MTM 122

It happened in an instant. The dragon’s massive frame swayed in midair under the coordinated assault of the crows. As he plummeted downward, a colossal cocoon emerged from beneath the tower.

Pit! Pit-pit! Pit!

Hundreds of silver threads burst forth from the cocoon and pierced the dragon’s torso.

[……!]

Silver threads harder than steel and sharper than needles pierced the dragon and he froze mid-air, unable even to scream. His head then slumped limply.

“Har…!”

Piiit!

This time, a feather struck Zed’s neck. His paralyzed body could no longer move and fell into the forest. The crow completed its task and soared away leisurely.

The flock of crows binding Harto and the silver thread vanished like smoke, and the colossal dragon’s body crashed to the ground. His long, jet-black tail landed at the edge of the forest and cliff, dangled over the precipice. The giant spider cautiously revealed his hideous head from his cocoon.

[…That was close enough to be the end.]

Magnus muttered. He had been careless and overlooked the existence of that detestable monster. Without Bernak’s assistance, it could have been dangerous.

Flap.

“Lord Magnus…”

A crow flew before Magnus, revealing his true form. Bernak was horrified to face the Crown Prince, whose human traces had vanished completely, transformed into a monstrous beast. Yet he forced himself to suppress his shock and knelt.

[To wield a fragment of the Demon God so freely…]

Magnus approached the dragon and marveled. Unlike himself, who had devoured a fragment of the Demon God only to be overwhelmed by its immense power, shed his mortal form, and degenerate into a hideous monster, the being before him was akin to the Demon God itself.

In stark contrast to the crown prince’s praise, the dragon’s once deep, blue eyes had lost their focus as he died.

Rustle.

Just then, Zed, whom they thought paralyzed by the feather, emerged from the undergrowth. Though his body shook unnaturally, he was taking step after step toward the dragon.

[Hold on. I’ve got an idea.]

Bernak tried to stop Zed, but Magnus blocked him with one of his long legs.

Meanwhile, Zed reached the dragon’s side, stretched out both hands, and forcibly squeezed out his holy power. A dim light seeped from his trembling fingertips, but it was insufficient to heal the wounds Harto had suffered.

Click.

Zed opened the pendant on his necklace with trembling hands. But the shaking caused the elixirs inside to fell to the ground.

[Ares, to see you crumble for the sake of a mere monster is truly pitiable and fascinating.]

Magnus felt sadistic delight at witnessing Zed’s weakness for the first time in his life.

Bernak, however, found this sight not entirely unfamiliar. When they had abducted that monster from the desert, Zed had lost his sanity, and was tormented to such a wretched degree.

[Now, Bernak. Take the fragment of the Demon God from that flesh.]

Magnus sneered at Zed’s helplessness and commanded Bernak. The latter immediately started walking toward the dragon but was stopped once more by Magnus.

[Ares’s suffering is my pleasure. I wish to witness a more dramatic conclusion.]

“…Yes, I will obey.”

Bernak belatedly realized the Crown Prince’s intention, he halted and reached out toward Zed.

“……!”

Then, Zed’s body, paralyzed and rigid from the poisoned feather, began moving of its own accord, emitting grotesque sounds. Zed glared at Magnus, but his limbs reacted regardless of his will.

‘No… No…’

Zed protested, but his stiffened lips refused to move. He had become a puppet of Bernak’s magic. He moved his creaking limbs and approached the dragon’s torso. Zed tried to resist as he realized what those monsters planned to do with his body, but two more poisoned feathers pierced his flesh.

‘The Demon God’s… heart… must be… retrieved… personally…’

Zed felt like he would go mad within the hallucination that twisted not only his body but his mind. He stared at Magnus with eyes bloodshot red with rage and despair. Yet his hand betrayed his master’s desperate will, it raised the dagger high to rip out the dragon’s heart.

[Now, with your own hands, extract that noble heart.]

Magnus’s wicked laughter echoed throughout the space.

‘No…. The heart, please, personally… Snap out of it! Refuse, you must. Please…!’

Zed desperately wished the reality before his eyes was simply a dreadful nightmare. Unbearable terror and self-loathing gnawed at his soul.

Drip.

Red blood streamed from Zed’s eyes. Faced with the fate of having to destroy Harto, more precious to him than his own life, with his own hands, he resisted desperately.

In that agonizing moment,

‘Ares.’

He suddenly realized.

‘Do not harbor resentment or hatred in your heart. He who cannot cherish even the smallest life, blinded by the jealousy before his eyes, unable to control himself… pity that arrogant and foolish one instead. If you do, the fire raging within you will calm.’

The seething hatred toward Magnus, the fiery ball burning within his chest, could only be calmed by consuming himself.

Snap.

With the last shred of will, squeezing even his shattered soul, Zed twisted the wrist that had been stripped of control.

…Slash!

Then, without hesitation, he plunged the dagger into his own heart.

[How troublesome.]

Magnus’s hollow laughter echoed as the hallucination binding Zed dissolved. Crimson blood gushed from his mouth.

Thud.

Zed’s body, stripped of its strength, crashed to the floor. The dagger’s blade piercing through his chest protruded from his back, and the crimson blood soaking the floor spread instantly to where the dragon lay fallen.

“…….”

It was a sight too gruesome to behold. Bernak watched the entire scene in silence.

