The Final Day

As soon as the battle began, Ria and everyone else realized that the god before them was a mass of pure power.

And that power became light, battering Ars's Machine God and dragon-form Ria.

(This is… a war of attrition?)

The body of the Machine God that Ars was operating was about the same size as the god's body. Even wide-area attack magic wouldn't deal much damage against it.

Carla and the three Black Cats focused on clearing the surrounding small fry. The two of them wouldn't take damage from the fodder's attacks, but they still wanted to let them concentrate on the enemy in front of them.

"Ruin."

Ars's magic pierced through the god's existence. But it wasn't a fatal blow.

The light the god released scorched the earth. Not just the demons, but even the angels — its own followers — vanished within that light.

"Apparently, in the beginning, God said 'Let there be light.' Guess that's his method of attack after all."

Though Ars analyzed while fighting, this former god's body boosted by a magic core seemed to be at a disadvantage against the one true God.

Ria's dark breath chipped away at the light.

(There's… a body?)

Beyond the barrier of light, she could definitely feel something solid.

Perhaps even gods needed physical bodies to manifest in this world.

If so, there was a more effective attack than her breath.

"GAAAAAAAH!"

With a roar, Ria bit into the god's body.

The armor of light burned Ria's scales. But her fangs had definitely reached the god's flesh.

"I see, so darkness against light. Or maybe…"

An enormous surge of mana emanated from the Machine God. Ria tore off a chunk of the god's body and quickly pulled away.

" — Genesis — "

In his right hand, sparkles like a galaxy were born.

" — Void — "

In his left hand, a darkness that swallowed everything was born.

"Run!"

Whether or not Shifaka's cry reached them, the magic was completed at that very moment.

"Collapse."

From between his joined hands, something that destroyed all of creation was born.

It swallowed not just the god, but the Machine God as well.

This was Ars's last resort.

Creating genesis magic and void magic, then combining them.

The final trump card that had swallowed even the strongest golden dragon, Clarice.

Whether Machine God, god, or Dragon God, none could resist this — the ultimate destruction magic.

Taken to its extreme, this was magic that reached the heights of cosmic creation, annihilating everything.

Yet even so, the god remained.

Even pouring all of the mana from both Ars and the Machine God into it, it wasn't enough to completely annihilate the god.

But it had certainly dealt massive damage. If they could land one more blow here…

Ria released her transformation and poured the maximum amount of mana into Gallach.

She gazed at the remaining portion of the god's body with her Dragon Eyes.

She could see it.

A bundle of light within the half-destroyed body.

Ria charged toward it.

"With me!"

Carla, Shifaka, Alvis, Thor. Everyone remaining sent their mana to Ria.

Gallach bit into the bundle of light. But it hadn't been severed completely.

"Super Acceleration."

With the power of the magic core she'd received from Serge, Ria broke through her limits and reached even further beyond.

Having come this far… at the very end, she felt the pieces of the puzzle click into place.

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

That single strike split the heavens, split the earth, and shattered the god's heart that lay between them.

The light of creation was born and swallowed Ria and Ars. No — tried to swallow them.

Ars's half-destroyed Machine God shielded Ria.

"What are you—"

"I leave the rest to you."

Ars's will reached her. It was terribly weak.

He would die here?

Had he fought in order to die?

Were the words he'd said to Ria truly the truth?

"Well, I can't exactly let that happen."

The one who appeared before Ria was the Dragon God Ohma.

Dragging Ars out of the Machine God's core, she retreated through the light alongside Terrew, who had appeared next to Ria at some point.

Along the way, they grabbed Carla and the Black Cat members, escaping from Earth's atmosphere.

Lanna and Valis were waiting at the boundary between worlds.

"Dying satisfied on your own is pretty irresponsible, you know."

Taking Ria from Terrew, Valis turned her gaze toward Earth.

When Ria looked back, she saw the land rising up, the seas evaporating, the entire planet turning red.

"Riana, let's go."

Led by Valis's hand, Ria invaded Earth's domain once more.

"What are you—"

"I'm passing it on to you."

Valis took her true form. A dark dragon larger than a mountain range.

Erecting a barrier around them, Valis reached Earth's core.

It was a bright, hot place, and Ria naturally took on her dragon form.

Valis's figure, her mana, became spherical.

And it began to swallow everything around them. From Earth's core to its crust, it swallowed everything.

Darkness filled Ria's surroundings.

"Behold, Riana."

With Valis's voice, something like a… tree appeared before Ria.

Looking closely, it was a collection of green particles of light. Those particles of light were… stars? No, something even larger…

"This is the universe as I see it."

"This is…?"

"Our world is right there."

The planet with the Dragon Bone Continent was magnified within Ria's mind.

"And the existence you all called Earth — there are countless versions of it."

Here and there throughout the magnified cosmic tree, appearances identical to Earth existed.

There, people were born, died, and went extinct.

"So this is the universe…"

Information that humans could never process flowed into Ria's mind. Yet her dragon brain, her body, absorbed it all.

Eventually, sleep arrived.

An essential sleep to organize that vast amount of information.

After returning Ria to where she belonged, Valis corrected everything.

She adjusted the position of the planet that had newly become the third planet of the solar system, making it move in regular orbits.

"So this is the end…"

Dragons do not mourn death. Whether it belongs to a comrade or to themselves.

Therefore, all that existed in Valis's heart now was the sense of accomplishment for having done what needed to be done.

Even this was probably something that wouldn't normally occur in a dragon. But Valis had been far too involved with humans.

"Are you satisfied?"

She smiled sarcastically at the question directed at herself.

And so the dark dragon's soul was worn away, disappearing beyond the horizon of space and time.

"Ria."

Called gently, Ria opened her eyes.

"Carla…?"

"Yes."

The wind whipped Carla's hair sideways. The two of them were still high in the thin air.

And then Ria realized. Right now, she was being held by Carla like a princess.

She tried to protest, but somehow felt it was fine as it was.

"It's over…"

"Yes…"

There was far more that would begin from here. But Ria understood that, for now, this was the end.

"That Ars, getting saved in such an uncool way at the end."

"Indeed."

"Serves him right."

Ria couldn't judge whether this was truly for the best. But the person she could push difficult matters onto had survived.

This was Ria's victory. Even if the Dragon Gods had actually saved them.

"I've inherited something troublesome."

"?"

"I'll tell you later. For now, I just want to go home and take a bath."

She looked at the sky. The ground that had covered it moments ago no longer existed.

Earth had vanished. But Earths slightly different from it existed. Countless numbers of them.

Likely, worlds slightly different from this one also existed in countless numbers.

"Things don't really go according to plan, do they?"

"You think everything goes the way you want?"

Ars, who had also been flying through the air, spoke to her.

"Well, guess I'll try my best for about another thousand years. I was told not to be irresponsible, after all."

Saying only that, Ars returned to where he belonged.

This would be the last time Ria and Ars parted ways, but neither of them knew it.

"Shall we head back? To Manesh."

"Yes."

"By the way, Carla, how long must I be held like this?"

"Isn't it nice once in a while?"

Ria firmly protested that.

 

*

 

Dragon's Bloodline — End of Part One