Even if you kill a dragon, it won't die.
Even if it's torn to pieces and scattered all over the world, the will of the dragon, as tough as it is perfect, will still live on everywhere.
It was born that way from the beginning.
What will I do when that time comes?
If the damned dragon reappears when I'm not around.
Will the knights of that time be able to do as I did?
Even if I'm now sowing seeds for them in the future.
***
[¡Vlad! ¡Vlad, come back to your senses!]
Vlad remained as stiff as a rock, only letting out suppressed moans.
Kihano inside kept shouting constantly to awaken Vlad, but Vlad, who was listening, couldn't even move a finger.
"Ugh!"
Thump!
The pressure he could feel as a knight and the instinct flowing through his blood screamed simultaneously.
If you defend yourself, you die.
So lay down.
"Do you want to live?"
The man coming with the mist smiled at Vlad.
A piece that had been firmly embedded in his heart began to beat slowly along with the struggle of the young dragon.
"Then pray. Just like before."
A man walking backward, not toward tomorrow but toward the past.
Frausen.
He was reminiscing old memories as he looked into Vlad's blue eyes that looked exactly like someone else's.
"Go... fuck you... uh."
However, unlike the dragon back then, the young dragon in front of me didn't bow his head to plead for his life.
Frausen smiled slightly as he looked at Vlad's middle finger, which was raised with difficulty.
"At least you have spirit."
Kihano, who was inside, and Frausen, who was outside, looked in different directions, but they felt the same thing.
The Sword Master, who cherishes rising stars, has always been someone who loves those who take on challenges.
"However, it's a pity you're a dragon."
But as much as you like, what you have in front of you is a dragon.
As it was a being that had to be killed as it grew by feeding on someone's potential, the man unsheathed his sword.
A rattling sound came from the sheath of his sword that didn't fit well.
"…Vlad."
However, the man who introduced himself as Frausen paused for a moment when he heard a sound.
Because there was an odd vibration hidden in Vlad's voice.
"I'm not a dragon... I'm Vlad, you bastard."
The world of the greatest dragon hunter was now before Vlad.
A gigantic being before which any knight would have no choice but to bow.
However, even before that great being, Vlad gradually reached for his sword.
"Hmph!"
If she ends up dying here, who will pay the sacrifice for Justia?
I still have written in my heart the words she gave me as a gift.
I was nothing but a squire, but she called me the knight who protected the breath of children.
"…!"
[······!]
From the tips of the swords that touched, Vlad's world began to expand.
A flower that only I could see.
The world that now could be seen even through two eyes that weren't closed now hung from the tip of Vlad's sword.
Slowly, the world the child dreamed of began to fill the cursed room.
"…This."
How valuable are young people who can express their potential to the world.
Kihano and Frausen thought the same thing at the same time as they glimpsed the world that the child dreamed of at the tip of the sword.
He wanted to protect this in front of the most perfect dragon.
"Yes. Vlad."
Rather than being an inner world, Vlad's world now flowed outward.
However, the trembling person still hadn't realized that his world had come out of its shell.
The current moment is the most dangerous and regrettable.
So I asked the knights to protect this moment.
"Just die."
In Kihano's eyes, he could see the world created by Vlad, but in Frausen's ears, the cries of countless stars that had been trampled under the dragon's claws sounded clearly.
"…Hmm?"
The raised tip of the sword flickers.
But was it for a moment of hesitation?
The raised tip of his sword, which was very high, couldn't fly toward the neck of the young dragon.
"Tsk!"
Suddenly, Vlad, who was lying down, started to fall under the bed with a shout.
With that, Vlad's world disappeared like a mirage.
Watching Vlad sink into the bed as if it were a bathtub, Frauzen's eyes widened.
"...Wow."
Even the knight who was accustomed to the unexpected was baffled by the situation, which went beyond common sense.
However, no matter how much he opened his eyes and looked, Vlad and the young deacon who lay there a moment ago had already disappeared.
In the place where they had been, only the sheets fluttered slightly, creating small ripples.
"...In any era, mages are truly perplexing."
Frausen, who had finally understood the situation, smiled helplessly and bit his lip.
He shouldn't have hesitated.
I didn't come back for this.
"Hiding in mystery will only serve you temporarily, young dragon."
As soon as Vlad disappeared, Frausen's expression faded again, leaving a dry look that pierced the ground under the bed.
A place filled only with bloodstains from the fallen paladin.
An empty world, invisible no matter how much observed, began to pick up the small waves that had resonated until now.
***
Vlad clenched his teeth as he felt the dizzying sensation of an endless fall.
'What is this!'
