Dragon God-sama annihilated one world after another.
Sea World, Heaven World…
There was no room for negotiation with either.
All other worlds declared “we cannot forgive Dragon World” after the destruction of Beast World.
What we didn’t know at the time was that they also had their own reasons to fight.
There was no cause for standing down.
By the time we arrived, Heaven and Sea World were already lined up and ready for battle.
Sea Race’s army dyed the sea black.
Heaven Race’s army blot out the sky.
However, that show of force meant little before us, the Five Dragon Generals.
It was a massacre, just like Beast World.
The Five Dragon Generals cleared the riff-raff, while Dragon God-sama faced off with their gods and showered the world with his wrath until it collapsed.
The few survivors poured into Human World under the Human God’s benevolence.
We were victorious, one battle after another.
But even we did not escape the battles unscathed.
Dragon God-sama’s body was tattered.
From the bite wound received from Beast God, he bled.
Poison from Sea God ate away at his leg.
The beam of light from Heaven God blinded him in one eye.
Dragon Race was indeed the most powerful race.
That was a fact.
But the gods were of similar rank.
They were equals from birth, even if us their children differ.
Even though the Dragon Generals were covered by battle scars, we could still fight.
After all, there was still one world left.
Yes, a race said to be equally powerful to the Dragon Race.
Indeed, Demon World.
I was worried.
War with Demon World would not be a cake walk.
Not all of Five Dragon Generals may survive.
Dragon God-sama himself may die.
Should we really continue to persecute this war?
Until Demon World was fully destroyed?
Of course, I felt no attachment to Demon World.
Rather, I hated Demon World.
The world that rejected me.
However, after witnessing the destruction of three worlds -- Beast World, Sea World, Heaven World -- I felt a great revulsion.
Was it all necessary?
A collapsed world.
Survivors with no escape.
The desperation they all wore.
If we lose, Dragon World would share that fate.
No, our fate would be far worse.
If Dragon Race tried to escape from our collapsing world.
Who would accept us as refugees?
Human World?
Maybe Human God would accept the Dragon Race.
He has supported us.
So the Human Race might be considered our ally.
Even if Dragon Race loses, maybe they’ll protect and shelter our survivors.
But the Human World already sheltered survivors of the three worlds we already destroyed.
I heard they had been granted lands, recuperated, and settled into considerable territories.
Yet they would never forget the suffering, pain, and humiliation they endured.
If Dragon Race refugees flood into the Human World, they would certainly want us eradicated.
Of course, I didn’t plan on losing either.
I had no plan for Dragon Race to be treated that way.
But the opponent this time was the Demon Race.
Losing is a possibility.
I felt turmoil.
Whether to request Dragon God-sama to stop.
If Dragon God-sama could calm down, and request Human God to intervene and mediate.
After all, we still haven’t identified Lunaria-sama’s murderer.
Shouldn’t we calm down and identify the true suspect first?
Let’s stop and not complicate the situation.
Wouldn’t that be better?
I thought so then.
What I should have done.
But I was so blindly worshipful of Dragon God-sama then.
Of course, I worship Dragon God-sama even now… but back then, the thought that Dragon God-sama might be wrong would never cross my mind. I wouldn’t consider it.
That was the circumstance for the Five Dragon Generals.
Only the most faithfully loyal to Dragon God-sama can become a Five Dragon General.
We must affirm all of Dragon God-sama.
Expecting us to restrain him was impossible.
That’s what I thought then.
But I was lost.
As we watched Dragon God-sama relentlessly readies for the next battle, the Five Dragon Generals were all a little lost.
I couldn’t talk about it with anyone either.
Who could I talk to?
If Lunaria-sama was alive, or she might have shared her wisdom.
Now I thought about it, she was the only one of all of Dragon World who could have advised Dragon God-sama.
But if she’s alive, this war would have never happened.
Her death instigated the war, after all...
Nothing could be done.
A dead end.
Stewing in my thoughts, I passed each day with only Saleyakt for comfort.
However, one person did take note of my sentiment.
Dora-sama.
■
One day she invited me to her house.
Thinking back, it was the first time I went to her house.
A simple abode unbefitting of a Dragon General.
