Book 20 Chapter 35

The prelude to the decisive battle,

Fire Dragon Bel'Dakidun

"Thank you all for coming."

Individuals who would later occupy their own heroic annals (英雄實錄) for the three races of humanity, elves, and demi-humans were convened in one place.

The host of the meeting was the Fire Dragon Bel'Dakidun.

Since the Fire Dragon personally presided over it, it was less a meeting and more a place of command, and even the renowned heroes respectfully bowed.

"The Black Water that took the core of Neigalass disappeared immediately after the Battle of <Suriganakus>, but Yeri finished her observation (觀測) and pinpointed the location of the incident."

Yeri refers to the Water Dragon Yeriserica.

Only the Three Divine Dragons, who share the same status, would be able to call that dignified name by a nickname.

From the moment she first arrived at the meeting hall, Rin couldn't take her eyes off the Fire Dragon.

'Is that really a dragon?'

Isn't it just a flame?

If a flame could have life and speak, wouldn't it feel like this?

'True dragons have dignity, but divine dragons lack it.'

It was an overwhelming, transcendental aura that could not be approached even with the word 'dignity' - in short, like the mystery of nature itself.

"However, the fiend caused interference even in the observation of the 'Pure White Dream'. The calamity Yeri could observe is said to appear south of <Suriganakus>, across the entire lost land."

Water Dragon Yeriserica cannot see the entirety of the future within the Pure White Dream.

Only the World Point (世界點)!

The absolute beings of the outer universe who toyed with the created world tried to control even the future in the name of causality, and glimpsing those fragments was the Pure White Dream.

"The entire south?"

"The scope is too wide…"

"No, but at least it's not the Demon Realm, is it? Just being specified to that extent is enough."

As people murmured, Rista realized that the feeling she was experiencing was 'relief'.

'Before the time allotted to this body runs out… I'll be able to complete my mission with my comrades.'

The Fire Dragon Bel'Dakidun quelled the murmuring in the hall with a single snort.

"Do not act rashly. True stability will only come to this land if all the lost lands are recovered in the process of advancing to subdue the fiend, so I will now commence the Southern Expedition (南伐). Pyras!"

Pyras, a pillar of the Red Dragon Legion and one of the Five Flames, immediately stepped forward at the call and bowed majestically.

"Pyras, I am here. Unleash the will of the flame."

The Red Dragon Legion had a strong military feel, and its overall impression was completely different from the ancient-style Yellow Dragon Legion.

"I will give you 30% of the legion. Take overall command of that 30% and the Three-Race Allied Forces to subdue the demons in the southwest. Arrange the units as you see fit, but do not forget that the dragon race must lead the vanguard and set an example. Exterminate every root of evil, leaving none behind, and appease the spirits."

"Pyras, I will obey the command of the Father of Fire!"

"Jakan, Grydaone! I will give you 60%. Proceed to the southeast immediately after the meeting concludes. The direction is different, but the command is the same as Pyras'. Understand that."

"As the will of the flame dictates, it shall be done."

"I will go south to the main front with the remaining 10%. The meeting is adjourned. Deploy your troops as soon as the battle lines are organized and expeditionary supplies are complete!"

There were no words of commendation.

Not a single word of idle chatter.

Striking only at the core, it was truly the embodiment of martial spirit (武)… indeed, it was the solemn dignity befitting the leader of the Red Dragon Legion, which had carried out the mission of exterminating evil (滅惡).

"Fride."

Rin thought so.

Until the Fire Dragon separately called Fride's name after the meeting ended and everyone had withdrawn.

"Yes~!"

On Fride's face, as she stepped forward towards the Fire Dragon at the call, there was a childlike innocence.

It was a child's smile.

It was the kind of smile Rin would surely make when she someday returned to the north, to her hometown, and met Atlante again.

"Are you all well, Excellencies? Excellency Grydaone, you've gotten so thin since I last saw you a few years ago. Are you taking care of your health?"

"Grydaone, Grydaone, Grydaone."

If the Fire Dragon was like a father to Fride, her relationship with the red True Dragons was one of intimacy akin to that with a distant relative.

As Pipi flapped and hovered in front of him, the True Dragon Grydaone snorted, gently caressing its feathers.

Fride, with an excited face, pointed to her comrades one by one and said.

"These are my comrades! Everyone's seen Rista once, so no explanation is really needed, and this here is Kyes, the crazy archer who's mute but drinks all day… And this here is Rin, the crazy mage who handles the madman in our party."

Rin squinted.

"What do you mean 'handles the madman'? Why is my description the only one with so much personal opinion in it?"

