"All shall survive..."
A comforting voice echoed through an endless void.
Rudra Leonhart's body drifted through a vast ocean of blood, suspended as if the world itself had forgotten him. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't even feel the panic that should have followed.
Only the invisible force pushing him forward remained.
"You found it... You did it."
The voice returned, closer now. Warmer.
"From now on... because of you, everything will be saved."
Rudra's eyes snapped open.
A sharp pain split through his skull as he sucked in a breath, his hands flying up to clutch his head.
"Ah-what... what happened...?"
His vision swam as the world came into focus. He was inside something vast and hollowed, its walls curved and uneven. Thick bark coated in frost rose around him like frozen ribs, forming a cavern within an enormous tree. At its center stood a massive trunk, wide enough to resemble a pillar supporting the ceiling above.
Pale light flickered nearby.
A small fire burned beside him, its warmth fighting back the biting cold that clung to the air. He realized he was lying on a crude bed, wooden planks lashed together as a frame, layered with soft leaves and fur for cushioning.
"Where... am I...?"
He tried to sit up.
The moment he did, the strength vanished from his limbs. His body lurched forward, numb legs refusing to obey as his balance collapsed.
Before he could hit the ground, something caught him.
No-someone.
Rudra lifted his head slowly.
And there she was.
A girl with short hair and sharp eyes stared down at him, blinking once in surprise before her expression snapped into excitement.
"THE NEW GUY'S AWAKE!"
Her voice echoed through the tree-cave.
Footsteps followed almost immediately.
Haruto moved first. One look was enough to tell how weak the boy was. He stepped forward and supported Rudra easily, guiding him back onto the bed before the dizziness could win.
"Haru, bring him some water," he said.
"Sir!" Haruki replied, already sprinting off.
"Don't trip-" Haruto paused, listening to her footsteps fade. "...Whatever."
He turned back to the boy. "You understand me, right?"
Rudra nodded, hesitant.
"Good. Then tell me," Haruto continued carefully, "do you know why you were under a frozen lake?"
"W-what?"
Rudra stiffened. "Under... a lake?"
His breathing quickened.
"Hey," Haruto cut in, holding up a hand. "Calm down. Panicking's just going to make your head worse."
Slowly, Rudra obeyed. He lowered his gaze, fists clenched, avoiding eye contact.
That was when he noticed her.
A humanoid figure with a translucent body stood nearby, watching silently. A slime.
His chest tightened. He'd heard of creatures like that. Legends. Theories. Nothing that prepared him for standing three steps away from one.
Sensing his unease, Haruto took a step back, giving him space.
"I'm Haruto," he said evenly. "And that's Hana."
Hana waved, her body subtly shifting into a softer, less intimidating form.
"What's your name?"
"...Rudra," he answered quietly.
"Rudra..." Haruto repeated, the name stirring something faint and distant. He dismissed it. "Are you an adventurer?"
"N-no, sir."
Why is he calling me sir...? Haruto thought.
"I came with my uncle," Rudra continued, voice shaking. "And a party. We stopped to eat and then..."
His hand shot to his head. "Ah-! It hurts!"
"That's enough," Haruto said firmly. "You were frozen solid when we found you. Pushing yourself now could seriously mess up your insides."
He paused, then reached into his pocket.
"There's something else."
He placed a jagged stone shard into Rudra's palm. Strange symbols were carved into its surface, radiating an unsettling aura.
Rudra's eyes widened. "...An anti-spirit rune."
"Thought so," Haruto said. "It was in your pocket. Whatever it was doing, it didn't feel right, so I removed it."
He straightened. "Rest. We'll talk later."
Just then, Haruki returned, carefully carrying a wooden bowl filled with warm water.
"Hey! Where are you going?" she protested. "He just woke up!"
Haruto glanced at her, then at the boy, then back at her again, as if solving a very simple equation.
"Well," he said, already turning away, "since you've got nothing better to do, why don't you look after him for a bit?"
Haruki froze. "Huh? Me? You want me to take care of someone?"
