Chapter 12: Reflections in the Eyes of the Black Dragon
“For four hundred years, I’ve thought of nothing but revenge against you…!”
“…”
Faced with these words uttered at point-blank range, as if the massive mouth was about to swallow him whole, Shion remained unfazed, simply staring straight ahead.
(So, it was as I thought.)
Upon hearing the words of Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation, Shion inwardly nodded as if he had more or less expected this.
(Well, of course. After all, Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation is—)
It wasn’t the fact that the Black Dragon harbored a burning desire for revenge against the great hero Siegfried.
Shion was born with exceptional observational skills and insight.
And now, in his “Trance Zone” state with its vastly heightened concentration, these senses were even sharper than usual.
With these abilities, he deduced something from the Black Dragon’s recent statement—that the words of Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation, were a complete lie.
[“To think I’d meet you again… I never dreamed of such a miracle…”]
[“For four hundred years, I’ve thought of nothing but revenge against you…!”]
All of these words from the Black Dragon were lies, which meant…
The opposite truth was that “despite being sealed away by Siegfried for four hundred years, Schwarzwaldius never wanted to meet him again and had no desire for revenge whatsoever.”
However, this was not at all unexpected for Shion.
Rather, he had known from the beginning that this possibility was high.
That’s why he had employed the strategy of making the dragon believe he was Siegfried.
…Normally, one would harbor strong hatred towards someone who had sealed them away for four hundred years.
But even so, it was within expectations that Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation, would feel intense fear towards Siegfried.
This was because in the historical records about the Black Dragon, it was always written as follows: …From the time Schwarzwaldius first encountered Siegfried and was severely wounded, it spent three years simply running away and surviving.
To summarize the history of battles between Schwarzwaldius and Siegfried: “When they first met, the Black Dragon was nearly killed by Siegfried”, “Siegfried, along with his comrades, found the escaped Black Dragon and nearly killed it again”, “Siegfried cornered the once-again escaped Black Dragon and nearly killed it”, “Siegfried smoked out the Black Dragon that had barely survived and was hiding in secret, and obliterated it without a trace”, “The Black Dragon that Siegfried thought he had finally killed had actually survived, and upon learning this, Siegfried—”, and so on, until Schwarzwaldius was finally defeated (actually sealed).
Yes, due to its absolute immortality, Schwarzwaldius had been constantly fleeing from Siegfried, who came to kill it endlessly.
It was utterly implausible that such a Black Dragon would seek revenge against Siegfried after its 400-year seal was broken.
And there was another reason why Shion had assumed that “the Black Dragon would be extremely wary of Siegfried.”
It was because the current Black Dragon was far too weak.
Shion, who had been watching the battle with Alphonse Fried until just now, had witnessed power truly befitting the world’s strongest.
However, even that paled in comparison to the historical records of Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation.
The Black Dragon of the past was said to have been able to slice away more than half of a large mountain with a single swipe of its foreleg, and to obliterate an entire city with a single mass of black flame.
Compared to that, the current Black Dragon was incomparably weak.
Probably, with the seal having just been broken, most of its former power had not yet returned.
In such a situation, there was no way it would attempt revenge against Siegfried, its greatest threat who it couldn’t even compare to even at its peak.
Considering all this, Shion had thought, “If I can make it believe that I am Siegfried, the Black Dragon will be cautious and won’t attack recklessly.”
And if the Black Dragon was even slightly wary of Siegfried as the only being capable of defeating it, Shion thought he could buy time until reinforcements arrived.
However, if the opponent was so terrified of Siegfried that it was putting up a brave front while trembling badly, that changed things.
(What bad luck, Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation… If it wasn’t me here right now, you could have trampled all over the world and thoroughly enjoyed your beloved “fear of the people”… …But you picked the wrong opponent.)
And with that, Shion activated “Limit Acceleration.”
–From here on, it’s my stage.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
–In truth, from shortly after encountering Shion, the Black Dragon had a strong conviction that “this man before me is probably Siegfried.”
Just seeing how he had moved with Siegfried’s descendant at a speed too fast for its eyes to follow was enough to indicate he was no ordinary being.
Furthermore, despite unmistakably having the scent of a pure human, he could speak the language of dragons, had golden eyes that shone just like Siegfried’s, and called the dragon “Blackie.”
These facts alone were enough for the Black Dragon to think, “Could this be Siegfried?”
However, the most compelling evidence for the Black Dragon wasn’t any of these.
What strengthened its conviction the most was that “the person before me shows absolutely no fear towards me.”
Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation, inherently had the ability to sense the fear felt by living beings.
For the Black Dragon, basking in the fear that creatures felt towards it was the greatest pleasure, and it had indulged in all manner of atrocities for thousands of years seeking this sensation.
Those who knew of Schwarzwaldius, and even those who didn’t, all living beings felt undeniable fear when faced with the Black Dragon.
Even the bravest warriors who had once fiercely stood against the Black Dragon, no matter how much they steeled themselves and rallied their spirits, always felt an instinctive fear.
But in thousands of years, there was only one person who felt absolutely no fear towards the Black Dragon.
That person was none other than the future great hero, Siegfried.
From the moment Siegfried first encountered the Black Dragon until three years later, he never felt even a shred of fear towards Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation.
He was truly the exception among exceptions, and the Black Dragon had the absolute conviction that such a person could only be Siegfried.
…And yet, the man who suddenly appeared before it showed absolutely no fear towards it.
This was the primary reason why Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation, strongly believed that Ichinose Shion might be Siegfried.
It wasn’t that the Black Dragon’s senses had dulled and couldn’t detect fear.
It had sensed very strong fear from the students of the academy just moments ago, and even from Alphonse Fried, Siegfried’s descendant.
This meant that the man before it truly felt not even a shred of fear towards the Black Dragon.
Such a person who spoke the dragon language, had golden eyes, and called it “Blackie.”
For Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation, it would have been more difficult not to think of Siegfried.
However, this was still an incredibly hard thing for the Black Dragon to accept.
That’s why the Black Dragon insisted that it “didn’t recognize” the man before it, as if trying to shake off the possibility thrust upon it.
And then, it appeared.
— “Balmung, the Dragon-Slaying Sword.”
It was the very thing that had sliced Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation, countless times four hundred years ago.
Being “cut in half” or “having its head cut off” were mild in comparison.
It was a sword that had chopped the Black Dragon, with its astonishing healing speed that could instantly regenerate any lost body parts, into such tiny pieces that even its recovery couldn’t keep up.
That sword, which had endlessly sliced its regenerating flesh into tiny pieces seemingly infinitely, was the symbol of terror for the Black Dragon.
There was no way the Black Dragon could forget that sword which made it tremble every time it saw it.
And when it realized that the sword the man before it held was “Balmung, the Dragon-Slaying Sword,” Schwarzwaldius, the Black Dragon of Annihilation’s thoughts became clear.
However, if this really was Siegfried himself, the reasons for his 400-year longevity, his different appearance and even scent, were still concerning.
Clinging to a single thread of hope, betting on the last possibility that the man before him was not Siegfried, he confronted him with this fact.
However,
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
