Chance Encounter

At dusk, Lucia bade farewell to Lansseax at the Ancient Dragon Temple and took a carriage back to Valeria Hall. The carriage passed through the eastern district where the temple stood, and as it drew near the Golden Sanctuary, heavy rain suddenly began falling outside.

Unlike the usual chilly drizzle of autumn rain, this storm came especially fierce and fast. Heavy raindrops crashed against the carriage like silver arrows ripping through the sky, and from inside the carriage, all he could hear was a muffled barrage of pattering impacts.

Lucia stared at the glass carriage window, blurred into a haze by the rain. His mind emptied, his unfocused eyes froze in place, and all the sights in his vision grew misty and chaotic along with them. Everything he had seen and heard that day was like an immense deep-sea vortex, waters of every color locked together in a tangled mess. Even if he wanted to extract something from it, he found it difficult to do so for the moment.

The debate he had held with Sister Lansseax about ancient dragon faith and golden faith seemed still to echo by his ears. The Ancient Dragon Temple, the Weapon Workshop, the colosseum, the Sewer Well—all flashed before his eyes one scene after another. He could not help thinking of the Misbegotten and Demi-humans working in the temple, and then their appearances turned into playthings being mercilessly slaughtered by warriors in the arena. In the end, everything froze deep within the filthy, stinking well, where mutilated corpses were piled into mountains and the Omen fought madly with Giant Shrimp and Giant Crabs amid blood and mud, struggling for a chance to survive...

According to the original course of history, after Radagon ascended the throne, he gradually abolished the colosseums. But from the way things looked now, that clearly had not had time to happen yet.

Moreover, that measure had never been meant to protect the lives of those alien races. It was merely because that incarnation of the Golden Order believed such bloody and brutal activities ran counter to the absolute order promoted by the Order. The alien races rescued from the colosseums still played the role of slaves all across the nation.

In truth, nothing would change at all.

"What is all this even for?" Lucia gazed at the blue-gray sky beyond the curtain of rain and murmured softly in confusion.

Although he, likewise an "alien race" beneath the Golden Order, did not have to face such treatment, as a living being with a good education and a basic conscience, he could at least tell that something was wrong with this world.

If even the peak of civilization after the Forbidden War, the fleeting golden age of the Erdtree, was like this, then what kind of depravity and darkness would the Shattered War, likely to arrive decades later, bring?

Just a slight conjecture was enough to chill one's heart like an abyss.

He did not know what the source of these sins truly was. Was it ignorant and brutal mortals, narrow yet harsh faith, failed rulers, twisted laws... or those lofty demigods, gods, and even deities from beyond the heavens?

For a long, foreseeable span of years, alien races not tolerated by the Golden Order—Misbegotten, Demi-humans, Omen, Trolls—would still face endless humiliation, torment, and slaughter. Children like Clareville's adopted daughter Monica were being born every moment. Absurd tragedies like the brothers Morgott and Mohg, whose very births were deemed sinful, played out without end. All this would continue until that war that destroyed everything erupted, until every living being was reduced to weeds and livestock amid a chaotic age, and then afterward, it would end in the dead silence left after the vast majority of life had been extinguished, before beginning the next new cycle.

In this fated, endless cycle of sorrow, what could he possibly do?

On the way back to Valeria, he thought about many, many things. Yet without the support of real, practical power, every vision of "what the world ought to be" was destined to be nothing but meaningless fantasy.

In this vast fate that swept up all existence in the world, even high beings such as demigods and gods were nothing more than puppets under the control of the Order. Otherwise, they would not have each walked toward the ending of being slain by the Tarnished.

"I can't do anything at all..." he muttered to himself.

Just as the Gloam-Eyed Queen had warned him at the end of that night, in the future of this world, even staying alive was an extravagant hope. With the power he possessed, how could he truly accomplish anything?

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" In the courtyard, Guerel hurried over with a large umbrella and held it over Lucia's head.

