SIDE - Elder Dragon
«I received help from Leriel-sama before and I also want to ease the burden on Majou-dono so I'll scout the area while taking out the monsters.»
Majou-dono received an oracle from Goddess Leriel-sama informing her of the impending crisis in the form of a large-scale stampede that occurred in a dungeon in the west.
To repay the benevolence of the Heaven Goddess Lerial-sama, who used her power to lift the floating island, I was flying toward the west when a fort that stood as the frontline to stop the invasion of monsters came into my view.
«I guess I should place a «Transfer Gate» in front of this fort......»
I landed at an empty place from where the fort, where many refugees could be seen gathering, was visible and lined up 5 «Transfer Gates». Attendant-dono had already optimized them and restricted them to a one-way transfer to prevent any mishap from happening like accidentally returning to the «Empty Wilderness».
Just as I was neatly setting them up, knight-looking people approached where I was from the direction of the fort while riding on horses.
«Hmm, it will be bothersome to deal with humans...... I should just focus on culling the numbers of monsters.»
Thinking that, I unfurled my wings to get away from the place when the winds carrying words poured into my ears.
"Wait! We're not here to fight!"
I weakened the flapping of my wings at that voice and turned my head to look back at the human group. An elven young girl was among them.
Though the elven girl was brave enough to raise her voice, tension ran among the humans.
Well, it wasn't like bows and arrows would be able to do anything to me even if they mistook me for a monster and this looked like just the right chance to give them a heads up about the «Transfer Gates». So, I looked at the humans and said,
«I am the Ancient Dragon of Verdigris. An old dragon that had lived since ancient times.»
" " "——It, It talked!? His voice!" " "
A shock ran through the human group who received a telepathic message from me other than the elf and one human who looked particularly strong as they looked straight up at me.
"I am Refrya! An Adventurer!"
«Then, Adventurer Refrya-dono. I have come out in this time of crisis at the request of my sworn friend and also for the favor I owe to the goddess! My goal is but one, to thin out the monsters!»
"In that case, wouldn't it be perfect for you to cooperate with us?"
Cooperation, huh?...... It was another matter if they were as strong as Majou-dono or her Protector-dono, but aside from them, matching my pace with humans would reduce my efficiency.
«The only thing I seek from you is to guide the refugees and protect the people who will appear from these «Transfer Gates».»
When I pointed at the «Transfer Gates» I had placed on the plain before, some of the knights showed a knowing expression seemingly aware of what they were.
I assumed they must be the knights who visited the «Empty WIlderness» with Majou-dono's stepdaughter.
As I prepared to take flight once again, an old swordsman raised his voice this time.
"Have you thought about the unrest you'll cause among the people if you alone tried to guide them?"
«Ugh......»
A groan slipped out when the old swordsman standing beside the elven young girl pointed out the flaw in my plan.
After spending a long time in the company of my young'uns who adored me as their grandfather, I had completely forgotten about the impact that I had on ordinary people.
"It would sound more convincing if I and some other knights came along with you, noh?"
«......So you want me to take you along with me?»
"To be frank, yes!"
To be not afraid of me, an ancient dragon, this old swordsman sure has guts of steel.
«Very well, then just ride on back. I shall allow up to five people to come with me.»
"Much appreciated!"
After a talk, the old swordsman Alsace who sported a bright, pure smile like a child, his pale-faced disciple, and three other knights rode on my back and this time, I uninterruptedly flew towards the west while looking at the situation down below.
«I see. Small villages couldn't put up resistance against the overwhelming force. However, there are still some people left behind.»
"Verdigris Ancient Dragon-sama, can you see the situation?"
«It's just «Mana Sense». Those who have taken in refugees in big towns should be able to cope. We'll focus on rescuing the stranded people.»
Then, we found the people who couldn't escape to a safe place hidden in the villages or caves in small forests and sent them to the fort through the «Transfer Gates».
Occasionally, we also culled the monsters' numbers to aid a besieged city struggling against the horde.
"We're going down now! We'll explain the situation to the townspeople!"
«In that case, I'll take care of the monsters outside the town.»
I found the proposal of the man named Alsace to be agreeable and dropped them off outside of the town's rampart walls. Their duty was to explain and reassure them about the situation, while my duty was to take care of the monsters. I also landed down.
«Oh, monsters. This is something I must do......»
