…
Scias, Ognist, Taizun, and the steam dragon, Zeugen silently watched as the demon general disappearing from the face of the earth. They heard murmurs coming out from him as he disintegrates, but was inaudible to their ears as if he spoke in a different language. They stood guard awaiting the demon to regenerate. But demon general did not.
And finally… the demon was no longer there. He was gone, forever.
At long last, the battle was won by humans and dragonians.
"Is… is he really gone?" Taizun asked as he kept his voice low.
Zeugen analyzes with his dragon eyes through the fire wall and makes a conclusion. He closes his eyes afterwards.
"…Aye. Zat demon… ist gone."
Taizun lets out a silent relieved breath.
"At last…" he said quietly. "We're finally able to bring victory to our emperor… after so many losses and all…"
On the other side, Ognist feels something wearing off from him. Like binding chains finally open and let him free from imprisonment. He clenches his fist several times and examines himself.
"The curse from that demon… is no longer within me, huh?"
He then loosens his muscles and sheathes his weapon. He slowly takes a calming seat on the burnt grassland while watching the wall of fire still intact around him. He casually grabs something from beneath his cape, which appears to be his favorite cigar.
Scias remains standing, he watches sharply towards the place where the demon had vanished. He is so focused on staring so much till he didn't realize he was called several times by the fire dragonian.
"Oiii! Sir Scias. Sir Scias? Do you hear me? Sir. Scias! AHEM!"
Ognist's purposefully cough got Scias' attention at last. He gazes upon Ognist with a flat face.
"What?" he asked calmly.
"Good gracious, what were you dreaming of just now?" Ognist grunted. "Nevermind. Anyway, do you have a lighter?" he reached out his hand.
"No," he replied quickly. "If you wish to light your smoke, then use your magic. It's more convenient that way."
"No-no-no, it's not as simple as that—eh…"
Before Ognist could finish speaking, Scias has gazed back into the field.
"What a cold manner," Ognist piqued quietly. "Not matching his element after all."
"Oi."
"HA—! Y-Yes?" Ognist got startled by Scias suddenly calling him. "D-Did I accidentally say it out loud?" he thought to himself.
Scias walks closer to him, making the situation a bit uneasy for Ognist. "My apologies, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or whatsoever—"
"Huh? What are you blurting about?" Scias questioned the dragonian's odd words. "Our job's here finished r-right? Then let us return."
Ognist watched the tall human walks away slowly. "O-Oh… right," he said while standing up and pocketed his cigar.
"Oh, right…" Scias halted his steps and turned around. "Your friends are still there beyond those fire walls. Moving that dragon was timewasting. So I suppose we will need large manpower to bring him back to the village… t-though… everyone might get freaked out by him…" he explained with a resigned voice.
…
Few hours later, tens of Imperial soldiers are brought to pull the steam dragon back to the village. Tough ropes are established around Zeugen's dragon body and then he is pulled by many soldiers.
"Ayayayy…" Zeugen softly squawked. "Pardon me for burdening zee, ja?" he apologized as he remained stationary while tens of soldiers put a hard effort to pull him. Rumblings of those soldiers are heard numerously.
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho! One-two-three PULL!"
"Dammit, Lord Zeugen, why were you so heavy—grrraaaaahhh!!!"
"This is why Lord Ognist wanted you to hold back when fighting. You couldn't return back to human body if you're badly injured like this!"
Zeugen can only reply their cry with one simple yet effective word: "Sorry."
He repeated that word every time one of the soldiers commented about how hard it is to evacuate him.
The walls of fire has brought down, leaving scorch marks in its place. After some time, Ognist declared the situation 'safe' for everyone but he still instructed his men to remain at high alert.
Ognist watches his men from the distance on a high plateau with Scias right beside him. Taizun likes to handle jobs along with the soldiers so he is right there with the knights of Sacranopolis, pulling the fallen dragon hardly. Even with a strong creature like him, it is still hard to move Zeugen.
"It seems the evacuation runs quite well. I expect they will complete the task at daybreak. Hopefully, though. But still… watching without smoking a cigar makes my life harder…"
"Then just use your fire magic. You still have some mana energy left in you, right?"
"Ohohoho, Sir Scias, it's not as simple as that! Lighting your cigar with fire magic will cause it to taste… differently."
