115. The Demon Beast King Adra 1

Adra was in such poor condition that he should have been dead already. Ordinary wounds from battle wouldn’t cause such inexplicable malaise—dragons, thanks to their astonishing resistances and regenerative abilities, don’t suffer from that kind of systemic breakdown.

But now, his mental state was unstable, and the time he spent in a feral, enraged state was growing longer and longer.

Even so, Adra was barely holding on to his original will—thanks to the sheer strength of his draconic mind.

Adra noticed Shiro’s presence. A presence of divine power unlike anything he’d felt before. *Maybe this one can help*, a faint spark of hope flickered.

Dragons sense divine magic.

With the last of his strength, Adra turned toward the direction of the Yorks Great Labyrinth.

◇

In the northern reaches of Cambria, the usual mushrooms sprouted in their usual abundance. But on a day when massive amounts of mana gathered and rain fell continuously, miasma erupted in overwhelming quantities—leading directly to a sudden surge in demon beasts.

As Adra approached the Yorks Great Labyrinth, he became aware of the overwhelming number of demon beasts nearby.

As a dragon, and by the ancestral instinct of dragons once sworn to protect the mortal realm, Adra felt an obsessive compulsion to stop this horde.

But he was still young for a dragon, with little real experience. He should have been taught combat and hunting by older dragons—but no such chance had ever come. So Adra acted purely on instinct, charging headfirst into the swarm of demon beasts.

The demon beasts felt the dragon approaching—felt fear. They understood, at last, the sheer gap in power. Panic set in. The beasts turned and fled toward the direction of the Yokes Great Labyrinth, as if being chased.

◇

Just as Shiro and the others finished dealing with the Great Labyrinth and were resting, a message arrived.

A dragon—possibly the Demon Beast King—had appeared just north of the Great Labyrinth. And it was accompanied by a large number of demon beasts, heading this way. Not quite a stampede, though, according to the report.

“…Aria, dragons really are strong, huh?”

“…Well, yes. If it came in earnest, the kingdom would fall. But dragons are of the dragonkind. Not demon beasts. They’re supposed to be intelligent, calm by nature,” Aria said.

“Ah, so that’s how it is? The goddess said the same thing—she’d prefer we help, if we can. So this dragon incident… it’s probably not normal.”

“But why does it always show up with a stampede? Feels like the dragon’s causing the stampede itself,” Ida said.

Steven answered.

“True. Reports always say it’s driving demon beasts ahead of it, but we don’t know if that’s actually accurate. And even if it is, we don’t know why. In the end, we only ever see them from afar—then they vanish. That doesn’t match known dragon behavior patterns.”

“Dragons fly, right?” Mizuki asked.

“Yeah. So if it comes for real, we’ve only got one option—defense,” Steven replied.

“Shiro, regardless of the cause, how do we handle it?” Shestia asked.

"Yeah, well…" Shiro mused. Then,

"Shiro, I'll slice it clean in half with my holy sword—" Makoto started,

"Idiot. Didn’t you hear? This dragon isn’t a target for slaughter—it’s a patient. And you can’t even fly, can you?" Masaki cut in.

"...First, we observe," Shiro said. "We can’t plan a response without seeing what kind of state it’s in. For now, I’m counting on everyone to handle the monsters. It’s not a stampede like before—this should be manageable for all of us. Me, Mitoka, Shestia, and Kotone will check on the dragon."

Then, "I’ve got a backup plan—just a sec, Mitoka, Shestia, Kotone, come here."

He called the three over for a private talk.

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