The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 5

Chapter V: Inglis, Age 15—The Evil Hieral Menace (5)

“Wow...”

The armor was beautiful, but that wasn’t all. The aether—which always surrounded Inglis as a divine knight—flowed into the armor that Tiffanyer had transformed into. It then returned to Inglis, enhanced and amplified tremendously. She could feel it on her skin. Her sturdiness, her strength, her speed—all of her combat capabilities were far more powerful. The feeling was akin to being under the effect of Aether Shell, but Inglis hadn’t activated it.

“This power is magnificent.” More than anything, its amplification of her aether was truly magnificent. Other Artifacts simply shattered under the strain of aether, but this transformed armor showed no indication of doing so.

“Ah! Lady Tiffanyer?!”

“Th-That girl’s wearing her?!”

“H-How could this have happened?”

It was something those Highlanders had probably never seen. They couldn’t hide their confusion. No doubt, they had not prepared for the event of their master transforming into armor that was then worn by their enemy.

“You should probably just watch for now. She definitely attacked,” Inglis warned them.

Tiffanyer hadn’t attached herself to Inglis out of the goodness of her heart. The fight wasn’t over yet. That said, Inglis didn’t have any idea what Tiffanyer was up to.

“That’s right!” Tiffanyer’s voice echoed in Inglis’s head. Her legs involuntarily pushed at the ground as if something else had moved them.

Stomp!

The force was enough to cause the ground underneath her to shudder. It was the full power of Aether Shell, further amplified by the hieral menace. With a speed beyond her ability to control, Inglis suddenly plunged through the forest, knocking down huge trees as she passed.

Crr-crk-crr-craaaack!

“Ngh! I can’t control—!” It wasn’t just that she was moving too fast to keep control—it was like her body wasn’t listening to her. She hadn’t wanted to rush into the forest in the first place. She didn’t even recall activating Aether Shell. The power was being drawn out and unleashed of its own accord.

“Ugh... This is... It’s—!” At the same time, a dizzying wave of weakness washed over her, and her vision dimmed for a moment. This wasn’t a normal effect from Aether Shell, which meant it had to be from the hieral menace.

“Now, give up your power!”

As Tiffanyer’s voice echoed in her head, Inglis exited the forest and stopped, facing Leclair. “Ugh...!” she grunted.

Her right hand thrust forward on its own, and aether converged in it. A pale blue spark formed, focusing into a ball of light. It was far larger and more powerful than usual.

“I-Incredible...!” An Aether Strike of a scale that astounded even her, power she never could have produced on her own—the sight took her breath away.

“Such impressive power. A strike from this would obliterate even me.”

“What are you doing?!” Inglis demanded.

“Hmmm. I suppose I’m taking the chance to try this out.”

The Aether Strike flew forth.

Booooooooooom!

The gigantic blast of aether, far more powerful than usual, shot toward the crater left where Leclair had lifted. It carved a terribly deep trench in its path before making impact, where a pillar of light shot into the sky, further digging away at the earth and doubling the crater’s size. It could only be called a larger scar on what was already a scar of destruction. If a town had been there, it would have been obliterated in one shot.

“Wow...” Inglis gasped in surprise. It was an awe-inspiring power. The fact that it was borrowed from the hieral menace rather than solely her own came as a disappointment, but she wondered if—with enough practice—she could eventually reach that level on her own. She burned this sight, this power, into her mind, and would use it as a goal in her training.

However, the feeling of emptiness she’d just experienced washed over her again but with more ferocity than before. She lost consciousness for a moment, only awakened by the impact of her body falling to the ground. It was definitely not just the exhaustion of firing Aether Strike. It had only been used once and then amplified by the hieral menace, so the burden on herself should only have been that of one shot.

Tiffanyer’s laugh echoed in her head. “How are you feeling? Did that take a lot out of you? This is the true form of a hieral menace. Do you understand what’s happening to you?” Her words were like barbs.

“Y-Yes... Hieral menaces absorb what you could call their wielder’s life force and dispose of it...” Inglis responded, unable to stand.

“Oh, so you knew?”

“I’ve seen other hieral menaces transform into weapons before.”

Inglis had witnessed Silva, the third-year student at the knights’ academy she had worked with before, briefly transform Ripple into a golden gun, overwhelmingly enhancing Silva’s power, but the process had also drawn out Silva’s essence—his life force—before releasing it.

