Chapter 128: The Dragon’s Lair Part 3

The dragon's words were not just a simple voice.

It felt like a vibration resonating through the entire space. Not words heard through the ears but a message piercing directly into the mind.

For an ordinary human, just hearing it would be exceedingly dangerous and powerful. This was the nature of "Dragon Tongue".

Typically, a dragon wishing to talk with a human would adjust the intensity of its speech. However, Tondra had just awakened from sleep, and not voluntarily but because its rest had been disturbed.

It was akin to a person finally falling asleep on the weekend after a week of night shifts only to be woken at seven in the morning by the sound of construction.

Tondra had no patience to moderate the power of its speech for the humans who had awakened it.

"Urgh…!"

I felt my insides churn and vomited blood once more. Normally, I wouldn't have been so affected, but since I had already pushed myself too far, this was sheer torment.

"Master!"

Seeing me collapse and vomit blood, El lost her composure and shouted in alarm. She looked as if she might drop everything and rush over. I raised a hand to stop her and shook my head.

"Huff, huff…"

As I caught my breath, Ayla ran up and supported my trembling body.

"Tondra!"

It was then.

With his arms spread wide, Rubaf shouted in an agitated tone.

"Guardian of the Great Silver Mountains!"

[....]

"Why have you abandoned us!"

[Is that you, Sherpa?]

"Yes!"

[State your name.]

"I am Rubaf, son of Felby!"

[Felby. He was but a child.]

"But he has long since passed!"

[....]

"Waiting for you his entire life!"

His voice which was full of resentment echoed through the cold air.

"Tondra, the souls of the Sherpas who died waiting for you will forever curse you. Like dogs on a leash, they died not knowing why! Those poor souls were the true masters of the Silver Mountains…."

[Son of Felby, your anger is unjustified. I did it for you….]

"Silence! I know the truth. You abandoned us and hid in the Silver Mountains to keep the 'Great Fragment' for yourself, like a rat!"

[…Foolish. Whose shadow blinds your eyes? Who whispered these treacherous lies to you?]

The crows.

It was the crows.

Now the pieces fell into place. Why the Sherpa called Rubaf sided with the crows.

They slandered Tondra, saying that it abandoned the Sherpas to keep the Fragment of Earte for itself.

Rubaf fell for their deceit.

"Now I will become the master of the 'Great Fragment' and bring freedom to all beings of the Silver Mountains."

[...…]

"To give a new life to those who have passed…."

"No!!!"

At that moment, Aquila screamed, almost as if she were shrieking. And following that sound, both Rubaf and Tondra turned to look at her.

"Mom has already become a bird. Don't disturb her peace!"

"Aquila."

"What do you mean by a new life?! Is that a new life?!"

Aquila's hand pointed at the mutated Yeti. She was almost in tears.

"Mom doesn't want a new life! She has already found her freedom!"

"I wanted to…"

"Who have you become a slave to, Dad?!"

"..."

"Why are you doing such terrible things?!"

Rubaf looked at Aquila with clouded eyes, then turned his head away. Tondra was merely observing the entire situation.

"…I'm sorry, Aquila."

Rubaf murmured in a weary voice, almost as if he were ready to give up. I watched his every move intently.

"I have to get her back."

And as he reached into his pocket…

-Zzzzzzzzzzz!!!

If there was an opposite of a flash of light, it would look like that.

Not a bright light but something like black lightning erupted around Rubaf.

"Get back!!!"

I squeezed out the last of my strength and summoned Ken's tentacles again. Ken's tentacles that emerged from the twisted space swept up El and Aquila, Khalid and Didier, as well as Ayla and me and wrapped us tightly.

-Rumbleeeee!!!

Even though the thick tentacles protected us, I could still feel the vibrations of the explosion. Hot blood flowed from my nose as I struggled to stay conscious. My vision was blurry. I had used too much magical power. I quickly took out the sage's flask and drank its contents, but the amount was too small. However, it was enough to keep me from losing consciousness.

"... El, what about Lloyd?"

"He's outside dealing with the Yetis.... He'll be here soon! Please hold on a little longer, Master!"

"Okay. But if I lose consciousness.... Explain the situation to Khalid and Didier. They'll know what to do."

Those two were familiar with Tondra, so they would manage somehow. I used [Forest's Healing] on the two unconscious people. The green magic enveloped them and slowly spread.

At the same time, my mind grew increasingly blurry. Ayla kept supporting my body, but I kept slipping as my strength waned.

"...I'm okay, Ayla."

-Kuuun, kuuun.

I rummaged through my belongings and took out the [Silver Forest Flute]. Before leaving Lysette, Darion had given me this flute and introduced it as the heirloom of the Sylvanus family.

