Ep 74. Who Are You? (4)

  The first thing that struck Serenis’ mind was the strangeness of the situation.

  Mere minutes ago, this ey was on the brink of disaster. The civilians that had once occupied the marketpce she stood in had long abaheir shops and homes to flee.

  The sed thing that struck her mind was the malice of the approag individual.

  In the emptied streets, a lone man was walking ever so calmly towards the dragonlord. A thin, vicious grin was on his face –as if he couldn’t wait to cut down an old aremy.

  “…Once.”

  The winged figure began to speak, his steps ing to a halt some distance away from Serenis.

  “I’ve seen it, just on my lifetime. A night sky that drowned daylight.”

  “…”

  Serenis studied the winged figure. A sense of familiarity began to creep within her mind.

  His attire resembled that of a mage’s – in fact, his appearance overall resembled the attire worn by the Magi herself. His bck, feathered wings and malicious smile were nothing like her, but circumstaill poio only one answer.

  “…Felicir.”

  “Oh?”

  Felicir’s grin widened as his name oken by the dragohrew his head back, a frenzied ughter esg the deity.

  “Ha…haha! Hahahaha! To think the only individual whnizes me would be a dragon…that’s quite ironic. Should I guess at who you are as well?”

  The Reaper stretched one arm forward. A bed hue ed about his hands like venomous vapor.

  This was Aymeia’s . It had to be.

  ‘A white-haired dragon who wields the star element…an individual who’s more attuo the star than Aymeia herself.’

  “It’s you, isn’t it? The first dragonlord.”

  Immediately after the Reaper’s vocal clusion, the bck vapor surrounding his arms drifted forward, washing over the silent dragonlord’s figure. Felicir began to approach Serenis once more afterwards, this time barely leaving any spa between them.

  “But how is it that you’re standing here? Did a miracle resurrect you from the underworld? Your rotten flesh was burnt to dust. Your heart should’ve beeroyed by your own son. Or was all of that faked in your desperation to live?”

  When the bck hue faded away after being absorbed into Serenis, the Reaper could see the dragonlord’s silent, pierg gre. trary to his expectations, Felicir couldn’t see a hint of fear in the dragon’s eyes – even though she’d reized who he was.

  His malicious grin soon twisted into a distasteful scowl.

  “You should’ve remained holed up in your little valley, dragonlord. Look at you now, exposed and ehe demonkin would ugh at how their mighty has fallen.”

  Serenis’ eyes visibly twitched at the remark.

  ‘…Ensved, is it?’

  Serenis quietly he deity’s words. Finally, she opened her mouth.

  “Gio…the meteor…the deaths that reek of this city…was it all your doing?”

  “…My doing? Please. None of that would’ve ever happened if you hadn’t crossed the boundary.”

  A mog ughter slithered out of the Reaper’s lips.

  “Is only died because you were hiding in their midst. The reason they died is because you’ve crossed your boundary, dragonlord. I merely took the liberty of handling the situation.”

  Even at this point, Felicir hadn’t realized – that he’d never permitted Serenis to speak. That the dragonlord who should’ve been under his absolute trol was freely speaking her mind.

  That the gem hanging on her remaining arm was emitting a golden, brilliant glow.

  “…Is that so?”

  Serenis merely returned aionless ao the Reaper, apanied by an equally emotionless gaze.

  And as soon as her answer was given, rows of prismatic s burst forth from behind the winged figure, seg his legs and arms in pce.

  Felicir’s eyes jolted wide. Even without l his gaze, he could feel the magicked bindings taking hold of his body.

  ‘What? How is she still using magic?’

  His internal question was soon answered as Felicir took note of the glowing bracelet on Serenis’ remaining wrist. When he finally took the time to properly study the artifact, he could sense a distinct aura resonating from the gleaming gem.

  An aura that opposed him through mere existehe opposition of death itself. The essence of life that protected its wearer from death’s will.

  ‘…Aldrid!’

  Felicir’s thoughts were short-lived. When his attentiouro the dragonlord, a pair of glowing blue eyes were staring back at the Reaper. Even though Serenis was in her human form, Felicir’s eyes felt as if he could see an illusory image looming behind the dragonlord’s figure.

  A massive white dragon was t over, staring down the Reaper with a horrifying gre.

  “…You’ve destroyed acy. You’ve destroyed our home. Even the sed lave his life to protect the kin from your malice.”

  Serenis’ hand slowly reached towards death’s throat.

  ‘acy died in your hands.’

  Just like it had a thousand years ago – as if to say it wouldn’t be any different this time.

  ‘…And with your death, will begin anew.’

  The dragonlord’s mana-infused grip slowly closed in on the Reaper’s throat. Until she crushed all that remained between her fingers, she wouldn’t let go.

  But she couldn’t feel, nor hear, the expected g of bones and flesh.

  Instead, her outreag hand was gripping at nothing – beyond a small, bck crack that had opened in the air between her and Felicir.

  ‘…This is…’

  Another series of mog ughter exploded forth from Felicir. Several simir cracks formed iween the links of Serenis’ magicked s, cutting them to release the captive Reaper.

