After finding a rather soft flag with the Dragon King, Allen's group headed back to Heavy User Island. There they went to find Haku.
'Gyaaahhhhh! I don't want to go without Mamaaaa!!'
They wanted to bring Haku to the gates, but he refused and rolled on the ground.
Kurena was the Mama Haku mentioned, she was currently in the S Rank Dungeon.
"I think we should bring Kurena here now."
"That sounds like the best choice."
Cecile agreed, they needed Kurena there. Using the Bird A's [Nest Transfer] made that easy.
"Mamaaaa!!"
Haku leaned its 15 meter long body on Kurena, which would have crushed a regular person.
Kurena had always been watching over him, which resulted in him getting attached like that.
"Alright, we're going to the dungeon together."
Kurena held her hand out to Haku, and he answered by placing one of his claws there.
'Yeah! I go with Mama!!'
The situation was too complex for Kurena to understand, so it was easier to tell her that they were going to a dungeon. Allen felt like this would work to try opening the gates.
Bump!!
But then the Grimoire appeared in front of him unprompted.
His stats and other logs scrolled by, and then silver words appeared on the black cover.
'Haku has joined your party.'
"Oh, bringing Kurena really did the trick."
Allen recalled needing a specific party member present to make a dragon join his party in a game before. He felt like Kurena had a similar role now.
"Hey, what's going on?"
While Allen thought of those things, Cecile's voice brought him back to reality.
"I see. It seems Haku has joined our party."
Allen told his friends what had happened.
"Ohh, Haku is in the party now!"
'In the party with Mama!!'
Kurena and Haku were happy.
"Hmhm, his stats are here too. I guess he's our 14th member then."
[Species]: White Dragon
[Form]: Infantile
[Rank]: C
[Level]: 1
[Strength]: 200
[Mana]: 100
[Attack]: 300
[Endurance]: 200
[Agility]: 300
[Intelligence]: 10
[Luck]: 100
[Special Skills] Fire Breath, Tearing
[Experience]: 0 / 100
Allen was able to check Haku's stats in the Grimoire.
(Hmm, he's still pretty weak for a White Dragon. Maybe it's because he's still small, and his Intelligence is only 10 so he's more of a frontliner I guess.)
He noticed Haku's stats were pretty low, but he recalled the previous White Dragon, which he defeated before heading to the S Rank Dungeon, had measured 60 meters long, and its stats reached 10000.
Rank C was pretty low, and his Intelligence especially low.
There was no Talent or Skill Experience, and instead his Species was listed.
"He looks rather weak, are you sure this is good idea?"
"Well, it's common for a dragon to join the fight against a Demon King. We just have to make sure he grows up properly."
"What are you talking about? I never heard anything about that."
Cecile was exposed to yet another thing Allen considered common sense.
Allen recalled games where a dragon of incomparable power joined his party.
They always had incredible Strength, Attack, Endurance, and a powerful breath attack.
He also was looking forward to seeing how Haku would develop in the future.
Now they would head to the Gates of Trials. Now Kurena and Haku were with them.
Reorganizing his party like that also reminded Allen of games he played before.
They climbed on the Bird B summon and descended to the ruins.
The ruins were so large that Haku looked small by comparison when they entered.
The gate in the center had to be one of the Gates of Trials the Dragon King's messenger mentioned.
"So this is the Gate of Trials the Dragon King mentioned. I wonder if something will happen."
This was the first time Cecile was there.
The ruins were large enough that a dragon could fly inside.
'Will you challenge my gate? Dragon who wishes to open the Gate of Judgement.'
This time the dragon drawn on the gate spoke. It was responding to Haku's presence.
"Yes please."
Allen agreed, he had no reason not to.
"Huh? What's going on?!"
Everyone there was instantly transported somewhere they did not really know.
They had been transported to a location with a stone floor.
Cecile raised her voice, confused as to what had happened, while Allen looked around.
Even dragons or golems bigger than 100 meters could move there, but Merle was not present.
"There's no cube devices here. It's kinda like a dungeon, but not quite then?"
"...Allen, is this inside the Gate of Trials?"
"Yes, Cecile. Let's try walking around a bit."
Everyone was there together.
That place resembled a dungeon, but there were no cube devices to guide them.
They had been told this was a holy ground created hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Dungeon Master Digragni had only been born 5000 years ago.
Overall it was quite distinct from dungeons.
It was dark with nothing too unusual, and the exit was far in the distance.
They could tell it was the exit because of the gate's outline and the light coming in.
"Oh, something is coming."
Sophie said, noticing something approaching them, a small feathered dragon glowing with rainbow colors. It was only a handful of meters away.
'Oh wow, it's been a while since a challenger entered, 3000 years I'd say? I've been pretty bored since then!'
