The Legendary Spearman Returns

Side Story Chapter 188

Creshua watched as Joshua picked up Crevasse’s corpse.

“There is one custom common among humans regardless of their nationalities. When someone’s family dies, their acquaintances come together to mourn the deceased alongside the bereaved. Of course, the exact form of the mourning and funeral differs in every country, but the underlying sentiment is the same,” Joshua explained.

“...What is it that you want to say?”

“Do you want to come with me?” Joshua offered.

Creshua blinked at him in surprise.

“Our parents mean a lot to us humans,” Joshua continued. “I’m not sure if dragons feel the same, but one thing is certain.”

“What is it?”

“You wouldn’t be in this world without Crevasse.”

“Should I be grateful for the fact that he brought me into this world? I don’t find my life in this world to be such a blessing,” Creshua answered in a dull voice.

Lilith was dumbstruck. ‘What is his problem?’

-Well, he’s not that bad. Some dragons do consider their life to be a curse.

‘A curse? Why?’

-Humans live less than one hundred years, but dragons have to endure ten thousand years.

Yes, the word “endure” would be the most apt description for a dragon’s existence. Eventually, everything in their lives would bore them because they had already done them. They transformed into the lesser creatures they treated like dirt to squeeze some entertainment out of their lives. Nevertheless, their remaining time in this world was close to an eternity, so they slept away hundreds of years too. Joshua was certain that one of the most unfortunate races on the continent was the dragons.

-Perhaps the reason why the dragons faced extinction from a single human is because... they didn’t fight back with their full strength. There‘s no way that they would have failed to defeat Bel if all of the dragons fought against him together.

‘Then why did they keep living until now? They could have killed themselves,’ Lilith muttered.

-By nature, Dragons can’t commit suicide. Those creatures believed that they’d transcend and become gods after enduring their divine curse of ten thousand years. Suicide is equivalent to a declaration of surrender.

‘Which would be an unthinkable act for them, considering their pride. But then, they could have joined forces to become gods—’

-Every single dragon cooperating to defeat one human and become gods? That’s preposterous.

No matter how hard Lilith thought about it, she couldn’t understand dragons and their pride.

“...But,” Creshua began, breaking the silence.

Joshua looked up expectantly.

“I’m very curious about you because most of the stories I heard once I was born were about this man named Joshua Sanders.”

“Crevasse talked about me that much?”

“Among humans–no, among all creation, you’re the only one he approved of,” Creshua replied.

Joshua fell silent. He hadn’t expected Crevasse to think that highly of him.

“On the same note, the only one whom he respected was the dragon lord... Unfortunately, she couldn’t escape from death, so the race that I’m most curious about right now is humans, especially you and that man named Bel. That’s why...” Creshua looked at Crevasse and trailed off. “...I’ll go with you.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure that Crevasse is happy up in the sky.”

“I don’t think this is a good thing for you. If you or this ‘Bel’ fails to live up to my expectations, then I’m going kill every one of you myself,” Creshua said.

Joshua quietly examined Creshua. Although the dragon hatchling still looked emotionless, Joshua could tell what Creshua was feeling right now. Once again, Creshua’s warning was made out of pride. He wanted to bury the emotions he was feeling because his dragon heritage told him that such things were for lesser beings.

However, humans weren’t the only ones who felt angry or sad. Even monsters wailed at the loss of their parents or babies. Creshua wished to retaliate against humankind for the deaths of his fellow dragons and his father.

Creshua stepped on Tshchary’s stony core, reducing it to dust, and then took to the air.

“Let’s get going. I want to see this sun that supposedly hangs in the sky.”

* * *

After who knew how long had passed, Kireua finally opened his eyes.

Sersiarin, who had been personally tending to him, beamed. “Kireua!”

“Huh? ...How long have I been asleep?”

“You’ve slept through half a day. I was getting worried about you...”

“H-Half a day?” Kireua leaped to his feet. He remembered little by little how he had lost control of his body to Aden von Agnus, the Dark God.

“What kind of failure is this...” Kireua was so ashamed that he felt like he was going to go crazy. After everything he had gone through to find the Emperor of Avalon’s secret vault!

“It’s fine.” Sersiarin calmly shook her head. “I heard that things on the battlefield got a lot better thanks to you.”