Only a handful of servants, the minimum of material necessities.
Meeting her servants saddened me.
I had almost forgotten due to the shock of Lunaria-sama’s death, but many of her servants were also killed in the incident.
Baby Perugius was resting at the back of the house.
Not yet old enough to open his eyes yet.
He had neither claws nor fangs, sparse scales, even the wings off his back were still tiny. A frail creature that would make your protective instincts blossom.
Was it because he’s not yet grown?
Dora-sama saw me watching Perugius and asked.
“What’s wrong? Worrying about something?”
It was a gentle voice.
Not an interrogating one.
She was trying to comfort me with kindness.
Our times as teacher-and-student suddenly rushed back to me.
I almost cried.
After my selection as a Five Dragon General, I didn’t speak much with Dora-sama.
But she was always watching out for me.
"Truth be told--"
By the time I realized it, all the words I had locked away in my heart came spewing out.
I readied myself to be punished for my insolence.
"..."
But Dora-sama listened quietly.
Even when I raised my voice, Dora-sama didn’t change her expression.
When I finally finished, she answered in a quiet voice,
"It's only natural that you don't understand the will of Dragon God-sama..."
Not trying to push me away.
Rather, it’s a voice of regret.
"Come, I'll show you something interesting."
Dora-sama said, leaving the house.
I followed Dora-sama as I was told.
As we flew out of the city, Dora-sama didn’t say a word.
I didn’t ask where we’re going either, but simply followed.
We flew for… about an hour, until Dora-sama landed atop of a mountain.
An ordinary, nameless mountain.
Dora-sama folded her wings and spoke for the first time.
"Here."
"Here?"
I replied like an idiot.
I saw only a mountain.
Dora-sama noted that I didn’t notice anything special about this mountain.
Without answering me, she quickly walked before a boulder.
With a hand on the boulder, she chanted.
"This is……"
At the end of the chant, the boulder suddenly disappeared.
In its place, a cave wide enough for one person to pass through.
A secret passage.
Dora-sama silently stepped into the cave, I followed.
Inside the cave was a narrow passage.
It was dim, but the passageway seemed to be well maintained.
There was a room at the end of the passage.
A room created by carving out the narrow cave, with ceilings too low for flight.
Basically, the size of a typical house.
Desks were lined up in the room, with various stationeries and bundles of papers placed on them.
And there were a lot of Dragon Race.
Sitting by the desks, on the ground, some standing where they worked.
Everyone focused on their work.
"This is?"
"Teleportation Research Lab."
"Teleportation..."
I knew before that Dragon Race was studying teleportation research.
But I didn’t know where and when, and how far along.
Despite being a Five Dragon General.
"Once you know this, your worries will clear up."
Dora-sama said and walked about the room.
"All researchers are here."
"Ahh!"
Watching them with admiration, I noticed something in particular.
Everyone’s scale colors are rather faded.
Many no longer have any webbing in their wings, many others have lost their fangs.
To my surprise, only old people worked there.
“Only the elderly?”
"That's right ... only the Dragon Race who have reached the end of their lifespan gathers here."
I didn’t ask why, but I could guess.
Because Teleportation magic is dangerous.
If an experiment fails, the whole mountain may disappear.
That’s why only old people ready to die could do the research.
Of course, there might be other reasons as well.
Old people are more suited to research than hot-blooded young ones.
In fact, this was the case in other worlds as well.
In Demon World, since the immortal demons tend to be idiots, those with short lifespans tend to be researchers.
“Everyone! Thank you for your hard work! Today, the Five Dragon General, Demon Dragon King Laplace came to inspect your work! Just work diligently as usual, as you were!”
When Dora-sama finished, everyone welcomed me with the utmost salute.
It was a powerful salute, despite their age, I could appreciate they were all Dragon Warriors once.
“Welcome, young one. Apologies for our lack of courtesy, but please enjoy your inspection.”
“I appreciate it.”
With a little hesitation, I decided to answer him respectfully.
Although I may be a Dragon General, they had served Dragon God-sama with honor before I was born.
I thought I should be respectful.
"Come, I'll show you."
I followed Dora-sama around the laboratory.
Dora-sama briefly explained the research being conducted in the laboratory.
