OBS Chapter 293: The Hatchling
Chapter 293: The Hatchling
Leon looked at her."What do you think would be behind the doors?"
"Let me take a look."
She inspected the metallic door and the surroundings of it.
Her eyes stopped right at the hinges of the door.
"Hey, look here."
She called out to Leon.
She showed how the door had no side hinges.
"Is this a slide-up door?" Irene concluded.
"Or a slide-down door." Leon added.
"A slide-down door? Which stupid person would build something this impractical?"
Leon’s eyes twitched.
"Anyways, let us try opening it."
"Huh? What if there really was some trouble behind it?"
"Then, should we call the others?" Leon suggested.
"....that would take time? Let’s just take a peak inside and if we find anything strange, we call the others" Irene suggested.
From the looks of it, it was clear that Irene was curious too.
Irene stepped forward and rolled her shoulders.
"I will be opening it, you stay behind."
Leon took a single step back from the door.
He let her do the work, because only someone from Evana can opened it in the first place.
It was one of the conditions for the hidden Quest.
Enter the quest area alongside a citizen of Evana.
BOOOOOOMM!!
She pushed the door upward.
The entire tunnel shook and the dust rained from the ceiling.
It was clear that Irene was applying all her strength.
Yet the metallic door remained completely unmoved.
"..."
"..."
Irene blinked.
BOOOOM!!
This time she pushed even harder.
"Haaaah...."
This time the surrounding walls trembled violently.
The door did not move even an inch.
"What is this thing made of?"
Irene stepped back, narrowing her eyes at the door as though it had personally offended her.
Leon glanced at it from the side and one again suggested.
"Try pushing it down."
Irene slowly turned her head.
"...Oh, come on."
Leon was still staring at her with a confident smile, and this made Irene give in.
She placed her palm on the upper section of the metallic surface.
Without any expectations whatsoever, she pushed down.
SWWIIIIIIIRRRRRRRR—!!
The massive door immediately slid downward.
"Woooah."
It was now going down without even applying any strength.
Irene looked genuinely flabbergasted.
"I refuse to believe that worked."
"ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!"
A hideous roar exploded from within.
The sound alone shook the whole place.
Loose pebbles fell from the ceiling, and a powerful gust of wind rushed out through the door.
Irene instinctively stepped in front of Leon.
"Something is inside."
"Oh, look at that." Leon sounded surprisingly relaxed. "Irene, it seems like we have company."
A smirk appeared on his face as he stared into the darkness beyond the doorway.
Irene followed his gaze.
At first, she only saw two enormous golden eyes staring back at them.
They were motionless, but still at them.
Each eye alone was larger than a grown man’s torso.
As the dust slowly settled and the faint glow from the cave walls spread further inside, the creature’s outline gradually revealed itself.
Countless black scales covered its entire body like layers of polished armor.
Every single scale reflected the light differently producing faint silver ripples across its body.
Its neck was thick and its claws were massive, and its folded wings looked large enough to cover an entire building.
The creature shifted slightly.
CLANG.
The sound resembled metal scraping against metal.
Irene’s eyes widened.
"Is that thing...a dragon?"
It was her first time seeing one too, except for Vivy, who was a half Dragon and half Demon, this one was an actual thing as described in the old archives.
Dragons were an extinct species.
The last recorded sightings had happened during the Calamity War centuries ago.
The creature slowly lowered its head.
Its golden eyes remained fixed on the two intruders.
Leon observed it for a moment before speaking.
"It’s a young one."
Irene looked between Leon and the dragon.
Leon chuckled.
"This one is a hatchling."
A crimson glow gathered between its fangs, and the surrounding temperature instantly rose.
The walls of the tunnel lit up in shades of orange and red as flames condensed inside its throat.
Irene’s eyes widened.
"Leon!"
Without hesitation, she stepped in front of him.
Her mana surged through her body as she prepared to intercept the attack.
A dragon’s breath.
Even a hatchling’s breath was not something she wanted Leon taking head-on.
Yet before she could move any further, Leon calmly raised a hand.
He looked completely unfazed, as if the sight of an ancient dragon preparing to incinerate them did not bother him in the slightest.
"I brought a message from Lady Lyvara."
The words rebounded through the chamber, making the flames inside the dragon’s mouth flickered.
It vanished.
"..."
"..."
The enormous dragon froze.
Its golden eyes widened slightly at his words.
Even Irene could tell something had changed.
The dragon looked... confused.
Slowly, it closed its mouth.
To Irene, it looked as though the dragon had completely forgotten it was about to attack them.
Irene immediately turned toward Leon. ’What in the world did he just say?’
The dragon stared at Leon for several seconds.
Then it opened its mouth once more, but this time, however, no flames came out.
Instead, a voice echoed through the chamber.
A rather young voice of a girl.
"Why is a human carrying a message from my mother?"
The voice sounded both suspicious and demanding at the same time.
Its golden eyes never left Leon for even a second.
Irene quietly gulped.
No matter how strong she had become after all those loops, she knew one thing for certain.
She was not winning against that thing.
"L-Leon..."
She tugged lightly on his sleeve.
"She looks angry."
Leon stepped forward, and looked directly into the dragon’s golden eyes.
"Hey now, you are scaring her. Is that what Lady Lyvara taught you? You have lost your manners, little one."
The dragon blinked, visibly stunned.
Irene’s eyes widened.
’What is he doing!?’
He was talking to a dragon.
No, no, he was scolding a dragon!!
And somehow while doing so, Leon did not look nervous in the slightest.
[A/N : 2 Extra Chapter if we get 100 Powerstones in 24 hours]