Chapter 7 Part 7
Translator : PolterGlast
Spinning
vision and floating feeling as if floating on water.
Looking
at the countless white lines running in front of him again, Nozomu prepared
himself for the impact that was sure to follow.
However,
what followed was somewhat different from what Nozomu had expected.
The
countless white lines, which had been flowing in one direction, changed
direction and began to fly around in his field of vision at random.
"Eh?
Something's wrong. The atmosphere seems different from before..."
At
the same time, Nozomu's vision began to flicker erratically as if inside a
sandstorm, and he began to hear a ringing sound in his ears.
The
next moment, a sudden shock hit Nozomu's entire body.
"W-what
happened!?"
The
speed of the fall increases rapidly, pulling Nozomu's body downward
The
irregular flicker intervals became shorter and the ringing in his ears
gradually became stronger.
"Uwaa!"
A
scream came out from Nozomu's mouth due to the sudden change in speed.
The
wind that was hitting against his entire body was even beginning to cause pain
in his body.
Nozomu
gritted his teeth desperately and continued to endure the pain, but he was even
more transfixed by the numerous sights that passed by like shooting stars.
Scenes
that looked like they had been cut out of a picture frame crossed Nozomu's
path.
The
growing figure of Tiamat. The young dragon gradually grew beautiful scales and
wings along with her friends.
Tiamat
and Mikael cuddled under a night sky full of stars, and numerous species
gathered at the feet of the two dragons. And the steadily growing cityscape.
Even
without knowing the details, it was easy to sense that the two dragons were
doing well.
However,
that thought was completely negated the next moment.
A
shock ran on Nozomu's body which had been falling.
"Guu!"
He
checked his body with a distorted expression due to the intense pain running
through his body, but his limbs were still able to move properly.
He
could feel the ground in front of his body. It seemed that he fell on his
stomach.
"What
the hell happened……"
While
enduring the pain in every knot in his body, Nozomu sat up and was astonished.
A
devastated land spread out before Nozomu's eyes.
There
was no trace of a single grass or even an insect that could be seen on the
smoky earth, and in several places, red-hot glass-like crystals stood out like
icicles.
Here
and there, ruins made of stones were strewn about, and the carcasses of charred
creatures emitted a foul smell that stung the nose.
Thick
clouds swirled in the sky, and a thunder-like screeching tore through the
atmosphere.
And
above all, what caught Nozomu's eye was the sight of a lone black dragon
standing in the ruins.
No,
it was hardly a black dragon anymore.
Scales
were peeling off here and there all over its body, and the blood that had
flowed out was running like a red river on the earth.
And
at the feet of the dragon lie four torn dragons.
A
yellow dragon with countless holes in its body, a green dragon with its neck
twisted in a strange direction, a red dragon that exploded from the inside, and
a blue dragon whose entire body was burned to a crisp.
Particles
of light were dancing from their corpses and flowing into Tiamat, who stood
stunned.
And
on the back of the black dragon standing in the wilderness of death, six
distorted wings had already sprouted.
"Ugh~..."
Nozomu
desperately suppressed the nausea that welled up in him due to the sight of the
gruesome scene.
The
dragons lying at Tiamat's feet were undoubtedly Tiamat's friends.
"If
this is Tiamat's memory, what the hell happened ..."
Aside
from Nozomu's agitation, Tiamat screamed in anguish.
(Gugugu,
ga~aa……)
An
unclear voice leaked out of the black dragon's mouth.
While
gritting its teeth, Tiamat looked up to the sky with its eyes wide open.
Its
sword-mountain-like rows of teeth were bared, and its clouded-white eyeballs
glared up at the sky.
(W-why
...)
Mixed
in with the rain, a single blood-red drop flowed down from Tiamat's eyes.
The
sound of the rain drowned out the empty voice that leaked out, and it faded away
without reaching anyone.
The
scene was filled with sadness and emptiness. But the next moment, Tiamat's face
was once again distorted with pain.
