REFDL 63

8. Interlude

Rumble.

Kaelus jolted awake when he felt the tremor.

He was flustered. Something felt different from usual.

‘……My senses feel dull.’

His body and will acted independently, as if he’d awakened after an eternity…….

“……!”

The truth slowly surfaced.

Shocking memories burst intermittently in his mind like popping bubbles.

Kaelus froze in shock.

Even the sporadically surfacing events were only a tiny fraction of what had happened here.

He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t.

Nearly two months had passed since some will other than his own had taken over his body. And the vivid memories that thing had created with Yuram, as clear as his own.

He had followed Yuram like a duckling trailing its mother, holding hands and wandering empty streets together.

He had fed Yuram, washed his body, dried him off, even changed his clothes.

In all those daily moments, his gaze was fixed solely on Yuram. Never once looking elsewhere.

His vision, his own yet not his own, was entirely filled with Yuram.

Yuram, who had become human.

“…….”

The pale faced man turned to look at Yuram lying beside him. Yuram was completely naked. Only the blankets barely covered his private parts.

His heart, churning with every emotion, dropped to his stomach.

Kaelus reached out, as if spellbound, toward the neck where marks remained. His fingertips touched the crimson bruises.

He flinched as if burned, then pressed harder, rubbing it.

“……”

His entire body trembled.

Conflicting emotions collided head-on. The more intense one prevailed. 

Burning rage clouded his eyes.

Rumble!

The vibrations intensified.

Yuram finally opened his eyes.

Kaelus quickly withdrew his hand, expressionless. Yuram looked flustered, startled by a sudden earthquake. He scrambled to his feet. The blanket barely draped over his lower body slid down.

His gaze followed naturally. …This is unavoidable.

The tremors subsided but did not stop. Weak vibrations shook the cavern, causing stone fragments to fall from the ceiling.

Yuram, now serious, cautiously scanned his surroundings. He was anxious yet resilient.

It was remarkable that such conflicting emotions could coexist within one person.

Yuram quickly put his clothes on, then approached Kaelus.

“Kaelus. Get dressed! …Something’s definitely about to happen.”

The dragon in human form bit his lip. He should have just set it all ablaze! He even ground his teeth.

“Hurry, hurry up and move…”

The dragon, who had been grabbing his arm, froze. His eyes widened in shock, he was startled by something. Kaelus thought he knew why.

Because he, who always smiled no matter what, wasn’t smiling.

The dragon understood what that meant too.

“…I understand that you’re scared. Just bear with it a little longer.”

…He didn’t expect him to pretend not to know, even though he did.

Kaelus’s eyes were bloodshot, but he soon rose silently and gathered his scattered clothes to put them on.

The rage that had been surging, ready to explode at any moment faltered, if only for an instant.

It was because Yuram’s actions weren’t meant to evade his own fault.

The eyes looking at him were filled only with worry.

The trembling at the corners of his eyes, the effort to pretend not to notice, it was all because he feared it might hinder Kaelus’s escape from this place.

Yes.

‘The time isn’t right yet.’

He could be angry after leaving this place, after his personal safety was secured. It wouldn’t be too late then.

Rumble!

The tremors intensified again.

This time, the very ground shook. It was so intense it was difficult to stand steady. Cracks appeared in the walls and chunks of the ceiling shattered and fell. Water poured through the gaps like a waterfall.

The terrified dragon scratched his chest.

‘……If my memory serves me correctly, the artifact was sealed away.’

Kaelus worried, but surprisingly, the artifact functioned normally.

The Kremlis dragon, returned to his true form, took at Kaelus in his jaws. Riding would be ideal, but the useless saddle was stashed away somewhere, it was too late to find it now.

“…Let’s go back and see.”

Yuram took flight. He dodged the violent water column pouring down from above and scanned for any possible escape route.

None.

Of course there wasn’t.

An escape route that hadn’t appeared after a month and a half of searching wasn’t going to magically materialize in a moment of life-or-death crisis…

Crack!

[There is?!]

The ceiling of the cavern, vast enough to cover an entire village, split in two. An immense torrent poured through the gap, like a ripe watermelon split open. But visible through it was unmistakably the sky.

Yuram bent his wings painfully to dodge the wall of water pouring down. His heart pounded.

Water pressure increases exponentially with volume. Had that mass hit him directly, Kaelus would have died, regardless of Yuram’s own fate.

