Right away, a man armed with an axe busted down the front door, he shouted:
“You stupid sorcerer!”
Another man rushed in behind him. They were heading down the straight hallway——Orphen stretched his hand towards the leading man.
He took a deep breath, and shouted:
“I let thou flow, angel's breath!”
A magical blast of wind quickly pushed the man backwards, he covered his mouth and cursed. Orphen squinted as the man struck the other, both of them were blown to a dead end, he didn’t pay them any attention, as he cried:
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
A wave of light and heat flew from his fingertips, searing the walls and exploding like a firecracker. Orphen rushed down the corridor, the billowing smoke proved to be enough for his escape from the house.
“He’s running away!”
A townsperson cried. After Orphen heard this, he looked back towards the house.
“Makudogaru…”
He recalled the moment when Makudogaru shot himself in the head, Orphen said:
“It would have costed extra to bury the body.”
He raised his hand, he didn’t hesitate to use the maximum amount of power.
“I crush thee, origin of silence!”
At that moment——the centre of the house began to crumble, it was followed by a loud noise, a huge explosion. Orphen dodged the flying pieces of debris from the house, as he ran quickly. The explosion of the house hindered those who wanted to follow after him, though——when they saw how much power he wielded, they gave chase. Although he was sorry for those who were in and near the house, he knew they were unlikely to die.
The noise emitted from the crumbling house was deafening, it mixed in with the villagers screams around the village.
He wanted to make the most out of this opportunity, he thought of a few——one of them was to cause confusion, but keep himself calm.
Orphen ran and casually stretched forth his hand, without looking he casted magic.
“Sword of Light, whom I do release!”
A torrent of light and heat flew through the air. The resulting explosion engulfed several buildings, setting them aflame.
(This should sow some confusion……)
Orphen thought, as he ran in the opposite direction of the inferno.
After a few meters——someone spotted him.
“There he is!”
“Over there!”
Orphen immediately shouted:
“I call thee, sisters of rupture!”
The air vibrated, multiple shockwaves sent all but one of the villagers to the ground.
“……Uh?”
The young man couldn’t help but stare in amazement, he looked back and forth to his fallen comrades.
“You——you——you are our enemy.”
The man picked up a brick, he aimed at Orphen’s stomach. Orphen mercilessly kicked him to the ground. The young man moaned as he fell, Orphen continued to hit him in the head until he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Man……you sure are a troublesome lot.”
Orphen said as he ran. Even if he was able to trick half of the villagers, the other half would soon become aware of what was really happening.
“Master!”
He ran in the direction of the shouting, he was Majic, he was standing in the street, waving at him.
Orphen then got angry.
“What are you doing in a place like this?”
“Because——”
Majic slowly began to explain:
“I went to get Feina out of the village, but she wasn’t in the Tower! I looked all around the village……”
“I am a man of my word! Can’t you do anything right!?”
“But Master, if we don’t get her out of the village……Makudogaru will kill her!”
Orphen angrily grabbed Majic by the collar.
“Just meet up with Cleo and the others, get out of here now, I’ll deal with the rest.”
“Fine, I’ll do what Master wants.”
“I won’t stand for this——every time I tell you to do something you just ignore what I say.”
Orphen was done reprimanding him, he wiped his brow. Although it was morning, the temperature had begun to rise. Suddenly——
“Wuhahaha!”
Laughter echoed throughout the village. The atmosphere of the village became unpleasant.
Orphen half opened his eyes, and said:
“Majic, listen to me. I’ll deal with this.”
“I know. That needn’t be said.”
The laughter continued.
“Villagers! It’s time for purge this place of the evil sorcerer! Not because of personal reasons, but for righteousness!”
Needless to say, it was Vulcan’s voice. He had unwittingly begun to incite the villagers.
Orphen couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, so he climbed on top of a nearby house to get a better look.
Not too far away he saw them——Vulcan and Dortin were leading a bunch of villagers (mostly children) down the street.
Orphen then shouted:
“I construct thee, spire of the sun!”
Suddenly, without any warning, Vulcan was surrounded by a pillar of fire.
“Ahhhhh!”
The children beside Vulcan all screamed and scattered. Dortin ran away too, taking cover nearby. Vulcan jumped, and seemed to dance, a moment later, the fire was gone. Vulcan knew who was responsible for this.
“You bastard!”
Noticing Orphen, he pointed a finger at him, and shouted:
“You wouldn’t even care if all those people got burned! When the sun rises to its highest point in the sky, I will launch my surprise attack and kill you once and for all!”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about……”
Dortin said. Orphen wasn’t putting up for any of his nonsense.
“I’m sick of you! You’re the one who keeps putting people’s lives in danger, and betraying them every chance you get.”
“Oh, you are a despicable murderer, the villagers will hand you for what you did!”
“Me? They’ll hang you for being a stupid racoon dog!”
“All of these stupid villagers are under my spell, my voice is like poetry to their ears, they seem you as the murderer you truly are.”
“We’ll see about that!”
Orphen shouted loudly, as he prepared an incantation:
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
A barrage of light and heat swallowed Vulcan whole, the resulting explosion knocked him out.
“That’ll shut you up.”
Someone then screamed behind him.
“Wahhhhh!”
It was Majic, he was shouting as he climbed onto the roof. Actually, he was being forced up onto the roof by the villagers who were chasing him.
Orphen immediately looked around him. All the villagers were around them, they had the small house surrounded.
“This is just great.”
Orphen said to himself. Majic carefully ran over to him, and said:
“Master, what are we going to do?”
He listened to his student, and sighed.
“You never do listen.”
Orphen grabbed Majic by shoulders.
Majic cried:
“Uh——your hurting me, Master.”
“If I let you go, you will die!”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll use magic to get us out of the village.”
“I didn’t know you could do such a thing.”
“It might be possible——it will be a little rough but I’m sure we’ll live.”
“Don’t make a sound, I’m trying to transfer your magic to me. That way we’ll get further away.”
“O-okay!”
There was no time to think, the numerous villagers had already drawn their murderous weapons. Some of them were attempting to climb onto the roof.
“If I fail, our bodies will boil and disappear. If there is an obstacle in our way, the possibility that we will die is high. If we fidget too much, it will cause the air to heat up, we can’t let this happen, it needs to be perfect.”
He turned his gaze towards the villagers, and went on to say:
“These people will most likely fight until the last man. Would you do the same?”
“You mean do I want to die?”
Majic hastily said, Orphen shook his head and said:
“No, you’re wrong.”
“Huh?”
“These people will do anything to survive, regardless of the outcome. For example, they may use Feina as a hostage.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
Majic retorted. Orphen didn’t really care. This bickering wasn’t helping. One of the men had already climbed onto the roof, he was armed with a shovel.
“Damn it…this situation just got worse.”
Orphen clenched his fist. He couldn’t risk losing some of the energy he was taking from Majic, but he had to do something about the villager.
