Inheriting the Novel

Preparations for the Decisive Battle (1)

A massive island near Linken.

The news that Vinshad had collapsed reached Setram in an instant.

Having already heard this from the demonkin, I wasn't particularly surprised, but from Pontiff Violette's perspective, it was a rather suspicious incident in many ways.

'What on earth happened there?'

Originally, violette had planned to intervene at an opportune moment to uncover the demonkin's true intentions.

But to think that all the Inquisitors would suddenly die.

'Not even a signal...'

The secret arts engraved on the Inquisitors' bodies were set up to send a signal to Violette in case they were ever in danger.

Yet from the Inquisitors who had gone to Vinshad, not a single signal ever arrived.

In other words, they had died without even a moment's chance to send the signal.

Only the demonkin came to mind as beings capable of making that happen.

Creeaak.

As Violette's brow furrowed, the splendid door swung open, and a cardinal dressed in white entered.

"Cardinal Kaedillen, have you found out anything?"

"Yes, Your Holiness. The demonkin have betrayed us. They have sent word that they will no longer aid Setram."

"Hm."

Since Violette had already anticipated this, he wasn't particularly surprised.

In any case, the demonkin had already done enough. Thanks to them, the Seven Swords Under Heaven had been prevented from gathering in one place.

Although two of the Seven Swords Under Heaven had ended up in demonkin hands, it wasn't a significant issue.

'The Demon King Zard probably believed that the Seven Swords Under Heaven were powers to use against the gods.'

But what could they hope to accomplish with only two swords?

Did they actually think they could use those to challenge the great God Altair?

Or perhaps...

'Still, what a fool.'

Had they stuck with us to the end, I might have shown some measure of mercy, but now there was no need.

"The time of the crusade is drawing near."

Violette gazed quietly out the window.

Just then, a snow-white bird could be seen flying off somewhere outside the window.

The white bird soared high into the sky, headed off to some distant, unreachable place.

Somewhere that humans could never set foot.

* * *

"I never imagined such a thing had happened back then."

When I returned to the domain, the first thing I did was recount to Riya and Maria the conversation I'd had with the Demon King Zard.

In truth, I had planned to keep this matter secret from everyone else for the time being. Since nothing was yet certain, I thought it would only sow confusion.

However, there were things regarding which I needed their help, so I had no choice but to tell Riya and Maria.

"Clay, do you have any idea what the Demon King's intentions are?"

"No. He didn't explain what he wanted to bargain for with me, either."

"Yet you're planning to go to the demon realm?"

I nodded slowly.

"But before that, I need to resolve things in Setram. It seemed the Demon King wanted that as well."

"He may be intending to attack the ground when Setram falls."

"That's certainly possible."

"Then..."

"But what he's after doesn't seem that simple."

If I hadn't seen the Demon King's profile, I would have thought along the same lines as Maria.

'It was just as Maria said in the original.'

When Fabian destroyed Setram, the demonkin immediately invaded the ground as if waiting for that moment.

'But now, the Demon King's movements are completely different from the original.'

There was clearly some ulterior motive he hadn't exhibited in the original.

'I'm sure it has something to do with what he's suppressing.'

The existence from another world.

According to the Demon King Zard's profile, he was currently using the power of the Seven Swords Under Heaven to suppress a being from another world.

That must have been the very reason he gathered the Seven Swords Under Heaven.

The unexpected information left my head spinning.

[Could that being from another world be the Tenth Calamity?]

'That's very likely. But... doesn't that seem odd?'

[What is?]

'If so, shouldn't the Demon King's actions in the original have been the same?'

[Ah.]

If the existence the Demon King was suppressing using the Seven Swords Under Heaven was that powerful, it could very well be the Tenth Calamity.

But if that being was originally the Tenth Calamity, there would have been no reason for the Demon King's actions to differ from the original.

If the future had changed and something new had become the Tenth Calamity, then what happened to the original Tenth Calamity?

Since nothing was certain, it was difficult to draw clear conclusions.

"By the way, Clay, where did Mersaya go as soon as we arrived in the domain?"

Lost in thought, I was drawn out of it when Maria brought this up, as if she'd just remembered.

"No idea. She suddenly said she had something to do and flew off."

Mersaya, upon returning to the domain, had collapsed limply and claimed she could finally rest—but then suddenly flew away soon after.

From her shocked expression at the time, it seemed certain something had come up, but I had no idea what it was.

Meanwhile, Riya seemed to have an inkling, putting her thumb on her chin and tilting her head slightly.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I heard the Dragon Tongue then."

"Not entirely sure?"

"She was probably conveying a message to real dragons, not half-dragons like me."

"... Is that even possible?"

"It's honestly beyond me as I am now. There's only one being with the power to manifest Dragon Tongue that strongly."

