“You’re one cheeky rascal, you know? And do you really need to ask that? What else is there other than death or resignation?” “Wait—! Aren’t I the only one at risk of death?!” Veltol and Sihlwald ignored Gram’s remark. “Do not kill her, Gram.” “I’ll do my best.” The immortal dragon bared her fangs in a grin. “Ha! You’re really going for my neck? Pretty optimistic of you, kids.” “I am quite confident in this man’s strength, for sure,” Veltol said. “I’ll try to live up to your expectations,” Gram replied. “I commend your spirit,” Sihlwald said. She took a firm step, making a splash. She leaned forward, every muscle in her upper body relaxed. Her tail stood straight, in hunting position. “Come, puny humans. I’m hungry. Try not to become what fills my belly.” Her golden dragon eyes exuded sharper hostility than any human eyes could. Gram’s hair stood on end, and his spine froze. His soul told him he was merely this hunter’s prey. Over his five hundred or so years of life, he had battled many dragons and won. Zeidram the Field Blazer. Jabby Jabby the Mad Successor. Garland the Death’s Glare. All well-known, brutal dragons. None of them had been easy to defeat; all of them were like hatchlings in the face of Sihlwald’s overwhelming aura. An immortal beyond any other who lived far in the past, even before Demon Lord Veltol’s birth. The champion of the Five Dragon War and descendant of the Founding Dragon. She killed and devoured the Thunder Catcher, the Mad Reminiscer, the Colossus, and the Healer. She ruled the world for two thousand years before a scale on her body fell. The top of all living beings. The apex predator. The Dragon Emperor, the Wings of Darkness, the Solar Eclipse, the Anti-Dragon Slayer, the Consummate Dawn, the Fourth Law Crosser, the Darkness Devourer. Sihlwald. The next moment… “Keep your eyes peeled.” …Sihlwald disappeared from Gram’s sight. “—?!” No, she did not vanish. Not a second later, the water by Sihlwald’s foot splashed. She got within range in the blink of an eye, spun in the air, and unleashed a kick he could barely see. No teleportation, no invisibility. Simply rapid movement. Traversal of a different kind from Kinohara’s electric magic. This was simple, perfected motion. “Kuh…!” That’ll blow me to bits if it lands. Gram wielded Vernal to slash Sihlwald’s leg mostly on reflex. Blade and flesh clashed with a sound as though the latter was also metal. “Hard as a rock…!” She stopped the Dark Sword, capable of slashing through dragon scales as though made of tofu, with only the toughness of her body and the mana enveloping it. She was faster to begin with, and the lack of a weapon only made her more lithe. She was already in stance for a follow-up attack. “Take…this!” He tried blocking the punch with the sword. “Ver Guard!” A black mana shield slid between the fist and the sword before they clashed. “Dell Ray!” A black flash ran between Sihlwald and Gram. Gram used the momentary opportunity to backstep. “Thanks.” “Stay on your toes, Gram. She may look like a charming little lady, but that is a dragon. She will gobble you up in a second.” Sihlwald’s ears twitched. “A charming little lady…?” Did that make her mad? Gram braced himself. “I—I won’t be softer on you no matter how hard you try to flatter me.” “I’m glad to see you haven’t changed, Sister.” Sihlwald coyly placed both hands on her cheeks, while Veltol smiled softly. I can already tell that’s how he’s put her in a good mood for centuries. Meanwhile, Gram chanted, “Wind, you shall tear apart my enemies.” He omitted the first and third verses of the normally five-verse-long incantation. He couldn’t do chantless magic like Veltol, but he could abbreviate some of it. He proclaimed: “Wind Cutter!” A gusty blade sliced the air. Vernal had the function of a staff and boosted the effects of the spell, making it powerful enough to behead an adult dragon. “Subpar.” Sihlwald dismissed it with a slight swing of her hand. The same special effect to repel magic that a dragon’s scale had. “Dragonscale Effect… Of course the Black Dragon would be able to use it, even in human form.” Sihlwald started running. Without using magic, she sprinted across the water with her tail held level. “Dell Ray!” Veltol activated the spell by simply proclaiming the maginom. The rapid black flash hit Sihlwald and triggered an explosion. She slashed through the smoke, unharmed. “You sure love that spell, Veltol!” Sihlwald ran on the walls, while Veltol responded with another maginom. “Agra Hydra.” Veltol lowered his arms, pointing both palms up. Water whirlpools formed around him, and multiple water pillars surged and wriggled like snakes as he pointed them at Sihlwald. “There we go!” she said. Veltol’s Agra Hydra controlled the water around the user to attack. Its power depended on the volume of