Chapter 366: Not Meant to Be a Hero

Meanwhile, just as a wealthy businessman was being targeted for unlawful and extremely selfish purposes, two dragons remained tangled with each other while they spoke about things that other beings wouldn’t have ever thought would come to light.

Actually, scratch that.

If anything, Riley’s ancestors seemed to have had enough confidence that one day, the perfect time to execute their plan would come.

He had been shown why they had such confidence, but Riley was rather unsure, since they were clearly overestimating him and his abilities.

See, there are people born into the world for greater things. Like his baby brother, who dreamt of becoming a hero or a dragon knight. Now those kinds of people deserved access to things that could maybe save the world.

But the important thing to remember was that there were also people who were born into the world, simply hoping for a pretty average life.

Like, seriously average.

Because there was really nothing wrong with wanting to sit back a little while the world’s protagonists moved everything forward.

Now, that had always been Riley’s goal.

Because he didn’t need or want to be someone who moved mountains because of some calling.

So how come he was the one sitting on his mate’s lap while describing what he saw happen during the Great War?

Maybe that was the price to pay for having a mate like Kael. Who knows if the tax for having such a wonderful partner meant going through hell ten lifetimes over? But at the moment, that was really the only part making all the incoming shit feel worth it.

“The Wyvern King was just stupidly overpowered. Of course, it wasn’t exactly him, more like the fancy suit he was wearing, but in the end, he was just too strong for everyone who still had training wheels on.”

Riley waved his hands animatedly as he spoke, his frustration clear even as he tried to simplify something that clearly wasn’t simple at all.

“Mn. Then how did they defeat him?”

Kael asked it casually, his fingers threading through Riley’s long hair, absently toying with it as though trying to keep the tone light despite the topic.

“That’s just it. They didn’t.”

Riley shrugged before letting out a long sigh, one that made Kael tilt his head slightly.

“What?”

“Yeah, the truth is, they didn’t actually defeat him. Not in all those years, and not even by the end that we know of.”

He shifted slightly where he sat, leaning back just a bit more comfortably against Kael’s strong arm as he continued.

“All this time, those deceivingly peaceful lulls in history weren’t because the Wyvern King was actually defeated. It was more like he had to step away to figure out how to keep the rejection to a manageable level.”

If the guy hadn’t been deteriorating on his own and dealing with body parts that refused to function the way he wanted, there wouldn’t have been any breaks at all.

“But thankfully, he did,” Riley added, letting out a quiet breath. “So their forces would pull out on their own and hide for a while. They still tried to stir things up here and there as a diversion, but without their leader, it became pretty obvious that the lackeys were much easier to deal with.”

“At first, my ancestors thought those full stops were intentional. Like maybe without their King, the dragons would just cull their forces down to a number they couldn’t recover from, even with how fast they breed.”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“However, it became clear after several instances that they needed all hands on deck for something else.”

Riley frowned slightly, clearly still unsure about that part.

“I’m not entirely sure what that something was, but my ancestors think it had a lot to do with how the Wyvern King would come back stronger every time, but also worse off.”

Riley was certain that sounded extremely dubious and painfully ironic, but that was what he saw.

And normally, that wouldn’t mean much to most people, especially when many would have been more concerned about the fact that their forces had already sustained a lot of damage.

But the Iltherans weren’t most people. Even before they were given more knowledge than they could have needed, they had always been the type to do things differently.

So they noticed.

They really did.

Then again, what else could they do when brute force hadn’t been working as well as planned?

Well, what else could they do but have an epiphany that winning would entail waiting it out?

No shit.

That was the gist of the plan they came up with after having someone look into the possible future outcomes.

Now the black dragon was describing it as such, but that “looking into” definitely involved rituals, an exorbitant amount of mana, and probably a teeny tiny premonition that likely preceded the one that Elder Ysvara received.

Yep. There was that.

Kael looked at Riley worriedly, and the green-eyed dragon could totally understand because he, too, was worried about himself.

Because, as the remaining Iltheran, it wasn’t really hard to make a few deductions even without fully revealing his concern.

Couldn’t be more obvious, right?

Then again, focusing on worry felt like a better option than dwelling on the other feeling that gnawed at him whenever he thought about it too much.

“Even with combined effort, it would take time to develop the gifts received by the different dragon clans.”

In their case, the Iltherans got the blood and the knowledge that came with it. But just as a person given an entire library would need to actually read and digest information, they couldn’t have made use of the data as quickly as a carjacker could use a vehicle that happened to have the gas and keys in it.

Likewise, Riley raised the ring slightly as he spoke, though the motion felt heavier than it should have.

“I remember you saying something about how the ring hadn’t really been used before until Lord Karion needed it to regulate your mana.”

“Well, it was really more like it couldn’t be used because what your ancestors got wasn’t exactly abundant mana outright, but more like the ability to wield and store it.”

He hesitated for just a moment before continuing.

“But unlike the Wyvern King, who took the actual body of the primordial dragon instead of being born into it like some of us, we couldn’t exactly use what we got out of the box.”

In fact, the ancient dragons needed the next generations who would be blessed with the gifts passed to their families.

“Not in time to win against him, no?” Kael asked quietly, already following the line of thought.

“Yeah,” Riley replied, his voice softer now. “For every return, there were usually two things that would happen. The Wyvern King would end up in a more unstable state right before disappearing again. But that was after we lost dragons who could’ve been sharpened into something stronger over time.”

“And with how dragons have never been the type to have large families or so many offspring, the chances of us going extinct were actually higher than the chances of defeating that thief for good, had things been allowed to continue as they were.”

The words settled between them.

Riley didn’t quite look at Kael this time around.

At some point, his gaze had dropped, fixed somewhere near his own hands as his fingers started fidgeting with each other, his nails catching against skin in a way that looked absent but wasn’t. It was easier to focus on that than on the weight of what he was about to say.

“So, umm…” he started, his voice faltering slightly, “they figured they needed to level the playing field right away.”

His fingers stilled for a second, then resumed, more restless than before.

“And decided that the best way to do that was to buy more time…”

There was a tremor now.

Small.

But there.

“S-so they, uh…” he swallowed, his throat tightening as he forced the words out, “they sealed him…”

The silence that followed was heavy.

Kael, who definitely sensed the apprehension and agony, moved before Riley could retreat further into himself, one hand lifting to gently hold his face and guide it up. There was no force behind it, just a quiet insistence that made it impossible to keep looking away.

Riley’s lips trembled.

He really didn’t want to talk about it, much less remember what he saw back then, but at the same time, not ever talking about it was something that would also kill him.

His expression crumpled.

And just like that, whatever he had been holding back gave way.

“My entire family…” he choked out, his voice breaking as his lips twisted, the words barely holding together. “T-they had to go and seal him away.”

His vision blurred, tears spilling before he could stop them.

“They went knowing they wouldn’t make it out of there,” he continued, the words coming out uneven, raw. “Because they already left half of everything to me.”

The tears fell freely now.

And Riley, who had been trying so hard to keep it together, finally broke down.

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