Ch.53Final Quest

Whoosh…

Rain poured down like a waterfall from the sky. There was no way to comfort myself by saying it was just the rainy season anymore. It felt as though the tears of sorrow shed by Rodrick and Eshtiel were consuming the world.

I stopped interfering with the marquis’s household. Both the current Marquis Ruat and his household members were staring blankly at the same world I was. There was no point in making further threats. The world was heading toward destruction anyway.

They say that in ancient times, flood waters that formed the shape of a dragon were objects of reverence. If the same sentiment applied in this era, then this endless downpour would surely be a fearsome form of the apocalypse.

“It’s cold…”

Drenched by the rain beating down on my entire body, I expressed my honest impression.

If just getting wet in the rain was this cold, how desperate must those two have felt as they fell asleep under freezing piles of snow?

I hated the world.

I hated the countless people who cursed us.

The final debt I had managed to find was darkness with no end in sight.

By this point, the vast sky felt like it was crushing my heart. Such layers upon layers of malice and misfortune seemed artificial. It felt as though fate was jabbing at me alone with a sharp blade.

“Now… I wish everything would just disappear.”

I wished the world that hated me, this artificial fate—all of it would be washed away by deep, clear waters and disappear.

The rain carrying such wishes fell even harder.

I thought that at this rate, everything would end within a night.

As I was observing the horizon with a sense of resignation,

The final guardian in this collapsing world stood in my way.

◇

The middle-aged man had a massive sword strapped to his shoulder. The greatsword he carried was so enormous it was hard to believe a human could wield it.

Despite his age, his body was thick and firm, and his eyes shone with a harmonious mix of vitality and killing intent.

It was my father.

The conqueror of the continent. And the supreme ruler of the Bellonin Empire.

Harum Literion, the male protagonist of the previous work, descended before Rahilt.

“Stop this.”

The first thing my father said was a brief request.

“The people are suffering. This artificial downpour must be coming from your authority as a child of the dragon.”

“…”

“Please stop. If you turn back now, I’ll overlook both your revenge against the marquis’s family and the current weather anomalies.”

“Stop, you say.”

Rahilt turned his gaze toward my father with an infinitely empty expression.

“That’s… impossible.”

“No, you must do so.”

The next statement from my father’s mouth was an intimidation filled with frost-like intensity.

“If the rain doesn’t stop, I’ll have no choice but to kill you.”

“That would be fine too.”

Rahilt conjured black clouds in his palm.

Though small, it was unmistakably a fragment of the Dragon’s Authority.

“If I die, that would be a kind of liberation for me.”

“I take it there’s no room for compromise.”

“…”

Rahilt let the persistent sound of heavy rain answer for him. My father looked at Rahilt with pitying eyes and lifted his enormous greatsword with one hand.

“This is the first time we’ve fought directly since I drove out the deposed emperor. I’m getting to the age where my knees ache in this kind of rain. I had hoped to put down my sword for good… but I have no choice.”

The aging emperor of the empire took his stance, exuding a mountain-like presence.

“From now on, I will subjugate the last remaining dragon in the world.”

Watching my father who had completely steeled his resolve, I could only hide my face and hang my head.

‘No… this way…’

They say Rahilt eventually destroyed the world. If so, the outcome of this fight was already determined.

My father’s inevitable defeat.

His body had been eroded by the passage of time, making him ill-equipped to face the child of the dragon, and time was still visibly carving away at his flesh even in this moment.

‘This is… too cruel.’

Rahilt, trying to destroy the world and himself.

My father, risking his life to stop him.

However their karma had become tangled, they now faced each other like destiny. The two of them—none other than the current emperor and the child of the deposed emperor.

Thump. Thump.

My father lightly stomped his feet in a peculiar stance. He bounced very low off the ground while tilting his greatsword far behind him.

Whoosh!

In an instant, my father threw himself like a bullet, propelled by the ground reaction force.

His speed was in the realm of sound itself.

It didn’t seem like the old body of someone carrying an impossibly large greatsword.

Before a single raindrop could touch the ground, my father reached point-blank range. His greatsword drew an artistically straight line like lightning, vertically slashing at Rahilt.

“Hmm?”

Swish.

Black clouds rose and exerted physical force. Gathering like a shield, they blocked the greatsword by a hair’s breadth.

“Impressive.”

More precisely, it seemed to have blocked it.

Crack!

Rahilt’s black clouds—the Dragon’s Authority—were a power beyond human comprehension. However, the conqueror of the continent had similarly transcended human limitations and understanding.

The black clouds crumbled before overwhelming strength. Then, like a dam suddenly bursting, my father’s greatsword charged forward with his full might.

Crash!

The earth split apart.

The ground sank from the impact. And the Marquis Ruat’s estate, which had been in a direct line with the slash, was erased to the extent of the aftershock, replaced by emptiness.

