Dagran and Layna (Complete)

"Dagran!" Nothing else entered her vision. Layna sprinted toward him in a single bound and threw her arms around the man she held so dear.

"Grrk! Grrk!" But there was no time to savor the joy of reunion. Monsters swarmed in every direction. Only about forty soldiers remained capable of fighting. Dagran and Layna stood with the survivors, backs pressed to the entrance of the underground passage. They entrusted the controller repair to a skilled blacksmith, then began fighting to protect the others.

Though pregnancy prevented Layna from fighting at full strength, the fierce determination to protect Dagran infused the holy sword, allowing her to unleash tremendous power.

"Kieeeeeeeeeee─!" Yet the Ekayan was an existence beyond all norms. The most powerful demonic beast of the Shade Forest, fused with evil spirits to trigger genetic mutation, could not be overcome by a single holy sword.

"Wh-what in the..." To make matters worse, the zombified dwarves revealed themselves. For Layna, witnessing zombies for the first time, the sight was pure shock. These had been her friends, Dagran's subordinates. Now they charged the survivors with ghastly expressions, biting and tearing into them.

Those bitten turned into zombies and attacked the rest, and those attacked became zombies in turn, repeating the vicious cycle endlessly.

"Layna!" Dagran shook the dazed Layna back to her senses. He continued urgently.

"Layna! There's no time to explain! We must kill every infected person! If a plague like this spreads to the city or the capital, then─"

But in that instant, Dagran suddenly yanked her into his arms. At the same time, her body thudded into the snow.

"Dagran...?" The stench of burning flesh filled the air. The Ekayan's acidic fluid had melted Dagran's back. He had seen the acid's trajectory aimed at Layna, knocked her down, and taken the hit himself.

Dagran spoke in a low voice.

"...I will soon become infected."

"Th-this... what is this...? Your wound...!"

"You must survive. A man's dreams live on forever, even after his eyes close."

So saying, Dagran drew the dagger from within his coat. A horrified Layna swiftly knocked it away. The blade fell onto the snow.

"Haa... haa... haa..." Layna glared at him, breathing hard in fury. Dagran's expression remained calm. Suddenly the images of the zombified dwarves flashed through her mind. Understanding why he had tried to stab his own throat, a surge of emotion rose within her.

"T-treatment! If we treat it, it'll be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠okay!"

Layna hurriedly checked his back. Tears burst forth. She gathered every ounce of mana and began casting heal on the wound. The injury closed, but she could not extract the parasites that had invaded his body. She had not even known such things existed.

"Layna." At that moment, Dagran took her hand. Gazing at her tear-streaked face, he spoke.

"I will soon... become like them. As a monster, I will attack my most precious person... the one I love."

His eyes already half-unfocused, Dagran delivered his final words. Each time the parasites gnawed at his brain, he let out a pained groan.

"So that I can remain myself... ugh... please... do it for me... And you must survive... live... khuk!"

Dagran's body began to twist grotesquely. He groped across the ground, searching for the fallen dagger.

"Ugh... uuuugh... uuuuuugh..."

Layna stood frozen, able only to watch her convulsing husband through endless tears.

Then it happened.

"It was not... your fault... No... I truly... loved you."

Mustering the last of his strength, he offered one final smile. Then he drove the blade into his own throat. Blood sprayed like a fountain, staining Layna's white clothes crimson.

Yet Layna wept as she prepared another heal. She placed her hand on his throat to mend the wound, but...

"Auuu... huuuuu... uuu..."

In the end, she could not cast it. She had understood what Dagran feared most in this moment: becoming a monster like the others and attacking the wife he loved. She had read that terror in his wide, staring eyes.

And so Dagran breathed his last in her arms.

Layna wailed in despair. Clutching her dead husband's body, she felt the warmth that had not yet left him. She kept calling his name, the name of the one who had been her entire world, repeating only that she was sorry for failing to protect him.

"......"

Then came silence. When her screams finally ceased, the world itself seemed to stop. Every being capable of human sound was dead.

"Grrrrrrrr!"

"Krggg... krg..."

"Keuk! Kruluk!"

Only monsters remained. They encircled her, watching warily, inching forward as they sought an opening. They were afraid of her.

"Heh... hehehe..."

But Layna suddenly let out a bitter laugh. She had felt hot fluid between her legs. Blood flowed down her thighs. A miscarriage.

"I'm sorry, my love."

