You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Flame Dragon nodded: Otherwise, how could we have made it sign a soul contract?

However, the so-called 'strong' and 'weak' are not absolute, but relative concepts.

Technology is the key to overcoming the strong with the weak, and I'm studying it... naturally because I'm very 'weak'.

"weak?"

Flame Dragon straightened up: "Are you kidding me?"

This somewhat hurt the Flame Dragon's pride. Iori's combat strength was clearly superior to itss, which was why it was able to forcefully suppress it and remove the curse... However, Iori considered itself to be very "weak"?

What is that Flame Dragon? A weakling?!

"Of course not... There are beings far stronger than me, and flames hotter than your dragon breath—I have seen these with my own eyes, and I am not using these words to mock you."

I can't control what I'll encounter, so I can only do everything I can before fate sees me again.

Iori thought about it seriously for a moment, then suddenly smiled nonchalantly: "Are you interested in coming with me to see those things?"

—The world is vast!

Chapter 213: Little Charmander, Got it! (4.5K)

"A wider world?"

Yan Zhilong looked on with longing, but still shook his head and sighed: "Although this proposal is very attractive, I'm afraid I can't agree to it."

"Hmm?" Iori seemed a little surprised. "Why?"

Before I answer, I'd like to ask you a question:

"Iori, you weren't born into this world, were you?"

"You figured it out after all?" The young Shinigami was suddenly asked this question, which pointed directly to Iori's biggest secret, but he remained calm and composed, as if he had expected it all along.

Flame Dragon grinned, revealing a few sparks: "By human standards, your strength is far too extraordinary. Of course, there will always be some extremely special individuals in this world. It's normal for there to be a few heroes and great figures in thousands or tens of thousands of years of history."

However, your weapons, magic, and common sense all differ from the general understanding of this world.

"Perhaps it's an ancient artifact, isn't that what Beatrice thought?"

Iori chuckled: "She probably thinks I came from some hidden, secret realm, right?"

That's because she's too young.

The Flame Dragon calmly assessed the elves, whom it considered "short-lived," saying, "Our dragon race possesses the oldest heritage in the world."

Although we do not fully understand 'ancient artifacts' because we have chosen a different path than humans, we have a deep impression of this system in the depths of our memories because we have witnessed the rise and fall of ancient kingdoms.

Therefore, I conclude that your magic is completely different from what humans use today, and those weapons and tools are not true ancient relics!

"Impressive. I didn't know you were so knowledgeable. No wonder you are from the ancient dragon race."

Iori nodded admiringly, then asked casually, "So how were you trapped by those people using ancient artifacts?"

"Well……"

The Flame Dragon was speechless for a moment. Although it was difficult to discern its micro-expressions from its face, it was clearly somewhat embarrassed.

"This, this, this was an accident... Hmm, it's all because humans are too cunning, which made me lower my guard. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken a mere group of mortals seriously at all!"

"Heh~" Iori didn't refute, but just looked at the still stubborn Flame Dragon with a very tolerant gaze.

"..." The Flame Dragon fell silent.

Its age is probably longer than the history of many human kingdoms, yet, just as that old geezer said, it was easily tricked into a trap, which is truly shameful...

To be honest, Iori doesn't think this is entirely the Flame Dragon's fault:

The Diablos Order is a powerful and long-standing organization, and most of their research involves forbidden topics. Not only the Flame Dragon, but even the royal families of various countries are unaware of these matters.

After all, based on the social background of the original novel, the level of productivity was probably in the Middle Ages (which is different from the anime), but the Diablos Order was doing ruthless things like human modification, cell transplantation, and DNA cloning... It's like two completely different styles!

If they hadn't encountered someone with an even more overpowered art style like Iori, they might have actually succeeded in obtaining the bloodline factor of a high-level dragon—the probability of capturing the Flame Dragon alive is very small.

"Don't mind it, let's forget about the unpleasant things, please continue."

This man truly understands the dragon's intentions!

A surge of emotion welled up in the Flame Dragon's heart, and he continued, "Especially after you helped me remove the curse, a very strange connection was established between us... Although there are heroic figures like 'dragon knights' in many stories, in reality, we dragons do not submit to others, and we rarely become friends with humans."

