The dragon’s roar shook the whole forest.
“That’s...!”
Even as he cut down the swarm of monsters with tremendous vigor, Nakajima Kojirou’s eyes shot open. He looked up as an enormous figure, one large enough to blot out the sky, descended.
“A-Aaaaaah...!” Lobivia screamed with a trembling voice.
Her red hair blew back from the wind generated by the enormous figure’s flapping wings. She looked up right at it. This was the zombie dragon Ida. In life, she’d been known as the carapace wyrm Malvina. She was the great dragon who’d once been the spouse of a savior.
However, all she was now was an undead monster who was out for revenge against those who’d killed her children and destroyed her home. She existed only to wreak havoc, fueled by anger and resentment. This was only amplified by the presence of a visitor, a kindred to those who’d destroyed her home, wielding his power before her eyes. However, contrary to expectation, immediately upon landing, the zombie dragon withdrew immediately. Its goal was obvious. It used its enormous hand to scoop up the earth beneath Majima Takahiro’s entire group.
“Ha ha! Trying to get Majima away from here?!”
Witnessing this, Nakajima Kojirou’s expression was filled with joy. This was a manifestation of an all-too-pure, and hence dreadful, delight. He’d been moments from killing his prey, but now they were getting away. He was ecstatic.
In contrast, he had no intention whatsoever of letting Majima Takahiro get away. He was so endlessly happy to wield his full power to kill them. So, the terrifying Calamitous King put everything he had into killing the zombie dragon.
“Gah...?!”
Immediately following that decision, he kicked Dora in the jaw. She’d already lost the advantage of her surprise attack, and the many monsters who’d joined her were already dead. They didn’t have the numbers to keep Nakajima Kojirou pinned here.
“Oh no!”
By the time Dora got back to her feet, a hand to her jaw, it was already too late. The moment Nakajima Kojirou was free to move, he swung his sword.
“Haaaaaaaah!”
He roared heartily, sending a pillar of light shooting up toward the heavens to engulf the zombie dragon. However, Nakajima Kojirou witnessed another enormous figure jumping into his firing line.
“What?!”
It was the headless zombie dragon Heinrich. In life, he’d been known as Draconia’s guardian, Rex. His body was completely and thoroughly obliterated. In exchange, the Sword of Light had gone no farther.
“Aah...”
Holding back the dizziness from being kicked in the head, Dora looked up and groaned at the sight. For some reason, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Under normal circumstances, such a sacrifice of one of her kin would be no more than a necessary measure taken by her king. However, she couldn’t see it that way. In her eyes, the supposedly mindless undead monster had thrown itself into the line of fire to protect those who were trying to get away. The only one who knew the truth was the headless dragon, but it’d been burned to ashes and was no longer able to provide any answers. Either way, the remaining zombie dragon could now get away.
“It’s still not over!”
The moment that thought crossed Dora’s mind, the calamity in human form surpassed her expectations as if it was perfectly natural to do so. He was supposed to be limited to a single Sword of Light at a time. After withstanding one strike, there was supposed to be a small interval before another attack. However, the boy was already wielding a new sword in his hand.
“It can’t be!”
Dora opened her eyes in shock. Had he lied about being unable to bring out two at once? No. That wasn’t it. After all, he wasn’t wielding a Sword of Light.
“What is that?!”
What he wielded was the complete opposite of his namesake—or perhaps what could be called the counterpart to the Sword of Light. It was a jet-black sword—in other words, a Sword of Darkness that swallowed all light. The paired swords of light and darkness was the true form of the combat skill Nakajima Kojirou had prepared for himself as a Conduit. He’d decided to wield his full strength, so he was going to use everything at his disposal against the zombie dragon.
“Haaaaaah!”
He once more unleashed the sword in his hand. This time, there was no shield to block him. The zombie dragon’s enormous fifty-meter-long body was pushed upward by the pressure from behind.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Oooooh?!”
Majima Takahiro’s group screamed from the dragon’s palm. Having taken a direct hit, the zombie dragon had it far worse. It was as if darkness was devouring the dragon’s enormous form.
“A-Aaah...”
After what seemed like an eternity, the torrent of darkness passed, and what was supposed to be a body covered by the sturdiest carapace was now missing its entire lower half. This of course affected the remaining upper half. What was left of the carapace cracked and broke apart, and meat tore free and dribbled from the sky. It was a lethal blow.
“A-Aaaah...”
The zombie dragon groaned. It was breaking and falling apart. Its existence couldn’t endure. Naturally, this should have led to it crashing to the earth.
“No way...”
Nakajima Kojirou looked up in astonishment. The zombie dragon wasn’t falling. It continued escaping into the sky. This was one thing he could never have predicted.
“A-Aaaaaaah...”
Even though it was crumbling apart, even though it was questionable that its entire body hadn’t been destroyed, something supported its broken frame from the inside. That said, the situation was very different from the Mad Beast.
The zombie dragon was no longer Malvina. Her soul had long passed and none of her will remained. The only thing moving this undead monster’s body was a curse of hatred toward those who’d destroyed Draconia. However, from another perspective, one could also say that the only things that remained inside this corpse were the vestiges of Malvina’s emotions.
Those were largely the raging negative emotions of anger and resentment. However, deep inside, another powerful emotion had been dormant. No matter what else had been lost, this was one thing that remained. After all, this one emotion had stirred her for her entire life.
The same had applied that day visitors had attacked Draconia. She’d thrown away her sanity, yielding herself to wrath and madness, to go on a rampage. That had been so that even one more of her children could get away. What she’d truly wished for wasn’t to slaughter her abominable enemy. Her wish had been to protect her children. And here in this place, one of those children was present. It was her last daughter, one she’d been unable to reconcile with for so long.
“If you leave the settlement, then you are no more than a stranger to us, Lobivia.”
“Like hell I wanna see your stupid face again!”
Those were the last words they’d exchanged. Malvina had pushed Lobivia away, believing that her future wasn’t in Draconia. She’d gone as far as getting her daughter to hate her to force her to leave. Nevertheless, she’d wished that one day in the future, they would be able to reconcile. She’d wished for the day to come when she could convey her love to her daughter. However, death had ripped this mother and daughter apart, leaving that wish unfulfilled. Nevertheless, something of that desire remained.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
The zombie dragon roared. This wasn’t a groan of hatred or a growl of resentment. This was the howl of maternal love directed at a child.
“Mother...!”
For the first time in her life, Malvina’s youngest daughter screamed that word.
So, having escaped the torrent of darkness, the remains of a mother broke away from the battlefield.
✦ ✦ ✦
