Dragonlord

Ep 149. I’m Sure We’ll Meet Again. (3)

Ep 149. I’m Sure We’ll Meet Again. (3)

“HMPH!!”

With another restrained battlecry, Orkaan hacked through a yeti in one fell swing.

He then continued to dash forward, Light still firmly held in his grasp.

“I think…I might throw up…”

The half could no longer tell if this was safer or more dangerous than when she’d been holding her ground with Urgus.

Light had honestly thought it impossible to pave through the monster horde and get to Ilias – perhaps Ilias could come to them, but the other way around seemed nothing short of impossible.

And yet, here they were, somehow making it work.

“Lizard!”

“…”

“LIZARD!”

Despite his raised voice, Orkaan’s shouts failed to get a hold of Ilias’ attention. The youngling was still facing the other way, clawing through the hungry monster horde and razing them in bursts of fire.

Frowning, Orkaan then shook his grip over Light in the midst of his running.

“Outsider! Why is the lizard not answering?!”

“Because she’s not a lizard! I told you, she’s a dragon!”

“I can’t hear you! Speak louder!”

“SHE’S NOT A LIZARD! SHE’S A DRAGON!”

It wasn’t just Orkaan who picked up on Light’s strained shouting.

‘…Light?’

Hearing the familiar voice, Ilias finally turned her head to notice her little sister. Though, as far as she was concerned, the half girl was seemingly being dragged by some Asardan stranger.

The red dragon’s looming eyes immediately widened further. Ilias lifted her talons to crush the stranger underfoot – and would have – if Light hadn’t frantically woven her arms in protest.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait! Ilias, he’s not an enemy! Look behind us!”

“…?”

Ilias paused herself to look beyond Light and the warrior carrying her. There, she could see a small army of other Asardans trailing behind them – many with a clearly mortal wound on their body, but nonetheless giving rapid chase.

“Wh…what the heck is that?!”

“LIZARD! BREATHE YOUR FLAMES TO THOSE BEHIND US!”

“Lizard? Are you talking me???”

“YES, YOU!!”

“Aren’t they your people? Why would you-“

“It’s those worms, Ilias! They’re controlling people who already died!”

As Orkaan and Light shouted at her in unison, Ilias finally grasped the situation at hand. She briefly nodded her head, and waited until the two would run past her forelimbs.

The youngling then stomped the ground, barring the way between Light and the parworm army. She threw her head back as bits of fire sparked out from her enormous maw.

A torrent of fire washed over the charging army, incinerating their flesh and the parasites residing within their heads.

Ilias let out a few coughs from the constant fire she’d been spewing. When the youngling retracted her head, only a handful of mana shards remained on the charred ground before her.

“…Hmm.”

Orkaan finally put Light down onto the ground, nodding his head in satisfaction. But the warrior allowed himself no respite as he fixed the grip on his battleaxe, eyes darting around the few monsters that still remained around them.

“Good. Now, we clean what is left.”

With a roaring battlecry, Orkaan charged forward into the horde, just as Ilias had done when the monsters had first shown face. The warrior fearlessly dove into their midst, hacking through the hungry creatures with all his might, from yetis to iron slugs to ice golems to snow wisps.

Meanwhile, Ilias reduced her form to prevent herself from accidentally stepping on him – or worse, Light. She gazed into the thinned monster horde, beaming a confident smile towards her little sister.

“Don’t worry, Light. We’re almost done! The monsters will be gone in no time!”

“…”

Light only returned a silent curt nod. As much as she would’ve loved to celebrate the end that was in sight…

Circumstances were preventing her from supporting that outcome.

✧   ✧   ✧

Another hour had to pass before Light, Ilias and Orkaan could return to Chell after cleaning the vicinity of monsters.

To be fair, none of them were expecting a hero’s welcome; everyone would be busy picking up the pieces from all the chaos. But even then, the settlement was in a far worse condition than before.

The remaining warriors were either on the ground exhausted, or shovelling snow to throw towards the buildings that were still on fire.

“What in Star’s name…?”

Before, the direness of the situation and the remaining mist of spirits had prevented Orkaan from fully taking in the situation at Chell.

But with both gone, the warrior was now witnessing the full scale of the destruction that had occurred.

More than half the huts were gone, either replaced with burnt cinders or broken pieces of wood. A few were still caught on fire, and several were barely standing, teetering on the verge of collapse.

