Time of Unity – Part 04
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Translator: Kell
We rushed out of the church, and sure enough, there was a dragon. It wasn’t as big as I had imagined, but it was big enough to carry one adult easily.
Covered in silver scales, it had two warped horns on its head. It looked familiar, but what really drew my attention was the familiar man mounted on the dragon’s neck.
“The dude from Black Dragon Island!” I yelped.
“Oh.” Zero smiled. “If it isn’t the Dragon Slayer King.”
Gouda looked to her direction, and his eyes widened. “D-Don’t call me by that name! I don’t want any attention on me!” said the man who literally just flew in on a dragon’s back. It was probably the entrance of the century.
Drawing in all the attention from onlookers, Gouda quickly jumped down from the dragon. “What are you even doing in a town like this?! I thought you said you were headed to Moonsbow Forest. Damn it. Good thing I had Heath here to follow your scent, but now I’m being subjected to public humiliation.”
“Heath? Who?” I asked.
The dragon gave a low growl in response.
I see. So he gave the dragon a name. Makes sense. He rides it, after all. Not giving it a name would be pretty strange.
“Is this the young dragon from back then?” Zero asked. “I am surprised. It has not been long since we parted ways, and it has grown so much already.”
“That makes two of us,” Gouda said. “It’s still growing by the day.”
“How’d you train it as a ride?” I asked.
A saddle and some luggage were strapped around the dragon’s neck.
“I didn’t train him,” Gouda said, frowning deeply. “He saw me riding my horse and forced me to start flying. When I try to get on a horse, he gets mad and tries to devour it. So I had no choice but to make a saddle.”
Zero laughed. “You are loved. It is a part of you now.”
“His love is too much for me to bear. Anyway, you should probably explain the, uhh, situation to them. Look. They’re completely frozen.” With a somewhat apologetic look on his face, Gouda jerked his chin at everyone but me and Zero.
Lia, in particular, fainted from shock, and Cal rushed to catch her. Even the priest, who had fought the dragon before, had gone stiff, his jaw on the ground.
“Oh, hmm. Yes, of course,” Zero said. “Allow me to introduce you, then. This man is the Dragon Slayer King. He defeated a dragon in Black Dragon Island, and became, I believe, the first human to be a dragon’s companion.”
“I told you not to call me that! It’s not that big of a deal.”
“N-Not a big deal?!” Albus cried. “You came here riding a dragon!” Her words brought everyone back to their senses. “Wh-What’s going on here? And why do you two know this dragon-riding dude? Why is he even here?” She was panicking.
“Well, then. With the appearance of a mythical creature, I doubt we can still continue the meeting as if nothing happened.” The governor remained calm even in this situation. “Since her Eminence has fainted, let us take a break. I take it there are no objections?”
Sept had already started studying the dragon with Zero. Even Eudwright knew better than to demand the meeting to continue.
The knight’s commander stared at the dragon for a while. “We will lose all our horses if we place that dragon in the stables.”
A practical observation.
Gouda frowned. “Heath devours only to kill, not to eat.”
“What did you say, Dragon Slayer King?” Zero was astounded.
Gouda was removing his heavy armor and helmet. “Stop calling me that already.”
“That does not matter at the moment. Are you certain that no demons have appeared in the southern part of the continent?”
Gouda looked more surprised at Zero’s menacing look. “Yes. That night when a strange witch said she was going to destroy the world, Heath was acting restless.”
We already knew from countless testimonies that the Murky Darkness Witch’s declaration was witnessed from all parts of Wenias.
Apparently her voice sounded like it came from everywhere, from the sky, to the forest, reaching even the ears of the deaf. Her silhouette against the full moon was even reflected in the puddles of water deep inside caves.
The Knights Templar stationed outside the mountains mentioned that the same thing happened outside as well, and it even reached Black Dragon Island.
“Nothing unusual happened on Black Dragon Island,” Gouda continued. “I flew south to Moonsbow Forest to follow you. I tried to lay low, so I wasn’t able to see much, but it wasn’t as horrific down south. In fact, it wasn’t until we were approaching Wenias, with Heath guiding the way, that I noticed anything unusual.”
