The Hatchling's Resolve
The hand touching his forehead transformed into the chubby paw of a hatchling.
Perdikion looked at Rune again.
There, in the pure darkness, was his little brother who had shown him the truth.
The kind younger brother who had made him listen to the dwarves' hearts.
The one who made him want to burn everything.
Perdikion's hate-clouded gaze began to clear, becoming sharp and pure.
"Yeah. Let's change it all. So no one else has to suffer under Father's misguided rule."
Rune smiled faintly, slowly pulling his hand away as he finished speaking.
"Kyuu."
[That's right. Finally, you're acting like the big brother I know.]
Perdikion's eyes widened slightly, ripples spreading through them.
The being who had listened to his story completely.
The one who inspired trust.
Feeling at ease, Perdikion let a soft smile creep onto his face.
"When have I ever not been your big brother?"
"?"
Perdikion's face, gazing at Rune, looked far more relaxed and warm.
Seeing that expression, Rune felt any urge to say more fade away, and he chuckled softly.
[No, you've always been my big brother.]
The illusion of lost power crumbled completely.
The fallen dwarves, the blood, Pasiyas—all dissolved into black smoke and vanished.
'That kid. He's grown up.'
Rune turned his body slowly, absorbing the dissipating remnant of Pasiyas without missing a beat.
The day Perdikion became the complete ruler of fire.
He had a premonition that a world would come where those who resorted to violence for their desires wouldn't stand a chance.
When Perdikion opened his eyes, escaping the illusion, a soft watery light shimmered around him.
He pressed his temples against a mild headache, and Rune came over to check on him.
"Bro, you okay?"
"Kyuk."
Perdikion, nodding in hatchling form, suddenly found Rune's boyish appearance unfamiliar.
Like in the illusion, he thought a more mature face suited him better—but he shook his head.
'Rune, already grown up? Must be the illusion messing with my head.'
Watching Perdikion rub his head, Rune gave him a worried look.
"Can you stand?"
"Kyau."
The red hatchling felt a bit dizzy but steadied his breathing and straightened his posture.
Then he polymorphed into his usual human form.
"I showed a pathetic side. Where are the others?"
To Rune, that attitude seemed quite admirable.
His mind must have been a mess from the darkness and illusions, yet he was holding himself together with impressive composure.
'Good thing he recovers fast. No need to worry.'
Rune extended his right hand, and Perdikion stared at it before grasping it firmly.
"This way."
Rune floated the black pearl containing the fairy.
For Perdikion, whose senses must still be shaken, Rune adjusted his pace to keep it slow.
Soon, Heungmi, Baekya, and Amelia appeared, heading their way.
"Rune-nim!"
"Pii! Pipipiyak!"
Heungmi and Baekya ran energetically toward them, with a somewhat fatigued-looking Amelia in tow.
As Heungmi reached him, Rune checked her condition.
"You okay? See any weird illusions?"
"Yeah! It wasn't weird or anything. Just saw a pretty grown-up Heungmi with nine tails and white hair. She kept telling me to come to her... but Heungmi said I had to go to Rune-nim and got out quick."
"Pya!"
Heungmi, with no memory of her mother, didn't realize the illusion had been Baekmi's form.
Even if by chance, she valued the present over lingering on the past and escaped the illusion to find Rune safely.
'Her innate purity beat the false illusion.'
Baekya, being a phoenix by birth, seemed unaffected by the illusions, while Amelia looked a bit worn out.
As Rune's gaze fell on her, Amelia smiled faintly and waved a hand in greeting.
"Amelia. How about you?"
"I-I... s-saw... a-after a l-long time... the m-me from b-back then... a-alone in the d-darkness. B-but now... it's d-different, right? I f-felt it was w-weird... and it v-vanished."
Escaping the illusion on her own and making it here was no small feat.
At that moment, Amelia felt a piercing gaze.
"...?"
Turning, she saw Perdikion. His eyes were sharply narrowed.
"What."
At Perdikion's curt reply, Amelia hesitated but mustered her courage to meet his eyes.
His expression soured instantly, his glare sharpening further.
Startled, Amelia whipped her head away, thinking.
'W-why's he like that!'
Rune inwardly sighed at the tense Amelia and the steadily glaring Perdikion.
Thankfully, his strong loyalty—no, presence—had helped him escape his father's shadow well, but seeing Amelia break free on her own must have stung his pride.
'They're still kids.'
In the end, everyone was safe. Rune spoke up softly to draw their attention.
"You all did great. That illusion shows your most painful past, the hardest memories to escape. Coming out of it at all is impressive."
"Ah... y-yeah... that's... right."
"...Ahem."
Amelia shyly beamed at Rune's words, while Perdikion's mouth twitched downward slightly.
Clank! Clang!
Looking toward the sound, they saw Dullahan running over from afar.
He showed no sign of being affected, standing calmly beside Rune.