(Gugigigigi
!!)
Tiamat's
entire body stiffened while exuding the five-colored light.
The
swirling particles of light began to pulsate and rampaged erratically.
At
the same time, new blood gushed from the wound, and the dragon's entire body
was once again stained black.
Tiamat
was thrashing around in extreme pain. Every time the dragon's huge body flailed
about, the crystals growing on the ground shattered.
(Tet
……)
Amidst
the scattered crystals, Mikael flew in front of Tiamat.
His
body, covered in pure white dragon scales, shone brilliantly in the scattered
crystals.
(Mika-el
...?)
Tiamat
muttered Mikael's name as she clung to him.
The
color of relief and reason returned to her eyes as she confirmed the sight of
her beloved partner.
But
then Mikael's indignant gaze pierced her.
(What,
what have you done! Do you have any idea what you just did !?)
(No,
you're wrong … I wanted to see you again. But, Regnant and the others didn't
listen to me. They didn't let me through. I… I was…)
(Then
what are those wings! Why
are those wings growing on you!)
Mikael's
sharp gaze was directed at the new four-colored wings growing on Tiamat's back.
The
corpses of his friends scattered at his feet spoke eloquently of what had
happened here.
But
Nozom noticed that the conversation between Tiamat and Mikael was not quite on
the same page.
Mikael
was trembling with anger, and Tiamat wass trying desperately to convey
something.
(Mikael,
please listen. Listen to my story. Please ...)
(Listen
to your story!? You want me to listen to the one who killed Oru and the others
like nothing happened!?)
Mikael
was furious and Tiamat desperately tried to convey her words. However, Mikael,
who was trembling with anger, couldn't hear her voice.
The
conversation between them did not mesh with each other and kept slipping out of
sync.
At
that moment, Tiamat's eyes widened. Upon closer inspection, she could see a
white feather ornament on Mikael's ear.
The
earrings were covered with gold in several places, just like the skin of a
white dragon, a mystical earring.
Tiamat's
eyes, which should have been filled with relief, turned to the color of
despair.
(Mikael,
as I thought, that was a lie ... You said we'd be together forever...)
(Lie
!? How can you say such a thing after killing Oru and the others, and after
destroying our precious place!? Aren't you the one who broke your promise
first!?)
The
deadly words pierced deep into Tiamat's chest and drilled a fatal hole in her
psyche.
(A,
aaaaa!)
(Kuh~
!?)
With
a scream, five colors of power were explosively released from Tiamat's body.
Mikael
was blown away by the different colored power striking him but managed to
regain his posture by spreading his wings.
Tiamat,
on the other hand, who had just released an intense force, changed her posture.
She dropped to her knees and fell silent as if dead.
At
that moment, a dignified voice echoed around the area.
(That's
enough, Tiamat.)
Mikael
responded to the voice and looked around to see more than a dozen dragons
surrounding him.
All
six species of dragons, with scales that were thicker and older than Mikael's,
were swarming around the place.
Among
them, six old dragons, which seemed to be the oldest, stepped forward. They
were probably the heads of their clans.
All
of them were uniformly stunned and glaring at Tiamat.
(Everyone,
everyone. Deceiving me, lying to me...)
(I'm
surprised. I didn't think she still had an ego left in such a state...)
The
old white dragon's eyes widen at the sight of Tiamat.
As
a spirit species, dragons are inherently dyed in the color of the attribute
they oversee, so they are unable to inherit power from dragon species other
than their own kind.
If
they were to take other elements in, the elements of the different sources
interfere with each other in their own body, and as a result, it is normal for
the body, including the soul, to disintegrate.
Of
course, if they were in such pain, there was no way they could retain any sense
of self.
However,
the black dragon in front of them barely maintains consciousness while taking
in four different kinds of power.
(But
it won't be long anyway. Wouldn't it be better to kill her now?)
