Chapter 47

At the moment the ice dragon attacked and the crystalline path emerged amidst the ground, Aiden and Riley quickly grabbed their swords.

"What was the bet exactly? Do you remember?"

Gripping the beast's tail with his blade, Aiden leaped over it and, wielding his sword firmly, cleaved a large chunk.

Even disconnected from the rest of its body, the creature's tail kept thrashing on the ground as a roar of pain echoed, and bluish blood oozed from its wound.

"I don't know... I think it had something to do with soup of..."

His blade rose, but the strike was halted midway, and Riley placed his free hand over his mouth.

"...Mandrake... I am NOT eating that! Don't even try!"

"Oh, yes, I remember now..."

With the icy breath coming his way, Aiden raised his sword and, smiling, sliced through the white whirlwind.

"Carlos is going to love this."

After the ice was broken, he leaped, and wrapped around the thickest part of the severed tail, what seemed like a water rope passed under his feet and headed toward the creature's mouth.

A muffled grunt echoed, and flapping its huge wings, the dragon began to take flight.

"But seriously, I think that was kind of underwhelming... The legends really exaggerated this time."

Its wings flapped continuously and desperately, yet the creature didn't even budge from where it was.

"It's not as scary as they said it would be."

The water rope tethered to his feet was pulled, and as Aiden moved his blade upward, the creature's body plummeted toward the ground split in two.

After they had sheathed their swords, they both approached the dragon's body. The bluish liquid continued to ooze, as if the creature's body were melting and taking on that form.

"This is strange..."

Enveloping his fist in flames, Riley brought his hand close to the liquid.

"This is the same liquid that's been flowing from the sea, up the mountain, and from the kingdom's lake."

The flames faltered and his fingers began to slowly freeze, causing Riley to recoil.

"So you're saying that..."

The waters of the sea vibrated, and the small ice pebbles on the ground trembled slightly. As the sky over the ocean darkened, simultaneous roars echoed in the distance.

"..I'm almost certain the legends speak of only one ice dragon, right...?"

Drawing his sword, Riley nodded.

"So what are these things..?"

The sky darkened above their heads, and the hundreds of monsters, circling perfectly around the boundary with the demonic realm, halted together in mid-air.

White spread across the sky, and from top to bottom, the dimensional barrier shone like a spectacular rainbow.

"This is..."

Most of the colors dissipated, and before their eyes, only the white, blue, and red that colored the skies remained.

"..They're trying to... destroy the barrier...!"

In a strange and abnormal event, as if the ambient mana itself were going against what protects them, white surged from the inner side of the realm.

A small fissure was created in the sky, allowing a glimpse of the outside world. The yellow sun fought fiercely to acquire its own space in that place.

The crack, racing like lightning, extended to the top of the mountain that surrounds the right side of the realm, and as terror spread, the icy air flooded the entire area within seconds.

With the ceasing of the freezing gusts, an intense simultaneous roar echoed, shaking the entire sky, and like a grand and miraculous gate, the realm's barrier opened.

***************

"So... you're saying there were hundreds of dragons?"

Aiden nodded.

"If that's the case..., where are the others?"

"Hm.."

For a moment, the dragon spins, and his hand moves horizontally, creating a perfect line that proceeded to cut through all the nearby creatures.

"According to Riley, they probably went to Camelot."

His eyes descend towards the wall for a moment, and immediately, the green hair catches his attention amidst the crowd.

Aiden clenched his teeth.

"You can handle things here, right?"

Removing his sword from the creature's neck, the dragon's head falls along with its body, and black wings sprout from his back.

With the blade sheathed, his descent to the ground was as swift as the time it took to pick up Silvia in his arms.

"Hey! What?! What are you doing?"

Heading towards the castle, his words are heard, but completely ignored.

"Put me down now!"

The wind on her face had stopped, and the cold on her skin had ceased.

"..."

Silvia opened her eyes, only to find herself in an excessively tidy room.

"Clovis's room...?"

After a deep sigh, she walked towards the exit.

"Huh?"

Her fingers slid through the air even before touching the doorknob, and looking at the effect caused by her touch, she soon realized... touching the door is impossible.

"You didn't..."

The windows were her next attempt. But the results were the same.

"Seriously?! Instead of talking, you're just going to lock me in someone else's room?!"

Sighing, she threw herself onto the bed.

"I'm not a child to be grounded anymore!"

"Talking wouldn't result in anything with you..."

That voice... The sniffing nose and the fingers of his hands cracking almost silently... Silvia could hear it perfectly.

Rising and placing her hands on the invisible barrier covering the window, she touched it with her forehead.

"How many more times do I need to tell you...? Doing this is dangerous, it's borderline foolishness. And you don't even know how to fight, so what were you doing in the midst of battle?!"

"But what if someone needed..."

Her hand moved instinctively, hitting the wall, and the whole room shook. Books fell from the shelf.

"I needed to!"

Tears continued endlessly, falling through the air like tiny crystal drops.

"I need you, but... But you... you don't even care, do you...?"

The black wings flap, and her last tear falls.

"You know what.., it doesn't matter..."

Wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her uniform on a face that, thanks to the cold, had no tears, Aiden undid the barriers present on the door and windows.

"Do whatever you want."

With a beat of his wings, an impulse was created. The windows tremble, and her hair sways, but before her eyes, Silva saw him drifting away without even considering looking back.

She sighed.

Covering her eyes, Silva once again let her body fall onto the bed.