The sky was cloudy, and the snow kept falling.
The air was dry, cold, and the smell of rock hung heavily in the atmosphere.
Rygar had his hand on the ground, kneeling on one leg on the rocky terrain.
Magic flowed from his fingers with precision and control, calmly shaping the land before him.
Small stones moved, the soil rose gently and, slowly, a tombstone took shape — simple, yet firm, strong like the man it honored.
His name, Eidar, was engraved on the tombstone.
His body had not been buried; in this world, the risk of the dead becoming undead was real, so Eidar's body was cremated and the ashes were spread over the mountain range.
All around, the silence was absolute.
Eris, fists clenched, stared fixedly at the tombstone, biting her lower lip, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to well up.
Ghislaine remained serious, motionless, arms crossed, a penetrating gaze fixed on the tombstone.
Lilia held Aisha in her arms, who trembled slightly, sobbing quietly with her face buried in her mother's neck.
The sound of approaching footsteps slowly echoed.
Skoll appeared among the mountains, his body covered in dust and scratches.
He carried in his mouth the corpse of a large monster with twisted horns — something resembling a goat, a native creature of the region, typical prey of the Red Dragons.
His eyes, normally alert, were somewhat empty.
Skoll walked to the tombstone and dropped the creature beside the grave.
After that, he only moved a few steps away, stopping beside Ghislaine.
The group remained there, motionless, for long seconds.
Then Rygar, still on his knees before the tombstone, lowered his head, closed his eyes, and whispered:
"I will not forget, Eidar, do not worry, I will avenge you."
The impact of those words was immediate.
Eris widened her eyes and turned to him, shocked.
Lilia remained still, her lips parted, as if she had heard something impossible.
Ghislaine, on the other hand, remained impassive. Her eyes did not change. To her, it was obvious.
The group resumed their journey shortly after.
The carriage moved slowly along the uneven paths of the mountainous region.
The sound of creaking wheels was the only noise. No one spoke.
The silence was cutting.
Inside, Rygar sat with his legs crossed, focused on his own flow of mana.
He was trying to replicate the magic nullification that Orsted had used.
In battle, when he was about to cast a Lightning Bolt, Orsted nullified it with ease. This would be a very useful ability if mastered, essentially negating any long-range magic from the opponent.
But he was having a lot of difficulties with it. It required him to practice a completely new path of magic, and his already excellent control while manipulating magic in one way hindered his progress.
It was like learning to walk again, but with his feet tied.
Ghislaine, sitting in front of him, watched the sky outside the carriage with a penetrating gaze.
A determined look. Predatory.
There was no doubt in her eyes.
Eris was next to Aisha, knees together, fingers intertwined.
She couldn't take her eyes off Rygar.
Her face was tense, covered by an anguish she tried, in vain, to hide. After a while, her voice finally broke the silence:
"Rygar… did you say you were going to avenge Eidar?"
Rygar did not take his eyes off his mana flow. He simply replied:
"Yes."
Eris swallowed hard. She hesitated, then whispered:
"You… almost died this time... aren't you afraid…?"
Rygar finally stopped his training and looked at her.
At that moment, Eris' face, even as she tried to appear firm, trembled. He observed her, and also looked at Aisha, who was staring at him.
Both... so young.
Eris was barely almost 12 years old and Aisha, only 4, but with a mind as sharp as few.
Both had faced something that would leave adults collapsing.
He approached, picked up Aisha in his arms, and carefully placed her in Eris' lap.
The two looked at him in surprise. Then, he spoke with a firm yet gentle voice:
"Eris, are you worried about being defeated easily?"
"Yes..." she whispered.
"He is not an opponent you should compare yourself to right now."
Eris said, "But... I trained so much..."
Rygar interrupted, "Listen, you two are still very young, you still have plenty of time to get stronger."
He paused.
"Even I and Ghislaine were defeated easily, but that's only a problem if you aren't planning to improve even more."
He looked at the two intently.
"Everyone is afraid, there's no problem with that, if you're afraid it means you're alive. You two were incredibly brave today."
And then he continued:
"Eris. Aisha. That man… was the Dragon God. Orsted. The second among the world's powers."
Even Ghislaine, normally stoic, gripped the handle of the Hiramune so tightly that the leather creaked.
Lilia, who was driving the carriage outside, tensed upon hearing this, but said nothing.
