The energy of the world revolves around the earth.
The southern plains of Montera, the heart of the Terra Empire.
Stone, grown larger than before, rolled up before Rock.
“Waaah! Grandpa! That really shocked me! Dragons fighting each other like that……”
At Stone’s reaction, Rock let out a laugh.
“Hohoho, so you know as well. Yes, Aureus of Metallum and Nemorensis of Silva fought, and both died on the same spot. The battle between Metallum and Ignis ended, in the end, as a confrontation between Metallum and Silva.”
“Ooh……”
Stone was still staring toward the south, where the Ignis Empire lay, as if the shock had yet to fade.
The sound of the two dragons fighting had been loud enough to reach even Terra at the center.
Stone said,
“It’s so strange. Silva’s dragon helped Ignis…… What would have happened if Silva’s dragon hadn’t appeared then? Would Ignis have been finished?”
Rock was silent for a moment, as though thinking, then answered.
“It would have been. I do not think Aureus would have committed so reckless an act, but Oruma and his army would have occupied Ignis instead. You could say that Ignis was saved by Silva.”
“Wow……”
Stone rolled his body and looked up at the sky.
“What if Ignis really had been occupied? What would have happened then? Would Ignis have disappeared completely?”
A short, deep breath echoed from within Rock.
“Hmm. Ignis may have disappeared, but the energy of fire could still have remained in this world. How could the force of fire energy, which occupies the south of this world and can hardly be called small, vanish in an instant? Rather than eliminating the energy of fire, Metallum would likely have tried to wield that energy themselves.”
“Oh……?”
Stone straightened his body as if his curiosity had been piqued.
“Then would Metallum control both fire and metal?”
“Perhaps that is what would happen. But even that has its limits. As time passes, fire that has lost its original leader will slowly die out. In the end, fire must be handled by fire. A world from which the energy of fire has vanished…… would never be able to return to what it once was.”
There was a trace of sorrow somewhere in Rock’s voice.
Keeping to one place, Rock had seen, heard, and felt countless things from the world over the passage of many ages.
Rock remembered those ages.
Hearing Rock’s words, Stone realized something.
He felt he understood why Nemorensis of Silva had stood on Ignis’s side and opposed Aureus of Metallum.
“……In the end, it’s the dragons who protect this world.”
Rock said to Stone as well,
“Dragons do not fight one another. They are beings that fight against the hatred, arrogance, and greed that descend upon this world.”
Inside the fortress of Montera.
“Dragons…… do not move by emotion.”
Emperor Terramont’s voice resounded through the underground meeting room of the fortress.
Wind brushed past above the entrance of the meeting room that led to the surface.
“Nemorensis faced Aureus not because of Silva’s command. It was a movement to restore order and balance.”
Gaia quietly nodded.
Gorban said,
“I cannot help but be amazed. I do not think Silva summoned a dragon in order to save Ignis, but the moment Silva’s Azure Dragon was summoned into this world, it must have sensed the crisis. Not a crisis of Silva or Ignis, but a crisis of this world.”
Terramont said,
“That is so. When I faced the Azure Dragon Nemorensis, I did not feel anger in its eyes. There was only a gaze of solemn resolve. Like an instinct of nature, it was a determination to set right a world fallen into chaos.”
Latos touched his chin and briefly recalled the past.
“At that time, Your Majesty faced Silva’s dragon alone. Since the dragon was approaching our side then, we thought for a moment that this center might be in danger as well. But it seems Your Majesty was already certain. Because you knew Silva’s dragon would not threaten the center, you stepped before that dragon without fear. Am I correct?”
Terramont nodded impassively.
“We once clashed with Silva, but that too was in the past, and we exchanged attacks with one another. In that situation, I could be certain that Nemorensis would not bear us any great grudge. I merely guided Nemorensis in the proper direction. Nemorensis was moving southwest, but it was drawing closer to us than to Ignis.”
Gorban said,
“In the end, the Azure Dragon’s sacrifice led to Ignis’s survival. That is fortunate from our standpoint as well. If Metallum had tried to cross the line any further, even we might have had to intervene.”
Latos looked around and asked,
“But if Silva’s dragon had not been there in that situation, would there have been anything we could have done even if we tried to intervene? I cannot easily think of a way to help Ignis……”
“It is not that there was no way at all. It would merely have been difficult.”
Terramont looked up at the ceiling.
His gaze was directed toward Silva in the east.
“Silva had already suffered great damage to its forest at Metallum’s hands, and at that time, conversely, they escaped crisis thanks to Ignis. From the moment Metallum’s army first headed for Silva, I sensed that Metallum would instead suffer the greater damage, and that was exactly what happened. This time is the same. Silva, whose forest had once been attacked, naturally needed a dragon to protect the forest, and as soon as the conditions for summoning were met, they immediately summoned a dragon. The current situation is the result of what has continued from the past.”
