Camellia (1)
“Contract…”
[Yes, the contract your ancestor, the first Feather Witch, made with me.]
The voice was low and resonant. Sienna furrowed her brow, staring at the man before her.
Bourbon looked much the same as always.
His brown hair was tied back, and his bartender’s white shirt and pants were as impeccably pressed as ever.
His green eyes, usually hidden from customers, and his mouth, which rarely opened in their presence, were familiar features to her.
”…Something’s different.”
Yet, Sienna could tell.
Even though her senses, including her spiritual perception, weren’t functioning properly due to internal injuries from the Dragon God’s attack.
The man who appeared after months wasn’t the bartender she knew.
He was the true form of Kylebercus Arburn, one of the Thirteen Great Dragons, far surpassing any mere avatar.
”…So it was true, about the avatar.”
[Did you think it was a lie? Even if the transcendent beings of the Golden Palace are indifferent to the Bronze District, they wouldn’t allow a Great Dragon’s true form to roam freely. Even if I don’t side with the Dragon God.]
He added, stretching as if his body was stiff from disuse. Sienna tilted her head.
She recalled something about his true form being sealed away with some ancient evil.
She had heard from Dalen that he had been sleeping with the evil for thousands of years somewhere in the western continent’s Blade Mountains.
[The end is approaching. The Harbingers of the End have begun to lick the edges of the continent. Adding one more sealed monster to the mix won’t make much difference.]
”…So this is what Dalen meant by speaking like a spellcaster. I think I understand now.”
[Compared to the Five Evil Gods, it’s not a particularly difficult evil.]
“Why say it so easily, then?”
[…]
The bartender’s mouth closed, seemingly caught off guard. Sienna chuckled softly and took a step forward.
But she stumbled after just a few steps, realizing how wrecked her body truly was.
”…Ugh.”
[Don’t push yourself.]
A firm hand caught her arm, steadying her. Bourbon’s shoulder was solid and reassuring.
She wondered if her father’s shoulder, whom she’d never met, would have felt like this.
But now wasn’t the time to lean on that shoulder.
”…I have to go.”
Sienna pushed away the helping hand and moved forward.
She staggered.
Her legs wobbled as she climbed over the chaotic piles of debris, using both hands and feet.
The Dragon God’s sword had split the city in half, not like a clean cut with scissors, but like a thick knife through soft tofu, shattering and overturning the ground in a cataclysm.
The earth’s innards were exposed, and the city walls crumbled like biscuits. The ruins of underground relics surfaced, mingling with the shattered buildings above.
The Dragon God’s strike spared neither friend nor foe. Among the debris were horns, scales, and tails—remnants of crushed dragons.
”…Dalen.”
Could anyone survive such a direct, unrestrained blow that devastated the main area and its surrounding kilometers?
Perhaps if the God of War descended here. But Dalen wasn’t a god.
Though his actions mirrored those of heroes from ancient wars, the Dalen she knew was just a human of flesh and blood.
[Sienna, calm yourself.]
“Dalen isn’t a god. He can die.”
[What do you plan to do with your senses in disarray? That man is alive. I can sense it clearly.]
She paused.
Her battered hands and feet froze. The dragon met her gaze and continued nonchalantly.
[He’s the man who survived the surgery I performed, fitting a dragon’s heart and bones. He won’t fall to this.]
”…Really?”
[Yes. The rest of your group is safe too, thanks to him mitigating the impact. A few simple spells were enough to protect them.]
”…Hah.”
Her body slumped to the ground. Her long, black hair cascaded over her trembling shoulders.
Bourbon stayed by her side. His vertically slit green eyes quietly watched beyond the ruins.
The grand spiritual perception of the ancient dragon encompassed the entire vicinity of the ruined city.
His focus was on the intense standoff outside the lifeless city, where two forces faced each other.
On one side, the Dragon God and his surviving dragon legion. On the other, a lone warrior.
The warrior, bearing the blood of the Red Spear, the heart of the Blue Scale, and the bones of the Earth Dragon, was practically half-dragon.
‘Is this the first conflict since the Red Spear vanished thousands of years ago?’
In essence, it was a civil war among dragons.
The dragon legion, which had abandoned neutrality thousands of years ago to choose a side, was now at war again to decide where to stand as the end approached.
Who would win?
The key was overcoming the Dragon God’s absolute control over the dragons.
That control was the result of a contract made by the Thirteen Great Dragons at the Dragon God’s birth thousands of years ago.
Since Dalen bore the blood of the Red Spear, he would be indirectly bound by that constraint.
’…I don’t know.’
The Dragon God’s first roar, Kylebercus Arburn, shook his head.
It was a fight too close to call. He wasn’t particularly interested in right or wrong.
He only wished for the young witch, who resembled his old lover, to live a long and happy life.
Having saved her life with a contract over a thousand years old, she shouldn’t perish meaninglessly.
”…Bourbon.”
Rumble…
And as the peak of a snow-white mountain pierced the ground like an eggshell, the young witch spoke.
“The contract is over, but… can I ask you for one more favor?”
[I don’t listen to requests. I only respond to deals and contracts.]
“Then I’ll propose a deal. It’s a good offer for both sides.”
The dragon smiled. Who did she take after to be so bold?
[Let’s hear it, young witch.]
Hiss…
Steam rose from his entire body.
The dragon blood, healing him in a near frenzy, warmed his body.
“Damn, this hurts like hell.”
Dalen spat out a clot of blood. As his nerves healed, his whole body throbbed.
He could feel his heartbeat in his limbs and head.
Since gaining a superhuman body, such sensations were rare. It was beyond the limits of his species.
