Book 6 Chapter 4
제128화
“We’ll start after I count to three.”
Kasena, mounted on Barlzen’s back, nodded and calmed her racing heart with a deep breath.
“Three.”
The time Barlzen could buy them was at most a few seconds… within that, she had to succeed at something for which she herself didn’t know the exact method.
“Two.”
Perhaps she might die at the end of this path. But she felt that wouldn’t be so bad either.
Because even if she abandoned Alakishi and ran away to live, she would spend her entire life filled with regret.
And even now, seeing the pure white lightning striking the ground far ahead, courage surged within her.
“One.”
Rain was fighting too.
Facing an enemy more formidable than herself, without giving up an inch…
So I won’t give up either. Now, I’ll just focus everything on this method. I’ll make sure you and Alakishi meet again, smiling, Rain.
“Go!”
As Barlzen kicked off the ground with all four paws, a fierce sensation of speed hit Kasena, even causing dizziness.
“Peach!”
Simultaneously, Peach the Sun Parrot, wreathed in flames, flew up and fiercely charged at Alakishi first.
The dead fear and shun light and fire, and Alakishi, now in that state, was no exception, recoiling even as it opened its maw.
From it, a repulsive bursting sound erupted, and the abyssal corrosive fluid, boiling like phlegm, sprayed out into the air like a barrage.
“…!”
Only after seeing Peach narrowly dodge the myriad drops of death, a heart-stopping feat, could Kasena finally breathe again.
Now it was their turn.
During the few seconds Peach had bought, Barlzen instantly closed the distance with Alakishi, then let out a sharp, piercing, trembling wolf howl.
It was a signal.
Kasena immediately hugged the dragon egg basket, which she had protected with a psychokinetic barrier, and jumped off Barlzen’s back.
Due to intense centrifugal force and inertia, her body rolled endlessly across the snow, her lungs crushed, and a breath-stopping pain shot through her entire body.
When the rotation finally stopped, the roar of a dragon and the howl of a wolf intersected right in front of her. It was Barlzen.
“Hmm, what exactly is that doing right now?”
Frisbea, who had temporarily retreated to observe the situation, narrowed her eyes as if she couldn’t understand.
She couldn’t possibly know, nor could she understand even if told.
But as if there was a kinship among their kind, the beastkin warriors, sensing Barlzen’s intent, followed him under Griffion’s command.
The battle prowess of the warrior leaders was superior to that of the renowned knights Kasena had seen at the mansion. They dodged Alakishi’s foreleg attacks and were now finally drawing out a major offensive.
The problem was that Alakishi’s battle instinct, residing in its body, was even more formidable.
Alakishi, just about to bring down its massive raised foot on Barlzen, suddenly spun around and struck Barlzen’s body with its enormous tail.
“Barlzen—!”
Barlzen, flung away by that single blow, caused several huge explosions in the snowfield before finally smashing into a distant rock, cracking it.
“—Go!”
For a moment, she nearly lost her composure, but Kasena, regaining her senses at the shout, gulped and dashed towards Alakishi.
The dragon egg, taken from the basket, began to pulsate more and more vigorously. As if uncontrollably happy to reunite with its mother.
It felt as if hope would continue, as if the light of dawn would break… until the moment Alakishi stared blankly at the dragon egg.
“…?!”
However, Alakishi, seemingly not recognizing the dragon egg, the next moment opened its maw wide and spewed forth a tsunami of the abyss.
She might have been swept away by that tsunami and melted along with the dragon egg.
If not for that very moment, when Alakishi suddenly collapsed lifelessly like a marionette with severed strings. Its transcendent weight made the snow wildly surge into the air.
‘Is it a miracle…?’
There was no time to think. As Kasena, panting, approached Alakishi’s head.
“I don’t know what kind of trick you pulled, but it’s quite something, huh? Hehehe.”
Frisbea landed on top of Alakishi’s head, then brought a device that savagely emitted steam to its crown.
“W-what are you trying to do?!”
“What am I doing? I’m giving it peace. It’s a wedge made of Pyrite. If it pierces the brain, it immediately produces an effect like being burned by fire.”
“Don’t! Alakishi is still alive!”
“This is alive?”
Frisbea let out a scornful laugh and was about to pull the trigger, but a sharp claw grabbed her wrist.
“Let that child do what she intends to do.”
It was Griffion, the great chief of the beastkin.