Even from a distance, Inglis had sensed it. If Silva had fought alongside Ripple for a long time, he’d probably have lost his life. That’s why she had hastily stopped him and fought in his stead. Inglis hadn’t done so out of a selfish desire to fight—well, at least not entirely.

That was when she’d realized hieral menaces could overwhelmingly increase their wielder’s power at the cost of shaving away their life in proportion to the power consumed. The two seemed inextricably, unavoidably linked, but they actually weren’t; they were two separate processes. Inglis didn’t know the technical details yet, but she thought avoiding such a thing was in the realm of possibility. It was as if a hieral menace’s transformation had been deliberately engineered with that defect.

It had become clear to her then: a hieral menace was both a goddess who overwhelmingly enhanced the power of a holy knight and a reaper who took that knight’s life.

As for why Highland would do such a thing—Inglis theorized it was to prevent the power of a holy knight and a hieral menace from being turned against Highland.

Their combined strength was mighty enough to destroy even Prismers, the most powerful magicite beasts. At present, it was the single most powerful force on the surface. If the pair rebelled and took up arms against Highland, it would spell danger. Therefore, Highland sent down the hieral menaces with the intention of sapping the life of holy knights. That way, even if a holy knight and hieral menace rebelled, the wielder would burn away their own life as they fought, and the threat would naturally disappear.

The combination protected the surface while eliminating threats. Even if a holy knight fell in battle with a Prismer, another holy knight could be brought in, and it suited the Highlanders well to keep the surface on the knife’s edge between life and death. It was an obvious contradiction: to grant power without changing the power structure. A hieral menace was the answer to that. Tiffanyer’s distaste for their mission was understandable.

“I wasn’t sure it was the case, but you’ve convinced me. I apologize for Rani’s rudeness earlier. Sorry,” Inglis stated as she rose slowly. Rafinha had spoken harshly only because she had an incomplete picture of what a hieral menace was. Her opinion was born from her direct and pure heart and sense of justice, not from any malice.

“Such a silly girl you are,” Tiffanyer said.

“How so? It’s a squire’s duty to apologize for their master’s rudeness.”

“As if you have time to be worried about that! Don’t you understand the situation you’re in?! How could you be aware of the dangers of a hieral menace yet not struggle to remove me?!”

“Well, I have my reasons.”

“I don’t know what those reasons are, but they’re meaningless! It won’t matter once I’ve drained your life force. You’re going to make your grave here!”

“I...” Inglis trailed off. Right—this was Tiffanyer’s last resort. Attaching herself to Inglis, forcibly drawing out her strength, and at the same time taking her life. Inglis felt herself getting weaker. Was this what it meant to have one’s life force stolen away?

“Inglis!”

“Oh no, Inglis!”

Voices came from above, and Inglis saw Leone and Liselotte in a Flygear. Inglis must have caught up to them when she had been forced to rush through the forest.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?! What was that light?!” Leone asked.

“Just look at you! And it seems you’ve collapsed?” Liselotte followed.

Inglis tried her best to answer them with a smile. “I’m fine. Don’t worry, go on a—”

Stomp!

Even as she answered them, Inglis’s legs pushed at the ground. It began to crack, practically groaning under the pressure she was exerting. This was not her own will, but Tiffanyer’s control over her body. Again, there was an overwhelming momentum she couldn’t stop. This time, it carried her not forward, but downward with a force that colliding with the earth itself couldn’t stop. She pierced the surface and gouged a path forward.

Rrrrrumble!

Her body tore through the dirt as the sounds of carving through layers of earth echoed in her ears. “Agh!” she cried as she continued to tunnel underground. Then she surfaced, again and again, in a serpentine motion.

Tiffanyer’s laugh echoed again. “How does dirt taste? Oh, wait, I suppose you’re too busy to answer.”

“It’s not very pleasant! Being underground is getting my hair dirty.”

“Oh, dear. But I can tell you’re just putting on a brave face while your life gets sucked dry! You’re staggeringly powerful, but that just saps your life force faster!”

“I see! This is how so many holy knights have died in the past—knowing that is why you reject the hieral menaces’ mission...”

Tiffanyer couldn’t have been the only one who knew. Eris and Ripple must have known as well.

