Shadow Step
"Cough..."
Before anyone could hear it, I forced down the small cough threatening to escape, swallowing the coppery taste that flooded my mouth.
My body...
Setting aside the fact that I felt oddly energized, my condition was far from good.
It was basically like force-doping myself by taking in someone else’s mana, so of course I couldn’t exactly expect to feel great.
And that “someone else” happened to be a dragon, of all things.
Still, compared to the first time I’d activated the blessing, I was in much better shape now.
Back then, the backlash had knocked me unconscious for days.
I really should’ve left that thing alone.
Curiosity really was a sin.
I’d only touched the ring because I was curious that my dad, who had zero interest in jewelry, was carrying one around. Who could’ve guessed it would turn into this...
Back then, I hadn’t been nearly as strong as I was now, so I couldn’t even begin to handle the fierce mana of the Red Dragon surging through my body—much less resist it.
That thing left a wound on my still-unfinished body. Not just a wound, really. More like a poison... no, something far worse than poison.
On top of a body already starved for nutrition, the strain became too much.
And that was how I ended up with this tiny frame.
My growth hadn’t completely stopped, but because I’d diverted the energy that should’ve gone into growing toward recovery instead, it had slowed so much that it might as well have.
...That was the kind explanation from the very culprit who’d turned me into this mess.
-...That’s not my fault, is it?
You practically lunged at it like it was candy the second I touched it.
And at the time, I’d literally only touched it. I hadn’t even intended to activate the blessing.
How was I supposed to know a perverted lizard was living inside the ring?
-You’re the one to blame. How was I supposed to resist when you approached me carrying such a desirable soul?
...
In short, Grasid was basically saying, “You seduced me first.”
I didn’t even feel like answering that shameless nonsense.
I’d told him to get lost countless times before, fed up with his completely unwelcome attention.
From the moment we met, he’d gone on and on about how he wanted to be mine, how he liked my soul, and all sorts of other bullshit, but Grasid had shown no intention of leaving me alone.
Which meant his blessing was, for all practical purposes, attached to me now.
"Kana...? Y-You’re Kana, right...?"
"Have you already gotten old enough to forget me?"
Oh dear. How tragic.
"N-No! I’m still young and vibrant!"
When I looked at her with pity, Dayun shook her head hard.
-Is she one of your companions? I smell something unfamiliar.
Mind your own business.
-Are you jealous? Don’t worry. I have no intention of going to anyone but you.
...Could you please just go away?
-No.
Someday, I was going to pry this thing out of my hands and throw it into a volcano that was boiling over at the seams.
...No, wait. Since he was a Red Dragon, he’d probably love that.
I’d better just bury him at the bottom of the ocean.
"I almost didn’t recognize you because of your outfit..."
"Ah, this?"
Clink.
Flutter.
As I shifted lightly, the light armor I wore gave off a faint rattling sound.
"It’s nothing special."
"Nothing special?! It’s amazing...! The armor, the cloak, all of it—it makes you look just like a knight!"
"R-Really...?"
I scratched my cheek.
I hadn’t expected such a strong reaction.
-An energetic girl.
Yeah. I agree.
Agreeing with Grasid, I turned away from Dayun, who was looking at me with admiration.
"Um, I—"
"We can talk later."
"Ah, r-right! Well, I guess now isn’t really the time to chat..."
Even while talking to Dayun, my body kept throbbing with pain.
If it already hurt this much now, then when the backlash hit...
To reduce that backlash even a little, I needed to settle this quickly.
But before that, there was something I needed to ask.
Grasid.
-What.
Do you know anything about that thing?
-That thing? It’s certainly strange, but it’s not something I know.
It said itself that it was Crumo.
-...Crumo?
That word clearly wasn’t something he could dismiss lightly, because Grasid’s lazy tone sharpened at once.
I could almost hear him sniffing as he studied the figure before us.
After a moment, he answered.
-No. That isn’t Crumo. I watched him die with my own eyes. There’s no way he could’ve come back alive.
...I see.
-Still, I think I know what that thing is.
What is it?
