Chapter 266
Chapter 266
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 266
>Chapter Title: ……Again, Slap!
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The red-tinted sky greeted Aster as he opened his eyes.
Having come to his senses, Aster blinked several times. He was trying to take in the situation.
“……I didn’t croak?”
The events before he lost consciousness were still vivid.
Killing off the last of the Decullan mages one by one, exchanging the final blow with Zaipo. His own spell piercing that chest……
And Zaipo’s spell piercing his own chest.
“For now, my body seems fine.”
He didn’t even need to touch it to check.
His condition was better than it had ever been.
No, it wasn’t just the best—it was beyond that.
A bizarre surge of vitality overflowed within him.
It was an incomprehensible situation, but Aster pushed his questions aside and surveyed his surroundings. Or at least, he tried to.
As he absentmindedly tried to sit up, something that had been covering his body slid off with a soft rustle.
“This is……”
The thing covering his body was golden powder.
He scooped up a handful and examined it closely. Aside from the golden color, its texture and feel were close to ashes left after everything had burned away.
And yet, rather than feeling grimy, it somehow felt comforting. Was that just his imagination?
Aster fiddled with the thick layer of powder that had blanketed him for a moment before turning his gaze to his surroundings.
It was an unfamiliar landscape.
“……Not the Torres region, that’s for sure.”
That much was certain.
Because.
There were no mountains this tall in the Torres region.
The mountainous areas were dense with peaks of all sizes, but even the tallest among them never looked this close to the sky.
So, he lifted his head to gauge his location by the stars, but regrettably, the sun was rising.
……Let’s sum it up.
‘For starters, I didn’t die.’
His body was in perfect shape.
The only mysteries were why he had woken up in this unfamiliar place and how he had survived. That about covered it.
But he didn’t dwell on it long.
The inexplicable events happening to him usually fell into place once he slotted in a single clue.
And what was that?
Defying Heaven.
It wasn’t baseless speculation.
Because.
‘……The third Fire Mark.’
When he undid his shirt and checked his chest, the Fire Mark he had obtained from Baharmut had faded.
So, it was definitely connected to Defying Heaven.
The problem was how such a thing was even possible.
That was when Aster clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
“……Tch.”
He had been unconscious, so how could he know?
But it was fine.
Even though he had blacked out, there was something there that could explain the situation.
“Wyvern.”
Aster called for the wyvern as he flopped back down.
The unidentified golden powder covering his body felt quite comforting, and since he was already lying there, he figured he might as well rest a bit more.
As he lay still, gazing at the brightening sky.
“……?”
Aster tilted his head.
“Wyvern?”
What was this?
Normally, the thing would come bounding over eagerly the moment he stirred, but it hadn’t even shown its face.
Had it gone off somewhere far?
‘……Wyvern?’
This time he called through their mental link, but sensing something off, Aster sat up with a hardened expression.
……He couldn’t feel the contract bond with the wyvern.
“……No way.”
It had to be a mistake. Yeah, that could happen.
A severed contract bond would mean the wyvern had ended it, but no way that happened.
It was probably just that he wasn’t feeling it because his condition was off.
“Wyvern.”
Aster called out again. His voice trembled slightly.
The fading Defying Heaven.
The golden powder covering his body.
An ominous premonition kept flashing through his mind.
……Yeah, it was just his imagination.
The golden powder looking similar to the wyvern’s color was surely his misconception.
Rustle.
The way this powdery stuff scattered limply and felt strangely warm…… that was a misconception too.
Aster denied it to himself as he curled the corner of his mouth. He had a pretty good idea what had happened.
“Damn it, tch. This is why spirits are such a pain.”
It was obvious, wasn’t it?
Two in the morning, one at night. It must have been inwardly pissed that he hadn’t kept his promise about the moonstones. And after seeing that last battle…… yeah. It probably figured sticking around for free would be too much hassle.
Or maybe, seeing him on the brink of death, it took the chance to bail on the contract.
“Jeez, so disloyal. I said I’d give them all after it was over.”
Aster grumbled pointlessly as he flopped back down.
But whether he could hide his uneasy feelings or not, his hands kept fiddling with the golden powder.
It wasn’t long before Aster bolted upright.
“Fuck, no way?”
This was the wyvern?
That made no sense.
Spirits materializing wasn’t unusual, but leaving behind physical remains like this? Impossible.
And no matter how you spun Defying Heaven, did it have some trick to heal his body using a spirit? If it could do that, then why not during the fight or any other time……?
……His thoughts tangled into a mess.
Everything he had just considered fortunate now felt chilling.
Yeah, no way.
It probably just bailed because it thought he was dead. Or maybe it ditched over one moonstone. And the timing? ……It had its reasons. Spirits were fickle; nothing new there.
……But why did it feel so off?
After bolting up, Aster crawled out of the thick golden powder and knelt before it.
Rustle.
He grabbed a handful, and the golden powder crumbled like ash, scattering in the wind.
“It’s not real, right?”
……No way.
“It just bounced, yeah?”
……It had to be.
It would be better if it had run off saying it couldn’t stick around because things got too dirty. This foreboding feeling just couldn’t be true.