"Relax," Haruto replied calmly. "You're not going to kill him. Probably. He's past the dangerous part."
He paused, then added, "All you have to do is bring him food and keep him company. You were bored anyway."
Her lips curled into a smug grin. "Say less."
She marched right past him and into the room.
"Hey, don't-" Haruto stopped himself, rubbing his temples. "Well... He'll live at least. I guess."
With that, he stepped out of the hollowed tree chamber, Hana falling into step beside him.
"Is he really going to be okay?" she asked quietly.
Haruto didn't slow. "That ruin didn't just end up in his pocket," he said. "Either the kid's unbelievably unlucky... or someone wanted him gone."
Hana glanced back once, thoughtful.
"So," she asked, "we're keeping him?"
Haruto stopped, considering it only for a second.
"For now," he said. "Once he's healed, he chooses what comes next. Until then, we help him."
A small shrug followed. "It's the best call. Even if it's risky."
Hana smiled, soft and certain.
"Yup."
---
Meanwhile, inside the chamber, Haruki returned with a bowl of water.
She stepped closer and carefully placed it into Rudra's hands, her movements deliberate, as if even the slightest tremor might spill it.
Rudra accepted it with a quiet nod and began drinking slowly. The water was warm. Comforting.
Haruki watched him while he drank. He looked about her age, maybe a little younger. A little... softer. After a moment, she moved and sat on the far corner of the bed.
"So," she said casually, swinging her legs slightly, "what's your name?"
Rudra froze.
He avoided her gaze completely, staring at the bowl as if it had suddenly become the most fascinating object in the room. His ears burned.
"R-Rudra," he said. "My name is Rudra."
She smiled. "I'm Haruki. You can call me Haru if you want."
Silence followed.
Not the peaceful kind. The kind that stretches just long enough to become aware of itself.
Then Rudra cleared his throat.
"Um... are you... not from a nearby nation?"
Haruki blinked. "Huh? What makes you think that?"
"Well..." He hesitated, still refusing to look at her. "Your clothes are... a little different. And, um..."
His voice dropped. "...Other things."
"Other things?" she pressed.
Rudra opened his mouth.
Closed it.
His brain scrambled for a polite way out and found absolutely nothing.
Before he could self-destruct-
"If I may," a calm voice spoke from the doorway.
Haruna stood there, still on guard despite the cold, only partially visible. "In most common traditions, a man and a woman sitting alone on the same bed carries implications," she said evenly. "Ones that do not appear to align with your current intentions, Haru."
Haruki froze.
One second passed.
Two.
Then realization hit her like divine punishment.
"I'M SO SORRY!"
She bolted upright, her face erupting into red as she buried it behind her hands and hair.
Rudra nearly dropped the bowl.
"No-no! It's fine!" he said quickly, panic rising. "I don't mind at all! I just... noticed it out of habit! It's my fault, really! Please don't apologize!"
Haruki made a strangled noise and slid right off the bed, collapsing onto the floor.
"Ahhh... this is so embarrassing..."
From the doorway, Haruna let out a small, unmistakable chuckle.
She immediately stiffened.
"HEY!" Haruki snapped. "Is this funny to you?!"
"N-No," Haruna said, covering her mouth. "Not at all."
Haruki stared at her in silence.
Haruna couldn't see her.
She still felt it.
Rudra sat there, trapped between them, unsure whether to apologize, vanish, or pass out.
Then something occurred to him.
He reached for the object Haruto had given him earlier. The anti-spirit rune.
Turning it in his fingers, he studied its surface.
This wasn't ordinary stone.
He had seen this color before.
Somewhere... in a book.
Then it clicked.
"A... dragon scale," he muttered.
His eyes sharpened as his unique skill, Preceptor, activated, expanding his perception.
The rune wasn't powered by the material alone, but by the pattern carved into it. This specific symbol was an anti-spirit array, designed to attract malice and disrupt elemental beings.
As understanding stacked upon understanding, his thoughts spilled out unconsciously.
