Editor : Amethyst00



The highest spire of the royal palace in the Kingdom of Davienne.

Leo stood there silently, overlooking the ruined city of Deang.

All around, Deang remained in ruins.

The scars of civil war.

Many people could be seen passing through the devastated streets.

Amid the general atmosphere of chaos, every face carried deep sorrow.

It was as Leo's crimson eyes were surveying the people…

"What would Aaron have said if he saw this?"

At the voice from behind, Leo glanced sideways at Lysinas.

Lysinas squatted next to Leo.

Whoooosh—

A gust of wind blew, rustling Lysinas's black hair.

In the obsidian-like eyes of the black dragon who once bore the world alone, the image of the world was reflected.

Unlike before, the world was now at peace.

The sky was clear and bright.

Yet still, the faces of the people in this city were filled with darkness.

Lysinas knew.

That same darkness had filled the faces of people 5,000 years ago as well.

Some things had not changed even after 5,000 years.

Anxiety about an uncertain future.

Lament for those who had gone ahead.

Even if the world regains peace, those feelings do not disappear.

But Lysinas did not despair over such things.

She had saved the world knowing exactly what it was.

She knew it was a world filled with evil as much as good.

But knowing that good outweighed the bad, she had staked everything to save it.

However…

What about those born in the Age of Calamity?

The future they dreamed of was always bright and full of hope.

Because from the moment they were born, they had known only the deepest darkness.

They naively believed that in a world full of light, there would be no conflict.

Originally, it should have been the adults who taught them otherwise.

That the world contained both good and bad.

They shouldn't have been left to cling to false illusions.

But Lysinas didn't teach the children born in the Age of Calamity such truths.

Not even Aaron.

Sometimes, ignorance was a blessing.

Lysinas knew all too well that the hope of a bright world waiting beyond the despair gave great strength to those who had only ever lived in darkness.

'I only used that.'

Lysinas's eyes dimmed.

"In the end, I might have just been a fraud to those born in that era."

"Why are you saying this all of a sudden?"

Leo glanced down at Lysinas.

Lysinas, who had been looking down at the people, pulled her knees up to her chest.

"You must've heard from Eiran about Velkia."

"… Yeah."

Lysinas closed her eyes.

Velkia Ersar.

Disciple of Kyle, Luna, and Aaron.

But to Lysinas, Velkia was special too.

Even more than Bihar, whom she had quietly regarded like a daughter.

The reason was simple.

'Because that child shined brightly even in darkness.'

The souls of those born in the Age of Calamity were dark.

It was only natural, having never grown up under proper light.

But Velkia was different.

'A child who could shine on her own.'

If Bihar was someone who walked, adapted to the darkness…

Velkia was someone who pushed forward by defeating the darkness with her light.

The Erebos Subjugation Corps led by Lysinas, the expedition to Arhi, ended in success.

That final journey to Arhi had been a gamble, but one with a chance of victory.

Yet Lysinas had no confidence that she would survive the success.

And if she didn't…

She believed the one who should lead the world after her was none other than Velkia.

The eyes of the Wise Queen had not been mistaken.

After Erebos was defeated…

Velkia restored the world.

She united the remaining forces and thwarted Tartaros's Great Invasion, which aimed to destroy the world.

She laid the foundation for the world's recovery.

Just as she had hoped—no, beyond her expectations—Velkia had beautifully rebuilt a world without them.

But even Velkia eventually fell to the world's malice.

'If I hadn't lied… would such a tragedy have been avoided?'

"If Aaron had survived and seen the world regaining its light… would he have blamed me?"

Aaron was a coward.

That was why Lysinas told him about the world before Erebos's era.

'Because the blue sky was the foundation of courage for Aaron.'

Aaron confided a lot in Lysinas.

He trusted and followed Lysinas more than anyone.

Lysinas only ever told Aaron about the bright side of the peaceful times.

She feared that hearing about the ugliness would crush Aaron's courage.

"In the end… maybe I didn't trust Aaron enough."

The guilt of having deceived someone who had trusted her so purely weighed heavily on her.

Hearing about Velkia made her feel even more disheartened.

"That's why you didn't tell me about Velkia and Bihar, isn't it?"

Lysinas asked bitterly.

"Because you're the type to get gloomy and brood over useless things," Leo replied with an annoyed tone.

Luna, always full of confidence, had an upbeat personality.

But sometimes, she would become unreasonably dejected.

Unlike her, Lysinas was always calm.

But once she grew melancholy, it became difficult to even look at her.

Especially when it involved others rather than herself.

Lysinas smiled bitterly at Leo's blunt tone.

Watching this, Leo said, "Even if Aaron had survived and entered the Age of Heroes, he wouldn't have faltered."

"Why?"

"That guy may have been naive to a fault, but he was strong beyond that."

Leo recalled Aaron.

"He would have overcome and followed his own path."

"… You trust Aaron more than I do."

Lysinas smiled wryly, and Leo gave her a pitiful look.

"He had a good teacher. One who stood by what he believed was right no matter how hopeless the situation."

"Was there such a teacher? Are you talking about the Guardian of the Azure Sky?"

