“Something feels empty.”
It hasn’t been long since I saved Eve and Zane, who were being chased by the Chokugen Faction while riding a wyvern.
I had intended to take down the faction leader along with the eccentric and the pirates.
But, like someone had prodded at a hornet’s nest, Shakallim went on a rampage, smashing the pirates left and right, sending them straight to the depths of the ocean.
Unexpectedly, it was Sen who dealt with the faction leader.
All that was left was sorting out the members and the eccentric.
Once I took care of the faction members, the eccentric immediately knelt down and surrendered.
He had used up too much mana, so he couldn’t even run away; for now, I just bound him up. With that, I didn’t have much left to do.
Of course, facing Shakallim was a burden, but I had come prepared and ridden the wyvern down, so I felt a bit empty when it ended so quickly.
So I sat on the beach, looking up at Shakallim, who was staring down at me as if he wanted to devour me right then and there.
With one of his wings severed, he must have burned through all his energy swimming here, huffing and puffing.
Supported by Eve and Zane, I sat in front of him.
“Let’s have a chat.”
“You fool…!”
Looks like he still hasn’t let go of his dignity. Anyway, that dragon’s pride dies hard.
But even as he said that, he slowly extended his long neck and made eye contact with me.
“The end of the world is coming.”
“……I’ve already heard. I also knew.”
“Right, I figured as much.”
Letting out a sigh, I glanced at Eve and Sen. Then I spoke honestly.
“I’ve already experienced that.”
“……You’ve experienced it?”
“Yes?”
“What do you mean?”
I had simply mentioned that the Goddess of Time showed me the future, but here it was better to reveal everything I knew.
So, I began explaining how Rin brought the world to ruin.
Of course, I didn’t dive into the details about Rin or the personal stories. I focused on how ‘The Earliest Apocalypse’ destroyed the continent and how the ‘Following Apocalypse’ followed after.
After listening to the whole story, Shakallim looked at me with a serious expression.
Eve and Sen seemed to want to say something, but before them, the ancient dragon opened his tightly shut mouth.
“You’ve stopped the Earliest Apocalypse, but the Following Apocalypse has come. And you’re saving the world again thanks to the Goddess of Time?”
“Yeah, and that’s how I knew you were awake and also what emotions you just felt.”
“What emotions I felt?”
Watching the waves come in naturally, I spoke accordingly.
“You wanted to live.”
“……”
“When your wing was torn, and you fell into the sea. You wanted to live, didn’t you?”
Shakallim’s mouth was agape, lost in thought, reminiscent of the moment you wake up from a shocking dream, realizing it was all just a nightmare.
He let out a relieved sigh.
“Yeah, I wanted to live.”
The instinct he’d forgotten after so many years of slumber. Having drifted away from the concept of death, even Shakallim had forgotten this truth.
The fact was Shakallim wanted to live.
In the midst of a boring, tedious life, he had thought maybe death would be better, dozens or hundreds of times.
But that was just a vague thought, as the concept of death had strayed too far away.
When it actually faced him, the ancient dragon wanted to live.
“That’s why I came to call myself a god.”
Gods do not die.
Gods live forever.
Long, long ago.
Shakallim recalled why he had been called a god among dragonkin, the dust gathering in the air caused a slight tremor at the corner of his mouth.
“Is it the falling sun that must be stopped?”
With a huu, Shakallim exhaled and nodded.
“Let’s cooperate.”
*
“You’ve had a hard time.”
In front of the Dragon’s Boundary, we faced Zane, who was seeing us off.
In that brief moment, it seemed Eve and Sen had grown attached as they regretted parting with Zane.
“Please come visit us later!”
“Can… Can I?”
“Sneak in.”
Since dragonkin rarely crossed over into human lands, Zane awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
Eve and Sen were saying it was no big deal, but the moment they cross the Dragon’s Boundary, won’t they just get caught by their sister?
I was about to wait for the three of them to finish talking, but they showed no signs of wrapping it up, so I chimed in from behind.
“Hey, are you guys not leaving?”
“Daniel should at least say goodbye too.”
“Right.”
As Eve and Sen quietly stepped back, we didn’t have plans for a grand farewell, but we wished Zane luck for the future.
“Good luck; it’s going to be tough ahead.”
“I know.”
Zane became the Dragoness again.
All Elders had died, and the Dragon God had awakened.
The Dragon God wasn’t an actual god, but Zane had made up her mind to use that to her advantage.
