Natural Disaster (3)
Kim Rian felt a good deal of surprise inside, but one had to listen to people all the way to the end before understanding anything.
He stared at her calmly.
Audria’s gaze was fixed downward, unable to meet his directly.
Was she embarrassed?
If Her Highness were to confess her feelings… what would I say?
Throughout the time he had regarded Audria only as his master, Rian’s mind was in chaos.
I can’t refuse her. I like Her Highness a lot…
In the short time before Audria’s next words arrived, Rian’s mouth felt as dry as if scorched.
“You must feel lonely too, so if you’re lonely…”
But right then.
While Rian was lost in gazing only at Audria’s lips, Audria suddenly sensed a sinister aura.
Something was hurtling toward them at high speed.
A crease formed between her brows.
This can only be him. How did he reach here…?
When Audria remained silent for a long time, Rian shook his arm to get her attention.
“Please say it already. What were you about to say?”
Audria turned to him with a grave expression.
The quiver in her eyes had vanished entirely.
Her heart shattered as she forced the words out.
“Since there are no human women here, you may leave. You’re already of an age to marry.”
“Eh…?”
Rian felt as though he had been struck by a hammer.
It was completely unexpected.
“W-what does that mean? Did you forget our promise?”
“What promise?”
Audria spoke coldly and rose from her seat.
“I’ve heard humans are extremely calculating and ruthless creatures. I thought well of you, yet secretly I never fully trusted you. I believed you would disappoint me one day, so I planned to send you away before that came.”
Her tone grew even colder.
“Now is the time. I will take you to the cliff and you must go.”
“Your Highness, what are you saying all of a sudden!”
It was a bolt from the blue.
“Why are you doing this to me!”
“You’re no longer needed.”
“…?!”
Rian stood there in a stunned daze, then suddenly began laughing like a madman. He shook his hips in mockery and said, “I’m not going~ I’ll live here forever~”
“What?”
Audria exploded with anger.
“If you don’t want to be punished, get ready to leave! We have no time!”
“Why do we have no time? It seems you’re hiding something.”
Rian was sharp-witted. In the four years he had learned far beyond what could make Audria sigh in admiration.
“Every night you used to look toward that distant castle and say you wanted to leave!”
Rian shook his head vigorously.
“It’s been a long time since I looked. This is my home, and the one I love most in this world lives here. Where would I go?”
These words moved Audria deeply.
Yet she could not show it.
“Idiot! Leave quickly!”
“I said I’m not leaving.”
When Audria reached out to grab him, Rian dodged swiftly.
He taunted her and ran toward the hut.
“I’m never leaving! This is my home—why would I leave!”
Audria cast a spell on her legs and chased him with a rapid stride, but Rian moved the same way, dodging her hand like a ghost.
“You really—”
Audria gave up and unleashed even greater power.
Her right arm swelled massively, instantly transforming into a massive dragon’s arm covered in white scales.
With that enormous limb she easily seized Rian.
Trapped in her hand, Rian’s face fell.
“This is cheating.”
“You’ll have to put up with a little anger!”
Rian had wasted precious time sparring with her. In her haste, Audria headed to the most secluded corner of the farm.
The trench Rian had dug when he first arrived in this other world.
She judged it the safest place.
Audria stuffed Rian inside, covered the hole with branches, and cast a spell.
The branches covering the trench grew impossibly heavy—far beyond Rian’s strength to move.
“The Demon King’s army is coming, isn’t it? That’s why you’re doing this! Let me out! We’ll fight together! Humans are strong like dragons!”
“Humans are weak.”
That was the end.
Audria suppressed her sorrow and erased his voice with magic.
Outside the trench, Rian’s voice could not be heard at all.
“We cannot defeat him. Even if you live.”
Audria sensed her own death.
She had already known she could never defeat the Demon King alone.
Sometime later, fierce winds howled around the spot where Audria stood.
Strong gusts uprooted crops from all directions and sent them flying.
Audria stood firm, eyes blazing with resolve as she looked upward.
There, a sharp-eared Demon King waited.
“That face… I remember it. You finally came.”
The Demon King spoke leisurely as he descended to the ground.
His feet touched the earth, and a wave of death energy spread outward, withering every living thing within a two-meter radius.
“Because I couldn’t forget that little dragon I was with.”
The Demon King smiled wickedly.
“I could have eaten that little one and grown stronger, but I regret not doing so. That’s why I came here, Audria.”
Overwhelming pressure. Fear. Chill.
Everything the Demon King radiated pierced Audria’s heart sharply and crushed her.
She was so terrified she barely dared speak aloud.
Audria silently transformed into a dragon, as if urging him to attack.
“You dare challenge me?”
The Demon King sneered.
“How adorable.”
Then he plunged his hand deep into his own throat.
The hand emerged moments later, pulling out a massive dragon skull.
He tossed it before Audria’s feet.
“Whose bones are these?”
The Demon King laughed.
“Raquios. I finished him before coming here. I enjoyed eating my fill.”
***
That was the beginning.
Instant terror surged in Audria. She shot straight up into the sky.
Mouth wide open, she unleashed a torrent of freezing breath toward the Demon King standing on the ground.
The Demon King’s smile vanished.
“A waste of time.”
Audria knew it too.
His words were no empty boast.
She had experienced it once before and felt it keenly.
“Let me out! Please let me out! Hey! Are there any Demon King soldiers here? I’m here! I’m here!”
Meanwhile, trapped inside the trench, Rian pounded on the covering branches, but they did not budge.
He only hurt his own hands.
With a frustrated sigh he said, “There must be something if I can hear voices outside. I have to get out, but I’m going crazy!”
When the Demon King waved his hand in the air, the freezing breath scattered into nothingness.
Audria tried again, but it was futile.
The breath never touched him.
Instead, the Demon King’s counter-magic chased Audria relentlessly.
Bang!
Crash!
The Demon King stood motionless at the exact spot.
He merely poured spells from above while she ran.
“Beautiful. Now that I look closely, you’re a truly exquisite dragon. It would be a shame to kill one like you.”
Audria grew weaker by the moment.
Every time the Demon King struck her she screamed and crashed to the ground.
Even if she dodged the attack, it still hurt as if she had been hit.
Missiles damaged crops she and Rian had nurtured for years, reducing them to dust.
No! My sanctuary! My life with Rian! My parents’ grave! They mustn’t be ruined…!
Audria fought on despite the despair.
Yet the Demon King was dozens of times stronger than she.
“Kyaa!”
Finally, after repeated magical bombardment, Audria plummeted to the earth.
With no strength left to transform, she reverted to her horned human form and rolled across the ground.
“Eh?”
From inside the trench, Rian suddenly felt something change.
When he nudged the branches aside, they moved easily now.
Her Highness’s ancient magic has weakened. That means…!
Rian hurried out of the trench with a heavy heart.
***
The Demon King, withering everything around him, approached Audria step by step.
“Listen, Audria. I’ve changed my mind.”
Audria lay on the ground, chin held high defiantly.
Her once glossy black hair was tangled, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
“Even if I die, I will make sure you are killed!”
“You still have the pride of a young dragon. But when you want to act cowardly, you may. There are many who beg for their lives and survive.”
The Demon King stopped right in front of her.
“While fighting, I found I like you. I am a merciful lord. If you swear to become my wife, I will spare your life. Bear a strong offspring possessing great genes.”