LEVEL EVERYTHING UP in my Eldritch Tribe - Chapter 398

Chapter 398: Let’s leave
“A dragon?” Maria finally echoed, her voice filled with disbelief. “That’s all you have to say? A dragon?! Lyerin, do you realize what you’re saying? That thing was enormous! It could’ve crushed this entire island with a flick of its tail!”

“It’s not just a dragon,” Sophia pressed, her voice trembling. “It’s the dragon—the kind of creature you only hear about in legends. Lyerin, are you seriously telling us that was real?”

Lyerin tilted his head slightly, his casual demeanor unshaken. “Yes,” he replied simply.

The girls erupted into a cacophony of voices once more.

“That’s insane!” Corora exclaimed. “Do you even understand what you’re saying? That thing was terrifying! And you’re just… brushing it off like it’s no big deal?”

“But it wasn’t just terrifying,” Fiona added, her voice quieter but filled with wonder. “It was… beautiful. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Lyerin, how can something so dangerous also be so… mesmerizing?”

“It’s the wings,” Emily murmured, her eyes distant as if recalling the vision. “The way they shimmered, the patterns—they were almost hypnotic. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Lydia nodded. “And the roar—it wasn’t just loud. It meant something. It felt… alive. It was like it was speaking to us, telling us something we couldn’t understand.”

Natalie crossed her arms, her brow furrowed in thought. “But why did it disappear? If it’s so powerful, why didn’t it stay? And why does it exist here, in this world? Lyerin, you know something, don’t you?”

Lyerin smiled faintly, his calm demeanor unshaken by their bombardment of questions. “You could say it’s a part of this world,” he said cryptically.

“That’s not an answer!” Cornelia burst out. “You’re hiding something! You always do this—you give us just enough to keep us guessing, but never the full picture!”

Maria threw her hands up in exasperation. “Why do you have to be so cryptic, Lyerin? Can’t you just tell us straight? That thing—it’s more than just a dragon, isn’t it? It has to be!”

Lyerin’s faint smile grew into a grin. “Maybe,” he said simply.

The girls groaned collectively, their frustration evident, but there was also a spark of excitement in their eyes.

“Whatever it was,” Sophia said finally, her voice soft but determined, “I want to see it again. Even if it was terrifying, it was… incredible.”

The others nodded, their curiosity outweighing their fear. The dragon, though fleeting, had left an indelible mark on their minds—and on their hearts.

Lyerin exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable as the faint remnants of mana particles continued to fade into the air around them. The girls looked at him with wide, expectant eyes, their breaths held as though the answer to their countless questions was suspended in the space between them.

Finally, breaking the silence with a nonchalant shrug, Lyerin said simply, “lile I said, it’s a dragon.”

The words hung in the air, deceptively simple yet heavy with implications. For a moment, the girls stared at him, dumbfounded by the sheer casualness of his tone. It was Maria who first broke the silence.

“Really? Really? Really?” she exclaimed, her voice tinged with incredulity and a hint of frustration. “That’s all you’re going to say? That it’s a dragon? Lyerin, that was not just a dragon. That was the dragon—no, something legendary! You have to give us more than that!”

Fiona, standing beside her, crossed her arms and gave Lyerin a skeptical look. “She’s right! You can’t just drop a bomb like that and act like it’s no big deal. Dragons aren’t exactly common around here, are they? And what kind of dragon was that? It looked like it came straight out of a myth!”

Sophia, clearly still shaken, clung to Lydia’s arm for support as she chimed in, her voice trembling. “It didn’t just look like it came from a myth—it felt ancient. Like it was older than this entire world. And its roar… it was like it was calling out to something—or someone.”

Elena frowned deeply, her hands on her hips. “And why did it vanish? Was it a real dragon, or was it some kind of… vision? And what did you do to summon it? Was it the mana core? Or your magic? You need to explain everything, Lyerin!”

