Chapter 209: Reunion and Souvenirs

At the center of the Floating Island stood the colossal castle.

Its massive gates slowly creaked open with a thunderous groan that shook the air itself.

Yet standing there were only Ryoma… and the utterly shrunken Fifth Flame.

“Long time no see, you damn lizard. I came to visit. Bow your head.”

The voice came from behind them.

The Five Heavenly Dragons immediately turned around—

—and froze.

Ryu was already there.

He sat casually atop the Dragon King’s throne, one elbow resting against it as he looked down upon Bahamut from above.

“W-When did he—!?”

“That insolence…!!”

Ryu’s sheer insanity exceeded even their worst imaginations.

The very dragon who had brought him here shrank even further in despair, while Ryoma burst into hearty laughter.

“…I actually guided that thing here?”

(What an unforgivable blunder… There’s no path left for me now but to resign from the Five Heavenly Dragons…)

“Hahaha. Honestly, for Ryu, this is relatively restrained.”

(At least he didn’t open by punching the Dragon King in the face.)

As for the Dragon King Bahamut himself—

“You little wretch…!!”

He was furious beyond measure.

The magical power of the Dragon King exploded outward from his body, filling the entirety of the castle like a storm made manifest.

The Five Heavenly Dragons turned deathly pale.

Even Ryoma swallowed nervously.

(So Ryu, at merely ten years old, fought over a vessel with a monster like this…)

Only now could Ryoma fully comprehend just how abnormal Ryu truly was.

Normally, Ryoma himself—the world’s greatest swordsman—drew most of the attention.

Meanwhile, Ryu was often treated as merely “that mysterious friend standing next to him.”

In harsher terms, almost like an extra.

But the truly dangerous one had always been Ryu.

To Ryoma, Ryu was a being that shattered the balance of the world itself.

Something “special” that was never meant to exist within reality.

In truth, Dragon King Bahamut was usually quite calm and composed.

Throughout the long history of the Floating Island, this was the very first time he had become this enraged.

Even the Five Heavenly Dragons, who had served him since ancient times, were experiencing the Dragon King’s wrath for the first time.

And after receiving it head-on—

None of them could move.

Yet Ryu alone remained perfectly relaxed.

Despite standing directly before Bahamut and taking the full pressure of the Dragon King’s magic at point-blank range, he looked utterly unbothered.

If anything—

“Hmm? Did you get weaker? Maybe it’s about time you retired and handed the throne over to one of the Five Heavenly Dragons.”

He casually poured oil onto the fire.

At this point, the Five Heavenly Dragons no longer felt alive.

As for Fifth Flame, he had looped all the way around into complete emotional emptiness.

(…So this is where my life ends.)

“You truly wish to die, little brat?”

“There’s no way a dumb lizard like you could kill me. You couldn’t do it back then either. Honestly impressive you still talk so big.”

“Tch. So even after successfully retaining your memories during evolution, this is the extent of your growth?”

“Hearing that from someone who failed just sounds like a sore loser barking.”

But in truth—

This level of verbal abuse was nothing more than their old form of communication.

Back then, exchanges like this had occurred practically every night.

“A fake dragon king who couldn’t even stop his vessel from collapsing. What a joke.”

“Hmph. I’m merely called king because I’m the Origin Dragon. Should another powerful dragon arise, I would relinquish the throne immediately.”

Bahamut narrowed his eyes sharply.

“Though naturally… not to you.”

“That must never happen, Dragon King-sama!”

“You alone are our true king!”

The Five Heavenly Dragons hurriedly rushed to defend him.

Yet there was another thought weighing even more heavily upon their minds.

(Why…?)

(Why is that dragon able to maintain his vessel despite standing equal to the king?)

Ryu possessed a soul even greater than Bahamut’s.

And yet there wasn’t the slightest sign of bodily collapse.

This was one of the primary reasons Ryoma described Ryu as “something special that shouldn’t exist in this world.”

And so the Five Heavenly Dragons inevitably arrived at the same conclusion.

(What… is this creature?)

Even beings as ancient as the Five Heavenly Dragons couldn’t fully comprehend what Ryu actually was.

“Anyway, I didn’t come here today to argue with some idiot.”

Ryu hopped down casually from the throne platform.

He stopped in front of one of the Five Heavenly Dragons.

“Fifth Earth,” the dragon responsible for constructing the castle itself.

“You’re the one who built this place, right?”

“Y-Yes… that’s correct…”

“Then here. Take this.”

Ryu reached into his item bag and handed him the object.

“This is…?”

“A Flight Stone. There should already be one buried at the center of this Floating Island. With this, you could expand the island—or create entirely new floating islands elsewhere. Use it however benefits dragonkind most.”

“I-I see…”

For just a brief instant, Bahamut’s eyes widened.

“Little brat… where did you obtain something like that?”

“There’s a garbage great power called the Garcia Kingdom up north on the continent. I stole it from an airship they were building. Apparently they planned to conquer the skies.”

“…………”

Every single dragon present felt irritation rise instantly within them.

“The heavens are our domain.”

“Mere surface insects dare speak of ruling the skies?”

“Perhaps exterminating humanity is justified after all.”

“See? That’s exactly why I destroyed the airship.”

Ryu shrugged.

“As far as I know, the only Flight Stones left in the world are the one beneath this island and these two here. So calm down already. If humanity goes extinct, the world’s value drops hard.”

Even the Dragon King seemed unable to disagree with that logic.

Still—

One question remained.

“Why bring something so precious as a gift?”

“Because leaving it on the surface would just start wars. Besides… I actually came here today to scout someone.”

Naturally, he kept completely silent about the fact that the mining dungeon could mass-produce Flight Stones now.

“You intend to recruit one of my subordinates…?”

Bahamut’s brows furrowed again.

“Do you even understand what you’re saying?”

“I’m not planning to drag her away by force. If she refuses, I’ll just thank her and leave.”

Ryu’s voice softened slightly.

“After all… she’s the benefactor who helped both me and Ryoma.”

“Hmph. Then she must be connected to the memory-retention method you two succeeded in.”

“You figured that out fast.”

Ryu grinned.

“Her name’s Munechika. And my guess is she’s starving for knowledge about the surface world. I figured I’d drag her out of this boring island and show her what human civilization looks like.”

“Did you just call my Floating Island boring…?”

Bahamut’s voice lowered dangerously.

“You insignificant brat.”

“Yeah, I did. Spending over ten thousand years on an empty rock like this sounds like torture.”

Ryu’s eyes narrowed.

“That’s why you got bored enough to connect dimensions with another world, right?”

“YOU… HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT!?”

For the first time since their reunion—

Bahamut’s expression showed not anger…

…but panic.

According to the Dragon King, interdimensional summoning could only be activated using human magical power.

And thus, long ago, Bahamut had secretly sought methods to travel to other worlds himself.

Apparently, this was a taboo he wished hidden even more desperately than before.

The Five Heavenly Dragons themselves stared in shock.

Judging from their reactions, even they had never known this secret.

Only Bahamut had carried it alone.

Meanwhile, deep inside his heart—

Ryu silently offered his gratitude to his good buddy, the Dungeon Master, for providing such absurdly valuable information.