In a darkness deeper than any black he had ever seen, the cluster of mana glowing in a myriad of colors exuded a strange, magnetic pull. Mikhail’s lips parted unconsciously as he stared at the mass for a long moment.
“…It’s beautiful.”
The Gold Dragon suddenly turned to glance at Mikhail’s face. Come to think of it, the prince was standing at the very source of this tingling mana, yet he didn’t seem fazed at all. Human bodies were often clumsy and fragile to the point of being pitiable, but in times like this, they certainly had their perks.
As Mikhail remained entranced by the black mana, the protagonist of the earlier chase gave his leg a light nudge with a smooth tail.
“Huh?”
Only then did Mikhail remember why he had come running all the way here. He looked down at the salamander in his grasp for a moment. That’s right, this thing swallowed my sword—he recalled.
“…How am I supposed to get it out now?”
The prince scanned the salamander’s body from head to tail. It was a reptile about the size of a crocodile, and the sword had to still be in that belly. As if sensing the prince’s impure intentions, the large salamander let out a small puff of flame as a warning not to try anything foolish. Then it opened its jaws wide.
Gagk— Kek, hek!
The salamander opened its mouth and started to move its throat as if trying to forcibly vomit something out. Its massive maw opened and closed a few times in succession.
Mikhail instantly recognized what it was trying to do. With a slightly awkward expression, the prince gently patted the salamander’s belly as it struggled to keep its jaws open in pain. The salamander, perhaps encouraged by that small show of support, locked eyes with the prince before opening its mouth once more.
It wheezed—saek, saek—as if short on breath, then once again tilted its head back toward the ceiling and stretched its jaw. A glimmer of something could be seen between its teeth—the hilt of the sword. The salamander’s pitch-black eyes locked onto the prince, its gaze desperate.
“Looks like it wants some help.”
The Gold Dragon, having understood the story behind those black eyes, spoke softly to the prince.
“Me? Like… this?”
Mikhail responded with a bewildered look, slowly reaching toward the salamander’s gaping mouth. Adrian gave him an approving nod. A fire spirit wouldn’t die so easily from something like this.
With a suspicious look still lingering on his face, the prince gingerly gripped the protruding hilt. He gave it a cautious tug, and the sword gradually slid out of the salamander’s mouth. The creature lifted its head to assist Mikhail in extracting it smoothly.
Ggeuk, keok, ptu!
As the obstruction was finally expelled, the salamander shook its head side to side in relief. Mikhail, now reunited with his sword, gently caressed it with an emotional expression. He ran his palm along the blade to check for any damage.
That was when it happened.
The salamander that had just coughed up the prince’s sword pounded its front feet on the ground with a loud thud as it looked at the two of them. Thud, thud! The sound of its stomps echoed through the underground cavern. In response, the group of salamanders lying low within the cave slowly raised their heads and turned to look this way.
Adrian, still inspecting his sword, nudged the prince with his elbow.
Pweeeeee!
The large salamander directly in front of the two boys let out a sharp whistle-like cry.
Pheeeew—!
As if answering the call, another salamander raised its head and emitted a high-pitched sound. Rumble— Adrian felt the subtle trembling beneath his feet and snapped to attention. Something was clearly going wrong. But without a full grasp of the situation, not even a dragon could take immediate action.
Adrian and Mikhail furrowed their brows and instinctively clamped their hands over their ears. The vast underground chamber amplified the salamanders’ screeches into a resounding roar.
Whether due to the seismic vibrations or something else, a burst of black mana surged down from the hill within the cave. The black tide flowed across the ground and slid all the way to the feet of Adrian and Mikhail, who were standing a little distance from the hill.
Ruuuuuumble—!
“Ugh—!” Their bodies swayed violently. Adrian braced himself by stomping his right foot into the ground, barely keeping his balance.
“We should get out of here—this place isn’t safe!”
Adrian turned his head to warn the prince, but no response came. His gaze fixated on the prince’s face.
