◈ Episode 240. Like a Dragon (2)
‘It’ came like a bolt of lightning.
“……!!!”
Even to the demons who, as always, were ravaging the continent.
Even to the demons lying in wait, watching for a chance to rise again.
Even to the demon who was curled up inside her own castle.
Thump— as though struck by lightning.
It froze every demon in the region solid.
And by every demon, that did not only mean the nameless ones.
Demons bearing
True Names.
Furthermore, it meant even Demon Kings were no exception.
The Demon King’s Castle of Tears.
The 56th-ranked Demon King, Gremory.
Using the man curled up before her throne as a footrest,
Gremory, who had been taking her rest, realized it.
From some place far, far away on the Arcana Continent,
there came a presence!
A chill ran down her spine!
At the killing intent, her limbs went rigid.
It was so abnormal that even her footrest noticed something was wrong
and spoke to her with a worried face.
“……
What is the matter, my queen?”
But Gremory could not answer.
‘If I’m careless, my voice might reach it……!’
As stated just now,
the presence was coming from an unfathomably distant place.
It was so far away that even if a real thunderstorm had struck, no sound would have reached her, let alone breathing. But before fear, Gremory could not think normally.
Scurry!
The dignity of a Demon King?
Who cared about that!
Gremory hurriedly hid herself behind the throne.
“My queen?”
The voice of the footrest calling her.
Gremory glared at the man with a murderous gaze.
Was he too much of a fool to realize it?
‘That uncontrollable killing intent……!’
Just as she was holding her breath as much as she could,
a thought suddenly came to her.
……
Yes, the Demonic Eyes!
If it was the Demonic Eyes that illuminated every corner of the Arcana Continent,
then she should be able to discover where this presence originated.
Soon, Gremory’s eyes turned completely white.
It was the process of sharing the vision of the Demonic Eyes.
But…….
‘……
Impossible.’
She could see nothing.
It had only been an instant.
There was no way the countless Demonic Eyes floating in the night sky had all disappeared at once.
Gremory crawled on all fours toward the window.
Only after looking up at the sky did she realize the reason.
“!”
The Demonic Eyes had shut their eyes.
Terrified, just like her,
they did not even dare open them.
‘What in the world……?’
Scurry!
Gremory curled herself up once more.
Then she forced herself to carefully examine the sensation she felt throughout her body.
‘It was a very long time ago, but…….’
She had certainly felt an emotion similar to this before.
In none other than the
Demon Realm.
To be precise.
‘Bael.’
The first among the Demon Kings of the Upper Ten Thrones.
It was during Bael’s summoning ritual.
When she had looked up at Bael, she had trembled in a fear similar to this.
‘……
This one is afraid.’
An upper Demon King.
Even if he was so dull that words could not get through to him,
his power was not dull as well.
Gremory remembered clearly.
What sort of achievement Lord Bael had accomplished.
As if the word omnipotence had been turned completely upside down,
he had led an entire world to utter destruction.
‘The only reason I was able to escape that fear was……!’
Bael.
Because she had been certain that the king of the first throne was on her side.
But the thing she felt now was not an ally.
Gremory glanced at the man serving as her footrest.
‘The humans aren’t trembling…….’
What that meant was simple.
At this moment, the killing intent it emitted
was directed solely at demons like herself.
‘I, I don’t want to die!’
It was the second time in her life she had felt such fear.
Gremory used her apricot-colored hair like a blanket and wrapped it around herself.
She trembled in fear.
Praying desperately
that it would simply not notice her…….
*
Messages related to the fear status abnormality kept appearing endlessly.
Why are there so many?
For a moment, I thought they were spam messages.
I hadn’t exactly done anything.
‘My mana hasn’t even fully recovered yet.’
Holding onto a cleared rift, or opening a portal leading all the way to the Arcana Continent, consumed an enormous amount of magic power, just as complicated as the process itself.
‘If not for the World Tree’s blessing, I would have been bedridden for days.’
Of course.
[The skill, “Natural Enemy Relationship,” has activated.]