[I never expected anything from him in the first place. My younger brother was nothing but a hindrance until the very end.]

Magnus spoke in ab irritated voice, seemingly planning to rip out the heart himself. He stretched his long legs and approached the dragon.

It was at that very moment.

Thump.

Just as one life was fading away, the sound of a heartbeat echoed from somewhere.

Flash.

The blue eyes, which had been losing focus and sinking, suddenly widened.

Whoosh! Thud!

A long, black tail whipped like a lash and struck the unsuspecting Bernak and sent him flying. Then, with a roar that shook the earth, the dragon lunged at the giant spider before him, claws sharpened, crushing Magnus with all his might.

[You’re tougher than Ares himself!]

Swish!

But Magnus, seemingly determined not to be caught twice, twisted his body to dodge the strike. He instantly scrambled up the dragon’s massive spine and slammed his venom-dripping fangs down onto the glossy, fleshy hide.

Crack!

“……!”

An ice pillar, sharp as an awl, struck the massive head with pinpoint accuracy. Half of the four eyes that had flashed in the blink of an eye were pierced. Before he could even scream, the giant spider was impaled by the dragon’s horn.

“Screech!”

His death cry didn’t last long. The dragon’s claws began tearing into his torso. Huge fangs bit into the spider’s head.

[ugh! I, I… I, I can’t… Gah! …! …!]

The giant spider’s cries were gradually drowned out by the sound of tearing flesh. Green, foul-smelling bodily fluids splattered everywhere, his severed legs twitched. Even with his head and body separated, Magnus spun silk threads in a desperate struggle for survival. But the enraged dragon did not hesitate and tore him limb from limb.

Crunch! Squeak! Thud-!

The sounds of tearing flesh echoed throughout the area. Fragments of the giant spider and his viscous fluids flowed down the forest slope and over the cliff.

Even after Magnus’s life was completely extinguished, the dragon did not stop. Like a monster driven solely by predatory instinct, he continued to greedily tear into the giant spider’s carcass.

No, he chewed and swallowed.

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of chewing through tough, thick husks filled the quiet forest.

Harto had lost his reason and was searching deep within the spider’s entrails for something. His heart pounded as if it would explode, driven solely by one desire.

Crack-!

Finally, a sound of something shattering came from deep within the giant spider’s torso. The dragon thrust his head deep inside.

‘The small brain.’

There it was, the bizarrely pulsating ‘small brain’ Magnus had shown him in his vision. It was the essence of the Demon King and the source of power Harto had been seeking.

Crunch.

The dragon opened his maw wide to swallow it whole.

“…Ha, Harto… No…”

At that moment, Zed, who was bleeding profusely and his body mangled, crawled all the way to Harto’s side. After witnessing what happened to Magnus after swallowing that thing, he couldn’t just leave Harto.

“Grrrrrr…”

Thud!

But the dragon, consumed by madness, failed to recognize Zed. His massive claw struck Zed as he drew near. A long, deep gash ripped into Zed’s body, sending him flying back. The impact knocked the necklace from his throat.

The ruby necklace, radiating a crimson glow, filled the dragon’s pupils.

‘…The ruby necklace.’

In that instant, frozen fragments of memory flashed by like a galloping horse.

‘Don’t our names sound similar?’

[Ah….]

‘Not at all.’

‘R-really?’

‘Yes, you’re not Hartiros, you’re Harto.’

Thud.

The Demon King’s fragment, held in the dragon’s claws, fell to the floor.

The dragon approached the fallen Zed. With each step forward, the once-massive dragon’s body shrank in size, transforming back into his original form, a small, soft slime.

“Huuu, sniff, huu… Zed….”

Harto wept bitterly like a child. Just like that day, when he’d clung to Zed, wailing while insisting on going with him after bringing the ruby necklace.

“Huuu, Zed, Zed…! No! Huu, don’t die…. Huh, I, I don’t want you to die…!”

Harto burrowed into Zed’s bleeding embrace and cried. Then he transformed from a slime back into human form. He rubbed his face against Zed’s deathly pale features and awkwardly pressed his lips to his. Tears streamed endlessly, soaking Zed’s face.

Drip, drip, drip….

As if mirroring Harto’s sorrowful heart, raindrops slowly fell from the sky.

“…I won’t die.”

At that moment, a soft voice reached Harto’s ear.

“Zed…?”

Startled, Harto lifted his head. A brilliant radiance began erupting explosively from Zed’s entire body.

“The holy power…”

The suppressed holy power returned. The bright light rapidly healed Zed’s gruesome wounds. The waves of light, clearer than before, seeped into Harto’s body, which embraced him, infusing it with warmth.

“It’s warm…”

It felt like embracing the midday sun, Harto couldn’t help but smile. Zed seemed to feel the same as he looked at Harto and smiled.

“Thank you, Harto… for being alive.”

Then he whispered softly to Harto. It sounded as if it were him, not Zed, who had been dying. Those words meant a lot to Harto, who had lived with a predetermined time limit on his life.

“Yes… yes. Me too, me too… Thank you for being alive, Zed…”

Tears that had been held back in Harto’s eyes began streaming down once more. Zed gently stroked Harto’s cheek with his hand, comforting him until he calmed down.

That night, rain fell across the bloodstained lands of the Regnovar Empire. It washed over the wounded earth, a warm spring rain that hinted at a new beginning.