Chapter 351: Chapter 350 - Bedtime Story.
The colossus twitched beneath Raven’s boot, muscles straining like steel cables ready to snap.
Its molten eyes burned with hatred, but when it tried to lift its head, the attempt ended in a hollow tremor.
The scene was akin to a rabbit holding a lion down with its leg, but the difference was that the rabbit had dragon blood in its veins, and it could also transform into a dragon.
Of course, the colossus didn’t know that.
It didn’t know that the human standing before it could exert the weight of a dragon if he wanted to.
It could only groan inwardly while trying to break free.
As for regeneration, the beast didn’t even try. After all, Omni cut it down, and it knew by experience that any wound made by Omni didn’t heal.
Yes, if the beast could tear its back and torso away, then maybe it could heal, but would Raven even let it move?
However, as that thought passed through its head, the beast realized something.
’Why... am I still alive?’
Even though it didn’t want to die, it was strange that Raven wasn’t killing it.
So, it finally spoke, each word heavy with suspicion.
"...Why... spare me, human? Why... still breathing?" The colossus asked.
Raven’s crimson eyes narrowed, the faintest glint of amusement flickering in their depths.
"Because," he said quietly, "I have a feeling killing you will trigger something. Probably whatever’s hiding in that crater."
He knew about plots like this.
When you kill the guardians, the boss awakens. However, there’s always a link in these situations.
Raven wanted to find that link—the series of events that would push the awakening forward—and he was thinking of avoiding it.
However, to do that, he needed to understand what was going on.
The colossus, on the other hand, froze as it heard those words.
For the first time since the battle began, raw fear flickered through its molten eyes.
"You... know about our father?"
Raven tilted his head, dark hair brushing his jaw. "No. But you just told me there is one."
The beast’s pupils constricted.
Its breath hitched, a tremor rattling through its armored ribs. "... Clever."
"So tell me," Raven continued, voice as casual as a blade slipping between ribs. "Who’s waiting down there?"
A bitter snarl cracked from the beast’s throat. "Why should I speak? I die either way."
Raven shrugged lightly. "Maybe. Or maybe I spare you if your story’s worth hearing. Your choice."
The creature’s molten glare burned hotter. "How can I trust you?"
"You don’t." Raven crouched slightly, boot pressing firmer against the scaled skull. "But unless you’ve got better options, you gamble on me."
Silence stretched—then the beast exhaled, smoke curling from its fangs. "...Inside the crater sleeps the Black Dragon."
Raven’s brows rose a fraction. "THE Black Dragon?"
He only knew one black dragon, as an evil god had told him, and that guy wasn’t something he could face.
So, he wanted to know if they were both talking about the same dragon.
The colossal beast growled in affirmation, voice trembling with reluctant reverence.
"The God-Killer. Death incarnate. The one who drowned kingdoms in shadow and left nothing but silence. Wherever it flew, life itself rotted—"
"That’s enough," Raven cut in, already rubbing his head in frustration. "Sounds like we’re talking about the same dragon."
He realized that the situation here might not be something he could handle, so he was already planning on returning to the capital, then coming back with Crisaius and Argon.
However, he needed more information, so he lifted his leg from the beast’s head and said, "Good. Now sit."
Surprisingly, the creature—despite every primal instinct—sat, the ruined stumps of its legs folding awkwardly beneath its bulk.
It was as if it were a dog listening to its master’s command.
It was only a second later that it blinked, startled by its own obedience. "...What... did you...?"
Raven ignored the question, as he had more questions. His voice turned serious as he asked, "How did that dragon end up here? And how do you know all this?"
The beast rumbled, anger edging its tone. "Long ago—"
"Make it short," Raven cut it off again, making it grind its fangs, but it complied nonetheless.
"...Years ago, when our father, the black dragon, was weakened by his fight with dragons and gods, he was in a state of constant bleeding. In that condition, he came to this land, wanting to recover, but that was when he realized that his blood was corrupting this area—"
Raven’s eyes sharpened as the colossal beast reached this part, but before the creature could continue, a ripple of mana approached—a dozen familiar signatures cutting through the scorched air.
Boots crunched over broken stone.
Selena arrived first, cloak of black flame fluttering, her amethyst eyes calm but sharp as a drawn blade.
Behind her came Clara, quiet and steady as ever, her gaze flicking from Raven to the crippled colossus with unspoken understanding.
Siris followed with a smear of frost still clinging to her daggers, eyes glittering with bloodlust and the faintest pout.
