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Chapter 293

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

The “Tower”

As Hikaru drew the wakizashi, it felt like the Stone Golems reacted for an instant, then everything was completely still once more .

『That looks impressive as always . 』

「Have you forgotten? It turned out like this back when I helped you out . 」

The blade was as striking as ever, but Hikaru’s Stealth, enhanced further by his Soul Blaze, was enough to conceal the wakizashi . Its blade pierced the surface of the tower easily .

「There we go…」

From there Hikaru pulled it downward and ripped a hole open, causing white powder to scatter everywhere . He held his breath and took a step back .

「An egg shell . 」

『What?』

「I thought the material felt familiar . It’s an egg shell . 」

The crisp texture definitely resembled a hen’s egg .

「Let’s see what’s inside…」

The hole was just big enough for Hikaru to stick his head through . The inside was empty, made like an atrium . It was bright enough despite the closed ceiling . Braces sticking to the inner walls supported the glowing object at the center, one that shone light purple . It was huge, as big as a minivan or a minibus .

「What is this?」

『A dragon stone . 』

「What? You mean that whole thing is a huge dragon stone?」

『No doubt about it . 』

Hikaru looked at it again . There were no other living creatures nearby . It was clear that the tower only existed to protect the dragon stone . This really is something like an egg, Hikaru thought . Or a cocoon perhaps .

Was that dragon protecting the stone? I doubt it’s the dragon’s baby or something…

Their sizes did not match at all . Hikaru sensed faint mana from the walls . He knew exactly what it was—the optical camouflage .

I see now . This egg is fragile . Bombardment from the sea would definitely destroy it . That’s why the camouflage was set up so the egg isn’t visible from there . No one would get close to this place from land anyway . Even if people noticed it somehow, the Stone Golems would guard it . That’s what “someone” thought .

It was most likely true, then, that the optical camouflage tech had been leaked and used to hide the egg, along with information to watch out for attacks from the sea .

After everything I’ve seen so far, I highly doubt this egg just appeared here naturally . This egg—this Root, was placed here by someone .

And whoever did it had one goal .

To let evil spread over the whole continent .

The invasion basically had already gotten this far .

「Are you going to eat that?」Hikaru asked .

『It’s a bit big, but I have to . 』

「Not just a bit, it’s humungous . 」

『I’ll try my best . 』

Drake left Hikaru’s neck and entered the egg through the hole, flying in the air . Hikaru quickly looked around, but the golems didn’t react . Apparently the creatures were ordered not to interfere with anything going on inside the egg .

「You scared me . 」

Drake barely used his ability to fly—rather, he couldn’t . It consumed too much holy mana . He must have some to spare as he hadn’t used the Drakon Passage for a while .

The Gray Noble Drakon I killed must’ve used a lot of mana just to stay in the air .

「I should get inside as well . 」

Staying outside would be pointless, so he started chipping the shell off with his wakizashi .

For an egg, the tower was too big, and long and narrow . The light from the glowing body, however, wasn’t blinking in a regular pattern . No . It felt like the pulse of a living creature .

Slowly, Drake drew closer to the glowing object and chewed at it without hesitation . No blood came out from where the drakon’s fangs sank, and the light didn’t weaken either .

『With evil spread out this much, it might be difficult to restore this continent back to normal . 』Drake muttered as he chewed .

It was unusual for Drake to not mention anything about the flavor . He just kept on chewing .

「Finally, I’m in . 」

Dusting the white powder off his body, Hikaru entered the egg . Drake was in the air, biting away at the glowing object .

「He probably can’t finish the whole thing . I’ll just have to blow it up with my revolver . 」

After having a simple lunch, Hikaru surveyed his surroundings . The floor was the same as the ground outside; he could walk around no problem . There was nothing else inside the tower, however, which was a little disappointing . He at least wanted to check the roof since a dragon flew from there .

「Oh…」

Hikaru found a spiraling path that led upwards . One of the braces supporting the glowing object had transformed into a set of stairs . It didn’t seem like it was man-made . He kicked it a few times to check how sturdy it was before climbing up .

「I have the Gravity Balancer to break my fall just in case . 」

Only the sound of Drake munching could be heard in the otherwise quiet room .

「Hey, Drake . How’s it going?」

『Quiet . I’m concentrating . 』

「O-Okay…」

Drake had already devoured about the size of his own body . His stomach was bulging .

「I sure hope you don’t sleep for weeks again . 」

Hikaru left Drake to his own devices and continued climbing . It was exhausting, but soon he caught glimpse of a hole on the ceiling . He poked his head out to see the blue sky above . A strong breeze ruffled his hair . The roof was flat, and unlike the white wall, it was dirty, presumably because of the dragon coming and going .

「Hmm? What’s that?」

A strange object drew his attention . It stood there on a wooden brace, pinned down with stakes so it didn’t get blown away—a tent . It was big enough for two people, though it was empty at the moment .

「A tent where the dragon flew from . What’s going on here?」

Hikaru surveyed his surroundings to confirm no one was around before walking towards the tent . It was neither worn-out from use, nor particularly new . There were traces of someone making a fire, but there was no wood around, most likely blown away by the wind . He checked the inside of the tent .

「What the…」

It was cramped, with only a sleeping space . But there was one thing that caught his eye—a map of the continent printed on paper, the word Root written here and there .

It’s probably made in Dream Maker . That means someone gave it to someone or brought it here .

「A traitor from inside . That means this tent belongs to Koukimaru, or his family . 」

That would mean Wakamaru was right . Hikaru took out a piece of paper, a pen, and some ink from his bag and hurriedly copied the location of the Roots .

「Hmm… something’s off…」

Dream Maker knew where the Roots were using magic items . Yet this map indicated even the location of Roots farther up north . Hikaru found it hard to believe that Koukimaru made it up there . That means someone told him about it .

「Is Koukimaru working with whatever evil is lurking here?」A chill ran down his spine . 「I see . That’s why he directed the Yamamaneki to the city . 」

There was only one answer .

「Koukimaru is still alive . That much is certain . And he shares the same goal as the evil being—to destroy the city . 」