Leo directly saw and felt Lily’s power.
He had already attended her lectures several times and realized it while coordinating in mock siege wars.
‘If her weakened state is like this…’
Just how strong is the normal Lily?
The mock siege war was balanced, and the original Lily was three times, no, ten times stronger than in the mock war, he was sure of that.
That’s why he found it puzzling.
She’s not exactly a greedy person.
She gives to others, but she’s not someone who just gives without getting anything in return.
Lily definitely moves with a clear purpose, and she could have taken down the World Boss, “Sugarado,” all on her own.
Even if she couldn’t, she would at least do it with a few acquaintances like Miss Yena or Mr. Black.
But Lily chose to share with everyone.
“Why do you give to others when you can take it down alone?”
He was curious.
Wondering why she was choosing the difficult path of being a hatchling.
Lily came closer with a mysterious smile.
Their faces drew closer.
“Wow…”
After turning into a Nymph, he thought he had quite a pretty face, but Lily was on another level.
How can a person be like this?
“First, there are two misunderstandings.”
“Two misunderstandings?”
“First. I can’t take it down alone.”
“…But surely, if it’s Lily!”
“If I use everything I’ve got? Does that even mean anything?”
Ah.
In that moment, Leo realized Lily’s intent.
Lily undoubtedly had the power to take down a mighty dragon up on that snowy mountain.
The World Boss is a monster that must be taken down as a group, but if one has the strength, it’s not a problem to take it down alone.
But right now, the entire continent was filled with the prelude to war.
Exposing all her strength at such a crucial time where the might of a single user or knight was essential didn’t make any sense.
No matter how much she showcased during the broadcast.
“Second. Why am I raising Sugarado?”
At Lily’s words, Sugarado peeked up curiously.
Seeing those round eyes and that face made him feel like he could die from cuteness, but he held back and answered.
“Um… Is it to stop that thing that’s going to explode in 60 days? There’s about a month left now.”
“That’s one reason.”
“…There’s more?”
Was there something else?
Thinking about it, it was odd.
It wasn’t strange to pick up a hatchling and raise it.
Raising a dragon as a pet could help increase power and massively increase transportation options.
Among all the rankers, no one raised dragons except for those with the hidden class ‘Dragon Knight.’
There’s no one to raise a dragon besides knights.
But the reason for the ‘synchronization’ is a bit vague.
They say it’s merely a precaution against the disaster that is the ‘Despairing Cold’, but even after 60 days, I doubt they’d kill the Hatchling.
“Huh?”
They’re way too attached to just be raising it as a backup.
Besides, since it’s assured that Lily and a few major Rankers can handle it, there’s really no need to go through all that time and effort for a contingency plan.
‘…Another purpose?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Lily Elbrite definitely has a clear purpose. But it’s probably not just the purpose of being an Outsider.’
‘She’s special. Kind of like you and the Sword Saint. No, she’s got something even more than that.’
Someday, there will come a day when you’ll understand my words.
Clearly, the Duke said that.
And Leo faintly feels it too.
That scene from the condensed stone.
The Golden Empire.
Yet an academy that’s subtly different from the Imperium.
In front of countless students, a white figure…
‘This is your homework. Once you figure it out, you won’t even need me to tell you.’
“…That’s odd.”
“What?”
“Nothing!”
Is it just my misunderstanding?
For some reason, the current Lady Lily doesn’t feel very much like a ‘User’.
■
In the end, the Empire’s participation was confirmed, and although there were many complaints and concerns exchanged, nothing changed.
People just had no choice but to believe.
That the Empire truly wouldn’t attack after the raid.
Of course, if they did attack again after the raid ended, it wouldn’t be surprising at all.
The Empire merely said, ‘The forces for the raid won’t be used for war.’ They didn’t mention anything beyond that.
They might even attack another kingdom that’s relatively low on troops instead of the heavily populated Talikal.
In fact, some kingdoms had turned their forces back to their own lands.
And so, a day passed, leading to the long-awaited raid day.
I climbed the snowy mountains early with Sugarado.
Maybe because the news of the raid spread across the entire continent and the internet, the snowy mountains were already bustling with activity.
Even though I had clearly asked them to wait a moment, there were still so many people.
Those unworthy froze or died from exposure, yet many continued to ascend the snowy mountains.
