“I’m sure you know this… but this is a violation of the laws of war.”
“We’re not at war, so what are you talking about the laws of war for?”
“If this gets discovered, you’ll be punished under the laws of war anyway.”
“I won’t get caught. The only witness will be dead.”
Leopard did not budge despite Sailor’s warning.
His resolve had already been made.
Now, the possibility of not using this ultimate weapon did not exist within Leopard.
Seeing his firm determination, Sailor sighed deeply and turned away.
“The installation is complete. Even if it’s Duke Dragania, he won’t notice anything odd unless he deliberately pays attention to this area.”
“Good work. As for the payment…”
“Forget it. I won’t take it. Just think of it as repaying the favor for picking up a thief wandering in the market alley.”
“……”
He simply couldn’t accept money.
Sailor had neither been here nor aided in the installation of that terrifying weapon.
If he took money, it would leave evidence of his participation in Leopard’s madness.
‘He’s truly crawling toward death of his own accord.’
It was understandable that he was angry.
Sailor knew better than anyone how much Leopard loved and cherished the Holy Maiden.
So much so, that for 50 years he tormented his own body, waiting for her to stop her seclusion.
But this crossed the line.
Using a strategically prohibited weapon under the laws of war against a dragon.
And it was Duke Dragania, a recognized benefactor of the Vladimir Empire…
Leopard would not survive.
Whether he succeeded or failed in killing Dragania with this strike, Leopard would be hunted down and killed by the Papal Office and the imperial army.
Having fallen from grace to maintain the image of an honorable and righteous hero, Leopard would certainly meet his ‘accidental death.’
Even knowing that future, Leopard was walking into it willingly.
He must have gone mad.
There was simply no other explanation for his behavior.
“Dragon hunt. I hope you succeed. Good luck.”
“……”
Sailor paid his last respects to his long-time friend, benefactor, and admired hero before turning away.
He had opposed attacking Dragania until the end and had tried desperately to dissuade Leopard.
But there was no way to stop Leopard, who had already made all his decisions and preparations.
All he could do was silently wish for the success of his final revenge.
“Hah…”
As Sailor’s footsteps faded, only Leopard remained alone in the green meadow.
He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to collect his mind.
There were no loopholes in the plan.
Duke Dragania would return to his territory after completing his inspection of the southern border, which he did annually.
The ambush was scheduled to happen during his return.
The location was the endless skies over the Putorana Forest.
The mountains were so steep, and the monsters so numerous, that not a single person lived inside the forest, nor did anyone come to log there.
It was the optimal location to use a strategic weapon without unnecessary casualties.
“This time, I will definitely kill him.”
Leopard ground his teeth.
In the past, he had attacked Dragania with the intention of persuasion, but this time, it was to kill.
It was time to continue the fight that had ended in a draw before.
…
“Ugh! What is this? Please wait a moment, my lord! I’ll fix it soon!”
“……”
In the middle of a secluded road in the south.
A small carriage came to a lopsided stop.
The coachman quickly jumped down and rushed to the back wheel to check its condition.
However, Duke Dragania, unable to wait, opened the door and stepped outside.
“You can fix it in a moment, so just stay inside! It’s hot out!”
“Can I take a look?”
“Oh, dear. Then I must humbly trouble you…”
As the coachman stepped aside, one of the back wheels that was completely smashed was revealed.
The claim that it could be fixed in a moment was a blatant lie.
The axle had completely broken, making it impossible to repair with the equipment available here.
‘Something seems artificial.’
However, the cross-section of the axle looked a bit suspicious.
If it broke from bearing the weight, it would have to split from the top downward.
Yet, the actual cross-section looked like it had exploded apart.
It had been thoroughly destroyed, making it obvious that even if it was magically patched up, it would soon collapse again.
“Get on a horse and bring repair equipment. I will wait.”
“Are you sure it’s alright? It might take some time.”
“Is there another option? Hurry it up.”
“Yes! Understood!”
The nervous coachman stuttered as he replied, quickly releasing the horse from the carriage and galloping toward the village.
After waiting for the coachman to disappear from view, the duke cleared his throat and began to remove his clothes layer by layer.
Of course, he had no intention of waiting for the repair equipment to arrive.
He could transform into a dragon and fly away.
“Ugh… Gah…”
By now, the duke had stripped off all his clothes, and with a cracking sound, his body began to change.
Black scales sprouted, his body gradually enlarged, and wings large enough to cover the entire carriage emerged from his back.
