The cave shadows were split by the light of the fire.
The smell of burning wood and damp moss permeated the air.
"This is the first time we're meeting, Miss Raina."
Raina looked up, and after meeting the eyes of the golden-haired young man, she nodded.
"Indeed. I've heard that a new young emperor had been selected, but this is the first time I've had the opportunity to see you. You should know about my clan's difficulties." Her words were somewhat hesitant, because the Dragon Clan and the Demon Clan had a somewhat subtle relationship in the past. But It was because of this that they could sit down here and now, and not have to worry about a fight immediately breaking out.
Atllin nodded. "Naturally, I know. The Demon Clan and its history is one of the subsidiary subjects that every generation of the Dragon Clan must study."
"I-is it?"
Raina inwardly wondered just how much the Dragon Clan knew about their past. Was it possible that they knew even more than the current Demon Clan?
It was possible, because the Dragon Clan had a long history that far surpassed the Demon Clan. In truth, the Demon Clan of today had lost a lot, and in fact, they knew very little about their truest origins. With the Dragon Clan's long lifespan and vast accumulation of knowledge, it wouldn't be wrong to say that they were one of the, if not the, most knowledgeable race in the world.
She frowned, thinking about the truth of that statement.
"Why is that?" she asked with a slightly hesitant voice, inwardly wondering if there was something important about the Demon Clan that piqued the Dragons to study them over multiple generations.
Atllin didn't answer; instead, he looked to Lilit.
There was something strange in his gaze, but Raina didn't notice.
Lilit began to speak, albeit somewhat perfunctory, "It is because the Demon Clan is a great power that has appeared in almost every era. Whether it was at the beginning when the first Demon King ran rampant, or the current era, where despite being at your wit's end, you still continue to act so ostentatiously, appearing in public and continuously challenging the Church of Light's bottom line, there is no doubt that you are loved by the world and repeatedly receive its blessing. It's almost like you are a clan of providence, the kind that is loved by the world..."
Raina rolled her eyes.
What nonsense was that!
A clan blessed by providence? Bah! If that were true, then the first Demon King wouldn't have disappeared, the second Demon King wouldn't have fallen, and the current Demon Clan wouldn't have been reduced to mere vagrants, wandering from place to place on their last legs!
Also! Just thinking about the sins of the original demons and the first Demon King, if they were really blessed by the world, then just what kind of twisted personality would the World Will need to have!
Raina opened her mouth, "Although we've been pushed into a corner, I don't see why that should stop our ambitions. You of all people should understand that the constant suppression of the dark element will sooner or later become a catastrophic problem, eventually creating an 'enormous backlash'. Knowing this, how can our hope die out? It's only a matter of time, and we just need to persevere to the absolute end! When that day does come, we can only hope, but I, along with all the remaining members of my race, all believe that it is inevitable."
Atllin smiled knowingly.
"There seems to be a problem with the existing Demon Clan… So, when that time does come, will you cultivate a new Demon King? Also—"
"Who's to say that the backlash hasn't already appeared?" Lilit added indifferently.
Raina lowered her head.
Thinking about the calamities, indeed, there seemed to be the scent of a backlash lingering around everything already, and perhaps it was just a matter of time, but... Her brows furrowed, and she didn't even notice the strange way these two young men seemed to completely disregard status and speak as if on equal footing.
Raina opened her mouth, then closed it, losing herself in thought.
The problem was, like all things, too much of anything would cause devastating consequences. Perhaps, when the time came, the backlash would directly end them before they could even begin…
'What a despair-inducing thought', she muttered.
Thinking about it, what Lilit meant by 'backlash' referred to the constant depletion and suppression of dark-type elemental energy in the elemental realm over the past few millennia. As mentioned earlier, the Elemental Realm was a place where elemental energy was born, which then seeped through a special membrane to permeate into the normal world. But with the Church of Light and their constant suppression of the darkness in the world, this balance had slowly begun to tilt and would eventually break. The Church of Light both sought out and attacked dark races in normal space, while at the same time suppressing anything related to the dark element within the elemental plane. It could be viewed as a dual battlefield, two separate spaces, but both pursuing the same goal.