-A dragon is a creature called the sovereign of magic.
The reason they were called that was simple: their ability to handle mana and their sensitivity to it surpassed that of any other living being.
They had material bodies, and yet were beings infinitely close to mana itself.
That was what a dragon was.
-When living beings die, they leave behind thoughts and impressions. Usually, those remnants don’t last long before dispersing.
But the lingering thoughts of a dragon—such an intensely powerful being, one so close to mana—were different.
The fierce resentment Crumo left behind did not scatter after his death. It remained in the form of mana.
Grasid, who had witnessed Crumo’s death, knew that much.
Even so, there was a simple reason he hadn’t bothered to touch the remnant directly.
He couldn’t predict what would happen if he meddled with it carelessly.
Better to let it disperse naturally than to poke at it and cause trouble for no reason.
Even if it was a remnant, it was still just a clump of mana. Given enough time, it would eventually scatter into the earth, the wind, and the sky.
It couldn’t cause trouble the way it had when it was alive, so there was no reason to interfere.
But there was something Grasid had failed to predict.
The massive system that circulated through the world of Silia. The purification system’s failure.
The demons who could no longer live in Laxia migrated to the Ardina Continent, and near the area where they settled, Crumo’s remnant remained. That mana cluster was altered under the influence of the demons...
And as a result, ta-da.
The monster called “Crumo’s Shadow” was born.
So it all went around in a circle.
It was the demons who’d drawn the short straw.
They’d finally found a place to live, only for it to be near the place where that dead evil dragon had fallen, and this whole disaster had been triggered.
So that was why it thought it was Crumo—the remnant Crumo left behind was the reason.
If you knew, why didn’t you just deal with it?
-Can I be honest?
...What?
-I forgot because I was sleeping.
...
As expected, lizards were utterly useless.
That sentence only reminded me of the fact all over again.
"I had a little hope. If you really came back from death—"
Then maybe there was a chance.
Muttering to myself, I adjusted my grip on the sword.
I’d already gotten my answer from Edel, so what had I been expecting?
I felt stupid, and a crooked smile curled at the corner of my mouth.
Meanwhile, the shadow seemed to have sensed something from looking at me.
-That red color... That flame...! Ah, aaah, aaaaaaaah!!!
The shadow writhed.
With every agonized scream it let out, the heavens and earth shook with a restless moan.
-Grasid...! That filthy traitor blocks me again...!
"Traitor?"
I tilted my head at the unexpected word, but Grasid cut it off firmly.
-Pay it no mind. It’s just the nonsense of a dead wraith.
"Hmm."
So there really was something between them.
I wasn’t interested, though.
"Handle your own business between the two of you."
Fwoosh—
"You should pay for trying to touch what’s mine."
The flames that had died down after slicing through the breath surged up again.
Maybe that’s how the saying “never count out a fire that’s gone out” came to be.
Well, obviously not, but still.
The shadow, which had already been seizing up in a frenzy, completely lost it the moment it saw me raise my sword aura.
-Graaaaasiiiiiid!!!
The shadow abandoned its breath, its strongest weapon, and went on a full-body charge.
"Dayun."
"Y-Yes!"
She understood instantly just from hearing her name, and took off at once.
Her instincts really were something else.
"-Oh, right, you can call me Dayun for now!"
"...Is that important?"
She could still say something like that while running for her life.
Clearly, she’d gotten a lot bolder than before.
Enough side thoughts.
Now it was time to deal with that fake lizard barreling toward me.
It was smaller than the dimensional beast in the shape of a wolf that I’d fought recently.
But the power radiating from it was about the same, if not greater.
It was not an opponent I could afford to underestimate.
If it simply bulldozed over me with its massive body, without any special technique at all, I’d turn into a flat strip of jerky.
But—
"Then I just won’t get crushed."
I hadn’t lived a life so soft that I’d be done in by some lizard that had lost its mind and charged at me.
The tip of my sword drew a gentle arc.
Against that enormous body, the curve I carved seemed pitifully small.
And yet my sword still did not stop.
From a point to a curve.
From a curve to a semicircle.
