TSMMT Ch 125

Two Energies

She would rarely have reason to return to the capital. Once she mastered spirit arts, she could settle in Cagliari or work alongside Barot, the Mercenary King, in her grandfather's merchant guild.

Even so, Dianna kept gazing out the window. Is he still asleep? Does he have no intention of seeing me off? Or is this truly the end now that our ties are severed?

[Sasha] "You left behind so much."

Dianna flinched, feeling struck to the core. Sasha possessed an uncanny ability to see right through people. Was it because of the spirits hovering around her?

[Dianna] "Does it seem that way?"

[Sasha] "Perhaps you should turn back, settle things, and return."

Dianna shook her head with a bittersweet expression.

[Dianna] "I honestly don't know. So much has happened..."

She had spent less than a year here. Yet, Sasha listened to her words with earnest gravity.

[Dianna] "I thought I would stay much longer. I never expected to leave this soon."

[Sasha] "Such is life."

Dianna let out a faint chuckle. Sasha was three years her junior, yet hearing her speak of 'life' felt oddly natural.

Shaking her head, she resolved to dismiss thoughts of him.

[Dianna] "I want to properly learn spirit arts once we arrive. I can still only summon Sylph."

[Sasha] "How odd. Keeping the necklace so close should allow you to at least perceive intermediate spirits, even if you can't summon them."

[Dianna] "I suppose so."

[Sasha] "Well, we can figure it out once we arrive."

Dianna nodded with a small smile.

As the sun rose, the carriage departed the capital. Unhurried, Dianna began to nod off. Observing her struggle against sleep, Sasha spoke.

[Sasha] "Why not sleep?"

[Dianna] "I want to stay awake a little longer."

Rubbing her sleep-heavy eyes, Dianna responded. For some reason, she didn't want to spend this journey sleeping. Whatever else happened, she resisted succumbing to slumber right now. To shake off the drowsiness, she blurted out the first thought that came to mind.

[Dianna] "Come to think of it, why did you come here, Princess? Was it because of me?"

[Sasha] "Well... that is... a secret."

[Dianna] "Pardon?"

[Sasha] "Actually, since you will learn it once you study spirit arts, I shall tell you beforehand."

[Dianna] "Pardon?"

Pausing in thought, Sasha spoke in a quiet voice.

[Sasha] "Recently, two immense masses of energy manifested in the world."

[Dianna] "What?"

[Sasha] "The mages detected and studied them, then invited me to seek a spiritist's counsel."

Two masses of energy?

[Dianna] "Do you mean mana?"

[Sasha] "Mana is natural energy dispersed throughout the atmosphere. What appeared were artificial masses of energy."

[Dianna] "..."

[Sasha] "To be precise, 'beings' harboring immense power have manifested."

Not just one, but two... What could this mean?

[Dianna] "That explains why Grand Duke Blake was so busy."

[Sasha] "You knew about him?"

Dianna responded with an awkward smile. Grand Duke Blake and magic were intricately linked, a fact she had uncovered in her past life. Neust Academy had been established precisely to gather mages.

[Dianna] "More or less. Please don't tell him I know. So, did you discover anything?"

Sasha hummed softly before nodding.

[Sasha] "After questioning intermediate spirits, we identified the nature of their energy."

[Dianna] "..."

[Sasha] "One was an unclassifiable, unknown aura. The other was demonic energy. Discerning anything beyond that proved difficult."

Neither an unknown aura nor demonic energy bodes well.

[Dianna] "Could a high-tier monster have appeared?"

[Sasha] "Grand Duke Blake seems to suspect something else."

[Dianna] "What...?"

[Sasha] "He believes the unknown energy belongs to a dragon. He noted that such a colossal energy mass could only belong to a dragon."

[Dianna] "What?"

A dragon? The legendary creature said to fall in love with humans and serve as the gods' messenger? The colossal monster Guiscard had slain? Why would a dragon appear suddenly? Has it begun attacking people like Fafnir?

[Dianna] "Is it impossible to approach where the energy mass is located?"

[Sasha] "The unknown energy mass dissipated quickly, while everyone who approached the demonic energy mass vanished without a trace. They likely perished."

[Dianna] "..."

[Sasha] "Because of that demonic mass, monster sightings exploded exponentially. I heard monsters even breached the capital recently?"

Dianna flinched. Indeed, the capital had suffered under a swarm of gargoyles. If so, did that energy mean the place where Guiscard resided would face another attack?

[Dianna] "Is there... no way to resolve this? Someone needs to fix it."

[Sasha] "It is nothing for you to worry about. Resolving such crises is precisely why kings and nobles exist."

