Chapter 206 - A Request Made After a Reappearance (1/2)

After finishing their meal, Loren’s party quickly packed up their belongings and buried the cave they had spent the night in before resuming their mountain climbing.

Even though they had made some progress, the summit was still far away, and the slope of the mountain was getting steeper and steeper the closer they got to it, so there was no telling how long it would take.

“I thought it was high when I saw it from afar, but it’s even higher up close.”

Gula grumbled. Her mouth stopped emitting smoke and the burning seemed to have calmed down. Although it would take some time for her to recover, she seemed to have returned to her normal state somewhat.

“Normally, when you climb a mountain, the scenery changes, and you can watch the vegetation. It’s quite distracting, but… It’s hard to appreciate climbing a rocky mountain with such a bleak landscape like this.”

It was Lapis who complained about this point. Indeed, it was true that their surroundings were full of rocks, and there was no sign of greenery. There was no path to follow, so they had to just keep climbing up the route they thought they could take. It was a long and tedious process, but there was no other way. If they stopped, they might reach the summit when it was too late. If they wanted to finish this task in time, they had to keep climbing.

“If the Ancient Dragon carries us on her back, we would reach the peak in no time, won’t we?”

Loren had no idea how fast flying would be, but with that huge body, he was sure that a dragon flying would be faster than them on foot. The three of them could surely fit on a dragon’s back.

But Lapis sighed and shook her head.

“Dragons don’t let anyone climb on their backs.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, even a normal dragon doesn’t. And if you ask an Ancient Dragon to do it, you’ll get a <

> to show how much of a fool you are.”

Lapis said that dragons, who were often called the strongest magical beasts, had a pride that was proportional to their greatness. There was no way that such creatures would agree to such an act as carrying something on their backs like horses or cows. In fact, if you suggested such a thing, they would get angry and attack you for insulting them.

“Please don’t propose it, okay? I don’t want to get into a fight with a dragon for that reason.”

“It’s a good thing I asked first.”

If Loren hadn’t received such an explanation from Lapis, he might have asked the Ancient Dragon about it the next time he encountered her. He breathed a sigh of relief that he had been able to prevent that from happening in advance.

“Still, this is such a depressing landscape.”

Looking up at the sky, Gula grumbled again.

The mountain they were climbing was a volcano, and there was smoke rising from the crater at the top, probably because it was still active. The thick clouds hanging in the sky above the mountain and their darkness seemed to be making Gula depressed.

“The complaining won’t get you any closer to the peak, you know?”

“Right. Climbing steadily is the only way.”

It seemed that even Evil Gods didn’t have the power to instantly reach the top of the mountain. And even if Gula had that kind of power, she probably wouldn’t be able to carry Loren and Lapis, so in the end they would still have no choice but to climb.

“Do you think that Ancient Dragon can successfully settle things?”

Loren spoke to Lapis, thinking that conversation would be the only option to distract her from the fact that she could only walk without being able to enjoy the scenery.

Lapis thought for a moment and then tilted her head lightly.

“I wonder? Well, I don’t think it will end up becoming terrible.”

“What do you mean by ‘terrible’?”

“The Great Demon King making an appearance, I mean.”

Loren’s expression turned weary at Lapis’ short and crisp words. Even if it was not intentional, it was a fact that a <

> of tremendous power had landed near the Great Demon King’s castle. If it was deemed to be an attack of some kind, it wouldn’t be strange if the Great Demon King would personally come out.

“If it goes badly, it’s going to be a battle between an Ancient Dragon and the Great Demon King. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’ll flee the demon realm then.”

Gula jokingly said, but Lapis calmly interjected.

“I don’t think you can rest easily just because you fled to human territory.”

Not understanding what her quip meant, Gula and Loren unconsciously stared at her, and she indifferently continued as if stating a fact:

“A battle between the Great Demon King and an Ancient Dragon? It will be a battle of mythical proportions. The demon realm will surely be devastated, and the mountain range will be cleared in an instant.”

“So it will be totally out of control.”

“You’re absolutely right. If I am told that the world is going to end when it happens, I’ll believe it.”

If the demon realm in the center of the continent were to be destroyed and the mountain range surrounding it were to be cleared, the battle would be truly extensive. When Loren imagined such a future, he believed he would also accept that the world was ending.

At the very least, if such a battle were to spread beyond the mountain range and into the realm of humans, it was hard to believe that there would be anyone who could do anything about it.