“It’s all so muddy…!” Hort looked up at the sky with a dissatisfied look on her face.
“’Tis generally the way with war. Though if we advanced on Danna Ryl’s tower, demanding her surrender and freedom for the Nurabehn, ’twould likely be a different story.”
It was clear, however, that nobody really felt the need to go so far. The Exinov no longer had the power to detain the Ignas and Nurabehn who were streaming from their cities─and they were frightened that if they did so, their stores of mana would be drained lock, stock, and barrel.
“What are you going to do once the war’s over, Professor Los?” Saybil asked out of the blue, prompting immediate panicked reprimands from Hort and Kudo.
“N-No, Sayb! You can’t ask that!”
“You’re so freakin’ oblivious! You just killed Professor Los!”
“Huh? What do you mean?” asked Saybil, confused.
Los guffawed. “’Tis quite the cliché in tales such as these─speaking lightly of one’s plans after the war ensures that one will not live to see them through.”
“Huhhh… That’s a weird superstition…” Thoroughly unconvinced, Saybil nevertheless realized it might be best to abandon any further questions.
It was then that they heard the dragon’s cry from above.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Hm? Had…the Dragon Conqueror King gone off somewhere?” asked Hort dubiously.
“Nah, I saw Heath sleeping in the stables on the way here.”
As one, the four of them looked up. The moon was split in two, a black stain upon its face. The stain grew larger and larger, and by the time it became evident that something was falling from the sky, all four were already filled with tension.
It was a dragon.
The jet-black beast, far bigger than Heath and bearing giant, twisted horns, was diving straight for the city. As the dragon dove, it took in a great breath and blew out a scorching blast of flame.
The city, however, was protected by one of Zero’s barriers. The reflected flames dissipated harmlessly into the air, and the dragon flew close enough to scrape the barrier with its claws before wheeling back up into the sky.
“Wh-What’s going on?! Where’d that enormous dragon come from…?!”
The dragon came to a stop, hovering in midair above the free district, then took in another massive breath and belched fire at the barrier once more. As before, the barrier repelled the flames─but the heat was a different matter.
“Man, that’s hot…! Like, I’m freakin’ roasting…!”
“Is that thing trying to steam the whole town?! We need to chase it off! I’ll go take care of it!”
“Nay, thou wilt not be in time─little Ludens!”
Before Hort could leap from the bell tower roof, Los thrust the Staff of Ludens aloft. Darkness spilled forth from the lustrous black orb embedded in its tip, enveloping the sky overhead and blotting out the flames.
“Wow! That’s way better! You’re amazing, Ludens!”
“My little Ludens is capable of dealing with the heat. However…”
The dragon stopped breathing fire and soared high into the air once more. As it flew back and forth above the free district searching for prey, the residents burst from their homes to see what was going on, and found their answer in the sky above.
“This is a problem… The creature presents too great a spectacle.”
“A…spectacle? What’s so threatening about that?” Saybil asked.
Los’s face was grave as she looked out over the upturned faces of the people below. “Such a show of strength foments anxiety amongst the residents of the city. They know Heath by sight, and can plainly see that this dragon is far larger.”
Heath, silver steed to the Dragon Conqueror King, was still young. He was a fine creature, with majesty to spare─but the dragon now circling above the free district radiated an aura of intimidation Heath could not hope to match.
“Speaking of…! Isn’t that Heath there?!” Hort pointed up into the sky.
The moonlight glinted off Heath’s silver scales as he bore down on the black dragon; Ghoda was nowhere to be seen.
Heath rammed the black dragon with his own body and bit down on the larger beast’s wing─but his fangs could not penetrate its armored scales. The black dragon tore away from Heath, letting loose a roar that shook the very air, then clamped its own jaws around Heath’s neck and began to swing the smaller dragon this way and that.
“Oh no oh no oh no! Heath’s gonna die up there!”
“I can heal him from down here! Where the hell’s the Dragon Conqueror King?!” spat Kudo, glaring angrily up at the sky. The final verse of the Chapter of Protection as taught at the Academy of Magic was a spell that allowed the practitioner to heal any target within sight. But for Kudo, who was conversant even with the restoration magic contained in the Grimoire of Zero itself, that spell was no more difficult than the simplest cantrip. He began the incantation without hesitation: “Ēa doh Laghanz Hang doh Lagraize!” White serpents appeared in his eyes, and he fixed his gaze on Heath’s wounds. “O glittering white serpents, descend into mine eyes! Chapter of Protection, Final Verse─Kwaokuhl! Heed this call by the power of my name─Kudo!”