“…Ah.”

Rahilt let out a faint groan.

Splatter!

Blood gushed and trickled down his body.

He turned his gaze to where the blood was spraying from. At the end of his indifferent gaze lay his left arm, severed from the shoulder and rolling in the mud.

“Rian…!”

Why?

Wasn’t the ending supposed to be Rahilt winning and the world being destroyed? Yet he so easily lost his left arm to my father?

That was hard to understand, but even more incomprehensible was Rahilt’s numb attitude despite losing an arm.

Perhaps because he was a child of the dragon, his blood clotted unnaturally fast. Even with an arm severed, his bleeding time was extremely short. Even my father seemed quite bewildered by this.

“…It’s still not too late. Please stop this disaster.”

“…”

“Until now, no living being could have handled you. Without worthy opponents, you’d have had no reason to train.”

“…”

“Above all, you’re just a human with dragon’s blood flowing through you, not actually a dragon. Yet you’re causing such disaster while facing me—I declare it impossible.”

Now I understood.

The reason my father was confident he could handle Rahilt.

Murder and destruction are fundamentally different categories.

Murder simply requires inflicting fatal wounds and ending a life.

Even if Rahilt had the power to destroy the world, he would still die if his neck was cut or he lost too much blood. And my father was the world’s greatest master in that regard.

Though he couldn’t prevent world destruction, he could at least kill one powerful human. That was the premise my father had been working from.

To my father, who had gained such overwhelming advantage, Rahilt said:

“I understand.”

He nodded his head.

“From the beginning, this was a gamble. Whether you could kill me faster, or I could destroy the world faster.”

“You…!?”

“Since I’ve lost an arm… I should catch up too.”

Rahilt slowly raised his right hand. Then very slowly, he clenched his fist.

Even my father couldn’t understand the meaning and hesitated to act.

It was a fatal misjudgment.

Spark, crackle!

Sparks flew in the black, rain-filled sky.

Once sparked, they spread exponentially fast, coloring the entire sky. Like carp multiplying as they swam through clouds.

By the time the sky over the island was covered in sparks, it was already far too late.

Flash!

A thousand lightning bolts flickered across the land.

Before one could even blink, the island lost its function and burst into flames. Thus, countless lives perished without even knowing what had happened to them.

Disaster.

It was truly a fitting concept.

Boom! Rumble…

The sound of thunder belatedly hit our eardrums.

Until that moment, my father was still staring at the island swept by lightning with a dumbfounded expression.

Insane.

That was probably the thought shared by both my father and me.

I know how much goodness Rahilt possessed. I also remember the kindness he consistently showed to me and Eshtiel.

I never imagined he would become a reaper harvesting others’ lives in an instant.

Meanwhile, my father also knew Rahilt’s true nature.

It’s not easy to fight within the framework of society when you possess the power to sweep away the world. Even if he harbored malice, it stemmed from the inherent goodness that made Rahilt inefficient.

Therefore, the current Rahilt must have gone mad.

He had lost his humanity due to excessive betrayal and loss.

That had transformed Rahilt, who had been living as a human, into a dragon.

“Ah…!”

I reached out to them. But my flailing hand was immediately blocked by a barrier created by fog and lost its way.

“Fog already…? Why!?”

Faced with this incomprehensible phenomenon, I quickly looked for her who could provide answers—the black dragon who controlled negative emotions inside Rahilt.

It was while I was looking around briefly.

A woman’s voice faintly reached me.

[This is a sign that the child is awakening.]

“Are you saying Rian has been in a coma all this time?”

[How else could something like this be possible without losing consciousness?]

“…”

Though I didn’t fully understand, it seemed somewhat correct. I supposed it could be understood as something similar to materializing a dream.

[Be careful.]

“What?”

[You shouldn’t focus on defeating him. If you can somehow just weaken him, I will…]

…

……

“Hello? Mother-in-law? Hey…!!!”

No answer came.

In the end, I could only wait for the thick fog to clear and reveal the surroundings.

◇

“Kanarin!”

“Luca, Serin!”

“You two… you’re safe.”

After the fog cleared and we returned to the royal palace of the Carnar Kingdom, we were able to find each other quickly. In fact, we had been wandering just a few steps apart from each other.

Serin asked straightforwardly:

“Did you two also see it? Rian’s past?”

“Yes. I did.”

“…Yes. Very clearly.”

Luca gritted his teeth.

“So, what we saw was the future that Rihardt… no, Rahilt was originally supposed to experience, right?”

“That’s right.”

As expected, Luca, knowing about Kanarin’s possession situation, accepted it quickly.

“And that person Rashera… no, that woman had an affair with my brother.”

‘Come to think of it, she was said to have feelings for the first prince of the Carnar Kingdom.’

