novelraw Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Ch.38 There’s a Great Wizard Out Here
Four figures enter a dark cave.
Each holds a lantern as they explore the cavern.
At the end of the long, winding tunnel lies a vast space filled with endless darkness.
“This should be about the right spot. Tear open all the Light Scrolls.”
Though her face remained hidden beneath her robe, the woman’s melodious voice echoed through the chamber. The three companions immediately pulled bundles of paper from their bags and tore them apart.
—Wheeeeng!
Dozens of orbs of light floated into the air.
As the pure white radiance pushed back the darkness and illuminated the surroundings, a massive structure hidden within the shadows was revealed.
Before them stood an imposing palace crowned with a grand dome, flanked by dozens of towering obelisks lining the path to its main gate. The sheer majesty of it left everyone speechless—until a soft, awed voice broke the silence.
“This is the place…”
She dashed toward the palace—
“Captain! Wait for us!”
“Miss Selena! It’s dangerous to go alone!”
Her companions called out her name in alarm and hurried after her into the palace.
They pushed against the large, heavy iron doors—
—Kreeeak!
Rusted hinges shrieked as the gates groaned open.
Lantern light revealed a vast corridor stretching into the gloom within.
—Gulp.
Swallowing her fear and excitement, she stepped slowly inside. Her companions followed close behind.
“Captain?!”
“You can’t just go in alone like that!”
The men scolded her, but she ignored them and pointed into the distance.
“There! The true power of the gods lies there.”
Trembling faintly with emotion, she walked toward the barely visible altar.
—Thud… thud…
‘As prophesied, the Demon King is dead. Once I claim that holy relic, death shall engulf the world.’
This sacred artifact was what she had sought for her god.
Fearing the prophecy might come true and her god meet ruin, her sect had spent ages searching for it.
And now—
Thrilled at the thought that her efforts would finally shatter the false prophecy, she could barely contain her excitement.
—Thud.
Her small footsteps echoed as she climbed step by step onto the altar.
—Thud! Thud!
Unable to restrain herself any longer, she ran the rest of the way.
Spotting a black box on the altar, she swept her robe aside.
Long black hair and deep ruby eyes framed a stunning face.
She swallowed hard.
‘Ah… At last, I reclaim Equality.’
She tensed her arm to open the box.
—Kreeeak!
The box opened. The black-haired woman shone her lantern inside—but…
“Huh?”
Thinking she’d misread, she looked again—but the box was completely empty.
Her beautiful face froze in dumbfounded disbelief, mouth hanging open.
Her eyes finally focused. She reached inside, fumbling for hidden mechanisms—but realizing it was truly empty, she let out a furious scream.
“What is this?! Who took Equality?!”
“Miss Selena?! What do you mean?”
“Captain?!”
Selena trembled with rage.
With an icy expression, she hurled the box to the floor.
—Bang!
“It’s empty! Someone already took it!”
She kicked the innocent box in fury.
“But… that can’t be! We came here right after the Demon King fell!”
Fearing the prophecy would unfold, Selena and her organization had spared no effort or resources to find Equality the moment the Demon King began his assault on the world.
Yet all they found was an empty box.
Instead of disappointment, she felt only seething anger.
“Captain… but to even find this place, one would need to know the Prophecy Scroll, right?”
“Exactly, Miss. Even within our organization, few know of the scroll.”
Hearing the words of the man in his thirties (wearing a leather cap) and the man who appeared to be in his fifties, Selena glared at the discarded box.
“Our sect… they know the Prophecy Scroll too! This is clearly their doing!”
In truth, it was Hans—a veteran Destiny player—who had taken it, but they had no way of knowing.
“Damn it! I thought I’d finally stopped the prophecy! Philip—tell our agents in the sect to find out who has Equality!”
Still seething, Selena stared at the broken box on the ground.
Then—
—Thud! Crunch!
Her elegant calf and leather boot emerged from beneath her robe as she stomped down hard, crushing the box to pieces.
“May the cursed gods hear me: I will not let our god be destroyed.”
With that, she cursed whoever had taken Equality.
***
Aria, the white-haired girl, was receiving abundant care from the humans.
No adult could possibly leave a child wandering the snowy plains in such thin clothing.
Thus, the couple had decided to take Aria in—at least until a proper guardian appeared.
For their part, having only two sons before, they found quiet joy in the presence of the lovely girl.
When her husband and sons were out, and only Aria remained with her, Mrs. Raela was happiest— especially when feeding the adorable girl or teaching her household chores.
Perhaps because Aria was the only female in the family,
Raela felt an unusual fondness for her.
“Aria? Would you like to try this?”
Raela took a few pieces of honey-preserved fruit from a glass jar and offered them to Aria.
Aria beamed and nodded eagerly.
“Yes! I’ll eat it!”
She devoured the fruit so quickly—honey smearing all over her mouth as if someone were chasing her—that Raela gently stroked her head.
‘Ah… I wish she’d become our daughter-in-law someday.’
Raela had no idea Aria was a dragon.
After all, dragons were house-sized creatures covered head to toe in massive scales.
Most of all—dragons weren’t cute.
In contrast, Aria was so exquisitely lovely that one might think, ‘If a little angel existed, she’d look just like this.’
