Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son-Chapter 536: A Hopeless World [7] [Blazing Sun]

"....The Mother of Endless Dreams."

"....."

It had been a fleeting memory of Azrael that crossed my mind when I heard that name.

A memory that gave me a brief visual of the time when Azrael was creating the barrier to repel Gods and Outer Gods.

’...How did this happen then?’

I knew that the barrier now had cracks in it and the anchor World Tree was gone as well.

’But how could an Outer God find its way inside Lumina?’

Arawn seemed to notice my question as he spoke.

"It’s a pocket world." He looked down at the dragon. "And Alamin was a foolish dragon with an ambitious mind."

’....So, Alamin most probably made a deal with the Outer God and got tricked instead.’

Given how this world was a pocket world, it meant that it was Alamin’s kingdom.

’By using his kingdom as the place to grow, the Outer God was able to trick the barrier.’

I drew in a small breath before I asked, "You knew the dragon?"

"Yes." He replied. "He was well known for the massacre of vampires."

I rubbed the back of my neck as I mumbled. "What about the tree?"

"I believe this tree was likely an extension of her authority." He replied. "She rooted herself in the body of a dragon strong enough to anchor a foreign power inside this world."

My eyes dropped to the dragon again and I focused harder, past the crawling white creatures, searching with more than mana.

"He’s not fully gone," I said quietly. "His existence was being used as fuel."

I could feel Epione getting tense standing beside me.

"How should we deal with this?" Arawn asked, his gaze on me.

"We can’t let the dragon or the tree live." I replied, stretching my body. "They need to be eradicated."

"I agree." He nodded his head. "I believe she isn’t making a move right now because she wants as many of those white creatures as possible."

I shifted my gaze below. The vampires moved in slow, deliberate patterns around the tree, some kneeling, others carrying small vessels that glowed faintly.

’....They are thoroughly brainwashed into being its slaves.’

And only after a few seconds of focus, I found what they were using the horns of Asuras for.

They were grinding them and pouring the powder at the bottom of the tree roots.

’They were feeding it the horns?’

Why would they do such a thing?

Well, we would know once we cleared up the place.

I conjured a blade of mana as I looked at the dragon. "I will take care of the tree—."

"I apologise for the intrusion." Arawn cut me off. "But it would be wise if I took care of it."

....Well, he wasn’t wrong.

Being a demigod, he had more chance of winning without risking the lives of others.

"Then I will take care of the vampires." I spoke, changing my target.

Arawn bowed down to me before he immediately flew towards the white tree.

I turned my gaze towards Epione as I extended my hand.

She took my hand and I took a step, immediately reaching the horde of vampires below.

The moment my feet touched the stone at the bottom of the crater, the air changed.

The vampires closest to the tree were the first to notice us.

Their heads snapped in our direction all at once.

For a brief second, no one moved until one of them screamed.

"INTRUDERS!"

Epione’s grip on my hand tightened.

"Stay behind me," I said, not looking at her.

Mana rolled off my body like heat from a furnace.

The nearest vampires tried to rush us, claws extended, but their charge died halfway.

They froze mid-stride as my mana pressed down, bending their spines, forcing their knees toward the ground.

I lifted my hand slightly and the pressure increased.

Their bodies folded inward, crushed by weight that had no shape.

I crushed their bodies further and turned them into six spears before I hurled them at the incoming vampires.

The frontline of the vampires collapsed like a broken wall.

Some of them tried to scatter, but there was nowhere to run that wasn’t still inside my reach.

Hundreds of blades and spears conjured over my head that I sent as projectiles in every direction.

’Why all of them are so weak?’

I couldn’t help but wonder as I kept killing the vampires without any difficulty.

Before long, I was done with them, leaving a few to ask questions.

"ROOOOORR!!"

My eyes shot up towards the dragon as its roar made me flinch.

The dragon had fully woken up with the tree still attached to its body.

The entire pocket world shook by just him moving slightly.

Epione grabbed my sleeve.

"That dragon..."

"I know."

It was much more dangerous than I thought.

Taking in a deep breath, I called for fate to aid me.