She planned to fix everything that had gone wrong with the dragonkin’s fervently following obedience.
First, I heard that Theocender was getting kicked out of the Cardinal position and moved into the Dragon God’s trial.
Among the corrupt officials, only the Cardinal was left, so he’d take the fall.
“Aren’t you becoming a sort of king?”
As I shrugged and asked, Zane lightly shook her head.
“Gradually but surely, we need to change this culture to rely only on the Dragon God. Not as a god but to stand on our own.”
“……”
“And once that happens, I plan to step down from being a Dragoness. I don’t know how long it will take.”
“That’s good.”
“Excuse me?”
When Zane asked what I meant, I recalled our conversation on the fainting dragon.
“You said you forgot what you wanted to do. You could calmly remember it now.”
After playfully laughing, Zane stared at me blankly for a moment before nodding.
“That’s a good thought.”
Afterward, a moment of silence followed.
I figured it was time to leave, so I turned and said, “Take care.”
“You seem quite free.”
Zane’s voice came softly from behind me as I turned.
“Is it normal for humans to be like this?”
It was such a random question, but after a moment of thought, I answered.
“There is a wall of status, but maybe everyone feels that way?”
When I casually replied, Zane chuckled slightly, as if she found something amusing.
“I, too, want to experience freedom as a human, just like you.”
If possible, with you.
The wind hurriedly carried her voice, yet it perfectly reached my ears.
In response, I simply waved my hand, and we left the land of dragonkin.
*
After briefly greeting the National Border Guards guarding the Dragon’s Boundary, Diana, and returning to the carriage towards the Royal Palace, I let out a sigh while looking at the eccentric huddled in the corner of the carriage, bound up.
“With a comfortable means of transportation, why do we have to ride in a carriage?”
“I’m not a means of transportation.”
“Shut up.”
With a thud, I kicked him, causing him to finally shut his constantly free mouth. Since he was wearing cuffs that interfered with his mana use, he couldn’t even warp.
I thought I could relax, but Sen slyly moved closer and clung to me.
“Heh, heh heh.”
That oddly creepy smile made me think she wasn’t acting like herself.
“I’m Sen McClain.”
“Ah…”
I had been so busy preparing to return to the kingdom and dealing with the incident that I hadn’t found the chance to explain myself.
Swallowing hard, the level of clinging had turned to her wrapping her arms around my neck and rubbing against me, freezing me in place.
“It’s going to take a while, so this is good.”
Eve, sitting opposite us, had not been reading her book but was swinging her fist in the air, preparing for something.
“Huh?”
“Just hold still, Daniel. Do you remember our promise?”
“Uh…”
As soon as she mentioned a promise, I remembered it clearly.
The one where if I acted weird with the Dragoness, I’d get hit a hundred times.
‘If possible, with you.’
I pretended not to hear it from the Dragoness, but it was awkward to make excuses because of the last comment.
“Come closer. I heard it takes longer than expected to get hit a hundred times.”
Eve was genuine about wanting to hit me; however, Sen blocked her.
“No way. He’s my husband.”
“……Husband?”
Eve’s expression turned sinister, and suddenly, her fist was filled with mana.
“Yes, I’m Sen McClain.”
Oh, how the heck do I solve this?
I froze time for a moment to contemplate.
I could flee, but that wouldn’t be a fundamental solution.
Ultimately, the only choice I had was to face it head-on.
‘Let’s think of this as being dead during the carriage ride.’
Once time resumed, I explained the situation as calmly, coolly, and sincerely as I could.
“……You’re truly a piece of trash.”
“This is a bit much.”
With disdainful eyes, Eve glared at me, shaking her head, while the eccentric trembled with his head bowed.
Sen’s voice trembled, barely audible, “You’re not… my wife… but my… sister?”
“Well, you do call me ‘oppa’ sometimes. I assumed you meant it that way… I’m sorry.”
The assassin, clueless about how to handle the fury, started to shake, while Eve folded her arms and bluntly said, “I’ll give Sen 50 hits.”
“Huh?”
Wait a moment.
“Uh, thanks?”
Clenching her teeth, Sen pulled out a pistol from her bosom.
“One shot first.”
“Wait a sec!”
Barely managing to turn aside Sen’s hand that was almost pointing the gun at me.
Bang!
“What the—!”
I had never realized Sen was so expressive and had such a knack for cursing.
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