[Are you truly the heir of the Red Spear? Few among the Great Dragons could withstand my strike.]
”…”
[Can’t you hear me? Prioritizing motor recovery over sensory restoration is impressive. A dragon should be able to handle an enemy’s attack with diminished senses as long as their body moves properly.]
The boy spoke with amusement. Dalen ignored him, focusing on his recovery.
Once his senses fully returned, he finally saw the boy. His pale skin was wrapped in colorful armor.
The dry wind over the ruins tousled his ashen hair. Behind the boy loomed the shadows of hundreds of dragons.
Over half of the dragon legion had perished from the single strike of the white sword, leaving only three to four hundred survivors.
Most of the surviving dragons were injured, with severed tails or torn wings. Few were in normal condition.
“You guys are persistent. Even after being reduced to that state, you still follow him?”
[Reduced to what state?]
“I can’t understand why you’d follow a god who killed over half his followers for no reason.”
[A species obeys unconditionally. Dying by the master’s sword is the ultimate honor.]
Dalen shook his head. Even in this medieval land, he didn’t expect a so-called god to be like this.
No wonder they were called evil gods. On Earth, too, there were plenty who shouted a god’s name while stabbing or bombing others.
As he gathered his thoughts and readied his sword, the Dragon God smiled faintly. The creature spoke.
[You don’t seem to understand. But you, too, must obey this order.]
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
[You are the heir of the Red Spear’s blood, and you’ve received the heart of the Left Arm Armor and the bones of the Right Gauntlet. By the contract of the Great Dragon War, your heart, blood, and bones are mine.]
Rumble…
As the words “contract of the Great Dragon War” echoed, a strange force descended from the blood-red sky.
The very air seemed to attack, as if trying to squeeze his heart, bones, veins, and the blood within.
The twisted flow of magic lifted the boy into the air.
Holding a white sword, he spread his arms wide, looking down at Dalen with ashen eyes.
[Under the sky of the Great Dragon War, I am the one and only god. The child of all dragons, inheriting their blood and will. Your idea of opposing a dragon with dragon power is commendable, but that power is also mine… huh?]
The boy’s eyes wavered. His expression clearly showed confusion.
[Why is your power… how did you escape the contract? The blood flowing in you is surely that of the Red Spear.]
“And so what?”
[With the descent of the Great Dragon’s Domain, there is no one who can defy my command. You should have been torn to pieces! How is this possible…!]
Dalen silently twirled his sword, and the holy blade hummed softly.
The Dragon God’s words weren’t wrong.
The world summoned by a divine being was not a mere shadow but a perfect reality.
Even now, the air of the Great Dragon’s Domain, summoned by the Dragon God, was trying to devour Dalen.
But the low resonance emanating from the holy sword was blocking all that murderous intent.
[That sword…]
“They say it was forged with the bones of an ancient dragon from the depths, to wield the power of the heavens.”
Dalen extended his sword.
“A blade capable of piercing the heart of a god. It’s the masterpiece of the greatest blacksmith I know.”
With the blade of the holy sword pointing downward, Dalen slowly released his grip.
The resonance spreading from the floating sword was a harmony of three distinct powers.
Rumble───
The power of the earth dragon bound the ground.
Whoosh!!
The icy winds that once protected the northern continent obscured the sky.
Hum…
The divine power, serving as a boundary between the forces covering the heavens and the earth, pushed back the Dragon God’s might.
The vitality that had filled him during the battle in the north.
The mysterious power bestowed by the warrior god of the north, revered as the god of war by the holy knights.
Hum, hum, hum―!!
The holy sword, embedded in the ground like a knife through dry bread, began to pulse rhythmically.
The oppressive force of the Great Dragon’s Domain, which had been so menacing, vanished as if washed away.
The Dragon God’s power, which could impose its will on all dragons, was temporarily nullified.
Realizing one of its powers had been stripped away, the Dragon God screamed in disbelief.
[Impossible. How can the magic of humans and dragons become one? How could the disgusting power of the war god be contained in such a mere object…!]
Dalen didn’t respond. In truth, he didn’t fully understand it himself.
The holy sword was a masterpiece, restored and enhanced by the greatest blacksmith he knew, using the remnants of an earth dragon.
Yet, all he knew were the stats and skills of the blacksmith character he had nurtured from behind a monitor, the items stored in its inventory and warehouse.
‘Ha ha ha! You talk like an old man on his deathbed, yet you’re just a young pup. Have you lived two lives or something?’
A hearty laugh echoed in his mind and faded away.
The blacksmith, whose rough demeanor and booming voice belied his silent departure.
How deep must the despair have been for the dragon slayer who had killed hundreds of dragons, only to kneel before the Dragon God?
And how high must the resolve have grown, forged over countless years, crafting thousands of weapons in the well of time?
”…”
For Dalen, who hadn’t even lived half a century when combining two lifetimes, it was an emotion he might never comprehend.
Yet, the blacksmith had trusted him enough to leave behind his legacy.
And as the inheritor of that legacy, it was Dalen’s duty to finish the fight the blacksmith couldn’t.
「Complete Domain Expansion」
「The Light of Beginnings Descends on the Snowy Mountains」
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
The ground shook and split apart.
Rising from the ruins of the main hall were countless pristine white peaks.
Whoosh!!
The icy winds of the mountain range clashed with the heat of the Great Dragon’s Domain.
As his clothes flapped wildly, Dalen drew the Lveron Mithril Spear.
A crimson flame naturally coiled around the spear.
Facing the Dragon God’s ashen eyes, Dalen’s own eyes had transformed, now burning red and slit vertically.