Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

Volume 4 Chapter 8.1

Risking One's Life Till One Burns Up Part 1

Translator : PolterGlast

Irisdina looked up in a daze at the huge towering white wall in front of her and the black hemispherical object resting behind it.

"What is this......?"

"City Isolation Barrier ...... but how?"

"Tima, you know about this?"

"This is one of the mechanisms designed to protect Arcazam. This is the same mechanism as the one that was installed in the martial arts garden, a barrier that is activated by the power of the earth's veins, but it is not yet completed......"

"Not completed? What does that mean ...... Hm?"

The sound of multiple footsteps approached from behind the bewildered pair. When they turned around, they saw Jihad, Inda, Anri, and Feo running toward them. About twenty guards followed behind them.

"Why is everyone here......?"

[I called them here after I delivered those insolent brats.]

Razward appeared, scattering green light.

The voice of the lesser wind spirit looking up at the black hemisphere took on a more serious tone than ever before.

[This presence, undoubtedly, is that demonic beast that Shi-jou and Nozomu have defeated before.]

"Abyss Grief? But wasn't that demonic beast supposed to have been defeated......?"

[Who knows? But what we should be thinking about now is not that that beast's resurrection.]

Razward continued speaking while brushing aside Jihad's doubts.

[First, Shi-jou and the others are still inside that black hemisphere. Second, the deployed barrier is beginning to erode.]

Indeed, the white barrier was flickering erratically and was gradually being chipped away from where it came into contact with the black hemisphere, which continued to expand.

[Moreover, through that black hemisphere, the power of that demonic beast is connected to the dragon veins of this region. In the worst-case scenario, it could be a repeat of what happened in the Nebula Forest.]

Upon hearing these words, Jihad and the others' faces froze.

The Nebula Forest is a huge dense forest where the elves used to reside. The great spirit that resided in the great tree at the center of the forest was connected to the dragon veins of the land, making it an impregnable fortress against foreign enemies.

However, during the great invasion, the great spirit, which was the cornerstone of the fortress, was defeated and the fortress fell. Since then, it has been a home for demonic beasts.

It is said that the fall of this forest was one of the main reasons why the Great Invasion of 20 years ago spread throughout the continent, and even now it remains a major hurdle in the recovery of the lost land.

Such a tragedy is about to happen again. It was only natural for Jihad and the others' faces to turn pale.

"In that case, there is only one option."

"Fadrey-dono......"

At that moment, the head of the Gloaurum Institution, dressed in a white coat, appeared.

"Before he can fully connect with the dragon veins, let's blow up the City Isolation Barrier and destroy everything in it."

Everyone present gasped at his cold-blooded words.

†

The feeling of being suspended in midair disappeared. When he opened his eyes, he was met with a uniformly white ceiling.

"Hmm....... Is this a hospital room? Ouch, ouch......."

As he twisted his body to look around, his whole body, including his back, creaked.

Looking out the window, the Gloaurum Institution's research building could be seen next door. A short distance away, the Solminati Academy building could also be seen.

"This is, the medical facility of the Gloaurum Institution, huh....... Ah, right. I was swept away by the raging stream in the sewers."

Anyway, I need to find someone. Nozomu put strength into his hands trying to raise his body up.

At that moment, he noticed that his chest was wet.

"This is......."

With his fingertips, Nozomu touched a spot on his coat, which had a different shade of color. A hard touch returned to the fingertips. As he raised his body, he picked up the object he touched and held it up. It was the hair ornament that Nozomu had gifted to Irisdina.

Why is it here?

With this question in his mind, a cool touch returned to the palm of his hand. He felt strangely choked up.

"Good grief, you're finally awake."

"~!?"

Nozomu was startled by a voice coming from the side and turned his head. There, standing before him, was an unexpected figure.

It was Zonne, an old man with a white beard on his chin. He is just a civilian. Why is a man who runs a strange fortune-telling shop in this hospital room?

While Nozomu was flustered by the questions that kept coming to his mind, Zonne picked up Nozomu's treasured sword, which was propped up on the edge of the hospital room. He snipped the koiguchi, gazed at the peeking blade, and held it up.

