At that moment, from behind the orcs, a cold shout rang out.
“Don’t try any petty tricks, human. Despell Magic.”
With a whoosh, the flames clinging to Shrekheimer’s hands went out with a puff.
Then, as Blindness was dispelled, the orcs finally escaped their state of blindness. Once they were out of danger, the orcs glared at Shrekheimer and began to seethe with murderous intent. A low, rough voice burst out.
“Chwiiik, die, human!”
Dozens of battle axes shot toward Shrekheimer’s entire body like arrows. Shrekheimer evaded the attacks with spatial transfer and quickly counterattacked. Right now, the situation was so urgent that he did not even have the leisure to think about the being who had dispelled his magic.
“Critical Wounds.”
As befitted a high-ranking priest, Shrekheimer cast his spell on more than half the orcs in an instant. The moment the incantation ended, the orcs flung away their weapons and rolled across the floor.
“Kwooooh.”
Blood was gradually seeping from the bodies of the orcs as they writhed and rolled on the ground. Among them, more than a few could already be seen lying limp, as if they had breathed their last. Having gained a moment to breathe, Shrekheimer first gestured for the frightened trainees to evacuate. After confirming that the trainees had gone out through the rear door, he turned his head toward the place where he guessed the being who had dispelled his magic must be.
“Who are you? Come out.”
The orcs had still not come to their senses. The existence known as the old priest Shrekheimer was far too powerful for them to handle.
“Not bad.”
Along with that chilly remark, a shadow entered through the door. It was a black-haired young man with an extremely cold expression. On his face, as though carved from ice, there dwelled an uncanny beauty. What was unusual was that no emotion at all floated in the young man’s eyes. In general, the eyes could be called the windows that revealed the state of a human heart. But the young man before him was different. From those eyes, in which no emotion dwelled whatsoever, Shrekheimer instinctively knew that he was not human.
“You… who are you?”
Even at Shrekheimer’s question, the young man gave no reply. After sweeping a glance over the orcs sprawled on the floor and floundering, the young man lightly waved one hand.
“Kuuugh.”
With short groans, the orcs rose from where they were. They looked at Shrekheimer, who had inflicted pain upon them, and raised their battle axes. From that sight, Shrekheimer could clearly understand why orcs were called incarnations of vengeance. Orcs were born warriors who did not fear death in the slightest. Unexpectedly, the one who stopped them just as they were about to charge was the young man who had released the spell.
“You fools. I will deal with this one. You deal with the other humans.”
“Chwiiik. Understood.”
As if they greatly feared the young man, the orcs respectfully bowed their heads and rushed out of the classroom. Even while watching that, Shrekheimer could not take any action. From the way the other had dispelled his magic with just a light gesture, he had realized that his opponent was by no means easy to deal with. Only after the orcs had disappeared from the room did the young man turn his head toward Shrekheimer.
“Did you ask who I am?”
“……”
“I’ll put it simply. We came here to punish the beings called humans.”
“Humans?”
“That is right. Humans—the race that is full of arrogance and greed, constantly causing disputes, and seeking to conquer other races whenever the chance arises. A race that should not exist on the continent of Truvenia. We came here to annihilate them.”
Words that should never have come from the mouth of one wearing a human form flowed from his lips. Shrekheimer, listening, was dumbfounded.
“Why? You yourself wear the form of a human, do you not?”
The young man tilted his head.
“This form? I wear it only because it makes it easy to deceive you. There is no other meaning. You could say it is the form I chose in order to hasten the end of your race.”
“You bastard.”
Unable to endure it any longer, Shrekheimer launched the first attack. Whatever his intentions were, countless trainees under Shrekheimer’s command had lost their lives at the hands of the orcs he directed. Because he could not possibly bear the loss of his disciples, Shrekheimer’s rage exploded. Light flashed, and a Lightning Bolt formed in his hand and flew toward the young man. It moved at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.
Pajijijik.
However, the decisive blow Shrekheimer fired vanished far too emptily. At the instant the Lightning Bolt burst forth, a tangible force rising from the young man’s entire body completely blocked the electric strike. Seeing that, Shrekheimer could not help but be startled.
“Force Shield? You cast such a high-level spell without even chanting? Just what are you?”
Shrekheimer’s face suddenly stiffened. That was because the young man’s appearance had suddenly brought one particular being to mind.
A being that could be called the origin of magic. A being that boasted the strongest combat power on the continent through its immense strength and intelligence: the dragon. If only their numbers had been somewhat greater, dragons could easily have dominated the continent of Truvenia. For there existed no opponent who could face such a powerful and intelligent being alone… If it were a dragon, it could easily polymorph into a human form, and it could also display this degree of power without difficulty.
“A-a dragon?”
As Shrekheimer stammered, apparently deeply shocked, the smile on the young man’s lips deepened.
“You noticed well. That is correct.”
“H-how? I heard that dragons do not interfere in the affairs of other races…”
Suddenly, a murderous light surged up in the young man’s eyes. The gaze was so powerful that cold sweat ran down Shrekheimer’s spine as he watched.