Lysinas looked genuinely curious.

'Why is this lizard always so dense sometimes?'

Leo gave Lysinas an incredulous look.

"I'm talking about you, you idiot."

"Huh?"

Lysinas widened her eyes.

Leo said, "The path you led was always the right one. So don't get all depressed just because you told a few lies."

"…"

"If you turn a lie into truth, then it's not a lie anymore, right?"

Seeing her friend echo her own shameless line, Lysinas couldn't help but laugh.

'But… there's one promise I failed to keep.'

The promise not to leave someone alone—now just a lie she couldn't undo.

Recalling that unreachable vow, Lysinas asked, "How were Bihar and Velkia?"

She braved her feelings and asked about her precious children.

Leo answered truthfully about the two people he knew.

"They've both become grandmothers."

"Yeah…"

Lysinas burst out laughing, and Leo shook his head.

"… And the end?"

Lysinas carefully asked, "How was the end?"

Leo closed his eyes at the question.

Lysinas looked at him, seemingly tense.

"Those damned girls called me Dad."

"What?"

"Though they each probably had someone else in mind as their mother."

Leo clicked his tongue.

"It's hard being popular."

"You're talking nonsense."

Lysinas uncharacteristically cursed.

Leo smirked at the sight.

"So?"

"Hm?"

"How long are you going to mope, Bihar's Mom?"

"That sounds weird… like I became a parent without realizing it."

Seeing Lysinas frown, Leo replied coldly, "You think that's weirder than me getting married and becoming a parent without knowing it?"

"…"

Lysinas fell silent at that.

"Cheer up. The kids went through hell trying to make something out of the world we left behind. Wouldn't it be shameful if we were sulking?"

"… That's true."

"Ah~ Lord Leo~"

At that moment, Eiran's voice reached their ears.

Looking down from the spire, they saw Eiran waving.

Normally, her voice wouldn't reach them, but for Leo and Lysinas, hearing it was easy.

Beside Eiran was Chen Xia.

It seemed they had been looking for Leo.

Lysinas stood up.

The two, noticing him belatedly, bowed their heads.

"Seeing them like this… they really do look alike."

Lysinas saw Bihar and Velkia in the two of them.

After a moment of watching, Lysinas spoke.

"Kyle."

"What?"

"If… if, I mean…"

"If what?"

"Is there a chance… we could all be together again?"

"…"

Leo knew well who "we" meant.

The great heroes.

Lysinas, who once appeared before Dweno by borrowing Artienne's body in Dweno's world.

But that had only been the manifestation of a strong will.

They hadn't been able to truly speak.

Even the memories were hazy.

At Lysinas's question, Leo closed his eyes.

"… Probably not."

"Right?"

"But… I still wish we could all gather one day."

At Leo's words, Lysinas laughed.

"You're not the type to cling to impossible things."

"Some damned lizard once taught me that even false hope can be a source of strength."

Lysinas chuckled at Leo's sarcasm.

"Then if the five of us did meet again, what would you do first?"

"There's something I absolutely must do."

"What is it?"

"Luna. I'm going to destroy that brat."

Hearing Lysinas's icy tone, Leo thought, 'Should I run? Maybe hide behind that pervy dwarf.'

Whatever the case, he didn't want to stick around long when the dragon's fury exploded.

As Leo watched the dragon's wrath, he suddenly looked up.

Lysinas did the same.

"Snow…"

At Leo's muttering, Lysinas's face grew serious.

It was the abnormal weather they had come to investigate.

"Suddenly?"

Leo frowned.

When Leo arrived in Davienne, the snow had completely stopped and melted.

He had been told it stopped just before they arrived, and it hadn't returned since.

And now, snow was suddenly falling again.

Watching the snowfall, Lysinas spoke.

"Could it be…"

"Hm?"

"Could the fragment of Erebos have been somewhere else until recently?"

"…."

Leo fell deep into thought at that.

The fragments of Erebos affect their surroundings just by existing.

If, as Lysinas suggested, the fragment had left and returned, then the sudden return of the snow made sense.

But…

"Why?"

Leo looked puzzled.

It made sense if the fragment had gone somewhere, perhaps to join forces with Tartaros.

Tartaros would follow the resurrected Erebos.

But no such signs had been detected.

"If that were the case, it wouldn't have left Tartaros. It would've grown stronger there."

The fact that the Erebos fragment returned was even stranger.

Lysinas fell into thought.

And soon after—

The Wise Queen, once said to have mastered all the knowledge of the world, reached a conclusion.

"What if… there's something on this land it needs?"

"Something it needs?"

"Yes."

Lysinas narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe the fragment wasn't reborn as Erebos… What if it was reborn in the form of the ancient evil god that Erebos once consumed?"

Leo's expression grew grim.

"If that's true… it might have failed to control Tartaros."

Tartaros only follows its creator.

"Then in this situation, what would the ancient evil god need?"

"Its legion."

"Exactly."

Lysinas nodded.

"This is only a hypothesis, but… if it's returned to this land, then maybe… the ancient god's legion is sleeping here."

At Lysinas's words, Leo's face turned grave.

"The ancient god's legion, huh…"