novelnext Chapter 262 : The Curse of the Dragon
Chapter 262 : The Curse of the Dragon
"You saved me."Even after hearing such an unexpected statement from Chairman Stingray, I wasn't particularly surprised.
Because there was already a rough scenario taking shape in my mind.
“I've heard that your group has some sort of connection with the Dragonkin. Is this incident related to that?”
“And who told you that?”
Chairman Stingray's expression suddenly stiffened.
For someone who rarely displayed his emotions unless absolutely necessary, such a reaction meant there was definitely something to it.
“It's the conclusion I reached by combining my own deductions with what the Dragon I captured told me. I assume you weren't unaware of what I had been doing in Sector E.”
“Ah, if that's all, then it's fine. It doesn't matter.”
Seemingly relieved, the Chairman casually waved his hand.
Then he looked toward the enormous tank containing the Dragon with eyes filled with satisfaction.
“It's a relatively weak one. Still, it should prove quite useful…… I never imagined you would capture a Dragon all by yourself.”
“……”
“Ah, of course, I never underestimated your strength, my son. You are the eldest son of our family and the shield that will protect our group. I'm proud that you've grown into someone so dependable. I simply never expected you to become strong enough to hunt a Dragon alone.”
Every time I heard him speak, I couldn't help thinking the same thing.
Chairman Stingray's voice sounded like air leaking from a punctured balloon, worn thin by old age.
No...
Drake Stingray himself was like that.
Wrinkled and shriveled in every sense, barely clinging to life like a walking corpse.
He was a man who could no longer grow as a human being.
Yet every so often...
It was as if those holes within him suddenly sealed shut, and he swelled with unbelievable intensity.
Whenever that happened, unimaginable madness, fury, and charisma poured out of him, making his presence seem far larger than his actual body.
And surprisingly...
This time, he was swelling with joy.
If it wasn't an act, then this was probably the most human expression I'd ever seen from him.
“Now then…… where was I? Ah, yes. Our connection with Dragons…… Yes, it's true. However, it's probably somewhat different from what you're imagining…….”
Chairman Stingray slowly moistened his dry lips before continuing.
“Do you know? This city is a symbol of submission.”
“Submission...?”
“The characters mean to bend and to obey. Ignorant people often regard this city as 'humanity's final symbol of pride that survived without being defeated by monsters,' but the truth is the exact opposite. To preserve this city, I and countless others had to bow our heads until our mouths were filled with mud.”
“And the one you submitted to was……?”
“That's right.”
“A Dragon.”
Phew...
Chairman Stingray let out a deep sigh, his thoughts seemingly complicated.
“It was an individual known as the Sky Dragon. Of course, that was merely the name humans gave it because of its blue scales. It seemed to like the name quite a bit itself.”
“You speak as though you knew it well.”
“Knew it? Of course I did. It was the one that embedded the curse into my heart. You already knew that, didn't you?”
“Yes.”
Because I'd heard it from Evangeline.
“I see. So that young Witch regained her memories. I did something terrible to that little girl. Tsk, tsk.”
“……”
“Well, have her accept your apology on my behalf someday. Anyway... before this city was built, we wandered for a long time searching for land where humanity could settle while fleeing from monsters. We rescued survivors from every ruined continent and united them into one people. Eventually, we found the ideal land... but it already had an owner.”
“The Sky Dragon.”
“……Yes.”
The Sky Dragon.
The founders of the city fell into despair upon realizing they had once again offended a Dragon.
After barely surviving, they had no strength left to oppose one.
Fortunately...
Unlike the Dragon that had burned the European Continent, the Sky Dragon was comparatively friendly toward humans.
Of course, the Chairman added that this "friendliness" wasn't affection between equals.
It was more like—
"Oh? This little insect can speak? What an interesting bug."
“You can probably guess the rest.”
“……Yes.”
It was obvious.
In the end, the city's founders formed a contract with the Dragon and received permission to build the city.
Once humanity's final refuge had been established, survivors from all over the world flocked there.
Over nearly two centuries, the city flourished spectacularly.
As stability returned, a government was established.
From small shops to enormous corporations, businesses appeared one after another.
And Chairman Stingray, as the founder of the Adaptee industry through the use of Nanomachines and Combat Modules, created the monstrous corporation known as the Stingray Group.
Of course...
The journey had been anything but easy.
“Corporate wars, conflicts with the government, Monster Waves... Our public relations department always credits me personally for every victory our group achieved.”
“But that isn't true at all.”
There had always been a Dragon behind him.
“It placed a curse upon my heart under the name of a blessing. Thanks to that, I gained the ability to read people's souls and glimpse a short distance into the future.”
The reason he had overcome every crisis that threatened to shake the city and eventually reigned as the true Emperor...
Wasn't because of Drake Stingray's own abilities.
It was because he stood beneath the Dragon's blessing.
At first glance, it sounded like the tale of a legendary hero who had become extraordinary as a Dragon's contractor.
But as a certain famous comic once put it—
Great power always came with great responsibility.
“The Dragon's curse grants immense power while taking something else away. In my case... it took my right to die, along with several senses, including taste and touch.”
“……”
For some reason...
The Chairman claimed he had merely lost his senses.
But to me...
That sounded like a lie.
It was true that I'd never seen him genuinely enjoy food or drink, nor had I ever seen him react much to pain.
However...
Unlike the people here, I knew Chairman Stingray from the Original Story.
Which meant I could say with certainty—
What had been taken from him wasn't his senses.
It was his humanity.
In other words...
The cause and effect had been reversed.
