Chapter 31 : Heavenly Fire Part 1

‘How much time had passed since I gave up trusting my senses, dyed in white?’

Feeling the cold soaking her body, Siegfried’s vice-captain, Long Weilan, opened her eyes.

Splash, splash.

The floor was already covered in puddles of water.

Weilan climbed onto some scattered debris and looked up at the sky.

She had clearly seen the clouds parting like the Red Sea with her own eyes.

Yet now, as if that had never happened, the sky was filled with dark storm clouds pouring down torrential rain.

Shivering from the cold, Weilan pulled her coat tightly around her.

It was waterproof by default, but no matter how much she fastened it, the wind still found its way through.

A gale strong enough to whip her drenched hair into the air.

Weilan watched as lightning struck the rooftop of the research lab with a brilliant flash.

“A typhoon?”

Rumble—

One by one, her squad members began regaining consciousness at the sound of thunder.

Weilan carefully counted the people nearby.

Given the magnitude of the explosion, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they had all been swept away, yet only one person was missing.

The head of Research Lab E.

“…Hah.”

A hollow laugh escaped Weilan’s lips.

Even with the aid of an arm enhanced by over-technology, she had barely been able to move.

Yet she had disappeared without a trace.

“What the hell happened here?”

“The anti-entropy levels… why aren’t they showing up?”

Weilan silently listened to their conversation.

Nowhere in their discussion was there any mention of the words left behind by the head of Research Lab E.

It was only natural.

An explosion like that had just occurred—there was no way anyone would still remember a mere passing remark.

Explosion.

Weilan thought back to the past.

To her beta-class days, to what had happened at Annex Base 017-1.

The annihilation mode of IF-017-1—Ascension.

The form IF-017 had taken upon appearing.

Even so, IF-017 had been completely different from the others.

It wouldn’t have known that Weilan’s arm held a Level 3 ‘Gram’ ready to fire at any moment.

Yet it had shown no hostility at all.

“So you’re saying you’re different from those who couldn’t even become dragons…?”

Weilan ran her only functioning hand through her soaked hair.

The sensation of IF-017’s hand attempting to caress this very spot was difficult to recall.

Perhaps it was because it had touched her so often.

Instead, what lingered in her fingertips was the elasticity of IF-098 ‘Tsuchinoko’.

Under the torrential rain, with everything around her reduced to rubble except for a single containment chamber floating in midair, Weilan quietly muttered.

“…IF-017, ‘Dragon.'”

“What the hell are you thinking?”

It had been a long time.

I walked slowly through the rain.

Since long ago, rain always followed after I spewed Heavenly Fire.

Back then, memories from my human days had tried to explain it with things like updrafts and convection currents.

But that knowledge was useless.

Not a single prayer of gratitude could be felt from humans thanking the rain.

Ungrateful wretches…

Even under the cold rain, my Heavenly Fire didn’t cool in the slightest.

It dried my body completely, leaving me dry even as the downpour continued.

***

Splash.

Sizzle.

Every puddle I stepped on evaporated instantly.

It felt as if the water itself was mocking me—denying me even the chance to dip my foot into a lake.

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

So—

“Gyawk.”

“If you’re not going to say anything, move aside now.”

“If you have something to say, say it quickly and step aside.”

I’m about to explode.

The human in the gray coat blocking my path was irritating me.

I had seen her on my first day waking up in this place.

A woman who felt strangely suspicious.

Normally, seeing someone up close would make it clear why they seemed suspicious, but…

Right now, my vision was spinning too much to tell.

“I… I don’t look weird anywhere, right? Yeah, yeah. Is this… really okay?”

The mumbling human lowered herself and pulled out a cylindrical object in front of me.

The moment the lid opened, a toxic stench filled the air.

‘Ah…’

‘Another offering.’

That wretched trio—mercury, arsenic, lead.

‘Why were humans so obsessed with these things?’

This one seemed even deadlier than those.

‘Even when I was in bad shape, they were offering me this?’

‘What the hell is that?’

I sighed deeply.

‘Wait—no.’

‘If I sighed now, flames would come out instead.’

I couldn’t let that happen, so I decided to ignore it and move on.

“This? Uh, uh… Ugh, I’m bad at lying. So, um, it’s a Level 3 ‘Gram’…”

I stopped in my tracks for a moment.

‘Was she actually answering my question?’

‘She could understand my will?’

I hadn’t expected a response.

And the answer was beyond my imagination.

“It’s… like soda? That clears your chest?”

Her face looked hilariously awkward as she said that…

Whatever.

I could barely focus on her face anyway.

What mattered was what she had said.

‘Would drinking this really clear my chest?’

Nine out of ten human explanations of their offerings were outright lies.

But well.

It wouldn’t hurt to try.

If it was bad for me, it simply wouldn’t work.

I stepped closer and opened my mouth.

Hurry up and pour it in.

Fast.

Quickly.

“Huh? Oh, uh. Okay. Okay…”

With a look of determination, the suspicious human placed the cylinder to my lips and let its contents flow in.

Gulp, gulp.

Hmm.

…This is—

Way too toxic—

—Boom.

It even exploded in my mouth!

My god.

‘Can the words “offering” and “exploded” even be used in the same sentence…?’

I think the explosion even reached under my jaw, where Kwangcheol had touched before.