Countless Asardans were likewise suffering from wounds and burns, many of whom were beyond saving. They could also see a row of others who appeared to be physically fine – though unfortunately, they were those who had been taken into the mists by the Reaper’s cackling spirits. None were breathing.

“…”

Orkaan slowly stepped through the broken settlement. Oddly enough, no snow remained within the deeper portions of Chell, instead replaced with blackened dirt.

A few warriors gave him curt nods, but none were in the mood to celebrate their victory. The majority were far too occupied with their own tasks, tending to the wounded or grieving their losses.

And beyond Chell’s inhabitants, Orkaan spotted his younger brother, conversing with yet another outsider. This one looked even more foreign than the rest, what with her white hair, horns and tail, and the unusually light garment for Asarda’s climate.

“…Hm?”

Noticing the approaching warrior, Urgus turned away from Serenis to face his older brother.

“Brother Orkaan…”

“Urgus.”

Serenis, Ilias, and Light all eyed the two brothers in silence. They expected the two warriors to have their overdue talk about what had exactly happened here in Orkaan’s absence.

But instead, Orkaan swung the flat of his axe across the air, smashing the blade into his younger brother’s face. As Urgus fell sideways from the sudden impact, Orkaan didn’t hesitate to plant his foot onto his younger brother’s head.

“Why are you alive, Urgus?”

“…”

The warrior held his axe in the air, as if he would swing down at the slightest hint of an unsatisfactory response.

“Your task was not to defend this puny settlement; your task was to protect our brothers and sisters. And yet, I see far too many, dead…and you, alive.”

“…”

Light shuddered at the sudden violence, wondering if anyone would step in to stop the towering warrior.

But when the half girl looked around, no Asardan seemed keen on intervening. In fact, many were looking at Orkaan with approving eyes.

‘This is how it goes? But he tried so hard…’

Light audibly gulped as she watched the Asardans deal about their business in their own manner.

But meanwhile, Ilias was still frantically looking around. She quietly paced over towards Serenis, whispering into her lord’s ear.

“Um, Lord Serenis? Where’s Raizel?”

“…”

“…Lord Serenis?”

As an overwhelming amount of guilt welled within her, Serenis found herself unable to meet the red dragon’s curious gaze. She could barely muster the courage to even answer.

“…She’s…”

“? She’s?”

“…”

As Serenis pointed towards a nearby patch, Ilias’ gaze soon followed in the same direction.

Catching the usual glimmer of her friend’s scaled attire, Ilias hurriedly made her way. The youngling’s lips were already curving upwards in anticipation of seeing her friend – with all the doom and gloom that was in the air, she desperately needed someone to not be gloomy with.

But when Ilias realized the condition her friend was in, the smile on her lips immediately faded away.

“…Raizel?”

Ilias’ eyes lightly trembled, slowly losing focus as she beheld the full scope of her friend’s state.

Raizel’s left arm was completely missing, her shoulder caved inwards in a patch of molten, blackened metal; her entire left side was charred beyond recognition, skin and metal all turned black from the excessive heat she’d been exposed to. Her legs seemed as if they’d crumble to ash at the slightest touch, and half her head was likewise covered in severe burns. Only a handful of small patches remained intact to serve as indicators of who this was, glimmering in the dragon’s former metallic shine.

Worst of all, Raizel’s breathing was growing fainter by the second.

‘…Monsters? No, they couldn’t have…’

There were many, and they were formidable in their own right – but no monster she’d seen should’ve been capable of inflicting such devastating damage on a fully-grown dragon. Karas may have been the only exception, but given Serenis’ presence and the professor’s reluctance to fight them, it seemed unlikely that Karas would be the one responsible for Raizel’s state.

Ilias rapidly shook her head, trying to regain her composure. Panicking wasn’t going to help her friend.

‘If I…hurry and bring her back to mom…’

It’d be too late.

‘…Maybe Lord Serenis could…’

If Lord Serenis could do something about it, she would’ve done it already.

‘…Then, what else?’

Every hopefully thought Ilias had were quickly foiled by the negative answers that followed. Try as she might, the youngling saw no plausible way to help her dying friend.

“…”

Minutes had to pass before Ilias would creak her head.

“She’ll…be okay…right?”

“…”

“it’s Raizel, after all. She’s always okay…”

Nothing but silence answered the youngling’s trembling voice.

Then, the red dragon turned to face her lord once more.

“Who…”

Resentment filled to the brim of her throat. Her arms began to tremble ever so slightly as Ilias spoke her next phrase.

“…Who did this?”

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