episode_0122

000

In the place swept away by the golden comet, where life once flourished and civilization developed, only ruins and desolate land remained.

The unavoidable arrival of destruction. In despair and regret that disaster would engulf them, the era of humans in the primordial world came to an end.

Having evolved over tens of thousands of years, they appeared as beings that could barely be called “humanity,” and then disappeared after enjoying a golden age that was less than 10% of the time it took for them to reach this state.

If only they had lived knowing something more important than war or fighting. Envy and jealousy. Violence and deception. If only they hadn’t forgotten those things.

Souls who became wraiths with the same regrets could not return to reincarnation, and they even forgot their own existence, hiding in various ruins and the like.

However, it wasn’t just the ancients of the primordial world who had regrets.

A small girl with wings of light set foot in the desolate place.

With each step she took, life began to return to the wilderness, and grasses, flowers, and trees began to grow.

She had no designated name. Because no one could name her.

Just a single purpose.

To have the living things of this star, which could also be called her body, thrive and cultivate a beautiful world.

Some call her “God.”

Some call her “World.”

And those who know her relatively well called her the “Will of the Star.”

Everything in the natural world born on this star was designed by her hand.

Including animals and plants, and everything that is not a living thing.

Rocks, minerals, mountains, and seas.

She shed tears every time she took a step in a world where only desolation remained after all of her things had disappeared.

Her world failed.

Beings modeled after herself to serve as workers to thrive in this world and cultivate the star, and as a race that could represent this star.

Living things to whom she granted the “Power of Wisdom” out of the two powers she possessed.

But humans used that power to destroy themselves.

This wasn’t what she wanted when she created them and gave them power.

The explosion of a powerful force at the moment a huge thunderbolt rang out was so great that even the Will of the Star lost consciousness for a long time.

The Will of the Star – the girl had spent over a thousand long years waking from her slumber and working to regenerate the world.

Fortunately, it didn’t take the long seven days it did when she first created it.

Having somehow reproduced the world similarly in her eroded memories, she finally foresaw the fate of the star.

In a place that transcended time and space, she saw another race resembling herself appear and fill the star once again.

Because she had once created a race called “human,” her own body and all the reproduced living things remembered humans.

As a result, even if she didn’t create humans herself, humans would naturally appear someday.

Perhaps through the evolution of monkeys.

Perhaps molded from clay.

Perhaps born from eggs.

That in itself was not such a problem. She just had to not give them back the Power of Wisdom that she had recovered.

But even so. They instinctively move towards their own destruction.

That karma will not be erased even for the recreated humans.

She couldn’t leave them to face the same ending.

As the mother of the star, she needed to give all life a chance.

Therefore. She decided to insert new life into this world that was not in the primordial world.

A strong body, transcendent magical power. And, a long life.

The strongest living beings that could fly in the sky with huge wings and breathe out breaths that destroy everything.

Dragonkind. Beings also called dragons.

The Will of the Star entrusted them with the “Power of Strength,” which was a different power from the two powers she possessed.

And, she ordered them to become the managers of the world as her representatives.

As beings to prevent the world from facing destruction.

It was a world control device that was different from the “Adversary.”

But at the same time, the Will of the Star harbored the same wariness towards the dragonkind as she did towards humans.

If they misused the power of authority and followed the same path as humans, this star would be completely finished this time.

Therefore, she made it so that they could not leave descendants among their own kind.

All dragons are female, and dragonkind can only maintain its species through humans who are rarely born with the power of “resonance.”

The Will of the Star completed its new creation by entrusting the star to the dragons.

It was the beginning of the Succession World.

After that, the relationship between humans and dragons began.

The dragon, as a being with powerful power, led humans who were just beginning to take their first steps as a species.

Some mixed among humans.

Some stood in a position to be called gods themselves.

Some said that dominating humans was the easiest way to maintain balance.

However, in reality, most of those dragons were ostracized even by their own kind.

And when they found a resonator, they took them to their nests and focused on leaving descendants.

Humans who become resonators can have children even if they mix their bodies with dragons, and their lifespans are also lengthened to be close to those of dragons.

But. That’s all.

They do not have a strong body like a dragon, nor do they have unlimited magical power.

Even if a dragon can transform into a human form, humans who can endure the dragon’s stamina, energy, and mental strength were even harder to find than resonators.

Therefore, resonators often died prematurely without enjoying their full lifespans.

As captured young men died, respect for dragons gradually turned into hatred.

And, the relationship between humans and most dragons is severed.

There were also cases where they could not have children from mating with the resonators they had brought with them.

Even though dragons lived for a long time, their numbers were gradually decreasing.

Almost no one died of old age.

Some shared affection with humans who were not resonators, and then died grieving over the dead human.

