TSMMT Ch 126

The Dragon and the Dragon Slayer

Unprepared, his aura failed to unleash its full power and was gradually swallowed by the dragon's beam.

Dianna could only stare at the back of the man standing in front of her. Fearing that calling his name or touching him might break his resolve, she remained motionless.

It was only a fleeting moment, yet time stretched agonizingly slow.

The sound of sizzling flesh resonated alongside the acrid stench of burning hair. Overwhelmed by dread, she finally screamed.

[Dianna] "Get out of the way!"

Yet, Guiscard remained steadfast. Reaching out to touch his back, she felt searing heat radiate from him. She recoiled from the agonizing temperature. Blinded by radiant light, her vision slowly began to clear.

As the blue sky resurfaced, she realized the dragon had ceased its devastating breath. The beam dissipated, leaving behind a fading roar. Only an ominous sizzling sound filled the air.

She called out in a trembling voice.

[Dianna] "Guiscard."

[Guiscard] "..."

[Dianna] "Guiscard!"

She shouted desperately. But Guiscard—or rather, what was once Guiscard—collapsed forward. His sword had melted away, leaving only the hilt to clatter onto the ground. Acrid smoke billowed from his charred form.

Dianna swallowed a scream at the sight of his fallen body. It was pitch black, completely unrecognizable. Consumed by infernal heat, his face and upper torso resembled nothing more than a mass of scorched flesh.

[Dianna] "Guiscard! Guiscard!"

No, I must have seen wrong. This can't be Guiscard. This isn't Guiscard. It must be someone else.

She tried desperately to deny reality until a voice shattered the silence.

[Logaple] "Your Majesty!"

She turned around at the sound. Logaple, Inez, and Bill approached.

[Logaple] "How could this..."

Their expressions contorted in horrified anguish. The charred form writhed in agony. A sound akin to a monster's groan escaped his open mouth, accompanied by a hiss of escaping smoke.

[Inez] "Y-Your Majesty..."

[Bill] "How can this be...!"

Dianna reached for his hand, only for a finger to snap off cleanly. With trembling hands, she picked up the fragment; a finger turned completely to ash.

She wanted to scream. Even amidst the chaos, her rational mind recognized that even if Guiscard survived, he could never be restored. His features were erased. He had lost his voice, his fingers, his body burned beyond recognition. Though breathing now, death was inevitable.

[Dianna] "...Ah, aaah..."

Her voice trembled uncontrollably.

What do I do? How do I process this emotion?

She bit her lip, gazing down at her husband, a man reduced to ash, stripped of everything human.

[Adel] "Dian."

His voice snapped her to attention.

It's Adel. If it's Adel, surely...

[Dianna] "Save him, please..."

Abandoning all reason, Dianna plummeted into desperate vulnerability. She had tried to deny it, wishing with all her heart it wasn't him, yet it was undeniably Guiscard. She knew it all along.

He was the only man in the world who would throw away his life to save her. That was why she begged. Even if it had been Levian standing here, she would have done the same. She wanted to save the dying Guiscard.

[Dianna] "S-Someone... help him, please! My husband..."

[Adel] "..."

[Dianna] "Please help my husband... Help him, help him, help him! Please, I beg you!"

[Adel] "..."

[Dianna] "AAAAAAH! No!"

Her dazed expression shattered into agonizing sobs and shrieks.

No! I know it's impossible. That charred form can never be restored. But please, if there is a god... please…

She wrapped her arms around Guiscard, wailing in anguish.

[Dianna] "Ah... Ahhh, Guiscard! Aaaah!"

She wept in heart-wrenching agony, clutching him.

[Knight] "It's a dragon!"

[Knight] "Bind it quickly! You must not kill it!"

[Knight] "But—!"

Chaos erupted around her, yet none of it mattered to her anymore. Death always arrived with such abruptness. There was no such thing as a clean, peaceful death. Everything occurred with violent suddenness.

And so, struck by the dragon's breath, Guiscard was reduced to ash, his upper body charred black. He was dying like this; mutilated, miserable, merely to save her single life!

[Sasha] "Dianna."

[Logaple] "Your Majesty..."

[Inez] "Your Majesty, please pull yourself together!"

[Bill] "Your Majesty."

The knights called out to her as she wept uncontrollably.

Weeping to the point of collapse, Dianna only regained a shred of composure when her tears finally ran dry. Wiping her eyes, she spoke in a hollow voice.

[Dianna] "Logaple, why did he come after me?"

[Logaple] "Prime Minister Revius and I... persuaded him. It is entirely my fault."

Tears spilled from his eyes. Inez interjected quietly.

[Inez] "No, it is not his fault."

[Dianna] "..."

[Inez] "His Majesty yearned to hold onto you constantly."

[Dianna] "..."

[Inez] "He set out to reach you just one final time. Once he left the capital, we followed as his escort..."

[Dianna] "..."

[Inez] "We are deeply sorry."

Dianna choked back rising tears.

In the end, it was because of me. The reason he ended up like this...

