Looking at the red mist that surrounded .
I had a thought.
I wanted to go back.
It was the little Ashuban who had been beaten to a pulp and rolled in the mud, but strangely, the grown-up Ashuban was also quite tired.
It seed I was more ntally tired than physically.
The storm of ti and space, whatever.
The child of prophecy, whatever.
To hell with it all, my honest feeling was that I wanted to go back to the Sherwood hideout where the guys were and sleep to my heart's content.
"Haa..."
But life was not so easy.
It was the kind of thing that would throw an endless sea in front of a person who had just crossed a big mountain.
Suddenly, I rembered what the old king of Blake had said to .
—When I heard the voice of God... it seed that the trials that would befall you were not just this one.
Hmm.
—This will only be the beginning. From now on, trials will rise like waves and continue to try to swallow you.
...Now that I think about it, he was a very wise old man in many ways.
"That old man's words were not wrong at all."
I grumbled, looking at the red mist that still surrounded .
"It's just one thing after another."
I quietly looked back on the past days.
After a difficult journey, I rode the teleportation magic circle of the Blake royal family,
After a difficult hardship, as soon as I returned to Maia, I was faced with the news of the rcenary corps' dissolution,
The welco of the magical beasts, the re-establishnt of the rcenary corps, the sudden appearance of the Dark Heaven Society,
Saying hello to the A-rank magical beast, Hydra,
Beating up the mbers who wouldn't listen and making them rejoin,
The worst monster wave in history,
Beating up the S-rank special individual and the king of the magical beasts, the Snowman,
Going to the Holy Empire to save Siri and having a big fight with the Hero of Light who changed night into day and split the sky...
And now, I was in the middle of carrying out the special designated commission of the Red Witch.
I was in the middle of writing a thrilling ti travel story where the world would be destroyed if I failed.
The first ti travel was successful in its own way.
But in the second ti period, I really almost destroyed the world.
Looking back, it was really close.
If the past Scarlet hadn't used so trick to return the necklace, if Tina hadn't been so damn kind as to even take care of the traitor.
I would never have been able to return to my original ti.
"..."
I felt like this trial was getting bigger and bigger.
While changing the direction of the incoming wave in various ways.
Damn it. What kind of shitty ti period will I be sent to this ti?
And what kind of shitty mission will they throw at ?
I'm so excited I could die.
"Hooo..."
I glared at the red mist and cald my mind.
No matter what happens, I will not be shaken this ti.
No matter what trial cos, I will split it in half and go back right away. With that mindset, I glared at the red mist of ti and space that had not yet cleared.
"..."
[It's taking a particularly long ti.]
"That's what I'm saying."
How far back in the past was I going?
I was staring at the mist as if I could split it with my gaze alone for a while.
And the mist slowly began to clear.
"Alright. Trial or whatever. Co at . I'll split you in half."
The old king's request echoed faintly in my ears like the afterglow of an echo.
—Please keep your current heart well. You should not live as cowardly as I did.
'Yes. I shouldn't live cowardly.'
As I recalled the old king's request, I took a step out of the mist that was slowly beginning to clear.
"The invincible Ashuban is coming!"
Did you see that?
This is my beginning.
[Tsk, tsk... when will you beco a person.]
I could hear the Heavenly Demon clicking his tongue softly.
The red mist cleared.
And the first thing that ca into my sight was.
A black sky.
"...Huh?"
As I was looking up at it quietly.
I realized one strange thing.
The stars and the moon were not visible.
It was just as black as looking into an abyss.
"What on earth..."
Just then.
「...Finally.」
A voice that seed to pierce my head directly, not through my ears.
I was startled by the voice whose direction I couldn't gauge and beca wary of my surroundings.
But the surroundings were also completely dark, as if they had been swallowed by the darkness.
「I have waited a long ti.」
With the successive words.
Fwoosh—
A fla appeared in front of my eyes.
The flickering fla faintly illuminated the surroundings.
And there, a huge monster was looking down at quietly.
"...!"
The flickering fla illuminated the monster's huge body.