"According to my runeology professor... dragon scales are the most effective material for rune-crafting," he said quietly. "But they're also extremely fragile. Whoever carved this had incredible control. Master-level experience."
He frowned slightly.
"But who could-"
He stopped.
Haruki was watching him.
Realizing this, she quickly looked away, pretending she hadn't been staring the entire time.
"Sorry," she said. "I just... couldn't help myself."
Rudra's brain promptly shut down.
"I-I-um-" His face went red again as words fled him in terror.
She laughed lightly and placed her hands on her hips. "Relax. We all have our quirks."
Then she grinned.
It was bright. Confident. Dangerous.
Rudra stiffened.
Something about that grin sent every survival instinct he had screaming.
Danger, they whispered.
Unfortunately for him, it was far too late.
---
But before he could even say anything, Rudra felt something wrong in his fist.
The rune.
It vibrated violently, heat surging through it like a living thing. Instinct kicked in before thought. He let go.
The rune struck the snow.
The ground screamed.
In seconds, the snow beneath it evaporated into steam, carving a blackened crater into the white.
Rudra staggered back, clutching his hand.
Haruki saw it.
His burned palm.
Her breath hitched. "HARUNA! CALL HARUTO! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE—"
She never finished.
Something vile flooded the air. Thick. Heavy. Focused.
A presence that locked onto a single existence.
Rudra.
Before anyone could react, the snow and ice around them vanished, erased in an instant. Heat swallowed the cold.
And then—
A sound.
A sound Haruki knew far too well.
Her heart stopped.
The explosion detonated.
The tree vanished in fire, reduced to ash in a single violent breath. The shockwave tore through the clearing.
Haruki didn't think.
She curled into herself, eyes squeezed shut, arms wrapped tight around her head.
Just like before.
The roar of combustion followed, deafening and absolute.
Slowly... she opened her eyes.
Flames consumed everything.
Burning branches cracked and collapsed, one crashing down right in front of her. She flinched hard, breath tearing from her lungs.
Her body shook.
She hadn't known she could still feel fear like this. But her mind dragged it up anyway. Relentless.
That day.
That moment.
The moment that ended her life before...
It had only been a week.
No one expected it.
No one knew what caused the explosion.
But one truth carved itself into her chest.
They didn't deserve it.
She had just seen her brother take his first real step toward the life he dreamed of. She had felt hope. Too much hope.
And now—
That same despair she'd buried for years clawed its way back to the surface.
The moment that broke her.
The moment she never recovered from.
It flipped something inside her.
"Just like always..." her mind whispered, hollow and cold.
"...God took the most important thing in my life."
Her eyes closed.
She gave in.
She wasn't ready.
She was still weak.
And she knew it.
"I hate it..."
Her thoughts screamed.
"I HATE IT!"
"GOD, I HATE IT!"
Her mind drowned in rage and despair, consuming everything.
Outside—
Tears spilled freely. Her hands tangled in her hair, gripping tighter and tighter as if she could tear herself away from reality.
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't escape.
But then—
A voice reached her.
"Haru."
Gentle. Warm.
Her body trembled as she failed to notice she was mostly unharmed. Just a single burn mark seared into her arm.
A hand rested on her head.
Firm. Familiar.
It gently pulled her hands away from her hair.
Warmth spread through her chest.
Her eyes opened without her realizing it.
Safety was what she ferl.
She looked up.
And there he was.
The person she trusted more than anyone. The one who mattered most.
"Stop being a crybaby and get up, dufus."
Haruto smiled down at her, teasing as always.
---
"Could you leave her be for a moment?" Hana said sharply, planting herself between them. "At least try to comfort her."
"Comfort her?" Haruto shot back, rubbing the back of his neck and very deliberately not looking at Haruki. "What do you want me to do? Hand her a pacifier and give her life advice?"
Hana sighed, long and tired, then crouched down and slipped an arm under Haruki's shoulder. "C'mon. Get up," she murmured gently. "Don't listen to him. He's just stupid."
