CHAPTER 1
DUKE CRYSTALIA
The Azure Hold floated over the seas, casting its massive shadow upon the raging waves. And hovering in the empty air above the Dragon Lord’s stronghold was a man. A white-haired hero, clad in military uniform, his hawklike, ice-blue eyes glaring down at Leonis and Veira, who stood on the remains of the leviathan.
…Why would this man be here?!
Leonis scowled because he recognized this man. He’d seen a picture of him in the estate amid the ruins of the Third Assault Garden.
Edward Ray Crystalia. Riselia’s dad, who had supposedly perished in battle with the Voids.
Isn’t her father dead? More importantly, why’s he here? Questions filled Leonis’s mind, but he couldn’t conjure any answers.
“I’m surprised you have the nerve to show yourself before me again,” the crimson dragon beside Leonis snarled. “You have courage. I grant you that much.”
Veira’s furious roar shook the air violently, but the man floating above didn’t seem at all troubled by the palpable waves of a Dark Lord’s fury beating against him.
Was he the one who mentally dominated Veira…?
Even if the Dragon Lord was careless, no ordinary human could control a Dark Lord’s mind.
What is he? Just who is Duke Crystalia…? Leonis cautiously observed the man overhead.
“So you’ve returned, Veira Greater Dragon. How fortuitous.” The man resembling Duke Crystalia eyed the Dragon Lord coldly. Then he pointed an index finger at a spot between her eyes.
“Holy Sword, Wheel of Fortune—Activate.”
Light gathered at his fingertip…
“Veira!” Leonis exclaimed.
“The same trick again? You underestimate the Dragon Lord!”
Incandescent, white-hot flames issued from Veira’s maw, becoming a surging blade of heat.
Bwooooooosh!
The air trembled. The flames swallowed the man in an instant and then went on to incinerate the walls of the Azure Hold behind him.
“Oh, did I reduce him to ashes?”
“F-fool, show some restraint! There’s much we need to ask him!” Leonis shouted.
And then…
Crack…
“…?!”
…Leonis heard cracking glass.
“It’s you who underestimates me, Dragon Lord.”
A fissure ran through the space before the pair of Dark Lords, and the man appeared from within, unharmed. His expression was composed, and there wasn’t a single burn on his uniform.
“Gravity-type, eighth-order spell—Veira Zarga.” The man suddenly chanted a spell.
Did he just use sorcery?!
Leonis quickly formed a tower shield from his shadow.
Vroom, brrrrrrrrrrr!
A lump of gravity, akin to that of a giant planet, hit Veira directly.
…An eighth-order gravity spell… Leonis pondered calmly behind his shield.
As far as Leonis knew, the ancient, powerful ways of magic were an unknown art in this era. Even a thousand years ago, ordinary humans could manage only fifth-order sorcery at most. Yet this man—Duke Crystalia—employed the highest levels of magic.
Rooooooooooooar!
Veira let out a savage howl, easily shaking off the gravity well enveloping her. The Dragon Lord’s scales had an inherent resistance to sorcery, and even a powerful, eighth-order spell could manage only to stall her. Veira raged, her golden eyes glinting threateningly as she opened her jaws.
“I’ll tear your throat out!” she growled.
“Veira, wait. Let me speak to him,” Leonis called, then he returned his attention to the strange man. “You wear the form of a human and yet weave the power of a bygone age. Just who are you?”
The sharp, ice-blue eyes examined Leonis as though only noticing him for the first time.
“That’s the uniform of a Holy Swordsman. The Seventh Assault Garden. Hmm…,” the man muttered. “A minion of the Dragon Lord? Do you wear the form of a child to lull your opponents into a sense of carelessness?”
“…”
Leonis remained silent. It seemed the person resembling Duke Crystalia was yet ignorant of Leonis’s true identity.
And there’s no reason to relinquish that information.
However, he was familiar with the Seventh Assault Garden, which meant he was definitely a person of this era. Was he truly Riselia’s father?
“I know you, Duke Edward Crystalia,” Leonis stated.
