Gathering Wives with a System Chapter 718 Longing, Dragon Heart

The dragon grunted, turned around, and went back to sleep. It could tell that Isaac was being shameless by saying the word libido so casually, but it did not care enough to become angry over it.

Time passed again, and for several days, Isaac did not come. At first, the dragon barely noticed his absence, since it had spent countless years alone and was accustomed to long periods without seeing another living being.

However, after several more days passed, the dragon found itself becoming strangely melancholic. It stared at the empty surroundings for a long time before finally realizing what was bothering it.

Had it really been missing that bastard?

The dragon grunted and immediately rejected the thought. There was no way it was missing some shameless excuse of a human who had spent months bothering it with meaningless questions.

It had to be because the anniversary was approaching. That was the only explanation the dragon was willing to accept.

Anniversary.

The single word struck the dragon harder than it expected. The emotions that had been quietly surging through its heart suddenly cooled, leaving behind a familiar sorrow that it had spent countless years trying to bury.

Ever since the day its family died, the dragon had gone to the city every year around the anniversary of their deaths. It still hated itself for doing so, because visiting those ruins only reminded it of everything it had lost and everything it believed had been its fault.

Its family had been manipulated, yet that did not change the fact that they had loved it. They had only exiled the dragon because someone had interfered with their minds and circumstances, and the dragon had never been able to forget that.

Then, as if that had not been enough, its family had been killed. Everything that had once been important to the dragon had been destroyed, leaving it with nothing except guilt and memories.

'They died because of me.'

The dragon lowered its head and buried its face against one of its arms. The silence around it became heavier as memories of its failed past returned, reminding it of a life that had once contained warmth before everything had been taken away.

It remained like that until the following day, when someone entered the range of its senses. The dragon immediately raised its head, and before it could stop itself, a name escaped from its mouth.

[Isaac?]

There was something strange in its voice, almost like relief, and the dragon itself became slightly surprised by the emotion. Before it could think about it any further, a powerful pressure suddenly descended upon its cave.

The dragon reacted instantly. Its wings spread, and the enormous force of its movement shattered the cave's ceiling around it as it launched itself into the sky.

A moment later, a powerful attack struck the place where it had been resting. The resulting explosion swallowed the entire area, and when the dust finally settled, there was nothing left of the cave.

The dragon hovered high in the sky and looked toward the attackers. There were three Awakeners standing at the front of the army, each possessing powerful mana that immediately caught its attention.

Behind them stood an army of nearly a thousand people. Considering the current state of the Sector, the fact that so many had come here was surprising. Moreover, anyone who had survived the Thousand Year Stampede was not weak.

This army represented a considerable portion of the remaining strength within the Sector. Whoever had gathered them had decided that killing the dragon was worth risking nearly everything they had left.

[Another crusade? Why bother with something like this at a time like this?]

The man at the helm of the army stepped forward and looked toward the dragon. His expression was firm despite the fear hidden within his eyes.

"For the survival of the Sector."

The dragon stared at him for a moment before letting out a cold laugh. It had heard similar excuses countless times throughout its long existence.

[It seems the corruption has already reached your heads. What exactly will defeating me accomplish for the Sector?]

The dragon did not bother asking for their names. Similar situations had happened countless times throughout the years, and there was little reason to remember the names of people who had come intending to kill it.

Still, this was the first time such an army had appeared after the Thousand Year Stampede. That alone made the situation slightly different from the countless battles the dragon had fought before.

The leader suddenly raised his weapon, and the people behind him followed his movement. His voice became louder as he spoke, as though he wanted every survivor in the army to hear his words.

"How long are you going to hide it? You are the Hero, the Dragon Lord. You are the antithesis of the Red Rain and the saviour of our people."

He took another step forward while gripping his weapon tightly. "We have come today to ask for your heart, so give it to us, and we will consume the saviour's grace. With your heart, we can resist the corruption and give our people a chance to survive."

The dragon became silent. For the first time, it did not immediately attack.

Could its heart really protect them from the corruption? The dragon had never considered such a possibility, and although it did not trust the man's words, there was enough uncertainty in the claim to make it hesitate.

Then it remembered its family. It remembered their faces, the destruction of their home, and the endless years it had spent blaming itself for their deaths.

No.

It would not die here. Even if its heart could save others, the dragon could not simply surrender its life after everything.

The battle that followed was catastrophic. The dragon eventually won, but the victory was nothing like the effortless slaughter it had once been capable of.

The corruption had weakened its body over the years, and the survivors of the Thousand Year Stampede were far stronger than ordinary Awakeners. By the time the last attacker fell, the dragon was covered in wounds and struggling to remain in the air.

The leader was still alive, although barely. Blood flowed from his mouth as he looked up at the dragon with hatred and desperation.

