Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?

'I didn't think I'd get probed this quickly.'

Bell had stepped out of hiding to try and pinpoint the direction those stares were coming from.

But to think he'd be detected so easily—and that the reaction would be this extreme?

He couldn't help but cover his face.

'If I'd known it would cause this much of a scene, I wouldn't have tested it...'

Only now did Bell feel a tinge of regret.

He'd successfully confirmed the identity of those gazes, but the outcome wasn't what he had expected.

Still, there wasn't much point in complaining about it now.

The Black Dragon was still an issue that had to be dealt with. If it kept howling like that, things could spiral into an even more unpredictable mess.

And that was the last thing Bell wanted.

'Thankfully, that roar helped me lock onto the Black Dragon's exact location.'

If sound could travel out from there, then even the tightest spatial seal couldn't fully block out transmission. That alone was enough for Bell, who could now detect the Black Dragon's location with his spatial awareness.

'As expected, it's in a special spatial pocket. The coordinates themselves are hard to stabilize.'

Even after pinpointing the location, opening a path through space was no easy task.

Especially in a space as unusual as this—forcing an entry required immense effort.

But he did it.

Relying on his command over space, Bell tore open a rift.

After leaving a spatial marker inside the barrier, he stepped directly into the spatial fissure.

...

"ROAR!!!!"

The Black Dragon gradually fell silent, its golden vertical pupils locking onto the rift before it.

A crack tore open—and from it stepped a human youth.

"Yo~ Looking for me?"

The ferocious face of the Black Dragon twisted into a grin. Under Bell's slightly stunned gaze, it spoke.

"My nemesis... you've finally come."

"...Huh. Didn't expect you to actually talk."

"Why would you think I'm some mindless beast?"

Bell slowly dropped his mocking tone, his expression hardening as he stared at the creature before him.

"So that's why... No wonder Zeus's and Hera's Familias were nearly wiped out. If they didn't even know whether their target had intelligence, it's no surprise things ended in disaster."

"Power and intellect... you're lacking in neither."

"With a monster like this... it's no wonder those who came before us failed so miserably."

No existing records had ever mentioned the Black Dragon having intelligence. Bell himself didn't know the details—he only remembered fragments from his previous life.

But now that he knew the truth—that the Black Dragon wasn't just some mindless monster—it all made sense. Why Zeus's and Hera's Familias were annihilated.

They must have underestimated it.

They didn't realize just how strong—or how cunning—it really was.

The Black Dragon said nothing in return, but the sneering, savage grin on its face said everything Bell needed to know.

"Hmph! That's just a one-sided perception from you humans."

"Being destroyed due to a flawed understanding is only a natural consequence."

Even as the Black Dragon spoke, it could still feel a dull ache in its back.

"The valor of those who dared to challenge me is beyond question. Even now, I can still feel the pain their final counterattack left me with."

Bell noticed the bloodstained wings behind the Black Dragon.

'So the Black Dragon I saw when I awakened my magic... it was this guy.'

But for a monster of the Black Dragon's caliber, those wounds didn't look permanent.

"Your injuries don't seem like something you couldn't recover from."

"These wounds are simply trophies—rewards for those who dared to challenge me."

There wasn't a trace of disdain in the Black Dragon's voice. On the contrary, there was an unspoken reverence.

"Even if they failed to overcome me, they left behind marks that will never fade."

"Their courage is etched into my body. They deserve my respect."

Listening to that, Bell couldn't help but think this creature didn't seem entirely wicked.

But he still had a major question—one that had always puzzled him.

"The Black Dragon of the sky, the Behemoth of the land, and Leviathan of the sea... why do beings like you exist in this world?"

"Were you created by the world itself?"

The Black Dragon looked slightly surprised by the question.

"Roar~ I didn't expect anyone nowadays to still ponder such things."

"And what meaning would knowing that bring you?"

"It matters!"

Only by understanding that could he grasp the purpose behind the existence of the Black Dragon, Behemoth, and Leviathan.

The Black Dragon exhaled hot air through its massive nostrils. It had no obligation to answer—but something about the youth before it, its destined rival, piqued its interest.

So it answered.

"We were birthed by the world."

"We are the gods' opposites—the other side of the divine."

"So..."

"...the gods cannot kill you."

Bell naturally finished the sentence.

Now he understood why the gods had descended to Genkai. It wasn't just for pleasure. Their presence here was tied to a far more existential threat.

"Because the gods were born from the world—just like you."

"Unless the world itself chooses to destroy you, the gods cannot."

"Roar~ I didn't expect you to reach such a conclusion."

For once, the Black Dragon showed genuine surprise and amusement. It was rare for a human, even one fated to oppose it, to grasp something so deep.

Bell ignored the dragon's reaction and spoke his conclusion aloud.

"So you really are trials forged by the world itself."

"If neither gods nor mortals can overcome you, then the world will be forced to reset everything."

"Humans, gods, monsters... all will meet their end."

Even Bell was shaken by his own realization.

But after confirming the connection between the gods and the Three Great Quests, the truth was painfully clear.

"The world really set something like this in motion..."

"Why... why would the world do that?"

It was a question—a difficult one.

But Bell instinctively began approaching it from a standpoint of 'interest' or purpose.

There were no meaningless systems. No actions without intent.

If the world did this, it had its reasons.

And those reasons were, from the world's perspective, the right ones.

Then, suddenly, a spark of insight lit up in Bell's mind.

"Could it be... evolution?"