Inglis thought back three years, to when she was twelve and first met Eris. The hieral menace had been angry with Leon for introducing her to Inglis and Rafinha, blood relatives of Rafael. Her anger at that time must have been due to a worry of Rafael’s strength possibly ebbing while fighting a Prismer; Eris would have been unable to face the two. That was why it seemed almost like Eris feared them and was keeping her distance at the time, looking for an excuse to escape.

In hindsight, that attitude was very like Eris. She was sensitive and kind even if she seemed to be brusque. Because of that very attitude, she got herself involved in Inglis’s business with Rahl, even trying to protect her. Inglis was sure that even now, whenever Eris looked at her and Rafinha, guilt gnawed at her insides over the worry that someday Rafael could die wielding her. Her subtle attempts to keep her distance told the story.

Holy knights must have known it as well. That was why Leon had said what he had before joining the Steelblood Front—that he was, after all, a holy knight. He had accepted the idea of laying down his life to protect the country and its people. That wasn’t puffery or idealism; it was an active choice he was making.

To fulfill the duty of a holy knight—that is, to fulfill the duty of repulsing an attacking Prismer—that holy knight must fall, their life sucked away by a hieral menace. So naturally he’d question the justice of such a duty. Was it really worth it? What would be left behind after his life ebbed away? Such quandaries must have weighed on him.

And from there, he thought of Karelia unchanging under Highland’s yoke. He must have wanted to find the value of his life in something else—even if it meant that the rest of his family would be denounced as kin to a traitor. He’d said it was for a greater cause.

That feeling was understandable. Eris, Rafael, and the others seemed to realize his intentions as well. Eris was angry in the moment, but her resentment faded over time. Ripple and Rafael hadn’t spoken ill of Leon at all; they understood why he left.

The same line of thinking especially went for Ripple. The pain on her normally affable face when Silva told her that he cherished the memory of her saving his life long ago, that it drove his aspiration to become a holy knight. What happiness she could have felt was overwhelmed by pity. If Silva became a holy knight as he hoped and fulfilled his mission, it would cost him his life.

For Ripple, it must have been unbearable. She’d have to take the life of the boy who adored her so much that he worked his hardest at becoming a holy knight with her own hands. Silva didn’t seem to know yet, but when he was officially knighted, he’d learn. Ripple had said so.

From the perspective of those who governed, there was no benefit in publicizing that effect of the relationship between the holy knights and hieral menaces. After all, it could result in skilled people becoming reluctant to pursue holy knighthood. The honorable image of hieral menaces might fade, possibly making it harder to unite the people on that basis. That information needed to be kept private.

Nonetheless, Silva would probably accept that condition and still choose to become a holy knight, believing he would protect Ripple. She would surely understand that...but it would also trouble her.

“Hieral menaces are tools! We don’t change anything! We can’t change anything! We only maintain Highland’s rule. However, that costly power can be effective in another way!”

“If used to kill me, your enemy?”

“That’s right! I can’t lose! Not until I rise to command, not until I grasp freedom, not until the world is mine, like the Triumvirate who were allowed their own remit because of their achievements!”

“I see, so that’s why you fight.”

“Correct. Selfish or no, it’s more meaningful to have my own will than to be a mere tool! Your friends don’t seem to agree, but I don’t care!”

Thunk!

Inglis suddenly stopped in her tracks, still under Tiffanyer’s control. With the armor on, she had reached the former site of Leclair as she stared into the even deeper crater.

“Chris?! What are you wearing?! Are you okay?” Rafinha’s voice echoed down from the Star Princess above.

“Inglis?! Did you make that hole? What are you doing?!” Lahti followed.

Then another voice called out. “That armor you’re wearing—is that Lady Tiffanyer?! What did you do to her?!” Harim seemed to have sortied from Leclair up in the sky to intercept Rafinha and Lahti.

What a relief it was that she’d caught up with Rafinha before the girl had ended up in any kind of danger. Normally, Inglis could relax and enjoy a leisurely fight knowing that Rafinha was nearby, but now was not a good time. Inglis still didn’t have full control of her body.

“Rani! Lahti! Get out of here! It’s dangerous to be near me!” she yelled.

Tiffanyer’s gleeful laugh echoed in her head. “I have a nice idea. You see, I’m the type to hold grudges.”

