Wolves of Hader

Dragons were once beings of immense terror.

But now, having lost their immense and powerful bodies, they had become nothing more than mere evil spirits.

Just like in the last dream, when they tempted me. After sending me to the past, they tried to charm me into saving them. If that happened, everything now would cease to exist.

Whether devils ruled the world or not, the dragons would have survived until now to reign as mighty "dragons."

They would never even have known that another future was possible.

Had things actually changed, my father and friends would never have come to Hairopro, and I would not be here either. I might not even exist.

If the dragons survived, their souls could not remain here. Even if the continent's history did not change greatly, the dragon souls would have to be gone.

If the sword of divinity carries the will of the gods...

Then why did the gods send my father, friends, Eilin, and myself here?

Because these dragons are extremely dangerous.

And also because I witness the past.

Eilin and the two others entered the room.

I wondered: had they known?

They must have been suspicious.

"How's your body feeling?"

"I slept well, so I feel refreshed."

"Please eat first."

I got up, picked up a spoon, and ate my porridge.

I wasn't particularly hungry.

"How was it?"

"I thought I'd only be an observer, but I was wrong. I could speak and act of my own will."

"You moved of your own will?"

"I think it was different for me."

"We could only watch while inside someone else's body."

The two of them looked puzzled.

"So, you mean, you could move a person from the past however you wished?"

"Yes. It didn't feel any different."

"Then you could interfere with the past."

Their faces grew serious.

They had harbored many questions, and now those were suddenly answered. But their faces also showed some dismay.

"So, you two suspected it as well."

The viscount squeezed his eyes shut.

Eilin's father sighed.

"No wonder things had felt strange. That was the dragons' intention. If anything had gone wrong, we would have been in serious trouble. We thought the dragons were helping us... Who could have guessed their intentions were so wicked?"

"What's going on?"

I asked.

Eilin's father answered.

"The dragons sent Roger to the past to try to save themselves. They were probably going to make him help them escape before they died. If so, it would be a different world now."

"How could they..."

Eilin gasped.

The viscount continued.

"We considered the possibility. It's why we called Eilin here—to have her burn them with the holy sword if such a thing happened."

"I see."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

It's a good thing we realized it, even now. I'm the type who can't ignore something if it seems off.

Now I understood why the sword of divinity was placed beside me: in case the dragons tried to charm me. With the sword's divinity near, evil souls cannot approach, making this conversation possible.

"What happens if we break the dragons' orbs?"

"Breaking the orb is the only way to burn the dragons' souls. That's why they are unwilling to leave their orbs. I suspect they also need the orbs to cast magic."

Then, how are they different from elementals?

No, they are not elementals, they are evil spirits.

If divinity burns them, they are evil spirits indeed.

The elementals were clearly terrified of these dragons. Even though I saw no reason for them to be afraid.

It must be the dragons' overwhelming, exalted presence. The master of terror still wielded influence even after death. The other two were the same. The name "dragon" could not be ignored.

So I told the elementals truly:

The dragons are not to be feared.

I am here with the elementals.

I don't know about magic, but the soul orbs were not made by the dragons. Someone from Amir, who served as their liege, must have made them. Or perhaps it's an elemental's ability.

If that's the case...

We don't need the dragons to go to the past.

We can find another method.

"When I traveled to the past in the vision, were the dragons' soul orbs here?"

"They were. Wait, were they not...?"

It seemed they had not thought much about it before.

They both tried hard to recall.

Soon, the viscount let out a hollow laugh.

"Now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing them. We assumed the dragons had to be here for us to travel to the past, but perhaps that's not true."

"Are you sure they weren't here?"

"I don't think I saw them."

"They weren't. I saw it myself,"

Eilin said, smiling as she stepped forward.

"Really?"

"Yes, I saw us arrive as well—the orbs inside the box were there, but not the dragons' orbs. Besides, Lord Roger, you traveled to the past from other places too, didn't you?"

"Is that so?"

The two nodded.

"We should trust Eilin's memory. It's probably more accurate than ours. If you've seen it elsewhere, then the dragons are not necessary. Eilin."

"Yes?"

"Bring the holy sword and come with me."

I followed behind.

It felt like something interesting was about to happen.

The two elders and Eilin headed to the room with the dragons' souls. Whatever the dragons were shouting, the two elders frowned deeply.

"Eilin! Unwrap the cloth!"

"Yes!"

As she unwrapped the cloth from the holy sword, a brilliant light burst forth. Brandishing the sword radiating with divinity, they entered the room.

"No one leaves!"

"Just because you were served by Amir doesn't mean we will do the same! You evil spirits dare to deceive humans!"

The viscount grabbed the silver dragon's orb.

And struck it onto the floor.

THUD—CRACKLE—

A line appeared on the orb, and its power began leaking out. With divinity flooding the room, it soon dissipated completely.

"Quiet, you wraiths!"

"We were foolish to treat you with respect! Dragons were only dragons, after all!"

THUD—CRUNCH.

This time, the white orb shattered, and the white dragon's soul inside burned away in the holy light.

"Ha! Is that all you had to offer?"

"All those high-and-mighty airs, for what?"

BOOM—

This time, the blue and green orbs splintered and broke. The souls of those two dragons were also extinguished.

I took out the black orb.

It was Asgard's orb. It flashed as if begging for its life. I remembered what Asgard had said:

'So clueless—what great thing do you think you'll accomplish? Always acting cocky, but you can't even spot a cheap trick. And yet people make such a fuss about you. Tsk, tsk, tsk.'

Unbelievable.

That a hollow, empty evil spirit that tried to enchant me would say such things. Pretending to be a great being.

