Ch.896Hide and Seek

Using the momentum from Cascador as a stepping stone, I finally reached the surface crack after accelerating with a leap.

“Kyaaaah!”

I stretched my left hand high above my head, dug my nails into the earth, and pulled hard, bursting out like an erupting volcano wrapped in flames.

– Kwaaaang!

Leaving behind a shower of debris crumbling downward from the shockwave and recoil.

And thus, I finally returned to the surface.

The training ground of the Small Forest, which had been little more than ruins before, had now transformed into something that could only be called ruins if one were being extremely generous out of consideration for the listener’s feelings.

No, not just the training ground, but most of the numerous pavilions of Small Forest.

‘Everything’s completely destroyed.’

[What a direct expression.]

Pavilions reduced to ashes, pavilions that couldn’t withstand the earthquake and collapsed, pavilions that had sunk entirely from foundation to roof after being swallowed by ground fissures.

The massive sect that was called Small Forest only in name but should have been called “Magnificent Forest” in reality had now truly become worthy of its actual name.

Only one or two small, isolated pavilions remained intact.

This is why one should be careful when naming things. Names tend to carry their own destiny.

Just look at Orhan and Hersella—or the original Haschal.

After naming his daughter with words meaning to harm, kill, and make cry, didn’t she truly grow up to be a slaughterer and family-destroyer unprecedented in history?

If Small Forest had been named “Great Forest” or “Iron Forest” from the beginning, it might not have been so thoroughly destroyed.

Or maybe not.

—-

The situation on the ground was complete chaos.

“I’m being pushed back…? Damn it, at this rate…!”

“Heavenly Horse, where are you?!”

“Your Heavenly Horse is buried beneath the abyss! Now, you shall follow!”

“Stop spouting nonsense! You homeless bastards!”

Steel and flames collided like rain, shattering and spraying blood mixed with shouts and curses.

Despite all the pavilions being completely destroyed by the natural disaster that had swept through the battlefield, the Righteous Path dragonborn and Evil Path dragonborn were still engaged in fierce combat.

Why are they still fighting like that? Something unimaginable has happened right beneath their feet.

I had no desire to intervene.

Neither the Righteous Path nor the Evil Path was on my side anymore, and the battle itself would soon end without my interference.

They were fighting so fiercely now because they knew nothing, but the moment Amitamir emerged from underground, they would scatter in all directions like wild beasts who had lost their entire families.

Even if that didn’t happen, if Persiella had any brain left in that half-lizard head of hers, she would naturally order a retreat.

From what I could see, their morale had begun to crumble in her absence, and once the White Dragon of Small Forest appeared, they would have absolutely no chance of winning.

So, what should I do?

…Well, it’s not really something I need to agonize over, right?

After leaping onto the ground and quickly scanning my surroundings, finding Demon Horse Bernard in that chaotic melee seemed impossible.

Even if I found him, I doubted I could finish him quickly in my current condition.

Therefore—

– Kwaaaang!

I used Karma flames as reverse propulsion to land at the edge of the battlefield.

“Huh…? Who are you! A human…?!”

A minor Evil Path dragonborn, clearly startled by the sudden intruder.

His blood-wind… that is, his cape fluttered from the shockwave I created.

“Let me borrow your clothes.”

“Kuk…!”

I swung Durandal like lightning at his neck, cutting off his head, then grabbed his spurting neck stump and stripped off his cape to wrap around myself.

To cover my body, which was practically naked after the fierce battle with Persiella.

If I were to use Karma flames while flying, it would burn to ashes in seconds, but since I had no intention of flying anymore, it was perfect for me now.

I wrapped the cape around my upper body, pulled the hood down to roughly conceal my face, and dashed forward like an arrow, kicking off the ground.

“Aang? What is this—keuk…!”

Cutting down all the dragonborn of the Heavenly Horse Divine Palace who stood in my way.

“A traitor?! No, a spy—aaaack!”

“Reveal your iden—kehuk!”

Dragonborn whose heads exploded and torsos were dismembered before they could finish speaking.

Unless they were at Persiella’s level or winged dragonborn, ordinary dragonborn couldn’t even slow my pace.

A slight touch as I passed by was enough to make them explode into corpses.

It was literally superhuman—no, murderous counter-charge. Though I suppose it can’t be called murder since I killed dragonborn, not humans.

After about ten seconds of this.

Thanks to my reckless expenditure of stamina, I was able to leave the battlefield at a speed comparable to leaping down from a mountaintop.

‘It should be about time…’

I took a deep breath and turned my head to look at the distant battlefield.

