Chapter 210: A Certain Powerful Entity of Another World
“How… do you know that…!?”
Long ago, the Dragon King had connected dimensions to another world.
Apparently, this was one of the taboos he least wished anyone to learn about.
For perhaps the first time in ages, visible agitation surfaced upon Bahamut’s face.
“The king connected dimensions to another world…?”
“Well, the king is still one of us dragons. It would be stranger if he had no secrets at all.”
“Indeed. It would be wise for us all to forget what we’ve just heard.”
“More importantly… even we Five Heavenly Dragons didn’t know this. How does that creature possess such information?”
The Five Heavenly Dragons hurriedly tried to cover for their king and redirect the conversation.
Yet Bahamut’s chest tightened painfully at the kindness of his subordinates.
“Guh…”
(I’m sorry… my brethren.)
Ryu, meanwhile, didn’t feel even the slightest shred of guilt.
Completely ignoring the heavy atmosphere filling the throne room, he decided to pry even further.
“No, see, you’re exactly the type who’d want to brag about connecting dimensions. So if you kept it secret all this time, there has to be another reason.”
Ryu narrowed his eyes sharply.
“Like maybe you saw something you weren’t supposed to see while peering between dimensions… or met something you absolutely should never have encountered after crossing worlds.”
His grin slowly deepened.
“So what exactly did you experience?”
“………………”
Bahamut fell silent.
Apparently, Ryu had hit the mark exactly.
“Ryu or whatever your name is, enough already.”
“My king, please don’t force yourself.”
“Your happiness is our happiness.”
Yet after a long pause—
The Dragon King slowly began to speak.
“──Back when no dragons besides myself yet existed…”
His deep voice echoed heavily through the throne room.
“Having grown weary of endless solitude, I became fascinated with other worlds and began researching methods to connect dimensions.”
His eyes drifted somewhere distant.
“The research consumed over a thousand years of my life… but eventually, I succeeded. And without hesitation, I opened a path to another world.”
Everyone listened in tense silence.
Even Ryu himself focused completely, as though unwilling to miss a single syllable.
“What comes next is important.”
Bahamut’s gaze sharpened.
“In truth, there isn’t merely one other world. Some resemble this one. Others are worlds where science has advanced, much like the one the summoned heroes once inhabited.”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“Interesting, is it not?”
“…However, I wasn’t foolish enough to interfere carelessly. To avoid influencing those worlds, I merely observed them from the space between dimensions.”
So far, there was still nothing particularly shocking.
Clearly, there was more.
“I believe it was the fourth world I discovered…”
Bahamut’s expression darkened slightly.
“A world much like this one. Dragons existed there as well, and humanity lived by sword and magic.”
His voice grew quieter.
“For me… it was the first time I had ever found others of my own kind.”
Until dragons other than himself were born in this world, Bahamut had fought loneliness completely alone.
Any dragon present could painfully understand that feeling.
The Five Heavenly Dragons nodded sympathetically.
“…However, that was my great mistake.”
A heavy silence fell.
“The moment I leaned farther out from the dimensional gap to attempt contact with those dragons…”
Bahamut’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“…the guardian of that world sensed my presence.”
The air itself seemed to tighten.
“In an instant, it appeared before me.”
No one moved.
No one breathed.
“Of course, battle immediately followed.”
Bahamut’s jaw clenched.
“But… against that guardian, I could do absolutely nothing.”
The Dragon King lowered his gaze.
“I fled back to this world half-dead.”
Ryu sighed as if hearing an annoyingly predictable story.
“I see. So you got your ass kicked and ran home crying. Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t wanna tell anyone that. The dragons probably wouldn’t enjoy hearing about their king getting folded either.”
Then his eyes sharpened.
“But seriously… for you to completely abandon interdimensional research after obsessing over it that much, the opponent must’ve been absurdly strong.”
He crossed his arms.
“What exactly was that thing?”
Even imagining Bahamut being utterly overwhelmed felt impossible.
Though younger as a dragon back then, he was still Bahamut.
Yet judging from his expression—
Everything he said was true.
“The guardian… was an ordinary human.”
The entire room froze.
Ryu blinked.
“…You’re kidding me.”
His voice carried genuine disbelief for once.
“Not a dragon? Not some demi-god half-divine monster or whatever? Just… a normal human?”
“It’s true.”
Bahamut nodded heavily.
“That human wielded light magic.”
“A human using light magic…”
Ryu muttered thoughtfully.
“Nothing like that exists in this world.”
There were holy mages and white magic users, certainly.
Even Amane from the Garcia Hero party belonged to that category.
But magic capable of utterly overwhelming Bahamut?
That was beyond imagination.
“So if someone connected dimensions again, there’s a chance that guardian could invade this world too, huh?”
Ryu scratched his cheek.
“Yeah… honestly, maybe keeping this secret was the right move.”
“Indeed.”
Bahamut closed his eyes briefly.
“One reason was certainly my unwillingness to expose my humiliation.”
His voice lowered.
“But more than that… I didn’t wish anyone else to continue researching other worlds.”
A faint shadow crossed the Dragon King’s face.
“If that guardian were to come here… even I couldn’t stop them.”
“Huh. That’s actually a way more reasonable reason than I expected.”
Ryu sounded almost disappointed.
“What a waste. I got my hopes up.”
“Hmph. Don’t compare me to a rotten creature like yourself.”
Bahamut snorted.
“I’ve always placed my brethren above all else.”
The Dragon King suddenly looked utterly exhausted.
With a long sigh, he leaned back heavily into his throne.
“By the way,” Ryu asked casually, “what was the guardian’s name?”
“I don’t know their true name.”
Bahamut slowly answered.
“…However, their companions referred to them as—”
─────“The Adventurer of Flashing Light.”─────
“…So basically an SSS-rank adventurer by this world’s standards. No wonder they were insane.”
“Hmph. Compared to that being, the so-called Demon Kings currently troubling the surface are nothing but dust.”
“Oh right, speaking of Demon Kings, there’s a bunch of stuff I wanted to ask about too.”
Ryu grinned lazily.
“You’re free anyway, so humor me a bit, dumb lizard.”
“You little brat… is that truly the attitude one takes when requesting something from a king?”
“I’ll overlook those several years you spent freeloading inside my body. Now shut up and talk.”
“Hmph… very well.”
And so—
The conversation was far from over.