From the 4th floor to the 3rd floor, from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor.
Although he was constantly falling with a strange sensation, Vlad tightly embraced the young Deacon next to him.
The farther he got from the man who introduced himself as Frausen, the looser his frozen knuckles began to become.
"Ugh!"
And finally, Vlad and Jean fell to the bottom of the church.
There was Nibelun, reaching out to them as they descended.
"As Light as a feather...!"
He hastily cast the spell, but there were no wings to prevent the fall.
Thump!
"…I should have flown... but the spell was a bit too long."
With the sound of armor rumbling, Nibelun, upon seeing Vlad falling from the ceiling, lost his appetite for words.
"Kwaaaa..."
"What's going on? What happened upstairs?"
Perhaps it was because he fell to the ground and felt pain, or because his body was still stiff, but Vlad couldn't easily get up from the floor.
"Look at this! I've never seen or heard of a being with so much spiritual pressure in all my life!"
Nibelun, who received Jean from Vlad's hands, quickly searched his arms and pointed an odd object at Vlad, who was still unconscious.
"What is this?"
"It's a distortion indicator. It's a tool for measuring mystery, the world, and divinity."
When aimed at Vlad, the needle on the compass spun rapidly as if it were broken.
"Eh? Why is it like this?"
Looking at this, Nibelun touched the compass as if perplexed, but the compass was just doing its job properly.
"Ugh..."
However, Vlad, still spinning, had not yet been able to escape Frausen's spell.
Instead of answering the question, a tall shadow began to rise within the prison while Vlad still writhed.
"I'm overwhelmed."
It was Pedro, whom Gunther had detained in the church basement.
Pedro, who had had many experiences with evil beings, immediately noticed Vlad's condition and pulled a small cudgel from his pocket.
"I'll tell you beforehand, I don't hold personal grudges."
"Huh?"
"No, do you have a little bit?"
Vlad, who had been suffering from a paralysis-like chill for a while, was startled when he saw Pedro strike him with something, but this time there was no way to avoid it.
-It is only His will that dispels the fog of illusion!
Burst! Burst! Burst!
Three blows echoed within the prison.
Though he had his head bowed, Vlad stood up and held his head with a bright sound.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm just expelling the energy that had taken root in your mind."
Despite the firmness in Pedro's words, which made Vlad's muscles tense, he moved surprisingly well, unlike before.
Pedro chuckled maliciously and waved a small rod in front of Vlad.
Though it was similar to what judges used, this small rod seemed to be stained with blood, though it wasn't known why.
Crack!
Crack!
Unable to even murmur a word of resentment, the prison ceiling began to tremble.
Because the punches of someone descending into the basement were mercilessly shaking the Moshiam church.
"It seems they're following us, don't you think?"
"Should we check it out?"
While Pedro was prepared to face the situation with determination, Vlad, who would be his sword, simply shook his head in frustration.
Unlike Nibelun, who was pale, Pedro was ready for a decisive battle, but Vlad, who would actually be the sword, simply shook his head as if he were indignant.
"I guess you'd be overwhelmed."
"..."
Even in the face of Pedro's irritation, Vlad had no right to justify himself. After all, there were still stains of blood that Justia had shed in various parts of Vlad's armor.
The holes that the little bird inside the shell had opened to the outside were still too small to be seen clearly.
"Should we head out first?"
"How?"
The vibrations resonating in the ceiling were getting closer and closer.
Furthermore, this place was underground, so if you escaped to the first floor, you would inevitably encounter an unknown entity.
It was a situation where Pedro could have questioned Nibelun's words about leaving.
"Mystery shows the way anytime, anywhere."
"Hmm. Beastmen always fool people with words like this."
Nibelun, who slightly ignored Pedro's mocking behavior, quickly pulled out a long carpet from his backpack.
It was too large to fit inside the backpack, but the way they timidly pulled it out seemed very familiar.
"Hang this on the wall."
When Nibelun's carpet was affixed to the prison wall, it stuck like it had been nailed.
"Correct the direction... It's done."
Nibelun clapped his hands as if he had finished and lifted the carpet.
Vlad and Pedro watched this, wondering what kind of strange thing this was, but what they could see outside the carpet were not the prison walls, but a fog-filled street in Moshiam.
"Let's go. I can't last much longer than this."
"…"
"…"
Looking at Nibelun, who connected two places that couldn't be connected, the faithful priest and the knight were speechless.
Boom! Boom!
They wondered if it would be safe, but now, seeing the ceiling covered in stone dust, Vlad and Pedro had no choice but to move quickly.
[Don't waste the time she made for you. There is nothing in this world more precious and dearer than the price of life.]
