204. Sadarkelisa, The End of Dragons (2)
-Whirr.
What was that sound? Fernandez frowned in the dark. Whirr, whirr. The sound of chains dragging or metal clashing echoed from all directions.
-Flicker.
Soon, a torch lit itself in the distance. Only then did the surroundings faintly brighten. Gold, everything was filled with gold.
Coins from some era, relics from another, jewels and burial items from yet another world… All sorts of treasures without unity were lined up everywhere.
-Clang.
A helmet rolled down from the pile of treasures surrounding him, making a clear sound. The helmet, beautifully crafted with gold, silver, and jewels, seemed more ceremonial than for battle.
Fernandez bent down and picked up the helmet. It was an art piece intricately engraved with dragons and demons.
-Squelch.
From the empty visor of the helmet, a stream of blood trickled down, staining his hand. When Fernandez threw the helmet and picked up another treasure, the same thing happened.
Every art piece in this place was bleeding on its own. The massive hill of treasures, illuminated by the torch, was gushing out as much blood as its existence. Blood and gold flowed everywhere.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? That is your sin.”
And from above. At the peak of the treasure hill, a voice came from a massive throne woven with gold and silver. Fernandez clenched his blood-stained hand and looked up at her.
“Confused, aren’t you? You’ve been to the Realm of the Imagination of dragons before. Who was it? Abelesas? That foolish woman’s world?”
-Creak.
Sadarkelisa, a woman resembling a serpent, smiled bitterly as she swept her hand over the relics at her feet. Her white hand was stained red with blood.
“How was that woman’s world? Were there rows of preserved human souls? Tell me, what was in that fool’s head?”
“There were tombs.”
“Ha. Tombs. Typical of Abelesas. Did she dress them in shrouds and mourn? Sitting by the graves of the bugs she called her ‘children,’ nurturing them? Forever? Foolish.”
-Boom!
As the serpent stepped forward, some of the piled relics exploded with a loud noise. Among them, a massive eye was revealed, gleaming.
A huge, burning red eye stared straight at Fernandez, hissing. Between the blazing pupils, a terrible madness, sticky and deadly, overflowed.
[We are dragons! Atailatl, Lindwurm, Dragon, yes. Call us whatever! We are the dominant species, and dominators rule, never becoming minions of slaves! That fool Abelesas chose to be the lowest slave herself! Enchanted by treasures like humans? Yes, that can happen! But dragons are never subjugated by treasures!]
-Boom! Crash!
It was nothing short of a rampage. The dragon thrashed, crushing and scattering the treasures piled around. The dragon’s massive body, hidden beneath the jewels, was fully revealed, and blood and gold cascaded like a waterfall.
Fernandez stood silently, not even thinking of blocking, watching her rage. After a while, Sadarkelisa, who had been stomping and fuming, paused and looked down at him.
[Have you come to kill Sadarkelisa? To seize your petty glory over Sadarkelisa? Look, look at your hand!]
At those words, Fernandez glanced at his hand. It was a rough hand, drenched in blood.
[Look at your sin. Face your madness! Look at the slaughter you’ve piled up to survive! Did you call it judgment? Did you call for repentance? Did you? Who dares judge whom! That heaven? Even the great gods of the Temple of the Gods, are they without sin? Who, with what right! How dare!]
-Roar!
Sadarkelisa’s frenzy grew. As anger materialized, she glared with blazing red eyes, crimson flames dripping from her mouth, and screamed.
[Life inevitably consumes the death of others! You who have killed as long as you’ve lived. Before discussing Sadarkelisa’s sins, face your own hypocrisy!]
-Roar!
Sadarkelisa spewed flames toward the ceiling. The massive pillar of fire from her mouth shattered the ceiling, scattering into the distant sky, beyond the starry night.
A massive void, with a corner of the night sky spread above. Sadarkelisa screamed toward the night sky.
[I will destroy all hypocrites in this world and thousands of worlds, obliterating all their traces! Sadarkelisa is the ultimate end of all things!]
-Thud!
Sadarkelisa’s foreleg landed in front of Fernandez. Beneath it, gold and jewels were crushed into powder under her claws.
[I will kill you and escape from here! Your efforts are meaningless, your will futile! Faijashi! Nightmare of the era! Filthy blooded Dark Mage! Head of the Kalimburg Academy, envoy of the five kings… Leave your last words here!]
-Rumble!
As the dragon screamed and thrashed, everything around her shattered, twisted, and bled. The dragon, engulfed in madness, swung her tail, legs, and wings.
The world was collapsing. Intense vibrations, pressure, and the madness and anger that burned even the soul were suffocating Fernandez.
[I will enjoy your final trace! Crushing, trampling, devouring you! After this, you will cease to exist, and all you cherish will follow the same path as your end!]
“You’re scared.”
At Fernandez’s cold words, Sadarkelisa’s body stiffened. Fernandez took another step forward and spoke.
“What are you afraid of, dragon? When persuasion fails, you resort to threats.”
“If you kill me and leave this place… It sounds like if you can’t kill me, you’ll have to live here as a prisoner.”
[How dare you!!]
– Thud!
A tail as thick as a branch of Yggdrasil slammed down next to Fernandez.
“Why? Why do you act like you’re sealed within my mind? Ah… Haha. I see.”
Fernandez burst into laughter mid-sentence. Even as Sadarkelisa glared down at him with fiery eyes, his laughter didn’t stop.
