Chapter 696 – Contradiction and Clown

000

“Is that what connected you to Adam?”

“Adam said he would lend me the power to kill the dragon. While he was wandering the desert in search of a dragon, he met a man who claimed to be his priest and was given the dragon-killing dagger. To me, I like his thoughts and goals. Just, if I can annihilate the dragons, I can do anything.”

The elf who speaks in a heartless voice – no, Kanan.

Her eyes filled with madness, her hair shaking every time she spoke, were nothing but emptiness, and it seemed like there was nothing in her eyes except the will to kill the dragon-

It was like a machine-like look.

While Diora listened to Kanan’s words, the scene, all the despair-worthy scenes she had seen and felt, seemed to unfold before her eyes.

That’s because her tenacity was deeply engraved in her soul, and her voice, which had already become close to a spiritual body, had the ability to convey that soul’s screams to her partner.

Dio, who heard everything, almost understood everything, and she almost understood her motives.

However, if you think about it closely, there are many aspects that you cannot understand – the difference from what she knew about her stimulated Diora’s reason, and she held Diora back so that she would not take her side.

“You have a face that says you don’t understand.”

“To be honest, yes. I know for sure that your past is miserable. But… The person you must seek revenge on is ultimately Fafnir and… If it is true that you did not protect the village, then it is Letios. Not for those two? “You’re innocent when it comes to other dragons, right?”

When Diora challenged her rational opinion, Kanan raised his voice in annoyance.

“You can only say this because you don’t know how the continent changed in that era or what the dragons are doing! Many dragons, including Fafnir, dominated the humans by force or burned villages and countries for their own momentary fun! “You don’t know how scary it is that such powerful beings can eliminate so many lives with just one personal emotion…!”

＂…＂

No, Diora knows very well.

Probably, older people on this continent would know very well.

The continent has already suffered great damage once from a war caused by such a being.

Although Diora is a human born after the war between the empire and the kingdom ended, she is an indirect victim of the war-

This is because she was a person who was forcibly cut off from her beloved family and her beloved friends.

If she says that the biggest reason she moves is her obsession stemming from her fears, has she given up on her own reason so as not to lose something of herself anymore?

No, Diora thought that there seemed to be something a little more blind and forced there.

‘The original purpose was to kill time… But if this happens, there will be a need to further dig out the darkness inside her.’

Her Diora looks at her thinking that way, and tries to hit her with the truth she knows.

“I heard your story well. Mr. Elf. But… That story contradicts what I know to be true. Are you really an elf who has lived for close to a thousand years?”

＂What?＂

At Diora’s words, Kanan looked at her and her expression changed.

＂The village you were talking about that was burned down by Fafnir – the elf tribe that Letios protected. That fact is also written in human history books. Your people, among the elves, were especially warlike and hostile to humans.”

What she said was a legend about dragons, one of the few that has been passed down to humans.

It has been passed down as a tale that teaches us how foolish it is to break a promise with a dragon, and there are even fairy tales made based on it.

The war waged by the greedy elves, who coveted the land of humans and believed in the power of dragons, was called the ‘Shadow War’.

Elves never fought humans from the front because their numbers were so small compared to humans.

They assassinated important human figures using their unique archery and infiltration skills, weakened the national power, and then waged a war that slowly eroded the human world by ending the country in chaos.

Therefore, the war was given that name, meaning it was a war that was unknown to the public at the time.

The fact that it was discovered that it was an invasion by the elves was hundreds of years after the war had ended – when the elves’ hometown was burned by the dragon and the war was forced to end.

“In other words, your people broke the contract with Letios first at some point. If all your memories were true… Then I wasn’t telling you that.”

“─That’s nonsense. Is there any evidence for what you say?”

Kanan treated Diora’s words as nonsense and waved her arm.

“Are you really the one who wandered around for a thousand years and never heard a single story like that? They must have been curious, why they had to be destroyed by Fafnir. And, what is the real reason why Letios did not appear in front of them? If you listen to the story – I don’t think you would do that.”

