Chapter 132 - Egg (2)

The black eye floating in the air had not actually emerged from the world beyond. It only ever appeared when Alon used magic.

The Shadow Dragon could perceive it nonetheless because its stature as a being was vastly higher than that of other living creatures.

The same held true for the Death Shadow Dragon exposed to blood. Whatever its name, it was still a Shadow Dragon at its core.

And so it had caught sight of the eye that should have remained in the world beyond. Having only just been born, it had yet to realize that it must not perceive that presence.

As a result, the Death Shadow Dragon froze in place, trembling uncontrollably.

It had understood instinctively. The eye before it belonged to a being fundamentally different from itself—one so impossibly far beyond it that a difference in stature could not begin to describe the gulf.

That inconceivable disparity restored the Shadow Dragon's wisdom and intelligence, which consuming human blood had stripped away. Though it had only just been born, the Death Shadow Dragon began to think for itself.

How could it survive this?

With black shadow dripping from its body, its first thought was, 'Should I fight?'

Its wisdom and intelligence might have returned, but its savage disposition remained intact.

Yet it soon abandoned the idea. Even if it fought, it had no chance of winning if the master who had supplied its mana kept a being that powerful at his side...

The Death Shadow Dragon kept thinking until it found the course that offered the best chance of survival, given that it had come here openly looking for trouble.

Submission.

The moment it decided, the Death Shadow Dragon began surveying its master's study. Newly born though it was, it knew that submitting to an overwhelmingly powerful being meant winning as much favor as possible.

Its dozens of red eyes darted about. Soon, it spotted a statue sitting on one side of the desk in Alon's bedroom: the cat figurine the caravan leader of Sorigireum had given him earlier.

[...]

The Death Shadow Dragon's eyes gleamed.

The next morning...

"...?"

The first thing Alon saw upon waking was a black cat asleep on top of him.

####

A little later.

"So... that is a Shadow Dragon...?"

"Yes."

The cat—no, the Death Shadow Dragon—wandered around the study with a curious expression.

"... But that's a cat."

"Indeed."

"... What part of that looks like a dragon?"

Confusion spread across Evan's face. A moment later, however, he noticed that the black cat's outline shimmered like a heat haze.

"... It certainly doesn't look ordinary. But it still looks far more like a cat than a dragon, no matter how I look at it. How can that be a Death Shadow Dragon?"

"Because the egg is gone."

"... The egg?"

Only then did Evan realize that the black egg behind Alon had vanished completely.

"Ah, you're right."

Regardless of whether the two men paid it any attention, the Death Shadow Dragon wandered about, surveying everything with its red eyes.

"It really does just look like a cat."

"Not an ordinary cat, though."

"... True. Not with its fur swirling around like that."

Alon's face remained expressionless, but inwardly he felt rather strange.

'... It's definitely a Death Shadow Dragon.'

The cat's red eyes assured him of that. What made him doubt it nonetheless was the nature of a Death Shadow Dragon.

'... Leaving the cat appearance aside, it doesn't seem particularly violent.'

As far as he knew, a Death Shadow Dragon slaughtered every living creature around it with its immense power the moment it was born.

Yet the one before him showed not even a hint of that. Quite the opposite.

TAP, TAP!

Watching it cautiously pat a book on the bottom shelf with its front paw, anyone would have found it utterly unimposing rather than frightening.

After pondering for a while, Alon quietly called to it.

"... Blackie."

["Kyu?"]

The Death Shadow Dragon immediately turned and came scampering over.

"... Blackie?"

"Its name."

Evan looked at Alon with fresh surprise, thinking it was an incongruously sweet name.

"... Isn't that a little odd for a Death Shadow Dragon? And on a separate note, that sound... certainly isn't a cat's."

While Evan looked somewhat uncomfortable, the kitten-sized Blackie reached Alon.

'... It obeys me well, too.'

Alon studied the Death Shadow Dragon with an increasingly puzzled expression. Everything about its behavior contradicted the instructions he had obtained for the Shadow Dragon's Egg and the information Rine had given him.

For a moment, he wondered whether it truly was something else, as Evan had suggested, but he soon shook his head.

This catlike creature was definitely a Death Shadow Dragon. He could verify its strange—no, extraordinary—nature right now.

"Hmm."

After watching it quietly, Alon slipped both hands beneath the cat's forelegs and lifted it.

Its body stretched.

"... Huh???"

Evan's bewildered voice rang out. Naturally so. Though Alon had lifted it, the cat's feet remained planted on the floor, and only its body grew longer.

In an instant, the Death Shadow Dragon went from roughly the length of a forearm to reaching Alon's waist.

The creature glanced about apprehensively before belatedly lifting its feet. Its body smoothly drew itself up, leaving it dangling in Alon's hands a beat late.

Alon set it on the floor and picked it up again, and once more its body stretched. He repeated this several times, watching the little creature look increasingly self-conscious and retract its body a little faster each time.

"... It really is a Death Shadow Dragon."

"Isn't it?"

"Yes."

Both men were convinced.

["Kyu?"]

Still held aloft, the creature gave an adorable little tilt of its head.

