Chapter 46: 46. Mission Briefing

Morning came with its sunlight filtering through out of Drak’thar, painting the guest chambers in shades of gold.

Owen woke first, still in his humanoid form, with Yuki curled against his chest. Her breathing was soft and steady, one arm draped across his scaled torso.

The slime, still unnamed, had somehow migrated during the night and now rested on Owen’s head like a gelatinous hat, pulsing gently with its faint green glow.

He carefully extracted himself from Yuki’s embrace, moving with the stealth of someone who didn’t want to wake their partner.

But his tail swished unconsciously as he stood, still getting used to the balance required for bipedal movement.

The slime plopped down onto his shoulder, seeming content to ride there instead.

Owen walked to the window, looking out over the impossible architecture of the Dragon Kingdom.

Floating islands connected by bridges of crystallized mana. Dragons in both humanoid and true forms moving through the sky like living constellations. It was beautiful, breathtaking, and completely surreal.

“Owen?” Yuki’s voice called out, heavy with sleep.

He turned to find her sitting up, blanket pulled around her shoulders, hair disheveled and face flushed.

“Morning,” he said softly, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Yuki’s cheeks reddened as memories of the previous night clearly flooded back. She looked away quickly, pulling the blanket tighter. “Uh, We… that was…”

“Yeah,” Owen agreed, saving her from having to finish that sentence.

An awkward silence stretched between them, broken only by the slime’s happy jiggling on Owen’s shoulder.

“I don’t regret it,” Yuki said suddenly, her voice firmer now. “Just so you know. I wanted that. I wanted you.”

Owen’s chest tightened as warmth spreaded hrough him. “I don’t regret it either. I’ve wanted that since… well, since before I died, honestly.”

Yuki finally met his eyes, and before either could say more, a knock echoed through the chamber.

“Young King,” Chronara’s voice came from the other side of the door, respectful but firm. “The Greater Dragons request your presence. Both of you. It’s time we discussed why you were truly brought to Drak’thar.”

Owen and Yuki exchanged glances.

“Give us ten minutes” Owen called back.

“Of course. We’ll be waiting in the war room.”

—

The circular table dominated the space, its surface now displaying that detailed magical projection of the whole continent before Owen.

All five Greater Dragons stood around it in their humanoid forms, their expressions ranging from stern (Glacius) to curious (Zephron) to unreadable (Veridra).

Fey’rath gave Owen a knowing smirk that made him suspect she knew exactly what he and Yuki had been up to the night before.

Chronara simply watched with those ancient violet eyes.

“Thank you for coming,” Glacius said, his voice formal. “What we’re about to discuss is classified information of the highest order. It cannot leave this room.”

Owen nodded, suddenly very aware of how serious this was. Yuki stood beside him, the slime now perched on her head.

Chronara tapped her staff, and the magical projection shifted, zooming in on a dark region between the three kingdoms. The area pulsed with an ominous black energy.

“The Dragon King’s egg,” she said simply. “We’ve located it.”

Owen’s eyes widened as his mind reeled

“That’s, that’s what this whole Story Dungeon is about, isn’t it? The missing egg?” He shot telepathically to Yuki.

Then Veridra confirmed, her serpentine eyes fixed on the projection. “The egg was stolen three weeks ago from the royal vault. The Dragon King himself vanished shortly after, pursuing those responsible. We’ve had no contact with him since.”

“The three kingdoms are on the brink of war because of this, because of the vacuum of power” Glacius continued, his fist clenching.

“Without the Dragon King’s presence to maintain the balance of power, each kingdom sees an opportunity to expand, to dominate. They don’t know where the egg is, but they suspect each other of the theft. Tensions are escalating daily.”

Zephron leaned forward, his usually playful expression serious. “And if they find out the egg is sitting in unclaimed territory between all three of them? That’ll be the spark that ignites the dynamite.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Yuki asked quietly.

Fey’rath’s expression grew grim. “Because we need you to retrieve it.”

Silence.

Owen blinked. “… what?”

“The egg is located in the Shadowgrave lands,” Chronara explained, the projection zooming in further to show a land shrouded in white mist and within it was a twisted terrain, dead trees and structures that looked wrong, like reality itself had been warped.

“A region cursed by the death of Outer-Divinities centuries ago. The mana there is toxic to dragons. Prolonged exposure would kill even us Greater Dragons. Our true forms are too large, too obvious, and the corrupted mana would eat away at us within hours.”