However, Diora does not stop, confident that she is telling Kanan only the truth with her unwavering eyes.

“… I feel a little sorry to say this. Aren’t you just not aware of it? The elves have already started attacking humans.”

While working as a wizard’s assistant, Kanan repeatedly wandered outside the village, as if running away from something.

Moreover, the elves had never been attacked by humans until they were destroyed by Fafnir, so if only a part of the village knew that they were at war-

Or maybe, what if that fact had been hidden from Diora on purpose?

“No, maybe even your memory is wrong. The one you borrowed strength from was Adam. He will do anything to dominate humans… Aren’t you just being used by him for the sake of it?”

While there is no one who can tell the truth, Kanan subconsciously feels that Diora’s words are more credible.

She felt as if something had cracked inside her heart, and she dropped the dragon-slaying dagger she was holding in her hand to the ground.

As her head felt like it was going to break, she began to think about her own origins – her scenes that spoke to her.

Everything I believed to be true seemed to suddenly become lower in resolution and break apart like mosaic pieces.

Looking at her like that, Diora frowned for a moment.

Has the nature of the magical energy flowing from her body changed?

Originally, it was similar to the magical power of a dead person with infinitely negative energy, but she feels a somewhat foreign magical power.

It was so pure and clean that it was close to divine magic, so much so that it felt as if it could not be embraced by humans.

─No, Diora has felt this magical power.

Sometimes felt in the deepest part of the royal palace, in the king’s bedroom-

＂Diora!＂

At that time, when she turned around at the sound of a voice coming from beside her, she saw Cleon, fully armed, running in the direction where Diora was.

And then Sasha was there too.

After entrusting Kanan’s attraction to Diora, Cleon and Sasha were scrambling to find a way to prevent her from turning into a ghost that Ruben had mentioned.

However, should I say it was late or early, the timing was a little off.

The entire story was being relayed to Cleon through Diora’s ear cuff, but Diora raised her voice to Cleon.

＂The operation is a change! It looks like nothing is going as expected…!”

When Diora said that, Cleon must have sensed the unusual magical power felt by the elf. After telling Sasha to step back, she followed Diora to her side and took Galatea out.

“Hasn’t progress too much while I’ve been away?”

＂It’s not my fault… They just went out of their way…”

At Cleon’s words, that’s when Diora let out her sigh.

[The truth is sometimes something so harsh that we want to forget it. Fools who cannot understand that heart.]

Cleon and Diora frowned at the voice that rang directly from nowhere toward the inside of her head.

Even though this is my first time hearing this voice, and even though it sounds like the voice of a benevolent adult male.

Every time it rang in her head, she felt nothing but discomfort.

And immediately after that, the golden – no, platinum-colored magic – that gathered in front of Kanan took the form of a human.

That form is one that is covered in a robe and has an animal mask on its face – a form that I have seen many times.

＂… Exiled Church, approved…!＂

[It seems so…]

Galatea speaks as if answering Cleon’s words, and her humanoid magic speaks while looking at Cleon.

[Nice to meet you. It will be fine, dark magic swordsman. You are an insignificant being who has been interfering with our wish for a long time. I am Pitre. Although he has now lost his body, he is a shapeless person (safe shifter) who serves his father in the role of a clown even as a spirit.]

＂…＂

The hostility towards this guy that instinctively flows out of Cleon is not only caused by what has happened so far.

The deep part of the soul, the part that cannot be resisted.

Among the elements that make up Cleon, in the area of ​​’birth’ that he could not choose, Cleon desperately felt that he was his enemy.

Although it could not be denied that it was caused by the person in his previous life, Cleon spoke as he felt that for the first time, his personal opinion was in agreement with that person’s opinion.