“Eat shit!”
Orphen screamed, as he knocked the man off the roof.
* * *
“Hey. It seems they are waiting.”
Sarua heard a voice, he looked up and saw Feina wearing a brown cloak.
There was a lot of hustle and bustle in the village. They could hear an explosion in the distance. However, they were not concerned about this……
She saw him first, and lowered his eyelids.
“Are we going without that person?”
“Who?”
Sarua asked, puzzled. The girl hesitated, the spoke.
“One of Makudogaru’s servants. I know about you and her, you are lovers.”
“You mean me and that woman?”
It wasn’t that kind of relationship. At least not since him and his brother had fallen, he was meant to bring her back home. ——However, in the face of Feina, Sarua had to be very clear.
(Please don’t think of me as a man who holds a beauty in the palm of his hands, or a triumphant hero. I am just a humble and poor assassin.)
Sarua then said:
“Everyone in the village is confused……and besides, I didn’t know where else to go. She’s probably still here somewhere, for her, its better I stay here.”
Feina stayed silent.
“Come on. Let’s take advantage of the confusion.”
Sarua waved his hand.
“If you are still worried about Majic, don’t worry, he won’t die…he can’t die.”
Her eyes flashed, she happily said:
“It’ll be impossible for him to die here.”
However, Feina had a weird feeling——she uneasily looked at the centre of the village, and said:
“Okay……I’m ready, are you?”
Sarua looked her up and down, then he said:
“Now that Makudogaru is dead, if the villagers catch you they’ll imprison you. The most important thing is that you survive all of this.”
“Okay…where are we going?”
“Jimulake. You’ll be my daughter while we’re travelling, we’re heading to meet my brother.”
“I’d like to meet your brother.”
“You’ll regret those words someday.”
Sarua sighed, and gently patted her on the head.
He looked behind himself, he could hear Orphen yelling some magical incantation.
“That guy……he won’t die in a place like this.”
He softly said to himself. Feina looked at him with a look of surprise on her face.
Then, he brought Feina into the forest.
* * *
Majic and Orphen were still on the roof, both of them were nearly out of breath. They had just defended themselves against a couple of villagers. Orphen looked at Majic, he took a deep breath, and said:
“……Can you hold it much longer?”
Majic didn’t answer, he just shook his head.
(He’s doing well, for a kid.)
Even though he didn’t have much combat skills, he had repulsed the enemy with magical attacks. But——
“Stop right there.”
Five more men had climbed up onto the roof——they were very young, around twenty years old. They were armed with pistols.
“Looks like its Makudogaru’s private guard!”
Orphen sarcastically said.
“You evil sorcerer——you killed our great leader, we will have our revenge!”
Orphen casually responded:
“Whatever you say, buddy! I’m tired.”
“M-Master!?”
Orphen ignored Majic.
“Aim a little higher. One can’t solve problems by taking people’s lives away.”
“……Away?”
The man didn’t understand, Orphen continued to smile.
“In a village like this, don’t you have anyone to teach you how to make another leader?”
The men all looked at each other in confusion.
Orphen went on to say:
“You guys should have paid more attention——because I’m seizing this opportunity!”
“What!?”
(It’s time!)
Orphen said to himself. He grabbed Majic with all of his might.
“I dance in thee——”
The men immediately raised their guns.
“——Mansion of Heaven!”
“Wahhhhh!”
Majic couldn’t help but cry out. Orphen propelled them with his magic to a nearby house instead of clearing the village.
With his feet steady on the roof, Orphen cried out:
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
A barrage of light and heat struck the house they once stood on. The men fell off the burning house one by one.
“You did it!”
Majic cheered, but the villagers simply surrounded the house they stood on.
“In this case…”
Orphen wiped the sweat from his head.
“I think I’ll play with them!”
Orphen struck an offensive posture. He began to channel his magical energy. He could feel his whole body infused with power——
——He felt like his body was floating——
His body was wrapped in it, it was a very quiet feeling……gentle.
Whoosh!
What sounded like gushing water filled everyone’s ears. Meanwhile, their vision was blinded, Orphen screamed. When it was all over——
Orphen opened his eyes. Nothing changed around him. Nothing…
Majic fell to the ground in front of him. He looked towards the centre of the village——there was a huge crater. The tower…the factories…all of it vanished in a flashed.
“What just…”
Orphen was astonished. In the empty crater……there was a hissing sound, giant objects appeared all around them. The Deep Dragon-Fenrir!
The villagers stared in amazement.
Orphen looked around, he didn’t know when the Deep Dragon’s surrounded them.
“Orphen!”
Suddenly, a clear voice broke the silence. Upon closer inspection, in the centre of the village was a Deep Dragon, on its back stood Cleo. Somehow she was still holding the little Dragon in her arms, behind her, three soldiers trembled with fear.
Orphen and the villagers were all confused.
“This Dragon——how should I say this——is very, very angry!”
“……Huh?”
“It says all these people in the village should die!”
After she said those words, the eyes of the Deep Dragon widened.
At that moment, white hot flame seemly spread over everything——the light and the heat was too great for them to stand. The sound of buildings evaporating filled their ears, and presumably, boiling metal. In the glaring light——Orphen covered his face with his arms. Sweeping hot air touched his skin, bringing severe pain.
After the light disappeared, half the village was gone.
Silence——then——
“Ahhhh!”
(All that with just a glance!?)
Orphen desperately watched the Deep Dragon. Around him, the villagers were panicking. A a considerable number of villagers caught up in the attack.
“Black magic?”
Orphen said to himself. Majic was now on his knees, crying.
“W-W-Wha…”
Orphen grabbed Majic by the shoulders and pulled him up. He then shouted:
“Cleo, what the hell are you doing on the back of that dragon?”
“Because——”
The girl shouted, but the little dragon was fidgeting in her arms.
“This child’s family, their plan is to destroy the village, they are willing to let us leave——I really wanted to stop them, so they brought us with them.”
“I can’t believe this——”
Orphen was willing to berate her, but he gave up. He felt something hard squeeze into his mind.
He instinctively diverted his attention——it was naturally the eyes of the Deep Dragon. Its deep green emerald eyes shining brightly.
“You, you have violated the sacred rules. This is taboo.”
This voice——is was just like that time he sneaked into the village at night, it was speaking to his mind.
“For this, you will be executed.”
Among the crowd of villagers, none of them could understand this silence. But——they knew it wasn’t good, it was a sign something was going to happen.
Soon, the killing will begin.
“……Taboo?”
With great difficulty, Orphen jumped off the roof. The Dragon’s eyes flashed, intense heat flew out——looking around, it was clear that over a dozen people were incinerated. A white pillar of fire was in the sky, it disappeared shortly after.
“Woah……”
Orphen dropped to the ground, and grabbed his dragon pendant. His heart beated rapidly——it was hopeless.
