Wolves of Hader

Everyone was left speechless.

We all stepped back a distance and looked up.

Had Yuri's body always been this large?

A blood-red body. An exterior like red gemstone scales. Four massive legs and gigantic wings. She must have stood over 20 meters tall and, counting the tail, reached 50 meters in length.

Kukung—

That enormous dragon looked at her own body with a bewildered expression. She spread her wings to their fullest, tried taking a few steps. Her agility was lighter than expected.

"Oppa!"

A strange, resonant sound.

It was a different voice from when she appeared as a girl.

"Did you know you originally had that body?"

"Yeah! But I didn't know I'd be this big!"

"So you used to be smaller!"

"I was just a little bigger than Donnie oppa!"

Yuri had been asleep for nearly a thousand years in the form of a girl. While she slumbered, her true form had grown like this. I could sense immense magic power. The energy of fire, too.

It seemed the form of the dragon had always existed within Yuri's body. Either she'd been transformed to a small size or connected to another plane. She was certainly very powerful.

"Can you fly?"

"Of course!"

Yuri lifted both wings high and soared with a single stroke. Flapping again, she flew even higher. Then she quickly darted away through the sky.

It seemed even her flight magic had been restored. She flew with such agility and speed that her gigantic form almost seemed unbelievable. If one were to count Yuri's age in human years, she'd be about fifteen.

Even though my comrades hadn't spoken of it, they knew Yuri was a dragonborn. So they weren't exactly shocked. What startled them was just the sheer size of her dragon form.

Yuri, who'd been flying freely through the sky, slowly began to land toward us. I expected a clumsy landing, but she touched down with remarkable grace.

"Did you learn any other magic?"

"Yeah! I can breathe fire too!"

The others gave awkward smiles.

It was a scary dragon's face if anything. Her voice was androgynous, and it resounded with a bit of a guttural echo.

But her way of speaking was just as before, which felt quite uncanny. I figured even if Yuri changed her body to that of a mature woman, that same strangeness would remain.

"Can we get on your back?"

"Sure! Everyone, climb on my back!"

Yuri lowered her body. She even spread her wings, making it easy to climb up right behind her head. There were large horns on her back, which we could hold onto perfectly while sitting.

"Everyone on?"

"Yeah! Let's go, Yuri!"

"Okay!"

Yuri beat her wings vigorously and took off. Bellen also soared in riding Asgard's bones.

"I'll head back to the stronghold!"

"Good job, Bellen!"

"Yes!"

The black bones of Asgard circled and headed straight north. Yuri turned her head and spoke.

"Where to now?"

"To the south!"

"Got it!"

Even if Yuri reverted to human form, she'd likely stay as a girl for now. Dragons live over ten thousand years, so she was still young.

Yuri continued to ascend ever higher.

Once above the clouds, we all stared spellbound, gazing up at the sky and down below. It truly was beautiful.

An endless ocean of clouds unfurled before us.

Seas and islands stretched faintly in the distance.

It really was a heavenly world.

As Yuri became more comfortable with flying, she picked up speed. And she wasn't even using flight magic. Maybe she was just innately blessed with that kind of magic.

We continued flying south.

She was faster than Asgard's bones.

At this speed, we'd likely reach Yan in less than a day.

/ / /

Beyond and below the clouds,

A vast continental island came into view.

This was Yan.

There was a huge mountain range in the north of the continent.

Rod's old home was in the northeastern part.

There was a large basin there.

The very place Rod raced toward when he went to fight the devil legion commander. Where many animals and guardian beasts had gathered from across Yan.

This was the Otu Basin.

"Yuri! Head to the right of the mountains!"

We soared above the island continent of Yan.

Yuri promptly turned east and began to descend further. Soon the basin came into view.

It was a rather large basin.

There was a huge lake in the middle, and the forest was quite sizable too, but I saw no signs of a village.

As we drew closer, I saw a building on the lakeshore. The shape was quite familiar to me.

Though the architectural style was different, it was a temple.

"Head for that building!"

"Okay!"

Once we reached the airspace above the basin, Yuri headed for the temple. She passed over dense forest and landed slowly on the lakeshore, fanning her massive wings wide.

Kukung—

She landed lightly again.

Everyone jumped down from Yuri's body.

At that moment, the red dragon's body instantly shank, turned into a tiny dot, and flipped into the form of a girl. Then Yuri grinned with satisfaction.

"Can you transform freely now?"

"Yeah. Being small is more comfortable."

I turned first to look at the lake.

It was peaceful and beautiful.

Then I glanced at the temple.

A man was standing at the door of the temple.

He was a monk with short hair dressed all in white. When he saw us, he bowed courteously.

I walked over to him.

The monk spoke.

"What brings you here?"

He spoke our language, though with a slight Verttern accent.

"We've come seeking traces of Rod."

The monk seemed surprised at my words.

Then he looked at Yuri.

"May I ask for what purpose you seek Rod's traces?"

"I believe he may have left something for me."

The monk was surprised again.

"May I ask your name?"

"I'm Roger Hader."

"Ah."

The monk's eyes widened.

Was he waiting for me?

He said,

"Please, come into the temple."

The monk guided us politely.

From the statues, it was clear that this temple honored the Apostle of Yan. In the garden, there was even a stone statue of Yan's hero, rod, surrounded by wolves. It was obviously a very old temple.

"What kind of temple is this?"

"It is a temple honoring the Apostle of Yan. It is also a shrine that venerates Yan's hero, rod."

They referred to him as an apostle, not a god.

These folks knew the truth.

"Are you the caretaker, monk?"

"Yes. This Otu Basin and temple are sacred to Yan and strictly managed by the Yan tribe."

We passed through the garden and entered the building.

It was the temple's main hall.

