There was a benefactor.
A benefactor I couldn’t save.
For the past three years, I kept recalling someone’s figure. My master, my benefactor, and my senior. She was a master because she taught me, a benefactor because she provided me answers, and a senior because she walked the path I had to tread before me.
Raniel van Dragonik.
I was saved by her from the future.
Because she existed, I had no regrets. Thanks to her guidance, I was able to save Kyle. Because I could save him, I could remain unbroken.
“Live as you wish.”
“Don’t compromise or rationalize.”
“Live like you, Raniel van Trias.”
She said so with a smile.
That smile felt so unfamiliar that I couldn’t accept her from the future as ‘myself.’ She felt like a stranger.
“Don’t live like me.”
A stranger who lived a different life than mine.
A stranger who bore the tragedies I should have lived, who returned to the past from the end of the tragedy to change the future—my benefactor.
…I owed her a debt.
A debt that could not be repaid by anything.
When it was all over, I learned of her fate through my master. The Goddess of Ashes, having finished everything, vanished. Unable to repay that debt, I at least vowed to never forget her existence.
Therefore.
“Damn it, you senile lizard.”
I couldn’t let that slip by. I thought it shouldn’t be overlooked. Crack, the sound of my finger’s bone echoed cheerfully.
“I had quite a bit to say anyway.”
When I discovered the truth of the contract.
When I heard the truth from Cardi. Since then, I had been waiting for the Mage of Ancient Dragons to come. I had to ask something.
“Let’s ask while we’re at it.”
Stars, bystanders, rules, that damned regulation.
Things I simply could not understand.
Now, things I even despised understanding.
“You bastard star constellation.”
Words unbefitting for a hero.
Thus, what I was about to speak from now on would not be as the hero Rania van Trias… but as the Ashen Mage, ‘Raniel van Trias.’
“What the hell are you all doing?”
I had always been curious.
“Slay the forces of evil. Purify the misguided who do not serve the stars. Burn everything related to magic. Hunt down the Demon Lord, the Master of the Demon Lord.”
What the stars had emphasized throughout hundreds of years.
Sometimes delivered as prophecies, sometimes conveyed through the voice of the stars. As I chewed over those words one by one, I stepped closer to the Mage of Ancient Dragons.
“Words are shiny. But as I spent years fighting on the battlefield, questions arose.”
Snap.
“Those are all hollow words. Ever since the Shade fell into an imperfect being, the stars have not made a move to eradicate the shade. Am I wrong?”
Guess I’m right.
I chuckled.
“The only threat to the stars was the ‘perfect’ shade. After the shade fell into an imperfect god due to Ganikalt, the stars lost interest in hunting it down.”
It was the stars that even sought to take Ganikalt’s starlight away.
What fixed the stars to this land was not the will of the stars, but the will of the Grand Magus. The Grand Magus sacrificed much to anchor the starlight that Ganikalt possessed to this land.
The stars had always been like that.
There was a time when I regarded it as a sort of regulation, but that was no longer the case. Because I had heard the whisper of the stars. Because I had confirmed that the stars possessed a will.
“In other words.”
You bastards.
“From the beginning.”
I recalled what I once told Kyle.
“You never intended to catch the Demon Lord, you piece of shit.”
What you desire is merely the status quo.
Though it was a fact I had questioned, when I learned all the truths of the contract Cardi had made… my doubts turned into certainty.
Grab.
I seized the Mage of Ancient Dragons by the collar.
Glaring at the agent of the stars, who was in league with them.
“Who’s calling whom a sinner? Who has the right to say such a thing?”
“The one who breaks the rules. The one who violates the taboo is a sinner. Thus, I merely called you a sinner. Indeed, the rules were shaken by that sinner. A dreadful affair.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
“Regulation, yes, that damned regulation.”
The eyes of the Mage of Ancient Dragons remained cold.
Eyes devoid of any emotion. As I gazed back at those eyes, I sneered.
“Are you happy living bound by that damned regulation?”
