Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Black Dragon
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“Lady Elysia.”
Aurelion said quietly.
“I thought you were an adult who had already graduated from the Imperial Academy, but that response just now sounded like the whining of a childish little girl.”
There was no anger or bewilderment in his gaze.
Instead, it held only the contemplative observation of a god trying to comprehend the incomprehensible.
An absolute wall that no human could ever cross.
Divinity.
And for her to declare that she would stand against even a high dragon like himself—classified among the upper ranks—simply because he wasn't the man she loved.
A purely emotional choice, devoid of any logic or justification.
To Aurelion, it was both immature and quintessentially human.
Even the founding hero, who had reached transcendent power by human standards, had recognized his own station upon facing him, lowered his sword, and knelt.
Yet this duke's daughter refused to yield for such a trivial reason.
Perhaps that was why.
Aurelion fell silent for a moment, then nodded to himself.
'I see. This too is a trait unique to the beings of the lower realms.'
Because they are imperfect, they strive, obsess, love, and make foolish choices.
Because they are not complete from birth, they struggle to the very end.
That was humanity's weakness—and its strength.
“However.”
Aurelion's voice dropped a tone.
“That strength holds no meaning before a god.”
He no longer tried to persuade her. Nor did he explain further.
The conclusion had already been reached.
“In that case, I'll have no choice but to drag you away by force.”
With those words, the morning sun rose in the eastern sky.
As its light began to bathe the world, Aurelion slowly stepped toward Elysia.
And in the next instant.
His form vanished completely from her sight.
Only the air trembled belatedly.
The movement of a god just before the battle began.
'Even so, she's about to carry a child soon. If possible, it's best not to inflict unnecessary wounds.'
Even when she had charged at him boldly from the ice boundary earlier, blocking her with one hand had merely been a light probe to gauge the vessel.
He could have blocked all her strikes with a single finger.
But showing the full extent of their difference from the start would prevent drawing out the limits of her power.
So he had matched her 'just enough' at the time.
But now was different.
There was no reason to hold back any longer, nor any need to drag things out.
Knock her out in an instant by striking from behind.
Then kill the cat beastkin maid and human butler who came with her as punishment for breaking her promise.
And toss their corpses before Elysia's eyes once she awakens.
To utterly shatter any will to flee, resist, or even choose.
That would be sufficient.
And so, in a sensation where the world seemed frozen, Aurelion leisurely passed by Elysia's side.
Time slowed. The air grew still. Everything fell within his calculations.
But then.
Thud.
The moment his footstep echoed ever so faintly.
Swish.
Something unbelievable happened.
“...?”
In the slowed time, in that gap perceivable only by a god, Elysia's body twitched momentarily.
Then, her eyes slowly turned, locking precisely onto Aurelion.
“...Huh?”
It was neither reflex nor coincidence.
She had clearly 'seen' him.
In that instant, static interfered with Aurelion's thoughts for the first time.
'How can she perceive this speed?'
The fact that a human had stepped into a god's time.
That realization shook Aurelion's eyes for the first time.
The battle had not yet begun.
But.
The god's certainty had already begun to crack.
Time resumed its flow.
Slash—!
Elysia didn't hesitate.
She swung the holy sword in her hand with all her might, unleashing a straight silver slash.
The air tore apart, and a dazzling trajectory cleaved through space, hurtling toward Aurelion in an instant.
'The same level as before.'
So Aurelion judged.
He had been slightly surprised moments ago, but she was still just human.
Block it lightly as before, then strike her neck.
That would end it.
After all, humans were lower-realm beings who could do nothing without relying on tools.
Creatures forced to borrow external power due to their own inadequacy.
Proof of their inherent incompleteness.
Thus, he still didn't consider for a moment that this fight could escape his domain.
Extend his hand, deflect with one arm, then strike the neck.
That was the plan.
But—
A chill ran down his spine.
In that moment, his divinely honed senses as a high dragon screamed in his mind.
Wrong.
This choice is dangerous.
He didn't know why. No logic, no calculation.
Only instinctual warning.
For the first time, Aurelion retreated before a human's attack.
And then.
Riiip!!
The silver slash grazed his fingertips and passed by.
And its trajectory didn't stop.
It soared past Elysia, up to the skies above the dragon's nest, slicing through the heavens.
The absolute barrier dividing outside from inside.
The heavenly ward guarding the dragon's domain.
A 'crack' had formed in that sky, as if a line had been drawn across it.
Rend—
Accompanied by the sound of space tearing.
“......”
Aurelion's eyes widened fully for the first time.
“The barrier... I created?”
It had been severed.
No room for doubt.
Not cracked, not shaken.
Simply sliced.
By a human sword, no less.
That fact halted Aurelion's thoughts momentarily.
“How... in the world did you do that?”
Clear agitation laced his voice.
“What do you mean?”
“That power. A strength no human could possibly explain.”
His gaze pierced straight through Elysia.
“Elysia von Valenhardt. You have now surpassed the founding hero.”
This was no praise.
“As time passes, the hero's lineage fades, and the bloodline weakens. For the Valenhardt Family to produce someone who exceeds even the founder...”
Aurelion drew a low breath.
“...means not a hero was born, but a 'monster.'”
The first human.
A being with power to confront even a high dragon head-on.
That reality scrambled Aurelion's thoughts.
Did this make sense?
Even if humans developed the fastest among lower-realm races, over tens of thousands of years, humans who could stand toe-to-toe with dragons—let alone gods—were rare enough to count on one hand.
Yet this level of power now?
And his gaze naturally shifted to the sword in Elysia's hand.
Balmung.
“That sword... is it truly yours?”
Elysia didn't answer.
But Aurelion already sensed it.
“It's strange. The aura emanating from that sword feels so alien, not like the mana of this world. As if... it came from outside.”
Beyond the mundane.
Outside the world's framework.
“It doesn't feel like a weapon forged by this world's laws.”
A brief silence.
But soon, Aurelion raised his head.
No answer would come in this situation anyway.
So he took a deep breath and reached his conclusion.
Even if a human had touched the realm of gods, he was an upper being revered even among the divinities.
Just as humans had ranks, gods had tiers.
“Very well.”
Aurelion slowly clenched his fist.
“I'll start by breaking that sword.”
With those words, his fist shot out like lightning.
Boom—!!
The divine blow, infused with godly authority, collided precisely with Balmung's flat.
The air exploded, and the shockwave crushed the ground.
“Nngh...!”
“No matter how great the holy sword, a human wielding it is still just human.”
Aurelion's fist came down once more, and again.
“Even the mightiest holy sword means nothing if the vessel holding it is frail.”
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
With each descending fist, the earth quaked.
Space warped, and vibrations spread beyond the ice boundary.
Elysia gripped Balmung with both hands, receiving the blows head-on.
Yet with each block, her body sank deeper into the ground.
Once, twice.
The sword remained unscathed, but the earth beneath her feet had already cratered.
Aurelion was certain.
As expected.
The holy sword's performance was impressive.
But the vessel wielding it was merely human.
Hero's bloodline or awakening—meaningless before a divine being.
As Elysia's upper body sank completely into the earth, Aurelion declared like a final verdict.
“Close your eyes for a moment.”
His fist slowly descended toward the trembling Balmung.
This strike would end it.
However.
Riiiip!!
“...?”
In the next instant, Aurelion's vision forcibly spun.
What was flying through the air in a parabolic arc was himself.
Thud!
Upon crashing into the ground, he reflexively rose.
And only then did he feel it.
The trickle down his mouth.
The wetness soaking his chest, arms, and side.
Blood.
His own blood.
“Wha...?”
A god, wounded by a human.
That single fact upended the world's order.
Aurelion slowly looked up ahead.
There stood—
“Grrrrr...”
A woman emitting a beast's growl.
“Black... Dragon?”
Elysia.
No, no longer a form one could call 'human.'
Behind her back, pitch-black dragon wings unfurled explosively.
Wings vast enough to blot out the sky.
The scales were dark as night, laced with a crimson sheen in their luster.
Atop her head, jet-black horns rose like a crown.
Their shape was all too familiar to Aurelion.
Resembling a high dragon's, yet somehow more savage, more avaricious.
And the sword she held.
Balmung was no longer merely a holy sword.
Dragon-scale patterns emerged along the blade, and from its tip rose black smoke, as if breathing.
Elysia's voice rumbled low.
“Holy Sword Balmung—Release.”
⟨ Mode—Fafnir ⟩
In that moment.
Balmung and her existence fully overlapped.
The Song of the Nibelungs.
The divine monster that granted Siegfried near-immortality.
The dragon of greed that coveted gold and bestowed blessings through blood and curses.
Fafnir.
The being who became legend only after falling to Siegfried.
And now, Fafnir's form had descended upon a human body, fused with the holy sword.
Elysia leveled her sword low, glaring at Aurelion.
No more fleeing, no more enduring.
Simply the eyes of a hunter.
In that instant, Aurelion finally admitted that this fight was no longer 'punishment'—
but 'war.'