—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When faced with a dragon, human reactions were never varied. They trembled in fear, submitted, or simply gave up on life.
He had wondered what it would feel like to encounter a creature of myth. Even if it was the being he had yearned to take revenge upon, he couldn’t ignore the fear rising from deep within his heart.
A dragon.
The being he had waited for so long.
Why did the resolve he had held so tightly, the promise to cut it down, waver, even for a moment? Was it because it defied common sense, exuding an overwhelming pressure with just a glance? He gritted his teeth.
It had simply become a dragon.
Nothing had changed. He was still at a disadvantage. He reassured himself with this thought.
Kraaaa-
The dragon, its wings now fully unfurled and then folded, turned its gaze back towards him. The arrogance in its eyes was understandable.
A dragon whose mere flight could erase mountains, whose breath could incinerate a nation—even such exaggerations seemed fitting.
Because this was the Four-Winged Dragon.
He gripped his sword. Hiding his fear, he filled the void with his surging mana. He mustn’t falter. He had to face this dragon with the single-minded intent to cut it down.
Turning doubt into certainty, with the mindset of ending the hundred repetitions of waiting he had endured.
He wouldn’t retreat.
He stepped forward, gripping his sword tightly. He sliced through the wind pressure from the dragon’s wings and faced the shadow that enveloped the entire Imperial City.
Could he do it? It was time to put aside such questions.
He had to do it.
Come to think of it, today…
He belatedly remembered that today was always the day he died.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Perhaps it looked like a grand play.
Though each person fought for different reasons, their eyes, united against a single enemy, held a common solemnity. Some fought to protect the Imperial Palace, their lifelong home, others to protect their loved ones.
He simply wanted to break this seemingly eternal cycle, but his purpose didn’t seem to matter much to those who had reached this point.
Miragen stared blankly as the Imperial Palace, boasting a thousand years of history, burned. She seemed to have much to say as she watched him fight the dragon, but she couldn’t speak, preoccupied with the demons swarming the soldiers.
Flames roared, and the remnants of buildings, turned to ash, swirled in the wind. It was a moment long enough for the word “apocalypse” to flash through everyone’s minds.
The moon set, and the sun, brimming with heat, rose, eclipsing the moon.
An eclipse.
Surely, this was the moment the dragon had been waiting for.
He faltered. Everyone who had made it this far felt fear again as they looked at the dragon.
Even Adele, Adriana, and Miragen, who had never wavered in their belief that they could win, seemed unable to hide their feelings in this moment.
“You must be struggling to even stand. Why not give up?”
“…Ha.”
He was breathless. All he could do was slash at the dragon’s wing joints, but he couldn’t guarantee it would change the tide of the battle.
Perhaps it was foolish from the start to try to slay a dragon with a few swords. He knew that and yet he had charged in.
It was harder than he had imagined, and a laugh escaped him.
The dragon watched him chuckle.
Being reflected in eyes as big as a person was a strange experience. How amusing it must be for the dragon to see something so small challenging it.
Just imagining the dragon’s perspective sent chills down his spine, and the sword in his hand trembled.
So, could he defeat it?
He was close, but the damage he had inflicted was minimal.
The power he gained from the mental world, the sword he had made his own… The sword Miragen had given him couldn’t withstand any more magical power.
Even though he had infinite time, the sword he had crafted was insignificant against a dragon…
He clutched his throbbing head and stared at the ground.
He calculated his next move, listening to the sounds around him.
What would happen next if he stayed still? He closed his eyes, pondering this.
It would be alright, just for a moment, he thought, trusting that the people who had come with him could endure that brief respite.
He heard countless sounds.
The screams of soldiers dying while fighting demons, the sobs of the clergy listening to their cries.
“…I don’t know how much longer we can hold out. At this rate, not even an hour.”
“We have to defeat the dragon. But…”
He smiled wryly at Adrian’s hesitant voice, then chuckled at the sound of Adel running.
It suited her personality to run instead of wasting time talking.
What had he changed? In the lives he had lived, what had he changed?
Within his broken and shattered mind, hope bloomed again.
The boy who had been trapped in the swamp of despair had finally experienced change in his countless repeated lives.
Those who had tormented him no longer existed.
Theresa, Yuria…
He reminded himself that they now meant nothing to him. What he had built, the reason those who should have died were alive here.
Wasn’t this the result of his relentless efforts? The feeling he felt now wasn’t emptiness, nor complaint… It was far from that.
He felt strangely good. He gripped his sword again and slowly rose.
His knees, at their limit, creaked in pain.
He tore off the burned scraps of his clothes, his body covered in cuts and burns, and faced the dragon once more. He didn’t know why.
He didn’t know why the pressure he had felt at first had completely vanished.
…Perhaps, his body was so broken that he couldn’t even feel that pressure anymore.
Life is a cycle.
The deaths and births of people are connected like threads, woven like knots. If someone lives, another must die.