If what Gouda said was true, the situation would be very different. Zero took a map of the continent out of her luggage and unfolded it, measuring the distance with her finger and nodding to herself.
“Mind sharing what you’re nodding about with the rest of the class?” I said.
“As with anything, Sorcery has an area of effect, with the caster at the center. It depends on the type of spell, but the one my master used summoned demons onto beast warriors within a certain range.”
“The same spell you used on me a year ago, right?” I grimaced.
“Yes,” Zero answered without a hint of guilt.
“I let a demon take over your consciousness, wield inhuman power to wipe out the enemy and successfully restrict the use of Magic in Wenias.”
“Yeah. It took three days to regain consciousness. Even after I woke up, I felt awful for a while.”
“This time, the caster cast the spell randomly on a wide area. Of course, it is a more advanced spell than summoning a single demon. The bigger the area of effect, the heavier the load.”
“So you’re saying that the south was beyond the reach of your master’s power?”
“That is highly likely. Since the beast warriors all over the continent were converging on Wenias, it makes sense that the damage would be lesser as you go to the edges of the continent. If Master is at the center of the continent, there should have been a reasonable amount of damage in the south as well. But if there is barely anything unusual there, then there is a high possibility that Master is hiding somewhere north.”
It was in line with Torres’ opinion that Cestum were heading for the Altar on Generos Island in order to take the Church’s holy land.
“Of course, a hypothesis is simply that, a hypothesis,” Zero continued. “However, there is no doubt that Master is hiding inside a ward to protect herself from demons. A powerful ward that even I cannot detect. And demons aim for the empty area created by the ward, because they know that the one who summoned them is there.”
Gouda stopped taking off his armor. “Why do they head there?” he asked in a hard voice.
“Either to fulfill their contract or kill the witch. Otherwise, the demons will not be able to return to Hell. There is an element of coercion when summoning demons. You summon and negotiate with them by force. Of course, demons can choose not to negotiate, but in that case, they will be bound to this world until they give in or the witch dies.”
“Sounds like a royal pain on the demons’ part.”
“Indeed. That is why Magic is beneficial to both witches and demons.” Zero folded her arms proudly.
“So we kill your master, the demons will go away?”
“Yes.”
“What about demons that don’t want to go back to Hell?”
“They will all disappear without exception. Demons that have a good relationship with the caster and do not wish to return to Hell will simply protect them at all costs.”
Either way, demons would be flocking to Zero’s master. In order to kill her and restore peace to the world, we would need to dive into a den of demons, like the Knights Templar riding towards the Altar to save the Church’s highest ranking personnel.
Exhaling deeply, Gouda placed his greaves on the floor. “Good grief. I left Black Dragon Island for a bit only to find out about this mess. I’d rather be on the island worrying about next year’s harvest than this.”
“I get you,” I said. “There are no Beastfallen on Black Dragon Island, and it’s not like demons would go out of their way to attack a remote island like that.
“I’d like to pretend I didn’t hear anything and return now.”
“It is not all that depressing,” Zero said. “The world may be a little closer to hell, but we managed to save a few. Speaking of which, Dragon Slayer King.”
“What is it?” He already accepted his nickname at this point.
Zero smiled and jerked her chin toward the window. “Look. I saved that one.”
Raising an eyebrow, Gouda leaned out the window and saw the princess and Raul walking down the street. His breath caught for a moment, then he bolted out of the room, his face red. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?! We have so many matters that need the princess’s decision!”
“He’s aware that he’s now king, right?” I said as I watched him go.
Zero chuckled. “He is aware that he is not perfect.”
A knock came at the door. I opened it, revealing a white hawk Beastfallen.
“What’s up, Cal? Are we resuming the meeting?”
Like always, Cal opened and closed his wings a little. “I was gonna tell you that at first. Anyway, just come with me. Things are starting to get a little interesting.”
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