But to be honest, I had no idea what they were doing at that time.
I’m well versed with magic now, but back then I couldn’t distinguish one magic from another.
The old men were developing what we would now call magic circles, but to me back then it only looked like weird patterns and scribbles.
Even though I didn’t understand, I tried to memorize them.
A force of habit.
Ever since coming to the Dragon World, I was learning constantly.
No matter what.
If I knew the logic behind it, I could reproduce it.
If they let me study the vast amount of research materials from the past, I’m sure I could catch up to them.
But it was a rude awakening for me.
Their research wasn’t so trivial that a beginner could grasp it at a glance.
"Do you understand?"
"No."
“Just as well, they’d lose their positions if you catch up to thousands of years of research just like that.”
Looking back, that place was certainly ahead of its time.
Focused on teleportation and summoning magic research.
The great magic of the early days was more magic than magical technique.
Much was still undiscovered.
Only a few things were understood at a practical level.
A mountain of wisdom written on those dragonhide parchments.
If only a bunch of those have survived, the current magic system would have changed significantly.
If anyone understood them.
Afterwards, Dora-sama demonstrated summoning magic.
Summoning magic at its earliest form.
At its most native form… But it isn’t much different from now?
A way to summon creatures from other worlds.
She summoned a small fish from Ocean World.
Just a powerless fish.
After its collapse, Sea World no longer had any inhabitants, but some living things clinged on.
Seeing the fish reminded me of the first time I visited Sea World.
I’m used to it now, but back then I was quite excited to see a fish for the first time.
To realize such creatures exist in other worlds.
Fish have an unusual shape, don’t you think?
A strange creature that could only survive in water.
You don’t think so? There’re fish in our back pond?
Ah, yes...
Well, I lived for a long time in worlds without the sea…
But don’t you find Blue Dragons odd when you first saw them?
They have a form that could only live in the sky.
“Dragon God-sama kept the research results a secret from the Dragon Race, do you know why?”
“No… I don’t.”
“He’s worried. Unlike the monsters and teleportation incidents, there’s no way to counter it. It’ll only cause unnecessary trouble if announced.”
Dora-sama said.
Well, probably other reasons as well.
Such as the research won’t produce immediate results.
If they presented their findings and more teleportation incidents occurred, it’d create more pressure for the research team.
"Why ... couldn't you tell me?"
"Because you were appointed as a Five Dragon General responsible for contact with other worlds."
I was rather shocked.
As Five Dragon General, I thought I stood as an equal with the other four.
But only I was not informed of our secret missions.
Perhaps, until then…. I was a security risk or a potential traitor?
“Don’t look like that. It’s not like we’re concerned that you may betray us.”
“Then why?”
“It’ll only hinder your work, if our research revealed the culprit behind the monster and teleportation incidents.”
Some things were better not to know.
I understood that immediately.
Some demons are capable of reading minds too.
“Don’t be sad, let me explain the situation.”
Dora-sama patted me on the shoulder and proceeded to explain her research.
It seems that the Five Dragon Generals each have their own area of research - teleport, summoning, magical beasts, and barrier magic.
Crystal’s focus was teleportation.
Dora-sama inherited his legacy.
She became the expert in both summoning and teleport magic.
“Summoning magic calls creatures from other worlds. Teleportation magic is the reverse, sending them to another world. Fundamentally, they’re the same.”
“Animals… what about people?”
“Sure.”
Dora-sama said definitively.
“That’s what other researchers have misunderstood, that we’re using summoning and teleportation to sow discord between the Six Worlds. We neither plan or intend to.”
“....”
“Quite the contrary, Dragon God-sama specifically forbids the summoning and teleportation of people.”
Yes, Dragon God-sama made summoning people a taboo.
Of course.
If you can call and send people between worlds, it basically meant the Dragon Race was responsible for the teleportation incidents.
Therefore, restrictions were written into the foundations of summoning magic to prevent summoning of people.
Buried so deeply into its innermost layers, turning into a black box.
A level of complexity that even I couldn’t analyze.
Even users of summoning magic could not understand its roots.
Perhaps only Dora-sama could unlock that black box.
“Do you know why we kept teleport and summoning magic a secret?”