“Aria, when you grow up, will you be our daughter-in-law?”
Aria tilted her head with innocent curiosity.
“What’s a daughter-in-law?”
Still with honey on her lips, she asked with childlike naivety. Raela gently wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
“A daughter-in-law is someone who marries our son and becomes family.”
“What’s marriage?”
Raela paused, wondering how to explain it to such a pure-hearted child.
‘What kind of home did she grow up in, that she doesn’t even know what marriage is?’
Girls Aria’s age usually dreamed of marriage—but Aria seemed completely unfamiliar with the concept. Raela gave a bittersweet smile.
“Well… it’s when a man and a woman join together, build a home, live happily, and have children.”
Aria fell into silent thought, her expression blank.
“But in my home, we have children—but we don’t live together.”
Raela gasped.
“What?”
Having children but not living together? What kind of dysfunctional family was that?
Raela, shaped by medieval-era values, deeply misunderstood Aria’s words. In truth, dragons had no concept of marriage.
They might produce offspring like Hatchling—but that was all.
It made no sense to judge a dragon—whose lifespan dwarfed human history—by human social norms.
But since Raela never imagined Aria could be a dragon, her mind began spinning a tragic melodrama:
A noble, handsome man falls for a beautiful, kind-hearted woman who resembles Aria.
Though they love each other deeply, his family forbids the union due to her low birth.
Desperate, they elope.
Aria is born from their love—but the wealthy father, unable to endure poverty, abandons them and returns home.
By the time Raela finished this imaginary tale, tears welled in her eyes.
‘How hard life must have been for this poor child…’
“Raela! Give me more!”
Aria, loving the honeyed fruit, asked for another serving. Raela forced a smile and scooped more from the jar.
‘We’ll protect Aria. Maybe even adopt her as our own.’
Humans wanting to adopt a dragon as a daughter—what arrogance!
But Raela remained blissfully unaware of her colossal misconception.
Their day passed peacefully.
Aria was content with her new life.
Just as Raela doted on her, her husband Tyon—though gruff—sincerely helped Aria adjust to human life.
Even their sons made efforts to befriend the adorable girl.
Compared to her dull, solitary days in the lair with her stoic mother, Aria found this life far happier.
But that happiness wouldn’t last.
Several days later—
—“Kill those who resist! But capture as many as possible!”
—“Waaahh!”
Hundreds of voices roared through the village.
Tyon’s face turned pale at the sound.
Raela trembled.
“D-dear? What’s this?”
Comforting his terrified wife, Tyon spoke with grim resolve.
“Take the children and run—now.”
A slave raid meant only one thing—and there was not a moment to lose.
If captured, their entire family would be torn apart and sold like livestock.
Tyon immediately sprinted toward the storage shed.
Raela gathered her sons and Aria.
“Mama?!”
Trying to stay calm despite her shaking hands, Raela forced a steady tone as she gathered the whimpering children.
“Don’t worry, my dears. We’ll protect you.”
She quickly pulled out thick winter clothes and dressed her son and Aria.
“Now, follow Mama.”
She led the children out of the house.
Raela fled toward the rear of the village—just as the villagers had secretly agreed to do if slavers ever came.
Other women in the village also grabbed their children and headed for the back.
But… the slavers had anticipated this. They’d already surrounded the village.
“Stop! Surrender, and you won’t be killed!”
“P-please spare us!”
“I don’t want to die!”
As heavily armed mercenaries grabbed the women by their hair and beat them with spear shafts, Aria felt overwhelming confusion.
‘Why are they fighting? Aren’t they all humans?’
Among dragons, disputes were always mediated by Dragon Lords.
So seeing members of the same species inflict such violence on each other was utterly alien to Aria. She clutched Raela’s hand and asked,
“Raela? Who are they? Why are they hurting us?”
But Raela couldn’t answer.
She could only stare in terror as a mercenary wielding a club strode toward them.
When the mercenary raised his spear to strike Raela, Aria unleashed her magic and shouted,
“Get lost!”
At her single command, magic surged violently around her.
***
Soon, the mercenary band hired by the slavers stormed into the village.
Heavily armed soldiers and mages clashed with the villagers—though ‘clash’ was too generous a word. The villagers were effortlessly subdued by magic.
“Ugh! Let go of me!”
Through his monocle, a middle-aged mage watched as colorful spells bound the villagers and armored soldiers dragged them into barred wagons. He muttered,
“This village doesn’t have much worth taking.”
Another mage beside him agreed,
“Tell me about it. We need adult men—they’re the ones who fetch real money.”
The vast New Continent always lacked farm laborers.
Farming demanded grueling toil—so it was dumped on slaves.
Thus, demand for adult male slaves was high, and so were their prices.
“Tch. This place is a bust. Let’s move to the next village—”
The mage’s words cut off as his expression turned to shock.
—Gulp.
He felt magic ripple violently like a tidal wave. Turning to the monocle-wearing man, he whispered in fear,
“V-Vallien… what is this?”
Vallien, the monocle-wearing mage, sensed the surging magic around them and hardened his face.
“It’s a mage—and an extremely powerful one.”
Swallowing hard, Vallien and Altarion urgently ordered their mercenaries and mages,
“There’s an incredibly powerful mage over there! Finish up quickly and follow me!”
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