  A loud sigh could be heard off to the side.

  “You ever be too careful before a demon, my friend.”

  An unfamiliar voice.

  When Serenis turned her eyes, she could see an elven figure walking out of a gate of sorts – a rger version of the tears that had surrounded Felciir moments ago. O closed back, the elf sloroached their winged friend and the dragonlord before him.

  Serenis, too, began to realize how ignorant she’d been.

  The two men were very much present before the dragonlord. She could see their figures, hear their voices. However…

  ‘…Those cracks.’

  To be precise, they weren’t simple cracks; simir as they may be, they weren’t even portals. No portal spell would sever a simply by f between its links.

  Serenis kly what they were. And because she did, she couldn’t help but scowl at the sed deity’s appearance.

  Clyus briefly tipped his hat, giving a curt smile towards the dragon before him.

  “Five me for the interruption. It’s quite troublesome for us if he dies, you see.”

  “…”

  During her previous life, Serenis had challehe First with the rest of the demonkin. Even though she’d beeest to arrive, she’d witnessed almost everything she could about the divinity’s capabilities.

  Death had been the First’s most capable, lethal on.

  And his most capable, protective shield, had been…

  “…Space.”

  Clyus visibly fli the dragonlord’s phrase. He returned a questioning gaze, hoping he’d misheard the dragon’s voice just now.

  “…I’m sorry?”

  Serenis didn’t bother to crify. Instead, her mind busily scrambled for a solution in addressing her enemy.

  But unlike before, her brethren weren’t here to help the dragonlord circumvent this divinity’s prote.

  The Reaper watched the dragonlord’s silent ption with an amused gaze. He then spared a brief gowards his elven friend.

  Clyus, the Hermit.

  Uhe other members of the Twelve whiveitles by mankind, the elf’s title had been given to him by the rest of the deities. The elf could tain one from the people – not when he would always flee the se at even the slightest reition.

  Admittedly, there were a number of other deities that weren’t very well-known amongst the people; some were lost in history, some more unknown than others. But Clyus was the only one whose identity had remained so thhly unknown.

  In other words, hardly anyone knew what his domain was. Not evewelve fully khe elf’s domain except Felicir.

  But because he khe Reaper was all too certain of their safety. Even before a demonlord, their invulnerability should’ve been a given. For, Clyus’ domain was…

  ‘…Space.’

  To aent, mages could mimic Clyus’ travelling capabilities through their portals. However, what Clyus wielded wasn’t a simple portal spell; he could, quite literally, manipute spatial areas as he pleased. After all, no portal spell could sever a simply by f over it.

  At Clyus’ behest, the very fabric of their world could be cracked open. Spatial es could be severed at a moment’s notice, and distant areas could be ected just the same. When such spatial disturbances were thinly worheir body, nothing could so much as even touch them – much like how Serenis’ grip had been uo reach the Reaper’s throat.

  A streak of lightning shot forth from Serenis’ side towards Clyus. However, the spell harmlessly sunk into an e crack over his shoulder, reappearing down the block to instead crash into a building.

  In the end, it didn’t matter what sort of magic Serenis would attack them with. She might as well have been firing her spells at the moon.

  The dragritted her teeth. She slowly raised her remaining arm again, this time preparing hundreds of various spells to be fired in succession – maybe one of them would find its mark.

  But before her spells were released, a blue portal appeared from behind her – apanied by a rather familiar, but ued voice.

  Truthfully, she’d expected Iris to walk out of the portal. Instead, it was someone she’d abandoned of her own accord.

  “Review time.”

  “…?”

  “I do hope you remember our unit on coordinates…’Zion.’”

  Karas casually stepped out of the portal, almost as if he were walking into his usual s. His eyes briefly sed the building Serenis’ spell had crashed into, then towards Clyus’ shoulder where the spell was supposed to nd.

  He didn’t need long. The professor reversed the calcution in a matter of seds.

  “Your coordinates are 5.66 at first ara, 1.98 at sed. Let’s see if your aim’s still as good as before.”

  Both Felicir and Clyus quizzically stared at the professor. This strange, feathered individual had seemingly waltzed in to start speaking gibberish to the dragonlord.

  But Serenis kly what he was saying.

  She didn’t bother questioning how or why Karas had suddenly appeared at her side. She instead focused her gaze over to the far right, aiming an orb of fire that uself towards a seemingly random mppost off tht.

  Clyus narrowed his eyes, watg the dragonlord’s oddly aimed cast. He didn’t uand what she was doing, but his intuition was telling him that something was going wrong – extremely wrong.

  As if to prove the deity’s thoughts correct, the fming sphere blitzed across the air, only to vanish before ever reag the mppost.

  …And reappeared right above Clyus’ shoulder, exploding into a mass of fmes upon tact.

  Serenis widened her eyes at the turnout. For the first time ever, she looked to her professor with an awe-inspired gaze.

  Karas returned a proud smile, tapping his head twice.

  “Last time, I showed you how hunters engage in bat. This, is how mages engage in bat.”