The ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see.
Set deep within the glimmering expanse of blue was a solitary island. There wasn't
even a shallow reef within a hundred-kilometer radius of it. It was well and truly
isolated from the rest of the world. A lone woman stood atop a rocky overhang jutting
out of the island's southern tip. She wore an azure kimono and had shoulder-length
hair of the same color. She appeared to be in her late forties and carried herself with
the elegance of a noblewoman. She fervently stared southward, her hands clasped to
her chest in her prayer.
"Princess…" the woman muttered. She was Venri Colt, and her family had served Tio's
for generations. She had been Tio's wet nurse and had taken care of Tio after her
parents had died.
Ever since Tio had left on her journey, it had been her daily routine to visit that spot
and pray for Tio's safety. When Tio had claimed that something strange was happening
on the mainland and offered to investigate, Venri hadn't tried to stop her. Though she
loved Tio like her own daughter, she also had absolute faith in her strength.
Still, she couldn't help but worry. And as she gazed at the horizon, a messenger ran up
to her.
"Venri-dono! Cartus-dono sensed the princess' mana heading this way! She's coming—"
Before the messenger even finished, Venri transformed and took flight. She raced
southward as fast as possible, her azure scales scintillating in the noon light. She
opened her eyes as wide as they could go and desperately scanned the horizon for a
black speck.
It was only after she'd gone a hundred kilometers or so that she remembered Cartus'
Job was Observer, which allowed him to see across immense distances.
I may have been a tad hasty… But just as she thought that, she spotted something.
"P-Princess!?"
Venri could never mistake that distinctive luster of Tio's obsidian-colored mana. But
to her surprise, it wasn't a black speck she spotted in the distance. Instead, she saw a
whirling, pitch-black tornado. The tornado was perfectly horizontal and tapered at the
front. It was still a few kilometers away, but was approaching at blistering speed.
Venri had spent more time with Tio than anyone else, so she could say with certainty
that the princess was moving faster than ever before. Even the storm dragon, the
fastest dragonman in the village, couldn't achieve that velocity.
"Hm? Is that you, Venri!?"
"Y-Yes, Princess! Thank goodness you've returned safe… ly?"
Tears welled up in Venri's eyes as she laid eyes on her surrogate daughter for the first
time in months. However, those tears vanished the moment Tio dispelled the tornado
and Venri saw what she looked like.
"P-Princess, why do you look like—"
"Fear not. I simply adjusted my form to be more aerodynamic for travel."
Venri couldn't believe what she was hearing. A dragonman's transformation was set
from the moment of their birth. Of course, that form grew as they did, but its shape
was supposed to be immutable. And yet, the Tio in front of Venri looked much more
sleek and slender than the form Venri remembered, and each of Tio's scales had streaks
of lighter black running through them.
"I shall explain later. My apologies, Venri, but I am in quite a hurry. Would you be
willing to share some of your mana with me? It took a lot of practice to perfect this
form while flying, and I expended more mana than anticipated," Tio said in a haggard
voice.
Venri snapped back to her senses and hurriedly gave as much of her mana as she
could.
"Thank you. Come, Venri, cancel your transformation and get on my back."
"What!? I could never do something so presumptuous!"
"Argh, now is not the time for decorum, Venri! As your princess, I command you to ride
me!"
"Urgh… How will I ever face my ancestors after this? A servant should never ride her
master!"
"Haaah, if anything I would consider that a reward."
"Uh, Princess? What did you just say? And why did you suddenly start panting?" Venri
asked as she hesitantly canceled her transformation and got onto Tio's back.
Tio didn't bother to answer and instead wrapped Venri in a wind barrier.
"Let us be off! I shall convert the pleasure from being stepped on into the strength to
fly faster!"
"Huh!? Princess, what in the world are you—? Waaah, you're going too faaaaaaaaast!"
Tio shot forward, creating that same black tornado she had before. She moved so fast
that even her wind barrier couldn't fully protect Venri from the air resistance.
In less than ten minutes, Tio reached the island.
"Welcome home, Tio-sama!"
"It is a relief to know that you're safe!"
"Princess, what was that form you took earlier?"
"Hey, make way for the princess! She must be tired from her long journey. Let her rest!"
The dragonmen of the village gathered around the coast, both excited and confused
by Tio's sudden return.
Tio canceled her transformation and addressed the crowd, saying, "Thank you for
coming out to welcome me! I have returned at long last!"
Tio's smile was tinged with exhaustion, and Venri lent her a shoulder to lean on.
"Princess, I shall ready your bedchambers at once. Come, let us return to the mansion
so you can rest."
