Whenever You Wish, Anytime

"Wow... my damage just isn't landing."

"Hurry up! Dump everything you've got, every cooldown!"

"Right? There's just this weird feeling to it, you know? Haven't you watched the broadcast?"

"I haven't."

Seventeen minutes remaining.

Only a handful of people still stood before me now; most were completely absorbed in their attempts. The ones showing real results, as expected, were Leo and Vlack.

Leo had carved off 0.6%, Vlack another 0.2%, and the rest of the rankers had split the remaining 0.1% of the pie among themselves.

One might wonder why the numbers were so pitifully small, but that 0.9% was never really just 0.9% on paper.

In effect, they'd whittled away something like eighty or ninety percent of its health.

Most of the rankers hadn't so much pierced through its damage reduction as they had simply brute-forced their raw damage in — much like Leo had done against her first golem. Under normal circumstances, the extreme cold and its breath would have smothered any real damage, but right now the dragon stood like a scarecrow. With nearly a hundred percent of their full strength available, dealing damage was more than possible.

Well, they are rankers, after all.

Leo and Vlack ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were so absurdly strong as single-digit rankers that it was easy to forget, but everyone gathered here could hold their own. Compared to the exceptional humans of the past, or the mighty beings who'd proudly called themselves superior races — they weren't lacking at all.

If anything, they're better.

"Sevenfold Cleave!!"

Shak-shak-shak-shak-shak!

Seven — no, dozens upon dozens of jade-green arcs shredded the frozen beast apart.

Krahk. Ice shards sheared away with a brittle ring. The Green Hermit's Severing authority was doing its work, and doing it well.

At last, Yena had claimed her 0.1% share.

"Hah! This is absolute hell."

Exhausted, she simply flopped backward into the snow. I walked over to her carefully.

"...Lily?"

"Hard work, isn't it? But it feels rewarding, right?"

"Huh? Well, I... I mean, yeah, I guess so—"

Poof-poof-poof! Yena, buried to the eyes in snow, scrambled upright in a panic. The culprit was Sre, kicking up powder as she bounded after me.

Yena glared at Sre, puffing herself up defiantly.

"Hey!"

"You don't like the snow?"

"I used to like it. It's grown on me in a bad way."

Yena whipped her head away, but Sre, sensing nothing amiss, crept closer and proceeded to roll around in the snow beside her even harder.

She didn't much care for Leo, but for some reason she adored Yena.

"I think Sre likes you, Yena."

"...Hnnngh."

Forced into a staring contest she never asked for, Yena finally brushed the snow off herself and turned back to me.

"Fifteen minutes left. You really think it's possible?"

"Everyone's giving it their all. We've already shaved off 1%, haven't we?"

"Yeah... I know, but a lot of people are already wiped."

Nobody was complaining out loud, but even the finest rankers had limits to their stamina and endurance. Skills, ultimates, everything spent and burned — they were running on fumes. With only a handful of healer and priest rankers left standing, cutting the rest before the timer ran out was impossible.

"Stamina isn't the problem. What matters is the understanding of mana I talked about."

"Hmm... no matter how I think about it, it's hopeless—"

"You never know. If you use it properly, Yena, it might just work."

Spear's Roar.

It consumed enormous focus and stamina, but if she could simply get the technique off, shaving 2% or so was more than within reach.

Yena shook her head with a stricken expression.

"I seriously thought I was going to die. I took painkillers and everything, but they didn't do a thing compared to what you gave me..."

"Mine's a bit special."

"...It's not actually some kind of drug, right?"

"Of course not."

It wasn't a drug.

Though 'Hallucination' magic it most certainly was.

"If you land the killing blow, you might even get Mythic-grade gear. Who knows, maybe a Dragon Heart will drop..."

Gulp.

"Come to think of it, Dragon Hearts sell for an insane price, don't they? I don't really follow the market, but I heard even a regular Dragon Heart goes for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of gold at the auction house..."

But this isn't just any dragon. If it's one that strong...

Whether gear or elixirs, the stat boost would be monstrous...

It might even close the gap with the single-digit rankers...

"...I'll try."

"Good call."

Gritting her teeth, Yena hurled herself at the beast.

And naturally, she failed.

Five minutes. Health down to 1.4%.

Yena had failed, yes — but she'd surprised everyone by grinding out another 0.3% before going down. Honestly, I'd hoped for some dramatic reversal, but what can you do. If sheer effort and willpower were all it took, the Celestials and Demons would never have reigned supreme as the two unbeatable apex races to begin with.

What can't be helped... can't be helped.

Still, it wasn't impossible. Yena had held her form properly and everything; if she'd just had a little more strength, and if one or two more of those 'doors' had opened for her, she could have pulled it off. She'd reached that far on talent alone — but in the end, without the raw power behind it, talent amounts to nothing.

After her, the other rankers took their turns and shaved off another 0.3% — but the end of the timer was now breathing down everyone's necks.

"Hooah..."

"Haa... haa... god, damn it..."

"It's over, isn't it."

Everyone could feel it in their bones. This was a failure.

One thing remained.

"Lily."

"Yes."

"You can end it, can't you?"

Vlack approached, utterly spent. Like Yena, he'd managed another 0.3% — and like Yena, it hadn't been enough. Leo was so exhausted she was leaning on her spirits for support. In this situation, the only one who could turn the tide was me.

But I shook my head.

"Like I said before — I don't have any strength left."

"I see..."

"Honestly, standing here looking this fine is already a miracle. I've been forcing myself to draw on power I don't have; once this is over I'll probably be bedridden for a good three days."

As it had in the past, and as it had again recently — overdrawing my strength takes its toll on both body and soul. The body would recover, thanks to DeoEn's special physiological system and my divinity. The soul does not.

The only reason I was standing upright right now was that I'd used my divinity to force myself into an awakened state. If I exerted myself in this condition, the awakening would shatter and I'd collapse on the spot.

"Then... is there truly no way?"

"......."

I turned my head without a word.

The snow-white hatchling, bathed in my gaze.

Sre.

I knelt and met her eyes, where she crouched low on one knee. Pale lavender-tinted white irises stared steadily back at me. I gently brought my hand to her forehead.

"Sleepy?"

"Just for a moment. A moment is all I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠need."

"Okay."

Sre's eyes slid slowly shut. I closed mine as well and reached for my mana. It flowed down through my fingertips and brushed against Sre's other self.

—...Lily.

I could see it even with my eyes closed. A colossal body beyond all comparison to the form before me. If Sre was a small hill, Sgaredo was a mountain range — as vast as this very snowfield itself.

I need your help.

—Of course. If it is you, my savior.

The surge of feeling from beyond poured through my fingertips, unmistakable. Her emotions were on the verge of waking — and then, for just an instant, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hesitated.

—...But is this right? The power I feel from you is faint, so terribly faint. What in the world has happened...

You don't need to ask.

Just—

Believe that everything is better now. The nightmare is over.

—......

For me. And for you.

—I see.

A rush of wind.

The colossal body took flight.

—If you wish it.

Not only in the mindscape — but in reality too.

—I will be your wings, whenever you wish it.

The King of Frost Dragons soared.

She swept past Vlack, still frozen halfway between standing and kneeling, took in every soul gathered on the field — and then turned her gaze upon her own shell.

The beast that now remained only as a festering remnant of the Demon King.

—How truly repulsive. So this is what the Demons are.

The ancient nemesis of dragons. Their waking nightmare. In the name of experimentation, the Demons had used countless dragons as raw material, and whole dragon lineages had been driven to extinction at their hands.

—Even in such a small body as this...

She had been forced only to watch.

Because stepping forward would have meant dying all the same. Because her vengeance would have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been dismissed as the death of a stray dog.

—Even that much was more than enough.

But not anymore.

Mana beyond anything Sre had ever possessed began to coalesce. Every ripple of mana in the field funneled toward a single point. And then, at last—

Sgaredo's ancient grudge pierced straight through the demon-taint.

.

.

.

.