#187

On the way down the mountain, a light drizzle began to fall, just as Kiyen had said. Even when they were in the Imperial Palace in the past, the Dragon’s emotions affected its surroundings, so it was likely due to that.

Cullen suddenly recalled that it hadn’t rained on the day Kia died. It was a meaningless comparison, yet it suddenly came to mind.

Ever since hearing that his life was the most meaningful to the Dragon, Cullen found it difficult to stop thinking about the Dragon. The days he had avoided it and not spoken to it were rendered meaningless as his mind filled with the Dragon. The Dragon’s attitude towards him, which he tried to ignore, swirled chaotically.

The gaze that followed him, the reactions that changed with every trivial action, the apology he heard for the first time, and the sight of it kneeling…

“Should we stop here for today?”

Lasano spoke to Cullen, who had remained silent all day. Only then did Cullen realize that it had grown dark.

The long mountain range, having burned and revived, was not as treacherous as before, making it easier to traverse. It was largely thanks to the Young Dragons who followed without showing any signs of fatigue. Though their appearance was that of children, they seemed more vibrant than anyone.

“Yes. It would be best to prepare for camping.”

Cullen agreed with Lasano and surveyed the surroundings. The not-so-tall trees had broader, greener leaves than those at the summit. Seeing how far the path back stretched, it seemed they had reached the very edge of the mountain range.

If things continued like this, they would face the inland tomorrow. He couldn’t even guess what the central region, where the Imperial Palace once stood, would look like.

“Alright, then, the Dragon who gathers the most branches will receive preserved fruit.”

As soon as Cullen gave his permission, Lasano tempted the Young Dragons with the sugar peaches obtained from the village.

The Young Dragons, who had tasted them one by one and were quite excited,’s eyes sparkled at Lasano’s words, and they stood up. Their hidden wings twitched slightly. Even Black, who always maintained a poker face, had a slightly flushed expression. Regardless of their race, the characteristics of young beings seemed impossible to hide.

“Me!”

Cat, who raised her hand to ask for it, was gently pointed out by White.

“Cat, the one who gathers them first receives it, remember?”

“I’ll gather them!”

“No, I want to eat them too.”

While the two were having a small argument, Black quietly stood up and moved. Cat and White, noticing him belatedly, cried out “Ah!” and followed. Watching the Young Dragons run off excitedly, Cullen also stood up.

“I’ll follow them, as we can’t send the children alone.”

Lasano, instead of stopping him, cheekily added,

“If you’re going, it would be nice if you could catch a rabbit or two. I suppose I’ll have to pray to the goddess.”

He turned away from Lasano, who invoked a goddess he no longer served. After preparing his bow and long sword, Cullen tried to follow the children before they got too far. The Dragon called out to Cullen, who was about to do so.

“I’m going too.”

As the Dragon, who always followed him like a shadow, it was natural. Despite becoming accustomed to it, Cullen spoke more dryly than he intended.

“I won’t run away, so you don’t have to worry. You’ll find me anyway, won’t you?”

He was merely stating a fact, but the Dragon stopped abruptly at his words. Cullen continued without meeting its eyes. He knew what kind of gaze it would have, so he tried to look away. He didn’t want to see it. He wanted to shake off the lingering image of the Dragon that had been swirling in his head all day, even for a moment.

Cullen decided to admit it. There was clearly a problem with the Golden Seal, and it had not solidified as much as he thought, even as the day wore on.

It wasn’t that he had developed feelings for the Dragon, but his current state was unsettling enough. He even thought it would have been better to make his escape alone, as Lasano had suggested.

However, the path had already been taken, and he had seen the Young Dragons holding onto him. All Cullen could do was distance himself from the Dragon as much as possible.

“I have things to protect, including the horses, so it would be better for you to stay here with Lasano.”

He continued speaking deliberately and quietly, and the Dragon let out a faint sigh. Without waiting for a reply, he turned, but the Dragon stopped him again.

“……We might encounter winged beasts.”

The Dragon’s hand moved decisively, and it very carefully gripped his wrist. It was a strength that could be shaken off with a mere flick. The gesture, as if handling something fragile, was one of the Dragon’s changed behaviors. He hadn’t grown accustomed to it.

“Do you sense anything?”

Cullen asked without looking back.

“……I don’t sense anything nearby. But—”

“Then it should be safe. I’ll be going now.”

Cullen hesitated for a moment, then shook off the Dragon’s hand that held me. Even though he hadn’t struck it roughly, the Dragon’s hand was pushed away significantly.