Rygar continued, looking at the girls:
"Even if I have extreme confidence in my talent… I don't know if I can match his strength. Even if it were me, there's no guarantee."
Eris opened her eyes, surprised.
Aisha murmured, incredulous: "Even the master can't…?"
But then Rygar smiled.
He turned his face toward Ghislaine, who was looking at him.
Since Rygar had awakened, he had seen. Her look had changed.
It was the look of a huntress. It was evident to him that she also wanted to kill the Dragon God, of course, perhaps not for the same reasons as him.
And then Rygar said, looking again at Aisha and Eris:
"But I won't be fighting alone."
Ghislaine was briefly surprised, but soon smiled, satisfied.
Rygar then continued:
"You have already met an unbeatable opponent. Nothing that appears in your path can surpass this threat."
The two girls listened to him in silence.
Aisha, with her large attentive eyes, was processing every word.
Eris, after a moment, took a deep breath, her eyes beginning to shine, and exclaimed forcefully:
"I-I too! I will help kill the Dragon God! I will also avenge Eidar!"
Aisha looked at her, and then turned her eyes to Rygar, hesitantly… and then:
"Master… may I?"
Rygar extended his hand and patted both of their heads. With a smile, he replied:
"Little Aisha, you're probably still too young for that…"
He paused and said, "But even so, I will give you both a test."
The two sat up straight, eyes alert.
He crossed his arms and calculated something mentally. Finally, he spoke clearly:
"If you want to help with this… you must, at the very least, be able to defeat me, without me using Touki or magic."
A silence followed those words.
Eris stared at him intently. She had never defeated him in combat, even without him using Touki; his natural strength was simply too great, she hadn't even come close.
But now, more than ever, she wanted to.
"Yes!" she shouted, determined.
Aisha, on the other hand, remained silent.
But her eyes narrowed, and soon she began to calculate, processing mentally what would be necessary to surpass her master under these conditions.
A four-year-old child... with the gaze of a strategist.
Ghislaine simply watched it all with a slight smile on her lips.
Lilia, outside, listened silently.
---
The journey continued.
The tension that had previously existed in the carriage dissipated a little after that.
After the conversation with Rygar, Eris had fallen asleep leaning against the side of the carriage, her face still a little furrowed.
Aisha, nestled in her lap, slept with her forehead gently pressed against the older one's chest, her features serene.
Rygar was silent, as always when he trained, but there was a certain softness in his expression.
His left hand sculpted the air slowly, manipulating the earth to create a statue of a Red Dragon.
His right hand, however, rested on Ghislaine's neck, tenderly caressing her long silver hair.
The warrior remained there, with half-closed eyes, leaning against him, relaxed — but with the same wild and determined presence that seemed to have dominated her since the confrontation with Orsted had awakened.
From the front seat, driving the carriage's reins, Lilia watched the girls sleeping. Her eyes were teary, but her expression was firm, like someone about to make a difficult decision.
After a few seconds of hesitation, she spoke:
"Rygar... you can take Aisha to the Sword Sanctuary."
Rygar turned slightly, surprised. That wasn't the answer he expected.
In fact, after everything that had happened, he was sure Lilia would flat-out refuse to let Aisha go with him. But she... allowed it?
"...Why?" he asked, looking at her.
Lilia was silent for a few seconds. Ghislaine also turned her eyes to her, alert. And then, Lilia took a deep breath and answered, in a low voice:
"I don't want Aisha... to feel what I felt at that moment."
Lilia lowered her eyes, looking at the trembling hands on the reins. Her voice trembled.
"That man... Orsted... he went towards my daughter. And I... couldn't do anything. I was paralyzed. Even if I wanted to, my body wouldn't move. I didn't have the strength to fight. I didn't have the strength to protect her."
She clenched her fists, as if trying to push the memory away.
"I... don't want Aisha to be like me. I don't want to trap her in a life of helplessness. She is very talented... if she can choose, I don't want to be the person who held her back."
Rygar fell silent. There was understanding in his gaze.
Ghislaine remained quiet, but her gaze was fixed on Lilia.
"Then let her choose," Rygar replied. "When the time comes, Aisha will decide if she wants to go or stay."
Silence returned for a moment, heavy yet serene.
It was Ghislaine who spoke next, her voice low but direct:
"Rygar... who is the God-Man?"
She did not look at him this time. Her head was still resting against him.