My whole face is numb.

‘This… this doesn’t seem right.’

‘They’re calling this an offering?’

‘Isn’t this just an assassination attempt by heretics?’

When I glared at them, the suspicious human averted their gaze and muttered under their breath.

“Did I… Do it right…?”

‘What the hell is with this one?’

‘Who are they talking to while I’m right in front of them?’

I followed their gaze and turned my head.

Ah…

Oh.

They were talking about that.

What a pointless concern.

“Ah—wait, don’t look over there yet…! Okay, just rest up now and wait. It won’t take long!”

The suspicious human hurried away, as if they hadn’t expected me to actually look.

‘Who the hell are they?’

“Gyaoo…”

Whatever.

Instead of worrying about trivial things, I should focus on calming my completely upturned insides.

Even though that offering was insanely toxic, I did feel a little bit better after consuming it.

Just a little, though.

Nothing like my chest bursting open in relief—more like taking a single cup of water out of a lake.

I clutched at my suffocating chest.

The nausea was so overwhelming that I couldn’t focus on anything else.

I was exhausted.

Even as I collapsed onto my back, too tired to take another step, I had to suppress the urge to vomit.

My vision narrowed.

A ringing sound filled my ears.

I was too exhausted to even turn my head to look for Fat Snake, so I had no choice but to send out a will instead.

“Fat Snake, where are you?”

“I’m really struggling.”

“Can you come to me?”

Fortunately, my will reached a place not too far away.

‘Ancestor. Tired? Rest.’

I could feel Fat Snake getting closer.

For humans, it would be considered “soon,” but in my current state, even that short wait felt like an eternity.

Finally, Fat Snake reached a distance where they could see me.

‘Ancestor?’

‘Ancestor?!’

‘ANCESTOR!!’

***

Beep-beep-beep—

Each time Fat Snake frantically hopped toward me, a high-pitched beeping sound rang out.

If not for the ringing in my ears, it might’ve actually been funny to listen to.

A shame, really.

When Fat Snake reached my face, they started licking my cheek.

Hehe, that tickles…

“What are you doing?”

‘Ancestor…! Death? No! No! Fire snake. Bad!’

‘Huh.’

‘What nonsense is this now…’

Okay, if we’re being dramatic, sure, I feel like I could die from how uncomfortable my whole body is.

But it’s just nausea, not something fatal.

And it’s not even because of Kwangcheol.

I wanted to reassure Fat Snake since they looked like they were about to cry, but I absolutely did not want to lift my arm.

Fat Snake.

“Instead of just sitting there, could you support my head?”

“Even a single second is unbearable right now.”

‘…Yes!’

‘Ancestor.’

‘No dying!’

Determined, Fat Snake crawled under my head.

“I told you, I’m not dying…”

A soft squishy sounded, and suddenly, my head was resting on something fluffy.

Thump, thump.

Whew.

That’s a little better.

I closed my eyes.

I’ wanted to release my divine mode, but if I relaxed now, it felt like everything would overflow.’

‘But you know…’

Beep-beep.

I could hear shallow breathing from right beside my head—where Fat Snake was.

‘I endure.’

‘Ancestor.

‘Hard.’

‘That’s weird.’

With my Heavenly Fire, there’s no reason for them to be struggling like this.

Even though Fat Snake was trying to endure the heat for my sake, I sensed something was off.

‘Why were they overheating?’

Come to think of it, I do feel warmth outside my body.

Ever since I lay down, I haven’t spewed anything from my mouth…

I focused on my hearing.

Despite my severe tinnitus, my Heavenly Fire had a presence strong enough that I could still sense it.

It wasn’t leaking from my mouth…

‘Wait.’

It’s leaking from my jaw.

‘Ah.’

‘No wonder my lower jaw had been tingling earlier.’

I wasn’t sure if it was just a small burn or something worse, but heat was definitely escaping from beneath my throat.

‘What now?’

‘Is it leaking a lot?’

I sent out a will to ask.

‘Endurance.’

‘Possible.’

‘Rest!’

‘Ancestor!’

‘Rest!’

‘Stability!’

They said it was fine.

Well, that makes sense.

Even though my senses were dulled from exhaustion, I was still in divine mode, not just lounging around in sleepwear.

‘If it were really leaking a lot, I’d have noticed immediately.’

‘If it’s just a little…’

I’ll leave it alone until it heals on its own.

It’s really just a tiny bit anyway.

I’m going to sleep.

For a moment, I thought I heard the sound of something melting, piercing through the sound of the downpour.

For a moment, I thought I heard human screams begging for their lives as they fled the flames.

But soon enough, the ringing in my ears drowned it all out.

“Mmh, yeah, it’s me.

“E. I picked it up.”

“Are you sure the Dragon God is okay? The whole area is melting!”

“Yeah, I’m fine. But this is your research lab… If this keeps up, everything except for those two snakes is going to burn.”

“It’s fine? This is fine? This is a good outcome? Ugh, I don’t get it.”

“You… I think you’ve been found out. Huh? You did everything right, so now I should just pray? Yeah, yeah, got it.”

Floating alone in midair—

The containment chamber that had survived a dragon’s breath, but was now half-destroyed after being caught in a true dragon’s breath.

E clasped their hands together in prayer.

“Please, please realize it, newbie…!”