“Human, I offer my scorn to your vulgar arrogance. As if it were not enough for you to struggle along with those tiny bodies, you even dared to aim for the lives of beings you could never hope to reach… But from now on, you humans will no longer be able to even conceive of such reckless courage.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
The young man, who Shrekheimer guessed to be a black dragon, stared straight at him and spoke each word distinctly.
“Even as young members of our race were killed one by one by your kind—especially by those called dragon slayers—we did not interfere. We dismissed it as nothing more than the rashness and foolishness of those dead kin. But the recklessness of you humans knows no end. Not content with daring to think of invading our lairs, you even hunted the hatchling of the Dragon Lord, Lord Cranus…”
Bang!
At those words, Shrekheimer’s vision went dark. The thing he had most feared had happened.
‘So it has come to this after all.’
After the authority of the Order fell to the ground, the human world had been in chaos for a time. And among skilled knights, countless people began to appear who secretly held the goal of carrying on the beliefs of the old unbelievers. They poured their hearts and souls into raising their abilities, and were anxious to prove that skill. After the war against the Army of Darkness ended, they tried to flaunt their prowess through monster hunting. As a result, after the war, large-scale monster hunts inevitably took place, and the highlight was without question dragon hunting. Knights confident in their skills formed parties with mages and scoured every corner of the continent of Truvenia to hunt dragons. Shrekheimer was well aware of that much. But for those people to have harmed the Dragon Lord’s hatchling…
As Shrekheimer stood there in utter despair, the young man’s voice continued to reach his ears.
“After losing his hatchling, our Lord Cranus resolved to punish you wicked beings called humans. Following his will, we will now begin our retribution. Starting with this Verhazel General Order, the war for the ruin of mankind begins. The war will continue until the seed of the human race is dried from the continent of Truvenia.”
‘The water has already been spilled.’
Shrekheimer took a deep breath and steadied his mind. Judging by the situation, it seemed that a battle with the dragons could not be avoided. But he was not afraid in the slightest. He deeply believed in the hidden strength of humanity, which had even repelled the Army of Darkness. Thinking that the die had already been cast, Shrekheimer began gathering mana into both hands.
“First, I will apologize on behalf of humanity for the killing of the hatchling. However, I cannot possibly agree with the idea of wiping out the human race.”
As mana gathered, flames began to blaze fiercely from Shrekheimer’s hands.
“It seems you dragged in orc dregs to make up for your lack of numbers, but you will likely fail to achieve your dream. Humanity’s strength is mighty enough to repel even the Army of Darkness summoned by the Demon King. You cannot defeat us simply because you have allied with the orcs.”
A faint smile appeared on the young man’s face. It was clearly an expression that could be taken as a sneer.
“How foolish. Are you referring to the fact that you defeated Neidelhark in a single battle?”
“You call it a single battle, but after that, Neidelhark never showed himself again. That proves that he lost all his power.”
As if Shrekheimer’s confident attitude was absurd, the young man began to chuckle.
“Idiot. The undead army of the dark world is made up of beings without substance. If Neidelhark rests for a while and recovers his magic power, he can replenish the forces he lost in the Siege of Icarot in the blink of an eye. The ancient tombs of every race scattered here and there can supply him with as many soldiers of darkness as he wants… You humans overlooked that and made the mistake of letting Neidelhark slip away. Without realizing just how fatal that mistake was.”
A look of bewilderment appeared on Shrekheimer’s face.
“What on earth are you talking about?”
The young man’s voice began to change little by little. Along with it, his body, too, was rapidly swelling.
“I have wasted too much time. I must finish this quickly and go in. I will tell you only the conclusion.”
The figure of the young man with uncanny beauty gradually vanished, and in its place, an enormous dragon with glossy black scales slowly revealed itself. At those unbelievable words, Shrekheimer simply stared blankly at the dragon with a bloodless face. At last, when the dragon had fully assumed its true form, a line of voice echoed through Shrekheimer’s mind.
—Know this one thing, human. When Neidelhark, who had retreated to the Pelusia Mountains, was about to summon his subordinates again, the one who stopped him was none other than our Lord Cranus. After countless hardships, he was able to capture Neidelhark alive and seal him away. That was for no other reason than to save this continent of Truvenia from the tide of darkness. And yet you wicked humans, ignorant of that grace, committed the sin of killing his hatchling.
The dragon stared directly at Shrekheimer with burning eyes.
—Now your destruction is decided. The same goes for the humans of the continent of Arcadia across the sea. For that purpose, we have come here under the command of Lord Verkis, the Red Dragon. First, to seize your Oath Stone. Since all the dragons who follow Lord Cranus have come here, you can never stop us. Just as you once did to the orc race, we will seize your Oath Stone and return the orcs’ Oath Stone to them.
As he listened to the dragon’s words, the color gradually drained from Shrekheimer’s face.
“It is over now. Go, human!”
The black dragon’s Acid Breath poured toward him, and as if refusing to be defeated, a blinding radiance burst forth from Shrekheimer’s hands as well.