Chapter 54: Land of Ghosts
There's a saying that goes like; "Time heals everything"
In her past life, Kyriaki never believed such a thing.
No matter what she did, nothing changed. The pain she felt from the abuse of her family, colleagues and the world had always been the same. The wounds were fresh, bleeding endlessly. If anything, those wounds had increased by time, to the point she felt utterly drained.
Time never healed, she firmly believed.
However, once she got trapped inside the white heaven, she finally realized how truthful that phrase was.
Time truly did heal everything.
Her emotional scars and wounds were healed with time, leaving nothing but calm rationality behind.
But alas, she was too late to realize that healing had made her too dull, too distant and too indifferent. She was infinitely passive. Towards everything.
Once she realized it, she felt she was too indifferent to even correct it.
Not until she faced the wandering entity, not until she saw the dying dragon, not until she found herself reborn did she begin to actively seek out her lost emotions. Be it negative or positive.
The first step was her family. Although it was faint, she had formed a bond with her grandfather, father and her twin brother, sparking emotions inside her. The second step was to make friends, Levana for example.
The bond of friendship was more fragile than the bond between her and her family. Nonetheless, she felt she was gaining more and more emotions. She was gradually building her new life.
And now, Kyriaki realized that living together with humans for a while had sparked some of her humanity to surface. Frankly, she was even enjoying that a little bit.
After all, emotions she thought she wouldn't feel in both her past life and current life were gradually blooming. She thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep interacting with humans in the future for entertainment and understanding.
Thus, it was a welcoming change.
Rip. Creek.
—Northwest cleared—
At the sudden reminding tone of Euclid, Kyriaki pushed back her wondering mind using
After clearing northwest, Euclid moved onto west right away.
Using
Riiiiipppp.
The next second another rip sound followed as his dragon claws, coated with dense pure mana of golden hue, ripped apart a ghost with a face covered by long black hair.
[Wind Eagle Saga: Fifth Strike: Wind's Guide]
Swish! Swoosh!
Rip! Bang!
An arrow, soaked with golden dragon blood, flew out towards north and pierced three ghosts on three different places by changing directions before sticking on a tree.
[Wind Eagle Saga: Third Strike: Eagle Wings]
Marina took another arrow without a delay and shot at a fast pace.
After confirming everything, Kyriaki's attention turned to the east.
Hiss. Hiss.
"Lizard!"
"Keuhahaha…I'll drink your blood and gain strength!"
Usually, if a monster faced a Dragon's true form with Dragon aura or its evolved skill
However ghosts, being lower class mindless monsters born from humans, had no sense detection nor primal instinct. Hence the fearless attitude when meeting the strong reigning over the top of the food chain.
Flap. Flap.
Kyriaki spread her wings and swiftly glided at a low altitude. It was neither too fast nor too slow, as if taking a leisure walk out in a private garden. Within a dozen seconds, her blurry shadow on the ground drew closer and closer to the Floak of ghosts hovering around a meter or two above ground.
No spell.
No skill.
No sword art.
Just…
Pure strength.
Rip. Creek. Riiiip.
Her pure mana coated claws dug into ghosts and ripped them apart as if ripping worn out fabric.
[You've slayed a Forest Ghost B-]
[Core energy +1.5]
[You've slayed a Maniac Ghost C]
[Core energy +0.5]
[You've slayed an Envy Ghost B]
[Core energy +2]
"Kyaaaa!!!"
A loud scream barely registered into her sense of hearing.
[Ding!]
[You've been attacked by
[Envy Ghost's Scream
Rank: B-
Category: Mental
Type: Active Skill
Description: A mental type skill dealing heavy mental damage to mentally weak or those of lower rank than the Ghost.]
[
Kyriaki looked at the place where the attack was launched from. A tall ghost with a female form twisted its lips and smiled wickedly. Kyriaki nonchalantly blinked her dragon eyes.
With a thud, the golden hatchling spread her wings and landed steadily with an elegant and relaxed posture.
Fallen leaves and dust scattered around as her dragon wings made one last flap before unfolding. Upon noticing its attack was futile, the face of the ghost distorted unpleasantly.
Nevertheless, The golden hatchling walked with elegant and composed steps, approaching the wicked ghost one step at a time.
Even if she looked small compared to Euclid, she also looked heavy; both her physical body and spirit. But somehow, her footsteps were so light that if one observed that scene, they would have sworn a cat had taken over a dragon body.
A set of footsteps so silent that it sent chills down one's spine as if exposed to Arctic glacier.
The ghost froze. As if it was locked on to the spot it hovered by some invisible force.
Without any shift in her mood, Kyriaki shifted slightly and her dragon tail, coated in pure mana just like her claws, swept forth like an iron whip. It instantly cutted the ghost in two as if cutting tofu with a sword.
[You've slayed an Envy Ghost B-]
[Core energy +1.5]
Without any delay in observing her notification windows, Kyriaki swiftly lowered herself until her belly touched the ground as if sensing something from behind.
Sure enough, two ghosts attacked her defenseless back.
Unfortunately for ghosts, the one they were dealing with was a dragon.
The hatchling's body radiated a glow similar to a small sphere of light, momentarily confusing and weakening the attackers.
The next second, a dragon's tail swept at them in a flash.
[You've slayed a Forest Ghost C-]
[Core energy +0.3]
[You've slayed a forgotten Ghost D+]
[Core energy +0.2]
"Grrrr."
After half a second, she pounced on another ghost, baring her teeth with a low growl.
Riiiiiiip.
Just like always, the ghost was ripped apart by her sharp dragon teeth.
If she wanted, she could have sat back and launched a few magical attacks by Marina's side. After all, she had holy power. Something that boosted her magic spells, something that could replace mana if wanted.
But she refrained from doing so. Kyriaki judged that revealing she has holy power might cause disturbance. After all, there was no god left in this world. Some—especially dragons—might find it strange if she had something that couldn't exist.
Euclid seemed to follow the same thoughts as her. As he never revealed his holy power even in a situation like this.
—East cleared— She declared calmly.
"North cleared." Marina immediately added.
—West is also cleared— Euclid flapped his swan-like wings, gliding closer to Kyriaki with eyes asking to be praised.
Ignoring his abnormal condition, Kyriaki moved towards Marina, who was looking back towards densely packed trees and bushes.
Rustle.
Soon, bushes rustled and beyond the shadows, a pair of red eyes glowed. Kyriaki paused for a moment, staring back at the red eyes that resembled the crimson moon.
Rustle. Rustle.
"Grrr."
A low growl, different from a dragon, brought forth the presence with red eyes out of the shadows.
—Good job— Kyriaki politely nodded to it.
"Grrr. Hrrr."
—I see. That's a relief, Mrs.Romanov—
To the report where the white furred and red eyed wolf who was the Wolf Queen said; 'no casualties occurred and everyone is safe', Kyriaki looked past the wolf's shoulder.
With her exceptional dragon vision and detection skill, she could see the survivors moving towards them under the guardianship of the Wolf King, Titan Prince Erik, Levana and Oscar the deer beastkin.
"Hrrrllll"
—Yes. I think so too—
"Whimper…"
—Ah, is that so?—
"Whimper. Whimper."
—I'll think about it—
How could she reply to a beast growls? One might ask.
There was a common belief among people that the beastkin cannot communicate once they transform into their true form. But that was just a presumption of ignorant individuals.
It was merely that the transformed person's vocal cords change with their transformation. They could still communicate as long as the beastkin has mind attribute telepathy skills or the other party could understand their vocals and patterns.
A language of sorts, if it has to be named somehow.
And Dragons, the wise and noble creatures they are, could easily understand and communicate with any kind of language used by any form of life. As long as they observe, they could learn, crack the code to those seemingly unseen patterns and understand the essence in depth relatively easily. Their passive skill
—I agree too. A break would be appreciated in this kind of situation for future activities to be carried smoothly—
Just as Euclid chimed in to Mrs.Romanov's whimpers of 'We need to rest' Marina also timidly walked towards them.