Therefore, dragons do not have any contract magic specifically for forming alliances with humans—that is merely wishful thinking on the part of short-lived species.

You and I should just be a beautiful accident~

"Don't talk as if we have some kind of secret relationship."

Flame Dragon ignored Iori's retort: ​​"And it is this connection that allows me to clearly feel your presence... You are too big."

"Huh?" Iori blinked.

"Your soul is too 'big'."

The Flame Dragon said earnestly, "If the soul also has mass and volume, then it will far surpass the dragon race, and no human can compare to you!"

"And then?" Iori asked with interest. "Does that prove I'm not human from this world?"

“It’s my intuition, but I did feel a sense of ‘strangeness’ I’d never experienced before when I confronted your soul.” Flame Dragon shook his head. “It was a feeling that was hard to describe.”

Upon hearing this, Iori nodded, surprisingly choosing to believe this seemingly absurd reason.

When a life form reaches a certain level, it will indeed have some strange sensations, not to mention the higher dragon race that has already acquired "attributes," which is almost regarded as a natural phenomenon and can already faintly resonate with the world itself.

"The wider world you're referring to, you mean your hometown, right?"

"It's not just my hometown; I can travel between multiple worlds. You can think of me as a rather free traveler."

“This kind of trip must have allowed me to see many magnificent sights, but unfortunately I won’t be able to.” Yan Zhilong’s tone was slightly regretful. “I can’t leave the world of my homeland.”

"What are you afraid of?" Iori frowned slightly. "Is there a reason I don't know about?"

"Humans may be able to do it, but we dragons cannot. Our ancestors recorded this in their records."

Dragons traveling between different worlds is practically suicidal!

"Oh?"

Iori immediately perked up: "Did any of your ancestors have dragons who went to other worlds?"

"Yes."

Flame Dragon said leisurely, "That was in the very, very distant, primitive era, before humans and elves became the dominant races of the world, and the concentration of magic in the world was much higher than it is now."

At the end of that era, an unprecedented magical tide arose, the violent magic tearing the sky apart and even creating cracks in the world itself!

One of our dragon ancestors, a man of great adventure, or perhaps a bit reckless… became interested in the endless void beyond the rift and, without any knowledge, ventured into it to explore the world beyond… And when he returned, he said the words above to us.”

"So that's how it is~" Iori said with some disappointment.

He thought it was a "time travel" like his, but from this description, the other party should have just gone to that other dimension full of monsters, still within the "Shadow Reality" worldview.

"That ancestor once described his experience: in the void there is no atmosphere or land, and the disordered pressure and tension strangle each other, making it difficult for ordinary creatures to survive, but the dragons can still hold on."

However, when he found the nearest otherworld and luckily entered it, he discovered it was a barren land devoid of any magic!

"Huh?!" Iori was taken aback.

"There are all kinds of life there, and even human civilization exists, but there is no magic in the atmosphere, and creatures can only survive by eating."

The ancestors stayed there for a while and interacted with humans who were still in a tribal form. They got along fairly well, but there was no way to replenish the magic power they had lost. Even if they had accumulated a lot of magic power, it would only decrease as long as they couldn't create magic power from nothing.

He didn't care at first, after all, even without magic, his powerful physique alone made him a top of the food chain.

But gradually he discovered that his body had 'degenerated' after losing his magic.

Muscle strength, bone density, skin resilience, and even the brain's cognitive functions all plummeted like a falling rock, until finally, even the ability to fly was almost completely lost!

"This is……"

Yan Zhilong said in a heavy tone, "That ancestor found an unexpectedly formed spatial rift before he was at his wit's end. After absorbing a little magic power, he successfully entered the void... This time, he didn't float for long before entering a world with magic power."

That world was like purgatory, where all life was bloodthirsty, murderous, and devoid of reason. My ancestors were nearly devoured alive by powerful native creatures… They survived only by concealing their 'attributes,' then slowly accumulated power, searched for the spatial rift again, and, by sheer luck, successfully returned to their home world.

This is incredibly lucky—Iori couldn't help but want to applaud.

Looking at this dragon's experience alone, if there's no exaggeration, it was practically teetering on the brink of life and death from beginning to end...

