The World

Heat—maddening, scorching heat—was the only sensation Turak had in his unconscious state.

All the moisture in the nearby air had been dried away by the high temperature. Every breath felt like swallowing and exhaling searing flames, and waves of agony rolled through his organs, growing fiercer and fiercer until a hoarse groan rattled from his throat. Enduring the feeling that the skin of his face was about to be torn apart, he opened his eyes.

Then he saw hell.

Not a single human figure could be seen in the vast valley anymore. All that remained were drifting ashes floating through the air and congealed on the ground. The dragon breath the white flying dragon had spat out had burned the mountain walls on both sides into glossy black crystal, while the sand and soil on the surface had turned into a thick crust like roof tiles. If one looked down from high above, the entire Sunset Pass looked as if someone had drawn a stroke of ink across the earth, wiping out all life in the valley with a single brush.

Less than ten steps away, Turak found Soleto—though that charred black lump of carbon had long since lost every feature it had possessed in life, the warhammer beside it, melted until only a small portion remained, still proved the Demi-human general's identity. This Demi-human warrior, known as the strongest in southern Gelmir, had clearly been no different from an ordinary person when facing a high-ranking flying dragon. He had fled for his life, and then, in the midst of that flight, turned to ash.

Turak knew he should have died in this disaster just like them. Before he lost consciousness, he had heard that giant dragon fly back and forth through the pass several times, as if making sure the dragonfire swallowed every living thing here.

But the snow-wolf hide armor he wore, which naturally possessed the attribute of frost, had saved his life. When the dragon breath descended, he had immediately hidden beneath a wagon carrying miscellaneous goods. At the same time, he had undone the clasps on his breastplate and done everything he could to wrap his entire body in the armor. Though he had still suffered severe burns, and his lungs had been tormented by thick smoke, in the end, he had survived.

Dragging his heavy steps all over the valley, he spent a great deal of effort before finally finding an iron sword that was barely usable. Most of the other weapons had been melted by the dragonfire into twisted scrap metal. This sword had probably survived by sheer luck because it had been thrust entirely into the torso of a warhorse.

Turak used the battered sword as a makeshift cane and slowly, laboriously walked toward the wasteland north of the pass—he did not know what road he should take next. Judging from the fact that those two dragons had deliberately saved Clareville, however, there would likely be no place for him in Kallen, or even the whole Gelmir region, for a very long time.

The burns had stolen the speed he was proudest of. Only when the sun dipped west and the sky began to darken did Turak finally move far away from Sunset Pass. Looking back at the charred ruins on the horizon, he felt that everything he had done over the past day had been nothing but a joke.

Schemes and calculations, choices and struggles, resolve and ambition... Before power on a higher level, their existence was utterly meaningless.

The weak were prey to the strong; the victor became king and the loser was condemned. He had understood these principles long ago, back when he had been the lowest sort of rookie mercenary drifting through the filthy streets and alleys of Kaidan. Thus, over the past twenty years, everything he had done had been to make himself stronger, to possess greater martial strength, power, and influence...

When he had so casually slain Hectorv, his heart had been full of contempt. In his eyes, Hectorv had been nothing more than a coward and an ant with an inflated opinion of himself. Though he fancied himself strong, he had merely eked out his life inside a dream woven from family glory and sycophantic flattery. Once he encountered a true powerhouse like Turak, who had faced death countless times, defeat and death had naturally been his only road.

But when Turak crawled beneath that young man's draconic might and faced the dragonfire that swept across heaven and earth in despair, he discovered that in this world whose heights and depths could not be fathomed, he too was merely a weakling with narrow horizons who just happened to think far too highly of himself—an ant so tiny it could hardly be any tinier.

After resting briefly, he struggled to his feet, chose the road that looked the most desolate, and continued walking without ever looking back.

"So that's how it was..." After Lucia listened to Clareville's slow, heavy account, he sighed softly.

There was nothing unusual about the story of that girl named Monica. Even though the present Lands Between was in the richest and most prosperous Golden Age of the past thousand years, this land was still filled with countless shadows so dark they could make the heart wither in despair.

From ancient times to the present, the world had been cruel to everyone, but it was especially so to the weak and the kind.

