CHAPTER 80

"Charge now!"

A white dragon and a blond boy stopped right in front of the canyon.

Both of them shivered, as if they had seen something terrifying.

The difference was that the boy gritted his teeth and forced himself to look up, while Lindworm retreated slowly.

At the crossroads of resistance and submission, the paths of the two beings were diverging.

"Forward! Knights, advance!"

With Rutger's urgent shout, Bayezid's knights dashed forward.

Since the prey had not fallen into the trap, now was the only chance to strike with their swords.

"What a bizarre situation!"

Even the experienced Larmund couldn't help but curse as he saw Lindworm stop right before success.

'It's them.'

There was no evidence, but he could feel it instinctively.

Rutger looked at the man standing behind with his eyes full of anger.

Mirshea, with his arms crossed, looked calmly at the boy with calm eyes.

There was a truly satisfied smile on his face as he stood in the distance.

The fastest dragon, Lindworm.

The dragon, which had wrapped its tail to avoid a world bigger than itself, quickly turned its head and was about to run towards the white snow field.

To the place where he used to reign, where the vast world couldn't reach.

"Sir Bolcorp!"

At that moment, Rutger's shout echoed throughout the canyon.

Bolcorp's world is a world that sees far away.

His world, which he had refined to send sharp objects farther, began to reflect on the spear.

"Where do you think you're escaping to!"

A purple flash emanated from the fingertips of the heretical knight who chose a spear rather than a sword, a spear among throwing weapons.

So fast that an ordinary knight wouldn't even be able to react.

Ahhh-!

However, the timing wasn't favorable.

Lindworm was terrified by the vast world before him and was on high alert for all types of threats coming his way.

Twang!

Because of this, he saw it before it was shot and could dodge it before it hit.

Using the fastest legs among the fallen dragon's remnants.

"What the hell!"

While Bolcorp quickly pulled out the spear that was stuck in the ground, preparing for the second strike, Rutger and Bayezid's knights reached the white dragon.

"Buy us some time!"

It was Rutger who cut down even the Deathworm, famous for its hard shell, with a single sword.

But to explode his world deeply buried within his chest, he needed time.

Just like the day the boy bought time for him from the Deathworm.

"Hold on!"

"We have to block the front!"

While the knights bought time with their bodies, Rutger quickly closed his left eye and flicked his sword with his finger.

The resonance coming from the familiar vibration plunged him deeper into his own world.

Purple flashes raining down from above.

Shiny humans running chaotically from below.

Until now, Lindworm had lived without knowing that he was a noble dragon, but now that he knew about it, he felt unbearable anger when he saw the humans who dared attack him.

Ahhh-!

Lindwurm took a deep breath and roared louder than when he lunged at the boy.

The back of the white dragon's neck swelled as if it were going to burst, as it was filled with anger with all its might, ignoring even defense.

"Damn it!"

Realizing the impending catastrophic breath to come, Larmund quickly withdrew from the battlefield and rushed towards the boy.

[Vlad! Snap out of it!]

"You! What are you doing here!"

"······."

However, Vlad couldn't easily move despite the urging of the voice and Larmund.

Noir, connected to the boy's world, was also trapped in the intense gaze of the blue eyes right in front of him, making it difficult for him to step away.

While others might not have known,the boy was trying to keep his head high against the huge world that was trying to swallow him up.

"······I don't know what it is, but it feels bad."

Seeing the boy with his eyes wide open and deeply rooted, Larmund turned away.

If you can't choose the best option, you have to settle for the second best.

And the virtue of a retired knight was to entrust the future to the boy.

"As you get older, the chill reaches your joints, you know."

Wooaaahh-

Just as Larmund finished speaking, Lindworm's breath approached like a faint mist, ominously looming.

The breath of a dragon that would freeze the soul of an ordinary person.

"Hup!"

The old knight with the boy on his back gritted his teeth.

Hoping fervently that the world he had built up throughout his life would be hotter than the dragon's breath.

