Endless Chaos – Chaos Void Plane: The Path of Story
Chapter 7 – Spreading the Legend
The night did not grow quieter.
After the second roar from the mountain, fear spread through the village like wildfire.
Doors were closed.
Lanterns burned late.
People whispered in small groups.
"The dragon is coming…"
"Did we anger something?"
"Should we run?"
Near the banyan tree, Raphael stood calmly while Lina paced nervously beside him.
"You said we would hunt the dragon tomorrow!"
Raphael nodded.
"Yes."
Lina pointed at the mountain.
"It sounds like it wants to hunt us!"
Raphael looked thoughtful.
"Then we need to move faster."
The elder approached them again.
His face was tired.
"The villagers are afraid."
"That's normal."
Raphael crossed his arms.
"But fear is actually useful."
Lina stared at him.
"Useful?!"
Raphael nodded.
"Yes."
"Fear makes people imagine things more vividly."
"And imagination strengthens stories."
The elder slowly understood what Raphael meant.
"You want the villagers to believe even more strongly."
Raphael smiled.
"Exactly."
Soon the villagers gathered again.
This time not out of curiosity.
But worry.
Raphael climbed onto the wooden crate once more.
The villagers looked at him nervously.
"You said the dragon was just a story…"
Raphael raised his hand calmly.
"And now the story is becoming real."
The villagers murmured loudly.
"That's worse!"
Raphael continued.
"But every story has a hero."
He pointed to the glowing paper in his hand.
"The Dragon Slayer."
The villagers stared at him.
"Is that real too?"
Raphael answered confidently.
"Yes."
He began telling the story again.
But this time his voice was stronger.
More dramatic.
More detailed.
"The dragon's wings covered the sky."
"Mountains trembled when it landed."
"Flames melted stone."
Several villagers shivered.
They could almost see it.
Raphael continued.
"But the Dragon Slayer did not run."
"He stepped forward."
"His blade carried the will of countless people."
"The wind itself obeyed his strike."
Lina felt the air shift slightly again.
Raphael raised his arm slowly.
"Dragon Severing Strike."
He made the motion again.
SHHHK
A sharper blade of wind shot forward this time.
It sliced through a hanging lantern rope.
The lantern fell to the ground.
The villagers gasped.
"It's real!"
"The technique is real!"
Their belief surged.
Raphael felt the change instantly.
The story inside the paper pulsed with stronger light.
High above the mountain…
The creature in the clouds roared again.
Its form became clearer.
Massive wings.
A long serpentine body.
Scales forming like pieces of dark crystal.
A dragon.
But not a normal one.
This creature was incomplete.
Its body flickered slightly like mist.
It was still forming.
Still growing.
Still feeding on the spreading legend.
Back in the village, the elder whispered to Raphael.
"You're strengthening both sides."
Raphael nodded.
"I know."
"If the dragon grows stronger…"
"…the hero must grow faster."
The elder studied him carefully.
"You're not afraid?"
Raphael shrugged.
"Of course I am."
Lina blinked.
"You don't look afraid."
Raphael smiled slightly.
"In my old world, dragons were fantasy."
"But writers always knew something important."
"What?"
Raphael looked toward the mountain again.
"Heroes exist because monsters do."
The villagers were now completely absorbed in the story.
Their eyes burned with hope.
"Will the Dragon Slayer win?"
Raphael paused dramatically.
"That depends."
"On what?"
He looked at all of them.
"On how much you believe in him."
Silence fell over the crowd.
Then one child shouted.
"I believe!"
Another villager raised a fist.
"The Dragon Slayer will win!"
Soon dozens of voices joined.
"Yes!"
"He will defeat the dragon!"
The air trembled again.
This time stronger.
Raphael suddenly felt energy surge through his body.
The story was evolving.
The Story Seed was growing.
Far beyond the village…
Beyond the mountain…
Beyond the sky itself…
Deep within the infinite Chaos Void Sea…
An ancient current moved.
A tiny ripple spread across the endless chaos.
Because something rare had appeared.
A new Concept Path was forming.
Not the Path of Fire.
Not the Path of Sword.
But something far stranger.
A path born from imagination.
A path born from belief.
The Path of Story.
And Raphael…
Had just taken its first step.
Back in the village, Raphael lowered his arm.
The wind calmed.
The villagers looked at him with new hope.
The elder spoke quietly.
"The dragon will arrive by morning."
Raphael nodded.
"That's fine."
Lina gulped.
"That's not fine."
Raphael smiled.
"It will be the perfect ending for the first chapter of our story."
He looked at the glowing paper once more.
Then toward the mountain where the dragon was forming.
"The Dragon Slayer…"
"…finally meets the dragon."
The night grew darker.
And far away…
A massive pair of wings slowly unfolded within the clouds.
End of Chapter 7