HPV 83

There were five pairs of footprints climbing up the mountain range.

Even in this very moment, countless hordes of monsters — too many and too varied to even name — were pouring down through the valleys.

An overwhelming, restless, and unsettling presence flooded in from the mountains.

Choosing the harsher path on purpose to avoid the monster swarms, Penzey suddenly let out a small laugh.

An expression far too careless for someone who knew full well their role and mission.

“Without Ria, it feels… empty.”

Paronai silently nodded in agreement.

The climate of the northern mountains was bone-deep cold.

The steep terrain tugged at their feet, and the frigid air stung their faces as if slashing them.

In conditions like these, if it were any other time, Paronai would have constantly turned back to check on someone every few minutes.

And yet, he had never once found it burdensome. In truth, he couldn’t even imagine a journey without Riarun.

No one said it aloud, but everyone felt the emptiness.

Penzey glanced at the large shadow walking at the back of the group and whispered.

“Maybe we should’ve just left him behind too?”

Yurichen gave a faint snort.

“Do you think you could have dodged everything so easily without Banwes around?”

Yet for a joke, there was a sharpness and speed to the man’s steps.

He was motivated, but not reckless — the very image of a warrior in the hero’s party that anyone would hope for.

Still, Penzey kept talking carelessly.

“Did he make some kind of promise to hurry back or something?”

Then their eyes met —

Penzey felt a chill when he saw the other simply staring back at him, completely expressionless.

He flinched and quickly looked away.

The atmosphere was so barren that even Penzey’s clumsy jokes barely filled the hollow left behind.

They already missed that face.

But that didn’t mean they wished for Rialune to have followed them here.

“R-Riarun?”

Right in the middle of the group, the youth dropped in.

His surprised face, his platinum hair flying in the air — vivid and unmistakable.

Penzey immediately thought of a teleportation spell. Paronai wondered if he was dreaming.

Bzhan fretted that some wicked human might have thrown Riarun out of the castle.

Only Yurichen didn’t seem surprised by Riarun’s sudden teleportation.

He had once glimpsed into his past —and because of that, he knew something. When Riarun escaped the Rohin Order, he had used a method of teleportation even he himself didn’t understand.

In other words, Riarun possessed a space-warping ability.

However, Yurichen hadn’t seen any demons attached to Riarun in his visions.

He had only seen Riarun’s life, painstakingly stripped of anything related to demons.

Not knowing the true nature of it, Yurichen could only assume it was the work of the Rohin Spirit. Do spirits really have that kind of power?

Yurichen’s doubts were soon pushed aside by reality. His golden eyes shone like sunlight reflecting off a blade.

Without hesitation, he removed his own cloak and tightly wrapped it around Riarun.

His casual acceptance of Riarun’s sudden appearance left the rest of the party stunned.

“Now that you’re here, it’s too late to send you back. Riarun, can you walk on your own?”

“Yes.”

Riarun nodded firmly. Even if his legs were about to snap, he had no intention of being a burden. Even if he didn’t have the strength, he would endure by sheer will.

If he showed even the slightest sign of weakness, Banwes would abandon everything and insist on carrying him all the way back.

“…….”

Banwes clamped his mouth shut. Riarun calmly met his gaze.

Banwes must have forced himself not to speak —because if he opened his mouth, he might end up saying something too harsh.

Even the fact that Banwes was restraining himself was surprising to Riarun. Without a word, Banwes roughly grabbed Riarun’s left hand.

Riarun, too, said nothing as he gripped Banwes’ hand back. And leaning on that hand, he began the arduous climb up the mountain range.

All that effort — forcing a kiss just to steal the demon — ended up meaningless.

He had boldly declared he’d stay in the castle even with the demon inside him —and yet here he was. He had no face left to show Banwes.

‘He must think I’m the most spineless, fickle fool. But I didn’t want this either.’

Gripping and releasing Banwes’ fingers over and over, Riarun wrestled with his thoughts.

‘If I was dragged here against my will, then all I can do is survive — and be of use.’

The party reached the summit.

A gaping maw of a cave greeted them —blackened, diseased-looking tree roots tangled around its entrance, making it look devoid of life.

The moment they faced the cave, a sound like a rushing storm grew louder from within.

The black dragon…!

Without needing to say a word, everyone instinctively pulled back together.

The storm grew closer — and then burst forth.

From the cave, small dragons came pouring out, wings flapping wildly.

Small, yes —but each big enough to tear a human head apart with their teeth.

Hundreds, no, thousands of them came tearing through the air toward the party.

The small dragons in the front were immediately struck by arrows that stuck one after another.

A magic circle flickered into existence by a hair’s breadth. The lava-like flames burned the dragons to ash.

“Little pests.”

Without needing much firepower, the dragons turned to ashes. Penzey spoke without a hint of amusement, conserving his magic.

Avoiding the flames, the dragons flew into the sky. It seemed like an endless swarm as they kept pouring out of the cave.

Soon, the sky was packed.

No one flinched or showed fear. Paronai opened his mouth in shock, while Penzey let out a long, resigned sigh.

“Does one dragon really lay that many eggs?”

“No. Dragons are a rare species. Their breeding season is scarce, and they only lay one egg at a time.”

Could these countless dragonlings be considered part of the clan? This went against nature. The whole land cried out in pain under the pressure of these corrupted beings.

Yurichen quietly showed his disgust.

“We can no longer call them dragons.”

Their mission had become clearer. They were to destroy the creator of these hatchlings—those born as dragons but who had tainted their lineage.

While most of the hatchlings were torn apart by arrows and magic, some survived and charged toward them.

One hatchling that flew in was quickly grabbed by the neck.

With just a firm grip, its life was extinguished. The hot corpse was hurled toward another beast.

None of the hatchlings succeeded in sinking their fangs into anyone in the group. However, they couldn’t stop all of the sudden assaults coming from every direction.

Banwes quickly dodged attacks that couldn’t inflict fatal damage, allowing others to go unblocked, dealing with the monsters effectively.

Some of the slightly larger hatchlings let out an ear-piercing screech. Their ultrasonic waves burst anything in their path.

Paronai and Banwes, along with the others, were surrounded, and their bodies were torn as they protected each other. But the wounds were light, and most of them healed immediately thanks to Yurichen’s timely holy power.

Riarun, trembling with fear, barely raised his arm. He sent healing energy toward Banwes.

The hatchlings that had filled the sky began to fall like raindrops after being struck by magic, and the numbers of the monsters gradually decreased.

No one could properly remember the moment the black dragon emerged from the cave.

All they could recall was the sky, which had been bright during the day, suddenly turning pitch black.

“…Hah!”

Riarun exhaled the breath he had been holding.

Someone was shaking his shoulder. If they had been a moment later, Riarun’s mind might have been shattered by the black dragon’s aura.

Banwes’ contorted face finally returned to normal. Riarun held his arm with trembling hands.

Bzhan stumbled a little before leaning on Paronai. Penze seemed to be affected mentally, his eyes creased with stress.

Yurichen’s holy power spread to them, a soft, invisible white hand placed on their heads, gradually clearing their minds.

Only then did everyone get a proper look at the dragon’s true form.

The dragon that soared into the sky, blackening the heavens, looked like something from a terrible fairy tale or nightmare. Before its hellish red eyes, humans were no different from rats or insects.

Black scales covered its body like a second skin. With wings like the black sky itself, the dragon soared higher, unleashing a roar that sounded like thunder.

And then, everything turned black.