Bab 203: The path of the Crimson God (3)
In the morning, we set out on our journey. Kageyuki personally volunteered to escort us, and I think she planned to use all her powers if she needed to save us.
"Sister, so you know where he is?" Asura spoke a little surprised. If they knew exactly where the monster was, they could set an ambush.
"Yes, we do, but it doesn't help us," the shinobi pointed to the smoking volcano. "After each attack, he always flew towards the sacred mountain and returned from there. We checked the temple, and all the priestesses were destroyed, but the path to the abyss is still intact. During the day, he never leaves the volcano; I'm afraid he's trying to awaken it to absorb all its power."
"If that happens, it will be impossible to defeat him!" Asura clenched her fists angrily.
"Mhmm, red dragons can absorb fire, increasing their strength, right?" I decided to clarify my concerns with Asura.
"And not just that," Yuki answered for her. "This monster can use fire for regeneration, making all our attacks useless. He simply absorbs the flames that engulfed our village and heals all his wounds. Not to mention that his tough skin hardly yields to any weapon."
"Well, we have something that can pierce any armor," I shook my blades and glanced at Asura's katana. "We just need to find the right spot."
"That's the problem," Yuki sadly lowered her eyes. "His size is horrifying; you'll see for yourself soon. We'll be there soon; there will be a place in the center of the crater. There used to be our temple sanctuary, but he destroyed it."
"It will be challenging to fight him in a confined space," I pondered possible tactics. "Especially if he decides to use his flames; unlike him, we will quickly become crispy snacks."
"Yes, the place is closed, but there's a big hole in the ceiling through which he enters. But I doubt you'd want to fight him in the air."
"Let's hope for a miracle," I grinned, but looking at my astonished companions, I realized they were only relying on me. "Well, I'll come up with something. By the way, how did the White Goddess and your ancestor defeat him?"
"They didn't defeat him," Asura sadly lowered her gaze. "They sealed him. He regenerated from all the wounds they inflicted on him, so the White Goddess used her power to harm him in any way possible. In the end, Shiva dealt a deep wound to his heart, but it wasn't enough to kill him. He fled into the volcano's abyss to heal, but Azura caught up with him there. She used all her life and soul to create a temporary trap. Stopping him in time, the White Goddess prevented him from reaching the source of power, and the warrior woman covered the entire volcano peak with ice, creating an icy sanctuary as a burial place for the White Goddess and a prison for the red demon."
"But just a few months ago, there was an earthquake," Yuki continued for her sister. "Perhaps it broke the foundation of the sanctuary, and he was able to reach the Earth's heat. And surprisingly, the first time he arrived not from the volcano but from the south. And the eruption never happened. I'm afraid he's now trying to awaken the volcano."
We walked up the road to the mountain and heard voices as we approached the summit.
"I'm telling you, I'll go alone!" "No, I won't let you go alone," two figures in red hooded cloaks argued fiercely behind the temple ruins. "You said it yourself, it's my duty, and I have to defeat him," the voice sounded very familiar to me.
We slowly crept closer to the figures; thankfully, they were too engrossed in their conversation to notice us.
"But you saw him; he'll swallow you whole and won't choke on it." "Tell that to the other leaders. Don't you find it strange that they offered me to deal with him?" "I don't know... You could have at least asked your friends for help," and now I started to recognize those voices, people who had left us not long ago.
"Mom, I can't risk their lives like that." "You're not going there just to die, are you?" "I'll do my best to survive."
Now I was sure who these figures were.
"Hey, Red Princess, what brings you to this place?" I grinned confidently at my guess. "You don't want to say you ended up here accidentally?"
"Seleria? Weren't you supposed to go home for personal matters?" Kati also recognized the princess and didn't expect to see her here, just like me.
"Guys? I certainly didn't expect to see you here, how did you end up here?" judging by her genuine surprise, the girl was telling the truth.
"We came here by chance to destroy a monster known in these parts as the Red Demon of Destruction," I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "And something tells me you're here for the same reason."
"If you think about it, our goals are almost the same, only I had to negotiate with him first," Seleria sighed sadly. "But considering his character, I'll probably have to fight him."
The girls removed their red mantles, revealing the barely noticeable red horns of Sheraza, the Red Dragons.
"These are red dragons," the girl quickly drew her sword. "Could he have already called for reinforcements?"
"Please, calm down," Asura tried to soothe her sister. "Seleria is our friend, and I don't think she's here to help that monster."
A loud roar shook the surface of the volcano, and flames erupted from its abyss. It seemed the mountain's master knew about our approach and wasn't in the best mood.
"I'm sorry, but the thing is, he's not an ordinary monster," Sheraza took the initiative to tell us what she knew. "The one you call the Red Demon of Destruction is also known as the ruler of the Red Dragons, Ultras."
An awkward silence filled the air; the Dragon Lord was no ordinary monster subject to the laws between humans and dragons.
"You don't mean to say he's the clan ruler, just like Ignis?" I still hoped it was a misunderstanding.
"That's exactly right."
"Sheraza, at the arena, you said Serezar was in charge of the Red House. It already concerned me then."
"It's because he's not the supreme ruler of the clan. The strongest dragon is considered the ruler; that's our law. And Ultras became one after he killed his father."
"Please don't tell me he's an ancient dragon?" If that were the case, my worst fears would come true.
"Yes, his father was the Dragon God Saraz, and he was killed by him right here six thousand years ago, making him the ruler. Even from his prison, he could mentally connect with the other dragons and guide them as he pleased."
"If he's the ruler, why aren't his loyal servants here yet?" That's what worried me the most; I wouldn't want him to get any additional support during the battle.