"T-This is not the end, selfish dragon. More will come, and we will survive."

The dragon stared at him for several seconds before crushing him beneath its claw. It did not answer his words because there was nothing left to say.

Then it flew away. It needed to find somewhere to recover and rest.

For several days, the dragon traveled while blood continued dripping from its wounds. It eventually found another place where it could rest and immediately began licking its injuries while attempting to recover.

Yet the words of the attackers refused to disappear. The more the dragon tried to ignore them, the more frequently the same thought returned to its mind.

Give us your heart.

The dragon lowered its head. It had been hesitating again.

If its heart truly possessed the ability to resist the corruption, then perhaps giving it to the remaining survivors would allow them to live. But if it gave up its life, then it would be no different from helping the one who had killed its family.

The dragon did not know which choice was right. It hated that uncertainty because it had spent so long believing that there was nothing left in the world worth caring about.

Before it could decide, a familiar presence entered its senses. The dragon immediately raised its head, and a voice it had not heard for several days soon reached its ears.

"Alice! It's been a long time!" Isaac called out with his usual cheerful tone. "I've brought a friend..."

His voice suddenly stopped. The dragon noticed that Isaac's expression changed as soon as he sensed the blood from the injuries covering its body.

"Dragon Lord!"

Isaac rushed toward it without hesitation. He knelt beside the dragon and carefully examined its wounds, his expression becoming increasingly serious as he took in the extent of the injuries.

Even without being able to see, it was obvious that countless thoughts were passing through his mind. The dragon could almost imagine him trying to figure out what had happened while simultaneously wondering how badly it had been injured.

The dragon felt a strange amusement at his concern. There was another emotion mixed with it as well, but the dragon could not identify what it was, and the feeling quickly disappeared when it noticed the person standing behind Isaac.

The newcomer was a woman with faint green scales covering parts of her cheeks and arms. A green tail extended behind her, and two dragon horns protruded from her head, making her identity immediately obvious.

A dragonkin.

Judging by the characteristics of her body and the aura surrounding her, the dragon guessed that she was probably a Life Dragon. It stared at her for several moments, and something unpleasant slowly rose inside its heart.

Had Isaac been absent for so many days because he had been with this woman? The thought irritated the dragon far more than it should have, although it could not understand why.

"Kaela, heal Dragon Lord!" Isaac said.

The woman timidly nodded before approaching the wounded dragon. A gentle green light soon gathered around her hands, and the moment it touched the dragon's body, its injuries began to heal.

The dragon remained silent as the wounds across its body slowly closed. Kaela continued healing it for the next two days, carefully maintaining her power whenever some of the deeper injuries resisted recovery. By the end of the second day, most of the serious wounds had disappeared, although the dragon still felt considerably weaker than it had before the battle.

Once the healing was complete, Isaac stayed for a while and asked the dragon what had happened. The dragon explained everything, including the army that had attacked it, their claim that its heart could protect them from the corruption, and the battle that had nearly exhausted it.

"They came for your dragon heart?" Isaac muttered. His expression became slightly more serious as he processed what the dragon had told him.

[Are you not surprised to hear that I'm the Hero?] the dragon asked, staring at him.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah! You are the Hero!?" Isaac asked. His voice contained such obvious fake surprise that the dragon immediately realized he was trying to cover up his slip.

The dragon rolled its eye. Even a child would have been able to tell that Isaac was pretending to be shocked.

Kaela covered her mouth and chuckled. The dragon immediately turned its attention toward her, clearly displeased by her reaction.

[Why are you laughing?] the dragon asked.

"I was just surprised to see the infamous Dragon Lord like this. When Isaac told me about you, I hard time imagining that you would actually be like this," Kaela said with a smile.

The dragon grunted as it looked at her. Somehow, this woman had become far too comfortable around it in a remarkably short amount of time, especially considering that the dragon had once killed people simply for entering its territory without permission.

It was about to rebuke her when Isaac suddenly stood up. "Alright then, I have to go now, but I'll come back later. Kaela, take care of Dragon Lord while I'm gone."

"O-Okay," Kaela replied, nodding rather quickly. Her cheeks had suddenly become slightly red.

The dragon glanced at her with confusion. It was strange enough that she was behaving like this, but it was even stranger that Isaac acted as though he could simply decide who stayed with the dragon and who did not.

Before the dragon could question either of them, Isaac had already turned around and left. The dragon watched his disappearing figure for several seconds before grinding its teeth.

[This bastard…]

"Please don't get angry. Isaac is just worried about you," Kaela said, still looking slightly embarrassed. She seemed to be trying to calm the dragon despite knowing that it was unlikely to actually attack her.

