Chapter 207 : The oracle inscribed
“Saint Gazel… was defeated in the holy war… The hero of Jiordal, the Kingdom of the Divine Dragon, has lost…” one of the students watching the fight muttered.
He was the first of many, as the other students started speaking up one after another.
“…The Saint said that… That man didn’t have any god… Which means, he must be the Misfit from the surface who was invited to the Selection Trial.” (Student B)
“But how is this possible?! How did he defeat the Saint without summoning any god…?!” (Student C)
“Indeed. He surpassed the great order of light, the God of Brilliance Giosselia, with the body of a mere mortal… It’s not possible. Or rather, it shouldn’t be…” (Student D)
“But the Saint would never lie!” (Student C)
“…Then I ask you: who in the world is that man…?! No faithless heretic should be capable of taking down gods!” (Student A)
“And he didn’t even summon a dragon, let alone a god, did he?!” (Student B)
“This can’t be right… Then how in the world was he fighting, then?!” (Student C)
“Calm down! This must be another test given to us by god!” (Student D)
Apparently, summoning magic was commonplace down here.
They seemed quite confused and were making a fuss among themselves, as if the idea that I had defeated Gazel without summoning any god was alien to them.
“…A devil…” one voice muttered in awe.
“…He must be a devil in the shape of a human…” (Student A)
Such was the conclusion the students had come to.
As for Gazel, he was on the floor, trembling and begging for his Selection God Giosselia to answer him over and over again like a mad fool.
When I looked at his Pledge Jewel ring, I saw three small blue flames burning inside the black gemstone.
For each god destroyed, a new flame appeared.
So that was what Ahid meant when he said that the pledge prevented gods from perishing.
The defeated gods were sealed in their own Pledge Jewel, allowing their orders to be maintained.
“Well, now that we’ve got peace and quiet, let’s go decipher that monument.” (Anos)
I walked back to Sasha and Misha, and looked down at the stone monument.
“Could you try not to destroy gods like you’re chasing away stray cats? We’re kind of getting some reeeally cold stares for that.” Sasha said while glancing at the students.
“Don’t mind them, we’re in a deeply religious country. They’re probably not used to seeing someone who can surpass the power of gods. It’s nothing to worry about.” (Anos)
“Misha, please say something.” (Sasha)
After blinking, Misha turned her gaze to me.
“Stoic.” (Misha)
“Are you sure you don’t mean ‘cheeky’ instead?” Sasha grumbled.
“Humble?” Misha
“Let’s not think about it, it’d be scary if he were humble after killing gods so easily…” (Sasha)
Sasha stood next to me and looked down at the stone monument.
“Actually, you talk about deciphering this stone monument, but how do you plan to do that when the text is written in a language we don’t know at all?” (Sasha)
I called out to the students who were looking at me.
“I’d like to read this stone monument, is there anyone who can help me with that?” (Anos)
Then, the students averted their gaze from me.
But one female student gathered her courage and spoke up.
“Unfortunately, none of us believers are impetuous enough to lend a hand to a heretic.” (Student girl A)
“Never mind, then. I’ll try to figure it out myself.” (Anos)
When I said that, the students looked displeased.
“…These monuments are something we’ve spent hundreds of years trying to decipher. The gods would never allow a heretic like you to decipher them.” (Student girl A)
“Well, just watch and learn. I’ll tell you what they say once I read them.” (Anos)
I looked at the monument again.
“So, how are you going to proceed?” Sasha asked.
Then Misha pointed to another monument.
“Half of it is in ancient magic runes.” (Misha)
As always, Misha was very observant.
“Judging by the placement of the characters, it was in the process of being translated. If I start from those ancient magic runes, I should be able to figure out the rest.” (Anos)
“…Can you really decipher it so quickly?” (Sasha)
I scanned all the stone monuments in this room with my Magic Eyes.
“Hmm. It seems that those unknown characters are called prayer runes.” (Anos)
.” (Anos)
“Eh…?” (Sasha)
“It says that the underground world was created about two thousand years ago. And that the inhabitants are called the children of dragons, or otherwise draconids.” (Anis)
“W-Wait a minute. You’ve already deciphered it?” Sasha asked in surprise.
“I’m still deciphering half of it. But I got the gist of what it says.” (Anos)
I focused my Magic Eyes to decipher the history of the Underground World written on the numerous stone monuments here.
“Children of dragons?” Misha asked, tilting her head curiously.
“Why?” (Misha)
“They say their ancestors were born from dragons.” (Anos)
“…Dragons give birth to people?” (Misha)
“That’s the first I hear of it, too.” (Anos)
That being said, there were many mysteries about dragons’ biology, and they possessed enormous amounts of magic power.
It wouldn’t be that surprising if they gave birth to people.
I read through all the monuments to see if I could find anything about it anywhere.
“Hmm. I’ve found something. Apparently, when dragons consume the sources of humans and demons, the latter are given new lives in their wombs, and are reborn. It says that ‘draconids’ is the general term for those who live in the Underground World, but the special name for those who were born directly from dragons is ‘dragonborn’.” (Anos)
Did this mean that a dragon’s womb was a reincarnation organ with magical effects similar to those of the <Reincarnation Syrica> spell?
“Dragonborns possess the power of dragons, as well as a great amount of magic power. That’s because all the sources a dragon has consumed are merged together and born as one single life.” (Anos)
“That’s… kind of insane…” (Sasha)
And with each passing generation, the power and magic of the draconids decreased, huh.
