91. Big Game Hunter
91. Big Game Hunter
That day, when she had resolved to annihilate humanity and end her long existence.
Tasian had been forced to prolong a life that should have flickered out long ago, all because of a vow made with the sole being who had stood in her way.
It was a promise she had no real need to honor.
The reason she had gone on a rampage in the first place was simple. Before she could even secure a moment to quell the chaos, contemptible worms—drunk on their own authority through petty wars—kept trying to measure themselves against her, and it was irritating.
'Give them a chance. A chance to prove their worth to continue existing in this world...'
She could annihilate those vexing creatures even now. So why had she made that unnecessary vow and prolonged her lifespan all this time?
It was something she could never comprehend no matter how many times she mulled it over. That was why Tasian dismissed it all as a "whim" and regretted that day's vow even now.
Because a word spoken by a dragon—an entity virtually indistinguishable from a part of the world itself—carried that much weight. Whatever the reason for the promise, once made, it absolutely had to be fulfilled.
So, no matter how repulsive the surrounding humans appeared, until the day that vow was completed, she would never have reason to rampage again. But even so.
"So what you're telling me is that a future where I sweep away humanity's armies appeared before you, soon to come to pass?"
"Y-yes. I definitely saw such a future... Hieek!"
The moment she raised her finger as if the seer's words were nonsense, the woman flinched in terror and cowered.
Clutching her protrusion-covered head and trembling—anyone watching could see her actions were those of someone terrified of her.
"...If you don't want to get hit, just say it politely from the start."
After sending him away, she was just stopping by the market for groceries when the woman suddenly showed up, grabbed her by the collar, and started raving about what was going on. How could she be expected to respond politely?
"So, what were you thinking, coming all the way to where I am?"
But as someone gifted with the ability to see the future, her actions must have some rationale behind them.
Sitting on a bench in the square, Tasian pulled out a cigarette and asked. Airi began looking up at her with cautious eyes.
"Wh-what was I thinking, you ask?"
"You saw my past, didn't you? Then you should know. To me, a vow is absolute."
A dragon is an existence virtually one with the world itself.
As such, every single word it utters is akin to an immutable law etched into the world. And when those words take the form of a promise, even beings called gods cannot break it.
And while it was puzzling from her own standpoint, if Airi had foreseen a future where he died, then she must have sought out a way to avert that death.
"Yet for your means of stopping it, you chose to come confront me directly... Don't tell me you think that just because you can see a sliver of the future, you can talk me into something?"
"I-I'm not thinking that. To begin with, trying to control you is akin to moving mountains and parting the seas."
Indeed. She occupied a different order of magnitude from other Transcendents.
Whereas the meddling with fate that other Transcendents perform is limited to an individual or their immediate circle, the future that shifts on the whim of the one before her stretched at minimum to the level of "a nation or a region."
The butterfly effect that would unfold in the distant future as a result was enough to bring upheaval to the entire world.
To think that the calamity such a being intended to cause could be stopped simply by knowing the future would be profound arrogance.
"Then why didn't you help that guy, and instead came to me?"
"Because when you reveal your true form, he was standing brazenly right beside me."
Flinch. The moment Tasian's body, cigarette in mouth, trembled faintly.
Was the reaction because the statement had diverged from her expectations?
Or because the true feelings she had always hidden... something like a "hidden clause" existing within the vow she had made, had been uncovered?
"To a dragon, a vow is absolute... You've always emphasized that, again and again."
Whether the former or latter, it was not something to be taken lightly.
If the former, it would mean the contract was broken for a reason even she hadn't foreseen.
If the latter, it would mean a loophole existed within the contract itself from the start, and that in the near future, it was possible to unleash her power irrespective of the vow.
"Yet despite Hyosung-nim remaining alive, a future where you unleash your full power manifested. Isn't that a story even you can't afford to overlook?"
"...What are the odds it was a falsely verified future?"
"A future can change, but even a changed future is rooted in the present. Among the futures I divine, a future with no basis in reality cannot exist in the first place."