Tio shook her head at Venri upon hearing those words.
"No, I am afraid there's no time for that. I bear urgent news. Venri, where is my
grandfather?"
"I am here."
A regal dragonman with scarlet hair made his way past the crowd and walked up to
Tio. He was Tio's grandfather and the chief of the village, Adul Klarus. Though the
dragonmen kingdom had fallen centuries ago, everyone still treated him like a king,
which was why the moment he stepped forward, the muttering of the crowd died down.
Staggering slightly, Tio waved Venri away and did her best to stand straight.
Adul gasped when he saw the look in Tio's eyes.
"Grandfather— No, Chief."
"Tio…"
The two of them gazed silently at each other for a few seconds. All the other dragonmen
waited with bated breath for Tio's next words.
The only sound was of waves crashing against the shore, and weeds rustling in the
wind. Finally, Tio opened her mouth and said in a voice laden with emotion, "The time
has come."
"Ah!" Adul gasped as his eyes widened in shock. Though they knew they were being
disrespectful, the other dragonmen started muttering to each other again.
Adul sucked in a deep breath and scrutinized Tio with his slitlike, draconic eyes. He'd
decided to appraise her not as her grandfather, but as the man who carried the fate of
the dragonman race on his shoulders. The stern look in his eyes appeared far more
imposing than Tio remembered.
I thought for a moment that she might have changed because that accursed god did
something to her… but now I see that is nothing more than a sign of her growth.
After confirming that Tio was free of Ehit's influence, Adul smiled.
"Did you hear that, everyone? Gather the rest of the villagers in the central plaza. Tio
has a message for us that will decide the future of our race!"
The dragonmen fell silent again as realization washed over them. Doing their best to
contain their excitement, they started migrating to the central plaza.
"Tio, eat something before you speak to the others. It would be a disservice to give
your report while exhausted."
"I suppose so. There is an awful lot I must tell everyone, so a short break would do me
good."
Adul smiled kindly at Tio, returning to the role of grandfather instead of village chief.
He then gently placed a hand on Tio's shoulder and said, "You must have met some
truly splendid people on your journey. You look more like Orna than ever before."
"How—? I see you are perceptive as ever, Grandfather."
"P-Princess? Don't tell me you…"
Blushing slightly, Tio covered her face with her sleeve. Adul grinned playfully at her,
while Venri looked aghast.
At this moment none of them realized the "splendid people" Tio had met on her
journey had influenced her in worse ways than Ehit ever could.
While Tio was eating, the 300-odd members of the dragonmen village gathered in the
town's central plaza. Excited chatter filled the square as they speculated on what Tio
had discovered during her investigation.
Other dragonmen had left on scouting missions before, but none had ever returned
with a report so important the entire village needed to hear it.
"Brethren, listen well," Tio declared as she walked up to the raised dais in the center
of the square. Normally, it was only occupied during festivals, but today she would give
her speech from it. Adul and Venri walked up a few seconds later and sat down on
either side of her.
"The world will soon undergo a momentous change."
The dragonmen frowned angrily, thinking that Ehit was about to reset history for his
own amusement again. The last time he did that, the dragonmen kingdom was
destroyed and the few surviving dragonmen were forced to retreat to this hidden
island.
Little did they know that Ehit was up to something far more insidious.
"Ehit does not intend to reset civilization as he's done so many times before. This time,
he plans to wipe out all mortal races and destroy the world of Tortus! Once that is
complete, he plans to move on to a new world and repeat his atrocities there!"
The dragonmen looked visibly shaken.
"Words alone are not sufficient to convey the gravity of the situation. Therefore, I have
recorded one of the battles that I fought in alongside my comrades! Watch closely, and
know that there is still hope for Tortus!"
Venri's jaw dropped open and Adul narrowed his eyes as Tio pulled a small, white card
out of her pocket. It looked like an oddly-colored Status Plate, but when she raised it
high into the air—
"Unbelievable… How on…?"
Adul watched on in awe, as did the other dragonmen.
The card projected a holographic vision into the air. It started with Hajime and the
others confronting Freid and the five hundred apostles at the edge of the Schnee Snow
Fields. When he had gone back to retrieve the artifacts he'd hidden there, Kaori had
used restoration magic to recreate past events, and Hajime had transcribed that vision
into one of his artifacts.
Even though they knew it was just a vision, the dragonmen gulped nervously,
overwhelmed by the might of Ehit's army.
"To think Ehit possessed so many of those emotionless monsters. A single one of them
was strong enough to defeat me."