But.
No answer came.
……Only.
Whoooosh—
A fierce wind blew as if in reply.
“……Ah.”
Aster let out a sigh as he watched the golden powder scatter in the gale.
Why now, of all times.
He stared blankly at the scene in helpless frustration, but the wind only grew stronger.
Watching the powder gradually vanish, Aster had no choice but to accept it.
……He couldn’t say why it happened. But one thing was certain.
The wyvern was gone now.
An immutable fact, undeniable by anything.
“…….”
Was it the wind stinging his eyes? Aster slammed his forehead into the ground while still on his knees. Beneath the vast sky, atop the high mountain peak, on a patch of earth just a handspan wide, rain fell. His small shoulders trembled in the lingering winter chill.
……Subspace pouch, thirty-three moonstones, ten days of happiness with the wyvern.
[Do, regret?]
Aster answered.
“Yeah. Do, regret.”
There were still ten days left where it could have been happy. Why did it have to go so soon?
[Give, moonstones?]
He had plenty of moonstones to give. But what good were they now?
Regret always comes too late, no matter how quick, and lost time can never be reclaimed.
[Morning, lunch, dinner, three.]
Three or four, what difference did it……
“……?”
Aster blinked.
Damp soil was right in front of his nose. His hair swayed, but it wasn’t the wind. ……No, not swaying so much as……
Slap, slap.
Something was hitting his head.
Puzzled, he lifted his head.
Smack!
Something whipped in like a lash and struck his cheek, snapping his head to the side.
“…….”
Aster blinked a few times without turning his head back.
[No, answer. Go, me.]
……It was definite.
Not a hallucination.
Aster turned his head in a daze. And right after.
He let out a hollow breath, as if his strength had drained away.
“What the……”
Where the thick pile of golden ash had been.
What do you even call that? A golden lizard? No, not a lizard. It had wings.
But calling it a wyvern didn’t fit either. It looked more like a drake.
The bizarre creature, lizard-like in form, was sprawled out with its hind legs stretched straight, its plump belly rising and falling with each breath. The thing that had slapped his cheek was the creature’s tail.
As he stared blankly at the sight.
……Again, slap!
“…….”
After another slap to the cheek, Aster furrowed his brow. That was when the voice came.
[Primitive human. Lower, head.]
At the solemn declaration from the lapdog-sized lizard, Aster turned his head again.
“……Wyvern?”
A dazed question.
The lizard replied.
[Wyvern? No. This body is……]
The reptile haughtily thrust out its chin. As its mouth opened, Aster crumpled his face.
[Great dragon.]
……Dragon?
“What bullshit……”
Aster didn’t finish his sentence.
Slap!
The self-proclaimed great dragon’s tail whipped his cheek.
[This body, dragon. Friend, primitive.]
……One thing was clear.
The thing in front of him was the wyvern. Just cockier and ruder than before.
Maybe that was why.
A faint smile spread across Aster’s lips, his eyes reddening. His cheek stung…… no, it hurt like hell, but the feeling wasn’t bad.
* * *
In the Decullan patriarch’s chamber.
“……Something’s off.”
The commander who had rushed back to the main estate pressed his forehead to the floor, bowing deeply. He had come in person to report vividly on the scene he had witnessed in the Torres region, but his body trembled finely.
He had every reason to be afraid.
The annihilation of two mage corps.
And……
The deaths of two Seven Mages.
This disaster was more than enough to enrage the patriarch.
So the commander waited cautiously, not even breathing loudly, when a voice spoke up.
“So Zaipo and Coxen went there.”
“……Yes. We recovered Sir Zaipo’s remains, but we couldn’t recover Sir Coxen’s.”
“The perpetrator?”
“……From examining the traces left on the deceased and the scene, it was determined to be a mage, not a Swordmaster.”
“A mage.”
Pahren gazed at the commander with impassive eyes for a moment before speaking.
“Tell me more details about the last thing you saw.”
“That is……”
The commander rolled his eyes.
He had to report it, but even he couldn’t believe it himself.
That golden giant. Those chilling eyes. And the overwhelming presence enveloping everything.
On top of that……
- Begone.
But.
“I’ll report exactly as I saw it.”
Following the patriarch’s order, the commander explained the situation in greater detail than before.
Inevitably, some personal impressions slipped in, and as he finished, Pahren, who had remained silent, rested his elbow on the armrest and touched his lips.
Silence returned.
The commander endured the suffocating quiet with difficulty.
Fortunately, Pahren spoke soon after.
“You may go.”
“……Understood.”
The commander bowed and left.
Creak, click.
Once the door closed.
Pahren’s face was icily cold, like a honed blade.
He could now be somewhat certain of the hypothesis he had been harboring.
The bizarre creature resembling a dragon. Whatever its true nature, it was undoubtedly something beyond reason.
Moreover, there was only one mage of that caliber connected to Lortel.
‘……That cursed grimoire.’
As expected, the tower master had it.
So, what to do?
“Playing games with an illusory phantom, is it.”
What method would be best to drag out the phantom?
That was Pahren’s current dilemma.