The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL]-Chapter 345: Shut It, Great Ancestors

Seemed like the Iltherans had really been expecting him, huh?

Well, hopefully, they had also prepared a way for him to claim his missing inheritance. Maybe something similar to how he learned about this place’s location from his mother?

At best, Riley had hoped he wouldn’t have to sit down and decipher a bunch of glyphs or runes. He couldn’t possibly stay there for a very long time trying to figure shit out, right?

But in hindsight, maybe he should have prayed for a lecture. Studying sounded tedious, sure, but at least it wouldn’t involve other things.

Like what Riley actually ended up facing once he came out of that door.

"Ghk... ngh...!"

It started the moment he took his first proper step into the heart of the mausoleum.

If he had been impressed earlier, now he was certain this place was sacred to his ancestors in a way that went beyond mere architecture. The chamber stretched impossibly high, the ceiling and even the walls vanishing into darkness. Massive pillars lined the walkway, carved from black stone that gleamed like polished glass. The long path ahead led straight to an altar raised on a platform, and behind it stood a towering statue.

A black dragon in full form.

Wings unfurled. Head lifted. Scales etched with meticulous precision.

Riley swallowed.

He sincerely hoped that the statue was just a statue.

They wouldn’t be unhinged enough to fossilize a relative and use them as décor, right?

Right?

He tried to keep his thoughts optimistic.

Then he took another step.

It felt like the world dropped onto his shoulders.

"!!!"

The pressure slammed down without warning. His knees dipped. His spine bowed. His breath caught in his throat as if gravity had suddenly multiplied just for him.

What the hell was this?

He forced himself to move again.

Another step.

And another.

Each one felt like dragging his body through wet cement while something invisible pressed against his chest, his back, his skull. The air grew thick, heavy, resistant.

With every step he took, Riley’s teeth ground together so hard that his jaw had started aching.

Seriously! Did they even want him to inherit anything?

Because at this rate, it felt suspiciously like his ancestors would have preferred he turn around and go home.

He’d been walking fine until he got into this room, so what gives?

Then again, maybe he shouldn’t have asked. Because just when he realized his brain had been silent for a good moment, the noise started back up again.

The whispers returned softly.

Barely audible at first. Until Riley realized that this time around, he could understand shit.

"Why are you here?"

The voice didn’t come from any single direction. It curled around him, brushing against his ears like wind slipping through cracks in stone.

"Have you come to seek power?"

His foot trembled as he lifted it.

"Riches beyond measure?"

His shoulders shook.

"Knowledge that mortals cannot comprehend?"

The pressure increased.

"Have you come to indulge in what was forbidden?"

"Are you worthy?"

"Do you understand the weight of what you seek?"

Each question pressed into him like a physical force. The closer he drew to the altar, the harder it became to move. His muscles burned. His lungs struggled. It felt as though the very space itself was judging him, weighing him, deciding whether he should be allowed to continue.

He didn’t answer.

And that wasn’t surprising because he could barely breathe.

But with every unanswered question, the weight he was dragging seemed to grow heavier.

By the time he was halfway down the walkway, his vision had begun to blur at the edges.

And then something inside him snapped.

Or maybe it was just the realization that at this rate, he wouldn’t be able to make it to the end before passing out.

So he redirected his remaining strength and a whole lot of his frustration.

"I’m here to mate!" Riley shouted, his voice cracking and echoing violently through the cavern. "To mate! Dammit! I don’t know what word you’d like me to use, but I’m here so I can copulate with my mate before this kills me!"

The whispers faltered.

He sucked in a harsh breath, fury rising from somewhere deep in his chest.

"Oh, great ancestors, I don’t know shit about the things you’re listing. I don’t want power. I don’t want riches. I don’t even want your mysterious, grand knowledge!"

"Honestly, save that for someone else! I dragged myself here from the brink of death just to learn biology that you should have taught me in the first place, so shut it!"

"ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT IT!"

Mana surged outward in a sharp, uncontrolled wave.

His eyes shifted without him realizing it, irises sharpening into narrow emerald slits as dark energy flared from his body like a sudden storm.

The chamber fell silent. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The crushing pressure vanished instantly.

And because Riley had still been forcing himself forward against the invisible resistance, his body lurched ahead with nothing holding it back.

He hit the ground face-first.

Smack!

"Really?!" he shouted, pushing himself up with trembling arms.

Pain flared at his knee. He glanced down and saw a thin scrape, a bead of blood forming against skin that had just met an unforgiving surface.

His gaze dropped fully to the floor.

It gleamed.

Black diamonds.

Even this damned floor was made of black diamonds.

Of course it was.

He barely had time to process that fact.

Because the walls moved.

At first, it was subtle, a ripple across the dark surfaces he had assumed were simple onyx slabs because of sheer size and smoothness. Then the lines sharpened. Carvings emerged from the polished black as if the stone walls themselves were waking up.

Then suddenly, there were other gems in the sea of black.

One.

Two.

Dozens.

Hundreds.

Riley wondered what the hell was happening until it all made more sense.

Eyes. Those gems were eyes.

Because now, he could see carved dragon heads reveal themselves fully, scales defined, jaws slightly parted, their eyes glowing faintly in the polished darkness.

Riley froze in place.

Because realistically speaking, what was he supposed to do in the face of all this? As a half-baked dragon who just screamed at his ancestors, was there any path to salvation?

"..."

"..."

The carved dragons along the walls turned in unison, their gazes converging on him as if he were the only thing in existence.

Yep. None.

The air thickened again, but just before he surrendered to his likely death, this time he felt pressure that didn’t come from above.

It came from within.

Much to Riley’s utter surprise, something answered.

Darkness burst from his body, not shadow but something denser and alive, spreading outward in a silent wave as all the noise came from his screams. Black light climbed the pillars and raced across the carvings, illuminating every dragon face in the chamber.

The world tilted.

Or perhaps his perception did.

His emerald eyes snapped fully open, pupils narrowed into slits.

But instead of seeing the ceiling of the crypt as he prepared for death, Riley found himself staring at something he couldn’t quite comprehend.

It wasn’t stone.

It wasn’t darkness.

But whatever it was, it was looking back at him.