Ch.271Dragon (8)

That which was once a dragon could no longer maintain its original form.

As if experimenting to see where the boundaries of a dragon might lie, it swelled with free-flowing transformations.

Filling the forest, devouring the approaching dead, taking a form that consumed every last shadow of the forest with its own flesh.

It wasn’t as if no one was caught in this explosive expansion. Llewellyn bit his lip unconsciously as he felt their deaths.

But there was no brief moment to mourn. Llewellyn ran to avoid that “explosion of life.”

Finally, when the explosion subsided, only the pulsation of the massive corpse echoed in the quiet aftermath.

Llewellyn stood before it. With fists clenched tight enough to crush, he glared at it silently.

Five people had been caught up in it. Two Blood Knights and three Inquisitors.

All three Inquisitors had families. They were heads of households living with their families in the Pantheon.

They were brave people who stepped forward to protect their children and families. Llewellyn felt deep self-reproach at this fact.

Perhaps, he thought, it would have been right to position those with families in the rear.

But.

“Do not regret it.”

The Dragon King, who had descended beside Llewellyn, said.

“…What?”

“They chose their own battleground. Your regret changes nothing and only dishonors their deaths.”

Llewellyn closed his mouth at those words.

It was true. They had chosen where they would fight and die, and while they might regret their deaths, they wouldn’t regret choosing their place to die.

“If you have time for that, prepare to fight.”

The Dragon King was right. Llewellyn closed his mouth and looked at the massive, pulsating mass of flesh.

A massive flesh that seemed to fill the entire forest. Though he didn’t know what action or reason had caused this, Llewellyn felt there was no need to question it.

It was the work of a Transcendent. Though he didn’t yet know exactly which Transcendent it was.

He could vaguely guess. It felt strangely familiar.

It was like how the Court Count had murmured that name from afar, recognizing the unfamiliar sensation. Llewellyn clenched and unclenched his hand, feeling the regenerating constellation.

“…Steward.”

The whispered word was heard only by the Dragon King, but it wouldn’t have made much difference if others had heard it.

After all, those who weren’t Mourners wouldn’t have been able to feel it anyway.

Llewellyn was feeling something similar to the power of mourning flowing within him.

More precisely, he felt a power that maximized life.

Something that allowed a single life to exert power beyond its lifespan and limits.

This power, proportional to one’s health stat, was also the reason Mourners lived short lives.

So when Llewellyn saw the “Mourner Uncle” announcing his terminal condition, he thought:

For a power bestowed out of sorrow for the fading of life, why was it so unfriendly to humans?

The reason was right before his eyes.

It was the harmony of overwhelming power in a self swallowed and blurred by a Transcendent. Not delicately calibrated for humans, but power bestowed like an overflowing torrent.

Llewellyn frowned with an uncomfortable expression, and the Dragon King, looking at his profile:

“What will you do?”

He asked casually. Llewellyn opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.

What should he do? The form was too massive from the start.

What was the direct approach? If erasing it completely was the method, then the course of action was clear, but…

Intuitively, Llewellyn knew that couldn’t be the solution. Rather, it was the opposite.

Burning everything with the death of a star would not be the answer.

‘…That Transcendent I saw before was the same.’

A single strike with the death of a star contained in the blade. A fatal technique that could take a life in one blow, even if the opponent was a god.

Star Killing.

Though it had blazed forth, the Transcendent didn’t consider it a threat. Rather, one might say…

In very human terms, it became “angry.”

It grew irritated and truly tried to crush Llewellyn to death.

If Netel hadn’t blocked the rift in time, what would have happened?

Llewellyn couldn’t even imagine. Transcendents were fundamentally beings that defied imagination.

‘…Netel.’

She seemed unable to help Llewellyn now. She was probably busy preparing to close the world, with no capacity to spare.

This was certain from the fact that she, unaffected by time and space, wasn’t helping Llewellyn now. Only Llewellyn and the Pantheon had strength to spare.

He had to win with his own power. But how?

It was while Llewellyn was conflicted.

“Sejin!”

A shouting voice drew closer. When Llewellyn turned his head, he saw people approaching.

“Sister?”

“Sejin! Are you okay? What on earth is that…?!”

“Why did you come?! The battle is still…”

The front line wasn’t just here. The entire forest surrounding the Pantheon was a battlefield.

The dead were truly swarming from all directions, and even a slight gap in forces could be fatal.

Unlike the enemy, if Llewellyn couldn’t protect everything, it was as good as defeat. Despite his declaration and speech, if he lost what he needed to protect, it would be meaningless.

A situation where there would be no reason to fight, no reason to stand against them. Llewellyn was shocked, but…

“The offensive has stopped. No… ‘stopped’ might be a bit awkward. I should say they’re all throwing themselves toward that… thing.”

Lorian explained. At Lorian’s words, Llewellyn dazedly turned his head to look at the massive monstrosity lurking in the forest.