Instead of wielding a sword, a radiant aura began to form around Larmund's crossed arms.

※※※※

"······."

Vlad quietly caught his breath in the cold, hazy fog.

Although he felt a chill coming, the aura from Larmund felt as warm as ever behind him.

[You have to cut it off!]

"······Ghh."

Despite the freezing cold surrounding him from all sides, Vlad clenched the sword tightly with trembling hands.

Though the icy gaze seemed to entangle him like a spider's web, Vlad knew he had to do it.

"Damn it!"

To confront the vast world, his own world also needed to expand.

The warmth of Larmund began to permeate the boy's world, which was desperately searching for a way out.

Another ray of color came into Vlad's world, whose color had not yet been decided, and that light began to flow along the unadorned sword.

"Old man."

"······Go."

Larmund's voice flowed from between his cold, hardened lips.

The old man had done his part, and now it was the boy's turn.

Listening to Larmund's words flowing from behind, Vlad swung the sword with all his might.

The invisible, cold webs entangling the boy began to shatter.

※※※※

"······."

Mirshea shook off his usual relaxed demeanor and stared ahead with a stern expression.

The pale breath that Lindworm exhaled was blown away by the wind, and the scenery within it gradually began to reveal itself.

A scene as if time had frozen.

Ice pellets formed by blizzard sparkled amidst the frozen knights.

And amidst that glitter, there was a swiftly galloping black horse.

Mirshea uncrossed his arms and looked into the eyes of the boy passing by him.

Blue eyes met blue eyes, sharing different lights despite their similar colors.

"Impressive."

Mirshea erased the cynical smile she always wore and watched the boy advancing with pure admiration.

The boy's gaze slowly left Mirshea.

Only with his own will, without the permission of the vast world.

The boy's sword severed his presence.

"Let's go!"

Everything had its order.

Vlad, who learned this from Josef, realized that rather than attacking Mirshea right now, he should first deal with the white dragon behind him.

That way, he could deliver a proper blow to the man who tried to crush him.

Vlad raised his head again from under the old knight's shield and led the black horse toward the white dragon.

"Kuuuhhh..."

The cold breath of Lindworm froze everything in the canyon.

Even the knights who had just been shouting and charging were now frozen in place.

Rutger quickly tried to raise his aura to melt his frozen body, but just as he had the chance, the white dragon ahead began to move its feet, ready to advance.

"This... darn it."

Though Dorothea's imprint was glowing in defiance of the cold, the knights still needed time to move.

While Bolcorp's spear fought Lindworm alone on the canyon's edge, it wasn't enough.

'Is it a failure?'

Rutger gritted his teeth as he felt the tide of failure rising from below.

Despite their best efforts, they still couldn't reach their goal.

Sometimes failure was just one step away.

"Hmm?"

In that moment, there was a swift figure that passed through Rutger's field of vision.

"I'll try to stop it!"

"······Vlad!"

It was a horse driven by a blond boy who had his head down just a moment ago.

The black-haired young man lowered his head for a moment, but the blonde boy never gave up even for a moment.

That's why he was able to move alone now that everyone was at a standstill.

[Do your best with the strength you have!]

"Aaargh!"

Vlad thrust his sword, adorned with raised aura, into the air, striking the back legs of Lindworm, which were just now beginning to leap.

Kraaaawww!

Craaaawww!

Vlad roared in response to the sudden burst of Lindworm's rough roar.

"It's too tough!"

Vlad, who was wielding a sword against a creature like a dragon for the first time, twirled his numb wrist and stuck out his tongue.

How could he beat a Deathworm tougher than this guy?

[If it doesn't work, you have to keep going!]

"....Ugh!"

At the voice's command, the aura began to flow again towards Vlad's left eye, which was closed once more.

"Give me the spear!"

Bolcorp had hope again when he saw the presence of a boy who suddenly jumped out of the fog.

Ultimately, the success or failure of this operation depends on time.

