Chapter 298 : The City Within the Dragon's Maw
Chapter 298: The City Within the Dragon's Maw
“This is the Sky Dragon's method.”
The Sky Dragon.
Strangely enough, the moment I heard that name...
I actually felt relieved.
Perhaps because the moment I attached the reason of it being a “Dragon” to this incomprehensible phenomenon whose cause I couldn't identify...
It felt as though I'd finally found a direction to move forward.
Not knowing my opponent and having no idea what I should do...
Was far more unsettling than facing an enemy who was unimaginably powerful, yet clearly defined.
“What an interesting reaction.”
Even though I hadn't said a single word...
The Chairman of Stingray burst into hearty laughter as though he had read straight through my thoughts.
Unlike everyone else...
He appeared to be able to move freely even under these circumstances.
What was the difference between everyone else and the Chairman?
And leaving the Chairman aside...
Why was I unaffected?
That mystery came first.
“What exactly just happened?”
“Isn't it exactly as it appears?”
“They're all wearing that lizard's leash.”
“If ‘that thing’ were to order everyone here to ‘end your lives’ right now...”
“Everyone except you and me would bite off their own tongues and die.”
It seemed to be some kind of hypnotic magic.
An incredibly powerful one...
Powerful enough to take human lives without difficulty.
But if that were the case...
Why wasn't my Mana Sensor reacting even now?
“If you know something, explain it properly.”
“Well now.”
The Chairman of Stingray chuckled as though this entire situation were some sort of entertainment.
Normally, he looked like a corpse ready to be placed in a coffin at any moment.
Yet now...
His face was overflowing with mischief.
“......”
If he had no intention of telling me...
Pressing him further would only waste time.
To search for an answer myself...
I stood up and slowly circled around the Chairman while observing the surroundings.
But...
I gained nothing.
'Unless I bring Evangeline or Miyu here, there's no way I'll be able to determine what kind of magic or technology was used by myself.'
The only thing I'd discovered...
Was that every shareholder in the conference hall had voted against Chairman Stingray's reappointment.
That naturally included Kalia's supporters.
Even the figurehead CEOs I'd placed here had done the same.
If this hypnosis were lifted...
The vote would undoubtedly end with the Board being reorganized.
'This situation is troublesome.'
Just as that thought crossed my mind...
The Chairman of Stingray spoke again.
“It seems things didn't proceed according to the scenario you expected.”
“Wouldn't you be the one in trouble instead?”
“I wouldn't particularly mind if Kalia obtained management control.”
“Really?”
“Then I suppose you wouldn't mind if I cast my own vote in favor of stepping down.”
“......”
Kalia possessed 23%.
The hypnosis had transferred another 7% to her side.
The remaining shareholders accounted for another 2–3%.
23% + 7% + 3% = 33%.
Meanwhile...
I only held 23%.
No matter what I did alone...
I'd lose to Kalia here.
Unless the Chairman's own 19% were added to my side.
“If you arrive at the correct answer...”
“I'll help you.”
“And what determines whether it's the correct answer?”
“Figure that out yourself.”
“......”
Damned old man.
Just what are you planning?
I briefly tried to unravel the Chairman's intentions...
Then gave up.
Trying to understand the thoughts of an old man who seemed to have a hundred snakes living inside his stomach...
Was more difficult than simply searching for another solution.
'First... I should focus on breaking the hypnosis.'
Afterward...
I'd explain the situation to everyone with voting rights and invalidate the vote itself.
That would be the most orthodox solution.
Fortunately...
Everything happening here was being recorded through my ocular camera.
There would be more than enough evidence.
'The problem is how to break the hypnosis...'
For a brief moment...
I considered slapping everyone awake.
But it obviously wouldn't be that simple.
I'd experienced my own arm moving against my will just moments ago.
Trying to wake them by force would probably only end with innocent people getting beaten.
As I pondered...
A good idea suddenly came to mind.
I immediately walked over to the window.
Whoosh!
I threw the curtains wide open...
And stared at the torrential rain pouring from the sky.
Anti-Rain.
If it was magic...
This would be the perfect solution.
As the saying went...
The water always knew the answer.
Silence had once fallen under similar hypnosis before.
I'd restored his senses by making him drink this rainwater.
Coincidentally...
Anti-Rain was falling today.
If I simply opened the windows...
Or ripped them out entirely and exposed everyone to the rain—
“I'll tell you this first—”
The Chairman of Stingray suddenly interrupted.
“That won't be a good solution.”
“We won't know until we try—”
No...
Wait.
What had the Chairman just said?
Anti-Rain wouldn't work?
Why?
Wasn't Anti-Rain extraordinarily effective at erasing anything related to mana?
'It's... not magic...?'
Since my Mana Sensor hadn't reacted...
Perhaps it wasn't magic after all.
But if it wasn't...
Then what was it?
Had some mysterious Techno Wizard hacked everyone's brains simultaneously?
As I continued thinking...
A question suddenly surfaced.
'What exactly... is Anti-Rain?'
I'd never seriously thought about it before.
According to the Original Story...
It was described as:
“Rain mixed with a special chemical that erased mana.”
And every time Anti-Rain fell...
The streets were filled with a peculiar chemical smell.
Because of that...
I'd never questioned it.
But thinking about it more carefully...
Something was strange.
Mana was a deadly poison to living creatures.
