"Lady Belluna."
A low voice came from behind Belluna, who'd been all but dancing as she walked, her steps light and airy.
"Eek."
She flinched, turned her head, and saw Alice Blesbuck and Kath Ryle standing there.
Both of them were heavily armed, with combat golems lined up at their backs.
Belluna offered her greeting in a breezy voice.
"Oh my, Natalia's sixteenth daughter."
"I'm honored you remember me."
She was actually the twenty-fourth, but she didn't show a flicker of it.
Belluna's gaze flicked back and forth between her and the golems lined up around her, and she asked,
"Don't tell me you came here to fight me?"
"Of course not. We only… well, an alarm went off, so we hurried over just in case. I apologize if it offended you."
"Mmm… this one's on me, so let's just pretend it never happened."
At that, Alice seemed to let her guard down a little and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Then she turned to the golems and gave a cold order.
"Return to your posts."
The heavy thuds of the golems' retreating footsteps rang all the way down the corridor.
In the meantime, figuring she might as well take a look around since she'd been caught anyway, Belluna let her eyes sweep over the place.
"By the way, this is a pretty nice place. A professor's salary can't pay for all this… did you embezzle something?"
"It's nothing like that. Everything was earned legitimately—"
"I wasn't asking you. Homunculus."
Belluna's voice turned ice-cold, as if the childlike manner she'd shown only moments ago had been some kind of joke.
"This is under her roof, and besides, I'm an uninvited guest. As such, I have a duty to defer to her authority and respect her wishes. That is the obligation of a guest. But I don't believe that authority as master of the house extends to you."
She spared Kath Ryle a single sidelong glance.
"Know your place, homunculus born from Milited's essence. Make no mistake — the reason I'm not killing you on the spot has nothing to do with whim or sympathy."
"…Forgive my rudeness."
Kath Ryle bowed his head with his eyes closed, as if none of it really mattered to him.
He'd been through so much contempt and disgust in his life that this didn't faze him in the slightest.
Alice watched him take a step back, her gaze conflicted, then turned to face Belluna.
"If it's not rude of me, might I ask what brings you here?"
"Mm, well. You've pretty much figured it out already, and there's no point hiding it now…"
Belluna tilted her head as she murmured.
"What would be the point. I came to see your mother. And I had a mind to give that idiot old colleague of mine a little grief."
"…That's all?"
"Of course. Spirits don't tell lies."
Belluna's eyes glinted ever so slightly.
"Technically we can, mind you. Just not right now."
"Then I'll take your word for it, Lady Belluna."
"Hmm…"
Belluna pursed her lips, as if her docile attitude was somehow not to her liking.
"Can I ask you something?"
"As much as you'd like."
"What are you planning to do with your mother?"
"I plan to take everything from her. Her alchemy, her mana, her body, her name, her very existence — all of it."
Belluna's eyes widened slightly at the calm answer, as if a little surprised.
She'd had her suspicions, and it turned out she'd been right on the money.
"Looks like I won't be seeing that face of hers ever again, then."
"I suppose not."
"Mind if I come by later to have a look?"
Alice nodded, as if to say it was fine by her.
At the affirmative response, Belluna broke into giggles.
Looking forward to seeing what Natalia would look like by the time she came back struck her as its own pleasant kind of waiting, and she smiled brightly at Alice.
"Thanks. I'll come in through the front door, then. Oh… and I'll bring some treats to share!"
"Yes. I'll be looking forward to it."
When Alice gave her a soft smile in reply, Belluna giggled along.
Then, still smiling, she cocked her head to one side and said,
"You know about Milited's seal. That's why you're doing this."
"……"
Alice's mouth closed tight.
When she reflexively shifted her body in front of Kath Ryle to shield him, Belluna waved a hand to put her at ease.
"Relax. I'm thinking the same thing you are."
Still wearing her smile, she offered Alice a piece of advice.
"You, the homunculus, and Natalia… that's three of you eliminated, so Landschi must be on edge by now. And since he didn't even get his hands on the crystal, he's going to be ready to lash out."
"…I imagine so."
"Mm, just in case, pass the word to the skilled people around you to stay on guard."
