Chapter 83

Smoke was rising from the body of the Flame Dragon that had been burned completely black.

I grabbed a blackened scale with my hand, then held back a groan and pulled it away.

Putting aside the pain from the intense heat, the dragon’s body was still incredibly sturdy, and there was nothing I could do with my own strength.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je! Captain Kwak!”

I turned around.

“Please help me! We have to cut open its stomach. The twins were eaten earlier…!”

Because blood was flowing from my eyes, my vision was blurry.

I couldn’t tell what kind of expressions everyone was looking at me with.

I could only see that they were approaching me.

“Move aside.”

Mo Haein grabbed my shoulder and pushed me away, then placed one foot on the Flame Dragon’s stomach.

Then she stabbed the Black Moon Blade into the lower abdomen where she had removed the scale earlier and widened the opening.

The dragon’s flesh split apart.

However, because the body was so enormous, it seemed like it would take a long time to find the twins even if we crawled inside.

How could we rescue them faster?

It was at that moment, while desperately thinking and trying to widen the opening further.

A hand reached out from inside the stomach.

It wasn’t a child’s hand, but an adult’s hand.

A strange hand I had never seen before.

However, I grabbed the hand extended toward me.

It was an instinctive action.

The moment our skin touched, an incredibly strong heat was transmitted to me.

I felt relieved by a body temperature that wasn’t human.

I gripped the hand tightly and put strength into my legs. Leaning my weight backward, I pulled with all my strength.

Someone drenched completely in a sticky liquid revealed his upper body.

A man with long, flame-red hair hanging down looked at me.

When I met his red eyes, I thought of Infernum for a moment.

But they were completely different.

The red eyes beneath lowered eyelids did not contain hunger directed toward me.

And his face had….

After looking at me for a moment, the man completely pulled himself out.

His torn pieces of clothing barely covered his body, but he did not bother fixing his clothes.

Instead, he immediately reached his hand into the split opening and grabbed something, pulling it out.

Following him, a woman with equally long red hair revealed her face from inside the stomach.

With the man’s help, she completely emerged outside.

Then they suddenly rushed toward me.

“Ugh…!”

They hugged me tightly from both sides, colliding against me with all their strength, and even used their wings to completely cover me.

The Flame Dragon twins, who had grown into adults, looked down at me.

Their height, easily surpassing 2 meters, was slightly surprising.

“Little lamb!”

Ella shouted angrily.

“You, you…! You are foolish and stupid! You idiot!”

Ellun rubbed his face against me and muttered as if talking to himself.

“Why are you such a mess…. You’re hurt so much….”

Only then did I check my own condition.

I was definitely a mess. It seemed to be because I had suffered both frostbite and burns, and because I shed some blood tears at the end.

It didn’t hurt much.

The twins, who must have been slowly melting inside the Flame Dragon’s stomach, had probably been in much more pain and fear than me.

Just as the Flame Dragon had burned from the heat explosion caused by the Ice Dragon’s horn, the twins were also left with burn scars.

Across their entire bodies, including their faces.

However, the scar connecting the twins together looked like the shape of flames.

I smiled slightly and said.

“Ella-nim, Ellun-nim. You’ve become adults. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“We merely extinguished Infernum’s flames.”

Ella answered curtly, but she moved her body slightly away so that I could see her transformation.

Ellun also followed Ella and gently released me from the tight hug before stepping back.

Neither of them had simply grown in body alone.

Their horns had become larger and harder, and their wings and tails had also grown.

Ellun’s injured wing had healed perfectly and become a new form.

Especially, I liked the horns that had newly grown on top of their heads like crowns.

They were incomparably more magnificent and elegant crown-shaped horns than the horns that appeared on Infernum’s head when he entered his berserk state.

Even though I had played Sla2Plate so many times, the twins had never once grown into adults.

Even when they drove away Infernum in the True Ending and became the owners of the dungeon, they were still children.

But now they had become dignified adult dragons.

A Flame Dragon perfectly suited to the title of lord.

I praised them with all my sincerity.

“You’ve become even more amazing.”

I wanted to compliment them with an incredible expression, but that was the only thing that came to mind.

While regretting my lack of eloquence, Ellun asked.

“Why did you come to save us? It was dangerous.”

I looked around.

Before I knew it, everything had disappeared. Only me, the twins, and the massive body of the Flame Dragon remained.

It was a sign that the ending was approaching.

Only when I had reached the moment of farewell did I answer honestly.

“For a very long time… I wanted to do that.”

Even though I had seen the happy True Ending in the game and finished it, I kept thinking about the Bad Ending where I failed to save them.

Even knowing that a player couldn’t change the predetermined ending of a game, I searched everywhere for even the slightest possibility.

Only now did I feel like I had finally reached the proper True Ending.

Ella and Ellun stared at me blankly.

Their reptilian eyes, with pupils narrowed like blades, stared at me without even blinking once.

The twins reached their hands toward their own heads.

I had been watching without much thought, but I screamed in shock at what they did next.

“Ella-nim! Ellun-nim!”

Crack.

The twins each broke off one of their horns.

