Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Alakishi's Resurrection
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“We’ll start after counting to three.”
Kasena, mounted on Varlzen’s back, nodded and took a deep breath to steady the pounding in her chest.
“Three.”
The time Varlzen could buy her was at most a few seconds… She had to succeed at something even she didn’t fully understand how to do.
“Two.”
She might die at the end of this path. But somehow, that didn’t feel so bad.
Abandoning Alakishi here and fleeing to survive would only fill her life with endless regret.
And seeing that pure white lightning bolt crashing into the ground far ahead gave her a surge of courage.
“One.”
Rain was fighting too.
Facing an enemy far stronger than her, without giving up even a little…
So I won’t give up either. I’ll focus everything on this now. I’ll make sure you meet Alakishi with a smile again, Rain.
“Here we go!”
As Varlzen kicked off the ground on all fours, a ferocious rush of speed slammed into her head, bringing on dizziness.
“Peach!”
At the same moment, the sun parrot Peach, cloaked in flames, soared up first and dove sharply toward Alakishi.
Wraiths feared and shunned light and fire—Alakishi in her current state was no exception, hesitating as she retreated, jaws gaping wide.
A repulsive bursting sound erupted as bubbling abyssal corrosive spit sprayed out like a bullet hell barrage.
…!
Only after seeing Peach barely dodge those countless droplets of death, heart in her throat, could Kasena finally exhale.
Now it was their turn.
In the few seconds Peach had bought, Varlzen closed the distance to Alakishi in one breath, then let out a sharp, piercing wolf howl.
That was the signal.
Kasena immediately clutched the telekinetic barrier-wrapped dragon egg basket close and leaped off Varlzen’s back.
The intense centrifugal force and momentum sent her body tumbling endlessly across the snowfield, crushing pain squeezing her lungs until she thought she’d suffocate.
When the rolling finally stopped, right in front of her, a dragon’s roar intertwined with a wolf’s howl. It was Varlzen.
“Hmm, what the hell is that thing doing?”
Prisbia, who had fallen back to observe, furrowed her brow in confusion.
No way she could know. No way she could understand even if she heard.
But perhaps sensing the intent as a fellow beastkin, the beastkin warriors under Griffion’s command followed behind Varlzen.
The war-chiefs’ combat prowess surpassed even the renowned knights Kasena had seen at the estate. They dodged Alakishi’s forelimb strikes this way and that, finally drawing out a major offensive.
The problem was that the combat instincts dwelling in Alakishi’s body were even sharper.
Just as it seemed Alakishi would slam down her massive raised foot on Varlzen, she suddenly whipped around, lashing his torso with her enormous tail.
“Varlzen—!”
The blow sent Varlzen flying, crashing into the snowfield with massive explosions several times before finally smashing into a distant boulder, cracking it.
“—!”
Kasena nearly lost her composure in that instant, but the cry snapped her back. Swallowing hard, she charged toward Alakishi.
The dragon egg pulled from the basket began pulsing stronger and stronger, as if overjoyed beyond words at reuniting with its mother.
It felt like hope would continue, like dawn light would break… up until the moment Alakishi blankly stared at the egg.
…?!
But Alakishi didn’t recognize it—next instant, she gaped wide and vomited a tidal wave of abyss.
She might have been swept away and melted with the egg.
If not for Alakishi suddenly collapsing limply like a puppet with cut strings right then. Her transcendent weight sent snow spraying wildly into the air.
A miracle…?
No time to think. As Kasena reached near Alakishi’s head, gasping for breath.
“Whatever lucky break you pulled off, it’s impressive, huh? Heh heh heh.”
Prisbia landed atop Alakishi’s crown, pressing equipment spewing ominous steam against it.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“What? Giving her peace. It’s a fire plume stone spike. Pierces the brain and burns her up instantly.”
“Don’t! Alakishi is still alive!”
“This is alive?”
Prisbia sneered dismissively and pulled the trigger—but sharp claws gripped her wrist.
“Let the child do what she wishes.”
It was the beastkin grand chieftain, Griffion.
That marked the instant the allied adventurers and beastkin warriors turned hostile, blades drawn against each other.
“I’m Kasena… Don’t you recognize me, Alakishi?”
「….」
“Snap out of it, please. Rain’s fighting alone. Help him, Alakishi.”
No answer, of course. Not even breath— no steam from her nostrils.
As Kasena dazedly repeated the name over and over, why did she do it? Unthinkingly, she pressed the dragon egg to Alakishi’s massive forehead.
Maybe because she recalled Alakishi’s smile, nightly cradling the egg forehead-to-forehead?
“What are you doing here… You promised to cook tasty meals for your daughter… To make warm memories…”
No answer. There couldn’t be. Alakishi’s soul had already been devoured by the abyss…
Sorrowful silence overwhelmed the snowfield.
Prisbia tsked mockingly, while Griffion placed a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder and shook his head.
“Our kin are still fighting wraiths and ancients back there. We can’t stay. Let’s grant her peace…”
“Peace…?”
