Chapter 94: The gods can wait

It took the group several minutes to make their way back to where they had left the carriage.

No one said much on the way back.

After all, they had just escaped from a mausoleum buried beneath the Silent Stones and had left behind a gigantic guardian who seemed powerful enough to destroy them without much effort.

It wasn’t exactly the kind of experience that lent itself to casual conversation.

Arlene walked with the little demon princess by her side, while Uki trotted alongside her with his ears perked up. The little blue squirrel was a few meters ahead, hopping back and forth among the rocks and roots as if it were nothing.

Noir watched it for a few seconds as the mausoleum stood.

Finally, they reached the carriage. Arlene checked to make sure everything was in order before letting out a sigh of relief.

The campfire was still burning, and the provisions were exactly where they had been left.

For some reason, this simple scene gave Noir a strange sense of calm.

It was nice to see something normal again.

The young dragon approached the campfire and flopped down beside it. He stretched out his front legs and rested his head on them as he watched the flames.

Uki lay down near the carriage and closed his eyes, though his ears continued to twitch from time to time.

The little demon princess, for her part, picked up the tail of Noir—her favorite stuffed animal—again, as if nothing had happened.

The young black dragon let out a long sigh, believing he had escaped the little demon’s clutches.

Although he quite enjoyed the whole experience, he didn’t regret for a moment his decision to head to the demon realm.

He had gone all the way to the Silent Stones hoping to find, at most, some ancient ruins or an explanation for those enormous monoliths.

Instead, they had found a hidden mausoleum, four statues of ancient gods, a complete account of Khalid’s origins, and, to top it all off, a gigantic guardian that had nearly reduced them to dust.

Noir stared intently at the flames.

’That definitely wasn’t part of my plan.’

The golden sphere floated slowly until it came to rest beside him. For a few seconds, it remained motionless, then began to spin the same strange way it had inside the mausoleum.

Noir lifted his head slightly.

"Are you still thinking about that?"

The sphere continued to spin.

Noir rested his head on his paws again.

"Sure. That was a stupid question."

Despite everything, he couldn’t stop thinking about the four statues.

Varkhan.

Morzak.

Avaros.

Melyra.

Four gods who had existed before Khalid.

Up until that moment, Noir had assumed that religion in this world was fairly simple.

Khalid was the creator, the god who had brought the world and its various races into being—except for the dragons. That was what Arlene knew. That was what everyone seemed to believe.

But Aster had said something different.

According to the oldest stories, Khalid had appeared after the four had disappeared.

Noir narrowed his eyes.

’Then someone is wrong.’

The answer seemed pretty obvious, but the problem was that he didn’t know who.

The ancient stories might be wrong. The modern ones might be wrong, too. It was even possible that both contained only part of the truth.

Furthermore, dragons weren’t as simple as he’d thought based on the novels he’d read in his past life; they seemed to be unique. And the reason for their disappearance isn’t that simple.

Noir didn’t have enough information to know.

And that was frustrating.

Not because he needed to know the answer right away, but because he now knew there was an answer. It was like coming across a locked door after discovering something interesting on the other side.

’And I can’t even ask Aster.’

Noir paused.

’Though he probably wouldn’t know how to answer me either.’

That reminded him of something the immortal had said earlier. The longer he lived, the more things he discovered he didn’t know.

Noir had to admit that that statement had surprised him a little.

Aster had lived for centuries. He had traveled to places Noir couldn’t even imagine, met dragons, and witnessed entire civilizations disappear. Yet even he possessed only fragments of information.

That meant this world’s past was far more complex than Noir had imagined.

And then there was the figure of the dragon.

Noir slowly raised his head.

The image was still etched in his memory—a massive creature with outstretched wings, carved into the wall behind the four statues. The dragon seemed to be looking directly at them.

’What were you doing there?’

Noir wasn’t expecting an answer.

But the question remained.

Aster had said he’d found depictions of dragons in other ruins. Some were even older than the Silent Stones. He’d also said he’d never found a clear explanation for the relationship between dragons and the gods.

Noir stared into the fire.

’So not even the dragons know what the hell happened.’

Of course, Noir didn’t know any other dragons besides Chrysola. As far as he knew, he was the only one roaming these lands.