“Wow…”
As I got closer to Sugarado on the snowy peak, the Hatchling Sugarado’s body trembled slightly.
It wasn’t from nervousness or fear.
‘Resonance.’
A delicate task of containing two consciousnesses within one body.
The delicate task of containing two consciousnesses within one body.
It’s nearly impossible to maintain a complete state with two or more souls in one body.
Multiple personalities mean literally having several personalities, but having multiple souls is a different story.
Only one soul exists.
However, if there were multiple souls, then the dominance over the body would falter, and everything that constitutes the body would begin to crumble a bit.
Yet, one is a fragment of the Demon King, with its soul in a state of hibernation, having lost consciousness,
While the other is an imperfect soul that was not planned from birth.
Because both are flawed, both can reside within the same body.
As I approached the peak, Sugarado rushed toward me, scattering fierce snowstorms.
“Whoa!”
Before me stood another Sugarado.
When two ice dragons faced each other, an anomaly occurred.
“Ugh!”
A massive storm of magical power erupted around the two dragons.
Even I couldn’t maintain my balance and got pushed back a bit.
Among the vast storm that covered and overturned the snowy mountain, only the two intact entities faced each other.
It wasn’t just the power of the ice dragon.
‘Frigid cold.’
The fragment of the cold was interfering with the resonance.
Kwahahaha!!
There was no sign of the Demon King’s will whatsoever.
The Demon King was certainly dead or in a state of inability to intervene.
Just like the hatchling that had been left unattended for a long time and awakened to establish its own identity.
Oh no─!
The Demon King’s fragment also revealed its power after being left without a master.
[World Boss, ‘Frozen Frigid Sugarado’ level is changing!]
[Warning! A World Boss-grade entity (upper) appears!]
[If this boss is not defeated within 100 days (+a) by any means, the World Boss, ‘Frozen Frigid Sugarado’ will use ‘Cataclysmic Frigid Cold’.]
[When Cataclysmic Frigid Cold is cast, most of the continent will freeze.]
[First discovered by – Lily Elbrite.]
[LV. 140]
[Title, you have obtained ‘One who faced ?’.]
[Title, you have obtained ‘Dragon Tamer’.]
[The Frozen Frigid Cold, Sugarado is staring at you.]
A loud stream of messages poured in, along with numerous notes and chats directed at me.
What on earth is happening?
─…Lily?
But I focused on the current situation first.
Sugarado, having regained consciousness from the hatchling’s body.
‘Long time no see.’
─Ah, uh…
A brief greeting. This time, it smiled brightly.
The expression of Sugarado, just an innocent hatchling, twisted.
Garedo’s expression warps.
Is everything really not a dream?
Maybe the cruel Demon King is showing me illusions during this eternally frozen time.
…It’s ridiculous.
The Demon King treats even dragons like mere bugs.
If he despised bugs, he wouldn’t go through the unnecessary trouble of showing them fantasies.
Especially not for the Six Demon Kings, who are above mere demons.
—W-why…
‘It seems like it’s not the right time yet.’
Tired, right?
At Lily’s premonition, Sugarado’s lips tightly pressed together.
Awake in mind but still faintly conscious in spirit, as if not fully in a normal state.
I can’t figure out what exactly is happening.
But one thing is for sure: the Lily I longed to meet is right in front of me.
That alone is certain.
Lily smiled faintly.
“Rest.”
Sugarado closed his eyes comfortably.
■
Sugarado successfully awoke.
However, since his soul has been dormant for thousands of years, it needs time to recover.
Unless something extraordinary happens, he’ll likely keep waking up and falling asleep.
“Did I sleep? Just now?”
That long gap will be filled by Sre, the hatchling.
By the way, Sre created a separate name to distinguish himself from Sugarado.
“It feels strange. But it feels good.”
Having fully merged with Sugarado and undergone some growth, Sre had now transformed to the size of a giant bear.
His speech is still clumsy, but he can communicate.
“What feels good?”
“My body has grown. My wings have grown too. There’s a cold energy inside me.”
The size of his body and wings is thanks to Sugarado, while the cold energy is due to a fragment of the Demon King.
Now both of his claws are embedded with fragments.
Though he can’t use powers yet, having both will surely be quite useful.
Sre seemed to have an idea and lowered his body, landing in front of me.
A gesture frequented by Sugarado.
“Woooh!”
As I climbed on, Sre soared naturally into the sky.
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