Grrrrâ.
The sound of a fierce beast echoed from deep within the lair.
Had anyone heard it, they would have undoubtedly described it as a chilling sound, the very resonance of rage.
But Ruri, standing in the lair, knew what this sound meant.
It was Valdrova's groan.
She was suffering.
She who should have been lying coiled up was sprawled flat on the floor.
She scratched at the innocent floor with sharp claws, trembling violently.
-Ruri.......
Valdrova carefully called her attendant.
She answered calmly, as always.
"Yes."
-Today as well...... are there no monsters...... coming?
Ruri shook her head.
"Unfortunately, that is the case."
-Is that so? The difficult time has begun.......
Valdrova carefully raised her body.
Her mind felt like walking through a fog where she couldn't see an inch ahead.
Wanting to divert her thoughts elsewhere, even for just a moment, she asked.
-What is...... my fiancé doing?
Ruri answered.
"He is meeting with all the lords of the Gongwangnyeong. Though calling it a meeting is generousâit's closer to blackmail. If they're incompetent bastards, he'll make them confess everything they've done."
-I see? He seems to be doing well.
A strange smile bloomed on Valdrova's face, which had only shown strain.
A face both happy and sad.
A face she had never properly seen before Ferda came.
"It seems Ferda-nim has noticed."
Valdrova's face hardened.
-Noticed what?
"That you are self-harming, Master. Last night, you slammed your body so hard the entire castle shook once. From that, he guessed what you were doing."
-Is that so?
"So...... it would be best if you were careful this time."
-Yes, thank you for telling me.
Valdrova turned her head and withdrew.
-You've had a hard time. You may go now.
"......Yes."
Ruri gave a light bow and turned away.
Her footsteps were not light.
She knew what Valdrova would do from now on.
She would violate herself with uncontrollable, overflowing power.
-Ruri.
Valdrova called her once more.
"Speak, Master."
-No matter what happens...... do not let my fiancé in here. This is...... an order.
A dignified voice.
What lay within it was deep sorrow.
Ruri could feel it.
The Third Prince's ghost still lingered around her.
"Understood."
The loyal attendant merely accepted the command.
Late at night in the castle interior, Ruri stood silently before the entrance to the lair.
-Kroaaaa!
A roar reached Ruri's ears faintly.
Strength squeezed into her two hands, clasped politely.
She put strength into them so her own hand wouldn't go elsewhere on its own.
'I must not cover my ears.'
Ruri found that roar unpleasant.
It wasn't the sound of a warrior running toward the battlefield, but like the scream of a woman who lost her child.
Having to only listen to her master's screams was painful for Ruri, the loyal attendant.
'Even if I go, there's nothing I can do.'
Ruri strove to be a capable attendant.
She kept Valdrova Castle in the best condition so it could be used at any time.
She steadily grasped the situation and trends so that even if Valdrova returned, she wouldn't fall behind.
She lived for Valdrova, not wasting a single second of the 24 hours in a day.
'Even so...... there are things I cannot do.'
There was nothing she could do about the killing intent Valdrova emitted.
The only thing Ruri could do was go in after the self-harm was over to treat Valdrova.
There was no way for Ruri to prevent it from happening in the first place.
-Kroaaaa
The scream rang out again.
'So I must listen.'
It was the punishment given to the incompetent attendant who stood by while her master suffered.
Ruri's hands, which had been holding her skirt, were somehow clasped together.
Ruri knew what that form was.
'Prayer......?'
It was absurd.
Dragon spawn do not believe in gods.
Their god is the dragon.
The great rulers of the continent, the Phasesâthey are living, breathing gods and idols.
Ruri was the same.
Silverwind, who shared her blood, was her god, and at the same time, Valdrova was also her god.
One is dead, and one is powerless.
Ruri asked.
'Then to whom should I pray?'
No answer came.
She just prayed quietly to some unknown god she didn't even believe in.
Please.
May someone end Master's suffering.