“But you two…” Veridra said, her eyes moving between Owen and Yuki, “…are different. Owen is a young king, Protected by the bloodline, Yuki is human, completely unaffected by the draconic toxicity of the miasma”

“There’s another factor,” Glacius added reluctantly, as if the words physically pained him. “The cult.”

“Cult?” Owen repeated.

“The Cult of the Descending One,” Chronara said, her voice heavy with dread. “They’re the ones who stole the egg. They believe they can corrupt it, use it as a vessel to summon an Outer-Divinity into this world. A being of pure entropy and destruction.”

Owen felt his blood run cold. “And you want us to walk into their stronghold?”

All greater dragons bowed their head in shame, as they couldn’t bare to be helpless before the situation.

“Why?” Yuki asked, her voice steady despite the weight of what they were discussing. “Why us specifically? You’re Greater Dragons. Even with the toxic mana, surely you have other options?”

Chronara’s violet eyes glowed faintly. “Because I’ve seen the future. Hundreds of branching possibilities. In most of them, we fail. The egg is lost. The Dragon King never returns. The kingdoms go to war. The cult succeeds in their summoning. And the world burns.”

She paused, letting that sink in.

“But in one future, one narrow, fragile possibility, you two succeed where we cannot.”

Owen’s mind raced. This was insane. They were being asked to infiltrate a cult stronghold in cursed lands to retrieve the Dragon King’s egg before three kingdoms went to war and reality-warping entities got summoned.

This was way beyond what he imagined this story dungeon was going to be about.

But then again, he found the situation exciting.

He looked at Yuki. She was already looking at him, her expression conflicted but resolute.

“What do you want to do?” he asked telepathically.

“I want to survive” she replied honestly. “I want to get through this dungeon and go home”

Then Owen turned back to the Greater Dragons. “Fine we’ll do it” Owen said. “How long do we have?”

Chronara’s expression darkened. “Days. Perhaps a week at most. The cult is preparing a ritual. We can feel the mana disturbances even from here. Whatever they’re planning, it’s reaching its culmination.”

Owen and Yuki looked at each other again.

This time, Owen spoke aloud. “Can we have a moment? To discuss privately?”

“Of course,” Chronara said. She gestured, and the other Greater Dragons filed out of the war room, giving them space.

When the door closed, Owen transformed back into his full dragon form. It was easier to think this way, more natural despite the cramped quarters.

“This is insane,” he said.

“Completely,” Yuki agreed.

“We could say no.”

“We could.”

“But we won’t.”

Yuki smiled faintly, reaching up to pet the slime on her head. “No. We won’t.”

“Why?” Owen asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Because you’re a dragon king. And Yeah, it’s Literally the point of this whole dungeon” She looked at him as she chuckled.

Then Owen straightened him.”Though, unlike what they said, we don’t have to do this alone, we can—” he stopped as he saw that Yuki understood what he was asking.

The memory of months ago still was fresh in her mind, he mistake that caused the death of Lucien and oak. Was she ready to go back to the city? And party up with other hunters? And face Felicity?

Yuki was silent for a long moment. Her hand moved to the slime on her head, stroking it absently while her mind worked through the implications.

“Yuki?” Owen prompted gently.

She took a breath. Then another. The slime pulsed soothingly on her head, as if sensing her distress.

“You’re right,” she said finally, her voice steady despite the fear churning in her gut. “We need help. And that means going back.”

“You don’t have to,” Owen said quickly. “I can go alone, recruit people while you—”

“No.” Yuki’s voice was firm. “We will do this together. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? We’re partners. I can’t keep hiding from what happened.”

She met his golden eyes. “I need to face it. Face them. Maybe… maybe even apologize to Felicity, if she’ll listen.”

“But either way, let’s do this properly. Recruit a team. Plan the mission. And actually have a chance at succeeding instead of just throwing ourselves at the problem and hoping for the best.”

They both gave an acknowledged smile at each other then they called the Greater Dragons back in.

Glacius entered first, his ice-blue eyes assessing them immediately. “You’ve made your decision?”

“We’ll retrieve the egg,” Owen said. “But we’re doing this our way. We’re going back to Fort Nox first. Recruiting a team. Then we go into the Shadowgrave after that.”

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