Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

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“I knew you wouldn’t try to dodge his attack. Not with that thing behind you,” Shildonia said as she walked up to the collapsed Juvars’ body.

Behind him stood an altar, which carried the heart of the Divine Dragon—the remains of Valzed.

“To you dragons, this undoubtedly is the greatest treasure around…And even Zeurus was utterly attached to the heart of the Divine Dragon. Knowing that you’ve met the divine Dragon Valzed in your time, we used that affection.”

That’s why she had Kyle move in the direction of the heart, knowing full well Juvars wouldn’t dare to dodge. Now that Kyle had used up all of his mana, his left arm’s veins were throbbing in pain, his muscles not listening to him anymore, but he still approached Juvars.

“…Thinking about it, that guy did something similar back then.”

When Kyle fought the Black-winged Demon in the past timeline, he remembered that the demon wanted to use the heart for something.

“My left arm suffered the same fate back then, too…Is this place just cursed or something?” He muttered as he looked down at his own left arm.

‘Juvars-sama…’

Irumera showed her pained emotions as she approached Juvars all the same, with Ghrud following suit. Both of them must be wondering why this had to happen. But just when they thought Juvars had been dealt with, his eyes shot open.

‘Not yet…I won’t die yet! There is still something I must do!’

With half of his body ripped from him, Juvars looked to be in a half-dead state. Yet, his voice and eyes were very much alive. Reflexively, Kyle and the two dragons readied themselves, but Shildonia simply shook her head.

“No, it’s over…Juvars, you were already too weak to even fight, weren’t you? You were just prolonging your life using mana,” Shildonia said while glancing at the magic circle drawn on the ground.

It carried the means to regenerate mana and keep it from vanishing.

“Really?”

“I must admit, that attack of yours definitely packed a punch, Kyle. However, it was certainly not enough to bring an Ancient Dragon close to his own death. His physical body had been weak from the start,” Shildonia said with a scolding tone, telling Kyle not to let this go to his head. “And as far as I can see it, that’s reached its limit, too. Juvars, your life is about to burn out. There’s nothing left to be done for you.”

Shildonia’s cold and almost cruel words met Juvars’ determination and desire to live head-on. He glared at the young girl, but eventually relaxed his tense body. His eyes looked like he had accepted this fact.

“And preserving life through such a forceful method, trying to keep yourself far from death, must have caused you unbearable pain…So I need to know. Why are you going this far, following the black-winged one? If you have any pride as the one defeated in this battle, then let us hear your answer,” Shildonia argued while glancing at the dragons.

Both of them, including Kyle, were holding their breaths, waiting for this answer.

‘I cannot even feel pain anymore at this point.’

Juvars calmly began explaining, speaking of his own mistakes.

‘It all started because of my regrets and reluctance.’

***

Even dragons have a limited lifespan. This is even the case for Ancient Dragons who had been alive since the age of myth. When he realized how his own body had begun to fail him, Juvars was assaulted by an inexplicable feeling of isolation. To put that into one single reason, it was—nostalgia. Having served under the grandfather of all dragons, the Divine Dragon Valzed, he experienced a strong sense of duty and existence. But after Valzed died, the regret and isolation slowly began. As demons and humanfolk began to grow in numbers, the dragon race began to dwindle, making it feel like he was being pushed into a corner. Having watched this for thousands of years, Juvars discussed the future of the dragon race together with his sole friend Zeurus.

That said, Zeurus followed the teachings of Valzed, in the fact that dragons should never use their inherent power for their own good. He wished for the dragon race to take up a passive position in the world’s affairs. As a result of their discussions, they never saw eye-to-eye, as a great rift started to grow between them. The final straw then turned out to be the Heart of the Divine Dragon, and what they each sought from it.

Since it was one of the last remains of Valzed, plus the fact it carried immense amounts of magic energy inside of it, it was seen as the greatest treasure the dragon race possessed. Its location had been lost for many years, but when Juvars heard that the human country Zaales had obtained it, Juvars was beyond himself in rage. He argued that they should work to retrieve it immediately, using force if the need arose, but Zeurus argued that they should attempt a peaceful negotiation. As a result, their ideas clashed once again. It led to the reality that the whole dragon race was split in two.

Yet during that time, the dragons discovered that the reason for their decline was that no new children could be born. It turned out to be the humans who gave them advice on this issue, even offering a solution. Having felt indebted to them, Zeurus judged that the humans ought to keep hold of the heart of the Divine Dragon, as well as that the dragons should seclude themselves within the World Tree, making the promise to not leave the place ever again with the members of humanfolk.