Then they pulled my hand over and dropped their horns into my palm.

The two horns placed in my hand became engulfed in flames and transformed into large red jewels.

Unable to move because my hand was being held, I watched the sight helplessly and checked the item.

I was speechless. I couldn’t carelessly say anything.

After looking at the jewel resembling the twins’ flames, I suddenly raised my head.

Because I was afraid that I would part with them again without even saying goodbye.

Fortunately, the twins were still there.

Ella and Ellun looked at me and asked as if they were puzzled.

“Why are you like this? Your face is pale.”

“Ah…. No, it’s nothing.”

I smiled gently and said.

“Thank you for the gift. I’ll treasure it.”

The twins looked satisfied and released my hand.

Ella and Ellun spoke excitedly about this and that.

“Listen, little lamb. We are now the lords of the Flame Dragons. We can do anything we desire.”

“We can visit little lamb’s restaurant whenever we want.”

“That’s right! Little lamb, we won’t even collect rent for your restaurant. Run the store however you wish. No, that’s right, we should make it entirely yours.”

They told me about the things they would do, and wanted to do, as the lords of the Flame Dragons.

I listened to the twins’ words while holding the jewel in my hand.

Then I suddenly thought that I should give them the remaining dishes in my inventory as gifts.

The Phoenix Meringue Cookies should still be left.

Since Ella and Ellun liked them….

“…….”

I let out a powerless laugh as I tried to open my inventory.

The only thing remaining before my eyes was a system window.

Ending….

My shoulders drooped without me realizing it.

The heat transmitted from the jewel remaining in my palm made my heart feel even more empty.

Still, it was more bearable than before.

Because this time, I properly said thank you.

I carefully read the message from Black Block-ssi.

Since it mentioned a fan, this guest from outside the universe was definitely him.

And my recognition….

I doubted my eyes as I checked my recognition.

It had risen by 0.8%.

I thought it had already increased a lot during the CallOVo clear last time.

Seeing it finally leave the decimal range and become 1%, I couldn’t believe it.

I didn’t know for certain, but perhaps fighting the Flame Dragon had affected the increase in recognition.

Although I thought the number was stingy compared to the effort, I carefully selected my items.

One was naturally the Flame Dragon’s Red Horn that had transformed into a jewel, and after some consideration, I chose the Phoenix Meringue Cookie as the other.

Since it was a health recovery item, it would be useful in many ways.

Just as I finished selecting and waited for the trial to end.

A low laugh could be heard.

The moment I heard that laugh made of a magnificent low voice.

I remembered something I had completely forgotten.

A universe filled with stars unfolded before my eyes.

“…?”

I blinked.

After blankly blinking my eyes, I felt something strange and checked the clothes I was wearing.

A luxurious-looking suit came into view. A suit I had never had a reason to wear in Sla2Plate.

‘Where did my chef uniform go?’

While adjusting the suit tailored perfectly to my body, I looked up beside me.

“It suits you, Roasted Chestnut.”

A 3-meter-tall man wearing an equally perfect suit looked down at me and praised me.

I.

The moment I saw those blue eyes….

“Are you surprised to see me like this after so long?”

A large hand gently touched my back.

All unnecessary emotions and thoughts melted away.

My trembling body, as if struck by a chill, calmed down in an instant.

Dominic smiled while looking at me.

“You really do only like small things.”

I felt gentle warmth from his touch. His quiet voice reassured me even more.

“It’s alright. You’ll become used to it soon.”

He was right. I really did become fine.

With a peaceful heart, I followed Dominic and walked forward.

The place I visited with him was, surprisingly, my restaurant.

It was definitely the restaurant I had worked hard to run in Sla2Plate, but even the exterior had changed greatly.

Unlike before, when I had filled it with expensive decorations that increased reputation points, it had a much more restrained feeling.

The elegant yet luxurious exterior showed the refined taste of its owner.

Owner?

But the owner of the restaurant was….

I had defeated Flame Dragon Infernum, didn’t I?

So the twins became the new owners.

The moment I had that question, something enormous placed behind the restaurant building caught my eye.

The blackened thing, as if it had been burned by flames, was releasing smoke, and it was much larger than the restaurant, looking like a small mountain.

However, it had lost its original shape and was torn apart.

As if someone had ripped it apart like a toy.

Looking at that horribly fragmented thing, a strange thought came to mind.

As if that thing was….

“I had to prepare it quickly, so it is lacking in many ways. I should have removed it beforehand.”

When Dominic gestured, the black hill became dyed with blue light.

It was dyed like a galaxy full of stars, then disappeared in an instant.

As if it had been sucked into a black hole.

“Still, you should like the food.”

At Dominic’s words, I looked at the cleaned backyard.

What had originally been there?

Even though I had just seen it, I couldn’t remember.

As I tried to bring back the memory, Dominic led me forward.

“Shall we go inside? I prepared delicious food for you, Roasted Chestnut.”

Since it refused to come to mind this much, it probably wasn’t an important memory.

And right now, dinner with Dominic was the most important thing.

“Yes, Dominic-ssi.”

I obediently answered and entered the restaurant together with him.