CHAPTER 179

Even if you kill a dragon, it doesn't truly die. 

Even though its body was torn to pieces and thrown all over the world, the dragon's will remains unyielding and perfect, still alive and breathing in every corner.

It was born that way from the beginning.

But what if that time comes?

If the damned dragon crawls out again when I'm not around.

Will the knights of that time be able to handle it like me?

Even if I plant seeds for their future, will that be enough?

※※※※

[Vlad! Vlad, wake up!]

Vlad remained as still as a rock, only letting out stifled groans.

Quijano continued to shout to wake Vlad up, but Vlad himself was in a situation where he couldn't even twitch a finger.

"Ugh-!"

Thump! Thump!

The pressure felt as a swordsman and the instinct flowing through his blood were shouting at the same time.

If you fight back, you die.

So, lie flat on your stomach.

"Do you want to live?"

The man who came with the fog was smiling at Vlad.

A piece forcibly shoved into his heart began to beat slowly alongside the struggles of the young dragon.

"If so, beg. Just like before."

Walking backwards towards the past instead of tomorrow, the man, Frausen, resembled someone as he gazed into Vlad's blue eyes, recalling memories of the past.

"You son of a... bitch."

However, the young dragon before him didn't plead for mercy, unlike the dragon of that time.

Frausen smiled faintly as he looked at Vlad's middle finger, which he raised with great effort.

"Quite a resilient guy, huh?"

Though Quijano inside and Frausen outside faced different directions, they felt the same.

The swordmaster who cherished rising stars had always been fond of challengers.

"It is a shame that you're a dragon."

But no matter how fond he might be, what lay before him was a dragon.

A being that must be killed as it grows by feeding on someone's potential.

So, the man drew his sword.

A faint sound came from his mismatched scabbard.

"...It's Vlad."

However, the man who introduced himself as Frausen was momentarily taken aback by the sound that eventually reached him.

Because there was a strange vibration hidden in Vlad's voice.

"Not a dragon... It's Vlad, you bastard."

The world's greatest dragon slayer stood before Vlad now.

A towering presence that would humble any knight.

Yet Vlad, even in the face of this formidable being, was slowly reaching out towards his sword.

"Urgh!"

If I were to die here without moving, who would repay the sacrifice of Yustia?

Her words, still written in his heart. Though he was nothing but a squire, she called him a knight who protected the children.

"...!"

[...!]

From the point where the sword touched, Vlad's world began to spread.

A single flower that only he could see.

Now, a world that could be seen even through eyes that no longer felt, hung at the tip of Vlad's sword.

The world the boy dreamt of slowly started to fill the bloody room.

"This...."

How precious are the young ones who show potential to the world.

Quijano and Frausen, both looking at the world the boy dreamt of through the sword's tip, shared the same thought.

I wanted to protect this, even in front of the most perfect dragon.

"Yes. Vlad."

No longer the world within, but Vlad's world flowing outside.

Yet Vlad himself, trembling, still hadn't realized that his world had spilled beyond its shell.

The most perilous and regrettable moment.

So, the Swordmaster had entrusted the knights to protect this moment.

"It's time to die."

In Quijano's eyes, Vlad's created world was visible, but in Frausen's ears, there echoed the screams of countless stars trampled beneath the dragon's claws.

".....Hmm?"

The raised tip of the sword gleamed.

However, perhaps due to a moment of hesitation, the tightly raised tip of the sword couldn't plunge into the young dragon's throat.

"Tsk!"

Suddenly, Vlad, who had been lying down, began to sink deeply under the bed with desperate cries.

Along with him vanished the world of Vlad that had been flowing like a mirage.

Frausen's eyes widened at the sight of Vlad sinking into the bed as if it were a bathtub.

"This...."

Even a swordsman accustomed to surprises was thrown off by the bewildering and nonsensical situation.

But no matter how much he opened his eyes and observed, Vlad and the young deacon who had been lying there just moments ago had already vanished.

Now, only the bed sheets fluttered in their absence, creating ripples on the surface.

"...Mages are always a nuisance, no matter the era."

Frausen, who had finally grasped the situation, smiled in despair and bit his lip.

I shouldn't have hesitated.

I didn't come back for this.

"Hiding within mystery is only temporary. Young dragon."

As Vlad retreated, Frausen's expression once again vanished, replaced by a dry gaze fixated on the floor beneath the bed.

Where only the stains of a fallen holy knight remained.

No matter how he tried to conceal it, his empty world, filled only with the echoes of the past, began to grasp at the faint ripples that lingered.

