Chapter 311

Thinking about it now, I really did seem to have a deep connection with black dragons.

The Minerva nestled inside me was a black-scaled creature, what people called a black dragon, and her influence let me transform into a black dragon's form myself.

The first dragon I'd laid eyes on in this world, Nidhogg, had also been a dark, blackish color when you got down to it, and the next dragon I'd seen had been the one Li Weiwei of the Ten Powerhouses turned into—another black dragon.

[If anything's bothering you, please don't hesitate to say so.]

…And now, last of all, even Landschi, the dragon carrying me and Han Su-yeong on his back, was a black dragon.

He wasn't on Minerva's level, but he was a dragon nonetheless, and the speed at which he cut across the sky was so far beyond anything else that there was no comparison.

"Mind if I ask something?"

[I'll tell you anything I know.]

"Do you actually know where Minerva is right now?"

He nodded slightly at my question.

[Everyone knows where she is. That's because Minerva has never once made a secret of where she stays.]

Landschi continued in that excessively polite voice of his.

[I imagine it's her confidence. And as far as I can recall, in the past century or so, not a single being has approached her with hostile intent.]

"Yeah, figures."

Even for someone who wanted to die, there were plenty of cleaner ways to go than at her hands.

I nodded once and muttered,

"And here we have the idiot who's about to try exactly that."

[……]

Landschi, wisely, said nothing.

It told me a lot about how he'd managed to stay at the side of the fickle, capricious Milited as its closest aide for so long.

[…Minerva left a warning behind before she vanished.]

After a while, he spoke up cautiously.

[She gave us a fortnight. Said to have the human who wounded her come to her of his own accord. If we didn't, she'd start with the master and tear down everything it'd built… that's what she said.]

I didn't respond.

Instead, I asked Minerva—the one inside me—what those words actually meant.

Given her personality, I'd have expected her to smash everything immediately, so the fact that she was waiting at all bothered me.

'Why's she giving us a full fortnight?'

[A simple matter. The wound on her wing pains her, no doubt, and she's tending to it.]

Minerva answered as if it were nothing.

[If she said she would wait, then she truly is waiting. Back then… well, even now, perhaps, the same applies—I've little patience for talking around things or plotting schemes. Most likely she's thinking that since this is the first human ever to wound her, she'll crush him in a single blow once she's in perfect condition.]

After saying that, she added something almost worried.

[Mm… I wonder how it will go. She's just had a human wound her for the first time, and then had to be saved by you on top of it—she'll be grinding her teeth in earnest. Of course, I'll give you everything I have to help, but please don't forget that my help has limits. About all I can do is glimpse the past and roughly guess at what she'll do.]

'Don't worry, Minerva. With you as the opponent, there's no chance I'd let my guard down.'

Going by my last experience, Dragon Blood ought to scrape by if I used it carefully. As for King of Thorns… I could use that as much as I wanted.

The difference was that this Minerva—the Minerva of three hundred years ago—would, beyond any doubt, come at me to kill, full strength. Not like the Minerva I'd first met, who'd held back somewhat without meaning to.

If I went in expecting that same restraint, I'd die. No question about it.

"…."

[…Yes. I believe in you. Whatever anyone else might say, you are the one I've acknowledged… m-my….]

Minerva trailed off, then cleared her throat with a flustered little cough.

It was right then that Han Su-yeong tapped me with her finger from beside me.

"What are you thinking about so hard?"

I couldn't leave her alone at Milited's estate, so the two of us were traveling together.

She must have been worried I'd leave her behind. When I'd told her to come with me, she'd broken into a wide smile and grabbed my hand on the spot.

I glanced down. She was still gripping it tightly. After a second, I answered honestly.

"Just thinking maybe it would've been better to leave you back at the estate."

"What?"

"You know how dangerous Minerva is."

"…."

She looked at me once at that, then went silent.

The hand holding mine slowly tightened, and I was reminded—yet again—just how strong she actually was.

[We're nearly there. A little farther and we'll be in Minerva's territory.]

Landschi quietly descended into a stretch of open field below. He crouched almost flat to the ground so we could get off his back easily.