"Ummm-uh…" Three pairs of predatory eyes landed on the fragile human woman.
Marina froze as if hit by an ice spell. Ruby red wolf eyes of an SSS+ wolf beastkin, yellow diamond eyes and ocean blue eyes of two little dragons; the weight and pressure of a mere gaze from them was enough to send a shiver down to her bones.
—Speak—
Noticing her discomfort, Kyriaki immediately withdrew her dragon aura. Euclid, quick-witted as ever, followed her without a sound. Mrs.Romanov sat on the ground and tilted her head, closely following the two hatchlings. Urged by the consideration of the three people, Marina gripped her bow even tighter.
"Uh-L-Lady Dragon?"
—Sigh…—
But it seems what she squeezed out after gathering so much courage was wrong from the start. As soon as she spoke, Kyriaki sighed loudly.
"Did-did I do something wrong?" Marina, sensing her disappointment, looked around with more timid eyes, speaking with a voice so small they could barely hear it.
—Miss Marina…Sigh...— Euclid shook his head as if to say 'what a shame, I thought you were smart'.
Just as Marina was about to shrink back in self-loathing, Kyriaki took a few elegant steps forward.
Slowly.
Carefully.
—What would it feel like if a dragon called you 'Lady Human'? It would sound ridiculous, isn't that right? So let's stop with those funny nicknames when we know our true names inside out—
As if stating an absolute truth like 'the sun rises from east', Kyriaki's simple logical argument was set before Marina.
Understanding her words, Marina immediately nodded her head vigorously.
—Now, speak. What's the matter?—
"About our resting time…c-can we extend it a little bit?"
All is good. However, meeting a dragon's eyes head on was only for higher rankers and courageous fellows, not for humans with nothing to boast about.
Marina skillfully avoided eye contact and answered a little more comfortably.
It had been a week since they had entered the Land of Ghosts. The seventh week since they met with Kyriaki.
To speak of resting time; they took an hour each for breakfast and lunch. Dinner and sleeping time was about five hours.
To beastkin and dragons, it might feel like a waste of time. But to humans, battered by the gloomy Void Plane and limited biological aspects of a human body, it was nothing but daunting.
Kyriaki inwardly praised Marina, who seemed to have squeezed out all of her energy to speak out and share her opinion with two dragons and a one wolf beastkin.
Feeling her favourability towards Marina rising like a sun rise, Kyriaki was about to analyze pros and cons of the given suggestion when a distracting bell sound rang inside her mind.
[Ding!]
[Server fatigue detected]
[Host is advised to take a rest]
'What?! Me, a dragon, is consumed by fatigue?'
Kyriaki could help but be puzzled.
[Due to the effect of the void plane and continuous activities as a hatchling, Host's mental and physical fatigue had risen to a server degree]
With that, Kyriaki understood.
It was not that dragons were omnipotent. They too felt fatigue, it was just that the chances were low. When that happened, dragons were supposed to turn back to their original form to rest. Which lasted days to years depending on the mood of the dragon.
And being a hatchling, who did not take a moment of proper rest even before leaving the Selene Palace, Kyriaki found herself in a situation she felt a bit flustered.
It was something that happened due to her inexperience. If she had known, she would have taken time to rest, even if it was for an hour or two.
'If I'm like this, I suppose Euclid is in the same boat as me.'
Both seemed to have survived until now thanks to their holy power strengthening Mana in their bodies. Moreover, taking 'fake rest' with the Poseidon's Sea Cloak that could barely be counted as a fatigue reliever to a dragon had played a big part in keeping their fatigue in check. However, Euclid, being inferior in both Core rank and Holy power must have felt fatigue a long time ago.
Him expressing his desire to rest now meant he had chosen a time when Kyriaki also seemed to be in the same situation as him.
And that situation allowed them to take an effective rest time period.