This was the first time I'd heard of such a dragon.

No, I barely knew anything about dragons to begin with.

"The king of dragons—the First Dragon—the one called the Dragon Lord. I've only read of it in the imperial records myself, so I don't know the details."

The king of dragons?

Each dragon alone held power close to that of a natural disaster.

For such a being to reign over and control all the other dragons— I couldn't even begin to imagine what monster-like strength it must possess.

[The Ancient Dragon Largios.]

Just then, Grancesia spoke up quietly.

'What, you know about this?'

[I saw it from a distance once. Certainly a powerful being.]

If Grancesia said that much, it was no ordinary strength.

'Why would the Dragon Lord summon Mersaya at this time?'

Was this another deviation from the original?

It was honestly getting difficult to tell what was what.

'Don't tell me the Dragon Lord is the Tenth Calamity.'

So far, there were two Calamities whose identities remained unclear.

The Sixth and the Tenth.

Since we had already encountered the Seventh, the Calamity of the Dragon, it seemed unlikely, but I couldn't shake off this foreboding.

"... Anyway, I'm heading to Setram now."

"Should I come with you?"

"No, I'm going to move as secretly as possible this time, so it's better if you don't. Besides, Riya, there's something else I need you to do."

"Me?"

I nodded.

Maria and Riya now had to prepare for emergencies.

"First, gather the strength of the nations."

"To prepare for war with Setram, right?"

"Right. I'm going to try to prevent it if possible, but it never hurts to be prepared."

"Understood. If you don't mind, may I use your name, Clay? I could gather forces much more quickly that way."

"My name?"

It was a rather curious suggestion.

What value could my name have here?

As if reading my thoughts, Riya smiled brightly.

"Clay, you underestimate yourself. Just with that bracelet on your arm and what happened at Eintban, you can move the two most closed-off nations in the world."

"Ah..."

I'd worn it for so long I'd forgotten, but the bracelet on my arm was a national treasure capable of mobilizing Lavantara, the nation of other races.

On top of that, I had already asked the king of Eintban to prepare for contingencies... So Riya was right.

"All right, I'll leave it to you. Maria, help Riya prepare for war and ask Sehenz to gather the Seven Heroes."

"Understood. I'll tell Mother."

In truth, this was everything we could do for now.

'The real challenge begins here.'

It was finally time to resolve the last matter I'd set aside.

* * *

"All Balancers, come to the Ancient Land."

Receiving this sudden summons, Mersaya had frantically flown off.

Balancers.

A title dragons often use to refer to themselves.

The world's balancers, and observers—an arrogant title.

Mersaya didn't particularly like that title.

She herself was rather arrogant, but 'Balancer' just made her cringe.

'But why would His Majesty suddenly summon us?'

Usually, there is no hierarchy amongst dragons.

There is but one exception—the Dragon Lord.

The Dragon Lord lives in seclusion in the Ancient Land, the point from which all dragons originate, and had not appeared in thousands of years.

In truth, this was the first time in her life that Mersaya had been summoned by the Dragon Lord.

"Wow."

Arriving at the Ancient Land, Mersaya took on human form and stared blankly at the sky.

She had never seen so many of her kind in her life.

A flock of dragons flying through the sky.

With all the dragons from the entire continent gathered here, there must be just under a hundred dragons present.

"What the, isn't that Mersaya? You came too?"

As Mersaya was looking at the other dragons, someone called her name.

Turning her head, she saw a face she really didn't want to see.

"Daltinus."

"Wow, I heard you were taken down, but you look better than I thought. Well, running away was always your specialty."

The dragon, who had taken the form of a handsome human male using Polymorph, had known Mersaya for quite some time.

"You halfwit. Because of ones like you, our race is humiliated."

With a sneer, daltinus' words made Mersaya bite her lower lip.

It wasn't just Daltinus who was laughing at her—other dragons nearby joined in as well.

"They say you were driven out by the humans in Darsha? Where are you living now?"

"Who knows? Probably hiding in some tiny mountain, right?"

Their snickering laughter filled the air.

Mersaya didn't even feel it was worth responding, and quickly turned her gaze away.

'I'd like nothing more than to punch them.'

She felt that way, but lacked the confidence.

Compared to other dragons, she was not adept at magic.

Because of this, she was often compared unfavorably to other dragons when she was a hatchling, and even her parents abandoned her.

"Whatever the Dragon Lord's reason for calling us, you should probably just head back."

"Yeah. Just being in the same place as you is an embarrassment."

Well, she was plenty used to being despised by her peers, so she could bear it.

Letting the other dragons' contemptuous words wash over her, Mersaya waited for the Dragon Lord's Dragon Tongue to be heard.

As annoying as their chatter was, she needed to hear why the Dragon Lord had summoned the dragons.