He didn't become dull because he had lost his senses.
Rather...
Because he had lost something essential to being human, his senses had faded away as a consequence.
Ironically...
That very absence of humanity had allowed the Stingray Empire to become even stronger.
Whenever decisive moments arrived, he completely shut off his emotions and made rational, logical, efficient—
And sometimes utterly merciless—
Decisions devoid of blood or tears.
Personally...
I found it utterly disgusting that Chairman Stingray excused his inhumanity by blaming it on the Dragon's curse.
No one even knew exactly how the curse functioned.
And yet...
Was I supposed to forgive every atrocity he'd committed simply because of something like that?
Maybe others could.
I couldn't.
The image of him laughing while bombarding Honeycomb City and calling it a "gift" still remained vividly engraved in my mind.
“……”
Even so...
I forced myself to conceal my emotions.
The Chairman wasn't finished speaking.
Besides...
Killing this monster here and now wouldn't change anything.
As though he had read my thoughts, Chairman Stingray chuckled and continued.
“……The Sky Dragon did not curse only me. It extended its hand to our group's executives, government officials, politicians, and the leaders of other corporations as well. Some among them even openly worship the Dragon. In the end, every person said to rule this city is merely one of the Dragon's servants. Isn't it amusing?”
“Amusing?”
“Isn't it absurd? Humanity built this city to escape monsters, only to discover it had been constructed inside the jaws of an even greater monster.”
“……”
“I hated that.”
The grin on the Chairman's face disappeared in an instant.
“I wanted to die.”
“But unlike the others, I became far too valuable a chess piece to the Sky Dragon. I couldn't die as I pleased, and even if I somehow did, the curse would remain.”
“So……”
He paused before looking directly at me.
“I created all of you.”
“...What?”
Ignoring my bewilderment, he continued.
“Did you truly believe I created you merely to inherit the company?”
“No.”
“I needed someone who could kill me... and set me free.”
“Wait……!”
“Fortunately, as more contractors of the Sky Dragon appeared, its surveillance gradually became lax. For a very long time, I've been making preparations in places beyond its gaze. Honeycomb City and Omega were merely parts of that plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“To break the Dragon's curse, one requires power worthy of opposing it. Attempting it halfheartedly only causes the curse to spread further... and grow stronger.”
In other words...
To destroy the magic known as the curse...
Something even more powerful was required.
“One possibility is for an individual to obtain enough power to slay a Dragon.”
“Another is to analyze the curse through human technology and remove it.”
“And if even that proves impossible... then humanity itself must unite under one banner and win the war against the monsters that it lost two centuries ago.”
So that was it.
Aaron.
Benedict.
Kallia.
Each of us had inherited a different part of that objective.
“I am nothing more than the Dragon's servant... its puppet. If someone cannot even kill me, then there's no chance they could ever sever this curse.”
“I needed someone capable of killing me.”
“You said Honeycomb City was also created for that purpose……?”
“Yes.”
“'The Perfect Human.'”
“Or perhaps... 'The Mythical Human.'”
“A hero chosen by God gains the power to slay Dragons.”
“Of course, that experiment ended in partial failure...”
“But fortunately...”
“You inherited its essence.”
“Didn't you?”
Ah...
Now I finally understood.
Chairman Stingray had always valued only the objective.
When we first met at the hotel, he had already known that the soul inside his son was someone entirely different.
Yet he hadn't cared in the slightest.
Likewise...
He had never interfered when his own children tried to kill one another.
Nor had he stopped me after I absorbed the Outer God and the Omega Cells, becoming even stronger.
I'd assumed it was merely the madness of a man obsessed with creating an even stronger successor.
But behind all of it...
There had always been the Dragon.
Only a hero far stronger, wiser, and more perfect than himself...
Could kill him.
And sever the curse.
‘That's why the protagonist……!’
In the Original Story, the protagonist formed peace treaties with the Dragonkin and other races with Evangeline's help.
Together, they overthrew the great evil known as the Stingray Group.
Back then, since the story was told entirely from the protagonist's perspective, I'd simply concluded that Chairman Stingray was a madman who had lost his humanity.
But after hearing all this...
I couldn't help wondering if the Chairman had intentionally allowed himself to be defeated.
The protagonist hadn't become one of the Dragon's servants.
Instead, he had forged treaties with the other races and secured humanity's rightful place among them as equals.
Perhaps...
Chairman Stingray had believed that someone like him could finally end the curse spreading throughout this city.
“So making me, Benedict, and Kallia your children was……”
“……”
Instead of answering...
The Chairman simply smiled.
That smile contained the answer.
There had never been any need for us to actually be his children.
He could have recruited outside mercenaries, raised them into human weapons, and ordered them to kill him.
But...
By making them his children instead...
He avoided countless suspicions from the outside world.
“Well.”
“That should be enough explanation.”
The Chairman rolled his wheelchair toward the tank imprisoning the Dragon.
“Aaron.”
“You have accomplished exactly what I hoped.”
“You captured a Dragon before everyone's eyes.”
“You have proven beyond doubt that you possess the necessary strength.”
“Once we dissect and analyze this creature, we should be able to forge a blade capable of reaching even the Sky Dragon.”
“However...”
“A problem has arisen.”
“……What problem?”
“Before long... our entire group will begin hunting you in earnest.”
“And at the same time...”
“Kallia, the one chosen by the Sky Dragon, will be appointed as the next Chairperson.”
“Kallia……?”
The Chairman offered no answer.
Instead, he merely said—
“Prepare yourself for the battle to come.”