'...Alright.'
Vlad, carrying Jean, who still slept, clenched his teeth as he felt someone approaching.
He wanted to burst into anger right now, but if it were the opponent he had just seen, no matter how much he tried to attack, he would definitely lose.
Resolution without a plan is nothing more than a vain illusion.
As the voice said, Vlad had no intention of squandering the life Justia had saved.
Vlad!
Vlad walked toward the carpet, following Nibelun's voice gently shouting from outside.
A strong tremor soon reached the prison they were in, but as soon as Nibelun's outstretched arm quickly retrieved the hanging carpet, no one could be heard inside the prison.
"...You ran away."
Nibelun's powerful mystery that saved the group from the empty world.
However, Frausen, the tracker, couldn't really complain about Nibelun.
The mystery that the beastmen never abandoned was probably also one of the worlds he was trying to protect.
***
In a vacant lot filled with fog, a whitish tombstone could be seen.
Vlad, realizing where he was standing with the tombstone, quickly drew his sword and began to look around.
"It's good that we escaped, but why are we here?"
"This was the only place I remember."
Seeing Nibelun scratch his head, Vlad wanted to vent his anger, but in reality, that's why he came out.
"Do I really have to go back to the cemetery during this mess?"
"After all, a church is better than a cemetery, right?"
"You're crazy!"
Vlad quickly took off his backpack when he saw Nibelun trying to spread the carpet again.
"Oh, Lord, what!"
"I have a lot in my backpack. It's much heavier than it looks."
However, the backpack that was kicked just remained still and did not move.
Despite saying it was very heavy, Nibelun simply carried the backpack without a care in the world.
"Where are we going now?"
"…"
In response to Nibelun's question, Vlad pulled Jean, who was carrying him on his back, and quickly looked towards the cemetery.
Since the cemetery was located on the outskirts of the city, there should have been a castle wall right next to it, but at the moment, Vlad's eyes were filled with fog and he couldn't see any surrounding facilities.
"You won't be able to get out. It seems that the demon transformation has already begun."
Pedro, who said he probably couldn't get in from the outside at that moment, closed his eyes in silence and began to pray.
"So, what should I do?"
"What do I have to do?"
Pedro grabbed the staff he was holding and began to walk out of the cemetery.
"The reason why Moshiam is like this now is because of a strange curse that moves through the fog."
Curses were powerful techniques boasted by dark magic, but they had a common weakness: they disappeared without a trace if the source was eliminated.
"If you want to get out of here, you just have to destroy the source."
"What is its origin?"
Pedro's staff moved slowly at Vlad's words.
Vlad took a step back as he watched the staff, but Pedro's fingertip was actually pointing at something floating in the distance.
"It all started with that guy."
"…"
In the middle of the city, there was a tree floating above the fog resembling the ocean.
Although only half remained after Vlad smashed it, the tree in the sky still spewed fog, devouring people's screams.
***
"Keuuuu!"
The Paladins are fighting to maintain their formation in the mist.
However, some of the Paladins who couldn't take care of themselves had already mercilessly split outside of the formation and had become unrecognizable.
The headless figures at the forefront were unaffected at all, to the point that the stigmas on their foreheads were insignificant.
"What a perverse move..."
Gunther shook his head as if dizzy, and his expression of disappointment was deep.
If it were merely a clash of swords and blades, it wouldn't have been so difficult.
However, the woman floating in the air kept constantly harassing the Paladins.
And that too through methods they knew.
"For some reason, it wasn't even written in the exorcism book..."
Gunther's eyes burned as he finally realized the woman's identity.
The woman was certainly a strange being, but she was not born of a demon.
"Apostate!"
A traitor who abandoned God's will.
These are miracles that cannot be achieved without cultivating spirituality.
"Reveal your name! You are an evil thing!"
Gunther shouted as if spitting hatred, but the woman looking at him only smiled warmly.
"What good is a name? These are things that will be erased if you sweep them away anyway."
The woman with a slight smile immediately clasped her hands and lifted her head towards the sky.
Behind me stands a tree reaching towards the sky.
And right in front of them are the faithful servants of God shedding blood.
It was a sight she had never wanted to see.
"I should have done this a long time ago."
The woman took a deep breath and looked towards the distant sky beyond the mist.
Soon, a hymn to God spread.
"What?"
The Paladins were puzzled by her voice, which was so delicate and beautiful.
However, the strange thing was that, unlike the beautiful voice, the hymn being sung was eerily sinister.
Even the Paladins stopped covering their ears upon hearing the memorized lyrics sung backwards in a familiar rhyme.
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