(Why
should I! Why should I show such mercy to the one who kills my son! Let her
body rot in agony, and let her whole soul perish!)
(But
if we leave it as it is, the power this little girl has taken in will be
released to the surroundings. If that happens, the damage won't be comparable
to what it is now.)
One
of the yellow dragons suggested killing her on the spot, but an enraged red
dragon interrupted.
The
blue dragon complained so that he could enjoy the red dragon who was about to
lose himself in anger.
While
the discussion about Tiamat's punishment was going on all over the place,
Tiamat rolled over and spewed vindictive words in a lisping tone.
(How
dare you, how dare ...)
In
the midst of all this, an old white dragon stepped forward.
Among
the dragons that surrounded Tiamat, this old dragon had an overwhelming
appearance.
The
years he had accumulated couldn't be compared to any others, let alone Tiamat
or Mikael.
Perhaps
being struck by the presence of the old dragon, the other dragons, who had just
been engaged in a heated discussion, all shut their mouths in unison.
(Mikael,
step aside.)
(Father……)
(...We
can't let this girl live now that this has happened. I will use my secret arts
to crush this girl's soul and return her body and soul to the world. She may be the dragon that killed your
friends, but you wouldn't be able to kill her. Now stay back.)
The
old dragon, whom Mikael called his father, took one look at Tiamat as he let
his young son back down.
(Gugugu
…… Gi, gigi ……)
(I
didn't see this coming ... I feel sorry for you, and I can't help but
sympathize with you, but ...... forgive me."
For
a moment, the color of emotion dwelled inside the old dragon's eyes. But Nozomu
could not guess the emotion in his eyes.
Was
it anger, pity, or grief? Was there something more? The old dragon had too many
emotions in its eyes.
The
old dragon looked up to the sky and opened its mouth.
A
tsunami of white elements erupted from the old dragon's body.
The
enormous amount of erupted elements converged in a whirlpool and set the aim of
the attack on the poor black dragon.
At
that moment, Tiamat, who had been facing down, suddenly raised her head.
Her
gaze, stained with hatred, turned to the dragons dancing in the sky above.
Her
eyes were stained red like blood. Five-colored mud wriggled in the pupils at
the center of her eyes.
(Storm
of Destruction ...)
(What
!?)
"This
is……!"
As
if in response to Tiamat's hatred, five colors of light converge on the
dragon's body.
Just
as the elements gather, Tiamat's feet were scraped off and the atmosphere began
to scream.
The
next moment, an explosive and violent storm of destruction was released.
(Muu!)
(Aaaaaa!)
The
old dragon unleashed his full strength in the face of the storm of destruction
coming at him.
The
moment the two collided, an explosion of six-colored light engulfed all of
Nozomu's vision.
Nozomu
involuntarily held out his hand, but even the light leaking through the gap
between his fingers burned his retinas violently.
"Don't
look!"
In
the extreme light that consumed everything, Nozomu heard Tiamat's cries in his
ears.
The
next moment, the sensation of being burned all over the body was suddenly lost.
"~!
This place is ..."
He
opened his eyes, frowning at the pain running through his body.
There
were still flickering sparks in his vision, but Nozomu understood where he was
standing.
Hardened
vegetation and dark gray earth.
Nozomu
had returned to that glassy meadow three times.
However,
unlike before, a shimmering, blazing flame was now standing on the ground in
front of him. Perhaps this was the place he had been aiming for.
And
a huge mountain-like body spread its six wings and looked down at Nozomu with a
stunned expression.
"You
... how did you get in here!"
"Who
knows. I found myself here when I realized it, so I don't know how."
Tiamat's
shouted due to the appearance of Nozomu at this place.
Nozomu
himself was inwardly surprised, but he remained calm, holding back the surprise
that swirled in his heart.
Both
of them remained silent. Only the sound of crackling fire sparks dominated the
meadow.
It
was the intruder, Nozomu, who opened his mouth first.
"Are
those ... your past?..."
