https://re-library.com/translations/hero-king/Book 12: Chapter 483: 16-year-old Inglis and the Search for a Dragon God (10)

The dragon god’s skeleton twisted its entire body to distance itself from Inglis, then dropped to the ground and reared up like a snake raising its head, as if to threaten them.

“OOOOOOOOOOoooooooohhh…!”

A fearsome groan echoed across the area, though it was impossible to tell where the sound was coming from.

“W-what the heck is this!? Dragons can still move even when they’re just bones!?”

“Or… maybe it was always like this to begin with…!?”

“No, the one said to dwell here is the Dragon God Owlgloria, known as the Golden Dragon. It should be covered in golden scales.”

But what had emerged from the earth was a skeletal dragon, nothing but bones. So then, where had Owlgloria gone?

If it had ended up like this, there would be no dragon meat to harvest. Whatever had happened, if this really *was* Owlgloria, it was a grave situation.

“Who… are you!? Are you Owgloria the Dragon God!?”

*“In…deed… ‘Tis… I… draaaGon… goD…”*

The voice was stilted, fragmented, but it was a response.

“…! I heard it… So it *is* the Dragon God…!”

Arles, who wore the same shrine maiden garb as Inglis, had also heard the voice.

“S-so dragons *can* still move even after they’ve turned into bones…?”

“No, that’s not it, Rani. Dragons can’t live in that kind of state. Most likely… the Dragon God Owlgloria died and became an Undead.”

Alongside the immense Dragon Roar that could only come from a Dragon God, Inglis also clearly sensed the presence of the Undead.

This creature must be the corpse of the Dragon God reanimated as an Undead…in other words, a *Death Dragon God*.

“An Undead… Yes, now that you say it, I feel that presence too…!” Arles agreed with Inglis. She too seemed capable of sensing the aura of the Undead.

Back when Eris encountered the Undead during the attack on Leone’s mansion in the city of Arlman, she had also been able to sense them.

“Owlgloria… What happened to you? Why are you in such a state?”

*‘OAAAAAAAHH…! In… conceiv…able…! INCONCEIVEABLE…!!’*

With a terrifying roar, Owlgloria’s jaws lunged at Inglis.

“Haaahh!”

Wrapped in her Ether Armor, Inglis caught the attack head-on. Though its body was lighter than expected, the force behind the strike was tremendous. If nothing else were at stake, she would’ve gladly enjoyed the battle, but that wasn’t an option right now.

“Please calm yourself, Owlgloria…! We didn’t come here to fight or destroy you…!”

Even as she held the Dragon God down, Inglis kept trying to communicate with it.

*‘OAAAAAHHHHHH!! GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!’*

But Owlgloria seemed consumed by frenzy, far beyond reason. It might be best to simply hold it down until it could calm itself.

“I’ll keep restraining it. It’s really agitated right now…!”

At Inglis’ call, both Rafinha and Arles nodded and stood by, watching the situation closely.

“The Undead… They’re the ones who attacked Leone’s house, right? Liselotte said she was attacked by one too…!”

“Yeah. Those were Undead too.”

“And that giant who destroyed Illuminus…it was a Mana Essence-type Undead, wasn’t it…?”

“Right. General Maxwell was using an Artifact like that.”

“Then maybe this skeletal dragon is also his doing…!?”

“I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion, but we can think about that later.”

Had the long-sealed Dragon God perished during its imprisonment, its hatred and resentment eventually twisted it into an Undead? Or had someone cast a powerful necromantic spell on its corpse, transforming it into an uncontrollable being, one that had to be sealed away?

Or could Rafinha actually be right, and this is Maxwell’s doing? Considering that Leone and Liselotte were both attacked by Undead, it wasn’t impossible to suspect that Maxwell, who had infiltrated the country, was behind it all.

Still, regardless of who was responsible, the most pressing issue for Inglis and the others right now was—

“Hey, Glis! This dragon doesn’t have any meat left on it. What do we do!?”

“Yeah… that really is a problem.”

“At this rate, we won’t be able to help Ross…”

Arles’ expression clouded with worry.

“B-but! Even if there’s no meat, maybe we could bring the bones back and boil them down until they fall apart, maybe then they’ll still have some effect…! Right, Glis?”

“That might work…! But actually, I have something else I’d like to try.”

*‘GRAAAAAHHHH…! Inconceivable! INCONCEIVABLE INCONCEIVABLE INCONCEIVABLE!!!!’*

Owlgloria still showed no signs of calming down.

“Try something? But the dragon’s still completely out of control—”

“Yeah. But I can still do it like this… I’m going for it!”

Inglis had been waiting to see if Owlgloria would calm down, but that wasn’t all she’d been doing.

While staying close and in contact like this, she had been probing the Dragon God’s source of power, Dragon Roar. By directly sensing its wavelength and quality, she’d gotten a rough grasp of its nature.

Compared to Ether, which is extremely difficult to handle, Dragon Roar is a more flexible and easier force to control. It might even be more manageable than mana.

The Dragon Roar that Inglis inherited from the dragon god Vufailbane could be altered to match the properties of Owlgloria’s.

“So come, Owlgloria—accept it! My Dragon Roar!!”

With those words, she poured her energy into Owlgloria’s body.

*‘OAAAHHHHHHHHHH……!?’*

The dragon bones began to shine as they received Inglis’ Dragon Roar.

“It’s glowing!?”

“What is happening…!?”

“I’m giving it my Dragon Roar…!”

She was feeding Dragon Roar into Owlgloria, to reactivate its power as a dragon.

The Dragon Roar that Inglis had learned to wield traced the shape of a physical body and could act upon reality as a tangible force. By channeling that power into Owlgloria, it might just begin to re-form the lost shape of its original body.

“! The light… it’s turning into the shape of a dragon…!”

Just as Rafinha said, the glow around Owlgloria’s bones expanded, gaining a golden hue, gradually forming the silhouette of a massive dragon. This must have been the outline of Owlgloria’s original form.

“Is it trying to return to how it once was…!?”

“Yes, Professor Arles. I hope it works out…!”

They had managed to trace the form of its original body using Dragon Roar. If they could somehow give it physical substance, then the Dragon God could be revived in flesh.

*‘RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!’*

But as though to resist it, Owlgloria suddenly surged forward with overwhelming strength, shoving against Inglis far more powerfully than before.

Though her stance didn’t break, the ground beneath her began to give way, her body gradually being pushed back.

“Whoa…! Looks like it’s getting stronger!”

“Glis!”

“Miss Inglis!”

“I’m fine…! I need to continue—ah!?”

Inglis suddenly cried out.

The golden Dragon Roar that had enveloped Owlgloria’s bones had dispersed. And the pressure she felt now, pushing against her, was back to what it had been before—just a skeleton’s.

“The Dragon Roar must have scattered… It took on power, but without a proper body to inhabit, it couldn’t stabilize…”

Was it hopeless after all?

Maybe, just as Rafinha had suggested, they should bring the bones back, process them somehow, and feed them to Rochefort.

Even Inglis was starting to waver, thinking it might be time to give up, when suddenly—

“Everyone! Are you okay!?”

“What the—!? Bones!? Is the Dragon God nothing but bones now!?”

A voice called from above.

“Leone!”

“Mais!”

Leone and Mais had finally caught up with them.

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