water, and as it was abundant and full of aether here, its force was raised to its limits. Dragon scales repelled magic, but they did not nullify the mass of things created or controlled through magic. The strategy was to combat the Dragonscale Effect by using a vast amount of water. “Still…it won’t work,” she added. Sihlwald slashed the snakes’ necks with a chop or a kick, returning them to splashes of water that rained back down as her golden eyes gleamed. “She can even repel Veltol’s magic…” Dragonscale Effect was not invincible. Its power to repel was oversaturated with strong enough magic, making damage possible. Veltol was capable of releasing more mana at once than Gram, and even his Dell Ray and Agra Hydra were not capable of breaking through her scales. “Indeed. Her scales do not repel magic like a regular dragon’s. They repel anything that could damage her. In any case, the Dragonscale Effect doesn’t nullify magic, so keep using it at a midrange.” “Right. We have an advantage in range.” Sihlwald descended on the center footing and cackled. “Ha! That’s a good joke!” She then curved her torso backward and took a deep breath. “Dodge, Gram!” The attack came before Veltol’s warning. “Va Ror!” What came out of her mouth was not so much words but a bellow. The water at her feet splashed away as something shot frontward. Gram immediately took a defensive stance, but it was useless. He was unable to stand his ground and got blown away like a leaf in the wind before smashing his back on the wall right beside Takahashi and Aoba. “Gah!” Veltol used a spell to make a mana cushion between the wall and his back before impact, but it wasn’t able to cut down the entire shock that punched the air out of his lungs. “Grammy?!” “A-are you okay?!” He couldn’t speak, but he raised a hand and smiled. He couldn’t worry them. Sihlwald’s magic was beyond human reach. It was sheer power rooted in the source of magic techniques. Most dragons could only breathe fire or cold, but some higher-level ones were able to complexly control aether in a way similar to magic. “Dragonbreath… I knew about it, but forcing the power off its course to blow me away’s got to be cheating!” Gram yelled as he turned back to look at the dragon. He saw something black and round flying at him. He caught it on reflex. “Nice catch, Gram. Thank you.” It was Veltol’s head. “WHOAAAAA?!” “AIIIEEEEEEE?!” “EEEEEEEEEK?!” Gram, Takahashi, and Aoba screamed after Veltol’s head spoke in his hand. Gram juggled it in shock. While Veltol covered Gram’s crash, Sihlwald kicked his face, sending his head flying. His headless body jumped and landed beside him, then grabbed his own head and put it back on. “I’m gonna throw up…” “Please. You’re hurting my feelings.” The two of them ran back toward Sihlwald. Gram launched an attack while Veltol backed him up and Sihlwald received it. Veltol went one step ahead, Gram followed his lead, and Sihlwald crushed their attempts. Hero, Demon Lord, and Black Dragon’s orchestral sonata. The air around them split, the water splashed, the arms clash shook the air, and the aether lapsed into chaos. Oh no. Gram couldn’t hide his smile as he faced the Black Dragon, Sihlwald. As a swordsman and warrior, Gram also found joy in the thrill of the fight. The problem was, as much as it pained him to admit, his senses were uplifted by fighting side by side with Veltol. Not to mention… This is too smooth. Not fighting the dragon before his eyes. Collaborating with Veltol. He had fought in teams, both vanguard and rearguard, and this was the smoothest collaboration he had ever experienced. He never would’ve thought that letting this man back him up could feel so comfortable. They were too compatible. He had a full grasp on his aim, and he could tell his without a word. They had a mutual understanding only possible after fighting to the death. And still, they could not reach the Black Dragon. They hadn’t landed a clean hit yet. Immortal Veltol aside, the longer the fight dragged on, the lower Gram’s performance would fall. But even taking that into account, Gram felt that victory was possible alongside Veltol. Then his feeling was crushed. “Finally, I’m all warmed up!” Sihlwald’s mana exploded in black lightning all around her. The rising temperature of her viscera evaporated the water around her. They said dragon viscera was as powerful as a high-output mana furnace. “She can get even more powerful?!” Gram clicked his tongue at how naive he was at gauging Sihlwald’s might. Of course the legendary Black Dragon would not be easy to defeat. Sihlwald’s smile grew deeper in response. “I taught the immortals how to fight. Allow me to give you a lesson.” Her small wings doubled, tripled in size, bent like bows, flapped, and raised her into the air. She turned around, just barely brushing