Silver Dragon Saga Episode 87
"......."
At Diadelin's shocking statement, the three demons froze stiff.
She was looking for a man she wanted to marry? Diadelin? Diadelin, the greatest genius in the history of the Demon Realm, wanted to find a man to marry?
Demons usually fell for those stronger than themselves.
Delli too had initially regarded Deviran as a cute younger brother—using their sibling relationship as an excuse to beat him mercilessly, and using training as an excuse to beat him mercilessly—but fell for him as he gradually grew stronger and ended up marrying him.
Well, Deviran had also taken a liking to the strong Delli from the beginning.
Anyway, in the Demon Realm, there was no one of Diadelin's generation stronger than her.
Only a being with an age gap of nearly two thousand years could be found stronger than her.
"Is the age difference large?"
"Mm, roughly five hundred years?"
"What?"
The three demons were appalled by Diadelin's words.
"W-was there such a child in the Demon Realm?"
"He must be older, of course?"
"Mm, he's younger."
Diadelin's father, grandfather, and grandmother stiffened further.
"Could it be... one of the Successors of the Four Guardian Beasts?"
"He's stronger than the Successors of the Four Guardian Beasts. He possesses power on the level of at least a Demon Count, you know? And he's a being of this world."
"W-who? Such a prime groom candidate exists in this world?"
When Delli asked with a shocked expression, Diadelin smiled radiantly and called for someone.
"Jehwa!"
But Diadelin, I had wanted to tell you since earlier... where is Jehwa?
"......."
Only then did Diadelin's face harden as she realized Jehwa was gone.
"J-Jehwa is gone!"
Shouting with a horrified face, Diadelin called for Kabareukereun.
"Heukhwa! Ah, no, Kabareukereun!"
"Yes."
"Where did Jehwa go!"
"Huh, is he not here?"
Recently, after Sawollin died, Jehwa's presence had weakened considerably.
Yet no one had realized he was missing—Diadelin's face drained of color.
"My... what's wrong, granddaughter?"
"Gr-grandfather! A dimensional transfer magic circle—can humans not use it?"
"Hmm, no, they can use it... But the one you fell for is a human?"
When Deviran asked with a bewildered expression, Kabareukereun, who was beside him, answered.
"No, he is a human, yet not a human."
"What do you mean by that?"
Delli scrunched up his face. A human, yet not a human?
"Hmm... Could it be that he fell into the place from which he left this dimension?"
"Yes?"
"Usually, when one returns from dimensional travel, one goes back to the place from which one departed."
"...The Middle Realm."
The place where Silver Dragon Prince Eun Jehwa died, the place he left this world.
"Hmm, the Middle Realm? Ah, just who is this being that captivated our granddaughter?"
When Delli asked with a puzzled expression, Diadelin sighed and spoke.
"He's a dragon."
"Ho? A dragon?"
"Yes."
Diadelin nodded to the exclaiming Deviran.
"What is his name? There is no child of that caliber in the Dragon Realm now. Moreover, it seems you met him in the Central Plains..."
When Deviran asked as if intrigued, Diadelin answered with a stiff face.
"The one who incurred the Silver Dragon King's wrath."
"Huh? Don't tell me..."
"Silver Dragon Prince Eun Jehwa is the man I want to marry, Grandfather."
At Diadelin's words, all the demons there opened their eyes wide.
***
"Tch! They're swarming in disgustingly large numbers."
Reuben scowled as he plunged his sword into the fallen pursuer's head.
"This is why I said we shouldn't come."
"Hmph!"
But Seiran snorted and began muttering a spell in a low voice.
"Abreuli... Geroa... Shatter (爆碎)!"
Kwagagagang! Kugugugung!
"Argh!"
As Seiran's spell detonated, explosions tore through the ground where the pursuers stood. And the souls of the pursuers atop it likewise departed from the living world.
Reuben made an expression of disgust as he watched, then soon sighed and lifted Seiran up.
"Kyak! What are you doing?"
Seiran scowled fiercely.
"Your physical ability is pathetic, after all."
"I'm better than your average knight!"
"Still, you're far below me."
Reuben sighed once more at Seiran's complaining words and then shot off.
For now, they had shaken off their pursuers, but this was not enough to feel safe. If they happened to run into pursuers from another world, that too would be a major problem.
"We're running."
"I can fight more!"
"Enough! You brat, read the situation!"
"What!"
***
Jehwa opened his eyes blankly and looked around.
"This is..."
It was a completely unfamiliar place. The trees, the grass, even the wind were unfamiliar. Yet at the same time, it was somehow a place that felt all too familiar.
"I've... returned."
Instinctively, Jehwa realized this was his original world.
