Chapter 195

Chapter 195

“Can you call Han over?”

Dojae asked Eunhee.

Eun-hee nodded, then quickly shook her head.

A moment later, a voice tinged with coquetry reached his ears.

“Why?”

Eun-hee’s eyes widened.

Though only her expression had changed, she now radiated the aura of a seeker, ‘Han’, as if she had become a completely different being.

“The quest isn’t coming.”

“You mean the main quest?”

“Main quests, sure, but side quests too. Any idea what it could be?”

Han was merely the ascetic who devised the quest system; the final ascetic was the one directly involved.

Still, just in case, he asks Han.

He should know the flow of the quests themselves, after all.

“If I knew, I’d tell you. But I don’t.”

“…I wasn’t expecting much, but I can’t help feeling disappointed.”

“What? Are you mocking the gods now?! Come here!”

Han crouched like a cat and lunged at Dojae.

Thud-.

Thud-!

“Ouch….”

Dojai jumped up and dodged easily, while Han, who had slammed into the wall, rubbed his forehead.

Seeing Eunhee act like that felt strange.

But on the other hand, Dojae found himself imagining what Eunhee, who shared Han’s personality, might be like.

“It’s not even your body, so give it back already.”

“When did you call me? If it weren’t for Eun-hee, you’d be out of the running, out!”

“I get it, just call Eun-hee.”

“Ugh! Fine!”

Her eyes, which had been strained with effort, returned to their normal size.

Eun-hee hurriedly covered her flushed forehead, embarrassed.

“Honestly…”

“It’s okay. It’s not weird.”

“Um… really?”

Eun-hee slowly lowered her arms.

The mark remained vividly clear.

It was almost tempting to wonder how hard he’d hit her, but Dojae forced himself to look away.

“Haha… yes…”

“It’s weird, isn’t it…?”

Eun-hee covered her forehead with her palm again.

It seemed Dojae’s attempt to control his expression had failed.

“It’ll go away soon. More importantly, should we go to Briasius? We can’t just wait around for the final quest to arrive.”

“Yes, I understand. Whew… I’m nervous.”

Having obtained all the powers, they were now waiting for the final quest. But even the other seekers didn’t know when a new quest would appear.

In that situation, they couldn’t just waste time.

After Briasius and Herteias researched together, they managed to open a dimensional rift connecting to another world.

“There are people I want to introduce you to… no, other races. They might seem unfamiliar to Eunhee, but they’re good fellows.”

Dojae thought of Sari and Osun.

They had been a great source of vitality during his life in the otherworld.

He worried because he hadn’t heard from them, but the recent reappearance of Ridiran’s traces here eased his mind somewhat.

“I don’t know much yet, but I’m looking forward to it! It should be a unique experience.”

“Thanks for saying that.”

Dojae smiled faintly and headed toward Briasius with Eunhee.

***

“Tsk tsk, what a scatterbrained dragon.”

Herteias watched Briasilius with a displeased expression, arms crossed.

“To be so captivated by a mere human woman that he makes such a spectacle of himself. The ancient dragons in Tranfeion must be utterly ashamed. Am I not right, Youngjin?”

“Yes.”

Youngjin answered indifferently.

He still harbored no fond feelings toward Briasilius, who was sweetly and affectionately with a Western woman named ‘Praxia’.

“Still sulking? Humans.”

“Hmph! What can I do? Even if it’s because of Gelahan… it’s not easy. Humans are just like that!”

“That’s why you’re still a child. How much fun have I had? If I know anything about humans, it’s more than you do, don’t you think? Look at Ji-yoon over there.”

Ji-yoon approached Briasilius and Prasia with water and medicine.

A few days after the hunt for Carter Colt, Briasilius appeared at the guild with Praxia.

He said Prasia was a human from another realm, a princess of a kingdom.

That Prasia had been sealed away with ‘Han’ due to an incurable disease untreatable in her realm, but Earth’s surgical and mana-based treatments showed positive improvement, which was why Briasilius had finally appeared.

And then, surprisingly, Briasilius bowed his head and expressed his gratitude to Eunhee.

‘I, Briasius, the Red Dragon, pledge to become your strength, staking the honor of my race.’

Briasilius revealed his true identity.

The gathered guild members couldn’t hide their shock.

Ji-yoon reacted most intensely.

For her, the mere word ‘dragon’ was enough to bring back traumatic memories of the Busan extermination campaign. Now, learning that Briasilius—whom she had always believed to be Dojae’s cousin—was a dragon, the shock was beyond words.

‘I know the humans I killed were your friends. I too seek forgiveness.’

Briasilius bowed his head toward Ji-yoon, his hand tightly clasped in Prasia’s.

Ji-yun, her eyes brimming with tears, grabbed Briasiilius by the collar and shook him, yet she never let go of Pracia’s hand.

‘Do whatever you wish to me. But protect this woman.’

When Ji-yoon, holding back her tears, refused to let go of his collar, Do-jae and Eun-hee rushed over and pulled them apart.

Then, beside Eunhee who was trying to calm her, Dojae calmly explained.

That Briasius back then wasn’t himself.

‘Alright. Fine, let’s say that’s true! Both Dojae oppa and Lady Eurabia told me about Gelahan. But still… still…!’