“N-No, stop!” Inglis protested. Her right hand thrust forward. The intense pale blue glow grew larger and larger. It was an Aether Strike as gigantic as the previous one.

“I-It’s so bright! But I can’t sense any power! What is this?!” Harim gasped.

“A-Amazing! It’s way bigger than usual!” Rafinha said.

“Th-This must be what blew up this area earlier...” Lahti said. Everyone was stunned as they watched the light of aether converge in Inglis’s hand.

“Don’t just watch! Hurry! Run away! It’s really dangerous!” The larger the ball of light grew, the more nervous Inglis became. She could tell what Tiffanyer had planned. Inglis needed to avoid it at all costs.

“Wh-What do you mean?” Rafinha asked. She tilted her head in confusion.

Similarly puzzled, Lahti said, “Yeah, with that much power you can just—”

“Please, hurry! I can’t control myself! This might go flying at you!” Inglis warned.

“What?!” Rafinha gasped.

“A-All right! I’m getting us out of here!” Lahti announced.

“It’s too late! There’s no way they can avoid such a powerful attack from this close!”

“I said stop! If you don’t, consider your life forfeit! I’ll never show you a moment of mercy or pity again!” Inglis threatened.

“Aha ha ha! I’m not listening to someone who can’t so much as lift a finger to stop me. Besides, with this strike, your life too will be sucked away! I can feel you wasting away. No matter how you resist, your life is running out! Now, take your precious friends’ lives with your own hand, and die yourself! After all, I’m sparing you from a life of loneliness!” Tiffanyer laughed.

“Damn you!” The Aether Strike left Inglis’s hand.

Booooooooooom!

A gigantic blast of aether shot forth.

Again, it landed in the crater where Leclair had been. A pillar of light rocketed skyward. Large amounts of ground crumbled away, carving an even more definitive and deep imprint of destruction into the earth.

“Wh—?! I missed?! How’d you break my control so quickly?!” Tiffanyer’s voice filled Inglis’s head before the backdrop of the pillar of light.

Inglis fell to her knees, her hands on the ground, as she gasped for air.

“Even still... With that attack, your life is burnt through! I can tell you’re dried up!”

Inglis’s body shone brightly, just like when Tiffanyer had equipped herself to Inglis in her armor form. This time, however, the armor left Inglis’s body and reverted to human form.

“Ah!” Inglis gasped as the armor-clad Tiffanyer appeared right next to her.

“Ahhhh! Lady Tiffanyer! You’re safe!” Harim exclaimed joyfully when he saw her.

Ignoring him, Tiffanyer formed her hand into a point and leveled it at Inglis. “I’ll put an end to you!”

Inglis inhaled sharply as she saw Tiffanyer’s piercing hand getting nearer, but she acted quickly in response. With a loud “Haaaaaah!” as she activated Aether Shell, she sidestepped Tiffanyer and, without a moment of hesitation or restraint, kicked her in the torso as hard as she could.

Crassssshhhh!

This time, Tiffanyer’s armor shattered as she went flying into the air with a screech. “Aaaah!”

“Oh no! L-Lady Tiffanyer!”

Tiffanyer shot into the air like a bullet, bouncing off the bottom of the floating town of Leclair before falling into the twice-deepened scar it had left behind. Without a moment’s hesitation, Inglis closed in on where she’d fallen.

“U-Ugh... How are you so strong? Even with your life drained away...” Tiffanyer herself finally seemed drained.

“That was merely your perception of what happened.”

Tiffanyer had felt Inglis’s flow of life come to a stop and had thus assumed that Inglis was about to die. As a hieral menace, she’d no doubt experienced the same stoppage when a holy knight’s power had been exhausted.

That was certainly not the case here.

That flow had stopped because Inglis had used aether to interfere with the functions of the hieral menace and disable her ability to suck out her life force and release it. Tiffanyer had misunderstood the situation.

This was what the black-masked leader of the Steelblood Front had done. When he’d wielded Sistia, there was no ominous flow of power as if his life force was being dispersed. Inglis concluded that he had used his finely controlled aether to block Sistia’s side effect as a hieral menace. That was the only difference Inglis could identify between then and when Silva had wielded Ripple.