"So you did indeed fight against one of them in the battle you feigned your death in,
Grandfather."
Adul had fought an apostle once before. Everyone thought he had died fighting it, but
in truth, he had faked his death and brought as many refugees as he could to the
hidden village he had secretly created.
"Tio… Who is this young man?"
"His name is Hajime Nagumo. He's one of the youths who was summoned by Ehit from
another world."
"Ah, so he must be the fabled hero," one of the dragonmen muttered, and others
nodded in agreement. However, Cartus, who was sitting in the front row and was one
of the dragonmen elders, shook his head.
"No, he is not the hero… he is the Synergist of the hero's party."
"What!? Are you serious, Elder Cartus!?" Ristas shouted, his indigo-blue hair splaying
out behind him. The other dragonmen looked equally surprised.
None of them believed this strong-willed white-haired boy possessed one of the
weakest jobs in the world. How could a mere Synergist, a job that wasn't even useful
in combat, look so confident when up against an army of apostles?
"Yes, Master is no hero. He is nothing more than a Synergist. However, he was able to
climb his way out of the deepest depths of the Great Orcus Labyrinth using nothing
but those meager Synergist abilities. On top of that, he defeated an apostle in a oneon-one duel. As a result, he is someone Ehit considers an Irregular."
"He defeated an apostle by himself? I see now why Ehit sent such a large force to
subdue him. Hahaha…" Adul chuckled weakly. He was half-amazed, half still in
disbelief. Everyone was so busy processing this bombshell that they didn't register
that Tio had just referred to Hajime as "Master."
Well, everyone except Venri. She glanced at the princess, who was still looking gravely
down at the other dragonmen.
Did she just call that young man… m-master? Am I just mishearing things?
"Standing next to him is the strongest vampire princess in history, Aletia… Though,
she goes by the name Yue now."
"So she did survive…"
"Indeed. She was sealed within the abyss. Master rescued her from her prison."
"I see… Hm? Tio, did you just—?"
Thank goodness you noticed as well, Adul-sama! The princess is saying strange things,
isn't she!? Please, get to the bottom of this!
Venri silently pumped a fist into the air, hoping Adul would press Tio.
"That rabbitgirl is also an Irregular. Her name is Shea Haulia, and as far as I can tell,
she is the only beastman alive today that possesses any amount of mana. The young
brown-haired boy behind her is the hero, but if you ask me, Shea is far more deserving
of the title than he is."
"Hrm, I-I see…" Adul muttered, cocking his head. Tio shot him a questioning glance,
but he didn't say anything, so she continued talking proudly about her other comrades,
Kaori and Shizuku. Venri gave Adul a disappointed look, but he just assumed he must
have misheard and didn't press Tio further.
Airos, Ristas, and the other young men who were romantically interested in Tio shot
each other questioning glances as well.
"Is Master some kind of nickname for one of her comrades?" one of them whispered.
None of them imagined she would refer to a man as her actual master, so they were
confused.
The dragonmen continued watching and when Hajime said the line, "I'll massacre every
last man, woman, and child living in the demon empire, regardless of their affiliation."
they all felt a shiver run down their spine.
They understood Hajime's wrath, since they too had experienced having their friends,
family, and loved ones held hostage by Ehit, but he looked so furious that all the
dragonmen were a little scared of him. All of them except Tio, anyway.
"Haaah, haaah, h-how wonderful…" Tio panted, an ecstatic expression on her face.
"Princess!?" Venri shouted, unable to remain silent any longer.
She had never seen the princess looking like this. Her shriek brought Adul and everyone
else's attention back to Tio, but unfortunately, she'd already switched back to her more
serious self.
How has no one else noticed how strange the princess is acting!? Venri thought, slapping
the floor in frustration.
Unfortunately, the events unfolding within the projection were too captivating, and
Venri couldn't find an opportunity to bring up Tio's strange behavior.
The dragonmen all clenched their fists when Ehit stole Yue's body, and they felt their
eyes tear up when Hajime let out his wail of sorrow. When Ehit declared he would
destroy the world in three days, their anger flared, and they watched in awe as Tio and
the others struggled against Alva, who had remained behind. Then, they were stunned
speechless when Hajime recovered and destroyed Alva and the apostles with his
existence-denying chains.
Before she knew it, Venri was invested too, and she didn't even notice that Tio called
Hajime master multiple times during the fight.
Finally, the projection showed Hajime and the others' conversation after he was healed,
and the dragonmen finally understood why Tio had suddenly returned to the village.
"I see… It is exactly as you say. The time has come," Adul spoke solemnly, and the other
dragonmen nodded resolutely. They had been preparing for this moment for centuries,
so of course they were ready. They knew what had to be done.
