Chapter 448: Yellow Dragon's Orb (3)

A bright yellow creature, making eye contact and tilting its head cutely.

"Oops."

He carefully uncoiled the long body wrapped around his leg, lifted it with both hands, and held it up. Dull scales due to its recent birth, mane and limbs not yet fully grown, a bump on its forehead closer to a lump than a horn. Its appearance was far from that of a dragon, but the subtle dignity it exuded strongly asserted its status as a being symbolizing mystical power itself.

"So, how did you get here?"

[Kyung!]

Huilya, making a puppy-like sound that didn't match its reptilian appearance, wagged its tail and licked his cheek. Thanks to their mental connection, he instinctively understood what it was trying to say.

"…You just tried it out of curiosity? Because you thought it might work?"

[Kyururu—!]

"Well, that's amazing. I didn't know that was possible."

The baby Yellow Dragon looked around the house with curious eyes. He looked down at Huilya with a strange expression, feeling the strong bond connecting them.

'Earth isn't a good environment for beings that rely on mystical power, like dragons. There's only one exception.'

Temporarily manifesting on Earth through the summoning of an Awakened, a being detached from the world's laws. Of course, as he had emphasized many times before, the ability to summon beings from other worlds had long become obsolete. No matter how high a summoner's realm in another world, they would be reduced to mediocrity upon returning to Earth, where restrictions were severe.

'But my situation is different. It seems this guy is being recognized as a summon by the system. Is it because it was born thanks to the 「Yellow Dragon's Orb」?'

If it was his summon, various effects like 『Dimensional Barrier Mitigation』 would apply, so he could understand the current situation. Since Horus was him and he was Horus, it might not have felt much different to Huilya either way.

Of course, that was completely different from fully accepting the fact that it was here.

"Sigh."

He sighed, looking at Huilya blinking innocently, and at the same time, at the baby Yellow Dragon sleeping soundly in Horus' arms in Ganghwan.

'This must be because of my 「Avatar」, right? No matter how extraordinary dragons are, I don't think they're born with this ability.'

Small bodies existing both on Earth and in Ganghwan. Of course, their unique skills and mechanisms weren't exactly the same. If anything, it could be considered a lesser version of 「Avatar」.

'The one in Ganghwan is definitely the original. The one that appeared on Earth… is it a projection of that body onto this world?'

He was the foremost expert in this field. Thanks to the insight he had developed as his 「Avatar」 ability evolved, it didn't take him long to grasp the current situation.

'I can only project one body like this. And there are limits to its range.'

The biggest difference was that, unlike him, Huilya's ability had various restrictions. He wasn't sure if Hesperon, with his 「Chains of Oath」, could summon it from elsewhere after further developing his abilities, but for now, appearing here was all it could do.

And that wasn't all. Not only did the original body in Ganghwan enter a dormant and defenseless state upon projection, but the projected body also shared any damage it received with the original, and so on. There were various drawbacks. It was inevitably different from his 「Avatar」, which could operate the original and the avatar as completely separate entities.

'Well, there's no real danger since Huilya's original body is in the heart of Geumo Island.'

Besides, the projected body could cancel its manifestation at any time, so in a critical situation, it could simply withdraw. Just like he had avoided countless crises using 'Dismiss Summon.'

"You're quite something, aren't you? Acting on your curiosity just because you thought it might work."

[Hehehe—! Kyah, kyah!]

"…Yes, yes. My, my, aren't you clever."

He chuckled and patted Huilya's head, pleased with the praise. He had allowed this sudden intrusion because he hadn't noticed it, but since he held the reins of this relationship, it wouldn't happen again.

[Kyah! Kyung!]

"Yes, yes. Here. You wanted to try this?"

Since things had turned out this way, it wouldn't be bad to put everything aside for a moment and play with this little guy. He wrapped Huilya around him like a scarf, showed him around his residence, and fed him various snacks.

'It's warm. It looks like a reptile, but it's warm-blooded, not cold-blooded.'

As this little guest visited this large place, which he had been using alone, he felt a warmth he hadn't realized he was missing. A certain urge he thought he had become numb to suddenly welled up inside him.

"…I thought I was okay now, but…"

Was he lonely? He thought he was fine since he had a very active social life, managing multiple bodies, but it seemed there was something that couldn't be fulfilled by such superficial relationships.

'If only I could tell Taesan… No, no. Now's not the time to be weak.'

It was the beginning of a full-blown conflict with the Heavenly Change Society. He couldn't afford to create weaknesses when he didn't know what kind of tricks they would pull or what abilities they would use. He might put his friend in danger by speaking carelessly in this situation.

'It's okay. I have many talented people who will fight alongside me against them now. Once everything is over…'

Shaking off his sentimental thoughts, he turned his gaze to Huilya and gently stroked its body. Although they hadn't spent much time together on Earth, he couldn't keep the little guy here forever.

"Okay, you've played enough, right? Go back now. They're waiting for you to wake up."

[Kyuung…]

"Well, you can come visit again next time. It's not like today is the only day."

[Kyah!]

Huilya had only been on Earth for a few hours.

But in Ganghwan, where there was a time difference, a whole day had already passed. It wasn't strange since dragons were a species that slept a lot, but it was a shame for Geumo Island, who were preparing a festival to welcome the newly born Yellow Dragon.

Whoosh—

As if sensing his feelings, the baby dragon nodded and slowly began to disappear. The warm feeling gradually faded. Just before it completely disappeared…

Tap—

…the little head, smaller than his fist, touched his forehead.

And after a short while…

He was left alone in the middle of his spacious living room, as usual.

"…"

The house seemed unusually empty. He stared at the scene, a cold silence filling the house as if the commotion from moments ago had been a lie.

"Ha! That newborn brat, acting all high and mighty…"

A chuckle escaped his lips.