MHHC Chapter 95

Nadia's cynical voice stabbed at Adelheid's heart like a blade.

Her body would rupture? She recalled Valentin's form as she had seen it by the lake days ago.

Those wounds deep enough to expose bone, the traces of injuries inflicted and healed over and over again.

Even the dragon's extraordinary regenerative powers could not fully restore them—now, in this moment, he could barely conceal them behind illusions.

"If that weren't the case, we would have died long ago, just as Your Highness suggested. Well, that ends tomorrow. When the sun rises tomorrow morning, the final battle will truly begin."

The final battle. At those words, consciousness returned to her with a jolt. Adelheid stepped back as though Nadia had threatened her.

"But how are you even here? In this vast forest, how did you know to come to this place...?"

"When Your Highness knocked on the barrier, it was quite conspicuous from the outside. Beyond the barrier, the combined forces of Nürnberg and three neighboring kingdoms are assembling. The sixth dragon subjugation order has been issued, but in reality, it's no different from a final stand."

She could not believe it. For allied forces to be present, the surroundings were far too quiet.

She sensed no presence other than Nadia's. Not even the sound of horses.

'Morig excels at transformation and mimics humans quite well.'

Why did Valentin's words suddenly surface in her mind?

"I've attended the subjugation campaigns every year, hoping to meet you. My target from the very beginning was you alone, Your Highness."

"I was your target?"

"I thought the barrier might break at least once. If any anomaly occurred, I believed it would be you. People think the dragon has simply gone mad, but a select few know the exact reason."

Nadia's voice dropped low. A select few? Only Mikhail and Nadia knew about her relationship with the dragon.

Was it because she had begun to doubt? Now even trivial slips of the tongue seemed suspicious. A faint wariness colored Adelheid's voice.

"...Is there no way for me to see it? Or some definitive proof...?"

"You want to see?"

"For me, these are all difficult stories to believe. I cannot even believe that three years have passed."

"Did you ever intend to believe in the first place?"

An irritated edge entered Nadia's voice.

When Adelheid hesitated without answering, Nadia released a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry for being irritable. Of course it would sound like grasping at clouds to you. Anyway, it's not as if there's no way to show you. Step aside for a moment."

Adelheid awkwardly moved two or three steps to the side at Nadia's instruction.

Almost immediately, a tremendous rupturing sound echoed.

A long, black blade pierced through the transparent barrier, stabbing deep into the spot where she had been standing just moments before. Adelheid nearly screamed.

"Dear Gods..."

"Forcing the barrier open causes the magical energies to collide, generating considerable heat. You're in a safe location, correct?"

"Y-yes. But surely this sword..."

"That's right. Valois black iron. Don't ask me how I obtained it right now. I'm concentrating very hard."

Nadia laboriously dragged the blade downward, excruciatingly slow. The sound of the barrier tearing resembled a terrible scream.

Had she cut perhaps two hand-spans with her palm? Nadia's labored panting could be heard.

Finally, when she twisted the blade sharply, the solid curtain split apart with a crack, leaving a fine gap.

Through that gap, light and sound poured in. At last, Adelheid could see.

The first thing visible was a smoke-filled, blood-red sky.

The beautiful forest path had burned black and transformed into a barren wasteland, and in the distance across the vast plains, tens of thousands of troops had assembled.

Torn, blood-stained banners fluttered, embroidering the air above their heads. The phrase "humanity's final stand" was not an empty expression.

"So she really did conceive."

Adelheid lacked the mental capacity to process Nadia's savage muttering.

Nadia suddenly thrust her hand through the torn gap.

"Lend me your magical power. I'll show you how the world has changed."

Adelheid hesitantly grasped her hand. Almost immediately, the magical power pooled within her body was sucked toward Nadia in a rush.

The shock made Adelheid dizzy and she staggered, barely managing to steady herself.

The moment she raised her head after composing herself, the 'world' entered Adelheid's field of vision.

"Good heavens."

Devastated cities and collapsed buildings, burning plains and fields, people maimed and children wandering the streets in tears...

Buildings hastily constructed with haphazardly nailed planks, sagging cloth soaked by rain—none of it provided proper shelter.

The faces of those who had barely survived were rife with vigilance and suspicion.

Wherever she looked, misfortune and sorrow overflowed.

"This is a lie..."

She murmured it half out of her mind. Yet Adelheid knew better than anyone that this was no lie.