That must be why Sistia was absolutely obedient to, and absolutely trusting of, the black-masked man as she lent him her power. No matter how long he wielded her for, he didn’t die. That must have engendered a great deal of relief and trust. As a hieral menace, she probably considered him a savior, relieving her of the burden of her own cursed power.

And if he could accomplish it with aether, Inglis reasoned that she could as well. She lacked his high level of control of aether, but her experience with Yua had improved her skills in that department. That was why, even though it was a dangerous challenge, she hadn’t rejected using Tiffanyer’s armor form.

Inglis needed to reach his ability, which required experience, and what she had just gone through was definitely valuable in that regard. However, she was feeling weaker than normal; she was far too hungry ever since arriving in Alcard. Maybe that was why it had been much more challenging than she’d expected, but she’d pulled it off in the end.

The few who knew the truth behind hieral menaces—hieral menaces themselves and the holy knights who wielded them—must have had their own perspectives on their relationship, but the closest person among them to Rafinha was no doubt her brother, Rafael. What did he think of the truth behind that partnership?

Even after Inglis and Rafinha had enrolled in the knights’ academy and arrived at the capital, his expression when they’d met hadn’t shown any hesitation at all. He hadn’t expressed any resentment toward Leon, had been considerate to Eris and Ripple, and had been a kind and patient older brother to Rafinha and Inglis.

Perhaps he was completely prepared for his fate. That would explain why he was so relaxed, so straightforward. He accepted the contradiction that the hieral menaces embodied, even if he couldn’t change the surface’s subservient relation to Highland. Furthermore, if a Prismer were to appear, it could not be left unchecked. Many lives would be lost; many tragedies would play out.

And if it was going to be anyone putting their life on the line, it should be him—that must have been his answer. His youth and his heart made him capable of such a decision. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. He would be a hero.

When the heroic holy knight met a holy knight’s fate, what would that mean for Rafinha left behind? It would hurt her deeply. Her grief would leave her with scars that would never fade. Inglis—who adored sweet, little Rafinha—didn’t want her to have to endure that. So having realized the true nature of hieral menaces’ power, one of Inglis’s major goals in her training was to master the technique that the Steelbloods’ leader could use. She’d managed to survive putting that into practice, but she had farther to climb up that hill of mastery.

Inglis silently placed a foot on Tiffanyer’s fallen form. She wouldn’t let her escape. Tiffanyer had to pay. This hieral menace had tried to use her to kill Rafinha. Inglis had regained control just in time, but Tiffanyer had still had every intention of killing the person most dear to Inglis. She was going to make sure that there was no possibility of it happening again.

“I... I don’t understand... What... What are you?”

“There’s no point in answering the question of someone who’s about to be annihilated. I warned you that if you went ahead, your life would be forfeit.” Inglis formed her own Aether Strike in her right hand as she held it up to Tiffanyer. I’m already very worn out. I don’t have much power left, but I’m not going to leave a single trace of her! “Now, disappear!”

“That’s...right...” Tiffanyer sighed as she closed her eyes and relaxed her body; she was accepting her fate, Inglis assumed. Or maybe she’d lost consciousness. Inglis didn’t care either way.

A voice suddenly rang out above Inglis’s head. “Chris!” It was Rafinha, aboard the Star Princess, which had descended to a low altitude.

“Hold on a second, Rani. I have unfinished business to attend to.”

“W-Wait! Are you really going to—?”

“Yeah. I’m going to finish her. She’s dangerous. With all she’s done, we don’t have a choice.”

“I... I guess... But Chris, I don’t like seeing you unhappy. It’s scary seeing your eyes like this. Aren’t you always smiling when you fight? She’s definitely dangerous, but...being angry like this isn’t like you...”

A grandparent angry for their granddaughter’s sake, their granddaughter scared by their anger and crying—it was that kind of situation. Rafinha wasn’t actually crying, but Inglis still felt a bit uncomfortable. At the same time, the blood which had rushed to her head cooled down considerably. Even so, Tiffanyer couldn’t simply be let loose. She’d tried to kill Rafinha. She still had to be dealt with firmly.

“You know, Rani, when I get mad about something, I get really mad. And that was a very close call earlier.”

“Yeah. But... But...”

“I understand. You want me to smile?” Inglis giggled affectedly. “‘You’ve earned ten thousand deaths, so disappear. ♪’ Is that better?”

