Chapter 45
Accompanied by storm clouds exactly as they had feared—and arriving far faster than anyone had expected—Yuki descended upon Imresia.
Pitch-black clouds swallowed the skies above Imresnople, and thunder cracked overhead with enough force to make the very air tremble. The soldiers upon the walls went pale, able to do nothing but stare up at the vast shadow crossing the heavens.
And surging through Yuki’s fury were memories from a century ago.
A wound Drake himself had never forgotten.
The place where he had fallen after finally collapsing from exhaustion had been a beach near the capital of Tatsuno. Even then, the Dracotyrannus had still been trying to force his ruined wings open again, struggling desperately against his failing body.
But the sight before them had been beyond horrific.
His wings were burned and torn so badly that bone showed through exposed flesh. Scales had been ripped away, fangs shattered, and the gigantic body sprawled across the shore—soaked in blood and caked in mud—had already begun to carry the smell of death.
Standing ready to face him was the newly crowned second Empress, Yuki. Beside her, Tien and Hasu stood frozen in stunned silence, while farther behind them Ko and Kiba had likewise stopped moving altogether. Yuki felt her resolve falter at the sight before her.
Drake no longer possessed the strength even to breathe properly—let alone continue fighting.
Ko ran to him without a moment’s hesitation.
No one tried to stop him. At that point, none of them cared whether the Dracotyrannus before them was enemy or ally anymore. The Dracoserpens moved as one simply to keep a dying life from slipping away before them.
And after an unknowable amount of time had passed—
The sound of waves reached him first.
Steady. Gentle. Endless.
Rolling in, then retreating once more.
As though drawn upward by that rhythm, his consciousness slowly resurfaced.
When he finally opened his eyes, he found himself staring up at the ceiling of a beautiful room bathed in warm sunlight.
Green leaves swayed softly beyond the windows.
The world before him seemed impossibly peaceful.
Drake had never known a place like this.
“He’s awake! Ko! His eyes are open!”
“Stop shouting in the infirmary, you fool.”
Their lively voices rang through the room.
Turning his gaze toward them, Drake saw several unfamiliar dragons gathered nearby.
Every face there was lit with relief and joy.
“Hey, I’m Yuki. How are you feeling?”
“...Drake. This is the land of the Dracoserpens...?”
“Yep. This is Tatsuno… You’re safe here.”
Hasu and Ko cleaned and treated the countless wounds covering his body before wrapping him carefully in fresh bandages. Kiba prepared a steam bath to warm Drake’s battered body to the core. And every single day, Yuki would show up at the infirmary around mealtime—only for Tien to drag her right back out for disturbing him.
By the time Drake had recovered enough to walk on his own, a party was held within the imperial palace.
“We’ve got a new family member now. Obviously we have to celebrate.”
Yuki said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Drake, however, slowly shook his head.
“...I am no kin of yours.”
His voice came out rough and strained.
“I am a Dracotyrannus.”
Those words drew a line between them.
One Drake believed could never be crossed.
“You broke out of the seal?”
“...Aye.”
“All of you?”
“Nay. I alone.”
“And you came to destroy the world?”
For the briefest moment, Drake hesitated.
“...So I did.”
Silence fell over the room—brief, but unmistakable.
“Mmm... Well, whatever.”
Yuki shattered it with absurd ease.
“We can talk about all that later. Today’s the party. Everyone’s coming to meet you, so be nice, alright?”
She grinned like someone too excited to sit still. Drake could not understand that innocence. It was so bright it made his head spin.
Before he could even process what was happening, Yuki dragged him out into the palace gardens.
Rows of food stalls lined the pathways, rich aromas drifting through the night air from every direction. Lanterns glowed warmly overhead, and laughter spilled endlessly through the gardens.
One after another, the Dracoserpens came over to greet him.
Every last one of them fussed over how small and frail he looked. Drake had been sealed away before he had even lived a full century. Though he had somehow survived past his Dormancy, his maturation had remained incomplete.
Ironically, that undersized body was the only reason he had survived. The gap his companions had managed to open in the seal had been far too small for a fully matured Dracotyrannus to pass through.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
The one who said that was Kiba.
Young Azu and Wani clung eagerly to their new friend.
Life in Tatsuno was peaceful.