That made the inscription all the more intriguing.

The young black dragon had spent his entire new life trying to figure out what it meant to be a dragon, but every answer seemed to lead to ten more questions.

First, the golden sphere had appeared.

Then he had met the Golden Dragon.

After that, he had encountered Amanises.

Now he had discovered that dragons appeared in ruins that might predate many of today’s civilizations.

And the sphere kept reacting to all of that.

Noir glanced sideways at his golden companion.

"You know something."

The orb spun around slightly.

Noir narrowed her eyes.

"That doesn’t count as an answer."

The sphere spun again.

"I know you can’t talk."

Noir sighed and turned his gaze back to the flames.

’Someday I’ll get you to explain everything to me.’

Of course, he had no proof that the orb could do it. But he had no proof to the contrary either. That was enough for the young black dragon.

As he sat by the campfire, an idea occurred to him.

They had discovered the mausoleum by accident. Or rather, the squirrel had led them there. That meant there could still be much more beneath the Silent Stones.

The staircase led down into the depths, and the guardian had been waiting there.

Noir recalled Aster’s words.

’He wasn’t asleep. He was waiting.’

Who was he waiting for? The squirrel? Someone who would arrive thousands of years later? Or was he protecting something that wasn’t meant to be found?

Noir shrugged.

’I guess we’ll find out someday.’

It was a pretty simple answer. After all, he did not need to solve all the world’s mysteries in a single day.

He had time.

Plenty of time.

Besides, she still had to learn how to use her abilities properly, discover new creatures, explore the world, and, if she was lucky, find something to eat.

Come to think of it, that last part was probably the most important.

Noir yawned.

’The gods can wait.’

He moved a little closer to the campfire and closed his eyes.

For a few minutes, everything remained quiet.

The fire crackled softly.

The wind rustled the leaves on the trees.

The little demon princess was talking to Arlene about something Noir wasn’t listening to. Even the golden sphere had stopped moving.

For the first time since they’d entered the Silent Stones, it seemed they could finally rest.

Noir smiled slightly.

’Now that’s the life.’

Then...

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

An explosion shook the stones.

The ground trembled beneath their paws. Arlene jumped to her feet immediately, while Uki began to growl in the direction of the Silent Stones.

Noir remained seated for a few seconds.

"No..."

Another explosion echoed in the distance.

BOOOOOOM!

A huge cloud of dust rose above the trees.

Noir slowly got to his feet.

"What the hell...?"

Arlene looked in the same direction. "Wasn’t Aster supposed to be there?"

Noir activated his Draconic Senses and extended his perception toward the Silent Stones. The mana in the area was still abnormally dense, but now there was something else.

Two presences.

One was enormous.

The other...

Noir immediately recognized that sensation.

"It can’t be."

A fourth explosion lit up the sky.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The shockwave reached them and violently shook the rocks. The golden sphere began to spin again, this time much faster, as golden particles escaped from its surface.

Noir narrowed his eyes.

A massive figure shot out from the direction of the mausoleum and passed through several rocks before crashing heavily to the ground.

CRAAAAASH!

The earth rose around the creature.

Noir stood motionless.

The silhouette rose from the rubble.

It was the guardian.

Its stone plates were covered in cracks, and several blue lines glowed brightly across its body. Its six eyes remained wide open as it gazed toward the spot from which it had been hurled.

Then a figure emerged from the dust.

Aster.

His clothes were practically in tatters. He had several wounds all over his body, and some of his hair was covered in dust, but he kept walking as if this were just another fight.

Noir opened his eyes slightly.

’Are they still fighting?’

Aster raised a hand, and an enormous amount of mana began to gather around his body.

The guardian responded with a roar that made the Silent Stones tremble.

The creature opened its mouth, and the same blue flames that Noir had seen before began to gather inside it.

Aster smiled.

"Here we go again."

Noir watched the scene for a few seconds.

He had thought Aster might survive. But he hadn’t thought she would keep fighting.

The guardian charged.

So did Aster.

The two collided amid the rocks.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion lit up the Silent Stones.

Noir stood completely still.

Arlene looked at him.

Noir looked at her.

They both turned their gaze back to the battle that had just begun right in front of them.

The young black dragon swallowed hard.

"...Oh, shit."