[I don't need his worry. He acts as if he can come and go whenever he wants,] the dragon grunted. It then turned its attention toward Kaela and added, [Also, you. Get out.]

"I-I can make good food," Kaela said while clutching her hands together. Her expression was nervous, as though she already knew that the dragon was about to refuse her.

The dragon was about to throw her out anyway, but it suddenly stopped. Good food was a different matter, and the dragon could not deny that the thought was tempting.

Food was one of the few things it still genuinely enjoyed. It had lost almost every other source of comfort over the years, but eating something delicious could still make the empty days feel slightly less meaningless.

The dragon inwardly groaned. Isaac had obviously told Kaela about its liking for food, and she was now using that information to convince it to let her stay. It wanted to refuse out of principle, but it truly liked good food. After a brief silence, the dragon finally gave in.

[Fine. You can stay at the entrance.]

"Thank you!" Kaela immediately smiled. The relief on her face was obvious enough that the dragon almost wondered whether she had been expecting it to refuse.

The dragon looked away without responding. It did not realize that it had become considerably more amicable since meeting Isaac, because if this had happened several years ago, it would have killed anyone who entered its cave without permission, let alone allowed them to stay there.

The next few weeks passed without much incident. Kaela kept her promise, and the food she prepared was genuinely good enough that the dragon began looking forward to mealtimes.

Honestly, Isaac could learn something from her. His food had disastrous.

Other than the food, the only thing worth mentioning was Kaela's strange behavior. The dragon did not know whether it was reading too much into the situation, but there were several occasions when it felt as though Kaela was deliberately trying to get closer to it.

Sometimes she would sit closer than necessary while preparing food, and sometimes she would become strangely nervous whenever the dragon looked directly at her. The dragon could not understand why she behaved like that, but after a while, it began to suspect that she was trying to seduce it.

No way, right?

The dragon thought back to Isaac's strange question about marriage and starting a family. It also remembered that Isaac had brought Kaela with him shortly afterward, and that Kaela had been blushing when Isaac deliberately left her behind with the dragon.

'What is that bastard planning now?'

Displeasure rose in the dragon's heart. It began watching Kaela more carefully after that, although it never directly confronted her because it was not completely certain that its suspicion was correct.

Then, one day, Kaela suddenly stopped acting strangely. She no longer tried to sit near the dragon, and the awkward blushing that had appeared whenever they spoke also disappeared. Instead, there was now an amused smile on Kaela's face, as if she found something funny.

The dragon found the change somewhat confusing. Still, since Kaela had finally stopped behaving suspiciously, it decided there was no reason to think about it.

A few days later, Isaac returned. The dragon immediately sensed him approaching and noticed something unusual about his presence.

The scent of blood reached it before Isaac even entered the cave. It was strong enough that the dragon immediately became alert.

"Isaac!" Kaela rushed toward him as soon as he arrived. She stopped in front of him and looked over his body with obvious concern.

"I'm fine. There is no need to get so worked up," Isaac said with a smile. There were no obvious injuries on his body, but the dragon could immediately tell that something was wrong.

Isaac was considerably weaker than when he had left. His movements were slightly heavier than usual, and the overwhelming scent of blood clinging to him made it obvious that he had recently been involved in a serious battle.

The dragon narrowed its eyes. It had a suspicion, although it did not immediately voice it.

Before it could ask anything, however, Kaela spoke first. "You went to Nova Etra, didn't you?"

Isaac paused for the briefest moment before smiling. "…Why would you think that?"

That slight hesitation was enough. The dragon and Kaela both realized that their suspicion had been correct.

[Nova Etra?] the dragon asked, turning toward Kaela. It had never heard the name before, so it waited for her explanation.

"They're a group of survivors who created a small city in this Sector. The army that attacked you last time probably came from there," Kaela explained.

The dragon became silent. That confirmed what it had already suspected, and suddenly, Isaac's weakened state made considerably more sense.

Isaac had gone after the people who sent the army to kill the dragon. The realization made the dragon feel fuzzy, but it also brought another emotion along.

[Why did you go there?] the dragon asked Isaac. There was a noticeable trace of anger in its voice.

Seeing that the truth was already out, Isaac did not bother hiding it anymore. He simply shrugged as though what he had done was completely obvious.

"They were going to keep trying to kill you, so I went there to deal with them. I figured it would be better to handle the problem before they sent another army after you."

The dragon stared at him silently. Isaac had gone to an entire city and fought the people who were trying to kill it, yet he spoke about the matter as though he had simply gone somewhere to take care of an ordinary inconvenience.

He added, "That said, we need to move. I killed quite a few of them, but the news about you being a Hero has already spread. More people will soon join Nova Etra, and once they realize what your heart might be capable of, they'll come after you too."