That was when.
"What are you doing here?"
Ruri woke from her prayer and raised her head.
Faint moonlight coming through the window.
In that pale light stood the figure of someone she knew well.
That man.
The man who fearlessly intruded into Master's life.
"Go back."
As always, she warned coldly.
"Sorry, but I can't do that. The place behind you is where I need to go."
The man who had been quiet for days was suddenly making such a demand.
He had noticed Valdrova was suffering right now.
'He heard that sound? Even I can barely hear it?'
It wasn't even audible, so how did this man notice?
Pushing the question aside, she answered once more.
"You cannot enter. This is Master's order."
"Did the Gongwang tell you not to let me in?"
"That's right. She said she doesn't want to see a human like you."
She ended up adding words that were never spoken.
Ruri's heart was shaken that much.
"I stepped back yesterday, so today you step back."
"This isn't a negotiation."
"Neither am I."
Ferda instead took a step forward.
"Do not move any further."
Ruri's silver eyes glimmered with a strange light like moonlight.
Pure white wind whipped around Ruri's body like blades.
Ferda instinctively sensed it.
The moment he was hit by that wind, his body would be cleanly cut down like autumn reeds.
"I can stop it."
Ferda said.
"What exactly can you stop?"
"Your master's, and my fiancée's, self-harm."
"......!"
Ruri's eyes widened for a moment.
But she quickly regained her composure.
"This isn't a problem that can be solved so simply. How can a mortal like you suppress a dragon's nature?"
"It's possible."
"No, you just want to see what you want to see."
"Right, I only see what I want to see and run toward it."
He moved another step.
"Isn't that what life is?"
"I told you to stop!"
The sharp wind wrapped around Ruri's arm flew toward Ferda's right hand.
Ferda's arm jerked greatly.
Ferda's arm, dangling raggedly.
At that sight, Ruri was momentarily flustered.
'I should have hit him with just a light tap......?'
.
Just before contact, the sharpness should have vanished and a heavy blow should have touched Ferda's body.
At most, it should have been enough force to leave a slight bruise.
"Look."
But Ruri pressed her momentum.
She realized he was a woman she couldn't easily handle.
"I can knock someone like you down with my own hands. Final warning. Go back quietly."
Ferda looked down at his dislocated right arm.
"......Is the order that important?"
"I am an attendant. I have the duty to obey Master's orders."
"I see."
When Ferda raised his head again, Ruri flinched in surprise.
Ferda moved forward, one step at a time.
"Then this time, make sure to cut me."
What dwelled in his blue eyes was resolve.
Ruri prepared her wind blades again.
"Don't risk your life on something useless."
"You say that without even knowing what value what I'm trying to do holds."
"You are nothing but a mere human. How can the likes of you solve something that dragons, who have researched and sought answers through eternal years, couldn't achieve?"
It was logically impossible.
Mortals cannot defeat immortals.
They are pitiful creatures that would die fragily with just a flick of a finger.
Living gratefully under their mercy is what mortals do.
How can such a mortal solve the problems of immortals?
"I asked you once before. Do you believe humans can suddenly gain enlightenment?"
"......."
"At that time, what did you answer?"
She knew.
But she didn't want to answer.
So Ferda answered for her.
"You said they survived because there's a flash of brilliance that can't be caught up to through accumulation of knowledge."
Again.
This man was throwing my own words back at me again.
Ferda, who had been far away, was now only three steps away.
If she just shot, his arm would be cut off.
There was no room to adjust the power.
Ruri's hands trembled.
The sharp wind wrapping her hands scattered.
"Why......."
Ruri looked up at him.
It wasn't the usual expressionless face, nor a contemptuous one.
"Why...... do you keep coming closer?"
A powerless child's face.
"It's simple."
Ferda placed his hand on Ruri's head.
"If you really intended to stop me, you would have stopped me long ago."
Ruri's physical abilities were dozens of times superior to frail Ferda's.