"As far as your concern goes, I've already given them a heads-up."
"Oh my, aren't you clever."
Evangelline Loengreen.
And Jin Ye-jeong.
Of all the alchemists Alice Blesbuck knew, those two were about the only ones who came close to meeting the conditions.
And as she'd just said, she'd already given both of them a warning along with the heads-up.
"Then there's no need to say anything more."
With that, Belluna turned to leave.
Watching her retreating back, Alice carefully spoke up.
"Forgive me, but may I ask one more thing?"
"Mm?"
When Belluna glanced over her shoulder, Alice Blesbuck slightly lowered her gaze.
"What are you planning to do now?"
"Hmm, let's see. I was going to wander around for a while."
She trailed off there, then nodded as something came back to her.
"But before that, I figured I'd do my son a favor."
Her son, Ivan Hunt, had asked her — quite specifically — to get in touch with Yu Ji-hyeok.
Deciding it would be simpler to go see him in person, she started humming a little tune under her breath.
"And there's someone I've got a score to settle with, too."
Belluna ran her fingers over the hwatu cards tucked into her pocket, then melted away — as if everything had been a mirage, an illusion from the start.
Alice Blesbuck let out a long, soft sigh and rested her hand on Kath Ryle's shoulder, as if to console him.
Kath Ryle simply gazed in silence at the spot where she had vanished.
At some point, my hazy mind snapped wide awake.
"……"
There was no blank spot in my memory, no sense of fog or confusion.
I remembered everything that had happened.
I felt like I'd heard somewhere that, unlike humans, dragons stayed aware even in deep sleep — and it seemed that was actually true.
Once I started pulling up the memories, the whole thing streamed through my head like a movie on fast-forward.
I glanced around for a moment, and only after I'd confirmed there was no one nearby did I lower my head and cover my face with my hands.
"Aaagh, this is so embarrassing. Shit…"
My face burned like I'd been scalded.
Clinging to Minerva like a child.
Trailing after Han Su-yeong like some puppy, doing whatever she said.
And then, at the very end, everyone washing me down.
Every last bit of it.
It all came rushing back.
I just wanted to bury my head in the ground and die right where I was sitting.
"Aaargh, I can't even…"
After agonizing over it by myself for a long while, I finally settled down enough to lift my head and take a proper look around.
The dim light suggested it was either nighttime or just before dawn.
Out of nowhere, the dense scent of a forest hit me.
[! A wealth of natural energy fills the air.]
[! The World Tree's Branch's ability is temporarily enhanced.]
[! All stats are temporarily and slightly increased.]
The moment I registered the scent of the forest, the mechanical chime sounded a beat later and the notification windows popped up.
I immediately pulled up my status window.
[Skills]
Dragon Blood (???)
The heart of Minerva — the most powerful of all beings, a dragon among dragons in a class of her own, and one of the Seven Calamities — has settled deep within your chest.
From now on, your heart will pump not human blood but a dragon's, and it will course through your veins to every corner of your body.
Absolute resistance to all status ailments is granted.
'Minerva's Lethal Venom' is granted to your blood. You may control at will whether the venom dissolved in your blood is active, and you may also neutralize it.
By activating Dragon Blood, you can push your physical capabilities to an extreme level.
Your wound recovery speed is greatly increased.
'Skill' — 'Dragonification' becomes available.
'Skill' — 'Dragon's Breath' becomes available.
'Talent' — 'Dragon's Wrath' has been acquired.
Karma rises. (Nullified by characteristic.)
As the price for consuming the heart of Minerva — the most venomous among the Seven Calamities — you will suffer searing pain that reaches even your soul. (Nullified by Minerva's will.)
Due to the taboo of consuming a dragon's heart, every dragon will, from this moment, recognize you as a mortal enemy who must be killed without exception. (Nullified, as it was willingly given to you.)
"Whoa."
Before I knew it, my hand had come up to my mouth, almost rubbing across it, and I slowly worked through the secondary abilities that came along with this one — the way the King of Thorns had come bundled with its own.
The description of the authority Dragon Blood gave no clue as to why I'd been turned into a dragon in the first place.