“Shit, shit, shit!”
Orphen ripped off his dragon pendant, he raised it high as if it was a weapon. The Deep Dragon ignored him, it was ready to continue the attack. Orphen shouted:
“I dance in thee, mansion of heaven!”
This was transfer magic——but he didn’t transfer himself, but the cold silver pendant in his hands. In an instant the Dragon Pendant disappeared, a sharp sound filled his ears——it went through the Dragon’s body, and appeared on the other side.
An explosion occurred in the Dragon’s throat. The resulting shockwave forced it to lean sideways——those riding on its back fell off. The black dragon slowly raised its head.
(Okay, it seemed that trick didn’t work…)
Orphen was desperate, he needed to do something quick.
The black beast looked Orphen firmly in the eye——he didn’t know whether it was going to attack or not. Meanwhile, the villagers started to flee in every direction, they disappeared into the light of the fires.
(With a single glance, it will remove me from this world.)
Orhen was afraid to admit it, he couldn’t win.
“Orphen!”
Someone suddenly shouted his name. It was Cleo, she still had the little dragon in her arms, she and Majic ran over beside him.
“I’ll help you!”
She simply said.
“……And how are you going to do that?”
Cleo and Majic believed they could do something. Orphen looked at them, he felt like laughing, and then——he looked towards the Dragon’s powerful eyes. (If Krylancelo was here, things would be different.)
“We have no chance of winning, even if we came up with a plan, a bluff, they wouldn’t be effective——it can read our minds!”
“…What are we going to do?”
Cleo asked. Orphen sighed. In an instant, Orphen pulled the little dragon from Cleo’s arms and grabbed it by the neck.
“We have a hostage!”
“O-Orphen!”
Cleo screamed. Majic saw this, he was shocked. Although he didn’t expect it to be used as a shield, there was nothing else he could do.
“I’m serious, you damn Deep Dragon……”
Orphen shouted, knowing it could already read his mind. He summarized that it was probably it’s mother, that way she would cooperate easily.
“I won’t ask why you attacked this village——I just want you to leave this place!”
The small dragon didn’t seem to understand what was going on, even so, it seemed pretty calm.
“If you leave this place, I will let this child go. Decide quickly……I received training in the art of magical assassination, I’ll act without mercy.”
There was no answer, in front of him…the Dragon’s eyes narrowed.
After a long silence, she said:
“Do as you like.”
“What?”
Orphen didn’t believe it. The Dragon then said flatly:
“Do not underestimate our magic……we can give life, and take it. We are warriors. We can give pain, but also heal it.”
Its green eyes opened.
“Our race does not have a meaningless existence——yours on the other hand, your lives are worthless.”
“…Worthless?”
Orphen clenched his teeth.
Although he knew having purpose in life was one thing, casual disregard of life was another.
“Killing people, such a thing shouldn’t be allowed.”
Orphen said, as he thought about all those poor people who were incinerated. He put his hand on the small dragon’s neck, stretched it forwards, towards the Deep Dragon.
“I commend you, but you don’t understand.”
The Dragon quietly said.
“Farewell.”
The next moment, the Dragon closed its eyes. So did Orphen.
A moment passed, the Dragon didn’t launch an attack. Upon seeing this, Orphen immediately turned around and started running——
He bumped into a few of the villagers, and ran towards his chosen destination.
He ran down the street towards the house he had set on fire earlier, he looked around the place for a while. He was looking for something made from iron, a pistol.
Orphen picked it up without saying anything. He looked down the barrel, and confirmed that there were bullets inside, he counted a total of four shots. Holding the gun in his hand, he hoped that the raging fires wouldn’t cause the gun to explode.
Haa——Orphen exhaled.
“Magic won’t work, guns won’t work, but I can’t fight it unarmed.”
He held the gun firmly in his right hand.
“Are you ready?”
——A voice suddenly said in his head.
Orphen cried:
“I spin thee, armour of light!”
At the same time, he raised his right arm.
As he held his arm up, an array of light surrounded his body. Then, everything was covered with light——then, it was gone.
The array of light had disappeared.
Whoosh……a gust of wind blew past him——Orphen and the Deep Dragon stared at one another. The house was gone, he looked around the village and saw only Deep Dragons——the escaping villagers were nowhere to be seen. Not far from the village, lay the stiff bodies of Cleo and Majic——Cleo still holding the little Dragon in her arms. He didn’t know where the three soldiers went.
Orphen simply raised the pistol with both hands, and pressed the trigger. Bang——he aimed for its eyes, the bullet flew towards the Dragon, and then——it disappeared.
It seemed the Dragon deflected the bullet with magic.
Orphen didn’t say a word.
“Do not hate us……we are a race of warriors. We live to fight.”
“You annihilated defenceless human beings, that isn’t a fight! That’s a massacre!”
“We had our orders, the village was no longer necessary.”
“……No longer necessary?”
He thought of all those poor villagers who died.
“They worshiped you!”
“We know this. Our servitor was here.”
A face appeared in Orphen’s mind, it was Fiena’s.
“I see. The priestess.”
“Our master needed information on Makudogaru——we allowed him to give her shelter, put her in the village.”
“……Information……”
He squeezed the gun so hard it hurt.
(The Dragon, no, their master.)
“Although Fiena spent a lot of time in the village, he may have either lost or forgotten the information we seek.”
Orphen thought their judgement was wrong, but he didn’t dare refute them. Makudogaru was dead, this was unjustified.
He asked about something else.
“Why are you telling me these things?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Orphen felt the Dragon’s eyes piercing his body.
“We want you to be our new servitor.”
“…………”
Orphen immediately jumped backwards——he was ready to cast defensive magic, but he knew it was impossible for a human to successfully defend themselves against a Deep Dragon.
No matter how far he could jump, he could never get away from the spiritual domination of the Deep Dragon.
He shouted:
“I spin thee, armour of light!”
Such things cannot resist the power of a Deep Dragon. As soon as the light started to surround him, it disappeared.
(…………?!)
Orphen couldn’t believe it, he continued to cast magic.
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
The wave of light and heat dissipated a few seconds after it left the palm of his hand.
Suddenly, an idea flashed in Orphen’s head.
(I see…you guys…)
“You finally noticed.”
The Dragon’s voice was very calm. Faced with this unusually quiet tone, Orphen was no longer scared.
He shouted in his head.
(You aren’t gods! You are sorcerers!)
Magic is not a power that can fix everything, only God-like “magic” can do that.
Even so, that doesn’t mean the gap of power between Orphen and the Deep Dragon got any smaller.
Like voice magic, it can only go as far as your voice can be heard——
(The same goes for dark magic, it cannot work outside their line of sight.)
With the overwhelming heat that destroyed the village, they were unable to deal with it, just like their use of mental domination in this area, but as long as they can block their line of sight, they can defend themselves.
“Majic!”
