He stood between me and the beast, his golden locks dazzling as he wore thick layers to protect against the cold. My eyes widened when I saw him. I remembered this boy very well; in the tale of my dreams, he fought alongside myself and served Raymond, the second Demon Lord. The boy would become a dragon knight and be touted as the strongest among the Elite Four. He was still young and juvenile, but his features were unmistakable. Warm the Dragon Rider...
✶✶✶
Lofus’s traumatic nightmare was from the protagonist’s point of view while the story unfolded. In other words, he knew not of the Elite Four’s actions while they were away, and naturally, he didn’t know of his own actions before meeting the hero either. While he was killed millions of times in that dream, he was merely going through the motions, living vicariously through his own vessel in that repeating point in time. In other words, he had no idea how Shadow Wolf Lofus formed ties with Demon Lord Raymond and his other friends of the Elite Four, nor did he know how the four boys spent their time together.
However, the nightmare of his repeated deaths remained a vivid memory for him, and the fear of his pathetic death was left within his heart, much like how his subconscious memories and feelings of his time as a member of the Elite Four resided somewhere deep within his soul.
In the story, Warm the Dragon Rider was Lofus’s comrade. They worked under Raymond to rebel against the kingdom, and Lofus considered him both a friend and a target of his envy. This came as no surprise, since Raymond’s right-hand man was not Lofus but Warm—during any important battle, the second Demon Lord always called for the Dragon Rider instead of the Shadow Wolf. Lofus, naturally, found this insulting, for he was the heir of a marquess while Warm was considered a man of inferior birth. Yet it was the latter who was considered the most trustworthy and reliable of the group, which gave Lofus depression and an inferiority complex.
Lofus had kept these feelings bottled up, only for his emotions to twist and morph into something darker—this was especially true within his dream. Slowly but surely, his envy, rage, and feelings of inferiority piled up within him. He viewed Warm as an eyesore and a target of his jealousy, and these dark feelings needed only a small trigger to resurface.
Reuniting with Warm Rio Draconis was more than enough to cause a spark of fury with Lofus; though this was but a chance encounter, the Shadow Wolf’s heart cracked, causing his feelings to spill out.
✶✶✶
“Flugel?” Warm muttered. “What’s going on? I thought you died...”
He called his trusty dragon’s name and slowly approached it. The wyvern who had glared at me with hostility mere moments before now outstretched its wings and, in one swoop, approached Warm, nuzzling its head against him as it emitted a spoiled cry.
“I don’t believe it...” Warm murmured. “Flugel? Is it really you?”
He stared at the wyvern with disbelief, tears forming on the corners of his eyes. Warm wiped them away and turned to me.
“What did you do?” he asked. “Did you...resurrect Flugel? Who in the world are you?”
I could hardly hear his words. The moment I saw Warm, for some inexplicable reason, I felt some ugly feelings within my heart rear their heads. They poured out and completely overtook my mind. I tried to suppress them, but what little resistance I could offer was immediately crushed as they overwhelmed me.
“Heh... Ha ha ha!” I guffawed. “Ah ha ha ha ha!”
I couldn’t help it. My maniacal laughter echoed throughout the area as an inexplicable sense of euphoria rushed out from the depths of my heart and coursed within my body. Hah! Warm! He’s right in front of me for some reason! I’d thought that I’d bump into him much later in life. I certainly hadn’t expected to run into him here.
Stelia was his hometown, so it was only natural that he was around here, but this land was so vast that the chances of actually meeting him seemed close to zero. And yet, in some kind of wicked twist of fate, as I searched for a wyvern to use, he’d appeared right in front of my eyes. This sort of coincidence honestly felt so astronomically improbable that I could only attribute it to some sort of destiny.
“Wh-What’s so funny?” Warm asked.
He stared at me dubiously as I laughed and laughed. My stomach began to hurt and I wiped the tears forming in the corners of my eyes from this laughter. I outstretched my arms and let my feelings take the reins.
“Funny?” I asked. “Ha ha! How is this not funny? I’d pinned myself as an atheist, but I’ll thank God just for this moment! I truly didn’t expect to meet you here, Warm Rio Draconis!”
“What?! Huh?” Warm gasped. “How do you know my name? You’re not making a lick of sense. Who in the world are you?”
He stepped back, truly creeped out by my words as he pointed his spear at me. When I saw his weapon, I couldn’t help but flash another fearless smile.
