Epilogue

"O Emperor! O Heavenly Emperor! I bear grave news!"

A meek-looking dragon with metallic light-gold scales flew up to Emperor Hinod. He barely squeezed his last sentence out before gasping in pain. His body was flushed with sweat, as if he had flown at top speed for several hours. His eyes were bloodshot, and jumped around in fear. His wings drooped in exhaustion, useless after pushing his body to its limit. Given the distance from where he should've been and where he is now, and the timing of his arrival, he must've flown for half a day, which is impressive considering his physique. He gulped in air as he tried to get his message out. Hinod waited patiently for the dragon to regain his composure.

"I bear grave news, Emperor!"

"I heard you the first time, Hahsesiin. Are you alone? Where are the others?"

"They are still at Saak-Morwuld. But this is besides the point. We, the dragon race, are in great danger, Master Hinod!"

Baffled, Hinod stared at Hahsesiin.

"Elaborate."

"This is the year of the Star Alignment within Saak-Morwuld. The stories these stars tell us are prophetic, Master Hinod!"

"And the stars say that we face a threat? From whom?"

The dragon astrologer's face paled.

"That's the thing... I can no longer see our future. After a certain point in time, Wild Magic ceases to be. Do you not get it? What makes us dragon no longer exists in the future!"

"What?!"

Hinod rears his back in alarm. He could not believe it. Wild Magic was a primordial type of magic. It has been a part of this world for longer than even Hinod's own father has been around. If the legend of Unslaad Lok-Bo is true, then Wild Magic has been around since the Sun and Moon first formed in the sky. This means that Wild Magic has been around for quite literally millions of years. For Wild Magic to simply disappear... It is an unbelievable assertion.

"Are you certain?"

"The stars have never lied."

"What of us? What happens to us?"

"From what we can tell..."

Hahsesiin's voice trailed off. He glanced up at Hinod before mustering the courage to continue.

"We die. Only some of us remain in the world. Beings much more powerful than we can ever imagine simply wiped us out."

"Impossible. We are the mightiest race in the world. No one can harm us except each other. If what you say is true, then we would've been hunted down and killed off eons ago. Unless you mean to say one race of dragons killed everyone off?"

Hinod thought about Teverin, and his family. The other Great Houses should've been able to keep his power in check.

"No. We, as in the entire race of dragons, die off."

Hinod shook his head. This simply cannot be true.

"Hahsesiin... This joke has gone too far. Not when my son has just been born."

"I... I wish I could say I was making a joke, Master Hinod..."

Hinod stared at Hahsesiin with an intense glare. The smaller dragon winced away, cowed by the powerful gaze, but held firm. He was telling the truth. Still, this is news that is too unreal to believe. Who could imagine dragons, the strongest race in the world, to be completely and utterly destroyed? That Wild Magic, the most fundamental part of the world, and the lifeblood of dragonkind, simply stop existing? And yet, the prophetic stars have spoken.

"So... My son's birth marks not only the happiest time of my life, but also the doom of our race."

"Ah... Congratulations on the birth of your son, Master Hinod. Have you decided his name?"

The swing in topic was very swift, as if Hahsesiin wanted to talk about a happier topic. Hinod decided to take the bait. He was, after all, a very proud father.

"Yes. Tsaindorcus Vaision. I gave the first name. Yuvon gave the last, which is her maiden House's name. After all, we gave birth to a healthy, spry platinum-scaled dragon."

"Oooh... shame it wasn't a gold-scale dragon, milord."

Hinod chuckled.

"Oh, no, I'm glad he took on his mother's beautiful scales. I have a feeling that I will be a proud father..."

Hinod fell silent, and turned away from Hahsesiin.

"You must not tell anyone else. Only you and your team may know. Not even my mate can know."

Hahsesiin instantly knew what Hinod was talking about, and bowed.

"As you wish, Master Hinod, but may I inquire why?"

"No one will believe you, and they will believe that I employ imbeciles as astrologers."

"What about the elves that surround us?"

Hinod looked around. His elven guard stood at attention, stock still and ready for his command.

