The Dragon's Ally Vanishes
"You've arrived, Lord Anak."
The next morning, when I stepped out of the study, Geil and Duran were waiting for me. The remnants of a campfire a short distance away suggested they had spent the night there.
"You've arrived."
Geil's reluctant greeting carried eyes that had clearly regained much of their original sharpness. The arrogance from yesterday was gone, though a faint trace of hostility still lingered—proof that he was recovering.
"You seem to have spent the night well."
Regardless of my own mood, this was a good sign. A single shock rarely transforms someone's consciousness. If it did, except in the rarest cases, it would simply mean their mind had collapsed rather than achieved any kind of growth or healing.
Besides, I had never sought his respect in the first place. All I needed was for him to recognize that I stood above him and act accordingly. The rest was up to him—finding a fighting style and mindset that suited him.
"Any word from the Dark Temple?"
—Nothing of note yet.
Well, as I'd already said, there was no need to concern ourselves with them. They were nothing more than a minor current born from the chaos after the great war, a misguided choice—or rather, a desperate struggle.
"In that case, I suppose I should tell the two of you."
I had been debating whether to contact them through the communication crystal, but informing them directly didn't seem like a bad idea. According to Lady Elena, their numbers weren't large, but it would be unfortunate if they encountered one of Raiven's clones without knowing what they were dealing with and ended up sacrificed.
I explained that Raiven's clones had returned and that the various nations were already preparing countermeasures. They looked quite surprised, though far calmer than I had expected. Perhaps because they had never faced a Demon Commander-level demon directly, but at least they seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation intellectually.
—Th-then what should we do?
"……?"
For a moment I didn't understand what they meant, but I quickly realized they had misinterpreted my intentions.
"You don't need to do anything. For now, just stay cautious alongside the other summoners. If you see anything like a demon army or similar, report it to me and don't rush in recklessly."
They had assumed I was asking for help, but that wasn't necessary. Once Lord Medrup located the clones, Rowell and I would launch a coordinated assault. Honestly, their assistance wasn't required—Lord Medrup, Rowell, and Bagloros alone would be more than enough, even without me or Aegina.
Especially Lord Medrup and Rowell, who had grown immeasurably stronger after battling the Demon King and Nyx.
"By the way, where were the two of you headed?"
"A village called Rubulma Peretai."
I searched my memory but had never heard of it. It was likely either newly established or hidden deep in the mountains, something we had passed by unaware during the great war.
"Do you know roughly where it is?"
—I heard it's in that mountain range over there.
The range Duran pointed to was fairly close, though it deviated slightly from the direction I needed to go.
"……."
I stared at him in silence. Yesterday's events had curbed his arrogance somewhat, but he still seemed inexperienced.
He clearly had talent. There was no need for me to teach him the basics of summoning, spirit control, or soul synchronization. Whether it was confidence in his swordsmanship or youthful blood still running hot, his body tended to move first in critical moments. Even if I accounted for stylistic differences in how he commanded his summons, his fighting style felt precarious.
Of course, it wasn't my place to interfere. He was Lord Kainaknus's disciple, not anyone else's. Judging by the situation, he hadn't finished his training yet, and the fact that Lord Kainaknus had assigned him a simple perception-improvement mission rather than tracking suggested he was well aware of his disciple's shortcomings.
Once this matter was settled, Lord Kainaknus would likely train him properly. There was no need for someone like me—who had learned half through self-study and somewhat unorthodox methods—to meddle further.
Even so, I couldn't simply let it go. It wasn't mere kindness or concern. A strange sense of kinship, combined with his completely different approach and the lingering arrogance in his eyes, was what stirred me.
I summoned sigils into the air. Both Duran and Geil flinched reflexively at the sight—likely because of yesterday.
But they soon relaxed. What appeared among the sigils were red insects larger than most birds—Fireflies, extremely common monsters. They weren't particularly venomous and, except in rare cases, didn't attack creatures larger than themselves.
They were typically used by beginners practicing control techniques. Early in my travels, I had contracted a large number of them for scouting, but after discovering the more effective Red Eyes, I had left them alone.
Given the time that had passed, most of the contracted ones had been eaten or killed by other monsters, so their numbers had dwindled considerably. Still, this should be sufficient.
I sent them flying in the direction I had originally intended to go. As I'd mentioned, there shouldn't be any of Raiven's clones nearby, but these creatures would confirm that.
—What did you do?
"I sent out scouts. I came here in the first place because there was a possibility of Raiven's clones being in the area."
