We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Where is the answer?
We desperately flee from lightning strikes that pour down like rain.
“Gyaaaa!”
“Guaahh.”
However, the directed beams of light change angles wildly in the air, directly hitting me and Revalia.
“Why… even me…”
Me and Revalia are tingling.
The Demon Lord laughs jovially.
The sun set long ago, and only the lightning produced by the Demon Lord illuminated the Moss Garden.
“Kuuu. I have to get back soon…”
Even as we speak, the situation might be changing rapidly.
Yet here I am, fallen uselessly.
The Demon Lord is genuinely determined to not let me leave.
He’s enjoying how the situation deteriorates because I can’t make it in time. He is truly a demon, the Demon Lord.
Old Man Sleigsta doesn’t come to my aid either.
He believes this kind of problem should be solved on one’s own, and he silently watches our struggle, me and Revalia.
“Haa, haa… Please stop this already!”
I attempt to escape using Spatial Jump.
I move to Revalia’s back. Revalia quickly flaps her four large and small wings, taking flight.
But then, lightning strikes rain down.
“Gyaaaa!”
“Guaaah!”
I don’t know if this is the tenth, or the hundredth time.
Revalia and I collapse on the Moss Garden once again.
“Are you two truly trying to escape? It looks to me like you’re just aimlessly running around. How boring. Well then, let me propose this. It’s not fun enough to just stop your escape. If I catch you, I shall take away what you hold dear, one by one.”
“Eh?”
The Demon Lord grins maliciously.
The Demon Lord isn’t trying to kill me or Revalia.
In fact, despite being hit by lightning many times, we have no external wounds. We are just paralyzed and unable to escape the Moss Garden.
Likewise, when he says he will take away what I hold dear, it doesn’t mean he will take the lives of my wives or family. I understand that much.
However, now that he has declared he will take something important from me, he truly intends to take something.
I desperately try to rouse my tingling body and stand up.
But the numbness doesn’t subside.
The Demon Lord approaches me slowly, a smile on his face.
I have to escape!
I must somehow break free from the Demon Lord’s game.
I didn’t come here to play.
I have to return to Listea and Slaton soon!
I brace my convulsing knees with both hands and slowly stand up.
The Demon Lord is right in front of me.
The Demon Lord’s hand reaches out.
“Kts…”
I try to escape, straining my unresponsive body.
But the Demon Lord, as if mocking me, takes something precious.
“Ah…”
From my left hip, the Demon Lord snatches the White Sword.
The Demon Lord, laughing with amusement, moves away from the stunned me.
“If you want it back, then approach me without running.”
What a situation.
The situation has changed from needing to escape quickly to needing to recapture the White Sword.
I fall into despair.
But I don’t even have time for that.
“Revalia.”
“Tch, I understand.”
Even though I’ve gotten Revalia involved, she’s not a wyvern who runs from a fight.
Flames flicker from between her ferocious fangs, her four pupils glowing.
I mount Revalia.
Revalia recovers from the paralysis and vigorously flaps her wings, lifting off the ground.
“I’ll have my White Sword back!”
This flight isn’t for escape.
It’s to confront the Demon Lord!
“Ku ku ku. Now then, what shall you do next?”
The Demon Lord laughs cheerfully at my and Revalia’s resolve.
Revalia circles above the Moss Garden.
Perhaps sensing we have no intention of escaping, the Demon Lord doesn’t unleash lightning attacks at the flying Revalia.
Revalia lets out a fierce roar and inflates her Dragon Energy.
On the ground, the Demon Lord waits for our next move.
“Let’s go, Revalia!”
Me and Revalia glare at the Demon Lord.
And then…
“Run!”
“No need to tell me!”
Revalia unleashes a Dragon Art and flees at full speed, tail tucked.
Leaving the Demon Lord and Old Man Sleigsta, who were surprised and reacted late, behind on the Moss Garden.
“Ka ka ka. Outmaneuvered, old woman.”
From the Moss Garden, now far in the distance, Old Man Sleigsta’s deeply amused laughter echoes.
“So you decided to part with the Dragon Slayer’s sword…”
“…It can’t be helped for now.”
Revalia and I escaped the pinch with perfect synchronization.
From the start, it was my plan to pretend to charge the Demon Lord and then run. Revalia understood my intentions from the beginning.
However, the sacrifice was great.
Even if it was to escape that place, the precious White Sword was stolen by the Demon Lord.
“But I have to return quickly. The White Sword is important, but Listea, Slaton, and their companion Duranel are also important.”
I will definitely get the White Sword back someday!
The lightness on my left hip creates a gaping hole in my heart.
If a situation arises where I have to confront Alex or Louvent, this lightness on my left hip might become my undoing.
But I prioritized my feelings for Slaton and his companions.
I will surely save them!
Revalia responds to my feelings and flies at full speed.
However, this whole incident seems destined to be full of turmoil.
What awaited us upon our return to Dragon Peak village was the worst possible development.
“Elnea…”
Midnight, with the stars and moon quietly gracing the sky.
What greeted me and Revalia as we landed in the village square were not Listea and the others, nor Alex, but the Dragon Race people.
“N-no way…!”
“Yes, it’s exactly that unexpected situation. We received word from the Heavenly Race that a Mist Monster appeared late in the evening.”
My face stiffens as I search for signs of the village.
The familiar presence of Listea and Slaton is gone.