Now that Natural Enemy Relationship had activated, it wasn’t a major problem.
‘By the way.’
Millions are only the beginning.
I am your natural enemy and your terror.
I had issued that warning.
‘……
Why is it so quiet?’
The moment I set foot on the Arcana Continent,
I wondered if demons would swarm at me in droves.
I wondered if I would have to break through a siege of demons to find Yunaxus.
I had assumed the worst-case scenario and prepared thoroughly.
‘Well, if it’s like this, I’m grateful.’
It wasn’t as if everything would end just by meeting Yunaxus.
If I was unlucky, there was also a possibility that I would clash with the force that had driven Yunaxus toward death. If the demons were being this cooperative, it wasn’t a bad thing for me. I could conserve my strength.
“At last, you have realized that groveling suits you. I shall praise you.”
……
Is that really praise?
No sooner had I uttered those words
than I summoned Haiel and Diend.
“Haiel, Diend.”
“Haiel has answered her lord’s call.”
“To meet you here fills me with new emotion, my lord.”
Yes, your excessively polite greeting always fills me with new emotion too…….
But there was no time to make a fuss.
Before encountering Yunaxus, there was groundwork that needed to be done.
‘Yunaxus isn’t just any dragon.’
He was the leader of the dragons, called the Elder Dragon.
The preparations for meeting the old dragon were not yet complete.
I gave Haiel and Diend their respective orders.
“I, Haiel, shall follow my lord’s will.”
Haiel was the first to vanish into the air.
“I shall carry out your command.”
……
Diend, who somehow felt more burdensome by the day, also disappeared to execute his order. There was someone who addressed me after I was left alone, and of course, I could not leave out clone number three.
—No matter how many times I see it, it is a bitter sight, master.
Gwicheol, who had returned from Illusion Breaker to its original state.
‘If this is lucky, then I suppose it’s lucky.’
The moment the code rift was cleared,
there was no longer any need to cut down illusions.
As expected of an ego sword with a self,
Illusion Breaker had returned to Gwicheol’s original form.
Yes, no matter how I thought about it, Gwicheol was better than Illusion Breaker when it came to calling it by name……. But I soon realized this was not something to simply feel relieved about.
—So, what must I cut, master?
Gwicheol, this thing.
It seemed absolutely desperate to be called by a new name!
At this moment, the presence of terrified demons could be felt from every direction.
I pondered carefully.
Even when it merely cut down a prototype,
hadn’t Gwicheol awakened with the grandiose name Illusion Breaker?
‘If it awakens in order to cut down demons…….’
……
Demon Slayer.
Perhaps it would end up with a name like that.
When I imagined myself reciting that name aloud,
I could not help but become deeply worried for my shame.
In that sense, I prayed earnestly.
‘Demons, please stay groveling like that.’
Please, keep yourselves flat on the ground
and do not offend Grandfell’s mood.
Whether it knew my inner thoughts or not, my mouth ran off on its own.
“Gwicheol.”
As they say, an imitation cannot surpass the real thing.
“It would be faster to count what you need not cut.”
It went even further than Gwicheol……!
‘At this rate, won’t I have to memorize dozens of Gwicheol’s names later?’
When I imagined myself reciting dozens of names
on par with Illusion Breaker,
my hands and feet were already beginning to curl from embarrassment…….
*
Each time he took a deep breath, his consciousness faded.
What he saw through faintly opened eyes
was the desolate landscape of the Arcana Continent.
The dying old dragon, Yunaxus, smiled.
He had thought that something like eternal life
could be cast aside at any time.
Yet in this moment, when the shadow of death loomed over him,
‘I was afraid of death.’
He realized just how arrogant he had been.
Bitterness seeped into Yunaxus’s smile.
The voice of his younger brother, Argentress, flickered by his ears.
—“You know nothing.”
—“Perfect as you are, you would not know what an inferiority complex is.”
—“The blessing was like salvation to we who were incomplete!”
Even if others had pointed fingers at you,
I should have understood your feelings.