Kyes made a squinting face with the Servubon emoticon!

[(ㅡㅡ)?]

"What, Kyes is the same? No, Kyes's description is a fact! Fride mixed in 99% agitation and fabrication for me!"

[ㅗ(-ㅅ-)ㅗ]

The red True Dragons laughed.

This also seemed to be a characteristic of a legion imbued with the generous spirit of warriors.

When they needed to maintain dignity, they did so more resolutely than other legions, but when they needed to laugh, they laughed heartily, unlike other legions.

"But is it okay if I ask why there are only three of you? The Papal State has all five cardinals, called the Five Lords."

Rin asked.

Although she was improving, her social skills were still shattered, so no honorifics were used with the Divine Dragons and True Dragons whatsoever! Crazy girl!

"Hey, hey! You should ask me about things like that quietly later!"

The True Dragon Pyras laughed, watching Fride furiously punch Rin on the top of her head.

"There is nothing to hide. Alakish, the First Flame, left a thousand years ago to undertake a mission alone in the distant northern lands, and Shalesalum, the Second Flame, first burned her own body as kindling to complete her mission, so it is natural for her not to be here. This is not something to hide but something to be proud of, Fride, so there is no need for you to be so enraged."

A solemn yet friendly smile also hung on the Fire Dragon's lips.

"Fride. You have found the companions (同伴者) for your mission."

"Yes, Father of Fire."

"It is truly beautiful. Your soul's flame burns more fiercely and beautifully. I see that everyone holds their own soul's flame, and by gathering those flames together, they ignite a greater and more intense fire."

The Fire Dragon's words, spoken with a hint of a smile, ended there. Bel'Dakidun suddenly looked directly at Rin.

'Huh?'

Just that gaze should have made her feel such overwhelming pressure, as if her entire body might instantly burst into flames…

'My body, it didn't burn, right?'

On closer inspection, the gaze wasn't directed at Rin… but at the Ice Dragon sitting on her head.

"Asruba, it is not yet your time, so why do you continue to linger in this timeline? There would have been many opportunities to return to your place when your soul regained freedom from the Black Water."

Asruba, like Rin, seemed overwhelmed by the divine dragon's flame-like presence. It suddenly hid itself in Rin's hanbok sleeve.

"Kyoo, Kyoo-woo, Kyooo-woo-woo!"

Then it peeked out its face and expressed its will by vigorously shaking its head. Rin stumbled back.

Rin stumbled back.

'Could it be that he's trying to take Sbal away?'

She couldn't allow that.

Even if the opponent was the Fire Dragon.

"This fellow… is mine."

Although she cursed him as useless every day, it was only because she wasn't honest; there were more than a few opponents she would have struggled against without Sbal's help.

"One who does not fulfill their responsibilities, even if they are of the same race, must be strictly governed by military law. That is the law and the principle, and thus the way of a hegemon."

"Ah, Your Holiness? Would you say those two have an inseparable relationship? Or that if they're forcibly separated, one of them would die? So, it would be really great if you could overlook it just this once…"

Despite Fride's mediation, the Fire Dragon snorted roughly, as if its breath could melt skin, and sharply eyed Rin and Asruba.

Red wyverns surrounded them, virtually cutting off any escape route.

What surprised Rin then was Rista and Kyes standing against the Red Dragon Legion, surrounding Rin and placing their hands on their holy sword and white longbow.

"Rista, Kyes…!"

"That's hurtful, Rin! Did you think we'd just stand by? I know it's blasphemy. But how can we just stand by? Sbal is our comrade too."

[<(▼-▼)>]

Only Fride, caught in the middle, found herself in an awkward position. Fride urgently said.

"Hey? Everyone, calm down. Rista and Kyes too! It's just that they're thinking, not that they're trying to fight!"

Fride's words were true.

The wrinkles that had made the Fire Dragon's expression even fiercer vanished in an instant.

"Although it should naturally be so, I will make an exception for you. Lady Eos said that if 'Father' has not taken you back, there must be a meaning we do not know, so I have decided to discern and follow that meaning."

Eos? Who's that?

Rin had to tilt her head.

'An elf? Or a dragon I don't know? I don't know who it is, but if I ever meet them, I should thank them.'

Of course, Rista, Fride, and Kyes were greatly grateful to Shuan and could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Then why are you scaring them so much? These guys aren't used to Your Holiness the Fire Dragon's personality, so they get scared."

"If that was the case, I apologize. From my youth, my temperament was like fire, so I have cultivated the discipline to suppress a nature that flares up like fire in an instant, and the time spent suppressing it manifests as silence, as before."

