"It's been a while since I've seen it…" Riveria's soft voice carried through the communication device. I turned to look at what she was talking about and saw her jade eyes staring at the large mountain that touched the clouds.
"Are you talking about the mountain?" I asked, fascinated by the highest mountain I'd ever laid eyes on.
"Yes, this is the Alv Mountains. The sacred peaks of the elves," she explained, her gaze not leaving the mountain.
"...do you want to visit it?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if she would want to visit it or not.
"...yes, maybe I am being too sentimental, but I would like to visit it," she answered. I turned to look at Ryuu; she, too, was staring at the mountain, her eyes narrowed wistfully.
"What about you, Ryuu?"
She startled at my voice, her mouth opening as if to refuse before closing again. Finally, she nodded."Yes, I would very much like to visit it as well." I nodded at her answer.
"Then let's all visit it when we return home."
"Are you sure you should be making more travel plans when we are already taking a detour?" Kaguya's sharp voice cut through the moment, her eyes boring into me accusingly.
"Hey, it's not my fault that a thunderstorm started on our route and we had to take a detour!" I replied, defending myself from an unfair accusation.
"I didn't say anything."
"Your eyes said plenty."
"Both of you, calm down. We are about to reach our destination." Asfi intervened, closing her compass and staring right ahead. As we finally passed the end of the Alv Mountains, the sacred peaks of the elves, it appeared.
Beneath the dark clouds stood an immense wall, so massive I had to crane my neck to see the top. The wall wasn't just tall—it stretched from west to east, unbroken, as far as the eye could see. How did anyone build something so massive?
"It's enormous!" Alise's cheerful voice broke me out of my reverie, her eyes practically shining as she extended her hand in front of her face, seemingly measuring the wall.
"You can't measure its height like that, captain," Kaguya commented, but Alise remained adamant.
"What? But I heard some architects do it this way!"
"They can do it because they're smart."
"Oh! I see! That makes—wait, are you calling me dumb?"
"The Great Wall stretches from the westernmost edge of the continent to its easternmost tip," Asfi explained, pushing up her glasses, completely ignoring them both.
"The entire continent?" I repeated, trying to comprehend the scale. Every wonder and architectural marvel from my previous world suddenly felt insignificant in the face of this mega wall spanning the entire continent.
"Yes," Riveria affirmed. "Construction began around 900 years ago in response to the repeated Dragon Incursions. It's a project on a global scale. Even now, construction and repairs continue, and in a sense, the wall remains forever unfinished."
Beyond the Great Wall, the northern lands stretched out—an expanse of desolate wilderness painted in shades of black and purple, bleak and boundless.
"This area is also part of the Black Desert," Asfi explained, and that's when our wyverns suddenly made distressed sounds and began descending rapidly.
"Maybe they sensed that dragon from here," I reasoned as the wyverns settled on the ground.
"It seems we have to walk the rest of the way," Ryuu said as she dismounted her wyvern along with others.
"Don't worry, buddy, we will be right back." I patted the wyvern's head.
"Let's run the rest of the way; we're already late as it is," Kaguya said urgently, and we all started running. The air was thick with toxins, the ground ashen black. A dark cloud—sand-like, or rather ash—blocked us from seeing anything beyond. I constantly surveyed my surroundings, searching for a dragon or a fight that might be happening, but found none.
"It's strange," Ryuu said. "If the dragon escaped the seal, why isn't it attacking the wall like they usually do?"
But before we could dwell on that thought, Riveria's urgent voice rang out. "Everyone, be careful and stay together, we're entering the ash cloud!"
Just as her warning finished, the black cloud made of ash engulfed everyone. The visibility was just barely enough for us to recognize each other as we rushed through the cloud, our feet stomping on the ground, propelling us forward.
"Ugh! Ash in my mouth—ptuh!" Alise's complaint was cut short as she got more ash for her trouble.
"Make use of your cloak, that will block most of the ash!" I replied through the device, covering my own face with the cloak, shielding my eyes with my hands.
