Ch.145Chapter 145: Reminiscence, Memories (4)

As her silver hair fluttered, revealing her presence, the woman’s thunderous voice transformed the scene in the projection from desolation to vibrancy.

The focus of the projection, which had been fixed on the red dragon that had reduced a magnificent kingdom to ruins, gradually shifted toward the woman.

And rightfully so.

Behold that brilliantly shining silver hair.

In these ruins where no trace of human life remained.

What reason could there be not to focus on a woman radiating such inhuman beauty?

“Isn’t it natural for attention to shift from a dull, fierce-looking fire lizard to a bright, radiant beauty?”

This was acknowledged by Fafnir himself, who had experienced the situation firsthand.

And who had built various forms of connection with that woman in the projection over many long years.

Even though it showed his past self in an unsightly state, losing reason and causing destruction according to his whims.

Fafnir’s attitude in referring to his past self as a lizard was quite impressive.

And that wasn’t all.

In Fafnir’s right hand, after instantly shedding the fatigue he had been openly displaying while leaning back on his throne…

“…It tastes good after so long.”

Though it was unclear when or how he had produced it, he was holding a delectable-looking snack with a bite taken out of it.

His eyes were fixed on the projection as if glued there, having completely forgotten his original intention to rest.

As if eagerly anticipating what would happen next.

As if responding to the expectation reflected in his sparkling eyes.

The world in the projection, momentarily fixed on the woman, began to move again.

The silver-haired woman, Lumen Ranos, raised the black-gleaming sword from her shoulder toward the red dragon.

-Kuooooo!!

As the red dragon, perceiving the woman’s action as a challenge, moved its massive body toward her as if to crush her.

-A lizard brat like you who doesn’t understand the word coexistence deserves slaughter!

Her rough-edged voice roared out.

The woman, who had been standing straight, briefly bent her upper body forward.

-Don’t be shy, this is just a greeting!!

Moving at a speed that even an arrow released from a bowstring couldn’t match, she reached the red dragon.

-Haaaaa!!!

With a battle cry that exuded exhilaration just from hearing it, she swung her black sword downward.

It was a splendid slash filled with the will to cut through everything before her, but.

If someone other than Fafnir were watching this projection, they would sigh in dismay at the woman’s action.

The scales of a living dragon were the strongest shield, impenetrable by even the finest swords or spells.

Why would she throw away a black sword of unclear material like this?

Surely they would sigh with such thoughts, but.

“Ugh…”

From the mouth of the actual participant watching the projection while munching on his snack came not a sigh but a faint groan.

Why did a groan escape his lips?

It was because the red dragon in the projection.

-Kaaaaaaaa-!!!

As soon as the woman’s sword strike ended, let out a scream as if being torn apart.

-H…how is this possibleeee?!

The words that escaped showed he couldn’t comprehend what had happened to him.

Though it was difficult to read emotions due to his enormous size and inhuman appearance.

The expression of the red dragon in the projection clearly showed bewilderment at what was happening to him.

And his utter confusion at the situation was clearly visible.

And for good reason.

On scales that boasted absolute durability, never once injured in countless battles against rebellious kin.

A wound had been inflicted by a sword wielded by a human, a being he had considered small and powerless.

-Kraaaaaaaa!!

How could he not scream like that?

That scream was a mixture of slight pain and unbearable humiliation, almost completely evaporating what little reason remained in him.

Of course, what completely severed the dragon’s already fraying reason wasn’t just the first wound ever carved into his body.

-Lizard!! Come any closer and I’ll cut deeper.

The warning that Lumen Ranos issued after completing her light show of force, with her sword raised toward the red dragon, was the decisive factor.

It was filled with confidence.

And by using the derogatory term “lizard” for the red dragon, she also managed to irritate him.

And simultaneously, when her voice, filled with confidence that she could inflict even deeper wounds than before, reached the red dragon’s ears.

-Kuooooooooooo!!!!!!

The world in the projection was filled with a roar louder than any the red dragon had made since appearing.

-Woman! I’ll kill you!!

Followed by murderous intent in verbal form spewing from his mouth.

The desolate ruins began to heat up again with the energy created by the red dragon and the human hero.

Though far from the original vitality of the ancient kingdom’s capital where countless people had once mingled.