The old man's palm glowed, and a pale light poured onto [Mumei]'s blade. White source elements. A primordial power that only a few races, such as spirits, can manipulate. As Nozomu was surprised by its manifestation, the power that had been flowing into [Mumei] was rejected and burst apart.

"Hmm, what a picky little katana you have. It would be nice if it were a little more flexible......"

The old man sighed as if he couldn't help it and carelessly tossed [Mumei] to Nozomu.

Nozomu, who reflexively caught the thrown katana, squinted his eyes doubtfully.

"What did you do to Shishō's memento......?"

At that moment, an intense flash of light suddenly burst through the window.

The white light quickly subsided, but Nozomu was astonished by the next sight he saw through the window.

In the distance, a huge white wall and a huge hemispherical object appeared.

It was blacker than the darkness of night, and gave off a chill.

"What the hell is that?......"

"This presence. Is it from that wretched demonic beast? And there's also a hint of that water spirit. Hmm, things are getting very unusual indeed."

"......Demonic beast?"

"It's the being you call the Abyss Grief. It has assimilated with your childhood friend."

"And that white source elements just now, who-......"

"Who am I? Well, you already figured that out, no?"

Zonne squinted his eyes, and white source elements erupted from his body.

A powerful sense of déjà vu. The image of a giant dragon he had encountered in the wilderness returned to Nozomu's mind.

"Dragon......... ugh!?"

[You, you are......!]

Right at that moment, Tiamat's voice echoed in Nozomu's mind, followed by intense pain that shot through his entire body. The interference was stronger than ever before. The pain was so intense that Nozomu involuntarily bent over on the bed, as if his heart was being torn out of his chest and every bone and muscle in his body was being ripped to shreds.

"Agh ...... gah ......!"

[Don't get in my way, human! Let me kill him, let me kill that traitor!]

With a rage that felt as if he was being struck behind the ear with a club, he instantly lost all sensation in his body. Tiamat was trying to rip Nozomu's body apart.

"Damn it, shut the hell ...... up ......."

Nozomu gritted his teeth and tried desperately to withstand Tiamat's interference. The voice of the Dragon King was gradually becoming more and more distant.

When the voice faded away completely, Nozomu finally relaxed his whole body, relieved.

Watching him, Zonne let out an exclamation of admiration.

"Hou~, you managed to fend off her interference. As I thought, you are not an ordinary man."

"So your goal is this guy that I absorbed, huh......?"

"Correct. Tiamat killed her own people and became a vengeful adversary of the entire dragon race, including us white dragons, and because of her unforgivable sins, she was sealed away......"

That's why the dragon tribe searched for the abominable dragon that escaped from the seal and would try to reseal it by any means necessary.

With this possibility in his mind, Nozomu's face, which was sweating from exhaustion, tensed up.

"Well, don't be so wary, lad. Indeed, we can't ignore the existence you've absorbed, but we can't be careless with it, either."

Zonne suddenly reduced the force he had been exerting in the face of Nozomu, whose face turned blue while still maintaining a dubious expression.

"What do you mean......?"

"We have our own circumstances. Well, for now, I think we should deal with that first."

Seeing Nozomu like that, Zonne changed the subject and pointed to a black hemisphere outside the window.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious about this old man's ...... and, by extension, the dragon's circumstances.

But he also sensed that Zonne had no intention of telling him anything about his circumstances. Despite his light tone, the old man had a cold glint behind his eyes and refused to talk about Tiamat any further.

Nozomu took one deep breath to calm his confused mind, and then turned his attention to the black hemisphere that Zonne was pointing at.

"Is that Ken's doing?"

"Predatory Barrier. It melts the body and even the soul of anyone who enters it, and then absorbs them. The barrier was created by a human being who had assimilated with that defiled demonic beast. At this rate, it will continue to expand, eventually taking even the dragon veins as its own power and swallowing all life in this city."

Just by listening to this, one can understand how dangerous it is.

In fact, just by looking at it from afar, Nozomu felt a chill as if bugs were crawling all over his body.

