Chapter 161

How strange...

Asad tilted his head in puzzlement.

Had the world always been this quiet?

Asad's world had always been noisy. Due to a dragon's excellent hearing, he heard sounds that others couldn't.

But now it was strangely silent. The calm, soft voice, the heart that beat faster than usual whenever it saw him—he could no longer hear either.

Asad repeatedly hit his ear with one hand. As if the problem was solely with his hearing. As if such an action would make the inaudible sounds return.

But even after hitting his ear until it felt numb, no sound came.

"......"

Asad's eyelashes trembled finely. Even as he struck himself without controlling his strength, his neck remained stiffly facing forward. As if he was unbearably afraid of what he would see if he lowered his head.

But as if drawn by magnetism, he eventually lowered his head. Toward the man cradled in his arms.

The small, pale face was stained with blood. But his expression looked peaceful, without any trace of pain.

"Nine."

"......"

"Nine?"

Though Asad called carefully, no matter how long he waited, there was no answer.

Just as black magic had made his eyes unable to see, had something happened to his ears this time? Asad bent his head down close and put his lips near Kinaine's ear.

"Nine, wake up."

But the man's closed eyelids didn't even twitch.

"If you don't wake up, I'll do all the things you hate. I'll destroy the guardian spirit you worked so hard to save, and I'll really burn all the winged tribe's wings so they can never fly again."

"......"

"And, and also..."

As Asad blinked, a tear that had been hanging on his eyelashes fell onto Kinaine's eyelid and rolled down his cheek.

Not realizing it was his own tear, Asad was startled and hurriedly wiped Kinaine's cheek.

"No. I would never do that. So... if it's because I was being mean, you can open your eyes now."

"......"

"Okay?"

Asad brought his lips to the wiped cheek, as if coaxing a sulking lover. But the moment his lips touched the cheek, he flinched as if burned. It was because the skin was cold as snow.

Asad awkwardly smiled and removed his lips from Kinaine's cheek.

"Why is your body so cold? Are you cold?"

"......"

"Humans are just too fragile. Wait. I'll take you somewhere warm."

Just as Asad was about to lift Kinaine up.

Crack—

A small sound, similar to glass breaking, was heard.

"Nine?"

Asad looked at Kinaine with a face that had noticeably brightened. But the sound wasn't made by Kinaine.

Asad's gaze turned to the ring hanging around his neck.

"No."

Asad hurriedly clutched the ring with one hand. But the moment his hand touched it, the ring began to crumble at an uncontrollable rate.

"No, no, no!"

Asad tried to repair the ring using magic. But no magic worked on the ring.

The ring finally shattered completely in his palm.

"......"

Asad stared blankly at the silver powder remaining in his hand.

His mind was desperately trying not to recall what the destroyed ring meant.

A moment later, the silver powder began to glow faintly. As if it would soon oxidize into light and disappear completely from this world.

"No."

As Asad clutched the powder, it disappeared as if absorbed into his palm instead of oxidizing. Simultaneously, black blood flowed from one of Asad's nostrils.

"Ugh..."

It was a terrible headache. And also familiar. Since he had just experienced something similar.

Indeed, memories he had forgotten began to flood into his mind like a broken dam. However, it was both similar to and different from what he had just experienced.

The memories recalled when he touched Hasan's ring had all been fragmentary. But now Asad was recalling everything completely.

The memories from when he was an egg were faint.

However, he did remember that his mother, who had rarely visited, stopped coming at some point.

'Why did this happen to me?'

'It's all because of you.'

'I didn't want to give birth to the likes of you. I only wanted to have Lord Kor's heart...'

Dragons were strong beings, but they too had vulnerable moments. That was when they were still unborn, in the egg state.

A dragon in the egg state was like a blank sheet, rapidly absorbing the surrounding energies like a water-soaked cotton. All dragons throughout history had grown up in perfect protection, nourished by their parent dragons' abundant magical power.

