Chapter 86
The air was still.
No rumbling earth.
No screams.
Only the faint hum of fading mana that trembled like dying embers in the dark.
Renji stood in the middle of the broken throne chamber, his daggers hanging loosely at his sides. His breath came in uneven bursts. Sweat ran down his neck, mixing with blood and dust.
Every muscle screamed at him to stop moving but he couldn't look away.
Dracan stood before him, his colossal figure outlined by the pale blue flames that floated around the ruined hall. His black armor shimmered faintly, cracked in places where Renji's attacks had barely touched him. His golden eyes, however those ancient, piercing eyes no longer glowed with killing intent.
They looked… calm.
Almost gentle.
Renji blinked, chest still heaving.
"You're smiling…"
Dracan's gaze shifted to him, then down to the corner of his mouth.
A faint chuckle escaped him low and gravelly, but strangely human.
"Ah. So I am."
He raised a hand to his face, almost uncertain of what he felt. His fingertips brushed the curve of his lips as if he'd forgotten what a smile was.
"It feels… strange," he said softly. "I haven't smiled like that in almost… a thousand years."
Renji's eyes widened, his exhaustion forgotten.
"EHH?! A thousand years?!"
The sound echoed awkwardly across the vast hall.
Even the torches seemed to flicker in disbelief.
Dracan glanced at him sideways. A small smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth.
"You humans really do shout that word a lot when you're surprised."
Renji scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed.
"Heh… yeah, guess we do. Old habits."
The humor hung between them for a moment fragile but warm. Then, slowly, Dracan's expression shifted. The smile faded, the light in his eyes dimmed.
He looked away, toward the shattered throne that once sat upon the obsidian dais.
"I also lost my family."
The air grew heavy again.
Renji froze, sensing the sorrow wrapped around those words like chains.
"My people. My friends. My kingdom…" Dracan's voice wavered for the first time. His hand curled into a fist.
"My world."
He fell silent. The words themselves seemed to echo in the quiet, lingering long after they left his lips.
Renji swallowed hard. He didn't know what to say.
There was a weight in Dracan's tone a loneliness that reached beyond time. A grief too vast for a human heart to comprehend.
And yet… he understood it.
In some small, fragile way he understood.
The pain of losing everything.
Renji took a small breath. His body was still bleeding, but the magic in the air shifted. The faint violet aura around him flickered then began to glow brighter.
His wounds sealed one by one, skin knitting together. Even his tattered cloak fluttered gently as the mana within him pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Dracan's gaze followed the light.
"Your recovery speed is remarkable," he said quietly. "A natural healing factor through inner mana control… rare."
Renji forced a small grin, though his tone carried a tinge of disbelief.
"Heh. Guess I'm lucky to still be standing."
Dracan didn't respond at first. His golden eyes drifted downward again, toward the cracks in the floor.
"Scars," he murmured. "They never fade, do they?"
Renji tilted his head slightly. "Scars?"
"On flesh, they heal," Dracan said, tapping his armored chest. "But in here " he touched his heart, eyes clouded " they linger. Scars of the soul. You can't see them, but you feel them. Every day."
His voice carried a thousand years of quiet agony.
Renji looked down at his own hands—bloodstained, trembling.
"…Yeah," he whispered. "They don't fade."
A pause.
Two warriors one immortal, one human stood in silence, connected by pain neither had ever shared aloud before.
Then, suddenly, Dracan exhaled a sound between a sigh and a laugh.
"You remind me of him," he said softly.
Renji blinked.
"Him?"
"My younger brother," Dracan replied. "He had that same reckless spark in his eyes. The same defiance. Always rushing headfirst into danger with no plan whatsoever."
Renji grinned faintly.
"Sounds like my kind of guy."
Dracan smiled at that, just barely.
"He was. Until the gods burned him alive."
The light in Renji's eyes faltered.
"Dracan…"
Dracan turned away. As he shifted towards the torchlight.
My mother, father, my people, my kingdom..they all perished....
"You fought me like a warrior," he said. "But this isn't a dungeon, Renji Kurogane."
Renji blinked in confusion.
"Huh?"
"There are no bosses here. No loot. No reward."
Renji frowned.
"Then what is this place?"
"You already said its name," Dracan murmured. "The Gate of Gealgilmesh."
"Yeah, but… why does it exist? Who built it?"
Dracan's golden eyes gleamed faintly.
"I did."
Renji's jaw dropped.
"EHHHHHHH?! YOU MADE THIS PLACE?!"
Dracan laughed softly, folding his arms.
"Your reaction is priceless."
Renji waved his arms around frantically.
"Wait, wait, wait You mean this massive gate that even SS-rank hunters avoid the one that swallowed entire teams alive was made by you?!"
