The Encounter Between the Forsaken Healing Magic’s Beloved Child and the Betrayed Black Dragon Princess of Calamity - 27

Chapter 27: A World Where Even if You Win, You Still Have No Place to Belong

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

A beam of white light heading straight for Mer-san.

“This is dangerous! Young Master Gil, get away from here imme-“

“No need to worry.”

Mer-san calmly interrupted Conrad-san mid-sentence, who was about to evacuate us. She chuckled as the radiant beam closed in. The force of the beam was simply overwhelming, and then…

“Wha-?!”

Mer-san simply swatted it away into the sky with her right hand, as if brushing off an insect.

Uwaaah… Even such an incredible beam attack is nothing to Mer-san… It’s truly unbelievable how powerful she is…

Even now, I was still left awestruck by Mer-san’s overwhelming strength.

“Oh my… Surely this is not the end, right?”

“Kukuku… Of course not. Let me show you the power that even felled King Manfred.”

Still wearing a confident smile, Klaus closed the distance in an instant. At that, Mer-san only looked down at him with a haughty expression on her face before grinning fearlessly and baring her fangs at him. 

“GRRAAAAAAARRRRRR!”

“ROOOOAAAAARRRRRR!”

The black and white dragons roared ferociously, clashing with immense force. The ferocious sound of their collision reverberated across the skies of Mountain Duflussweise. Conrad-san, the surrounding dragons and I were rendered speechless by the sheer intensity of the battle.

Then, what shattered the tense mood was…

“Huh!?”

“Ha! Don’t you dare look away from me!”

Suddenly, a blue dragon with a massive sword in hand attacked Conrad-san. Conrad-san narrowly dodged the strike, but the blue dragon pursued him relentlessly, pressing on.

“Oi, you guys! What are you standing around for?! We need to finish this old man while His Majesty Klaus is dealing with the princess!”

“””YES!!”””

At the blue dragon’s shout, the surrounding dragons turned their attention toward us, surging forward as one. The rules of the Royal Selection stated that no one could interfere in the one-on-one duel, but outside of that… Anything was fair play. 

“Conrad-san!”

“Hah! Don’t worry about me!”

Conrad-san thrusted his right hand into the air, as if he was drawing something unseen and then, a red magic circle appeared. He reached into it and pulled out a massive spear—a glaive—gleaming with deadly intent.

“Come on! Bring it on!”

One by one, the dragons lunged at him, but Conrad-san swept them aside, taking each dragon down with decisive, powerful strikes. His overwhelming strength might not match Mer-san’s, but he could easily stand on par with the white dragon.

“Tch! For an old geezer, you’re still ridiculously strong!”

“And as for you, despite your praise-worthy skill, your tendency to dirty your own hands is hardly admirable!”

The blue dragon backed away from Conrad-san and the other dragons came to fill the gap, attacking Conrad-san in his absence. He was probably trying to exhaust Conrad-san before dealing the finishing blow. But…

“Having them come at us like this actually works perfectly in our favor.”

“Hahaha! Exactly as planned!” 

Conrad-san laughed heartily as we exchanged nods. When preparing countermeasures for the Royal Selection, our greatest concern was the possibility that Klaus would break the rules and send the entire kingdom’s dragons to attack Mer-san. Although I knew just how powerful Mer-san was, but there was always the risk of being outnumbered. There was also the risk of being caught off guard or the possibility of them using other underhanded tactics. At least for now, Mer-san’s only opponent was Klaus. Our job was to keep the other dragons occupied until she defeated him. 

“Conrad-san! Two dragons are coming from above on the right!”

“Leave it to me! Rrraaaaaaaaahhhhhh!”

“ARGH-?!”

“GYAH-?!”

With a single swing of his glaive, two dragons were cleaved cleanly in half at the torso. Conrad-san bravely… No. He continued cutting dragon down after dragon incessantly. I knew he didn’t want to kill his former comrades, but despite that… Siding with Mer-san had forced him into this situation. 

“This… Conrad-san, you’re not at fault here.”

“Hahaha! Young Master Gil, you’re so kind. No wonder Her Highness has taken a liking to you.”

When I said that to him, Conrad-san gave me a wistful smile. 

Hurry up. Let this useless battle end. This fight… The one stirred by one man’s selfish desires… Let this fight end soon.

“Now! Push forward!”

“””UWOOOOOOOHHH!!”””

Even as countless dragons fell to Conrad-san’s glaive, their morale remain unshaken. Wave after wave, they relentlessly charged forward.

Does their hatred for Mer-san really run this deep…?

“Why does it have to be like this…?”

I clenched my fists in frustration and muttered bitterly. I was filled with resentment toward the dragons who rejected Mer-san and toward a world that refused to accept her. I held a faint hope that everything would return to normal if we won, but it turned out that hope was in vain. 

Now… Even if she wins, Mer-san still doesn’t have any place to belong.

“It’s alright… It’s fine… Her Highness still has us.”

Conrad-san said gently as he skillfully fended off the incoming dragons.

“Conrad-san…”

I called out to him, my voice trembling.

Haa… Looking back now, I’ve said terrible things to them when we first met. Even though Mer-san rejected him, Conrad-san still chose to stand by her. He’s willing to fight by her side like this and even though I’m a human, he’s been nothing but kind to me… So undeservingly kind, even.

“…Conrad-san, I won’t let you die. Absolutely.”

“Hahaha, I’m counting on you, Young Master Gil.”

The battle had only just begun. I wiped my tears with my sleeve and glared at the approaching horde of dragons.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー