Editor : Amethyst00



Whoooosh—!

A dry wind swept through the desolate wasteland.

Lysinas stood in silence, staring out at the ruins before her, her fist clenched tightly.

Beside her, Aaron shut his eyes tightly and turned his head away from the horrific scene.

Dragonia.

Since time immemorial, this land had been the realm and sacred ground of the dragons.

Then came the Age of Calamity.

With the invasion of Erebos and Tartaros, the dragons were driven from their homeland.

Time passed. After Tartaros was repelled, the dragons were finally able to set foot in Dragonia once more.

But what they found was a land mercilessly destroyed by demons.

A land that had preserved the legacy of dragons for thousands—no, tens of thousands of years—was now reduced to nothing but ash.

Even in the Age of Gods, dragons were the mightiest of races.

They were the agents of the gods, the protectors of the world.

Erebos harbored hatred for the world itself. Naturally, he stood in direct opposition to the gods, its caretakers.

And so the demon race born from Erebos hated no race more than the dragons—the agents of the divine.

After seizing Dragonia, the demons of Tartaros devastated it completely. They captured dragons, tortured them cruelly, and slaughtered them.

All around the entrance lay the brutalized corpses of fallen dragons.

Blood trickled down Lysinas’s lips, clenched tightly as they were.

Her trembling fists were clenched so hard they quivered.

It was then that Dweno approached her.

“Lysinas, I understand how you feel… but first, we must recover the bodies of the fallen.”

“…Yeah.”

With effort, Lysinas nodded and began the solemn task of gathering the remains of her kin.

Before the pile of dragon corpses, Luna knelt, clasping her hands together.

“O great agents of the gods, may you return to nature and sleep in peace.”

Whoosh—

A dragon's funeral involved burning the bodies to return them to nature.

It was a duty Lysinas should have carried out herself, but having exhausted all her will just collecting the remains, Luna took her place.

As a candidate for Elven Queen, Luna had received the education of a High Elf. She was well-versed even in dragon funerary rites.

Usually indifferent to decorum, Luna now stood solemnly, mourning the dragons with reverence.

Kyle, Dweno, and Aaron stood silently behind her, heads bowed toward the blazing pyre.

Lysinas sat in a daze, silently watching the flames.

bl

That night, after the sun had long since set and the others were asleep, Lysinas sat alone amid the ruins.

In her hands, she held a small box.

“What’s that?”

“Ah—”

Startled by the voice behind her, Lysinas turned around.

“Kyle? You’re not asleep?”

“Right back at you. What’re you doing, wandering off from camp?”

Kyle had several flasks hooked between his fingers.

“And that?”

“Alcohol. I found it in the ruins.”

Kyle bit down on the cork stopper and yanked.

Pop—!

The scent of strong liquor drifted into the night air.

Tilting the flask to his lips, Kyle drank deep, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve before handing the bottle to Lysinas.

Though she never drank during missions, Lysinas took the flask without hesitation—just for tonight.

Gulp gulp—

“Heh.”

Kyle let out a dry laugh.

“What?”

Lysinas asked, wiping her lips with her shoulder.

“You drink just like Luna. I didn’t think you were that type.”

“I just wanted to drink without thinking. Even if it’s too fine a liquor for that.”

Lysinas handed the bottle back.

“So it is good? Well, it is dragon-brewed.”

Kyle downed the rest of the bottle, then opened the next one.

“So this place is…?”

“The house I lived in as a child.”

“I see.”

Kyle picked up a half-burned scrap of leather cover from the floor.

It was a mess now—barely recognizable as a home.

The furniture, if one could even call it that, was too charred to identify.

But something about the layout felt oddly familiar.

“Was this your study?”

“More like… my room.”

Though now reduced to ashes, the structure faintly resembled Lysinas’s current study.

She had recreated her quarters to mirror the home she once lived in, to soothe her longing for it—if even a little.

Most born before the Age of Calamity had lost their homelands.

But for Kyle and Luna, both orphans, there were no such deep attachments.

Dweno had always wanted to see more of the world. Though the fall of his homeland saddened him, he bore no lasting grief.

Even if they saved the world, none of them ever spoke of going back.

Lysinas was different.

She always said she would return.

She’d rebuild her homeland.

And whenever she spoke of Dragonia, her face lit up.

That was why this devastation must have shaken her so deeply.

She now sat curled, her knees drawn to her chest.

“I knew… I knew it would be like this.”

She buried her face against her knees.

“But seeing it with my own eyes… I can’t control it.”

Dragonia had once been so beautiful.

To see that cherished place so thoroughly destroyed—with nothing left behind—was enough to crack even the iron will of Lysinas, the unshakable leader of the subjugation force.

“How much more do we have to lose before this ends…?”

Kyle didn’t answer.

He just sat beside her, silent—keeping her company as the cold night wind blew across the ruins of Dragonia.

“Is there… really an end to all this?”

Lysinas’s voice trembled faintly.

“What if… what if we fail?”

At the unease in her voice, Kyle spoke coldly.

“Don’t show weakness.”

Lysinas’s shoulders flinched.

“You’re the one who brought all these people this far, crying out for a hope no one could see.”

“…”

“If you waver now—then who are they supposed to rely on?”

“…”

Lysinas bit her lip hard.