“Because it’ll be abused if known?”
“Yes, if it’s for Dragon God-sama, we the Dragon Race is capable of anything without regard to the consequences.”
I heed those words and nod.
Let’s suppose someone got in Dragon God-sama’s way, and for whatever reason Dragon God-sama could not outright kill them himself. Then I would.
I’ll deal with the consequences.
If I can absolve Dragon God-sama of the sin, I’d do it without any hesitation.
Therefore, Dora-sama refused to share teleport and summoning magics with the Five Dragon Generals.
Conversely, she also didn’t know much about barriers and magical beasts.
But the possibility exists.
Thus the suspicion from other worlds that we’re the culprits cannot be absolved.
Of course, Five Dragon Generals would do no such things.
“The only thing we could do was figure out who’s the culprit behind the monster and teleportation incidents.”
“No… results of the research showed that the incidents weren’t caused by magical techniques. Its fundamental principles are different.”
“How?”
“We create the phenomenon using magical circles, but there’s no traces of such in the monster and teleport incidents.”
Research had progressed.
We could now teleport and summon.
And understood the reason behind the monsters and teleportations.
“The cause?”
“We called it Dragon Touki.”
Dora-sama explained.
Power permeates the Six Worlds.
In Dragon World we called in Dragon Touki, in Demon World they called it Magic Power.
A power possessed by every living creature of the Six Worlds.
People, fish, beasts, birds, even dragons.
The monsters and teleportation incidents were both a result of this power.
When a large amount of power is absorbed, creatures turn into magical beasts.
More powerful creatures transform into more powerful magical beasts.
People were no exception.
But unlike other creatures, their appearance does not change significantly, only they wield greater magic and special powers.
My Demon Eye, the overwhelming power of the Five Dragon Generals, they’re all phenomena of this power.
This power maintains a natural equilibrium within the SIx Worlds.
If the power diminishes significantly in one world, it’ll be retrieved from another to compensate.
This transference not only caught up with trees and animals, but also people.
As a result, teleportation incidents occur.
People were spirited away.
“But we hit a dead end.”
We didn’t figure out the cause of the imbalances.
Why did the incidents occur more frequently?
Then a breakthrough.
According to the researcher’s hypothesis, he said that at a certain time, the power of the Six Worlds suddenly declined, creating significant imbalances.
The worlds absorb power from each other more to compensate, creating teleportation incidents.
Because of the power gradient within each world, magical beasts appeared more frequently as well.
So the theory goes.
The most promising theory so far.
However, why did the power of the Six Worlds suddenly diminish?
There must be a cause.
“We only got so far with our research when the war began. We also missed the opportunity to tell you as well. I haven’t had the chance.”
But the end result was a method to travel to other worlds.
"Laplace. Do you know why the dragon god allowed you to negotiate with other worlds and invite their specialists into Dragon World?"
"No."
"When the research progressed a little more, Dragon God-sama intended to share these technologies with the Six Worlds. Its cause, remedy, as well as methods to prevent the incidents from reoccuring.”
Once again, I was touched by Dragon God-sama’s grace.
He was not only considering the Dragon World.
He wished to save all the worlds.
“Dragon God-sama was truly gracious, yet they spite his efforts, even repaid his kindness with spite. Do you understand now?”
“Any trace of confusion had left me...”
The other worlds had betrayed Dragon God-sama.
More than betrayal, they robbed him of his beloved.
His wrath was justified.
This war was inevitable.
A just dessert.
My hesitation has disappeared.
To tell the truth, I didn't understand half of the explanation about summoning at that time, but my concern had dissipated.
In the next battle, I decided to take the lead.
After an utmost salute to Dora-sama, I left the research lab and flew away satisfied and resolute.
Re-energized for the coming battle with the demons.
But I was a fool.
If I were a little smarter back then, with a bit more knowledge of summons and teleports, I would have asked Dora-sama,
“If the power theory was true, then wouldn’t our destruction of other worlds create further imbalance? Wouldn’t more magical beasts and teleport incidents occur?”
If I just said those words, maybe it won’t have been such an end.
The wise Dora-sama would certainly come to a new conclusion.
But I was such a fool back then.
And the battle with Demon World began.