Natalie, ever the logical one, raised a hand as if trying to organize the chaos of questions swirling around her. “One thing at a time, everyone. Lyerin, let’s start with the basics. That dragon—was it alive? Or was it some kind of magical construct? And if it’s the latter… what kind of power are we talking about here? Because that didn’t seem like ordinary magic.”

Lyerin, still as composed as ever, raised a single eyebrow, clearly amused by their flurry of inquiries. “You’re all overthinking this,” he said with a faint smirk. “Yes, it’s a dragon. Yes, it’s real. And yes, it’s as powerful as it looked. But no, it’s not alive—not in the way you’re thinking. What you saw was… let’s call it an echo.”

“An echo?” Corora repeated, tilting her head in confusion. “An echo of what, exactly? That thing didn’t feel like an echo—it felt like it could destroy this entire island if it wanted to!”

Lyerin chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Not an echo in the sense of sound, but an echo in time. A fragment of something that existed long ago, brought back into the present through the mana core. What you saw was the essence of a dragon that once ruled this world.”

The girls gasped collectively, their eyes widening.

“A dragon that once ruled this world?” Lydia whispered, her voice barely audible. “You mean there were more of them? Dragons like that one?”

“Thousands,” Lyerin replied simply.

“Thousands?” Emily nearly shouted, her hands flying to her mouth in disbelief. “You’re telling us this world was once home to thousands of those monsters? How did anything else survive?”

“They didn’t,” Lyerin said bluntly, his tone sobering. “The dragons were the apex predators, the rulers of the skies and the lands. Entire civilizations fell under their might. But eventually, they disappeared—either slain by time or by forces even they couldn’t conquer. What you saw was one of the last remnants of their kind, preserved within the mana core of that serpent.”

The girls exchanged uneasy glances, the weight of his words sinking in.

“But why would it appear now?” Maria asked, her brow furrowed. “What triggered it?”

“The mana core,” Lyerin explained. “It holds fragments of the serpent’s lineage, and somewhere in that lineage, there’s a connection to the dragons. When I infused it with my magic, I unlocked that connection, allowing the echo to manifest.”

“And the roar?” Sophia pressed. “What did it mean? It wasn’t just a sound—it felt like it was… calling to something.”

Lyerin’s eyes darkened slightly. “Perhaps it was. Or perhaps it was simply a declaration—a reminder of what once was.”

Before the girls could press him further, a faint rumble interrupted their conversation. It was subtle at first, barely noticeable, but it grew steadily stronger. The ground beneath their feet trembled, sending vibrations through the air.

“What was that?” Fiona asked nervously, clutching Emily’s arm.

Another rumble followed, this one louder and more pronounced. The girls instinctively huddled closer to Lyerin, their eyes darting around in search of the source.

“It’s just the island settling,” Lyerin said, though his tone was less certain now.

A third rumble came, shaking the ground so violently that small cracks began to form beneath their feet. The sound was deeper this time, almost guttural, as though the island itself was groaning in protest.

“Lyerin,” Natalie said, her voice tight with tension, “that doesn’t sound like the island settling.”

The ground rumbled again, this time accompanied by a faint, distant roar that sent shivers down their spines. It was deeper and more resonant than the serpent’s roar, and it carried with it a sense of primal power.

“What… what is that?” Elena whispered, her voice barely audible.

Lyerin’s expression darkened as he turned his gaze toward the horizon. “Something we don’t want to face right now,” he said firmly.

Another roar echoed through the air, this one louder and closer, shaking the very ground they stood on. The vibrations were so intense that the girls struggled to keep their balance.

“Lyerin!” Maria shouted, panic creeping into her voice. “What’s happening?!”

Lyerin didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he turned to the pig Orcs, his voice calm but commanding. “Prepare to leave. Now.”

The girls looked at him in shock. “Leave?” Sophia exclaimed. “But—”

“Now,” Lyerin repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Before they could protest further, a deafening cry tore through the air, so loud and so powerful that it seemed to shake the very fabric of reality. The girls clutched their ears, their faces pale with fear.

Lyerin’s gaze remained fixed on the horizon as he spoke, his voice steady but grim. “We’re leaving this island. Now.”