979: To The Center

Frederick begged Fran to save Velmeria, who had been taken away by the Dragon King’s minions.

Hearing his sorrowful plea, there was no way Fran could say no.

But she didn’t nod immediately.

We were now a member of the second division, so we couldn’t just leave without permission.

Fran looked back at Izario and tried to open her mouth.

「Izario, I――」

「Fine by me, but on one condition.」

「Condition?」

Even the lighthearted Izario was not so nice as to give his full support. We should be thankful that he allowed us to leave, even with a condition.

But some unexpected words came out of Izario’s mouth.

「We’ll be going with you. If you can accept that, then you have my permission.」

「Nn? You all are coming too? Why?」

「The Dragon King, Trismegistus, and a dragon priestess. With those three together, there’s no way we can ignore this now.」

「Indeed. And considering the relationship between the titans and the magic circles, it’s hard not to suspect the Dragon King’s involvement. We have to confirm it.」

Not only Izario, but Shikimi was eager to join too.

「Are you sure?」

「The possibility of controlling antidemons cannot be left unchecked. Worst case scenario, they might even be able to control the Abyss Eater, don’t you agree?」

「And it would no exaggeration to call that a threat to the world.」

The Abyss Eater, a Threat Level S monster, was the root of the antidemons. If the gods hadn’t sealed it off with the continent-wide barrier, it seriously might have swallowed up the entire world.

If the Dragon King could manipulate antidemons, then was there a possibility that he could manipulate the Abyss Eater itself? Well, manipulation may be an exaggeration, but maybe he had some way of influencing it.

When you put it that way, this was an incredibly dire situation.

「Okay. Frederick, are you good with this?」

「Of course. Rather, I’m very grateful.」

「Then will you show us the way?」

「I’ll lead. Follow me.」

With these words, Frederick flapped his wings. His body floated along with a release of mana.

「Frederick, you grew wings?」

「Yeah, though it was a little reckless of me.」

Did dragonkin have some obtainable ability to give themselves more dragonic features or something?

I wondered why the other dragonkin didn’t do it too, but it seems that’s because the method was quite dangerous. Frederick apparently only took the risk because he was in a life threatening situation.

We hurried to the center of the continent with more haste than ever before. Frederick was in a great hurry, and the rest of the second division would probably get left in the dust if not careful.

However, neither the adventurers nor the soldiers complained. Perhaps they were proud of their status as elites, or they felt a sense of duty to stop the Dragon King.

During a short break on the road, Fran asked Frederick something that was bothering us.

「Hey, how did you know where I was?」

「I used my Innate Skill, an ability similar to a combination of Divination and Intuition.」

「Wow, cool.」

『Sounds useful!』

Must be perfect for finding things. However, it seems it’s not all that convenient.

Apparently the accuracy is significantly reduced if the target person or item is consciously hiding themselves, or hidden by another.

Because of that, he couldn’t search out the location of the Dragon King, the evil crystals, or Tilanaria.

In Fran’s case, he was able to locate her because she wasn’t doing anything in terms of stealth.

Frederick did not have such power when we met him in the Royal Capital, so it must be a skill he acquired along with his boost to evil dragonkin powers.

「If only I could master this ability, I would be able to search out Velmeria and Tilanaria-sama……」

Even if they weren’t hiding themselves, someone was hiding them on purpose. It seems his Innate Skill didn’t work well in this case. Like he said, the skill was surprisingly difficult to use.

One day has passed since our encounter with Frederick.

The second division set foot on the central region of the continent. Even the tiniest bit of brush vanished from sight, and there were no signs of any animals. Everything had been devoured by the antidemons.

「There’s someone there.」

「Dragonkin, huh? Oh boy, they’re completely hostile.」

The ones blocking our path were, of course, dragonkin. They must have sensed our presence, because they positioned themselves right in front of our march.

They were clearly hostile, but we couldn’t just attack them out of the blue. Izario advanced forward while the rest of the division prepared for battle.

「We’ve got business up ahead! Don’t suppose you can move out of our way?」

「……No one is allowed to enter this area.」

「Who decided that?」

「Our king.」

「You guys have a king? You mean Trismegistus?」

「No! Our only king is Georg-sama! How dare you call that imbecile our king! You foolish inferior beings shall not be allowed to trample our holy land!」

The dragonkin shouted, and they all raised their weapons at the same time. Seems like we have no choice but to fight.

Izario sighed and pointed his sword at them.

「Fine then, I’ll deal with you. Oh yeah, don’t worry about my friends. I won’t need any backup to take you guys on.」

Izario provoked the dragonkin. It’s also probably easier for him to fight the dragonkin alone than to turn the battle into a disorderly brawl.

Fran, however, called out to him in a worried tone. Though he had improved his condition since defeating the titan, he still seemed fatigued.

「Izario, are you okay?」

「Hahaha! Even if I’m not in perfect condition, I can handle these guys.」

Perhaps due to the effect of his Provocation skill, the dragonkin’s anger reached its peak.

「Y-You inferior races dare to mock us!」

That said, he seemed a bit too quick to anger. The dragonkin were obviously not in a normal state of mind.

Perhaps they’re under some kind of mental manipulation? It’s also curious that the dragonkin living on this continent didn’t recognize Izario.

Even if they never learned Izario’s appearance, it should be pretty obvious once he draws Ignis. Maybe they’ve lost the ability to make sound judgments.

「You mad? But I really don’t like bullying weaklings. Don’t worry, I’ll fight by myself. Come at me.」

「I-I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you! You damn red ape!」

「Hahaha! I’ve been called many names, but “red ape” is a first.」

「Dieeeeraaaaahh!」

The guy’s not even speaking coherently anymore. I knew it. There’s something seriously wrong with him.

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