"Can't you use your wind magic to do something about it?!" Kaguya yelled from behind, making me stop in my tracks. Right. Wind magic. Because I'm an idiot who forgot his own abilities, I thought and created a shield of air around our group. The howling wind in our ears died down immediately as the barrier encompassed us, pushing the ash away.
"Whew… that was a lot of work." I turned back to see all of them giving me identical looks of exasperation. I quickly turned forward again. "Let's go, everyone, we still have a great distance to cover," I said and started walking forward, the barrier moving with me, forcing their attention back to the task at hand.
We continued to sprint through the storm, my barrier making way for us, until finally we exited the storm and crossed over a large dune. What was revealed in front of us was a tornado. A massive, raging tempest, easily a kilometer in diameter, stretching from the ground to the heavens. Lightning crackled through its dark mass, and the roar of wind was deafening even from this distance. The sheer power radiating from it made my hair stand on end.
There was at least 6 kilometers of distance between our party and the tornado, but we could still feel the wind rushing past us. And there, circling the tornado like a moth around a flame, was our target.
The dragon was massive—easily twenty meters from head to tail, with scales that gleamed purple-black in the storm's lightning. Its wings beat powerfully as it circled, and even from this distance, I could see it unleashing torrents of flame into the tornado, only for the fire to be consumed by the raging winds. Its eyes glowed with malevolent intelligence—this wasn't some mindless beast. This was a predator that thought, that strategized, that enjoyed the hunt.
"Mother..."
The word was so quiet I almost didn't hear it. I whipped around to look at Ais.
She had gone completely still. Her breath had stopped. Not slowed—stopped. Like she'd forgotten how to breathe. Her eyes, those golden eyes that usually held such focus, had gone wide, wider than I'd ever seen them. Her pupils had contracted to pinpoints, and she stared at the storm with an expression that made my blood run cold.
It wasn't the look of someone seeing a monster.
It was the look of someone seeing a ghost.
Her whole body began to tremble—not from fear, but from something far more intense. Recognition. Longing. Desperate, aching need and a myriad of other emotions. Her hand rose slowly, unconsciously, reaching toward the distant tornado as if trying to grasp something impossibly far away.
"Ais," I called, but she didn't respond. Didn't even blink.
She took a step forward, completely unaware of anything else. The dragon, the danger, our presence—none of it existed for her anymore. There was only the storm.
"Ais," I tried again, more firmly this time.
Another step. Her trembling had intensified, and I could see her chest heaving with rapid, shallow breaths. Then her eyes found the dragon—the creature attacking her storm, attacking whatever precious thing lay within it—and everything changed.
The blank shock on her face twisted into something terrible. Something primal and raw and full of rage so pure it burned.
Her expression was no longer human.
"Ais!" This time, it was Riveria who called, reaching out to grab her.
But Ais was faster. Wind erupted around her in a violent burst, and she launched herself forward like an arrow from a bow, her Airiel barrier propelling her at impossible speed.
"Ais!" "Damn it, Ais!" "No!" the other girls called, but Ais ignored them all, her eyes fixated on the target of her rage. The monster, sensing the approaching prey, left the tornado alone and flew toward Ais.
"Tempest!" Ais yelled, drawing her saber and leaping into the air toward the dragon, as it twisted to avoid her attack. The rest of us threw ourselves into the battle as well. I created a foothold of air, climbing higher to trap the dragon and keep it from flying away. Asfi followed closely. Similarly, Ryuu activated her Virtue Nexus. Alise and Kaguya followed behind her. Riveria stood, stricken with worry for Ais, but she started casting her magic nonetheless.
I dove at the dragon, brandishing my blade in an attempt to cut its wing off.
CLANK!!!
"Eh?" My sword bounced off the purple scales of the monster, making my arm go numb for a moment, before I could get my bearings. The dragon's claw came down at me. I hurriedly conjured winds, pushing myself backward, barely avoiding the massive claws that could tear through steel like a hot knife going through butter.
"Wind!" Ais leaped again, her winds raging stronger than before, but the dragon evaded her attack to the left. Ryuu took the chance, wrapped in crimson flames, and thrust her blade forward.