Indeed. Since his survival was the linchpin of her contract, the fact that she revealed her true form despite his survival was not a matter to take lightly.
But if some irregularity had occurred, then that was all the more reason for her to intervene directly and prevent it by any means necessary.
If an unforeseen event in the distant future had been foretold, perhaps it was necessary to find and eliminate its harbinger right now.
"...I don't have any part that comes to mind."
"Is there truly no part that comes to mind? Could you perhaps be telling a lie..."
"What? You want another beating?"
The moment her voice rose, Tasian clenched her fist.
Belatedly realizing she had nearly overstepped her bounds, Airi flinched back, but even so, her questioning—however passive—continued.
"P-please think about it seriously. Because this is not a matter even you can take lightly."
To a dragon, nothing is more offensive than the word "lie," but with her own companion involved, it was not easy to maintain composure.
Even Tasian found it contemptible enough to warrant another hit, but she ultimately withdrew her fist and decided to consider the woman's words seriously.
A situation where she would rampage without fulfilling the contract's conditions...
At least, no part that immediately came to mind existed.
Unless... some being other than herself had intervened.
"That dragon. You're certain it's me?"
"Pardon?"
"In the first place, you've never even seen my true form. I'm not the only dragon left in this world, after all."
"...That's a story of the past. The only dragon remaining in this world now is you, Tasian. Is that not the case?"
The possibility that some other dragon, not her, might appear was something she had considered from the beginning.
But that possibility had been excluded the moment she faced the woman and read her past.
Because at the point in time when Tasian decided to annihilate humanity, all other dragons except her had already perished—their lifespans exhausted, vanishing from this world.
Since dragons are born from the void and their very instinct to reproduce is faded, there was no way that the offspring of those dead dragons could remain somewhere in the world.
"That's right. I am the sole dragon left in this world."
Even her own existence was merely the result of forcibly extending her lifespan through a capricious vow. How could she now even entertain the possibility of another dragon besides herself existing in this world?
And yet, despite him being clearly alive, the figure of a dragon appearing before him...
"Extra! Extra!! The Imperial Castle is currently recruiting merchants and mercenaries to head to the excavation site!"
Just as she considered investigating the cause directly, a cry rang out from the center of the marketplace.
Turning her gaze, her eyes caught an employee of the newspaper company responsible for the Empire's intelligence activities roaming the streets.
Moreover, given the topic at hand, the attention of those around them was gathering more and more intensely.
"The Imperial Castle is recruiting people?"
"An excavation site—did some ruins appear? Doesn't seem like an 'extra' for just a dungeon."
"Don't be too shocked! Rumor has it that dragon bones have been unearthed in the mountainous region on the southern tip of the continent!"
-Murmur, murmur.
At the ensuing news, a commotion rose among the people gathered in the marketplace.
The subject now brought up was something they could not afford to overlook.
"Dragon bones, is that true?"
"I thought those only existed in fairytales..."
"No, if the Imperial Household is talking, it means it's worth a punt."
"The senile grandma next door used to ramble about seeing a dragon long ago, is it related to that?"
"Whatever it is, if I sell some supplies, I'll be able to pocket a tidy profit."
An excavation operation led by none other than the Imperial Castle, the true power of the Empire.
Virtually considered one of the most critical operations in the Empire, the merchants in the marketplace couldn't help but grow intensely interested.
And so too did the living dragon who had been eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Hey, demigod brat."
A corpse of her own kind had been discovered by humans.
Hearing this, even the cigarette Tasian had been holding fell from her lips, and she immediately turned her attention back to Airi.
"That future just now. Check it again."
"...The future?"
"Yes."
Affection for her own kind had long since turned to ash over the endless years.
But the moment she heard the news of her kin's corpse being unearthed, she felt her heart constrict.
This was no mere emotional reaction.
Her very being was acutely responding to this news.
Realizing from Tasian's reaction that something grave was afoot, Airi promptly took out her crystal ball and began to divine the future.
"This is..."
A scene slowly emerged in response to her power.
The moment she perceived a definite change occurring in that future, Airi's expression hardened.
"Speak."
