Chapter 124: The Lie

…….. Did I… make it…….”

Gasping for breath, Irina lay sprawled on the Cathedral floor, her gaze fixed upon the sky.

If the end of the world ever came, would it feel like this?

The thunderous collisions and endless peals of thunder had shaken the heavens and earth for hours without pause.

Lightning and flashing brilliance.

She tried to focus beneath it all, restoring her divinity, but truthfully, her heart pounded as fiercely as any battlefield.

How could she not be afraid?

With a dragon as large as a fortress soaring through the sky, a divine beast roaring, and those who ruled lightning and thunder clashing just overhead—how could her heart remain calm beneath all that?

Yet, Irina had managed to see it through in the end.

“Did I… do well?”

Her original goal had been protection.

To safeguard at least the very center of the Cathedral, known as the Sanctuary, with its long and untainted history—that was her first purpose.

When the darkness was torn apart and the touch of the goddess was felt.

When she sensed divinity within it.

When she realized that it was Hio who wielded it, and that it was a trump card.

She poured all the divinity she had recovered into that golden touch, joining her power to it.

“After that, the evil dragon crashed, and since the rest have grown quiet, I’d say you did quite well. Not that I’d know for sure…….”

The captain of the guard still remained at Irina’s side as she lay there.

“Sir.”

“Yes, Holy Maiden.”

“Please don’t tell Grandpa Herald that I’m lying down like this.”

“Of course. You needn’t worry.”

“If he knew, he’d start fussing again about the dignity and decorum of a Holy Maiden.”

“Hahaha. Everyone in the Holy Kingdom knows how much the Cardinal cares for you, my lady.”

The surroundings were now utterly peaceful, as if there had never been such a fierce battle.

But what was the result?

Why had the Dragon Knight and the mage Hio, who seemed to know each other, fought?

There were so many questions, but for now, she just wanted to rest.

It was the first time she’d wrung her divinity so dry.

Perhaps this was what people called magical exhaustion—her body was limp, completely drained of strength.

“It’s raining, Holy Maiden.”

Raindrops that had been trickling down through the wide-open roof now poured down in a torrent, making a soughing sound.

Irina closed her eyes contentedly at the refreshing downpour.

“I’ll see if I can find something to shield you from the rain.”

“It’s fine. I just want to stay like this.”

“You’ll catch a cold.”

“I’ve never caught a cold before. I am the Holy Maiden, after all. Hehe.”

“That’s… enviable.”

The captain, too, stopped moving and stood quietly, gazing up at the sky.

Looking up at the sky as the rain poured down.

A sky where the thunder and lightning had vanished, only dark clouds remaining.

“I’ve decided to believe in all those old myths now.”

Just a while ago, there had been dragons flying across that sky.

A knight with a spear and a mage with a staff had been tangled in combat.

“I always thought legends and myths were full of nonsense, but now I wonder if, in truth, the stories have been understated.”

He’d been on the scene to protect the Holy Maiden and saw everything.

Even when Irina was focused, eyes closed, he’d tilted his head back and watched the sky.

The mage commanded thunder, lightning, and flame.

The knight summoned dragons with his spear,

And the evil dragon’s roar had overpowered them both.

Perhaps he’d just witnessed a myth that was quietly passed down, unknown to others.

Was he part of that moment?

“I can’t help but wonder if those people were really human. I used to feel proud just reaching the Fifth Rank, but now I feel so humbled.”

Irina smiled softly at his words.

Her eyes were still closed, as if she was simply enjoying the refreshing rain.

“Didn’t I tell you? The mage is truly extraordinary.”

“……Yes. When I heard a new Guardian Knight of Verden had been born, I thought he had terrible luck, having to follow right after the Sword Saint.”

He figured the new knight would always be compared.

The Sword Saint Vitalianus, recognized by all and revered as a hero for generations.

“I’d heard rumors—the mage who commands lightning, who can call forth knights who defy death—but honestly, those tales weren’t enough.”

He instantly understood why the new hero was considered the successor to the Sword Saint.

Why Heuka, who had reigned as a terror, had no choice but to fall.

Irina gave a small nod, still lying down.

“True. I always end up getting help from that incredible mage.”

Looking back, their first meeting had been quite trivial.

She wasn’t sure if it was luck or the goddess’s guidance.

At the time, she had no idea just how remarkable he was.

She’d only given a small help.

Yet the return had been immeasurable.

It was because of him that she awakened her abilities.

He had stood up to the Sword Saint for her, cleared her friends’ names.

Even now, to this moment.

She’d received help so great she didn’t even know how to begin repaying it.

So.

“I’ll… I’ll have to work harder. There’s still so much I don’t know about divinity.”

If she could help him even a little with what he faced.

If she could bring him even a bit of comfort.

The urge to study and learn grew ever stronger within her.

Her divinity was already great enough to far surpass even Cardinal Herald Guggenberger, but her mastery and understanding were still immature and lacking.

“Somehow, I feel like picking up my sword right away, too.”

“Then let’s work hard together.”

“Hahaha. It’s an honor, Holy Maiden.”

The refreshing rain was gradually letting up.

When it stopped, even those who had paused would begin to move again.

With more energy and vigor than before.

This rain was the rain that heralded a new beginning.

After pouring down so thoroughly, it carried a message to start anew.

And so the rain, which had fallen so pleasantly for a while—

“Wow… It’s beautiful.”

—ended with a shower of sparkling stardust.