Silence flowed through the meeting room for a moment, and Gorban opened his mouth.
“On the other hand, Metallum does not seem to properly recognize the influence of incidents occurring around them. Then as now, Metallum’s plans fail because of Ignis and Silva respectively.”
At his words, Gaia reacted as if startled.
“Come to think of it, Ignis and Silva truly seem to have a mysterious relationship. Two empires that seem as if they would not suit each other at all are, in subtle ways, helping one another……”
Terramont lowered his head and said,
“It is the result of everyone moving according to the flow. That is the law of this world.”
The meeting room sank into silence once more.
That silence was not one of mourning, but of understanding and acceptance.
A movement for balance.
It was not being swayed by emotion, nor was it a mission. It was instinct itself.
“The world seeks order. At the center of the world, we play the role of helping the world move along the proper path.”
Terramont’s words were firm and clear, like vibrations echoing from the heart of the earth.
Terramont and his retainers’ meeting was not yet over.
Gaia asked them,
“What course do you think Metallum and Ignis will each take now? Naturally, Ignis will not remain still this time, and I expect Metallum will also prepare their defenses……”
Latos answered first.
“There were countless sacrifices in this battle, so both sides will need to reorganize their forces. However, it is not certain that Ignis will be the first to attempt an attack next time. Ignis also suffered tremendous damage, so they will need time to prepare a counterattack against Metallum. As for Metallum, might they not judge that they narrowly failed to occupy Ignis? They may believe that, if not for the intervention of Silva’s dragon, they could have brought Ignis to ruin. Beyond simple defense, they may be waiting for the next opportunity.”
Gorban continued,
“Well. Metallum appears to have committed all of its strength in that war. There can be many purposes in invading another empire. It may be to obstruct exchanges between opposing empires, as with Montanus, or to attack in order to obtain the opponent’s core, as we have done several times. But Metallum was certainly not acting for such purposes. It seems they intended to occupy Ignis completely this time, and put every possible force into that war. Their sacrifices must be no small matter either.”
He paused briefly, then continued.
“What is certain is that both sides inflicted and received very great damage, so there will be no rash movements for the time being. By the time Metallum has prepared a reinvasion of Ignis, Ignis will have more than enough time to reorganize its own forces. In fact, by then, would Ignis not summon a dragon as well? Metallum would have to enter a far more difficult fight than now.”
Latos shook his head.
“As expected, it is not easy to predict. Metallum must naturally have considered that far as well, no? Thinking of it that way, Metallum may instead hurry their next attack even more. But if they ultimately judge that they have no chance of victory no matter what they do, they may take a more passive attitude and simply assume a defensive posture.”
Terramont, who had been listening silently to his retainers’ conversation, opened his mouth.
“Metallum will choose another method. It will take time for them to summon Aureus again, so during that interval, they will likely move in search of a way to strengthen their forces. They themselves know well that such a method will by no means be within, but outside.”
Gaia thought for a moment, then asked,
“If the method lies outside…… do you mean exchanges with other empires?”
“That too may be a method. However, Metallum is currently isolated. We, too, are not maintaining an alliance with anyone at the moment, but since severing relations with us, Metallum has also failed to find another alliance. If so, they will need a way to strengthen their power even without an alliance with another empire.”
“And that method would be……?”
Terramont rose from his seat and said,
“Are you not curious as well? Just what secrets this world is hiding. Simply because we are the center does not mean we fully understand the principles and laws of this world. If we are to protect this center, we too must go beyond it.”
The retainers slowly stood and followed behind Terramont.
He continued speaking.
“Gather the army and move northwest. Silva lies to the east, and the southwest is the direction where the war occurred, so the quietest direction is the northwest. In some region still unknown to all, we may find an unexpected existence.”
Terramont and his retainers, along with two mountain giants and the Earth Guardian troops, advanced northwest from the center.
The world was gradually being dyed in the territories of the five empires, but the lands without owners were still vast.
Gaia discovered something and shouted,
“Ah, I sense the energy of water!”
Before them lay a certain lake.
Gorban looked over the lake and said,
“It is indeed the energy of water, but I see no army of Aqua.”
And Latos also sensed a certain presence.
“But does it not seem as if someone is up ahead?”
Everyone fixed their eyes on the area around the lake.
There was someone who had arrived at the lake first.
Beings with solid bodies, unlike Aqua.
Meanwhile, the Ignis Empire in the south had barely escaped crisis thanks to the help of the Azure Dragon Nemorensis, but it seemed it would take a considerable amount of time to rekindle their extinguished flames.
Emperor Vulcanus sat upon his throne, silently lost in thought.