the ceiling, and folded her wings to take a nosedive into the water. “Watch out, Gram!” No need for a warning. Gram was on the water. He ran to the center footing where Veltol was. Quicker than he could run, Sihlwald rose from the water. “Agh!” He reacted by swinging his sword, clashing into her fist. “Swords to the skies!” Blades materialized around Sihlwald. Remote armament casting. A spell relatively new for Veltol, who was over five hundred years old at this point. Veltol closed his fingers, making the blades attack Sihlwald. “Ha.” Sihlwald turned around in midair and crushed the blades in an instant. Gram swung the Dark Sword, aiming for her landing. The sword’s trajectory was perfect in its aim, yet as it hit, Sihlwald vanished into thin air. “Above you!” Veltol yelled. Gram looked up. Sihlwald had appeared there, swinging her tail down and a hairsbreadth away from piercing Gram’s head. Veltol’s support wouldn’t make it. Gram’s thoughts sped up, stretching the instant. He could clearly see each drop of water. “Rush.” The incantation flowed from his lips in the shortest, most compact form possible. Veltol had said that the Black Dragon’s scales repelled anything that could damage her. He gave himself to this sudden revelation. This gamble. “Acceleration.” A buff that increased the target’s speed temporarily. He cut down the activation time to its limit. It would only work for a moment. And it was already too late to dodge, even accelerated. But he wasn’t the target. “Oh?” He’d used Acceleration on Sihlwald. Her tail went out of pace for a moment and struck faster than she expected, grazing Gram’s nose. As Sihlwald fell before him, Gram kicked her to get away. “Are you all right, Gram?” “Yes. Somehow.” He wiped the drop of blood from his nose. “That was interesting! So you can do something! Keep it going!” Sihlwald laughed despite having failed to bring him down. Buffs work. Attacks and debuffs bounce off, but buffs work. He got the idea from Veltol’s description as anything that could damage her. He bet on Sihlwald’s unusual Dragonscale Effect. It was more effective to cast Acceleration on her, as she was already mid-attack, than on him, who wasn’t ready to dodge or block. As a result, the usually advantageous spell of acceleration messed with her pace and made her miss. Does it discern the harmfulness of magic automatically? That worked because it was out of the blue; she might stop it next time… Something else caught his attention more, though. “What was that she did before? I was sure I hit her.” “Leaping Haze,” Veltol said. “What?” “You disturb the movement of the aether around to create an afterimage like in a heat haze and get over the enemy’s head. A tactic she created for her human form. Also the same move she teaches her pupils first.” Sihlwald threw out her chest. “It is basically acrobatics. Machina couldn’t do it naturally, so I developed it as magic.” She said it like she was lacking in talent, but being able to do that without magic was magic. Gram certainly couldn’t do it. The corners of his lips curled upward as he realized he truly was fighting a legend. Not bad at all…, Sihlwald thought of Gram. His bearing, his sight, his gut, all of it was high-level. He was a good fighter, and that wasn’t just it. He didn’t aim for the vitals, but for her eyes, her joints, the ends of her limbs. He was trying to temporarily incapacitate her. He knew how to fight immortals. He also remained just outside the reach of her hands, feet, and tail. He had experience fighting dragons. Just over five hundred years old and such a cheeky brat. “I see… It wasn’t only the Holy Sword that defeated Veltol.” She looked at Veltol. She was slightly disappointed at his decay. She loved her little brother; that remained unchanged. Sihlwald herself was once revered as a goddess, had set one foot in the domain of the gods, had felt the effects of faith. But the influence of faith on her own power was negligible. Within the margin of error. Such was not the case for Veltol. Having been revived as invincible, he was close to a god incarnate, depending heavily on faith. Veltol was far weaker than five centuries back. And the reduction in faith only plunged him further down. His source of power was positive and negative faith. And he was not feared throughout the world as the head of evil, like back then. Sihlwald’s power had also decayed since the Five Dragon War, but Veltol’s was far too great, knowing him in his prime. Don’t you have any power to surprise me with? Was I expecting too much? Her beloved little brother had the potential to match Sihlwald’s unparalleled strength, even in her human form. Strength was lonely. He was the only one who could fill that void. Her foolish little brother wanted to take over the world to bring it peace. As she had