After a short rest, Irina, having recovered a bit of her strength, set out immediately.

“Ah, thank you, Sir.”

Draped in the captain’s cloak, sheltering her rain-soaked body, Irina walked slowly.

Her destination was, of course, the place where the dragon had crashed.

“Is the dragon truly dead?”

“It rampaged so fiercely, but now it’s so quiet. It must be dead.”

“I suppose so…….”

She remembered the mysterious knight who’d seemed oddly sorrowful, but there was nothing she could do.

The dragon and the nameless knight. Besides Mage Hio Pavlenko, no one else truly knew what had happened.

The streets were silent.

The soldiers and knights who had tried to hold out until the end, even the high priests who had blocked the dragon’s attacks several times with divine blessings—all had retreated, leaving the area as quiet as a ghost town.

The damage to the city was considerable, but casualties from the dragon’s rampage were almost nonexistent.

Given the scale of the battle, it was nothing short of a miracle.

“It should be near Lafaela Square.”

Past one collapsed building, through several more, there would be the square, with its statue of the angel Lafaela standing in the center.

A square that was always filled with happiness and hymns sung to the gods below the statue.

Now, the dragon lay there.

They could only see part of the square from the alley, but even so, the massive tail was clear.

A piece of the dragon that had whipped the sky without restraint.

Irina and the captain of the guard, tense, continued forward.

Before them stood the tall clocktower.

The closer they got to it, the more of the square they could see.

Past the dragon’s tail, its legs, more and more of its massive body was revealed.

And then—

“…Holy Maiden, just now—”

The tail moved.

Just for a moment, but it definitely moved.

She thought it was dead and doubted her eyes, but there was no way she could mistake the sight of that enormous tail twitching.

The dragon was alive.

“What… is this…?”

They needed to assess the situation quickly.

If it was still alive, disaster could unfold again.

The knights who were also approaching would have to be turned back, just as they had.

Caught in doubt and confusion, Irina and the captain quickened their pace toward the square.

“Irina.”

A familiar voice halted them.

“Mage…?”

It was Hio Pavlenko.

He approached, adjusting his hat, looking just a bit weary as he walked toward them.

“Could you pretend you didn’t see anything? Irina, and…”

When Hio’s gaze met his, the captain bowed his head briefly.

“Everchen Vaanes.”

“Right. Sir Vaanes. Please take care of Irina for me. And please, just forget what you saw.”

With a tired expression, Hio looked past them, far off into the distance.

A crowd was approaching.

The thunder and lightning had ceased, and the rain no longer fell.

Sensing the end of battle, knights were carefully making their way here, leading others.

“It will be known, eventually, but that time is not now.”

It was already an era of chaos.

The entire continent was uniting against the clear threat called the Abyss.

People’s understanding wasn’t even fully formed—dragons appearing in such a time could only spark more chaos and war.

“Time is needed.”

Time was needed.

For the people.

And for the dragon.

“Could you just turn away for a moment, block others from coming?”

Not much time was needed.

Just enough.

Enough time for the dragon to hide itself from the people—just that much.

Irina nodded without hesitation.

“Someday… you’ll tell us everything, right?”

“Of course, Irina.”

“Understood. I’ll do my best to keep people away.”

Irina spoke with resolve, but in truth, there was no way to control such a crowd.

The square was wide, the dragon was huge, and there were many people approaching.

She voiced her concern to Hio.

“But I can’t keep everyone back.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Hio just smiled lightly, raising his staff.

Even worn out, his smile was relaxed.

“Just tell them not to enter the square.”

“…All right. I’ll do exactly that, Mage.”

Irina nodded solemnly, as if she’d just been given a heavy mission.

Hio smiled at her, raising his staff a little higher.

The captain of the guard, Everchen, asked one final question of Hio.

For him, this was the most important thing.

“The evil dragon… is it truly dead?”

The evil dragon that seemed intent on destroying the Cathedral, on ravaging all of Hibernia.

If it lived, disaster would someday strike again.

That was why he asked, and Hio answered firmly.

“It’s dead. Its soul has been completely erased.”

Then, the tip of his raised staff drew a circle in the air.

From the tip, a bluish-green light began to extend.

「Skill – ‘Entangle’ is activated.」

The skill, manifesting from magic, began to turn the square into a forest.

Giant grasses sprouted, vines climbed over buildings, encircling the square.

Plants grew up through the earth, pushing past stone.

All to hide the dragon’s form, to conceal the Dragon Knight standing before it, and to cover the entire square.

Everchen, lost in awe at the magical sight before his eyes, muttered a question.

“If I say that the Dragon Knight and Verden’s Guardian Knight defeated the evil dragon… will that suffice?”

Hio, watching the growing forest, shook his head.

His expression was tinged with a bittersweet smile, denying the question.

“No. That’s not it.”

The Dragon Knight who waited a thousand years succeeded in killing the dragon.

That would be too cruel a story.

So—

“The wicked dragon was slain by me.”

That was how it should be.

“I erased it without leaving a single bone or trace of its soul.”

That was how the world should remember it.

In truth, the dragon was not wicked; it only wished to live.

And the knight who stood against it only wanted to protect that dragon.

And the dragon wished for the knight to go on living.

“Don’t worry.”

All that for a story that had lasted a thousand years.

“It’s over now.”

Well, there was no need for complicated explanations.

[Hidden Trait: Violence is Not Allowed! (Endurance: 664/1000)]