“Aaaaargh!”
With a thunderous roar, a heartrending scream burst forth. Then someone collapsed where he stood, his snow-white beard dyed all over in crimson blood. The one who ended his life with that final death cry was an old man in splendid vestments. On his utterly crushed chest, a crest proving his identity could just barely be made out. A crest engraved with seven blazing flames. It proved that its owner was the current Grand Pontiff of the Berhazel Order.
Ruuumble.
Amid a thick cloud of dust, the stone pillars inside the temple came crashing down. They were massive pillars, so broad that four grown men would have to join hands to barely encircle one, yet they were collapsing with such helpless ease. This temple must once have been exceedingly beautiful. But it had long since become a place that could only be called grotesque. The elegant stained glass lay shattered to pieces, and the priests who had guarded this place and offered prayers were all lying on the floor without exception, growing cold. Over them, a pale green mist covered everything. From within the mist, the thunderous roars continued to resound. Beginning with the door that had been smashed to a miserable wreck, the temple was still being destroyed.
Crrrack.
It was a sound like human bones being crushed. With a strange cry, someone emerged from within the pale green cloud.
Stinking Cloud.
Though it had been the high-level magic the Grand Pontiff had cast as the last act of his life, the opponent had not suffered the slightest harm. The one who had entered was a young man with an icy expression. A young man whose striking red hair burned so vividly it seemed to sting the eyes. He was the being who had driven the Grand Pontiff to his death. At that moment, he was insolently stepping on the corpse of the dead Grand Pontiff.
After looking around for a moment, the young man lowered his head. In his eyes appeared the corpse of the Grand Pontiff who had departed this world by his hand only moments ago. The corners of the young man’s mouth twisted faintly, and a sneering remark slipped out.
“So the strength of humans truly has weakened. To think the Grand Pontiff of the Berhazel Order would possess only this much ability…”
Behind him, several shadows silently appeared.
“However, we cannot look down on humanity’s underlying strength. Individual humans may be weak, but as a whole, they can never be called weak.”
The red-haired young man’s gaze suddenly sharpened. He glared at the one who had just spoken with eyes that seemed to blaze like fire.
“F-forgive me. This lowly one spoke out of turn…”
The being who bowed his head, cold sweat pouring down him, was not human. He was an orc, a demi-human race with green skin, small yet sturdy in build—and an old orc whose skin was shriveled all over with wrinkles, proving that the years he had lived were by no means few.
Ordinarily, it was never easy to see an old orc among orcs. Because they were so inherently warlike, growing old peacefully within an orc horde was practically as difficult as plucking stars from the sky. There was only one case in which an old orc could be found within a horde: when he possessed divine strength capable of easily suppressing young orcs by force. And this orc was an Orc Lord who possessed precisely that divine strength. But even that divine strength was utterly useless before the red-haired young man before him.
“One who knows he is lowly dares spout nonsense before me?”
At the young man’s cold, cutting rebuke, the old orc could do nothing but sweat. In truth, he was by no means a being who could be considered lowly. Though he had lost his power and was now hiding deep in the western Pelusia Mountains, in the past he had been the proud monarch of the orc race, commanding a million orcs with a single gesture.
Ryuikek, Conqueror of the Setting Sun—this was his name. Though he had now fallen into disarray and taken refuge in the Pelusia Mountains, there was no young orc capable of subduing him and seizing the position of chieftain. Thus, even after many long years, he still served as the leader of the orcs. Nevertheless, before the young man in front of him, he could not straighten his knees at all.
The reason was simple: the young man’s true identity was the most powerful and greatest being on the Truvenia Continent.
“This foolish one has offended the great one’s mood. Please punish me.”
Perhaps his repeated apologies softened the young man’s heart, for he finally withdrew his gaze. Then he turned and strode toward the center of the temple. Only then were the lord of the orcs, Ryuikek, and his personal guards able to breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Damn it, what was I thinking? Even knowing his temper… I must have gone mad.’