ruled over the world before him, she knew: World peace was impossible. The essence of all living beings was conflict. So his dream was foolish—yet beautiful. She loved him. Was it in the same way as men loved their pets? Or as dragons loved other dragons? She didn’t know anymore. “Say, Veltol.” Sihlwald paused. “What do you plan to do by having me join you again?” “What?” “Will we kill families, subjects, citizens again? Ahhh, that was a fun time. Very, very fun. How could it not be, when you declared you would break the country that birthed and raised you?!” Everyone else turned to look at Veltol. Sihlwald alone knew this story, and Veltol had never spoken of it. “That is why I went along with you! How exhilarating it was! How enjoyable it was to ruin the pure nation of Altemud that exiled you as an immortal and slayed your friends!” “Sister…,” Veltol whispered ever so quietly. “Wasn’t it, Veltol?” Her voice changed as she hung her head with a sad smile. “But I can’t go with you. I do not have the right to join you… By staying on the sidelines of the battle between mortals and immortals, saying that there was no future for the immortals were they not able to triumph without me, I trampled your dream.” That was her second request. Sihlwald was a being beyond the immortals—beyond the world. She thought that it would be wrong to interfere with the crossroads of fate, if she truly cared about the immortals and, more than anything, Veltol. She knew not whether that choice was correct. But after such a long life, it was the first time she ever regretted a decision. She wished she could have ignored such reasoning and fought by his side. “It is over now, Sihlwald,” he said, quietly, warmly, but firmly. His words were not from brother to sister, but from Demon Lord to Dark Peer. “I told you then, when you declined participating in the final war, that I would not blame you for it. It is not your fault that I lost. It was all due to Gram’s strength. Not to mention, it does not matter what you think. I want you, and that is reason enough. Is it not? So come back, Sihlwald. I need you.” Silence. After a long, long silence, the words came hoarse out of Sihlwald’s mouth. “Is that so…?” She raised her head. “Then…try and defeat me.” “That has been my intention all along, Sister.” The Demon Lord glanced at the Hero, who nodded back. Clearly, he was up to something. But it didn’t matter. She simply had to force him down. No holding back. No consideration. If he could not defeat her, there was no meaning to her coming back. There were few ways to kill an immortal barehanded, even for Sihlwald. But there was a way to defeat one without killing them. Joint locks. By restraining or crushing the joints necessary to move one’s body, one could incapacitate them without destroying them. But this only worked with immortals with slow regeneration. Although Veltol was weakened, he could regenerate right away. Which meant the most effective method was a chokehold. People’s consciousness faded quickly once you stopped the supply of blood to their brain. The point was to knock them out without killing them. Killing them would mean they could resurrect immediately, but knocking them out completely incapacitated them, even if they could still recover quicker than mortals. To summarize, grappling techniques were the most effective barehanded fighting method against immortals. So it was time to put an end to this. “Ah Shiva!” Sihlwald roared as she stepped forward. Cold spread radially from her foot, creating an ice needle from the unfreezable aether-imbued water. She ran across the surface of the water. Her aim was to separate Demon Lord and Hero. “Whoa!” “Agh…!” Veltol and Gram jumped to the side to dodge the ice, successfully splitting them up. First one to fall would be the Hero. Sihlwald spread her wings and flew. They were already reacting to her movements. She chose to dive into the water again and launch a surprise attack from there, even though she wasn’t used to moving underwater yet. But the moment she took a nosedive… “Water Walking!” …the Hero activated a spell. Not to him. Not to his buddy. To Sihlwald. Her scales repelled harmful magic, but buffs or supporting spells, such as Water Walking, went through. That was already proved moments ago in the midst of battle. As a result, Sihlwald did not dive but bounced off the water and slipped back toward the center island. “Ha! You won’t get me with this.” Although surprised by the suddenness of it, she immediately got back up. The Hero was already on his next move. “Light, sound, burst!” He shortened the incantation for “Provoke!” Beads of light shot from Gram’s fingers. “Ha! No magic will…” work on dragons, she couldn’t finish. Before that, the light beads popped, unleashing light and sound that filled the entire