Chapter 279 : Chapter 279
Chapter 279
Dagger Ashkal.
The treasure of the Denoebang family.
It is a picky sword that chooses its master, but I could persuade it without difficulty.
It is because the one who made Ashkal was the 'Last Mage', my master.
"Here. It is food."
I threw a hammer into the center of Ashkal's silver magic.
It was not an ordinary hammer.
It is the Ancient Weapon 'Bellows's Afterheat'.
It was an object the West seized after killing the Eight-Impact General Zeronimus.
Silver magic swallowed the hammer.
Ashkal gulped down the hammer larger than itself and tried to steal its power.
However, soon there was a vibration from inside the silver magic.
[…….]
The surface of the dagger resembling a fang cracked apart.
Red lava bubbled beneath the cracked surface.
The bubbling sound became a voice.
[…You….]
Red appears through the silver.
That red resembled a bellows as if it was a bubbling red.
The voice shouted in anger.
[…How far do you intend to insult me…!]
"As expected, you are waking up."
I said as if I had expected it.
I knew the owner of the voice.
"It would have been good if you had stayed asleep."
That voice belonged to an Ancient God.
Dagger Ashkal is merely a fang of the Last Mage.
It was unreasonable to swallow the entire remains of the Ancient God, 'Bellows's Afterheat'.
Ashkal could not swallow the Ancient Weapon completely, and eventually ended up waking the dead Ancient God.
"Then you would not have had to be struck by fire like this."
Septem Arcana, the fifth.
'Soul Fire'.
Blue flames dwell in my breath.
I spewed flames as if blowing wind with my mouth.
Guiding the flames with an elegant gesture, I poured them over 'Bellows's Afterheat'.
Screams of the Ancient God followed.
[…Hot! Hot!]
"It must be."
'Soul Fire' was a heat that even the remains of an Ancient God bearing the name of a bellows could not possibly endure.
Because that blueness is a bone-chilling blueness, a burning agony of souls already rotten, it burned the Ancient God as if crushing it.
[Hot-ttt-!!!]
"Ancient God who has become afterheat. Help me."
I recited quietly.
"I do not want to extinguish you. I want your heat and my heat to become one."
[…I hate it! I hate your heat!]
"But I must bring down Cordis."
I continued.
"I can absolutely not leave the last things of the Cordis Empire alone."
[…The last things of Cordis…. The Hotus bastards who killed us…!!]
Bellows's Afterheat cried out filled with hatred.
[Good! Then good…! Let us do that!]
The bubbling lava was soon sucked into the inside of Ashkal.
[I will give you my heart. I will give you my afterheat! So the bastards, the bastards…!]
The voice cut off abruptly.
However, the heat is more than before.
The fang-shaped dagger completely sucked in 'Bellows's Afterheat' and came to harbor heat that seemed like it would explode any moment.
Dagger Ashkal.
Ancient Weapon 'Bellows's Afterheat'.
My 'Soul Fire'.
"……It is done."
Three powers capable of leaving deep scars on a soul became one.
I looked down at Ashkal, which had become incomparably stronger than before.
"The figure is quite beautiful…."
Two heats dwelt in the smoothly curved silver fang.
One is 'Soul Fire', one is 'Bellows's Afterheat'.
The two heats swirl inside.
"…With this, I can kill Kerenneus."
I muttered.
I carefully wrapped Dagger Ashkal with a cloth.
And then handed it to Obro Denoebang.
As the harbored power became stronger, it would be even pickier about its owner.
"Deliver it to the Lord of Denoebang."
"Yes, Shion."
Obro Denoebang politely accepted Dagger Ashkal.
The dagger trembled in his arms.
Obro Denoebang became convinced that no matter if it was him, he would not be able to use this dagger.
It was truly a picky sword.
I giggled.
"Tell him to pierce Kerenneus's heart when the time comes."
***
"How about resting a little."
Amethus said worriedly.
"You have that much leeway."
"Leeway?"
I frowned.
"There is no such leeway, Amethus. Both Brother Secundus and Grand Duke Pret have died. There is no next chance, and we must kill Kerenneus in the Dimashq Plains."
"…But it is not now."
"Only if we prepare now will that time come!"
I yelled abruptly.
Soon I felt a bit ashamed.
I gestured to express my apology.
Amethus nodded to show it was fine.
"…In the end, it is the time. We must not miss this time…. Only if we cut off someone like Kerenneus this time will the following events proceed smoothly. The movements of Horm or Sister Leniar are like that too……. And with Brother Secundus's death, backlash from the military will soon follow…."
"Is that not too far in the future?"
"It is my specialty. Thinking too far."
"That is true, but."
"You do not even deny it."
I, the Regression Prince, laid my body on the chair.
Even though I stretched out, I was not comfortable at all.
My chest was churning and stuffy.
It was painful as if some invisible iron ball or such was caught in my throat.
It is not a matter of a day or two, but when fatigue was severe like today, the suffering was worse.
I made a groaning sound and changed my posture.
However, no matter how I sat, the discomfort did not disappear.