Allen's group was not sure how to feel, hearing the dragon's cute and playful voice.
"A Papillon Dragon?"
(I've never seen one before, but I heard about them. So that's a holy dragon? Doesn't look that strong though.)
Allen spoke to the multicolored small dragon.
He recalled the stories he read in Latash's palace before.
There were many Something Dragons in this world, some even being holy dragons.
Allen tried to figure out what kind of dragon that was. Usually he thought of that because dragons could fetch tens of times the amount of experience of monsters, but that was not the case now.
Allen had goals other than opening the Gate of Judgement and going to the Divine Realm.
As it was, he had only unlocked the Fish S summon, Makris.
Makris was powerful enough to fight Demon Great Generals, but he did not feel like that was enough to fight the Six Fallen Angels at the same time. Not to mention that fish summons were usually just supports.
Beast and dragon summons were more suited for combat, and this was the Dragon God's Village. Allen felt like using a Sacred Beast Stone on some holy dragon there could unlock the Dragon S summon.
He had been thinking about that ever since he knew they needed to visit that place.
'No, I'm just a servant of Desperado, the God of Space and Time. My name is Megadeth, I'm basically your guide to reach the Divine Realm.'
Megadeth introduced himself with a smile.
"I see, nice to meet you then, servant of the God of Space and Time."
If he would guide them there, Allen had no reason to object.
Switching to his more polite speaking manners, he bowed.
'Heheh, you're so polite for your age…hm?'
Megadeth looked pleased with Allen's polite response, even though he looked so young.
But then he reacted confusedly, seeing Haku behind him.
'Gyau!'
(He's totally acting like a dog.)
Haku just wagged his tail while Megadeth flew around him to take a better look.
'The Unbound challenger is an infantile White Dragon, I see. Maybe it's a bit too soon for him?'
(Unbound?)
That was a word Allen had not heard in a while.
It seemed like infantile dragons going there was not common.
"Is it hard to pass the Gates of Trials?"
'It's almost hopeless. He doesn't have a Rider either, so he'll likely not come out alive. Don't think the Gates of Trials are the same as your dungeons out there.'
Haku was 100 years too young for that.
(Rider? That's another term I don't really know.)
There were things Allen did not understand in Megadeth's explanation.
"Won't get out alive? How did it go last time then?"
'That was around 3000 years ago. It was a grown ancient dragon with a Rider, together with 12000 helpers. But that was not enough to open the Gate of Judgement.'
(So they were not enough. I guess it'll be a pretty hard fight then.)
Allen finally understood why the Dragon King had been so sporadic with his hints.
He had not expected too much from them.
"Is something wrong?"
Megadeth seemed to be thinking of something.
'No, it's just that it might get harsh there, but hmm…it'll also be fun.'
While Allen thought of that, Megadeth had been examining their party.
He noticed there were interesting members like Rosen and Fabre.
"Do you think we can do it?"
It would be difficult, but Allen would not back down now that he was inside.
'You entered here, if you die, that's your own responsibility. You can challenge the trial.'
"Okay, and may I ask a few things as well?"
'Of course. I'll answer anything I'm allowed to.'
The conversation had bored Haku, so now he was playing with Kurena in the back.
First Allen asked how to leave. Megadeth said there were many exit points, and to just ask.
The dragonkin that entered before had been annihilated, but Allen thought Megadeth was rather kind. He was answering the locations of exit points, and even explained how one could return even after completing the trial.
"There's one more thing."
(This is actually what I want to know the most. Or rather, I can't fight without asking first.)
Everyone there, except for Kurena, had been wondering that.
It had been in their minds ever since they spoke with the Dragon King.
'There's more? You're quite curious.'
At least Megadeth was still willing to talk.
"Is there anything special about this infantile White Dragon? You mentioned it's been 3000 years since the last time, was there a reason why he couldn't challenge the trial since then?"
Allen asked everything he wanted to know. Megadeth was quite chatty for a god's servant.
'Ahh, you also want to know things like that. This infantile White Dragon has a Divine Artifact. Elmea granted him one, but as he's still infantile, the Divine Artifact is empty.'
Everyone looked nervous the moment they heard those words.
"Hey, that tickles."
'Gyau gyau!!'
Everyone fell silent and made Kurena and Haku's noises louder.
Allen decided Kurena needed to be taught a lesson by taking dinner away from her that night.
"So the three Gates of Trials were placed to allow dragons with Divine artifacts to enter the Divine Realm?"
(Hmhmm, it's all coming together.)
'Well, that's more or less it.'
Megadeth seemed to be hinting something with that answer.
The gate was probably there for more than just for dragons.
"Alright, we'll challenge the trial then."
Allen knew the conditions to return, and knew they could leave safely if needed.
They would challenge the trial.