No matter how I looked back on it, Rashera’s actions were disgusting. Serin had to invest a long time in finding peace of mind.

At that moment, a familiar sound brushed Kanarin’s ear.

Ding!

[Semi-Final Quest: Surviving the Original Work has been terminated early.]

[Point calculation: Knight Commander Ruslet’s thoughts = 100000pt, Princess Seriniel’s thoughts = 600000pt]

[Warning: No completion reward due to early termination.]

Ding!

[Entering Final Quest.]

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.

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[Final Quest: Purification of the Kingdom]

[Overview: The goal is in sight. Defeat the final boss—Rastali the black magician who devours grudges—and save the kingdom.]

[Dungeon: Requirements to enter the contaminated main hall have been met.]

“The main hall…!”

Kanarin let out a shrill cry. Luca noticed that Kanarin’s status window had been updated.

“Is Rastali in the main hall?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

“…Let’s hurry.”

Serin spoke in a low voice, emanating coldness.

Having witnessed Rahilt’s past with her own eyes, she felt urgent. Additionally, the black dragon woman’s meaningful words were concerning.

Strangely, there were no black magicians on the way, which was puzzling.

They should have preserved at least half their forces, yet they didn’t show even a hair.

Either way, it seemed fortunate. Once Rastali was defeated, the lesser black magicians would surely surrender.

Thus, the three were able to reach the main hall quickly without any interference.

Ding!

[Dungeon: Do you wish to enter the contaminated main hall?]

[Yes/No]

[Warning: Once entered, you cannot return.]

Kanarin, Serin, and Luca exchanged glances with each other.

There was no turning back now.

With their opinions unified, the three finally pushed open the massive doors of the main hall.

Creeeeak…!

“Is this the main hall… where Rian is?”

More precisely, it was the space where Rastali, who had imprisoned Rahilt, would reside. Therefore, Kanarin and Luca did not deny Serin’s words.

“…It’s quiet.”

“Rastali isn’t here.”

Luca and Kanarin pointed out the strange aspects in turn.

If Rastali’s massive black magic were present, their instincts should have warned them as soon as they opened the doors of the main hall.

It was puzzling that there had been no black magicians on the way here, and everything seemed strange.

That’s when it happened.

Ding!

[Causality is being adjusted.]

[Causality is being adjusted.]

[Cau. sal. i. ty. is. be. be. being. adjusted.]

Ding!

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[Final Quest is being deleted.]

“…What?”

Kanarin was shocked.

Before she could analyze the situation, the surrounding landscape suddenly changed.

Everything was colored in an eerie red, as if sticky blood was oozing out from all directions. It caused such physiological discomfort that Kanarin nearly vomited.

The anomaly didn’t end there.

Step.

Step.

Footsteps could be heard.

A woman emerged from the secret space hidden behind the throne.

“Kuhuk…”

The woman coughed up blood. Half her body weight splattered across the throne, staining the floor beneath her feet crimson.

The three carefully examined her disheveled appearance before finally recognizing her.

“Rastali…?”

Kanarin, who had been wary of her since reincarnation, was the first to identify Rastali.

Rastali, barely focusing on Kanarin and her companions, opened her mouth with difficulty.

“These… madmen… what the hell… did you bring…!!!”

The moment Rastali exclaimed.

Splat!

A black sword pierced through her chest.

The life drained from her face as she hung like a skewer.

Rastali met her end without even properly closing her eyes. Her corpse rolled down the stairs lifelessly.

It was a futile death.

The vast black magic Rastali had boasted seemed like an illusion.

The life of the woman who should have been the final boss of the story was extinguished. Then who was the one who killed such a powerful woman?

Step.

Step.

Footsteps were heard again.

Everyone initially thought they were Rastali’s footsteps, but that was a misconception.

Step.

Step.

He appeared from the secret passage behind the throne.

“Ah…!”

Serin exclaimed.

Golden hair that shone as if wrapped in authority. Aquamarine eyes reflecting the sea under a clear sky. And a mask covering the entire front of his face.

His features were unmistakable.

“Rian!”

Just as Serin’s face brightened and she was about to run toward him.

“Serin, wait…!!!”

Kanarin stopped Serin with a face that had turned pale blue.

And for good reason, as an anomaly occurred that warranted throwing oneself to block it.

It couldn’t be helped.

Ding!

[Cau. Cau. sality. is ad. just. ed. ed.]

[Causality is. being adjusted.]

Ding!

[Retrieving deleted Final Quest.]

[Final Quest changed.]

[Final Quest: Purification of the Kingdom -> Final Quest: Salvation of the World]

Ding!

[Encountering the final trial.]

[Boss: Rahilt, Child of the Deposed Emperor]

[Overview: Survive.]

……!!!

The moment Kanarin grabbed Serin’s wrist.

Plop.

Drip.

Ominously cold rain began to fall.