As Ryuikek hurriedly followed behind the young man, the corpse of Grand Pontiff Ipikros, lying dead in a wretched heap, came into his sight. A sudden light of exultation appeared in Ryuikek’s eyes.
“You bastard! Serves you right.”
There was good reason for it. The corpse belonged to the foremost disciple of the previous Grand Pontiff, who had tormented the orc race endlessly during the War of Conquest. Without hesitation, Ryuikek raised his great axe. For him, an orc and an incarnation of vengeance, forgiving a dead body was absolutely impossible.
Slice.
With a heavy sound of flesh being cleaved, Ipikros’s head was cut clean off. Since the body was already dead, not much blood flowed out. After ordering one of his guards to collect the head, Ryuikek quickly followed after the young man.
The central part of the temple was structured as a single enormous secret chamber. It was a narrow space surrounded by steel walls nearly one meter thick. Around the secret chamber hung all manner of protective magic. Naturally so, for inside it lay the most important treasure among the treasures of humanity. Namely, the Oath Stone of mankind. Beyond its value, it was a treasure without which humans could not exist. Also inside was the orcs’ Oath Stone, which had been seized during the Race War.
A sneer settled on the young man’s lips as he looked at the secret chamber.
“They’ve played quite a few tricks here.”
These were various protective spells painstakingly cast over a long period by magicians who prided themselves on being the strongest in the human world, and among them, only the most carefully selected. Double and triple layers of safeguards wrapped around the secret chamber, but in the young man’s eyes, they appeared as nothing more than a child’s prank. Naturally so, for the young man’s true identity was a dragon, a being that could be called the very progenitor of magic.
“Unlock.”
The protective magic that had guarded the secret chamber for long years was dispelled all too absurdly by that single word. The iron wall, a little over one meter thick, was equally powerless before the young man. With a single target-limited Hellfire, the thick iron wall was futilely pierced through, and the treasure that had been hidden away deep within finally revealed itself before the young man. He strode into the secret chamber. In the middle of the space, which was only about three square meters on each side, sat a large iron coffer. Of course, various anti-theft measures had been installed there as well, but they had no way of resisting the young man’s gesture.
Clank.
As the protective magic was undone, the iron coffer opened. The young man slowly reached his hand inside.
“So this is the humans’ Oath Stone.”
What the young man picked up was a jewel radiating brilliant light in five colors. A beautiful gem the size of a child’s fist, emitting a radiance beyond description. Contrary to the legend that it determined the rise and fall of an entire race, the Oath Stone was exceedingly beautiful. But in the young man’s eyes, not even the slightest ripple of emotion could be found. After all, jewels of this sort were piled up like mountains in his lair… He slipped the Oath Stone deep into his robes.
“Lord Kranus’s command has been fulfilled. The humans’ Oath Stone will never again appear in the world. Forever…”
At that moment, an urgent voice came from behind him.
“Lord Verkis. There is little time left. A human army too vast to count has surrounded the temple and is attempting to enter. We are blocking them with all our might, but we are far too outnumbered… Judging by the situation, it seems the orc troops on the perimeter have all been annihilated.”
The one who appeared was the very black-haired young man who had conversed with Shrekheimer. His cold expression remained unchanged, but the sight of his clothes torn here and there seemed to show that his decisive battle with Shrekheimer had not been easy.
“T-truly?”
At the report that his subordinates had been annihilated, Ryuikek’s complexion changed at once. He had thought they would be unlikely to survive anyway, but annihilated…? Yet despite their urgency, the red-haired young man was not shaken in the slightest.
“Fools. What do you intend to do if Lord Kranus hears of this? You call yourselves dragons, yet you come fleeing from mere humans. Does that make any sense?”
The black-haired young man wore a troubled expression.
“The humans here are truly tenacious. No matter how many we kill, they keep surging forward as if it doesn’t matter.”
