The black dragon had said the same thing, leaving a significant impact on Ain’s mind.

“Ah, right. I was indeed born to two humans.”

“That is also incorrect. You were destined to be the child of an elf and a human. I should have mentioned that earlier. It holds no meaning for me whatsoever; it merely confirms your ignorance.”

“Wait! I’m an elf’s child? What does that—”

Before Ain could finish, the Black Dragon flapped its massive wings.

“But one thing is clear! Killing you here would be my revenge against those accursed dragonkin!”

The black dragon surged forward with its powerful arms.

In an instant, the distance between Ain and the Black Dragon closed.

“I’ll rip out your guts and devour your magic stone! Then, I will possess even greater power!”

It wasn’t just its enormous size that was terrifying.

Its movements were far quicker than he had imagined, and the force behind them—capable of tearing up the earth itself—set the Black Dragon apart from any opponent he had faced before.

The tip of a claw—sharper and larger than his own body—grazed his side, sending a cold sweat trickling down Ain’s neck.

“With the vengeance of countless dragons, my innumerable kin, I must devour you and every last one of those dragonkin!”

Dodging the massive, flapping wings and powerful arms swinging to destroy everything, Ain surprisingly recalled the events of the previous day with unexpected calm.

Could the owner of that unfamiliar voice from his dream be this black dragon?

“You hate dragon kin so much that you came into my dreams to complain?”

“Yes, I resent them! For severing the bloodline of us dragons! For taking the lives of countless dragons!”

“Oh, really? Honestly, it’s all stuff I don’t remember, so I don’t understand!”

He hadn’t even processed the statement about having an elf and a human parent.

Even if he was called the servant of some entity—

(…But it’s to reclaim my soul.)

Though the meaning was slightly different, he tentatively assumed it referred to the entity that had brought him into this world.

Just one being came to mind within Ain’s heart.

(Goddess?)

But if a god was called a dragon-kin, it made no sense.

Even if that word once referred to a high-ranking being in this world’s past, that was still unclear.

What became clear was this: Ain couldn’t shake the feeling that a goddess was involved.

Therefore, Ain asked the Black Dragon.

“You…no, the Red Dragon heading for the Divine Abduction Dungeon…was it to kill that dragon-kin?!”

“I know not the name you speak, but the Red Dragon sought a place bearing my grudge. Hmph, so you were lying after all!”

“…No, I’ve only heard of it.”

Ain dodged while swinging his sword, parrying the Black Dragon’s claws occasionally as he focused on the conversation.

A vague, indescribable unease lodged in his heart, weakening his grip on the sword.

Yet, the Black Dragon’s answer clarified something.

“I just might know that dragonkin!”

“!… How insolent!”

Today’s most powerful swing left a deep gash on the Black Dragon’s neck.

As the roots that had sprouted to encircle the dragon seemed ready to trap it, Ain counterattacked.

Black liquid dripped from the floating, jet-black mass and flowed toward Ain as if possessed by its own will.

“But listen! Right now, there’s something more important to me than knowing that!”

As the Crown Prince and a hero, he must purge the calamity befalling Ishtalika.

These were matters of higher priority than dwelling on the unanswerable questions and doubts that haunted his mind.

“I’ll finish you off quickly, then chase after Chris and the others to capture Camilla. I’m eager to hear the story, but I’ll investigate it myself!”

Ain’s sword glowed black, enveloping the surroundings.

Even the surrounding air was drawn in, forming the eye of a fierce storm that warped the space around it.

It was a torrent of power so immense that Ain was using it for the first time.

The roots binding the Black Dragon thickened further, twisting and knotting in multiple layers.

Then, the raised sword—

“If you can endure it, just try to endure it!”

Swinging down with tremendous force, the surrounding space warped like cracked glass.

The released wave became a flash that painted the slender night sky with a single streak, as if slicing through space itself and striking the Black Dragon.

“…You—”

Before the words could finish, the black dragon’s face was cleaved clean in two.

Its arms, bound by tree roots, hung limply as its crimson eyes lost their color.

The black dragon’s lingering aura gradually faded away. Ain stood there, breathing heavily.

“Haa… haa… Damn… I’m exhausted…”

The magic power dwelling within him should be considerable.

Yet the intense wave of fatigue overwhelming him was undoubtedly because he had poured too much power into that single strike.

The mountain behind the black dragon should have been there, but now it was nothing but a pile of collapsed earth and rock.

But this was the end.

Just as Ain tried to approach the black dragon, dragging his weary feet forward one step…

“You…you dared to take my life even once?”

“Wha…!?”