“The Great Demon of Madness. You were sane, weren’t you?”
[What are you talking about!]
“Divinity… the realm of the gods. To gain the domain of ‘Madness,’ you sealed your own reason within your soul. You split your soul in two. Yes. ‘Dreams’… It’s magic. You conjured this entire world, your realm of imagination, with magic.”
Fernandez wiped the blood on his hand onto his pants. The blood spread as if it were real, but when he flicked his fingers, it turned black, crumbled into ash, and scattered.
“It’s an illusion. An illusion so intricate that it even deceives yourself. You sealed your own reason and surrounded it with magic. To gain power… And yet, to prevent your soul from being corrupted by the taint of Hellish Magic. Very cunning. Very cunning indeed…”
[Shut up!]
– Crash!
The dragon’s thick arm slammed down as if to crush Fernandez immediately. However, it only grazed past him and retreated. Despite the menacing momentum, the dragon couldn’t actually touch Fernandez.
“You knew that Loft and Botan were using you. But you willingly stepped onto Loft’s operating table to gain power. You used Bifrost to receive Hellish Magic, and in the process, you sealed your reason… But you’re clumsy.”
[What are you saying!!]
“Your magical formulas are crude. You neglected your studies in demonic arts.”
– Twang.
As the sound of a harp echoed, the golden chains surrounding Sadarkelisa turned to ash and scattered. The black scales, the powerful muscles, and even the bones that formed her body crumbled one by one into dust.
[You… you…]
“Just a crudely constructed illusion barrier using immense magical power. The flow of magic, the auxiliary formulas, and the skill of the caster are all too low.”
– Twang.
The gold melted, the void trembled, and the realm expanded. The world shook, the celestial sphere in the night sky began to rotate. Stars flowed like meteors, the moon slid, and the sun rose, casting light.
[Stop it!!]
“Your madness cannot corrupt me, and your magic cannot hold me. Here, in this realm of imagination, you cannot physically harm me. Now, what do you have left?”
[Eternity!!]
Sadarkelisa staggered and shouted within the rotating world. Even as her scales crumbled, her muscles contracted, and her body shrank, her eyes still burned with rage.
[Eternity remains! Even if I can’t defeat you, it’s more than enough to seal you here with me!! How long do you think your soul can maintain its form here? Sadarkelisa has guarded this place alone for thousands of years! You, a mortal. Can you do the same? Can you endure eternity while maintaining that proud reason of yours?]
“Let’s see.”
Fernandez drew his sword and plunged it into the ground. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he stood firmly and closed his eyes.
Time here passes in a completely different sense from the Material World. A thousand years here might be but a moment in the Material World. That means, no matter how long he endures, no matter how much he crumbles, no matter what years he goes through or what state he ends up in, there will be no burden on his physical body in the Material World.
On the other hand, here, magic is free. While Sadarkelisa holds dominion over this entire realm of imagination, the fact that he can use magic, and that Sadarkelisa’s magical skill is lower than expected, will be to his advantage.
Therefore, it’s a battle of patience. A long, drawn-out magical battle for dominion over this world. The will and magic of the Great Demon. The fight is whether he can find a gap to drive his magical wedge into, or whether Fernandez’s will will falter first.
[Let’s see how long you can last!]
“You too. Let’s see how long you can last.”
The magic of the Great Demon and the will of a human. It’s a gamble on which of the two will be exhausted first. A long, drawn-out battle, with life as the stake.
The kind of gamble where there’s more to gain than to lose. Fernandez didn’t dislike that kind of gamble.
* * *
[How much longer do we have to wait?]
“Oh, friend. Be patient!”
– Screech!
The eagle cried out as if scolding Thor. Thor grumbled under the eagle’s talons as he looked down at the ground. Below, the armies of Jotunheim and Helheim were engaged in fierce combat with the demons.
Meanwhile, the man who had plunged his sword into Jormungand’s head knelt motionless on one knee. Against the backdrop of the burning Yggdrasil, the man and Jormungand were as still as stone.
[If we wait like this, those guys down there will all die before Jormungand does.]
The armies of Jotunheim and Helheim, advancing toward Yggdrasil, were gradually being pushed back in their battle against the demons. The demons were pouring out endlessly, and while the allied giant forces were superior in quality, they were being overwhelmed in numbers.
It was clear that if Jormungand were to open its eyes, they would all be swept away. Thor stretched as if he was about to jump down, but each time he grumbled at the eagle, which dug its talons in.
“Calm down, friend. The climax is still far off.”
[How much longer?]
“Until Fenrir tears Jormungand’s head off.”
[Can’t we just do it? Jormungand isn’t moving right now. Can’t we just attack?]
“And ruin the feast? Jormungand has been preparing for a long time. Even if we tear off its head now, we can’t deliver true death to it. Fenrir must do it.”
Loft slowly stroked the eagle’s head as he spoke. Thor, who had been lost in thought, soon nodded.
[Well, what’s a few more hours at this point? I just hope it’s not too late. But… can that mortal really do it?]
“Of course. With Botan, me, and the Temple of the Gods, plus the strength he’s built up himself. Fenrir is stronger than any of us here right now. If he fails… the end that awaits us will be unavoidable.”
[What a dependent stance.]
“Isn’t death inherently dependent? Where there is life, there is death. Haha.”
Loft chuckled as he laughed.
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