Its body was so huge that I couldn't take it all in at a glance, and on its head, which was hanging high in the night sky like a full moon, two green eyes were shining like stars.
My resolve to split any mission in half withered like a candle in the wind.
Far from splitting it, I had to be careful not to be trampled to death.
The feeling of being overwheld by it.
It felt like I was facing a huge natural landscape, like a waterfall or a cliff, or an endless sea, rather than a living creature.
Was this what a mouse felt in front of an S-rank magical beast?
Cold sweat trickled down.
My mouth was dry.
My head was spinning, crushed by the pressure, and it was repeating an idle rotation.
My hand was instinctively on the hilt of my sword, but I couldn't bring myself to draw it.
Because I doubted whether this toothpick could do any damage to that monster.
I thought I would be lucky if I could just scrape the dirt under its claws with this.
[Hoo...]
What's with the 'hoo'?
Even in this situation, the Heavenly Demon was exclaiming in admiration, as if he found sothing so interesting.
[Disciple.]
"Master. I don't think this is the ti for small talk. My life is on the line here."
[Don't worry. If that guy had wanted to, you would already be dead.]
"...Thank you for the encouragent. If I charge at it now, I might be able to scratch the dirt under that monster's claws. I'm thinking of trying to win its favor with that, what do you think?"
[Stop talking nonsense. Just give your body. I have finally t an opponent that I don't have to hold back against.]
"...Pardon?"
What's wrong with this master?
A man who had been quietly fishing by the lake like an old man who had reached enlightennt in all things.
I could feel the Heavenly Demon's fighting spirit burning like a conflagration.
Was it after he had beaten the Knight of Frost to a pulp?
He had said that he would never take over my body again, so I shouldn't hope for a fluke.
This was the first ti he had directly asked for my body.
Did it an that the being in front of was that huge?
To the point where the Heavenly Demon recognized it as his rival.
...Gulp.
I swallowed dryly and carefully examined the strange creature that was spread out before .
In other words, it ant that a monster that exuded this much presence had to be the Heavenly Demon's rival.
[It's not your opponent. I don't know for sure, but that thing has no intention of harming you.]
"...Really?"
[If you don't believe , try attacking it.]
I quickly rolled my head.
Surely, my mission this ti wasn't to hunt that monster, was it?
If so, it was a situation where I really had to borrow the Heavenly Demon's hand.
I don't even know what ti period I've fallen into.
Even if I spread my senses and groped around, I couldn't feel anything.
It was so huge and its presence was so clear, but I couldn't feel anything, so it was creepy.
'And, I think it spoke to .'
What did it say?
Did it say it was waiting for ?
Screech—
I slowly drew my Night Sky Sword.
The monster's green eyes flashed from above, as if it were interested.
And then, that voice pierced my mind again.
「Co. Ti traveler.」
Grip!
My hand on the hilt tightened.
Trrrk!
The black blade froze white.
Fwoosh!
I brought my left hand, which was engulfed in the Blue Fla, and ran it from the bottom to the top of the frozen blade.
Swoosh!
A blue snake wrapped around a white branch.
Snow Branch Blue Fla.
"Uryaaaaaah!"
I threw my best move at the naless monster.
Ting!
"Ugh."
Crash!
The result was disastrous.
Before I could even reach its main body, I was hit by sothing that had popped out and rolled on the ground.
"Cough, cough."
I quickly got up, inhaling a lot of dust.
As I got up, covering my nose and mouth with my sleeve, a familiar but unfamiliar sll brushed past my nose.
Pause.
'This is...'
It wasn't just dust.
The sll of a bonfire that had burned all night.
The sll of sothing that had finally been oxidized into dust.
I scooped up a handful of sand from the floor and held it up to the light.
It was gray ash.
Swoosh—
I looked at the ash that was flowing through my fingers and then raised my head.
There, the monster had stealthily extended its front paw, which was covered in red scales.
And there, there were vicious claws.
"Ah."
So I had been hit by that monster's finger flick and had rolled so pathetically.