remote shrine and sealed Sihlwald’s sight and hearing. “Tch! Dirty little tricks!” Provoke was a simple non-damaging spell that drew the attention of the enemy with light and sound, but as Gram launched it with all his power, it turned out to be more effective than a stun grenade. Dragonscale Effect did not protect her sight or hearing. Sihlwald focused on the wavering of the aether behind her. No mana reaction from Veltol. She could ignore him for the time being. The only thing that could damage her without hurting his ally as well was Gram’s Vernal. Sihlwald’s sight gradually came back, and she launched herself forward. The Hero was before her eyes. Something felt wrong. She kicked his midsection and blew him away. It was then that she realized what was wrong. Gram wasn’t holding Vernal. And Veltol’s presence had vanished from her back. Where? She looked all around, cleared her ears, sensed the motion of the air. Where is he? A black gust blew. Shivers. A sensation that she had felt very few times in her life. Not overbearing like the Green Dragon’s. Not depraved like the White Dragon’s. Not mad like the Blue Dragon’s. Not catastrophic like the Red Dragon’s. The mana overhead was unlike any other in her memory. She looked up. “Veltol, you…” Her eyes grew wide. Veltol held Vernal in his hands. He used Leaping Haze. That alone wasn’t enough to trick her eye, but by using Gram as a distraction, he could use it as a chaff for the aether wavering and jump above her. To defeat her with a technique she created was his way of repaying her. By giving Gram the Dark Sword and placing him on the vanguard while keeping himself to rear support, he pulled Sihlwald’s focus away from himself, thus setting the stage for this role switch. Vernal and the black armor were soul armaments forged from his soul. He was free to pull them in or out at any time. He could return them to his hand even while Gram had them equipped. There was no sign of communication for the switch. The strategy was only possible without a word exchanged, thanks to their experience in battling to the death against each other. But that wasn’t what surprised Sihlwald—the strategy itself was no big deal. “That form…” Veltol was wearing a horned mask like the skull of a dragon. That was not his second form as when he fought the Hero Gram or the Duke of the Bloody Arts Marcus. His size and armor remained the same, the only difference being the dragon skull. The aether density in the remote shrine was enough to activate his second form, but as he lacked the faith, his transformation was limited. This was the Demon Lord’s limited second form. Active for only one second. “It’s time to end this distraction, Sihlwald.” He reserved the switch with Gram in order to make the most of that single second. Had he used it from the beginning, used the limited transformation without enough consideration, Sihlwald would become wary of it. The secret technique available only during his second form—proclaimless magic. Myriad black lances appeared in the air. They pierced through Sihlwald’s Dragonscale Effect. Defeat inched so close in one moment. Still, a smile remained on Sihlwald’s face. “Ahhh! Now this is the little brother I know! Demon Lord Veltol! However…!” She stared into Veltol overhead as she took a deep breath. “Goh Arr!” Black flames surged from the dragon’s roar. Black Dragon, Sihlwald’s, real Dragonbreath. The root of magic—a simple hit of mana as heat. The flames pulled off part of Veltol’s mask, unveiling one eye. Their glares clashed. The Black Dragon then sensed her defeat. “Exult in the silver skies: Vernal Diel.” The silver gleam of the Demon Lord’s Dark Sword stabbed the Black Dragon’s scales. With a single strike, the Demon Lord emerged victorious. “Weak human, immortal brethren, I shall allow you to name yourself.” “I now call myself Veltol.” An old memory, from back when the age of the dragons came to its twilight and the age of giants and heroes began to dawn. A young human recently turned immortal arrived at her nest with a black gale. He crossed terrain too harsh for humans, traversed the dwellings of darklings and dragons, and made it to the home of the god of the dragons. “As in evil omen? Heh. Quite the peculiar name,” said the giant dragon. “This is the first time humankind has come to this place. The mere fact you crossed the Velvar Sierra to stand before me now makes you a legend among men. Now why are you paying my home a visit, brave Veltol?” He was tiny, physically. A single swing of her forelegs could crush him, and one breath could send him flying away. “Join my army, Sihlwald.” She liked his arrogance. “Bwah!” The dragon laughed. “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You are one funny lad, Veltol!” Her laughter whirled the aether and swayed the man’s long