Western Front, 1st Legion Base.
The 1st Legion, organized around the hero Rania van Trias, is made up of a small elite. Rania, the overall commander on the front lines, doesn’t need any special support; in fact, half-hearted assistance tends to be a hindrance.
But does that mean the members of the 1st Legion lack skill? Not at all. Each knight has been active on the battlefield for a long time.
In short, they are quick to assess the situation.
KWA-BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupts in the heart of the base.
Dust clouds soar into the sky as the tents flail in tatters, and knights belonging to the 1st Legion immediately converge on the source of the shock.
After several flashes and trembling ground,
The thick dust obscures their view, but the knights gulp nervously. Even before the dust fully settles, a series of successive shocks resonate from within.
THUD, THUD!
Ground-shaking, the knights readied their weapons. This was the place where the hero’s tent once stood. The fact that a battle erupted here hinted at the presence of something within that dust cloud.
The hero, Rania van Trias.
She is fighting over there. With something. As the shocks resounded, the knights gradually dispersed to give her space. They awaited the dust to clear.
FLASH!
Something fell from the sky towards the ground. In the blinding azure flash, the knights were momentarily blinded, followed a moment later by the deafening roar ringing in their ears.
CRACK!
A blue lightning bolt pierced through the dust.
It was so thick and sturdy that it looked more like a pillar of light than a slender bolt. The pressure from the thunderbolt striking the ground gradually cleared the dust.
“…Uh?”
Crackling and sizzling, what was revealed from the electric currents crawling across the ground did not reassure the knights, but rather left them in shock. They saw it. The appearance of the opponent the hero was fighting against.
Mage of Ancient Dragons, Yormun van Dragonik.
The one closest to the stars, a being regarded as a god in this land. The mage was being held by the hero, who held a reputation almost equal to that of the Mage of Ancient Dragons.
The hero gripped the neck of the ancient dragon.
The staff of the ancient dragon, pressed against the hero’s chest.
If either side moved even a little, one would lose its head and the other would have its heart pierced. That’s how it appeared to the knights, but their positions were a bit different as they were pointing spells at each other.
“Let go.”
The ancient dragon said flatly.
Raniel frowned.
“Clear this first.”
“Release first.”
“I’m telling you to clear it!”
The ancient dragon sighed heavily and released the staff. Raniel had contemplated striking again seriously, but being conscious of the knights watching him, he eventually let go of the dragon’s neck.
“Feeling a bit calmer now?”
“Do you really think so?”
With a gaze like she was looking at a bug, Raniel glared at the ancient dragon. Only soot was left on her clothes, and she hadn’t caused any meaningful damage.
‘…Not yet.’
Tsk, Raniel clicked her tongue.
There were ways to inflict damage. But if she did so, it would truly be the end.
‘Not yet.’
Before the color of the lightning on her fingertips could change, Raniel lightly waved her hand to shake off her mana.
“Was it noisy? Sorry about that.”
Raniel waved off the converging knights.
“Go back. It’s nothing significant.”
A few asked something, but Raniel did not bother to answer. She made a vague excuse about a minor argument and moved on.
“…”
“…”
Raniel looked back.
The Mage of Ancient Dragons had come up behind her, looking at the ancient dragon as though it were an insect, and Raniel spat.
“What are you doing?”
“You’ve switched back to polite language. I prefer the informal tone, though. It feels a bit disappointing.”
“…”
With a look as if she were looking at something lesser than an insect, Raniel glared at the ancient dragon. The ancient dragon smiled as if it were pleased by that contemptuous gaze and shrugged.
“You said you had something to say.”
“Send a letter or something. I’d prefer it if you just went away since there’s no conversation to divide.”
“Will you even read a letter if I send one?”
“I plan to tear it up and throw it away.”
“Looks like it has to be said in words.”
“Shut up.”
Following her all day to whine, huh?
Let’s see who wins.
The Mage of Ancient Dragons began trailing behind Raniel, muttering as he did. At first, Raniel laughed it off, but contrary to her expectations, the Mage truly kept his word.
So for more than a day, he followed her.
2.
“Looks like you finally feel like listening.”
Raniel looked at the mage with weary eyes.
