138. The Demon God Iberia

Iberia approached the western district of the elven village, and as she descended, she noticed something amiss.

"Thick miasma..."

Iberia felt it, and the moment she did, her entire body reacted abnormally.

"Ugh! W-what's happening... my body feels strange..."

She gasped, then let out a guttural roar.

Exposure to an unprecedentedly dense miasma had instantly worsened both her physical and mental anomalies.

"Is that... a dragon? A white dragon?"

Ida, recording the scene, murmured to herself, spotting a distant figure in the sky.

The anomaly in the elven forest was being broadcast live across the world. The footage streamed in real time on monitors installed in royal courts and temples alike.

This was one of the Federation's agreed protocols: to relay major events live, so experiences could be shared. After their world tour, the magic-tech communication device had been developed, perfected, and deployed by Shiro and Ida—just in time, Shiro thought.

Iberia descended further, drawing in the miasma that filled the air around her.

"What... is she even doing?" Ida wondered aloud, unable to suppress her confusion.

◇

At the sudden surge of abnormality, Iberia lowered her altitude, seemingly preparing to land—when, due to her mental instability, she unleashed multiple breath attacks in random directions. Five pulses of short, laser-like beams.

Explosions erupted in all directions.

One of them grazed the World Tree. Shards scattered beneath it, sending the district into panic.

Another struck and destroyed one of the elven castle’s towers.

Another struck the lake, triggering a massive explosion.

Another hit deep in the distant forest, causing an identical detonation.

From the elven tower, Aida was broadcasting the scene live.

“S-Sorry, that breath was risky… I’m glad it hit the tower over there…” Aida trembled, voice shaky.

Please, don’t come this way… she murmured, clutching the crystal lens for recording.

◇

As soon as Shiro and the others heard the dragon’s roar, they turned toward it. In that instant, one of the breaths veered straight toward them.

“Whoa! Everyone, dodge!”

Caught off guard, the group scattered in panic.

Then, Iberia descended. This was the same spot where they’d fought the monsters earlier.

“Hey… is that the White Dragon? The one Adra mentioned—Is that Iberia?” Shiro said.

“Looks like it. We should contact Adra right away…” Mitoka began, when—

“**Iberia!**” Adra and Emilia shouted in unison, streaking through the sky in dragon form.

‘Iberia, pull yourself together!’ Emilia echoed.

But the voice reached no longer.

Iberia was drawing in more miasma, voraciously.

Its eyes blazed red. A swirling black fog—like miasma—began coiling around it. Then—

“**Aaaaaaah!**” Iberia screamed. An unconscious telepathic broadcast, heard by everyone nearby, including Shiro and the others.

“Adra… I can hear you… where are you…?” Iberia cried, then whispered, “Sister…?”

In that moment, its body flared with light—and reshaped into the form of a woman.

The sound of her sister’s voice, long unheard, brought back the image of her sister’s human form—her intense longing reshaped her own body into that same form.

Dragons can become human simply through the strength of their desire to be so.

◇

“Hey… isn’t that the Demon God?”

A distant adventurer muttered, watching the dragon’s form.

To most who watched the image, the first thought that came to mind was “Demon God.” Since the incident at the capital’s barrier, rumors of the Demon God’s cult had spread. Even old fairy tales mentioned the Demon God.

A white dragon glowing with light, transforming into a human figure, unleashing destructive power on a massive scale.

Given what they saw, it was no surprise people thought that way.

◇

Iberia, unable to see or hear, felt as though she were trapped in utter darkness—confused, disoriented, lost.

And then she thought:

Adra hasn’t been found… but I can still hear her voice. So if I break through this darkness I’m trapped in… that’s it. Yes—let everything shatter! Let it all be destroyed! Let me destroy it all, reckless and desperate.

After a while, Iberia began glowing again, and a massive magic array floated into view, the black vortex starting to constrict.

“Hey… I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,” Shiro muttered, staring at the array.

“Shiro, no—don’t let it happen! That’s not right! That’s not allowed!” Shestia cried out, as if remembering something terrible.

“Shiro, Iberia is rapidly absorbing the surrounding miasma. That’s why we’re sensing such a sudden surge in magical energy. And that contraction of the black vortex… it could be the forbidden attack spell—[Remove Star].”

“[Remove Star]?”

"Yes, 'rm *' with the 'rf' option. You know, the all-erase command..."

"Seriously?!"

Activating the [Remove Star] skill at the root of the World Tree with the 'rf' option—equivalent to running the 'rm' command with root privileges in a UNIX command line. And the 'rf' option means unconditional, recursive deletion.

Which meant total annihilation of the world.

"Why the hell does such a dangerous skill even exist?!" Shiro shouted, half-accusing, half-dumbfounded.

But it was already too late.

Iberia was losing control. The black vortex finally ceased collapsing, solidifying into a pitch-black sphere about a meter in diameter. Iberia raised it toward the dark world that imprisoned her, ready to launch it.

She wasn’t aiming at any specific target. She just wanted to be free from the darkness that had trapped her.

But, unfortunately, it was headed straight for the World Tree.

Adra screamed, "Iberia! Stop!" and charged forward.

The cry was wasted. Iberia released the black ball.

The sphere flew toward the World Tree.

Then, in an instant, Adra appeared in dragon form, blocking its trajectory—and was pierced straight through.

"……Iberia!" Adra's desperate mental shout, sharp as a blade, seized Iberia.

"Wha—?"

The moment she heard that voice, Iberia blinked, just for a second—her mind clearing.

"Adra! Focus! Picture yourself as human! Imagine holding a human Iberia—really, *really* want to hold her!" Emilia shouted at Adra.

At the sound, Adra's body flared with light.

And then, as Adra transformed back into human form, she wrapped her arms tightly around Iberia.

"Iberia, hold on—stay with me!"

“…Adra, is it really you? …Oh, I’m sorry!” Iberia wailed through tears.

“Don’t worry, Iberia. You’re okay now. You’re safe,” Adra said, holding Iberia tightly as she sobbed.

Shiro and the others, watching from a distance, shot forward at once to reach them.

Shestia tried to cast a healing spell on Adra—but upon closer look, there was no wound to be seen.

Dragons switch bodies when shifting to human form. So the human body carries no injuries at all.

Shiro used divine mental manipulation to cancel Iberia’s mental control and status abnormality, just as he had done with Adra before—this time, with nanomachines for rapid removal.

Then, the group immediately flew toward the Black Ball.

Thanks to Shiro, Iberia had regained her senses. And the three dragons, watching Shiro’s party take flight, turned their gaze toward the World Tree.

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