Knocking him out or pushing him far away before he even approached was already no big deal.
Instead of threatening with wind magic and arguing like this, she could have just used force.
"You also want to believe what I believe."
The miracle a mortal brings.
Ferda passed Ruri and went down the stairs.
Ruri couldn't even refute, just watched him disappear.
The sound of dress shoes, click-clack, faded along the corridor.
'Damn, this hurts.'
Her hand tingled from the lethal wind Ruri fired.
That shock traveled to his shoulder and dislocated it just like that.
'Dislocations have been frequent since the old days.'
He's used to setting bones too.
Ferda grabbed his own arm and pulled the bone back into place.
Crack-!
"Ugh, hoo......."
He took a deep breath and collected himself.
There's still work to do.
Ferda raised his head and looked up.
A giant iron door came into his view.
'Usual...... and very different.'
Ferda recalled when he first stood before this door.
But now it was even more serious than then.
Ferda felt like he stood before the gates of hell.
Enter here, and you will surely die.
Kroaaaaaâ
A bone-chilling sound.
Just because he stopped fearing dragons didn't mean the killing intent was completely erased.
'Worthy of the Phase of Power.'
Ferda opened the side door and went inside.
The inside was similar to an ordinary cave.
A dry, comfortable, and dark space.
-Ruri...... why have you come here? I told you not to come here.......
The words cut off.
She realizes the one who entered wasn't Ruri.
A sound of her body jerking greatly was heard.
-Why...... are you here?
Bewilderment flowing from the Emperor's voice.
-Why...... at a time like this, do you come?
At that question, Ferda opened his mouth.
"I won't say 'nice to meet you for the first time'."
Ferda looked ahead.
With his naked eyes, he couldn't pierce that darkness.
"My night vision is too poor to see your face."
-Get out of here and rot!
A roar mixed with Dragon Fear resounded.
But it wasn't enough to shake Ferda.
"Your Majesty, I have found a way to solve your suffering."
-Unnecessary. Who asked you for such a thing?
Ferda took a step forward.
Valdrova's writhing was heard.
She had stepped back.
-I...... I don't want to hurt anyone. So please, don't come!
Valdrova pleads.
"That won't do."
Ferda refuses.
-Please.......
"I don't care who dies or gets hurt."
-Don't come.......
"But I cannot stand by and watch you harm yourself."
Golden eyes flashed in the darkness.
-Did I not say don't come!!
Suppressed blood rage burst forth.
Along with Valdrova's rough roar, something pierced out from the darkness.
It was Valdrova's claw.
It flew toward Ferda's small body.
Kwoong!
The claw covered where Ferda stood.
-Ah!
Valdrova belatedly came to her senses.
But it was already spilled water.
-Aaaah.......
Valdrova let out a groan.
The Third Prince's ghost whispered in her ear.
You've killed your fiancé again.
She falls into confusion.
The voice of the Red Dragon Valdrova, an immortal who lived eternal years and ruled the skies, trembled.
-I...... didn't think this would.......
The blood rage targeting her wraps around her own body.
Beyond self-loathing, it leads to a rampage.
But then, something was seen standing between the claws.
It was Ferda.
He stood still in that spot, looking down at Valdrova's foot.
"Thank you."
He said.
"To think you'd reach out your hand before I could even speak."
The moment Ferda had been waiting for had arrived.
He placed his hand on Valdrova's hand.
-There is a reasonable reason why you can become Ferda Valdrova.
Mori explained to Ferda.
-Ferda-nim, you rolled the Red Circle by recalling your emotions for the Red Dragon Valdrova. Is that correct?
"Yeah, that's right."
-The reason the Blue Circle is called cold mana is because it gives a constant effect to all magic. On the other hand, the Red Circle is specialized in specific elements, so it has a significant difference in effect depending on the magic's nature and creative ideology. The reason is because the mana isn't completely pure but contains emotion.
He knows that too.
