Chapter 222: Ignisia the Elder Dragon (1)

The Wandering Merchant muttered quietly, a shadow of concern passing over their face as they approached the battered remnants of the lair. “I thought I sensed an excessive amount of power here... Just what have you all been doing?”

“Oh, you’re here?” Ignisia said as she greeted the Merchant. Her appearance was casual and unassuming despite the chaos. Her expression was awkward, almost sheepish, as if she had just been caught sneaking cookies from the jar.

It reminded Ketal of a child caught in the act.

“I was simply following the quest you gave me,” Ketal replied evenly, as though the explanation were obvious.

“This is what you call following the quest?” The Merchant’s gaze moved from Ketal to Ignisia, then to the scorched earth and shattered stone, and finally to the motionless dragon’s corpse at their feet.

“It’s because she wants the dragon’s corpse,” Ketal continued.

It was a straightforward declaration, but everything behind it was calculated. For Ketal, the Dragon Heart was essential for his own goals. If Ignisia took the corpse, all of his efforts would come to nothing. As far as he was concerned, fighting her had been necessary to fulfill the quest’s requirements.

“What...?” the Merchant said. Now the Merchant looked directly at Ignisia, suspicion clear in their eyes. “[What kind of prank are you pulling...?”

Ignisia responded, scratching her head, her tone somewhere between embarrassment and defensiveness. “Ah. Sorry. I just meant to have a bit of fun before we talked, but things got a little out of hand.”

“Hmm?” Ketal tilted his head, not quite following. “So, it wasn’t a competition? I thought I’d have to fight her for the dragon’s body. That’s what made sense to me.”

“Why would you assume that...? A deal must always be honored, no matter what...,” the Merchant replied.

“Then why did you fight me?” Ketal pressed, not letting her off the hook so easily.

Ignisia hesitated for a brief moment, the words nearly caught in her throat, before sighing in resignation. “It was... just a prank. I didn’t mean for it to go so far.”

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go,

she thought bitterly. She’d intended to overpower Ketal, then explain things calmly. Instead, flustered and cornered, she found herself blurting out the truth in the most undignified way possible. It was a blow to her pride, but she had no other choice.

“So that’s how it is. You just like to mess around, don’t you?” Ketal nodded in understanding, letting the matter go without complaint. He reached for his axe and hooked it onto his belt. The tension in his body began to dissipate, his muscles relaxing as if he were returning to his natural state after a long hunt.

Caught off guard by his willingness to back down, Ignisia looked genuinely startled. “Uh... wait...”

Ketal was truly lowering his guard, abandoning his battle stance entirely.

“You’re really not going to keep fighting?” Ignisia continued. She couldn’t quite believe it. No matter what the reason, once a real fight broke out, she’d thought nothing could stop it, not even the Wandering Merchant’s intervention.

“It was a pretty bad joke, I’ll admit... but you’re not an enemy, so there’s no reason to keep going,” Ketal replied.

Of course, inside, Ketal still wanted to keep fighting. He was eager to experience more of the overwhelming power of those who lived outside the White Snowfield. However, the Wandering Merchant had come all this way to stop them. If he ignored their intervention and kept fighting anyway, the Merchant might cancel the quest outright. Ketal wasn’t about to risk that.

Even so, Ketal presented a cool, collected front, analyzing the situation as if the fight had never happened. The Merchant watched, clearly surprised by his rationality.

“I expected you to ignore me and fight anyway...,” the Merchant said.

“There’s no reason for that,” Ketal answered simply.

“Uh... right...” Ignisia made a noise of discomfort, realizing she was now the only one feeling out of place.

Ignoring her confusion, the Wandering Merchant addressed the next order of business.”[It looks like the quest was completed safely... So, it’s time to give out the reward. But first, let’s take care of these...”

With a motion, one of the Merchant’s devices whirred to life. Suddenly, three more figures materialized: the unconscious Seraphina, the slumbering Mercenary King, and Spellweaver, who stood blinking in bewilderment.

“What... in the world happened here...” Spellweaver’s face was drained of color, his spirit all but broken by the recent ordeal. The Merchant responded with calm detachment, “You completed the quest... Now I’ll return you to where you started...”

“W-wait!” Spellweaver, snapping back to his senses, turned quickly to stare at both Ignisia and Ketal.

After being forcibly removed from the battle between Ketal and Ignisia, he’d felt wave after wave of incredible power battering at the world’s boundaries. Even as one of the continent’s greatest mages, he had found himself utterly powerless, forced to kneel and beg for his life beneath the crushing weight of two overwhelming presences.

The very earth shook, and the sky split open, reality itself trembling under the magnitude of that battle. It was no exaggeration to say that he felt surviving the encounter was nothing short of a miracle.

Yet the power he’d sensed was not only that of the Elder Dragon. There was another force, brutal and purely physical, that had left its own indelible mark.

Spellweaver’s gaze fixed on Ketal as he shouted, “Wait! Just give me a moment! Let me talk—!”

However, the Wandering Merchant would not allow it. Before Spellweaver could finish, his form faded from sight.

“Where did he go?” Ketal asked them, eyes narrowing.

“He’s been returned to his original location... The quest reward will be sent later...”

“I see.” Ketal considered this for a moment, recalling the unfinished look in Spellweaver’s eyes.

He seemed to have something he wanted to say at the end... I’ll just ask him myself when I visit the Mage Tower someday.

The Merchant now turned to Ignisia. “And you, as well... The quest is finished. You don’t want a reward, do you?”

“My goal was the dragon’s death from the beginning. I don’t need anything else.” Her voice was cool, untroubled by regrets.

“Then you’ve achieved your purpose. In that case, I think it’s time you explained yourself. Who are you, exactly?” Ketal asked her.

