Chapter 85: A Field of Ash

Chapter 85: A Field of Ash

Early Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Zan

- Osto Ragnarok ~

-Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t...- I was in a complete panic after hearing that Vasilias ran off on his own in an attempt to save Kaelallan. -I'd rather have Kaelallan burn to the ground than have Vasilias die...-

It had been a little over an hour since I left the capital at that point, but I was still struggling to shake off my lingering, unwarranted aggression toward Oliver.

The longer I thought about it, the more I realized how futile Oliver’s attempts to stop or protect Vasilias were, but I was still upset nonetheless. -Even if he got Eulia and Lawton to follow after him, Vasilias would have been over the horizon before they could find him...-

I knew firsthand just how fast Vasilias was, and to put it simply, it was a speed unattainable by any being other than him.

A flight that would take me over an hour, even at full speed, he could do in a couple of minutes. -And I'm sure the speed I experienced then wasn’t his limit...-

I felt a complicated mix of emotions when I thought back to his relaxed and unbothered expression when he carried me to Kaelallan. -He really is a monster, even among dragons...-

Realizing I was getting sidetracked again, I quickly cleared my mind and looked down to see a road with a sign indicating I was at the border with the Kindom of Zan. "Alright, I need to focus..." Assuming he was likely somewhere along the border, I quickly turned to fly along it and started to scan the area below, being sure not to miss a single detail.

But aggravatingly, I struggled to find any signs of a fight anywhere.

The area below me was just an endless forest, with only the occasional large monster or dungeon beneath the canopy.

-Sh*t... Where is he...- The more time that passed, the more my anxiety grew.

But that was when I finally saw something.

Well over the horizon, I saw a blinding blue light, like a shooting star, dart toward the ground. -That must be him!-

Rushing toward the light as fast as possible, I quickly came up to a dilapidated road with several mutilated bodies scattered along it, but that wasn't what made me worried.

Stretching into the forest was a wide path where trees had been destroyed as if a dragon was plowed through them. -There’s no way Vasilias was knocked hard enough to clear that, but that would mean...-

Feeling my heart sink, I looked into the forest in a rush, just to have my worries confirmed.

Lying there, just inside the forest, was a halfie not much smaller than me, with an unrecognizably destroyed head and a snapped neck. -Some of those Nation Ranks were dragons?!-

Immediately breaking into panic, I gained altitude and flew toward where the blue light was, still some 20 kilometers away. "Please tell me I'm not too la-" *CRACKLE*

A massive plume of fire erupted from the dust-filled area before I could even ease my worries.

The fire turned the surrounding, tall-standing trees to ash and lit the foliage on fire immediately, but the most horrifying part about it was that the flame was unfamiliar. -That’s not Vasilias’s breath...-

It was a realization that made my heart tense up. "VASILIASSSS!!" I yelled his name at the top of my lungs as the fire slowly dissipated.

My previous worries and anxieties were immediately replaced with a blinding, uncontrollable rage.

- Vasilias ~

Wearing a warm smile, I walked a bit toward Father, but when I took a closer look at him, I noticed how on edge he was.

My face switched to one of concern immediately. "Are you alright, Father?!"

His face showed a mix of anxiety and worry. "Y..yes, I'm fine, but more importantly... What happened to you, Vasilias?" He looked both Ilios and I up and down with an anxious expression.

-Ah right.. How do I explain this...- Looking at his still somewhat fearful expression, I felt my heart ache. -Telling him the details will only make things more difficult...- "All I can really say is that I entered a dragon sleep after doing something incredibly stupid."

He stared at me with wide eyes. "You had a dragon sleep? In just a few days?!"

"Kind of? But not really... Now isn’t a good time to explain..." I felt bad about hiding something like that from him, but I knew explaining it wouldn’t help our already brittle relationship. -I can tell he's been trying to improve his side of our relationship after Mother spoke with him... I don't want to ruin his effort...-

Thankfully though, without me getting too involved, Father’s fearful expression started to fade. "Haah... I won't pry as long as you just promise to tell your mother and me about it eventually, alright?" His voice was oddly caring and warm.

"O-of course. It's just something that would be.. troublesome to explain currently."

Father’s expression slowly started to warm up after I spoke. "In that case, it’s fine..." As if finally easing his mind, he let out a quick breath. "Well.. since we have that out of the way... WHAT WAS THAT EXPLOSION?! ARE YOU STUPID?!" He quickly ran up to me and bonked me on the head.

"Haha, you didn't like my little firework?" A smile found its way onto my face as I saw him acting like his normal self again.

"LITTLE?! IT LOOKED LIKE YOU RECREATED THE SUN! If your mother finds out you did this, she'll kill me!"

"Haha, I'll take the blame, don't worry. Since I didn't get that hurt, I'm sure I'll be able to find a way out."

Hearing me mention I was hurt, worry returned to his face. "Right, where are you hurt?" He quickly got closer to examine the various scratch marks all over my scales.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. The worst thing is just a couple of broken ribs, but those will be healed in a couple days."

He paused and looked up at me before finally stepping back. "Haah, how am I going to explain this to your mother..."

"If you don't want to, I can." -As long as I'm careful, I can at least avoid getting scolded...- "How is she doing, by the way? Did you stop by?"

"Ah, yeah. She's doing good. Since we left, she has just spent most of her time sleeping by the door, guarding Krystallo. While I was there, I made sure to get her plenty of food, so she wouldn't have to leave at all."

Thinking she sounded lonely, I had the sudden urge to go home, but I knew that wasn't possible right now. -I’ll be sure to come home quickly, Mother!- "What about Krystallo? How’s her sleep going?"

"So far, so good, but you never know what will happen during them, so it’s best if I don't say anything..."

-Right.. It’d be best not to jinx it...- "All we can do is pray to Bahamut that nothing happens, right?."

"Right..." There was a short moment of silence before he continued. "Well, anyways.. Is this guy really still alive?" He looked behind us at the halfie playing dead on the ground.

-To think a dragon could have such a rat-like instinct...- Quickly flashing him with my aura, he tensed up and turned to us with a look of fear. -That's better...-Discover new chapters at novelhall.com