hair. “I thought of devouring you were you to rant folly, but now that tickles my scales! I like the guts you show me! The apex predator has finished its part as head of all living beings. Soon enough, the heroes shall defeat the giants crowding the land, exterminate them, and bring forth the age of humankind. We dragons are no longer calamities but mere creatures. Perhaps it would be amusing to follow one of such men, then.” “I am no human.” He stared boldly into her eyes. “Serve me.” “You bring me no end of amusement… But what do you want me for?” “Someone as powerful as you would eventually get in the way of my rule. The best course of action would naturally be to have you join me before such a time comes.” “That is to say, you want to avoid fighting me?” “I shall make my wish come true, even if I must sip mud to achieve it.” “I fancy your avarice. Very well. But I have something to ask in return. You will listen to three of my requests. That will be our vow.” “Requests?” He furrowed his brow. “I won’t ask you to bring me Virtuosa. Nothing reckless like that Red Dragon’s lightning. No, what I want is for you to indulge me in my little whims.” “…I accept. Let us make this vow.” “I will have my first request fulfilled now. From now on, you will respect me as your elder sister.” “My sister…? That’s it?” “I said you will respect me.” “…I will, Sister.” He bowed his head. “Good. Now, what do you want me to do as part of your army? Anything foolish and I will gulp you up.” “For starters, I would like you to destroy a nation.” “Which one?” “My…homeland.” The silver Dark Sword pierced the dragon’s scales as though sewing her to the ground. Even stabbed by the soul-tearing immortal execution blade, Sihlwald was undefeated. Her soul’s strength was extraordinary even for an immortal, and Veltol knew that using the execution blade would not bring her demise. Veltol held her in his arms, softly pulling the blade away. “Let us look over everything said with this.” The blade was meant to be used to execute criminal immortals. Now that she had received punishment, it was all forgiven. “Not very kind to your sister, are you?” “If your request is to be treated kindly, I will gladly oblige.” “Heh-heh-heh… I like it a bit rougher.” Sihlwald left Veltol’s arms and sat down. “I lost.” Sihlwald remembered what Veltol said to Gram before the battle: “I can already see victory in our future.” He had predicted this. Demon Lord Veltol and Hero Gram. Perhaps Sihlwald would have lost even in her prime. Not to mention Veltol’s secret power: His dragon mask… “That looked like me.” …it resembled Sihlwald’s dragon form. Veltol’s second form was the incarnation of man’s primal fear, meaning that the fear of the apex predator, the Black Dragon, Sihlwald, was carved into the souls of her prey. The dragon skull resembling Sihlwald’s was Veltol’s highest expression of respect. “Is there anybody else who could embody life’s primal fear?” Now I understand… She finally realized the meaning of her feelings toward her brother and master: love—personal, on equal footing. “Hero Gram, you did remarkably. I can see how you could defeat Veltol. You are the true Hero.” The greatest praise a hero, a swordsman, could receive from the dragon of legend. What higher honor could there be? So Gram, too, showed reverence to the king of the dragons by kneeling and bowing his head. “I do not deserve the praise.” “That said.” Sihlwald leaned back. “I would have pummeled you if I hadn’t just woken up.” “Not at all, Sister. You are an early riser. The results would have been the same.” “I would’ve won in my dragon form! I just stayed like this because the place is so tiny and I would’ve felt bad for you!” “Sore loser…” “You two are identical…,” said Gram. Veltol reached for Sihlwald. “Should we go, then, Sister?” “Uhh, about that…” She raised a hand awkwardly. “This is really hard for me to say…especially after I just lost… But don’t get mad, okay? Promise? I wanted to fight you, for sure, but there is one extenuating reason as to why I asked you for that…” She twiddled her pointer fingers, her eyes upturned and tail wagging as she hesitated to explain. “I cannot promise I won’t get mad before hearing it first…,” Veltol said. “Of course.” Sihlwald averted her gaze and whispered, “I can’t leave this place…” “…Hmm?” “…Huh?” Veltol and Gram exchanged confused looks. “And…why would that be, Sister?” “Erm… To put it very simply, after the Immortal War, I was wandering about and found believers of mine in a village here.” “Yes?” “And it was a barren land, and I was down because you weren’t here, and it made me glad to see believers still around… So I activated the ley lines here to make the land bountiful. I became the linchpin.” “I see… So the Progenitor made use of your activated aether lines to keep the