I went straight on to the descriptions of the other abilities.
[Skill]
Dragonification (Unique, Limited)
You shall soon become a dragon.
You can transform into the form of a dragon.
When transforming, you take the form of the dragon you share the deepest connection with, and your stats are determined by the depth of that bond.
Depending on the skill's proficiency, partial transformation of body parts is also possible.
Dragon's Breath (Unique)
The essence of a dragon settles upon your breath.
It can be used without preparation or mana cost, and its power scales with the time spent gathering your breath.
You can fire your breath like a cannon shot, carrying the property of your mana.
Your mana's property is 'Lethal Venom.'
You can release a breath attack, with power that scales with mana and time. (While 'Dragonification' is active)
[Talent]
Dragon's Wrath (Unique)
Your emotions will take on an invisible aura, and especially intense anger will manifest as a pressure that cows your opponents.
You emit an aura that overwhelms opponents significantly weaker than you.
You can temporarily lower the stats of opponents at a level similar to yours.
When facing an opponent stronger than yourself, all your stats are temporarily raised by a small amount.
All your stats are temporarily increased. The magnitude of the rise is determined by the wounds you've sustained. (While 'Dragonification' is active)
"…That's insane."
Those were the only words I could come up with.
I went over them again and again, and then, on impulse, I huffed out a breath to one side, like I was spitting something out.
Hssssss.
Right after, an unsettling sound followed — like something melting.
When I took a closer look, there were sparkling, jewel-like things scattered all around me, and one of them was dissolving where my breath had hit it.
"This is—"
It was a scale.
A dragon's scale.
These were probably, as Minerva had said, what was left behind after I'd shed my skin when I'd turned into a dragon.
"Hmm."
Yeah, I really should avoid using this if at all possible.
Having reached that conclusion, I got up and picked up one of the scales lying scattered around.
It was sturdy and light, and — it feels a little awkward to say this myself — beautiful enough to look like a piece of fine craftsmanship.
Hadn't I heard somewhere that dragon scales were considered the very top-tier material for making weapons, armor, or accessories?
It struck me, out of nowhere, that Choi Hyun-woo had been going around without even a half-decent sword on account of me.
And then there was Han Su-yeong, who didn't have any proper armor or weapons to speak of.
Same went for Jin Ye-seul and Lee Yu-na, and in Lee Ye-eun's case — she hadn't let on at all, but I could imagine the amount she was going to have to cover in damages because of me had to be beyond imagining.
The thought that these could take care of all of that came to me on its own, and I started gathering up the scales scattered around me.
I was even using the World Tree's Branch to round them up when, all of a sudden, I felt like something was missing.
Henir's Shadow wouldn't move at my will.
"…Hey, Minerva?"
I tried calling out just in case, but no answer came back.
Don't tell me she'd stayed manifested out there and gone off wandering somewhere.
Just then, near my ear, I heard a clicking sound — like a beak snapping shut.
[Mm. Finally.]
It was Sbeungali.
He kept making those clicking sounds, as if he were elated.
[I can't tell you how stifling it was. The next time you take on that form, do me the favor of manifesting me separately, the way you did with Minerva.]
I responded to his demand,
"The hell are you spouting now? Like I'd ever trust you with that."
[What? How could you— going by that logic, what exactly was Minerva trusting in when she let me be?]
I let out a scoff at his outraged words.
"At least she isn't as creepy as you are. If you don't like it, you should've handed over your heart too."
[……]
He clammed up right then.
I'd almost added that, unlike Minerva, he was petty on top of it all, but I held it back.
By the time I'd gathered up close to a small hillock's worth of scales—
"Ah."
A rustling sound.
But before that, an eerie mana presence reached me first, and I snapped my head around in that direction.
"…You're awake."
Han Su-yeong stood there with a wide smile on her face.
A crystal about the size of a baseball floated beside her head.
The Han Su-yeong of another world.
The Han Su-yeong of a world where I had died.
The Han Su-yeong who had walked the path of a necromancer.
And the crystal — a collection of remnants of a Han Su-yeong who, like me, had killed a Seven Calamity.
It was giving off a soft, faint glow at Han Su-yeong's side.
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