The Heavenly Demon laughed slowly.
[Didn't I say it wasn't your opponent?]
Where was this, and what was that monster?
The voice ca into my head again.
「Do not be afraid. I have remained here to et you.」
Fwoosh!
Several flas erupted in the air at the sa ti, and the surroundings beca as bright as day.
As the darkness that had been covering its huge body like a thick coat retreated.
The full form of 'it' was revealed.
When I saw the complete form of the monster.
I was completely dumbfounded.
Because I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
「Welco. Child of Fate.」
'It' was a mythical being that I had only seen in pictures in fairy tales, a dragon.
* * *
The dragon waited quietly for to recover from the shock.
I stared at the mythical being that had suddenly appeared in front of and tried to understand the situation.
Just then, I heard the Heavenly Demon clicking his tongue, "Tsk—".
[The excitent is gone.]
"Suddenly?"
[I have no hobby of tornting the sick.]
"...Sick?"
I focused my inner energy on my eyes and examined it closely.
And then, I began to see things that I hadn't seen before.
A torn wing.
Scales that were scratched and torn here and there.
A large scar that was drawn diagonally on its chest.
A tail that was half cut off.
The red dragon in front of was a complete ss, covered in wounds.
Looking at it again, it seed to be quite weak.
[I thought I could finally loosen up a bit.]
The Heavenly Demon muttered in dissatisfaction and then, as if he had lost interest, he took his fishing rod and left.
"No, Master. Where are you going?"
[It seems he has a lot to say to you before he falls into a long sleep, so just listen.]
"And you, Master? Aren't you going to listen?"
[You listen.]
Wasn't the mythical being in front of him strange to the Heavenly Demon?
Instead of a physical conversation where blood splattered and heads were smashed, he showed a willingness to have a conversation with words like a polite, civilized person, and then he imdiately turned his back.
"Well, I'll be."
Just then, the dragon slowly lowered its huge head.
「Are you ready to talk?」
I looked at the wounded dragon head that had co right in front of , and the sharp green eyes that were split vertically like a snake's, and I nodded dazedly.
Since it seed I had no choice.
"I think so."
「Good. Wait a mont.」
The red dragon pulled its head back and then muttered a spell softly.
「Polymorph.」
Fwoosh!
A fla like a conflagration erupted and swallowed the dragon's huge body whole.
"Keuk!"
The heat was so intense that I had to take a few steps back, even with several layers of the Snow White Ice Curtain.
After a while.
The fla that had covered the dragon's huge body gradually grew smaller.
And soon, it beca the size of a person.
And the one who ca out of the fla was soone I had seen a lot sowhere.
"...Huh?"
Fiery red hair.
Green eyes that seed to suck you in.
"Big Sister?"
But instead of her characteristic, languid atmosphere, her complexion was very tired.
And instead of the sll of tobacco, the sll of burnt ash felt unfamiliar.
The being that had been a dragon walked awkwardly...
"Ugh."
Thump.
Her legs got tangled and she fell.
"..."
"It's hard to get used to this."
I stared blankly at the great being who was walking slowly, as if learning to walk like a child.
Soon, the great being reached and t my eyes, and then opened her mouth awkwardly.
"Ah. Ah. Can you hear ? Hmm... the human way of conversation is still awkward. Even though I have practiced steadily for this day."
"Uh... yes. I can hear you well."
At that, she nodded as if she were satisfied.
"Hmm. Then is my conversation clearly understood without any wavering?"
"Uh... more or less?"
"Language also wears down as ti passes. This is a relief."
She moved her tongue and the muscles around her lower jaw here and there, as if to loosen her mouth.
And then, as if she had noticed my staring gaze, she said.
"Do you have a question that requires an answer?"
Just then, I had been looking at her features one by one and had co to the conclusion that she was not Scarlet.
She looked very similar, but sohow, the feeling was different.
"Who are you?"
She looked at straight and answered.
"Primus Ignis Istradel. I am the dragon that holds the first fla."
(End of Chapter)
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