21-2 Part 1
Another Heroic Legend
- The Dragon Who Regained Paradise -
Translator : PolterGlast
I ran. I just ran
recklessly. Putting the strongest mighty warrior named Sigrun on a cart,
I ran through the dark underground tunnel. Kicking the earth with all my might,
even if the cart rampaged and flew through the air, even if my breathing became
ragged despite having obtained inexhaustible stamina, I could not stop.
It's not my place to
say this, but Zirant always does reckless things. She tries to protect
this world no matter what means she has to use. Because to Zirant, this
world is a treasure entrusted to her by her beloved father and mother. If I am
the alter ego of the First Emperor, then I have a duty to protect Zirant.
「Wahaha,
don't be in such a hurry, Shinza! That woman isn't as fragile as you
think!」 「I know that! But that White Knight, and
the army... that crawled out of the Abyss... she's intercepting them all
by herself, you know!?」
Despite my ragged
breathing, filled with intense impatience, I raised my voice mixed with anger
at Sigrun.
「What!?
That is――that is, hmm... Thinking about it calmly, that is――Ooh, isn't that the
most passionately thrilling situation!?」
「Wh-why,
why does it turn out like that... You too, try being on the side that worries
about Zirant!」
「Wahahahaha,
this is amusing! Shinza, I don't want to hear that from you of all
people!? But it's hot, this battle is so hot! A battle with the fate of the
world on the line where you can't step back a single inch! Grunts that never
end no matter how many you cut down! And strong foes appearing one after
another! I am jealous of Zira-chan!」
「Then
swap places with her...」
I dropped my gaze in
sheer amazement. However, feeling something out of place, I returned my gaze to
see a white light floating in the distance of the tunnel. That light spread
rapidly, completely covering our field of vision in white. Even so, without
stopping my feet, I dove into the underground empire A-Zir, the
subterranean country that possesses a sun.
「Uwooooooohhh,
whaaaat iisss thiiiss plaaaceee!?」
「Another
Imperial Capital. Phew... the greenery has increased quite a bit in the few
days I was away...」
Dropping my pace
just a little, I took a deep breath of the air of the paradise Zirant
loved. It smells of water, vegetation, and the sun. Right now, most of the men
are out, but I could spot working women here and there, tending to previously
buried waterways and creating fields, albeit still small.
「Hey Shinza,
stop! If we keep going like this, we'll enter a cellar again!? Let's swim in
that waterway for a bit!」
「No, we're
going to Elkia today!」
The earth of A-Zir,
which had been as hard as bedrock until a little while ago, now felt as soft as
a cushion.
「That's
just wrong, Shinza!?」
「I'll
play with you as much as you want when we get back! So just stick with me for
now! Your power is necessary to save Zirant!」
「Ooh,
that's right! A battle that makes the blood boil and the flesh dance was
waiting! Don't forget that promise, Shinza♪」
「Just
imagining it makes me feel fed up, but I don't care! Right now, saving Zirant
is the top priority!」
By the time that
conversation ended, we had jumped into the northern underground tunnel. From a
radiant paradise, we reverted back to an endless dark tunnel no matter how far
we went.
「Come
to think of it, Shinza, where is our destination...?」
「Isn't
that a question you should have asked at the very beginning?」
「Wahaha,
I suppose so! But seeing as how you, in such an absolute rush, picked me up
like a kidnapping, shoved me onto a cart, and took me away without letting me
get a word in, it's a given that the destination ahead will be the greatest
stage!」
「Our
destination is Elkia. The fateful land located far to the north of here,
further north than Ratatosk. According to what Zirant says, the
door to the heavens is hidden there.」
「In
other words, Zira-chan is fighting to protect the heavens from the
monsters of the Abyss!? Good, good, isn't that the greatest battlefield!
Wahahaha, this is excellent, I can't stop laughing! Now go, my noble steed Shinza!」
It's unbearably
noisy, but Sigrun's fighting spirit is already maxed out. North, further
north I ran. Until just a moment ago my head was full of Zirant's
safety, but now I was starting to feel a creeping regret about making the
promise to play in the water with Sigrun... Surely, she'll wear clothes,
right...?
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
「Hey, Shinza,
what is that...?」
Relying on my
intuition that this area might be the Elkia Kingdom, I went up to the
surface to find the evening sky and a white desert beyond the butt of Sigrun,
who was standing still. Pushing that obstructive rear aside, I too emerged onto
the surface, where a barren desert without a single blade of grass spread out
before us. At the same time, a certain phrase that Zirant had used
previously crossed my mind. That phrase was The White Wasteland of Death.
