Ch.878Meanwhile, in the Dragon Kingdom

“KRAAAAGH!”

“We’re under attack! The Celestial Dragon Shrine bastards are invading!”

“Kill them all! The order is to leave no one alive!”

“The time for revenge has come! All Madness Brigade, charge!”

Screams and roars are consumed by the flames.

Scaled flesh is torn away in whirlwinds of blood, while fire, lightning, gales, and blizzards clash repeatedly, scattering thunderous sounds.

Dragonborn with torn wings fall screaming, and once-magnificent pavilions crumble into ashes.

This was during the time when Haschal was enthusiastically pursuing his Ka’har resocialization plan.

The Dragonic Kingdom of Jin, located in the northwestern part of the continent, was suffering from the madness of another political-religious war.

The Second Political-Religious War.

Unlike the first war, which ended in a narrow victory for the orthodox Dragonborn, the heretical faction had gained the upper hand in this second conflict.

There were two reasons for this.

“Damn it…! If Lord Armeos were still alive, this wouldn’t be…”

“But he’s dead, isn’t he? Assassination—what a dangerous world we live in.”

The first reason was that many powerful figures from the orthodox faction who had played crucial roles in the First Political-Religious War had recently died in succession, greatly reducing their numbers.

It was Feilandria’s doing.

Breaking the Heaven’s Wall required tens of thousands of souls, but causing such large-scale casualties would almost certainly prompt Haschal’s intervention.

So instead, they assassinated orthodox Dragonborn to instigate a political-religious war, planning to use Dragonborn souls as substitutes for human souls.

“How dare you say such…! Wasn’t it all your doing?!”

“I doubt it. Unless the Celestial Dragon herself took action, how could we possibly eliminate those old ones?”

Of course, only the apostles knew the true identity of the assassins, so from the orthodox Dragonborn’s perspective, it was natural to suspect the heretical faction’s assassins.

“I reject false accusations. Now, die quietly. Like this.”

“Guhk…!”

That was one reason why the orthodox faction suffered repeated defeats without being able to mount an effective defense.

And the second reason…

“Unforgivable scoundrels…! How could you do this so soon after signing the agreement…!”

“Agreement? Was there such a thing? I don’t recall.”

…was that the Second Political-Religious War had been initiated by a surprise attack from the Celestial Dragon Shrine led by Persiella, the strongest Dragonborn of the heretical faction.

—-

In the early stages of the war, the Celestial Dragon Shrine unilaterally broke the existing ceasefire agreement and launched a fierce attack on the orthodox Dragonborn, who were already in chaos due to the assassination incidents.

Abandoning principles and honor like worn-out shoes, they conducted a surprise attack purely for practical gain. The orthodox Dragonborn could not help but suffer massive casualties.

Who could have predicted that the Celestial Dragon Shrine, which had committed substantial forces to the Nidhogg subjugation battle only to be utterly defeated, would start a second war before even recovering from those losses?

An unexpected ambush.

Defeat was the inevitable outcome.

Of course, even if they had foreseen the surprise attack, the result wouldn’t have been much different.

“…How despicable.”

The current orthodox faction had no warrior capable of defeating Persiella, a Dragonborn who had reached the limits of Heaven’s Wall.

“You’ve become pathetically weak. All of you.”

Persiella, a silver-scaled Dragonborn with long blue hair, looked down at the fallen, writhing Dragonborn with contempt.

Her unadorned mask was red with the blood of orthodox Dragonborn, and her wings and tail spread behind her were so soaked in blood and flesh that their original color was unrecognizable.

“Per…siella…!”

A Dragonborn who had lost his lower body barely managed to lift his head and glared at her with murderous intent.

“You…bitch…I will…definitely…!”

A gaze full of hatred and venomous resentment. Not even a fragment of the orthodox faction’s philosophy of mental discipline remained in those eyes.

“How rude. I don’t recall giving someone like you permission to speak my name.”

Persiella looked down at him like he was an insect and lightly swung her left hand.

“Know your place.”

The temperature suddenly dropped. The mana concentrated at her fingertips released extreme cold that easily surpassed even the bitter chill of the Sky Mountains.

HWAAAAK!

A storm of cold swept over the Dragonborn’s body. Scales and flesh, blood and organs, air and mana—everything instantly froze and ceased to function.

The Dragonborn died without even being able to scream, his eyes still wide open with hatred.