Rune wondered what illusion a memory-less Dullahan might have seen, but there was no time to ask.
[You. Who?]
The rest of the group, minus Perdikion, stared in surprise at the black pearl hovering before Dullahan.
Regardless, the fairy inside kept exclaiming in awe, circling Dullahan excitedly.
[Such a being. Exists? How?]
"Dullahan, you mean?"
[Dullahan. That's. Him?]
The fairy, who had shown little interest in the others until now, was fascinated by the death spirit knight born from death.
Hovering around Dullahan like she was sniffing him, she muttered rapidly in an unintelligible tone.
[Smell of death. Darkness. Undead but spirit. Why?]
Dullahan, subject to the fairy's intense curiosity, looked distinctly uncomfortable.
[Give him to me. Want him.]
Rune's eyes sparkled.
But he casually crossed his arms and shook his head.
"Looks like you're interested, but he's my knight. Can't give him to you."
[Can't? Somehow?]
"Well, maybe I'd let you hang out with him a bit... if you're useful enough to make it worth considering."
The fairy blinked inside the black pearl, then placed a finger near her lips.
[I'll be good. Guide you. Fairy's Path.]
'Fairy's Path.'
It would make clearing much faster with easier travel.
Rune rubbed his chin thoughtfully before agreeing.
"Deal. But no causing trouble."
The fairy narrowed her eyes at him, then giggled seductively and nodded.
[Accepted.]
"Good. Guide us the shortest route to the boss room."
[Impossible. Possible. Until before.]
'Tch. Figures.'
She meant she couldn't reach the boss room itself, only up to the area before it with regular monster spawns.
A bit disappointing, but Rune nodded.
"Got it."
The black pearl darted into Dullahan's armor.
The green glow in his black helmet shuddered and flickered a couple times.
Rune sent a telepathic message only to Dullahan at the sight of his large-dog-like grumbling.
[That one's planning to let you ascend once we clear this dungeon. She can't leave the black pearl, so don't worry—just keep an eye on her until we finish.]
...Clank.
Dullahan seemed troubled by the telepathy but nodded weakly.
Rune felt a pang of sympathy, but it was convenient—the troublesome fairy listened well and fixated only on Dullahan.
"Ah! Heungmi knows what this is! Stalker pervert!"
"S-stalker... p-pervert? W-what's... that?"
Amelia voiced her confusion.
Perdikion's eyebrow twitched; he seemed to have a rough idea.
"A pervert who obsessively stalks someone they're fixated on!"
"W-wow... Heungmi's s-so... smart..."
Rune already knew from Christina's knowledge.
He placed a hand on Heungmi's head and stroked it.
"That's not a word to use like this. Don't say it anymore. Where'd you hear it?"
"Uncle Jed told me!"
'That bastard.'
Clearly, Jed was the source of her bad influences.
'He's been popping between the human world for errands lately and picked up weird stuff. I'll deal with him later.'
Jed would feel deeply wronged.
He'd only meant to warn the lively, innocent young Heungmi: 'Be careful wandering alone—you might run into creepy types like stalkers or random killers out there!'
"Let's finish clearing the dungeon first."
Rune shifted their excited attention back to the dungeon, wrapping up the conversation neatly.
"...You brought us here on purpose."
[Requested place. Shortest path.]
Rune glared at the evasive fairy.
Moving via the Fairy's Path was fast and unobstructed.
Reaching right before the boss room was great.
But as soon as they emerged from the darkness, monsters swarmed out, surrounding them.
'Told her the closest spot to the final boss room, and this is where they all bunch up.'
It was a dungeon where rewards scaled with contributions.
His party was strong, and they needed to take down a fair share of monsters for good rewards, so the swarm was fine.
Just the fairy's omission about it irked him a little.
[Not many. Here.]
"?"
[More. Monsters. Full.]
"!"
Realizing something, Rune stared at the orb before channeling mana.
Boom!
Rune quickly formed six fist-sized black orbs and hurled them at the front line of monsters.
The grotesque monsters hit by them collapsed, while others flinched, their eyes glowing with eerie light.
Matching Rune's swift response, the party unleashed water cannons and flames to hold back the approaching foes.
Bang! Bang! Whoosh!
With some footing cleared, Rune erected a darkness barrier.
Then he planted shadows' power into the enemies' shadows, binding them in place.
Skilled, he conjured pitch-black spears and unleashed them indiscriminately.
The combo flowed seamlessly. Monsters hesitated, dodging spears only to crash into each other or get impaled.
Watching the panicking horde scatter in terror, Rune shouted.
"Now!"
The party charged in, engaging the monsters.
Kyarrarar!
Kieek! Shaaak!
Monsters like sea serpents mutated with dozens of eyes.
A massive megalodon oozing rotten blood stench.
Skeletons bursting from everywhere, blind black sea creatures lunging to tear flesh.
They thrashed against their bonds, screeching horrifically.