It seems that the dragon ancestor went to "Earth" first, almost got exhausted, and then went to another dimension. He wandered around aimlessly and still managed to return to his hometown. He must have had incredible luck.

Moreover, Iori originally thought that the three worlds of "Shadow Reality" were arranged in a straight line or a similar pattern, but now it seems that they may be closer to a triangular shape, or like a celestial system rotating around each other and then colliding?

Thinking about it this way, the ancient myth of that "Earth" is very likely true. It is the accidental connection to the purgatory dimension that caused the leakage of magic power, creating an era of chaos between gods and demons. When the two worlds missed each other, the magic power gradually faded, and the civilization of mortals rose up.

Huh?

In other words, the experiences in the other world and on Earth are actually quite similar, both involving a cycle of encountering "purgatory" and constantly reincarnating?

It's just that Earth has had little contact with us. Over the past few thousand years, the era of gods and demons has become a legend. But we come into contact with the other world every few hundred or a thousand years, so it always has abundant magic.

Thinking about it this way, the magical power of that "purgatory" is truly exaggerated!

No wonder they can create those immortal monsters just by stacking up quantities...

"Dragons are a race that exists because of magic."

Flame Dragon explained solemnly, "Our ancestors adapted to magic to survive and multiply to the present day. Magic is to us what air and water are to ordinary life."

Without magic, we would become like beasts, or even worse, because our enormous bodies are sustained by magic. In a magic-free environment, even breathing and walking would be incredibly difficult!

“That sounds reasonable.” Iori nodded knowingly.

"All species in this world, including you humans and demi-humans, have actually modified their bodies to adapt to magic, but to varying degrees and with varying degrees of dependence on magic."

Most humans don't actually have much magical talent. Even powerful magic swordsmen can't live without magic; the best proof is that they mainly rely on food to maintain their physical strength.

Only dragons! Especially high-ranking dragons!

Their entire bodies are filled with highly pure magic, allowing them to communicate with natural energy with every breath. They don't even need to hunt; they can survive simply by basking in the sun and absorbing magic... It's precisely because they are so deeply bound to this environment that we can't leave it.

"But what if I take you to a world with magic?"

"But there's no guarantee that other problems won't arise."

Yan Zhilong said frankly, "You saved my life, and I consider you a true friend. If you ever encounter any difficulties and need my help, I am willing to leave this world with you."

But if it's just a trip... then I don't need to take this risk.

"really."

Iori wholeheartedly agreed: "Some people might experience acclimatization problems even after traveling a long distance, let alone traveling between different worlds... I'm a rather special case, and you can't expect everyone to be like me."

However, there is another way~

The young Grim Reaper looked at the Flame Dragon with a half-smile, a very constructive idea popping into his mind.

"Yan, do you know why I'm so bold, without any fear of wandering into the wrong world?"

"Hmm?" Flame Dragon didn't doubt it. "It's probably your innate ability."

"No, that's because I have no worries about the future!"

"Yan, in your story, why did the dragon end up in such a predicament?"

"Of course—"

"That's right, it's lacking magic!"

Before the Flame Dragon could speak, Iori said loudly, "It can't draw magic power from the outside world, so it can only keep consuming its own reserves. It's like water without a source or a tree without roots. In the end, it can only wither and die."

But I'm different. No matter which world I go to, I won't find myself in such a predicament, even if it's a barren wasteland without magic, because I can create something from nothing—I can generate infinite magic myself!

"..."

The Flame Dragon opened its eyes wide, stunned for a long time, its expression somewhat doubtful. Reason told it that this violated the laws of the world, but when it thought of Iori fighting it, its magic power seemed to never weaken, as if it really had infinite magic power.

Moreover, because of the contract between the two, the Flame Dragon could actually sense that Iori was not lying, and for a moment he was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Seeing this, Iori chuckled and said, "How about I prove it to you?"

"No, no, no, that's not necessary!"

Seeing the eager gesture, Yan Zhilong waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "You don't need to lie to me... I believe you!"

“I know you have some doubts, which is understandable, since this would violate the basic rules in most worlds.”

Iori smiled and said, "But this physique can undoubtedly solve the problem of insufficient magic power—and I can also give you the same physique as me."