My Two Status Windows

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 83: Contract with the Dragon God Drakia

"Who are you?"

[I am Drakia.]

"The Dragon God Drakia of the planet Kevrian?"

I first heard of the Dragon God Drakia when I captured the Black Dragon Arkardian.

Drakia had been the representative of the neutral faction on Kevrian, but Asgard had taken over that role.

Seeing that Elprian was also subdued, could it be that they were conquered by the Olympus-Asgard alliance?

[That’s correct. I’m surprised you know about Kevrian from Kalvine.]

"Was Kevrian really subdued by Asgard?"

[You even know that?]

Suddenly, a monster approached me—a goblin about half my height.

Normally, it would be afraid of me and avoid me, but now, it was staring at me with blood-red eyes.

"A human blessed by Thor. But strangely, I also sense the power of the Order faction within you."

"Drakia, is that you?"

"Yes, I borrowed this goblin’s body for a moment. I thought I had completely perished, but it seems I can still use this much power."

"How did you come out here?"

"I don’t know either. Odin and Thor struck me down together, and I was utterly destroyed…."

The goblin tilted its head in confusion.

What could be the reason?

Was it because I protected Drakina?

"Drakina is undergoing dragon ascension—could that be the reason?"

"Drakina is ascending already? Has that much time passed…? That makes some sense. She is my youngest daughter and inherited a considerable amount of the Dragon God’s divine power."

The goblin nodded in understanding but then suddenly collapsed.

I approached and saw it foaming at the mouth, trembling violently.

It was on the verge of death.

[I sense Thor’s energy. He might be watching, so I will return to my thought-form.]

"Ah…."

[Don’t speak aloud—just think it.]

Can he read my thoughts?

I responded internally, saying I understood, but there was no reaction.

After a moment of silence, Drakia spoke again.

[You have perfectly protected your mind with Form Maintenance. Unless you direct your thoughts strongly toward me, I won’t hear them.]

I see.

Drakia, Elprian has been completely subdued on Kevrian. She was mutilated and forced to bear Zeus's child. That child was then devoured by Zeus.

[Elprian…? She once competed for dominance over Kevrian, yet she met such a fate… A sorrowful destiny indeed.]

I gave him a rough summary of everything that had happened.

When I mentioned that Olympus and Asgard were manipulating time, he became furious.

[They keep resetting time? Those bastards are trying every possible trick to become creators.]

Creators?

[Yes. If an SSS-rank substitute rises one more level, they gain the qualifications of a creator. To achieve this, they seem to be accumulating SP by constantly rewinding time. But they can't keep doing this forever…?]

Drakia seemed puzzled, so I told him about soul mediation.

After a brief silence, he spoke again.

[Soul mediation? I always wondered why such merciless beings would reincarnate Earthlings—so that was their reason. If they secure a hundred soul mediators, they can reach the path of creation without difficulty.]

Are soul mediators really that powerful?

I hadn’t realized their true value.

[They are indeed valuable. Soul reapers only strengthen themselves, but soul mediators directly benefit the gods. By the way, can you form a contract with me?]

Drakia suddenly seemed very interested.

When I mentioned my soul mediation contract with Elprian, he insisted that he wanted in as well.

Hmm… Elprian at least had a physical form, even if she was mutilated, but Drakia seemed to be just a spirit.

Would a contract even work?

[If there’s an open slot for a soul mediator, why not experiment? Just like you did with Elprian. I’ll set a condition—if I don’t earn SP, we can mutually dissolve the contract.]

I do have some slots left…

Might as well give it a try.

But I don’t work for free.

[If Drakina fully ascends as a dragon, I’ll grant you a reward. Please, I beg you.]

Drakia started pleading earnestly.

He truly wanted to compensate me, but in his current state, he had nothing to offer.

He promised that once Drakina awakened, he would reward me immediately.

When I told him that I’d break the contract if he didn’t pay up, he agreed right away.

[You have formed a soul mediation contract with the Dragon God Drakia.]

[Drakia’s SP acquisition rate increases by 2.2 times. The mediator, Kim Jiho, receives a 35% commission from this amount.]

[Your skill level is too low to mediator all of Drakia’s SP across multiple planets. Only the SP from Kevrian is mediatored.]

I formed the contract on Kalvine, yet it’s only effective for Kevrian?

Drakia, however, seemed pleased.

[Only Kevrian? That’s actually better. That’s my home planet.]

What about Kalvine?

[This place? I invaded and colonized it. I stopped paying attention for a while, and now the Order faction has taken control. This land used to worship dragons.]

So this place used to be one of Drakia’s colonies.

Now it’s ruled by the Holy Empire, though….

[Alright, I will now focus on my recovery.]

Once the soul mediation contract was sealed, Drakia disappeared.

Hmm…

Elprian had been providing a substantial amount of SP.

Will Drakia do the same?

If I can mediate SP from Drakia as well, that would be great.

Right now, I’m basically forced to submit to Olympus and Asgard.

"Anyway, Drakina’s ascension is taking a while."

I thought that completing the quest would allow Drakina to fully ascend, opening the next quest, but the iron door remained firmly shut.

I could feel massive mana swirling inside, but it had been like this for days now.

The conclusion should be near, so I decided not to return to Earth yet and instead check out my new skill.

[Dragon’s Power]

[Special Skill]

[A power granted only to the direct descendants of the Dragon God. Summons the flames of the Dragon God and enhances the user’s physical strength to the extreme. Without a complete Dragon Heart, the overwhelming power will cause the user’s body to explode.]

Reading the description, I recalled all the monsters that had exploded before.

So they couldn’t withstand the power of Dragon’s Power because they lacked a Dragon Heart?

I had a Dragon Heart, so I thought I could use it…

[Warning: Your Dragon Heart is incomplete. If you use this skill, your body will explode.]