“Are you seriously that free?”
“I seem to have a bit of time.”
Unlike Raniel, who had a busy life that made her feel like every second counted, the Mage of Ancient Dragons had an abundance of time. Exhausted, Raniel sighed and said.
“Then hurry up and talk. Get lost afterward, okay?”
Raniel was the first to wave the white flag. The ancient dragon smiled satisfyingly and finally began to speak.
“The Goddess of Ashes, a god born from the future.”
The ancient dragon tapped the end of his staff.
“Three years ago, I was aware she intervened in this era. I knew, but I did not intervene at that point. You would know that too, right?”
A being from outside of providence.
Having noticed a visitor that twisted the time axis, the ancient dragon was not oblivious. Even though he noticed, he didn’t intervene, which Raniel also understood.
“I know.”
“Right. But you must be wondering why I’m bringing that up now.”
“Get to the point. I’m not that curious.”
How prickly. The ancient dragon sighed and replied.
“At that time, my intervention would have been meaningless, so I didn’t intervene. It would have been pointless for me to act when she crossed over from the future to the past.”
“But,” he added.
“Recently, I saw something.”
Recently, the ancient dragon viewed a flow.
It was not the future that would occur. Because since that day three years ago, the ancient dragon could no longer read the future. What he saw was the original future.
“The Goddess of Ashes, the path that sinner walked.”
The future that should have awakened.
The future that vanished due to her intervention.
Upon seeing that future, the ancient dragon spoke.
“All taboos were violated.”
Deals, ancient god contracts, power theft, starlight suppression, bodily mutation, betrayal, heretical worship, and lastly, twisting providence to even mess with time.
“What you did in the future can never be forgiven.”
“Bullshit, really.”
Raniel sneered.
“So what? Should I just sit back and wait for destruction? Is it the right path for the whole world to become the Phantom Territory, for everyone to become Betrayers, and for humanity to perish at the end?”
“If the flow indicates destruction, then that would be the proper path.”
“What… did you say?”
Raniel blinked.
The ancient dragon before her remained expressionless.
“The flow, the providence, and the rules indicate that as the right path. If destruction is the natural order, then it is right for it to happen.”
He wasn’t speaking lightly.
The man before her truly believed that. Raniel’s gaze towards the ancient dragon turned icy.
“Don’t you think it’s contradictory to not stop destruction and just let it happen?”
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m not a fatalist. If it can be stopped, it’s better to stop it. However, it means that in the process, one must not go against providence.”
“What if the opponent throws away providence, truth, and law?”
“Still, the rules must be upheld. That’s what discipline is.”
“Wow.”
Raniel marveled.
“You’re a crazy bastard.”
“I’ve been told that a lot. Even ten thousand years ago.”
“Don’t you think that’s rather contradictory?”
Raniel shot back, her voice sharp.
“Do you know what you’re talking about right now?”
Even as she spoke, Raniel was convinced.
This senile lizard before her couldn’t possibly not know.
Even while knowing, there was not a hint of intention to bend his beliefs for the ancient dragon. Beliefs hardened over thousands of years were like sturdy walls.
“Seriously, this is not getting through.”
“I’m not asking you to understand. This is a warning.”
“I have no interest in your lunatic beliefs. So what? Are you going to hold me responsible for something?”
Raniel laughed mockingly.
“Did you come here to tell me to take responsibility for what the future me did?”
The ancient dragon shook his head.
“That’s not it. It’s already a done deal.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I came to extend the previous conversation.”
A continuation.
“If you plan to choose the same method as the future you, I’m advising you to cut it out beforehand.”
Don’t cross the line, that’s what the ancient dragon was saying.
“Do not challenge providence.”
His golden eyes shone.
What sat before Raniel was not a being shackled below the earth. He was a god living while limiting himself, capable of reaching the realm of transcendence at any moment.
“I’ll tear it apart.”
“Can you?”
Before the warning of the god, Raniel sneered.
“I’ve already been through it once, thanks to my future self.”
The ancient dragon opened his mouth in response to her derision.
“Right. Just as you learned something through the life of the future you, I too have come to understand.”
The ancient dragon closed his eyes and opened them.
