The name of the newly embraced star, Dragon,
is inherently perfect.
A being that is huge, fast, sharp, and hard, and is closer to heaven than anything else in the world.
How sweet it is to be able to become someone that everyone can look up to.
Exciting-! Exciting-!
Now there were pieces tempting Vlad deep down there.
Sculptures of a dragon that strive to be perfect.
Quijano was not the only one who recognized the brightest possibilities.
“Ugh… ahhh!”
bang! bang!
I tried my best to calm down, but my heart still wouldn’t stop pounding.
And with that pounding, the anger and madness begin to flow out.
Vlad, unable to do anything about the dragon’s instinct, began to pound the ground and roar.
[Don’t look down! Look up! Vlad!]
Quijano’s cry was heard from deep within his soul, but the sound of his pounding heart obscured his voice.
Death worms attacking pilgrims.
Lindwurm, who preyed on barbarians.
And even Nidhogg, who tried to devour the young spirits of the World Tree.
Dragons who tried to take what was not mine but what belonged to others. Vlad became enraged at the fact that I had the same blood flowing in my body.
“Then what have I done so far!”
As time passed, his eyes became bluer and his teeth became sharper.
Seeing Vlad gradually giving in to his blood instincts, the northern lords began to draw their swords.
“Vlad! Lord Vlad!”
Even Alicia’s voice, crying out desperately at the sight, was fading, and Vlad’s consciousness slowly began to drift towards the place where the dragon sculpture was.
The temptation of the fragments, which even Lindwurm, who was far away, responded to, was a call that Vlad, who had just realized his dragon blood, would not dare to refuse.
“…….”
From white to green.
From green to blue gold and now to an ominous blood red color.
Timur could not hide his mixed feelings as he watched Vlad’s world confused about who he was.
[You may have been born as a dragon, but that doesn’t mean you have to live as a dragon!]
Quijano’s voice is increasingly obscured by the sound of his rough heartbeat.
However, the last words Quijano wanted to convey were able to penetrate deep into Vlad’s soul.
Don’t live the way you were born.
Please live the way you want.
Like the time when I was born as a dragon but looked at the stars.
Vlad, who was slowly sinking as the pieces called, raised his head at Quihano’s last cry.
Because I sank so deeply, where I could see, there was a star floating there that was always watching over me.
※※※※
“Wow!”
Volkov grabbed his tingling hand and quickly stepped back.
No matter how compatible the weapon is, the javelin wielder Volkov is one of the knights that symbolizes the North.
However, right now, he was just sweating and trying to deal with Mirshea’s attacks.
‘…Was he this strong!’
Fast, sharp and hard.
The posture, with no room to break into, is truly perfect.
Even the aura that was standing up seemed to get deeper and deeper as he walked forward.
“As I heard, the North treats guests poorly.”
As we approached, Mirshea’s momentum grew stronger.
Volkov, unable to guess the reason, simply prepared as best he could.
“I flew so far away that this is all I got.”
The knights who had fallen due to Mirshea’s deception began to wriggle little by little.
However, the reason he couldn’t stand up was probably because the blow he inflicted was so painful.
“If this is all I’m really disappointed about.”
Volkov’s eyebrows began to twitch as he watched Mirshea mercilessly trampling on the pride of the North.
Aura began to form on Volkov’s last remaining javelin.
“yes. “You have to give that much.”
The visible force was clearly fierce, but Mirshea, who was watching it, was only smiling happily.
Mirshea was enjoying this situation, feeling a strange sense of elation rising from below.
I am intoxicated with the existence of a country that becomes more perfect as it moves forward.
“…I guess I’m writing this because I’m being treated poorly.”
However, there was a sound that stopped his steps as he tried to move forward without hesitation.
The sound was coming from behind Volkov, who had been holding on to Mirshea all along.
Teeeeing –
The clear and beautiful sound of metal ringing.
Rutger flicked the blade with his fingers and slowly raised his head.
A dark, sticky red aura was flowing from his closed left eye.
“Then I will deal with you from now on.”
A sticky, hot aura like lava was flowing along Rutger’s sword.
His world is like a volcano.
Even though he was smiling brightly, deep inside his heart was still full of burning hurt and anger.
“Even the knights who fell for me.”
Taking advantage of the time the knights gave him, he went into the deepest part of the world and brought it out.
“…!”
Rutger’s anger, which he had been holding back for so long, exploded like an active volcano and was flowing towards Mirshea.
Quaaaaang-!
Finally, with one swing of the sword, the windows in the hallway shattered and the floor began to crumble.
There was a red line running out from among the broken pieces.
“I can finally give that proud face a punch!”
“Rutger… Bayezid!”
Blue eyes and a red world facing each other closely between swords.
The two men, who could no longer be rough, began to growl at each other.
※※※※
The conference hall felt as if cold water had been poured on it.
Vlad, who was standing at the entrance, staggered and raised his head.
The way he was still clutching his chest didn’t seem normal.
“…Is it really okay to do that?”
