“I didn’t want to see it this way.”
A simple impression, but the emotions mixed within were quite diverse. I spent most of my life filled with hatred for Kaitel. Sometimes I thought it was strange, but how could I help but think that way about the one who killed me?
I hated him. I wanted to kill him so badly that I imagined stabbing my sword into his neck dozens of times the moment I saw him. I often envisioned beheading him on sight, or making him experience all the pain I’d gone through. I thought that seeing his face would ignite my rage.
“I should have looked into it a little more. Stupidly, I never considered that he would be inside.”
“What does that matter now? Kaitel is gone anyway.”
Kaitel was dead. Surely, he had been obliterated without even a trace of his soul left. Knowing that elicited a sense of emptiness. There were countless words I wanted to say, countless memories I had, and a strange pity bloomed for the soul that had been toyed with by the Dead Dragon for hundreds of years.
Of course, I knew that it didn’t matter anymore, so I didn’t try to harbor any additional feelings. Focused on the sensation in my hand and what I could see, I merely faced the Dead Dragon. After all, once I killed the Dead Dragon here, everything would end, so I could just swing my sword cleanly and be done with it.
Perhaps realizing this, the Dead Dragon shut its mouth, which had been about to say something, and stared at me intently. Its crimson-stained eyes were different from Miragen’s. A shade close to blood red, and I was hesitant to look any longer, fearing I would be consumed by the madness within. Slowly I lifted my sword and drew it through the air.
Creeeak—
The power I gained in this dimension was beyond description. It was faster and stronger than when I called myself a swordsman. The collapsing ceiling of the Imperial Palace was cleanly severed. The Dead Dragon’s eyes widened as it watched the debris of the collapsing structure.
It seemed to marvel at human futility, as if it were seeing something quite interesting.
“I sometimes thought. If a single life form possesses infinite potential, could it one day challenge me as time flows?”
“So, you showed up here because of that?”
“I don’t exist just to take a life. Well, let me explain it like this.”
The grin on the face borrowed from Kaitel was rather grotesque. I’d seen that familiar face smile like that many times, but perhaps due to the different persona within, I could only feel a completely different sensation.
“My reason for existence is to disrupt the balance that exists among the gods. For example, if the Moon Goddess and the Sun exist, my main purpose would be to deal with the gods by shattering that sun.”
Kwaduk.
The debris of the building that was lightly stepped on burst into flames in an instant. The power of the Dead Dragon is not limited to space and time. It is a power gained by usurping the abilities of the god that once presided over all matters of death. The Dead Dragon, licking its tongue, let out a sneer as it recalled the past.
“The reason for wanting to kill God is simple. It’s just that I want to stand above everything. Above death, the sun, the moon. And even space and time. Most of the elements that make up the world were mine, and if I could just find the moon, everything would finally be mine.”
With a flick of its finger cutting through the air, the already split Imperial Palace crumbled again. However, it didn’t shatter as neatly as I did, and the Dead Dragon added, seemingly surprised.
“The reason I killed humans was simply because I viewed them as mere accessories of the world. Do you care about ants being stepped on when you’re picking up a rock? That’s it. To be precise, that was the extent of it. The existence of humans.”
As time passed, the concentration of mana circulating within the body deepened, and the thickened mana flowed into the sword, forming a shape. A sword that could cut through anything; its form, merely a handle, possessed boundless potential contingent on the power of its master. Perhaps it was thinking about that, the Dead Dragon blocked my energy with its magic and chuckled.
“Guess it’s boring after all. Your expression tells me that much.”
“How could it be fun?”
Perhaps due to my expression suddenly darkening, the Dead Dragon let out a small sigh and then drew a sword from my hand. It was a blade as white as bone. It felt undeniably like a flawless divine sword, more like it had been carved than forged.
“…So, I’ve simply changed my thoughts a bit upon facing you. Meeting you, Robert Taylor, has slightly altered that thought. The only human capable of finding worth is you, so if I erase you, there will probably be no one left to interfere with me.”
The trembling mana was undoubtedly intense and majestic. I thought it wouldn’t regain its power completely, yet even that was to this extent. Having reached a certain level myself, I could now objectively face the strength of the Dead Dragon. This is dangerous.
“It’s simple. If you kill me, you will achieve what you desire. If you can’t…”
“If I can’t?”
“I don’t understand why you’re asking when you already know.”
What I desired—though I haven’t thought it through exactly yet—was undoubtedly something simple to accomplish here. I would kill the Dead Dragon. Somehow. That thought and the time needed for my drawn sword to get blocked in the air was but a fleeting moment.
Kaitel—
Boom! The wind, unable to withstand the speed, burst forth, creating a strong vibration. The Dead Dragon still had not transformed into a dragon. If so, then let’s finish this before it becomes one. With that judgment, the sword I swung was probably close to the answer. The Dead Dragon’s face scrunched up, as if flustered, revealing a faint red glow from its lips.