Flinch, a change happened for the first time on the face of the Mage of Ancient Dragons.
*
For Raniel, ‘the Goddess of Ashes’ acts as a reverse scale, and similarly, for Yormun, there exists something akin to a reverse scale.
Gletus of Regulation.
That is the reverse scale of the ancient dragon that has lived for tens of thousands of years.
Thus, when Raniel mentioned ‘regulation,’ the Mage of Ancient Dragons reacted. For a moment, emotions stirred within him, but he quickly suppressed the rising feelings.
“You seem excited, Raniel van Trias.”
A chilling voice.
“First, calm down. I did not come here to fight.”
The ancient dragon grabbed Raniel’s wrist, which held onto his collar tightly. Then, with his other hand, he tapped the tip of her staff against her abdomen.
Boom!
With a shockwave, Raniel was pushed back.
The barrier surrounding her body cracked with a crunch. Looking at the shattering barrier, Raniel chuckled. Her expression was as if to say, ‘Did you hit me?’
‘…You’ve certainly lost it.’
This was troublesome.
Thinking that, the ancient dragon slammed his staff down.
“Cool your head.”
Ripples spread from the staff.
Immediately, with a boom, a tremendous pressure crushed the area. A spell similar to a gravitational field. But the spell manifested by the ancient dragon’s mana was different from a typical spell. It carried divinity and starlight.
A spell endowed with starlight and divinity.
It was a kind of fate. The spell unleashed by the ancient dragon was both a fate and a law. An untranscended human would have no means to resist it.
‘Even if one were a guide, they haven’t yet reached proper orbit.’
Thus, there would be no way to resist.
Amidst the creaking space, the ancient dragon sighed. Although he had no intention of retracting his statement about sinners, he didn’t think conversation would go properly like this.
“Speak when you’re calmed down. I’d rather not expend emotions like this…”
The ancient dragon kept silent.
Unable to finish, he narrowed his eyes. His gaze was fixed on Raniel, who remained unbowed even amidst the creaking space.
Creeeak, squeak.
A space that was creaking and shaking.
Even within that space, Raniel did not kneel. She wasn’t merely enduring it. The ground beneath her feet didn’t even so much as dent.
“…”
In the undulating space.
She stepped forward. Her steps were light. Even in a space controlled by the ancient dragon, she moved gracefully as if unaffected.
“I wondered how the future me killed you.”
Raniel spat out.
“Turns out it was quite easy.”
In an instant, Raniel’s form vanished.
Immediately, the ancient dragon saw a palm that completely blocked his view. As Raniel swiftly passed by him, she grabbed the ancient dragon’s face with one hand.
Crack, squish.
The ground where Raniel stood cracked. After the tent of the fortress flailed noisily, a flash hit the area.
2.
『So this was all there was.』
『Indeed.』
『So this was the end.』
As the Shadow Dragon Lord walked across the field, he mulled over the scene swirling in his mind. It was a glimpse into the future he had just witnessed. A collapsing world, and at the edge of that world, the birth of an alien deity.
‘What a joke.’
The first contractor, Yormun van Dragonik, who tore apart the heavens, appearing as a near-God. He never imagined he would see him fall. Yet, what she couldn’t imagine occurred in the original future.
『Step aside.』
Yormun had but a single dragon.
The Giant Dragon’s wings were ripped out, its jaw torn off, and its organs spilled out before it met its death. Someone approached Yormun, shaking off the dragon’s blood.
『I told you to move.』
Eyes empty. A soulless being.
A human with nothing left to lose stepped toward the center of the world beyond Yormun. Yormun tried to stop her, but her resistance only seized her own eyes in the end.
『You need to go back.』
『I must go back.』
With Yormun’s head torn off.
From that place, a woman pulled out both her eyes. The woman embedded the dragon’s eyes into her own. Gaining the dragon’s gaze in place of her lost ones, she acquired divinity.
She became the contractor of the Shadow Dragon.