"Arvelia!" Red-hot flames erupted from her sword, hurling toward the beast.
"GRAAA!" The beast raged, spreading its wings wide, and a shockwave traveled through the black desert, negating Ryuu's flames entirely.
"What?!" Alise's shock was audible.
"It negated her magic?" Kaguya's voice held disbelief.
I conjured several spears of fire and wind, hurling them at the dragon in rapid succession. Another roar, another shockwave, and my attacks dissipated into nothing.
"Just great..." Fighting a Level 7 monster was hard enough. Now, magic was nearly useless, too.
The battle continued, a chaotic and brutal affair. We attacked from every angle, trying to ground the creature, trying to create openings. From time to time, Riveria's ice magic—the only magic that seemed partially resistant to the dragon's negation—would trap the creature momentarily, giving us brief windows to strike.
But the dragon's scales were incredibly tough, and it was fast despite its size. Worse, Ais was becoming more reckless with each exchange, her winds growing darker, more violent, more unstable.
"Just stay still, you bastard!" Kaguya cursed as the dragon dodged her attack by flying away.
"We need to ground it!" Alise shouted. "Arin, Asfi—damage the wings! Everyone else, harry it from below!" She rolled to the side to dodge the dragon's sharp claws. "That was close!"
"We are trying!" Asfi replied. And yes, we were trying really hard. It was taking immense strength, but I'd been able to injure its wings to a small degree. But that dragon wasn't the only problem. Ais is going more and more berserk with every exchange with the dragon, her winds turning darker and darker.
"Lil Rafaga!" Ais's voice was almost unrecognizable as she made a suicidal charge straight at the dragon the moment it landed from my last attack.
The dragon, seeing its prey approach so recklessly, opened its massive jaws wide.
"Ais, stop!" I shouted, knowing it was useless.
With no other option, I launched myself forward with everything I had, wind magic propelling me like a missile. The instant before the dragon's jaws closed around Ais, I kicked her side with all my strength. My foot connected with her wind barrier, and she went flying to safety.
But that left me with no time to escape. "Arin!" Multiple voices screamed my name through the comms, but I couldn't respond, too busy trying not to become dragon food.
The dragon's mouth snapped shut around me. I braced myself, arms and legs spread to keep those massive jaws from closing completely. The pressure was immense, and the stench of sulfur and death nearly made me gag.
"Let go! Your breath—ugh—reeks!"
Deep in the dragon's throat, a bright light began to build—a terrifying concentration of magical energy being converted to pure destructive force.
"Oh shit—"
The dragon's fire breath engulfed me in superheated flames that turned my world white, then red, then nothing but agony. My skin blistered. My armor melted. I couldn't breathe, couldn't scream, couldn't think past the pain. Then I was flying, thrown by the force of the blast like a rag doll. The world spun. This is bad. This is really, really bad. I'm going to—
The ground rushed up. No, not the ground.
The Great Wall.
I hit the Great Wall with catastrophic force. Stone exploded around me. Ancient masonry built to withstand dragon assaults for centuries shattered like glass. The impact drove every atom of air from my lungs. I felt my ribs crack. Tasted blood. Part of the wall crumbled around me as I fell, landing hard on the rubble-strewn ground.
Everything hurt. Everything. I could barely breathe, couldn't move without agony lancing through my body. My armor was scorched black, and portions of it melted. I could smell burning flesh—my own.
…Get up... The command echoed distantly through the haze of pain. Get up. You have to get up.
But my body wouldn't respond. I lay there in the ruins of the wall, staring up at the dark sky, hearing the distant sounds of continued battle.
Ais. I had to get back to Ais. Had to bring her back to her senses. Had to help defeat that dragon.
Because I'd promised. Promised myself, promised her, promised everyone.
So I had to get up.
My fingers twitched. Good start.
Come on, body. Move. We're not done yet.
We're not dying here.
Not today.
Get! Up!
With a groan that was half scream, I forced myself to roll onto my side. Every nerve in my body screamed in protest, but I ignored it. Pain meant alive. And as long as I was alive, I could still fight.
I could still keep my promises.
So I would get up.
No matter what it took.