Evileye.
Her original name was Keno Fasris Invern.
She belonged to the [Rainbow Eye Human] race among humanity and was the princess of the [Inveria Kingdom]. When she was twelve years old, the entire nation was attacked by an unknown enemy and wiped out overnight.
Keno was the only one who escaped thanks to her Talent. Everyone else was turned into mindless zombies, while her own Talent transformed her into a vampire.
Not knowing what else to do, she remained in the ruined royal capital. There, she waited and tried to uncover the reason her country had been turned into undead.
Meanwhile, rumors began spreading throughout the outside world. People claimed that she had turned an entire nation into a city of the dead, creating a kingdom of the undead and leaving her name etched into history.
Because of that legend, she was given the title [Landfall], a name used for a legendary monster said to have destroyed an entire nation alone.
One day, however, a group known as the 13 Heroes appeared before her. Their arrival completely changed the course of her life.
The 13 Heroes later announced to the world that the monster had been defeated. During that time, Keno quietly joined their ranks and took part in the war against the Demon Gods.
Time passed like that until the Demon Gods War finally came to an end. After the captain died unexpectedly, she left the 13 Heroes and returned to her former homeland.
There, she locked herself inside a room and resumed her research day and night.
Years passed, and eventually the story reached the present.
Several decades ago, the long-sealed gates of that abandoned place were opened again. One of her former companions from the 13 Heroes, the Necromancer, came to find her and introduced her to the adventurer team [Blue Roses].
After a friendly exchange, Keno adopted the alias Evileye and joined the adventurer team. From that point on, she began living as an adventurer.
"That's about it."
A trace of sadness surfaced in Keno's eyes as her voice gradually softened.
She had buried those memories deep in her heart for more than two hundred years, and even the members of Blue Roses knew nothing about them.
She had always believed those memories would remain hidden forever. Yet somehow, she had ended up telling someone about them today.
Strangely enough, speaking about it made her feel much more at ease.
"You've had it rough all these years."
Naohara felt a faint stir in his heart and offered a few words of comfort.
From what she had just described, he was able to confirm two things.
First, the unknown enemy that destroyed Keno's kingdom was most likely a True Dragon Lord.
From her description, that creature had probably been collecting Souls at the time.
True Dragon Lords could restore their Dragon Souls by communicating with the great River of Souls through the class [World Connector]. However, compared to consuming their own Dragon Souls, it was far more convenient to simply store the Souls of other races and use them as fuel.
Even so, very few True Dragon Lords actually used this method. Part of the reason was their temperament, and the other reason was the Platinum Dragon Lord.
If any True Dragon Lord dared to harvest Souls on a large scale, the Platinum Dragon Lord, who considered himself the guardian of the world, would step in and forcibly stop it.
Among the known Dragon Lords, the Brightness Dragon Lord and the Heavenly Dragon Lord were both unusual cases. The Vampiric Dragon Lord had been sleeping for centuries. Destroying several nations while enduring the pressure of the Platinum Dragon Lord did not match the usual style of the scheming Deep Darkness Dragon Lord either.
After eliminating those possibilities, only one candidate remained.
"It was probably that guy, the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord. I know the Swordmaster Dragon Lord personality. He only cares about pushing the limits of the body and would probably look down on something like this."
"Of course, we cannot rule out the Primordial Mother Dragon Lord either."
A voice suddenly came from the side.
Space twisted slightly, and the Brightness Dragon Lord and the Dragon Princess stepped forward.
Long before Keno began recounting her past, Naohara had already lifted the barrier sealing the area. Because of that, the two of them had been able to hear the entire conversation.
"The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord…"
Naohara's gaze shifted slightly as the name was mentioned. What a coincidence. It seemed they had run into an old enemy again.
"Th this is…?"
Keno's voice drew Naohara's attention.
When he looked over, he saw that she was staring ahead with a wary expression. She glanced briefly at the Brightness Dragon Lord before focusing all her attention on the Dragon Princess.
Where had such a cute girl suddenly appeared from?
Keno's thoughts began to spiral immediately. She had recently been reading a large number of romance stories in an attempt to improve her feminine charm, and now her imagination ran wild.
Was this some kind of love triangle?
Their appearances were roughly on the same level. However, when it came to body shape, something Keno had never been very confident about, she suddenly felt a subtle sense of victory.
The reason was simple.
The girl standing in front of her was practically flat as a board.
Although her body had been frozen at the appearance of a twelve year old, she still felt that she had won a small and fleeting victory.
With that thought in mind, a faint look of pride appeared on Keno's face.
"…?"
The Dragon Princess tilted her head.
She could not quite understand what was going on with the vampire girl in front of her. Her expression kept shifting, becoming stiff one moment and relaxed the next.
"Let me introduce them. This is my subordinate, the founder of the Dragon Kingdom, the Brightness Dragon Lord. You've probably heard of him."
"And this one is the ruler of the Dragon Kingdom, the Dragon Princess, Draudillon."
"The… Brightness Dragon Lord!"
Hearing that title, Keno froze in shock.
Was this really the Brightness Dragon Lord she knew of?
A True Dragon Lord who stood at the peak of the world was actually someone's subordinate?
She had already tried to imagine Naohara's status as highly as possible, but reality still far exceeded her expectations.
If this were a manga, her head would probably be surrounded by a cloud of question marks right now.
"So you see, I'm actually pretty strong."
Naohara roughly ruffled Keno's golden hair.
It had not been easy, but her emotions had finally returned to normal.
The cold and aloof Keno had her own charm, but Naohara still preferred the clumsy and awkward girl she used to be.
"Let's go. I'll go back with you and take a look. We might find some clues."
Naohara made the suggestion.
If the one who destroyed Keno's country really was the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord, then there were two reasons he needed to go. One was to help Keno take revenge, and the other was to prepare for Momonga's transformation.
"But… I…"
Keno hesitated after hearing that.
It was not that she objected. The problem was that she had not finished what she came to do in the Dragon Kingdom.
After learning the identity of the Brightness Dragon Lord, her intuition told her that the disappearance of Blue Roses was probably connected to him.
Within the Dragon Kingdom, the only one capable of capturing Gagaran and the others was this True Dragon Lord.
She then quietly glanced at Naohara, trying to see how he would react.
"Hmm. Don't worry. They'll be fine."
Seeing Keno looking at him with pitiful eyes, Naohara could not help but smile.
Before she could react, he lifted her into his arms with one hand, making her let out a small cry of surprise.
He then glanced at the Brightness Dragon Lord, silently signaling for him to deal with the situation.
He trusted that the other party would handle all the aftermath perfectly.
Naohara activated Wild Magic and opened a passage.
Then he stepped inside first.
Only the Brightness Dragon Lord and the Dragon Princess remained behind.
The two exchanged glances and both let out a quiet sigh of relief.
They had finally managed to muddle through it.
(PS: As mentioned earlier, Keno's story allowed Naohara to confirm two things.)
(One was the identity of the True Dragon Lord. The other was related to Keno's Talent, but the protagonist chose to ignore that point and did not mention it.)