But all that was given to Asad was his mother's hatred and sorrow. Asad grew up using her emotions as nourishment. Because there was nothing else given to him.

The moment he was born from the egg, Asad was alone. No, could that be called birth? What emerged from the egg was nothing more than an empty shell that knew neither its own essence nor its name.

'Get away, you magical beast!'

The negative energy he had used as nourishment had corrupted Asad. It wasn't for nothing that the villagers called him a magical beast and avoided him. It must have been that they felt an ominous energy whenever they saw him, not just his terrible appearance. Just like when seeing a magical beast.

Of course, the fact that Asad's essence was a sacred dragon remained unchanged, but... who would stick their face into a pit of filth and look at it?

'Will you come with me?'

Therefore, such a human was truly precious.

'Look at this. It's the same color as your eyes, isn't it? It's called heliodor.'

A human who would still find beauty even in something hideous.

'Following this gem's name, from today I'll call you Helio.'

A face that smiled while looking at him.

Looking back now, "beauty" was probably the first concept Asad had learned from Kinaine.

Asad had been an empty shell, but Kinaine had filled him without any hesitation.

That act was no different from stuffing a cloth doll with cotton, or a god breathing a soul into a human body. Kinaine was both the creator who breathed a soul into Asad and the soul itself.

That's why when he betrayed him, Asad had lost everything.

Kinaine had taught Asad everything. He had shown him loyalty and warmth, compassion and devotion, desire and affection... and ultimately, even despair.

When he opened his eyes again, Asad realized that he had finally regained his complete memory.

What he had lost was merely a year's worth of memories. Compared to the lifespan of a dragon who lived eternally, it was barely a grain of sand.

But it was this mere year that had changed everything for Asad.

Asad carefully laid Kinaine on the ground. Then he slowly rose to his feet.

'Asad...'

With each step he took, Kinaine's last whispered words became clearer.

Words he couldn't understand until he regained his memories.

'For me, until this moment is eternity.'

The arena was in perfect silence. It couldn't be otherwise. Everything was frozen solid white.

Asad's gaze turned to the knights who had become ice statues. Without doing anything in particular, just directing his gaze, the ice statues shattered into pieces.

Now only one statue remained in this place. A statue frozen with a fearful expression, clutching its abdomen.

Asad, who had stopped in front of that statue, reached out and caressed the facial part. The ice melted, and the person inside exhaled a long breath.

"Cough!"

"I have something to ask."

"Gasp, hic."

Whether it was out of fear or because he had lost too much blood, Hasan couldn't properly come to his senses. Asad tilted his head.

A white light enveloped Hasan. The wound in his abdomen healed quickly, and color returned to his pale face. Only then did Hasan regain his senses.

"L-Lord Asad. Save, save me please."

Hasan barely opened his mouth and looked up at him with desperate eyes. But in Asad's eyes looking at him, there was no trace of compassion.

"About the ring."

"Yes, yes."

"Do you remember what was engraved on the inside?"

"What?"

Hasan's pupils trembled. He parted his lips, thinking he should answer something, but he was afraid of saying the wrong answer. Asad looked at Hasan with indifferent eyes, then nodded.

"Yes, I thought so."

"W-wait! I'll remember! It's just that it was so long ago, I can't recall it! P-please!"

"I should have killed you without His Highness knowing back then."

"Eek!"

As soon as he heard Asad's muttering, Hasan realized the situation and tried to escape. But his body wouldn't move. Only then did Hasan realize that his legs were still frozen.

Hasan desperately shouted.

"D-Dragon! You c-cannot kill me! There is someone who taught me black magic and ordered me to kill Kinaine! That person is..."

Hasan fell silent. It wasn't voluntary. His severed tongue rolled on the floor. Though he screamed in agony, no sound came out.

"You've talked too much. I don't want to hear any more..."

Asad reached out and placed his hand on Hasan's forehead.

The dragon's magic instantly devoured Hasan's mind.