Alon watched it for a moment, then set it down and rose.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll read the letter again, just in case. After reading that part yesterday, I spent quite a while thinking before falling asleep. Watch it while I fetch the letter."

"Yes, my lord."

TAP, TAP.

["Kyuu?"]

####

After Alon left, Evan regarded the Death Shadow Dragon—no, the cat Alon called Blackie—with a peculiar expression.

With Alon gone, it resumed surveying its surroundings with its red eyes, occasionally patting an interesting-looking object with a front paw. Even Evan, who had no interest in pets, found it quite engaging.

There was certainly something not quite right about calling Blackie a cat, but even taking that into account, it was remarkably cute.

Soon, Evan approached and picked Blackie up as Alon had done.

"Oh."

He couldn't help marveling as its body stretched out. It seemed capable of stretching endlessly: Blackie was now almost twice as long as when Alon had lifted it while seated.

It was a little bizarre, but those bright, wide eyes gazing at him were so cute that all he felt was wonder—until...

"... Huh?"

Evan saw red eyes suddenly rolling into existence all along the elongated body, which had been bare just moments earlier.

And that wasn't all. In the middle of that long body, now covered with dozens of eyes, an enormous mouth filled with sharp teeth appeared.

KREEEEEEEEK!

Evan stared blankly at Blackie as it abruptly opened its jaws wide toward him and gave that grotesque cry.

Then he quietly lowered himself and set it on the floor.

Blackie trotted off and began surveying its surroundings with bright, innocent eyes, as though nothing had happened.

Immediately afterward, Alon returned to the study.

"... Why are you sitting like that?"

He stroked Blackie as it approached his feet and rubbed its head against him, looking puzzled at Evan, who remained frozen on his knees.

"My lord."

"?"

"... I think that really is a Death Shadow Dragon after all."

"... Why say that all of a sudden?"

"It was... very... frightening."

Evan sounded utterly dazed.

Wondering what had brought that on, Alon looked down at Blackie.

["Kyu?"]

But Blackie merely gazed up at him with eyes a little larger than an ordinary cat's and tilted its head.

####

Some time later, Alon ultimately decided to put off disposing of Blackie.

There were two reasons. First, Blackie was far gentler than expected and followed Alon faithfully—though at some point Evan seemed to have stopped going anywhere near it.

Second, near the end of her letter, Rine had written that if he happened to succeed in subduing the Death Shadow Dragon and binding it through a ritual, there would be no need to dispose of it.

"..."

Alon glanced down at Blackie napping on his lap, then inspected the tiny design on the underside of his right wrist.

That mark had not been there before the Death Shadow Dragon was born. It had appeared immediately after Blackie's birth, and it was unmistakably a mark of obedience.

In other words, there was no longer any possibility of Blackie posing a threat to him.

But...

'... When did this happen?'

Alon had no idea when the mark had been made. Both his knowledge of the game and the magic he had studied in this world told him that creating a mark of obedience invariably required a certain amount of preparation.

Soon, however, he pushed that concern aside with practiced ease. What mattered was that Blackie no longer posed a threat to him. Besides, thinking about the mark would not give him an answer.

'... I'll have to ask Rine about this when I visit the border.'

Having sorted out his thoughts, Alon spoke to Evan.

"Evan."

"Yes, my lord."

"Let's get moving."

"Ah, to the border?"

"Yes. All our work is finished."

"That's true. But didn't you say you wanted to research the Death Shadow Dragon a little more? That magic, I mean."

"I can look into it on the way."

"Then I'll make the preparations."

Alon watched Evan leave the room, then lowered his gaze. Blackie was still asleep.

'... Unification of Shadows. What could it be?'

Recalling the inscription he had seen when he obtained the Shadow Dragon's Egg, Alon quietly indulged his curiosity.

####

Around the time Alon was preparing to leave for the border, Yuna finally got to attend the Blue Moon meeting she had dreamed of.

Brimming with anticipation, she suddenly thought of Hidan. More precisely, she remembered the words of her closest friend and comrade, who had served alongside her in Blue Moon for over ten years:

["Don't get your hopes up."]

'... What was that about?'

Hidan had certainly been full of admiration at first, too. Hadn't he excitedly bragged about getting to attend a meeting?

She briefly recalled the jaded look in his eyes the last time they spoke, then entered the meeting on time.

Inside sat the five Moons whom every member of Blue Moon admired, each with an air of lofty dignity.

The atmosphere was solemn.

Nervous, but pleased to find the meeting had the atmosphere she had always envisioned, Yuna bowed her head.

'Why did he tell me not to get my hopes up? It's exactly how I imagined it.'

She looked in puzzlement at Hidan, who sat in a corner wearing a calm expression.

About thirty minutes later...

["... Rejected. You can't erect a statue."]

["Why not?"]

["It would be one thing if you'd been saved from a crisis like Merkillan, but if you start putting them up indiscriminately, won't it be obvious?"]

["Then it's fine as long as we're rescued by the Great Moon from a crisis like Merkillan's. Hidan, how many Abyssal Cores have we recovered?"]

["What are you planning?"]

["For now, I'll keep a few on hand to make it plausible—"]

Watching the Violet Moon casually begin spouting such bizarre remarks...

[...??]

Yuna realized that something was wrong.