< Carina Dragonia (1) >
[darkness. Were you there?]
The first to notice the existence of Ventasis was Foma, a fellow divinity.
He disappeared from the first day like himself, but it seems surprising that Ventasis, who has not revealed his spirit, is here.
[Have you been here since the beginning? I didn’t know it would light up gold.]
[Gold has no meaning to me. All I am looking for are souls who will claim my rights.]
[·······.]
Ventasis, God of Darkness and Vengeance.
That divinity was different from other divinities that bestowed benevolence, love, and favor.
A divinity that wouldn’t be strange even if it was an evil god if you put your feet on it a little bit.
A being like the shadow of the world with the concept of darkness, the exact opposite of the concept of light.
He does not sing of chivalry and justice. He affirms the dark side of mortals and bloody vengeance.
Because of that, he is a non-mainstream god that is somewhat shunned even in the pantheon. However, the followers who seek him are steady.
[Karina Dragonia. You swore vengeance on me and promised a fair price. If you borrowed my power to achieve revenge, it’s time to pay the price.]
People with all sorts of dark emotions flocked to the existence that seemed to embody the darkness of the world.
Those who suffered violence, murder, and injustice. Many avengers swear vengeance on the dark god and gain the necessary power.
[It’s not just you. You guys owe me.]
Two hundred years ago, the Grand Duke of Dragonia and his army, who lost their hometown to the demons, swore revenge on the god of darkness.
Because it was an oath with the soul, even the Lion Heart King could not stop them from leaving, and they pursued their enemies to another world and succeeded in revenge.
Now is the time to pay the price, said the Dark God.
[However, darkness. Apart from Grand Duke Karina, the last Northern Army who died must have been well over a hundred years ago.]
Souls that do not receive the blessings of the gods roam the nine heavens and repeat their reincarnation. For the past two hundred years, the gods have not accepted a new soul.
Only recently have they secured their faith on Earth and are recreating the system of paradise. The hands of the gods cannot reach this other world.
Even if Ventasis tries to retrieve the souls now, their souls have already been scattered.
In the end, the only thing Ventasis can claim for its long debt is Karina, who is still alive.
“Dark God. As you may already know, the mortgaged souls are still in my hands.”
At those words, Foma’s turtle eyes turned to Karina. He muttered that it was impossible, but Karina passed the mountain of gold and silver without a word.
Mountains of gold and jewels that make you dizzy just by looking at them. As Hari, who was passing by Karina, looked around with blank eyes, Foma warned her.
[Beware of the golden curse, Hari. This is not a simple gold and silver treasure.]
“Yes? What does that mean?”
[The dragon’s gold calls for endless greed, leading to violence and plunder. Keep your mind straight, this is such a demon.]
It was difficult to understand Foma’s warning, but I clearly realized that I should be vigilant. Hari followed Karina, pursed her lips.
After passing by the dizzying gold and silver treasures, the place you arrive at is the deep place of the treasure chest.
People usually think that the deeper the treasure chest is, the more precious jewels and treasures are piled up, but surprisingly, what is at the end is neatly arranged shelves and stones placed on silk cushions.
There was a nameplate with a separate name on each stone that was enshrined as a shrine.
“Delbosque”
“Gaspar”
「Yurahan」
「Ruina」
The shapes of the stones with the names on them were so familiar that Hari recognized them at once.
“Eh, a magic stone?!”
A special stone that can be obtained by attacking the gate and defeating monsters. The true identity of this stone, if you are a Hunter, you cannot know it.
“Magic Stone…”
Ever since the Jeju Island Gate where we met Geobrick and the Knights of the Dawn of Lavonia, it has been an open fact to speculate that the identity of the Magic Stone is the crystallization of the soul of a living being.
“Eh, why is the magic stone here?”
“I guess this is called a magic stone in your world, right?”
Karina picked up one of the magic stones with nameplates on each one.
“The middle class, that’s what I call it. A place they will pass through before going to paradise.”
At those words, Hari realized the story behind these magic stones.
In the world of Lionheart, when people die, they are reincarnated or enter the paradise of the gods.
It is a place no different from heaven for religious people. It is the place where all believers finally seek.
But what will happen to their souls when they die here, in a different world out of the reach of the gods?
Karina must have seen it and couldn’t let it go.
In other words.
The northerners who crossed over to another world with Grand Duke Karina.
The crystals containing the souls of each of them were dormant in the treasury.
“They are the ones who followed me and came all the way to this country with me. Jim, I, Carina Dragonia, have an obligation to take responsibility for their peaceful end.”
[But… how can I do that…]
Process the soul into stone form. It is a technique unfamiliar even to the gods. In the first place, it is tantamount to blasphemy for the gods who lead the souls of the dead to the underworld to forcibly imprison the souls in a stone.
This method is not used except by demons.
The reason Karina used this method was—
[Nothing changes. They are also my avengers. Even if you, Carina Dragonia, carry your father’s halo, they are not.]
These are the souls that deserve to be mine, said Ventasis.
right at that moment.
[No, you guys are a step behind.]
A huge shadow casts around Karina’s shadow.
It was huge enough to hold a treasure trove full of gold, so even the gods had to look up at its shadow.
[Dragonia.]
Progenitor Dragon Dragonia.
The dragon’s thoughts that have not disappeared for thousands of years are something that transcends even those thoughts.
Even the gods struggled before this ancient dragon king. Indeed, this arrogant being who considered himself greater than the gods deserved it.
[You guys are late. Both the gods and the descendants of the dragon slayer. It’s too late at least.]
The dragon king’s gaze looked down at the gods.
* * * *
courtship arena. A new challenger appeared and hunters and pantheon knights visited the arena to watch the duel resumed after four days.