Kyle wasn’t wrong.

‘He’s right. I can’t fall apart over something like this.’

So many had lost their homes.

So many had grown used to despair.

And she had promised to show them hope.

If she faltered now, if she revealed how shaken she was—it would be more irresponsible than anything else.

Raising her head, Lysinas stood.

“Sorry… I showed you a weak side of me—”

“So…”

“…?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything tonight.”

Kyle raised the bottle to his lips again.

“I won’t tell Aaron, or Luna, or even Dweno.”

Gulp—gulp—

He drank heavily, letting the liquor flow freely.

“Luna and Aaron… they rely on you more than they let on. If they saw you like this, they wouldn’t be able to lean on you anymore.”

Kyle wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Dweno—well, that old man’s different from the other two. He’d try to carry your burden himself.”

Lysinas stared at Kyle in a daze.

“And if that happens… this party falls apart. Like it or not, you have to carry the most for us to stay together.”

Kyle looked straight at her.

“So just for tonight, be weak. I’ll drink and forget everything.”

“…Kyle.” Lysinas looked at him, eyes trembling.

Then, with both hands, she clutched the small box she held.

“Come here a moment?”

She patted the ground beside her.

When Kyle sat down, she gently leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Since I’m leaning on you already… can I ask for one favor?”

“If it’s something I can do.”

“You can. Do you remember what you said? That once everything is over, we should live in Dragonia together.”

“Of course I remember. I even trained in dragon customs until it became second nature.”

Kyle grumbled, frowning, and Lysinas burst into laughter.

“When it’s all over… will you help me rebuild Dragonia?”

“That massive city? Even a lifetime won’t be enough to restore it.”

“Didn’t you say today I could lean on you? And you said once the world’s at peace, you won’t have anything to do, right?”

“…Yeah, yeah. Fine.”

As Kyle replied with a sigh of surrender, Lysinas smiled and opened the box in her arms.

Click—

Inside was a fragment, small enough to fit in her palm.

Its gleam resembled polished obsidian.

Kyle tilted his head, puzzled.

“What’s that?”

“The shell from the egg I hatched from.”

“Whoa.” Kyle looked genuinely intrigued.

Lysinas narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’re thinking something rude, aren’t you?”

“Just realizing again you’re basically a lizard.”

Without a word, Lysinas elbowed him in the temple.

As Kyle rubbed his head, wincing, she handed him the piece of her eggshell.

“Write your name on it.”

“Why?”

“It’s a dragon custom. A kind of contract made for important promises.”

A mischievous smile crossed Lysinas’s lips.

“You said you’d help rebuild Dragonia, remember?”

“You’re seriously making a contract for that?”

“Hmph. Shouldn’t have shown an opening to a swindler like me.”

“Tch.”

Clicking his tongue, Kyle etched his name into the fragment.

Lysinas took it back and returned it carefully to the box.

“Now you’re mine.”

“What am I, your labor force?”

“Who knows?”

With a playful smile and a teasing flick of her tongue, Lysinas looked out over the ruined land.

“If you’re with me, I’m sure Dragonia will return to what it once was.”

“Yeah.”

Kyle nodded.

And Lysinas smiled—brightly.

bl

“……”

Leo silently gazed at the entrance of Dragonia.

Beside him, Chelsea tilted her head, confused.

“What are you staring at like that?”

“Just… remembering the old days.”

Leo let out a faint laugh and shook his head.

This wasn’t his first time in Dragonia.

But it was the first time he was truly seeing the landscape of Dragonia for what it was.

His first visit had been to meet Melina through the Forbidden Archive—he hadn’t seen anything of the outside world.

The second had been within Rodia’s world, where he’d seen only the general scenery from afar.

Other than that, he had only known Dragonia through written records and history.

So standing here now, seeing it with his own eyes, stirred something deep within him.

After that distant past, neither Lysinas nor he had ever returned to Dragonia again.

‘Looks like the dragons of later generations faithfully carried on Lysinas’s will and rebuilt it well.’

The entrance of Dragonia wasn’t all that different from what Lysinas had once described.

‘Come to think of it… that box with the shard of her egg—where I wrote my name—might still be buried somewhere around here.’

As Leo recalled the fragment of the egg Lysinas had hatched from—where he etched his name so long ago…

“There you are, Black Rabbit!”

A familiar voice rang out from behind, and Leo turned.

There stood Aru, arms crossed and her tail swaying lazily behind her.

Next to her, a burly student from Azonia stood tall.

“Long time no see, Leo.”

“Indeed it has, Dorberman Kallian.”

Leo reached out and grasped the hand of Dorberman, Azonia’s student council president.

“I hear you brought some interesting news. A school-wide tournament, was it?”

Dorberman’s lips curled into a smirk.

“What has Azonia decided?”

“Azonia reveres strength. If there is a stage to prove it, we never shy away. That is… assuming the stage is worthy of announcing our presence.”

His eyes flashed sharply.

“You won’t need to worry about that,” Leo replied with a calm smile.

“I plan to prepare a stage… truly befitting of heroes.”

Leo’s red eyes glinted with something chilling.

In that brief moment, both Aru and Chelsea instinctively shuddered.

‘This guy again! What kind of insane plan is he brewing this time?!’