Vol 1 Chapter 51

After flying for a long time, the view gently curved and slowly descended, finally stopping at the entrance of a small town. From atop the flagpole at the town entrance, Kapros looked down and focused his attention on two boys standing there. In this beautiful world that somehow seemed faded, only those two were strangely vivid and shining.

And as if it had been waiting, the view moved closer to the two.

"I'm really leaving now."

As the red-haired boy, who was so pretty it was hard to determine his gender, spoke, the black-haired boy, who was much taller, made a regretful expression.

"It's too dangerous for you to leave alone."

"No. I can't delay any longer. I must find my younger sibling. You know that."

"I know. I also know that you're a genius mage. I know you're strong. But it's already been 10 years."

"Yes, 10 years have passed, but I'm going to look because they're still alive! As long as this necklace is intact, I'll search to the ends of the earth."

"I know all that too. But... still, you can't go alone."

The black-haired boy tightly hugged the red-haired boy, who was gritting his teeth.

For a moment, the red-haired boy's face, buried in the other's chest, looked like he was about to cry, but he soon pushed the black-haired boy away, pretending to be fine.

"Don't worry unnecessarily. As you've acknowledged, I can protect myself now. You should hurry back. I've been an orphan since the monsters invaded 10 years ago anyway... but I don't want your mother, who's been caring for me all this time, to cry."

"I can see Mother later when I return, but if I send you off now, I won't be able to be there when you're crying alone. I hate that more. ...So, I've already packed my things, let's just go together. If we search together, we can find them much faster."

At the desperate look in the black-haired boy's eyes, tears finally fell from the red-haired boy's eyes.

"You... really..."

"See? You were going to cry after all."

In the end, the scene shifted to the two boys leaving the village together at dawn, and the view flew back up to the distant sky. When the view descended upon a large city after floating for a while, Kapros saw the red-haired and black-haired boys again.

Time seemed to have passed in between, as they had now become young men. The red-haired young man, who had become much more beautiful than when he was younger, ran with tremendous force towards the black-haired young man leaning against the city wall, almost colliding with him as he shouted.

"I found out!"

"...Huh?"

"I said I found out! Where my sibling was taken... I found out..."

As the red-haired young man's voice trembled at the end, the black-haired young man got up with surprised eyes and patted his back.

"...How?"

"As I suspected... it seems they were kidnapped during the great monster invasion 15 years ago. But seeing that there's still no change in my necklace, they must be alive..."

As he showed it, the necklace of the red-haired young man had a small jewel that somehow resembled the red jewel of the brooch Kapros had held in his hand.

"...So what are you going to do now?"

When the black-haired young man asked, the red-haired young man glared with reddened eyes and stood up abruptly.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to rescue them. I'll take revenge too, if possible. Until now, I've only learned magic, but now I need to learn the sword too. ...So, you'll teach me the sword, right?"

At the arrogantly confident tone, the black-haired young man sighed deeply.

"You. Do you know how lightly you're taking these monsters? You've seen those monsters yourself. They're strong. Besides, I'm not skilled enough to teach anyone..."

"Don't lie. You're the Dark Knight, aren't you? Unlike me, who's tied to the mage association."

"Watch your words. I'm also a knight bound to this country. Everyone knows you're the country's top genius mage, but have you thought about what those jealous mages might do to you if you say you're going to learn the sword too?"

The black-haired young man sighed and lightly hit his forehead. Perhaps because he didn't say that learning was forbidden, the red-haired young man smiled brightly.

"Why care about that? Anyway, I'm a genius, right? You're admitting I have the aptitude? Then starting tomorrow..."

Before he could finish speaking, Kapros flew up to the distant sky again.

By this point, he was starting to get a sense of what was happening. The red-haired man he was seeing now was clearly Lord Superior. Kapros felt somewhat dumbfounded, as he hadn't expected the hero to look like this.

If it was Mist's scenario team that created the story of Lord Superior, it would have been the supercomputer THE MIST that set his appearance, but what were they thinking with this setting? There was no trace of heroic dignity no matter how hard he looked. As he continued flying over the continent for a while, suddenly a black energy exploded from the north and began to engulf the continent.

Watching this astonishing scene, Kapros thought this might be the descent of the demon god that the mage Berman had talked about. It was truly an incredible sight. Every time the immense darkness consumed the continent, green forests withered and died, waters dried up, and stones crumbled. The clear weather gradually darkened. The entire continent was groaning from the shock.

The view plummeted again at an incredible speed, dropping into a battlefield somewhere.

Waaah—!

The sky was completely black, and acrid smoke from fires everywhere filled the air. Human soldiers fought against the monsters but fell like straw bundles without even properly defeating them. Beyond that battlefield, an enormous dragon appeared.

"It's the demon dragon! The demon god's knight has appeared!"

Even the soldiers who had shown some will to resist were now busy fleeing, screaming death at the dragon's imposing presence that seemed to reach the sky. The battle lines collapsed in an instant, and morale plummeted. The air of death was pervasive under the broken flags.

As Kapros watched each of these scenes, his mood gradually sank. It was a devastating sight that would naturally make any viewer solemn.

And then, seven shadows appeared on the ruined battlefield.