“Ah, so you’re willing to fight as well,” I remarked. “Good grief! This is so impossibly hilarious. You see, Warm, I hate you more than anything else in this world!”
Annoyance. That word filled my mind as I let all my anger out. I emitted a wave of mana, an expression of my rage, and Warm turned pale as he received a direct hit of my magic. His beloved dragon, Flugel, also growled at me. Very good. That’s just what I want. It would be all too boring for you to faint from this alone. How dare you be called the strongest of the Elite Four, even above me?! I’ll hammer into your head who truly is the strongest of us all!
“How can you have this much mana?!” Warm cried. “Are you even human?”
“Where are your manners?” I asked. “I’m a bona fide human. In fact, I suffered from mana exhaustion just yesterday, and I’ve hardly any left.”
“You call this much ‘hardly any’? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Enough talk. How long will you stay standing there? Go on, mount your precious steed.”
Even I could understand how immature and juvenile these feelings were. I felt compelled to show off my power to Warm and make it abundantly clear just who was on top, that was all.
At once, I summoned countless large Dark Balls and took aim.
“How can you summon so many?” Warm muttered.
I ignored his astonished expression and hurled them right at him without an ounce of hesitation. I had no intention of killing him here, but I knew that he wasn’t the type to die with this measly barrage anyway. Unsurprisingly, he mounted his wyvern and took to the skies, dodging my attack. Only when he was atop his wyvern did he truly live up to his name and skills. I had no reason to hold back; doing so would only be uncouth.
“You aren’t the only one with a mount,” I growled. “Come forth, Strafe!”
An enormous octopus monster slowly crawled out of my shadow; Strafe’s size made the earth quake simply by his appearance as he destroyed the surrounding area. The effects of it were devastating, causing landslides and avalanches. Truly, this monster was a natural disaster.
“Wh-What?!” Warm gasped. “A kraken?! I thought they only appeared in the sea!”
“Do you have time to be wrapped up in your thoughts?” I asked. “Or are you not taking this seriously? That’s exactly why you annoy me to no end!”
Strafe’s tentacles shot out and tried to grab onto Warm as he swerved around and dodged to attack. I watched atop the kraken’s head, but it seemed its tentacles couldn’t even touch the nimble boy and his wyvern. I offered some support by firing some Dark Balls whenever I saw an opening. But of course...I guess these won’t hit either. I’ve channeled quite a bit of mana into Strafe, but perhaps due to its gigantic body, it’s rather bumbling and slow. It’s likely more agile in the waters, so I suppose it’s my folly for summoning it on land.
Warm and his wyvern were so quick and speedy that I could hardly believe that one boy was steering the beast. He cut through the sky. A man and his horse—or dragon, rather—are acting as one.
“I suppose you live up to your name, Dragon Rider!” I shouted.
“What are you on about?!” Warm roared angrily. “Don’t summon this monster here! What’ll you do if you damage nearby villages?!”
Despite his ire, he made no attempt to launch an attack of his own. He gracefully dodged everything I threw at him, and I didn’t get the impression that my measly barrage was keeping his full attention. Anger was clear in his tone, but not panic. This implied that Strafe’s tentacles and my Dark Balls weren’t worthy of receiving a counterattack by him. I’m meeting him three years earlier than the start of that tale, and yet he’s already this strong. That’s why he pisses me off!
It had always been on my mind: Did Warm truly live up to his reputation? He was called the strongest of the Elite Four, and while he admittedly could use his spear well, he was simply a dragon knight who learned how to skillfully steer his wyvern. Sure, he could use a bit of lightning magic, but the amount of mana he had compared to mine was pathetic. I considered him trash far beneath me, especially with his lack of magical capabilities. How in the world could scum like him be called the strongest? Surely I was by far the most powerful of that group.
“How long will you keep running, Warm?” I goaded. “I’m growing tired of this exchange.”
I stopped firing my spells. I didn’t have any convenient chants that could lock onto a man like him who boasted high mobility. He was swift enough to dodge my spells and my barrage, so any homing attacks would also be easily avoided by him. If I had more mana, I could just summon a wall of spells and overpower him completely, but I didn’t have that luxury right now, and it was wise to conserve mana and not fire wildly into the air. Efficiency was key, only casting a spell if I needed to.
I stopped firing my Dark Balls and channeled my mana into Strafe. Plump with my energy, the kraken grew even larger still and more than doubled its number of tentacles.