Chapter 354
Chapter 354
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 354
>Chapter Title: Smack!
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The king's gaze cooled chillingly.
……What were you aiming for?
The answer was simple.
‘Living energy.’
Even as king, he didn't know what form it took.
He only knew that the same kind of energy as the red gem's was dormant in the humans' nest.
In any case, spitting out the answer to the question wasn't difficult, yet the king couldn't easily open his mouth.
Why?
Because the words ‘I respect humans’ and the desire for trust were lies?
No, those feelings were sincere, without a shred of falsehood.
It was just instinct.
He knew that answering truthfully here would mean the chance to claim that living energy would vanish forever.
But glossing over it with a lie...
[…….]
The king looked at the ‘enormous presence’ before him, then swallowed hard.
No matter how ‘enormous’ the presence, it couldn't see through his innermost thoughts.
Yet, what was this unease?
“You can't answer?”
A voice colder than midwinter's chill wind rang in his ears.
The king instinctively knew he stood at a crossroads.
Bow his head in submission to preserve his life, or risk it all for future gains.
Meanwhile, Aster was at a similar crossroads.
……The black wyvern.
‘If I could just get my hands on it…… it seems useful.’
Taming the black wyvern that had dominated the skies of the Arapurkin Mountains for decades held great significance.
In a way, it was akin to seizing the Arapurkin Mountains themselves.
But.
‘……Too smart. Way too smart.’
It wasn't just its ability to learn magic.
Look at it now.
The eyes tightly shut in contemplation proved its intelligence surpassed that of a typical wyvern.
He didn't know what it was hiding, but it was weighing its options.
‘Survival’ versus ‘something else’.
Aster decided to nudge the black wyvern's choice a bit.
“By the way, we're taking the ‘red gem’.”
He declared he would seize the red gem, the foundation of the black wyvern's power.
But the black wyvern made no reply.
“And you asked for freedom? Even if I released you, you could never truly be free.”
Why?
Its body might roam free, but from then on, as king, it would have to heed orders for the development zone.
Its range of activity wouldn't change much, but the gap between ‘not leaving the mountains’ and ‘unable to leave’ was not small.
Yet still, the black wyvern remained silent.
……Instead, Ahnar stepped forward.
“I'll finish it.”
“…….”
In response, Aster narrowed his eyes at the black wyvern.
He could no longer dissuade Ahnar as Aster.
The black wyvern's refusal to answer meant it was hiding something.
Crackle―
A spear of water bloomed sharply in the air.
Ahnar's honed spear targeted the black wyvern's brow. Ahnar's eyes on the black wyvern were endlessly cold.
No, ‘cold’ wasn't quite right.
Those eyes held no emotion whatsoever.
Eyes indifferent to taking a life.
This was Ahnar's true nature, after all.
“Any last words?”
[…….]
The black wyvern, the king, glanced at Ahnar once at Aster's question, then fixed his gaze on Aster again.
[I don't understand.]
“What?”
[You think I'm dangerous. But why am I dangerous? Because I'm what you call a ‘monster’? Because I'll harm humans? No, that's not an answer.]
The king's yellow eyes flickered like flames. His voice boiled with unprecedented emotion.
The king had seen it many times.
Humans climbing the mountains, killing each other.
They wouldn't hesitate to stab a knife into a rival's throat for a handful of rations. No, if it was for food, that could be understood. Survival was the most noble pursuit.
But humans stabbed each other in the back over a scrap of grass even when food was plentiful.
After decades of observing humans since gaining intelligence, the king reached one conclusion.
[What kills humans is humans themselves. And yet…….]
Why call him dangerous?
[Because I see humans as food? That's no answer. I may eat humans, but I don't exploit them. I don't confine them in narrow pens to breed. I don't force unwanted labor until death. Or is it my power? That's no answer either. Then shouldn't you, not I, be the first to be eliminated? Aren't you the most dangerous being in the world?]
Yet, why…….
Why.
[I didn't lie. I truly respect humans and will trust you. The red gem…… take it if you want. Not free? That's fine. I want to live. And yet…….]
The king asked.
[And yet, will you kill me?]
The king stared at Aster with burning eyes. A shiver of primal fear raced down Aster's spine just from that gaze, but he didn't avert his eyes.
To those eyes, Aster quietly posed a question.
“So, what were you after in the development zone?”
[…….]
The king realized it.
His plea hadn't swayed the other's heart.
In a way, it was inevitable.
Aster steeled himself to build a magic tower, but at his core, he wasn't different from Ahnar.
No, perhaps even more so...
“Can't answer, huh.”
Aster's voice was as calm as ever, and it was that unchanging tone that finally broke the king's resolve.
Perhaps that's why.
The king gave up.
[Red energy.]
“Red energy?”
At the echoing question, the king slowly closed his eyes.
He was never an opponent who could be swayed by words. He had to grovel on the ground and beg for mercy.
