Dragon Bloodline Chapter 41

The Prelude of Collapse

 

The group slowly went down the mountain road.

Explorers returned alive from the labyrinth. It was a daily routine.
Even if veteran parties searched through a different area, they would usually be able to handle the exploration.

“W-we’re here~”

She didn’t think about annoying passersby. She didn’t have the composure to.

“Seriously, I thought that we were going to die this time.”

She didn’t have any armor, just clothes. Holes were scattered here and there, tempting sights to the men.

Even though she could use genesis magic, her magical power was precious and the other members were exhausted.
She was saving her magical power for an emergency, so she turned out like this in the end.

Indeed, it was a miracle no one died.

All of the warrior’s armor had deformed from acid and extreme heat. The mages used their magical power to their limits, exhausting it until they started burning their life force.

 

 

More than a month had already passed since the formation of the new Thunder’s Fangs.

Then, from measuring just how much fighting strength they had, this was the result of just a little unreasonableness.
Until now, Thunder’s Fangs had went up to the thirty-sixth floor. The final floor they reached this time was the forty-ninth.

The King Hydra, that was an extreme demon Serge Identified.

The army of magical creatures were hell.
Things like the Flame Giants were nightmarish.

They defeated all of them. They didn’t run. They couldn’t run.

“Thinking about it, the Dark Dragon might have been waiting in front of us.”

“With its strength, it certainly could have been the gatekeeper.”
Leaning his back against the wall exhausted, Vargas responded.

The King Hydra was strong. It may have been on the Cyclops’ level, or possibly even stronger.

“Has Cell fought against a Dragon?”

“Only a Sub-Dragon. Not a genuine Dragon.”
Ria had experienced slaughter if it was a Sub-Dragon. It was crushed though.

(Even so…)

There was little traffic. Normally, squalid men would be roaming the streets, but there were very few people now.

“Alright everyone~, get up~. Time to go home~”
Apart from endurance and magical power, she really wanted to go take a bath.

Everyone moving in a manner similar to a group of zombies, Ria and the rest of the group returned to the inn.

Someone let out a strange voice. There was an abnormally large amount of people inside the inn.

Could they even be called patrons to begin with?

She wanted to ask what the heck happened.

Certainly, if that was how it was she would understand.
While reading to the hotel’s counter, Ria didn’t think that her prediction would prove right.

 

 

Her prediction was off the mark.

When she hesitatingly asked about it at the counter, the receptionist girl answered.

 

 

 

 

“It seems the Imperial Capital disappeared.”

 

 

“Eh? Huh?”
Ria unintentionally let out a strange voice.

She didn’t understand what she meant.

There was only one empire on the Dragon Bone Continent. The nation founded by the Saint Emperor Ryuke Shifaka, the empire in the center of the continent.

The population of the Imperial Capital was about three million people. The center of all main roads, of culture, of military affairs, and of magic.

She couldn’t understand.

Ria looked behind her. Her comrades were looking around uneasily. Around them, the other guests looked similarly uneasy.

She couldn’t understand.

Ria turned around.

She announced toward her comrades with a triumphant look.

 

 

While she entered the bath, Ria thought.

It’s said that the Imperial Capital disappeared. It physically disappeared.

Still, she thought it wasn’t possible. Naturally, the Imperial Capital was given impregnable magical defenses. Using Casalia’s royal castle’s magical defenses as a reference, it probably wouldn’t be affected even at the level of nuclear weapons.

Then did the Golden Dragon destroy the Imperial Capital from the inside?

To begin with, no one understood the extent of the God Dragons’ powers. The Golden Dragon had a contract with the Saint Emperor, it should have been protecting the Imperial Capital. Because of that, the Imperial Capital was able to avoid being overrun even during millenniums and had become the base for humanity.

The Imperial Capital disappeared.

For this millennium, the Imperial Capital disappeared?

There wasn’t enough information. Not enough by far.

Even if it was said to have disappeared, there were three million people living there. Some among those must have been a mage of Rufus’ caliber. The royal family should have been protected by unbelievable talismans. There must be survivors.
Where to start? She hadn’t asked who brought the information.

When Ria left the bathtub, she dried herself off quickly.

As for Maal and Lulu, they had already collapsed on their beds and were fast asleep. They probably fell asleep before bathing.
Affixing only Nagasone Kotetsu at her waist this time, Ria left the room.

She went down the stairs and went to the table where a man who had become an acquaintance sat.

Still, she now knew that a caravan arrived from the Casalia area three days before bringing the news.

Afterwards, caravans similarly came bearing the news. They didn’t have any detailed information, but it was a fact that the Imperial Capital had vanished.

So it was the truth.

There was no contact with the Imperial Capital. To confirm what happened, they dispatched Dragon Knights. With the speed of Dragons, a round trip… no, with a mage recovering it, it would arrive after no later than three days. From there the report would be sent by way of magic.

If you considered a merchant’s network, excluding the details, the most important parts will spread instantly.

However, what could she do even if she returned?

Ria pondered.

Thinking while laying down on the bed, she fell asleep.

 

 

It was just before sunrise when she awoke.

With Nagasone Kotetsu in hand, she went out to the inn’s garden. Easily unsheathing the katana, the blade shined by the light of daybreak.
She brandished the katana and held that stance, unmoving.

Unmoving.

Her heart moved. Her blood moved. Her lungs moved.

Air that touched the katana was sliced through.
Even so, she remained unmoving.

She moved.
The blade of her katana stopped just before the ground in front of her.

“Alright!”

Right now, she could do something here. It was something only she could do.
She would meet with Dark Dragon Valis. She would calm down after that.

In the morning sun, Ria began to carefully practice her forms.

Chapter end