“what?”
Timur, who was looking at Vlad, was momentarily taken aback by Vlad’s sudden question.
I knew he was talking to himself, but it didn’t sound like a crazy question.
“Really… whatever you want…”
Vlad’s blue eyes were still unable to find focus.
It was as if his eyes were possessed by something, but the brilliant light in his eyes still shined as if it were about to explode.
“Duke.”
Timur turned his head for a moment when he heard Fernand’s voice calling urgently from next to him.
“…!”
The truth because it doesn’t change.
However, the scale that was supposed to tell the truth was now trembling and slowly tilting to the other side.
The current situation of overturning the truth was something both Fernand and Timur had seen for the first time.
-Young dragon. Not there! Look at me!
-Do not yearn for things that are difficult to have. There are so many things around you right now that you can sweep up!
The sound of the pieces screaming filled his ears, but now Vlad was listening but not seeing.
Because now Vlad raised his head and looked at Timur in front of him.
Now I was looking beyond him and toward the end of the ceiling.
“…Can I really do this?”
Beyond the unadorned sword, past the blue moon, and finally across the sky you can see a single star.
Vlad raised his head again, looking at the star that shined brighter than any being he had ever encountered.
Rumble-
“Duke!”
“What is this!”
“Aaaah!”
The northern lords suddenly began to panic at the harsh sound spreading from beneath the ground.
The sound that shook the city was like the cries of the sculptures that could not let go of the young dragon.
‘…I guess it’s a dragon!’
Steelsmith Timur, the guardian of the oath, could tell that the current tremors were caused by the dragon’s fragments.
In that case, Vlad in front is definitely a dragon.
“…But it’s tilted.”
But before I knew it, the old, shaky balance had tilted completely in the opposite direction.
The old coin on the tilted side was a coin made of an honorable metal that the sword master had removed from his sword in the past.
“Who the hell are you.”
A situation where both the dragon fragment and the scale of truth are said to be correct.
Timur, who could not decide between the duty of the oath to cut and the duty of a knight to keep, quietly closed his left eye and looked at Vlad in front of him.
“…….”
The world you see when you close your eyes.
In that quiet world where neither the earth’s rumble nor the lords’ screams could be heard, Timur was able to see someone’s back.
The man who was standing covering Vlad was even now raising both hands to cover the young dragon’s ears.
※※※※
All children born in this world have reached out for the stars.
And I became an adult because I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach it.
“Sweetheart. “If you have dreams for no reason in a place like this, you will only suffer.”
The old blacksmith also said this.
If you live in a place you can’t escape from and dream a dream you can’t achieve, you’re the only one who suffers.
In the end, it may be the fate of all children to live as they were born.
[okay. You were born as a dragon.]
Still, I believed.
That we were not born to live on mud like this.
Although it may not be a great thing, I was a person who wanted to have my own light.
[But you don’t necessarily have to live as a dragon.]
Even if you can’t reach the sky, if you want to shine, you should be a star.
And in the sky I look up to, there is a light that will one day clearly recognize me.
“……oh my god.”
The back of the man is recognizable because he is the guardian of the oath.
Timur, who reached the world through his closed left eye, was astonished when he realized what kind of scene he was seeing.
A tree was blooming behind Vlad, who was looking at the stars.
The color of the tree was golden and it grew straight and upright, soaring toward the stars floating in the sky.
One side of the tree is Vlad of Shoara.
On the other side is Vlad Aureo.
And since Dragulia was born with the remaining side, she has no choice but to accept it.
Vlad has accepted even the negative aspects as his own and now it is time to find his true self.
[Will you continue to raise your sword for the future of children?]
“Yes.”
[If you are where you are supposed to be, you will not neglect your duty no matter where you are.]
“Yes.”
An investiture ceremony was taking place between the boy and the knight, with the guardian of the oath as a witness.
It was a moment that could not be reached even by the dragon’s roar echoing from below.
[Then, one last time.]
Quihano removed his hands that were covering Vlad’s ears, took out a sword from his memory, and placed it on Vlad’s shoulder.
The brilliantly shining silver knight was much larger and shining than when seen from the young world tree.
[How can I receive only fair compensation for you, who must always be honorable?]
Do not covet or steal what belongs to others, but only receive your fair compensation.
It was only then that Vlad was able to make eye contact with Quihano in front of him while listening to the rules of a knight that Blue Moon once taught him.
“yes.”
The Sword Master slowly retreated as he saw Vlad, who was born as a dragon but vowed to live like a star.
[You have sworn to uphold all your obligations, and from this day on, you are your own master.]
With Quihano’s declaration, a starlight, not the dragon’s blood, began to dwell in the midst of Quihano’s pounding heart.
Who I want to be, not who I was born to be.
So Vlad looked at the star that resided in his heart.
The unadorned sword was broken, and in the end he could not reach the blue moon, but Vlad was still able to hold a star in his heart that he could dream of anew.
That star was the closest light to the boy so far.
When called out loud, it was a star called Sword Master.