"My brethren, the time to rise up has finally come! We survived that horrific day so
that we could strike back now!"
Adul rose to his feet and placed a hand on Tio's shoulder. The two of them nodded to
each other, and he then stepped forward to address his people.
"Prepare for war, my friends! This battle will decide the fate of—"
"Nhaaah, that feelsh amayshing! Give me more, Master! Just a little more… and I will
be able to climax like never before!"
"Oh, you like that, you pathetic excuse for a dragon!? Fine, have some more!"
Tio had forgotten to turn off her artifact, so it was now displaying what had happened
in Hajime's room after.
Shocked, everyone turned their gaze back up to the projection in the sky.
Tio was sprawled on the ground, basking in Hajime's sadistic whipping. There was a
sharp crack as Hajime slapped Tio's ass with his spiked whip once again, and the Tio
in the projection moaned in ecstasy.
Drool spilled from her lips, and her breath came in short gasps. A short distance away,
Shea and Kaori were shaking their heads in disappointment, while Aiko, Yuka, and
Liliana watched with unbridled curiosity, their faces beet-red. In order to increase her
efficiency to the maximum, Tio had asked Hajime to punish her and turn that pain into
mana using her Pain Conversion skill.
"Here comes the last one, you pervert! You better enjoy it, bitch!"
"Thank you so muuuuuuch!"
For the finale, Hajime slapped Tio's ass with his open palm, and she shivered in delight.
He then tenderly hugged Tio and helped her to her feet.
"Alright, that should be good. Think you can make it, Tio?"
"Haaah, haaah, th-that was amayshing. I could even go to the end of the world for you
now, Master," Tio smiled contentedly as she said that, heedless of how pathetic she
looked.
"Whoops. I forgot I recorded our private moments as well. My apologies, everyone."
Tio had recorded her spanking session so she could watch it again later. She was a
pervert through and through. Amazingly, she only seemed mildly embarrassed by the
fact that her family had seen her getting off to being whipped. Her fellow dragonmen
all slowly turned to look at her.
Absolute silence fell over the plaza. This was the quietest it had been in five hundred
years.
Finally, one of the braver youngsters, Ristas, blurted out, "Who the hell are you!?"
Normally, such a disrespectful outburst would have been severely punished, but no
one scolded him. After all, they were all thinking the same thing.
"P-Princess, there is something I absolutely must ask you!"
"Wh-What's the matter, Venri? That is a rather alarming expression you are making."
"I don't want to hear that from someone who was making such a disg— I mean,
ecstatic expression while being whipped!"
"Did you just call the lord you serve disgusting? Haaah, haaah…"
"Stop panting! This is serious! You said that boy's name was Hajime Nagumo, correct!?
What is your relationship with him!? You called him master, didn't you!? Tell me
everything!"
Venri hadn't scolded Tio since she was a child, but despite her angry tone, Tio just
puffed her chest out proudly and declared, "A most wonderful question! Allow me to
properly introduce him. Hajime Nagumo is my one and only master. I, Tio Klarus, have
dedicated both my body and my heart to him!"
Her voice echoed through the plaza… and all the birds flew away in fright.
"I-Impossible! Is this some kind of joke, Princess!?" Airos screamed, a pleading look in
his eyes. Among those wishing to become Tio's fiance, the deep green storm dragon
was the strongest, and thus the premier contender for the title. Naturally, he was the
most shaken to hear she'd already found a mate.
"This is no jest, Airos. I do apologize to you, and all the others who wished to marry
me, but I have already found the man I wish to spend the rest of my life with. Please,
try to understand."
"You want to be with that awful bastard who was whipping you!? Are you insane!?"
Honestly, Airos had a point. Everyone thought Tio must have lost her mind.
However, Tio simply looked nostalgically off into the distance and said, "As I told you
all before, the only condition for marrying me is to be stronger than me. However, in
the five hundred years I spent in this village, none of you were able to so much as
scratch my scales. I had all but forgotten what pain was."
"Th-That may be so, but—"
"But Master was different! When I was being controlled by that unsavory brat, he beat
me to a pulp! He tore at my nails, clawed at my gums, shot at my wings, and did
everything he could to exploit my weak points! Not only that, he was able to smash my
scales head-on, and was even able to withstand the might of my breath!"
Though Tio was praising Hajime, no one was impressed. Her ecstatic expression and
the way she hugged herself as she gushed about him creeped everyone out so much
that they couldn't really pay attention to what she was saying at all.
