“Knowing you, you might eventually develop a sealing magic to imprison me eternally or a technique to completely erase me. But when will that be?”
“……”
“You seal me. To manage the seal, you’ve relied on the help of your descendants and other humans, and you’ll continue to do so. …You’ll continue to burden many people with the heavy responsibility of keeping me sealed. The children of humans who have worked hard and cultivated their powers to save many people will spend their entire lives just watching over a sealed, speechless me… How long will you continue this?”
“……”
“What do you say, Siegfried? …Shall we put an end to this?”
“……”
The man remained silent, staring at the Black Annihilation Dragon.
The Black Annihilation Dragon couldn’t understand what he was thinking.
However, the Black Annihilation Dragon conveyed his thoughts until the very end.
“To be honest, while I was sealed, I regretted my actions countless times… It would be a lie to say I considered the people I had tormented, but still, thinking that my actions were the cause of my sealing, I regretted it fiercely over and over again. I thought many times that if I could do it over, I would never repeat the same mistakes.”
…That was, without a doubt, the Black Annihilation Dragon’s true feelings.
He didn’t possess enough conscience to atone for the many lives he had taken, but it was an undeniable fact that he had regretted his actions.
“Now that I think about it, the fact that I attacked this place today without killing a single person might have been due to an unconscious fear of killing, no, a fear of the four hundred years I was sealed. …I lost my temper in front of the descendant of the man who defeated me, but I want to make a new vow.”
“……”
“I will never again kill people. I will never again attack people. No, I will never show myself to people ever again. …It’s pathetic, but I don’t want to experience the pain of being sealed for four hundred years ever again.”
“So, Siegfried…”
And, as the Black Annihilation Dragon continued his monologue…
“Can we not call it even?”
He finished with these final words of negotiation.
It was undoubtedly the Black Annihilation Dragon’s heartfelt wish.
And in response to the dragon’s desperate words, the man opened his mouth.
“…I understand what you’re trying to say, Blackie.”
The man continued in a calm tone.
“I can tell that there’s no lie in your words. …I believe that you regret your actions, and I believe in your vow.”
“…!! Then…!!”
“But…”
The man interrupted the Black Annihilation Dragon’s words, which had momentarily held hope, with an incredibly cold tone.
“Whether your regret is real or your vow is truthful doesn’t matter. I will never forgive you. There’s no way I would let you go.”
“…!!”
…There had been a small hope.
That Siegfried, being a man of justice, might choose a path that wouldn’t involve others in sealing him again, out of consideration for future generations.
That if he sincerely conveyed his feelings of regret, perhaps Siegfried would reconsider.
When he said “I believe,” that small hope had turned into a brightly shining, large hope.
However, that hope was mercilessly shattered.
And as if to push him into an even deeper despair, the man continued his words mercilessly and without mercy.
“You didn’t actually think your pleas for mercy would work on me, did you? Did you perhaps misunderstand and think there was ‘room for negotiation’ because I haven’t made a move?”
“…Wha…!?”
The man had easily seen through the Black Annihilation Dragon’s thoughts.
The man continued to coldly push the dragon away.
“The fact that you took many people’s lives. And that you killed many of my dear comrades… No matter how many hundreds or thousands of years pass, did you think I would ever forgive that?”
“…!”
…Even though he knew such a thing was impossible, the Black Annihilation Dragon had been praying somewhere in his heart for “a certain possibility.”
That possibility was that “Siegfried was expecting him to have a change of heart.”
It was impossible for someone like him, who had killed countless humans, caused them suffering, and taken the lives of many of Siegfried’s dear comrades, to be forgiven by him.
However, even though he knew the seal would be broken, Siegfried had overlooked it.
Even now that he appeared before him, he showed no signs of attacking, and was even having a long conversation with him as if they were old friends.
Such behavior was unimaginable from the Siegfried of four hundred years ago.
If he had lost his previous power, his eccentric behavior would make sense.
But that possibility had already been crushed earlier.
There was no doubt now that he had the power to defeat him here and now.
