TSMMT Ch 162

True Identity

[Bill] "What the bloody hell are those things?!"

His foul curse echoed through the air.

The knights locked their eyes onto the oncoming undead. Once human, the creatures presented a horrific sight: severed arms, exposed bones, and rotting eyeballs dangling from their sockets.

[Knights] "A-Aaaaagh!"

[Knights] "Undead!"

[Knights] "What insane sorcery is this?! In the middle of the capital?!"

The boisterous shouting of the Vargrhati Order filled the hall, bringing Dianna an unexpected sense of relief. A soft laugh escaped her despite the chaos.

She felt Guiscard place his hand gently atop her head. Their eyes met. He stood frozen, staring down at her as if trying to speak, before he seized her hand and muttered under his breath.

[Guiscard] "I must be losing my mind."

[Dianna] "Hmm?"

A low sigh escaped his lips, and a subtle bitterness settled across his features.

[Guiscard] "No, it is nothing."

Yet a flash of genuine joy glinted in his violet eyes, bringing back his tender smile and gentle gaze.

He stepped forward, shielding Dianna behind him. She stared blankly at his broad back.

Always, without hesitation, he stepped in front of her to protect her. Whether he was immortal or not mattered little. What mattered was that he did it entirely for her sake.

He drew his blade, dark violet aura surging along the steel. Past his shoulder, Dianna spotted the entity trembling violently.

What is it? Trembling from fear? Or...?

The moment the abyss of its gaze met her eyes, she recognized the overwhelming fury consuming it. At the same time, the undead surged forward.

A massive beam of dragon breath erupted from Tarascus's maw.

As the pillar of brilliant white light roared toward the creature, the entity raised a hand to block the strike.

The undead charged in earnest, and the knights raised their swords to meet them. An undead arm severed by Bill flew through the air and crashed onto the stone floor.

Amidst the chaotic melee, Dianna extended her hand and summoned the wind spirits.

[Dianna] "I shall deploy the wind spirits!"

She shouted, making the knights flinch. It was the exact method she had used to assist a younger Guiscard in the past. If her spirits proved ineffective against the undead directly, only one option remained: strengthening the knights.

The knights' movements accelerated dramatically. Though startled by the sudden surge of speed, they adapted instantly and slashed through the horde.

Dianna watched the clash between Tarascus and the entity. A confrontation between a dragon large enough to fill the banquet hall's towering ceiling and an entity in a small human form was unwieldy.

Soon, Tarascus shifted into human form to engage it directly. Spheres of light erupted from his hands, but the entity evaded them with agile precision. A blinding exchange of blows unfolded faster than the eye could follow.

As Dianna concentrated on manipulating the spirits, an undead creature lunged from behind and grabbed her hair.

[Dianna] "Aah!"

An involuntary scream escaped her.

Guiscard severed the undead's torso in two, cleaving it completely apart. At that moment, a thunderous crash echoed as the entity was blasted backward, throwing back its hood. Tarascus smirked.

[Taras] "Indeed. Such power could never belong to an ordinary human. A short-range spell capable of forcing illusions upon a human while teleporting them could only be cast by a dragon."

[Entity] "..."

[Taras] "Furthermore, manipulating time... Only a dragon possesses the authority to cause such a rift."

[Entity] "..."

[Taras] "Ignorant of that fact, I sought to eliminate an innocent human."

At his words, the entity released a low, sinister laugh, a murky sound seeping directly into the minds of everyone present.

The voice sent goosebumps down Dianna's skin.

The entity revealed its true form: a dragon's head scaled down to human proportions, with an elongated triangular face, violet eyes, and massive horns. Like a half-beast with a human body and a dragon's head, the monstrous creature curled its lips upward.

Tarascus spoke in a quiet voice.

[Taras] "Fafnir, the venomous dragon of the swamp. No one save you would orchestrate such an abomination."

Impossible. Fafnir is alive? Was he not slain by Guiscard?

Dianna stared at the entity in shock. Several knights stared at the creature in utter horror.

She looked over at Guiscard, who stood clenching his fists tightly as he watched the standoff between Tarascus and Fafnir.

[Fafnir] "Tarascus. I knew you would come."

The creature spoke in a hissing voice. Tarascus narrowed his eyes.

[Taras] "Knowing that, why did you commit such atrocities?"

[Fafnir] "Do you not know?"

She narrowed her eyes into a sinister smile and turned her gaze toward Guiscard.

[Fafnir] "I lost my child."

Tarascus looked incredulous.

[Taras] "Was that child not merely offspring you sired with a human on a whim?"

[Fafnir] "A whim? Every dragon labels it a whim or amusement, sharing love with created beings and bearing fruit."

[Taras] "..."

[Fafnir] "Why do you think the vast majority of dragons choose endless sleep or self-destruction? Because it was never a mere whim."

She smiled as she spoke.

[Fafnir] "An endless lifespan is a curse."

[Taras] "An eternity of time is a blessing. It is the absolute right granted to our kind."

Tarascus shook his head.

[Fafnir] "On that day, in the wilderness where my beloved once walked, how could you possibly comprehend the grief I wept into the wind?"

[Taras] "..."

[Fafnir] "I remained behind, while my beloved departed."

She spoke with a trembling voice.

[Fafnir] "O Tarascus, time is a cruel punishment inflicted upon entities capable of love."

[Taras] "..."

[Fafnir] "Left alone in that forest, I wept, I laughed, and I sang. So, I resolved to watch over my child, my offspring. If they carried forth my beloved's bloodline, and if I joined with their descendants who entered the forest to sire further children..."

