She hadn’t wanted to do such a thing. The amber dragon would have been able to tell she felt that way, too.
But the amber dragon had refused to back down.
To the dragon, who had lived through the ancient times, it was unthinkable for a child to be killed by an elder.
So he would protect her. It was the responsibility of an adult to protect children.
And so the dragon had come forward to protect Brunhild and immobilize Warren.
Seeing that the dragon’s heart was pierced, Brunhild had broken through her doubts. She absolutely could not waste his sacrifice. That was why she’d drawn the sword her sister had given her.
“…”
Warren backed up two, three steps.
Blood started oozing out from the little hole in his chest.
He pressed his chest with his hand, and his hand felt the warmth of blood. His palm turned bright red.
The single stab from this blade that was supposed to guard lives was fatal.
Perhaps her strike had been a cursed one. Warren felt as if the blade had been painted in many layers of resentment from the queens he had used.
There was no way for him to recover—
No matter if he was a dragonslaying genius or a hardened old soldier.
His body was only that of a human. With his heart pierced, he couldn’t make a move.
Warren laughed at himself.
“I see. So this is as far as a genius goes.”
His body would no longer move. He couldn’t fight.
So he was forced to use his last resort.
He pulled a white dragon scale from his coat.
He tossed it into his mouth. Instantly, his body began to swell.
The powerful vitality of a dragon started healing his fatal wound.
Anima, curled up on the ground, gave a little cry.
The kingdom’s guardian transformed into an evil dragon—one large enough to fill the whole great hall.
The evil dragon bared his fangs and attacked Brunhild.
Brunhild fixed her eyes straight on the evil dragon.
She would not flinch.
She raised her right hand toward the dragon. Between her fingers was lightning.
<Becoming a dragon is a poor move against me, don’t you think?>
The Dragonslaying Princess unleashed her Thunder.
The dim hall became as bright as day.
The flash of her lightning burned the dragon.
The dragon fell, shaking the whole hall. This time, he did not move again.
Brunhild dripped the Miracle of Life she carried onto Anima’s wounds. With just a few drops, his wounds healed. In about ten minutes, he had fully recovered.
Next, she also dripped the Miracle onto the amber dragon’s wounds. But no matter how much she dribbled over him, the amber dragon never began to move. Even with the Miracle, transcending death was the one thing that could not be done.
Brunhild embraced the dragon’s head, eyes lowered. She cried silent tears. “I was entirely reliant on you until the end.”
She kissed the dragon. His mouth could no longer chatter frivolously. The taste of death spread inside her mouth, and Brunhild sorrowed.
But there was no time to be indulging in sentimentality. She left the dragon’s body behind and headed to the throne room. When she destroyed the lock with her Thunder and went inside, there was Kriemhild, pinned with blades.
Brunhild approached and drew the blades from her sister’s body. Now able to move, Kriemhild embraced her sister.
“Oh, Sister… How incredible that you could get here safe…”
Brunhild stroked her sister’s hair and said, “I’m sorry it took me so long. It must have been hard.”
After sharing the joy of reunion, Kriemhild asked, “What happened to Warren?”
The sisters returned to the great hall.
There was Warren, sitting with his back against the wall.
He had returned to his human form. The scale that he had swallowed had been specially made, and after a certain time passed after swallowing it, you could return to human form.
Wounded all over, Warren looked up at the sisters.
He could no longer move, but he was still breathing.
With Anima helping her, Brunhild tied Warren up firmly.
Looking down at Warren, Brunhild said with loathing, “I hate you. You tortured my sister and killed my dragon. Frankly, I’d like to kill you. But…I will not do that.”
Warren asked her in a hoarse, barely audible voice—that was all he could get out now—“Why won’t you kill me?”
“Because the queen stopped me,” said Brunhild.
Kriemhild came before him. In her hands, she held a small bottle of the Miracle.
While pouring the contents of that little bottle on Warren’s wounds, Kriemhild said, “The kingdom I aim to build is one without hatred. I would like to make this kingdom a place that takes heed of God’s teachings and has no conflict or hatred, like the Kingdom of Eternity. So…I will forgive you.”
Kriemhild healed all of Warren’s wounds.
“Warren. Your help is needed for the sake of my ideal kingdom. Please swear to me—that now, you will serve me, your queen. Not the First, but me… Please offer yourself for the sake of the future of the kingdom. So long as you swear, I will believe in you and undo this rope.”
Warren fixed his gaze on Kriemhild and spoke.
His wrinkled eyes were gazing at the distant past. “Princess Kriemhild. Your black eyes…and your black hair…look very much like those of the First. But you are not the First. You cannot build the Kingdom of Eternity.”
With a cough, Warren spat blood. That confused them.
“Why? The Miracle should have healed your wounds…”
Warren had hidden poison in his back teeth. He had planned to kill himself with it.
Warren didn’t want to live at Kriemhild’s side.
If the kingdom that the First Queen had built would fall, then he would simply share that kingdom’s fate.
Kriemhild hurriedly made him drink the Miracle, but it was too late. It would take a few minutes for the Miracle to take effect. The poison would kill him before that. Now there was only to wait for the faint consciousness that remained in his body to be extinguished.
He could only see blackness now. Death swiftly robbed him of his senses. All that was left was his hearing and sense of touch.
In the darkness of death, Warren’s body sensed some kind of warmth.
Someone was embracing him.
He thought it had to be Kriemhild. An inexpressible affection could be felt from her touch.
A very long time ago, he had felt the same sensation.
It had been many decades ago now.
When he had been standing there in the village square, the First had found him and embraced him.
You must have been scared, she’d said.
He hadn’t understood what that meant. He was someone who would never fear. Even standing up against a dragon, he had felt no fear. He had been certain he would never fear anything until his death.
So he had thought.
But without even realizing it, fear became the only thing that moved me.
The fear of losing the kingdom the queen made was the one thing that controlled me.
He could remember it like yesterday.
Looking down on the perfect kingdom from the castle.
And shedding tears at its beauty.
In the darkness, he heard a voice.
“It’s all right. You need not fear.”
That voice drew Warren into the distant past.
I see. So it was her voice that most resembled her.
He only realized it after losing his sight.
When he’d been able to see, his eyes had only ever focused on Kriemhild’s appearance.
To comfort the dying soul, Kriemhild continued to hold the old soldier.
Being in darkness, Warren felt as if he were in the First Queen’s embrace.
Just like when they had first met.
A single tear streaked from the wrinkled corner of his eye.
Seen off by that voice he’d wanted to hear one more time…
…the old soldier became a corpse.
As Kriemhild embraced the corpse, Brunhild asked her, “Why would you show mercy to that man? He was so inhuman…”
Kriemhild answered her,
“Though the manner of it was warped…he always protected this kingdom.”