The final piece (1)
A pure white northern road where even the snow has not yet melted properly.
There was a carriage driving along the road where spring is said to be the latest to arrive on the continent.
“Hey! Hey!”
Knights in shining armor and a maroon-colored carriage escorted by them.
The group looked unusual at first glance, but now they were running hastily down the frozen northern road as if they were being chased by something.
“Lord Gregory! “We must hurry!”
The breath exhaled by the tired horses became thicker, and the men’s sweat, frozen by the cold wind, was already clinging to their beards.
However, even with this forced march, there was a reason why they could not stop.
“They say the shadow of a dragon was just seen in Shoara!”
That’s because the being following them now was a dragon that only appears in legends.
They were Peter’s convoy departing from Sturma, pursued by a dragon that was neither an ordinary enemy nor an insidious trap.
“Holy shit! “It’s too fast!”
Gregory, the knight in charge of this convoy, pursed his lips at the sound of Ragmus’ voice coming from the carriage.
The shadow of the oldest dragon seen in the high sky of Shoara.
What the shadow is chasing is probably the dragon sculpture they are keeping.
“It didn’t seem like it would work from the beginning!”
As of today, it has been two weeks since the dragon sculpture from Sturma was transported.
Gregory had never run this far in his life, but the dragon following them had already crossed the northern part of the country and had reached the pure white snow field.
“Maxim! “How long until Deremar!”
“But we still have to go for half a day!”
“Damn it!”
There is not much left, but the distance seems unattainable.
Gregory, who realized that it was impossible to accomplish the mission even without calculating it, looked at Ragmus, who was running next to him.
“Do it.”
Just as the rising sun cannot be stopped, the dragon flying now cannot be stopped by humans.
The dragon was like a disaster, but that didn’t mean he could just sit back and watch the coming destruction.
“…Going inside for the second time!”
Seeing Ragmus nodding as if he was ready, Gregory’s finger pointing at the knights began to get busy.
“Maxim! Cade!”
Gregory’s fingers pick out the fastest knights, not the strongest.
Every time Gregory made a gesture, the galloping knights began to approach with their horses.
“And…”
Knight Cade, the son of a hunter, and Maxim, a knight with extensive knowledge in horsemanship, were natural choices.
However, unlike before, Gregory’s last finger was a little hesitant.
“…Can you help me?”
Because where Gregory’s finger stopped now, there was a barbarian warrior with colorful cloths tied around his head.
Age, a warrior of the Budaat tribe who call themselves the Sons of the Plains.
In the past, their relationship was just one of take and take, but among the men here now, there was probably no one as fast as Age.
“Now you look at me. “Knight of the Empire.”
It was a bit of a nervous question, but Age’s face was filled with calmness as she answered.
“Don’t worry. “I was planning to pay for the inside of the castle wall.”
The Budaat people who lost their home to the Dragon Slayer Knights and Lindwurm.
However, thanks to the wall provided by the dark-eyed young man, they were able to escape the deadly cold.
“In essence, the price of life can only be paid with life.”
Northerners and barbarians separated along the divide drawn by the oldest dragon.
However, the dragon fragment that Gregory conveyed was clearly passed down across that gap.
※※※※
Vlad and the knights were heading up toward Shoara along the gradually melting northern road.
Their appearances were as different as the uniforms they wore, and they were running toward the northern city of Shoara, holding their respective flags high.
“see! “I can see it!”
“what!”
At that moment, Nibelun’s voice was heard urgently shouting among them who were running non-stop.
“A golden dragon!”
The sight of Nibelun putting his rounded palms to his eyes looked quite comical.
However, no one will be able to easily ridicule the mystery of Nibelune if they see the eyes drawn on his palm moving around wildly.
“Hey… Shoah. “No, the focus was too much.”
Nibelun hurriedly held up a few fingers as if this was not the case and began to recite the scene in front of him in detail as if he could see it this time.
“Looks like we’ve already passed Shoara! “It seems like they are flying along the road just like us!”
Although he did not speak loudly, his voice was heard by everyone.
The oldest dragon is flying from the opposite direction from the one we are currently running towards.
Several knights began to swallow their saliva, remembering the ferocious sight they would soon encounter.
“okay?”
However, unlike the other knights, Vlad, who was running ahead, seemed a little relieved.
“I guess it’s not too late yet.”
Having to be where you need to be also means having to be at the most appropriate time.
And the fact that the dragon that should have been high in the sky came down to find the road is proof that it has not yet found what it should be looking for.
“uh? uh!”
However, Nibelun’s urgent voice now was telling Vlad that there was not much time left.
“Coming down? “Come down!”
“Where!”
It was a sight that only he could see, but Nibelun was panting nervously and raising his voice as if he had forgotten even that.
“…By carriage!”
There was a sight visible beyond Nibelun’s palm.
The shadow of a huge dragon coming down from the sky and the maroon carriage that the dragon is trying to violently snatch.
“The carriage is broken!”
There were Bayezid’s knights waving their aura at the flying dragon.
However, their swords were blocked by hard golden scales and it ended up being a futile attempt.
“Everyone, quickly! I do not have time!”
There were fragments of the carriage flying loudly from the tips of the dragon’s claws.
Nibelun felt as if they could hear their screams all the way up to the terrible scene seen through the mystery.
※※※※
“Off…”
Red blood was scattered across the snow that had not yet melted.
Horses turned into fragments and corpses of knights scattered around.
Underneath Bayezid’s broken banner and the cruel scene, Knight Gregory lay unconscious and as if dead.
“You ran quite far.”
“…Isn’t it a wizard’s job to find a way anytime, anywhere?”