If only he hadn't pursued her. If only she hadn't yielded to that final, lingering attachment last night. She should have pretended to detest him as she once did. Then everything would have ended with her sudden death alone.

Now, because of her...

[Dianna] "Ah... aaah..."

Standing quietly, Bill let out a sigh.

[Bill] "You... don't need to weep so bitterly."

[Dianna] "Pardon?"

[Bill] "His Majesty will be fine."

What absurdity is this? Fine?

Dianna stared at Bill's pained expression in bewilderment, as did the other knights. How could anyone be "fine" in that state?

Bill was the knight who had served alongside Guiscard the longest. Struggling to find the right words, he looked down at his fallen master.

[Bill] "His Majesty will... recover. You see... His Majesty possesses a unique constitution."

[Dianna] "A unique constitution?"

[Bill] "Yes... He possesses monstrous regenerative abilities. No matter how fatal the wound..."

[Adel] "In short, one could say he currently possesses immortality."

Dianna turned at the voice. Kneeling beside her, Adel pointed toward Guiscard. The finger she had accidentally broken off had reattached itself.

[Dianna] "Uh..."

Now that she looked closely, the charred black areas seemed to be receding. She clasped her hands together, watching intently.

Please... please…

The ash-colored fingertips turned raw red before gradually returning to a familiar skin tone.

[Dianna] "Ah..."

[Bill] "If left undisturbed, he will recover slowly. Don't worry."

Bill spoke with a furrowed brow.

Could it really be possible?

Yet, she kept her eyes fixed on Guiscard lying before her.

What if something goes wrong? What if Bill is mistaken or lying? How could anyone recover from this when half his body was scorched black?

[Bill] "Only a select few knights and I are aware of this. I ask that everyone maintain absolute secrecy."

[Logaple] "Naturally, I shall keep silent."

[Inez] "As will I."

It was top-secret information, but given the circumstances, Bill had decided to disclose it. The knights bound themselves to secrecy.

[Sasha] "I shall not utter a word either."

As Dianna opened her mouth to speak, Adel interjected.

[Adel] "Dian, is there anything you know regarding His Majesty?"

[Dianna] "..."

[Adel] "If His Majesty possesses such an immortal body, there is only one explanation: he is a descendant of dragons who was bathed in dragon blood."

She recalled hearing Adel mention this in the past.

[Dianna] "Was the late Lady Herya... a dragon?"

[Adel] "No. She perished at the stake. Had she been a dragon, she wouldn't have succumbed so easily."

[Dianna] "I see."

She recalled Herya. In the past, seeking to understand Guiscard, she had investigated Herya of the Forest, as the princess was dubbed. She was the daughter the late king brought back from a hunt, a Panborough princess and half-sister to the previous king, eventually executed as a witch.

Did that mean she was a dragon?

Honestly, whatever his lineage was, Dianna didn't care.

[Adel] "One who inherits dragon blood becomes immortal upon slaying a dragon and bathing in its blood. This means he has long transcended the boundaries of humanity."

She looked at him.

[Dianna] "So what? Why does that matter?"

[Adel] "..."

[Dianna] "None of that matters."

Whether he possessed dragon blood didn't matter. All that mattered was that he woke up. She wanted to cast aside all other thoughts and focus solely on him.

[Dianna] "Nothing else matters."

The back that had lunged forward without a moment's hesitation to protect her. Even when she screamed at him to get out of the way, he had stood firm while his own flesh burned.

Just when she thought all debts between their hearts were settled, this cunning man had saddled her with another debt. Once again, fate pulled her by the hand or perhaps inflicted a punishment upon her.

Embracing his corpse-like yet breathing body, she spoke.

[Dianna] "Are you satisfied now? I can't leave anymore. I can't leave!"

Is this what you wanted?

She sobbed for a long while. Whether he was of dragon blood, a monster, or a human didn't matter. All that mattered was that he had thrown his body into destruction solely for her.

And the being lying there heard her weeping. At some point, awareness had returned. The flesh roasted by dragon breath still throbbed with agony. Yet he felt sheer ecstasy. He heard her sobs and perceived her face speaking to him.

That stubbornness, that kindness, was utterly adorable. Yes... that was precisely why he loved her, so much so that he missed his slave days.

Dianna had always been this way. Always. She was constantly fragile, yet unfailingly good. Always warm, always composed of pure goodwill.

Had his face been restored, he would have smiled. That was why he adored Dianna Brienne.

[Dianna] "Nothing else matters."

Because even now, when he was exposed as a monster, she was a person who could look past it. Because...

Standing against the sun, she had bestowed pure goodwill upon him, weeping for his sake and smiling for him.

Throughout his lightless life, she was the sole beacon of radiant light.

Dianna Brienne would never comprehend how momentous a thing she had done was. Living in a desolate world devoid of a single grain of goodwill, her tenderness was absolute.

Herya...

He repeated the name in his mind. His life had been wretched enough that he yearned endlessly for Dianna's touch during his time as a slave.

All because of that woman dubbed the Enchantress.

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