This is how it had deceived the elders, too, all while reigning as a godlike presence for Amir.

I smashed the black orb onto the floor.

It was split to pieces, and Asgard's soul vanished without so much as a scream.

Eilin lent a hand, too.

She picked up the red dragon's orb and hurled it at the wall. The red energy from within also disappeared.

Last was the golden dragon's orb.

That golden dragon tried to convince us, flashing rapidly. The elders only laughed in disbelief.

"It says it will reveal its treasures."

"How do we communicate with it?"

"Eilin, could you bring the ring?"

"Yes, sir."

Eilin went to the next room.

She returned with one of the thirty-three sky-blue rings the elders had given me. I put it on my left hand.

Then, as if it shone with the light of elementals:

—I am Taizel, the golden dragonborn. I know many things about dragons. If you destroy me as well, you will be making a grave loss.

"How so?"

—I know where the dragons dwell and where their treasures are hidden. I also know of many ancient relics and ruins scattered across the continent.

"I have no interest in ancient ruins or relics. I know the lairs and treasures of the dragons already. Just tell me how to travel to the past. Then I won't destroy you."

—Do you think I would believe that?

Its reaction was just like a human's.

"I'll find out how to travel to the past on my own anyway. Your only role is to reveal the secrets of the world—but I'm not interested in those."

—You're wrong! Dragons still remember their ancient magic! If you obtained the ancient and dragon magic, we'd be valuable!

"So, destroying and burning something as valuable as you must look like madness, eh?"

Subtle anger came through the connection.

—We are the sovereigns of Amir! Do you think Amir will stand by if you kill us? The ones they worshipped for over a millennium!

That only proved their lack of power.

Bringing up Amir like that.

"For ages, you deceived Amir, pretending you were gods and enjoying their worship. With cheap magic, you feigned power and greatness as dragonborns."

—That's not true!

"If you are so powerful, demonstrate your might. If you're truly such a great being, you should easily subdue someone like me. Why can't you? Why haven't you returned to the embrace of the gods?"

No reply came.

They'd been tricking the living all this time, like ghosts.

"Tell me how to travel to the past. Then, to use your knowledge and information, I will not destroy you."

Still, no answer.

Only after a long silence did a voice reply.

—It's the "Guide of As."

"What's that?"

—The name of the giant tree on this island is As. As is the tree of soul and time. The being who delivers the will of As is called the Guide.

"So, you didn't send me."

There was no immediate answer.

If not for the elementals, I too might have been deceived.

—It is the Guide of As who answered our request. We, as noble beings, formed a contract with the Guide of As long ago.

"The Guide of As must be a sovereign-level elemental."

Again, anger seeped through the connection.

—Just what are you?!

"Why? Does it bother you that I'm traveling with elementals, even though I'm not Elin? The Guide of As granted your request unwillingly—because you are wicked evil spirits."

—We are not evil spirits!

"Long ago, you threatened Amir's high priest to make a contract with the Guide of As. The Guide followed through because it had no choice."

—It is we who have borrowed the power of As! You cannot use the soul orbs! Unless you contract through the Guide, you can never travel to the past!

"That's your opinion."

—If you kill me, you will regret it!

"You're already dead. Oh, and by the way..."

I smiled while looking at the golden orb.

"Why do you think only the descendants of heroes can travel to the past? Because every hero was born by the will of As. Even the divine beasts born on this island are the will of As."

The golden dragon howled.

"You tried to change history, but I'm trying to drive out the darkness of the world. Who do you think As would support? What if I came here for the sole purpose of destroying you?"

—No!

A desperate cry echoed in my head.

Listening to the agonizing wail, I raised the golden orb high... then slammed it onto the floor.

THUD—CRACK.

The golden dragon's orb cracked in half, and the energy within was incinerated by divine light.

"Whew."

The two elders sat down in their chairs.

They never expected things would end like this.

"It would have been nice to see this happen in a vision. We were fools to worship dragons as noble beings."

"Dad, we'll be all right, won't we?"

"We'll be fine. Don't worry about Amir. We'll just say they returned to the embrace of the gods."

The two looked relieved.

The viscount spoke.

"Can you find a way to travel to the past?"

"They said the giant tree's name is As—the tree of soul and time. It won't be easy right now, but I think I'll be able to borrow the power of As."

They nodded.

I had a question.

"Is the reason I have to travel to the past... Does it involve something I'll actually do while in the past?"

"I won't deny it. We don't know—nothing's happened yet, but maybe you did something. It's possible you did nothing at all."

I hadn't traveled to another past yet.

But maybe I had done something there.

If I could move at will, like this time...

"Will you two stay here?"

I asked.

"There's no reason to. Both Elborn and I live on the northern island. From there, you can go straight to the southernmost tip of Beltern."

They stood up.

"In that case, I should leave right away."

"Take this with you,"

Eilin's father said, handing me a folded parchment. It was a detailed map of the continent—on it, the predicted locations of the demon gates were marked.

There were seven mysterious marks, and the western coast of Beltern was shaded black. That same marking appeared on the western shore of the empire.

"What are these dots?"

"Places where divine beasts reside."

"Amazing."

"The numbers have dwindled, but the leader of the divine beasts is surely still alive. Originally, the leader fought alongside heroes, but now they follow Rod."

I studied the map in detail.

Other than Aindel and the wolf, there was one in central-west and northeast Beltern. And one in the south of Arshaire. And...

"There's one here, too?"

The two smiled.

"That's what we wanted to tell you and show you. Care to take a look outside?"

Eilin and I went outside.

We both gaped.

Atop the forest's distant heights—

There were gigantic eagles.

The same ones I saw when I met Rod.