The Yellow Dragon, the Black Wolf (1)
— 1 —
When had it begun?
A mysterious talent had taken root in Nahan, one nobody else seemed to possess. The talent was acting. Film or book or comic, it made no difference—the moment he met a character, he could follow that character without a single flaw.
"Whoa, your acting was unreal. Out of all the volunteers, you were the only one who actually looked like an actor."
"Tch. Quit gassing me up. Anyway, we're square, yeah? Don't make me do this kind of thing again."
"No! I changed my mind. Ever thought about acting school? I'll cover the tuition—how about you quit the gangster stuff and give it a try?"
"......What?"
A precious bond had shown him the talent.
"Promise you'll actually go, and I'll ask my father to drop the charges. But you have to work. Really work. I'll even find you a room, so you can quit living in that nasty boarding house."
"I'm not a gangster anymore, all right? And the boarding house is because I don't have a home...... Forget it. Why am I explaining myself to a kid. Anyway, I'll ask the boss."
"Yes! That's a yes, isn't it!?"
"......Don't expect too much."
For the first time in a life that had been sprinting straight into the abyss, light broke in.
At any rate, a month passed. For the first time since he was born, Nahan dug into the craft of acting in earnest, and when roughly another month had gone by—
"Nahan!! The director of the acting school called—he says you're a real genius!!"
"......I haven't even gotten in a fight there yet."
"Not fighting!! Acting! I'm talking about acting!! The director says you could walk onto a set tomorrow!! No—he says he wants you out there on his word!!"
He had grown far enough to be recognized by a director who had once been a legendary actor.
"......He became the character itself."
"......How is acting like that even possible? Will I ever be able to do it?"
"......Call the agency. Now. There's an actor we absolutely have to sign."
Everyone heaped praise on him, and then they asked for the secret of that acting. Nahan had no easy answer. To people who looked at him with shining eyes and asked in earnest, he could hardly say I just could, or You just do it, or You mean you can't?
"A month?!"
"He only studied for a month!?"
"What on earth is the secret?"
And the truth of it—
"......I don't know."
Nahan didn't know the answer either. He had his guesses, but if one looked only at the conclusion, it worked because he simply did it. To someone else it might have sounded like the insufferable, damned excuse of a genius.
Really, he just—
Stage 2 — Immersion complete.
The Yellow Dragon, as you understand him, is reproduced without a hair of error.
—did it.
The Yellow Dragon.
First of the Continent's Ten Strongest. A man of few words in ordinary times; get him talking, though, and he was hearty, cheerful, and kind.
But turn him into an enemy, even once, and there was a face you would meet only when it was already too late.
"Damn it...!! What the hell are you...!!?"
It was the bearing of a Hegemon.
The Blessing of the Sun activates.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
A man blazing with brilliant gold came on with a greatsword in his grip, and gave his warning.
"Last chance. Take them and run this instant, and I won't come after you today."
Nahan was no longer afraid. The Yellow Dragon, after all, certainly wouldn't have been.
— 2 —
The air around her opponent had changed.
"Smile brightly. That's how you live."
"Yes, that's it. Smile a little more."
"Brighter. Smile until your mouth tears."
"That's how you live."
A nightmare surfaced.
"Last chance. Take them and run this instant, and I won't come after you today."
Radiant pressure crushed her body flat.
"Don't tremble. That's how you live."
"When it's too hard, put on the mask and cry."
"Try, and try again."
"Someday you'll be able to smile even with the mask on."
Past the face gone bloodless inside the mask, a smile could be glimpsed, forced into a crooked, twitching shape.
Fourth member of Black Wolf.
Luna—Persona watched the Yellow Dragon coming toward her, and thought.
......I want to live.
This was a life that had been saved. There was still so much she had to do. She had endured her whole life just to live—not a life of clinging on by a thread, clowning so she wouldn't be put down, but a life in which she achieved the things she wanted, one by one, and lived happily. Of her twenty-three years, she had lived that life for only five. Only five years of staying at the Leader's side, happy every single day. To be repaid for eighteen years of pain, she needed thirteen more years of happiness at least.
And I have to die like this?
A sharp grind. Small white teeth locked, and a vicious crack leaked out past her lips.
"You didn't hear me? I'm telling you, every one of them's a criminal. We cleaned up."
"Judgment belongs to the Sun."
"People are dying in the meantime, you know? Hurting until they can't take it, choosing death themselves—and you still say that?"
"......Judgment belongs to the Sun."
Hypocrisy in a brilliant coat of paint.
The Yellow Dragon.... A knight, no doubt.
He smelled pleasant, so he was probably no wicked man—but the honey on his tongue meant he still hadn't grasped what the Empire really was. And so he couldn't understand their purpose. The Leader's grand design.
"Think carefully, Luna. Black Wolf's role is cleanup. Even if the Empire stands upright because we moved, those of us drenched in blood can never reach that place. We will have to live in the night for the rest of our lives."