Once again, Kyriaki thought that Euclid's terrifyingly rational and cold judgement was similar to hers.
—7 hours. No more, no less—
Marina's face brightened. Mrs.Romanov wagged her tail softly and Euclid nodded with approval.
∆ ∆ ∆
Six hours later, still in the dead of night, Kyriaki woke up from her short nap.
She pushed aside Euclid, who was curling up right next to her. 'Next to her' wasn't the right sentence as he was almost hugging her in sleep like a cat seeking warmth.
However, a dragon seeking warmth was just nonsense.
Kyriaki looked around with clear golden eyes, only to lock eyes with Mr.Romanov.
He bowed his wolf head politely and went back to guarding.
Today, Erik, Oscar and Mr.Romanov seemed to have taken the job of guarding.
Her gaze swapped over the silent camp. Since the whole area was cleaned, they could light up a fire without any fear. The risk of being discovered by a ghost was very low.
However, due to taking the form of a dragon, Kyriaki and Euclid had to rest a considerable distance away so as not to startle the humans. They were too timid to even glance at them from the moment they learn of their true identity.
Frankly, Kyriaki didn't care.
She glanced at her comrades with the same distance and indifferent heart.
Levana and Marina, the two of them seemed to have taken Mrs.Romanov as a pillow, as it looked like wolf cubs curling up in their mother's warmth while they slept. Mrs.Romanov seemed to think the same. She had affectionately wrapped them with her fluffy tail, like a blanket.
The scene looked peaceful.
Crackle. Crackle.
The ambers in the bonfire crackled in a rhythm.
Only very few people were awake. Among them, some were still gazing at the grey void sky without stars or moon despite it being night with a blank expression. While some were sitting by the bonfire with warm milk or leftover soup in their hands.
Thanks to Kyriaki, there was no end to food supplies and daily necessities.
Nodding her head proudly, Kyriaki's gaze soon landed on one particular person.
From a far, she could see Warkan, the High priest kneeling down and praying. It was too far for a human to even notice him. But Kyriaki was not human.
She silently watched him. Her eyes were terrifyingly cynical.
—Ria, have you noticed too?— Euclid's voice, lowered to a soft whisper, rang inside her mind.
—I have— Kyriaki nodded and casually swapped her gaze across the survivors once more.
Hearing her affirmation, Euclid giggled softly.
—What are you going to do?— He extended his slender neck and rubbed his face against her neck.
Kyriaki completely ignored his childish whims.
—Nothing—
—Really?—
—Yes—
—Why?—
—Because it's the same for them—
—I see—
Euclid softly bit her neck. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to make her feel ticklish. It was an action without any malice, almost as if he was showing his affection.
—Stop it— Kyriaki pushed his head with her wing.
That sort of affectionate gestures were allowed among family only. Knowing that full well, Kyriaki failed to understand why Euclid would do such a thing. It wasn't like Euclid was courting her. Hence, Kyriaki pushed away the troublesome hatchling she sometimes couldn't read and got up.
—It won't take any more time—
Whether or not there was a hidden meaning to her words, only she would know.
Kyriaki glanced at the massive tower soaring high into the sky.
Inside this tower, countless people must be currently fighting, unaware of the outside world. Ranking up their core, acquiring new skills and knowledge, collecting rewards of their blood, sweat and tears, they must be ascending to higher floors inside the tower even now.
The tower was a place Mitherr-ge created to minimize the interference of monsters. By altering the spacetime, the will of Mitherr-ge sometimes directs the opening of gates into the tower. As a result, the tower had been a place soaked with blood for millions of years.
Never collapsing.
Never fading away.
Full of danger that had been trapped there for who-knows-how many years.
Kyriaki blinked her vertical eyes. The tall tower was reflecting on her Yellow diamond hue eyes. There was a strange feeling she felt for a while now as she continued to gaze at the tower.
She thought it was close.
So close that it gave the illusion that she could touch it if she walked a few steps ahead.
Like the idea of returning home.
∆ ∆ ∆