“…Oh dear. I didn’t expect an ambush like this.”
“You should have been cautious.”
The twitching eyebrows returned to normal, and the Dead Dragon displayed a cheeky smile characteristic of Kaitel, flicking its lips. As it turned the sword that had blocked the strike, the blade returned to its original position. Confirming that it had returned to the starting point, the Dead Dragon slowly gripped its sword.
“I guess there’s no other choice.”
In that moment, a vision of its face being pierced appeared. I hurriedly twisted my head to dodge, and the pillar behind me exploded. Was the sword some kind of explosive object? For a moment, I gazed at the cleanly drilled circular hole before focusing on blocking the incoming strike with my sword. The trajectory wasn’t complicated. If I responded a bit calmly, it was surely something I could manage to stop.
The problem was that the force exerted was becoming increasingly heavy, revealing the Dead Dragon’s intent. Inexperienced, but the swordplay was quickly becoming familiar. Did that mean it was mastering the human’s swordplay? A breath emerged between its slightly furrowed brows. If possible, at breakneck speed, not a single one of the goals I had harbored had changed; I rapidly dove into the gap between the Dead Dragon’s sword and mine.
There wasn’t much distance between our swords, so even that small gap was enough to devise something. The most crucial aspect of a sword wasn’t just about taking steps. Just one breath, one beat, if I could step one step faster than the one swinging the sword in front of me, the opportunities I could create were endless.
Talent—when I finally faced what I had believed I lacked, I realized something. In just a moment, there was so much to read that my wretched body couldn’t achieve anything; I had thought I simply lacked talent back then.
My eyes blinked, and before the sweat could touch the ground, a small amount of time had passed. The information I could read within it was vast. I perceived a sensation of time flowing slowly. I read the direction the Dead Dragon’s sword was moving, its intention. The strength it had and the judgment of whether it could be released.
‘Releasing it would be difficult.’
The extent of what I could currently achieve, and how much damage I could inflict if I struck the sword moving forward. Amidst the storm of information surging like flowing current, the thought that arose was simple. One syllable, doable. As the judgment coincided, the flow of time returned to normal, and I lunged my sword at the retreating Dead Dragon.
The sensation of being blocked by its skin hardened like scales was no illusion. Of course, it made sense that it wouldn’t show mercy since it wasn’t human. So, the only way to go was to concentrate everything on the tip of the sword, exploding my magic power. For a moment, the magic within me flowed out like wings, rushing forth and accelerating my body.
“It’s only natural for a dead dragon to be the one to consider this. So, explosively unleashing magic power and concentrating everything on the tip of the sword is surely the only method. For just a moment, the magic flowing through my body spilled out. Like wings, the burst of magic surged forth, accelerating my body.
“Cough-”
Even if it doesn’t tear, the shock definitely exists. The impact entering beneath the pressed skin is a burdensome thing, as my body constantly pushed through the imperial palace, piercing through the buildings of the street and once again shattering everything in the royal capital. Crash! The distance pushed along the long road was quite far, yet I couldn’t help but admire the unyielding hardness.
The highest hardness; after all, a dragon should be like this, right? My mouth twisted into a grin. For a moment, I was in awe of the dead dragon. Yet, memories of the things the dead dragon had done flashed through my mind, turning that awe into wrath. The magic blooming like wings gained speed. The amplified velocity was enough to burst the air, and once again, magic power concentrated at the tip of the sword.
When I realized a little blood had splattered, the expression of the dead dragon had stiffened weakly. Shock, then confusion. Seeing an expression so rare for a being of such high existence somehow brought a smile to my face. Did it know how to make such expressions?
“…That’s right, to challenge with a sword was arrogance.”
In an instant, the shockwave covered my body. The dead dragon, covered in flowing blood, quietly wiped its face and calmly rose from the shattered debris. Fragments falling like raindrops, the debris that landed on the skin piled up so much that it almost covered the area. Hundreds of meters from the imperial palace, after taking that devastating blow and with just a few drops of blood. When I calculated how to kill it, my head throbbed, and in that moment of hesitation, I gripped my sword again and prepared to charge.
“Though my strength isn’t fully gathered, it seems I underestimated you. I’ll commend you; you’re the first being to wound my body since the goddess.”
Crack! The oddly twisted vertebrae began to give way to wings. The human-shaped body shattered, its flesh torn, spilling blood and spinal fluid. Losing human form meant I faced the most unwelcome development.
A dragon.
The being that existed only in legends and tales, it is said that none survived after encountering it. A fierce and brutal creature. They said if a dragon reappeared, the world would end. The moon floating in the sky was completely obscured. Its massive figure darkened the surroundings, blotting out even the little light that remained in the sky.
Eventually, I could only let out a sigh in awe of that majesty.
“…A dragon.”
The dead dragon, now fully transformed into a true dragon, met my gaze.
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