Chapter 169

Just before demonic energy engulfed the world, for a fleeting moment, Shinsurial believed.

'Maira would never accept such a wish.'

Adel's wish would plunge this world into chaos. Maira was not one who would be unaware of this fact.

Perhaps it might even be for the best. Because of this incident, Maira would now know Adel's true nature. That that omega was not worthy of a dragon's love. Soon the wedding would be canceled, and everything would return to its original state.

However, Shinsurial's belief wavered the moment he turned his head and looked at Maira. Maira's face, which he had expected to be tinged with disappointment and contempt, was unexpectedly serene.

Eventually, the dragon lowered his head and kissed the bride's lips.

"Adel, I will fulfill your wish."

Even as calamity engulfed the world, Maira was smiling shyly while looking at his bride. Without any concern for the chaos that would befall the world, his face was filled with boundless joy at being able to fulfill what his bride desired.

The moment he saw that, Shinsurial's heart felt as if it was being torn apart by betrayal and despair.

Shinsurial did not revere the gods of the divine realm like other spirits. From the moment he first saw him until now, the only being he revered was the dragon. The dragon was an idol that should never be destroyed or defiled. Like the statues guarding the temple, he should always remain unchanged, beautiful, and noble.

But in fact, because the dragon was not a perfect being, he sometimes made wrong judgments like now.

Shinsurial deeply regretted.

'If only I had quickly eliminated Adel instead of trying to persuade Maira. If only I had replaced Adel's vacancy with someone worthy of being the dragon's mate...'

But regret always came too late. As the price for his belated realization, Shinsurial had to witness the fall of his idol.

The bride's first wish, made without any constraints, created demonic energy in this world, just as the gods had created the heavens and earth, the sun and moon, forests and rivers.

The earthly realm fell into unprecedented chaos due to demonic energy and magical beasts.

"O gods!"

"Where is the dragon, where is Lord Maira?"

Because Adel avoided spirits, only Adel, Maira, and Shinsurial participated in the wedding ceremony. Therefore, the spirits did not know how demonic energy had come into being, and when danger struck, they naturally sought the dragon as always. The dragon had been indifferent, but he had never refused when asked for help.

But this time was different. No matter how desperately the spirits called his name, the dragon remained shut in his palace and did not come out. As if showing the dragon's will, the surroundings of the dragon palace were covered with thorny bushes, making it impossible for anyone to enter or exit.

It was just a few months. During that time, countless lives perished. The great spirits, including Shinsurial, struggled to protect the spirits in place of the dragon, but it wasn't easy. Created from the origin of the annihilation of living beings, magical beasts were entities difficult for living beings to confront.

"Lord Shinsurial, be careful!"

"Ugh!"

Due to endless battles, the great spirits disappeared one by one, and Shinsurial too was severely injured during a battle with a magical beast. The injury was one thing, but the problem was the contamination caused by demonic energy. The healing power possessed by the scaled tribe could slow down the rate of contamination by demonic energy but couldn't completely eliminate it.

Shinsurial realized that he would soon die. It wasn't a surprising fact. All the other great spirits had died suffering the same pain, and now that he was the only one left, he had expected that he would be next.

He didn't think about trying to survive somehow. He only had a face he wanted to see one last time before dying.

Deep in the night, Shinsurial secretly slipped out of his sickbed and headed for the dragon palace.

The dragon palace was covered with sharp thorny bushes as if refusing entry to anyone, but Shinsurial willingly stepped inside. With each step he took, sharp thorns dug into his skin, but his desire to see Maira was greater than the pain.

But contrary to Shinsurial's will, perhaps because he had lost too much blood, his consciousness gradually blurred. It was useless to try to hold on, thinking it wasn't time yet. Eventually, Shinsurial lost consciousness and collapsed.

"...Mmm."

When he regained consciousness, he was lying on the cold floor of the palace. The wounds caused by the thorny bushes had disappeared, but his skin, rotting from contamination by demonic energy, remained the same.

But how strange. Somehow, he seemed to know how to handle this. At first, he was clumsy, but after several attempts, the demonic energy inside his body escaped like fog and scattered into the air.

"What is this..."

There was only one being who could perform such a miracle.

"Maira!"

When he raised his head, the dragon he had longed for so much was before his eyes.

But something was strange.

"Maira, why is your appearance..."

