Chapter 389
Chapter 389
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 389
Chapter Title: The Ancient Dragon's Warning
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Western Front, 1st Legion Garrison.
The 1st Legion, centered around Hero Lania van Trias, was composed of a small number of elite troops. The frontline commander, Lania, didn't need any additional support—in fact, half-hearted reinforcements would only get in the way.
That didn't mean the legion's members were lacking in skill, of course. Regardless of their individual strength, they were all seasoned knights with years of battlefield experience under their belts.
In short, they had a keen sense of the situation.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A massive explosion rocked the center of the garrison.
The moment they saw the dirt plume shooting into the sky and the torn tents fluttering in the air, the knights of the 1st Legion immediately converged on the impact site.
Flashes of light erupted several times, followed by the ground trembling.
Thick clouds of dust obscured their vision, but the knights swallowed hard. Before the dust could even settle, more shockwaves reverberated from within.
Thud, thuuud!
The knights gripped their spears and swords tighter as the ground shook beneath their feet. This was originally the site of the Hero's tent. The fact that combat had broken out here made it easy to guess who—or what—was inside that dust cloud.
Hero Lania van Trias.
She was fighting something in there. As the successive blasts echoed out, the knights gradually widened their encirclement, surrounding the dust cloud and waiting for it to clear.
Flash.
Something fell from the sky toward the ground. In the blinding azure flash that turned their vision white, a delayed thunderclap rang in their ears.
Kwaruuung!
A blue bolt of lightning pierced through the dust.
It was so thick it looked less like a bundle of thin lightning bolts and more like a pillar of light. As the thunder crashed down, the ensuing shockwave and wind pressure slowly parted the dust.
"...Huh?"
Amid the crackling electricity crawling across the ground—zzzt, zzzt—the revealed scene didn't reassure the knights even though the battle seemed over. If anything, it horrified them more. They saw the form of the enemy the Hero had been facing.
Yormungandr van Draconic, the Ancient Dragon Mage.
A mage regarded as the closest being to the stars—practically a god on this earth. And the Hero, whose renown rivaled even his, had seized that mage by the throat.
The Hero gripping the Ancient Dragon's neck.
The Ancient Dragon's staff pressed against the Hero's chest.
If either made the slightest move, one would lose their head, the other their heart. That's how it looked to the knights, but the two, spells aimed at each other, saw it differently.
"Let go."
The Ancient Dragon said flatly.
Raniel furrowed her brow.
"Clear this away first."
"You first."
"I said clear it."
The Ancient Dragon let out a long sigh and withdrew his staff. Raniel had been tempted to smack him one more time but, mindful of the knights watching, released his throat instead.
"Feeling better now?"
"Like hell."
Raniel glared at him like he was a bug. Her clothes were singed, but she'd dealt no meaningful damage.
'...Still not enough.'
Tsk, Raniel clicked her tongue.
It wasn't that she had no way to hurt him. But using it would mean going all out for real.
'Not yet.'
Before the lightning dancing on her fingertips could change color, Raniel flicked her hand to dispel the mana.
"Sorry if we were loud."
Raniel waved off the gathered knights.
"Head back. It's nothing."
Some tried to ask questions, but she brushed them off with a vague excuse about a minor argument and walked away.
"......"
"......"
Raniel glanced back.
The Ancient Dragon Mage, dusting off his clothes, was following her. Still glaring like he was worse than a bug, she spat,
"What do you want?"
"Back to polite speech, I see. I preferred the informal tone, but oh well."
"......"
Her eyes now screamed subhuman filth as she glared. Far from offended, he chuckled and shrugged, as if he liked it.
"I said I had something to discuss."
"Send a letter. We have nothing to talk about, so fuck off."
"Would you read it if I did?"
"I'd tear it up."
"Guess I'll have to do this in person."
"Fuck off."
She'll whine and tail me all day.
Let's see who wins.
The Ancient Dragon Mage muttered to himself and started following her. At first, Raniel scoffed and told him to quit joking, but contrary to her expectations, he kept his word.
He followed her for over a day.
2.
"Looks like you're finally ready to hear me out."
Raniel eyed the mage with hollow, fatigued eyes.
"Don't you have anything better to do?"
"I've got time to spare."
Unlike Raniel, who squeezed every minute out of her packed schedule, the Ancient Dragon Mage had nothing but time. Exhausted, she sighed.
"Then spit it out and leave."
In the end, Raniel raised the white flag first. Satisfied, he smiled and finally began.
"The Goddess of Ashes, born from the future."
He tapped the tip of his staff.
"Three years ago, I knew she had intervened in this era. I knew, but I didn't step in at the time. You know that much, right?"
A being from beyond providence.
There was no way the Ancient Dragon wouldn't notice a visitor who twisted the axis of time. And she knew he hadn't intervened despite noticing.
"I do."
"Good. Now you're wondering why I'm bringing it up now?"
"Get to the point. I'm not that curious."
So prickly. He sighed.
"Back then, my intervention wouldn't have mattered, so I stayed out. Tampering with something that crossed from future to past would've been pointless."
But, he added,
"Recently, I saw something."
Not long ago, the Ancient Dragon glimpsed the flow.
It wasn't the future yet to come. Ever since that day three years ago, he couldn't read the future. What he saw was the original timeline.
"The path walked by the Goddess of Ashes, that sinner."
The future that should have happened.
The future erased by her intervention.
Having seen it, the Ancient Dragon spoke.
"She broke every taboo there was."
Deals, contracts with ancient gods, stealing power, suppressing starlight, bodily mutation, apostasy, heresy worship—and finally, twisting providence itself to warp time.
"What your future self did is unforgivable."
"Bullshit."
Raniel let out a hollow laugh.