Orphen cried, as he fired two pistol rounds. The Dragon easily destroyed it.
“Use that!”
“Hmm…use what?”
Majic shouted.
(Does he mean that spell?)
At that time, Majic shouted in a high pitched voice:
“I disrupt thee, column of light!”
He said the incantation with excellent proficiency. In the area around him, light began to reflect from numerous metal objects, blinding the Deep Dragon.
“You plan to block my line of sight.”
The Dragon said in a calm tone. However, due to its line of sight being blocked, its voice was distorted.
“Exactly.”
Orphen said.
“We’ll reflect the light and hit you in your blind spots.”
“Ahhh!”
Majic shouted in a panicked voice.
At this time, Orphen also began to cast magic. With his right hand extended, he shouted:
“I construct thee, spire of the sun!”
Compressed objects began to expand, they could hear things rubbing together. These objects exploded, causing a great crimson fire to surround the Deep Dragon.
“You can’t prevail with just this.”
“I know!”
Orphen had little room for error.
He was ready to unleash his next attack, at that time——
Boom! It was followed by a crackling sound, and a moan from the Dragon.
Wrapped around the inferno, the Deep Dragon fell to the ground. The remaining villagers and Deep Dragon were shocked.
“The pistol exploded.”
Orphen said, as he stared at the Deep Dragon.
“Blocking its line of sight allowed me to play a little trick——I threw the pistol towards its head, the heat forced the barrel to overheat and explode the remaining bullets. Hitting the target with maximum efficiency.”
“By blocking my mental domination, I couldn’t read your thoughts……”
At such a close range, the Dragon should have only received minor injuries, even so, its voice was a bit chaotic.
“However, you can’t kill me……”
“…………”
This was a fact. The Dragon was still alive, and even if he did manage to kill it, there was still more surrounding the village.
Orphen remained silent. The Deep Dragon continued:
“Even so, we can still eliminate you.”
“…………”
Orphen tightly clenched his fist.
Hearing this words, it was contrary to Orphen’s expectations.
“I know your true name——Krylancelo.”
“……What……?”
Orphen felt like he had been punched in the gut. It was impossible for the Dragon to know his true name, there was no way it could have hear it.
“I know your partner——because of our agreement, I won’t kill you. If you want to protect the lives of those around you, kneel before us, and we will leave.”
“…………”
Orphen watched the Deep Dragons, his mind was to breaking point. His partner——a human and a dragon——made an agreement?
A godlike race made a pact.
To be able to do such a thing——
Orphen could only think of one person.
(The strongest sorcerer on the continent——my teacher, Childman, was it him?)
He shouted in his mind, but the Dragon didn’t answer. It slowly got up, even though it was injured, it didn’t make a sound.
“However, this village must be destroyed. Those who attempt to enter the sacred forest must be eliminated.”
All the Dragon’s rose around them, their eyes focused on the village. Knowing what would happen, Orphen closed his eyes.
(When I open them——no one will exist——we will all be dead.)
He could feel the searing heat all around him, it was almost unbearable.
Then, it was gone. He opened his eyes.
The whole village was gone. It was completely removed from the earth, the entire area where the village once stood was scorched beyond belief.
Though oddly, it seemed Cleo, Majic, and none of the villagers died. Including Orphen.
They found themselves lying on the ground, staring upwards at the Deep Dragons who stood over them. A smaller figure stood over Orphen.
(Cleo……?)
No, the body was too small, it was Fiena——the priestess.
“Why did you come back? Fiena……”
The Dragon’s voice echoed across the scorched earth. Orphen could feel the girls voice answer, it was tense and stiff——but surprisingly clear.
“I know I was meant to escape. These villagers have infringed upon the sanctity of the forest, they cannot be let go, this I know.”
“Yes……I told you as much. Though, what about the assassin? He has fled, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, I showed Sarua the way out of the forest, he has some information you might want. But he is my friend, I won’t hand him over to you, and the same goes for these people.”
She looked at Majic, then looked back at the Dragon. With open arms, she said:
“I share all your five senses, I can use your magic——you are the Deep Dragon tribe, you are small in number yet very powerful, but you can’t leave this place, can you? If you did, your magic would stop working.”
“It appears you have chosen poorly……”
As the Dragon spoke, an electric shock went through Fiena’s body, it appeared she was released from her bonds. Due to the impact, the girl was sent flying backwards, Orphen quickly stepped forward grabbed her. Trembling, she went on to say:
“This was a mistake from the beginning. You should have sought a stronger person, maybe then……Makudogaru could have been persuaded. Then this foolish plan could have been avoided all together.”
Afterwards, she began to cry——Orphen felt she was in a state of confusion, he was in no position to comfort her. He looked over at Majic, winking at him.
Majic ran over, and took Fiena in his arms. Orphen then said:
“Makudogaru is dead. No one will infringe upon the forest anymore. You should not have appeared in force……”
“You are missing the point, crime deserves punishment.”
“Haven’t you killed enough people?”
“The forest was violated because they don’t understand the meaning of sacred land.”
“How does that require the slaughter of an entire village?”
“Crime deserves punishment.”
The Dragon said flatly, Orphen was speechless, then, a voice came from behind them.
“It’s time!”
It was Cleo. It seemed she was launching some kind of surprise attack. Holding the little Dragon in her arms, she said:
“Go for it!”
Suddenly, an enormous light shined from the little Dragon’s eyes. It hit the Deep Dragon’s feet, expanding and consuming everything in its sight.
Numerous loud sounds filled everyone’s ears——then it stopped, all the Deep Dragon’s had seemly disappeared. It was obvious that blow hadn’t killed them, they must have retreated. Whoosh——a gust of wind was left in their wake, only silence remained.
“Human sorcerer……we are at that girl’s mercy……we must obey……”
“…………!?”
Orphen looked towards Cleo and the small Dragon. It seemed she was its new mother, like a baby, it buried its head and began rubbing itself against Cleo.
“My kind are warriors, we have paid our price. Even Kings and Queens cannot handle our power, yet you have been given it for free.”
“…………”
No one spoke after that.
“If you were to retain your own freedom that would be dangerous. You will be under our control from now on, you must obey our orders.”
“Like hell I will!”
Stretching his hand forward, he exclaimed:
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
A wave of light and heat disappeared into the forest. There was no response from the Dragon, even if there was, Orphen didn’t want to hear it.
A moment later, the only thing they could hear was the rustling of the forest.
No one really understood the real meaning behind their words. Fiena was till crying——except now, these were tears of joy. Majic patted her back, comforting her. So too were the villagers happy, their time in the forest was truly over, they would morn their dead and move on towards a brighter horizon. Finally, Orphen looked at Cleo, her blue eyes shining in the darkness. With the little dragon at her chest, he wondered what the future held for them all.
Orphen shifted his attention upwards. Looking up at the morning sky, he watched it change colour.