“Only light and fire can grant peace to souls devoured by the abyss.”
As Prisbia aimed the fire plume stone spike at Alakishi’s skull again, and Kasena wildly shook her head…
Perhaps the endless tears whispering down the girl’s cheek reached her soul.
Or the divine light plaintively emanating from the black sheep lin on the girl’s neck melted the abyssal chains binding that soul.
Or the egg pressed to her forehead conveyed the mother’s raw, sorrowful tremor of severance.
In that moment, a distant thread of memory’s light pierced the soul of Alakishi, hazily sinking into the abyss’s depths.
…………
…
……
………
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“And so, who do you think is suitable?”
Karenden approached, thin white robes fluttering, staff in hand.
Even unintentionally, his voice alone made the air tremble in quiet reverence. Divinity dwelled in every word and deed.
The fire dragon Bel’Dakidun, silently watching her five hatchlings frolic joyfully, bowed deeply and respectfully.
“Great Light, forgive my impertinence… but this Bel’Dakidun dares not choose any.”
Four years prior, Karenden had ordered her to prepare one red true dragon for a lonely mission, but Bel’Dakidun had failed.
Not because she couldn’t gauge their aptitudes. As a father—no, mother—her heart couldn’t burden any child with such a cross.
Thus, reading the writhing sorrow in Bel’Dakidun’s voice, who hadn’t even named them yet, Karenden gave a wry smile.
“Hm… I suppose I was too cruel assigning you that, Bel.”
“This Bel’Dakidun was simply inadequate.”
“No, enough. I’d have been the same. In that case, let the children choose.”
As Karenden approached, the eldest hatchling—who had hatched first and led the others—lined up her siblings and bowed politely.
“Gu bar ki a den. Greetings, Lord Karenden.”
“““Gu bar ki a den!”””
Two girls, three boys.
The two boys were as innocent and mischievous as ten-year-old human children, while one quietly preferred contemplation.
The youngest girl chattered as lively as the boys, but the eldest girl was so precocious and intelligent she’d never even whined since hatching.
“I’ll do it, Lord Karenden.”
No explanation given yet, but at her words, even the world’s Karenden blinked in surprise.
“Do you even know what I’m about to ask?”
“You seek one for a burdensome mission from the Father of Fire. I assume that’s why you’ve come.”
“No, you don’t know what I’m asking. No need to decide rashly—you shouldn’t. I planned to give you years to think.”
“But someone must do it.”
“The world’s most terrifying solitude. Solitude alone? Once you step onto that path, no turning back. Alone until death. A road of nothing but pain and isolation.”
“The Great Flame said: Loyalty to the gods’ will is a true dragon’s duty, and caring for siblings’ pain is the eldest’s. Thus, I wish to walk that path for them.”
Karenden’s created dragonkin grew physically and mentally swiftly—three times faster than humans on average.
So this four-year-old was no different from a twelve-year-old human… Even as creator, it was hard to believe.
Seeing the resolute will shining in the young creation’s eyes, a sad smile touched Karenden’s lips.
“Come here, child.”
Lifting the advancing young true dragon high, dew faintly gathered in one of Karenden’s eyes.
“Your beautiful soul, choosing sorrow for your siblings’ joy… has greatly changed the world’s future.”
“…?”
“From today, your name is Alakishi. Meaning ‘duty,’ and also ‘fertilizer.’ Each step of your life will one day brilliantly herald dawn to this land.”
Your life won’t be in vain. The burdensome mission you must endure and protect isn’t futile at all.
You’ll live unknown, unacknowledged… but I’ll remember you.
I’ll remember, and when the greatest task begins, I’ll surely call on you. Until then…
…………
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……………
Deep in her soul’s abyss, as the true dragon’s eyes—bound tight by inky webs—opened and a single tear trailed her cheek.
…?!
…?!
…?!
Everyone surrounding the abyss-corroded dragon swallowed and stepped back.
A single crack formed on the forehead touching the egg, flames leaking from the gap.
One, one, another.
The cracks spread across her entire head, and amid flames dazzlingly burning away the web shrouding her like scale armor, a figure emerged.
“Alakishi…?”
From the dragon’s skull crumbling like charred wood, a woman with flame-red hair appeared, forehead to egg.
Her body was a wreck, just as when Shar’kas had ravaged her—ribs grotesquely protruding, organs frozen…
Kasena, embracing Alakishi’s horrific form, held her breath, focusing on the pulse of life.
Thump, thump, thump, thump…
She felt it.
The warm chest texture, the slow-moving heartbeat within, the firewood scent of a red dragon’s body…
And she heard.
From those feebly parted lips, a voice fierce as flame yet beautiful.
「Du ge ru as… Kasena…?」
Pain tore at Kasena’s heart as tears poured from her eyes. Same tears as before, but different emotion.
Not sorrow—joy.
So she should laugh now, not cry… But it was fine. She was alive. Alive.
“Hard to believe, but welcome back to the world of the living, Lady Alakishi.”