Haruki managed to stand with her help, though her legs shook like they hadn't gotten the memo that the danger was over. Her breathing slowed, and only then did she really see it.
A massive wall of ice towered in front of them, jagged and translucent, its surface glowing faintly orange as raging flames battered against the other side. Fire rolled and clawed, distorted through crystal-clear ice, unable to pass.
"What..." Haruki whispered. "What just happened?"
She turned slowly, horror dawning as her eyes traced the aftermath. The enormous tree they had claimed as a home was gone, reduced to blackened ash. The snow around it had vanished entirely, leaving scorched earth and hissing steam as melted ice evaporated into the air.
Then panic snapped back into her chest.
"Rudra—!" She spun around. "W-Where is he?!"
Hana answered immediately, steady and firm. "Haruna took him away. They're far enough. He's safe."
Relief hit Haruki so fast her knees almost gave out again. She sucked in a shaky breath, clutching at her sleeve.
But the feeling didn't last.
"Wait," she said suddenly, eyes widening. "No—something's wrong. I think... I think something's targeting him!"
Haruto crouched and picked something up from the ground.
The rune stone.
It was cracked now, its surface glowing faintly red, heat bleeding off it in waves. Even holding it between his fingers made the air shimmer.
"Or," Haruto said slowly, examining it, "whatever it is... might be after this."
He held the rune up for them to see.
"That—that thing reacted," Haruki said quickly, piecing it together. "It started heating up. Rudra dropped it because it burned his hand and then—then everything exploded!" She swallowed hard. "What's happening?"
Haruto didn't look worried.
In fact, he looked annoyingly calm.
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "That thing's throwing fire at us."
As the steam thinned, the sky above them darkened.
A massive silhouette loomed overhead, wings stretching wide enough to blot out the moon. Crimson eyes burned through the haze, locked directly onto Haruto.
Haruki froze.
"Is that...?" Her voice cracked. "W-What is that thing?!"
"Looks like a dragon," Hana replied casually, as if identifying a mildly aggressive animal.
"A d–dragon?!" Haruki snapped. "That's not like the ones we fought in the labyrinth!"
"Maybe," Hana said with a shrug. "Maybe not. Doesn't really matter right now."
She turned to Haruto, who hadn't taken his eyes off the creature hovering just meters above them. "...So. What do we do?"
"Well," he said, glancing back at them with that infuriatingly calm grin, "isn't it obvious?"
He looked back up at the dragon.
"It's not attacking. That means it wants a one-on-one. Right?"
The dragon remained still.
No second blast. No dive. No roar.
Just pressure.
And the first strike alone had been enough to incinerate frozen trees and melt nearly a quarter of the lake's surface.
A dragon was never something to take lightly.
Still... Hana felt it too.
This wasn't a kill.
It was a warning.
She nodded once, trusting his judgment, then scooped Haruki up without hesitation. "Let's go."
"W–WAIT! WHERE ARE WE GOING?!" Haruki yelped as Hana bolted away.
Hana just ignored her as she fled to safety, hoping she'd be able to drop off Haruki and return to help Haruto as soon as possible.
As Hana disappeared into the distance with Haruki in her arms, Haruto turned back toward the dragon.
He walked forward.
No hesitation. No fear. Just a faint smile tugging at his lips as he stopped a few meters from the massive head looming above him.
"So," the voice echoed directly into his mind, deep and ancient, layered with restrained power.
"Why did you send them away? Don't tell me you believe you can face me alone."
Haruto's steps slowed.
That voice.
He recognized it.
"Of course not," he replied calmly, stopping at a respectful distance. "How could I possibly believe I could defeat a dragon?"
"Then you were protecting them?" the dragon asked. "I already told you. I have no intention of killing you or your subordinates."
"I know," Haruto said, gesturing lazily at the scorched landscape around them. "But your 'warnings' don't exactly come with a safety label."
The dragon paused.
Then straightened, its massive chest rising as it spoke again.
"That destruction," it said firmly, "was caused by the cursed object you possess."