Some brought in a resonator and mixed bodies with humans, then lost the will to live in shock after killing the human.

Some forgot their duty to maintain the balance of the world and lived as evil dragons before being killed.

And.

In modern times, there are only five left.

This was also the reason why they were so desperate to find resonators.

A thousand years after the era when dragons ruled everything ended.

Now, the dragon race itself was about to come to an end.

001

It felt as if the end of the world had returned to this place alone.

The Gale Dragon flying through the sky at supersonic speeds, and the Lightning Dragon shooting intense lightning from its horns at such a dragon.

Kleion was sweating profusely as he looked up at the sky at the unprecedented level of nuisance caused by the sisters’ fight.

Could there be a situation more suited to “suicide” than intervening in the fight between two dragons who were already as angry as they could be?

“Kleion-nim. Do you have some kind of method?”

When Perdia asked that, Kleion nodded.

“It’s the horn. If you shave off a little of Letios’s horn.”

“…The horn, you say?”

Perdia wasn’t doubting Kleion’s words, but she couldn’t figure out what basis Kleion was saying that on.

Kleion tightly gripped the dagger and recalled the story he had heard from the former Luti – Lutios.

“The method Lesia used to beat me?”

Lesia was definitely strong.

It was definitely Lesia who single-handedly defeated the Magic Sword Emperor, who surpassed demons and was called a demon god himself.

However, the time Lesia fought and won against Lutios in order to rescue her was before the fight with the Magic Sword Emperor.

It was before she had awakened all the power of the Holy Sword Caladbolg.

Of course, Lesia at that time was still clearly weaker than Lutios.

However, Lesia successfully defeated Lutios and succeeded in subjugating the Evil Dragon “Storm of Annihilation.”

She must have had the help of her comrades.

Her strength of heart was second to none.

However, Kleion couldn’t easily imagine that the difference in power would be narrowed.

In response to Kleion’s question, Lutios groaned and closed her eyes for a moment.

Above her head, who usually lived in the form of a perfect human, small, stubby horns sprouted.

Then, she took her index finger and pointed to that spot.

“Lesia cut off my horns.”

“Horns…?”

Kleion, who was still young, didn’t quite understand what that meant.

The same was true for Perdia, who had just heard the story from Kleion.

“A dragon’s horns aren’t just simple bodily organs. They are the ‘part that makes a dragon a dragon,’ containing the soul and magical power. Breaking a dragon’s horns is proof that you have subjugated the dragon. They will try to protect this place even more firmly than their necks.”

“Inflicting damage on such a place… It seems like it would be more difficult than cutting off a dragon’s head…”

Perdia coldly answered Kleion’s words in that way, but Kleion looked up at the sky and quickly moved his eyes.

“It’s okay. Even if she’s lost her reason in anger, Luti is on our side. If she realizes our intentions in what we’re trying to do, she’ll definitely react to it. The problem is…”

“…How to get on Letios’s back, right?”

Kleion nodded at Perdia’s words. Perdia also briefly raised her head and looked up at the sky –

The next moment, she saw Luti and Letios’s mouths widen greatly.

“Kuh! Those guys!?”

Kleion shouted in panic when he saw that, and stretched his hands upwards to unfold a magical barrier that surrounded himself and Perdia.

The next moment, swirling primordial magical power turned into pure magical breath from the two dragons’ mouths and flew towards each other.

Lightning breath and gale breath.

The two collided head-on in the air, emitting the aftermath of the elements in all directions.

Of course, they also fell to the ground and scattered around Kleion and Perdia.

Kleion’s arms, which were supporting the barrier, trembled from the strong impact each time lightning struck.

“Kleion-nim…! I’ll avoid it myself! Please protect only yourself!”

Perdia raised her voice as she watched that, but Kleion only made a “Kuh…” sound and stood on the ground with trembling arms and legs, not releasing the barrier.

“… …!”

Perhaps thanks to Perdia’s shout, Luti glanced at the ground, stopped spraying her breath, and turned her body to stop the tug-of-war.

“Lutios. My foolish sister. Even your powerful breath, which was the pride of the clan, is now being pushed back by me.”

“Shut up…! I just stopped because I didn’t want to cause damage to the area below!”

Letios said that to her sister and started flying at subsonic speed again, as if chasing after Luti, who had moved to avoid her attack.

“…Haa…”

Kleion managed to survive because the collision of the two breaths stopped before his magical power was depleted, but aiming for Letios’s horns in the aerial battle, which was faster than before, was more difficult than walking into a powder magazine with a lit torch and surviving without exploding.

At that time.

“…Kleion-nim. I’ve figured it out. A way to get on top of Letios’s back.”

“What?”

Perdia called out to Kleion.