And finally, the ring of flame came to a standstill.
It was a technique a little too demanding for me alone, but if I borrowed Grasid’s power...
"I can do this too."
Kanaria Style - Wind Cutter
The shadow’s body was trapped inside the circular ring of flame.
A vast body contained within a tiny ring.
Then the sword, which had been still, cut across the circle at an angle.
Shhhaaaak!
A colossal sword wound was carved across the shadow’s body.
-...! GRAAAAHHHHH!
The shadow twisted, screaming in agony.
"...Tch."
One strike wasn’t enough.
-W-What did you do?!
Still, the damage had clearly gone through.
The light in the bastard’s eyes, which had rolled wildly white, returned to normal.
They say a beating is the best cure for madness, and one hit seemed to have brought it back to its senses.
"Nothing special."
I’d just stuffed the space the bastard occupied inside the ring I drew with my sword and cut through space itself.
Once you knew how it worked, it was a pretty simple trick.
If I were a little stronger, I wouldn’t even need to draw the ring at all.
-...No matter how many times I see it, your talent is absurd.
"Thanks for the flattery."
-Impossible...! How can a human possess such power...! Th-That’s right! Grasid, it’s your doing! You cowardly bastard!
I shrugged.
Well, it wasn’t exactly wrong, so I had nothing to say.
Without Grasid’s help, there was no way I could’ve pulled that off so easily.
"But, you know,"
I spoke to the shadow with a crooked smile.
"Do you really need to feel wronged?"
What matters in a fight is composure.
As a rule, it’s easier to deal with a creature driven purely by instinct than one that still has reason intact.
"If you were stronger, none of this would’ve happened. In the end, you lost because you were weaker than Grasid."
-...What?
"And now you’re calling me cowardly after losing..."
Ha-ha.
I didn’t bother holding back the laughter slipping out of me.
"How ugly."
There was nothing better than provocation if I wanted to make it lose its reason.
────────!
The instant I finished speaking, the shadow lunged.
The sliver of rationality that had briefly returned to its eyes vanished without a trace.
Talk about easy. A few words and it was charging at me in a frenzy.
I think I’d have fallen for that too.
Then you’re just pathetic too.
What, was it supposed to be impressive that a dragon fell for a taunt like this?
The huge body, bigger than most buildings, was charging straight at me, but I didn’t feel scared at all.
A wounded lizard’s last struggle wasn’t exactly threatening.
If it had been smart, it would’ve at least stopped to recover from its injuries before rushing in.
"Stupid to the end."
The sword in my hand swelled in size.
An inch, then two, then three.
The flames bloated in an instant, until at last they became a gigantic blade that seemed to reach the sky itself.
The shadow, seeing a sword far larger than itself, regained the reason numbed by rage and froze.
But if it wanted to run, it should’ve done that a long time ago.
"Well then, goodbye."
The giant blade fell toward it.
And then—
Red flames swallowed the world.
When the inferno that seemed as though it would burn forever finally began to die out, there was nothing left where the shadow had been.
* * *
"...Haah."
I’d pushed myself a little too hard.
As I released Grasid’s blessing, I slowly slumped down where I stood.
If he’d been awake, he would’ve started pestering me again for sure, but the fact that he was silent now only meant my condition really was that bad.
Or maybe it wasn’t that he was silent, but that I was in no shape to hear him.
My body, driven hard by dragon mana, hurt like it was about to tear apart.
"Ugh..."
"Kana!"
Dayun’s voice rushed into my ear while I huddled up and tried to endure the pain.
She must have run over the moment she saw the shadow disappear.
But I was too busy fighting the pain to welcome her properly.
"W-What’s wrong?! Are you okay?!"
"I-I’m... fine— Cough!"
Ugh...
Just as I tried to answer while pushing myself upright, something hot surged up from deep inside me.
Before I could even force it back down, it burst out and stained the ground red.
And with it came the sharp, metallic smell of blood.
"Bl-Blood?!"
...Yeah. I didn’t think saying I was fine would help anymore.
Looking at Dayun’s face, white with panic, I thought that much to myself.