Golden Dragon

The golem collapsed.

Leaving only its ankle behind.

Lavi leaped away from close range.

"We did it…"

Sei rolled onto the ground and saw what she had accomplished.

The golem probably wouldn't be able to move properly anymore. Considering it was made of heavy orichalcum, bipedal movement should no longer be possible.

But it wasn't over yet. The mass of both its arms alone could serve as weapons.

Don't get cocky just because you took one leg. That's what Ria would say.

Having expended most of her magical power, she felt it recovering at a tremendous rate. Sei stood up and raised her wavering blade into a middle stance.

Lavi and Mako also maintained their distance from the golem. It hadn't used any ranged attacks until now, but it might have some. They couldn't let their guard down.

But Sei had seen it.

This golem's orichalcum was only a few centimeters thick on the surface.

The core was made of different metals. So it wasn't strange that she could cut through it.

She could still do this.

Just as Sei was about to charge again with that thought—-

"That's enough!"

A voice echoing through the space stopped Sei.

Before anyone noticed, the door to the innermost area had opened.

A dozen or so dragons could be seen beyond that door. Mature dragons with golden scales, and young dragons with slightly pale yellow scales.

And standing before the door was someone Sei had once seen before—-a girl with golden hair wearing golden armor.

Divine Dragon Irina.

"That's… a god? She looks younger than Ria-san though."

"My master was originally human, so things are different for her."

"Reiana is the exception. Divine dragons who haven't lived for tens of thousands of years normally take the form of young girls."

Such was the conversation among the three who had gathered.

"Any further fighting would just be a war of attrition. Besides, since I've acknowledged you, there's no need to fight anymore."

When Irina moved her hand, the crouching golem floated its massive body into the air.

The severed ankle portion reattached, and just like that, the golem was restored to its complete state.

"Lavi, Sei, Mako, come here."

Following Irina's lead, Lavi and Mako released their transformations and followed Sei through the door.

Nine mature dragons. The rest were all young dragons. Together, they numbered about thirty.

There were no ancient dragons that looked like rocks, as Ria had taught her about.

(That's right, they were wiped out once…)

It had taken three thousand years to build up to this number.

"Have a seat for now."

Four chairs rose from the pale golden floor. Irina sat down first, and the three followed suit.

"First, I'm sorry."

And then she apologized.

"I know everything about your situation. You need to destroy or seal the God of Greed, right? I wanted to make a move soon too, but Rana and Teru were stopping me."

Sei and Mako exchanged glances. Then what was all their hardship on the way here for?

"Divine dragons basically don't interfere with the world's surface. They only act in times of world crisis."

That's what Lavi said, but… she had been exerting quite a bit of influence among the races while traveling with Sei and the others, hadn't she?

"That's true. But Ria has already made her move, and Lavi lost her labyrinth, so the remaining divine dragons were preparing to act as well."

According to Irina, just as the Kingdom of Neosis performed the hero summoning, the evil gods were also disrupting the world's balance.

"They've created a new race… Can you guess what it's based on?"

In the world of Nears, various intelligent beings existed, but the main races were humans, demi-humans, and demons.

Even among demi-humans, cat beastkin and lizardmen had completely different ecosystems and cultures, but communication between them was still possible.

And the closest were humans and elves—-half-elves could be born from these two.

A new race added to these…

"Could it be… based on insects?"

"Correct! How did you know?"

Mako was also surprised that Sei got the answer right, but Sei had loved them back on Earth.

… Kamen Rid*r.

"Do you know that beastkin, goblins, and orcs were originally highly reproductive races?"

"Ah, yes, my teacher mentioned that. As civilization advanced, their fertility weakened."

"Yes, the world's order doesn't allow long-lived races to remain as they are. For example, extremely long-lived elves, vampires, and the three-eyed tribe rarely reproduce. However, the insect-people created by the evil gods retain the reproductive capacity of insects while also possessing robust bodies."

"Huh? But I don't think they mentioned anything like that on TV…"

The TV at Ria's house magically hijacked broadcasts from the Nihon Empire.

But the evil gods' forces were supposed to be mostly monsters and humans or demons whose minds had been controlled.

"Insect-people only appeared on the front lines just recently. The evil gods on this continent haven't created any."

"The ones who attacked my labyrinth were mainly demons."

Lavi also testified that she hadn't seen any insect-people.

"Demons tend to have hot-blooded individuals, so they're often manipulated. But if this causes demons and humans to clash again, it'll become problematic."

Irina tilted her head with a troubled expression, but she also seemed somewhat at ease.

"Insect-people don't have much intelligence, but in exchange they're completely hierarchical with a king individual that all others obey. They have high reproductive capacity, and their physical abilities… depend on the base species."