Dianna nodded. Strictly speaking, it wasn't her burden to bear. Yet, a chill ran through her chest.

No such events had transpired in her past life. Let alone massive energy sources. Even monster raids had never occurred. What could explain this anomaly? Her heart hammered with anxiety.

Something ominous was unfolding. Yet, could her powerless self contend with it? All she possessed was a fragment of knowledge.

[Sasha] "I told you not to worry."

Dianna nodded at Sasha's reassurance. Yet, her troubled thoughts soon gave way to drowsiness once more. Having stayed up the entire night, keeping her eyes open proved grueling.

As she nodded off, the carriage ground to an abrupt halt, accompanied by an urgent voice.

[Adel] "Ann! Get out of the carriage!"

[Dianna] "Pardon?"

[Adel] "Hurry!"

Startled, Dianna scrambled out of the carriage. He severed the reins connecting the horses to the carriage. All drowsiness vanished instantly.

[Dianna] "Is it assassins?"

She asked frantically.

Could someone from the capital have sent them? Duke Levian? Duchess Islag?

Yet, Adel shook his head.

[Adel] "No. Strictly speaking, there is nothing in this forest."

[Dianna] "..."

Yet, why was he breaking into a cold sweat? His face was deathly pale.

Dianna suddenly realized the forest had fallen eerily silent. Neither bird calls nor rustling wind disturbed the air. The horses snorted in agitation.

Cursing, he thrust his hand forward.

[Adel] "It's alright, don't panic. From now on, as fast as possible, ah... damn it!"

Simultaneously, a deafening blast shattered the quiet as something collided with his barrier. Adel let out a pained shriek. An orb of magical force ricocheted into the woods, exploding with a thunderous roar. The deafening blast nearly made Dianna scream as trees splintered and collapsed.

[Adel] "Curse it!"

Dianna and Sasha summoned their spirits, but the creatures vanished with pained shrieks, forced back into unsummoning. Since Dianna summoned Sylph, she suffered no backlash, but Sasha, who had summoned a high-tier spirit, turned pale.

Sasha spoke with eerie composure.

[Sasha] "There is a saying that words become reality... This is precisely that."

[Dianna] "What?"

[Sasha] "The energy mass is approaching us right now."

[Dianna] "What?!"

Dianna looked up at the sky. Against the vivid blue, a gleaming entity revealed its massive form in an instant, swimming through the heavens. Flapping wings as vast as a giant bird's, the creature loomed above. Dianna knew instinctively what it was.

A dragon. A dragon had manifested.

She marveled at the sheer beauty of the creature shimmering in the sunlight. Turning gracefully, it swooped down toward them.

[Sasha] "I never expected to perish like this."

Confronted by such colossal majesty, even the thought of fleeing proved unthinkable. Like humans helpless before a natural disaster, death seemed the only outcome.

Adel offered a wry remark.

[Adel] "Dying to a dragon while traveling... quite an honor."

Dianna suddenly recalled that Adel was fascinated by dragons. She knew as well that the strange shockwave had been an unequivocal attack. The dragon was targeting them.

Grasping Dianna's hand, Sasha sprinted.

[Sasha] "Run!"

Dianna ran instinctively. Though she had claimed a desire to die, the instinct for survival accelerated her pace.

The creature with clear eyes parted its jaws. Even Dianna recognized the massive energy gathering within its maw, a sphere glowing with brilliant silver radiance.

A hum reverberated as time seemed to freeze. Its silver-blue eyes locked directly onto her.

[Dragon] "Destroyer of time's order, perish."

Dianna shoved Sasha aside. The dragon's target was her.

[Sasha] "Dianna!"

Ignoring her shout, Dianna sprinted away. The dragon was targeting her, so to keep the others out of harm's way, she had to draw it as far away as possible. Fortunately, gathering energy required time.

[Sasha] "Dianna!"

[Adel] "Dian!"

Their shouts echoed behind her. Dianna glanced back. The beam released by the creature was not excessively large, yet contained enough destructive force to obliterate her completely.

Watching the brilliant white light surge toward her, Dianna thought blankly.

So this is how I die. In the end, this is the price for defying destiny.

As she stood frozen, someone stepped directly in front of her.

Inches from death, the figure standing before her raised a blade, unleashing aura. Though human aura paled in comparison to the beast's power, his deep-violet blade aura cleaved the dragon's lethal ray in half, halting its path.

She cried out desperately at his back.

[Dianna] "Guiscard!"

On the precipice of death, this man raised his sword and shielded her. As though it were second nature, without a moment's hesitation.

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