In her sight, Lucia had just jumped down before the carriage had even come to a full stop, then stood dazedly in the rain. Even though she had rushed over to greet him the instant she saw him, he had still been drenched all over.

"Oh, it's Guerel." Lucia seemed to have been awakened. He glanced at the foolish-looking dragon girl before him, and a faint smile appeared on his face. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

His Highness is lying again... the girl grumbled inwardly. Although he had been smiling the whole time, she could tell that there was not the slightest joy in that smile. There was only a deep and helpless sorrow.

"Let's go back. It's getting late," he said softly.

The following month was no different from usual. In Guerel's eyes, His Highness's brief confusion was like a dream that had appeared only in that heavy rain, vanishing once the wind stopped and the rain cleared. Lucia still maintained his day-after-day painstaking training. Miquella and Malenia still came by to visit from time to time, and the former's sparring sessions with Lucia continued as well, only at some point, Lucia had become the one holding the upper hand.

Aside from that, Lucia would often go to Serant Colosseum and participate in gladiatorial fights under the identity of Lucifer. During this period, he won battle after battle, and his points climbed all the way up, soon reaching Purple Steel Rank. With Lansseax's prior arrangements, Old Hart could not find any issue with this identity at all. Instead, he extended Lucia an invitation to the year-end Combat Festival.

Opponents below Purple Steel Rank could no longer provide Lucia with enough training value, so after a brief consideration, he accepted the invitation, also preparing to take the chance to see the final grand event of Leyndell's gladiatorial circles.

According to Old Hart's obscure hints, the Combat Festival was by no means merely a large-scale gladiatorial tournament. Apart from the original prize money and various profits, high-ranking gladiators also had a chance to seize even greater wealth during the festival. But when Lucia asked what that opportunity specifically was, Old Hart refused to mention it no matter what.

One day in early October, Lucia emerged from the colosseum as usual in face-concealing armor. Before long, he happened to see several colosseum guards throw a Misbegotten with a broken leg into a nearby alley.

He had already encountered similar scenes three or four times this month. However, this time, just as he was preparing to secretly provide some help to that Misbegotten under the identity of "Lucifer" as usual, he suddenly caught sight of a graceful figure flashing past the roadside.

A pretty young girl in a long robe hurried to the side of the severely injured, unconscious Misbegotten. First, she checked his injuries, then took a roll of bandages from her clothes and wrapped the stump of the Misbegotten's leg to stop the bleeding. After that, she grabbed the Misbegotten's arm and tried to prop him up, but unfortunately, she was too weak and could not manage it no matter how hard she tried.

Just then, the sound of armor clashing came from the distance. Lucia focused his gaze and saw a knight in heavy golden armor running over quickly. He reached out and gently took the Misbegotten's body, his tone helpless as he said, "You ran way too fast. I'm not very familiar with the roads around here and almost lost you."

It was a boy's voice. Lucia found it somewhat familiar, yet for a moment, he could not identify who the voice belonged to.

"I couldn't help it. Time is life!" The girl walked forward with her hands behind her back, grinning. "Besides, I already slowed down a lot. If you still couldn't catch up, wouldn't all your training at the Ancient Dragon Temple have gone to waste?"

"You're swapping concepts. I'm clearly just not familiar with the terrain..."

"Hehe..."

The boy and girl supported the injured Misbegotten as they walked into the distance, while Lucia immediately looked at the knight's sword at the boy's waist. Sure enough, it was the style he had previously seen at the Weapon Workshop of the Ancient Dragon Temple. Although he had not seen in the rush whether there was a dragon-claw emblem on the boy's chest, that alone was already enough to identify him.

"Ancient Dragon Temple, Ancient Dragon Knight..." Lucia's mind spun rapidly. "Wait, is that Kristoff? Then who is that girl?"

After a brief hesitation, he chose to quietly follow behind them, heading with the two of them into the depths of the lower city's streets and alleys.