Right away, a man armed with an axe busted down the front door, he shouted:
“You stupid sorcerer!”
Another man rushed in behind him. They were heading down the straight hallway——Orphen stretched his hand towards the leading man.
He took a deep breath, and shouted:
“I let thou flow, angel's breath!”
A magical blast of wind quickly pushed the man backwards, he covered his mouth and cursed. Orphen squinted as the man struck the other, both of them were blown to a dead end, he didn’t pay them any attention, as he cried:
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
A wave of light and heat flew from his fingertips, searing the walls and exploding like a firecracker. Orphen rushed down the corridor, the billowing smoke proved to be enough for his escape from the house.
“He’s running away!”
A townsperson cried. After Orphen heard this, he looked back towards the house.
“Makudogaru…”
He recalled the moment when Makudogaru shot himself in the head, Orphen said:
“It would have costed extra to bury the body.”
He raised his hand, he didn’t hesitate to use the maximum amount of power.
“I crush thee, origin of silence!”
At that moment——the centre of the house began to crumble, it was followed by a loud noise, a huge explosion. Orphen dodged the flying pieces of debris from the house, as he ran quickly. The explosion of the house hindered those who wanted to follow after him, though——when they saw how much power he wielded, they gave chase. Although he was sorry for those who were in and near the house, he knew they were unlikely to die.
The noise emitted from the crumbling house was deafening, it mixed in with the villagers screams around the village.
He wanted to make the most out of this opportunity, he thought of a few——one of them was to cause confusion, but keep himself calm.
Orphen ran and casually stretched forth his hand, without looking he casted magic.
“Sword of Light, whom I do release!”
A torrent of light and heat flew through the air. The resulting explosion engulfed several buildings, setting them aflame.
(This should sow some confusion……)
Orphen thought, as he ran in the opposite direction of the inferno.
After a few meters——someone spotted him.
“There he is!”
“Over there!”
Orphen immediately shouted:
“I call thee, sisters of rupture!”
The air vibrated, multiple shockwaves sent all but one of the villagers to the ground.
“……Uh?”
The young man couldn’t help but stare in amazement, he looked back and forth to his fallen comrades.
“You——you——you are our enemy.”
The man picked up a brick, he aimed at Orphen’s stomach. Orphen mercilessly kicked him to the ground. The young man moaned as he fell, Orphen continued to hit him in the head until he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Man……you sure are a troublesome lot.”
Orphen said as he ran. Even if he was able to trick half of the villagers, the other half would soon become aware of what was really happening.
“Master!”
He ran in the direction of the shouting, he was Majic, he was standing in the street, waving at him.
Orphen then got angry.
“What are you doing in a place like this?”
“Because——”
Majic slowly began to explain:
“I went to get Feina out of the village, but she wasn’t in the Tower! I looked all around the village……”
“I am a man of my word! Can’t you do anything right!?”
“But Master, if we don’t get her out of the village……Makudogaru will kill her!”
Orphen angrily grabbed Majic by the collar.
“Just meet up with Cleo and the others, get out of here now, I’ll deal with the rest.”
“Fine, I’ll do what Master wants.”
“I won’t stand for this——every time I tell you to do something you just ignore what I say.”
Orphen was done reprimanding him, he wiped his brow. Although it was morning, the temperature had begun to rise. Suddenly——
“Wuhahaha!”
Laughter echoed throughout the village. The atmosphere of the village became unpleasant.
Orphen half opened his eyes, and said:
“Majic, listen to me. I’ll deal with this.”
“I know. That needn’t be said.”
The laughter continued.
“Villagers! It’s time for purge this place of the evil sorcerer! Not because of personal reasons, but for righteousness!”
Needless to say, it was Vulcan’s voice. He had unwittingly begun to incite the villagers.
Orphen couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, so he climbed on top of a nearby house to get a better look.
Not too far away he saw them——Vulcan and Dortin were leading a bunch of villagers (mostly children) down the street.
Orphen then shouted:
“I construct thee, spire of the sun!”
Suddenly, without any warning, Vulcan was surrounded by a pillar of fire.
“Ahhhhh!”
The children beside Vulcan all screamed and scattered. Dortin ran away too, taking cover nearby. Vulcan jumped, and seemed to dance, a moment later, the fire was gone. Vulcan knew who was responsible for this.
“You bastard!”
Noticing Orphen, he pointed a finger at him, and shouted:
“You wouldn’t even care if all those people got burned! When the sun rises to its highest point in the sky, I will launch my surprise attack and kill you once and for all!”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about……”
Dortin said. Orphen wasn’t putting up for any of his nonsense.
“I’m sick of you! You’re the one who keeps putting people’s lives in danger, and betraying them every chance you get.”
“Oh, you are a despicable murderer, the villagers will hand you for what you did!”
“Me? They’ll hang you for being a stupid racoon dog!”
“All of these stupid villagers are under my spell, my voice is like poetry to their ears, they seem you as the murderer you truly are.”
“We’ll see about that!”
Orphen shouted loudly, as he prepared an incantation:
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
A barrage of light and heat swallowed Vulcan whole, the resulting explosion knocked him out.
“That’ll shut you up.”
Someone then screamed behind him.
“Wahhhhh!”
It was Majic, he was shouting as he climbed onto the roof. Actually, he was being forced up onto the roof by the villagers who were chasing him.
Orphen immediately looked around him. All the villagers were around them, they had the small house surrounded.
“This is just great.”
Orphen said to himself. Majic carefully ran over to him, and said:
“Master, what are we going to do?”
He listened to his student, and sighed.
“You never do listen.”
Orphen grabbed Majic by shoulders.
Majic cried:
“Uh——your hurting me, Master.”
“If I let you go, you will die!”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll use magic to get us out of the village.”
“I didn’t know you could do such a thing.”
“It might be possible——it will be a little rough but I’m sure we’ll live.”
“Don’t make a sound, I’m trying to transfer your magic to me. That way we’ll get further away.”
“O-okay!”
There was no time to think, the numerous villagers had already drawn their murderous weapons. Some of them were attempting to climb onto the roof.
“If I fail, our bodies will boil and disappear. If there is an obstacle in our way, the possibility that we will die is high. If we fidget too much, it will cause the air to heat up, we can’t let this happen, it needs to be perfect.”
He turned his gaze towards the villagers, and went on to say:
“These people will most likely fight until the last man. Would you do the same?”
“You mean do I want to die?”
Majic hastily said, Orphen shook his head and said:
“No, you’re wrong.”
“Huh?”
“These people will do anything to survive, regardless of the outcome. For example, they may use Feina as a hostage.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
Majic retorted. Orphen didn’t really care. This bickering wasn’t helping. One of the men had already climbed onto the roof, he was armed with a shovel.
“Damn it…this situation just got worse.”
Orphen clenched his fist. He couldn’t risk losing some of the energy he was taking from Majic, but he had to do something about the villager.