Dragon God-sama annihilated one world after another.
Sea World, Heaven World…
There was no room for negotiation with either.
All other worlds declared “we cannot forgive Dragon World” after the destruction of Beast World.
What we didn’t know at the time was that they also had their own reasons to fight.
There was no cause for standing down.
By the time we arrived, Heaven and Sea World were already lined up and ready for battle.
Sea Race’s army dyed the sea black.
Heaven Race’s army blot out the sky.
However, that show of force meant little before us, the Five Dragon Generals.
It was a massacre, just like Beast World.
The Five Dragon Generals cleared the riff-raff, while Dragon God-sama faced off with their gods and showered the world with his wrath until it collapsed.
The few survivors poured into Human World under the Human God’s benevolence.
We were victorious, one battle after another.
But even we did not escape the battles unscathed.
Dragon God-sama’s body was tattered.
From the bite wound received from Beast God, he bled.
Poison from Sea God ate away at his leg.
The beam of light from Heaven God blinded him in one eye.
Dragon Race was indeed the most powerful race.
That was a fact.
But the gods were of similar rank.
They were equals from birth, even if us their children differ.
Even though the Dragon Generals were covered by battle scars, we could still fight.
After all, there was still one world left.
Yes, a race said to be equally powerful to the Dragon Race.
Indeed, Demon World.
I was worried.
War with Demon World would not be a cake walk.
Not all of Five Dragon Generals may survive.
Dragon God-sama himself may die.
Should we really continue to persecute this war?
Until Demon World was fully destroyed?
Of course, I felt no attachment to Demon World.
Rather, I hated Demon World.
The world that rejected me.
However, after witnessing the destruction of three worlds -- Beast World, Sea World, Heaven World -- I felt a great revulsion.
Was it all necessary?
A collapsed world.
Survivors with no escape.
The desperation they all wore.
If we lose, Dragon World would share that fate.
No, our fate would be far worse.
If Dragon Race tried to escape from our collapsing world.
Who would accept us as refugees?
Human World?
Maybe Human God would accept the Dragon Race.
He has supported us.
So the Human Race might be considered our ally.
Even if Dragon Race loses, maybe they’ll protect and shelter our survivors.
But the Human World already sheltered survivors of the three worlds we already destroyed.
I heard they had been granted lands, recuperated, and settled into considerable territories.
Yet they would never forget the suffering, pain, and humiliation they endured.
If Dragon Race refugees flood into the Human World, they would certainly want us eradicated.
Of course, I didn’t plan on losing either.
I had no plan for Dragon Race to be treated that way.
But the opponent this time was the Demon Race.
Losing is a possibility.
I felt turmoil.
Whether to request Dragon God-sama to stop.
If Dragon God-sama could calm down, and request Human God to intervene and mediate.
After all, we still haven’t identified Lunaria-sama’s murderer.
Shouldn’t we calm down and identify the true suspect first?
Let’s stop and not complicate the situation.
Wouldn’t that be better?
I thought so then.
What I should have done.
But I was so blindly worshipful of Dragon God-sama then.
Of course, I worship Dragon God-sama even now… but back then, the thought that Dragon God-sama might be wrong would never cross my mind. I wouldn’t consider it.
That was the circumstance for the Five Dragon Generals.
Only the most faithfully loyal to Dragon God-sama can become a Five Dragon General.
We must affirm all of Dragon God-sama.
Expecting us to restrain him was impossible.
That’s what I thought then.
But I was lost.
As we watched Dragon God-sama relentlessly readies for the next battle, the Five Dragon Generals were all a little lost.
I couldn’t talk about it with anyone either.
Who could I talk to?
If Lunaria-sama was alive, or she might have shared her wisdom.
Now I thought about it, she was the only one of all of Dragon World who could have advised Dragon God-sama.
But if she’s alive, this war would have never happened.
Her death instigated the war, after all...
Nothing could be done.
A dead end.
Stewing in my thoughts, I passed each day with only Saleyakt for comfort.
However, one person did take note of my sentiment.
Dora-sama.
■
One day she invited me to her house.
Thinking back, it was the first time I went to her house.
A simple abode unbefitting of a Dragon General.