And that changed future was surely unfolding exactly as she thought it would.
The moment a flame began to kindle in her lifeless eyes, Tasian had an intuition of the days to come.
"How I will act in the future you saw."
That the end of her most painful life—the longest she had felt in a lifespan exceeding ten thousand years—had finally begun to arrive.
****
And so, as time passed, the day of the expedition arrived.
Before properly undertaking her duties at the excavation site, Ga-ram followed the guide sent by the Imperial Castle to the location where the Heroes' assembly was being held.
For an ordinary mission, Heroes are guaranteed freedom of action and judgment, but since the Imperial Castle had commissioned multiple Heroes, the handling of the matter was inevitably strict.
"This is the place where the Heroes participating in this expedition will gather."
"Ah, yes. Thank you for guiding me."
"Yes, then I'll take my leave..."
The guide brought her to the door and then left the area.
Now left standing alone before the grandiose door, Ga-ram steadied her breath, her nerves taut, and recalled the conversation she had with her patron before coming here.
'If it's an excavation, digging will be the main task. Is it really necessary to bring Heroes along?'
'It's not a simple excavation. The Empire is even considering dispatching an entire legion there, and I've heard that more than ten Heroes are already heading to the site. You could practically call it a military garrison. That's why so many are focusing their attention there now.'
'...Are dragon bones truly that important?'
'Because a product of legend has revealed itself in person. I don't know the particulars, but since the Imperial Household also considers it of the utmost importance, we who feed off the Empire's payroll cannot afford to take it lightly.'
In any case, with so many people gathering, opportunities to build merit would be overflowing.
For a noble family on the verge of collapse, this excavation operation—which had drawn the attention of humanity's greatest army and numerous Heroes—was viewed as a lifeline for a reversal of fortune.
'Miss Ga-ram. You do know that the reason I've continued investing in you, a so-called Failed Hero, isn't purely out of sympathy, right?'
'Y-yes. I know.'
'My investments in you are gradually starting to bear fruit, but even so, it still feels insufficient. Seize this momentum and drive the wedge home at this excavation site. Prove your worth.'
The proof of worth.
For a being called a Hero, whose light shines by becoming an idol to the masses, that was a task more important than anything else.
The same applied to Ga-ram. To her, terrified of being branded as an incompetent existence, this excavation work—like the noble sponsoring her—was viewed as an opportunity.
'Right. If I earn merit in this task, our activities together will become easier, Oppa.'
Everything was for the sake of living like a person, and surviving, even in this kind of world.
With that single thought repeating in her mind, Ga-ram opened the door and stepped into the assembly hall where the Heroes had gathered.
Into a den of those who, unlike her, were steeped in vanity and arrogance, and who she thought would never welcome one bearing the label of Failed Hero.
-Murmur, murmur.
But what she actually encountered upon stepping into the assembly hall was people whispering among themselves while staring at one corner of the room.
The equipment they wore marked each and every one of them as a Hero, but what was etched on their faces could only be called bafflement at an incomprehensible phenomenon.
"What the— that guy. He's a Hero?"
"Ah, well. He's famous. The biggest weirdo among weirdos..."
To think the Heroes, who always sought a target for their contempt, would focus their attention on someone else, ignoring the Failed Hero standing right there.
Realizing that, unlike usual, her own presence had become nothing more than air, Ga-ram directed her gaze toward the spot where their attention was concentrated.
A cornered section inside the banquet-laden dining hall.
What first caught her eye about the person sitting there was their lower body, hidden by a straw mat. The next thing was a bare torso wearing not a single thread.
But what seemed even more peculiar than that was the paper bag covering their head, with only two eyeholes crudely torn open.
'That person... is the one Hyosung Oppa mentioned?'
A man sitting there in an appearance practically no different from a beggar.
Recalling the epithet she had once heard from her acquaintance, Ga-ram began to stare intently at the man in question.
'...That person, is he really the Big Game Hunter?'
The Big Game Hunter, Im Taeyang.
The strongest Hero in this world, who had purged more giant-class monsters (boss-level) than anyone else.