Chapter 31 – Etaqua (1)

The dark dragon egg had a sparkling luster to it.

I could understand the thought of cherishing it since it was purchased using 200,000 points, a significant sum of money, and showing it to me was partially out of a desire to flaunt.

At the street corner heading over to the gate, Laila spoke pointedly

“Pay no mind to him. There is no reason to converse with someone impossible to talk to.”

Carpediem. He was the sort to believe that the world revolved around themselves; arrogant, blunt and blockheaded. He was the prime example of a person who came under the category of ‘impossible to talk to’. Originally I would have ignored him. Quarrelling would only serve to lower myself down to his level. But I couldn’t stay still after having received a declaration of war.

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‘The next time we meet will be on the battlefield, is it.’

It was good to hear. Thanks to that, I came to my senses. The enemies I had to fight were powerful and numerous, but he was the immediate foe before me; Carpediem of Destruction. I would have already lost my territory if he had possessed an overwhelming fighting power. But seeing how he was dragging on the time, that showed that he wasn’t having an easy time either. Moreover…

‘He’s wary of me.’

Trying so hard show his superiority to me, on the contrary, meant that he was being wary of me. Be it my power, or my Authority, nothing about me was properly known. In particular, nobody knew of the power of domination I received from Diablo. No one, but myself.

Laila had spoken of Diablo as a very powerful evil god, and that the only names that can still match his are Bruxelles, Arheim, Zero, and Falcon. If I thought about it, it was only natural for him to be wary. Depending on the type of an Authority and the scale of its power, it could change the flow of the battlefield. As such, I was able to arrive at the conclusion that there was no need for me to play sheep.

“My Lord…?”

I ignored Laila’s warning and walked forwards, and stopped before Carpediem. The 10 monsters protecting him stood in my way, but they were of no concern to me.

“I also very much look forward to that day. Who will be the one to grovel on the ground begging for his life I wonder.”

Carpediem frowned.

Apparently he hadn’t expected for me to respond in this manner.

“Just like a fool who has yet to realize reality. Blowing hot air because this here is the Dark Company? I could crush a puny territory like yours in the blink of an eye as soon as I willed it. My magnanimity knows no bounds, however, so you only need hand her, Laila Diablo, over…”

“You seem to be thinking that those trivial monsters of yours will protect your life as well. Besides, hand over Laila? Your words are no different to suggesting a necklace of pearls be hung around the neck of a pig.”

Carpediem. He was true to his emotions. It was obvious how angry he was, looking at his face.

Laila prepared herself for combat as she stood by my side. Carpediem’s minions also appeared ready to fight at the drop of a word. Battle was forbidden in the Dark Company, but it wasn’t impossible.

“Youu…you truly mean to anger me? I have no idea what makes you so confident to act so unruly, but you picked the wrong opponent.”

“It is you who shouldn’t be angering me. Why do you think I had been in slumber for a full 100 years?”

It was an especially long time. The other demon lords awakened after not much time passed, but for Uriel Diablo it took no less than 100 years to do so.

There were a great many rumours abound. Among them, there was even a rumour that his long sleep was ‘because the Authority he was granted was that much more powerful’. It was something I’d heard of from Laila as well, but I planned to use that rumour and exaggerate it.

Carpediem’s brows further creased as I spoke nonchalantly.

I left one last line behind before turning away.

“I look forward to meeting you on the battlefield, Carpediem. Truly, I do.”

[The spirit synchronization rate with Uriel Diablo has increased up to 69%.]

What?

The message popped up as soon as I turned around. The previous spirit synchronization was at 58%, as far as I remembered. It had risen by no less than 11%. Did bluffing in front of Carpediem help in raising the synchronization rate?

I turned my head around to be suddenly greeted by a blank stare from Laila, who had a complicated look in her eyes.

She opened her mouth to speak as I headed toward the gate.

“…You have changed.”

I flinched inwardly.

I may have slipped up in my acting of Uriel Diablo. It’s true that there were no instances of him bluffing or acting boldly, even in his memories. Most of his life was spent passively. He wouldn’t have even challenged for the position of a demon lord, if not for Laila pushing him.

‘This isn’t my style.’

It was enough that I wore a mask that didn’t fit me in the past. The future had begun to change anyhow, from the moment I created the company and blatantly challenged Carpediem. It was a somewhat shameful method, but I would stick to it.

“Do you dislike the change?”

Laila slowly shook her head.

“That is not it, however…there were times when my Lord appeared differently as opposed to the Lord that I used to remember. Especially today.”

It didn’t seem like she was entirely unaware, merely that she had kept quiet about it.

Switching spirits just didn’t conform with common sense. But judging by her reaction, the image of myself I’d shown today wasn’t too shabby. On the contrary, It felt like she was showing signs of shyness. Was it because I had openly proclaimed my unwillingness to hand her over to Carpediem as I compared her to pearls?

Regardless, I spoke heavily.

“We must change. Both you, and I. By no means will our enemy be easy.”

That’s right. Following along the set path would only lead to catastrophe. An empty future of fleeing to Earth like escaping rats would await us. But…I would change it. Uriel Diablo, the things you couldn’t accomplish, I will do it for you. You left behind nothing but destruction and carnage, but I will accomplish much greater achievements and pile them atop one another, and I will last until the very final moments.

That was my vow.

“…I will be sure to remember it.”