It was also the moment when Frisbea’s adventure party and the beastkin warriors, who had been fighting cooperatively until now, instantly became hostile and pointed their spears and swords at each other.
“It’s me, Kasena… Alakishi, don’t you recognize me?”
「…」
“Please, snap out of it. Rain is fighting alone. Help him, Alakishi.”
Naturally, there was no reply. Its breath seemed to have stopped, not even a wisp of steam came from its nostrils.
Why did she act that way, mindlessly repeating its name? Kasena found herself unconsciously placing the dragon egg against Alakishi’s massive forehead.
Was it because she remembered Alakishi’s smile, as it lovingly hugged the dragon egg every night, pressing its forehead against it?
“What are you doing staying like this… You promised to make delicious food for your daughter… You said you wanted to create warm memories…”
No answer came. There was no way it could answer. Alakishi’s soul had already been devoured by the abyss…
A sorrowful silence overwhelmed the snowfield.
Frisbea clicked her tongue, as if to say 'I told you so', and Griffion gently placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder, shaking his head in consolation.
“Our kin are still fighting the dead and the ancients back there. We can’t stay here indefinitely. Let us grant it peace…”
“Peace…?”
“For a soul devoured by the abyss, peace can only be granted through light and fire.”
The moment Frisbea once again aimed the Pyrite wedge at Alakishi’s skull, the very moment Kasena frantically shook her head…
Did the whisper of her tears, flowing endlessly down the girl’s cheeks, reach its soul?
Or did the divine light pitifully emitted by the Black Horn Scale around the girl’s neck melt the chains of the abyss that bound its soul?
If not, did the harsh and sorrowful tremor of severance from the dragon egg, touching its forehead, stir its mother’s soul?
At that moment, a ray of distant memory shone into Alakishi’s soul, which had been vaguely sinking into the depths of the abyss.
…………
…
……
………
……………
「So, who do you think would be suitable?」
Kalenden, leaning on a staff, approached, his thin white robe fluttering.
Even without intending it, the mere sound of his voice made the atmosphere quiver quietly. For divinity resided in his every word and action.
The fire dragon Bel’dakidoon, who had been silently watching five young dragons playing joyfully, respectfully bowed.
「Great Light, I am deeply sorry to say… but I, Bel’dakidoon, dare not choose anyone.」
Four years ago, Kalenden had commanded him to prepare a red true dragon for a solitary mission, but Bel’dakidoon had been unable to carry out that order.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t discern the children’s aptitudes. As a father, he simply couldn’t make any of his children bear such a cross.
So Kalenden, reading the writhing sorrow in the voice of Bel’dakidoon, who hadn’t even given his children names yet, let out a bitter smile.
「Hmm… I suppose I did give you, Bel, too cruel a mission.」
「I, Bel’dakidoon, was merely inadequate.」
「No, it’s alright. I would have been the same. If it has come to this, there’s no choice but to let those children choose.」
As Kalenden approached, the eldest hatchling, who had been the first to break out of its egg and had led the other children, lined up its siblings and respectfully greeted him.
“Gu bar ki a den. We greet you, Lord Kalenden.”
“““Gu bar ki a den!”””
Two females and three males.
Two of the males were as innocent and mischievous as ten-year-old human children, while one preferred quiet contemplation.
The youngest female chirped as energetically as the males, but the eldest, the firstborn daughter, was so precocious and intelligent that she didn’t even know how to whine since she was a hatchling.
“I will do it, Lord Kalenden.”
She hadn’t said anything yet, but when the eldest daughter spoke those words, even Kalenden, who was beyond compare, blinked his eyes in surprise.
「Do you know what I am about to do?」
“The Father of Fire said he was looking for someone to entrust with an arduous mission. I understand you have come for that.”
「No, you don’t know what kind of task I am about to entrust. You don’t need to choose so rashly, and you shouldn’t. I also intended to give you a few years to think.」
“But I know it is something someone must do.”
「It is a task where you must face the most terrifying solitude in the world. And not just solitude? Once you embark on that journey of life, you cannot stop. You must advance alone until you die. It is a path with nothing but pain and solitude.」
“The Great Fire said that it is the duty of a true dragon to be loyal to the will of the gods, and it is the duty of the eldest to care for the pains of their younger siblings. Therefore, I wish to walk that path instead of my siblings.”
The physical and mental growth of the dragon race created by Kalenden is fast. On average, more than three times faster than humans.
