Ep 196. Warmonger. (3)

  Never in his wildest dreams did Patrick imagine he’d one day be flying on his sibling’s back.

  A, here he was, flying on their back.

  Patrick huddled his cloak as skyward winds rushed against his face. Being in a cold enviro wasn’t a first for the former enforcer, but zipping across the sky on a dragon’s back sure was.

  Still, most of his mind was at ease – he’d long known hoable his sibling had bee. And now also having seen Serenis in her proper form, the st of his worries had diminished fairly quickly. Iris’ tinued insisten the dragonlord’s capabilities had helped as well.

  ‘Though, speaking of which…’

  As Patrick felt a pair of arms strig his abdomen harder and harder, he angrily turned his head to the person responsible.

  “Hey, loosen up, will you?!”

  “…I ’t…”

  With both arms securely ed around her friend, Iris had quite literally attached to herself to Patrick’s back. Both her eyes were shut firm in a rather vain attempt to stop thinking of their current altitude.

  “Pft, some ‘Great Magi’ you are. Who knew a deity would be scared of heights.”

  “…I’m not a deity anymore! And I’ll have you know, humans aren’t supposed to fly in the first pce!”

  “You do realize you didn’t even have to e, right?”

  “Oh, sure. And you tell your sibling where Letherien is.”

  “Hey, it’s not like you kly where they are, either! You only said you know their residence coordinates!”

  “That’s a lot more than what you know: nothing.”

  “…”

  Meanwhile, instead of joining the two bickering mages, Serenis quietly looked down to observe the ging ndscape: from the bustling towns to open pins, from forests to grey mountain ranges.

  And, finally, the vastness of the desert stretg into the horizon.

  Massive was an uatement. Serenis couldn’t remember such a rge desert being present, even during the demon era – and, as expected, signs of civilization on the sands were scarce. If it hadn’t been for the dires Iris had instructed prior to their departure, she might’ve even thought that they were flying in the wrong dire.

  ‘If I recall correctly, the Twelve had reformed the star during the dawn of their era…why would they require such desote nds in their world?’

  Finally, the dragonlord’s voice broke the fighting that was going on above her back.

  “Iris.”

  “Huh?...Yes, Serenis?”

  “Was this nd also of the Twelve’s making?”

  “…”

  As much as Iris would’ve liked to ahe question, that warranted her looking down to see what nd Serenis was talking about.

  She would sooner faint than that.

  But just as she really was about to attempt the impossible, Patrick covered his friend’s eyes, answering the question iead.

  “Probably not. This desert’s only been around for the st hundred years. Caldoo be a flourishing kingdom before…acc to the books, anyways.”

  “This nd was a nation? What happeo it?”

  “Well…as far as I know, they just fell apart due to Akeia’s assault during the Empire Age. And the whole pce became a desert after.”

  After his brief answer, Patrick tugged on Iris’ sleeves fastened around himself, urgio chime in.

  “Hey, Magi. Got anything to add?”

  “…Is she asking about Caldon?”

  “Yep.”

  “…Well…”

  Iris hesitantly opened her eyes to see both Patrid Serenis’ gaze upon her – which actually did help her keep away from looking down.

  With a deep breath, the former deity mustered the ce to deliver an answer with as steady a tone as she could manage.

  “…To answer your question first…the Twelve didn’t ‘make’ Caldon’s nds a desert from the beginning. What you’re seeing is the result of mana poisoning that occurred during the Empire Age. But to add to atrick said, it wasn’t Akeia’s influence alohat turned Caldon into what it is today; Letherien and her elves pyed a bigger role in making this desert.”

  “Eh? Elves were involved in this?”

  As Patrick almost reflexively questioned his friend’s words, Iris nodded her head slowly, giving a more detailed expnation for the dragonlord as well.

  “…Mhm. If elves hadn’t been involved, ight still be standing today, and the Empire Age may never have occurred. You see, as powerful as Caldon was, the nation traditionally relied on their kings to fun; during its waking years, the first king received Aldrid’s blessing and passed it down to his heirs. The people revered Caldon’s monarchy for their blessed nature, and subjects pretty much relied on their ruler for everything.”

  A quiet sigh broke the story midway. Iris’ eyes betrayed a hint of disdaione whittling down in volume.

  “…It was great for a while. Caldon’s kings loved their try, loved their people – I’d even say that Caldon’s royalty was the closest we ever had to perfe. Aldrid was right on all ats to bless that bloodline. But wheherien found out what Aldrid had done, she started using it as an excuse to influence Karia’s royalty, and…not too long after that, Karia’s elves carried out an assassination mission against Caldon’s royalty. And without their rulers, Caldon couldn’t hahe Akeian invasion that followed.”

  A long silence followed when Iris finished her story.

  To Serenis, it was just another peculiar tale – unpleasant perhaps, but nothing she was shocked by, given that divinities were involved.

  To Patrick however, the story set to his entire perception of history – as well as the nature of the deity of creation that was known to preside over Karia’s elves.

  Then again, the deity of mana turned out to be nothing like what he’d imagined, so what did he know.

  “…I just have one question.”

  “Yeah? What?”

  “If what you’re saying is true, how is Letherien a deity in the first pce?...She sounds like a horrible person.”

  “…You’ll have to ask my dead brother. Who knows what he was thinking when he elected her to be a deity.”

  “Blegh…”

  As Patrick tio grumble, Serenis quietly processed everything Iris had said about the deity of creation.

  She could uand a divinity wanting to exude influence over their people: the First had been much worse regarding this particur point. She could uaherien wanting to take a more direct role in presiding over Karia, or wanting to assert dominance over neighb fas through force.

  As, things usually didn’t end well for mankind (or demonkind) when a divinity involved themselves in their flicts. That much seemed to be a timeless truth.

  ‘…And I’d imagi’s no different now. It-‘

  Midway through her thoughts, the dragonlord’s expression visibly twisted as she picked up a rather disturbing st. A burning smell wafted about the air, but mixed with something else that clearly des unnatural nature.

  And before long, both mages on her back picked up the putrid stench as well, twisting their expressions in apprehension.

  “Ugh, what is that? Is something burning down below?”

  “…This is…”

  Grimag, Serenis quietly lowered her gaze.

  Far beh, she could finally see the town of Kavir – or at least, what remained of it. The charred patch of bck clearly set it apart from the rest of the desert sands surrounding it, making it extremely easy to spot from above.

  “…Seems we’ve arrived at our destination.”

  Although no divine presence could be felt nearby, the dragonlord heless began her dest towards the burnt city.

  With any luck, they’d hopefully find survivors in the wreckage to hear of what had happened – and possibly, of Letherie whereabouts.

  But throughout their dest, Iris seemed to grow more and more apprehensive of the stench that rig at her senses, growing stronger by the sed as they drew closer to the razed town below.

  - ‘See, Felicis? It’s highly reactive to fire. Even the smallest ember could bee a raging firestorm.’

  “…”

  There had been a time when Iris hadn’t known the vicious nature that lied uhe creatioy’s grinning face; a time when she’d hought of Letherien as a mere peculiar individual.

  O’d fasated the deity of mana to learn of materials that could rival magider the guise of supp this who couldn’t wield magic, Letherien had brought numerous creations into the world that could serve as a rept.

  …What she hadn’t known was that Letherien’s creations would one day raze aire town to ders.