"So what, we should've just sat on our hands and waited for doom? The whole world turns to demon realm, everyone defects, humanity goes extinct—is that the 'right' path?"
"If the flow points to ruin, then yes."
"What... did you say?"
Raniel blinked.
The Ancient Dragon before her remained expressionless.
"If the flow, providence, the rules point to it, then that's right. If ruin is the natural order, it should happen."
He wasn't joking.
The man before her truly believed it. Raniel's gaze toward the Ancient Dragon turned ice-cold.
"Don't stop the ruin, just let it happen?"
"Not quite. I'm no fatalist. Stopping it would be ideal if possible. But not at the cost of defying providence."
"While the enemy ignores providence, truth, laws—everything?"
"Rules must still be followed. That's what rules are."
"Wow."
Raniel was impressed.
"You're fucking insane."
"I've heard that plenty. Ten thousand years ago."
"Don't you think that's incredibly contradictory?"
She shot back sharply.
"Do you even know what you're saying?"
Even as she spoke, Raniel was certain.
This senile lizard knew full well.
Yet he showed no intention of bending his beliefs, not even a speck. Forged over tens of thousands of years, they were like an unbreakable wall.
"We can't communicate, seriously."
"I'm not asking for understanding. Consider this a warning."
"I don't give a shit about your deranged beliefs. Fine, what—gonna hold me accountable?"
She sneered.
"Come to demand responsibility for what future me did?"
The Ancient Dragon shook his head.
"No. That's all in the past now."
"Then why are you here?"
"It's a continuation of last time."
Continuation.
"If you plan to use the same methods as your future self, abandon them now."
Don't cross the line—that's what he was saying.
"Do not challenge providence."
His golden eyes gleamed.
The being before her wasn't bound beneath the earth. A god who could reach transcendence anytime but chose to limit himself and walk the land.
"You'll be torn apart."
"You think you can?"
She scoffed at the divine warning.
"Future me already handed your ass to you once."
Facing her mockery, the Ancient Dragon replied.
"Indeed. Just as you learned something from your future life's ordeal, so have I."
He closed his eyes, then opened them.
The surrounding space tore open, and from beyond, thousands of eyes emerged. All were his authority, powers stolen from gods.
"My future self let you be until the end. He trusted you. Tried to uphold the rule of non-interference. Lost most of his authority because of it."
But, he declared,
"This time, I've decided otherwise."
The space ripped wider.
From the tear emerged a massive dragon's eye. The colossal divine dragon Raniel had seen in the mural recently—the last Ancient Dragon in this world—stared at her.
"If I see even a sign, I'll intervene immediately."
Three platinum rings converged in the Ancient Dragon's eyes. The golden irises slowly turned red. The dragon eyes of the primordial god filled with starlight.
"No matter the cost..."
The sinner.
The rule-breaker would be punished.
"I'll kill you. I won't trust you again."
Whatever you're plotting, if it breaks taboos, drop it. That was his warning. Harsher than before.
"Ha."
Last time, this pressure had made Raniel shrink back. But now, she snapped her fingers instead. Her spell overlaid the torn space.
Kwaruuung!
Dozens of lightning bolts stabbed into the exposed eyes like thunder without warning. They bled and drooped with wet squelches.
"That all you have to say?"
Raniel stood.
Looking down at the glaring Ancient Dragon Mage, she added casually,
"We're done. Fuck off."
With that, she left.
He stared at her back for a while, then tapped the air with his staff. As he moved to return via the stars, he halted.
【Didn't I tell you?】 Someone stood there.
【It's pointless.】 She spoke to the Ancient Dragon.
【You know blocking it doesn't make it stop? Just like they couldn't stop you in the past, it won't work this time either. The roles are simply reversed. This is the flow too.】 A familiar voice.
One so dearly missed. But the Ancient Dragon's face hardened as he snapped at the voice's owner.
"Don't give advice, fake."
【......】 "She wouldn't say that. That's just your thinking, tainted by becoming one with the stars. She..."
The Ancient Dragon muttered.
"She told me, to the very end."
He smiled at the fake.
"Even if everything ends, keep the rules. That's the only way to honor her."
It was a fetter.
The bond she imprinted as she died still bound him tens of thousands of years later. Stronger with every passing moment.
"I'm just keeping that promise."
3.
"Belnoa."
Chloe smiled.
"Who's that woman?"
"Ch-Chloe, wait..."
"I'm asking."
Chloe, who was never forceful.
Chloe, who always spoke softly with a smile. Now she was demanding answers.
"Who is she?"
Belnoa realized she was in deep shit.
The crisis the goddess had warned of had arrived far sooner than expected. Her shoulders trembled briefly.
"Ch-Chloe? Remember I said I started serving a god? The Shadow Dragon Lord. Primordial deity."
"Yeah, but what's that got to do with now?"
Chloe had often seen Belnoa talking to thin air. At first, she thought Belnoa had lost it, but after asking Raniel, she learned it was a real god, not imaginary, and relaxed.
But what did that have to do with this moment?
As Chloe's eyes flashed sharper, Belnoa hurriedly slipped her hands between the goddess's shoulders on her back and thrust her forward like a doll.
"This is her. The primordial goddess."
"I feel like an object."
The goddess smiled and waved.
"Nice to meet you, child. I am..."
The sun rose over the horizon.
The sunlight announced the end of night. At that instant, the Shadow Dragon Lord melted away like snow, her words unfinished.
"......"
"......"
Her manifestation undone, the goddess slumped pathetically over Belnoa's shoulder as a heavy silence fell between Chloe and Belnoa. Eerily quiet.
"Belnoa."
Chloe spoke.
"Let's talk."
Cold sweat trickled down Belnoa's back.