Naturally, Juvars heavily protested this. Of course, they had to repay the debt created, and he didn’t intend to just sweep it under the rug, but he still wondered why they would have to leave such a treasure in human hands. Despite that, the direction definitely took off into Zeurus’ corner. As a result, Juvars departed to never return. Yet, the emotion he felt toward Zeurus wasn’t one of anger. It was much closer to disappointment in himself, losing the confidence that he might have been right, shunned his followers so that they left him alone, and secluded himself deep within the demon territory. And like that, he spent days and years not coming in contact with another living being.

Only once did an envoy of Zeurus arrive, informing Juvars that the Kingdom of Zaales had fallen, leaving the location of the heart of the Divine Dragon without a clear location. Of course, Juvars didn’t care much for that fact at this point, just continuing to isolate himself. He began feeling like holes opened up within his body, like he was lacking something vital, but he decided to ignore this and move on. However, around one year ago, he began to feel that his own life was slowly coming to an end. As a result, he began having dreams again after many years of not having any.

It was a dream from the time dragons were still prospering when the Divine Dragon Valzed was still alive. And yet, from that point onward, it was just a continuous downfall. Eventually, having this dream became something of a daily occurrence, making Juvars sick of it altogether. But then, “that” appeared in front of him.

For the past several hundred years, Juvars spent most of his time asleep, and the same was the case that day.

‘Yet again, the same dream…’

His consciousness faintly returned to his waking mind as he lamented the past he could never return to, but he quickly awoke fully. The reason for this was that several people had entered his home. He had found a small cave that made even your breath freeze, far far away from any resemblance of civilization, making it his new resting ground. Nobody would even mistakenly find their way here. Yet, two silhouettes now stood in front of him. One was a small demon with an eerie and pasted smile, and the other was rather hard to discern. He had black wings growing from his back, and everything about him was as dark as the night. Yet, it wasn’t a vile color of black, and rather almost pure and inviting. Even Juvars could tell that this individual was unlike anybody he’d ever met. That said, Juvars had lost interest in this waking world, hence not paying them any mind. He was pondering to kick them out by force, when the small demon spoke up.

“My esteemed Ancient Dragon, Juvars-sama…Would you be interested in bringing back the once-lost glory to the dragon race?”

‘Wha…’

Despite it having come out of nowhere, it greatly shook Juvars’ heart. After all, it was the one thing he had sought for thousands of years. And after he began dreaming of the past, these feelings only continued to grow stronger, so who could blame him for showing such a reaction after spending hundreds, if not thousands of years carrying such a futile hope?

“I’ve heard that dragons entered a contract with humanfolk, promising to not leave the perimeters of the World Tree…but if humanfolk were to vanish from this continent, wouldn’t that contract become void?”

‘If humanfolk…were to vanish?’

The moment Juvars returned this question, it could be said that he had already fallen into the trap set by the demons.

“Yes. My lord will soon become the Demon Lord, and they plan to bring complete ruin to humanfolk.”

‘Do you really think…you could do that?’

Granted, dragons wouldn’t get involved in the battles between demons and humanfolk, but it’s not like Juvars was entirely without knowledge. Right now, their strengths should be on an equal level.

“It very much is. If we could just borrow your strength, Juvars-sama.”

‘Th-That’s…’

Juvars found himself hesitating. Originally, he would have to decline immediately and kick them out…yet. The moment the black-winged demon saw this hesitation, he took out something that only further shocked Juvars. In his hand, the demon carried a glowing, red gemstone.

‘It…It can’t be…!’

The Heart of the Divine Dragon. It shone as brightly as it did in Juvars’ memory when he still chased after it, now making him feel like breaking out in tears at its beauty.

“Wasn’t it the wish of all dragons to retrieve this item? If you were to assist our cause, we would be willing to put it into your care after everything has been resolved.”

‘Ah…Ugh…’

Juvars groaned as he thought about this offer, but his eyes would not move away from the Divine Dragon’s heart. If he were to help the demons, it would break the rules that Valzed had put into place, but he began to ponder if it was worth breaking that rule in order to obtain one of Valzed’s last remains. Of course, bringing ruin to humanfolk was an extreme measure, but without humanfolk, maybe Zeurus would change his mind then. And since Juvars’ death was slowly closing in, he wanted to leave something behind before he departed from this world. He wanted to fill this sense of emptiness inside of him, so maybe he was just desperate at this point in time.

‘What…What do I have to do?’

And yet, since Juvars felt like this was the last thing would do, he was left with no other choice but to agree.

