<em>Boom!</em>


    As soon as I reached out, the transfer gate crumbled into dust with a small explosion.


    What’s going on? I haven’t even touched it yet.


    Just as I was feeling both aggrieved and bewildered, with confusion spreading through the group, I felt a warm sensation flow into my fingertips.


    For some reason, despite the transfer gate breaking, the remaining purple mana was absorbed into me.


    At least it didn’t feel hostile. In fact, it felt more like the warmth andfort ofing home.


    I was about to lower my guard, which had spiked momentarily, when—


    <em>sh!</em>


    A sudden light burst out from my body and enveloped the entire group.


    Before we knew it, we were standing inside a massive stone structure.


    “What now…?”


    I frowned instinctively at the unexpected turn of events, but at least it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.


    Though we had been abruptly thrown into this ce, I immediately recognized the familiar marble decor.


    This was Fafnir’sir—or rather, the ruins of it.


    The transfer gate, which should have taken us to the front courtyard, had somehow sent us straight into the center of their.


    I wasn’t sure exactly why, but maybe it malfunctioned when it broke and reacted to me.


    I still didn’t fully understand the reason.


    As I was calmly processing the situation, I heard a panicked voice from the side.


    “M-Master! What just happened?! It seemed like you absorbed the gate’s mana—are you okay? Is there some kind of collision reaction or—mmpfh?”


    I covered Ca’s mouth with one hand and shook my head.


    “Calm down. I’m fine. My body feels a little warm, but nothing’s wrong.”


    “…Mmmpfh? Mmmph?”


    As Ca mumbled through her blocked mouth, Elisha, standing next to her, acted as an interpreter.


    “She’s asking if that isn’t a bit strange.”


    “Is it? It’s true I absorbed some unfamiliar mana, but it feels oddly familiar… In any case, I don’t think it’s harmful.”


    Mana, at its core, responds to one’s will. Once it enters the body, and with my Mana Affinity trait, reading the intent within it isn’t too difficult.


    The mana from the transfer gate had a strange familiarity, along with a will rted to the transportation itself. It’s puzzling, but it doesn’t feel dangerous. ??


    “Mmmph.”


    “…Ah.”


    As I spoke with certainty, Ca and Elisha both nodded, seemingly reassured.


    I could guess what kind of misunderstanding they were having, but I wasn’t about to correct them, so I exaggeratedly looked around instead.


    The massive stone structure resembled an ancient Greek temple, and everything about it exuded an overwhelming sense of grandeur. Clearly, it wasn’t a ce built by or for humans.


    …Though, nothing here was intact.


    The pirs were cracked and chipped, the statuesy shattered on the ground, and the doors had been broken and forcibly opened.


    All that remained were the traces of its former glory.


    Iris, observing the ruined surroundings, tilted her head in confusion.


    “Master. Are you sure this is really Fafnir’sir?”


    “Yeah.”


    “The legends say the floors were lined with gold coins, and each room was filled with a different kind of treasure. Is this really that Fafnir’sir?”


    “It is. But everything here was either used up, taken by me… or looted by the cultists.”


    A bit of truth mixed with lies. That alone blurred the line between fact and fiction, making it harder to distinguish.


    The bitter smile I wore as I recalled the frustration of reaching their only to find it stripped of all but a little information about the cultists was an added bonus.


    I still felt ufortable with deception, but I knew it was necessary.


    Yet, I couldn’t help but hope that someday I’d be able to tell them everything. It was an unavoidable desire.


    Amidst the solemn atmosphere, the voices of the women, unsure of what to say, quietly drifted around me.


    “Ah… So that’s why, Master…”


    “Hmph. If my homnd had turned out like this overnight, I wouldn’t want to talk about it either.”


    “B-but we’re here for you, Master!”


    “Well, seeing how Yandel tends to gather people who can’t defy him, maybe he has trust issues because of a past betrayal? In that case, we should…”


    “This is all because of those cultists. We must kill the cultists!”


    Why does Helena always reach that conclusion…? Not that she’s wrong.


    Anyway, now that I’ve sessfully avoided talking about myself, I just need to wait for the system to give me the reward that brought me here…


    <em>Ding!</em>


    The moment I thought about it, the notification rang.