The scent of the sea filled the air. Warm sunlight poured over him each day. Endless baths soothed his battered body, and more food than he could ever finish was placed before him at every meal.
Drake found himself deeply, completely fulfilled.
And the more at peace he felt there, the more it hurt.
“May I ask why the dragons seek the destruction of the world?”
While opening a book upon the desk of the academy, Ko posed the question calmly.
Drake could only shake his head.
He did not know.
The Dracotyrannus were ancient beings, older than history itself. Yet Drake had lived barely a thousand years—nothing by their standards. There was no way he could truly understand the intentions of his kin.
“So if Drake managed to escape, the others are gonna come back eventually too, right?”
“Hrm. Then our strength alone may not suffice, I reckon.”
“There’re only two Draclings in my generation, after all.”
Listening to the exchange between Yuki and Tien, Drake spoke up quietly.
“...Only two Draclings remain in Tatsuno?”
“Indeed. Was it not the same among the Dracotyrannus as well?”
“...Aye. Now that thou mentionest it... I alone was the only Dracling.”
He fell silent for a moment before continuing.
“Yet... I seem to recall hearing of crossbreeding once occurring in a human settlement long ago.”
The atmosphere in the room shifted ever so slightly.
“Our elder took interest in the tale. He said that if ever we were blessed enough to welcome a young Dracling, we ought to befriend the child well.”
Ko’s eyes darkened with thought.
It was the first moment the Dracoserpens had begun to see humanity not merely as lesser beings of fleeting lives, but as something carrying real meaning for their future.
From that day onward, Drake often spent his time atop the aerial platform of the Mews, gazing silently toward the northern horizon.
That day as well, he sat there without purpose until the sound of beating wings cut through the wind overhead. A Steedraptor descended onto the platform, and Tien stepped lightly down from its back.
“Do you wanna see your family again?”
Drake shook his head weakly, his expression almost pitiful.
“I desire not to see them again. Should we meet once more, I would be bound to slaughter thee all alongside my kin. This world, too, I would be forced to cast into the flames of ruin.”
He did not wish to destroy them.
These Dracoserpens who had welcomed him, sheltered him, laughed beside him.
Nor the beautiful world that had foolishly allowed him to belong within it.
“So we’re kinda tearing you apart inside, huh. That’s painful.”
Tien gently pressed the horn upon her brow against Drake’s forehead in quiet affection.
“But all of us really do love you, alright? No matter what path you end up walking someday, don’t forget that.”
Then she drew his head gently against her shoulder.
And as Drake allowed himself to remain there, his heart rapidly grew colder. Every kindness they showed him only deepened the guilt festering within him toward the companions still waiting beyond the seal.
That same day, Yuki had been sparring with Hasu at the training grounds along the shore during a brief break from her duties. Hasu was soon to depart the capital to assume his role as chief of Hokurin Village.
When Drake descended onto the beach, the two greeted him with easy smiles, and Yuki casually invited him to join their sparring. Even incomplete, a Dracotyrannus possessed strength far beyond that of any Dracoserpens.
Again and again Yuki threw herself at Drake in exhilaration, only for him to casually brush aside her attacks and send her tumbling across the sand. Before long, exhilaration overtook her completely, and Yuki transformed. Drake likewise transformed, feeling his instincts flare to life.
—After that, his memories became fragmented.
By the time he came back to himself, an undersea volcano had erupted offshore. Half the imperial palace had been destroyed, and several Dracoserpens lay collapsed at his feet.
This was the end.
With one massive hind claw, Drake pinned Tien’s head beneath him.
Then, in sheer desperation, Yuki screamed—
“If you kill us, then who’s gonna welcome you home?!”
It felt as though something had seized Drake’s heart in an iron grip.
Its pounding grew deafening.
Breathing hurt.
Welcome home.
In all his thousand years, never once had Drake imagined such words could ever be meant for him.
He did not want to leave.
And that was precisely why he had to.
And still Yuki refused to give up.
“Don’t go, Drake! Stay here with us!”
At last, Drake could no longer contain the storm of emotion inside him.
“Then stop me… if thou still canst.”
After spreading his wings and putting more than enough distance between himself and the shore, Drake released a cry of grief into the heavens.
No one was close enough to hear it.