The problem was…
This backlash would appear at a turning point! When the world needed to replenish the darkness element, the cause and effect would become unpredictable. As for how this replenishment would work, it was completely unknown. In a worst-case scenario, it could potentially flood the world with an unimaginable amount of dark element all at once, but there were countless other ways for it to happen. It could happen through war, magic, people or fated encounters, it could even be a treasure or a beast, but in the end, it would unconsciously aim to preserve the balance between elements.
The term 'Elemental balance' was a relatively simple concept. It just meant that the world would balance opposing elements so that one would never become absolutely dominant. The best example of this was the classic 'wood, fire, earth, metal, water, or even 'light and darkness'.
Raina's eyes turned, and she soon gazed into the fire.
Since falling here, it felt like a lot of time had passed. She could tell that something was interfering with her internal clock, but she couldn't tell what it was or why. The only feeling she had was a certain pull that was trying to lead her in a specific direction.
Suddenly, from absolutely nowhere—
Raina asked, "How familiar are you two with the fifth hero, the one called Petra?"
It was a very abrupt question, but it clearly disrupted the rhythm of the conversation. Both Lilit and Atllin paused, their eyes turning up to look at her.
'This reaction, it seems that they do know something…'
"You mean that little dragon girl?" Atllin pursed his lips, frowning slightly.
"…Yeah. That's the one..."
Everything became quiet. The fire crackled softly between both parties. Shadows stretched across the stone floor, casting long shapes that flickered and swayed.
Atllin looked into the flames, pausing for a long time. "…Are you people interested in her too?"
Raina rolled her eyes before nodding honestly, and they seemed to come to a tacit understanding.
"We suspect that she might be somehow related to the Demon King," Raina replied indifferently.
But the moment those words fell, both dragons visibly paused. Raina immediately noticed the strangeness and looked around. She muttered something, then asked, "…But why do you two seem so interested in her as well?"
There was another pause.
Raina felt as if these two were conversing directly with each other.
Lilit and Atllin briefly shared a look. Eventually, Lilit spoke first. "…Because she possesses the bloodline of the Emerald Dragon Clan…"
Raina blinked. "Hm?"
Did she? But why didn't she feel that when she first met her…?
"An Emerald Dragon? How is that—" She looked a bit confused.
Lilit nodded. "You may not know this, but within the Dragon Clan, the Emerald Dragons have always been somewhat of a touchy taboo. No, perhaps taboo is the wrong word. It would be better to say that they are a very polarizing subject of conversation, one that we rarely bring up…"
"…If possible, we normally treat them as if they don't exist…."
Raina frowned slightly but didn't interrupt.
Lilit continued calmly, "Although the Emerald Dragons are responsible for a large portion of the Dragon Clan's research and development, in addition to developing the majority of our new technology, those dragons specifically were always… a bit strange."
"Strange how?" Raina asked curiously.
Atllin answered this time. "They pursued a few things they shouldn't have, and since then, the royal family has kept a close eye on them. They possess knowledge they shouldn't have touched, and some of the greatest disasters in the history of the Dragon Clan can be traced back to them in one way or another." After he finished, he seemed to look at Raina with a strange expression. He seemed to want to say something, but at the same time didn't intend to confirm it.
"…At the same time," Lilit added perfunctorily, "some of our greatest achievements also originated from them, so we view them with a somewhat… " He didn't finish, but the atmosphere became subtle.
…A somewhat overly indulgent attitude.
Raina lowered her gaze thoughtfully.
Atllin suddenly asked, "She doesn't seem to be a demon, right? Why are you looking for her?"
Raina looked up. The golden-haired dragon slowly narrowed his eyes, wanting to know the answer. He added, "I've only met her once, but I'm certain that whatever her second bloodline is… it definitely doesn't belong to the Demon Clan." He paused. "So how could she be related to the Demon King? Don't tell me that it's just your wishful thinking."
Raina sighed. "…Actually, we don't know if she's truly a descendant of the Demon King or not, but..." She rubbed her forehead, her finger unconsciously tracing her horns. "But there's definitely some kind of connection. The feeling is too similar, and we have reason to believe that she should be a direct descendant. Although it sounds ridiculous, we can't help but grasp towards that small sliver of hope."
