~Chapter 147~
“Got it!”
“Wooooaaah!”
Only then did I realize what I was looking at.
The flames I thought were fire were actually a gigantic monster wrapped in fire.
It had tried to climb the walls but failed and collapsed backward.
And above, at the edge of the wall—
“For the Grand Duke and Duchess, who were dragged away to the capital, we must hold strong!”
“Wooooaaah!”
“Treason? Saint Portu will not be swayed by such lies!”
“Wooooooaah!”
“Until they return safely, we will protect Saint Portu with our lives!”
Cheering the people on, swinging his twin axes with vigor—was the skewer-seller boss.
Dragged to the capital, huh.
A huge misunderstanding, but honestly, that’s a better story than saying the Grand Duke just bolted off chasing after his wife.
Behind the boss, merchants and townsfolk were waving weapons and flags.
While I was taking in their faces, the vision shifted.
“Amen!”
Zion shouted, sword raised, his voice fierce.
Leading rookie paladins into battle, his eyes glimmered half with zeal, half with madness.
“Only now do I feel close to God!”
“Brother, what do we do next?!”
“Drive the remnants beyond the walls! As God’s apostles! Amen!”
“Amen!”
The paladins shouted together and charged forward with blazing energy.
The scene shifted again.
“Supplies over here!”
“There’s still monster meat left! Everyone come and get your share!”
In the underground town, townsfolk were distributing food, moving crates, mingling with thieves as if it were natural.
“Take only what you need! If you waste food, you’ll be mixing it with mud in hell!”
It was Eliza, yelling threats as she handed out rations.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“While I warned my descendant of danger, you actually accomplished something.”
Eyeball’s voice whispered.
“You saved those who should have died, and tied together those who should never have met.”
As if it knew this was once a novel, that this had once been my “previous life.”
Another vision flowed past—the capital this time.
“Everyone stay calm! Into the mansion!”
“Kyaaah!”
“We’re moving to the underground passage for safety!”
“Lady Reina!”
Reina, wielding her fan like a sword, led people with authority.
Her father stared at her, eyes wide.
“Why are you here?!”
“You think we’d let His Grace go to the capital alone?”
“So you’ve been hiding this whole time?”
“I was waiting to intervene when needed!”
“Then why aren’t you with him, idiot?!”
“I don’t know either!”
Meanwhile, Beth, her ankle swollen as if sprained, was being carried by Jeremy through the chaos.
Seeing that warmed my heart.
“At least you didn’t ruin everything.”
Even if I’d failed Mariana, saving Reina had been the right thing to do.
I might not be able to keep my promise to help Mariana, but at least Reina lived.
Eyeball winked at me.
“You still managed to find another way.”
“….”
“Unlike me.”
His calm tone held acknowledgement.
Recognition from a dragon.
But I had no time to savor it—
Shrrrk.
The vision shifted again.
“…Where is this?”
Completely unfamiliar.
Low buildings and narrow streets filled my sight, until—
A village came into focus.
The underground town—but above ground, bathed in sunlight.
I realized.
“This is… Saint Portu from long ago.”
Hooo.
Cold wind swept past a grave at the center of the scene.
The grave was covered with flowers, clearly the resting place of someone deeply loved.
“….”
And standing before it was someone.
“…That’s you?”
“Yes.”
A dragon transformed into a human.
I knew instinctively—it was Eyeball.
Then the flower-covered grave must be…
“My mate’s grave.”
His calm answer was full of regret.
He gazed at me, at the Grand Duke’s wife who so resembled his mate.
“After losing her, I thought for a long, long time.”
“….”
“What I did wrong. Where I first made mistakes.”
“….”
“If that’s why I lost something so precious.”
He closed his eyes slowly, then opened them again.
“And so I decided.”
“What decision?”
“At the very least, I would protect this land.”
“….”
“The land my mate loved—I would guard it, no matter what. Even if it meant lingering as a spirit of resentment.”
From his shed husk, magic spread and formed the fortress walls.
That same magic gave the Grand Duke’s bloodline their powers:
The ability to move freely within the territory and to sense danger in the land.
“…That existed?”
The vision rolled on.
One by one, the Grand Dukes of each generation appeared.
Suffering headaches from the burden of dragon magic, growing overly sensitive.
Still, they stood at the front, fighting even during times of great calamity.
“I grew stubborn, trapped in my obsession.”
And at their sides—wives.
“That stubbornness led to…”
Each Grand Duke married, had a child, then lost their partner.
“It made even their spouses suffer loss.”
One Grand Duke grieved bitterly, another turned cold.
Some forgot their wives and moved on.
Others could not, mourning for the rest of their lives.
And then, I saw a couple in a carriage.
Their faces reminded me of Karl.
Hands clasped tightly, loving.
“Ah…”
Warmth and curiosity rose inside me.
I wanted to watch longer, to see what parts of Karl came from them.
But—
The carriage fell into a ravine in an instant.
“Sometimes, it even took the children’s lives.”
The calm voice continued.
And I saw Eyeball again, standing before his mate’s grave.
“I had been arrogant, believing only my way was right.”
“….”
“I forgot why I had left my kin who enslaved monsters—because I despised their arrogance.”
Now he repented.
For binding himself to the land, for neglecting his descendants and their spouses.
His sigh carried the sorrow of one who belonged neither fully to dragon nor human.
It overlapped with my own old self, always an outsider.
Eyeball spoke as if reading my heart.
“Not exactly the same. Unlike you, I was once supreme, omnipotent.”
“…Trying to brag?”
“And that is why I fell into the same trap as my kin.”
“….”
“The trap of believing only the path I desired was correct.”
That was why he had feared me.
Because I might lead his descendant off that path.
“But watching you this time, I realized.”
“What?”
“That my obsession might not have been the only answer. And…”
“….”
“That perhaps… there could be another way.”
“Another way?”
“That is…”
But before he could finish—
Kiiiii-aaaah! Kiiiii-aaaah!
A shriek, like a monster’s, drew near.
The visions I’d been watching scattered into dust.
Thud!
A massive tail whipped past my face.
And then I saw what it was.
“…Eyeball!”
Kiiiii-aaaah!
A dragon—several times larger than Eyeball—bit into his neck.
Its scales were rotten, flesh decayed, eyes blank.
A monster-like wail erupted from it.
“…The Demon King!”
That thing—the one the Pope had tried to summon.
“The so-called King of Dragons!”
And it was trying to devour my Eyeball.
The creature’s dead-white eyes slowly rolled upward—
And I followed its gaze.
“…The Gate.”
The same Gate that had closed before—it was there.
“It’s trying to open it?”
By devouring Eyeball. By stealing his power.
To break free, and then—
“…Karl!”
It wanted to use Karl as its vessel.
The realization sent ice crawling down my spine.