"Best of all, Master pounded his thick, hard black stake into my arse! He didn't stop
even when I begged for mercy, and by the end, my hole was a gaping mess! Truly, that
was one of the turning points of my life. I get shivers just thinking about it even now!
Oh, Master, I love you so much!" Tio shouted, gazing southward all the while.
"R-Ristas! Pull yourself together!"
"Oh no, he's not breathing! The shock must have given him a heart attack!"
"Airos? Hey, Airos!? Come back to your senses! I'm not the princess, stop hugging me!"
Half of the men passed out from shock like Ristas, while the other half had lost their
wits like Airos.
The children started crying, and the women looked up at the heavens in despair. Most
of the elderly looked as though their souls had already left their bodies. The dragonmen
had been defeated, and the war hadn't even begun.
"Adul-sama, the princess has clearly lost her mind! Someone must have used dark
magic to change her… Adul-sama?"
The dragonmen had hoped that Adul might be able to turn Tio back, but he seemed
completely unresponsive.
"D-Did he pass out while standing?"
Adul's eyes had rolled up into the back of his head, and he wasn't moving at all.
"Venri-sama, you're our last hope!" another dragonman shouted, turning to her.
"Fufu, everything will be alright now, Princess. I'm here for you."
However, Venri was talking to a tree as though it was a young Tio. Not only had she
lost her senses, but her memories had regressed as well.
"What is with all of you? I thought you would be happy to learn I have finally found a
husband…"
"How are we supposed to be happy about this!?" the women shouted in unison. The
men were already a lost cause, and they didn't react at all.
Eventually, Cartus managed to calm everyone down, and told Tio, "Go find something
else to do while everyone readies for battle."
He was completely disillusioned with Tio now and treated her like she was an eyesore.
She slinked away, muttering, "I thought… you would be able to accept the new me…"
While the others prepared, Tio took a walk around the outskirts of the village. She
visited the places she'd played in as a child, her old training grounds, the mystical
clearing she'd found in the forest where the moon appeared closer than it did
anywhere else, the beach where the villagers often held parties, and many other spots
that held fond memories.
Though this village had been hidden away from the rest of the world, it had still been
an enjoyable place to live. For five hundred years, Tio had lived peacefully here
surrounded by people who cared for her. However—
"It was a stale life."
She couldn't help but feel that way. Compared to the exciting days she'd spent with her
new comrades, her life in this village had been lackluster.
She had only been gone for a few months, but so much had happened that her hometown
felt like a faded memory. The few months she had spent with Hajime and the others
seemed longer than the centuries she had spent here.
At some point, Tio's legs naturally started taking her westward. As she trekked through
the forest, following the sound of the waves, she found herself at a small graveyard.
There were only a few simple gravestones hidden among the dense undergrowth, but
they were all well-tended.
Everyone had wanted to put the gravestones in a less dreary place, like on one of the
island's many promontories, but this was supposed to be a hidden village. Everything
within the village's boundaries was protected by a magical barrier, but the rest of the
island was not. If the dragonmen had made their graveyard somewhere more
conspicuous, they risked the chance of someone else finding it. They couldn't lay their
dead to rest in the sea, either, since it was always possible a corpse might accidentally
wash up somewhere people lived.
In the end, they had been forced to make their graveyard here. Still, this was a holy place
to the villagers. It wasn't just where the villagers who had died were buried, but also
where the souls of those who had died during the fall of the kingdom were honored.
The dragonmen believed their spirits resided here, even if their remains didn't.
"I have something important to tell you, Father, Mother," Tio whispered while walking
up to a large white gravestone at the very back of the graveyard.
This was the memorial that had been erected to honor the people who had died on the
eve of the kingdom's fall. The names of Tio's father, Kharga Klarus, and her mother,
Orna Klarus, were engraved into the stone, and it was surrounded by a low fence.
Tio spoke slowly, telling her parents about all the things she'd experienced after leaving
the village, as well as all the things she felt. She went on and on until her voice grew
hoarse. Finally, she said, "You were right, Father."
"One day, eventually, someone will appear who can strike them down. Of that I am
certain…" That was the prediction Tio's father had made the night the kingdom fell. In
the end, it had proved correct.
"I truly believe I've lived this long in order to meet Master," she said with an awkward
smile.
"At first, I only stayed by his side because I wished to use him and because my instincts
told me I needed to keep a close eye on him. I was not in love with him, not in the
slightest. Instead, I was motivated by my burning desire for revenge."
Tio curled her fingers into a fist and pounded her chest.
"But as I traveled with him, I realized his desire for destruction was as fierce as mine.