I murmured this one phrase with telepathic communication and flapped my wings while channeling mana in them, which brought forth a tempest on the ground.
The monsters on the plains were blown away into the air as if being swung around in a spiral, and when they fell back to the ground, only their lifeless bodies were left behind piling up on each other.
Well, I couldn't blow away the forest just to clear the monsters else I would be putting the cart before the horse. So I focused on thinning their numbers in the open areas.
And as a final touch, the tempest I raised would leave my scent to linger on the surroundings. This would make other monsters avoid this place for a while.
The people of the town would finally be able to take a breath of relief.
«Oh, humans. The food shouldn't have been sufficient to last long while holding the siege. Feel free to use the bodies of the monsters to fill your bellies. Alsace, let's go.»
"Understood.”
We soared into the sky after I was done with my work down there, and resumed my advance towards the west to search for any other people in a pinch.
We found humans traveling on the roads, and members of the demonic races leading hidden lives in the forest whom we evacuated using the «Transfer Gates». For the towns that were holding their own against the monsters, I would kill the monsters in the surrounding area and leave my scent, providing them a temporary respite.
As we repeated the same procedure again and again, I noticed something odd.
«Alsace. Why are there more demonic beings among the people who are left behind?»
Aside from those who couldn’t fend for themselves, those hiding in the forest or left behind in the villages were mostly demonic beings.
Alsace displayed a bitter expression when I asked.
"Discrimination against members of demonic races is rampant in the western part of the continent."
«Why is there discrimination against them?»
"A long time ago, a nation had fallen in the land of the west due to a summoned Archdemon. Furthermore, this didn’t just end there."
The Archdemon named himself Demon King, called out many other devils, and treated humans as slaves.
'As a result, a lot of humans with demonic blood, devil kind, were born until the Archdemon was defeated' — Alsace explained.
"That's why members of the demonic race are strongly persecuted here in the western region. Consequently, that's why they lead secluded lives in small villages or around the national borders, unable to enter any of the large towns."
«It's a harsh world......»
Furthermore, demonic races liked to live in mana-dense regions.
However, such places were overrun by the monsters from the stampede since this was also their preferred habitat, so they were most likely driven off from their homes.
As we got closer to the place where this disaster occurred while helping out such people, the number of safe towns and surviving people began to decrease. The majority of the area had turned into the territories of monsters.
"This is awful......"
«The monsters must have had a conflict with each other after they escaped the control of the dungeon, and are now building their strength.»
As the monsters released from the dungeon fought and killed others all this time, some of them had already evolved into advanced species. Although their numbers might decrease when they reached the eastern fort, they would undoubtedly become a formidable threat to compensate for the loss of numbers.
While in the dungeon where it all began——
"What... the hell is this......?"
«What a profound miasma……»
Aside from the sacrificial mana, the resentment of the people who had been swallowed in the space-time gap due to the recklessness of the ancient magic civilization was also drawn in, so miasma was still flowing out of the dungeon.
«The impact of the stampede has brought about the downfall of a nation...... What a tragedy.»
After the towns and fields had been razed, and ground contaminated by the miasma, it would be difficult to rebuild the nation here once again. Furthermore, the monsters overflowing from the dungeon were spreading everywhere.
I didn't have that much of an interest in knowing how much the territory suitable for humans to live in would be reduced, but it was hard to imagine just how far the damage from this stampede would resound.
Just as we were staring down at the source of the stampede, changes started to occur.
«Hmm, the dungeon is collapsing...... No, it seems like monsters are crawling out of the sub-space.»
A group of collective vengeful spirits, Fear Geists, poured out of the spatial rift like gas. Following them were countless human bones that overflowed from the sub-space.
«......I have never seen anything like this in my life.»
"Monsters of this rank are impossible for us. We aren't their match......"
Countless skeletons, created through the power of the dungeon, appeared and after them, a bony colossus, as if someone had glued together countless bones, was formed.
Even I couldn't say for sure if I would be able to win against them in a one-on-one fight. We would simply be overwhelmed by the skeleton horde that resembled an ants' swarm if we let ourselves be dragged into the ground.
With each step they took, miasma spread in the surroundings and created a haven for monsters, as they marched towards the east.
After witnessing this scene, we returned to the eastern fort to bring back this information while taking out monsters that we chanced upon on our way.
