"...!!!?"
The massive body of the Purgatory Dragon shuddered with a violent twitch.
"......"
A moment of silence followed.
Both Sofia and I stayed quiet.
Horn and Licorice, too, stood ready without lowering their guard, observing the dragon.
And then—
BOOM...!
The Purgatory Dragon collapsed to the ground.
"......"
Its battered body didn’t move an inch.
It wasn’t breathing either—completely still.
The subjugation of the Purgatory Dragon… was complete.
"Wha…"
"We did iiiiiiiit!!!"
Sofia and I hugged each other in joy.
Then we started jumping up and down in celebration.
But there was someone who seemed even happier than we were.
"......"
Horn didn’t say a word, but raised his sword before the fallen dragon.
A sign of victory.
But… who was he showing it to?
The sword he raised pointed toward the sky.
In other words… it was clear what that meant.
Horn had fulfilled his final promise to his friend.
"Wow, that was amazing."
Clap clap clap—the sound of applause echoed.
Startled, we turned around to see Lena standing there.
Who knows where she’d been hiding up until now—there hadn’t been even the slightest hint of her presence.
"I was ready to jump in if things got dicey, but I never expected the three of you to actually defeat it. Oh, or should I say four, counting the little reinforcement?"
"...Why are you here?"
I raised my sword.
Sofia followed, brandishing Excalibur.
Horn, who didn’t know Lena, looked slightly confused at first… but after watching us, he must’ve decided she was an enemy. He stepped in front of Licorice protectively and shifted the point of his blade.
"Hmm, I came to praise you? Oh, don’t worry. At this point, I’m not planning to swoop in and steal the kill or anything."
"I don’t believe you."
"No really, I swear. That Purgatory Dragon—do whatever you want with it. Use it for materials, bury it, your call."
"......"
"But I haven’t given up on Fate, you know ♪"
"I’ll cut you down!"
"W-Wait, calm down!"
Sofia was about to charge, so I quickly stopped her.
"If you didn’t come to do anything, then why show up in front of us?"
"Like I said—to praise you. I mean, if it were the Sword Saint, maybe. But Fate and some guy I don’t even know defeating the Purgatory Dragon? I never saw that coming. It’s seriously impressive. I just wanted to say that. That’s all."
"......"
She didn’t seem to be lying.
And knowing Lena’s personality, this kind of behavior wasn’t out of character.
That said…
Come to think of it, we’ve spent a decent amount of time around Lena now.
I’m starting to get a feel for how she thinks and acts.
Whether that’s something to be happy about or not… I’m not sure.
"With power like that, maybe you two do qualify."
"Qualify?"
"I just thought of this, but—Fate. And you too, Sofia. Want to join us, the ‘Dawn Alliance’?"
"Wha—!?"
Sofia and I exclaimed in unison at the unexpected offer.
Us… as Lena’s allies?
That thought had never even crossed our minds.
"Well, it just came to mind, so I’ll leave the serious invitation for later. I’d be happy if you could just keep it in a corner of your mind."
"An absurd offer like that isn’t even worth considering."
"Is that so? I think if you knew our goal, you’d definitely agree with it. Well... I’ll tell you more about it next time. I’ll be going now."
Lena said that and then glanced briefly at Horn.
"…I’m not dumb enough to keep bragging and ruin the mood here."
Waving her hand in farewell, Lena vanished.
She probably used a teleportation artifact.
"Hmm... Who was that girl? She didn’t seem like just anyone…"
"It’s a long story."
It wasn’t something that could be explained in a single sentence.
More importantly...
"I think she really did retreat. So for now, let’s do what needs to be done."
"...Yes. Thank you."
What needs to be done.
That means completing the request Horn had received from Nonoka.
The contents of that request were: do something about the Purgatory Dragon.
“Do something” doesn’t just mean stopping the damage.
It also includes preventing the materials from being misused and causing further harm.
Having judged that, Horn took a large amount of oil out from his pack.
He poured it over the Purgatory Dragon’s corpse and set it alight.
In no time, the entire body was ablaze, and the acrid smell of burning flesh and smoke filled the area.
We exited the cave and watched from outside for a while.
Then, after giving it ample time to burn down completely...
"Lady Nonoka… It took time, but I’ve finally fulfilled my promise to you."
Horn activated the explosives he had previously set up.
Multiple explosions rang out.
With a thunderous roar, a massive amount of earth and rock collapsed, burying the cave entirely.
It was a tremendous weight of soil and stone.
There was no chance the Purgatory Dragon would come back as a zombie, and no one would be able to misuse its materials.
This marked the true end.
"......"
Horn said nothing, gazing up at the sky.
What he was thinking, I couldn’t tell.
But...
A single tear ran down his cheek.
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