Kireua may have lost his body, but he remembered everything vividly. With the Emperor of Avalon’s undead legion, Avalon could even the odds, but Kireua couldn’t afford to be sitting around on his own.

‘Coal.’

The Sin didn’t answer him.

‘Answer me, now!’

He didn’t get any response back from Coal. That worried him tremendously—the thing was supposed to be inside of him. But he had no time to linger on it.

“I’ve got to get back to the battlefield.”

“Kireua.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be dispirited. You’re doing a good job.” Sersiarin patted Kireua’s back.

Kireua’s eyes widened.

Sersiarin had been born with a supernatural ability known as Eyes of Truth, but the cursed ability had taken away her eyesight. After she had recovered from the curse and regained her eyesight, she had lost the ability completely, but she saw exactly what Kireua was going through.

“I’m proud of both of my nephews. No matter who becomes the next Emperor of Avalon, all of Avalon’s people will cheer for you. I will always root for you, my prince.” Sersiarin smiled gently and held her fists up encouragingly.

Kireua nodded with fresh determination.

“I’ll do my best to restore peace in Avalon.”

* * *

A huge dullahan’s upper body was severed from its lower half by a saber and collapsed to the ground.

“I can’t cut through with one strike if I don’t use aura. And if I don’t kill them with one strike, they get back up and hit back... Indeed, dealing with monsters that don’t get tired is quite a problem.” Duke Tremblin, the Sword Emperor, wiped sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand.

Even he looked quite tired. It had already been over a day since the battle began. Tremblin might have surpassed the level of an ordinary human, but even he didn’t have the stamina to endure nonstop combat. Selim, the greatest genius on the continent, was equally weary.

Selim stabbed through a black troll’s neck and then stopped, panting. A hundred? No, he had killed several hundred monsters and undead, enough to build a small mountain with their corpses. Even his brave Black Knights were showing their fatigue. If it hadn’t been for the undead that Kireua had brought, Selim and the others would have already been pushed back to the castle gates.

‘How long are you going to sleep, Kireua?’ Selim wondered.

The devastation on the battlefield had made the soldiers’ morale hit rock bottom long ago. They were going to pass out from exhaustion before the gates were breached. No, the soldiers were already exhausted. Something had to change.

“These annoying undead! When will we be rid of them?!”

“More monsters are coming! Maybe all the monsters living in the northern mountains came crawling over here.”

“Shit! His Majesty would have wiped them all away with his spear!”

Selim bite his lip. The soldiers’ complaints made him realize that he still had a long way to go. He wasn’t strong enough to replace the Emperor of Avalon with combat prowess, as the peoples’ anchor, or in any other aspect. It didn’t matter that Selim was standing on the frontlines with them, cutting down their enemies.

‘I’m no better than Kireua.’

At least Kireua had brought hope to the battlefield by locating the Emperor’s undead legion.

“At this rate...” Selim trailed off.

“Your Highness! Go back and take a break. You can’t continue fighting for days without food or sleep.”

“...I can’t do that.”

“But, Your Highness!” one of the Black Knights yelled.

Selim was determined.

“There’s a high chance that the soldiers’ morale will falter if I leave the battlefield.”

“Then I’ll fill in for you, Your Highness.”

“This is a job that only I can do.”

“Your Highness!”

“Enough!” Selim roared, slamming the end of his spear on the ground. “What are you worried about? I’m Selim Sanders, the Martial God’s son!”

A solemn air settled over the battlefield. Everyone there knew that Selim remained on the frontlines by his willpower alone, so the Black Knight knew that any further protests would be an insult to the Prince.

“...Black Knights, listen! His Highness has declared that he will fight to the death. Not one of us will yield while the prince still fights!”

“For the Prince!”

“The lives of our families and the citizens of Arcardia are in our hands!”

All of the Black Knights lifted their swords with a new resolve. The strongest knights in Avalon should never retreat, much less be defeated!

As if the heavens were moved by their determination, the empty sky flickered crimson.

“...Wait. Red light?”

The Black Knights gasped as a ray of red light streaked into the center of the undead.

“Is that...? Th-That’s His Majesty’s spear!”

From out of nowhere, the battlefield had been graced with the presence of Longin, the spear of the god slayer.