Nothing at All
‘That loathsome hatchling!’
The fairy thought, trembling.
The black hatchling grinned, baring its fangs.
Behind it loomed a golden-haired dragon, gazing down with glowing blue eyes like a predator.
She was just watching, but to the fairy, one slip of the tongue could mean instant death.
She chewed on curses inwardly but couldn’t spit them out, settling for a bratty glare instead.
[What... is it... you want?]
The fairy, quaking with rage and fear, crossed her arms and stomped her feet in midair.
Rune watched her anxious fidgeting and spoke.
“Kyuu.”
[I need you. There’s a path I have to make.]
The fairy’s eyes went wide.
[Me? A path?]
“Kyuu.”
[Yeah.]
Her venomous face shifted to surprise, then caution.
Then—pfbbt—she whipped her head away.
[Hmph! I don’t believe you.]
She turned boldly, but Rune saw right through her.
‘Peeking back with half-lidded eyes, though.’
If Rune had noticed, Christina certainly had too.
She shifted her blue gaze, pretending otherwise, and spoke.
“What do you want to do, Rune?”
The little fairy flinched but gripped her crossed arms tighter to hold steady.
[Even I... can’t make paths... willy-nilly.]
Half-lidded, she continued.
[No power... Give it?]
She meant she didn’t have enough strength left to create paths freely.
Rune swallowed a laugh inside.
‘Throwing a tantrum for her power back.’
Of course, it was true she had little left.
Deep Night Fairy.
True to her name, she was born from the power of the darkness clan.
Rune had reclaimed it all, leaving her nearly powerless.
“Kyuu kyuu ryu.”
[You want your power back, right?]
Rune’s fishing line dangled now.
The bait on the hook was impossibly sweet.
To a fairy whose life had lost all meaning without power, it was irresistible.
[Of course! Obviously!]
She even glared openly at Rune.
As if he were the thief who stole what was rightfully hers.
Rune thought to himself.
‘Is this really this easy?’
Well, she was a fairy born from the darkness clan’s power, barely lived long.
She’d only absorbed dungeons and sea monsters to survive—nothing impressive.
Rune said.
“Kyuu kyuu kku kka.”
[Giving you power’s no big deal. You know the darkness clan’s power is all mine now.]
Then his expression turned icy.
“Kyuuu...”
[Meaning if I don’t feel like giving it... you’re stuck in this orb forever.]
[!]
The fairy shuddered violently.
Infuriating, but crossing him meant no prize—inner conflict brewed.
Rune softened his face, watching.
“Kyuu kyuu.”
[Of course, I’m willing to help you get power. If you make one promise.]
The pouty-lipped fairy perked up subtly.
[What... promise?]
Rune eyed her like hooked fish, relaxed now.
“Kyuu.”
[Help me. Obey my orders.]
[You’ll control me however you want?]
Her gaze turned to the world’s vilest dragon.
Rune shrugged.
“Kyuuk.”
[If that bothers you, think of it as granting my requests.]
[No way! I hate it!]
Pfft.
Rune couldn’t help chuckling.
Truth was, Rune wasn’t the desperate one here.
“Kyuu... kyuuu.”
[Fine... then back in the orb. Must’ve been comfy.]
[N-no!]
The startled fairy flailed her arms to stop him.
Her eyes quivered; she clasped her tiny white hands in prayer.
[Don’t. Please, not that.]
“……”
Pleading with open palms, she looked pitiful.
‘No wonder. Christina’s magic must’ve been horrific.’
Trapped outside time and space, preserved like a specimen.
Terrifying experience, no doubt.
‘If I’m right, that needle was Christina’s Word of Power.’
He’d never heard the exact words.
But from experience, he could guess its nature.
Rune figured it was her regrets, past, memories, resolve—all knotted into a sorrowful Word of Power.
“Kyuuu.”
[Must’ve been scary, huh.]
The fairy glanced at Christina, then nodded faintly.
She hugged her trembling body and spoke.
[Hated it. Thought I’d shatter... forever.]
She was a spirit.
Tangible, empathetic, but easily swept away by stray thoughts.
So fairies honed their essence for independence.
“Kyuuu.”
[What if I fix what worries you?]
She peeked up.
[Fix? How?]
Rune extended a forepaw over her silver head.
“Kyuuu...”