As Griffion spoke, tearful applause rippled among the warriors.
But hope was fleeting—Peach, circling the sky, cried out harshly.
Even through tear-blurred vision, Kasena saw it. In the corner of her sight, amid the blizzard, the tragedy unfolding…
“Ah…?”
Her mind went blank white. Rain collapsing into the snow, spurting blood. As Shar’kas shook his hand, the heart-mass rolled across the snow.
She bolted up dazedly, trying to scream a screamless scream and rush there—but a weakly convulsing hand gripped her wrist.
Alakishi.
「Not yet, not yet… He hasn’t died…」
…?!
「Bring him… here, quickly… Time, time is short…」
She’d long passed her limit—no, her life had ended long ago… Even Alakishi didn’t know how she lived now.
She didn’t know that, but amid her dimming consciousness, two things were clear.
She would die soon… and she could save Rain Ludwig.
‘Now I truly understand…’
Lord Karenden didn’t send these children to Harbadonia. He sent them to me, to Alakishi.
For a purpose.
And chose this Alakishi as the tool to fulfill it… Alakishi tightly clutched the vigorously pulsing egg in her arms.
“Just bring him here?”
As all warriors hesitated to approach Shar’kas, Griffion stepped forward and asked.
“Of course we will—Lady Alakishi said so…”
Varlzen, battered and staggering, stood beside him. Before anyone could stop him in that state, Prisbia stepped up.
“Fighting an ancient god once sounds like good experience. Heh. It’s the contract terms too.”
* * *
“At first, I couldn’t believe why Her Majesty sought a puny human like you…”
The clog-wearing god mounted the boy’s corpse. Young master Shar’kas raised his blood-soaked hand once more.
“Karenden—I know that bastard’s plotting something through you. Shall I peek?”
As he thrust his squelching yin-energy-dancing fingertip into the boy’s skull—
—Huh?!
—the instant before, a black light from somewhere blocked Shar’kas’s hand, exploding dazzlingly and repelling his body.
The blast formed a three-meter circle barrier enveloping the boy. Absolute light wrapped his flesh, slowly purifying the abyssal corrosion.
The light came from southwest, resonating with the black sheep lin at the boy’s neck. Suddenly, the young master’s eyes widened.
“This power… Karenden, you?!”
If he could still wield this, why not fight directly?
By dragon memory, he’d suffered near-fatal wounds in the king’s abyss and vanished… for a mere angelic century.
Yet he reappeared? How vital was this human to him?
“Hah, whatever. No matter your plot, ripping this human’s flesh to shreds solves it!”
Precisely, Karenden hadn’t appeared. He’d expended most power in the black spot incident.
The force repelling Shar’kas and guarding Rain Ludwig’s body was just a shot from the frozen main cannon at the battleship base.
The black sheep lin, sensing its master’s crisis, had issued covering fire via subspace comms. If this was Karenden’s calculation…
‘Far weaker than before, as expected…’
As Shar’kas’s spider threads tightly wrapped the black light barrier, cracks soon formed on its surface, a single thread slipping through.
“You hid for millennia preparing for the kings’ awakening—pity.”
The black sheep lin’s defense wasn’t to repel Shar’kas. Just to buy a brief, brief moment.
“Don’t touch my friend with those filthy hands…!”
Suddenly, beast scent and hot breath in the blizzard—a slender muzzle lunged, biting Shar’kas’s nape.
War-chief Varlzen.
Of course, those fangs shattered before touching the ancient god’s jade body, with Shar’kas merely twitching a finger.
“Know your place, mongrel.”
Divine skill indeed—one thread squeezing the barrier sliced off Varlzen’s muzzle and seized his throat.
Even as his jaws were mangled, most fangs lost, the wolf beastkin smirked triumphantly.
Shar’kas would learn the reason moments later.
“Griffion, now…!”
Something plummeted from the sky like an arrow, claws snatching through the thread gap to drag the boy from the barrier.
Eagle beastkin, Griffion.
Catching Griffion mid-soar with descent momentum converted to lift was child’s play for the young master.
“I always wondered what an ancient god’s body looked like.”
If not for the steam-spewing mechanical armored heroine appearing then, kicking Shar’kas’s wrist as threads extended.
Mortal strength was nothing to ancient royalty—but Prisbia, amplifying force with meshed gears, was different.
The mechanical armor creaked painfully, gears twisting in the power struggle, but it bought two seconds.
The pursuing threads were singed by Peach’s flames too—precisely three seconds.
“Hah, impressive. To think it wouldn’t hold.”
Shar’kas’s threads shattered her greaves, revealing Prisbia’s legs… shockingly, dozens of furs and hides chaotically fused.
“Ordinary bodies have limits, y’know. Heh, did some bio-grafts. To look young forever, heh heh heh.”
Not just beastkin fur or hides—primitive spider epidermis mixed into her skin patches.
「Sigh…」
Shar’kas exhaled lightly in irritation, like a human annoyed by interrupting flies.
「You lowly things always need a lesson in the gulf between us. To cower in awe.」