The dragon’s heart, as large as a trailer wheel, shrank in fear.

Yuram felt all four legs grow cold, yet he flapped his wings resolutely. The cavern rapidly flooded. Yuram soared effortlessly through the pouring water, heading skyward.

Then, within the already submerged village, a form glowed faintly, like baby’s breath flowers.

“……!”

Within the transparently rippling water.

Blurred, ghostly apparitions appeared. People adorned with floral decorations and wearing crowns danced, smiling brightly.

Flag decorations linking building to building embroidered the streets, and celebratory fireworks shot into the sky. Petals fell like rain.

In the very center of the plaza.

Where a great tree should have stood, an enormous Kremlis dragon crouched. The dragon, crowned upon his head, bowed his neck. Standing opposite him, a man likewise wearing a crown extended both hands toward the dragon.

He held the bridge of the dragon’s nose and pressed his forehead against it.

Yuram and Kaelus felt a simultaneous twinge in their chests.

But it lasted only an instant. They had no time.

Rumble!

Crash!

Splash! Thud!

Water swirled, and fallen rock fragments struck the surface. The churning water swallowed the illusion.

A muffled cheer echoed from beneath the water. Even the last lingering sound was soon swallowed by the roar of the waterfall and the collapse of the cavern.

Grrrrrr!!

Yuram turned his head around, his neck stretched skyward.

……It had passed.

These were things he must leave behind.

Unfathomable thoughts flashed briefly before vanishing. Yuram now focused all his senses on his wings and tail. His eyes saw only the sky.

Blue.

Vast.

The void separating the mortal world from the divine.

The waterfall, steadily growing in scale, completely blocked the enormous hole like a scar on the planet’s surface. The figure of the Kremlis dragon, which had been rapidly soaring to avoid the water’s flow, vanished into the water as well.

The next instant.

Boom!

Fwoooshhh!

Emerging through the heavy water like a blast, red wings shot up into the sky.

The dragon, reaching beneath the clouds in a single bound, roared.

Grrrraaaaaaah!

As a natural consequence, Kaelus, held in Yuram’s mouth, dropped down.

Kyaa?!

Yuram, startled, dove down to snatch Kaelus back into his mouth.

Thud!

His falling body landed, and the sound of bones dislocating rang out.

“……”

[……]

“…We’re going to talk about this when we get back.”

Kya……

* * *

“The space you two were in can be considered a magic circle, designed to activate high-tier magic. Illusion magic, barrier magic, purification magic, even holy magic. A grand spell combining no less than four types…….”

“Keep it short.”

“……To use an analogy, it’s like a stake.”

Kaelus, who was receiving treatment for his fractured ribs, repeated, “A stake?”

“The day the cavern collapsed. I glimpsed the ‘gap’ deep within the Sea of Trees.”

The essential requirement to become an imperial mage.

It was the ability to glimpse the depths of the Sea of Trees.

It was an indispensable ability for those who wished to become mages of the empire, constantly threatened by Monster Waves.

This magic belonged more to the realm of talent than training, it was Odan’s specialty, and the reason he was assigned directly to Kaelus.

“Surprisingly, it was as if the gap was being stitched, like a spiderweb…….”

“…!”

Though he wasn’t versed in magic, Kaelus understood what the mage had just said. After a moment of silence, he asked incredulously.

“Right now, have I understood correctly?”

“Probably…”

Odan nodded.

“Proper Monster Waves will likely end this year… From now on… their scale will rapidly decrease… until they finally cease entirely.”

“……”

Kaelus did not rejoice.

Lost in thought, he frowned. After a silent contemplation, he looked at the healer treating his wounds and asked.

“……Have you ever disclosed this fact to others?”

The healer’s hand, which had paused, began to tremble. The scent of murderous intent, the number one trouble a healer must guard against, wafted from him.

Odan closed his mouth. No matter how disoriented he’d been, the mage hadn’t forgotten his actions.

‘The great will that was divided… has finally become one. The separated fragments… have merged with the original body…’

‘The gate… is closing… As time passes, even that small gap… will seal completely. The Monster Wave will gradually weaken, then vanish entirely. If we’re lucky, there might not even be a next wave.’

‘The lake legend was real. Everyone thought it was the least likely possibility, but my hypothesis was correct…!’

…He had shouted excitedly at the top of his lungs.

He was treated like a plain old mad mage, but regardless, many ears heard him. Odan’s eyes rolled back.