It's Been a While

Leo had seen Lily's power with her own eyes. She had sat through Lily's lectures more than once, and every clash they'd traded during the Mock Siege Battle had taught her something new.

If this is what she's like while weakened...

Just how strong was Lily at full strength? The Mock Siege Battle had its balance adjustments in place, so Leo was certain the real Lily was at least three times stronger than that. No—ten times, or more.

Which was exactly why she couldn't understand it.

Lily wasn't the type to lack ambition. She gave generously to others, but she was no pushover who handed things out for nothing, either. She moved with clear, deliberate purpose—and the World Boss Sgaredo was something she could very well have taken down alone. And even if she couldn't, she only needed to call on a handful of friends like Yena or Vlack.

Instead, Lily had chosen to share the opportunity with everyone.

"Why give it away when you could take it yourself?"

Leo was genuinely curious. Why go the long, hard way around—through the Hatchling?

Lily gave a knowing smile and stepped smoothly closer. Their faces were suddenly only inches apart.

"Wow..."

Leo thought she'd become fairly pretty herself since turning into a Nymph, but Lily was on a completely different plane. How could a person look like that?

"First of all, you've got two things wrong."

"Two things?"

"One. I can't take it down alone."

"...But if it's you, Miss Lily, surely—!"

"By burning everything I have? What would be the point of that?"

Oh.

In that instant, Leo grasped Lily's true intent.

Yes, Lily possessed enough power to slay the mighty dragon atop that snowy peak. A World Boss was supposed to be a group endeavor, but if you had the strength for it, there was nothing stopping you from soloing it.

But the entire continent was currently bracing for war. At a time when the strength of a single user—of a single knight—could tip the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scales, laying bare one's full power would have been madness. No matter how much she showed off while streaming.

"And two. Why do you think I'm raising Sgaredo in the first place?"

At Lily's words, Sgaredo's head shot up. Those round little eyes and that chubby face still made Leo want to melt from sheer cuteness, but she held herself together and answered.

"Uh... to stop that thing that goes off in 60 days? There's about a month left now, right?"

"That's part of it."

"...Part of it?"

So there was something more?

Come to think of it, it had been a little odd.

Rescuing a Hatchling and raising it wasn't strange in itself. Keeping a dragon as a pet boosted your combat strength and vastly expanded your mobility. Ask any ranker—aside from the hidden class Dragon Knight, almost nobody raised dragons.

But the reason for the soul synchronization was murkier. It was supposed to be a contingency against the disaster of Despair Frigid Cold erupting, yet Leo couldn't imagine Sgaredo—Hatchling or not—being killed even if sixty days passed.

"Uuu?"

Lily was far too fond of the little thing for it to be mere insurance. And so long as it was certain that Lily plus a few top rankers could clear the boss, there was no reason to invest so much time and effort preparing a backup plan at all.

...She has another purpose, doesn't she?

She does.

Lily Elbrit moves with clear, unwavering purpose. But it isn't simply the purpose of an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠otherworlder.

She is special. Something akin to you and the Sword God—no, something far greater—lies within her.

One day, the time will come when you understand what I mean.

That was what the Duke had said, without a doubt. And Leo could feel it now, faintly, at the edges of her mind.

The scene she'd witnessed in the Condensation Stone. An empire of gold. Yet an academy somewhere subtly, uncannily different from the Imperium. Standing before a sea of students, lecturing—someone clothed in purest white...

That's your homework. If you figure it out, you'll understand on your own. I won't need to tell you.

"...Something's off about her."

"Hm?"

"Nothing!"

Was she just imagining it? Somehow, the Lily standing before her now didn't feel like a user at all.

The Empire's participation in the raid was all but confirmed. Complaints and worries flew back and forth, but nothing changed. People simply had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no choice but to believe—believe the Empire's promise that it would not attack after the raid concluded.

Of course, there would be nothing strange about the Empire attacking again once the raid was over and its forces had gone home. All the Empire had said was that the troops committed to the raid would not be used for war. It had never said a word about what came after.

For all anyone knew, rather than Thalikal with its swollen armies, the Empire might strike some other kingdom whose forces had thinned. In fact, a few kingdoms had already begun pulling their troops back to defend their own borders.