And yet, only upon reaching death did I finally come to understand them.
Yunaxus’s voice settled over the area.
“Mother……. I shall follow your will.”
His mother’s plan, which would begin with his death.
However, even if he closed his eyes like this,
Yunaxus was not confident he could face his mother.
For as could be seen, had he not failed to persuade them?
The Convocation of All Dragons.
That day,
Yunaxus had conveyed to his sleeping kin the story he had postponed telling them.
And this was the result.
Wings torn apart miserably.
Wounds gouged so deep all over his body that his muscles were exposed.
A fading breath.
Yes.
It meant that on the Arcana Continent, the only beings capable of leaving such wounds on an Elder Dragon
were likewise dragons of his own kind.
“All of it is my fault.”
Everything was the result of his own inadequacy.
Yunaxus smiled bitterly once more.
No, strictly speaking, it was the result of overestimating his own kin.
What would his younger brother, Argentress, say if he saw him like this?
‘I admit it. I was a brother inferior to my younger sibling.’
Whether it was the right path or the wrong path.
If it were you, who could lead our kin as one……
At the very least, you would not meet an end like mine.
However, Yunaxus did not regret his actions.
Even as death drew near,
his eyes shone without wavering.
That gaze itself was proof.
Moisture colored Yunaxus’s voice.
“Claudi…….”
Please, look with mercy upon my foolish kin.
I will not ask for forgiveness.
All I desire is the slightest bit of mercy.
But even if you do not grant it, I will understand.
“……
For I have no right to dare defy your will.”
So this truly is the end.
The Dragon Heart, said to be more unchanging than all things in the world, was gradually slowing.
At last, pain began to be felt in the body that had lived eternal life.
Yunaxus took in the continent’s scenery one last time.
‘So you all groaned in such pain.’
However, it was not only the Arcana Continent that entered his sight.
‘And you bastards bestowed this pain upon others.’
He could see the demons who had made the Arcana Continent this way.
They were smacking their lips.
They were whispering.
“The Dragon Heart is mine.”
“Kikik! I’ll make equipment out of its hide.”
“A weapon made from a dragon’s fang……!!”
For the sake of his mother’s plan as well,
he wanted to burn away every last one of those irritating demons.
Yet even that was beyond him.
Fearing something like this might happen, he had asked his kin to please leave him his wings,
even just one intact wing.
“Does this mean that not even I can follow Mother’s will?”
I, Yunaxus,
must close my eyes like this,
unable to raise my face before anyone?
How truly bitter.
“Gr…….”
He squeezed out every last bit of his strength
and released a final Dragon Fear.
And yet, to think he could not even drive away the demons around him.
‘……
I was an endlessly weak being.’
Slip—
In the end, unable to overcome the eyelids closing over him like a thousand-pound weight,
Yunaxus closed his eyes.
At that moment,
for some reason, a sensation that did not feel unfamiliar touched him.
Lightly—
Upon none other than
the bridge of his nose.
A voice reached his fading ears.
“I heard your cry, Yunaxus.”
Only then did Yunaxus realize it.
The aura of Mother that he could feel.
So it was the spirit of dawn.
But I am sorry, frail spirit.
As a brother who knows Mother’s will,
I wish to be of help to you in some way,
but my body is in no state to do so.
Yet the reply that came back was unexpected.
“There is no need to worry.”
……
No need to worry?
“I did not come to you alone.”
At those words, Yunaxus mustered all his strength and opened his eyes.
Then he saw them.
Kneeling.
Foaming at the mouth.
The figures of demons who had breathed their last.
And he heard it.
Click—
The sound of someone’s footsteps.
Light shimmered from where the sound came.
Within that halo,
an upright figure slowly revealed itself.
“!”
Yunaxus could tell at once.
That man was the dawn.
The being his mother had chosen.
However.
“……?”
Yunaxus’s pupils widened as never before.
Why……?
Why……!
‘Your hair…….’
The symbol of the Claudi family.
So dazzlingly cold,
why does it shine silver……?