While
gulping down his spit and exhaling heavily, Nozomu slowly asked Tiamat.
The
hostility from Tiamat grew even stronger.
"Disgusting
... Humans, dragons, everything!"
"...
Humans? Were humans involved in that scene?"
Tiamat
raised her eyebrows at Nozomu's words, and then she snorted roughly.
"Did
you see only a part of my memory? You are as thievish as ever..."
"You
are……"
The
light of disgust in Tiamat's eyes. Nozomu felt a sense of recognition at the
color.
But
before Nozomu could speak, Tiamat raised her giant tree-like paw.
Nozomu
moved his feet and leaped backward as fast as he could.
The
giant dragon's paw struck the burning glassy grasslands, and a shockwave
traveling across the ground knocked Nozomu, the grass, and trees down.
"Kuh
... Wait! Why are you going to take revenge ...!"
While
being pushed by the shockwave, Nozomu managed to a defensive posture and regain
his posture.
However,
Tiamat quickly spread her wings and generated countless light bullets in the
air. She shot the light bullets all at once towards the enemy in front of her.
"Damn
it! At least listen to me!"
Tiamat,
who would not listen to him, also ignored Nozomu's complaint and tore the
chains that bound her.
In
an instant, Nozomu focused his power that filled his entire body into his legs
and leaped forward. With light bullets landing one after another behind him, he
closed the gap with Tiamat at once.
He
reached for the mouth of the sheath he carried and drew his katana. At the same
time, the Qi-blade that was enveloping the katana bared its fangs towards
Tiamat.
"It's
useless!"
However,
it still could not cut through Tiamat's tough scales. Nozomu's [Phantom] was
bounced off the surface of the scales, and the scattered particles of Qi flew
through the air.
Tiamat,
as if to counterattack, swung her tree-like tail towards Nozomu.
But
Nozomu had already prepared for that. He had been beaten up so many times in
his dreams. He understood long ago that his long-range attacks would not work
at all.
"Fuh~!"
Nozomu
closed the distance with Tiamat at once while leaping and dodging the
approaching Tiamat's tail.
His
aim was Tiamat's long neck.
The
dragon just turned around to swing its tail. Taking this opportunity, Nozomu
closed the gap at once and slashed directly with his katana.
However,
just as Nozomu was about to swing his katana, a powerful impact hit him from
the side.
"Gah!"
The
shock was so great that air leaked from Nozomu's lungs, followed by his body
being slammed on the ground.
What
the heck.........
Before
Nozomu could even come up with an answer to his question, a powerful chill
assaulted him.
"~
!?"
The
hairs on his body stood at once, and Nozomu threw himself to the side without
thinking twice. Squeezing his arms and Qi as hard as he could, he tried to get
as far away from the place as possible.
Then
a further shock hit him.
"~~!"
The
ground was crushed along with the impact, and Nozomu's body was thrown into the
air.
In
his hazy vision, Nozomu's eyes were caught Tiamat's tail, which had been driven
deeply into the ground.
"Did
you think I couldn't read that level of thinking!"
The
initial strike by Tiamat's tail was simply a decoy. It swung out like a cleave,
restricting Nozomu's action, and intercepted the defenseless Nozomu in mid-air
with a return blow. She then attempted to finish him off with a downward
strike.
Tiamat
inwardly clicked her tongue as Nozomu dodged the finishing blow,
but
due to his reckless evasion, Nozomu couldn't stand up yet, leaving him with so
many gaps.
"Destroy
him! Along with that abominable chain!"
A
huge mass of flame appeared in Tiamat's mouth.
Nozomu
finally managed to stand up, although his whole body was numb from the blow he
just received.
However,
it was already too late to evade.
Tiamat
shot the flame of chaos.
"Kuu!
Ooooo!"
While
shouting his fighting spirit, he swung his katana downwards.
A
huge blade of Qi dived into Tiamat's mass of flames. The Qi blade was
one-sidedly canceled out.