The roof was broken, and the wizard Ragmus was laughing weakly inside the remains of the carriage, which now only had its shape.
“Why don’t you know that it’s a futile effort? “The more you struggle, the more you suffer.”
However, Sarnus the Dragon Blood Lord only frowned as if he was not pleased with the laughter.
“Just crawl on the ground and live the way you were born.”
The knights of the North who put themselves through a hard time while humans were just crawling on the ground.
Even though he tore them apart, Sarnus’ blue eyes were still full of unquenched anger, as if he was still not satisfied.
“Where are the pieces?”
“Cough! Cough! “Ugh…”
Sarnus lifted Lagmus by the collar with a rough hand and was able to discover a pitch-black box he had been sitting on.
It was a black box that the blood-covered old man refused to give up until the very end.
“hmm?”
However, the silver chain that was always supposed to be wrapped around the box Sarnus was looking at was not visible.
“…No matter how much you crawl on the ground, you can’t at least jump.”
Where the chain should have been, there were numerous mathematical formulas drawn in blood.
Looking at Ragmus’ wrist, which was stained red, Sarnus, the dragon bloodsmith, felt like he could tell where the blood came from.
“I guess you’re old now too. “You can’t even recognize the traces of the dragon that the old man covered.”
Ragmus, the wizard who erased the dragon’s traces and seduced him with his mystery.
His aged face was full of wrinkles, indicating the last smile of his life.
“These damned barbarians…”
Kwasik!
With an ominous sound, Ragmus’ body, whose neck had been broken, began to hang limply.
“Are you going to interrupt me until the end?”
At the same time, the place where Sarnus’ blue eyes are staring is in a pure white forest.
The presence of the sculpture, which can only be felt properly now that the mystery has disappeared, began to be felt in the snow-filled forest.
※※※※
Kaaaaaa-!
As the angry dragon roared from afar, the snow sitting on the tree began to fall down helplessly.
The wrath of the oldest dragon that causes even the forest to tremble with fear.
And the place where that anger was directed was where the three knights were now.
“Go up the street!”
A hunter’s path somewhere between the road and the forest.
Maxim, Cade, and Agee, who were running along the road, realized that they could no longer hide themselves and quickly started to climb up the wide road.
“Has everyone already suffered?”
“I don’t know either!”
Cade shook his head and said he didn’t know, but there was a piece in his arms that was glowing red.
The piece, wrapped in paper filled with blood-red magic, was given to them by the wizard Ragmus, who sprinkled his last mystery on it.
“Anyway, it’s just us now!”
A piece of the most perfect possibility that continues to whisper to you even now.
However, to Cade, who is not a dragon, it is just an annoying piece of shining jewel.
However, the whisper of that piece was still calling to the oldest dragon in the sky.
“…I can see it in front of me!”
There was a green field finally visible in front of the knights riding on horseback.
Unlike the northern road, which had not yet thawed, it was a field full of spring, which had only just begun to emerge.
“come!”
Wow!
However, before they even reached the spring, the shadow of a huge dragon was looming behind the knights.
The shadow of a dragon who wants to place all the possibilities in this world at his feet.
However, even under that huge world, Age was able to find a small flag floating in front of him.
“……found.”
A flag that appears vaguely like a mirage.
However, the flag was clearly running towards where they were.
“Give me a piece.”
“what?”
“Ask me for a piece.”
There was the cool breath of a dragon that could be felt from behind.
However, despite the brutal force, Age simply inserted the red glowing piece into his catapult without hesitation.
“I will tell you for sure.”
After passing through winter, it is now spring.
However, while calculating the distance that could not be reached yet, Age began to spin the catapult.
Wow!
The shadow approaching me was becoming increasingly black, but it was probably not as dark as the black horse in front of me.
The descendant of the unicorn I wanted to have.
However, Age smiled as she looked at the blonde knight who looked better than me.
“……okay. “I heard he likes red.”
Wow!
The ground that the son of the meadow walked on was already filled with bright green sprouts.
A red light shot by Age along the direction where the sprouts started.
The light was flying past the dragon’s claws toward Noir’s bright red reins visible in the distance.
※※※※
Kugwagwagwang-!
“no!”
Along with the loud noise made by the dragon, a large cloud of dust began to rise above the northern road.
The dust cloud, mixed with a lot of snowflakes, came with a cool wind and was blowing Vlad’s hair.
“Holy shit!”
In such thick dust that it’s really hard to see even an inch ahead.
But what was more painful to Vlad was the last sight of the knights running towards him.
[Vlad! We are!]
But the fragment they sent was definitely aimed at Vlad.
Exciting-!
“……stomach?”
The direction my beating heart points to.
Vlad raised his head in that direction and was able to spot a familiar red light visible in the whitish dust.
“Noir-!”
-Stop!
A red light floating amidst the dragon and its roaring cries.
The dragon and the black horse began to run across the green meadow toward the sculpture floating on the border between winter and spring.
Purr-rrr-!
The majesty of the golden dragon in front was truly amazing, but Noir’s eyes as he ran were filled with only bright red glowing fragments.
Heeeeeee-!
White horns began to appear on the heads of horses running toward the dragon sculpture.
That horn was a unicorn world that only beings born on green grasslands could have.
[Faster!]
A red light lingered for a moment between the dragon’s claws and the boy’s hand, which barely passed by.
The last remaining piece of the dragon, helpless among the scales and blonde hair of the same color.
“…Gotcha!”
There was a piece of a dragon shot by knights who had passed the winter.
And what held the piece was the boy’s hand reaching out at the end of spring.
Vlad arrived in time and his fingertips grabbed the last remaining piece of the dragon.