***

‘Thinking back on it, I still don’t understand why I agreed to that offer, and I still don’t know if I’ve done the right thing…But I can’t go back any longer. I can only charge ahead. All to get rid of my regret…’

Even as Juvars’ lamenting ended, Kyle and the others didn’t say a word and just remained silent.

“I’ve grown tired of this story.”

Having heard all of this, Shildonia was the only person to let out her feelings, paired with a sigh. Ironically, since she was one of the people who caused this whole ordeal. She might just be a copy of the original, but she probably still felt guilty for having pushed Juvars this far. Juvars probably would not know, but Shildonia had approached Zeurus with the exact same offer years prior to the black-winged one, promising to hand over the heart of the Divine Dragon if he was willing to help out. In a way, she was no better than a demon at this point.

“Thanks to the immense magic energy within the heart, Zaales progressed rapidly. But at the same time, it brought many problems with it…Like shadow always being part of the light.”

And the same is the case even now—Shildonia added in her mind, as she glanced over at the heart.

“Juvars-sama…”

Having turned back into human shape, Irumera and Ghrud approached the dragon, but he already lacked the strength to look their way. A despairing mood filled the air when an unfitting and cheerful applause broke through the silence.

“My oh my, what a heart-warming conclusion. I respect your determination.”

The whole group turned around, greeted by Targ with his fabricated smile. Surely, the injury he suffered at Kyle’s hands couldn’t have healed yet, but he acted like he was doing just fine.

“How surprising. I figured you’d try and attack us when we put down our guard.”

Since Targ could practically teleport, he could appear in his opponent’s blind spot. No ability would be better for surprise attacks. That’s what Kyle had been wary of during the whole battle, too.

“Yes, of course. I had considered getting revenge for that earlier surprise attack, but you didn’t offer any opening whatsoever.”

“My teacher told me to always be cautious whenever I just came out victorious, and that got engraved into my brain. One of the few things, actually.”

“Oh dear…You must have had a talented teacher.”

The conversation couldn’t be even more superficial, their eyes looking dead serious despite them laughing. Both of them hoped to find an opening to strike with the other.

“But more than anything…I have no more reason to try and attack you,” Targ said with an extremely confident tone, as the Black-winged Demon appeared from behind him, showing a confident stride.

“So you’ve finally come, huh…”

Kyle almost got emotional at this reunion, especially considering the location, as he glared at the demon. Even though he had been engulfed in flames not even a few moments ago, nothing seemed out of the ordinary about him.

“You must have understood by now, but Juvars-sama has offered his assistance for our cause out of his own desire. We have no intention of building a hostile relationship with the rest of the dragons,” Targ said as he looked over at Irumera and Ghrud.

“Sorry, but it’s a bit too late to argue about that…”

“I just want to know. What did you do to him?” Shildonia moved away from Juvars and approached Targ.

“…What could you mean by that? As he told you, he simply accepted our invitation.”

Targ mechanically tilted his head, showing that he did not understand Shildonia’s question.

“Well, if I had to think of something…It might not be entirely accurate, but we did try to fill the hole in his heart in our ways, trying to heal the solitude he had suffered for millennia…”

“You did the exact opposite, didn’t you? You created that hole in the first place,” Shildonia clapped back with a sharp tone, which made Targ freeze up completely.

He kept his fake smile, as the glimmer in his eyes changed.

“That reaction tells me enough. You made him see those dreams, right?”

Shildonia didn’t have any concrete proof, and she just went with her gut feeling, but that seemed to have proven at least something.

“What’s that mean?”

“Against a dragon, let alone an Ancient Dragon like Juvars, any mind-controlling magic would not work. And even if it did, it wouldn’t be perfect, like with a certain someone.”

Shildonia answered Kyle’s question, as she glanced over at Ghrud, who glared back at her.

“However, magic isn’t the only method available to control someone. Altering their thoughts, hypnosis, mind-control, call it how you wish.”

Shildonia kept on lining up words Kyle had never heard of before, so he figured these must be concepts from back when Zaales was still in its prime.

“All of them share a common ground…That it works best on people with weakened minds. And although the strength of a dragon is on a different scale than what demons and humans are on, their minds work very much in a similar way.”

“Honestly…I wasn’t quite sure if he would fall for it or not.”

Targ seemed to have given up on his act, admitting to what Shildonia was putting out.

“Naturally, we considered using such magic, but it didn’t work against an Ancient Dragon, as one would suspect. However, having him see dreams through magic did work just fine. We just had to show him dreams of such regret, so much so that Juvars-sama himself never considered the possibility,” Targ proudly nodded, like he was satisfied with his work. “Showing him the same dream for around a year, it created nostalgia. And once there was a hole in his heart, we completely filled it when we came to ask for help. A wonderful plan, don’t you think? But as a result of that, the result speaks for itself,” Targ said and smiled from the bottom of his heart.

