episode_0017

Elder Dragon, Sephira had one major concern on her mind.

It was about the incident with Skaha, the Dragonblade, who was once her enemy.

At first glance, Skaha was a mad sword, skilled in killing her own kind.

However, after being abandoned by her master, Skaha regretted her actions and apologized to Sephira, forming a contract with her.

Since then, they had many conversations, and Sephira was surprised to find that Skaha and the Dragonblade complemented each other well in battle.

For the venerable Elder Dragon, the Dragonblade was a good friend to confide in.

And for the unfortunate Dragonblade, Elder Dragon was a comforting friend who listened to her troubled past.

Despite their past enmity, they quickly became close and started to bond like old friends.

It would have been fine for them to continue living happily together, but unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

Skaha still harbored deep regrets and wanted to seek forgiveness for her past mistakes from Lian.

And she also had a small desire to stay by his side if possible.

Sephira, who understood Skaha’s situation, wanted to help her.

She offered advice and ways to seek forgiveness consistently.

However, their long-awaited reunion and apology ended abruptly due to Skaha’s sudden outburst.

Before the situation escalated beyond repair, Sephira decided to kidnap Skaha and take her to a secluded mountain for a serious talk.

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“Uh…? I’m not sure.”

“I thought you misspoke out of nervousness, but it seems you simply lacked common sense from the start.”

Watching Skaha act as if she truly didn’t know, Sephira let out a deep sigh.

Where should she start?

As she pondered this, Skaha suddenly expressed her dissatisfaction.

“Why did you appear and take me away at that timing? If you had come a little later, I could have been happy with my master!”

“…Are you being sincere?”

“Have I ever not been sincere?!”

Oh, divine beings. How should one deal with this innocent yet audacious sword?

Pressing her nose bridge, Sephira recalled the principles of diplomacy.

Regaining her inner peace, she calmly began to guide Skaha.

“Listen to me carefully. In any relationship between a man and a woman, there is a process, and it’s important to take each step carefully.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, even if the process is complicated, couples who go through every stage reach true love and live happily ever after.”

“So, the proposal I suggested was not part of that process?”

“No, it is, but it mostly corresponds to the final stage of the process.”

Sephira prioritized emotional love but also considered physical love important.

Physical intimacy was a means for both parties to feel the love they shared.

In that sense, she believed that the consummation of their relationship on the first night should be sacred and beautiful.

But how could one demand intimacy from someone who didn’t even know who they were in a sudden request for a sexual relationship?

It was unacceptable.

“After all, the first experience should start with a man and a woman who love each other, showing innocent reactions on the bed…!”

Skaha had endured pitiful and dirty experiences for the past six years.

Therefore, Sephira hoped for a beautiful future for her.

It wasn’t easy to not feel like she was forcing her friend’s life.

Still, she believed it wasn’t right to demand consummation from someone she was seeking forgiveness from.

“It’s strange. You were the one who said you would jump at the chance if I suggested a consummation with a man first, right?”

“Who did such a ridiculous thing… did you do the ‘mane of misfortune’?”

“The Red Dragon told me!”

As Sephira realized where Skaha’s outburst came from, she smirked sardonically.

Determined to soon visit the Red Dragon’s nest and destroy the carriage collection he had gathered, she made a vow. However, the condemnation of her own kind would have to wait for another day.

Right now, correcting the misconceptions was more important, and it was at that moment when Sephira’s gaze once again turned towards Skaha.

“Why are you like this?”

Skaha was staring blankly at something.

Following Skaha’s gaze, Sephira saw the scene where Lian, her former master, had killed Drake.

‘He’s going to react the same way as last time…’

When Skaha first killed Drake, she had shown a reaction of guilt.

Ignoring Sephira’s calls and completely falling in love. She had shown that reaction.

She had expected the same this time, but the reaction was subtly different.

‘What’s going on?’

Realizing the change, Sephira urgently pricked up her ears.

Even though Lian was far away, his voice was clear enough to hear.

Starting to eavesdrop belatedly, Sephira heard a crucial word.

“It’s a feeling. When I go back, I’ll ask the blacksmiths to take care of you!”

Although it seemed like she was talking to herself as there was no one around, it was clear in the eyes of the Elder Dragon.

That a new self was sprouting inside the iron sword at Lian’s waist.

And Lian’s words were directed towards that sword, so Skaha must have been aware of this fact.