The ancestors of Sylvanus had a legend that the silver flute could put dozens of shadow wolves to sleep. It was basically a sleep-inducing item.

"El, listen carefully from now on."

"Yes, Master...!"

"Ken's tentacles will disappear soon. I don't know what's happening outside, but we definitely need to escape. When I play this flute, everything will fall asleep. It will be for a short while, but even Tondra probably will."

"...!"

"Cover your ears and wait, then escape when the time is right. And meet with Lloyd."

"But what about you, Master?!"

"I have something I need to do."

I took out some cotton from my pocket and plugged Ayla's ears, then signaled to El and Aquila. They covered their ears with anxious expressions.

Well done, Ken.

The battered tentacles that got worn out from withstanding the explosions outside slowly unraveled and began to disappear. The outside that I could see through the gaps between the tentacles was filled with acrid smoke. The faint metallic smell was probably the smell of blood.

I brought the [Silver Forest Flute] to my lips and took a deep breath.

-Grrrrrrrr....

With a foreboding sound, something huge approached in order to crush me. But at that moment,

–♩__♪__♬__♪__...!

The clear sound of the flute resonated. Whatever had tried to grab me halted abruptly and slowly disappeared back into the smoke. And then…

-Thud!

-Thump!

-Bang!

I kept playing the flute tirelessly until I couldn't hear any other sound. As the pure and clear sound spread, my magic was also draining away.

Please, please hurry…

-Boooooom!!!

A giant and heavy sound of something collapsing echoed around the place, and the ground beneath me shook.

Finally, it seemed that Tondra had fallen asleep.

I turned around. With a nod from me, El and Aquila began to help Khalid and Didier and started to run. Ayla kept looking back, but when I gestured roughly, she quickly followed the others.

I navigated through the acrid smoke, feeling my way to where Rubaf had been.

-Squelch!

"…"

Crushed flesh and a pool of blood. Black veins-like things were spreading out from it in all directions. Some were still wriggling.

Is this Rubaf …?

There seemed to be nothing special except for the black veins spreading across the floor. Had everything been burned by Tondra's lightning attack? I carefully avoided stepping on the sticky slime.

As I progressed while feeling my way along the opposite wall, something bumped against my foot. It was the bundle of sedatives. So this is where it was. I gathered the bundle and set out to find Tondra.

-Grrrrrrr…

It wasn't long before I felt a cold breath. Though it was too dark to see clearly, the scales and massive size confirmed it was Tondra. I felt my way along the scales and moved towards Tondra's head. The growling grew louder. Soon, I saw glistening teeth and long, white whiskers.

One of Tondra's teeth was longer than my leg. If I stood beside it, it might be as tall as I was. It was chilling. I carefully felt around Tondra's mouth and, using all my strength, pried it open. It barely created a gap but it was enough. I pushed the sedative through the small opening between the teeth and waited until I heard it drop onto the tongue.

…Alright, this should do it.

Now, I just needed to find the fragment of Earte that Tondra had and get out.

The key here is how long the effect of the flute sound will last.

Considering the huge size of the dragon, it took a long time for me to move from the mouth to the feet, especially with the limited visibility right now. The [Owl Eyes] skill illuminated my vision in the dark, but it couldn't penetrate the smoke. So I felt my way along Tondra's body towards its feet.

This feels like an ankle. I'm almost there.

After confirming the rounded joint, I took a few more steps and felt the claws. Finally! I dashed towards the crouched claw's back. There was…

-Bubbling

It wasn't a fragment of Earte, but a pool of black slime boiling like the lava of hell. The area around the slime was full of the black veins I had seen earlier.

-Gurgle…

-Glug, glug!

The black slime gathered together and gradually took shape. Amidst the writhing, bubbling mass, glimpses of Rubaf's face appeared and vanished. It was a horrifying sight. I quickly drew Hydra's fang from my waist.

-Slash!!!

The black veins rooted in the ground lashed at me like a whip.

-Sizzle!!!

I swung the Hydra's fang and sliced through the black veins. The poison-coated blade severed the veins, and with it came a burning sound and a foul stench. I continued to cut the attacking black veins, again and again. But the black veins grew faster than I could cut them.

"Damn it…!"

-Ha, ha… ha. Gu…rgle… is this… it…?

Rubaf's face, which appeared and disappeared beneath the black slime, twisted into a sinister smile. The creature was growing even larger. I was starting to lose strength. Damn it, damn it… Just as I was being pushed back,

-Slash!

I saw a familiar flash.

"Are you alright?"

It was Lloyd.