"They will not open their mouths. Even when my mate asks them what happened today. They serve me over Yuvon. Am I right, elves?"

They all shouted "YES, O GREAT LORD!" in unison. They will sooner die than disobey Hinod.

"I... I also cannot let my son... My precious son... Die."

"Master Hinod... You must use your magic. The power to grant wishes. It can change even the prophetic powers of the star."

"The soul cost would be too draining... Even for me. Even if I were to sacrifice everything in my treasury, the lives of all my elves, the Palace itself... I would not have enough soul to change a prophecy."

"But... But what else can we do?"

Hinod didn't immediately answer. Hahsesiin could tell that Hinod was desperately trying to think of a wish that did not cost too much soul.

"Yes... Hm. How long do we have before we..."

Hinod couldn't finish the sentence. Even now, he still couldn't fully believe it.

"The stars tell their stories far into the future, about 1,000 years forward. Draconic futures rapidly decline after about 500 years into the future."

"500 years... I have 500 years to prepare for this. I must stockpile enough wealth..."

Hinod looked at his elves.

"And, if need be... yes, if it's for my son, then I'll also sacrifice my elves to save him. Unless I..."

Hinod concentrated within himself, and his eyes lit up.

"Yes! I can still save my son!"

—

Hahsesiin had flown back to the Great Tornado to reverify his discoveries as well as gleam as much details as he could from the stars. Hinod headed toward his nursery, where his exhausted mate is spending time with their child. The Yára Ohtatyaro stood vigilant against all threats, this time for both mother and son. They let Hinod through without another word.

Hinod found his son playfully bounding about, testing his wings and playing with his mother. He saw Hinod coming, and chirped, racing towards his father with unbridled energy, like a streaking ball of platinum. Warmth and affection flooded Hinod, and he wanted to protect his adorable little dragonling from the menace of the outside world. As a father, he was willing to sacrifice the world to save his child, and his resolve strengthened. He looked at his mate, who gave him a tired smile.

"I'll start training him after a couple of days' rest."

Hinod returned the smile.

"I... I just can't believe it. He was the only one to survive the Wild Breath. Our Tsaindorcus-"

"Tsaindorcus is a mouthful to say, my love. I think I'll just call him Tsa."

The baby raced around them and jumped about, trying to mimic his father and fly. His underdeveloped wings fluttered desperately. When it heard "Tsa", it stopped and perked up, and looked at its mother.

"Ah... Mmm. As you say, my dear. He seems to like it. Tsa it is."

"Tsa has been a little bundle of joy. Ever since we gave him our Wild Breath, his energy doesn't seem to ever ebb. I think he takes on that part from you, my love."

"You give me too much credit, my dear. Now... I wish to have some father-son time with him. After all, you've been with him for the whole day. I just want to spend a couple of minutes."

Yuvon got up and stretched.

"Take as long as you want. I'll take a walk around the Elven Garden. I have been cooped up in here for too long, and I wish to see the sun again. Perhaps I'll roar at it too, like the strange southern dragon tradition, hmm?"

Chuckling, she walked off, with her elven entourage trailing her. Tsa didn't seem to notice his mother leave, as he was busy gnawing at his father's claws.

Hinod looked down at the little baby, and casted his spell. It was the ultimate Wild Magic, the wish-maker spell, and was extremely taxing on the soul. Any normal dragon who could cast this would've killed themselves by over-draining their soul, but Hinod's soul was by far much larger than any other dragon in the world. And yet, the spell he casted still taxed his soul. It would dangerously bring his soul down to nigh-exhaustion, but it was worth the risk. Hinod felt slightly dizzy after casting his spell, fighting off the urge to vomit. His son's destiny was safe... For now. He had wished for his son to live for as long as the stars could tell the future. That was the limit before the spell would've killed him.

Tired, Hinod sat down, and stroke his son's back, while letting him gnaw on his finger. He hoped that his son would grow up to be a good and fair dragon.

