Chapter 1243: Marsh Dragon Gurenda
Golden lightning swept across the area, and all the Bee Snakes at the bottom of Shinjinoko Lake vanished without a trace, charred to ashes in an instant.
"What about the Black Box?"
But after searching the lakebed for quite some time, Eiji couldn't find any trace of the so-called multifaceted regular polyhedron.
In theory, it should have been a box several stories tall. With his keen eyesight, he should have spotted it even if it were hidden in some obscure corner. How could there be no sign of it at all?
"Could it have been destroyed along with everything else in that last attack?"
Eiji grew uneasy, swimming back and forth across the lakebed.
In the pitch-black depths of the lake.
A massive dark shadow flashed by.
"Hmm?"
Eiji's gaze sharpened.
Though the surroundings were utterly dark, he detected the disturbance in the underwater currents.
"Come out!"
Eiji scanned the area.
He didn't open his mouth, but the vibrations of his vocal cords carried his voice in all directions.
"Or do I have to beat you up and drag you out?"
"Don't beat me!"
A clear, youthful voice suddenly rang out.
Judging by its tone, it sounded unmistakably girlish.
Immediately after, the enormous dark shadow emerged from the lakebed, obediently swimming up to stop before Eiji.
"It's actually... a dragon?"
Eiji regarded the shadow with no small amount of surprise.
It was an iron-gray dragon.
No more than ten meters in length, its build was remarkably slender—far from the bulkiness of a large lizard. Its large eyes stared fearfully in his direction, as if terrified of being beaten, giving off a distinctly maiden-like impression.
In the world of Strike the Blood, dragons were transcendent beings.
Though classified as monsters, they weren't categorized among magical beasts. Despite possessing a degree of intelligence, they weren't considered part of the demon race either.
Dragonkind were renowned for their immense power, even rivaling vampires for the title of strongest demon race. Their strength was comparable to that of Familiars, and it was said that a dragon living for thousands of years could potentially match or even surpass a True Ancestor!
This was because dragonkind were the guardians of the "Eastern Lands," who had waged a protracted war against the Celestials that once dominated the Earth in ancient times!
Back then, the Celestials, faced with the formidable enemy of the Eastern Lands' dragonkind, and besieged by humans and demons from within and without, succumbed to immense war pressure and resorted to using Familiars—a forbidden weapon!
However, in the present era, pure-blooded dragons rarely appeared on Earth.
If any existed, they were mostly wyverns or other dragon-kin subspecies. Even these subspecies were exceedingly rare, with traces of dragon activity currently only found in the Dark Continent and South America—the Chaos Zone.
The presence of a dragon hidden at the bottom of Shinjinoko Lake was entirely unexpected for Eiji.
"Could it be that you're the Holy Annihilation Relic?"
Eiji looked the iron-gray dragon up and down, his expression dubious.
Outwardly, it didn't seem powerful in the slightest. Its frame was too slender, appearing more like an accessory than anything else.
"Da?"
The dragon tilted its head, its large eyes filled with confusion.
"Holy Annihilation Relic? What's that?"
"You don't know? There should be a black multifaceted regular polyhedron at the bottom of this lake. I'm looking for that—it's the Holy Annihilation Relic."
"No!"
The dragon shook its head, puffing out its chest proudly with its paws on its hips.
"That's Gurenda's bed! Gurenda woke up, and the bed broke!"
I see.
So it seemed this dragon had been sleeping inside that black shell until just now when it was awakened. Once awakened, the black shell that served as its hibernation container naturally broke.
Indeed, this dragon was the legacy of the Holy Annihilation.
But it was incredibly weak.
"Are you called Gurenda?"
Eiji suppressed his impatience and patiently communicated with the dragon.
"Da!"
The dragon nodded vigorously.
"Why were you sleeping inside the black box?"
"Hmm... Gurenda doesn't remember either!"
Seeing how seriously she was thinking, I thought she might come up with a decent answer.
Unexpectedly, she ended up looking completely innocent and saying she didn't remember anything. Eiji was left speechless by her carefree attitude.
"Then how did you wake up?"
"Da! Because Gurenda sensed familiar magical power!"
"Familiar magical power? Whose?"
"The brave one's!"
Who was that?
Eiji rubbed his forehead.
Alright, he could confirm it now - this dragon named Gurenda's thought process was completely on a different wavelength from his. He'd have to figure out her origins later.
Anyway, for the current Eiji, there were very few things in this world that could catch his interest anymore.
Just a dragon - if it wanted to become as strong as him, it would need to train for at least ten thousand years.
"I'm leaving. Do you want to come with me?"
Eiji pointed toward the lake surface above them.
"Da! Together!"
The dragon called out happily.
A flash of light erupted from its body. When the light faded, the huge dragon figure had disappeared, replaced by a girl with iron-gray long hair, her face beaming with a friendly smile.
Completely naked, unfortunately she was a loli.
No sexual interest whatsoever.
"Put this on."
"Da!"
Eiji took out a white dress from the Prison Barrier.
Ever since obtaining the Prison Barrier, he had been using this barrier as a portable storage space. After all, for Itogami Island, the prison's functions were no longer needed.
Lakeside.
Aglare had already woken up, hiding crisply behind Kojou Akatsuki, her eyes clearly filled with anger as she looked at Shiranui.
"Everyone's here!"
Returning to the surface, Eiji greeted everyone.
Gurenda instantly hid behind Eiji, looking timidly at Kojou Akatsuki and the others.
"Why did you bring back a loli?Kojou Akatsuki's expression suddenly became quite subtle.
"You pervert, are you finally evolving into a lolicon?"
"Are you talking about yourself?"
Eiji looked at Kojou Akatsuki with contempt.
"I dare swear I won't marry Gurenda in the future. Do you dare swear you won't marry Aglare?"
"..."
Kojou Akatsuki unconsciously opened his mouth.
He really wanted to boast that he dared say anything, but when his clothes were suddenly tugged from behind, he couldn't get the words out.
"Damn lolicon!"
Eiji spat at him.
Kojou Akatsuki looked utterly frustrated.
"Da?"
Gurenda tilted her head, not quite understanding what they were talking about.
Shiranui stayed nearby, sighing repeatedly, unable to speak for a long time.
"Alright, Aglare has been rescued, the Holy Annihilation legacy has been found, and we should leave now."
Eiji snapped his fingers with a crisp sound.
The golden light sword reformed, taking the shape of an oversized door plank.
"Da!"
Guren suddenly charged out angrily, swinging her snow-white arms to smash the light sword.
At the same time, her body rapidly expanded, her white dress tearing apart in an instant as she transformed into an iron-gray dragon before everyone's eyes.
"Da!"
She shook her back, repeatedly signaling to Eiji.
"Is this a fight for affection?"
Kojou Akatsuki suddenly understood, speaking with certainty.
"She wants you to ride her instead of that light sword!"
"Are you max level in loli language?"
Eiji praised.
"..."
Kojou Akatsuki felt a pang of frustration.
If possible, he'd rather have a useful skill.