A bit late, but the king begged for mercy.
[I sensed red energy. Small…… but living energy. The gem's energy has long been dead, but the energy from your nest was vividly alive.]
“So.”
[I thought claiming it…… would let me ascend to a higher existence. But in the end, greed led to this.]
A self-mocking mutter.
Aster eyed the king with narrowed gaze.
Something clicked.
The black wyvern using abilities akin to a dragon's, and the red gem granting it that power.
And……
- I, great dragon. You, barbaric human.
That cheeky brat who called itself a ‘dragon’ without being told.
Could it be, truly……
‘……The wyvern was a dragon?’
No. Nothing was certain.
Aster shook off the thought and focused on the black wyvern.
The immediate priority was deciding its fate.
“Then, let's wrap this up.”
He didn't specify how, but the king intuited it. That he was speaking of his end.
[……I'll abandon everything.]
“Sorry. I mean that sincerely.”
If it surrendered the red gem and devoted itself to the development zone, he was willing to accept it.
And he was certainly willing to grant what the black wyvern desired in return.
But the black wyvern had hesitated in its answer, missing its chance once……
‘……Though it did seize a chance eventually.’
But that answer was something Aster couldn't accept.
Because what the black wyvern targeted was a ‘wyvern’.
……Even if the black wyvern truly submitted and opened its heart fully to stand by his side, Aster couldn't accept it if it eyed a ‘wyvern’.
In the worst case.
If there was even a speck of chance that ‘wyvern’ could be endangered, any benefits from the black wyvern became meaningless.
“Senior.”
“Got it.”
Hum― hum―
Mana condensed, the spear's edge sharpening ever more.
“I'll send you off without pain.”
The black wyvern closed its eyes, accepting the end to come.
Decades dominating Arapurkin's skies—a life worthy of greatness by its own measure—yet its end was utterly pathetic.
But what could be done?
All ends are pathetic.
Just like the countless wyvern leaders he had personally slain, he too could not escape a pathetic demise.
The only regret was……
‘……A wider world.’
Not seeing it.
If he'd known, he would have left Arapurkin and soared over the vast continent.
In his immature youth, he feared humans and couldn't spread his wings; now mature, he had waited for the right moment.
Yet, this was his end.
“Then…….”
At the old man's voice, the king gathered his thoughts and steeled himself.
……It was then.
[……?]
A faint presence far off.
The wyvern opened its closed eyes and gazed at the distant plain.
Had it noticed first?
The enormous presence…… Aster was also looking in the same direction as the king, which made Ahnar tilt his head.
“What is it?”
“No, it's just…….”
Aster couldn't be sure if the presence his senses picked up was what he thought.
‘……A wyvern?’
The presence was unmistakably a wyvern's……
Incomprehensible.
Why a wyvern here? How?
‘Did I sense wrong…….’
As he pondered, the crystal orb in Aster's pocket rang.
The voice from the crystal orb was enough to correct his uncertain judgment.
“……Why?”
[Aster, um…… the wyvern, the wyvern…… it's gone!]
“……Gone?”
[Yes. It suddenly broke the window and flew off…….]
Evelyn stammered in panic.
“Got it. Hang up.”
[What? The wyvern's gone……!]
“Yeah, I know.”
Aster cut the call and stared at the distant horizon.
His senses were spot on, at least.
Something approaching fast from afar was indeed a ‘wyvern’.
The reason Aster hadn't been certain was simple.
‘……It's grown?’
Its inherent energy had swelled beyond compare. Of course, its prior energy had been so minuscule that ‘swollen’ didn't mean much.
……But.
“Why?”
“What's going on?”
“No, it's…….”
While puzzled by the wyvern's sudden approach, Aster hesitated to speak.
It was just so out of nowhere.
Amid that.
[…….]
The king trembled faintly at the approaching presence.
He could feel it clearly.
An energy incomparably vast compared to before.
Even so, it was insignificant next to his own, but size wasn't the point.
It was the energy itself.
[Ah, aah.]
The king let out an involuntary gasp.
His finely attuned senses, able to detect even a grand mage's presence, felt it vividly.
What the approaching being was.
And at the same time……
How foolish his judgment to devour that being, even briefly.
Thus, his yellow eyes turned to the plain.
The sun dipping low.
Amid the barren winter plain bathed in red sunset glow, a golden being appeared far off.
Flapflapflapflapflapflapflapflapflapflap!
The golden being, now close, stared fixedly at the king. The king couldn't dare meet its gaze.
Amid that.
The golden being turned its head to look at Aster.
And……
Smack!
“…….”
Aster's head snapped to the side.
Unable to grasp reality, Aster touched his cheek with dazed eyes.
[Today, one moonstone. Contract, broken.]
“…….”
[And…….]
The ‘wyvern’ landed atop the bowing king's head and tapped its forehead with a plump forepaw, declaring thus.
[This, mine.]
In that moment, the king realized.
This being was his savior.