Inside were illustrations depicting the symbols of the Supreme God Apeon and the apostles of Yan and Elin, as well as Amir's apostle. There were no pictures of any other apostles.

"Why aren't the other apostles shown?"

"The Yan tribe does not revere them."

"Why not?"

"They betrayed the gods and became fallen apostles. Moreover, the human apostle made himself the god of darkness, so the Yan do not serve them."

"Was that what Rod told you?"

The monk only smiled.

The Yan did not venerate the apostles as gods. The paintings hanging here were not images of gods.

They seemed to have drawn portraits based on actual people. The faces of Yan, Elin, and Amir looked familiar and were not different from the appearances of the three races we knew.

"Are these portraits based on imagination?"

"They were painted by Lord Rod. The originals are kept in the temple's vault, and these are faithful copies."

"So Rod saw all three apostles?"

"It is believed that he met them. The Seven Apostles were Apeon's very first creations and the ancestors of each race."

"So they became gods."

The monk silently nodded.

He was careful with his words. Even if they did not know about the three apostles, they clearly refused to acknowledge the apostates as gods.

The monk entered deeper into the main hall.

He opened a locked door, revealing a staircase.

"This way."

The monk descended underground first.

I followed him and asked:

"Were you waiting for us?"

He nodded again.

"That's right."

"Was it Rod's will?"

"Yes. Our family has followed his instructions for generations: We were told that a person named Roger Hader would one day come here, and that we must watch over this place and wait for him."

He smiled as he continued.

"That person never came for so many years, and so I was greatly surprised that you appeared in my generation—especially since you arrived riding a dragon."

Yuri grinned slyly.

Since I arrived on a dragon, he didn't even bother to check if I really was Roger Hader. After all, it's not an everyday occurrence.

Rod's keepsakes were stored beneath.

A suit of armor and sword. Various paintings.

Perhaps Rod's hobby was art.

There was a self-portrait of Rod, and next to it, a beautiful portrait of Elin. Now that I think about it, among the keepsakes was a woman's Elin dress and a magic staff as well.

"Why do you have Elin's belongings?"

The monk looked from me to Eilin.

He seemed surprised that we didn't know.

"Lord Rod's wife was Elin."

"Then—is it possible that Elin is...?"

"Yes. The hero of Elin, lady Iren."

"I see."

Everyone was rather surprised.

Elin's hero's name or whereabouts had never been known. Like Rod, she was only known as a missing hero.

Not only had the heroes of Yan and Elin been together, but the two had even married and hidden away in the western Arshaire mountains. In their later years, they came to Yan.

The missing heroes were human, Yan, and Elin. The fallen heroes were Amir, Tak, Dran, and Gadisil. Tak and Gadisil seemed to have followed the human hero, hanuk.

The choices of the apostles who betrayed the god Apeon matched those of the fallen heroes. I still didn't know about the hero of Dran. I suppose they came to know the apostles were not gods.

"Are there any records left by Rod?"

"He left no separate documents. However, there was an instruction to prepare against the devil invasion, and a special message addressed to you."

"Is it here?"

"Yes."

The monk opened a small vault.

He took out a scroll from inside. The document looked so brittle it might crumble, so there was also a piece of paper.

"I transcribed the scroll's contents onto this paper. Please compare it to the original."

The monk carefully donned soft gloves and gently unrolled the scroll. I checked the contents—both the scroll and the paper were identical.

『To Roger Hader,

I have left behind a small arrangement somewhere. There, you will find, if incomplete, the truth I wish to share.

Take my dagger, and let the woman who is with you take Iren's staff. If you carry these to the south of Aindel, a hidden door will open.』

Eilin looked at me.

Rod knew her as well.

"How did he know about me?"

"I'm not sure."

The monk took out Rod's dagger, followed by Iren's staff, placing them respectfully on a clean cloth and presenting them to us.

"Please accept these."

"Are you certain we are the right people?"

"There are paintings of you both in the shrine."

"I see."

Perhaps Rod had seen a vision of us.

I took up Rod's dagger and Eilin took Iren's staff. There was no special response.

"It seems Rod even knew we would head for southern Aindel."

"Apparently."

Since Rod had left us nothing else, we exited the temple promptly. He must have left it there, knowing I'd search for the stone of the gods in southern Aindel.

The monk saw us off with a bright smile.

We rode again upon Yuri as she transformed back into the red dragon.

It was reasonable to hide the devil's essence or Rod's legacy in Aindel. After all, only someone like Elin could enter there—and even for an Elin, it'd be difficult.

He said a door would open.

I wondered where it would lead.

/ / /

We headed east.

Below were thick masses of dark clouds.

We were flying above the Storm barrier.

"I see the continent!"

"Oppa! Where should I go?"

"To the southernmost tip of the continent!"

First, we'd reach the southernmost point.

Then, I planned to summon the bronze knight and seek the location of the stone of the gods. The door should open nearby as well.

Yuri began to descend.

But the terrain was very unusual. There was a cloud-covered region with many peaks rising high.

It looked like a world where immortals might live.

Flat islands seemed to float atop the clouds—too high for anyone to simply climb up from the ground.

"Yuri! Land on the biggest one!"

"Okay!"

There were no visible artificial structures.

There weren't many peaks where Yuri's huge body could land; the largest was maybe 20 meters wide.

Yuri gently settled on the largest peak. Immediately, she reverted to her girl form, perhaps because there wasn't enough room for us to dismount.

We all looked around from the flat peak. First, I opened the magic vault and summoned the bronze knight glowing with green jewels.

The jewel's light was incredibly strong.

Southwest, it indicated. There was a tree there, with flower petals swirling about. That tree was truly mysterious as well.

A bent branch grew from the tree.

I thought it was just a tree branch at first.

But it wasn't—it was a bow embedded with the stone of the gods.