"Here."

I climbed down first and held out my hand to Han Su-yeong.

She gave me a sullen look but took it anyway, climbing down as if reluctantly humoring me.

Once we were ready, Landschi—now back in human form, which struck me as unnecessary—dropped to one knee.

"Please, both of you, take care. I'll be standing by in this area, so if anything happens at all, call for me—Landschi."

"Got it."

He stayed bowed even at my flat reply.

"Then I'll take my leave. …Saint, and Saintess."

"Hey. Hold on."

I caught Landschi just as he'd said something bizarre in that placid voice, and he looked up at me as if he genuinely didn't understand.

"Yes, what is it?"

"What did you just call us. Saint and Saintess?"

"Yes."

"What the hell is that ridiculous title supposed to mean?"

He didn't even flinch at the sharpness in my voice.

"You are the ones who will fulfill the master's long-cherished wish, and the ones who saved the master's life. To us—Milited's Children—you are more than worthy of being called the Saint and the Saintess. So—"

The seriousness of it left me momentarily without words, and I waved a hand.

"…At least don't call us that to my face."

"As you wish."

With that, Landschi bowed politely to us one more time and shifted back into his dragon form. Nothing close to Minerva, sure, but enough to send an ordinary person reeling onto their backside.

[Then I'll withdraw.]

And with that, he flew off into the distance.

I was still blankly watching him go when Han Su-yeong, standing right next to me, tapped my hand again, just like before.

"So what now?"

"Be nice if we could talk her down, but we both know that's not happening. Guess we fight."

I said it as I started to loosen up, and Han Su-yeong, standing beside me, started muttering something.

"Take your shirt off for a second?"

She looked serious, so I stripped without arguing.

She pricked her fingertip with a needle and began smearing her blood onto my skin.

She chanted incantations without pause, her hands moving through complex seals.

A string of notification windows started popping up one after another, mechanical voice and all.

[You feel your body's tissues activating. Your Health increases slightly for a set time!]

[Fine scales of magic begin to grow on your skin. Your magic resistance increases for a set time!]

[A warrior's cry echoes from deep within your heart. Your Strength increases for a set time!]

[A hidden ferocity within you begins to flow through your veins… Your attack power increases for a set time!]

She layered buff after buff on me, muttering quietly the whole time.

"…You're just going to tell me to stay back because it's dangerous again, aren't you."

She had a familiar, resigned expression on her face.

"And honestly, I get it this time. If I'm next to you, I'll get in your way and you won't be able to fight properly. …I'm not going to be any help anyway. This is the only thing I can actually do."

Having finished the long chain of buff incantations, Han Su-yeong shook her bloodied fingertip out.

Then she looked at me and gave me a wide, brilliant grin.

"So don't worry, and do what you need to do."

"…."

I looked at her without saying anything.

After watching her for a long moment, I carefully held out a hand.

"If you've got any empty potion bottles, mind passing me one?"

She handed me an empty glass bottle, and without hesitation I drew a line across my palm. I let the blood drip into the bottle and said,

"You know Minerva's blood and breath are lethal venom, right?"

She nodded.

"I don't know if I ever told you, but my blood isn't all that different from hers. So… in other words, my blood carries the same venom hers does."

"Wait—what?!"

I gave her startled face a small smile, plugged the bottle once it was about half full, and handed it to her.

"And, uh, 'fighting poison with poison'—I don't know if that's the right expression for this. But anyway, my blood can also be used as the antidote."

"Wait, that means—"

"I won't tell you to run far this time. Just… get as far away as you think feels safe. No way to know how far Minerva's venom can spread, no matter the distance."

I gently rested my hand on her shoulder while she stared blankly down at the bottle.

"And honestly, your judgment's always been better than mine. So this time too, I trust you to make the call better than I would."

"Ah…."

That was the last thing I said before I turned to look at the ruin where everything had collapsed.

Minerva was at the far end.

"I'll be back."

That was it.

[…So you actually came. And here I thought you'd run.]

In one corner of the ruin.

What had once been a great hill, now scorched and crumbling, was where Minerva lay. She spoke quietly as she watched.