“Eat shit!”
Orphen screamed, as he knocked the man off the roof.
* * *
“Hey. It seems they are waiting.”
Sarua heard a voice, he looked up and saw Feina wearing a brown cloak.
There was a lot of hustle and bustle in the village. They could hear an explosion in the distance. However, they were not concerned about this……
She saw him first, and lowered his eyelids.
“Are we going without that person?”
“Who?”
Sarua asked, puzzled. The girl hesitated, the spoke.
“One of Makudogaru’s servants. I know about you and her, you are lovers.”
“You mean me and that woman?”
It wasn’t that kind of relationship. At least not since him and his brother had fallen, he was meant to bring her back home. ——However, in the face of Feina, Sarua had to be very clear.
(Please don’t think of me as a man who holds a beauty in the palm of his hands, or a triumphant hero. I am just a humble and poor assassin.)
Sarua then said:
“Everyone in the village is confused……and besides, I didn’t know where else to go. She’s probably still here somewhere, for her, its better I stay here.”
Feina stayed silent.
“Come on. Let’s take advantage of the confusion.”
Sarua waved his hand.
“If you are still worried about Majic, don’t worry, he won’t die…he can’t die.”
Her eyes flashed, she happily said:
“It’ll be impossible for him to die here.”
However, Feina had a weird feeling——she uneasily looked at the centre of the village, and said:
“Okay……I’m ready, are you?”
Sarua looked her up and down, then he said:
“Now that Makudogaru is dead, if the villagers catch you they’ll imprison you. The most important thing is that you survive all of this.”
“Okay…where are we going?”
“Jimulake. You’ll be my daughter while we’re travelling, we’re heading to meet my brother.”
“I’d like to meet your brother.”
“You’ll regret those words someday.”
Sarua sighed, and gently patted her on the head.
He looked behind himself, he could hear Orphen yelling some magical incantation.
“That guy……he won’t die in a place like this.”
He softly said to himself. Feina looked at him with a look of surprise on her face.
Then, he brought Feina into the forest.
* * *
Majic and Orphen were still on the roof, both of them were nearly out of breath. They had just defended themselves against a couple of villagers. Orphen looked at Majic, he took a deep breath, and said:
“……Can you hold it much longer?”
Majic didn’t answer, he just shook his head.
(He’s doing well, for a kid.)
Even though he didn’t have much combat skills, he had repulsed the enemy with magical attacks. But——
“Stop right there.”
Five more men had climbed up onto the roof——they were very young, around twenty years old. They were armed with pistols.
“Looks like its Makudogaru’s private guard!”
Orphen sarcastically said.
“You evil sorcerer——you killed our great leader, we will have our revenge!”
Orphen casually responded:
“Whatever you say, buddy! I’m tired.”
“M-Master!?”
Orphen ignored Majic.
“Aim a little higher. One can’t solve problems by taking people’s lives away.”
“……Away?”
The man didn’t understand, Orphen continued to smile.
“In a village like this, don’t you have anyone to teach you how to make another leader?”
The men all looked at each other in confusion.
Orphen went on to say:
“You guys should have paid more attention——because I’m seizing this opportunity!”
“What!?”
(It’s time!)
Orphen said to himself. He grabbed Majic with all of his might.
“I dance in thee——”
The men immediately raised their guns.
“——Mansion of Heaven!”
“Wahhhhh!”
Majic couldn’t help but cry out. Orphen propelled them with his magic to a nearby house instead of clearing the village.
With his feet steady on the roof, Orphen cried out:
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
A barrage of light and heat struck the house they once stood on. The men fell off the burning house one by one.
“You did it!”
Majic cheered, but the villagers simply surrounded the house they stood on.
“In this case…”
Orphen wiped the sweat from his head.
“I think I’ll play with them!”
Orphen struck an offensive posture. He began to channel his magical energy. He could feel his whole body infused with power——
——He felt like his body was floating——
His body was wrapped in it, it was a very quiet feeling……gentle.
Whoosh!
What sounded like gushing water filled everyone’s ears. Meanwhile, their vision was blinded, Orphen screamed. When it was all over——
Orphen opened his eyes. Nothing changed around him. Nothing…
Majic fell to the ground in front of him. He looked towards the centre of the village——there was a huge crater. The tower…the factories…all of it vanished in a flashed.
“What just…”
Orphen was astonished. In the empty crater……there was a hissing sound, giant objects appeared all around them. The Deep Dragon-Fenrir!
The villagers stared in amazement.
Orphen looked around, he didn’t know when the Deep Dragon’s surrounded them.
“Orphen!”
Suddenly, a clear voice broke the silence. Upon closer inspection, in the centre of the village was a Deep Dragon, on its back stood Cleo. Somehow she was still holding the little Dragon in her arms, behind her, three soldiers trembled with fear.
Orphen and the villagers were all confused.
“This Dragon——how should I say this——is very, very angry!”
“……Huh?”
“It says all these people in the village should die!”
After she said those words, the eyes of the Deep Dragon widened.
At that moment, white hot flame seemly spread over everything——the light and the heat was too great for them to stand. The sound of buildings evaporating filled their ears, and presumably, boiling metal. In the glaring light——Orphen covered his face with his arms. Sweeping hot air touched his skin, bringing severe pain.
After the light disappeared, half the village was gone.
Silence——then——
“Ahhhh!”
(All that with just a glance!?)
Orphen desperately watched the Deep Dragon. Around him, the villagers were panicking. A a considerable number of villagers caught up in the attack.
“Black magic?”
Orphen said to himself. Majic was now on his knees, crying.
“W-W-Wha…”
Orphen grabbed Majic by the shoulders and pulled him up. He then shouted:
“Cleo, what the hell are you doing on the back of that dragon?”
“Because——”
The girl shouted, but the little dragon was fidgeting in her arms.
“This child’s family, their plan is to destroy the village, they are willing to let us leave——I really wanted to stop them, so they brought us with them.”
“I can’t believe this——”
Orphen was willing to berate her, but he gave up. He felt something hard squeeze into his mind.
He instinctively diverted his attention——it was naturally the eyes of the Deep Dragon. Its deep green emerald eyes shining brightly.
“You, you have violated the sacred rules. This is taboo.”
This voice——is was just like that time he sneaked into the village at night, it was speaking to his mind.
“For this, you will be executed.”
Among the crowd of villagers, none of them could understand this silence. But——they knew it wasn’t good, it was a sign something was going to happen.
Soon, the killing will begin.
“……Taboo?”
With great difficulty, Orphen jumped off the roof. The Dragon’s eyes flashed, intense heat flew out——looking around, it was clear that over a dozen people were incinerated. A white pillar of fire was in the sky, it disappeared shortly after.
“Woah……”
Orphen dropped to the ground, and grabbed his dragon pendant. His heart beated rapidly——it was hopeless.