It was finally time for answers. This was the woman who had hidden her identity, joined their journey, and watched her own kin die without intervening. She was the one who had ultimately chosen to fight Ketal, and now they would learn why. Looking self-conscious, Ignisia scratched at her cheek.

“Hmm... I was hoping for a more dramatic reveal, but I suppose this will have to do.” She let out a sigh, meeting Ketal’s eyes with her own crimson gaze.“You’ve probably guessed by now... I’m the kin of that one over there. But don’t misunderstand—this isn’t about revenge. In fact, killing that dragon was my goal from the start.”

“And why is that?” Ketal asked her.

“Because it betrayed the world.” Her answer was direct and unyielding. She raised her head and spoke with quiet authority, “I am Ignisia, the Crimson Elder Dragon. Perhaps you know me better as the architect of the Mage Tower.”

“An elder dragon... and the architect of the Mage Tower...” Ketal’s eyes gleamed with fresh curiosity.

Ignisia offered a polite bow. “I know this introduction comes late, but it’s good to finally meet you, barbarian from the Inside.”

***

Ketal couldn’t suppress his fascination. An elder dragon was before him. It was said that dragons only grew stronger with age. To be considered

elder

was to have lived far longer than most, amassing wisdom and strength on a scale few could comprehend.

Ignisia was not just any elder dragon; she was the architect who had designed the legendary Mage Tower centuries ago. That alone was enough to set Ketal’s blood alight with interest.

Ignisia spoke first. “Now that you know who I am, you must realize why I came here to kill the dragon.”

“It’s because it became interested in demons, isn’t it?” Ketal replied.

The Wandering Merchant had mentioned as much when giving the quest: that this dragon’s fascination with Hell, and its efforts to open a gate to that place, amounted to a grave crime in the eyes of the world.

Ignisia nodded in confirmation. “That’s right. That dragon became obsessed with demons. It was trying to summon them into this world. Curiosity is understandable in a child, but once a dragon comes of age, it must bear responsibility for its actions. It crossed a line that should never be crossed.”

Demons were the enemy of all life. They sought to conquer the world, to reshape it in their own image, and they were bolder than ever before. For a dragon, one of the continent’s natural guardians, to ally with demons was an act of absolute betrayal.

That was why the dragons had resolved to deal with their traitorous kin themselves.

“Dragons are very stubborn,” Ignisia continued. “Once they’ve made up their minds, they won’t listen to anyone. So sometimes, there’s no choice but to act.”

“But then, something doesn’t add up. You came here with the help of the Wandering Merchant. Why?” Ketal asked her.

She explained, “We dragons are independent creatures. As soon as we reach adulthood, we leave our parents behind and create our own lairs. No one else knows where those lairs are. Even with magic, you can only monitor someone’s general state; you can’t find their exact location.”

A dragon’s camouflage was perfect. For centuries, countless attempts had been made, but no one, human or dragon, had ever succeeded in finding another dragon’s lair.

“It’s possible, if you take enough time, but I needed to deal with this quickly, before things got out of hand,” Ignisia continued.

“So you relied on the Merchant’s information,” Ketal concluded.

“That’s right. Something like that.”

Ketal nodded, his understanding deepening. The Wandering Merchant’s network was clearly far more powerful than any magic or beast.

However, one question still lingered in his mind. “If you’re so strong, why go to all this trouble? Why hide your identity and join us, pretending to be a powerless boy?”

Ignisia was clearly more than a match for the traitorous dragon on her own. She didn’t need anyone’s help. Yet, she had joined the party as a seemingly ordinary child, keeping her power hidden.

“My guess is you used some sort of perception magic. Am I right?” Ketal asked her.

“Yes. That’s right...”

“I thought so.”

It had always seemed odd. A powerless boy, joining a quest to slay a dragon, made little sense. And yet, none of the party had ever questioned it. They had only wondered why the Merchant would bring such a child along, but never suspected anything more. Now, Ketal realized, it had all been because Ignisia had subtly interfered with their perceptions.

The Wandering Merchant added, “She came to me first, asking if I knew where the traitor was. I said I did. After we struck a deal, she gave me one more condition...”

The condition was that if there were any humans coming to slay the dragon, Ignisia wanted to join their party. That was how the party had been formed in the first place.

“So that’s why we became a party. But why go through all that trouble?” Ketal asked her.

Ignisia hesitated, then admitted, “To be honest, there wasn’t any real urgency. Once I found out where it was, I could have stepped in any time if things looked dangerous. So... I just wanted to have a little fun.”

“Ah...” Ketal’s eyes widened as the realization struck him. So that was it—a dragon’s sense of play. “That’s all it was. I understand now.”

“Sorry. I just wanted to amuse myself for a while,” Ignisia said with a sheepish grin.

However, instead of being angry, Ketal simply nodded. For a moment, Ignisia looked truly startled, as if she’d expected him to be furious at her manipulation. But Ketal didn’t mind at all. He understood her perfectly. If it was just for fun, he had no reason to be upset.

Ignisia quickly recognized the truth.

He’s twisted. But if he really comes from Inside, maybe that’s only natural...

“Well, then. I suppose there are no more problems,” she said, exhaling as if a burden had been lifted.

“That’s right... Everything is finished now...,” the Merchant agreed.

The quest had been completed, despite the strange turns and complications along the way. Now, at last, it was time for the reward—the reward Ketal had wanted from the very beginning.

His eyes gleamed with anticipation as the Wandering Merchant announced, “I gave you the quest, and you succeeded... so I’ll give you your reward...”

It was the reward Ketal had long awaited: the right to wield Myst, the source of true power.