---

[Arawn’s POV.]

Arawn stared at the dragon from above as the dragon’s slit eyes glared at him.

’ ...Is he truly alive?’

Light surged through its trunk and into the dragon’s veins, crawling under his scales like glowing parasites.

The more he looked at it, the more he felt pity for the dragon.

’I will give you a painless death, old friend.’

Arawn slashed downward, carving another brilliant arc into the trunk.

Bark that wasn’t bark exploded outward in shards of white light, and a sound like weeping filled the air.

It alerted all the white creatures that were the offspring of the tree.

In unity they all rushed towards Arawn like their lives depended on it.

Arawn did not retreat. He had seen swarms before...

Demons, spirits, corrupted beasts that moved like a single mind and these creatures felt no different.

The white creatures rushed him in a tidal wave of light.

He raised one hand.

Golden lines spread across the air like cracks in glass, forming a crystal lattice in front of him.

The first wave of creatures slammed into it and burst apart like sunlight at dawn.

They simply collided with his defense again and again, wearing it down through sheer number.

Below, Alamin’s body shifted, the tree pulsing brighter as if feeding on the chaos.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Arawn’s thoughts were on something else.

’....Why were they feeding it the Asuran horns?’

Arawn had his doubts and came to one single conclusion.

’They were using the horns like a cover that made them look like mortals.’

But why would they want to mask themselves as mortals?

’Unless they wanted to live in Lumina....’

Arawn’s eyes sharpened as that thought settled into place.

If those creatures could pass as mortals, even imperfectly,

Then this was no longer just an invasion but the beginning of something far more patient and far more dangerous.

A way to pass through the laws of Lumina without being rejected.

"Parasites..." he muttered under his breath as another wave shattered against the golden lattice.

Below, the tree pulsed again, and for a moment the glow inside its trunk shifted color, faint streaks of red threading through the white.

’....Should I open my kingdom right now?’

He wondered for a long second before he chose otherwise.

’But just in case....’

Arawn drew in a deep breath before he crossed his fingers.

"Come forth...."

Before he could complete his sentence, the dragon roared and blasted a wave of fire mixed with white and red.

The blast swallowed the sky.

White and red fire tore upward like a pillar, not burning the air but erasing it.

Arawn vanished from where he had been an instant before.

The beam carved through the clouds of white creatures behind him.

Though instead of dying, many of them dissolved into light and flowed straight back toward the tree, as if the attack itself had fed them.

"So it could reclaim them..." Arawn muttered, reappearing dozens of meters higher.

His sleeve was scorched where the edge of the blast had grazed him.

Below, the dragon’s chest heaved, each breath making the roots in its ribs tighten like veins connected to two hearts instead of one.

Its eyes were no longer fully draconic.

Thin threads of pale light ran through the slit pupils.

Arawn changed his strategy at that moment.

Instead of prolonging the fight, he chose to end it in one move.

"Authority."

His voice boomed within the pocket world.

"Blazing Sun."

He raised his hand and a small sun formed over it, crushing his hand under its weight.

Blood dripped down his hand as he pushed the sun towards the dragon.

Alamin roared, and the tree reacted instantly.

Roots tore free from the dragon’s ribs, shooting upward like spears of pale lightning.

A barrier of woven roots and condensed white light formed above its body.

The small sun touched it and for a heartbeat, nothing happened.

The barrier disintegrated first, roots turning to ash-light that scattered like dying stars.

The shockwave flattened the crater, turning jagged stone into a smooth glass-like surface.

But as the sun was swallowing the dragon, Arawn noticed something.

Something that deeply messed with his mind.

The dragon who was on the verge of dying was grinning.

At that moment, something clicked in his mind.

From the time they arrived within the Orth Kingdom, they had been following a script.

A script that was closely governed by the Outer God herself.

Arawn snapped his head towards Himmel as he crossed his fingers.

"MY LORD!!?"

His voice drowned the sound of the Blazing Sun.

"IT’S A TRAP—!!"

Before he could finish his sentence, the dragon played his cards.

The tree glowed brightly, its body imploded, dissolving the entire pocket world in the process.....