“Ha…! Haha…! Ahaha……”

Sure enough, Skaha suddenly slumped onto the snowy ground.

Her former master, who had betrayed her, was being kind to another sword.

It was a sight she had often seen from Skaha in the distant past, but now it was just a distant memory.

She wanted to go back to that time, but the reality that she couldn’t was enough to crush her.

In the end, Skaha began to harm herself, breaking her own horn or pulling her wings.

“Hehe…! Master, look at this, I’m hurt too…!”

The vitality she had shown when facing Lian disappeared, and a moist emptiness filled her eyes.

“Haha! It hurts…! Why aren’t you looking at me when it hurts this much?”

Having damaged both her horn and wings, Skaha began to punch herself.

Bruises appeared on her skin and then disappeared.

Blood burst from her mouth, only to disappear shortly after.

“I don’t even hope for repairs. I just…! As long as I have your touch…! Your touch…… Huh! Huh…!”

Sephira wanted to stop Skaha’s self-harming behavior immediately, but she was the type to push back even more if someone tried to stop her.

All Sephira could do was to create a blizzard to prevent her suffering from reaching her former master.

‘Will the time come for her to be saved?’

That was the biggest concern for Sephira.

***

The peculiar aura of the demon slowly faded away.

It was evidence that Lian had defeated the demon.

In the past, what Alaina had so desperately wished for Lian to fulfill, the duty of a hero, he had done.

Alaina, who should have been jumping around in joy, was showing an extremely anxious and trembling appearance.

In unison, words of apology towards Lian continued to pour out of Alaina’s mouth.

To understand why the ruler of the glorious empire had fallen so far, one had to go back to the past.

To stop Skaha, who was acting alone, Alaina had come to the northern snowfields herself.

Arriving confidently, declaring that she wouldn’t regret even going to war, Alaina suddenly disappeared after Skaha’s remarks.

“I worried for nothing and ended up losing.”

Alaina decided to spend time observing Lian’s figure with regret.

Seeing Lian trying to help the village in crisis, Alaina felt proud, thinking that she had chosen a true hero.

Although she didn’t like the rude attitude of the village chief, Alaina held back her feelings since Lian didn’t seem to mind.

Especially when the village chief mentioned that Alaina couldn’t make a sword like Lian’s, she let out her pent-up anger.

“If you say that only a sword worthy of Lian is a holy sword, then there’s no other than me!”

Alaina believed confidently that she was the best for Lian.

However, her confident attitude didn’t last long.

After Lian cleared out the Drake group, he started a conversation with the sword at his waist.

It was the sword that Alaina had envied for being unmatched in elegance.

Once again, jealousy arose, and Alaina began to move to separate the two.

But as Alaina listened closely to their conversation, she couldn’t help but stop in the middle.

Lian was smiling contently after their short conversation.

Even though the sword hadn’t been used in the recent battle, it didn’t hesitate to praise Lian.

It was the first time the sword, which had been around for a short time, acknowledged Lian.

On the other hand, Alaina had never praised Lian like the sword.

After every battle, Alaina was too busy praising herself to acknowledge Lian’s efforts.

And she always arrogantly acted as if Lian should be grateful for using her.

She didn’t even remember saying a simple “good job.”

“I, I need to apologize to Lian right away…!”

A huge sense of guilt overwhelmed her, making it hard for her to even breathe properly.

The rare smile from Lian was easily brought out, tearing Alaina’s heart apart.

Feeling burdened with an irreparable sin, Alaina began to show signs of anxiety.

Watching Lian fight against the demons, she thought she was calming down a bit, but it all burst out in the end.

“L-Lian? No…? Is it really that the sword we only spent a few days together is better than me? We spent years together, didn’t we? We…we should have…?”

As they exchanged words with the sword, Lian showed various emotions.

Alaina, who had rarely seen these sides of Lian, felt her heart crumble.

The bond they had built over years was pushed aside by a bond that had lasted only a few hours.

Realizing this fact, Alaina began to nervously bite her nails.

Showing extreme signs of anxiety, she even went as far as pulling out her nails with her teeth while turning her head.

She couldn’t bear the heavy guilt without going to such lengths.

“I’m sorry…! I’m sorry…! I’m sorry…! I’m sorry…!”

Tears flowed, showing remorse for the Yongma sword and even the holy sword.

With no real encounter with Lian, the two swords still had a long way to go on the path of atonement.