If ordinary illusion magic was hazy and indistinct like dreams, the 'world' Nadia showed her was precise, vivid, and brimming with vitality.

That was how she knew. This was reality.

"I could only show you the nearby area. That was the limit with the magical power you lent me."

Nadia released Adelheid's hand as she spoke.

Adelheid barely managed to blink and gasp for breath. Her entire cheeks were damp with tears that had streamed down unknowingly.

"...I'll try to persuade him somehow. Even if I have to beg Valentin..."

"No. Even if we get past this time, people will no longer worship an unstable dragon as a god. The subjugation orders will be issued periodically. You don't want to watch the sacrifices repeat every time, do you?"

No. Absolutely not.

"Then listen carefully from now on. This is how you and your child can survive."

"My... child?"

"What dwells in your womb is the deity's fervent wish. The wish to create a 'shackle' for Your Highness has manifested in the form of a child."

This was the first she had heard of it.

"However, while natural divinity that flows through nature might be manageable... a human infant's body is far too fragile to withstand divinity as intense as a deity's 'fervent wish.' As things stand, that child in your womb will miscarry before it can fully develop."

Adelheid stared at Nadia with vacant eyes.

Her extremely emaciated body looked pitiable, as though it might crumble like dried leaves at any moment, yet Nadia remained resolute.

She grasped Adelheid's trembling hands—trembling from shock—and turned the palms upward.

Upon those palms, she placed the thorn-like black iron sword.

"This is the method I'm proposing. Seal away the divinity for just a brief time. So the dragon can calm his fury, and the world's hatred toward the dragon can be forgotten in the meantime. Just until the child in your womb is safely born and grows enough to accept the deity's fervent wish."

Expression slowly drained from Adelheid's face.

"Are you telling me to kill him?"

"No, I'm not. There is only one weapon in this world capable of killing a deity. Unfortunately, the dragon possesses it."

"..."

"This Valois black iron has the characteristic of absorbing and nullifying power. This is the most precious and powerful sword ever forged from that black iron. Stab it into the dragon's heart."

"..."

"The choice is yours. Will you stab him and save your pitiful child and humanity, or will you watch as the dragon loses his reason and degrades into a mere beast?"

Nadia's voice became sweet as honey. It sounded like the perfect solution, yet she knew that whisper itself was poison.

Nevertheless, Adelheid quietly gazed at the sword resting upon her palm. The freezing metal felt utterly horrifying.

"...What about Betitha? Is she well?"

"She died about a month ago. Crushed under a collapsed building."

"D-died?"

"Since the dragon destroyed the building, it's the same as if he killed her."

Nadia drew a handkerchief from within her clothing.

Adelheid recognized it as the one she had gifted to Betitha. And inside it were...

"I've been carrying it deliberately. To persuade you somehow."

Blood-soaked black hair and small teeth.

They truly resembled Betitha's... For a moment, the world grew distant. She could not breathe properly. She barely managed to hold on while grasping Nadia's hand.

"Ah..."

She recalled Betitha's soft breath against the nape of her neck.

That smile radiating happiness as she embraced her, that hair dancing freely in the wind, those teeth that sparkled like tiny pearls whenever she laughed...

All of it lay here, destroyed.

"The one thing you must remember in this situation. The dragon cares for no one except you. Even in matters of life and death."

Ah, that 'thing.' Adelheid wept without even realizing she was crying.

In doing so, she failed to notice the childishly cruel smile that sat ill-suited upon Nadia's lips.

Finally, Nadia lifted her trembling chin. That insidious whisper touching her ear.

"In the end, the child in your womb might meet this same fate."

She had no idea what state of mind carried her back to the priest's quarters. Adelheid curled up on the bed and slept for a very long time.

Had happiness been too extravagant an emotion for her to indulge in? Now she only wished to forget everything.

Even tears would not come. She felt as though she had dried up completely while still alive.

[Adelheid.]

When she opened her eyes to the hand gently brushing across her forehead, the surroundings had grown dark. Moonlight entering through the parted curtains illuminated Valentin's handsome features.

[You've been sleeping so long, I was worried. Have you eaten?]

Adelheid watched as he drew strawberries and tree fruits from within his clothes. They were lukewarm from being held for so long, yet not a single piece was bruised. That tenderness pierced her heart.

"..."

She wanted to forget everything as it was and run away with him to live together.

To beg and cling... even if everyone pointed fingers at them. Even if he completely lost his divinity and degraded into a beast devoid of reason.

"Hold me."

She would rather die together like this.