"And by different you mean it tastes bad?"
"No. There are no bad cigars. Not even fire magic will make it taste bad. But still… I don't like it if I use my fire to light them up."
"Tch, just say it tastes bad."
Scias then slowly turns around and begins to move away from the legion of the empire. Ognist halts him with his voice, "Hold up, friend. That way is not to the village."
"I know."
"Then why did you—oh, right, the little kid from before!" Ognist just realized he had forgotten about Pio. He quickly addresses himself to help out, "Let us go now. We must recover her as soon as possible—"
"No need."
"Eh?"
"I will get her myself. She is my party member after all."
"…Are you sure?"
"Certainly, just focus on carrying your 'big friend' back."
Scias then walks away, going down the plateau and headed towards Pio's location. Not far from leaving the dragonian, Ognist shouts out:
"If you need our help, just give a signal and we will come to you!"
Scias did not give any reply. He walks further, further, and further before finally disappears from Ognist's sight.
Ognist turns his attention back to his men. He takes his cigar and rolls it with his fingers while muttering.
"What a mysterious man," he faintly mumbled. "Housing such great power, yet it felt like he was holding something back. It intrigued me when he decided to give a hand on laying destruction upon that freaky demon. It felt like… he was hiding something… something that he didn't want me and the others know."
Ognist reminisces a bit of their fight with the demon general.
"That swordplay of his is recognizable somehow. Such enormous speed and reflexes, also powerful and unreadable movements…"
"…Perhaps he is 'stronger' than any of us in here. He resembled someone I heard of. But now… I've forgotten him."
Ognist lets out a long breath. "It appears I am growing older than ever. My memories are ruining somehow…"
…
..
.
With a brooded face, Scias walked through the meadow before finally finding Pio, lying on the grass with her eyes closed. Scias notices some bruises on her body. He then crouches right next to her.
"Excuse me," he said lowly while enclosing his ear to her chest.
Then, he hears a thump. Scias quickly raise his head and let out a relieving breath.
Pio is alive. She is deep in her sleep.
"Thank goodness you're alive. Nina won't forgive me if you die here. Of course, I won't forgive myself either for letting you fall."
Scias gives her a high potion and let the medicine take effect. He then stares into the dark sky for a moment. He looks back to Pio in a bit of curiosity.
"Just what did you do? What did you do till that demon ran away from you?" Scias asked to her even though she's asleep.
"Who are you, exactly?"
He lets a long silence fall between them.
"I wonder it most of the time. Whether my actions of letting you tag along with us is a right choice or not. But I could not opt for it so I let Marco and Nina do the picking. Even till now, I still question myself whether letting a strange girl like you in our herd will be okay or not.
You hid something. But you didn't emit any cruel intentions. You're just a poor girl that wanted to have a family. That might be the reason why I let you stay in our group. Though, after now… I began questioning myself again. You act like a child with lack of common sense but you could fight fiercely as if you're a different person. I wonder whether Marco and Nina notice this… strange attitude of yours.
But I am not the one to decide. I would only make things much more miserable."
After she's half-way recovered, Scias picks her up and carries her back to the village. On the way, Scias mumbles more.
"I wonder… are you going to be the 'key' for me…? Hmph, what am I thinking. There's no way you would be."
…
.
.
Marco, Nina, and Aily wait patiently right in front of the village entrance. The sun slowly emerges on the horizon, rising up and shines the entire land again. From the warm brightness that showers them, they clasp their hands, wishing for their friend's safe return.
Shortly, their wish comes true.
Scias appears on the path walking down the road while bringing Pio on his back. As promised, he returned back to the village morning by the latest.
Seeing their fellow party members return made Aily and Nina rush to them in tears. Marco followed them afterwards.
Nina's tears run in an endless stream. She is incredibly glad and happy for their return. Scias and Pio, both are already felt as inseparable family to her. Aily witnessing her friends' return made her slightly in tears. She smiles adorably and welcomes them.
Marco steps in and warmly welcomes his tall buddy.
"Hey, man…
…Welcome back!"
Hearing him made Scias loosens his brooded mood and slightly smiles. He replies back to him with a calm and composed voice.
"Yeah… I've returned, buddy."