This too was a spectacle created by the heat of the living.

#

Before the battle in the projection intensified.

It’s necessary to tell the story of the red dragon who dominates the projection.

The name of the red dragon in the projection, which might seem unnecessary to explain, is Fafnir.

This dragon Fafnir was born with exceptional strength even among dragons, a species for whom ruling over others was as natural as breathing.

He was the strongest dragon who, at a relatively young age, defeated ancient dragons who had lived incomparably longer than him and rose above them.

Among the titles used to describe him was “Red Tyrant.”

This title reflected the anger and fear of humans whose world he had so spectacularly destroyed, but.

This title was first used not by humans but among other dragons who had knelt before his overwhelming power.

In describing the culprit who destroyed the dragon society that had been maintained by respecting each other’s territories and the knowledge, wisdom, and power of older individuals.

There could probably be no better word choice to describe the oppressive power derived from his appearance.

This red dragon, who embodied the word tyrant compared to any other being, was now…

-I’ll… kill… you.

Desperately forming his final words with his reason fraying due to twisted divinity.

Grrrrrr!!!

He was preparing to meet his challenger.

Spreading his massive wings and lifting his body from the ground into the air, Fafnir’s mouth contained.

Though it had been rendered ineffective earlier by the woman’s sword.

The flame breath that had already proven its destructive power by instantly reducing a massive city to ashes.

Despite having completely lost his reason, the red dragon’s chosen tactic was rational.

Moving his body to a place beyond the reach of his opponent’s sword.

Then spewing flames with incomparably more power than the warning shot he had fired earlier.

And when the opponent was flustered by the flames, closing the gap.

If that happened, the opponent would likely be unable to respond to flames coming from an immeasurable distance, then helplessly collapse when he suddenly closed the gap.

-Krrrr!!

Judging by the red dragon’s expression as he grimaced unpleasantly while floating in the air despite having lost his reason.

He was clearly confident in his victory, at least until then.

Of course, the view of the third party(?) watching from outside the projection would be completely different.

“You fool, instead of grinning, you should have widened the gap more.”

From Fafnir’s mouth, who had forgotten to take another bite of his snack, came advice directed at his past self, though his past self couldn’t possibly hear it.

Despite knowing his past self couldn’t hear him, his voice was infinitely serious as he advised him to widen the gap.

It seemed almost like a desperate attempt to avoid what he knew would happen next.

But since advice thrown from a time and space that didn’t match couldn’t possibly reach the red dragon.

As the flames in his mouth reached their critical point and were spewed out.

-I’ll kill youuuuuu!!

With a roar condensed with murderous intent, his body surged from the air toward where Lumen stood.

The sight of the dragon’s enormous body, which could believably cover mountain ranges as records claimed.

Surging to eliminate a single human would undoubtedly be a scene of despair that would make anyone faint if they experienced it firsthand, but.

-Haa…

Lumen, who calmly watched the massive red dragon surging toward her, lowered her head and let out a faint sigh that had nothing to do with despair.

She immediately raised her head and responded to her opponent’s action by lightly swinging her black sword downward once more.

Unlike before, it was an act that seemed meaningless at first glance since the sword blade didn’t directly touch the red dragon’s body, but.

“…Ugh.”

The present Fafnir, watching this scene from outside the projection, clutched his chest with his left hand that wasn’t holding a snack and let out a playful groan, and.

-Woman! How dare you insult meee!

The red dragon surging toward Lumen also roared at her for performing an act that seemed meaningless to him, but only briefly.

The momentum of the red dragon, surging at an unbelievable speed despite his massive size, weakened.

-…Hueeee!!

A scream of pain qualitatively different from the earlier scream of embarrassment at seeing the wound on his body burst from his mouth.

The flames that had spewed from his mouth disappeared without a trace just like before.

And the massive body of the red dragon, which had been surging to tear apart the woman who would be flustered by the flames, crashed into the ruins with a thunderous sound.

Neither the red dragon surging to crush Lumen nor the flames he spewed achieved their intended purpose.

-…I told you I’d cut deeper if you came closer.

Lumen’s voice, as she shook her head looking at the red dragon crashed into the ground, was filled with disdain, and.

“You should have listened. Stupid brat.”