In fact, I began to fear he might bring about an even greater disaster than the gods. At
the same time, though, I thought I might be able to steer his destructive impulses
towards annihilating Ehit and his ilk. If he could achieve that, I cared not what
happened to him after."
Tio looked down guiltily for a second, but the moment passed and she raised her face
once more. There was a soft, genuine smile on her face, and her eyes shone with the
kind of covetous desire only a dragon could possess.
"And yet… once I opened up to him, he accepted all of me. My desire for revenge, the
responsibilities I bear on my shoulders, and the mission I inherited from you. But even
though he accepted me, he didn't try to protect me. Nor did he try to fulfill my dreams
for me. No, instead, he poured his heart and soul into crafting the strongest weapons
he could for me and told me to accomplish my dreams myself if I cared so much about
them. Hahahaha…" Tio chuckled to herself.
In fairy tales, after the prince saved the princess from ruffians, he often promised to
protect her forever, but Hajime had done nothing of the sort. Instead, he'd given Tio
some dangerous toys and told her he'd back her up.
"I was drawn to his unshakable resolve, and I fell for his kindness. Despite how
mercilessly he berated those around him, I could tell that at his core, Master was a
kind man. It truly is a shame you aren't alive to meet him… Don't you agree,
Grandfather?"
Tio looked over her shoulder with a smile. Adul was standing at the edge of the
graveyard, quietly watching her.
"I have not lost my mind, as some of the younger ones seem to believe. I happened to
discover a new fetish I did not know I possessed, that's all."
"That's all? It's that trivial?" Adul replied, a conflicted expression on his face. He gently
massaged his temples as he walked up to Tio. Of course, he knew that Tio had sensed
his presence from the very start and that her words had been directed at him as much
as her deceased parents.
Honestly, Adul wanted to prostrate himself in front of Orna and Kharga's grave and
beg for their forgiveness. He couldn't believe he had allowed their daughter to end up
like… that. He felt personally responsible for failing them. But after hearing Tio's
heartfelt words, he realized that wasn't an option.
"I suppose I have to accept what you've become," Adul said with a wan smile.
"Thank you, Grandfather. Now I can introduce Master to you in Mother and Father's
place."
"Must you call him master?"
"Absolutely! Because he is indeed my master!"
"Kharga, Orna, I'm so sorry."
"Why are you apologizing to them!?"
"I must apologize to you as well, my ancestors."
"Surely my new proclivities aren't that horrible!? Please stop acting like this is the
worst thing that could have happened, Grandfather!"
Adul covered his face with his hands to hide his tears.
Tio pouted at him for a few seconds, but then her expression grew somber and she
said, "Grandfather, I couldn't protect her."
Adul gave Tio a sidelong glance. After seeing that recording, it was obvious who Tio
was talking about.
"I am no guardian. Just a pathetic disgrace. I thought I had grown stronger, but in truth,
I haven't changed at all. Once again, I failed to protect those close to me."
Tio hadn't been able to do a single thing when those monsters had defiled her
mother's corpse and slaughtered her father. All she'd done was watch while Venri led
her away.
She had sworn that this time she would protect those close to her, but even though her
strength had surpassed that of Adul's, she had still been unable to prevent Ehit from
kidnapping Yue.
"I wish I could have taken her place," she whispered. However, Adul heard every word.
He had spent enough time with his granddaughter to know how she thought.
The silence stretched on for a few minutes, but eventually, Adul said in a hesitant voice,
"I heard from Venri that you can freely change the form of your transformation."
"Hm? Oh, yes, that is the power of metamorphosis magic."
"And in that battle you showed us earlier, you freely manipulated your scales without
transforming, did you not?"
"I suspect that was the power of evolution magic, though I was so desperate at the
time that I am not quite sure what I did. My transformation has grown stronger as
well, but… Grandfather? What's wrong?" Tio asked, noticing that her grandfather's
expression had grown more thoughtful the more she said.
After agonizing over something for a few long minutes, Adul finally let out a long sigh
and said, "I suppose it shouldn't be a problem for you as you are now."
He motioned for Tio to follow him, then walked out of the graveyard.
"Where are we going, Grandfather?"
"To the mausoleum."
Tio cocked her head quizzically. The mausoleum was where the spirits of Tio's
ancestors were enshrined. It was also a place revered by all dragonmen. The reason
for that was because the first generation of the Klarus family were the ones who had
created the scriptures of the dragonmen religion.