「It
seems this is Elkia... Ah, wait, don't go near that, you'll die.」
「Yeah,
I know that without being told. Among the many races, the horned races are
exceptionally weak against that sort of thing! It reeks strongly of the gods'
poison...」
I had consulted with
Puis to see if there was any landmark to reach the Elkia
territory. Then that gyaru-type horned race, Plea, joined the
conversation and taught me that in Elkia, there is a land that was once
scorched by the lightning of the gods. An entire army using this place as a
battlefield, along with the First Emperor's best friend, was burned away in an
instant, giving birth to a white desert where no one could survive... She said
that if we cross the eastern mountains with this white desert at our backs, the
old Elkia Kingdom lies beyond.
「Apparently,
this was a battlefield. This must be what Zirant mentioned—the power in
the heavenly realm that can destroy the world. It scorched the earth, creating
a world of death where the poison hasn't purified even after a thousand years.」
「Wahaha...
waha... that's not funny. If things like this were continuously dropped left
and right, it wouldn't be a laughing matter, Shinza!?」
「The
first ones to draw the short straw would be the horned races. The day you can
no longer walk freely on the surface might be near.」
「That's
a problem! Let's go, Shinza! Let's save Zira-chan and throw
ourselves into a battle with not a single step back to protect the world! I
have decided to live in that underground empire!」
「There
should be a branch path underground leading to the other side. Let's go under
the mountain instead of over it.」
We can't hand this
kind of power over to the people of the Abyss. What Zirant had
been afraid of, we were shown by the white desert right before our eyes.
「Hurry Shinza!
We'll revert back to the era where the horned races had no choice but to
seclude themselves at the edge of the world at this rate!」
We returned
underground and aimed for the old Elkia royal capital while digging open
a collapsing branch path. Once we got this far, the distance itself wasn't that
much. Soon, the tunnel traced an upward slope and showed us the Elkia
townscape and old castle, as well as a white pillar ascending into the heavens.
「What
the, we couldn't see something like that until just now!?」
「Tch...
then we should assume it was just born a moment ago! Hurry up, Sigrun,
prepare yourself!」
Zirant had
said there was a door to the heavenly realm in the old castle located in the Elkia
territory. Then isn't that beautiful pillar of light soaring into the heavens
the path to heaven itself? In other words, it means that Zirant couldn't
fully protect the heavenly door.
「You
have my thanks, Shinza. This is truly the final decisive battle, the
greatest grand stage for a warrior! Alright, we'll save Zira-chan while
we're at it!」
「Don't
say 'while we're at it', that is the main objective.」
Upon entering the
city streets from the outskirts, there was no one around, let alone monsters of
the Abyss. However, there were signs of people inside the buildings. As
we got closer to the castle, the corpses of soldiers lay scattered in the
streets, and black stains, which seemed to be the remains of the people of the Abyss,
soiled the roads. The Empire's civil war was instigated in order for the people
of the Abyss to reach this land. The white pillar floating over the old
castle and the corpses of the elderly reserve soldiers were proof of that.
Passing through the blown-away castle gates, we aimed for the underground of
the old castle. That was because the pillar of light was piercing through the
floor from the underground and rising into the sky.
「Zirant!」
Zirant was
there. In the deep underground of the castle illuminated by the pillar of
light, a giant blue dragon was lying down. When I touched her scales, they were
cold...
「Zirant!
Wake up, Zirant, don't die in a place like this!」
I rushed over to her
face and touched her cheek. It was still cold. Don't tell me, she's dead...
Didn't you finally regain your homeland? What are you going to do if you don't
watch over the prosperity of that land... I fell to my knees in front of Zirant
and regretted letting her go alone. I should have prioritized this even if it
meant abandoning the civil war.
「Ku,
kuku... a man shouldn't cry...」
「Zirant!?」
「How
confusing, Zira-chan. I really thought you had died...」
The eyes of the
giant dragon looked at me. There was no fear. Rather, I felt relieved looking
into that dragon's eyes.
「Sorry...
I just used up a little bit of my power and was taking a rest... What happened
to Bergelmir...?」
「The
civil war is over. I told them to send reinforcements, but we couldn't wait, so
we came ahead by ourselves.」
「It was
a bit boring but amusing. Shinza came back yesterday and ended the civil
war just this morning. And then he sprinted all the way here out of breath,
just wanting to protect Zira-chan!」
「Hey,
don't touch upon that part...」
「Ku,
kukuku... Father is, as expected, Wagahai's father...」
As Zirant
slowly closed her eyes as if falling asleep, I unintentionally hugged her
overly huge face.
「I'll
rest for a bit... The people of the Abyss... are beyond that pillar...
Those guys, they overlooked Wagahai...」
The giant dragon became small particles and returned into my chest. Did the Demon Nobles of the Abyss spare Zirant and let her go without finishing her off...?
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