Only a handful of servants, the minimum of material necessities.
Meeting her servants saddened me.
I had almost forgotten due to the shock of Lunaria-sama’s death, but many of her servants were also killed in the incident.
Baby Perugius was resting at the back of the house.
Not yet old enough to open his eyes yet.
He had neither claws nor fangs, sparse scales, even the wings off his back were still tiny. A frail creature that would make your protective instincts blossom.
Was it because he’s not yet grown?
Dora-sama saw me watching Perugius and asked.
“What’s wrong? Worrying about something?”
It was a gentle voice.
Not an interrogating one.
She was trying to comfort me with kindness.
Our times as teacher-and-student suddenly rushed back to me.
I almost cried.
After my selection as a Five Dragon General, I didn’t speak much with Dora-sama.
But she was always watching out for me.
"Truth be told--"
By the time I realized it, all the words I had locked away in my heart came spewing out.
I readied myself to be punished for my insolence.
"..."
But Dora-sama listened quietly.
Even when I raised my voice, Dora-sama didn’t change her expression.
When I finally finished, she answered in a quiet voice,
"It's only natural that you don't understand the will of Dragon God-sama..."
Not trying to push me away.
Rather, it’s a voice of regret.
"Come, I'll show you something interesting."
Dora-sama said, leaving the house.
I followed Dora-sama as I was told.
As we flew out of the city, Dora-sama didn’t say a word.
I didn’t ask where we’re going either, but simply followed.
We flew for… about an hour, until Dora-sama landed atop of a mountain.
An ordinary, nameless mountain.
Dora-sama folded her wings and spoke for the first time.
"Here."
"Here?"
I replied like an idiot.
I saw only a mountain.
Dora-sama noted that I didn’t notice anything special about this mountain.
Without answering me, she quickly walked before a boulder.
With a hand on the boulder, she chanted.
"This is……"
At the end of the chant, the boulder suddenly disappeared.
In its place, a cave wide enough for one person to pass through.
A secret passage.
Dora-sama silently stepped into the cave, I followed.
Inside the cave was a narrow passage.
It was dim, but the passageway seemed to be well maintained.
There was a room at the end of the passage.
A room created by carving out the narrow cave, with ceilings too low for flight.
Basically, the size of a typical house.
Desks were lined up in the room, with various stationeries and bundles of papers placed on them.
And there were a lot of Dragon Race.
Sitting by the desks, on the ground, some standing where they worked.
Everyone focused on their work.
"This is?"
"Teleportation Research Lab."
"Teleportation..."
I knew before that Dragon Race was studying teleportation research.
But I didn’t know where and when, and how far along.
Despite being a Five Dragon General.
"Once you know this, your worries will clear up."
Dora-sama said and walked about the room.
"All researchers are here."
"Ahh!"
Watching them with admiration, I noticed something in particular.
Everyone’s scale colors are rather faded.
Many no longer have any webbing in their wings, many others have lost their fangs.
To my surprise, only old people worked there.
“Only the elderly?”
"That's right ... only the Dragon Race who have reached the end of their lifespan gathers here."
I didn’t ask why, but I could guess.
Because Teleportation magic is dangerous.
If an experiment fails, the whole mountain may disappear.
That’s why only old people ready to die could do the research.
Of course, there might be other reasons as well.
Old people are more suited to research than hot-blooded young ones.
In fact, this was the case in other worlds as well.
In Demon World, since the immortal demons tend to be idiots, those with short lifespans tend to be researchers.
“Everyone! Thank you for your hard work! Today, the Five Dragon General, Demon Dragon King Laplace came to inspect your work! Just work diligently as usual, as you were!”
When Dora-sama finished, everyone welcomed me with the utmost salute.
It was a powerful salute, despite their age, I could appreciate they were all Dragon Warriors once.
“Welcome, young one. Apologies for our lack of courtesy, but please enjoy your inspection.”
“I appreciate it.”
With a little hesitation, I decided to answer him respectfully.
Although I may be a Dragon General, they had served Dragon God-sama with honor before I was born.
I thought I should be respectful.
"Come, I'll show you."
I followed Dora-sama around the laboratory.
Dora-sama briefly explained the research being conducted in the laboratory.