Mikhail’s expression was… strange.
“…Huh?”
The Red Prince’s eyes gleamed brilliantly. Without responding at all to the dragon’s words, Mikhail suddenly moved his feet. The direction he was headed was the hill from which the black mana was flowing down. Realizing his destination, Adrian reached out to grab the prince’s arm—but Mikhail shook off his hand with ease and didn’t slow down in the slightest.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Adrian tried to stop him, squinting against the ever-thickening mana, but Mikhail climbed the hill without hesitation. It was as if something had taken over the prince’s body—his face was utterly devoid of soul, like a puppet being moved by unseen strings.
“That place is dangerous!”
Adrian shouted at Mikhail. Damn it, had he gone deaf already?
“Mikhail! I said get down from there!”
But Mikhail trudged up the hill, dark mana cascading around him, as though he couldn’t hear a thing. Even with the ground shaking beneath him, his steps never faltered.
He’s seriously going to get himself killed at this rate. Adrian glanced around at the salamanders nearby. Even if an explosion erupted right now, those creatures would likely be fine. The massive quake caused the lava lake beside the hill to churn violently. The red-hot magma bubbled and slammed into itself, bursts of fire flaring up both large and small.
Ugh—!
A powerful wind blew. Considering they were underground, such a wind should’ve been impossible. Yet the gust only grew stronger. Adrian shielded his eyes with his arm and squinted up at Mikhail, now standing tall atop the hill.
The wind was created by a massive surge of mana in motion.
Every bit of mana in the area was converging toward him. The prince’s radiant silver hair whipped about in the roaring current. And still, Mikhail gave no reply—no sign that he even heard.
“Mikhail Luce Inehart!”
Adrian grit his teeth and shouted his full name. The prince’s red eyes lit up like they were set ablaze. Slowly, he raised the arm holding his sword. Tch, Adrian watched as mana threatened to rip itself out of his own body, barely managing to suppress it. What the hell is happening? He clenched his teeth harder, refusing to let the mana be taken from him. A massive concentration of mana gathered in the prince’s palm.
RUMMMBLE—!
The earth roared with an earsplitting tremor, as if it were about to explode. It was like the Dohenia Volcano was on the verge of eruption.
An eruption? Adrian froze in place.
No one had ever uncovered the true cause of the Dohenia eruption. And now, he was witnessing it with his own two eyes.
Is this where the game ends? Adrian thought bitterly. Not even one semester at Basamiel Academy—and it’s already over. He’d gone through that grueling paperwork and identity verification process just to get accepted… and now, all that effort…
Suddenly, the prince raised his right arm high.
The sword he held gleamed even from here, wrapped in pure mana. Enveloping one’s sword in mana—that was the domain of a Sword Master. But Mikhail wasn’t one. The Gold Dragon stood frozen, trying to make sense of this chaotic spectacle.
Chiiiiik—!
The salamander beside Adrian let out a low sound. A reassurance? Adrian narrowed his eyes, watching Mikhail at the top of the hill. Salamanders were never malicious spirits. They didn’t harm life.
“Then…”
The sword in Mikhail’s hand was now cloaked in sword energy, radiating brilliant light in the dark cavern. The Gold Dragon let out an audible ah, realization dawning on his face. All the salamanders in the underground cave slowly lowered their heads in reverence toward Mikhail on the hill. The Gold Dragon, too, couldn’t tear his gaze away from the human atop the peak. The way mana and wind swirled around him, glowing bright as if the world itself was revealing something divine.
The dragon’s lips parted slowly.
“So from the beginning… the one you were guiding wasn’t me—it was Mikhail?”
It wasn’t a dragon they had needed, but a mere human? And yet, no one remained who could answer that question.
The prince’s sword flared with light and moved like lightning.
Mikhail drove the blade—sharpened and wrapped in pure sword energy—straight into the hilltop. The earth split open instantly, like pudding torn apart, a massive crack ripping through it.