To be precise, it was the world of the other self within him—Silver Dragon Prince Eun Jehwa. No, he was him, and he was him.
"Is there truly a place for me in this world?"
Jehwa voiced his doubt. In this place that was his world and yet not his world, was there truly a place for him to stand?
Jehwa let out a deep sigh.
Just then, the wind blew once more. Jehwa's sensitive nose caught the fishy scent permeating the wind with precision.
"The smell of blood..."
Jehwa could easily tell that many people had died not far from here.
"So strife exists in this world as well."
In any world, clashes of opinion between people were inevitable. And so conflict was endless. To obtain what one desired, to force what one claimed upon others, beings continued to fight.
It seemed the same here—a battle was unfolding nearby.
Jehwa tried to ignore that battle. He thought there was no need to concern himself with it, as it had nothing to do with him.
But moments later, sensing two presences heading this way, he tilted his head.
"What a bother..."
Jehwa let out a deep sigh and stared blankly ahead.
***
"Hey, you! Where are you going! That's not it!"
"What! The way out is here!"
As Seiran thrashed in Reuben's arms and shouted, Reuben spoke with an annoyed face.
"You idiot! We have to go to the place where Lord Jehwa died!"
But Seiran did not bend to Reuben's cry.
"Kak! We're being chased right now; do we have time to look around such a place?"
"Such a place?! You, do you want to die by my hand!"
Thud, thud, thud!
"Ugh!"
Seiran began pounding Reuben's chest with her small fists.
Reuben's physical ability was undoubtedly outstanding even among the bloodline children. Though Seiran's physical ability was lacking, she was still a bloodline child of the dragon race. Taking such blows completely unguarded hurt terribly.
"Stop hitting me!"
"Then hurry and go that way!"
"Hey, you!"
Reuben, who had been scowling fiercely, let out a deep sigh the moment he saw her face. She was glaring at him with tears welling in her eyes.
"If we don't hurry... I'll hate you for the rest of my life."
Reuben hesitated briefly at Seiran's words, then changed course immediately.
He well knew what kind of being Eun Jehwa was to her. Because he was the one who had first reached out his hand to her when she had been more despairing than anyone else.
"Aah, damn it... That damned bastard!"
Reuben grumbled in irritation toward someone.
***
Jehwa narrowed his eyes at the energy felt from afar.
One was similar to Hong Yuhwa's. The aura of a demon, demonic power and demonic qi, could be felt. But compared to Hong Yuhwa, it was absurdly weak.
The other was.......
'.......'
It resembled his own far too much. This cold energy... This draconic power... This dragon fighting spirit... It was precisely similar to his own.
'Silver Dragon...'
Jehwa's instinct naturally told him that they were a Silver Dragon and a demon.
And what pursued them was none other than a tremendous number of humans.
Jehwa tilted his head.
Though their numbers were great, at the level of the ones currently fleeing, they could easily sweep away the humans.
But they chose not to and instead fled.
'There must be a reason.'
Thinking so, Jehwa stared blankly at the sky.
He wanted to avoid getting involved in that battle as much as possible. He wasn't so meddlesome, and he certainly had no connection to them.
Indeed, having fallen into this world for the first time, what damned connection could he possibly have with anyone? Ah, if there were any, it would be someone like Diadelin.
Yet he didn't want to avoid this place either. He felt no reason to, and it was also a bother.
After Sawollin's death, Jehwa's life had been devoid of drive.
'Just don't come this way and pass by.'
Jehwa muttered inwardly and let out a deep sigh. Two human figures had arrived here.
And the moment he looked ahead, Jehwa was shocked.
A black-haired youth and a young girl in her early to mid-teens in his arms.
What surprised Jehwa was precisely the girl. The girl who had smiled brightly at his other self in a dream he had once had, the girl who had felt hope toward his other self, was standing before his eyes.
The youth and girl likewise froze the moment they discovered Jehwa.
The girl called out to him in a trembling voice, blankly.
"Eu... n... Je... hwa... Lord?"
Such were Seiran and Reuben, arriving blankly at the place where Eun Jehwa had died.
Five hundred years. A long span of five hundred years since his death had passed.
They were still being chased and their lives threatened. That was the fate they were born with.
However, the bloodline children had nothing but gratitude toward Jehwa, who had changed their fate of certain death.
Unlike the bloodline children who visited this place occasionally, Seiran had come here almost every year, always.
"We must hurry."
When Reuben spoke with a scowl, Seiran pouted her lips and spoke.
"I got it, I said I got it."
Then she looked ahead.
Reuben also let out a deep sigh and looked ahead, and the two froze simultaneously.
There, a boy in his late teens was looking at them.
Black irises and hair suffused with a silver hue, along with unusual attire, gave the boy an exotic appearance.