A day passed. And then came the long-awaited day of the raid.

I climbed the Snowy Mountain early, Sgaredo with me. News that the raid was happening today had spread across the whole continent and the internet, and the mountain was already crawling with people. I'd told them clearly to wait just a little longer, but the crowds kept coming regardless. Those who lacked the qualifications froze solid or died where they stood, yet still they climbed.

"Whoa..."

The closer we drew to Sgaredo's resting place at the summit, the more the Hatchling's body began to tremble in my arms. Not from nerves, and not from fear.

Resonance.

The delicate work of housing two consciousnesses in a single body. Placing more than one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soul in one vessel and keeping it intact was all but impossible. Multiple personalities meant multiple minds, yes—but not multiple souls. The soul that exists is one.

When there were two, the struggle for control of the body began, and everything that made up the flesh started to crumble, bit by bit.

But one of these souls had lost its consciousness entirely to the Demon King's fragment and lay in dormant slumber. And the other was an incomplete soul, unplanned from the moment of its birth. Precisely because both were incomplete, the two could share the same body.

As we approached the summit, the great Sgaredo scattered the howling blizzard and came toward me.

"Uu!"

And standing before it—another Sgaredo. When two Frost Dragons faced each other, something extraordinary happened.

"Ngh!"

A colossal storm of mana erupted outward, centered on the two dragons. Even I lost my footing and was pushed back a step. At the heart of a tempest so vast it didn't just blanket the mountain but tore it apart, two beings alone stood unharmed, facing one another.

It wasn't only the power of the Frost Dragon.

The Deep Frost.

The Fragment of Deep Frost was interfering with the resonance.

KWAGAGAGAGAGA!!

Not a trace of the Demon King's will could be felt. The Demon King was truly dead—or in a state where intervention was impossible. Just as the Hatchling, left alone for so long, had forged its own ego and awakened on its own—

CRACKLE—!

—the Demon King's fragment, too, was simply revealing its power after being abandoned without a master.

A torrent of flashy messages poured down, and with them came a flood of whispers and chat requests aimed at me. What on earth was going on?

─...Lily?

But I focused on the situation at hand instead. Sgaredo, consciousness returned to the Hatchling's body.

It's been a while.

─Ah... aah...

A short greeting. This time, I smiled brightly.

The Hatchling Sgaredo's expression crumpled. Was none of this a dream? Could it be that the cruel Demon King, frozen in eternal time, was showing me a mirage?

...How laughable.

The Demon King regarded even dragons as little more than gnats. If it hated insects, it hated them—it would never waste effort conjuring illusions for a bug. And this was no ordinary demon, but one of the Six Demon Kings.

─Wh... why...?

It seems the time isn't right yet.

You must be tired, no?

At Lily's whisper, Sgaredo's lips pressed firmly shut. Her mind had awakened, but she was still far from her true state—a faint flicker of consciousness in a soul half-asleep. She couldn't make sense of anything that was happening. Only one thing she knew for certain: Lily, the one she had longed so desperately to see, was standing right before her eyes.

That much was certain.

Lily smiled softly.

Rest now.

And Sgaredo closed her eyes in peace.

Sgaredo had awakened successfully. But her soul had slept for thousands of years, and recovery would take time. Barring some unforeseen event, she would likely drift between waking and sleeping for a while yet.

"She fell asleep. Just now, huh?"

That long empty stretch would be filled in her place by the Hatchling—Sre.

For the record, we'd given her a separate name to distinguish her from Sgaredo.

"It's strange. But feels good."

Having merged completely with Sgaredo and finished a measure of her growth, Sre had grown to the size of a giant bear. Her speech was still clumsy, but she could manage it now.

"What feels good, exactly?"

"Body got bigger. Wings got bigger. Cold power inside body."

The growth of her body and wings was Sgaredo's doing; the cold energy came from the Demon King's fragment. Both of her claws now held a fragment embedded in them. She still couldn't wield their authority, but with one in each claw, they would prove quite useful in time.

Sre seemed to remember something, lowering her body and landing before me—a gesture Sgaredo had often made.

"Uuu!"

The moment I climbed onto her back, Sre soared naturally into the sky.