That's why Ferda's destructive magic was more effective than other mages'.
-The Red Circle is usually created based on negative emotions. Therefore, contact with that mana is prohibited.
"Because it can become mental contamination."
Mori nodded.
-If your mana is composed of emotions for the dragon, I think you can see effects by injecting that mana into the dragon.
Ferda thought it was absurd.
Solve it with mana made from emotions even I don't know?
"Is there no other way?"
Shake shake.
Mori firmly denied it.
The only possibility given to him.
"Is that so......."
Then he has no choice but to believe.
Ferda emitted mana.
He poured his entire spirit into penetrating from his fingertips into Valdrova's skin.
-What are you doing?
Valdrova, who had been asking that, felt something rising from within her body.
When that refluxing something touched Valdrova's heart, her golden eyes opened wide.
-This...... what on earth is this?
Valdrova's voice, distorted by pain, became a level clearer.
-What was inside me...... what was boiling is disappearing. Ferda, what on earth is this?
"I don't know either."
Ferda quietly covered her mouth.
"But if this benefits you, then just accept my mana."
-Understood.......
Valdrova focused on her own changes through her skin.
The rough beating of her heart slows.
The uncontrollable blood rage subsides.
The urge to destroy, the essence itself, all sinks down under the name of tranquility.
'The hypothesis was correct.'
The mana generated by Ferda's Red Circle can suppress Valdrova's blood rage.
'There's something I can do.'
If blood rage can be suppressed, she doesn't have to self-destruct anymore.
'And...... she doesn't need to hurt either.'
No need to drag up a painful past to torment herself.
'For that...... I need to put in as much of my mana as possible.'
In the meantime, Ferda's Red Circle in his danjeon was spinning roughly.
Mana generating several times faster than usual.
Ferda emitted that mana without reserve toward Valdrova's skin.
-Ferda......!
Valdrova cried out in surprise.
-You're bleeding!
Nosebleed flowed from Ferda's nose.
Mana burning out was coming.
-Stop now. I'm fine!
Originally, Ferda would have stopped before that, but not now.
'Just a little more.......'
He squeezes out to the very end and gives it all to her without leaving any.
Ferda didn't stop until she entered complete stability.
Even if it meant dying.
"Aah......."
Finally, overload came.
Vision blurs like fog settling.
Ferda, driven to the point where mental strength couldn't endure, would become a body that couldn't rise for days.
'It's what I already decided.'
So there was no regret for this impulse and recklessness.
Ferda tried to close his eyes just like that.
That was when.
What was touching Ferda's palm was wriggling.
The information that wriggling threw was one.
'Is it getting smaller?'
It wasn't his imagination.
The rough, hard dragon leather skin was gradually becoming soft and shrinking small.
Gradually shrinking like that, it finally became a form similar to a human hand and touched him.
'Small.'
So small it couldn't even fully wrap around Ferda's hand.
'And soft.'
Those sensations made Ferda's heart race like never before.
'She polymorphed into a human.'
It was the moment he could see her bare face.
"Why......."
A sweet voice held moisture.
She soon spoke with a voice like she would cry.
"Why won't you listen to me......?"
A frail question unlike Valdrova.
But ask as she might, it didn't reach Ferda's ears.
His spirit was driven like it was hanging on a cliff's edge.
Just barely managing to catch his blurry vision.
What held his consciousness was intense longing.
'No matter what.......'
And selfish greed.
'I want to see.'
Ferda squeezed out his last remaining strength.
He gripped the hand touching his.
Locked fingers tightly so he wouldn't let go, and pulled her waist.
Between his blurry focus, a red-haired woman came into clear view.
"Aah."
Ferda let out an exclamation.
That sound was everything of the emotions Ferda held.
A sigh reflecting on how his imagination had been shallow and arrogant,
And ecstasy realizing this world holds beauty he couldn't even imagine.
"Now I can see."
Ferda smiled.
"Nice to meet you for the first time. My heart."