So, this child, who was now four years old, was at most no different from a twelve-year-old human child… it was an unbelievable situation even for its creator.
A sad smile formed on Kalenden’s lips as he glimpsed the resolute will shining in the eyes of the young creature.
「Come here.」
As Kalenden lifted the young true dragon that had stepped forward high into his arms, a faint tear glistened in one of his eyes.
「For the joy of your siblings, you wish to bear sorrow yourself… by your beautiful soul, the future of this world has greatly changed.」
“…?”
「From today, your name is Alakishi. It means ‘mission’ and at the same time ‘fertilizer’ or 'compost'. Every step of the life you must live will one day brilliantly illuminate the dawn on this land.」
Your life is not in vain. The mission you must live arduously and painstakingly uphold will not be in vain at all.
Though you will now live a life unknown and unacknowledged by anyone, I will remember you.
I will remember, and when I begin the greatest and most magnificent work, I will surely use you. Until then…
…………
…
……
………
……………
In the deep abyss of its soul, the true dragon, whose limbs had been tightly bound by dark blue spider webs, opened its eyes, and a single tear streamed down its cheek.
“…?!”
“…?!”
“…?!”
This… everyone surrounding the dragon, eroded by the abyss, gasped and took a step back.
A crack appeared on its forehead where it met the dragon egg, and flames leaked through the gap.
One, one, and another.
The cracks gradually spread across its entire head, and a human-like figure appeared within the flames that dazzlingly incinerated the spider webs covering its whole body like a carapace.
“Alakishi…?”
From within the dragon’s skull, which was crumbling into charcoal, the figure that appeared, forehead pressed against the dragon egg, was a woman with hair as red as flames.
Her body was in the same terrible state as when she had been attacked by Shar’kas. Ribs gruesomely protruding from her body, frozen intestines…
Kasena, embracing Alakishi’s horrifying body, held her breath and focused on the pulsation of life.
Thump, thump, thump, thump…
She could feel it.
The warm sensation of her chest, the slow beating of her heart within, and the scent of firewood emanating from the red dragon’s body…
And she could hear it.
A voice, fierce as a flame yet beautiful, emanating from its weakly opened mouth.
「Du ge ru as… Kasena…?」
With a heart-wrenching pain, tears streamed from Kasena’s eyes. They were the same tears as before, but the emotion felt different.
It was joy, not sorrow.
So perhaps what she should have shed then were not tears but laughter… but it was alright. Because it was alive, it was alive.
“Though it’s hard to believe… welcome back to the world of the living, Lady Alakishi.”
As Griffion said that, a wave of tearful applause erupted from the warriors all around.
But the moment of hope was fleeting; Peach, circling in the air, cried out roughly.
Even though her vision was blurred by tears, Kasena could see it. The tragedy unfolding in a corner of her vision, where a blizzard raged…
“Ah…?”
Her mind went completely blank. She saw Rain collapsing in the snow, spitting blood. She also saw the bloody mass that had been his heart tumbling across the snow as Shar’kas flicked his hand.
She stood up abruptly, letting out a voiceless scream, and was about to run towards him, when a weakly spasming hand grabbed her wrist.
It was Alakishi.
「Not yet, not yet… He’s not dead yet…」
“…?!”
「Bring him… over here, quickly… time, time is urgent…」
The limit had long been passed, no, life itself had long been extinguished… Alakishi itself didn’t know how it was still alive.
It couldn’t know that, but there were two things it clearly understood even with its consciousness rapidly darkening.
That it would soon die… and that it could save Rain Ludwig.
‘Now I understand for sure…’
Kalenden didn’t send these children to Harbadonia. He sent them to me, to Alakishi.
Because he has a purpose.
And he chose Alakishi as the instrument to fulfill that purpose… Alakishi hugged the egg, which was pulsating vigorously in its arms, tightly.
“Do we just need to bring him here?”
At a time when all the warriors hesitated to dare approach Shar’kas, Griffion stepped forward and asked.
“Of course, we will, since Lady Alakishi only asked for that…”
Following that, Barlzen, staggering with his battered body, stood next to him, and before anyone could stop him, asking where he was going in such a state, Frisbea stepped forward.
“Fighting an old god once would be a good experience, huh. And that’s part of the contract terms too.”
* * *
「At first, I couldn’t believe why Her Majesty the Queen sought out a mere human like you…」
Shar’kas, the 'White Lord', the Clog God, stood on the boy’s corpse and once again raised his hand, drenched in blood.