※※※※

As Vlad continued to plummet endlessly, he clenched his teeth.

'What's happening?'

From the fourth floor to the third, and from the third to the second, Vlad was constantly falling with a strange sensation. However, he held the young deacon tightly by his side.

As the man who introduced himself as Frausen moved further away, Vlad's frozen fingers gradually loosened.

"Ugh!"

Finally, Vlad and Jean reached the bottom floor of the church.

There stood Nibelun, reaching out towards them as they descended.

"Light as a feather...!"

He quickly cast a spell, but there were no wings to stop their fall.

Kuuu-!

"...I should have broken the spell a bit earlier."

With a clatter of armor, Nibelun watched as Vlad fell from the ceiling, losing his appetite for further comments.

"Aaaa..."

"What's going on? What happened up there?"

Whether it was because of the pain from the fall or because his body was still stiff, Vlad couldn't easily get up from the ground.

"Look at this! I've never encountered a being with this much spiritual pressure in my entire life!"

Grabbing Jean from Vlad's arms, Nibelun hastily rummaged through his pockets, presenting an odd object to the still dazed Vlad.

"What's this?"

"It's a distortion indicator. A tool for measuring mystery, world, and holy power."

As Vlad looked at it, the compass needle spun rapidly, as if it were about to malfunction.

"Huh? Why is it doing this?"

Perplexed, Nibelun tapped the compass, but it continued to perform its function perfectly.

"Ugh..."

However, Vlad, still writhing, had not yet fully recovered from Frausen's influence.

Instead of answering the question, a tall shadow began to stand up inside the prison as Vlad was still struggling.

"He's overwhelmed."

He was Pierre, who had been detained in the basement of the church by Günter.

Having experienced many evil beings, Pierre quickly recognized Vlad's condition and took out a small club from his pocket.

"Let me clarify beforehand, there's no personal grudge."

"Huh?"

"Well, maybe a little."

Vlad, still suffering from a chilling paralysis, was terrified as Pierre swung something towards him, but there was simply no way to avoid it this time.

-To dispel the fog of illusion is solely at His behest!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three strikes echoed within the prison. Despite covering his head, Vlad was overwhelmed by the resounding noise, clutching his head tightly.

"What are you doing!"

"I'm just driving out the energy rooted in your head."

Although Pierre's actions were merciless, Vlad seemed to move normally, unlike before.

Pierre chuckled and brandished a small baton in front of Vlad.

For some reason, the small baton, reminiscent of those used by judges, seemed to be stained with faint traces of blood.

Boom-!

However, before Vlad could utter a word of resentment, the ceiling of the prison began to tremble.

Someone's fists were pounding downwards towards the basement, shaking the Mosiam's Church mercilessly.

"It seems like something's following you down here!"

"Want to give it a try?"

Unlike Nibelun, who turned pale with fear, Pierre seemed ready for a confrontation. But Vlad, who was supposed to be the sword, merely shook his head in frustration.

"Guess you were overwhelmed after all."

"...!"

Despite Pierre's criticism, Vlad did not dare to make an excuse. His armor still bore the traces of blood shed by Yustia.

The hole carved by the young bird inside its shell was still too small to ascertain.

"Shall we get out for now?"

"How?"

The vibrations shaking the ceiling were getting closer and closer. Moreover, being in the basement meant that if they escaped to the first floor, they would inevitably encounter an unknown entity.

Nibelun's suggestion to leave was met with Pierre's questioning response.

"Mysteries always show the way, no matter when or where."

"Hmph. Those beastmen always deceive people with such words."

Nibelun, who lightly ignored Pierre's mocking behavior, hurriedly pulled out a long carpet from his backpack.

Though it seemed impossible for it to fit inside the backpack, the way he effortlessly retrieved it appeared very familiar.

"Hang this on the wall."

As Nibelun stuck the mat to the prison wall, it adhered as if it were hammered in.

"Align it... There, it's done."

Nibelun patted both hands as if she was done and lifted up the carpet.

Vlad and Pierre stared in disbelief at Nibelun's strange action, but what they saw beyond the carpet was not the wall of the prison, but a fog-filled street of Mosiam.

"Let's go. It won't hold for long."

"..."

"..."

Unable to comprehend the connection between the two places, the faithful priest and the knight with a world were left speechless.

Bang! Bang!

Though they wondered if it would be safe, seeing even the ceiling crumbling to pieces, Vlad and Pierre had no choice but to hurry their steps.

[Don't waste what she has created now. There's nothing more expensive and precious in the world than the value of life.]