It was too simple and empty an end for a winged Dragonborn.

Persiella, showing no interest in the corpse, looked around to admire her new achievement.

“Beautiful.”

She turned around and smiled.

Though her face was hidden by the mask, her laughter was surprisingly clear and transparent.

“Don’t you think so? Bernard.”

Persiella spread her arms wide as if showing off the surrounding scene.

“Yes, indeed, Celestial Dragon.”

Bernard Failer, the man following behind her like a bodyguard, nodded in response.

‘…It certainly is a spectacular sight.’

Bernard, like Persiella, glanced around and had such thoughts.

The mountain ridge covered in snow and ice as if winter had come early.

Inside the ice filled with corpses, the torn and ruptured bodies of Dragonborn bloomed like red plum blossoms.

That was the end of the Volcano faction—one of the nine great schools comparable to the “Small Forest,” and the sacred ground of the red-scaled Dragonborn where rivers of lava once flowed.

======[ Haschal ]======

The academy plan was a great success.

Too early to call it a success, you say?

Strictly speaking, that might be true… but from my perspective, just looking at the number and composition of new students, this was already a situation I could confidently call successful.

From twelve to eighteen years old. 99% of Ka’har nomads in that age range volunteered for academy admission.

There were so many applicants that they made up four-tenths of all new students.

It seems they took my suggestion to enroll their children in the academy as an order rather than a recommendation… well, that worked out in my favor.

At 99%, we’ve basically brought in every single adolescent.

If I can properly educate them and successfully westernize about 80%, they’ll grow into a solid pro-western faction in a decade or so.

So, the academy education plan can be considered on a stable trajectory.

Now, what remains is… well…

Ah, right. Just selecting adults who are open to western culture and assigning them various positions, large and small.

Like hiring them as academy administrators to supervise Ka’har students, or appointing them as assistants to Jahan and Imara to manage Feichian’s security and administration.

In other words, creating a class difference between those who actively accept western culture and those who reject it.

Not by mistreating those who reject it, but by favoring those who accept it.

Then naturally, starting with the clever and perceptive nomads, western culture will gradually permeate and spread.

Eventually, they’ll lose their identity as nomads and form a new identity as “Hestellans.”

Just like the former imperials who now naturally refer to themselves as Hestellans.

By then, the existing citizens will also have no hesitation in calling these nomads their compatriots.

Whether white or yellow-skinned, they’ll all just be citizens of Hestella.

That was my goal.

Not some grand life goal, but a political objective I held as queen of a nation.

If I were to rank my goals, this would be about fifth.

First place was obviously eliminating all the apostles to prevent a global crisis, and second was filling the lives of Lena, Nigel, Millia, and my other companions with happiness and joy.

They trusted me and followed me here, so as the person who led them this far, I have a responsibility to take care of them for life.

To ensure they never regret following me, standing by my side and behind me.

That was my second goal.

…Then what was my third goal?

It was to live a relaxed and peaceful life myself after everything was finished.

Since falling into this world, I’ve been enduring flesh-tearing, bone-grinding hardships to achieve lasting peace.

Looking around, I saw only weaklings, so I had no choice but to step up myself.

Even if it was painful, difficult, and frustrating.

…You think I just kept fighting because I enjoyed it?

Well, it’s true that I enjoy intense battles… but that’s about enjoying the excitement of combat itself. How could I possibly enjoy pain and hardship?

The reason I’ve fought while enduring such things is… how should I put it?

Whenever I thought about the future, a sense of responsibility kept pricking my conscience.

The responsibility of being the only human who knows this world stands on the brink of destruction, and of being a hero who, after countless battles, has become the strongest of humanity.

That drove me into battle. Into the midst of endless hardship with no end in sight.

So, after everything is over, I plan to enjoy a peaceful life.

I deserve at least that much. If those who put me in this situation have any conscience at all.

—-

Oh, by the way, fourth place wasn’t anything special.

My fourth life goal was simply to bring warmth and fire to the fairy village, creating a fire festival that would be passed down through generations.

Setting fire to a large tree would create quite a spectacular blaze.

Bright enough to be seen thousands of kilometers away.

Just thinking about it makes my heart race with excitement.

Not just me, but everyone who witnesses that light will applaud and dance and sing with joy.

Especially Perneisia. Lacy too.

That was my fourth goal.