—

A History of the True Dragon Lords

? years ago, the first dragons discovered Wild Magic, and took the world from its previous owners, the primordial elemental lords, who could shape the elements of the world to their whims. It could be said that one of the original rulers of the world betrayed its own kind to grant and teach the dragons the secrets of Wild Magic, inadvertently making them much more powerful than anticipated. While the primordials were still more powerful than the dragons, the dragons vastly outnumbered them. They were eventually wiped out, and all traces erased. The first Dragon Emperor rose from the ashes of civil war, and an uneasy peace was held. The Loern ancestor Dragon Emperor came next, and every Dragon Emperor after him ruled with an iron fist. Unslaad Lok-Bo, as the Heavenly Dragon Lord is now known as, was born around this time.

15,000 years ago, Teverin Loern was born. At this time period, a multitude of other amazingly powerful Dragons were born, for some reason, including Hinod Aur Faraan. Only a few survived to current day.

10,000 years ago, Teverin attempted to kill the Dragon Emperor, and succeeded, but was not able to take the throne. It was rumored that he fought Hinod afterwards for the right to rule, and lost, but only Teverin and Hinod could know the full story. Teverin inexplicably grew more powerful after the regicide.

6,000 years ago, Pakuri and Teverin fought for dominance. Pakuri lost, became one of Teverin's mates, and successfully gave birth to worthwhile children. The other mates were killed off.

Current day, the events of Yasilithi Ragrivin's adventure. Certain dragons were born this day that survived a great calamity in the future. One of them had scales of platinum, one of them was born in the darkness, and sleeps in the darkness, and one of them was a coward.

400 years later, the Dragon Emperor stockpiled enough wealth to summon the first World Class Item, the Ouroboros, in an attempt to wish for more powerful weapons to fight against the incoming threat. Instead, the Six Great Gods arrived into the New World, and established a human stronghold in what was left of House Pruina territory. They used the Ouroboros to auto-translate the world. This is a story for another time. By this time, Teverin was almost successfully able to conquer most of Pruina held lands. Being denied the rest of it left a sour taste in his mouth.

500 years later, the Eight Greed Kings arrived into the New World, bringing with them Eryuentiu, a flying castle from which always flowed out fresh water, as well as 30 NPC Guardians. They killed Surshana, the God of Death, and used the Five Elements Overcoming to change the world's magic from Wild Magic to YGGDRASIL's tiered magic. This sparked a war with the dragons, as this doomed all dragons born to be Unbreathed. The Dragon Emperor's son survived the conflict. The Dragon Emperor and his mate, however, died by the hands of his own subjects in retaliation for bringing the Eight Greed Kings. Yasilithi, his fellow Knights, and the Loern were one of the first to fall in battle. This, too, is a story for another time. On a side note, an exceptionally bright dragon managed to hide away from conflict, and began experimenting with granting Wild Magic to lesser creatures.

600 years later, the last of the Eight Greed Kings lay dead, with the New World forever shaped by the civil war between the Greed Kings. The Dragon Emperor's son resides in Euryentiu, to guard against other entities using its power to conquer the world.

700 years later, a player died to the Deep Dark Dragon Lord, who does nothing but sleeps deep in his cave. He also acquired one of the Twenty.

800 years later, the Platinum Dragon Lord, as Hinod's son is now known as, makes friends with some of the lesser races, as they rush to save the world from the menace of the Demon Gods. Tsaindorcus Vaision yearns for friends, and found it in the form of the Thirteen Heroes. A certain dragon wiped out entire countries, and turned their citizens into zombies while stealing their souls. He died to a group of heroes, particularly to a dragon with platinum scales.

1,000 years later, the arrival of Momonga and Nazarick marked a new turning point in the New World's history. Hinod's wish that his son would survive has expired. The Platinum Dragon Lord's life is now decided on a roll of the dice.

—

Ainz, majestically perched on top of Hamsuke, beheld the massive Tob Forest. Aura had excitedly [Messaged] him about a discovery that he needed to see within Tob. Riding with him was his escort, Mare, who wrapped his tiny arms around his waist, tightly hugging him. Ainz felt very self conscious about his skeletal frame, and was worried that Mare would be very uncomfortable with hugging nothing but his ribs and spine. At the same time, he had to behave regally the entire ride, which meant he had to treat any potential discomfort with royal indifference. Fortunately, Ainz couldn't hear any subtle complaints from Mare, and Hamsuke had learned to move in a way that didn't cause much discomfort for her masters.