Layna gently laid her husband's body down and rose to her feet. A deep crimson haze erupted from her form, raging outward in every direction.

"It seems... I won't be able to keep my promise. Our child has just gone to your side."

Muttering quietly to herself, Layna gripped the holy sword. The blade began absorbing all her hatred and resentment, generating black mana.

-Whooooosh!

She swung the blade with all her strength. Countless monsters were swept away in a single strike. Overwhelming destructive force. The rage of a wife who had lost her husband. The rage of a mother who had lost her child. The rage of a friend who had lost her beloved neighbors. The death scream of one who had lost everything.

She fought an impossible battle. Charging straight into the horde, she rushed the Ekayan. She had to kill the monster that drove her husband to take his own life.

"Kyaaaaaaaack!"

Yet countless monsters blocked her. Among them were her former neighbors, now zombies. It didn't matter. She cut them all down.

The holy sword, absorbing her endless rage, spewed black mana and ripped the monsters to shreds.

If only I could devour everything here, every last piece!

She had lost it all. Layna no longer cared if she died. If she could sacrifice her life force to erase these disgusting creatures, dying here would be acceptable.

The holy sword obeyed its master's will. Having absorbed all her fury, its blade turned completely black. It had become Obsidian. The corrupted demonic sword stole its master's life force as she desired, but in return granted infinite regeneration for this battle alone, flooding her broken body with boundless vitality.

Laughing like a madwoman, Layna carved through the enemy ranks. After slaughtering tens of thousands of monsters, she finally reached the Ekayan. The beast that had killed her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠husband. The two clashed in a ferocious battle. The wielder of the demonic sword Obsidian and the parasite-swollen monster fought a blood-soaked duel, flesh and gore flying in all directions.

Layna emerged victorious. The more wounds she suffered, the stronger she grew, and her rage had no limit. In the end, black mana swallowed the Ekayan whole, tearing apart and devouring every scrap of its flesh.

"Grrrrrrr... grrrrrr..."

Yet by the time she finished butchering the Ekayan, Layna had already lost all reason. An inexplicable fury ruled her. There was someone else she had to punish, but she could not remember who.

She swung her sword. She chased down the dwarf zombies that had broken free of the Ekayan's control and slaughtered them.

"Fuck... is it over?"

As Layna moved away, Kroto and his hidden companions finally emerged. The situation appeared settled.

-Thudududu... thududu... thududududu...

At the same time the ground began to shake. The sound of countless hooves. The reinforcements Dagran had requested were arriving.

"Hey, fuck! Hurry up and wound yourselves! Make it look like we fought like hell!"

Kroto schemed. If they remained unscathed it might be obvious they had hidden in the passage, so he used monster claws to gash his own body and smeared the scattered blood across himself. The result was convincingly gruesome. To any observer, he looked like a warrior who had battled desperately.

"...What happened here? Where are the other survivors?"

The commander leading the troops soon demanded an explanation. Kroto immediately spun a fabricated story. During the fight the underground passage controller had been destroyed, forcing them into a fight to the death. In the midst of it, Layna had suddenly gone insane and massacred everyone, friend and foe alike, until all were annihilated.

"......"

The commander did not believe him. No, he could not believe it. There was no way that wise, beautiful woman would commit such atrocities.

"L-look over there! That's where the crazy bitch ran off to!"

Kroto's group had secretly cracked the door open during Layna's frenzied battle to spy on her. They had seen that she had lost all reason. By the time she defeated the Ekayan she had been little more than a beast. They believed that if the commander witnessed her current state, he would accept their tale.

"Follow me."

The reinforcements pursued Layna. They soon found her massacring the fleeing dwarf zombies while slaughtering escaping monsters, venting every ounce of her hatred and resentment.

"......"

The commander was horrified. Even seeing it with his own eyes, he could not believe the sight. The once beautiful woman rampaging like a mindless beast. The sight of her own kin fleeing only to be decapitated.

"S-see! I told you the bitch suddenly lost her mind! Look at that weird sword, too! Her husband was so shocked he killed himself!"

"Shut your mouth!"

The commander still could not accept it. He trusted these cowardly humans even less.

But... she truly is...

Yet as the wretch said, she was clearly no longer sane. Was she not still cutting down her fleeing kin?

"Th-there was a monster among them that drives people insane! That bitch must have been affected by it. The other dwarves too!"

"......"

