Chapter 86 – The Boy of the World That Perished in 100 Days
The moment the last wish was made, the brilliant sun broke through the horizon and rose, announcing the start of a new day. No one knew if it would be a doomed day or just another normal day.
No. Maybe it’s just we don’t know. I continued to look around, wandering in the agony of ignorance. Looking for only one It was hope.
It sounded vague at first glance, but our hope took a specific form. Pier on the beach. And the ship of the elves standing beside it. We ran desperately in search of it.
“Saya. Is there a boat you can see?”
“No, not yet. You?”
“…I do not know either.”
My teeth were grinding as I answered. I’m really almost there. This damned harbor was far too wide for castaways like us. Buildings tangled in a complex way, narrow alleys. Even fishing gear piled up everywhere. It was no exaggeration to say that it was truly a white labyrinth.
In addition, there were corpses piled up on the streets, and the smell of rotting made me vomit. Saya was also more than me, and there was nothing less to do, so she looked around with tears hanging from her eyes.
“The road is too complicated. Shall we go to a high place and look around?”
“But look at the sky. The hetzlings are still breathing fire. That might catch their attention.”
“Ah really…!”
Saya and I raised our heads at the same time. The sky, which should have been blue, was still a mess of flames and ashes from the hatchlings.
Besides, the sound of the great beating of wings was also getting closer. I hoped it was just an illusion, but unfortunately it didn’t seem like it.
“I have no choice but to find my way on the ground. Do you see any signs or something?”
“There are too many bodies to see. Where the hell did these people come from…”
“…Shit.”
I gritted my teeth and roughly trampled on one of my fingers lying on the floor. Even after the Anbert family died, they tormented me until the end. Why did you come all the way here and cause this uproar when even going on a boat would not be enough?
…
Go get a boat
Then, suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. I hurriedly opened my mouth before judging whether it was good or not.
“Saya. Let’s follow the corpse. I’m sure these people were also heading towards the pier.”
“Huh? Yes, that might be the case, but… What on earth should I follow?”
“It’s either going to find the least decayed corpse as possible… Or the smell of Roseria’s unique perfume. If Sir Anbert came here, he would have come close to the pier anyway.”
“It smells like perfume…”
“Yeah. It could be the perfume that the family often uses…”
I blurted out my words without conviction. But the answer to that was surprisingly positive.
“…I think it will work, Lope.”
“Do you think it will work?”
“Yes. This way. Hurry up and follow me!”
Even though it was a half-vain delusion, I thought it was a vain delusion, but Saya quickly found a way and ran. Whether it was the smell of perfume or the stench of a corpse, what I found with the tip of my nose was surprising.
So I wanted to believe that it was a sign of a miracle. I don’t know if it’s because of my mood, but the smell of the sea rushing into my nose was getting stronger and stronger.
After running for a long time, the end of the white labyrinth finally began to appear. Looking at the surrounding buildings starting to lower, I could see that it was no longer just an illusion. Then, when I finally saw the shape of the sea at the end of my field of vision, I let out my breath at once.
“…!”
“Ha…!”
Beads of hot sweat clung to the tip of his chin, and the movement of the deep blue waves flooded his eyes. White foam shattering in the morning sun and the endlessly undulating surface of the sea. It was certainly the scenery I had seen so much on the island, but I felt something that could not be explained with just that.
In the end, we couldn’t overcome the rushing emotions and slowly stopped walking. Then, with a trembling breath, the energy of the whole body drained out, and a thick shadow soaked the feet.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the vast ocean that filled my eyes. No matter how many times I ran my eyes around the beach from the edge of the horizon, or counted the movements of the waves crashing against the breakwater, my gaze did not drop. Saya also let out a damp breath and stared blankly at the sea.
But it wasn’t because we were soaked in inspiration that we couldn’t escape.
It was simply because the appearance of a huge ship was nowhere to be seen anywhere in this vast sea.
No matter how much you look around. No matter how meticulously the beach was inspected, there were no boats there. I tried to stay calm, but as time passed, an unbearable feeling of uneasiness swept through my chest. In the end, I gritted my teeth and turned her head toward Saya.
“Saya. Can you see the belly? I can’t see it at all.”
“I can’t even see it with my eyes.”
“Could we have come to the wrong place?”
“That’s probably not it.”
“…”
“Maybe we’re a little late.”
My heart sank in an instant at the calm tone. However, Saya did not end with that and added a word.
“Then you have to call me back.”
Then we walked slowly towards the beach.
As weightless steps brushed the floor, green sand grains rose into a light mist. Saya walked towards the beach cautiously, as if walking on clouds. I took a deep breath and followed him.
It was only after her worn-out shoes touched the edge of the surging waves that Saya stopped walking. Then, with hope and hope, he raised his hands with patterns high into the sky.
Then, the pattern on the back of the hand became clearer as if it were burning, and began to emit a deeper blue light than ever before.
“Ah…”
Under the clear sky, as the blue light flowed in a graceful curve, the stairs spread like a rainbow even though there was no rain, and colorful colors began to embroider the sky. In the endlessly unfolding super-realistic scene, I lost my words and stared blankly into space.
In the meantime, Saya twisted the back of his hand little by little to see if any gravity was pulling it, and eventually sent all the light in one direction. The light that spread like that slowly scattered around and then completely disappeared when Saya lowered her hand.
I really don’t know what effect it had. Maybe even Saya himself isn’t sure. Even so, I cautiously asked the question just in case.
“Did you call them?”
“I think so.”
“Then, will you come?”
“…I don’t know.”