This naturally evoked nothing but hostility from Irumera and Ghrud.

“Th-Then…Juvars-sama has been deceived by the lots of you?!” Irumera glared at the two, with Ghrud gritting his teeth.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit unreasonable? Juvars-sama was the one who made the final decision, so how could you complain that we’ve done something?”

Of course, Targ might have a resemblance of a point, but he probably just gave up on trying to hide things. Meaning, he intended on not letting anybody leave this place alive.

“Still, you really love to get in our way, do you not? Thanks to your actions, you foiled our plan to get the dragons involved…What a troublesome fellow you are.” Targ showed a different level of killing intent, directed fully at Kyle. “You are most troublesome of all, Kyle-san. We have to kill you right here, right now.”

His expression was aggressive enough that even a trained soldier like Kyle couldn’t stop himself from shivering. And then, the Black-winged Demon behind Targ slowly began advancing toward them. Kyle and Irumera readied themselves, but they knew that they were in tatters from the previous battle.

Buy me some time.

There, Shildonia waved her hand once more.

Believe in me. This time, for real.

She added, so Kyle nodded. He had no other options left, so he had to rely on her.

“You’ve been quiet this whole time, so I don’t know just how exactly you feel, anyway. You’re like a puppet being controlled by Targ…Are you really the Demon Lord?”

Kyle decided to pick a fight with the Demon Lord in an attempt to buy time, but the Black-winged Demon didn’t stop walking, with Targ keeping his faint smile. A few more steps and the black-winged one would probably begin his attack. And Kyle didn’t have the ability to stop them. All that he had left was his final trump card, and he yet hesitated if he should use that now…But since he might actually be killed at this rate, it was now or never.

“Why are you trying to go back in time?”

Hearing these words, the black-winged one stopped.

“I know that you were trying to use the Divine Dragon’s heart to travel back in time. And that’s why you’re trying to end all of humanfolk, too.”

So far, the black-winged one had never shown any reaction, but now he had stopped to stare at Kyle. Though, he actually felt the gaze more than anything. After all, the winged one still hid his face with the hood.

I guess that was worth a reaction…Still, it’s odd for them not to explain their plans…Maybe they can’t? Or maybe they just aren’t much of a talker.

Kyle continued to keep his gaze glued to the winged one, not missing any chance to learn about them.

“How do you know that?”

The voice that appeared from the darkness beneath the hood was a lot more average than Kyle expected, one that you might hear while taking a stroll through town. But at the same time, it showed no glimmer of emotion, as if you were dealing with a talking stone statue. Even Targ seemed surprised that the winged one used his own voice, looking at his master in shock.

“Finally feeling like talking, huh? Didn’t think it’d take this long to have you open your mouth.”

“…How do you know that?”

The black-winged one used the same words as before, but Kyle just flashed a confident smirk.

“Why not beat me and make me spit it out forcefully?” Kyle slowly drew his sword.

“…”

The demon must have realized he wouldn’t get any proper answer from Kyle, so he started walking again. He probably had only come to a halt for a mere ten seconds at most. What meaning was there in buying this time? Well, plenty actually, because the medicine had finally set in.

“…You probably thought you used him all up for your convenience, but alas…You underestimated the thick skulls of the dragons!”

With Shildonia’s voice, Juvars’ body, thought to have been unable to move anymore, suddenly raised itself. His eyes were red, blood vessels had popped, showing that this was the last energy he had. Half of himself had already been blasted away, as the other half lunged at the person who had deceived him.

“…!”

It seemed like even the black-winged one couldn’t ignore this attack, but he just barely didn’t make it in time. The fang of the Ancient Dragon bore into his flesh, ripping off one of his black wings in one fell swoop. If he hadn’t made it in time, his entire upper body would have been ripped from his waist. Kyle and the others had no way of knowing, but he suffered a similar attack earlier from the half-dead Poison-Needle, so he had made this experience once already.

“D-Demon Lord-sama?!” Targ screamed in terror, but the black-winged one didn’t even make a sound.

No blood came gushing out of the wound, as it just revealed all-swallowing darkness.

“What…is that…?”

Shildonia must have felt something while watching this unfold, as she narrowed her eyes. Kyle didn’t miss this chance, however, trying to go for a follow-up attack. It all happened incredibly quickly, but Targ just barely managed to react in time. Just when Kyle’s sword may or may not have connected, he leaped at the Demon Lord and used his teleportation ability to disappear.

“Ahhh, drats!”