"You once asked us about him. And Lilia said that when the Dragon God killed Eidar, he asked to send a message to this so-called God-Man. Moreover, Orsted only attacked us after you reacted to the name... and also called you both Apostles."
Rygar thought for a moment, and concluded that he had no reason to hide it.
And then he told.
He spoke about the strange white world where he first encountered Hitogami.
He recounted his appearance: a smiling white figure, but with a face hard to remember.
He explained his enigmatic words, his attempts to gain Rygar's trust.
Lilia and Ghislaine listened in silence.
Rygar spoke about the dwarves' territory, about the instructions he received in dreams, about subtle and treacherous manipulation. And finally, about the last time he saw him — after being 'killed' by Orsted.
"If this man appears in your dreams... do not trust him," Rygar said, his voice laden with seriousness.
"I consider him as dangerous as Orsted. But he is a different kind of threat. Cunning. Invisible. A manipulator."
Ghislaine became pensive, and then asked, in a low voice:
"Alright... Rygar, do you really not know if you can reach the strength of the Dragon God?"
Rygar fell silent again.
Hitogami's words were still in his mind: If he takes a fight seriously... the entire world could be destroyed.
He wasn't sure how much of that was true, but since there were legends of continents being split in half and such, it would be plausible to some extent.
He answered:
"I don't know. There are still many things I don't know about magic... and about Touki. Perhaps, someday, I will reach that level. But he... he is on a different level. It's hard to say."
Then he turned his gaze back to Ghislaine.
"I think I will be able to say when I discover the strength of the Sword God. After all, before I consider defeating Orsted, I need to defeat your master first."
She fell silent. Her gaze lost itself on the horizon, but there was a glimmer of anticipation in her eyes.
And then, the conversation diverted. The three exchanged words about the path, about training, about the little things. The tension dissipated like dust in the wind.
But even now, everything was different, the group seemed incomplete.
They had traveled together for the last two and a half years, and Eidar's death left a crack that would never truly be filled.
---
When they finally emerged from the lower jaw of the Red Dragon, the vastness of the Asura Kingdom plains greeted them. The carriage stopped, and Rygar jumped out with a fluid movement.
He carried the Sealing Chains of the Mad Dragon King tied to his belt.
His eyes turned to Tsukikage, his blue sword, which had been disarmed before he lost consciousness, and his swords could have been taken without resistance, but he left them there for some reason.
"At least he didn't take Tsukikage," he murmured, relieved. After all, he had already lost all the memories he carried with him when he was ambushed.
That sword was his memento of his mentor, Verdia Solarion, who, by the way, Orsted said should be dead. He would send a letter to her warning her to leave the Great Forest, just for safety.
Further ahead, the rest of the group had already set up a small camp.
A tent, an improvised campfire. There was no threat. At least, not immediate.
Rygar turned to the group, his expression resolute.
"I will be back in the blink of an eye."
And then, in an explosive impulse, Rygar dashed back towards the mountain range. His silhouette disappeared among the stones and the icy winds.
His goal now was only one.
To capture a Red Dragon.
And with that... his oath of vengeance would begin to take shape.
---
Orsted
Age: +20.000
Race: 3/4 God (2/4 Dragon God, 1/4 Human God), 1/4 Human
Titles: Dragon God, Strongest in the World
Curse: Curse of Hatred: Every being in the World of Six Faces either fears or hates him
Mana Reserves: Transcendent Level
Touki: Masters the Dragon Race Touki, which is more powerful than the normal Touki, and also masters the Dragon Saint Touki
Exclusive Techniques: Eternal Loop: Always returns to Armored Dragon year 330 if he fails to kill Hitogami within 200 years, Invisible to Hitogami's Eyes and Divination Skills, Mana regeneration 1000 times less effective
Weapons: Divine Sword
Magical Skills:
Fire Magic: God
Earth Magic: God
Water Magic: God
Wind Magic: God
Healing Magic: God
Detoxification Magic: God
Barrier Magic: God
Divine Attack: God
Summoning Magic: God
Other Magics: Masters most magic, racial or otherwise, currently known in the World of Six Faces
Howling Magic: Mastery
Combat Skills:
North God Style: God
Sword God Style: God
Water God Style: God
Battle Strength: Transcendent Level
Languages:
Speaks all languages
Intellectual skills:
He knows almost everyone in the world, and has almost all the knowledge in the world, he knows how to fight any type of opponent
Practical Skills:
Master all combat-related skills
-----
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