The present Fafnir, hurling insults at his past self, wore an expression of satisfaction at having finished his snack, which didn’t match his harsh words.

Human and dragon.

The battle between these two species, with such an overwhelming difference in size that one might fundamentally question its possibility.

Despite exchanging only a few moves.

-H…how?!

The red dragon, who was not only wounded but also spurting blood, regained his fleeting reason in shock, and.

-I’ll listen to your last words. The last words of a dragon who destroyed a nation overnight should be remembered for over a thousand years.

Lumen, with an attitude suggesting she had already won, demanding last words from her opponent.

The tide of battle was already turning.

#

The intense battle in the projection accelerated rapidly.

The red dragon, experiencing cognitive dissonance at the unbelievable events happening to him.

Fled from the ruins to the peak of the massive mountain range where his original lair was located.

Then continued fierce resistance against the woman who came to the mountain peak to settle things, leaving claw marks on the peak.

The battle was about to end with the dragon’s neck being severed in two by the sword of the woman who had leaped to an unbelievable height.

-I… can’t… die…!!

Due to a spell cast by the red dragon whose survival instinct was maximized.

-…? What’s this? You survived in that form? Looking like that, you’re not much different from a human?

When a dragon from the western part of the central continent transforms into human form.

Seeing him transformed into a human appearance without even retaining the horns that should remain above his head.

-…Your neck was almost completely severed but you survived? As they say, even a rotten croaker is still a fish—a dragon’s vitality is truly remarkable.

As she marveled at his miraculously regenerating body that was nearly dead, the light in her sword gleamed.

-But you still have to die. Your actions have been too evil to let you live. I don’t know what you’ll be reborn as, but next time, live kindly…!!

As she was about to thrust it into the neck of the dragon-turned-human, he barely blocked it with his hand, looking almost identical to the Fafnir watching from outside the projection.

-Even if I die… I can’t die… until I get revenge on those demon gods who made me like this…

The projection ended with Lumen Ranos reacting sensitively to the word “demon gods” that came out of Fafnir’s mouth as he was losing consciousness, grinding the word between his teeth.

The projection, created as a record linked to the memories of both participants of past events, merely served to dispassionately report what had happened, but.

*Clap clap clap*

Fafnir, the only audience watching this, rose from the throne supporting his body as soon as the video ended and expressed his appreciation by clapping.

His expression as he clapped was much more varied compared to his earlier fatigue-laden one.

Relief was predominant at being able to clearly view past events that had become hazy in his memory due to the passage of time.

But besides relief, his expression also showed.

“My dear archenemy and.”

A wistful expression as he paid tribute to the other protagonist reflected in the projection.

“Also my dear comrade and.”

From archenemy to comrade.

The title defining Lumen from Fafnir’s mouth was gradually changing.

Comrade changed to frenemy with whom he fought whenever bored.

Frenemy changed to someone who understood him.

And beyond that.

“Lifelong… friend.”

Fafnir, who had been about to say something but hastily corrected it to “friend,” didn’t continue speaking.

He was now looking up at the foggy void.

Though it was just a stifling space with nothing visible but fog.

His gaze seemed to be directed not at the fog but toward a high place beyond this world, transcending even the material world where he had originally been active.

“Are you doing well there?”

A brief greeting with no expectation of an answer came out.

There was no need to ask who it was directed at.

Warmth filled Fafnir’s gaze as he looked at the void.

A warmth as clear as the gaze the man he called a youngster gave his fiancée whenever he saw her.

“It’s a bit difficult to visit now. When I’m done with everything here, I’ll come find you…”

The greeting Fafnir continued in a low voice toward the void contained a gentleness that would be hard to associate with his usual voice.

“Then let’s share a cup of tea we both like.”

With these final words.

*Snap!!*

Fafnir, who dismissed the projection that had been floating in the void without any screen, stretched and began walking.

“Well then.”

His voice after the affectionate words ended had returned to its usual calmness, but.

His footsteps heading toward the bedchamber where he would lie down after a long time were too quick to be called heavy and too sticky to be called light.

Even in this other-side world that can have no effect on the material world.

A day passes for Fafnir living there just the same as in the material world.

“Yaaawn…”

Along with Fafnir’s footsteps as he let out a contented yawn.