"Sorry, I'm truly sorry for taking up a whole chapter… The Hero King will show up next. Read this to pass the time… Really, I'm sorry…"
"Countless obstacles, countless fates—you've made it this far. Well done, Master."
Facing him is the evil dragon Fafnir, a living behemoth dozens of times his size.
"Yeah. If we take this thing down, victory's in sight!"
"Exactly. —But, thinking back…"
Siegfried brims with resolve.
"To be honest… I don't even remember how I won."
"What?! Don't say ominous things now!"
"No choice, I suppose. In Siegfried's source, The Nibelungenlied, it's true he defeated the evil dragon Fafnir. That's an undeniable fact, a clear legend."
"Director…"
"But there's almost no detail about the battle itself. It only states that Siegfried slew Fafnir and became invincible. In other words, no one witnessed the event."
"If anything, The Nibelungenlied focuses more on his wife Kriemhild's exploits. Her grief and despair after her husband's death are intense… oh, uh…"
Siegfried falls silent. Mash shoots the Doctor a reproachful glance.
"S-Sorry!"
"Don't worry. It's all true… But things are different now."
He slowly faces Fafnir, the pinnacle of phantasmal beasts spewing curses, flames, and despair.
"Now, I have a master's command, pride, wishes, dignity, and honor. —Protect Master, Mash. And watch, Master."
He draws Balmung—and brandishes it at Fafnir, pointing its tip.
"I'll slay this evil dragon again. —Please, I'm sorry, but watch me. With your eyes, with everything—witness this body achieve the dragon's demise."
His target: his lifelong nemesis—a mythic recurrence here and now.
"Yeah! I'm not running. I'll stay by your side!"
"Sorry, thank you. —Here we go, Fafnir."
"GUOOOAAAARRR—!!!!"
The evil dragon Fafnir roars wildly.
"Let's settle our fate—!!"
Steadying his breath, he unleashes a burst of magical energy, charging at Fafnir—!
"OOOOOHHHH—!!!!"
"GAAAAARRR!!"
Balmung swings—slashing, tearing, piercing, thrusting, sweeping, parrying, striking, deflecting, carving.
Fafnir rages—sweeping, striking, smashing, swinging, scattering, crushing, shaking off, annihilating.
Every blow is lethal.
Every strike a do-or-die gamble.
Their entire beings—body and soul—are mobilized to kill their sworn enemy—!!
"Guh! Senpai, behind me—!"
"This is a battle with a dragon—!"
Claws slam down. He severs them.
He slashes deep into its body. Scales scatter.
A breath attack surges. He blocks with Balmung.
A palm crushes down. He hacks off its arm with Balmung.
Siegfried rages, Fafnir roars.
Fafnir roars, Siegfried rages.
"FAFNIR—!!!!"
"GAAAAAARRRRR!!"
This scene—a reenactment of The Nibelungenlied—!!
"This is the great hero Siegfried…!"
He couldn't stop the words from spilling out.
Sorry.
He couldn't help but apologize.
Sorry.
In life, he had no wishes of his own.
After slaying Fafnir and gaining an invincible body, battle became mere routine.
No attack could harm him; he buried enemies carelessly every day.
Holding the Rhine's gold, he found no purpose for it, living and dying without using it.
Despite his invincible body and vast treasure—all he did was bring misfortune to those around him.
He answered any call. He aided evil if asked, ignored good unless begged.
—If not called upon, he didn't even extend a hand.
Even in death, that didn't change.
He entrusted his back to a friend, was stabbed, and lost his life.
—Only then did he understand the meaning of his emptiness, its source.
He didn't know what he wanted, had no dreams or hopes, couldn't envision a future. That was his void.
So, his empty self's death brought no good.
He forced unwanted betrayal on a friend.
He sent grief and despair to his wife, driving her to vengeance.
—Even to those he cherished, he ultimately brought ruin.
An eye for an eye, blood for blood spilled.
—In the end, all he did was make everything miserable.
What kind of hero?
What kind of dragon-slayer?
—That's why he can't help but mutter, sorry.
—But.
"OOOOOOHHHHH—!!!!"
The balance shifts.
Slowly, surely, Siegfried's resolve overwhelms Fafnir—!
"GAAAHH…!?"
"Sorry to say, but I now have everything I lacked before—!"
Yes.
To save France.
To protect his comrades.
To honor the lives lost.
For himself—to slay this evil dragon!
"I'll kill you, I will kill you! Even if that's my only pride, it's enough!"
Fafnir's full-force breath assails Siegfried. But his invincible body shrugs off fatal wounds.
"I am the hero Siegfried! Born human, died a hero—my life holds no shred of regret or calamity—!!!"
He stands tall—
My comrades are in danger! We need your strength!
Please—help us!!
The first time they met, she pleaded with tears in her eyes—
"You'll never see a thousand years of prosperity! Here, today—is your twilight, evil dragon!!"
To answer that Master's wish—!!
"Now I borrow it, Hero King! I'll end this here!"
He channels magic into the entrusted key.
"GAAAAHH!!?"
Countless dragon-slaying armaments pummel Fafnir relentlessly—!
"—The evil dragon falls."
The chant begins. Stored ether is unleashed, a vast twilight released—!
"The world now reaches sunset—!"
Fafnir, blocked by infinite wealth, can't resist.
—The conclusion comes now, in this moment.
"Strike it down!! —Evil dragon Fafnir, this is your end—!!"
Raising his blade high—
"—'Phantasmal Greatsword: Felling of the Sky Demon'—!!!!"
He unleashes twilight—!!!
—At death's edge, he confirms his fleeting thoughts.
It doesn't matter if no one acknowledges him.
"You did it, you did it!!"
"Amazing! That's Siegfried for you!!"
It doesn't matter if no one praises him.
"Fafnir… by himself…"
"Incredible! This is the power of history's greatest dragon-slayer—!!"
He just wants to live by what he believes in.
"It wasn't my power alone. Weakened by the Hero King's might time and again, you were vulnerable."
Yes—the final wish in his heart…
"That was your bad luck, meeting me in that state. —Take it as a gift to hell, Fafnir."
"My name is Siegfried. No hero stands equal—the greatest dragon-slayer of all."
—Was to be an ally of justice.
"⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛… (Nostalgic… I've buried twelve or thirteen such monstrosities myself.)"
"⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛…? (…That's a lot, isn't it?)"
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