In the World I'm In (3)
A full six days of absence. No matter what happened, it wouldn't be strange. Yeah, I was prepared to take an earful from even my nemesis.
But the moment I checked the update log, a chill ran up the back of my neck.
I hadn't forgotten. Not for a second. We'd been working hard on this side too.
To heal the dragon that had swallowed the evil fruit.
......Damn it.
As proof, Senior Healer Bellie Yusia had thrown herself into research so obsessively that shadows hung under her eyes without end. Standing next to Marcelo, she even looked like his sister.
"We have no face to show you, Chief."
But the evil fruit originated from the Arcana Continent, after all. Finding a solution in reality—a completely different world—was like searching for a needle in a desert without knowing if it even existed.
That's why I'd kept it in mind. It wasn't set in stone early on, but including Bellie in the vanguard of twenty seemed right.
But of all timings, why now?
If I hadn't been away...
In just over a week, couldn't we have found a way to resolve the evil fruit...? That thought crossed my mind.
But I couldn't be certain, nor turn back time. So I shook it off.
There was no room for lingering regrets.
Not with the sight unfolding before me.
Everyone mobilized from the tower. The Holy War Alliance's all-out assault. The Tower Master—not a housecat, but a tiger—fighting valiantly. Even Harcon and his crew clinging to the dragon at this very moment.
Someone might say their efforts minimized the damage even as Yunak Seus rampaged.
They wouldn't be wrong.
That's why.
"We shall begin the evaluation."
My utterly strict mouth spat out generous praise, and I handed the Dawn Jacket to the Tower Master without a care for the clotted blood and pus.
But the biggest reason was something else.
The reason reality had remained safe until now was singular.
The ancient dragon, ensnared by the evil fruit. Yunak Seus had desperately been holding it back.
Enduring it.
"You remain unchanged, Yunak Seus."
It might sound absurd. After turning the Zero Mountains into a wasteland.
What exactly was he enduring?
But having fought the ice dragon Proznax, I knew. A dragon's full power wasn't this.
If Yunak Seus truly wished to destroy reality, he wouldn't have bothered with close combat from the start.
Above all, I could be certain because the dragon was a being of the 『anomaly』.
In other words, unless it was another anomaly, no meaningful damage could be inflicted on a dragon.
"Hoyeol... no, Grand Commander...?"
Nam Taemin and the others—Harcon, Hisagi, Leoni—their sword strikes landing critical hits, the senior mages' combined assault proving effective... All because Yunak Seus wanted it.
He'd willed his own downfall, his staggering under magic, his flesh parting under sword auras.
Whether it was a shred of reason lingering despite becoming an evil dragon, or pure instinct, I couldn't say.
"No need to wail so desperately."
It's fine now.
Predator-Prey Relationship
Because I'm here, Yunak Seus.
......Truth be told, I'm not brimming with confidence either.
The Predator-Prey Relationship triggered thanks to Yunak Seus swallowing the evil fruit.
But if he truly rampaged, even that might fall short.
Still, I had something to rely on.
The Exorcism Ritual.
Yunak Seus's state was essentially possession by the evil fruit demon.
Couldn't removing the cause via ritual restore him? I'd thought so, briefly.
But.
It's not possession.
I knew the instant I chose the offering.
Yunak Seus wasn't being manipulated by the evil fruit.
He'd truly become the demon, the evil dragon itself.
Proving it, a message appeared.
Elder Dragon Yunak Seus, Devourer of Evil Fruit, rejects 'Calm'.
The Shadowflame Dragon. And as Claudy family head, I held command over Yunak Seus.
Not just in setting or words—the system itself certified I never lied.
Yet my command was being denied.
"Kraaaaaargh—!"
Yunak Seus's roar toward me brimmed with murderous intent.
I racked my brain desperately.
From a hunter's view, analyzing the prey's changes.
And realized.
"The primordial evil is, as expected, utterly vile."
Evil fruit.
That cursed world tree fruit didn't just possess its target...?
It shattered the balance of good and evil within, twisting the target's very essence to pure evil. A fruit with such heinous effects.
Now it made sense.
And dragons are direct descendants of the world tree.
Their inherent evil would be vast too.
Yunak Seus, more than anyone, knew his own state.
That's why he rampaged.
Why he wished for death.
Because he knew he'd crossed a river of no return.
Rooooar—
Yunak Seus unleashed breath at me. Breath unblockable save by another anomaly.
I drew Ghost Iron from my waist without hesitation.
-The situation looks dire, my liege.
Shing—!
I infused sword aura into Ghost Iron, wrapped it in mana, and met the pouring breath head-on.
A casual swing cleaved the breath in two, scattering it.
A voice rang out.
"Looks like I won't even need to step in...!"
Skal, mounted on his wyvern, shouted.
I could guess his plan. No dragon ridden yet, but he's a dragon knight.
Skal came with a sense of duty.
Or maybe purely to ride Yunak Seus.