The surrounding space tore apart, and from beyond the torn space, thousands of eyes emerged. All of them were powers the ancient dragon possessed and powers stolen from the gods.
“My future self left you alone until the end. He must have trusted you. He would have tried to adhere to the principle of non-intervention. Because of that, he likely lost most of his powers.”
But the ancient dragon declared.
“This time, I have decided not to do that.”
The space tore even wider.
What appeared from the torn space were the enormous eyes of a dragon. The ancient dragon, the last of its kind, that Raniel saw in the mural not long ago. The last remaining ancient dragon’s eyes stared at Raniel.
“If I see signs, I will intervene immediately.”
In the ancient dragon’s eyes, three platinum rings fused together. The golden eyes slowly began to turn red. In the eyes of the primordial god resided starlight.
“Whatever the cost may be…”
The sinner.
The sinner who broke the rules would be punished.
“I will kill you. I will no longer trust you.”
Whatever scheme is in play, stop it if it breaks a taboo. The ancient dragon warned. A warning far stronger than before.
“Hah.”
Last time, Raniel had shrunk away before that aura. But now, she snapped her fingers in the face of that pressure. A spell was layered over the torn space.
CRACK!
With a sound echoing,
Dozens of flashes struck the eyes appearing all around like lightning. The unannounced spell made dozens of eyes bleed and fall with a splat.
“Is that all you have to say?”
Raniel stood up from her seat.
Looking down at the Mage of Ancient Dragons glaring at her, she added,
“Once you’re done talking, get lost.”
With that, Raniel turned to leave.
After standing still and staring at her back for a while, the ancient dragon tapped the air with his staff. As he attempted to return through the place where the stars exist, he paused his footsteps.
【Didn’t I tell you?】
Someone stood there.
【It won’t matter.】
She spoke to the ancient dragon.
【You know that just trying to stop it won’t work, right? Just as they couldn’t stop you in the past, it will happen again this time. The roles have just switched. This too is a flow.】
It was a familiar voice.
A voice so believably nostalgic. However, the ancient dragon, with a hard expression, shot back at its owner.
“Don’t advise me, you fake.”
【…】
“She wouldn’t say that. That’s just your thought twisted by becoming one with the stars. She…”
The ancient dragon mumbled.
“She told me, right until the end.”
Looking at the fake, the ancient dragon smiled.
“No matter how everything ends, uphold the rules. It is the only way to honor oneself.”
That is a binding curse.
The curse that she branded into the ancient dragon as she died still binds him even thousands of years later. The longer time passes, the stronger it becomes.
“I am just keeping that promise.”
3.
“Belnoa.”
Chloe smiled.
“Who is that woman?”
“C-Chloe, wait a minute…”
“I’m asking you.”
Chloe, who was never oppressive.
Chloe, who always smiled and spoke gently. But now she questioned in a coercive tone.
“Who is that woman?”
Belnoa became acutely aware of her precarious situation.
The crisis warned by the goddess had approached faster than expected, and Belnoa briefly shuddered her shoulders.
“T-This is Chloe? I told you I got a god to serve last time. The Lord of Shadow Dragons. The Primordial God.”
“Yeah, but why does that matter now?”
Chloe, who had often seen Belnoa talking to the air, initially thought Belnoa had gone mad. But after asking Raniel, she was relieved to learn the imagined god was real.
But why did that matter at work now?
As Chloe’s eyes grew even sharper, Belnoa hurriedly slipped her hand between the goddess’s shoulders, presenting Chloe with her like a doll.
“This is her. The Primordial Goddess.”
“I feel like a thing now.”
The goddess smiled and waved.
“Nice to meet you, child. I am…”
The sun rose beyond the horizon.
The sunlight pierced through the night. At that moment, the Lord of Shadow Dragons vanished as if melting away, and her words remained unfinished.
“…”
“…”
The goddess, now in a shabby form due to her materialization failing, sat on Belnoa’s shoulder as silence enveloped the space between Chloe and Belnoa. A chillingly profound silence.
“Belnoa.”
Chloe opened her mouth.
“Let’s talk.”
Cold sweat flowed down Belnoa’s back.