As she received the method she had figured out, Kleion also widened his eyes and spoke.

“…That’s seriously crazy.”

“However, I think this is the best we can do for now.”

The two looked at each other in silence for a moment.

And –

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

002

“Kuek…!”

The scales on the lightning-scorched area fall off.

Was it almost 10 years since she had returned to her original form?

Even though she had lived longer in this body, why was it? Flying through the sky in dragon form is even more difficult than walking around as a human.

That was probably because her wings, which were once able to feel the wind element with joy and fly through the sky, are now guilty.

When she hatched from her egg, her father was already a dead human.

Her sister, who had hatched three years before her, also said that she had never seen her father.

Because a dragon’s egg takes 10 years to hatch, humans could not endure living with the dragon during that time and died.

It was a sad thing, but it wasn’t uncommon.

Luti buried that fact in her heart and lived a long life as a dragon.

Until a human calling himself the Magic Sword Emperor appeared.

When the world of humans began to be threatened by him, Luti argued to her clan that they should step forward to protect the humans.

However, the four dragons other than Luti, including Leti, refused.

What they had to protect was not humans, but the world.

Unless the survival of the star was in danger, there was no reason for them to step in.

Luti rebelled against her clan, left the dragon world, and flew towards the Empire to save the humans.

Without realizing that that would be the beginning of a tragedy.

The Magic Sword Emperor’s power was equal to or greater than Lutios’s.

The power of the magic sword he possessed bound Luti’s will and controlled her body as he pleased.

That was when the evil dragon “Storm of Annihilation” was born.

The only dragon who was moving to save humans became a war machine to kill countless humans.

Even in that terribly ironic situation, Lutios resented her ego, which had not completely disappeared.

It would have been nice if she had been broken to the point where she wouldn’t know that she was doing such a terrible thing.

And, a human who defeated her, freed her from domination, and saved her life. Lesia.

A boy – a young man – a beloved man who was like a small legacy left behind by that Lesia. Kleion.

`Am I going to let him follow the same fate as my father…? Kleion has things he needs to do…!`

Luti repeated only those thoughts in her head and clashed with her clan – her sister Letios, while trapped inside a dragon’s shell.

The playful fights of her childhood had already been surpassed a long time ago.

Really, this fight might not end unless one of them dies.

The reason she brought Kleion with her was so that even if she died.

She would inflict a great wound on Letios, making it easier for Kleion to defeat her.

So that he wouldn’t have to separate from his companions.

`Kleion protected me and everyone in the guild… This time, it’s my turn to protect Kleion…!`

Lesia gathered those who had lived as slaves in the Empire like herself and hid their identities.

And, the adventurer’s guild that she started with them.

If that fact were revealed, they would lose their place to live by everyone in the kingdom, who had unusual resentment towards the Empire.

Thanks to Kleion stopping Albein, who was threatening her with that, they were still able to live in the guild.

[Ti…]

`Kleion…! Lesia…!`

[Luti…]

`I will definitely, carry on your wills…`

[Luti!]

“…!”

A sound that echoed loudly in her head, enough to erase the thoughts that filled her head.

Thanks to that, Luti’s body stopped momentarily, and thanks to that, she ended up getting hit on the shoulder by the electric shock she could have avoided.

[Luti! Please answer!]

[K, Kleion! I can hear you! I can hear you!]

While answering Kleion, who was talking to her through telepathy through the seal, Luti managed to evade Letios’s pursuit that followed.

She barely managed to prevent her scales from being torn off again.

[Luti. Listen carefully. We’ll try to stop Letios.]

[…What!? What are you talking about! If you do such a thing-]

[It’s okay, we have a method. Trust me.]

Luti’s gaze glanced at Kleion on the ground.

There, Kleion and Perdia were looking up at her together.

[…Okay. What do I need to do?]

003

“I can see the flow of magical power. Did she talk to that human about something?”

“I just told her to run away… Because I’m going to use my full power…!”

Lutios said that, spread her wings wide, and gathered her breath in her mouth once again.

“…Another breath battle, huh? The result has already been decided.”

Even while saying that, Letios also pulled out magical power from her full magical power bag and brought it to her mouth.

The two dragons unleashing their magical power was simultaneous.

Letios’s breath was like a blue lightning pillar.

And, Luti’s breath was like a red blood storm.

At the same time as a powerful wave of power collided, the two dragons confronted each other in the sky, trying to push each other’s breaths away.

Paji jik!!

Sparks like that seemed like a joke, but the point of collision of the breaths was gradually heading towards Luti’s side.

[Give up. Little sister. If you take this attack, your head will fly off.]

[…Not… yet…!]

The violence of the elements that flew out in all directions.

The ground is carved away, and lightning strikes the trees.