Meanwhile, the hemisphere gradually expanded in size and came into contact with the giant white wall. Sparks began to scatter.

"What about that white wall......?"

"Hmm, that seems to be a defensive mechanism of this city utilizing the power of the dragon veins. But this is not good......"

The wall of light clashed with the predatory barrier. But when the black hemisphere sank into the wall of light, it began to erode the wall of light.

"I understand they want to stop it, but it's having the opposite effect. It's getting devoured instead...... oi, where do you think you're going, lad?"

"Of course, I'm going to stop Ken."

As Zonne sighed, Nozomu turned his back on the old man and was about to leave the hospital room. Zonne shrugged his shoulders at his actions.

"With your tattered body and soul? Tiamat's seal, it's slowly weakening, isn't it?"

Hearing Zonne's words, Nozomu's hand on the door stopped.

The old man's words were right on the mark. As expected of someone from the most powerful spirit species.

The pain that consumed his entire body and the sudden loss of sensation were slowly but surely eroding Nozomu's body. He himself understood this best. Zonne took Nozomu's silence as an affirmation and continued.

"What do you think will happen if you die here? The Dragon King will be resurrected. A greater disaster will befall this city than that beast could ever cause."

These cold words confronted Nozomu with a merciless reality.

The existence he had absorbed. The disaster it would bring. In fact, a short while ago, Nozomu had been in sync with Tiamat and turned his blade against Irisdina and the others, forgetting his own self.

At that time, he was saved by their efforts and a series of miraculous coincidences, but there would be no guarantee that everything would be okay the next time.

And Tiamat's seal is slowly beginning to break. The danger of that dragon's power is probably far greater than when he first used it.

"Your childhood friends and your friends will all die. Furthermore-......"

"But if I turn around and run away now, I'll surely regret it."

Still, Nozomu shook his head at Zonne's advice.

"Whether or not I will die, if I leave that thing alone, the people I care about will die anyway. That would be pointless."

With a strong determination, Nozomu looked back over his shoulder.

Zonne's cold-tinged eyes widened.

The old man's body then erupted with an incomparably greater amount of source elements than before.

A torrent of power that no human body was capable of possessing was directed at a single person.

Curtains were ripped apart, windowpanes creaked and shrieked. The source elements were slammed onto him so hard that it was nearly crushing him, causing the floorboards as well as the hospital bed to be swept up and blown away.

The pressure was so overbearing that it was reminiscent of death. However, Nozomu was calmly and objectively looking at the situation around him, even though he had a vision of a huge gray-white body behind Zonne.

(The windowpanes are creaking but not broken. I see, he must have put up a barrier before I woke up......)

If exposed to a storm of this magnitude, windowpanes would have shattered in an instant. The fact that this did not happen probably means that Zonne himself did not want his face to be known by the people in this facility.

As a living being, there is an overwhelming difference in rank. Even when being shown this, Nozomu's resolve remained unchanged.

On the contrary, he gave a wry smile to Zonne, who was glaring at him with murderous intent.

"Besides, ...... I've had enough rest already. It's time for me to do some hard work or they'll be mad at me."

So, please remove the barrier from this room. At the casual line that seemed to contradict the killing intent directed at him, Zonne dropped his shoulders and let out a dismayed sigh, "Haa~.......".

Then he snapped his fingers. Then the source elements that had enveloped the room disappeared. The barrier was also lifted, and the hustle and bustle of the facility members could be heard from the hallway.

"Let me warn you. If you continue to use her power, eventually you won't be able to keep her under control. When that happens, you will end up killing those who are important to you."

Do not forget this. After saying this, Zonne was enveloped in a white light and vanished.

Judging from his easygoing behavior, which is in direct contrast to his previous actions, it is probably true that he does not want to provoke Tiamat. But Nozomu does not know what his ulterior motives are.

Nozomu shook his head and switched his attention back to the situation at hand.

Now is the time to focus all his energy on the crisis at hand. He puts his hand on his chest and turns his attention inward.

My body is still ...... fine. My weapon is fine too. And my mind is calm.

"Alright......!"

He opened his eyes and ran out into the darkened corridor.

†

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