Graye strode in next, armor gleaming despite the ash, a wide grin spreading when she spotted the beast sitting obediently.
"Why does it seem like we are going to get a new pet?"
Jessy trailed behind, yawning lazily. "This one doesn’t look as willing as others, but it is stronger, so I approve of this puppy."
Rufus scratched his head, tilting his head. "Uh... I don’t think that’s a puppy."
Jake stayed silent, but his quiet nod spoke of approval.
Then Alex stumbled in with Nibbles perched triumphantly on his shoulder, the squirrel waving a charred sign that read, ’OP FARM COMPLETE.’
The sleek black panther padded at Alex’s side, tail flicking playfully while its massive mother stalked protectively behind.
Omni snickered in Raven’s mind.
"Yo, boss, whole squad’s here. Time to flex that ’dragon whisperer’ vibe?"
Raven’s crimson gaze stayed fixed on the crippled colossus.
"Not yet," he murmured, the faintest curl of a grin tugging at his lips. "Storytime is just starting."
For a while, no one said anything, as they stared at the colossus.
Even Raven let the silence stretch, the scorched air crackling with the faint hiss of voidfire.
Then he tapped Omni’s flat edge against his shoulder and said, almost lazily, "Alright. Everyone, sit."
The moment he said that, everyone moved without questioning.
Selena arched a perfect brow but folded gracefully onto a shard of blackened stone, cloak settling around her like smoke.
Clara lowered herself beside her, calm as ever, though her eyes never left the crippled colossus.
Siris plopped down cross-legged, daggers still in hand, frost dripping from the tips like impatient fangs. She kept glaring at Graye, but the armored girl completely ignored the glare.
She clanked down onto a fallen limb of some beast, armor creaking as she leaned forward eagerly.
Jessy gave a theatrical sigh, flopped onto the rubble, and muttered, "Bedtime story. Great."
Rufus sat stiffly, still wide-eyed, while Jake crouched with quiet readiness.
Alex dropped onto a cracked boulder with a grin, Nibbles leaping to his head and dramatically unfurling a fresh sign—Lore Dump Incoming.
Even the sleek black panther circled once and flopped onto its belly, its massive mother settling behind it with a rumbling purr.
Raven flicked his chin toward the beast. "Your turn. Make it quick."
The colossus released a deep, grinding growl that rolled through the broken plain like distant thunder.
It hated this—hated the way it had to obey the humans and how none of them were intimidated by it.
But since it couldn’t do anything about it, it spoke.
"...All of the corrupt beasts in the Ashen Expanse," it began, voice echoing like stone scraping steel, "were born of our father’s blood."
Everyone leaned in as the beast continued. "Long ago, when the Black Dragon—our father—fell from the heavens, he bled as he fled. His wounds... poisoned the land. From that blood, creatures of shadow and scale began to crawl."
The group listened in tense silence, the flicker of voidfire painting their faces in sharp relief.
"Father amassed his forces, hoping to strike the gods back one day, but then," the beast continued, "a hero and his pitiful companions came to slay him."
The colossus’s expression turned condescending as it spoke with a small pause. "They were weak... laughably weak. But Father was broken, his strength bled away. To him, even gnats became blades. He fought—and lost."
The colossus’s molten eyes dimmed, voice dropping to a reverent rumble. "But even in defeat, Father struck one final blow. He wove his magic into his own flesh. He gave life to the pieces of his body... us."
With renewed light in its eyes, the beast added, "Twelve part-dragons, each carrying fragments of his blood and his will. Then he sealed his soul inside his heart and buried it deep beneath this wasteland to recover."
A shiver of dark mana slithered through the cracked earth at those words.
Even Omni hummed low in Raven’s mind. "Spooky bedtime story, boss..."
"The recovery," the beast went on, "should have taken thousands of years. But something quickened it. We—his children—feed him. Every corrupt beast you slay, every drop of their tainted blood, returns to him. Our duty is to supply the feast."
It lowered its head slightly, the ground trembling beneath its weight.
"This... is the origin of the Ashen Expanse. And of the twelve who guard it."
Raven’s crimson gaze sharpened like a drawn blade. "And how do you know all this?"
The beast rumbled, a low growl vibrating the air. "We inherited more than flesh. Fragments of Father’s memories burned into our birth. Alone, they are chaos. But by sharing them... we pieced together this truth."
The words hung heavy in the ash-choked air.
Raven exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as he processed the revelation.
Fragments of a god-killer’s memory.
A sleeping dragon whose blood still poisoned the world.
And a story that, if true, was only the beginning.