"Correct," Dracan said simply.
"What are you, some kind of… ancient god?!"
"No," he said with a faint smirk. "Just a dragon who was too stubborn to die."
Renji gawked at him, then rubbed his face.
"Great. I just picked a fight with a suicidal ancient dragon architect. Wonderful."
Dracan chuckled a deep, rumbling sound that echoed like thunder in the quiet hall.
"You are amusing, you are amazing Renji Kurogane."
Renji looked back at him, narrowing his eyes.
"You say that like it's an insult."
"It's a compliment," Dracan replied. "I haven't felt this entertained in centuries."
Renji grinned.
"Glad to be of service."
Dracan's smile lingered a moment longer then faded.
His tone shifted again, calm and serious.
"Hunters have entered this gate before," he said. "Long ago. They sought power, glory, immortality. They all failed."
Renji's brows furrowed.
"You killed them?"
"No," Dracan said quietly. "Their greed did."
A silence fell between them once more.
Then he looked directly into Renji's eyes.
"But you… you fought for something else. That's why I didn't kill you."
Renji blinked.
Then gave a lopsided grin.
"Oh. Uh… thanks?"
Dracan arched a brow.
"That's all you have to say?"
"What do you want me to do, bow down and say 'Thank you, mighty dragon overlord!'?"
Dracan stared at him blankly.
Then he laughed.
Not a small chuckle this time but a full, deep laugh that shook the air.
Renji grinned back.
"See? You're smiling again."
"You truly are insufferable," Dracan said, shaking his head. "And yet… strangely comforting."
Renji's grin softened. The humor faded from his eyes, replaced by quiet determination.
He took a step forward.
Then, without hesitation, dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the cracked stone.
Dracan blinked.
"Renji what are you doing?"
"Please," Renji said, voice trembling but firm. "Help me."
Dracan's eyes widened slightly.
"Help you?"
"You possess power beyond anything I've ever seen," Renji said. "My world… it's in danger. The gods of creation"
He hesitated, then looked up.
"They're planning war. On my world."
For a long, long moment, Dracan said nothing.
Then he whispered almost to himself.
"The gods…"
His voice was low, almost shaking. His memories clawed at the edges of his composure.
He saw fire.
He heard screams.
He smelled ash.
"They destroyed everything," Dracan muttered. "My home. My kin. They called us 'blasphemies'… for wielding power too close to theirs."
His fists clenched tight enough to crack the metal around his gauntlets.
"They turned the skies to flame. I watched my brother burn in the light of their judgment."
Renji's chest ached.
He wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come.
Dracan's voice lowered to a whisper.
"I waited for centuries, Renji. Alone. Cursed with memory. I told myself there was no purpose left… that I had already failed everyone I ever loved."
He lifted his gaze again meeting Renji's eyes.
Renji smiled faintly, though tears glimmered in his own.
"Then let me be that purpose."
Dracan blinked.
"…What?"
"You said you've been alone all this time, right?" Renji said softly. "Then let me be your reason to fight again."
Dracan stared, speechless.
Renji smiled wider.
"You wanted a friend, didn't you?"
There was silence.
Then, slowly Dracan laughed.
It was soft. Trembling. Honest.
"You're insane."
Renji grinned.
"Yeah. But it's better than being alone."
Dracan stared at him for a long moment, then finally...
smiled.
"You remind me of a younger me," he murmured. "Foolish. Brave. Irritating."
Renji scratched the back of his neck, smirking.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You shouldn't," Dracan muttered, but there was warmth in his tone.
He looked up at the broken ceiling, eyes reflecting faint blue light.
"Alright, Renji Kurogane."
Renji blinked.
"Huh?"
"I will help you."
Renji's eyes widened.
"Wait—seriously?!"
Dracan nodded.
"Yes. Not for your world… but for the promise of a friend."
Renji stood up, grinning brightly.
"Deal."
Dracan chuckled.
"You truly are reckless."
"Yeah," Renji said. "But it's worked so far."
The two of them stood side by side...warrior and dragon, bathed in the faint light of the Gate that now pulsed behind them.
It shimmered like the surface of a new dawn.
Renji turned toward it.
"Let's go, Dracan-san."
Dracan sighed.
"Stop calling me that."
"Ehh? Why not?"
"It makes me sound old."
Renji grinned mischievously.
"You are old."
"Do you want me to reconsider helping you?"
"EHH No, no, I'm good!" Renji waved his hands frantically.
Dracan exhaled through his nose..a quiet laugh disguised as annoyance.
As the light of the Gate began to engulf them both, Renji looked over his shoulder.
"You ready, partner?"
Dracan smiled faintly, golden eyes shining.
"I am. Maybe this time…"
He closed his eyes.
"Maybe this time, I can protect something again."