The serpents in Kudo’s pupils clustered around the wounds on Heath’s neck, which closed up in the blink of an eye. But, thrown aside by the black dragon, Heath struggled to stabilize himself at such a low altitude, and came crashing down toward the city.
“Professor Los! Save Heath!” cried Saybil.
“’Tis as good as done!” Los brandished the Staff of Ludens, and the great ebon wall in the sky transformed into a net, catching Heath as he fell. The net stretched to absorb Heath’s momentum, stopping a hair’s breadth from the ground before gently releasing the dragon. Heath got up, swaying a little, and tried to take off once more.
“Heath! Enough!”
It was Ghoda. Heath turned to look at him for a moment, then made to take off again, heedless of the knight’s cries. The dragon bore neither saddle nor reins, but Ghoda clambered up onto his back anyway and grabbed him by the horns.
“Settle down, Heath! The free district’s defenses are impregnable! You don’t need to do this!”
Heath let out a grawr of displeasure and gave his head a few unhappy shakes, then obediently lay back down.
The black dragon was calmly watching all this from on high. Then they heard a voice─not in their ears, but echoing directly in their minds. It was the voice of the black dragon.
If you wish to survive, seek the protection of the Keybinder. The ever-compassionate Danna Ryl will forgive your foolish trespasses and welcome her people back with a loving embrace.
A stir spread through the city─apparently everyone in the free district could hear the dragon’s voice.
You invaders in your paltry city of ice will find no respite outside its walls. Listen well, you fools who reject our protection and deceive with your talk of liberation. Prepare for this land to be your eternal resting place.
Choose. You have three days.
With that, the black dragon flew off, leaving only unrest and anxiety in its wake.
+++
Danna Ryl thought she heard a voice calling to her and raised her head. How long had she been shut up in her room inside the tower? She wanted to die but found herself too terrified by the idea, though neither could she bear the thought of going outside only to be showered with ridicule. As a result, she had simply abandoned herself to the passage of time.
The voice that called to her now, however, was so kind, so familiar and sweetly affectionate, that Danna Ryl poked her head gingerly out the door of her room. There were neither attendants nor beastservants to be seen. The tower, which had always been bustling with people, now stood empty.
She followed the voice out into the square. It was hard for her to look upon that place again and not think back to the day Utsuwa had been taken from her, but now it was occupied by an unthinkable presence: a dragon so huge that for a moment Danna Ryl mistook it for a small black mountain. As she approached, the dragon gently lowered its head and presented its brow to her.
Danna Ryl saw the twisted horns and the goatlike pupils and let out a small gasp. “Zaza… It is you, isn’t it. But this body─”
The answer came not in the form of words, but as a voice inside her head.
You require a strong gatekeeper. That is what I have become.
Tears poured from Danna Ryl’s eyes. She spread her arms wide and ran to Zaza Ryl, dropping to her knees beside the dragon’s great head. “I’m sorry, Zaza. I said such awful things to you. I blamed you for everything, when you’ve only ever had my best interests at heart.”
Your reprimand was warranted. I made a mistake, and polluted your transcendent mystery. I will regain that transcendence for you.
“But how? Utsuwa is gone. My precious other half.”
We need only reclaim it. All of it.
And that which we cannot reclaim, we destroy. You are the only key we need.
“I alone?” asked Danna Ryl. Then she remembered the Exinov who had left her without so much as a word. Zaza Ryl’s next utterance filled her with a pleasant feeling that spread deep into her heart.
Let us make it so that none may live without your protection.
“Yes… Yes, you’re right. This world has become a little too large for its own good. If we reduce the number of people, reduce the number of towns, that will also resolve our mana shortage. We need not rely on any two-bit potions from the Forbidden Land. Oh, how wonderful! Zaza Ryl… My gatekeeper. With you by my side, I can continue to be myself.”
Danna Ryl felt suddenly free from the swamp of emotion that had been suffocating her. It was like she’d been looking at the world through a fog, but now she could see everything, see the future, clearly once more. Kuravanuluox is the only city this world ever needed. This beautiful place, with its beautiful residents─that was all Danna Ryl need care for now.
“Let us give a special name to those who have remained here. They will be the new rulers of our city. All who return will be treated equally… And once there is room for no more, we need simply close the gates. We will spare only those towns and villages that swear to labor on our behalf. The rest can be destroyed, never to rise again.”
Hearing this, Zaza Ryl spread his enormous wings, producing a wind so powerful it knocked Danna Ryl to the ground, and vanished into the night. She could feel the black dragon’s last words tickling at the back of her mind like a whisper:
You have but to wait. Everything shall be as you desire.