Stopping him from turning back, Cullen took a step forward. His steps were heavy, but he dismissed it as an illusion and moved forward.

The Young Dragons, who hadn’t heeded the command to stay close, had already moved far ahead. After walking a certain distance along the forest path as darkness fell, Cullen looked back. There were no Dragons. Was it because they had promised to obey him?

With an inexplicable sense of frustration, Cullen frowned, a rare expression, and closed his eyes for a moment. He swept back his loosely swept dark purple hair and took a breath.

This was not the time. He had to find the children.

Cullen scanned the path where several small footprints remained. Fortunately, it hadn’t rained heavily, so the tracks hadn’t been washed away.

Following the damp earth, Cullen walked for over thirty minutes. The children had gone further than he expected. From the middle onwards, the footprints were sparse, suggesting they had used their wings.

They had gone quite far, and a sense of caution began to set in. As Dragons, they would naturally be avoided by most beasts, but a strange unease prickled his spine. There was an unusual lack of animal sounds. Even the birdsong he had heard earlier had disappeared.

Cullen unconsciously looked down at his feet. His intuition was warning him of something. While he couldn’t sense the presence of all living things like Dragons could, he had faced many threats to life, including killing intent. His senses, honed by his long career as a mercenary, were acutely on edge.

Carefully, Cullen pressed the heel of his boot into the ground. He hadn’t noticed it while just walking, but the ground beneath was strangely shallow. It wasn’t due to the lower altitude.

“Demonic Beasts have been increasing in the foothills of the mountain range recently.”

As Hope’s words flashed through his mind, he saw shining blonde hair ahead.

“Cullen-nim, look at this!”

Cat, who had appeared without a sound, was holding an armful of branches. With the sudden sound of his voice, Cullen sensed the ground beneath him tremble faintly.

“Cat, do not come to me.”

However, the excited child didn’t seem to hear him properly. His flushed cheeks were colored with joy.

“I gathered more than White or Black!”

As the adorable voice echoed in the air, the vibration began. Cullen ran. Drawing his sword, he snatched Cat, who was running towards him, into his arms. Clutched tightly by Cullen with sudden strength, Cat dropped the branches.

“Ah!”

Cat, about to pout, blinked and looked down at the ground. To Cullen, who had started running while holding him, Cat said,

“Cullen-nim, there’s something huge.”

Pointing at the ground, Cat narrowed his golden pupils sharply. As if to prove his words, before his voice even faded, a roar erupted.

Grrrraaaah—!

A chillingly high-pitched shriek echoed, and something enormous burst from the ground where they had just been. A monstrous creature, far longer than anticipated, shot up from the earth, and Cullen rolled, shielding Cat.

While evading, without giving them a chance to counter, a sharp, long, emaciated leg slammed down where they were.

Rolling several times to evade, Cullen finally managed to create some distance. Unlike before, Cat’s pupils had clearly transformed into those of a beast. His extremely narrowed pupils stared at the Demonic Beast with killing intent. His wings had grown larger than before, and cold spikes protruded.

“I’ll get rid of it.”

With a calm voice he had never heard before, Cat reached out his hand.

“Can you? I have never seen that Demonic Beast before.”

Cullen continued to create distance, observing the Demonic Beast. Cat was trembling slightly, but his aura was sharp.

“Yes, I am a Dragon. There is nothing a Dragon cannot kill.”

A force similar to what Dragons had created in the past gathered in Cat’s hand. Though small in size, the swirling wind conveyed the power of the force.

Sensing its power, the Demonic Beast, which had been thrashing wildly, paused for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, Cullen finally got a good look at the Demonic Beast.

The monstrous creature, with a body like a giant centipede, was covered in spider-like legs all over its back. The one that had slammed down on them earlier was the largest front leg. The legs, studded with small thorns like daggers, looked as though they would crush internal organs and destroy a normal person the moment they were pierced.

“Be careful.”

As Cat’s calm voice was heard, light spread out white. A deafening roar filled the air as the wind exploded.

Bracing himself with all his might to avoid being pushed back, Cullen winced. The blinding white light lingered for a while before disappearing. It was a power that would have torn apart most beasts.

A cloud of dust settled. A deep hole was visible. However, the Demonic Beast was nowhere to be seen. Cat tilted his head, looking confused.

“Huh…?”

As he heard the flustered voice, Cullen felt a chill creep up his spine. He quickly turned and moved aside, but it was a little too late. The Demonic Beast, which had somehow hidden itself in the ground, revealed its long body from behind and lunged at them.

Kieeeek!