A single human was walking slowly toward her.

[That spirit, at least, I'll give you credit for.]

The human came to a stop some distance away, drew a long breath, and looked up at her.

She'd laid down enough venom in the air to drop an ordinary human ten times over, and yet here he was, perfectly fine. Minerva listened as he spoke.

"Just to be sure—there's no chance we end this with a conversation, is there?"

[Ha.]

A flat, hollow laugh escaped her in spite of herself.

She tilted her head deliberately so that the loathsome human could see one side of it clearly.

[Do you see?]

"…."

[Do you see my horn—the one you cut from me?]

The image of her at that earlier moment, lost in fury, might as well have been an illusion. Her voice now was calm, even.

[Over these past few days, while I tended to the wounds Venus dealt me… I had ample time to heal this horn as well. But as you can see, I chose not to. It set in this state, and I'll spend the rest of my life this way.]

Her tail slammed into the ground with a deep crash, kicking up clouds of dust.

[Why might that be. Go on—try answering.]

"…."

Yu Ji-hyeok, the very one who'd marred her horn—her pride, her everything—said nothing.

[Can't answer? Don't know? Then I'll be generous and tell you myself.]

Minerva.

The undisputed strongest of the Seven Calamities began slowly to rise.

Her eyes had long since shifted to the deep, sticky crimson of fresh blood.

[This is judgment.]

She murmured.

Every nerve in her body was already focused on the human in front of her.

[I've received it as judgment leveled against me.]

A thick, viscous venom-smoke began curling from her slowly opening jaws.

[So I must kill you and chew your flesh. That is the only way I can escape this judgment.]

At her growling threat, Yu Ji-hyeok let out a quiet breath without speaking.

[You, who dared to try and save my life—you, who dared to take my horn—you, who dared to make me think such a thing!!!]

With that, Minerva suddenly turned and unleashed her breath toward where Yu Ji-hyeok stood, roaring,

[On the name of Minerva—I will not let this stand!!!]

At the same instant, massive World Tree branches burst up from the ground around her.

They wrapped around her body and began to squeeze in an instant, but she didn't so much as twitch.

[The World Tree! Yes, I figured out long ago that your power was rooted in the World Tree!]

In the same breath, venom-smoke spewed from between her scales. The branches that touched it began to corrode and rot away in seconds.

Brewing a new poison from those already inside her body was no challenge for her, and producing Nidhogg's venom—lethal to the World Tree—was simple enough.

• Skreeeeeeee!

[Hm?]

In the corner of her vision, a bird formed entirely of thorns was darting around with a sharp, slicing intent, scattering something through the air. Minerva felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

[Don't tell me that's…? Hm!?]

In that moment, her balance lurched and she stumbled.

She turned her head to look. One of her legs had sunk into a shadow on the ground.

[Trying some cheap parlor trick—!]

She immediately tried to pull her leg free, but apart from a small jolt, it refused to budge at all. She flinched.

'I—I'm being outmatched in raw strength!?'

In her flustered state, she spread both wings to take flight. That was when—

A horrific pain like an axe cleaving down her spine ripped through her, and she let out a roar without meaning to.

[GRAAAAAAH!!!]

A spear formed of thorns was buried in the joint of her wing—the same one Venus had wounded.

Yu Ji-hyeok.

This was that man's doing. No question.

[You bastard…!]

She ground her teeth and whipped her head around, searching the venom-smoke—into which, with cruel timing, the man had vanished.

[Show yourself! You coward, if you don't come out right now—!?]

Mid-shout, Minerva noticed her own body tipping, being pulled.

What.

What is this.

She wrenched her head around in a panic, and that was when she saw it.

[Mmf, hnnghh…!!!]

The man had her tail clamped tight in both hands.

She was so completely caught off-guard that it didn't even occur to her to rake her claws across his unguarded back, or to flick her tail and fling him off.

Because what was happening right now—a mere human gripping her tail and hurling her bodily to the ground—was something she had never, even in dreams, imagined was possible.

[HRRRAAAAAAAH!!!]

A voice like iron grating on iron rang out.

And immediately after, her enormous body sailed up into the sky.