Ji-yoon didn’t show up at the guild for a while after that and didn’t even answer her phone.

Dojae visited several times, and Eunhee stopped by Ji-yoon’s house almost every day, but she never opened the door.

A week passed like that.

Ji-yoon, looking somewhat gaunt, came to see Briasius with the same expression as always.

‘I’ve thought about it a lot. Not just this week, but constantly since that day…’

Jiyoon, hesitating, told Briasilius, who listened impassively, what she had been thinking.

And she forgave him.

No, Ji-yoon didn’t use the word “forgive.”

Briasilius wasn’t someone to be forgiven.

Ji-yoon had resolved to direct her grief and anger over losing her comrades toward Gelahan.

‘I thank you, humans of this other world. My Prasia was able to survive because of you. I will devote everything I have to destroying Gelahan and the traitor.’

And there was one watching this scene unfold—Herteias.

Herteias appeared, clapping his hands with an expression of utter disbelief.

‘I knew this would happen. You foolish Red Clan, you’re saying you’ll use the perfect mana granted by nature on a mere insect?’

As Herteias finished speaking, a small flying insect darted out from his disheveled hair.

It slipped right into Herteias’ embrace—a familiar planted there so Herteias could see and hear everything Youngjin did.

‘So you were watching all along. Then revealing yourself deliberately means you have a plan? Herteias, you haven’t forgotten the oath sworn between the Red and Gold tribes, have you?’

‘Do you think I’m you? Surely you wouldn’t be foolish enough to break the oath just to protect a few humans?’

‘You never disappoint. That’s right. Heltain, I ask this of you.’

‘You fool!’

According to Briasilius, it was a promise sworn between the Red and Gold Dragons since ancient times, allowing one to make a single, irrevocable request of the other race in a lifetime.

Ultimately, Herteias agreed to help the humans of Earth alongside Briasilius, following the oath shared between the Red and Gold clans.

Later, when Dojae suddenly had a strange thought and asked about it, Herteias smirked, saying that even without the oath, he had no choice but to grant the request anyway because of the contract he had made with Euravia and Dojae.

“Think only in facts, like Ji-yoon. Emotions are humanity’s greatest weapon, but conversely, they are also their greatest weakness. Especially emotions that spread like cancer tend to become one-sided.”

For these reasons, Briasius and Herteias had bickered while refining the demon king summoning magic circle, and had finally discovered a way to reach the otherworld.

“I know that too. You speak like a sage. The true gods come from over there, you know.”

Dojae and Eunhee walk over.

Only Dojae and Eunhee would cross over to the otherworld initially.

To stabilize the dimensional rift, Dojae’s stature was required, and Eunhee’s pent-up resentment was needed to support it.

The two dragons still had business here. Briasius was here for the incompletely healed Praxia, and Herteias was here to improve his marionette, ‘Helen’.

They decided only Dojae and Eunhee would cross over, stating Youngjin and Jiyoon were also needed for the process.

“Hey, Brian! Stop fooling around and come here. Let’s get started.”

The cleared, spacious empty area.

On the floor lay a highly complex and intricate magic circle, along with a large quantity of magic stones.

Briasius, who had been gazing at each other affectionately, sighed and approached, looking annoyed.

“Ugh…”

“Hey, you! Are you not going to do this properly? Hey, can’t you see Eurabia over there?”

Herteias scolded the leisurely Briasius in a very low voice, right by his ear.

Because Eurabia, inside Ji-yoon, was glaring at Herteias.

“Shut up. Snap out of it, Bri-an. If you don’t want the kids to die.”

“You think I’m you? I can’t even break a single seal magic.”

“Huh? I couldn’t break it? I didn’t break it on purpose! I didn’t have time because I was busy creating Helene. If I’d had enough time, breaking that sealing magic would’ve been easier than chewing gum. And look at this!”

Herteias grabbed Helene’s hair and yanked her forward.

Helene was dragged over expressionlessly.

“A masterpiece for the ages. Marionette Helene! Far stronger than that weird golem with the strange name like ‘King’s Bone’ or whatever. To create this, I had to…”

“You, even if you say it’s not a game, acting like that is pretty lame.”

“What? Why?”

“That child, even if she’s a doll, is a living being with blood and flesh. Especially since her appearance was modeled after you back then, making her indistinguishable from a human girl? Humans feel peculiar emotions toward things that look like themselves. Just look at that girl’s figure—doesn’t it scream ‘just the right size’?”

Briasilius pointed at Youngjin’s furrowed brow.

Startled, Youngjin quickly hid his expression, but it was already too late.

“Huh. Got it. Be careful. Is it because of that woman? You’ve become quite observant of humans, Bri-an?”

“I plan to keep doing it. At least until Prasia grows old and dies a natural death.”

Affection dripped from Briasius’s eyes.

Herteias was so exasperated he stuck out his tongue.

“How long are you going to keep chatting? Are dragons always this talkative?”

Dojai, unable to wait any longer, urged them on.

Both Briasius and Herteias shared the same thought: how many humans could possibly speak so casually to a dragon, the pinnacle of all life?

“The world truly has turned upside down. It’s the end of days, the end of days.”

“It’s all your fault for raising him wrong, Brian!”

The two dragons shook their heads in dismay and began channeling mana into the magic circle.