[I’ll give you a chance to forge new fairy traits.]
She met his ruby gaze, then shook her head.
[Impossible. Already have them. I’m... darkness, like that.]
Born of darkness, living in it, powered by it.
Rune shook his head.
“Kyik.”
[That wasn’t your darkness to begin with.]
[…….]
She blinked, confused.
That was why Christina hadn’t liked her.
‘Christina called her a parasite, basically.’
Rune recalled a talk with Christina about the Deep Night Fairy.
“Christina, is the Deep Night Fairy dead?”
Christina, sorting relics in the Black Room with him, looked up.
“I didn’t kill her, dear. But she’ll never show her face in this world again.”
Her gentle face held an icy edge.
No reply, so she turned to meet his eyes.
“Rune, not everything in the world is good to keep close. Some are harmful just by being near.”
She brushed back her golden hair.
“That fairy’s one of them. Born from power that should be wholly yours, claiming it as her own.”
Her cold blue eyes said it: born wrong.
“If only she’d been born righteously...”
As his guardian dragon, Christina judged harshly.
Her kind words turned cruel.
“Parasitic on another’s power, made to possess it.
Born wrong, doomed to a vicious cycle.”
Envy incarnate, coveting Rune’s power.
‘That’s what she said.’
Rune opened his eyes, flashback done.
He faced the desperate fairy.
“Kyuu.”
[Maybe I’ll give you a shot. Costs something, though.]
A chance to know truth.
To change herself.
For this fairy, denied both.
But not free.
“Kyuu kkuu.”
[You’re lucky. Seriously.]
‘Some never get the chance.’
Sigh.
The black hatchling puffed out a breath instead.
The silver fairy eyed him like a weirdo.
[What?]
“Kyuu kyuu kyuu.”
[It’s nothing.]
He wagged his black tail casually and proposed.
[Hey. Want to borrow my darkness? Put it to use in the world?]
Her eyes bulged.
A chance at her “original” power!
She didn’t grasp “borrow” fully but bit the bait hard.
[Obviously!]
“Kyuu.”
[Good. Christina, prepare it.]
Christina moved her hand at Rune’s words.
Flash!
1. The Deep Night Fairy shall prioritize and perform all tasks commanded by Rune above all else.
2. Should harm befall Rune, the Deep Night Fairy must employ all means to protect him and stake everything to eliminate the cause.
A golden glowing parchment unfurled beside the fairy and Rune.
A contract forged from pure dragon mana.
Christina spoke.
“This takes the form of a dragon-witnessed pact. Read the details, but the key point is...”
She’d written it herself, a compromise after Rune insisted on using the fairy.
“If harm comes to Rune, your existence will vanish from this world.”
[Wh-what!?]
The gentle tone shocked her; the fairy froze stiff.
Undeterred, Christina continued softly.
“Read the fine print carefully. Your existence is on the line.”
The fairy fluttered to the drifting parchment, face paling at each clause.
Rune understood why.
It screamed ‘slave contract plus vassal oath plus body waiver’.
Even with more clauses, fury boiled over.
[What is this!? No way!]
She tried hurling the golden parchment, but her hand passed through the mana.
Rune replied indifferently.
“Kyuu kyuu.”
[I checked. No issues if you don’t betray me. Just sign.]
[Th-this!]
She swallowed curses under Christina’s sharp glare.
Her face stayed strawberry-red with rage.
[You promised a real chance!]
Rune nodded at her shriek.
[I said I’d give a chance. Never said I trusted you.]
Grr!
She glared like he was evil incarnate—no effect.
Rune shrugged: Obviously.
The fairy flew mad loops in the air.
[Who’d sign this crap!?]
Stomping futilely midair, Rune replied leisurely.
“Kyuuu...”
[No need to rage. Show I can trust you, and I might shred it.]
He had no such plan.
But she eyed him warily.
[For real?]
“Kyuuu.”
[For real.]
‘Not shredding it right away, though.’
Plenty of escape clauses for Rune.
Still, she pondered hard, then declared with resolve.
[Fine! I’ll do it!]
“Then sign here, dear.”
Swish.
Christina wiggled her right index finger; a perfect golden quill appeared in the fairy’s hand.
She glared at Rune, huffed, and turned away.
Scribble!
No words—just a doodle at the bottom.
Rune took the quill and pressed it to the parchment.