The fleeing kin certainly looked unnatural. None of them seemed in their right minds.

But then.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrr......"

Layna's gaze turned their way. She had spotted Kroto beside the commander. Black haze exploded upward violently.

She charged toward them in a rage. Terrified soldiers fell back to avoid her.

"Damn it!"

He could not allow further bloodshed. The commander quickly gathered elite guards and rushed to intercept her.

"Come to your senses!"

The commander produced a massive shield and shoved her back. The guards raised their own shields to block her charge.

"Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

Having found Kroto, Layna could not stop. The enemy she had to kill. The target she had forgotten in her madness, now finally located.

"Stop! Please stop!"

The commander had no way of knowing the truth. He could only try to restrain the madwoman to prevent more casualties.

"Krg... krgrgrg...."

Eventually Layna's life force began to fade. Defeating the variant Ekayan, which had been close to a lesser demon, by herself had already been a miracle. Coming this far in her miscarried state had consumed too much of her vitality.

-Thump.

Layna collapsed at last. The pure white snow drank her blood. Freed from the rage, her mind slowly returned.

Dagran....

As she lay dying, Layna recalled his face. The husband who had sat beside her when she was abandoned alone in the snowy mountains and kept her company. The man who had saved her. Every moment they shared flashed before her like a lantern show. His hearty laugh as he promised to make her smile lingered in her vision.

I'm sorry... for failing to avenge you....

Resentment. Piercing longing and hatred became her unending grudge. Embracing the holy sword that had once connected her to her husband, now corrupted into a demonic blade, she closed her eyes.

Though her body perished, her soul remained within the sword, forever urging its wielders: Rage. Rage and kill everyone in your sight. Swing the blade endlessly until I can reach those ones. Then I shall grant you infinite power....

Afterward, Kroto and his companions returned to the Empire. Though many details remained suspicious, their testimonies roughly matched. The dwarves, however, could not accept it. Dagran and Layna had been the lovers they cherished. They had been trustworthy leaders and friends who would one day guide the Dwarf Allied Kingdom. To think such a couple would meet so tragic an end.

"......You're trying to end this with mere money?"

The Empire promised enormous reparations for the incident, enough to build an entire city. But what the dwarves had lost was not something that could be measured in coin. The love between Dagran and Layna that had once thrilled the entire nation had been tarnished. The value of the woman who received salvation and the man who saved himself had been dragged through the mud.

As proof, even the holy sword they had proudly boasted of had fallen into a cursed object that drove its user insane.

"It's... too painful to look at.... Take that sword away...."

The dwarves handed the demonic sword to the Empire's merchants. They had foisted the blade that drove users mad upon the human world they despised.

After that, the demonic sword Obsidian wandered across the Empire. Its wielders always met tragic ends. In exchange for immense power they were consumed by overwhelming rage and became murderers who cut down anyone in their path.

The Sigmund family, however, proved an exception. They were a noble house long specialized in handling artifacts. No matter how powerful the grudges within the demonic sword, they could control it. Thanks to this mighty blade ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they achieved great feats in the Great War. From that moment onward, Obsidian became their family heirloom.

"......"

Silence hung over the laboratory. The visualized memories of the grudge had been too shocking. Elena wept openly, her face twisted with rage.

"Right now! We have to catch that son of a bitch right now and make him pay! Even at this late hour, he must answer for his crimes─!"

"Wait a moment."

Ed stopped Elena as she turned to leave. Looking at her furious expression, he spoke in a low voice.

"Come on, that won't do. I'll personally escort him."

"...What?"

"To the Dwarf Allied Kingdom. I'll personally escort them there. They are heroes who sacrificed their lives fighting for the dwarves forty years ago. If we have these people attend the event, many dwarves will rejoice."

"......"

Elena caught the chilling glint that flashed across Ed's face. She seemed to understand exactly what he was thinking.

"...Yes. I was wrong. The seniors who bravely fought the massive monster invasion forty years ago... To normalize relations between our two nations, those seniors must stand at the forefront to offer their congratulations."

"Yes. Exactly."

"Then I'll go deliver the news to the seniors. You can handle the rest of the preparations, can't you?"

"Hahaha. Of course. I'll make sure the seniors receive plenty of love and attention."

"Good. I'm counting on you."

With those words Elena vanished in a swirl of blue smoke. The moment she disappeared, Ed's face hardened into icy coldness. The time had come to reveal the truth.