Beating around the bush was unbecoming of the Undead King. He hoped to strike at the heart of the matter and shake up his adversary, aiming to glean information from his reaction. The man’s expression didn’t change much, but his keen glare narrowed somewhat.
“So you know me. That is not so unusual. Refugees from outside the city might be unfamiliar with me, but many people know my face.”
Leonis nodded. “Yes, I imagine. You are regarded as a hero of humanity, after all. However, the fact you draw breath is not well known, is it?”
Six years ago, Duke Crystalia had died in battle against the Voids. Riselia told Leonis that the rescue unit had failed to recover her father’s body. A Stampede left little remaining in its wake, so that wasn’t too unusual. However, there was one element that had left Leonis puzzled.
In the ruins of the Third Assault Garden, Leonis had gathered the ghosts of the Crystalia Knights under his command, but Duke Crystalia’s spirit had been conspicuously absent. Leonis wasn’t the sort to overlook the soul of a great hero. Was this man he now faced truly Duke Crystalia himself, or perhaps…?
“Indeed. I was recorded as a casualty,” the man resembling Riselia’s father replied indifferently.
“Who are you?” Leonis questioned. “Are you the real Duke Crystalia?”
“That’s a question without an answer. I am he, and at the same time, he is I.”
“Nonsense,” Leonis spat out in annoyance. “If you won’t answer, I’ll simply force the truth from you.”
“Hey, he’s my prey!” Veira interjected.
“I see, but unfortunately, I have something to ask of you as well.” The man pointed his finger at Leonis. “Dominate, Wheel of Fortune—”
His ring-shaped Holy Sword shone once again.
Slash!
Before Duke Crystalia could manifest his Holy Sword, his arm suddenly flew through the air. A blade of transparent water had cleaved it off.
“…!”
Duke Crystalia whirled around to find a beautiful girl with cold, calm eyes standing atop the raging water. She stood cloaked in a watery raiment, her hair the color of amethyst.
“Rivaiz Deep Sea…” The man regarded her with eyes wide. “So you escaped the fate woven for you by the Wheel of Fortune…”
“Seizing control of my mind is the height of arrogance.” She was expressionless, and her tone was hushed, but rage surged in her eyes. Rivaiz extended an arm and declared, “You will pay for that crime with your life.”
Bwoooooooooooosh!
A massive cyclone rose from the ocean, loosing a flurry of liquid blades. Veira chanted a spell in dragon tongue, Draconic Light Armor—Griyaslig, conjuring a barrier around herself. They couldn’t afford to get caught in the cross fire here. Leonis jumped for cover inside the Dragon Lord’s shield.
Duke Crystalia evaded the volley with poise. However, upon seeing the cyclone of water that extended up to the sky destroy part of the Azure Hold, he frowned.
“Challenging two Dark Lords to battle would place me at a disadvantage,” he whispered, eyes flitting to his missing right arm for a moment. “I already have what I need.”
Crack, crack, crack—
A gigantic fissure centered upon the Azure Hold ran through the air.
What?! Leonis could scarcely believe what he saw.
Cracks in space heralded the arrival of the Voids.
“The Azure Hold! What is this?!” Veira demanded.
“You know nothing of this ruin, Dragon Lord,” Duke Crystalia said.
“…What?!”
“This structure is the original template of the human cities. A gate with which to reach the stars.”
Crack, crack, crack…
The tear consumed all around it. The leviathan in the water began to vanish into the breach.
“Dark Lords, you cannot escape the fate chosen by my goddess.” So saying, the man with Duke Crystalia’s countenance disappeared into the spatial rift.
“Goddess… Did he just say goddess?!” Leonis cried.
A memory flashed in his mind, one of the Goddess of Rebellion, Roselia Ishtaris. He knew only one who ever called her “my goddess.”
“You…you’re…!”
The only Dark Lord who lacked a body of his own, who existed by possessing vessels. A Dark Lord who originated from beyond this dimension and was capable of opening gates to other worlds.
“Azra-Ael, the Devil of the Underworld!”
The moment Leonis intoned the name…
Shatter!
…the world broke apart like fractured glass.
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