Short novel Dragon of Lies

“Once again, why are we here?” a woman's voice asked from the shadows.

“Because Greed's original found something in this world that shouldn't be here. And it's somewhere inside that city ahead of us,” a man's voice replied.

Three figures emerged from the shadows of the forest and stepped into a clearing illuminated by two moons hanging high in the night sky.

One of them was a woman with long red hair and a mask covering her face, leaving only two narrow slits for her eyes.

The other two figures looked almost identical. Both wore hooded cloaks that concealed their features.

One cloak was white.

The other was black.

“Why do we have to use these aliases, Greed?” one of the hooded figures asked.

“Because we don't want to attract the Void here. Now be quiet, Wrath, and focus.”

Greed turned toward Pride.

“Take a look at the information my original gave you. Let's go over what we're supposed to do.”

Pride brushed her long red hair away from her face and extended a hand in front of her.

A moment later, shadows gathered in her palm, forming a dark, opaque window. Text appeared across its surface.

> Name: Dragon of Lies

> Category: Stupid lizard

> Description: His heart is somewhere in the town I marked for you on the map. Find it and bring it back.

“Funny how your original gave me the alias Pride while naming the dragon Stupid Lizard himself.”

Pride chuckled.

“That sounds more like something that deserves the name of Pride.”

Greed sighed and looked at the city ahead of them.

“The city looks pretty normal...” Greed muttered, then pulled the shadows toward himself and opened a window to check the map.

“But according to the map, we're in the right place.”

Wrath chuckled.

“Come on, let's just go in. We'll pull that rotten dragon's heart out and get the hell out of this world. I don't like how there's barely any mana here.”

“I have a feeling it won't be as simple as you think, Ze... Wrath.”

Pride answered calmly before stretching and raising her arms above her head

The three of them slowly made their way toward the city.

The city itself was surrounded by tall ebony walls, with a massive wooden gate serving as its main entrance.

The strangest thing, however, was that there was no one standing guard.

As the three of them approached, the gate slowly opened on its own.

“I don't like this...” Greed said without emotion. “If something goes wrong, we can't use our full power. Otherwise, the Void will notice us.”

“Please. It's one of the lower worlds. Why would we ever need to use our full power here when every creature in this world is practically powerless?”

Pride spoke with a hint of disdain in her voice.

“But if we find something capable of entertaining me in this backwater world, I won't complain. I haven't had a proper fight since we were imprisoned in the Void.”

Wrath chuckled.

“You two should both be careful. If someone managed to make use of the Dragon of Lies' heart, then they might not be as weak as we think,” Greed said calmly.

“Even though there isn't much mana in this world, the heart itself produces enough mana to elevate someone to the level of the dragons from our world.”

He looked at the open gate and sighed.

“Okay... let's go inside. We don't have much of a choice. Worst-case scenario, we wipe the city off the map, as they say.”

A smile spread across Greed's face, and he stepped through the gate first.

“Now that's more like it.”

Wrath smirked and followed alongside Pride.

The moment they crossed the threshold of the gate, all three of them felt it.

“Okay... either the entire city is saturated with mana, or the city itself is a creature,” Greed said cautiously as he moved deeper into the city.

The walls surrounding the city were thick, and it took them a while to reach the other side.

The moment they finally stepped beyond the walls, all three of them heard the gate behind them slam shut with a loud thud.

Pride looked over her shoulder with a smirk.

“So, I take it we're not getting out of here that easily?”

Greed sighed and looked around.

The city itself was quiet. No laughter, no voices. It could probably be explained by how late it was, but something still felt wrong.

Street lamps were lit, casting pools of light across the streets. Every now and then, a few people passed by with gloomy expressions before disappearing between the buildings without even acknowledging the newcomers.

The buildings themselves were only one story tall, seemingly made from the same material as the walls.

“This place just looks like an ordinary city. But somehow, something feels off.”

Greed frowned.

One of the citizens walked toward them with a smile, but his eyes were empty.

He was a middle-aged man with graying hair and wrinkles beneath his eyes. The only thing that stood out about him was his muscular build.

“Good evening,” the man greeted them as soon as he reached the trio.

“You must be newcomers, right?”

He smiled at the three of them and bowed.

“Welcome to Ran'Dazun. You arrived just in time. You can join us for the Two-Moon Festival,” the man said warmly.

Greed immediately began connecting the pieces in his head.

*Ran'Dazun... Ran... Dazun... So our little dragon isn't even trying to hide it. He literally named his city after the Dragon of Lies in the ancient language of our world. And the fact that this world also has two moons... If I'm right, this festival isn't really a festival.*

“Thank you, but unfortunately, we won't be able to participate. We've been traveling for a long time, and we'd like to get some rest,” Greed said with a smile.

“Oh, come on. We're not that tired—”

Wrath started to speak, only to immediately receive an elbow from Pride, accompanied by a look that told him to shut up.

Pride then turned her attention back to the man.

“As our companion said, we'd like to get some rest. Now tell us where the nearest place we could sleep is,” Pride ordered.

The man immediately stopped smiling and straightened up. He took in the sight of them: two figures in cloaks and hoods, and a woman wearing a mask.

“If you go straight down this street...” He pointed toward one of the roads on the left that ran alongside the wall. “You'll find a tavern.”

The man's expression hardened and he turned to leave.

“Just don't go outside until morning.”

He paused.

“And you'll be fine.”

He slowly walked back the way he had come and disappeared into the shadows between the buildings.

The three of them exchanged glances before slowly making their way in the direction the old man had pointed.

“You do realize the city is literally named Dragon of Lies, right?” Greed asked as they walked toward the tavern.

“Not at all,” Pride replied sarcastically.

“I don't care what the city is called. I just want some action already,” Wrath remarked playfully.

A few minutes later, the three of them reached the tavern and stepped inside.

A young woman sat behind the bar. She couldn't have been older than twenty. She was calmly reading a book.

Greed walked up to her.

“We need a room for a few nights.”

He pulled out a few gold coins and placed them on the bar.

The girl looked at the coins with a tired expression and sighed. She placed her book face down so she wouldn't lose her page and stood up.

“You don't even have to pay. Room at the end of the hallway, first floor.”

She took a key from underneath the bar and handed it to Greed.

“Just try not to cause any trouble in the city. I've had enough as it is,” the girl said tiredly.

Greed looked at the key in his hand.

*She didn't even ask for our names, and she doesn't want us to pay?*

He simply nodded, and the three of them headed to the room they had been given.

The room wasn't large. There was a single bed, a table, a chair, and a window that offered practically no view other than the wall surrounding the city.

Greed closed the door behind them.

Pride immediately lay down on the bed, as if making it clear that it was hers now.

Wrath casually sat down on the chair while Greed remained standing by the door.

“So...” Greed snapped his fingers, and the air around the room seemed to grow still.

“Now we can talk without anyone listening in.”

“Can't we just level the entire city? I don't feel like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Wrath said irritably, playing with a random stick he had found on the table.

“We can't. We don't know whether every citizen in this city is connected to the Dragon of Lies or only some of them. We can't kill innocent people.”

Greed slid down the wall and sat on the floor beside the door.

“Thinking is for you boys. I'm going to sleep. I'm pretty tired.”

Pride pulled the blanket over herself.

“As expected... But Pride has a point. We should get some rest. After all, we spent the entire night just getting to this city.”

Greed stretched, snapped his fingers, and shadows formed across the floor. They solidified into two beds.

Greed and Wrath lay down, and slowly, all three of them fell asleep.