If Rutger and the knights moved before Lindworm accelerated, they would succeed in subduing it; otherwise, they would have to give the Dragon Slayer knights a chance.

"We're running out of spears!"

At the adjutant's report of the dwindling supply of spears, Bolcorp urgently turned his head.

"Good grief."

Even the spears Bolcorp had stuck in the ground was now almost gone.

It wasn't just time that was lacking.

"But we still have to throw them!"

The boy's struggle alone wasn't enough to stop Lindworm.

Although Rutger is said to be the best dragon slayer, he is not a dragon slayer who can put an end to it.

Now, with only a few spears left, Bolcorp swung his arm with all his might towards Lindworm.

[You go to the right!]

The voice instructed Vlad, who was focused on facing Lindworm right in front of him, unable to pay attention to Bolcorp's movements.

To accelerate, they needed space, and ultimately the boy had to find a space where he could move forward alone.

Kraaang!

"······!"

An ominous cracking sound began to be heard from the tip of the sharply swinging sword.

Despite being enveloped in aura, the sword born in the back alley couldn't stand against the dragon's scales.

"Damn it!"

Vlad's complexion turned pale as he felt the crack that could be seen while holding the sword.

The sword that the boy had looked at like a star was breaking.

[You must not stop.]

"But!"

[You can't keep going with that sword forever!]

Vlad was left speechless by the voice's words.

It was an unadorned sword hanging high enough that the boy had to look up, but the enemies he had faced so far were those that were difficult to handle with an ordinary iron sword.

Rather, it could be considered a miracle that it had endured until now.

[Make the sword do what it is supposed to do!]

"······."

Things reaching their limits have no choice but to stop.

Just like the old knight, the ordinary, unadorned sword must stop now.

"Damn it!"

The blacksmith in the back alley said that he wouldn't be able to bear it if his sword caught the boy's ankle.

The boy remembered the blacksmith who had looked at him with deep eyes along with those words.

Kyaang-!

"Stop!"

Kkaaaang!

"I said stop!"

As Lindworm's legs began to rush towards the snowy plain, the boy was screaming mercilessly, striking the legs of Lindworm.

Along with the boy's screams, the unadorned sword was also breaking apart.

"You bastard!"

Pieces of the white sword were flying along with the fluttering snow crystals.

As well as the boy's tears flowing down.

Crack!

Roar!

While the white dragon paused for a moment due to the boy's momentum, there was a purple flash shooting down from above the canyon.

"It's over!"

Thanks to Vlad's desperate interference, Bolcorp's spear flew and struck Lindworm's knee.

Bolcorp, standing above the canyon, raised his hand high as he witnessed the scene.

It was the last remaining spear.

"Huh... huh..."

Blood flowed from the previously cut palm, trailing along the unadorned sword.

The sword, stained with the boy's blood, lifted its head with its last strength.

"It's the last time."

Facing Lindworm's blue eyes, Vlad raised the unadorned sword for the last time.

"Last. Really the last one."

On horseback, the boy bid farewell to the sword as they ran together.

Thank you for bringing me this far.

"Let's go!"

Vlad, finally catching up with the slowing Lindworm, looked into the blue eyes facing him.

Though I can't pierce through your tough scales, perhaps I can pierce through your gaze.

That would be enough for the unadorned sword's final act.

"Farewell."

An unadorned sword imbued with the boy's aura sparkled for the last time on the snowy field.

With the boy's shout, the stars in the back alley fell towards the blue eyes.

Roar!

Upon the white snowy expanse,

Amidst the dragon's scream, the unadorned sword shattered.

In its final moment, the sword from the alley, which harbored the potential of the boy, became a star.

※※※※

Though the night sky wasn't exceptionally high, the sword was shining.

Because it was held in the hands of a boy who wanted to shine.

In that case, the sword from the alley was more than qualified to become a star.

And the name it left behind as a star was none other than "Dragon Slaying Sword."