“Shit, shit, shit!”
Orphen ripped off his dragon pendant, he raised it high as if it was a weapon. The Deep Dragon ignored him, it was ready to continue the attack. Orphen shouted:
“I dance in thee, mansion of heaven!”
This was transfer magic——but he didn’t transfer himself, but the cold silver pendant in his hands. In an instant the Dragon Pendant disappeared, a sharp sound filled his ears——it went through the Dragon’s body, and appeared on the other side.
An explosion occurred in the Dragon’s throat. The resulting shockwave forced it to lean sideways——those riding on its back fell off. The black dragon slowly raised its head.
(Okay, it seemed that trick didn’t work…)
Orphen was desperate, he needed to do something quick.
The black beast looked Orphen firmly in the eye——he didn’t know whether it was going to attack or not. Meanwhile, the villagers started to flee in every direction, they disappeared into the light of the fires.
(With a single glance, it will remove me from this world.)
Orhen was afraid to admit it, he couldn’t win.
“Orphen!”
Someone suddenly shouted his name. It was Cleo, she still had the little dragon in her arms, she and Majic ran over beside him.
“I’ll help you!”
She simply said.
“……And how are you going to do that?”
Cleo and Majic believed they could do something. Orphen looked at them, he felt like laughing, and then——he looked towards the Dragon’s powerful eyes. (If Krylancelo was here, things would be different.)
“We have no chance of winning, even if we came up with a plan, a bluff, they wouldn’t be effective——it can read our minds!”
“…What are we going to do?”
Cleo asked. Orphen sighed. In an instant, Orphen pulled the little dragon from Cleo’s arms and grabbed it by the neck.
“We have a hostage!”
“O-Orphen!”
Cleo screamed. Majic saw this, he was shocked. Although he didn’t expect it to be used as a shield, there was nothing else he could do.
“I’m serious, you damn Deep Dragon……”
Orphen shouted, knowing it could already read his mind. He summarized that it was probably it’s mother, that way she would cooperate easily.
“I won’t ask why you attacked this village——I just want you to leave this place!”
The small dragon didn’t seem to understand what was going on, even so, it seemed pretty calm.
“If you leave this place, I will let this child go. Decide quickly……I received training in the art of magical assassination, I’ll act without mercy.”
There was no answer, in front of him…the Dragon’s eyes narrowed.
After a long silence, she said:
“Do as you like.”
“What?”
Orphen didn’t believe it. The Dragon then said flatly:
“Do not underestimate our magic……we can give life, and take it. We are warriors. We can give pain, but also heal it.”
Its green eyes opened.
“Our race does not have a meaningless existence——yours on the other hand, your lives are worthless.”
“…Worthless?”
Orphen clenched his teeth.
Although he knew having purpose in life was one thing, casual disregard of life was another.
“Killing people, such a thing shouldn’t be allowed.”
Orphen said, as he thought about all those poor people who were incinerated. He put his hand on the small dragon’s neck, stretched it forwards, towards the Deep Dragon.
“I commend you, but you don’t understand.”
The Dragon quietly said.
“Farewell.”
The next moment, the Dragon closed its eyes. So did Orphen.
A moment passed, the Dragon didn’t launch an attack. Upon seeing this, Orphen immediately turned around and started running——
He bumped into a few of the villagers, and ran towards his chosen destination.
He ran down the street towards the house he had set on fire earlier, he looked around the place for a while. He was looking for something made from iron, a pistol.
Orphen picked it up without saying anything. He looked down the barrel, and confirmed that there were bullets inside, he counted a total of four shots. Holding the gun in his hand, he hoped that the raging fires wouldn’t cause the gun to explode.
Haa——Orphen exhaled.
“Magic won’t work, guns won’t work, but I can’t fight it unarmed.”
He held the gun firmly in his right hand.
“Are you ready?”
——A voice suddenly said in his head.
Orphen cried:
“I spin thee, armour of light!”
At the same time, he raised his right arm.
As he held his arm up, an array of light surrounded his body. Then, everything was covered with light——then, it was gone.
The array of light had disappeared.
Whoosh……a gust of wind blew past him——Orphen and the Deep Dragon stared at one another. The house was gone, he looked around the village and saw only Deep Dragons——the escaping villagers were nowhere to be seen. Not far from the village, lay the stiff bodies of Cleo and Majic——Cleo still holding the little Dragon in her arms. He didn’t know where the three soldiers went.
Orphen simply raised the pistol with both hands, and pressed the trigger. Bang——he aimed for its eyes, the bullet flew towards the Dragon, and then——it disappeared.
It seemed the Dragon deflected the bullet with magic.
Orphen didn’t say a word.
“Do not hate us……we are a race of warriors. We live to fight.”
“You annihilated defenceless human beings, that isn’t a fight! That’s a massacre!”
“We had our orders, the village was no longer necessary.”
“……No longer necessary?”
He thought of all those poor villagers who died.
“They worshiped you!”
“We know this. Our servitor was here.”
A face appeared in Orphen’s mind, it was Fiena’s.
“I see. The priestess.”
“Our master needed information on Makudogaru——we allowed him to give her shelter, put her in the village.”
“……Information……”
He squeezed the gun so hard it hurt.
(The Dragon, no, their master.)
“Although Fiena spent a lot of time in the village, he may have either lost or forgotten the information we seek.”
Orphen thought their judgement was wrong, but he didn’t dare refute them. Makudogaru was dead, this was unjustified.
He asked about something else.
“Why are you telling me these things?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Orphen felt the Dragon’s eyes piercing his body.
“We want you to be our new servitor.”
“…………”
Orphen immediately jumped backwards——he was ready to cast defensive magic, but he knew it was impossible for a human to successfully defend themselves against a Deep Dragon.
No matter how far he could jump, he could never get away from the spiritual domination of the Deep Dragon.
He shouted:
“I spin thee, armour of light!”
Such things cannot resist the power of a Deep Dragon. As soon as the light started to surround him, it disappeared.
(…………?!)
Orphen couldn’t believe it, he continued to cast magic.
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
The wave of light and heat dissipated a few seconds after it left the palm of his hand.
Suddenly, an idea flashed in Orphen’s head.
(I see…you guys…)
“You finally noticed.”
The Dragon’s voice was very calm. Faced with this unusually quiet tone, Orphen was no longer scared.
He shouted in his head.
(You aren’t gods! You are sorcerers!)
Magic is not a power that can fix everything, only God-like “magic” can do that.
Even so, that doesn’t mean the gap of power between Orphen and the Deep Dragon got any smaller.
Like voice magic, it can only go as far as your voice can be heard——
(The same goes for dark magic, it cannot work outside their line of sight.)
With the overwhelming heat that destroyed the village, they were unable to deal with it, just like their use of mental domination in this area, but as long as they can block their line of sight, they can defend themselves.
“Majic!”
