Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

---

Whitened bubbles brushed past my cheeks. The endlessly soft water flow reminded me of my mother’s gentle touch.

“Are you hurt? How was your day?” It felt as though the waters of the lake were asking me these questions. The light rising from the lake’s bottom was incredibly warm, enveloping my body in a soothing embrace.

The deeper I went, the stronger that feeling became. The lake’s special mana whispered endlessly to me: “Just rest here. Close your eyes and surrender to the water flow.”

If there were nothing special to do, I might have surrendered my body to the flow for a moment. However, time was pressing. I shook off the softly wrapping mana and pushed forward into the depths.

When I was excavating ruins in the sea, I felt that my long, stout tail was quite helpful for swimming.

Mimicking the movements of a fish, I used my tail as a fin and kept swimming. Thus, I surpassed the middle point of the lake and reached the deepest bottom.

Even in deep water, the sky was still visible above, and various dragon remains were scattered across the bottom of the lake.

Slipping between the massive skeletal wings of a dragon, I approached a large egg that settled beneath the ribs. The round egg shone with a blue light, just like other remains.

An egg that felt devoid of life. Yet, it harbored immense power. The nameless dragon child, who would never be born, shared its power with other dragons.

The countless scattered remains seemed to narrate the passage of time. The broken shell of an egg was evidence that another egg had once sunk here.

The dragon’s egg was smaller than I had expected. It was hard to believe that a powerful being would emerge from it.

It was roughly three meters tall.

If I could manipulate the golden dragon’s body to create a golden cart, it seemed I could take it with me. Of course, for that, I needed to extract this egg without being seen by anyone, so I began my work.

I had to be careful not to break the egg. I swam around it and shook off the clumps of dirt clinging to it.

After shaking off the dirt and carefully pulling the egg, a cloud of murky dust rose as the huge egg popped out.

The moment I held the egg in both hands, I realized something. If I used this egg, I could create a core of mana for the airship. I could produce an even more powerful core of mana than before.

I can go back. Back to my hometown, the Celestial Realm.

Everything would return to its original place. Su and Shu, and also Leegan, who wished to return to the Celestial Realm for his entire life.

I spun my tail around and swam toward the surface with the massive egg on my back. How long did I swim like that? Just as my breath began to shorten and my vision blurred, a rush of liberation filled my lungs with fresh air.

“Ugh!”

Blinking my eyes in the flowing water, I surveyed my surroundings. Thankfully, no one was near the lake. From a distance, the stable presence of the Nightmare showed that Albao must have been playing well.

Splash—! Splash—!

I pushed the gigantic egg onto the lakeside with all my strength.

The exposed surface of the egg was smooth, radiating a soft light. I drew the golden sword strapped to my back and manipulated the golden dragon’s body sleeping in my bag.

With a smooth motion—

Droplets of melted gold began to flow around me, and soon solidified into the shape of a massive cart.

Now it was truly time to leave. I quickly headed in the direction of Albao and the Nightmare.

Since the Nightmare and Albao were not far away, I spotted them quickly. The Nightmare was plodding along the green prairie, while Albao was grinning broadly from atop it.

It seemed that the experience of riding a horse was quite enjoyable.

“Albao!”

“Oh, Seris.”

Albao turned promptly at my call, pulling the Nightmare’s bridle. His horse-handling skills looked fairly impressive.

As I approached Albao, I thought about the necessity of detaching him from the area for a safe escape.

Young dragons possess immense power but are pure-hearted. Having lived here all their lives, their conversations have only contained truths.

Thus, the young dragons couldn’t distinguish lies from truth.

“I just remembered… I think Kashpa was looking for you earlier…”

“K-Kashpa…?”

Albao stuttered, seemingly startled by my words. He leaped off the Nightmare and immediately questioned me. Judging from the faint glow emanating from his body, it seemed he was about to revert to his original form.

“When did you find out? Where is Kashpa?”

I, too, didn’t know where Kashpa was. I tilted my head and pointed into the distance, beyond the hazy clouds.