Ainz wondered what could possibly warrant such a reaction from Aura. He had tasked her to finally come around to exploring the large underground cave network within the Tob Forest. While he would've loved to come along for the exploration, as he had with the Great Rift in the Azerlisia Mountains, he was extremely busy with ruling his kingdom these days. In the past, he would just stamp everything that Albedo and Demiurge proposed with his approval, but after a certain incident, he had to meticulously review everything they gave him for the day. This drastically cut short the amount of free time he had, as he had to read everything slowly, over and over again, until he understood the contents. The original idea was that they gave him simplified summaries meant for him to review quickly, but he quickly found out that Albedo and Demiurge left out too much in the assumption that Ainz already planned out and knew everything. Fed up with constant confusion about what they were referring to, Ainz ordered them to give him their full proposals before stamping his approval. This gave Ainz many days of imaginary headaches, as he struggled to understand complex, legal language, and the accommodations for the many cultures his vast kingdom now encompasses.

However, slowly, Ainz began to learn and adapt, and now, he can confidently say that he can skim through the usual nonsense and stamp with speed. While Ainz still wasn't comfortable with his skills as a ruler, he could probably be a good legal scholar within his own borders. He also had the added benefit of using his personal maid for the day as a second pair of eyes. While thinking of a way to give his maids, who he thought of as extremely hard working daughters of his beloved friends, a way to have some time off, inspiration struck him. Ainz proposed that all maid activities were to stop work for two weeks, and they were all to learn the Sorcerous Kingdom law so that they can better serve him while he worked. The two weeks were a vacation that Ainz desperately needed, although for a while, Ainz had to fend off Albedo's attempts to be his temporary personal maid. Now, he was able to give his maids weekends off, to study new and updated laws. Naturally, the maids threw themselves into the work handed to them by their Supreme Being, in an effort to best aid him. Albedo and Demiurge didn't like the proposal at first, because they believed that Ainz was flawless and couldn't possibly make mistakes, but Ainz told them that a redundant system of checks would make any law ironclad. They were skeptical, but in the end relented. Secretly, Ainz enjoyed having the weekends off with no attending maid constantly staring at him while he decompressed, and so it was a win-win for both sides.

Lately, Ainz considered allowing Pandora's Actor to occasionally switch places with him, but he feared that Pandora's Actor may do something strange while he pretended to be Momon once more. He also had to study all the connections Pandora's Actor made while as Momon to ensure a flawless switch, which would be a hassle that Ainz didn't want to bother with. Still, as Ainz's influence grows in E-Rantel, Momon's presence was required less and less. Perhaps Ainz can have a true vacation one day as Momon in the future.

As Hamsuke swiftly moved through the forest with practiced ease, as if she knew the forest like the back of her own paws, Ainz grew more excited about Aura's discovery. He didn't find anything exciting in the Great Rift, only a large deposit of what the dwarves called "white iron", so perhaps the caves in Tob was different. Mare told Ainz that his sister had found mushroom people in the past after a cursory glance in the caves. She determined that they didn't have anything of valuable, so perhaps Aura found deposits of Prismatic Ores. If she did, Ainz would immediately send a detachment of Nazarick's military might and kill or subjugate all living beings in the cave networks, in an effort to fully control the mines. He would then set up constant surveillance around the ores and perhaps try to hide its existence from the world. Ainz wanted to see if he could reproduce another Caloric Stone if he ever got his hands on a cache of Prismatic Ores.

Eventually, Hamsuke reached the caves. Ainz jumped off in his excitement, and reached up to gently pick up Mare and set him down besides him. Mare blushed, and shyly looked up at Ainz.

"Th-Thank you, Ainz-sama!"