But
even so, Nozomu did not look away from the mass of flame that loomed in front
of him.
A
ripple spread in front of his eyes.
And
just as it seemed that the mass of scorching heat was about to engulf his body,
his vision went dark and his body vanished from that place.
======================================
When his darkened
vision regained its color, Nozomu's eyes were met with a pure white ceiling.
"Where am
I?"
Nozomu sat up, his
thoughts were still hazy.
The only things he
could see around him were the same inorganic white walls, which were the same
as the ceiling, and a vase of flowers on a table beside him. In addition, there
was not even a window on the wall.
"That was ...
Ouch ..."
The sadness, hatred,
despair, and rage of Tiamat that he just saw. That was definitely the dragon's
past.
Remembering Tiamat's
past, Nozomu felt a tingle deep in his chest.
However, he could not
find an answer even if he thought about it now.
For the time being,
Nozomu shook his head and tried to get off the bed. At that moment, Nozomu
noticed a strange sensation.
"Hmm?"
There was nothing
around that would allow water to get in, but he felt the bed cover under his
hands was a bit damp.
"Wet. And
also..."
When he gently touched
his lips, a somewhat relaxing aroma tickled his nose. It strangely tightened
Nozomu's heart.
"More
importantly, I need to get out of here ... Ouch~! My body is aching."
Putting the water
marks on the bed cover and the lingering scent on his lips that clung to his
heart out of the corner of his mind for the moment, Nozomu tried to get up from
the bed.
However, after being
bedridden for days, his body became completely stiff and he let out a painful
scream.
Nozomu slowly crawled
out of bed, teary-eyed from the pain that had suddenly shot throughout his
body.
"But still, where
am I? It's not Norn-sensei's house, and it doesn't look like the school
infirmary..."
As Nozomu tilted his
head, the door to the hospital room was opened with a rattling noise.
Entering the room was
a female doctor with a medical record in her hand.
She entered the
hospital room with an angry look on her face, and her eyes widened when she saw
Nozomu getting up.
""A~""
Their gazes crossed
and their voices overlapped.
They looked at each
other with stunned faces for a while, but Nozomu greeted her first.
"H-hello, good
morning?"
As Nozomu tilted his
head, the female doctor approached him and pushed him back onto the bed.
"Gue!"
Unintentionally, extra
strength was put into his arms, and Nozomu let out a cry of anguish.
"U-umm. What the
hell ..."
"Just keep quiet!
First, I'll contact Jihad-sensei ....... No, should I do a full examination
first?"
While the female
doctor was bewildered by the sudden awakening of her comatose patient, Nozomu
was confused, not understanding what was going on.
"……E, eh?"
"Hey! Someone,
please come here!"
Nozomu tried to get a
word out of the female doctor who was calling for someone with a raised voice,
but he was ignored and left alone.
Nozomu, still stunned,
heard footsteps approaching. He turned his attention to the hospital room door
to see what was going on and saw a military police officer in full armor jump
in through the door of the room.
"Watch this kid
for a while so he doesn't wander off! I'll contact Jihad-sensei before
preparing for the examination!"
In a coarse tone of
voice, the female doctor told the military police officer to watch over Nozomu,
and then she rushed out of the room in a panic.
Watching the door slam
loudly shut, Nozomu could do nothing but stare in amazement at the scene before
him.
"W-what's going
on?"
"You still don't
understand your situation, do you?"
"Y-yes, I just
woke up ..."
The military police
officer approached the stunned-looking Nozomu and briefly told him the
situation.
"Ah, right.
Actually, you've been bedridden for nearly two weeks."
"Two weeks
!?"
"Yeah, you've
been in a coma for a while. As for how this happened, I don't know.
......"
From what he heard,
this military police officer seemed to know very little about Nozomu's
situation.
What happened to Lisa
and Ken? Are Iris and the others alright? What happened to that demon beast?
