Noir stared at the gigantic black iron door standing motionless before him.
The door was enormous and already posed a problem.
But he was beginning to suspect that door; it was the kind that suggested an incredibly powerful monster lay on the other side.
’However, I doubt they’re as strong as Chrysola.’
Although he had never seen the golden dragon’s true strength, he was 100% certain he didn’t know anyone as strong as her.
The little dragon slowly raised its head as far as its neck would allow, then kept raising it. And it kept raising it... and kept raising it.
’This is ridiculous.’
The door looked like a wall built to stop giants... well, it wasn’t exactly that big, either.
He also noticed something he hadn’t seen before: Noir saw chains. They covered the surface; they were thicker than his own body, and the strange symbols engraved on the metal gave off an ancient vibe that even his Dragon Senses found unsettling.
Noir approached cautiously, and the golden sphere fluttered beside him; he rested a claw on the black metal... it was extremely cold, but it didn’t seem dangerous.
’All right.’
The little dragon took a few steps back and decided to put his knowledge of novels to use.
’Let’s see if this opens normally.’
He braced both front legs against the door and pushed; nothing happened; frowning, he pushed harder.
The door didn’t budge an inch.
He pushed even harder. His legs began to slip, his muscles tensed, and his wings spread out to give him stability.
And then... his feet completely lost their grip.
The little dragon was flung backward, rolled across the ground, hit a rock, and bounced off another. He ended up lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"..."
Noir snorted and got back up. He couldn’t give up so easily—after all, he had defeated a giant snake and survived a Stone Maw.
He had been exploring that endless cave for nearly two months. He wasn’t going to be defeated by a mere door... even if that door looked as though it could withstand the impact of a mountain.
Noir approached it again; this time, he examined the edges carefully, then the chains and the symbols; he tried to make sense of them, but they seemed to be written in Arabic; he couldn’t understand a single word.
He even looked for a hidden mechanism, but he still couldn’t find anything to help him open the door, which seemed as simple as it was terrifying.
’Maybe I should pull instead of push.’
The idea seemed reasonable. He grabbed one of the chains with both front paws.
He took a deep breath.
And he pulled with all his might.
For a few seconds, he felt proud of himself—until he realized that the chain wasn’t moving either.
In fact... it was he who was being dragged along.
"..."
Noir held on tight.
The chain remained motionless.
The little dragon hung in midair, swaying slowly like a particularly sad ornament.
The golden sphere froze for a second, then began spinning frantically.
Noir was convinced that if that thing could laugh, it would have run out of breath by now. Being the proper dragon that he is, he decided to ignore that annoying thing and broke free from the chains, crashing to the ground with a thud.
The little black dragon stared at the enormous door for several seconds.
The door stared at Noir.
...Or at least, that’s how it felt.
And the longer he looked at it... the more it seemed to be mocking him.
’Fine.’
His red pupils narrowed.
’If you want to do this the hard way, we’ll do it the hard way.’
The golden sphere stopped immediately, as if it had just realized that something terrible was about to happen.
Noir took a deep breath.
Mana began to course through his body; his claws glowed with a faint, dark light, and a smile slowly spread across the little dragon’s face.
The same smile that used to appear just before something exploded.
’Let’s see who’s tougher.’
The golden sphere shot backward at full speed, as if to make it abundantly clear that it had no intention of being part of that.
Noir leaped toward the black iron door and attacked with all his might.
CLANG!
The impact of his claw against the door echoed; the little black dragon was sent flying several meters backward and rolled several times on the ground.
Noir jumped to his feet immediately, his eyes wide with surprise.
’Did it work?’
The massive black iron door began to open slowly; the sound was deafening.
CRRRRRRRRRR...
The taut chains vibrated as huge amounts of dust fell from above. For a moment, the entire gallery seemed to shake.
The little black dragon stood motionless.
’...Did I open it?’
No.
Even he knew that was impossible.
He had been pushing that thing for who knows how long, and all he had managed to do was tire himself out, bang his head against the metal, and provide free entertainment for the golden sphere.
Which, of course, was already celebrating.
"Don’t even think about taking the credit."
The sphere spun innocently.
Noir ignored the provocation and quickly backed away toward a nearby boulder, his Dragon Senses activating immediately.
On the other side of the door, there was life—footsteps, voices, unfamiliar smells. And then, as the opening widened, several figures began to appear.
Humans.
Noir felt his heart racing.
Finally.
After more than a month in this cave, he was finally seeing other intelligent beings besides Chrysola.
However, the excitement lasted exactly half a second, because those humans were armed to the teeth.
The first was a massive man in dark steel armor, carrying a sword as big as Noir.
Behind him walked a woman in a blue robe covered in glowing symbols; farther back, several men and women armed with spears, bows, and shields appeared.
’...Sure.’
’Of course.’
’The first humans I come across are armed adventurers.’
Life really didn’t give him a break.
"Stay alert."
"We never know what might be behind this door."
"They say no one has ever fully explored this dungeon, except for the hero Caius Eldergrove."
"I don’t like this place."
"Me neither."
Noir listened intently to every word. Although he didn’t understand how, he could understand their language perfectly; it was probably something to do with reincarnation.
Or perhaps dragons possessed some special talent.
Right now, he didn’t care much about that; what mattered was something else.
The way out.
Beyond those humans, he could see something.
Light... real light that didn’t come from crystals or magma.
It was natural light.
For a moment, Noir stood completely still, watching it. He had spent so much time in the cave that he had almost forgotten that something like the sky even existed.
’I need to get out.’
The humans continued to move slowly deeper into the cave, inspecting the walls, studying the symbols, and looking for traps.
Little by little, they moved further away from the entrance.
The opportunity presented itself.
Noir didn’t hesitate.
’Now!’
The little dragon bolted.
His paws pounded the ground with all his might as he drew on every physical skill he had developed over the past few days.
He ran as if his life depended on it—because it probably did.
The golden sphere gave chase immediately.
They had barely covered a few meters when one of the hunters stopped.
"Did you hear that?"
Noir nearly had a heart attack and quickly ducked behind a massive column.
The sphere hit him in the head.
Noir caught it before it emitted any suspicious glow.
"It was probably just falling rocks."
"Yeah. This place looks pretty old."
"Let’s keep going."
Noir waited patiently for five seconds... ten... fifteen. And finally, he peeked out again; no one was looking his way.
’Perfect.’
He darted out again.
This time without stopping.
The huge door was getting closer and closer.
The light was growing brighter.
The air was changing.
For the first time, he felt a cool breeze brush against his scales.
It was different.
Much cleaner.
Much more alive.
And then... he crossed the threshold.
The little black dragon left the cave, and a gust of wind hit his face.
Noir slowly raised his head.
And for the first time since he had opened his eyes in that world...
He saw the sky.