032: It Was Sad
For the Dragon of Albion, it was always at the peak of its strength.
Even against the Giants of the North.
Even against the Sphinxes of Egypt.
Or perhaps, the various so-called divine beasts.
These beings, not of its kind, were sometimes friendly, sometimes ambiguously dismissive.
Before the world completely changed, the Dragon of Albion was constantly pestered by these weak things, but as the greatest dragon, it paid them no mind.
Regarding the impending age belonging to humans—the weak—it was among the first to know and quickly accepted this reality. Yet, because it was the greatest dragon, it felt obligated to let its weaker kin depart first, to protect them from attacks by other beings.
Having existed since the planet's birth, possessing life information spanning nearly 4.6 billion years, it naturally knew early on when the moment of fantasy's complete disappearance would come. Proclaiming itself the greatest, it planned to wait until the very last moment, after all its kin had left, before departing itself.
Because it was the greatest, it must protect the weak.
Such words, Albion would never speak, for it believed the weak must absolutely obey the strong, opinions included.
However, as it prepared to leave at the "original" final moment, it found, for some reason, the end of fantasy had arrived four years early.
Trapped in the past era, it was left behind in this changed world.
In the beginning, the Dragon of Albion's thought was merely, "Ah, so that's how it is. But I am the greatest, so this is no problem at all." Beyond that, it felt nothing else.
Only, it would never see its weak kin again, and that made it sad.
Yet, there was a slight joy, for it encountered other weak beings, though not of its kind, who also remained in this world.
But the fading of mystery caused these beings, far weaker than Albion, to die quickly, and that made it sad.
Gradually, it realized it had become an "abandoned, utterly lonely existence." Enraged by its plight, it roared.
It absolutely refused to die alone like this!
Thus, without despair or surrender, it thought that if it couldn't rely on mystery to move, it would move physically instead.
So, using its massive body, it burrowed deep underground, where mystery still lingered.
The Dragon of Albion didn't remember what happened next.
Only fragmented colors remained in its memory.
Black and red.
Everything around seemed like incomplete curses. Filthy black and red mingled, churning chaotically. Though it smelled a strong metallic scent, its memory had grown hazy.
...It realized it was vomiting. Filth clogged its throat, making it hard even to breathe.
Soon, soon, just a little more, just a bit more effort, and it could dig through—
The mind of the greatest dragon had grown terribly muddled.
It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it's bitter it hurts I want to vomit I want to vomit it's so painful it hurts it hurts it hurts I want to vomit...
In its consciousness, time vanished, space collapsed, leaving only itself moving relentlessly forward.
Everything compressed to a needle's point, leaving only intense pain and agony.
Approaching spasms, the Dragon of Albion forcibly suppressed the desire to wail with the pride of the greatest.
How many times did it repeat the digging? It truly lost count.
At that time, the Dragon of Albion desperately scattered its consciousness, firmly believing that the greatest self would succeed sooner or later.
Suddenly, the weight lightened.
What had been suppressing it seemed to depart due to some event. Though not completely gone, in an instant, the weight reduced to 20 grams. So shocked, Albion's head severed from its body and continued forward underground.
Before that, it hadn't even realized its head and body had separated, that its body had already died.
"Ah..."
The Dragon of Albion murmured.
Its soul crawled, eventually reaching the "Reverse Side." The soul left the flesh, flew across the sea of death, and became a radiance shining at the world's extremity.
On the reverse side of reality where all fantasy slumbered, there was almost nothing substantial around: cosmic darkness, ultimate brilliance, a vortex like the center of all things... but among phantasmal species, it was alone.
"How can this be? Why is it... why am I the only one here..."
Simply put, this was a place that was nowhere, a world that was nowhere.
Liberated from the concept of time, that place had no morning or evening, no sun or moon, only faint auroras illuminating the sky.
This world knew no change. The vast ocean knew not waves, the sky knew not drifting clouds. Coming to such a world, the greatest dragon felt the sky, devoid of moon or stars, was somewhat lonely.
So the dragon could only close its eyes, but closing them brought immense loneliness.
There should have been kin who came here, but it didn't know, and simultaneously, its kin feared the greatest one and dared not appear.
Albion kept waiting for some being to find it. If only that being was someone it knew—
It prayed thus while spending each lonely day.
Though called days, from its perspective, ten years or a hundred made no difference. The body of the greatest dragon reacted very sluggishly to the passage of time. It didn't hunger, didn't need sleep, merely passed days in a daze.
Only waiting. This punishment called hope, this unbearable loneliness.
But—
"It's alright. That you could come this far is something I should be grateful for."
That voice sounded. Not an auditory hallucination, not an illusion, but truly existing by its ear.
Though it expected someone to come someday, Albion opened its eyes with disbelief. The being it saw made it soften.
When had its soul, or consciousness, returned here?
Though delighted it wouldn't be lonely anymore, it was perplexed as to when it could meet a weak human's gaze at eye level. Scanning its current form with this question, it couldn't help but rage greatly at its head left in the world being turned into this. And during this, it heard this weak human disparage the body of the greatest dragon—its own body—
"Human, who gave you the nerve! How dare you send someone to alter the body of the greatest me, reducing me to such a humiliating form!"
This was the first time in its life the Dragon of Albion spoke such words.
"And you dare to insult me! I am truly angry now!"
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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