But to be honest, I had no idea what they were doing at that time.
I’m well versed with magic now, but back then I couldn’t distinguish one magic from another.
The old men were developing what we would now call magic circles, but to me back then it only looked like weird patterns and scribbles.
Even though I didn’t understand, I tried to memorize them.
A force of habit.
Ever since coming to the Dragon World, I was learning constantly.
No matter what.
If I knew the logic behind it, I could reproduce it.
If they let me study the vast amount of research materials from the past, I’m sure I could catch up to them.
But it was a rude awakening for me.
Their research wasn’t so trivial that a beginner could grasp it at a glance.
"Do you understand?"
"No."
“Just as well, they’d lose their positions if you catch up to thousands of years of research just like that.”
Looking back, that place was certainly ahead of its time.
Focused on teleportation and summoning magic research.
The great magic of the early days was more magic than magical technique.
Much was still undiscovered.
Only a few things were understood at a practical level.
A mountain of wisdom written on those dragonhide parchments.
If only a bunch of those have survived, the current magic system would have changed significantly.
If anyone understood them.
Afterwards, Dora-sama demonstrated summoning magic.
Summoning magic at its earliest form.
At its most native form… But it isn’t much different from now?
A way to summon creatures from other worlds.
She summoned a small fish from Ocean World.
Just a powerless fish.
After its collapse, Sea World no longer had any inhabitants, but some living things clinged on.
Seeing the fish reminded me of the first time I visited Sea World.
I’m used to it now, but back then I was quite excited to see a fish for the first time.
To realize such creatures exist in other worlds.
Fish have an unusual shape, don’t you think?
A strange creature that could only survive in water.
You don’t think so? There’re fish in our back pond?
Ah, yes...
Well, I lived for a long time in worlds without the sea…
But don’t you find Blue Dragons odd when you first saw them?
They have a form that could only live in the sky.
“Dragon God-sama kept the research results a secret from the Dragon Race, do you know why?”
“No… I don’t.”
“He’s worried. Unlike the monsters and teleportation incidents, there’s no way to counter it. It’ll only cause unnecessary trouble if announced.”
Dora-sama said.
Well, probably other reasons as well.
Such as the research won’t produce immediate results.
If they presented their findings and more teleportation incidents occurred, it’d create more pressure for the research team.
"Why ... couldn't you tell me?"
"Because you were appointed as a Five Dragon General responsible for contact with other worlds."
I was rather shocked.
As Five Dragon General, I thought I stood as an equal with the other four.
But only I was not informed of our secret missions.
Perhaps, until then…. I was a security risk or a potential traitor?
“Don’t look like that. It’s not like we’re concerned that you may betray us.”
“Then why?”
“It’ll only hinder your work, if our research revealed the culprit behind the monster and teleportation incidents.”
Some things were better not to know.
I understood that immediately.
Some demons are capable of reading minds too.
“Don’t be sad, let me explain the situation.”
Dora-sama patted me on the shoulder and proceeded to explain her research.
It seems that the Five Dragon Generals each have their own area of research - teleport, summoning, magical beasts, and barrier magic.
Crystal’s focus was teleportation.
Dora-sama inherited his legacy.
She became the expert in both summoning and teleport magic.
“Summoning magic calls creatures from other worlds. Teleportation magic is the reverse, sending them to another world. Fundamentally, they’re the same.”
“Animals… what about people?”
“Sure.”
Dora-sama said definitively.
“That’s what other researchers have misunderstood, that we’re using summoning and teleportation to sow discord between the Six Worlds. We neither plan or intend to.”
“....”
“Quite the contrary, Dragon God-sama specifically forbids the summoning and teleportation of people.”
Yes, Dragon God-sama made summoning people a taboo.
Of course.
If you can call and send people between worlds, it basically meant the Dragon Race was responsible for the teleportation incidents.
Therefore, restrictions were written into the foundations of summoning magic to prevent summoning of people.
Buried so deeply into its innermost layers, turning into a black box.
A level of complexity that even I couldn’t analyze.
Even users of summoning magic could not understand its roots.
Perhaps only Dora-sama could unlock that black box.
“Do you know why we kept teleport and summoning magic a secret?”