Irina crossed her arms and tilted her head the other way.

"The souls of insect-people are strong relative to their intelligence. If they proliferate… we'll have to create a System again."

The System. The soul reincarnation system that had existed until three thousand years ago to maintain world order, which Carla had taught her about.

"For now, insect-people aren't quite full intelligent beings, so there's no problem eliminating them. Rather, we'll actively eliminate them."

Irina said that much, then widened her eyes.

"The evil gods have gone too far."

It was decided that Irina would defeat the God of Greed.

Several of her dragon followers would also participate.

Multiple mature dragons—-beings capable of easily destroying a single nation.

"But I'm leaving the heroes to you."

Two divine dragons had been added eight hundred years ago. The world's balance had become delicate.

If Lavi were to die—-perish—-changes on a planetary scale might occur.

Therefore, Sei and the others had to deal with the heroes.

"Now, let's end the difficult talk here."

Irina said with a bright smile.

"A present for the two who conquered the labyrinth. What would you like?"

At those words, Sei and Mako exchanged glances. The request from the Demon King-sama had been to get Irina to join the war front.

But now, Irina herself had declared her participation. So what would their wishes be…?

"… When we face the heroes, could you lend us one mature dragon…?"

That was Sei's wish. This time, seven heroes had gathered.

It wasn't certain there would be a battle, but if there was, she wanted the power of a dragon.

"That's fine, but… if it looks like they'll lose, I'll have them retreat, okay? I still don't have many followers…"

Irina thought it over but agreed.

Mako pondered for a while, but made a wise wish in a sense.

"If any of our companions other than me and Sei die from now on, could you bring them back to life just once?"

"Ah, that's easy."

Irina responded with a cheerful smile, but then looked at Lavi with a somewhat stern gaze.

"Lavi should avoid contact with the heroes as much as possible going forward. I've investigated too, and there's still a hero with 'Destruction.'"

"Eh? But that's not supposed to be a very strong ability, is it?"

Mako asked. According to Ria and Carla's analysis, the threat level wasn't supposed to be that high.

"It's been raised to Level 10 and gained the ability to shatter souls."

In this world, resurrection of the dead was fairly simple if you could ask a divine dragon-sama. There were even some like Carla who could actually use resurrection. There were even immortal beings.

But if your soul was shattered, that was the end. The only way to resurrect would be to turn back time, and turning back time came with too great a cost.

Even divine dragons would perish if their souls were shattered. And if time were turned back for a soul as massive as a divine dragon's, the planet itself would be destroyed.

Therefore, if they fought that hero, Lavi would have to support from the rear.

Lavi nodded in agreement.

The three and Irina appeared on the hill at the labyrinth's entrance.

It was probably still morning. The most industrious citizens of the city were already active.

"Here we go."

Irina made a stone monument appear on top of that hill.

The date of conquest and the names of the conquerors were carved into it.

Of course, Lavi's name wasn't there. It would be cheating for a divine dragon to conquer another divine dragon's labyrinth.

Divine Dragon Knight Sei Christoll Parra. Hero Mako Tsubaki.

The two names were carved into that monument.

"It's a bother, but I have to do this."

There was no such custom in the past, but for the last thousand years or so, it had become fashionable to carve the names of conquerors onto monuments.

And when that was done, Irina's body began to glow—-transforming into the form of a massive golden dragon.

A golden divine dragon covered the sky above the city of Laboa.

"Small ones, those who have conquered my labyrinth have now appeared."

Her voice was quiet yet carried far.

"To commemorate this, I carve their names upon this monument."

After saying that much, Irina glowed again and returned to human form, then led the three down the hill.

"So, where should I go? You have companions, right?"

"Yes, to the Governor's mansion."

The four ran down the main street of the city. The gates of the Governor's mansion opened, and there they found their companions after several days.

"Everyone! We're back!"

The first to rush at Sei and the others was Bungol, who embraced all three with his large body.

"As expected of Ane-deshi! Accomplishing what no one else could! I'm in trembling awe!"

Along with Gantz, Laila, and Kukuri, despite the morning sun being out, the three vampires including Rui were also there to greet them.

Irina had been watching this sight with a smile, but seeing more residents coming out of the mansion, she turned her back to them.

"Well then, I'll be going. Take your time following me."

Irina flew up into the air as a golden light, and several similar golden lights appeared around her.

They then transformed into dragons with body lengths exceeding several hundred meters.

"Let's go, everyone!"

The golden dragons soared toward the south. People watched them go.

Some were even kneeling in prayer.

Many watched until the golden lights disappeared to the south.

On this day, the God of Greed was sealed, and its followers were destroyed.