Not only that, but the presence of Alex and the Dragon Race warriors was also nowhere to be felt.
“I’m sorry, it’s because I was unreliable…”
I can’t help but think that if I hadn’t been held back by the Demon Lord…
But that’s not right.
The Demon Lord was there; at that point, I should have anticipated that we would suffer damage.
This is a situation I’ve brought about through my own leniency.
But this is not the time to be shamefully reflecting. If I have the leisure for that, I must head to the scene immediately.
“Revalia, please.”
“Understood.”
I thank the Dragon Race people who greeted us despite the late hour. Then, we immediately head back into the sky.
“Revalia, can you track them?”
“Tracking the Heavenly Race’s scent is no problem.”
With that, Revalia vigorously flaps her wings.
“Get out of the way. If you don’t want to harm your companions, then you should withdraw.”
“You’re the ones in the way. Leave this problem to us and get back to your countryside!”
Alex, holding a thick straight sword, and Slaton, holding a long sword, were confronting each other.
Beside Slaton, Listea also stood ready, her Holy Sword imbued with flames.
Of course, Cerise-chan and Naimi were also there.
However, it was a very strange sight.
Behind Listea and the others, a mist that writhed eerily like a living thing spread out.
The four stood as if protecting them from that mist against Alex.
“Lord Alex!”
Louvent, a Heavenly Race member flying in the sky, issues a warning.
“Get out of the way, or you’ll be eaten! Leave this sky!”
“Waaah!”
Louvent, assaulted by Revalia’s charge, screams and flees.
“Everyone!”
I descend to the ground using Spatial Jump from Revalia’s back, drawing the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword remaining at my right hip.
“I’m sorry, I’m late…”
In the sky above, Revalia, as an outlet for the humiliation inflicted by the Demon Lord, chases Louvent.
Don’t kill or injure him, but keep him busy so he doesn’t interfere here. With that thought sent via Dragon Heart, I look at Listea and Alex.
Listea and Slaton were somewhat injured.
They must have clashed with Alex many times before I arrived.
In contrast, Alex had not a single scratch.
Is this the difference in power between the Human Race and the Divine Race?
All eyes turn to me upon my arrival.
“Dragon King, I apologize for not being able to wait for your return. However, we cannot let the Mist Monster escape.”
“Hey, Elnea. You’re late. Thanks to that, we’ve had quite a time.”
“Elnea, it’s good you came. So, what’s the result?”
I nod at their three statements.
However, the reality is that I cannot give them words of hope.
The Demon Lord said I already have the answer, but I myself am unable to find it.
So, not to buy time, but to confirm the situation.
“What in the world is going on? Where are the Dragon Race warriors?”
There was no presence of Dragon Race warriors in the village.
But they are not here.
Cerise-chan answers my question.
“The Dragon Race warriors went into the mist. They said that if they could stop Duranel, the host, the Mist Monster’s movement would also stop.”
So that’s why the Mist Monster, which started moving to escape, is staying behind the heroes’ party.
The Dragon Race warriors seem to be neutral.
Alex, who wants to defeat the Mist Monster without letting it escape, and Listea and Slaton, who want to defeat it but won’t abandon their comrade Duranel.
To give the two opposing sides time, the warriors have entered the dangerous mist to restrain Duranel.
“Dragon King, please understand. If this continues, further sacrifices will occur. It will even affect Dragon Peak.”
Alex, knowing how much I care about Dragon Peak, looks at me with a pleading gaze.
His eyes are deep and calm.
He must have been struggling with the interference from Listea and Slaton.
If he were serious, even the hero and his companions couldn’t match this Divine Race. Yet, Listea and the others can stand their ground because he’s holding back.
Listea and Slaton seem to deeply understand this too, and they look at me with hopeful eyes upon my arrival.
“Elnea, tell us how to separate Duranel from the monster.”
Listea urges me.
But I can’t say anything.
“Judging by your expression, you haven’t found a solution. In that case, I will begin to deal with this seriously now.”
“Wait a moment!”
I hurriedly stop Alex.
But as expected, no words come out.
What is the clue I possess?
Even if I desperately try to think of it, no plausible answer comes to mind.
“Elnea…”
“Damn it!”
Listea’s desperate murmur and Slaton’s impatient sigh pierce my heart.
“We are truly grateful for your efforts, Dragon King. However, we cannot wait any longer. Please forgive us.”
Ideally, I should have returned with hope.
But what I delivered was only a dead end.
But, but…!
“I will absolutely find a solution. So, I won’t let Duranel be sacrificed so carelessly.”
Find it.
I have the answer.
Desperately search for it!
And, somehow, buy time until I reach the answer.
I glare back at Alex.
However, Alex seems to interpret my gaze as intent to confront him.
“In that case, I will push through.”
With that, Alex leaps off the ground.
“You cannot stop me.”
“You son of a bitch, we’ll stop you!”
“You won’t go!”
Listea and Slaton face Alex’s leap head-on.
I also ready my Spirit Tree Wooden Sword.
However, Alex makes an unexpected move.
“What!?”
“Damn it!”
“Ah!”
We failed to realize that he would use his power to shake off the interference from Listea and Slaton.
Yes. Alex’s objective wasn’t to confront us, but to defeat the Mist Monster.
Alex, who had toyed with us, vanished into the white mist, invisible even in the night.