Back when people hadn't been sure whether dragonmen were sentient people or
beasts, the dragonmen had been persecuted by humans. However, despite their
overwhelming might, they had looked to coexist with their neighbors rather than
oppress them. The first head of the Klarus family had taken the initiative by bringing
gifts to the other mortal races, but they repaid his kindness by slaughtering his wife.
He was driven mad by grief and became a crazed beast. He was so powerful that
people began to call him a harbinger of the apocalypse… and in the end, it was his own
son, Adul's grandfather, who put a stop to his violent rampage.
Terrified by the dragonmen's strength, the other nations stopped persecuting them.
Relieved, the dragonmen once again poured their efforts into forging bonds of trust
with the other races and creating a kingdom where everyone could coexist in harmony.
By Adul's generation, that kingdom finally began to form… and by Kharga's generation,
it was a flourishing utopia.
All dragonmen were taught this history as children, and when their education was
complete, they visited the mausoleum to recite the dragonmen scripture in front of
the statue of the first Klarus.
"Man or beast? That is something only we can decide for ourselves." In other words,
the mausoleum held cultural and religious significance, but that was all.
"Why are we going to the mausoleum? Everyone should have finished their preparations
by now, so should we not return to the vill—"
"Tio, why do you think your ancestor was called the harbinger of the apocalypse?"
Tio looked even more confused by that question.
"Was it not… because of his immense strength?"
"Yes, precisely. No matter how hard we struggled, Kharga and I were unable to alter
the flow of history. And yet, our ancestor was so powerful that his strength alone
ended the era of persecution."
"Ah…" Tio gasped.
"When his son led the dragonmen tribe to battle him, half of them died."
"Hold a moment, Grandfather! I never heard that!"
"Of course not. I saw no need to teach you that part of our history."
The extent of the first Klarus' strength wasn't important. What was important was
learning about the tragedy of the dragonmen race, and the laws they bound themselves
by because of it. If everyone knew just how strong he had been—
"If everyone knew, there might be those who begin to wonder 'What did he do to grow
so strong? Could I obtain that power for myself?' Just as you are now."
"Ngh… I see I cannot deceive your eyes, Grandfather."
After reaching the mausoleum, Adul led Tio to the shrine in its center. They walked
through a narrow passage, which opened up into a vast hall. The only thing in the hall
was a lone altar… upon which stood a small statue of Tio's great-great-grandfather.
Adul picked the statue up, sliced one of his fingers with a nail, and dripped some blood
into the statue's mouth. At the same time, he started feeding it his mana.
"Unbelievable… The statue was an artifact all along?"
"Correct. This statue is a seal. Within it is the calamity we dragonmen must never
forget."
As he spoke, the statue split in two. And a second later, an oppressively large wave of
energy washed over Tio.
"Impossible! Isn't this concept magic!?"
"I suspected it would appear that way to you. When I saw Nagumo-dono's existenceerasing chains, I realized they were similar."
A single scale was nestled inside the broken statue. It was the color of dried blood, and
Tio felt an immense hatred emanating from it.
Tio felt her sanity being sapped away just by being next to it. In that respect, it was
eerily similar to Hajime's existence-erasing chains.
"This is one of the scales of our progenitor. It was the one thing my grandfather could
not destroy, despite his best efforts. It grants immense power to any dragonman who
touches it, but it also forces them to transform and destroys their mind, reducing them
to a mere beast."
Before the dragonmen elders had found a way to seal it away, there had been those
who were lured in by the promise of power and ended up touching the scale. Naturally,
they had all gone insane and needed to be slain.
However, exceptionally strong dragons, as well as those who carried the blood of the
Klarus line, had been able to retain their sanity for a few minutes before being
overwhelmed. Apparently, there were even a few who were able to regain their senses
after being consumed, and took their own lives to prevent the scale from destroying
them completely and birthing a second calamity.
"Eventually, we discovered a way to make a seal that could only be opened with a
combination of a Klarus' blood and their mana, then locked the scale away. From then
on, we treated the statue as a symbol of restraint that all dragonmen must exercise…
and ensured it would be passed down from generation to generation."
"I suspect you're not showing this to me now simply to impress upon me the
importance of restraint."
Adul nodded solemnly and replied, "With how strong you are now, you may be able to
overcome the curse of our ancestor. If so, perhaps you can unlock the full power of this
scale."
"And by doing so, I will finally be able to put his grudge to rest, correct?"
Adul nodded again.
I see now why Grandfather was so conflicted.
This scale was a dangerous artifact, and if Tio wasn't careful, she would be destroyed
by it. Adul was fully aware of that, but when he'd seen how frustrated Tio was at being
unable to save Yue, he had felt as though he had to offer her whatever power he could.