The shyness on Laila disappeared as she gave a small nod of her head, as if she had understood something.

..

I gazed at the egg containing the twin cores of the golden and white dragon. It had been two days since I had returned from the company. I could tell that the egg would hatch before long. The merchants claimed they had failed in the process of magic infusion, but it was merely that the magic was absorbed perfectly without a trace. In fact, the golden and white dragon egg was showing a much faster growth compared to the other eggs.

‘I definitely recall that they were in resonance.’

I once again opened Mind’s Eye and examined the both of their statuses.

Resonance meant that they could sense one another. If this remained effective even from long distances, wouldn’t it be fine to leave one in the abyss, and the other on Earth? I would be able to prepare against potential dangers if only they could alert me of emergencies real-time so that I could immediately use Transfer. The problem was, how I would do it.

‘Although I can send one to Earth through the Dark Gate…’

Where it would arrive was a question, and retrieving it would be another problem. What was definite though was that it would appear in the form of a ‘Gate’. I would be able to find it only if I were to personally open the Gate.

‘I’ll have to give it a try.’

It would be the only way if I wanted to know if Dominator would be linked as well, whether the creatures dominated using the demon lord’s body would carry over to my main body. There was nothing wrong with hurrying with this kind of experiment. I had decided on which to send between the golden and white dragon as well.

‘The white dragon should be the better choice.’

It had an incredible physical ability, while the golden dragon was weak in constitution, which meant that it may not be able to adapt to the abrupt change in environment. Everything about the abyss and Earth was different after all.

“My Lord. Have you decided on its name?”

Laila approached me all of a sudden. There was a mix of affection and slight regret in the way she looked at the dragon egg, because her first opportunity to raise a dragon had appeared, but if what the auctioneer had said was true then it wouldn’t be long before it died.

I quietly rubbed my chin.

“Name?”

“There is a saying that a dragon would grow characteristically depending on its name. It should grow stronger if it were to be given a powerful name.”

It was my first time hearing such a saying. I took a moment to repent for considering naming them Goldy and Silvy.

“Nothing comes to mind.”

“Then…would it be alright for me to offer a suggestion?”

Listening was easy.

I nodded, and Laila laughed joyfully as she spoke.

“Etaqua. It is the name of an ancient beast of valor that blew typhoons and defeated countless giants.”

“Etaqua.”

The name felt right at home with me. A beast that blew typhoons, was it. It was a name that better suited the white dragon rather than the golden dragon.

“Then I will have to name the other one as ‘Igneel’.”

It was the name of the most powerful dragon I’d ever faced to date, and more than anything it had a similar starting pronunciation as Etaqua.

“By the other one you mean…?”

“This egg contains two dragons.”

“…Yes?”

Laila appeared dazed for a moment.

I couldn’t blame her. For an egg to have two dragons at once, how could she have even imagined it? Suggesting an impressive name was her way of praying so that it could grow even a little more healthy. But she hadn’t held any particular hopes for it after all.

“It should hatch soon.”

I quietly laughed and turned my head.

Together with a ‘crack!’ sound, the crack on the egg grew wider and split open.

Hum-!

The magic power in air vibrated fiercely. It was so intense to the point of causing my heart to quiver. This was also my first time witnessing a dragon hatch.

“S-, so much magic power is being released…!”

Laila was half shocked. Judging by her expression, it seemed that such a vast release of magic power was definitely abnormal.

Finally the egg completely split apart to reveal the forms of two dragons. One had scales that shined golden, while the others’ was distinctly white. The sight of them were so enchanting that I automatically thought of the word beautiful.

Their were around 50cm in size. They were staring at me as they sat on the floor, flapping their tails.

“Igneel, Etaqua.”

The both of them perked up their ears, and at the same time…

[The Dominator’s power is being activated. The golden dragon ‘Igneel’ and white dragon ‘Etaqua’ has begun to be affected by the influence of powerful domination.] [They are the children of the mother of wisdom and counsel, Walpurgis. ‘Blessingsof the Sage’ has been granted.] [This is the right granted along with the name ‘Blessings of the Sage’. The power of the fire king and the power of storms is beginning to take effect.]

That wasn’t the end of it.

One after the other, they climbed my body up to my shoulders, and stayed there swishing their tails. Soon, lights began to shine from their foreheads, and it slowly spread to envelop my entire body.

[The ‘connection of souls’ has begun.] [Igneel and Etaqua recognizes the user as their parent.] [Until the day it dies, a dragon can recognize its parent through their connected souls, not through physical appearance.]

There was no way I would know anything regarding a dragon’s birth or growth. The number of their species weren’t numerous either so hardly anything was known about them. Even Laila was staring my way with round eyes, as if never having heard of such a phenomenon.

‘…It’s done.’

I could feel that the connection was made. I could feel it even when I closed my eyes, and even the emotions of these two.

I slightly trembled. It wasn’t just the connection. I vaguely knew just what a ‘high level’ of existences these two were. Walpurgis, the mother of wisdom and counsel. I had no either who she was…but the difference between regular dragons and these two childrens of hers, as a species, was simply off the charts. More than anything, their names truly had power to them. The Blessings of the Sage was more valuable than any other blessing that I knew of. This was definitely a heaven-sent opportunity.

Lick! Lick!

I was basking in glorious thoughts, when Igneel and Etaqua began to lick the back of my neck, acting cute.