＂You, her-Kanan ─＂

[Did you rule? Okay. She needed to play an important role in her father’s plans. Dragons, who are nothing but a hindrance in this world – regardless of good or evil, could be used to deal with the terrible abominations created solely to protect the inherited world.]

“The idea that dragons are monstrous things… It’s unconvincing since real monstrous creatures are talking about it. “Which of what she said is true and which is false?”

Diora says his words sarcastically, but the other person replies without showing any emotion.

[It is true that she was a wizard’s assistant. The elves killed her mother, who was a pacifist, and deliberately moved her to the outside of the village to prevent her from accessing the truth.]

＂…＂

[The exile of her sister and the loss of her mother left many gaps in her heart to dig into. She can’t help but make up for it.]

“You talk as if you’ve been cured, but don’t you hate sub-races? They say it’s a race that didn’t exist in the original world.”

When Cleon points out that, he nods his head obediently.

[Unfortunately, the humans my father loved were ineffective in dealing with dragons. They are fragile, short-lived, and die easily. But compared to that, she likes her elves to use. Even if it takes over 10 years of preparation to slay a single dragon, she can do it regardless. That’s why I chose elves.]

“You told me everything, so I was actually grateful? But you’re the monster, right? “It’s her master who has ruled her for nearly a thousand years.”

Of course, when Diora speaks in a jeering way, he speaks while looking at Kanan, who is suffering behind him.

[In order to protect the honor of my greedy compatriots, I planted false memories of being betrayed. By giving her an object to seek revenge on, she gave her the driving force of her life. What’s wrong with this? It seems that the mercy she showed to her, her subspecies, was enough. You, who remind me of the painful truth, seem like monsters.]

In other words, everything Kanan told Diora was a huge fable.

It is nothing more than a huge foreshadowing that shows how the existence of Kanan was played in the hands of fate.

‘Fiction’ created by mixing truth and lies, full of contradictions and incomprehensible probabilities.

It is a third-rate scenario written by Adam, with no causal relationship that exists beyond pointing out.

But it has been true for Kanan for a thousand years, and if Diora hadn’t brought it up, it would probably have been true forever until she died.

[… But I was also thinking that she was slowly approaching her limit. The moment she was wondering what to do with the girl who had become a time bomb that could explode at any moment – she just decided that she could use it to lure you out and deal with them.]

Processing, use.

She said that she changed her memories for her sake, but in essence, her banishment cult and Adam’s thoughts are clearly revealed, and she does not think of Kanan as anything more than a tool.

Feeling instinctive disgust, Cleon looked up at the sky.

＇Are we there yet…?＇

[Thank you for deliberately taking her to a place where no one was around. Here, even if she becomes her ghost and goes on a rampage, the damage to her will be minimal.]

After saying that, the member of the Order of Expulsion of the Magic Body extended her hand towards Kanan and strangled her with magic power.

＂Wow, ugh…!＂

If she dies in this state, what Ruben said will happen.

The arrows Sasha shot straight towards his hand, but he raised his free hand and created a wall of magic between himself and Sasha to block it.

＂Such…!＂

[This is meaningless resistance. Forgotten vessel of God, cursed beings like you will also be erased here.]

When the invisible hand engraved on Kanan’s neck becomes stronger, both Cleon and Dio are about to rush in to stop him.

“It’s not up to you to decide whether it’s a meaningless resistance!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to that place when they heard a high-pitched voice coming from overhead.

Then, the girl, wielding a staff with a brilliant light like the sun, fires magic of light while aiming at Kanan and the pitre strangling Kanan.

Pitre, who thought it was some kind of attack magic, tried to block it with a barrier, just like he did with Sasha, but—

Soon, when a barrier of light is created surrounding the surroundings, Pitre suddenly comes to his senses and looks towards Kanan.

The negative magic power that formed and changed her body was slowly weakening.

[This is…!]

At the same time as Pitre’s embarrassed expression, when Cleon, who had arrived right next to him, swung Galatea at him, he clicked his tongue and at the same time flashed a short distance for an instant, barely succeeding in dodging Cleon’s sword.