“Look over there—!”

The moment Albao reverted back to his original appearance, he flapped his golden wings and muttered in an urgent voice.

“[T-That over there… It’s the Lord’s temple! Thank you for telling me!]”

Wrapping himself in a storm, Albao soared into the skies on the powerful winds. The surrounding mana began to throb violently with Albao’s sudden flight.

All the mana present here was now focused on Albao; this was the chance.

I exchanged glances with the Nightmare and dashed toward the lakeside.

Arriving near the shore, the quick-witted Nightmare bolted towards the front of the golden cart, wrapping its body around the long tether.

In an instant, equipped with the cart, the Nightmare confirmed that I was riding it and began to run cautiously yet swiftly.

The sturdy wheels made from the golden dragon’s body shimmered with a golden luster as they sped forward.

The Nightmare raced across the vast expanse of prairie, pulling the long golden cart with the massive egg resting on top.

At the edge of the Dragon’s Cradle lay towering walls surrounding the basin, shrouded in murky clouds, and brilliant mana flowed.

I pulled on the reins of the Nightmare and caught my breath. A high wall was blocking my way, but it posed no real problem. I had a sword that could control gold.

Drawing the golden sword embedded in my back, I activated its powers. The twisted power distilled from the dragon’s mana that couldn’t let go of its greed for gold.

[Golden Fragrance of Greed]

As the power to control gold manifested, the golden cart pulled by the Nightmare began to float. The moment I rode the golden cart atop the wall, the Nightmare resumed running.

Going down the slope, our speed increased. From a height that seemed to touch the sky, we sped downward.

The hazy clouds obscured my view, but I didn’t stop running. Even after escaping the Dragon’s Cradle, I couldn’t let my guard down. There could still be another dragon lurking about in these parts.

Just as we broke through the murky clouds, a twinkling starlight unfolded before me. The stars shone brightly, illuminating the path ahead as if guiding me on my journey.

As I distanced myself from the Dragon’s Cradle, the dragon form manifesting on my body gradually diminished. The scales covering the back of my hands faded away, and the long tail and horns vanished from sight.

At that moment, I returned to being Seris the adventurer, not Seris the dragon.

*

“Why can’t you move?”

Kashpa glared at the old man before him. Though in a frail human form, his true self was one with the power to control all dragons.

The Dragon Lord.

Nobody knew his original name. He was simply referred to as the Lord.

The Dragon Lord did not answer Kashpa’s question. He merely turned the pages of a colossal book in silence.

Rustle—

The faint sound created by fingers brushing against paper dropped a chill around Kashpa. Yet, Kashpa couldn’t move.

Despite possessing the power to manipulate everything in the world, before the Dragon Lord, he could not use that power.

“My child has gone outside.”

A silent stillness. The wind blew in, and the clouds that had enveloped the temple scattered. The sky revealed a river of glittering stars.

Suddenly, the Lord pulled his gaze from the book and glanced outside the temple.

“The stars have begun to move.”

“The stars have always been moving.”

“They are heading toward an end.”

“Speak plainly.”

“You will understand when the time comes.”

Kashpa could not grasp the Dragon Lord’s words. The stars twinkling in the sky always seemed to move, appearing no different from usual.

Kashpa merely wished to escape this place. He wished to embrace the sparkling girl he had taken as his child and stroke her scales.

If there was something he wanted to do, he simply did it. He had lived his whole life that way. Kashpa, who found it strange to have his will suppressed, expressed his anger by releasing wild mana.

Of course, even so, he couldn’t break free from the Dragon Lord’s restraint.

At that moment, the clouds lingering beneath the temple suddenly surged, and from below, a massive golden figure shot upward.

“[K-Kashpa! I heard you were looking for me!]”

Kashpa tilted his head at the young dragon’s words. As far as he could remember, he had never looked for another child besides Seris.

Having been dragged to the Dragon Lord since morning and feeling troubled, Kashpa glared at the golden dragon, who was cautiously looking for his attention.

“[Gah…]”