Indeed, he could faintly feel something swelling. The sound of flesh being crushed was subtly echoing, as if something was being devoured without pause.

Were they changing their strategy, realizing their army was meaningless? Llewellyn wondered.

“Should I step in?”

His sister’s voice cut through the middle of his thoughts.

“With my unique skill, I think I could carve that thing out completely. If Sejin joins in…”

“No, it would be meaningless.”

The death of a star is certainly a powerful technique. The nuclear flame that spreads as if carving out space entirely is especially effective against such a massive body.

Its power doesn’t diminish even as it spreads across a wide area. It’s an excellent annihilation technique in that it imposes catastrophic damage equally across a wide space, but…

Llewellyn intuitively knew. Using it wouldn’t change anything.

“The damage wouldn’t be significant, and both you and I would be left with no mana or divine power after using it. If we’re caught off guard in that moment, we couldn’t respond.”

“But we can’t just leave that thing alone either.”

That was certainly true. Llewellyn knew that statement was also correct.

They couldn’t burn it away with firepower, but leaving it unchecked could lead to unknown consequences. The only certainty was that it wouldn’t be good for Llewellyn and the Pantheon.

“Let’s do this. I’ll use it alone, so Sejin, save yours.”

Llewellyn looked at his sister, Lucilla.

A figure also known as Annihilation, a woman who casually wielded a unique skill that could destroy the world.

Setting aside the fact that she was his lover and sister, from a purely strategic perspective, Lucilla held an unrivaled position.

Not even the Three Powers of the continent could match Lucilla’s annihilation ability. In fact, only one being could match her annihilation ability.

The moment Llewellyn thought of him.

“Then may I do it?”

He had already approached.

“…Conflagration Lord.”

Conflagration Lord Beliarius.

The illegitimate son of a family that had long held back the Demon Realm, and the contractor of the most powerful star.

Llewellyn knew there was no better choice.

“I was originally planning to conserve my strength. But seeing an old nemesis seems to have stirred the Star’s anger.”

At his smiling words, Llewellyn was reminded again that this was the cause of the Demon Realm.

The cause of the Demon Realm and a being that had long opposed the Star’s contractors.

And perhaps, the Transcendent who had swallowed his father and become the origin of the Mourners.

It was ironic. The “Father” who had been the king of gods died in the Great Ascension and became a star, while his son, the Steward, later ascended alone and became something like an evil god.

Though they were father and son, they pursued their own goals in fierce opposition.

It seemed inevitable that they would eventually descend into the forest in such a distorted form, and most strongly inhabit a human to continue their opposition.

The evil fate of father and son could be seen as continuing until now.

Llewellyn’s justification for intervening in this reunion of father and son was faint.

So Llewellyn moved his lips briefly before nodding.

“May I ask for your help?”

“There’s no need for formality. It would be better for you to keep your head high.”

The star’s favorite stepped forward with a smile. He raised his hand.

“And even if you had refused, I would have done this anyway.”

He said this and opened his hand. A faint starlight gathered in his raised hand.

“Because the Star told me to.”

It was as he said.

The sky opened. With a hissing sound, the sky split red.

The clouds parted, and something loomed so intensely that it obscured the risen sun.

Llewellyn unconsciously raised his head and saw the universe through the split in the sky.

Countless presences waiting beyond, licking their lips. Among those presences, one star rose brilliantly.

All stars contain fire. And that one, true to its name, is not just a single star.

The sum of all stars. The will of all flames.

Llewellyn marveled at how the King of Gods had influenced the self of such a massive being.

Though a single ant cannot change a stream, a displaced pebble can alter its flow.

Stars shone vividly along the split sky.

Flames stirred following the outstretched hand of the avatar of stars. From the edge of the universe, where even light takes eons to reach, to the faint star looming before them.

Flames swelled from countless infinite stars. The swollen flames gained will and condensed.

The sky turned red. The air boiled from the intense heat, and a storm blew in.

What followed was beyond Llewellyn’s comprehension. He realized that even a star so friendly to humans still occupied a corner of the Transcendent realm.

A powerful and infinite force that not even Netel could block. Blood vessels burst around the Conflagration Lord’s eyes, tears of blood flowing, and the blood he spat from his mouth heated the ground.

As if bearing something extremely heavy, he held his arms high before roaring and dropping them.

In response, the condensed flames took form and fell.

The reason the Conflagration Lord was called such. Intense flames that could burn an entire city and reduce mountains and vast lands to ashes.

Not Lucilla’s imitation flames, but the true “flames of the star” bloomed above Netel.

――――!

Flames that consumed all darkness and pushed away light bloomed over the cocoon created by the Transcendent.

Within those flames, the cocoon split.

Llewellyn’s transcendent senses saw something through that gap.

Something rising within the flames that spread so intensely they cast no shadow.

The status window flashed within the halo cast by the flames.

[Mourner, Nerilmeius]