At the mention of Raiven's clones, Duran's expression hardened, but Geil's eyes still held a flicker of yearning, though less intense than yesterday. Just as expected.
"Well then, shall we continue the conversation we couldn't finish yesterday?"
"What……?"
"Yesterday was about mindset—and that half-baked fighting style of yours."
His face twitched at my words. He didn't show it as openly as yesterday, but his pride was clearly wounded, and I could see his lips twitching as if he wanted to argue. In the end, he pressed his mouth shut. Whether it was due to yesterday's experience or Duran warning him through their contract, I couldn't tell. Watching him, I felt a strange satisfaction, but also an opposing sense of disappointment and displeasure.
Of course, I didn't like that reaction from myself. What exactly was I hoping for? Did I want him to show hostility again so I could break him once more?
"I understand the feeling that it's cowardly to let only your summons fight while you stay out of harm's way. Many people think that way, and to some extent, they're right."
I pushed those feelings aside and continued. It wasn't a new realization that my intentions weren't entirely pure. There was no reason to waver over it. What mattered was that the outcome would benefit him as well—and that something not entirely pure wasn't necessarily entirely bad either.
"However, simply holding a sword and fighting doesn't mean you're fighting together. A summoner is……"
Just as I was about to offer advice that didn't suit me, the communication crystal suddenly lit up.
—Lord Anak. Are you there, Lord Anak?
It was Elena. Her voice sounded somewhat urgent, and the moment she confirmed it was me, she asked for help before I could even respond.
—Lord Anak, could you come here right now?
She didn't know Geil and Duran were with me, and they were curious why she had contacted me. We tried to introduce each other properly out of courtesy, but we were a step too late.
—Lord Kainaknus has gone missing. He was attacked during our communication yesterday, and we haven't heard from him since……
"Master was attacked?!"
Geil's shout was thick with shock.
—Geil?
She was surprised by his presence as well. If it had simply been a matter of order, that would be one thing, but if she had contacted me for a different reason than Geil, I could imagine how flustered she must be.
"Lady Elena, where are you? Why didn't you tell me?! More importantly, right now I should……!"
He snatched the crystal from me as if stealing it and raised his voice.
—Wait, Geil. Why are you with Lord Anak?
Her own confusion came through clearly from the other side. I wondered if half-elves were naturally this emotional and easily agitated. I had only met pure elves twice and only one half-elf—Elena herself—but elves tended to be intellectual and skilled at hiding their emotions.
Yet she didn't seem accustomed to it at all. I stepped toward Geil again and took the crystal back from his hand. There was no way a proper conversation could happen between two people who were both flustered and agitated.
"…What exactly do you mean by Lord Kainaknus going missing?"
—Last night, while I was in contact with Lord Kainaknus, he was attacked. He said he would contact me later and ended the call. I thought he would reach out soon, so I waited.
A sense of foreboding passed through my mind. With the great war over, it was hard to imagine the Dragon's Ally, Lord Kainaknus, being defeated. But I knew she wouldn't have contacted me without good reason.
"…And he never contacted you."
—We couldn't reach him no matter how many times we tried. So Cliven and I, being relatively close, went to the last place Lord Kainaknus was supposed to be, but all we found were traces of battle and teleportation magic. Nothing else.
"…What about those traces?"
My mind was in turmoil. Before the great war, the tales of the Dragon's Ally Kainaknus had been among the most famous stories. His numerous summons, his historic contract with a dragon, and the fact that he himself could transform into a dragon—his stories had captivated me ever since I discovered I possessed summoning talent.
If even Lord Kainaknus had been defeated, his opponent couldn't have been ordinary bandits or mere Dark Temple imitators.
"Was it traces of fighting multiple magical beasts or a giant monster?"
If Lord Kainaknus had encountered multiple Raiven clones, even he couldn't have guaranteed his survival.
—No. It wasn't that. It was traces of fighting a powerful mage or summoner. Aside from Lord Kainaknus's own traces, there are traces of death energy from undead, demonic energy, and multiple different mana systems all present at once.
"……!"
Relief mixed with bewilderment and confusion struck me all at once. If it wasn't Raiven's clones who had completely changed their fighting style or nature, such traces shouldn't have remained.
"Then, could it be……?"
"Did Master fall to the Dark Temple bastards?!"
—……
I couldn't bring myself to believe the agreement hidden in her silence.
It made no sense. How could those who merely imitated Dark Priests have defeated the Dragon's Ally, one of the greatest summoners of this era? It was something I couldn't believe—and something that shouldn't have been possible.
"Where are you?"