It was about time for the enraged Persiella and Amitamir, who seemed to have gone completely mad after eating nothing but meat dumplings for eight hundred years, to emerge.

Or perhaps Persiella, or what was left of her, being chewed and devoured by Amitamir.

Sure enough.

“Kyahaaaak-!”

As soon as I turned around, the half-crazed blue-haired half-lizard burst onto the surface with a bestial roar.

She was still wearing a mask of frozen blood over her face, suggesting she hadn’t completely lost her mind.

“Where are you, where are you! You wench who deserves to be sliced alive into sashimi!”

Persiella, showing her true colors as a parent-killer the moment she emerged, screamed at the top of her lungs. In her right hand was an ice greatsword, and in her left, she clutched Cascador’s head, which looked like it had been torn off rather than merely strangled.

‘Good heavens.’

Cascador’s corpse was horrific.

An elongated tongue, eyeballs protruding outward, perhaps from pressure.

Crushed brain matter oozed between fragments of the shattered skull, and the horn on its forehead had been completely uprooted.

It looked more like a half-rotten undead monster than a spirit beast.

‘How could she do such a thing? How barbaric.’

To reduce a noble and rare spirit beast to such a state, even if not sacred, was not the act of a civilized member of society.

[Is that really for you to say?]

‘I suppose not.’

Indeed, I was in no position to talk.

I could humbly acknowledge that much. I did have a conscience, after all. Though it seemed to have taken the shape of a wagon wheel rather than a triangle.

Anyway, paying my respects to Cascador’s corpse, who had protected its master with its life, I quickened my pace and ran forward.

Persiella emerging on the surface meant—

【 KRAarararaaa-! 】

That the deranged white lizard was also about to end his basement-dwelling lifestyle and burst into the world.

– Kwaaaaaaang!

Amitamir emerged, smashing through the already collapsed ground like someone kicking a friend with a broken leg and turning a simple fracture into a compound one.

He spread his wings wide, casting a massive shadow on the ground while roaring like a giant in labor, shaking heaven and earth.

“Uh—, uh? Uuuuh?! Ouuuuuuugh!”

The battlefield froze in shock.

“A dragon! It’s a dragon! A dragon has appeared!”

“Impossible, a dragon? A real dragon…?!”

The sudden appearance of a dragon.

The dragonborn who had been exchanging blades and magic, seeking each other’s lives, all stopped fighting at once and looked up at the sky in a daze.

“Good heavens…!”

They were all shocked, regardless of whether they belonged to the Righteous or Evil Path.

For a full eight hundred years.

A time span that was half a lifetime even for fairies, and nearly ancient history for other races.

【 KRrrrrrrrrr…! 】

Now, here, that being from the distant past had become reality and descended upon them.

—-

【 I can see! I can feel! I remember! The sound of the earth below. The scent of air brushing against my wings. The endless, vast expanse of sky. The beauty of the world I longed for, craved for so desperately! 】

Amitamir, now outside his home, seemed in an extremely good mood. Like a prisoner who had finally escaped after decades of incarceration.

Understandable. The time he had spent hiding underground wasn’t just a few decades but a full eight hundred years.

Of course, I couldn’t sympathize with his joy.

If he had stayed buried in the dirt, he should have died long ago like dinosaur bones and turned into fossils or oil.

Not only had he tactlessly emerged, but his massive body was also filled with the desire to transfer his resentment to innocent people.

What was I supposed to do with this?

I almost found myself wishing that Carlos the Great had killed all these flying lizard monsters before establishing Heaven’s Wall.

【 That human wench… seems to have fled. Is the amusing farce, the interesting clown show, over? 】

Anyway, Amitamir, who had been as happy as a child receiving a house deed for New Year’s money, lowered his head to scan the ground and muttered.

【 Then… now, it is time to begin the hunt. Time to crush and burn to ashes the wolf who barked without knowing its place. 】

Revealing his terrible teeth that even a reincarnated dental surgeon would shake his head at and refuse to correct.

With that sinister smile, Amitamir suddenly turned his head and spoke.

【 Foolish wolf. Weak murderer. Did you think you could escape from me? 】

With his reptilian yellow eyes, he glared at my back as I was executing my tactical retreat.

【 Go ahead and keep running! Let’s see how far you can flee with that tiny body. I shall enjoy watching! 】

After this declaration, Amitamir gently flapped his enormous wings and began flying toward me.

With an attitude that showed he had not the slightest interest in anything other than pursuing me.

…Really, this crazy lizard.

If he wanted to vent his frustration, he should kill Persiella or the Evil Path dragonborn, why was he so fixated on me?

This is truly unfair beyond words.