Orphen cried, as he fired two pistol rounds. The Dragon easily destroyed it.
“Use that!”
“Hmm…use what?”
Majic shouted.
(Does he mean that spell?)
At that time, Majic shouted in a high pitched voice:
“I disrupt thee, column of light!”
He said the incantation with excellent proficiency. In the area around him, light began to reflect from numerous metal objects, blinding the Deep Dragon.
“You plan to block my line of sight.”
The Dragon said in a calm tone. However, due to its line of sight being blocked, its voice was distorted.
“Exactly.”
Orphen said.
“We’ll reflect the light and hit you in your blind spots.”
“Ahhh!”
Majic shouted in a panicked voice.
At this time, Orphen also began to cast magic. With his right hand extended, he shouted:
“I construct thee, spire of the sun!”
Compressed objects began to expand, they could hear things rubbing together. These objects exploded, causing a great crimson fire to surround the Deep Dragon.
“You can’t prevail with just this.”
“I know!”
Orphen had little room for error.
He was ready to unleash his next attack, at that time——
Boom! It was followed by a crackling sound, and a moan from the Dragon.
Wrapped around the inferno, the Deep Dragon fell to the ground. The remaining villagers and Deep Dragon were shocked.
“The pistol exploded.”
Orphen said, as he stared at the Deep Dragon.
“Blocking its line of sight allowed me to play a little trick——I threw the pistol towards its head, the heat forced the barrel to overheat and explode the remaining bullets. Hitting the target with maximum efficiency.”
“By blocking my mental domination, I couldn’t read your thoughts……”
At such a close range, the Dragon should have only received minor injuries, even so, its voice was a bit chaotic.
“However, you can’t kill me……”
“…………”
This was a fact. The Dragon was still alive, and even if he did manage to kill it, there was still more surrounding the village.
Orphen remained silent. The Deep Dragon continued:
“Even so, we can still eliminate you.”
“…………”
Orphen tightly clenched his fist.
Hearing this words, it was contrary to Orphen’s expectations.
“I know your true name——Krylancelo.”
“……What……?”
Orphen felt like he had been punched in the gut. It was impossible for the Dragon to know his true name, there was no way it could have hear it.
“I know your partner——because of our agreement, I won’t kill you. If you want to protect the lives of those around you, kneel before us, and we will leave.”
“…………”
Orphen watched the Deep Dragons, his mind was to breaking point. His partner——a human and a dragon——made an agreement?
A godlike race made a pact.
To be able to do such a thing——
Orphen could only think of one person.
(The strongest sorcerer on the continent——my teacher, Childman, was it him?)
He shouted in his mind, but the Dragon didn’t answer. It slowly got up, even though it was injured, it didn’t make a sound.
“However, this village must be destroyed. Those who attempt to enter the sacred forest must be eliminated.”
All the Dragon’s rose around them, their eyes focused on the village. Knowing what would happen, Orphen closed his eyes.
(When I open them——no one will exist——we will all be dead.)
He could feel the searing heat all around him, it was almost unbearable.
Then, it was gone. He opened his eyes.
The whole village was gone. It was completely removed from the earth, the entire area where the village once stood was scorched beyond belief.
Though oddly, it seemed Cleo, Majic, and none of the villagers died. Including Orphen.
They found themselves lying on the ground, staring upwards at the Deep Dragons who stood over them. A smaller figure stood over Orphen.
(Cleo……?)
No, the body was too small, it was Fiena——the priestess.
“Why did you come back? Fiena……”
The Dragon’s voice echoed across the scorched earth. Orphen could feel the girls voice answer, it was tense and stiff——but surprisingly clear.
“I know I was meant to escape. These villagers have infringed upon the sanctity of the forest, they cannot be let go, this I know.”
“Yes……I told you as much. Though, what about the assassin? He has fled, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, I showed Sarua the way out of the forest, he has some information you might want. But he is my friend, I won’t hand him over to you, and the same goes for these people.”
She looked at Majic, then looked back at the Dragon. With open arms, she said:
“I share all your five senses, I can use your magic——you are the Deep Dragon tribe, you are small in number yet very powerful, but you can’t leave this place, can you? If you did, your magic would stop working.”
“It appears you have chosen poorly……”
As the Dragon spoke, an electric shock went through Fiena’s body, it appeared she was released from her bonds. Due to the impact, the girl was sent flying backwards, Orphen quickly stepped forward grabbed her. Trembling, she went on to say:
“This was a mistake from the beginning. You should have sought a stronger person, maybe then……Makudogaru could have been persuaded. Then this foolish plan could have been avoided all together.”
Afterwards, she began to cry——Orphen felt she was in a state of confusion, he was in no position to comfort her. He looked over at Majic, winking at him.
Majic ran over, and took Fiena in his arms. Orphen then said:
“Makudogaru is dead. No one will infringe upon the forest anymore. You should not have appeared in force……”
“You are missing the point, crime deserves punishment.”
“Haven’t you killed enough people?”
“The forest was violated because they don’t understand the meaning of sacred land.”
“How does that require the slaughter of an entire village?”
“Crime deserves punishment.”
The Dragon said flatly, Orphen was speechless, then, a voice came from behind them.
“It’s time!”
It was Cleo. It seemed she was launching some kind of surprise attack. Holding the little Dragon in her arms, she said:
“Go for it!”
Suddenly, an enormous light shined from the little Dragon’s eyes. It hit the Deep Dragon’s feet, expanding and consuming everything in its sight.
Numerous loud sounds filled everyone’s ears——then it stopped, all the Deep Dragon’s had seemly disappeared. It was obvious that blow hadn’t killed them, they must have retreated. Whoosh——a gust of wind was left in their wake, only silence remained.
“Human sorcerer……we are at that girl’s mercy……we must obey……”
“…………!?”
Orphen looked towards Cleo and the small Dragon. It seemed she was its new mother, like a baby, it buried its head and began rubbing itself against Cleo.
“My kind are warriors, we have paid our price. Even Kings and Queens cannot handle our power, yet you have been given it for free.”
“…………”
No one spoke after that.
“If you were to retain your own freedom that would be dangerous. You will be under our control from now on, you must obey our orders.”
“Like hell I will!”
Stretching his hand forward, he exclaimed:
“Sword of light, whom I do release!”
A wave of light and heat disappeared into the forest. There was no response from the Dragon, even if there was, Orphen didn’t want to hear it.
A moment later, the only thing they could hear was the rustling of the forest.
No one really understood the real meaning behind their words. Fiena was till crying——except now, these were tears of joy. Majic patted her back, comforting her. So too were the villagers happy, their time in the forest was truly over, they would morn their dead and move on towards a brighter horizon. Finally, Orphen looked at Cleo, her blue eyes shining in the darkness. With the little dragon at her chest, he wondered what the future held for them all.
Orphen shifted his attention upwards. Looking up at the morning sky, he watched it change colour.