Even though Yue was Tio's rival in love, she hadn't seemed even the slightest bit
relieved that the vampire was gone. In fact, she had been determined to get Yue back
no matter what it took.
Ultimately, Adul left the choice up to Tio, but he wanted to allow her to choose at the
very least.
Tio looked up at him and said, "Hmph. I am Master's pet masochist dragon. Pain is
nothing more than a reward to me. Subduing this scale will be no problem at all!" Tio
said lightly. But despite her playful tone, there was a firm determination in her eyes.
She grabbed the scale without hesitation. A second later, she felt as though her blood
was freezing in her veins as the immense power contained within the scale brought
her to her knees.
"Stay strong, Tio! Or you will be engulfed!"
"Ngh, graaaaaah!"
Mana swirled around her like a noxious miasma. The hand she held the scale in was
slowly being dyed a dark crimson. Her clear golden eyes began to cloud over.
"Tch! Tio, let go of that scale. It's too much, even for you!"
Tio didn't respond. The scale's mana ballooned outward, rattling the entire mausoleum.
"It seems I have no other choice… You said one of your comrades could use restoration
magic, correct?"
Adul wrapped his arm with his white-hot breath, preparing to chop off Tio's arm. That
was the only way he could think of to save her from the scale.
But just before he swung his blazing arm down, Tio shouted, "W-Wait, Grandfather!"
"Tio!"
With sweat pouring down her face, Tio looked up at Adul and smiled fearlessly.
"It seems our ancestor was a rather fierce man. I'm sorry, Grandfather, but could you
ask the others to delay our departure? It will take some time to ease this poor soul's
sorrow— Limiter Removal!"
"Ngh, s-such power!"
Tio's obsidian mana raged around her, beating back the blood-colored mana of the
scale. The shockwaves created by the collision were so strong Adul couldn't even
approach Tio.
Meanwhile, Tio closed her eyes and began conversing with the soul of her ancestor,
which was trapped within the scale.
Adul watched with a wry smile and said, "I see you have surpassed even me now…"
After a few minutes, Cartus arrived at the mausoleum… and the other villagers started
trickling in behind him. They had all seen the violent eruption of mana that had
occurred when Tio touched the scale. Adul explained the situation to them, but he kept
his eyes on Tio the entire time. He wanted to witness the moment his granddaughter
became the strongest dragonman in history.
A day and a half passed, and finally, Tio unleashed a breath attack so powerful it blew
away the dark clouds that had begun to gather around the dragonmen island. It was
stronger than the final attack Kharga had unleashed, and it appeared to go so high it
reached the heavens themselves.
Late that night, the dragonmen warriors gathered once more at the central plaza. Tio
stood before them, looking more confident than ever.
After clearing the trial in the mausoleum, she had been so exhausted that Adul had
needed to carry her back to the mansion. However, after spending a few hours under
Venri's ministrations, she was back to full strength.
"My brethren, we shall now head to the battlefield which will determine the fate of
this world."
Her words resonated in the hearts of everyone listening.
"It has been a long five centuries of living in hiding, but the time has finally come to
announce our presence to the world once more! The people of Tortus need our help!
We are their guardians, the keepers of the peace! We are the legendary dragonmen
the world needs right now!"
Choked with emotion, the warriors raised their fists into the air.
"Once a dragon loses its benevolence, it is nothing more than a beast. But so long as
the blade of reason is our weapon—" Tio chanted.
"We are not beasts, but dragonmen!" everyone roared in reply.
Everyone's hearts swelled with pride.
Be noble in all that you do. Use your might for the sake of others.
That was one of the dragonmen's core precepts, and on that day, everyone knew they
were embodying that ideal.
Tio deployed the artifact Hajime had given her, and a shimmering portal of light
appeared in front of her. There was a burst of black mana, and she transformed into
her majestic dragon form.
"If the world needs us, it is only proper that we respond! Let loose your roars, my
noble kin! The day has finally come to free this world from the yoke of god!"
The dragonmen roared so loudly the entire island shook. They then transformed in
quick succession and followed Tio through the portal.
As the human soldiers watched on in awe, the dragonmen basked in the joy of finally
returning to the continent where they belonged.
Their princess' words had filled them with pride and determination, and many of
them started to believe they'd just imagined that she was a masochistic pervert.
There was no way their regal, dignified leader was such a disgusting weirdo. But just
as the dragonmen gave in to such thoughts—
"Master! Your devoted servant has finally returned to you! Praise me for my
accomplishments!"
That was the day all dragonmen cried. They wept for their beloved princess, who they
knew would never return.