"Now Hectorv is dead, and Kruger died in the internal strife of the Demi-human allied army. The agreement you made back then naturally can't be fulfilled anymore—so, what are your plans from here?" he asked, looking at Clareville.

"Why must Your Highness ask such a question?" Clareville shook his head with a bitter smile. "From the moment I failed to notice Lord Ekzykes's pursuit last night, I already had no room left to choose, did I?"

He no longer called himself this official, because no matter what, he would not continue serving as Kallen's internal affairs officer from this point onward. Whether he went a step further and became governor, took a step back and retired to the mountains, or even died under the Golden Dynasty's judgment, the decision rested in Lucia's hands.

"There's no need to be that pessimistic," Lucia said with a shrug. "Since you understand that I want you to take control of Kallen for me, you should also know that even if I send people to watch you from the side, it will be impossible to truly control you if you outwardly obey while secretly resisting. Kallen is, after all, an important border town. The position of governor naturally can't be moved lightly—if one day we truly fall out with each other, even as a demigod, I won't be able to do anything to you from all the way in the capital, will I?"

These words made Clareville pause slightly. Though he believed he had already gained a sufficiently thorough understanding of this young demigod's temperament and methods, he had still not expected him to lay his cards on the table so frankly.

Indeed, as long as Lucia recommended Clareville to Queen Marika, he would lose the possibility of threatening him with the murder of the former governor, Hectorv. After that, whether Sky City could maintain covert control over Kallen in the long term would depend almost entirely on the mutual trust between the two of them.

That was the logic, yes. But since this prince dared to say it so plainly, did that mean he was certain Clareville would willingly pledge loyalty to him?

"Sir Clareville, what do you think of Soleto, Turak, and that group of allied army soldiers who secretly rejoiced over Kruger's death?" Just as he was dazed, Lucia suddenly asked, "Do people like that have any value in being saved?"

Clareville shuddered at those words. He did not answer immediately, but instead fell silent and thought for quite a while before saying, "Your Highness, I believe they do."

"Oh?" Lucia glanced at him. "How so?"

"I once lived in Leyndell for many years. During the years I followed my late teacher, I witnessed all sorts of scenes there, from the lowest levels to the highest. Later, after I was demoted to Kallen and saw the many miserable sights of the alien races here being unable to make a living, I often asked myself why, in a flourishing age under the rule of gods, there would still exist corners abandoned by the gods, and why, under the most perfect law from ancient times to the present, there would still be cast-off races that the law could not tolerate."

"Did you find an answer?"

"No."

"But over these years, I have at least figured out one thing. Many times, what common folk do is not born from their own will—this is not to say that everyone is kind by nature, but that they have never possessed the ability to think or the right to choose."

"The so-called will of the people is like a marble that can be handled however others please. Put it at the top of a slope, and it will naturally roll downward; load it into a slingshot, and it will shoot outward unstoppably. When they are swept along by the greater trend and step onto the brink of collapse, the vast majority of them do not even know why they are there. The rest may know, but they are powerless all the same."

He stood up and bowed deeply to Lucia. "If Your Highness intends to use me, then I hope that at least in Kallen, during the brief time I serve as governor, I can disregard differences of race and faith, and allow people a little less helplessness, and a little more dignity and... freedom."

Lucia reached out as if to help him up, signaling him to rise, then called over Alvins, who had long been waiting at the side, and said, "I will send Her Majesty the Queen an explanation of the battle at Sunset Pass and my letter of recommendation for you overnight. After you return to Kallen, Alvins will serve as your aide and assist you in handling the situation."

Clareville nodded. "I understand."

"All right, we've been out hunting for so long. If we don't leave now, we'll delay the itinerary." Lucia waved a hand and stood, leading his personal guards toward the warhorses tethered in the distance, while Alvins accompanied Clareville and would later return directly to Kallen City.

After the group had ridden several dozen steps, Lucia suddenly reined in his horse and stopped. Turning back to look at Clareville standing by the cliff, he called out loudly, "My thoughts are more or less the same as yours. I simply hope they won't be limited to Kallen alone, and certainly not to a single moment in time."

He swung his riding crop through the air, as if to encompass all things beneath heaven and earth within it. Yet afterward, he did not make any grand declaration. He merely laughed brightly and said, "Let's wait and see."