“Not at all! That’s wrong too! Come on, if you’re going to kill her, wouldn’t it at least be better to have Alcard’s king pronounce judgment first?”

“She’ll recover in due time and go back on her rampage, won’t she? We’re the only ones who can stop her, but we can’t keep an eye on her permanently. It’s better to finish her off before she can cause any more damage. Don’t you think so, Lahti?” Inglis called out to him, at the controls of the Star Princess.

“Yeah,” Lahti agreed. “If she gets loose somewhere Inglis isn’t, I don’t know how many people will end up dead. I think it’s dangerous to try to keep her captive.”

“See, Rani? Lahti agrees, so...”

“O-Okay... I understand... Do it, Chris!” Rafinha gripped her fists tightly as she spoke. She seemed conflicted, but after hearing Inglis and Lahti out, she’d made her decision. Just being gentle and sweet wasn’t enough to make one a full-fledged knight. The experience of making heavy decisions was required too.

“Understood, Rani.”

“Hold it right there! Get away from Lady Tiffanyer!” Harim screamed at the top of his lungs from a different direction. He was above in his Flygear, thrusting a flame he’d conjured in his hand toward Pullum, who was riding with him.

“Pullum!” Rafinha shouted.

“What are you doing?! That’s your own sister!” Inglis shouted.

“How dare you, Harim! What the hell are you thinking?!” Lahti said.

Earlier on, Harim must have trapped Pullum in the magical dimension Highlanders could create, and had now pulled her out to use her as a hostage.

“Lahti! Everyone! I’m so sorry!” Pullum’s face contorted in sorrow.

“Say what you will! I won’t let you have Lady Tiffanyer! Now, if you value this girl’s life—”

Before Harim could finish, Inglis cut him off. “You’re making a mistake.”

“What...?!”

“Do you really think that someone who can handle Tiffanyer can’t take Pullum back before you even react? You’ve just saved me the trouble of searching for her. Thanks.” Trying to intimidate her without showing Pullum would have been more effective. With her in sight, Inglis could rescue her by force.

“D-Don’t make fun of me! I’d like to see you try, so hurry up and—”

“All right, let me prove it.”

Inglis activated Aether Shell.

Rrrrrrumble!

With huge tremors, the ground shook beneath her feet. It was an earthquake—a big one. Inglis fell to her knees as she lost her footing. Her plan was to grab Pullum in one fell swoop once the shaking stopped.

But it didn’t stop.

Instead, a faraway roar filled her ears.

“Huh?! What was that?! Did you hear that, Chris?” Rafinha asked.

“Yeah... It sounded like it was coming from beneath us!”

The shaking became more violent in the meantime.

Booooom!

The center of the crater Inglis had gouged out was only a short distance away. Something emerged from it—almost like a tree—and split the earth.

“Whaaat?! What is that?! It looks like a gigantic tail!” Rafinha shouted.

“I-It’s freakin’ huge! I-Is it moving?!” Lahti stammered.

Even the tail alone towered over them. Its shape, studded with spikes, was brutality in the flesh. Its blue scales were as clear and beautiful as a mirror. Violence and beauty intertwined—even though the thing’s full body couldn’t be seen, its tail alone had a tremendous presence. No wonder Rafinha and Lahti were overwhelmed.

“Wh-What?! What is that thing?!” Even Harim hadn’t expected that.

The person most astonished was Inglis. “Wh—?! But that’s impossible! How is he here?!”

She remembered it. And that was not a memory of Inglis Eucus. It was a memory from who knew how many seasons ago. A memory of the king named Inglis, who had built the kingdom of Silvare in a single lifetime.

“The ancient dragon Fufailbane...”

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed between the end of King Inglis’s life and the beginning of Inglis Eucus’s. For her, it felt like thirty years had passed since encountering the dragon—it was a clear memory from when King Inglis had just reached a late age. The unique and intense surge of power it exuded couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.

It was one of the “ancient dragons”—incredibly powerful beasts that King Inglis had defeated in the final few years before death. While dragons were neither gods nor divine, their power was so fearsome that people cowered before the mightiest as such. Even small dragons were not seen in modern times, existing only in legends and fairy tales. Inglis had thought they’d been wiped out by the Prism Flow and magicite beasts.