The flesh on the black dragon’s face writhed grotesquely before returning to normal.

“My hatred shall never die. Not until every last bit of it vanishes.”

“Sigh. Today is full of things I just don’t understand.”

“And your power… what a sweet pain and gift it was. I shall accept it as an offering to fulfill my grudge against the dragonkin.”

Then, the Black Dragon flung aside the roots binding its entire body with sheer muscle power alone.

Compared to before, its body had grown even more robust and colossal. It stretched its neck and looked down upon Ain, fully exposed.

“Why are you still alive? I definitely killed you.”

“Why did you think killing me once would suffice? This body is the product of countless dragons’ grudges. It’s not something that ends so easily.”

What does that mean? Does that mean it has multiple lives?

Though I couldn’t grasp it fully, I understood that the Black Dragon was a formidable being.

Furthermore, considering the Red Dragon’s growth from absorbing magic, I wondered about the mature form of the Black Dragon.

“Is your body perhaps exceptionally adept at absorbing magic?”

“Well, now. But even a single scale of mine could hold grudges against everything.”

“…So Shannon’s mystery is solved.”

He thought: Maybe the black stone from the Red Fox incident was made from the Black Dragon’s material.

“Very well. I shall crush you now and proceed to the Dragonkin.”

“I won’t let you. I don’t know the principle, but I’ll defeat you again and again.”

“Hahahahaha! Did I not tell you? Your power was a sweet gift!”

The black dragon raised his arm and brought it crashing down at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

A whirlwind-like pressure reached Ain’s body.

“Huh!?”

Once again, it shattered Dullahan’s armor effortlessly.

However, compared to before, it left deep scars on Ain’s arm.

A great deal of blood flowed out as proof.

“Hah… Not that I was being careless or anything.”

That was why he tried to end the fight quickly.

He had never imagined a power that allowed one to die and yet survive, nor had he envisioned an ability that absorbed magic power to grow stronger.

The situation was pretty bad, he thought, muttering from the corner of his mouth.

Then, thud—his entire body shook.

“Become my sacrifice. To avenge all my grievances.”

With each echo of the Black Dragon’s voice, the sensation of an impulse shaking his entire body intensified.

Ain slowly placed a hand over his chest and looked down, overcome by a strange sense of elation.

“What the hell is this?”

As he muttered this, his whole body trembled and his chest—no, the magic stone within it—pounded.

Instead of worrying about this, he needed to watch out for the Black Dragon preparing to attack again. As he thought this, his arm remained over his chest, refusing to move.

When he finally lifted his face, his vision transformed into a world moving in slow motion.

“This… Why?”

It was a strange world where only he could move normally.

The reason became clear without delay.

“My hunger remains unsatisfied. I am Gluttony. Hunger itself is my pleasure.”

The voice echoed.

He could never forget the voice of the World Tree of Gluttony.

“Like a starving infant. Like an abandoned child receiving charity. Rejoicing only at drifting scraps.”

The only difference from back then was the absence of any hint of hostility.

Ain himself sensed no presence of another being.

“…Guess this really means I should hold back my power from now on.”

Ain let out a wry smile and withdrew his hand from his chest.

This was surely a hallucination, a voice born of survival instinct and a mind sharpened for victory.

It was the voice of the absolute Demon King, the one opponent he had struggled against more than any other.

Suddenly, Ain looked up at the pitch-black mass above him.

“I think I finally understand what that means. Why does it have that shape, and why does it appear when I try to use my power…”

He spoke not to anyone in particular, but rather to affirm his own words aloud.

“A seed…is that it?”

Hearing his voice, many eyes glowed from within the mass.

They were all wide and ominous and seemed to tremble and laugh with joy.

Soon after, the eyes vanished, and the black mass fell to the ground.

“That was the seed of my World Tree of Gluttony. It spreads its roots and grows endlessly large—a seed for using my power.”

The pitch-black mass—the seed of the World Tree of Gluttony—transformed into a black liquid.

Then, it changed into dark brown soil.

“Chris and the others… are they okay? I wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

He chuckled softly, his words brimming with confidence.

Soon after, a single green sprout emerged from the center of the soil.

“Black Dragon—now the real battle begins.”

The sprout grew upward and eventually became a small fruit tree.

Its trunk grew without pause, surpassing the Black Dragon’s height in mere seconds.

In the world frozen in slow motion, the Black Dragon immediately noticed the giant tree and averted its gaze.

Ain’s hair grew like the world tree of gluttony back then, reaching down to his waist.

And when the world returned.

The world tree of gluttony that had been born behind Ain had grown into a giant tree, no different from the one towering over Heim.

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