The hero's party exchanged smiles of understanding, even as they felt awkward.

'Well, he is the Fire Dragon. It's not strange for his temperament to be like fire.'

It was truly shocking that the Fire Dragon had apologized with such decorum to mere mortals.

"By the way, Your Holiness, where have you been until now? All the places we've been through seemed like battlefields, and I thought it would have been much easier if Your Holiness the Fire Dragon had been there."

The Fire Dragon once again let out a silent hum.

He was a being capable of scattering tremendous pressure just by such an action.

"At the southern end… the furthest and lowest place where the light of civilization reaches, my mission for four years has been to confront the mastermind behind all these events."

The mastermind behind all events?

That explanation was somehow strange.

"You mean there's a being that Your Holiness the Fire Dragon fought for four years and couldn't defeat?"

The Fire Dragon was one of the Three Divine Dragons.

Beings of the Abyss, unless they were something like ancient nobles, would all be overwhelmed by his presence and burn to ashes.

"Then, Your Holiness, take us with you! Fride, Kyes, and Rin! If the four of us help Your Holiness, we can surely defeat—"

"—That will not do."

The Fire Dragon's gaze, cutting off Rista's words, held a noble resolve that one would dare not intrude upon.

"This is the marker of my mission. Your markers lie elsewhere."

"What on earth do you mean…?"

"If you follow me, your markers will break, and your path will stray, leading you into darkness. For both you and me, the marker signaling the end of the road is near."

The hero's party could not understand Bel'Dakidun's words at that time. They only vaguely inferred their meaning after the war ended.

Fride also did not know.

That this was Bel'Dakidun's last will and final farewell.

"Will you truly go alone?"

After the hero's party had left, only the Mad Dragon Haraderiman, gasping for breath in the darkness, asked.

"Yes, I will go alone."

On the Fire Dragon's face, as he turned to look at the Mad Dragon, there was an innocence reminiscent of a mischievous younger brother teasing his elder brother.

This was the Fire Dragon's true face (眞面).

A purity visible only to his siblings, kept unchanged since childhood.

"He is truly a dangerous opponent. Even when you and I combined our strength, we couldn't defeat him, so how can you so confidently say you will go alone? They would have been a great help."

So he thinks that way after all…

'Brother Haraderiman, you are truly no warrior.'

Bel'Dakidun gave a bitter smile.

"With such a body, you still chatter on. I don't know how it is that your habit of furrowing your brow just before lecturing is no different from when you were a child. Now, go shut yourself away in a corner of the Papal State and rest."

That mastermind…

No… had he not recognized the identity of 'that person'?

I knew after just a few exchanges.

"Bel! This is no time for jokes with you! The world is in turmoil; how can I preserve my own body? Wait until I am ready."

That's why he couldn't take Haraderiman to that edge of civilization.

'Eldia Mu (04), Lycael.'

When he found out that 'that person' was the leader of the Black Church and the main orchestrator of all this turmoil, he couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of shock he would receive.

'What about the hero's party?'

Numerical superiority meant nothing.

It wasn't that Bel'Dakidun fought Lycael for four years and couldn't defeat him; it was merely that Lycael kept Bel'Dakidun alive for four years.

If Lycael were to truly exert himself, both the hero's party and Bel'Dakidun would be slaughtered into flesh and blood and scattered across the desert in just a few exchanges.

"Brother Haraderiman."

"……?"

"From your youth, you have been overflowing with love and benevolence, preferring to soothe and care for the sad and wronged hearts of the world's people, so a time of peace and prosperity suits you, Brother. For me, a battlefield where the desert burns and the abyss rages is fitting. Therefore, I am merely returning to my home."

For a moment, Haraderiman forgot to breathe, staring blankly into his brother's eyes.

"Bel, what are you trying to say…?"

Bel'Dakidun did not let Haraderiman finish his words.

'If I did that…'

Because he had a premonition that if he allowed Haraderiman to hold him back with tears, he wouldn't be able to head towards the marker of his mission.

"Please give my regards to Sister Yeri. And also to Father, who will someday return."

Therefore, before finishing his words, he first spread his fiery wings and soared into the sky.

"Tell them that I was truly happy and truly grateful to have been born as their brother."

Following the Fire Dragon, the subordinate Red Dragon Legion also spread their wings and soared in unison, creating a truly magnificent spectacle. This was the Red Dragon Legion's final advance.

"Soar, children of fire! Let us go! To the place where the marker signaling the completion of our mission awaits! You shall brightly illuminate that southern end, where the light of civilization cannot reach, with your flames!"