"Cursed, huh?" Haruto echoed, pulling the rune stone from his pocket. Its surface still radiated faint heat. "If you mean this thing, it's not mine. Doesn't belong to any of us either." He lifted it slightly. "If you want it, I can hand it over."
"Nonsense." The dragon snorted. "I have no interest in claiming it. That object attracts magic beasts, twists their instincts, awakens malice. Even I was influenced by its curse. Fortunately, I dismantled its effect before losing myself entirely."
"Then why are you still here?" Haruto asked plainly.
The dragon's crimson eyes narrowed, studying him.
Curiosity swirled within them. Pride. And something else. Uncertainty.
"I crossed the forest," the dragon said slowly, "because a trinket meant to assassinate a child dared to provoke me. Tell me, dragonborn... do you think that is fair?"
"It's not," Haruto replied without hesitation.
"Exactly." The dragon's voice deepened. "And a superior being such as myself will not be made a fool of by worthless schemers. Yet I cannot burn every city in search of a single coward. So I propose a deal."
Haruto's smile sharpened. "I'm listening."
The dragon straightened fully, authority rolling off him like pressure.
"My name is Dreknar. Among humans, I am called Volcon. I am one of the few greater dragons permitted to reside within the Great Forest of Lunar. I swear on my name, that I would fulfill my end of the deal without hesitation. Even if it costs my life..." He paused. "This is my offer... If you uncover the one responsible and bring them to me, I will grant you any legendary artifact from my hoard."
Haruto blinked.
Then frowned.
"...Isn't that a little petty?"
The silence that followed was dangerous.
"P-petty?!" Dreknar thundered. "Do you dare dismiss a once-in-a-lifetime offer?!"
"I'm not rejecting free stuff," Haruto said quickly. "But this isn't about that." His tone sharpened. "Whoever did this is after something bigger. If they see you getting involved in this and hunting them, you will become part of their plan."
Dreknar stilled.
"If you move openly," Haruto continued, "they'll just use you. Turn your anger into a weapon. You'll destroy cities for them without even realizing it."
The dragon was silent.
Then, slowly, he exhaled.
"...I see."
He lowered his head slightly, studying Haruto with new eyes.
"Such insight," Dreknar murmured. "No wonder I sensed it. Near the Chaos Maw... that Astron signature. Eyes like a dragon's." His gaze sharpened. "You are a divine vessel, aren't you?"
"A what?" Haruto frowned. "If you mean some apostle nonsense, I'm not—"
"Not an apostle," Dreknar interrupted. "A divine vessel is a successor. A being meant to inherit the will of a high spiritual existence."
Haruto stiffened.
"Lord Charybdis did not vanish," the dragon continued quietly. "He entered the cycle of reincarnation... And left a successor behind, to inherit his will and take care of the forest in his behalf. The forest and..." His voice lowered as his gaze fixated on the bandage that wrapper around Haruto's arm.
Haruto immediately leaned forward. "Wait—do you know something about this thing—"
"I must go," Dreknar cut him off sharply. His wings unfurled, stirring violent winds. He hesitated, then looked back.
"What is your name, dragonborn?"
"Haruto," he answered. "Haruto Kanzaki."
Dreknar nodded once, deeply. Then, with his jaws, he tore loose a cluster of scales from his own body. They shimmered, radiant and dense with power, regenerating instantly as they fell.
Nearly a hundred scales clattered at Haruto's feet.
"Compensation," Dreknar said. "For the harm I caused. Intentional or not."
He lifted into the sky. "Farewell, Lord Haruto."
The dragon's laughter echoed as he vanished into the clouds.
Haruto stared at the pile of scales.
"...Yeah," he muttered. "I wasn't getting answers that easily anyway."
He exhaled, shoulders relaxing.
"And thank god I didn't have to fight him. I wouldn't stand a chance. Ever."
Then he turned.
Hana stood nearby, watching him from behind a tree, concern plain on her face.
Haruto smiled and waved.
"Relax," he called. "It's all good."
...