[Taras] "..."

[Fafnir] "I believed raising those children would fill the void. I thought the tears that formed my swamp might finally dry."

[Taras] "You are utterly mad."

Dianna suddenly remembered the song passed down by traveling bards.

[The grief-stricken one weeps bitterly.

Thus, sorrow soaked the earth.

Sorrow transformed into a swamp, swallowing every tale.]

Dianna had assumed it was a song about a human parting from a dragon. But what if it was the song of a dragon left behind? Not a hymn honoring a departing dragon, but a song of mourning for a dragon who outlived a human. And what if that song of grief had spread far and wide among the populace?

[O Dragon, entity destined for eternal dawn,

Was the one you loved a flower destined to wither?

Was the one you loved a star that shines only in the night?]

A flower destined to wither, a star vanishing at dawn: both signified humans, fleeting existences.

Fafnir laughed as if weeping.

[Fafnir] "Herya was a child I raised in the swamp from her youth. Do you know what kind of child she was? Though generations had passed, among all the humans I raised, she resembled my beloved most closely and was cherished."

[Taras] "..."

[Fafnir] "Unlike that wretched bastard."

Her icy voice targeted Guiscard.

Tarascus maintained a nonchalant expression. Dianna stepped forward and covered Guiscard's ears as he stood motionless. His lowered eyes were sinking into dark despair.

[Dianna] "Don't listen."

She didn't want him to hear any of it. Guiscard bore far too many painful wounds.

Just as expected, this dragon, who acted as a maternal ancestor to his mother Herya, harbored intense hatred toward him.

The undead had vanished, and the knights stared at Fafnir and Tarascus in tense silence.

[Fafnir] "How could I possibly forgive a world that ripped my child away from me?"

[Taras] "Is that why you brought the previous world to such a state as well?"

[Fafnir] "Who can say?"

She smiled with her eyes.

The previous world?

[Fafnir] "I merely exacted my vengeance. I never anticipated that would transpire."

[Taras] "..."

[Fafnir] "My, even with the world repeating itself twice, my daughter remains dead. Is it not hilarious? I can't save her. To this damn bastard, my daughter meant nothing."

Fafnir spoke as if sobbing. Dianna pondered the identity of "this damn bastard" for a long moment, but Fafnir offered no clarification.

[Fafnir] "Yet it seems I was remarkably tame in this life."

She chuckled softly.

Meaning, Fafnir was the very dragon Guiscard had slain in her past life. Like Dianna Brienne, this dragon had crossed through time as well.

[Taras] "You should have exacted vengeance directly. You should have inflicted punishment upon those humans yourself."

[Fafnir] "Had I done so, the other dragons wouldn't have left me unpunished. Is that not the rule established among us? Never plunge the human-built world and its laws into chaos and ruin."

[Taras] "..."

[Fafnir] "At first, I deemed it a human rule, accepting the deaths of my offspring as natural. Yet Herya's death made me realize that human existence itself is the problem."

[Taras] "..."

[Fafnir] "Thus, no other path remained. Even returning through time, all that remains for us in the end is total destruction."

Tarascus nodded slowly.

[Taras] "Very well."

[Fafnir] "..."

[Taras] "If you are destined for destruction, refrain from venting your rage upon an innocent world and its creatures. Just die."

[Fafnir] "You remain as cruel as ever."

Tarascus' eyes gleamed with an ethereal light. Just as energy prepared to erupt from his hand, a sphere of light enveloped him. His eyes widened sharply. A thunderous crash echoed as a magic circle etched itself beneath him, glowing with dark violet radiance.

A massive surge of pressure brought Tarascus' young body to its knees. Fafnir smacked her lips at the sight.

[Fafnir] "Tarascus. Have you forgotten that you possess the weakest power in this realm? I know full well you expended an immense amount of power traveling here from your domain."

Tarascus grimaced, struggling to raise his head. Yet as if an immensely heavy weight pressed down upon him, he could barely move.

[Taras] "You reek of blood... Could it be...?"

[Fafnir] "Indeed. I drenched myself in vast quantities of blood. In this place, does my power not surpass yours?"

She turned her gaze toward Guiscard, narrowing her eyes into a chilling smile.

[Fafnir] "Tarascus, even so, killing you remains impossible for me. Thus, would you kindly enter an endless sleep?"

The dark violet magic circle radiated an even more brilliant light. As energy crackled around him, Tarascus grimaced in pain. Dianna watched the scene unfold.

[Dianna] "No..."

She had to save Tarascus. She saw his pained face and sprinted toward him.

[Guiscard] "Ann!"

Guiscard chased after her as she bolted toward the massive magic circle. She summoned her spirits, but they were repelled instantly.

A reverse-summoning. No matter how high her elemental affinity, a reverse-summoning placed a severe strain upon her body. Yet she kept sprinting toward Tarascus.

The moment she reached the magic circle and extended her hand, a shockwave hurled her backward through the air. At the same time, the magic circle ground to a halt.

[Guiscard] "Ann!"

A frantic shout echoed as she tumbled across the ground, caught in Guiscard's arms.

[Fafnir] "You crazy woman! Are you trying to die again?!"

Fafnir shouted in frustration.

Safe in Guiscard's arms, Dianna heard Fafnir click her tongue in annoyance.

The dragon stepped backward, his violet eyes staring intently at Dianna before his form dissolved into nothingness.

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