It was truly a scene as if the world was about to end once again.

At that time-

“Perdia!”

“Yes! Kleion-nim!”

Kleion and Perdia, who had been flying in hiding, appeared from behind Letios.

It was Kleion who was holding Perdia, who had no flying ability, in his arms and using flying magic and the veil of darkness.

When Kleion shouted, Perdia’s hair lengthened, and the spear tip attached to the end of it was embedded into Letios’s back.

It wasn’t that it had penetrated the flesh, but rather that it had been wedged into the gaps in the scales using the bent end, so Leti didn’t feel any pain.

Kleion stepped on the hardened hair and jumped up. It was faster than using flying magic.

Soon, in Kleion’s hands, who had leaped up to above her head, were both of Perdia’s daggers.

“…Eat this!”

What Kleion crossed the two daggers and slashed was one of Letios’s horns.

Seogeok-!

At the next moment after she thought she heard a light sound.

Letios, whose eyes widened, stopped her body as is. The breath that was being spewed from her mouth decreased.

Luti saw that and reduced the spraying of her breath as well.

At the same time, Leti began to freefall to the ground.

Perdia pulled out the spear so as not to be dragged down with her, but at the same time, she also fell down.

To catch such Perdia, Kleion used flying magic to follow her and catch her.

“…Huu.”

The next moment after he managed to catch her, a loud sound rang out from the ground.

Then, when Kleion, Perdia, and Luti landed on the ground together.

Both Luti and Letios had returned to their human forms.

“Letios…”

Perhaps it was because she heard Luti’s voice, which was filled with all sorts of emotions.

Letios slowly raised her body, which had fallen, and touched the left of the horns that had sprouted on her temple with her hand.

“… …”

Anyone among those next to her could tell that there was a crack in it.

“I’m sorry, but this was the only way to calm you down-”

When Kleion said that, Letios stood up completely.

Then, she stared intently at Kleion for a moment.

“I’m going home.”

“Huh?”

She snapped her fingers and disappeared from the spot.

Kleion and Perdia blankly watched the spot where she had been standing at the events that had unfolded in an instant.

“Wh, what was that?”

“W…Well. Anyway, it seems like she’s given up on Kleion-nim.”

Kleion awkwardly nodded at Perdia’s words.

“… …”

Only Luti was looking at Kleion with a worried expression.

“…Kleion.”

And, she called Kleion’s name.

Kleion turned to that side at Luti’s call, but Luti stared straight at his face for a moment. She speaks.

“No. Sorry, I fought too irrationally, right?”

“…You were trying to protect me, right? Okay. Let’s go back. It’s a festival day, after all.”

Kleion gave Luti a bitter smile as if to say it was okay.

Perdia also approached Luti and grabbed her hand.

“…As expected, I like you humans.”

Luti said that, grabbed the two’s hands, and unfolded magic to return to the academy.

004

There were various things that happened, but after that, he was able to enjoy the academy festival with Luti and Perdia.

Kleion quickly noticed and restrained her every time there was a move to go to the Theology Department.

Perdia had also left Elesia and come to a big city for the first time, so he could see that her eyes were going everywhere.

And, it was only after it became dark evening again that he succeeded in returning to the mansion.

“I’m going to sleep alone today. I’m sorry, but I’m a bit tired…”

After asking for understanding from Luti and Perdia, who were trying to follow him into the room, Kleion quickly went to bed.

He thought that he might have caught a contagious disease like a cold because the headache he had felt in the morning seemed to be felt again.

As such, when silence and darkness were cast down upon Kleion’s room once again.

Ggiik-

The sound of a window opening rang out.

Kleion heard that sound even in his shallow consciousness and tried to raise his body.

`Ttaak!`

The sound of someone snapping their fingers was heard.

When Kleion, who had quickly awakened his mind, looked around.

It seemed to be a cave somewhere.

However, it was a space like a bedroom where a large amount of furniture used by humans was prepared.

“…What, what’s going on?”

“You’ve woken up. Kleion.”

When he turned his head towards the side where the voice was heard, Letios was standing there in the same form as during the day.

However, the crack in her horn seemed to have gotten a bit bigger.

“… …Weren’t you giving up?”

“Forcibly taking you away and making you do your duty as a resonator… is on hold. I called you here because of these horns.”

“…What’s wrong with the horns?”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then sighed and handed Kleion what she was holding in her hand.

…It was a chisel.

“A chisel?”

“It’s a special chisel for cutting off dragon horns.”

Kleion accepted it and looked back and forth between the chisel and Letios for a moment.

Letios then blushed and spoke to Kleion.

It was as if she was a maiden right before her first night.

“…With that chisel, completely cut off these half-broken horns. Kleion.”

“Haa… Haa?”