Because I Am Surtr

The white-haired Dragon Girl didn't know—she never even considered these questions worth thinking about. She knew the visitor's movements were only clear because they had slowed down. She knew she could block the incoming sword strikes only because the force on the greatsword was equal to her own arm strength. She never expected her flames to be able to burn even a single strand of Flame-hair, never thought her chances of winning were even one in ten thousand.

—If she truly wanted to kill me, it would only take one sword strike.

—She's always like this.

—She has always been like this.

—Lacking self-awareness of her status and influence. Blind to the goodwill and malice of others.

—Like Dusk.

—Even when all things reach their end, she still shines upon the land, caring for everything except herself... If only you would vent some of those dark desires in your heart. But why... do you always live like a god?

Blades clashed, flame and flame intertwined. In a thousand head-on confrontations, Talulah had not once successfully broken through the sword barrier the visitor casually constructed. And even with this simple defensive blocking, she was gradually beginning to tire, showing signs of being overwhelmed.

"This is a trap, I know. What you're doing isn't for Chernobog at all. You're just using it as bait to lure me here," the visitor's voice came through the sword screen, their breathing steady, like casual conversation during a stroll, without a hint of urgency. "You knew I would come, you know who I am. And I don't want to kill you, you should be able to feel that."

The white-haired Dragon Girl retreated slightly. As she showed signs of wanting to speak, the pressure on her hands suddenly lessened by more than half—ah, yes, just like that. In the midst of intense combat, where was there so much time for talking? Being able to fight and talk at the same time was something that only happened in sparring matches.

"You still have a chance, even after the mistakes you've made."

"Put down your sword and leave with me. I've found a better solution to break the deadlock." There was earnestness in the visitor's voice, she could hear it, feel it. She knew very well this stemmed from the other party's goodwill and hope. As long as she reached out her hand, she could reach a safe shore no matter how perilous the situation.

The shore was just a turn of the head away. This was a privilege and special treatment only she could enjoy.

"Your goodwill, I refuse." —Yet the white-haired Dragon Girl didn't hesitate for even a second.

She lightly stepped on the ground, and the hundreds of flame seeds previously buried within the floor layers detonated. The scorching heat and explosions turned the entire floor into a molten lake of fire, and from higher up the tower, the phenomenon of collapse and destruction immediately erupted.

This is useless—she knew.

She even knew that this explosion wouldn't even serve to obscure the other party's vision.

Because in the next moment, a gust of wind struck her, binding her form. It carried her body, smashing through the collapsing floor of the tower and plummeting towards another direction in the distance—she could sense the shattering of the wall behind her, she could sense the friction of the earth's fluids and the cracking of the ground. And as the impact swept over her entire body, she saw the main control tower break, tilt, and fall at the edge of her vision. The surrounding plaza was as if it had been scoured by the main cannon, completely empty.

And the intense pain that engulfed her entire body immediately followed.

—How many bones are broken? Are my internal organs alright?

—Ah, it doesn't matter. If she doesn't want me to die, I'll definitely live.

The white-haired Dragon Girl raised her head, ignoring her tattered body. She sniffed lightly, and as she had wished, smelled the scent of sulfur filling the air. As the twilight colors spread further, she heard the sound of high heels tapping on the ground, and as she struggled to stand up, she saw the Flame-haired Sarkaz standing about three meters in front of her.

She looked very angry, not because her ground trap had attacked her, but because she had to use such a crude method to throw her to this place.

—Just like every deduction in the past.

So Talulah wiped the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, stood up, and once again raised the sword in her hand.

"I feel very confused." The Sarkaz's eyes flickered like a blazing candle. She blocked Talulah's full-strength sword strike with her raised finger, flicked her fingertip, and an impact like a battering ram directly hitting its target sent Talulah crashing through the outer wall of an abandoned warehouse—her speed was even faster than Talulah's being sent flying. Just before the Dragon Girl's back could hit something sharp inside the warehouse, she arrived behind her again and, with a whip kick, smashed the Dragon Girl, along with the warehouse door, onto the street.

"At that time, I had already removed the curse within you, and I don't sense any mental pollution or mental distortion on you at this moment—everything you're doing comes from your own heart. And three years ago, you clearly hoped to bring liberation to the Infected on this land, to bring new hope to this world where everyone lives so hard."

The warehouse door shattered, and a slender hand pressed down on the Dragon Girl's head. With a low murmur whose emotion was hard to discern, the Dragon Girl's head slammed into a stone pillar, and while her head remained intact, she instantly broke the load-bearing pillar mixed with rebar. The sensation on her head then disappeared, and while she was dizzy and disoriented, the same hand grabbed her ankle.

"That's why I left with peace of mind back then."

The centrifugal force from being forcibly rotated surged, and when the potential energy accumulated to a limit, it erupted completely along with a rapidly rising blood pressure.

"However, now, you have become like this."

She couldn't see, she couldn't hear. And when her senses returned, the Dragon Girl found herself embedded in a wall far from the plaza and the warehouse, like a comical villain in a cartoon. And in her hand, she still tightly gripped the sword that was of little use.

Holding the sword, gripping the hilt.

—She doesn't want to kill me.

—She's waiting for me to put down the sword myself.

—I still have no chance of winning.

—But my goal has seen the dawn of its achievement.

So she got off the wall, stood firm. Raised her sword, blocking in front of her chest.

"Do you still remember your battle on the snow mountain peak?"

And a fully loaded truck was kicked up by the Flame-haired Sarkaz, its tens of tons of mass, accompanied by a strong wind, rushing towards her face—she dodged, and then saw a street lamp pole, as thick as a bowl, casually ripped out of the ground and strike her chest with a speed approaching the speed of sound at its tip!

She flew high into the air like a baseball.

And the Flame-haired woman's answer then reached her ears.

"I remember, and I forget. Some memories are scars just by existing. And the method of healing is forgetting... You know about this battle? It's interesting, but I don't think it has anything to do with your current situation."

—Ah... she forgot. This is only natural. The things on the snow mountain dare not let her recall everything she had done, everything she had been. She only knew that she had fought, but she had forgotten everything else about that battle.

—But I remember, I know. I know why she climbed the snow mountain, I know what she did for me... for the mediocre people of this world, to what extent she went, what price she paid.

—So, I cannot provoke her with this... she will remember sooner or later, because she has been getting stronger. Because she is Surtr.

Behind her, the sensation of impact echoed. The sound of bones cracking, the smell of blood—the Dragon Girl painfully stood up. The energy and blood throughout her body boiled.

"No, it has something to do with it."

She gained new, temporary, explosive strength. And this strength allowed her to barely keep up with the suddenly accelerating red and black greatsword slashes. She knew her opponent still wasn't using their full strength... she didn't even know if this monster wearing a Sarkaz's skin had ever exerted any effort.

"Because you left the snow mountain alive, and after challenging the legendary deity, you are still active on the land."

A hundred collisions, a hundred clashes. Swords cut and formed a storm, sweeping across the land.

"You... are a god of this world. Not that Black Serpent who falsely claims divinity, but a true immortal power, emerged from mythological stories and walking the earth."

"And you once told me... the people of this world don't need deities or emperors."

Then Laevateinn's blade tore through the wind curtain, pointing directly at her brow.

"...But deities do exist, right here. And... she doesn't need the people of this world either."

Chapter 27 · Mortals Must All Serve

—What did she want to say?

—What did she want to express?

—I'm too strong, so I should be the target to be defeated? My power is too immense, so she would try to defeat me even if it meant dragging the entire Reunion Movement, tens of thousands of Infected, and hundreds of thousands of innocent people caught in the crossfire?