A warning message popped up.

Arkardian’s Dragon Heart wasn’t enough, huh?

Well, considering its effect was simply "mana regeneration," it probably wasn’t a complete Dragon Heart.

So, I can’t use it yet.

As for the new title…

[Dragon’s Protector]

[Grade: B]

[Granted to those who protect dragons. Significantly increases affinity with dragonkind and grants the blessing of mana.

Magic stat increases by 30%.

Dragons view the user favorably.]

It’s not that useful right now.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Currently, I’m using the Earth’s Number One and Earth’s Pioneer titles, and this one is inferior to both.

The only benefit is increased affinity with dragons.

But I don’t really need that at the moment.

I’ll just keep it for now.

In the end, my rewards were conditional or situational at best.

Meeting Drakia was probably the biggest gain.

I should ask him to upgrade my Dragon Heart.

That way, this dragon's power will finally be useful...

As I was fitting skills together, I suddenly sensed a massive surge of mana from deep within the lair.

It was an incomparable level of mana.

Rumble.

The ground began to shake.

At the same time, the iron door at the entrance of the dragon's lair slid open like an automatic door.

[Enter, Apostle of the Gods!]

A dignified voice echoed throughout the dragon's lair.

Has it finally achieved its Dragon transformation?

Stepping inside the opened door, I found myself in a completely different world.

Everywhere, gold.

Gold bars covered the floor, and the walls and ceiling shimmered with golden light.

Outside, it was just a desolate cave, but inside, it was nothing short of a treasure vault brimming with gold.

And atop that gold lay a massive red dragon.

It was even larger than the black dragon, Arkardian.

A golden radiance shimmered across its crimson scales.

I couldn’t tell much difference in dragon heads, but...

For something that had just become a Dragon, its presence was overwhelming.

Was it because it was the descendant of the dragon god?

[Thank you truly, Apostle of the Gods. Thanks to you, I successfully completed my Dragon transformation.]

"Glad to hear it."

[Ahem. That rude way of speaking... but since you are the savior of my life, I shall tolerate it.]

"As you should."

The red dragon lifted its head slightly and exhaled.

Flames roared to the ceiling, melting parts of the golden surface.

This one has a temper.

[Ahem. Very well. I shall let it slide. Besides, the crisis is not over yet.]

"Shouldn't you be able to escape now that you're a Dragon?"

[I thought spatial teleportation might work, but the enemy's divine suppression barrier has strengthened further. Success seems unlikely.]

Drakina trailed off at the end.

Then what are we supposed to do?

[For now, we should teleport to the edge of the divine suppression barrier, then break through it with force.]

"Alright. But you seem pretty strong—can't you just fight your way through?"

[No... Something with immense power is approaching the lair. I have no chance of stopping it. We need to escape to the Dragon's Land first.]

What the hell?

Another hero?

Why are humans in this world so ridiculously strong?

Even the daughter of a dragon god, now a Dragon, thinks she has to run?

I should recruit them to Earth.

"Tsk. Fine, let's go quickly."

My body suddenly began to float.

Slowly, I rose into the air and landed safely near the base of the red dragon’s neck.

The neck was so massive that I could roll around multiple times without falling off.

[Stay there for a moment.]

"Oh-ho, a Dragon Rider!"

[Dragon Rider my ass! Get off the moment we finish the teleport!]

Drakina snapped sharply before spreading her wings wide.

A golden light began to shimmer around her enormous body.

The area where I sat was already bathed in golden radiance.

[Warp!]

Our bodies transformed into light and soared into the sky.

It seemed like we were on the verge of a successful spatial teleport, but—

Boom!

A thunderous impact halted our ascent.

We were now high above, with mountain ranges stretching far below.

Looking up, I saw a white wall in the sky, like a solid mass of clouds blocking our way.

[As expected... I'll break through directly!]

Drakina opened her mouth wide and unleashed a torrent of flames.

The dragon's breath struck the wall, causing it to thin.

But just as it seemed about to vanish, the wall grew thicker again.

It regenerates?

[Heroes are approaching! What are you waiting for? Use that ultimate sword technique!]

She meant Soul Energy Emission.

Damn... I just got 30,000 SP, and I'm already about to burn through it.

But judging by the lethal aura in the air, this isn't the time to hold back.

My vision tinged red, and my whole body stung.

A dangerous situation was unfolding.

"Focus Enhancement! Soul Energy Emission!"

Expanding Yeoui, I activated Soul Energy Emission.

I had to succeed in one go, so I bit the bullet and used Focus Enhancement as well.

The sword grew larger and longer, just about to pierce through the white barrier—

[Huh?]

Before the blade could make contact, the wall suddenly vanished.

...What?

The white barrier disappeared as if it wanted nothing to do with the Soul Energy Emission.

If it had made contact, I would’ve used up even more SP—so I guess that's lucky?

Drakina hesitated for a moment, startled by the sudden disappearance of the wall, but wasted no time flying upward.

"Stop right there!"

A desperate voice rang out from the distant sky.

Two figures, resembling angels with white wings, shot toward us at incredible speed.

One of them swung a sword, unleashing a golden energy slash just like the one the previous hero had used.

A massive golden sword wave slashed through the space we had just occupied.

If Drakina hadn't flown past the barrier in time, we would have been caught in it.

As we soared higher, Drakina's body began to glow gold again.

Another teleport?

[Warp!]

"This place..."

[We made it. This is the Dragon’s Land.]

This time, the teleport was a success.

Drakina landed safely on the crimson ground.

Hmm.

What are we supposed to do here?

[Get down now.]

"Alright, hold on."

Now that we've arrived, a quest notification popped up.

Might as well check it before getting off.

...Something’s off.

"Two main quests? And the content... what the hell is this...?"

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]