    I nced around, expecting the system window to pop up, but instead, something else appeared before me.


    It was as though anotheryer had been oveid on top of the ruins.


    Yes… It was the image of Fafnir’sir in its prime, back when it was still intact.


    <hr>


    A massive underground structure lined with heavy pirs, predominantly ck and purple, exuding a somber elegance.


    The ce resembled a temple from the underworld, though its gloomy atmosphere was at odds with thevish decorations throughout.


    Gold coins piled up into small mounds on the ground.


    Each room was tightly sealed, yet the doors were adorned withrge gemstones, crossed swords, shattered ss crafts, and other striking symbols, as if to show what treasuresy within.


    It was a sight that would leave anyone speechless… but that feeling didn’tst long.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Something enormous fell onto the golden mound.


    Obsidian-like shimmering scales. Sinister purple eyes. A sleek, streamlined body. And a massive size.


    It was a dragon, a species thought to be extinct.


    Is that Fafnir?


    For a moment, I was mesmerized by his imposing presence, as if he were real. But upon closer inspection, I noticed that Fafnir wasn’t intact.


    His smooth scales were chipped and melted in ces, his wings were tattered, and one of his horns was broken.


    Blood seeped from his body, staining the pile of gold beneath him.


    This must be the moment just before Fafnir died.


    Obviously, none of this was ever shown in H&A. There must be a reason the system was showing me this.


    Swallowing my surprise, I focused on the scene before me. Fafnir, struggling to breathe, began to mutter something.


    [My treasure… I can’t die and leave it behind…]


    Even as he was dying, he was obsessed with his hoard. Ridiculous, but I suppose that’s how he managed to gather such immense wealth in the first ce.


    Just as I realized this, time suddenly sped up.


    Fafnir repeatedly fainted and awoke atop the pile of gold, and each time he regained consciousness, he bombarded himself with healing magic.


    Eventually, after a long time had passed, Fafnir fully recovered. Though the broken horn didn’t regrow, everything else returned to its former state.


    Yet, it seemed like Fafnir hade to some realization in the face of death. His eyes still gleamed with greed as he stared at the bloodstained gold, but there was another emotion present.


    Rage.


    A clear fury directed at those who had wounded him and brought him to the brink of death.


    From there, the flow of events became predictable.


    Fafnir left hisir as soon as he recovered, likely seeking revenge.


    The problem was that he kept returning covered in blood.


    Was this during the height of the War of the Gods?


    Each time, Fafnir returned on the verge of death, only to recover and head back into battle repeatedly.


    With every return, more irreparable wounds umted.


    It began with his broken horn, followed by a blunted tail, a deep scar across his chest like a trench, and scales on his face burnt beyond recognition.


    Eventually, his injuries outnumbered the intact parts of his body… but Fafnir never gave up.


    Even when he became terminally wounded and was living on borrowed time.


    Even after the Hero Rahim brought the War of the Gods to an end.


    At some point, it became clear that Fafnir’s rage wasn’t just because he had almost died.


    The dragons, once called great beings, were ughtered like mere insects. His kin, who, despite his foul personality, had be his friends. Even the weak who had clung to Fafnir, hoping for salvation, had their fists clenched in hope.


    Fafnir bore too much weight on his back.


    This, more than any other scar, was the deepest wound Fafnir carried—the price he paid for surviving the War of the Gods.


    Though all the Evil Gods had been sealed, and the cultists had been driven away, Fafnir couldn’t shake off his anxiety and anger upon returning to hisir.


    Rahim was undoubtedly a hero, but he had only sealed the Evil Gods.


    And nothingsts forever.


    Fafnir, who had lived for millennia, knew this all too well. He had seen gods, far older than dragons, fall into corruption and disgrace.


    One day, the Evil Gods would be released, and there would be nothing this world could do about it.


    The Good Gods would not recover their strength in time, the short-lived races would have forgotten the past, and Fafnir himself would have long since died from his festering wounds.


    Staring at the wealth he had umted throughout his life, Fafnir muttered softly.


    [I need an heir.]


    Even if he were to be thest of the dragons.