Diora catches Kanan as she falls, and Cleon looks at her as he places Galatea on her shoulder.

“It’s just like Ruben said. Just as black magic is canceled out by divine magic, negative magic can be suppressed by positive magic – that is, light magic.”

“You said it was just a temporary expedient!”

As Sasha said that, she followed Cleon’s side and aimed her bow at the pitre that was glaring at him.

[You don’t seem to know that it was my mercy to try to kill you using the elves.]

Pitre stood up from his seat as he said this, and his body collapsed like a liquid on the spot.

However, in that state, the magical power that made up the body gradually grew larger, and its appearance soon changed into that of a huge, black-scaled dragon.

“You look at a dragon and say it’s an abomination, but you end up taking on that form too…!”

Cleon speaks in astonishment, but Diora looks at it, and she immediately remembers her past that Kanan had talked about.

“… No way. Fafnir is said to have attacked and destroyed villages…?”

Pitre has an ugly smile on his face at Diora’s words.

＂… As expected, what needs to be eliminated from the continent is not dragons or sub-races… But it seems to be rotten Adam and his crazy followers who want to do whatever they want.’

Diora, who does not hide her anger, emits flames from the spear in her hand, and Selena, who was floating in the air, speaks as she lands on the ground.

“I suddenly asked you to come, but I didn’t hear about you fighting a dragon!?”

“Don’t worry. It’s just a fake imitating that appearance.”

“Indeed! If that’s the case, you’ll be at ease! But Diora? That window, I think I saw it somewhere-“

Doesn’t it look similar to what Drake was carrying? Just as he was about to ask, the four people gathered there covered their ears as Pitre (Fafnir) cried loudly.

[Fools who go against the will of the Father, regret that your foolishness will cost you your life!]

The group is silent for a moment as they look up at Pitre, flapping his wings and flying into the sky.

Then, Cleon talks to Sasha.

＂Sasha.＂

＂Yes.＂

＂Make air holes in his wings.＂

Nodding her head, Sasha pulls out her bow, and draws her bow with one of three special arrows she has forged with the magic of Ruben and her own.

And then, just before Pitre gathered flames in her mouth in the air and rained them down on her group, Sasha’s hand let go and flew away as if spinning –

In the air, a sharp crescent moon – or magical power like a wolf’s fang – rotated, creating a huge hole in Fafnir’s wing, just as Cleon had said.

Pitre falls to the ground screaming.

The flames gathered in the mouth fly in a strange direction and disappear.

Pitre, who was hit with a loud earth tremor, looked up at the four humans looking down at him.

＂Well… Then we should be held accountable for treating humans like idiots, right?＂

When Diora makes a clicking sound and loosens her hands, Cleon speaks.

“Did you say that the only things a shape-shifter can replicate are the abilities of the body? Then you don’t have to worry about magic.”

[Huh, how can you be so fine in front of a dragon? You are not the chosen warriors, nor are you dragon slayers…!]

“Something like that is simple.”

＂Because you are a person whose quality is so low that it cannot be compared to the real thing.＂

Saying that, Cleon swung his sword, and the horn on his head was cut off, and he rolled on the ground.

No matter how well it is made, if the part that is the dragon’s weak spot is cut, the pitre will let out something like a scream and retreat as if crawling on the ground.

“Screaming like this, this is not enough punishment for the pain you inflicted on others.”

Diora sighs.

But Pitre somehow gets up and shouts to his companions.

[I won’t look at you anymore! This anger will not subside unless you kill them and burn their bodies!]

The group aimed their weapons at Pitre, who had already lost all his dignity and had been reduced to a low-level villain.

＂That’s what this side will say.＂

Due to the anger and fierceness they were emitting, Pitre could barely resist almost taking a step back without even realizing it.

In the end, all a clown can do is deceive others, but if he can’t even do that…

All that was left for him was destruction.