“Because it’ll be abused if known?”
“Yes, if it’s for Dragon God-sama, we the Dragon Race is capable of anything without regard to the consequences.”
I heed those words and nod.
Let’s suppose someone got in Dragon God-sama’s way, and for whatever reason Dragon God-sama could not outright kill them himself. Then I would.
I’ll deal with the consequences.
If I can absolve Dragon God-sama of the sin, I’d do it without any hesitation.
Therefore, Dora-sama refused to share teleport and summoning magics with the Five Dragon Generals.
Conversely, she also didn’t know much about barriers and magical beasts.
But the possibility exists.
Thus the suspicion from other worlds that we’re the culprits cannot be absolved.
Of course, Five Dragon Generals would do no such things.
“The only thing we could do was figure out who’s the culprit behind the monster and teleportation incidents.”
“No… results of the research showed that the incidents weren’t caused by magical techniques. Its fundamental principles are different.”
“How?”
“We create the phenomenon using magical circles, but there’s no traces of such in the monster and teleport incidents.”
Research had progressed.
We could now teleport and summon.
And understood the reason behind the monsters and teleportations.
“The cause?”
“We called it Dragon Touki.”
Dora-sama explained.
Power permeates the Six Worlds.
In Dragon World we called in Dragon Touki, in Demon World they called it Magic Power.
A power possessed by every living creature of the Six Worlds.
People, fish, beasts, birds, even dragons.
The monsters and teleportation incidents were both a result of this power.
When a large amount of power is absorbed, creatures turn into magical beasts.
More powerful creatures transform into more powerful magical beasts.
People were no exception.
But unlike other creatures, their appearance does not change significantly, only they wield greater magic and special powers.
My Demon Eye, the overwhelming power of the Five Dragon Generals, they’re all phenomena of this power.
This power maintains a natural equilibrium within the SIx Worlds.
If the power diminishes significantly in one world, it’ll be retrieved from another to compensate.
This transference not only caught up with trees and animals, but also people.
As a result, teleportation incidents occur.
People were spirited away.
“But we hit a dead end.”
We didn’t figure out the cause of the imbalances.
Why did the incidents occur more frequently?
Then a breakthrough.
According to the researcher’s hypothesis, he said that at a certain time, the power of the Six Worlds suddenly declined, creating significant imbalances.
The worlds absorb power from each other more to compensate, creating teleportation incidents.
Because of the power gradient within each world, magical beasts appeared more frequently as well.
So the theory goes.
The most promising theory so far.
However, why did the power of the Six Worlds suddenly diminish?
There must be a cause.
“We only got so far with our research when the war began. We also missed the opportunity to tell you as well. I haven’t had the chance.”
But the end result was a method to travel to other worlds.
"Laplace. Do you know why the dragon god allowed you to negotiate with other worlds and invite their specialists into Dragon World?"
"No."
"When the research progressed a little more, Dragon God-sama intended to share these technologies with the Six Worlds. Its cause, remedy, as well as methods to prevent the incidents from reoccuring.”
Once again, I was touched by Dragon God-sama’s grace.
He was not only considering the Dragon World.
He wished to save all the worlds.
“Dragon God-sama was truly gracious, yet they spite his efforts, even repaid his kindness with spite. Do you understand now?”
“Any trace of confusion had left me...”
The other worlds had betrayed Dragon God-sama.
More than betrayal, they robbed him of his beloved.
His wrath was justified.
This war was inevitable.
A just dessert.
My hesitation has disappeared.
To tell the truth, I didn't understand half of the explanation about summoning at that time, but my concern had dissipated.
In the next battle, I decided to take the lead.
After an utmost salute to Dora-sama, I left the research lab and flew away satisfied and resolute.
Re-energized for the coming battle with the demons.
But I was a fool.
If I were a little smarter back then, with a bit more knowledge of summons and teleports, I would have asked Dora-sama,
“If the power theory was true, then wouldn’t our destruction of other worlds create further imbalance? Wouldn’t more magical beasts and teleport incidents occur?”
If I just said those words, maybe it won’t have been such an end.
The wise Dora-sama would certainly come to a new conclusion.
But I was such a fool back then.
And the battle with Demon World began.