In an instant, the duke became a massive black dragon.
As he flapped his wings, a gust of wind rushed forth, and the enormous dragon took to the skies.
‘I’m a bit sorry.’
Just thinking about the coachman being startled by the remaining clothes made him chuckle.
In the past, he had never even considered the emotions of individual humans.
Just as no human considers the feelings of an ant.
But since meeting Julia, things had changed.
Having someone he truly valued and loved opened his eyes.
The lifestyles of the humans he had considered primitive and inferior, their emotional lines of joy and sorrow, began to come into view.
As he began to understand them, life, which had been so dull, started to become a bit more enjoyable.
Of course, he knew well enough that his love would remain unreciprocated.
He was aware that hoping for a return was a shameless and immoral act.
He had already committed irredeemable sins.
But the duke had no intention of stopping his atonement.
He would not cease to love the woman who colored his otherwise monochrome life with vibrant colors.
From now on, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the duke lived to dedicate himself to Julia.
‘Thinking about it, I still haven’t found that other woman who must be suffering because of me.’
The duke’s expression darkened as he recalled another victim.
It was definitely in this area.
That day, flying over here, the duke had spotted a woman and, driven by some force, descended to prey upon her.
He could hardly remember her face, and having burned down the village where she lived, progress on finding her had been almost nonexistent.
That daughter must be about a year old now.
Being a girl with horns on her head, she shouldn’t be hard to spot, but to have no information about her sightings until now…
‘No, I shouldn’t think that way.’
He decided to erase the possibility that she had already died.
If that were the case, it would be truly painful.
He could only wish that she survived and provided him with a chance for atonement.
‘At this rate, I’ll reach the duke’s territory in about an hour… Hm?!’
At that moment, the duke’s eyes widened as he stared ahead.
Just now, he noticed the sky shimmering as if heat haze was rising.
Quickly looking deeper with a dragon’s sight, he discovered a clever barrier that blocked his view.
At that point, it was already too late.
Before the duke could even attempt an evasive maneuver, a flash burst forth from beyond the barrier.
“Kuh?!”
A blinding flash, powerful enough to obscure his vision, engulfed the duke.
Just before the intense heat hit his body, the duke hurriedly covered himself with his wings for protection.
Yet even his thick wings could not withstand the heat, burning and tearing apart.
A deafening explosion followed a moment later, tearing through the duke’s eardrums.
The shockwave that arrived with the noise shattered every bone in his body.
‘Can’t breathe…!’
He was unable to breathe.
The duke, thrown into the air by the shockwave, struggled to breathe but to no avail.
The strategic weapon that had just exploded had incinerated all the oxygen in the area.
It seemed that along with the oxygen, all mana had also burned away, for he couldn’t use magic at all.
‘I have to get to where there’s oxygen…!’
The duke began a rapid descent to a height where oxygen still existed.
However, with wings that had been burned down to their skeleton, flying against the oncoming winds in an attempt to fill the empty void was virtually impossible.
It was more akin to a fall than flight.
Still, just at the last moment, the duke managed to stabilize himself enough to avoid smashing his skull into the ground.
“Crrr… Grr…”
With a crash, the duke landed, uprooting the grass of the plain as he let out boiling breaths.
Even if there was oxygen surrounding him, it was difficult to breathe.
Broken ribs were stabbing his lungs, and his cervical vertebrae were fractured, with shards piercing his windpipe.
Moreover, his entire body was in tatters.
Severe burns covered him, and his insides were twisted, ruptured, and spilled out.
He was practically a corpse with only his heart still beating.
There was no chance of recovery.
The duke, blinded and deafened, even the pain in his body beginning to fade, diagnosed his own state.
‘So this is how it ends…’
Leopard.
It was clearly the hero’s doing.
Yet he felt no anger.
The man deserved to do so.
He had rampantly trampled and corrupted the woman the hero cherished…
In the end, I am finishing my life paying for my sins.
The duke wheezed out his last breath and closed his eyes.
“Krrk?!”
In that moment, the duke was forced to open his eyes again due to oxygen rushing into his throat.
His once-burned retina began to restore itself, and he could see again. The sound of his bones being reassembled echoed in his still-muffled ears.
An agonizing pain pierced through his entire body.
Despite frothing at the mouth and moaning, the duke barely overcame the pain.
He struggled to keep from passing out as his vision blurred, and once he steadied himself, he turned to his side.
“Crr…?”
“Hik.”
And then he let out a sigh.
Standing before him was someone he thought he might never see again.