Swamped with Mare's genuine and pure, child-like gratitude, it somewhat calmed Ainz down, and he extended his hands in what he thought was a king-like movement.

"Think nothing of it, Mare."

Ainz told Hamsuke to stay put at the entrance, and he and Mare descended into the caves, following a trail that Aura set for them. While it was very dark within the caves, both had Dark Vision, so the caves were as bright as the afternoon sun from their point of view. Occasionally, mushrooms that emit a soft, blue glow dotted the cave walls, but those were far and few in between, and didn't provide much light. They passed through several small tribes of myconid, who scattered when they came close. They emitted squishing sounds, which mildly annoyed Ainz.

Soon, they came upon another tiny figure, with clothes and a face that matched Mare, Aura. She excitedly waved at them, and knelt in respect to Ainz once they came close. Mare ran to her side and knelt as well. While Ainz was used to this by now, he still felt quite annoyed that his Guardians did this, as he felt he didn't deserve this level of servitude. However, he understood that this was one of the many ways his Guardians wanted to display their loyalty, so he could not fault them for doing this. After telling them to raise their heads twice, they rose up. Aura led him to her discovery.

"Tada! Look what I found, Ainz-sama!"

Ainz's empty eye sockets blinked twice, although it simply looked as if his red dots disappeared and reappeared rapidly. All he saw was a suit of intricately designed gold armor, nestled inside the rocks, surrounded by mushrooms, plant matter, and glowing rocks. Where was the prismatic ores?

Before he could ask what he was supposed to be looking at, the suit of armor glowed, and began to speak.

"Greetings, oh mighty God of Death. I remember you from so long ago, when your kind still made deals with my kind. When this child said that you were alive..."

Ainz opened and closed his mouth unconsciously. He had no idea how to respond. He turned to Aura. She gave a mischievous smile.

"Your name... I remember... It was Surshana? I thought you had died... But it's true. To you, gods who came from a land called YGGDRASIL, death is but a mere state of existence. Something even we dragons cannot control."

Still shocked by this development of mistaken identity, Ainz was left speechless. He started to wonder what sort of lies Aura spewed at this suit of armor. And did it just call itself a dragon?

"I believe my subordinate was not entirely truthful to you. I am not the one you call Surshana. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, the King of the Sorcerous Kingdom. But, indeed, one can say that I am the God of Death. Perhaps I am mistaken, but you call yourself a dragon, yet all I see is a suit of armor?"

"Yes... I am Yuvon Faraan, mate to the Dragon Emperor. Before my death, I was able to transfer the rest of my soul into this armor, and escape death. I fled far from my home, and ended up here, trapped for... I do not know for how long."

It was hard to tell if the suit of armor was telling the truth or not. This could merely be an elaborate trap setup. However, if it was, Aura would've detected anyone lurking in this vicinity, and Ainz's anti-divination spell didn't indicate that he was being spied upon. Therefore, there should be some truth to its words. Ainz then asked the next question in his mind.

"I do not know of any spell that is capable of transferring one's soul into another. Are dragons capable of casting Super Tiered spells?"

"Super tiered spells...? No, we dragons wield Wild Magic. Your tiered spells corrupt and distort the natural balance of the world. Our magic utilizes the strength of our souls, although I am no longer capable of casting spells without my body alive anymore."

Ainz's value meter for this suit of armor suddenly spiked. If the armor is telling the truth, then there is evidence of a new type of magic that he has never heard of. Even if it cannot cast any spells, Ainz learned from his time in YGGDRASIL that information on a spell was almost as useful as having the spell.

"And the soul transfer is a type of Wild Magic? Can anyone else use this spell?"

"Yes. I am living proof, although I do not know if any other dragon is capable of this spell. I know my own son is capable of doing this to a certain extent..."

This was the proof Ainz needed. While it wasn't a discovery that he wanted, it was a discovery that he felt was still quite valuable. He had seen this spell before, and the armor will provide extremely valuable information. He ordered Aura and Mare to dig up the armor, and contacted Shalltear with [Message] to open a gate back to E-Rantel. This will require further investigation.

Nazarick grows ever more powerful.

End