"That's all right. I'm more comfortable with the night than the day now. And more than anything......"
...in that night, I'm with you, aren't I, Leader?
The moment the past returned, the corners of her mouth—hauled upward by force—went slack. Trembling fingertips, shaken pupils, shoulders drawn in: all of it slipped back, as if none of it had ever been, into the shape of a murderous intruder.
"......Anything, if it's for the Leader."
Even if that anything meant staking her life.
Tap. Tap.
The instant Luna, steady again, tapped the mask on her face with a fingertip, a deep-blue system window rose before her eyes.
Black Wolf's fourth member, Luna—Persona, is attempting to break the Constraint!
At the same moment, Nahan's body grew heavy.
A sensation I've felt before.
During the battle with the Emperor, he had felt it from Hanryang—Tal as well.
◆ Effect
Designate a target and form a contract, laying a Soul Constraint upon them. A constrained target is accepted as a member of Black Wolf. The more members you have, the stronger you become.
* However, if a member dies, you die as well.
◆ Number of Members
To date... (8/10)
He swallowed.
Until the Constraint Break
Luna's mask turned to something like black liquid and began to sheathe her whole body. He understood it by instinct. Twenty-nine seconds from now, if Luna forced Black Wolf's constraint open, no harm would come to him—but great harm would come to Luna. And by harm—
Worst case, Luna could die.
That could not be allowed. Not for a sentimental reason, that she had grown unbearably precious in a single month, or that Black Wolf would have wanted it. For a reason that was coldly practical.
In the original Babylonia, the main story begins when the Hero returns.
Judging by the original, the sixth bad ending was very likely to begin the moment Luna and the Hero met. If Luna died today and the plot swung too far from the original, the bad ending would arrive in a shape he couldn't predict, and most of what he knew from the original and the setting compendium would turn to scrap.
Which meant the situation he had to manufacture, here and now, as the Yellow Dragon, was this.
Don't kill Luna or Black Wolf. End this quickly, and send them back.
The thought finished, Nahan stepped toward Luna without a moment's hesitation.
Ssszzz...!!
The energy pouring off her melted armor and the skin beneath at a mere touch. Catching his approach in a sweet scent that thickened by the second, Luna lifted her head and warned him.
"Keep coming and you'll die."
She was telling the truth. Whether it was Luna's skill or a side effect of releasing the constraint, he couldn't tell, but the black energy streaming thickly out dissolved whatever it touched, without distinction. Lay so much as a hand on that body, and he would melt in a single breath, armor and all.
But I have to touch her.
Right now he was only playing the Yellow Dragon. The abilities he actually held were a scant few. And if, without using a single ability that belonged to Black Wolf, the price of subduing Luna and sending the rest of the members back was nothing but one left arm—
"Sorry. I'm not merciful enough to wait out your transformation."
Fine, then. He'd lend it. Just for a moment.
His palm came down.
The instant golden plate settled on the shoulder of Luna, whose armor was steadily turning black—
A wet, violent crack.
"...!!!"
The armor that touched her melted at once, and at once his bare hand was braced against her shoulder.
Transcendental-Grade Artifact
"Remember. No pain will be able to kill you."
Effect:The ring activates.
An endless cycle of melting and recovery. For all the pain he was swallowing, all he was doing was holding on, so with ten seconds left before the constraint broke, Luna knit her brow and asked.
"...? What? Are you insane?"
"People... ngh, say that a lot...!!"
"......What?"
She couldn't understand it. Luna had expected that the moment she was defenseless, the Yellow Dragon would throw that first blow. She couldn't dodge it. She would endure however she could, then stake her life and drag him down with her.
A grinding crack.
The Yellow Dragon had only come at her with his bare body, enduring a pain that ought to have broken him.
Why?
Think as she might, no reason appeared, and only the question rose. Still, a human mad with fear doing something no one could predict was hardly rare.
"If you up and die on your own, I'd be grateful."
She smiled, loose and bright, certain of her win.
But a moment later—
Condition met — Physical Contact
Legendary-grade artifact activated.
"Covet, and it shall become mine."
All of target Luna—Persona (S-)'s mana is seized, in the form of aura, for 5 seconds.
Constraint Break — FAILED.
A thin dizziness came with it. Her body grew heavy, and a violent weakness flooded through her.
"You said you'd be grateful if I died on my own?"
"What...?"
"Sorry. I think I'd be grateful if nobody had to die."
"What are you even——!!"
She shouted at the Yellow Dragon, barely hauling her fading mind back into place, but he was already smiling again, the greatsword once more in his hands.
"Huh......?"
What?
Why does he look like the Leader......?
In the instant Luna, looking at that retreating back, remembered the person she had trusted most in the world—
The golden blow that had once been aimed at her flew for Hanryang and Lactea, and struck them clean.