Dragons and humans were incompatible. If their habitats overlapped, only mutual destruction resulted. That had been the prevailing assumption in King Inglis’s times, but when an ancient dragon had appeared on Silvare’s frontiers, the hero-king had attempted to communicate with it through the intercession of a diviner who spoke the draconic language.

And that assumption had been correct.

Therefore, everyone had taken up arms, and Silvare’s knights had suffered heavy losses. Already late in years, King Inglis’s skill with a blade had already dwindled because of the significant time taken up by kingly duties. As a result, many subordinates had to aid in the king’s vanquishing of the ancient dragon. So many young men with bright futures died that day while the king cursed that loss of life.

As a king, Inglis had regretted the sacrifice of his men. As a warrior, Inglis had regretted that his own lack of training and decline had left him unable to show such strength in the face of a powerful foe. The memories were bitter, but that meant they had left a strong impression. It was probably one of the reasons that had led to her current life as Inglis Eucus.

At any rate, with many sacrifices, King Inglis sealed the divine dragon deep beneath the volcano Mt. Clavoid. Since the ancient dragon had tremendous powers of ice, the king had used the natural mana of the volcano to counterbalance its powers and secure the seal.

Indeed, Inglis remembered sealing the ancient dragon in a volcano, so why was it here? The passing of time may have changed the names of places and countries, but could even a gigantic volcano have disappeared? Leclair had been there until just recently. Had the ancient dragon awakened again, only to be sealed away another time? Or had it stayed in its place while the volcano had disappeared for some reason?

Either way, the deep gouges that Inglis had created now extended; if the ancient dragon was in such a shallow place, its mighty chill might flow out again into the land and make the surroundings colder. That was the very reason why King Inglis had needed to seal the ancient dragon away.

The climate of not just Leclair, but all of Alcard, might have been affected by its power. Alcard was certainly north of Karelia, but there were other lands, other countries farther north with milder climates. Much of Alcard was mountainous, tending to be cold, but the impact of the buried divine dragon may have been more significant.

And was it just a coincidence that such a thing was buried exactly under the site from which Leclair was floated? Tiffanyer had said that the plan itself was Evel’s. Inglis didn’t think Tiffanyer had known of the dragon. She was unconscious, but her underling Harim was shocked. In addition, it was hard to believe that Evel had possessed no knowledge of this. Had he been trying to do something secretly? Alas, he was dead, and there was no way to know.

One thing was certain, though: the world in which King Inglis had lived and the world in which Inglis Eucus now lived were one and the same. The existence of the ancient dragon had convinced her of this. Until now, there had been so few remnants of her past life that she’d had no choice but to live in doubt.

And if the ancient dragon had awakened... It was a unique opportunity to learn what had become of that world after King Inglis had passed. She could call it her first connection to the old world since she’d been reborn.

It was also a chance to meet a powerful foe that King Inglis hadn’t been able to defeat himself.

There was one other important reason too.

This was a chance she absolutely couldn’t overlook—couldn’t let pass her by. It was one she couldn’t let anyone else take from her. The situation had changed, one could say. Rafinha had initially stopped her from killing Tiffanyer, and now that Harim was threatening them, she had no choice but to change her approach.

“Chris? Do you know what that thing is?” Rafinha asked, anxious.

“Hm? I’ll tell you later. Right now...” Even as she answered Rafinha, Inglis turned to Harim. “I’m still open to negotiation. Give back Pullum and the survivors over in Leclair. If you do so, I’ll release Tiffanyer. If you release those people and allow them safe passage to the surface, I won’t pursue you to Leclair as it keeps floating away. Will that get you enough credit in Highland?”

By what Tiffanyer had said, the plan had been to offer Leclair to Highland. It was unclear how much Evel, their former commander, had known of the ancient dragon Fufailbane, or what his intentions for the dragon had been, but the terms proposed by Inglis would fulfill their objective and they’d at least probably be able to take minimal credit for it.

“Wh-What’s with the change of heart?!” Harim asked, confused. The terms were acceptable to him, but he viewed her with suspicion.

“I just decided I didn’t like the idea of always doing things by force.”

“Huh?!” Inglis’s friends gasped.

Harim was silent.

Harim nodding to that makes sense. After all, he’s an enemy. But do Rafinha, Lahti, and Pullum all have to look so confused? Inglis again focused aether in her right hand, preparing an Aether Strike. “Answer quickly. If you don’t...”