「Kalenden, I now know for certain that he is plotting something using you as a medium. Shall I take a look at what it is?」
And the moment he plunged his fingertips, where viscous demonic energy danced, into the boy’s head──
「──No?!」
──The moment he was about to plunge them in, a black light flew in from somewhere, blocking Shar’kas’s hand, then suddenly exploded dazzlingly, repelling his body.
That explosion formed a perfect 3-meter-diameter circle and enveloped the boy’s body like a barrier. Within the boy’s flesh, engulfed in absolute light, the erosion of the abyss slowly began to be purified.
The light flew from the southwest, reached the Black Horn Scale around the boy’s neck, and resonated, making the White Lord’s eyes suddenly widen.
「This power… Kalenden, is that you?」
If you can still use such power, why don’t you step forward and fight yourself?
According to dragon memories, you should have been gravely wounded in the King’s Abyss, almost beyond recovery, and disappeared… for a full fourteen hundred years.
You should have been, yet you’ve reappeared? Just how vitally do you intend to use this human?
「Hmph, whatever. No matter what you’re plotting, if I just tear this human’s body to shreds, it won’t be a problem at all!」
To be precise, Kalenden had not appeared. He had already expended most of his power during the Black Spot Incident.
The power that repelled Shar’kas’s hand and protected Rain Ludwig’s body was merely a shot fired from the frozen main cannon of the Warship Base.
The Black Horn Scale, detecting its owner’s crisis, had issued a cover command to the warship via its positional communication function. If this was according to Kalenden’s calculations, then was it?
‘As expected, he’s become incredibly weak compared to before…’
As Shar’kas’s spider web tightly coiled around the black light barrier, soon cracks appeared on the barrier’s surface, and a single strand of web crept through the gap.
「It seems you intended to do something while hiding for thousands of years, preparing for the moment the kings would awaken, but it’s unfortunate for you.」
This defensive mechanism of the Black Horn Scale was not used to defeat Shar’kas. It was merely to buy a very brief, short amount of time.
“Don’t touch my friend with your filthy hands…!”
Suddenly, in the blizzard, a beast’s scent and hot breath were felt, and then a long snout shot out and bit Shar’kas’s neck.
It was Barlzen, the warrior leader.
Of course, those fangs shattered with just a flick of Shar’kas’s finger before they could even touch the ancient god’s sacred body.
「Know your place, mongrel.」
It was truly a divine skill: one of the spider webs constricting the barrier severed Barlzen’s snout while simultaneously grabbing his neck.
Even though his snout was brutally butchered and most of his front teeth were severed along with it, the wolf beastkin merely flashed a satisfied, knowing grin.
The reason for that smile was something even Shar’kas could only confirm a moment later.
“Griffion, now…!”
Something plummeted like an arrow from somewhere in the sky, thrusting its talons through a gap in the spider web and pulling the boy out from inside the barrier.
It was Griffion, the eagle beastkin.
For the White Lord, seizing Griffion, who was trying to convert the momentum of his dive directly into upward force to fly back up, was no effort at all.
“I was curious what an old god’s body would look like, you see.”
If not for that moment, when the mechanical-armored heroine, fiercely spewing steam, appeared and kicked Shar’kas’s wrist as he was about to extend his web.
Normally, the mere physical strength of a mortal would be no match for ancient royalty, but it was a different story for Frisbea, who amplified her leg strength with countless interlocking gears.
In the end, the mechanical armor, losing the struggle, painfully creaked and its gears began to twist, but it bought a full two seconds of time.
Even the spider webs chasing Griffion were singed by Peach’s flames, so it would be precisely three seconds.
“Hah, impressive. To think this couldn’t hold.”
Frisbea’s leg, revealed when the greave section was shattered by Shar’kas’s spider web, was… astonishingly a chaotic tangle of dozens of different furs and leathers.
“It seems an ordinary body has its limits, you see, hah, so I did some bio-grafting. Because I wanted to look young, hehehe.”
Not only beastkin fur and animal hides, but even the epidermis of a primeval spider was mixed into various parts of her skin.
「Haa…」
Shar’kas let out a small, irritated sigh, as if finding it ridiculous. Lightly, like a human getting annoyed when a few flies disturb their meal.
「I always have to show you lowly beings the difference in our class, don’t I? So you have no choice but to submit in awe.」