Had he killed someone to save everyone else? Was he now, by killing this dragon, moving towards another act of saving someone?
“It doesn’t matter.”
He would live a little selfishly.
Saving everyone was something heroes did, and he wasn’t that grand, nor did he have such ambitions.
It was enough that the people he cared for were alive. If he could save them with his power, if he could protect them…
Wasn’t that enough?
In which life had he first harbored such desires?
In a past he could no longer recall, he had first resolved to protect. He had wandered after realizing that resolve was a lie, but in the end, this was where he found himself.
Facing the dragon, standing before it, sword in hand. If this wasn’t an opportunity, what was?
What he held in his hand wasn’t a sword, but a chance.
A key to see tomorrow, to move beyond the past that always ended today.
All that remained was one swing.
“Are you giving up?”
“No, never.”
There was a level of mastery he had always dreamed of.
A mere fantasy, a what-if scenario where he wouldn’t have any worries if he could just do this.
Amidst the muddled thoughts in his head, a thrilling sensation surged, and that past fantasy resurfaced.
Intent.
What was he doing now? He was trying to cut down what was in front of him.
Who? The answer was, of course, the dragon.
What he held was a sword.
The purpose of a sword was to cut.
…Was that enough?
A sudden breeze wrapped pleasantly around him. It carried the scent of flowers, though there were none.
The air, which should have been scorching from the flames, felt cool.
Even though it was probably an illusion, it felt real. His body felt strangely light, and he felt like he could do anything.
He delved back into his thoughts.
Swish-
The sword, infused with mana, had long since shattered, unable to withstand the power.
The unbreakable sword was merely a tool to test his limits.
It was probably right to assume that no sword remained that could withstand his power.
Of course, that didn’t mean he would give up.
“A sword is a sword.”
Why did a sword exist as a sword? It was a tool for cutting. Its sharpness and pointedness merely made the task easier.
Was a sword truly necessary to cut? No, there was no need to define it so narrowly.
It felt like something blocked within him had burst open. An intense energy emanating from his heart spread, pouring out towards the sky. He wasn’t the only one who felt the difference this time.
This time, he could see a clearer path.
In a monochrome world, a space painted in black and white, the only thing that moved was the hilt of the sword falling downwards. There was no blade.
It had already broken.
But for one who held a sword, for one who had reached that pinnacle… Yes, for one who would be called a Sword Saint…
Shouldn’t they be able to cut even with a twig? He would cut.
Fueled by that single intent, the flames of his will roared like a raging storm. He crossed space, cut through the wind, and moved forward.
He barely registered the heat engulfing him.
“─────!”
Was that someone calling him? In his hazy vision, he felt nothing.
Hadn’t he said it? He had poured everything into this, and now there was only monochrome. He swung his sword as if falling forward.
Like when he first imitated the movements of a knight. Just like that. Slowly.
Only the sword swinging forward was clear.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Everyone on the battlefield witnessed the dragon’s fall.
They stared blankly as Robert Taylor’s single sword stroke split the sky and cleaved the monstrous being. The dragon’s expression, frozen in the moment it was bisected, held only shock.
But no one cheered. Too much had been destroyed.
They stared blankly at the full moon rising beyond the split sky, then at the dragon lying dead, cleaved in two, before collapsing to the ground.
They had no strength left to rejoice. The moment the dragon vanished, the demons dispersed as well.
Adriana speculated that the contracts bound by souls had been broken.
“Perhaps when the Four-Winged Dragon disappears, they all disappear. Just like the dragon said, they were probably contracts tied to its soul.”
“If that’s the case…”
Adele slowly walked towards where Robert lay.
He looked as if he might collapse at any moment, and she couldn’t leave him like that. She planned to take him back to the North anyway.
With the capital in ruins, it was likely that others would stay in the North for a while.
‘With both the Princess and the Saint in the North… well, it might as well be the capital.’
She was relieved to find him still breathing, but then she frowned at the sight of his blood-soaked body.
She wished he hadn’t pushed himself so hard, to the point of completely exhausting his mana.
“You’ve always worried me sick. Ever since way back…”
The reason she cried was always Robert. The reason she was hurt was always Robert.
She had thought she had no particular connection with men, but now she realized that most of her countless lives had been intertwined with Robert.
Adele stroked Robert’s unconscious cheek and smiled faintly.
It was over.
Robert’s worries, the lives that always ended today, were no more.
With the brilliantly shining full moon so clear, there was no need to harbor such worries anymore.
…Now, it was finally over.
“Good work, Robert.”
The life of a man, once filled with bad endings and tragedies, had finally been saved, by himself.
Adele kissed his forehead.
Kiss.
She wore an uncharacteristically gentle smile.
A refreshing smile, like the breeze, like a gentle tailwind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Well bois this is the end, thats it were done but sheesh was this a good read and atleast robert finally got his happy ending. also all the waifus won once again so im happy. anyways love yall and see u in the next one, peace from Daddy Fusion!]