Harim’s face went pale. “Ah...! Lady Tiffanyer...!”

“Isn’t that a threat? That’s kind of doing things by force,” Rafinha blurted out, but Inglis ignored her.

“What’ll it be?” Inglis challenged. “Three... Two... One...”

“O-Okay! I’ll take your deal! You can have the survivors in Leclair!” Harim acquiesced in haste.

◆◇◆

Once the people of Leclair were released, the Alcard knights among the survivors quickly recognized Lahti’s true identity.

“Prince Lahti! Thank you for saving us!”

“It’s an honor to be saved by Your Highness!”

“Thank you so much!”

“I owe you my life! I swear I’ll repay the favor one day!”

Their enthusiasm bewildered Lahti. “Ah, no... I didn’t really do that much...” he began, but Inglis stopped him with a shake of her head. From here on, Lahti needed to be the face of the group. He had to watch what he said. A king who would stand above his people did not need modesty or humility in the wrong moments.

In any case, Inglis could leave the leadership to him. Pullum was back, safe and sound. It was time to move on.

As for how Pullum got to Leclair, it turned out that Harim hadn’t been involved. Pullum didn’t know who took her there, just that it had happened while everyone else had been asleep. In fact, Harim had been surprised to see her.

That left one likely suspect on their minds: Ian. Pullum hadn’t seen him, so she wasn’t sure what was going on with him, but she apologized profusely for causing so much worry.

In the end, Ian’s goals and where he had gone both remained unclear. Given that they hadn’t seen him in Leclair, maybe he’d left for the capital? Inglis had no way of knowing, so there was no point in focusing too hard on the matter.

After all, she had far bigger lizards to fry.

“We did a good thing, right?” Rafinha asked, looking at Leclair as it floated away into the sky.

“Yeah. We can’t split our focus here,” Inglis said, staring at the ancient dragon’s tail, which thrust forth from the crater. She no longer had time to worry about Leclair.

Even now, the earth occasionally shook from tremors as a roar echoed up from underground. Honestly, she couldn’t determine how much time they had before the earth would crumble and the ancient dragon would rise to the surface.

“It could come to the surface and make its move at any time. If we’re going to need to fight right now, we need to save some energy,” Inglis said.

The fight with Tiffanyer had been thoroughly exhausting. It had taken more out of Inglis than she’d expected. Tiffanyer had fought in such a different manner from what Inglis was accustomed to.

Inglis had gained a lot in the process, but she’d come close to completely wearing herself out. If she had attacked hard enough to obliterate Tiffanyer then, she would’ve been unable to fight again soon after. As soon as she discovered that there was an ancient dragon beneath their feet, the option of taking Tiffanyer’s life had disappeared.

“So, just what is this thing?” Rafinha asked. “It isn’t a magicite beast, right? And it isn’t a Prismer either...”

“It’s a dragon. A very, very old one.”

“A dragon?! There are magicite beasts that kinda look like those mythical creatures... You sure it’s not one of those?”

“I’m certain. Those are lizards turned into magicite beasts, whereas this is a real dragon. One of the most powerful too—like a Prismer in comparison to magicite beasts... I’m sure that on its own it’s more powerful than a hieral menace.”

Rafinha sighed in disgust. “So once you found a stronger foe, you got rid of the previous one? Chris, you really have a one-track mind.”

“W-Well, we saved Pullum and the survivors, so it’s not that bad in this case...” Leone offered.

“Besides, we would decisively worsen our relationship with Highland if we killed one of their commanders. This is probably the wiser choice,” Liselotte said.

The idea of fighting an ancient dragon was something that definitely interested Inglis. Beyond that, she had finally found a clue as to what had happened in the world since her previous life ended. But that wasn’t all...

“Well, yes, there’s that to consider, but there’s also something else. Do you know what it is, Rani?”

There was one specific thing that would interest her cousin.

“Hm? What?”

“Dragon meat is supposed to be really tasty.”

No sooner did the words leave Inglis’s mouth than Rafinha’s eyes lit up, exactly as she’d expected.

“Well then, our only option is to fight that dragon!”

“You want to eat it?!” Leone and Liselotte remarked in unison, with something close to terrified screams.