'...Understood.'

With Jean still asleep in his arms, Vlad clenched his teeth, feeling the approaching presence.

He wanted to unleash his anger right away, but given the opponent he just saw, rushing in would only result in defeat.

An unplanned resolution is nothing but a futile delusion.

Just as the voice said, Vlad had no intention of throwing away the life that Yustia had spared him so easily.

"Sir Vlad!"

Vlad walked into the carpet, following Nibelun's voice softly shouting from outside.

The intense vibrations soon reached the prison they were in, but as Nibelun quickly retrieved his arm stuck in the carpet, the prison fell silent.

"...They escaped."

Nibelun's mysterious intervention that saved them from the empty world. 

However, the pursuer, Frausen, couldn't really blame Nibelun for that. 

The mystery that the beastmen never gave up on was also one of the worlds he had sought to protect.

※※※※

In the fog-filled vacant lot, a faint tombstone could be seen.

Vlad, who realized where he was standing with the tombstone, quickly drew his sword and began to look out for his surroundings.

"Why here of all places after escaping?"

"This was the only place I remembered."

Seeing Nibelun scratching the back of his head, Vlad wanted to vent his anger, but he was also the reason they managed to escape.

"Do we really have to go back to the cemetery in all this chaos?"

"Wouldn't the church be better than the cemetery?"

"Are you crazy!"

Vlad quickly kicked off the backpack as he saw Nibelun trying to spread the carpet again.

"Oh, come on! What's the matter?"

"There's a lot of things in your backpack. It's heavier than it looks."

But the backpack Vlad kicked remained still, without a single twitch.

But despite saying it was heavy, Nibelun casually shouldered the backpack.

"Now, where to?"

"... "

In response to Nibelun's question, Vlad pulled Jean, who was carrying him on his back, and hurriedly looked across the cemetery.

Since the cemetery was located on the outskirts of the city, there should have been a castle wall right next to it. However, all Vlad could see was fog, with no surrounding structures in sight.

"We won't be able to get out. It seems that the evil transformation has already taken place."

Pierre, who had just mentioned that they probably wouldn't be able to enter from outside either, closed his eyes and began to pray silently.

"What should we do then?"

"What can we do?"

Pierre gripped his baton tightly and started to walk outside the cemetery.

"The reason Mosiam has turned into this is because of a peculiar curse that moves through the fog."

While the curse boasted powerful magic typical of black magic, it had a common weakness: it would vanish without a trace once its origin was destroyed.

"If you want to get out of here, you just need to destroy the origin."

"What is the origin?"

As Vlad spoke, Pierre's baton moved slowly. Vlad, who had stepped back to observe, found Pierre's finger pointing to something far away.

"Everything started with that one."

"... "

In the middle of the city, there was a tree floating above the sea-like fog.

Although only half of it was left after Vlad tore it apart, the tree in the sky was still spewing out fog, eating people's screams.

※※※※

"Grrrr!"

The Holy knights struggled to maintain their formation within the fog.

However, some knights who had not taken care of themselves properly were already torn apart outside the formation, their bodies unrecognizable.

The headless knights in front were completely unaffected, to the point where the stigmata on their foreheads were insignificant.

"This is no ordinary sorcery..."

Günter shook his head as if feeling dizzy, a deep frown etched on his face.

If it were just a clash of swords, it wouldn't have been this difficult.

But the woman floating in the air continued to torment the Holy knights relentlessly, using familiar methods.

"It wasn't mentioned in the book of exorcism..."

Günter's eyes flared with recognition as he finally realized the woman's identity.

She was certainly an evil being, but not one born of darkness.

"Apostate!"

A betrayer who had forsaken the will of God.

And these were not ordinary miracles, which could only be achieved through rigorous spiritual training.

"Reveal your name! You vile creature!"

Günter was shouting as if he was spitting out hatred, but the woman looking at him was only smiling warmly.

"What good would a name do? They will be erased anyway."

The woman chuckled softly, raising her hands towards the sky.

Behind her, the tree reached towards the heavens, while before her, faithful servants of God bled on the ground.

It was a sight none of them had anticipated.

"I should have done this sooner."

Taking a deep breath, the woman gazed into the distant sky beyond the fog.

Soon, a hymn to God filled the air.

"What...?"

The Holy knights were left bewildered by the incredibly graceful and beautiful voice of the woman.

However, what was strange was that, unlike the beautiful voice, the hymn that echoed was eerily ominous.

Even the Holy Knights covered their ears as they heard the lyrics being recited backwards in a familiar rhyme.

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