"Because they don't want to blindly obey him anymore, and they sent me to talk to him," Seleria cast a pensive look toward the mountain. "But I still don't like the idea."
"So they fear him themselves and want to use you as a pawn," I snorted disapprovingly at the cunning of the Red Dragons. "And if nothing works out and Ultras kills you, they'll submit to him, and then a war with Leran will start, followed by other countries? Don't you think it's not worth it?"
"Perhaps, but if I can defeat him, I'll become the new ruler of the Red Dragons, and then I can change their accursed laws so that no one suffers like my mother did!" Flames ignited in the Red Princess's eyes. "That's why I'll still fight him."
Seleria turned and headed toward the entrance to the volcano, but she was stopped by a small net of lightning.
"Do you really think we'll let you go?" Kati smiled smugly. "You must defeat him, but they didn't tell you that you can't use the help of your friends."
"But it's only my business, and I won't endanger you because of such a selfish goal!" Seleria turned and surrounded herself with flames, blocking our path to the mountain.
"So you're already too late," I deftly leaped over her flames and walked past her.
"We've already signed up for destroying this monster!" Kati also leaped over the fire and followed me.
"It's not just you who wants revenge on this beast," Asura smiled slightly and froze the princess's flames with a swing of her katana.
"We've all come here to defeat him, and you can help us as a fellow guild member or stand aside," Vina smirked, pushing everyone toward the entrance.
"You guys are so persuasive!" Seleria smiled happily and went inside with her friends, leaving only one person behind.
"I'm happy for you, my daughter," Sheraza turned around to check if the blazing red eyes that had been watching them all this time were still there. "That's what you wanted. She'll deal with him, and her friends will help her. Don't you dare interfere in the battle!"
The narrow passage, no wider than two people, led deeper into the volcano. The walls emitted heat, foretelling an imminent eruption, but we pressed on towards our inevitable doom.
Finally, a faint red light marking the exit appeared ahead. Stooping, I tried to sneak unnoticed into the inner chamber. An enormous hemispherical room, over a kilometer in diameter, with a huge opening at the top of the dome, occupied the entire summit of the volcano. And in the center of this room, an enormous monster was digging into the ground.
A Red Dragon, over five hundred meters long, far larger than Ignis, who had been the largest representative of the ancient race to me until now. Fifteen rows of sharp red horns adorned its head, and it occupied a significant portion of the room. Although the space clearly did not suit its size, it remained here, trying to unearth the bottom of the crater. And for some reason, I felt that it wasn't solely for the sake of the volcano's power.
"Grrrr, that wretched stench again!" The dragon's voice shook the ground with its roar, seemingly intended to frighten children rather than anything else. "Mortal, if you tried to hide from me, you should have gotten rid of your vile smell first."
It would have been foolish to count on that, so I stepped forward confidently.
"You can call the others; among them are many familiar scents that I would love to cleanse with my flames." The dragon exhaled a small fireball from its nose, which hit the wall above the passage, and all my companions quickly rushed into the room. "Well, well, it seems this insignificant human decided to send me such juicy gifts."
Ultras slowly sized up those present, and from that look, blood froze in our veins. He looked at us not as enemies, slaves, or insects; he looked at us as potential food.
"Pfft, a couple of humans with mediocre abilities," the dragon stopped his gaze on Asura, Yuki, and Hilda. "But this is better, the last descendants of that accursed lineage, their bones always crunch so pleasantly between my teeth, reminding me of the millennia I spent in captivity because of them."
Asura clenched her teeth so hard that blood appeared at the corners of her lips.
"What else is here, a painfully familiar smell, albeit mixed with mortal blood," the dragon approached Seleria and sniffed her scent more deeply. "What a disgust, even touching such a degenerate is repulsive. But this is interesting."
Narrowing its pupils, it looked at Ragni with interest and hatred.
"That foul stench comes from the elder daughter of the black lineage."
"What did you say about my mother?!" Ragni snarled angrily, only provoking a smirk from the red monster.
"And what's wrong? Your mother is a selling whore, betraying her father for the sake of... peace, HA!" The dragon's laughter shook the walls of the crater. "Your wretched mother is a shame to her entire lineage! But you can still be useful."
Ultras ran his claw along Ragni's skin, and the girl shuddered with disgust at his touch.
"I have long wondered what my offspring would be like, and with a black one, it would be even more amusing," he said, clenching his fist and abruptly pulling her away from the dragoness. "Although certainly not in this repulsive form."
"Supreme Ultras, I came here on behalf of the Red House and Leran to talk to you!" Seleria was the first to try to interrupt the dragon.
"What? I thought I heard a squeak," the lord said absently, raising his head to give the princess a disdainful look. "I guess it was someone talking."
"I came here to negotiate with you!" Seleria tried to maintain her composure, but fury was already boiling in her blood.
"Tsk, and this is the best they could send?" Ultras lifted Seleria by her collar with two claws and examined her closer. "They should have sent a talking golem; it would have been less disgusting. And what do you have to say? Why haven't these cowards come to pay me proper respect yet?"
"First, answer my question!" The princess's cry angered the ruler, but he still gave her a chance to speak. "You woke up in the crater of one of the volcanoes on the southern islands and headed straight here. On your way, three villages with all their inhabitants were destroyed. What do you have to say about that?"
"That, for six thousand years, I was a bit hungry. I needed to regain my strength before returning here and destroying those wretched white guardians," Ultras replied with little interest while Seleria was speaking. When she finished, he loosened his grip and dropped Seleria from a height of ten meters to the ground.
"Since when should I answer to pathetic food?" The monster looked at us all. "Right now, I feel like having another meal, and what's so wrong with that?"
A malicious grin spread across the scaly face of the monster.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone