Hasten as the Law Commands
…Companions, huh.
"Did you guys eat something weird?"
This is so cringy I could die.
"What the hell, man?"
"I go out of my way to say something nice…"
Well, still.
"Cut the crap and let's figure out how we're getting out of here alive."
It didn't feel all that bad, honestly.
"Are you finished talking?"
The situation hadn't changed much from a moment ago.
And yet, for some reason, it no longer felt hopeless.
He's a good-natured fellow, even if his pranks sometimes go too far. He won't do anything that would harm you.
I recalled the words of the old orc I'd met before—Dahaka, Apostle of the god Aldebaran.
For the sake of the companions who had already risked their lives for me more times than I could count…
Dana.
For the first time, I decided to trust someone else's words and throw myself into it.
Yeah.
Dana had said, clearly, that we could never win as we were now.
As if it might be possible if it weren't for now.
If I accept you again… can we win?
Watching every kind of corpse and poison surge up from empty air once more, I asked the Apostle of a god who lived inside me.
No. If you don't accept all of me, we can't win.
The answer that came back was a denial.
But we can drive him off, right here and now.
We might not be able to defeat him.
But we wouldn't lose either.
Hearing that, I…
Then one more thing.
To settle my heart.
Who's left at the end?
Finally, soaring up between the grasping hands of pouring corpses and the lightning that pierced them, I asked.
If I accepted everything this body was… would what remained at the end be Dana, or me?
That…
A hesitant voice.
But it wasn't the hesitation of someone whose scheme had been found out.
Sorry. Honestly, I don't know. I never expected to wake up in the first place.
Then Dana apologized to me in a clear, upright voice.
But I swear it on the name of my father, the god Vega.
Flames rose as if to wrap around my body as I climbed into the sky.
What I felt from them was…
Now that I've woken like this, I will exist only for you, until the very end.
A firm resolve.
"All right."
And so.
In the rain that poured down like pillars, I dodged the grasping hands of the corpses that tried to seize me and soared high into the sky.
Looking down at Huey and Lucy, already covered in wounds, gritting their teeth as they fought below…
Quietly.
Click.
I began to fit together the misaligned gears that sat deep in my soul.
To accept what I had kept rejecting until now.
Yeah. That's enough.
If I took in too much at once, I might change, she whispered gently.
And so.
Whoosh.
In the midst of the rising flames, I slowly chewed over the knowledge and experience flowing into my mind.
How to wield the power of Vega, god of fire and life, as his Apostle.
Now, show them.
I gathered the surging red flames around me—the divine power of the god Vega—then beat my wings hard and spread it outward.
The power of our father, the god Vega!
Holy Art. Domain Declaration.
Fwoosh—!
The spreading flames carved themselves into the earth and the sky.
The inscribed divine power purified the corpses that had filled every direction, turning them to ash.
"…I was trying to be generous."
Immediately after, a killing intent so thick it felt like a slimy swamp wrapping around my entire body washed over me.
"What, did that one hit put you in a bad mood?"
But it was nowhere near enough to frighten me. I beat my wings to slow my fall, landed beside my companions, and…
"I'm done here."
The holy art a moment ago had drained everything—divine power, stamina, even mana.
Forcing my trembling body upright as if it might collapse any second, I told Huey and Lucy so the necromancer couldn't hear.
As long as the domain held, every last one of his corpses would be purified and useless to him.
"…The Domain of Fire."
Right after, I met the eyes of the necromancer as he muttered in a flat voice.
Only then did I feel like I was seeing the bastard's true face for the first time.
"How dare you use that technique again in front of me—the one that wouldn't even cool my rage if I tore you apart—!"
Rage.
And—panic.
Seeing the guy who'd been toying with us like playthings until a moment ago look like that was deeply satisfying.
"Land one for me."
Normally I would never have asked anyone to do something in my place.
But today, just this once, it was a special service.
"I was going to anyway."
"Seeing him flustered is so refreshing."
Huey stepped in front of the necromancer, who was glaring at me with a mix of panic and fury, while Lucy charged forward gripping her coffin and chains, which for some reason were pouring out a deep blue-black aura.
Watching them, I was about to trust Huey and Lucy and catch my breath for a moment when—
Bubble.
In the slowly flowing time, I saw it.
The thing that rose and bubbled behind Huey's back.
That black-shining, pus-like green orb that had melted the entire forest around us earlier.
A beat too late, Huey pulled out a talisman and spun around, but…
I figured it was probably hopeless.
And so.
By the time I came to my senses…
"…Ren?"
Somehow I had already thrown myself forward and wrapped around Huey.
Pfft! Puh-pfft—!
Probably. Yeah.
If we were both going to get hit anyway, saving Huey at least gave us better odds. That was the calculation, I thought, as the burning pain in my back dragged me under.
The moment I noticed the pus-like thing that had suddenly appeared behind me and tried to react—
Somehow, I had already been shoved aside by Ren.
"…Ren?"
I locked eyes with Ren for only a second as she spread her wings wide as if to protect me.
Puh-whack!
Something green burst from the boiling pus and swallowed the surroundings.
Sizzle…
I didn't even have time to care about the melting scenery around us again.
"Ren!"
I shouted at the burn marks revealed through her clothes that had melted away in an instant.
"Stay with me! Ren!"
I couldn't understand it.
Why the hell had Ren protected me?
I was still holding her, staring blankly at her back, when—
"Master! Ren!"
Lucy's voice pulled me out of my daze. I took in the landscape that still glowed faintly even under the pouring rain, then nodded toward Lucy to say I was all right.
"Where do you think you're looking?"
"Kh—!"
Afraid Ren would get hurt worse, I carefully lifted her and laid her down a short distance away.
Bang! Kwaaang—!
"…Grit."
I clenched my teeth as I watched Lucy swing the coffin thick with deep blue-black energy that felt exactly like the divine power of the god Deneb I'd once seen through Frey.
"Miri… Bari…"
I was angry.
At the enemy in front of me who had reduced my precious friends to this state.
"Ren…"
I was angry.
At you, who still couldn't trust me and threw your own body forward.
"…I…"
I was angry.
At myself, who had never been able to stand beside you and had always only been the one being protected.
Strip away your emotions.
Master had said that if I wanted to remain human, I had to strip away my emotions.
Otherwise I would eventually become a dragon.
I had wanted to remain human.
Because I wanted to return to my ordinary original world—to home.
That, too, had been greed.
That, too, had been desire.
I realized it far too late.
"…It never meant anything from the start."
I placed my left hand over my chest, which had been stirring for a while now, and threw the talisman I'd been gripping in my right hand onto the ground.
Crack.
As if that were the correct answer, I moved a dragon's power stronger than anything I had ever felt before.
Shiiing.
With my left hand I drew the sword at my waist.
"Haaaah—!"
The black coffin swung with Lucy's battle cry slammed into the green barrier the necromancer had created.
Kuuung— crunch!
Deep blue-black energy spread and literally crushed the green barrier. Then the deep blue-black divine power surging from the chains Lucy held concentrated into the coffin—
Kwaaaang—!
A pillar of light exploded upward with a roar.
Watching it, I raised the sword I had drawn straight up, then swept my index and middle fingers along the blade.
Immediately after—
Kra-koom!
Lightning crashed down at my will and coiled around me.
Crack… crackle-crackle!
Wrapping the lightning that writhed like a whip around myself, I raised the hand holding the sword high overhead and swung.
As if to unleash the rage filling my chest.
"Thunder Lord's Whip!"
A whip of lightning that split the deep blue-black pillar of light and coiled around the enemy.
As I yanked the sword back as if to sever the lightning wrapped around Elaha's body, I shouted:
"Destroy this foul thing that dares desecrate the dead!"
I would no longer hesitate.
I would become someone who could stand beside you.
"Hasten as the Law Commands—!!"
⟨ This is the mantra that carries my resolve to move forward. ⟩
Kuu-kwaaaaang—!!
With a roar, the lightning exploded.
I raised one hand to block the dirt and dust from the blast so huge it briefly stopped even the pouring rain, when—
"Master—! If you're going to use something like that, please warn me first—!"
Lucy's voice came flying past, as if she hadn't managed to dodge in time, and—
"…Ugh."
From behind me came Ren's pained groan.
"…Ugh."
The roar barely brought me back to consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I saw Huey standing quietly in front of me, taking the aftershock of the explosion.
"Ren. You okay?"
Huey turned toward me with a worried look.
"Y-yeah…"
But his eyes were strange.
"But you… your eyes…"
Instead of his usual black irises, I saw bright yellow ones with vertical pupils like a snake's. Startled, I asked what was going on.
"…It's nothing."
Hearing me, Huey scratched his head with an awkward expression and looked away.
For now, the necromancer's presence from a moment ago had already vanished without a trace.
"Hey, don't tell me…"
Inside the domain that was slowly fading as its power ran out, I forced my trembling body upright and spoke to Huey.
"It's fine. The seal just loosened a little."
It hadn't fully come undone, so once this was over we could just reinforce it again, he said with a forced smile. Looking at the fangs peeking from between his lips…
"…Tsk."
I clicked my tongue in annoyance, then—
Splat!
"Ah, whatever."
"Hey, the mud… Sigh. Do what you want."
Under the pouring rain, I gave up on getting up in my languid state and just flopped down as I was.
My back still stung a little, but the cool mud actually felt comfortable.
Rumble.
Wait a second.
"…Hey."
"Hm?"
"Why are those still there?"
I struggled to lift my wings, heavy with rainwater, and pointed at the two dragon corpses that were still thrashing about and calling down lightning, even if their force had weakened.
"Master! Ren!"
And Lucy's voice calling us with what sounded like urgency.
"Behind you! Look behind you!"
She must have been thrown quite far. Lucy was running toward us with a frantic expression, pointing somewhere.
The moment Huey and I started to turn our heads—
"I never expected even a doll to take this much punishment."
An old man's voice right up close.
…It was the necromancer.
"How…!"
Huey spun around in a panic and leveled his sword.
Even though close combat wasn't his specialty, he still tried to protect me. At that sight—
"It's fine."
I smirked and calmed him down.
Of course I did.
"But—!"
Even though he was right in front of us, I couldn't feel any energy or presence from the necromancer at all right now.
"That's an illusion."
Only then did Lucy, who had been charging as if ready to swing her coffin, notice something was off and force her jumping body back down.
Splash!
"Ah, damn."
"Ah, my apologies."
Thanks to that, I nearly got buried under the mud kicked up by Lucy's feet.
"Keh-heh. Truly excellent."
And the necromancer's illusion chuckled as if he could see us clearly.
"A reward for your hard work. This time, I shall specially withdraw."
As if he had already achieved whatever goal had brought him here.
The moment the necromancer's illusion looked toward the two dragon corpses still thrashing far away—
"…Huh?"
"They… disappeared."
As if even their thrashing a second ago had been an illusion, the shadows of the two dragons vanished in an instant.
"Next time, I shall greet you in person."
With those final words and an ominous laugh, the necromancer's illusion vanished.
And then.
"Hah. I really hate the rain."
Looking up at the sky that was gradually clearing, I let go of every last bit of remaining tension and closed my eyes.
And so.
"…You did well. Ren, Lucy."
"Well done, both of you."
"Yeah. You two worked hard too."
Even though we had failed in our goal of stopping the two dragons…
We decided to be satisfied, for now, with the fact that we had survived.