Despite its long and heavy body, the Demonic Beast was incredibly fast. Though he narrowly dodged, a large wound appeared on his right arm. With a ‘thwack!’ sound, the smell of blood wafted over. Cat, who had spotted the Demonic Beast at the same time as Cullen, widened his eyes as he saw the blood spreading on his arm.

“Y-you’re hurt…?”

The child’s voice trembled. Cat, who hadn’t shown much tension even when facing the Demonic Beast, turned pale at the sight of Cullen’s blood.

Cullen thought that perhaps the child had never seen blood before. Anyone with a heart and emotions would undoubtedly be flustered the first time they saw blood. Regardless of their inherent power.

“Cat, you should escape. I will draw its attention, so fly and cast your Magic.”

“But the blood…!”

As Cat touched his arm with a whimper, the Demonic Beast lunged, not missing the chance. Instead of his injured arm, Cullen used his left arm to wield his long sword.

With a ‘clang!’ of impact, the tip of a sharp leg was deflected by the sword. The force was so strong that his body was pushed back. Not only that, but the sword that blocked the attack shattered into pieces a few seconds later.

This is not good.

His heart, reacting to the danger, pounded rapidly. With Cat in a panic after seeing the blood, attacking was impossible.

Cullen plunged into the trees without looking back. Cullen, disappearing rapidly in the direction of the Dragon’s campsite, began to be pursued by the Demonic Beast, making ‘kick, kick’ sounds.

“Cat, you need to snap out of it. Where are Black and White?”

Hugging the child’s back tightly, he asked. Cat looked around with tear-filled eyes. Then, his eyes widened.

“There, there!”

Pointing south with his finger, Cat shouted,

“It’s heading towards where the children are…!”

I thought it would follow me, but it seems to have changed its strategy. Hurriedly changing direction, Cullen ran towards where Cat was pointing.

This is the first time I’ve encountered such a Demonic Beast. While the types and mutations of Demonic Beasts had continued for the past few years, the power I just faced was similar to the Demonic Beasts encountered while searching for relics. Such large and powerful ones would cause people to die without a second thought.

Running without even catching his breath, Cullen finally spotted Black and White. They were confronting the revealed Demonic Beast.

Like Cat, they had their wings spread sharply and seemed to have already cast Magic multiple times. The ground and trees were shattered. However, the Demonic Beast had only scattered a few of its dozens of legs and was charging at them with a menacing aura.

“Confronting it head-on is useless!”

Cullen shouted. Young Dragons, only half a year old, could not possibly have learned how to fight. They had power but didn’t know how to battle.

However, the Demonic Beast’s roar drowned out Cullen’s voice. As Black and White prepared to cast Magic again, the Demonic Beast unleashed a new attack. A red light wriggled from between its carapace, and then, like blood, it spread out with a ‘thwack!’ There was no time to block. No, blocking was impossible.

As if self-destructing, a sticky red liquid spread everywhere. A strong heat, as if fire had been melted into liquid, could be felt. A few drops of the viscous substance that fell at Cullen’s feet immediately melted the ground and dug into it.

Black and White’s figures were obscured by the red light. Before being buried, they looked at Cullen with terrified eyes. An intense emotion, as if his heart would explode, erupted.

“No!”

A rough voice echoed. The smell of burning and scorching filled the air as the red light and liquid subsided with a ‘pak.’ Everything was black. As if showing what the burnt mountain range would look like, the nearby trees melted away, swept by the liquid.

The moment he regained his senses, Cullen was floating slightly in the air. Cat, who had unfurled his wings to their fullest, was flying with Cullen in his arms.

Cat’s eyes were tightly shut. He could feel the forearm holding him tightly trembling. His face showed fear of opening his eyes.

Through the slowly settling smoke, Cullen spotted the Demonic Beast first. It was in a vivid state, not much different from before. It hadn’t self-destructed. The problem, the problem was…

Without breathing, he turned his eyes towards the spot where Black and White had been. As his throat tightened, dreading the horrific scene that awaited him, Cullen witnessed something unexpected. In place of the children, there was a giant golden wing. A Dragon. He had arrived in time.

But.

The wing, curled as if to embrace something, had lost its usual color. The long golden hair remained, but the back, clearly embracing the children, was different from what he had seen before.

A blood-soaked membrane, appearing black as if scorched to ash, was visible, and beneath it, Cullen saw flowing red blood. It was not flowing from the Demonic Beast.

Cullen’s eyes slowly moved to the Dragon Robe. The white, pristine robe…

It was stained crimson.