Moreover, for Siegfried, dealing with the Black Annihilation Dragon, who now possessed less than a tenth of his full power, would be as easy as breathing.
Despite this, he made no move to attack.
Even though he thought it was impossible, if there was still a possibility that made sense… that possibility was that “Siegfried was expecting him to have a change of heart.”
He negotiated with Siegfried, holding onto this faint hope somewhere in his mind,
thinking that if he conveyed that he had changed his ways during their conversation, perhaps Siegfried would let him go.
However, the answer that came back from him easily shattered such hope.
It was a voice filled with clear anger and killing intent, unlike before.
“But you know,”
the man continued.
“Of course, there’s no way I would forgive you, but to be honest, I was hesitating.”
“…?”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
This statement raised a question mark in the Black Annihilation Dragon’s mind.
“Knowing that the seal would be broken after four hundred years, I reincarnated in the modern era. And there, I saw them. The people who had managed the seal for four hundred years, and my descendants who bore such a heavy responsibility… As you said, I thought, ‘How long will this continue?’ I wondered how many more times we would have to continue our battle, and how many more people would be involved.”
“!!”
“I won’t forgive you. But I was wondering if continuing to seal you was really the best solution, if it wasn’t time to end this.”
“…!!”
For a moment, a light of hope flickered in the Black Annihilation Dragon’s eyes.
But.
“…So I decided to test you.”
“Test…?”
The man’s words diverged from what the dragon had expected, and he looked puzzled.
“If you had deeply regretted your actions and were willing to live quietly in a place far from human settlements after the seal was broken, I thought I might let you go.”
“…What!!”
Upon hearing these words, the Black Annihilation Dragon’s face greatly distorted.
“…But how did you actually behave?”
“W-wait, Sieg, I have changed my ways…”
As unexpected words continued, the Black Annihilation Dragon, greatly shaken, desperately tried to explain himself.
“It’s too late now, Blackie.”
However, his desperate words were futile and interrupted.
“You closed off your last path to salvation yourself.”
“Ah… Ah…”
An inaudible voice leaked from the Black Annihilation Dragon’s mouth.
To the dragon who had completely lost his words, the man continued speaking.
“You seem to have misunderstood that there was ‘room for negotiation,’ but let me tell you why I’ve been talking with you for so long.”
“…! Y-yes, why indeed have you…”
If he had no intention of letting him go at all. Then his actions of not immediately finishing him off and having this long conversation didn’t make sense.
The Black Annihilation Dragon tried to question this contradiction.
“It’s because I wanted you to despair, Blackie.”
The man answered coldly.
“Wha… What…?”
To the Black Annihilation Dragon who was confused, not understanding the meaning, the man continued.
“Just killing you wouldn’t bring justice to the people whose lives you took. I really wanted you to sincerely atone for those who died. …But now I understand clearly. It’s impossible for you to atone for the people you killed.”
“……. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !”
“But at least, I wanted you to regret all your past actions. To regret and regret… and then die in despair. …I talked to you like this at the end to kill you after making you understand that you had closed off your own path to salvation.”
“N-no… way…”
…Now everything made sense. And in the worst possible way.
The content was too despairing for the Black Annihilation Dragon.
If he had fled to an uninhabited land after the seal was broken, he could have been free.
He had wasted that chance because of his desire for the “fear of living beings” that he liked so much.
Now, no matter what he did, there was no way to be saved.
Resistance was meaningless, there was no future in escape, and there was no room for excuses.
It wasn’t anyone else’s fault.
It was all the result of his own actions.
…It was truly despair.
“………”
After silently observing the Black Annihilation Dragon, who was in such deep despair that he could no longer even speak, for a few moments, the man slowly opened his mouth.
“…I’m glad you seem to have despaired. Now that you’re like this, I can completely annihilate you without leaving even a trace of magic.”
“…!”
“Goodbye, Blackie.”
Saying this, the man lowered his stance just like before and pulled back the “Dragon Slayer Sword Balmung.”
The sword gradually began to emit a golden light.
“Glorious Sparkle–“
–I’m going to be killed…!!
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