The red-haired young man called Verkis nodded as though it made sense.
“I suppose they would. Their Oath Stone is in danger… Very well. I will prepare spatial movement, so summon everyone.”
“Understood.”
As the Black Dragon turned away, Verkis let out a long sigh. After glancing once at the floor, he lightly waved his hand. Then a magic circle of bizarre form appeared on the temple floor. Receiving the red-haired young man’s mana, the magic circle began to shine more and more dazzlingly.
At that moment, Ryuikek’s trembling voice reached the young man’s ears.
“O great one, we… we…”
When he turned his head, he saw Ryuikek fidgeting helplessly. Anger briefly settled in Verkis’s eyes.
“You brought only useless things. To think they couldn’t even endure that short time and were wiped out…”
“But we did our best. Only the greatest warriors from each tribe…”
“Enough.”
At Verkis’s shout, Ryuikek lowered his head deeply. After watching him for a moment, Verkis silently reached his hand toward the coffer.
Swoosh.
What emerged in his hand was a jewel radiating a clear, luminous light in no way inferior to the one from before. As if complaining about not having seen sunlight for so long, the jewel shone with an especially dazzling brilliance. Without even turning his head, Verkis spoke in a low voice.
“Is this your Oath Stone?”
“Ooh…”
Ryuikek, who had unconsciously raised his head, trembled with emotion. Tears were already streaming down his wrinkled face.
It had been fifty years since the detestable human hero Crosen had stolen their Oath Stone. That span of time was exactly the same as the years in which the honorable orc race had been cast into the abyss of subjugation. The Oath Stone they had longed for and sought so desperately was now finally revealing itself before him. Countless warriors had been sacrificed to recover it. Though they had received the dragons’ aid, seeing their Oath Stone again left Ryuikek unable to continue speaking. But Verkis’s cold voice was still sounding in his ears.
“As promised, I will return this to you. But there is a condition.”
Ryuikek raised his head. On his face flashed the resolve to accept any condition whatsoever. But the condition for reclaiming the Oath Stone was far too harsh for the orc race to accept.
“In exchange, your orc race must become the hands and feet of the dragons for the next thousand years.”
“T-that is…”
For an instant, Ryuikek could not continue and stammered. To become subordinates of the dragons for a full thousand years was a trial the orcs could not even imagine. But at the words that followed, murderous intent once again began to rise in Ryuikek’s eyes. It was pure rage toward the humans who had reduced his race to this state.
“I intend to place you at the vanguard in conquering the humans. We will unite all races existing on the Crotria Continent and exterminate the human race to the last. After removing the existence called humans from the world, we intend to establish a new order in their place. What do you think of that?”
There was no need to think any further. Was vengeance against the humans not something Ryuikek had desired even in his dreams? Ryuikek clenched his teeth and nodded.
“I will gladly accept the great one’s condition.”
“Good.”
Thus was formed the alliance of two races that could easily decide the fate of mankind. A short while later, seven dragons in human form entered the temple. Though their entire bodies were covered in dust, it seemed none had been sacrificed. As they gathered upon the magic circle, Verkis’s voice rang out like thunder in their ears. It was heard clearly even by the human knights arrayed outside the temple.
“My name is Verkis. I carry out the command of the great Dragon Lord Kranus. For now, we shall leave quietly. But exactly ten years from now, we will return. Once we have completed every preparation to conquer humanity…”
Flaaash.
Light erupted violently from the magic circle. That mass of light instantly wrapped around the bodies of the dragons, including Verkis and Ryuikek. The light that had illuminated the inside of the temple for a brief moment soon vanished. Along with the Oath Stones… And in their place, countless fully armed knights poured in.
“T-this can’t be…”
But all that awaited them was the empty coffer in the secret chamber, standing open. Seeing it, the knights were so utterly devastated that one by one, they dropped the weapons they held. Contrary to fifty years ago, this time it was the humans who had lost their Oath Stone.