Maira's eyes, which had shone as brilliantly as the sun, were now dyed as dark as night. Just like Adel's. Shinsurial felt an inexplicable ominousness.

"Shinsurial, I have a favor to ask of you."

A child peeked out from behind Maira. It was a spitting image of Maira, as if he had been made smaller.

"This is the child of Adel and me. The next dragon. I've implanted all the knowledge a dragon needs, so there shouldn't be any problems. I'd like you to take good care of this child until it becomes full-grown."

"A new dragon? Wait, what you said about implanting... Was it also you who put the information about demonic energy in my head?"

"Because you'll need it. You might not be able to handle a large amount, but that should be enough to save your life without difficulty. Consider it a reward for my request."

Shinsurial thought Maira was speaking as if he was about to leave for somewhere, and that thought was correct.

"Now I must leave. The earthly realm cannot endure more than one dragon for long."

"Leave? Where are you going?"

"A dragon that has found its final scale and become complete can go to the divine realm and become a god. But since the divine realm won't accept Adel, I'm planning to go elsewhere."

"What... That's absurd. You're giving up becoming a god just for Adel!"

As Shinsurial was expressing his anger, he suddenly felt a sense of dissonance. Until now, Maira had always taken Adel with him wherever he went. But now, not even a strand of Adel's hair was visible. Shinsurial's anxious gaze turned to Maira's two eyes, identical to Adel's.

"...Maira, where is Adel?"

Maira smiled.

"Adel will be with me forever."

Adel was mentally unstable due to the trauma of his long life as a slave. He deeply hated not only those who had tormented him but also all those who had enjoyed peace while he suffered. But when he saw innocent people dying because of his wish, he couldn't erase his guilt. So Adel fled forever to a place where nothing would torment him.

Maira, who was left behind, had two choices: to bury his dead mate and depart for the divine realm, or to devour his mate and be together forever in body and soul.

Maira's choice was predetermined. What Maira desired was not to become a god, but to be with Adel.

Since the gate to the divine realm would not open for a corrupted dragon, Maira decided to create a crack in the gap between the earthly realm and another world and seal himself inside. He would fall asleep, dreaming of being together with Adel forever.

Having realized all the truth, Shinsurial became terribly devastated.

'Why did it turn out like this?'

Now, no matter what he did, he could not return to the way things were before. He realized that he had lost his idol forever. A pain greater than being pierced by thorny bushes or having his flesh rot due to demonic energy came upon him.

It was then that the young dragon entered Shinsurial's eyes.

"......"

The young dragon was staring blankly at Shinsurial. It was an indifferent face, like Maira's when he first saw him.

"Ah..."

Approaching the young dragon on his knees, Shinsurial stared blankly at him without even thinking to wipe away the tears flowing down his cheeks.

A beautiful, noble, and still imperfect being.

"From now on, I will protect you."

When Shinsurial spoke in a trembling voice, the young dragon tilted his head.

"Protect me from what? There's nothing in this world that can harm me."

The young dragon's words were correct. Neither fire, nor poison, nor blades could dare to hurt a dragon. But...

"That's right. So I only need to protect you from one thing."

Shinsurial now knew the only thing that could destroy this noble being.

So he would never make the same mistake again.

* * *

Shinsurial muttered as he stroked Maira's body.

"Afterward, I created the bride selection to screen the dragon's mate. So that only those who possessed not only external beauty but also wisdom and a kind heart could become the dragon's mate. The result was successful."

But had he been too complacent? Basar, Asad's father, had failed. That incident had driven Shinsurial to resort to extreme measures.

"If that omega had quietly handed over the egg, I wouldn't have taken her life. I still can't understand. That woman clearly hated Lord Asad, but even as she was dying, she wouldn't tell me where she had hidden the egg."

"......"

"Because of that foolish omega, Lord Asad had to suffer hardships in the human realm without knowing who he was. And as expected, he was about to make the wrong choice. To think he would choose a human as his mate."

At that moment, Maira's body, which had been motionless, produced a slight vibration.

Asad had destroyed Maira's magic.

That meant Asad had seen all of Maira's memories.

Shinsurial turned to look at Asad with a brightly smiling face.

"Do you understand now? That all of this was for you!"

Asad answered.

"No."

Simultaneously, Shinsurial's vision turned black.

Asad didn't even give a glance to him as he collapsed, losing consciousness.

The dragon, finally awakened from its long sleep, looked down at Asad.