The Shadow Dragon Lord witnessed the scene where the future self appeared before her newly contracted counterpart. The future self gazed at her with compassionate eyes and spoke. They exchanged words.
Though he could not eavesdrop on the entire conversation…
『That’s all that was needed. My poor child.』
After their exchange, the future self silently vanished. As if something had been contracted, satisfied with that contract. And the woman with the hollow eyes immediately fulfilled that contract.
『…』
At the end of the world, the woman turned back. She met the gaze of the current Shadow Dragon Lord. Defying the flow of time, she delivered certain information.
As she mulled over that information.
“…my contractor.”
The Shadow Dragon Lord grinned, turning her body.
The night was nearing its end. Soon the sun would rise, and the special time would conclude. Before that time ended, the Shadow Dragon Lord walked toward Belnoa.
“What’s the matter?”
“Can’t you see?”
She stretched her arms toward Belnoa.
As if asking for a hug.
“What are you doing?”
“It means I want a hug. I’m tired of walking.”
“You used to say walking was enjoyable.”
“I got bored.”
“You’re quite fickle.”
Instead of pulling her in, Belnoa picked up the Shadow Dragon Lord. She was light. Very much so.
“So, what is it?”
“What do you think?”
“Don’t you have something to say?”
“You’re quick on the uptake.”
Snicker, the goddess chuckled.
With her arms wrapped around Belnoa’s neck, the goddess rested her head on Belnoa’s shoulder. Then she spoke softly.
“Do you know? Those who contract with me all meet an unfortunate end. It’s just the nature of my power.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“No, you don’t.”
The goddess smiled bitterly.
“The first contractor lost what was most precious to him. The liar could only protect one thing, yet he could not guard that one thing. Though he kept everything else intact.”
“My second contractor suffered likewise. That child was even more unfortunate. He lost everything. He merely lost his reason and went on a rampage. He burned everything he wanted to protect with his own hands.”
A brief breath.
The goddess exhaled deeply.
“So, my third contractor.”
“Yes.”
“I hope you won’t be like that. I wish for that, and I’ll give you one more piece of advice.”
“You’re quite talkative today.”
“I’m always talkative.”
The goddess spat it out.
“The flow has a tendency to return to its original state. Therefore, danger will befall you. If things go as originally intended, you were meant to die soon.”
“Fate is truly cruel.”
“Indeed? So, remember this.”
Before Belnoa could ask, “What?”, the goddess’s words came out quicker.
“Do not use your power solely for sacrifice. Use it to survive. If you truly want to protect that child, you must survive for a long time.”
It was similar in context to what she had already shared.
Belnoa nodded with a smile.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You speak well.”
“Someone must at least be good at speaking.”
“A child who doesn’t heed a single word. How arrogant.”
Nibble, the Shadow Dragon Lord bit Belnoa’s ear. It wasn’t a bite with sharp teeth, just a tickling attack.
“What are you doing? Stop…”
And then, at that moment.
“Belnoa…?”
A voice came through.
Not from behind but straight ahead. It was a very familiar and welcome voice, but right now it wasn’t welcome at all.
“Belnoa, what are you doing here?”
Belnoa gazed toward the front with a trembling gaze. At the edge of night, just beginning to brighten but still dim, stood a girl with notably bright eyes, looking at Belnoa.
“C-Claire?”
“Yes, Belnoa.”
The pale green eyes shimmered in the dark.
“What are you doing here?”
Chloe smiled.
A smile like always, a gaze like always.
But her voice felt slightly… no, very chilly. Like someone had just run a chill down my spine.
“And.”
Chloe raised her hand.
Pointing with outstretched fingers at the Shadow Dragon Lord, who was nibbling on Belnoa’s ear.
“Who is that woman behind you?”
Belnoa sensed it.
Something was definitely wrong.
“Oh dear.”
The goddess, still nibbling on Belnoa’s ear, remarked.
“It seems the crisis has approached sooner than expected, contractor.”
No, it’s because of you.