Ordinary humans exposed to mana either died through cellular mutation...
Or transformed into monsters.
The nanomachines inside Adaptees constantly removed mana-corrupted cells and regenerated new ones...
Granting them resistance to mana.
Then...
By what principle did Anti-Rain erase mana?
Why didn't the corporations make broader use of the chemical contained within Anti-Rain?
If they possessed something capable of neutralizing mana...
Wouldn't it allow them to counter the [Mystics] to some degree even without Adaptees?
They could also apply that chemical to bullets.
Or weapons.
There were countless possibilities.
Yet...
Neither in the Original Story...
Nor after arriving in this world...
Had I ever seen a single weapon utilizing Anti-Rain.
Why?
Simply because it couldn't be applied elsewhere?
Because of technological limitations?
That had been my assumption.
But now...
I found myself questioning whether that was truly the reason.
And above all—
'The one thing everyone here has in common.'
Everyone attending this shareholders' meeting except myself and the Chairman...
Had fallen under hypnosis.
Which meant...
Every one of them had fulfilled the same condition.
Since no mana whatsoever could currently be detected inside the conference hall...
It was reasonable to assume they'd all encountered whatever caused this before entering.
But naturally...
The attendees were incredibly diverse.
There were high-level Adaptees like me.
Ordinary civilians.
Members of the highest social class.
Even middle-class reporters.
How...
Could the Sky Dragon have hypnotized such vastly different people all at once?
Had it personally visited every attendee and cast magic on each one?
Or had it hidden an invisible trap at the entrance?
Those possibilities weren't impossible...
But my conclusion was different.
“Anti-Rain...!”
The mysterious rain that repelled the [Mystics].
Everyone living in this city had been exposed to it countless times.
Rain inevitably splashed onto their bodies.
They inhaled vapor produced as it evaporated.
In places like the Fallen District...
People even used it as everyday water.
Everyone in this city...
Lived beneath that rain.
It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to say...
That Anti-Rain flowed through the blood of every person in the city.
The instant my thoughts reached that conclusion...
My gaze naturally turned toward the Chairman of Stingray.
His expression contained equal parts fascination...
And regret.
Then he answered.
“Correct.”
“That's the answer.”
“This city exists inside a dragon's maw.”
The Chairman of Stingray slowly spoke in a metallic voice.
“This rain contains the Sky Dragon's ‘blood.’”
“We made that contract long ago.”
“A... contract...?”
“Don't bother condemning it as a foolish decision.”
“It was the only path left to us.”
Within the Chairman's faded golden eyes...
It was as though I could see the landscape of a barren desert.
And within it...
People consumed by hunger.
Fatigue.
Fear.
Despair.
“We were utterly exhausted.”
“There wasn't a single safe place left on the continent.”
“The islands were no different.”
“No matter where we went, monsters filled the land.”
“No matter where we fled...”
“The world had already been stolen and transformed into something else.”
“We could wander no farther.”
“So we had no choice but to decide.”
I'd heard this story before.
That the Chairman of Stingray had made a contract with a Dragon in order to build this city.
“And this rain became both the Sky Dragon's gift...”
“And its curse.”
“Now it is called Anti-Rain.”
“But just like the name ‘Sky Dragon’...”
“That is merely a name humans chose for it.”
“What exactly is Anti-Rain?”
“The Sky Dragon's ‘cells’...”
“No.”
“That sounds rather disgusting.”
“It's better to call it...”
“...its consciousness.”
“Why didn't you tell me sooner?”
“If I had told you beforehand...”
“What would have changed?”
“Nothing.”
“You never trusted me.”
“Even if I had explained that the Sky Dragon used methods like this...”
“You would've dismissed it because it wasn't your problem.”
“Seeing is believing.”
“I decided it would be better for you to witness it yourself.”
“So just as you said yesterday...”
“Kalia was nothing more than bait?”
“Kalia was chosen by the Sky Dragon.”
“Compared to someone like you, who's troublesome to control...”
“It judged Kalia to be more useful.”
“She is capable...”
“But mentally fragile.”
“Now...”
“It intends to replace an old puppet like me...”
“And seat that child in my place.”
“......”
Even as I fell silent...
Trying to sort through my thoughts...
The Chairman continued speaking.
“If you're wondering why only you and I escaped the Sky Dragon's influence...”
“In your case...”
“It is because you received Omega's cells.”
“As for me...”
“It is thanks to the serum created from the Dragon you slew.”
So...
The power of one Dragon blocked the power of another.
Only now did I finally understand why the Chairman had been so overjoyed...
Claiming that his long-cherished wish had finally come true.
Even so...
One question still remained.
“Then why didn't the Sky Dragon act when ‘that thing’ imprisoned inside the laboratory entered the city?”
“The Sky Dragon abandoned its physical body in order to exert influence over the entire city.”
“It no longer possesses the lizard-like form of the one inside the laboratory.”
“It's easier to think of it as a kind of thought-form.”
“And because of that...”
“It became restricted in many ways.”
“A thought-form?”
“Like a ghost?”
“You could think of it that way.”
“But didn't I tell you from the beginning?”
“We exist inside that lizard's maw.”
“Hm...”
“If I were to exaggerate just a little...”
The Chairman of Stingray smiled bitterly.
“You could say that this entire city is the Sky Dragon.”