He was dead serious about dragons, after all.
Either way, it was a pity.
No chance of that now.
"Yunak Seus."
I knew.
All demons inevitably fall to hell.
Hell's laws are merciless—no mercy for past sword saints or demon hunters.
Yunak Seus couldn't evade them either.
I knew no way to restore Yunak Seus, corrupted from within, not possessed.
I'm a demon hunter who slays demons, not a saint who redeems them.
Moreover.
『Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo's pride soars highest, paradoxically, before demons.』
No mercy for demons. Couldn't overlook Grandfell's temperament.
Yet I didn't speak coldly.
"I understand your will."
Even fallen to demonhood.
I knew he'd endured desperately.
Knew he rampaged wishing death, aware return was impossible.
I couldn't treat Yunak Seus like any other demon.
Couldn't coldly hurl him into hell's pit.
Composing my emotions, I intoned.
"I shall send you off more grandly than any other."
This was my utmost.
In my world, Yunak Seus wouldn't be recorded as dying an evil dragon.
Not as a wretched ancient dragon with torn wings, rolling pathetically through the mountains.
I make good on my words.
"Rampage henceforth as befits the king of all things, Yunak Seus. You shall be etched as a foe mightier than any demon, demon king, or archfiend I've faced."
I intoned.
"That is my final judgment upon you."
I gripped Ghost Iron firm.
"I shall bear all of you."
Did he understand my intent?
"Kr...!!"
Yunak Seus's aura shifted.
He began unleashing the power he'd desperately suppressed.
Szzzzz!
His massive body steamed, glowing red-hot.
Harcon's crew, pouring attacks amid the heat, fell back.
"......What the hell, suddenly?"
"It's excessively hot."
"Fuck. Not even bleeding, but...?"
Skal relayed.
"Th-the dragon's scales are changing color!!"
I wasn't surprised.
I'd anticipated it.
Once, I'd asked Yunak Seus.
-"Ice Dragon Proznax. Earth Dragon Kud Hanas. Thunder Dragon Zeudenax.... Indeed. This old wyrm once bore a title like theirs in the past."
I'd wondered why only Yunak Seus was called ancient dragon.
Then, sheepishly, he revealed it.
-"Supreme Flame Dragon. That is my ancient title."
Supreme heat.
Skin glowing black beyond red.
Scales sublimating to flame.
Yunak Seus's power hit my skin first.
Watching, Karimjeva—who called himself a fire dragon—came to mind.
Fitting for a demon worshiper, utterly clueless.
Comparison's impossible.
Once more, I felt it anew.
Impressive restraint, Yunak Seus.
How'd you suppress this even as a demon?
And how did I end up facing you...!
Of course, even now, my tone remained utterly composed.
"At last, you embody the king of all things, Yunak Seus."
Someone might ask if I wasn't utterly screwed, in crude terms.
They'd be right. By level replacing class, by anomaly realm—no area where I clearly surpassed Yunak Seus.
But I said "was," not "am."
For reason.
I'd just spotted an opening.
Our Grandfell, who likens passing time to afternoon tea and values it dearly.
Not regretting six days wasted meant there was reason aplenty.
I continued, gazing at Yunak Seus.
"Then I too shall respond in kind—with my 'full power'."
.
.
.
Whoosh—
Mary flew over the Zero Mountains on her broom.
Jessie seemed to need time to compose herself. No great worry.
I'd learned guiding her she wasn't chosen as grand archmage for nothing.
Truthfully, right now it's more Claudy, Hoyeol, I'm worried about...
"!"
At last, the battlefield came into view.
Mary spotted Yunak Seus instantly.
A dragon she'd encountered on the Arcana Continent before.
Yunak Seus.
Elves led by Agentress. Sin of Gluttony. Transcendent Urs.
Situations on the brink—she'd summed them as Claudy before.
The Southern Sea Witch, Mary, grasped the gravity at once.
"......This isn't the time to dawdle."
Mary thought.
Claudi couldn't handle that dragon alone.
In the past, she'd have blamed herself. Doubting mighty Claudy house.
She knew no worry more futile.
But not now.
Unresolved questions remained.
Why was Claudy called an adventurer?
Claudi head, Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo.
Adventurer, Lee Hoyeol.
No greater contradiction than their existence.
Even different worlds couldn't coexist on the same timeline.
But Mary kept her doubts unspoken.
From when the clan was saved for Hoyeol.
Further questions would be irreverent.
She merely worried.
Whatever circumstances, contradictions ensnaring him...
Claudi wasn't at past prowess.
Mary knew.
Impossible to face an elder dragon alone in this state.
So Mary accelerated her broom urgently.
But.
"......!"
Her worry was unfounded.
......What changes in those six days?
Prime Claudy stood before her.
Embracing the closed-eyed Tower Master.
Jessie, arriving late behind Mary.
Jessie wiped her eyes furtively and spoke.
A different sort of question.
"Um...... Can hair grow that long in just a week?"