Atllin stared at her. It was a long pause, but suddenly—
"Actually, she feels a little bit like you..."
Raina froze. "…W-what do you mean?"
Atllin hesitated for the first time. "It's hard to explain." He looked back and forth between her and the fire, then snuck a look towards Lilit, before adding, "You don't feel like a normal demon..."
Lilit silently glanced toward him.
Atllin continued. "You're different from the other four demons we encountered before, right?"
Raina's expression subtly shifted. She wanted to claim she didn't know what he meant, but after a moment to think, she understood exactly what he was referring to.
Petra, or more specifically, whatever Petra had done to her back then…
Raina lowered her head slightly. The problem was, even she didn't fully understand it herself.
-
Time passed. Just thinking about everything gave Raina a headache. She looked around the underground cavern before quietly sighing. At this rate, it seemed they would remain trapped here together for quite some time. Understanding this, she no longer bothered hiding certain things and decided to speak more openly.
"…Putting that aside, Petra herself is incredibly strange."
The fire flickered.
"I've heard from multiple people that her origins simply can't be found?"
Lilit narrowed his eyes slightly. "What does this mean?"
"It means that she just appeared out of nowhere." Raina crossed her arms and leaned back. Her face looked tired, too tired, seemingly betraying their unending efforts to search for information over the past few months. "From what we know, her earliest appearance was in a small town called Evergreen Town, deep within the Green Wind Forest. But everything before that? Nothing!"
"Nothing? Nothing at all?" Atllin asked with a flicker of light in his eyes.
"Nothing," Raina confirmed again. "There are no family records, no travel logs in and out of the Cross Continent. There aren't even traces of traveling through the Green Wind Forest. We even visited the Green Abyss to ask, but regardless of what they tried, it's like she just popped into existence right outside the village. What a waste of a favour! Sigh! We basically investigated everything with the exception of divination. It's almost like she really did just suddenly appear out of nowhere."
The two dragons quietly listened.
Raina continued slowly. "At first, we thought someone had erased her tracks, but—" She shook her head. "But eventually, we realized something was wrong. Her background… she genuinely might not have one. If the Green Abyss can't track her trail through the forest, that can only mean that someone either has the ability to rewrite the memories of all the plant spirits surrounding the village—no, perhaps it has to be within the vast majority of the Green Wind Forest. Hm, anyway, if they couldn't find anything, then either she was secretly raised in the Green Wind Forest, or someone had to have teleported her there and dropped her off for whatever reason…"
Her eyes seemed slightly more vacant.
That conclusion was undoubtedly the most despairing, because it meant that whoever dropped her there not only possessed a terrifying level of control over space but could also hide it from those monsters deep within the green abyss.
Silence fell over the cave.
Atllin's golden eyes flickered slightly. "...Interesting, isn't it?"
Lilit nodded.
"Mm, a bit," Raina admitted. "But every investigation eventually hits a dead end, even when using advanced means. I can't help but wonder why someone would go to such trouble…"
For some reason, she didn't think that they were trying to hide Petra from the Church of Light…
Lilit looked thoughtful. "…It's a shame we can't ask her directly."
Raina immediately snorted. Her spirits seemed to lift. "Good luck finding her first!"
That little monster was absurdly difficult to track down! Not only was she slippery, but wherever she appeared, chaos followed soon after! There was already a precedent...
Atllin suddenly smiled faintly. "…Now that I think about it, that does sound somewhat familiar." His mind turned back to some events from the past. Lilit looked down, also lost in thought, but Raina glanced toward him suspiciously. "What does that mean?"
"Nothing." He shook his head calmly.
Lilit suddenly asked, "What kind of person do you think she is?"
Raina immediately opened her mouth, then paused. After several long seconds, she frowned deeply. "…I honestly don't know, at least not yet..."
Sometimes Petra acted like an immature little brat, but other times, she felt terrifyingly abnormal. At moments, she looked harmless enough to carry around in your arms, then in the next instant, she would casually say something horrifying with a smile on her face.
This was the general impression the demons had gathered so far.
Raina rubbed her temples. "She feels… a bit too naughty."
Atllin quietly nodded. "…Indeed…"
"Mm, it's going to be tough…"
* * *