I don’t know who the big guy who challenged Leon in the yard where even Vulcanus had already been broken, but he came to me out of necessity because he was just wasting his time.
“What is His Majesty thinking?”
While waiting for the match, it was Suho who spoke up. In response, Jaehyuk continued the conversation with a question.
“what?”
“To solve the dragon’s transformation, Karina-sama has to give birth to a child and inherit the dragon’s heart, right?”
I had already heard about Karina from the Burning Sword Knights and others.
The curse of the progenitor dragon was also inherited in the blood and heart of the dragon covered by the first grand duke who defeated the progenitor dragon.
It gave great strength to the grand dukes of the past, but it also produced the side effect of Yonghwa.
Yonghwa.
Simply put, it becomes a dragon.
Dragonia was the greatest and most gigantic dragon, and it is said that its body stretched out its arms to grab a volcano, and the breath gushing from its neck burned the continent.
The size of the soul contained in such a huge dragon king was so great that even the gods could not control it, and the curse only slowed down the symptoms, but it was impossible to prevent them.
“Karina-sama has been transplanting the dragon’s heart for too long, so she urgently needs to find a successor, right?”
“yes.”
“Then why is His Majesty interfering… um, interfering? For a father-in-law who is interfering with his daughter’s marriage… the situation is a bit serious.”
Hearing that, Jaehyuk also agreed. He said he felt the same way this time too, because Leon had shown eccentricities and values that were different from those of modern earthlings.
It is the father-in-law’s ruthless behavior to protect his daughter from the wild beasts who want to steal her.
“Is that so? No matter how majestic you are, this is a bit strange.”
Karina’s dragon fire was a curse so public that anyone from Lionheart, such as the Knights of the Burning Sword, knew about it.
It is not new that the Grand Duke of Dragonia delayed dragon evolution and repeated initialization through succession.
Isn’t Leon’s act of cutting off the suitors like now not only interfering with the quest, but also driving Karina to death?
“Your Majesty doesn’t know that either.”
“omg!”
“Hey, Queen?!”
the back of the two. Beatrice, who was sitting in the crowd with Yapi and Chun So-yeon, intervened in their conversation.
“As the two of them questioned, His Majesty is intentionally interfering with the succession of Grand Duke Karina.”
Honestly, it’s the feelings of a father with a daughter. It’s hard for them to relate to them, but I can guess. However, if the daughter’s life is at stake, even the selfish father will have no room for concern.
“Then why is Your Majesty interfering with Karina-sama’s wedding?”
“Innocently as a father, there are things that he expects of ‘love that shines like a star’.”
“A love that shines like a star…?”
“Your Majesty is quite a romanticist.”
Beatrice recalled Leon’s personality with a wry smile.
A romanticist who is pure love when it comes to dating issues despite being so old-fashioned, authoritarian, and selfish. Even the goddesses of the moon and innocence had no choice but to forgive Lion Heart King’s pure love.
Because of that, he is a difficult writer to dig into, but you can see from the side that Leon wants Karina’s wedding to be accompanied by love.
He believes that the process of getting married and having a child should not be such a messy and arranged marriage.
In this part, the values that are not like royal family… In other words, they are romanticists.
“And one more thing. Your Majesty wants to retrieve the dragon’s heart again.”
“yes?”
“Is that possible?”
Unexpected Leon’s intentions, the two of them had an expression of incomprehension.
“Originally, the dragon’s heart was held by His Majesty, the former grand duke, so it’s not impossible. His Majesty——”
[Today, a new challenge was presented to the invincible champion! Who is going to challenge the Lion Heart King, who is an infant alone in the heavens and under heaven?—!!]
At that time, Leon entered the arena and the whole area was infested.
* * * *
“I will retrieve the dragon heart from Karina.”
[·······.]
At Leon’s declaration, the gods were silent for a moment.
It was because he guessed what that meant and why Leon had made that choice.
[Can’t you wait for the succession after giving birth to a child?]
“Two hundred years. Karina embraced the dragon’s heart.”
What it means is simple. It is said that the progress of Yonghwa has gone too far. Even though Karina is a Ventasis Holy Grail Knight, this is a period that far exceeds the average grand duke’s dragon heart transplant period.
“Even if she gives birth to an heir, Karina may be able to endure until the heir grows up.”
[So you’re saying you’ll still have the dragon’s heart?]
“Exactly.”
At that, Ariana said in a worried voice.
[At least two hundred years. It’s the heart of a dragon that has accumulated curses for two hundred years. No matter how much you are, you can’t be free from the dragon’s curse.]
“However, only I can endure that curse.”
Leon is the Lion Heart King. He is a living demigod who is resistant to all kinds of curses. He believed that even if it was the 200-year-old curse of Dragonia, the progenitor dragon, he could withstand it if he was himself.
This is the choice Leon forces Karina to make. She was to pass her curse of eating herself to her father.
[Really, you guys are clumsy women. Even though we think of each other, there is only this solution…]
“Because it’s my father. Castile would have done the same.”
Leon waited for a new challenger and was confident that the end of this duel would eventually end with Karina’s defeat.
It is said that there are no parents who win over their children, but there are parents everywhere who will sacrifice themselves for their children.
I hope that Karina will accept this very natural love. Because that was the best Leon, as his father, could do.
But–
“Your obstruction ends today.”
A courtship arena where no one steps forward.
It was the party to the courtship duel who stood in front of the strongest champion whose victory was confirmed.
[Leon, my avenger. We are already late.]
And the dark god, who returned to the pantheon, announced the failure by helping himself. The news he delivered was such that even the gods swallowed the silence.
[Karina Dragonia has already handed over my body and soul to Dragonia.]
To save the souls of the 30,000 northern soldiers who followed him.
Karina made a deal with the dragon.
They were two very similar women.