I just wanted to vomit.
I wanted to vomit all these secrets piled up inside and become comfortable, but I could not.
Because a Shion without secrets cannot be Shion.
"……I feel anxious."
I muttered cautiously.
It was an inner feeling I would never utter if it were not Amethus.
Because Amethus knew even such a heart, he just quietly lowered his jade eyes.
Shion Pollinglight made a groaning sound again.
"It is right in front of us. The end of our journey is right in front of us. The matter of Grand Duke Pret was perplexing but… there is nothing that will be a big problem yet. But why am I this anxious."
"Could it not be simply that you are tired."
"That makes no sense. I have always been tired."
I wiped my face roughly.
Clack-clack sounds rang out.
It was the sound of scales on my face and scales on my palm colliding.
Seeing his master becoming a black dragon, Amethus whispered.
"…There is only one thing I can say."
His jade eyes were calm.
"No matter what happens, I will protect Your Highness's life."
"…Anyway, I told you not to call me that."
"There is no one listening."
I giggled.
I felt like I could breathe a little.
"…Right, I should keep my eyes closed at least. Even if I cannot fall asleep…."
***
Time passed.
***
The Imperial Army retreats.
The West aims for their gap.
***
The Western Alliance moved according to my will.
Gathering the most selected troops so that signs would not be revealed, they caught up with the Imperial Army.
Like that, soon it was the Dimashq Plains.
***
'…Dimashq Plains….'
Looking at the empty field, I fell into strange sentiments.
It is because memories from before regression soared.
I saw the Cordis Imperial Army far away.
The procession was very long.
'If it is now, we can cut the waist of the army.'
Deballo Debius is at the vanguard, and Sen Hostanio is at the rear.
Kerenneus is in the middle.
Both Deballo and Sen Hostanio are already far away.
I ended up smiling.
Every situation was according to my plan.
Despite the anxiety, things only went well.
I became convinced that all this anxiety was merely a feeling.
'I was right.'
It was a refreshing feeling.
'As expected, I was right.'
I chewed over the plan in my head.
Drive the dagger into Kerenneus's heart.
Then the fact that he was actually a God will be revealed.
This fact will shake the Cordis Empire all over, and internally birth an unerasable crack.
Next is linking with Horm or Volmark, and further receiving help from the Silver Dragon Magic Kingdom….
I turned my head.
"Lord of Denoebang."
I said, feeling Desep Denoebang slowly approaching.
He was harboring Dagger Ashkal.
"You must have heard from Obro. That Kerenneus is not human. That he is an ancient God 'Last Minister' pretending to be human."
"……I heard. It was very surprising."
"Me, Obro, and Amethus will rush in simultaneously. Then he will reveal his true colors. At that time, pierce his heart with that sword."
"……."
I pointed at Dagger Ashkal.
"Because that sword is enough to kill any existence."
"……."
"You still have a bewildered face."
Deservedly so.
I nodded my head.
It was understandable not to feel it real even hearing stories about Hotus Eight Gods or Ancient Gods.
"Still, please focus. Because your role is too core. Only you can use Dagger Ashkal."
"…I will keep it in mind."
"Mmm."
I frowned.
I felt a gaze.
It was from very far away.
Wondering where, I looked at the horizon and met eyes with Kerenneus Cansella Caseptus, the old man like an eagle.
Even though we were far enough to look like dots to each other.
I growled, revealing my fangs.
"Kerenneus. He noticed us."
I cackled with a mouth full of fangs.
He is staring at me intently even from afar.
The Western Alliance has already gathered elites and is stationed.
Nothing changes just because the Imperial Army notices now.
"Too late."
I glanced sideways.
There were three men nearby.
Amethus and Obro, two incomparable reliable swordsmen.
And the Lord of Denoebang, the master of Dagger Ashkal.
Thorough preparation to kill an old God.
"I will go first."
I opened my maw towards the sky as if howling.
I revealed the deepest part of my soul.
Septem Arcana, the sixth.
'Dragon of Six Horns'.
"The Last Minister dies today."
***
He transforms.
He distorts.
He heats up.
He becomes huge.
In the long-awaited Dimashq Plains,
I tried to fly up.
The sixth secret, 'He became inhuman', made him a pitch-black dragon.
It had to be so.
He had to become a dragon capable of trampling thousands of soldiers and contending even with a Man-God.
"……Ah……?"
If the silver dagger had not been embedded in his heart.
"……Ah, …ah…?"
I could not become a dragon.
I tried to soar becoming a black dragon any moment, but a silver fang pierced my heart and nailed me to the ground.
I looked down at my heart blankly.
A sword pierced the heart.
If asked who stabbed, it was the master of Dagger Ashkal.
The sword into which all sorts of power were poured to kill the Last Minister stabbed my heart instead.
Soon pain arose.
Silver flames rose from the sword embedded in the heart.
Soon two kinds of heat filled my body and twisted it.
It was 'Soul Fire' and 'Bellows's Afterheat'.
And yet, instead of a scream, I just turned my eyes filled with questions.
"……Why……?"