Kyle would have wished to end things right here and now, but since he let the Demon Lord run away, he cursed his inability. Of course, it still ended up as a grave wound, but he knew that this wouldn’t be enough to kill the black-winged one.

‘That…was the last I could muster…’

Behind him, Juvars had collapsed to the ground once more, uttering with a weak voice.

“I’m sorry to have used that on you…I didn’t think we’d have to rely on that…” Shildonia apologized to Juvars as one of her hands tightly grasped a bottle with a bit of red liquid inside of it.

The common term for this drug is Blood Eye, drastically raising your battle prowess while also cutting away at your lifespan, and it was one of the last resorts available to Kyle and his team. But of course, since the Ancient Dragon had suffered mortal wounds and ran out of days to live, there was no meaning to him holding back. At the very least, the Blood Eye allowed him to move for just an instant.

“Thank you very much, you saved us,” Kyle bowed to the person he had just fought to the death.

‘I should be the one to thank you. You allowed me one final chance to get back at those bastards who deceived me…’

“We used you all the same…All for our benefit,” Shildonia said with a perturbed face.

No matter how you twisted and turned it, they still used Juvars for their own agenda. They were no better than Targ and the Demon Lord, who deceived him with lies. For that reason, Shildonia was riddled with guilt.

‘Even so…As an apology, and a token of gratitude…Please accept it…’

From Juvars’ wound appeared a gem radiating in a crimson color. It was the same treasure every dragon left behind when they had lived their final moment.

‘It can’t hope to compare to Valzed-sama, but I hope it will be of use to you…’

It was his apology, as well as a token of his pride as a dragon.

‘…Just like that armor and sword.’

Juvars glanced at Kyle’s armor, letting out a faint smile. He probably didn’t want to get one-upped by Zeurus all the time.

“Juvars-sama…” Irumera called his name, pain coloring her voice.

She felt regret for letting one of the highly-esteemed Ancient Dragons live his final moments in agony like this.

‘Don’t make that face. This ending is what I deserve…Just…tell everyone what happened. I don’t want anybody else to suffer the same fate as me,’ Juvars muttered under his breath, as Ghrud approached him.

“Gramps told me to give you a message. Of course, he left it up to my discretion if I wanted to give you the message or not, and I wasn’t planning on until just now, but…I can tell that you were good friends…He said ‘Farewell, my friend,’ so take that as you will.”

The words from his old friend coming from Ghrud made Juvars narrow his eyes.

‘He still calls me his friend…Thank you.’

Juvars’ final moment was spent with him smiling, as he eventually stopped moving completely. This was the end of the Ancient Dragon that had been alive since the age of myth. Having watched his soul depart, Kyle glared at the darkness into which Targ and the Demon Lord had vanished, gripping his fist as he cursed.

“Next time…Next time, I will end all of this!”

His face was filled with determination.

“…By the way, is it just me or is the ground shaking?”

“Huh?”

Kyle initially thought it was just because he was utterly weakened, but just as Shildonia said, his fist was quivering in an unnatural way.

“…Is this an earthquake?”

There, a reaction came from the transmission magic item in the shape of a card.

‘Hey, where are you right now?’

Appearing from this was Seran’s voice, sounding slightly panicked.

“We’re down at the deepest part, right before the altar. Don’t worry, we finished our business.”

‘That’s not the issue. The whole castle is coming down!’

“…Say what?” Kyle responded in a dumbfounded voice.

‘With the whole battle going on underground…Anyway, we’re out of time! Get out of there! Lieze and the others already evacuated, so hurry up and—’

There, the power of the magic item ran out. It was an incredibly useful item, but it didn’t last all too long. Even so, Kyle understood how dire the situation was.

“These vibrations are getting stronger and stronger, too,” Shildonia calmly pointed out.

It must be Targ’s doing. He wanted to use every method available to finally end Kyle and his group, choosing to destroy the whole castle.

“He’s really holding a grudge against us. Then again, that’s to be expected.”

“Aren’t you wrapping us up in your messes?”

“You’re plenty involved already, you dragons! This is also to ensure you wouldn’t tell Zeurus about Juvars!”

Kyle hissed at Irumera, who failed to grasp the gravity of the situation, and Ghrud, who had developed a victim complex.

“Anyway, we’re running!”

Kyle started pushing his injured body down the hallway, with Irumera and Ghrud rushing after him. Giving Juvars’ corpse and the heart of the Divine Dragon attached to the altar one last glance, Kyle left the throne room behind him. As the palace collapsed, rubble and debris flew everywhere, the pillars broke down, and the floor broke apart…Overcoming many obstacles, the group somehow made it outside safely, which was more good luck than anything else.