flow of aether and make the barrier in Yokohama.” “I heard Goar was once a bountiful land of dragon faithfuls. So that’s because Sihlwald took root as the keystone here. I saw the statue of a dragon in the city. That’s why you can’t leave?” Gram asked. Sihlwald nodded and tapped the seal on her chest. “I made a vow to have the shrine maiden liberate me when the time came that my blessings became unneeded. So you can’t completely break my seal unless you are from the shrine maiden’s bloodline.” “Then what was the fight for?!” Gram’s yell echoed through the shrine. “I knew you’d get mad! That’s why I was gonna win! Then I’d have an excuse to send you off!” Sihlwald panicked apologetically. “But wait. There might be a way. I’d be free already if all my believers were dead. But I’m not, so that must mean that they are still there. Just bring them.” “So there was the physical seal on the wall blocking off the shrine, and the vow with your believers. But what about the chains?” Gram asked. “I’m not sure, because I was dozing, but it must have been Marcus. I have vague memories of him doing something.” Veltol touched his index finger to his lips. “It is true that the quirks of the seal were reminiscent of Marcus’s… He was unable to use you for the Immortal Furnace because of the seal, so he must’ve placed a further one to make sure you would not get in his way. Again, it’s a shame that he ended up my foe.” “But what now? We can’t just leave her here, can we?” “Hmmm…” The three of them cocked their heads in thought. “A vow with your believers…,” Veltol muttered before raising his head. “Gram, free the girls.” “Huh? Oh, right.” He did as told, and the two of them walked over to the center. “How’d it go? Seems like the battle’s settled, at least.” “Is something the matter?” Veltol stood before Aoba and grabbed her hand. “Aoba.” “Y-yes?!” Her cheeks grew rosy. “You are the key.” Aoba didn’t understand what he meant. “Huh? Huh?” “Sister. She is a homunculus.” “Hm? And?” “Her soul is a copy, which means…” “…I see where you’re going.” “She might be a copy of the body and soul of a descendant of the shrine maiden who made that vow with you five hundred years ago.” Only a shrine maiden from Sihlwald’s believers’ bloodline could completely undo her seal, and if Aoba was a copy of their soul, then, magicologically speaking, she should be recognized as her believer. “Aoba’s original was a descendant of the shrine maiden?” Gram repeated. Veltol nodded. “Very likely. Aoba, do as I say, please.” He then gave her a couple of instructions. As he taught her, Aoba reached her hand out to Sihlwald and said, “Black Dragon, Sihlwald, I relay to you the news of the completion of the vow to my soul.” The moment her hand touched Sihlwald’s seal, the memories rushed into Aoba’s head. The memory of a girl; a memory handed down through the generations across five centuries; the memory of Aoba’s original soul. She saw through the eyes of that girl. Before her was Sihlwald in her human form, keystone seal on her chest. The girl in that memory wore the shrine maiden dress as the other girl sat in the middle of the beautiful shrine. “Are you sure about this, Sihlwald?” “Just do it already. I know it’s only for complacency and won’t serve as real atonement, but I’d feel at ease, if only a little, if I can repay my believers. And… Well, I’ve grown tired… I know I chose this for myself, but it is the second time I lost something I hold dear.” “Heavens! Black Dragon, Sihlwald? But my grandmother and my grandmother’s grandmother and her grandmother all talked about how Sihlwald was the bravest, most powerful in the world. I would’ve never thought she would be such a little, delicate girl.” “Ha! Like you didn’t wet yourself when I descended in my dragon form.” “How couldn’t I be shocked seeing a dragon for the first time? You’re quite adorable like this, but I prefer your other formidable appearance. Would you like to switch it?” “This place is too small for that form.” “That makes sense. And…what about this book?” “Hm? Ah, I don’t need it anymore.” “Oh, then I know a merchant who likes this sort of thing. May as well make some money from it.” “You’re selling it?! You’re supposed to keep it after this sentimental good-bye! Ehh, do as you please…” They both smiled. “And good-bye it is. I believe the death of your descendants will come sooner than them waking me up, I’ll say. Mortals are so frail.” “No,” the shrine maiden said. “I’m sure people who believe in you will exist no matter how much the world changes.” Then she came back to her senses. Before Aoba’s eyes was the dragon girl, exactly the same as in the memory. “Our deal fulfilled, there is none that binds my wings further.” With the clear sound of thin ice cracking, the seal on Sihlwald’s chest vanished.
Chapter 37
30 min read