Saya blurted out his words without conviction. Then he looked at my face and tried to smile.
“I hope so.”
“Yes.”
Saya was right. There was nothing more we could do anyway. All that was left was to wait. May they come. Come for us
…
But their approach was too slow.
So, they arrived first.
“Gooooo!!!”
“No…!”
“Saya! Get down!”
Hearing a mature cry he had never heard before, Saya fell to his knees in despair. I quickly hugged her and laid her flat on the floor.
And at the same time, the sky exploded and raging flames filled the whole world.
“Ooooo!!!”
A low, harsh, and at the same time, a deep, resonant cry. It was definitely the voice of a fully grown dragon, not Hetzling. They howled wildly towards the whole world as if they were proving themselves to be the kings of the sky.
Yeah guys The cries did not end as one, but several sounds overlapped in an instant and began to resonate as if tearing the ears apart. I raised my head in a paradoxically calm atmosphere, as I had already surpassed the limits of my hearing at that point.
The scenery I encountered could only be expressed in one word.
The sky opens
“…”
In the open sky, tens of thousands of dragons were pouring down at once.
Even though they were far away, their enormous scale could not be covered with perspective alone. They filled the sky so much that it was meaningless to count them, and they came down to the ground and burned all the land.
There could be no survivors in it. Only pitch-black ashes rose thinly. I watched endlessly at the end of the continent at the sight of the destruction of the whole world.
But then all of a sudden, goosebumps all over my body and a deep tension tangled in my stomach. When I raised my head with such unknown anxiety, the white buildings were covered in huge shadows.
And sobs filled with rage ripped through the air.
“Gaaaaa!!!”
“What the hell…!”
At that moment, a huge dragon roared desperately and flew towards this place like crazy. It flapped its half-torn wings until it lost control of its speed and slammed its massive body into the harbor.
“Gaaaaa!!!”
“Buy it!!!”
I urgently called Saya’s name, but the buildings were already collapsing and huge debris started pouring all over the place. I desperately pulled Saya and Haru’s bodies against the paradoxical scene where the waves of the earth hit the beach.
“No!!!”
…
Dense dust rose from all sides. It wasn’t a scene I had met once or twice, so I quickly regained consciousness and raised my head. Then, a violent cough flowed helplessly.
“Cool… Cool…”
“…”
“Cool… Buy it…”
“…I’m here, Lope.”
When I urgently called her name, Saya slowly lifted her head while holding Haru tightly. Fortunately, there appeared to be no injuries.
However, the situation around them was dire. Beautiful white buildings were now scattered in sharp fragments, and the corpses and weapons of the Anbert family were strewn about them, drawing a landscape almost reminiscent of a battlefield.
Of course, there was something else that made this moment the most terrifying. As I exhaled heavily, the sound of his low-pitched cries echoed under my feet again.
“Guuuuu…”
“…”
“Ugh…”
“Ha…”
“Rope…”
When I let out a deep sigh, Saya looked at me with a pitiful face. For the first time in a while, fear crept across her face. I wanted to stroke his cheek at least once, but I couldn’t afford to.
So I got up. Then, I met eyes with a huge dragon looking this way.
“Guuuuu…”
Then he looked this way too. The only pupil left was torn vertically, revealing hatred.
Even though he was exuding ferocious energy, his condition was as messy as mine. One of his eyeballs was rotted black as if it had been eaten by an insect, his wings were torn in half and blood and ooze dripped down, and his whole body was full of small scars, so it was appropriate to say that he looked like a rag.
With that alone, it was easy to figure out what the guy’s true identity was. I smiled bitterly and let out a thin sigh.
“…Okay.”
“Ugh…”
“You are the mother of them.”
A sign of destruction that was said to have burned the continent once before their main force arrived.
The little dragon that humanity did its best to drive it out.
And, the mother of those hatchlings I’ve been killing.
In the end, he chased away the smell of her children’s blood and reached me.
“Ha…”
“Guuuuu…”
At the end of the karma that finally came, I let out a second sigh. And he, too, glared at me, exhaling black smoke. It seems that he couldn’t stand the hatred even though his throat was torn and he couldn’t even breathe fire.
If I could say that I couldn’t help it, would you be able to understand this situation? Of course, there was no way to get through, and I didn’t want to make such a meaningless excuse. You and me too After all, I did my best to live. No need to apologize to anyone.
All I could do was do my best until the end. That’s why I pulled out the sword that was locked in my waist without a shudder.
“Whoa…”
There were all kinds of magic equipment around, but they were things I couldn’t use anyway. So, in the end, the only thing I could rely on was this one sword. It was like that at the academy, but it seemed like my destiny would be with this guy for the rest of my life.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll gain confidence. Suddenly, I wondered if the mad elf who ran toward the dragon in the past felt the same way. Still, he must have been in a better situation than me. In any case, he must have been the best swordsman on the continent at the time.
…No.
Am I the best swordsman in mankind now?
“…Lope.”
While I was thinking of a joke that I couldn’t laugh at, Saya came and stood beside me. An indescribable emotion was put on the ashes-strewn face. I looked at her and gave her a word that might be her last.
“Live man.”
“Huh.”
Saya’s answer was simple. I turned my head to her again before the voice had dissipated. Then I could feel the eyes of the guy who was still staring at me. For a moment, my legs almost collapsed in helpless despair.
The long, vertically slit pupils are particularly cold to the heart. Perhaps no animal on earth would be able to face him and tremble. However, I pushed away my fear with desperation and earnestness and met his eyes without a shudder.
“Dragon.”
…
“Did I miss you that much?”