Various worries were
going through Nozomu's mind.
He was tempted to ask
the military police officer for his opinion, but he was afraid to speak out
because of the sensitive nature of the matter.
As Nozomu pondered for
a while with his hand on his chin, he heard rough footsteps coming from the
corridor again.
"Hmm? Are they
back already?"
The sound of footsteps
that were even noisier than those of the military police earlier, echoed up to
Nozomu's hospital room.
Nozomu wondered if the
doctor had returned, but his eyes widened at the sight before him.
"Nozomu!"
"I-... Iris !?
And also... Tima-san?"
Standing at the
entrance of the hospital room were a classmate with glossy black hair and her
best friend. For some reason, the girl's eyes, bright red and clear, were aimed
straight at Nozomu.
"Umm, good
morning? I don't know if it's morning or not, but ...... bube!"
Nozomu, who thought
Iris was going to get angry and throw things at him again, involuntarily braced
himself after he saw her appearance.
The next moment,
however, a curtain of black hair suddenly spread out before his eyes.
A fierce impact then
hit Nozomu's body, and at the same time, he was enveloped by the soft feeling.
"Dowaa~! I-,
Iris. What, what is it!? What are you doing!?"
Nozomu was in a state
of confusion when he hurriedly caught Irisdina, who jumped on him.
Irisdina hugged Nozomu
with all her strength, regardless of his agitation.
Nozomu was squeezed,
suffocated, and struck by the soft sensation. He did not know whether to be
happy or not.
"Uu... Hic~
..."
"... Iris, are
you crying?"
However, Nozomu's
agitation was drowned out by Irisdina's sobs.
Nozomu's hand
naturally patted her head.
She looked like a
frightened little girl, so different from her usual dignified appearance that
even Nozomu was at a loss for words.
At that moment, the door
of the hospital room was slammed open roughly for the third time.
"Haa, haa,
Nozomu-kun !?"
The next person who
rushed into the hospital room was Shīna.
She was breathing
roughly and her cheeks were burning bright red as if she had come in a hurry.
"Ah, Shīna. Good
morning ... Gue!"
Then a second impact
hit Nozomu.
Nozomu screamed again
at Shīna, who jumped on him as soon as she entered the room.
"Wha, both of
you! We're going to fall!"
Using his weakened
abdominal muscles, Nozomu managed to catch them both. However, he was about to
fall backwards because the weight on him had increased all at once.
With just one more
push, this precarious balance would be broken at once. As if foreseeing
Nozomu's anxiety, a voice as cute as a kitten echoed in the hospital room.
"Nozomu-san!"
The third person who
rushed to the hospital room was a young angel. Her jet-black eyes, much like
her older sister's, were moist and staring straight at Nozomu.
The girl sniffed with
emotion and ran toward Nozomu at once.
"Somia-chan, wait
a minute!"
Nozomu hurriedly urged
Somia, who was running toward him at full speed, to stop, but Somia did not
seem to hear him at all.
"Nozomu-sa~n!"
A leap, then a crash.
Nozomu's body, which
had managed to maintain its balance, suddenly tilted, and in the face of
desperate resistance, four bodies tumbled off the bed.
"Uwaa!"
"Kyaa!"
Nozomu fell on his
back with a thud, but with the added weight of three more people and the impact
of his lungs being punched out, he was unable to breathe.
The bed cover that
Nozomu was using also flipped over, covering the four of them.
"Kyaa! It's pitch
black!"
"N~n~! Wha, where
are you touching !?"
"Nozomu, Nozomu
...!"
"E-, everyone.
Calm down ... please. I can't... breathe ......."
Three girls flailing
in the dark while Nozomu writhing in agony. The gloomy atmosphere that had been
confined in this hospital room since recently seemed to be a lie.
Somehow, the
atmosphere was somewhat sweet and sour now.
"It's nice to be
young..."
The military police
officer looked somewhat envious as the four of them made a lot of noises.
