This was not a hunt. It was a competition.

The four White Horn adventurers gathered here had sound reasons for reaching that conclusion. It was not that they were fools who knew nothing of the terror dragons inspired.

Though most dragons had vanished with the close of the age of myth a thousand years ago, their might remained faithfully recorded in the history books. There were differences between individuals, but ordinarily, it was all but impossible for a Sword Seeker to hunt a dragon alone.

Yes. Ordinarily.

The red dragon and white dragon sealed beneath Cambria were far from ordinary dragons. Originally one dragon split into two, they had already been cast down by Arthur, stripped of most of their power by Merlin, and sealed away.

Once great, they had forgotten their greatness when they fell beneath the earth.

The red and white dragons' traits, the methods for defeating them, and even their weaknesses had all been laid bare. What more needed saying, when their long imprisonment had weakened them as well?

Five Sword Seekers would be more than enough to hunt them.

What mattered was who landed the final blow.

That was the conclusion the adventurers gathered here had reached.

There would be some danger, but what rewards awaited those willing to brave it? Dragon hide, bones, blood, and hearts—materials of the highest quality that could fetch any price their sellers named. And every adventurer knew that artifacts made from dragon materials boasted jaw-dropping performance.

Adventurers were people who weighed gold against danger.

To them, this dragon hunt was a mouthwatering opportunity. Knowing that, the Central Guild's guildmaster must have made securing priority hunting rights a priority. He would have judged the gains greater than the risks.

The imperial family’s knight order was merely insurance. The adventurers gathered in this city were perfectly capable of handling the hunt...

"That's what they're thinking, anyway."

Merlin shrugged.

"Actually, if things played out normally, that wouldn't be a mistaken judgment. The white and red dragons revived about two hundred years ago, too, you know?"

'This isn't the first time?'

"No. Once or twice every few hundred years, they slip through gaps in the seal. A perfect seal can't exist in this world. Anyway, a few Sword Seekers easily hunted them each time, so they must expect the same this time around."

She perched on the meeting-room table and crossed her legs. Of course, only Najin could see Merlin, so to the other White Horn adventurers, he merely appeared to be looking up at empty air.

"But this time is different."

Merlin lowered her head to look at Najin.

"They're wrong about two things."

She held up two fingers.

"First, they think weakened dragons will emerge again. Not this time. The sealing formula is going to break completely. What they'll be facing aren't weakened dragons, but the dragons of the age of myth that Arthur and I faced."

She folded one finger and wagged the other as she continued.

"Second, they think they can hunt the dragons even if they revive at full strength. Somehow, that misconception hasn't changed in a thousand years."

Merlin grinned in amusement.

A thousand years ago, when they brought down the dragons, Merlin had been a Six-Circle mage, and Arthur a warrior who had attained the realm of Sword Seeker.

"If just two people brought down two dragons, surely several Sword Seekers could manage it? That was what people said. I couldn't believe my ears every time."

And since she had sealed them away, she couldn't even show those people.

Merlin sighed and rested her chin on her hand.

"If it were that easy, do you think we could have earned stars for it?"

Stars could only be hung in the heavens by accomplishing great feats.

Rolling her first star across her palm, Merlin looked at Najin. Her gaze was not that of someone looking upon a king she must guide, but it was that of someone looking upon a junior following in her footsteps.

"Now it's your turn."

Merlin's blue eyes met Najin's sunset-colored eyes.

"Your turn to prove yourself, in your own way."

A thousand years ago, Arthur had severed the dragons' wings and cast them beneath the earth. How, then, would Najin bring them down? How would he imprison them underground? Merlin's eyes shone.

A boy who resembled Arthur, yet did not.

Merlin was desperately curious what answer the boy would give in this hunt, and how he would claim his star. But hearing that answer would have to wait another month.

Just as Merlin could hear Najin's private thoughts, some of her thoughts and emotions now flowed into him as well. Much had changed since he attained the realm of Sword Seeker.

Feeling the faint traces of Merlin's emotions reaching him, Najin curled his lips into a smile.

'You can look forward to it, Merlin.'

He smiled as he considered the idea that had come to him while listening to her advice.

He, too, was working on a method of his own.

2.

After receiving information and documents concerning the hunt from the Central Guild, Najin left the building. Every staff member he passed bowed their head in greeting—another privilege of White Horn rank.

In Cambria, the City of Opportunity, achievement alone determined one's standing. And White Horn adventurers were those with the greatest achievements.

'So this is what they mean by calling us Cambria's nobility.'

With that thought, Najin continued on his way.

The imperial family's calculations placed the opening of the sealing formula's breach a month from now, and Merlin had given a similar answer. In other words, he had about a month to spare.

What should he do with that month?

He could take on commissions large and small, but he knew full well that he was receiving far more public attention than he wanted. Whatever he did, eyes would follow him, and his intentions would be questioned.

'I've already received dozens of personal commissions.'

Sorry though he was to say it, he had no intention of accepting commissions with such obvious ulterior motives. Besides, he had already decided what to do for the next month.

'Merlin.'

"Yes? Go ahead."

'You said we'd definitely be leaving the continent after hunting the dragons, right? For the Battlefield of Stars and the land of demons.'

"That's how it'll turn out."

Merlin nodded.

"There's no better place to build a reputation, accomplish great feats, and inscribe your stars. And countless heroes go there, too."

The Battlefield of Stars and the land of demons.

Najin remembered the visions Merlin had shown him before. Those sights had shaken his soul and, on one occasion, brought him to his knees.

"Thaaat... was meant to be a test. You know that, right? I wasn't trying to scare you... Well, not entirely, but it was a necessary step."

'I know. What's brought this on all of a sudden?'

"You said it last time, remember? That I'd pulled some shit on you out of nowhere, too..."

Her voice sounded oddly dejected.

She seemed to still be dwelling on his joking remark when he met Gerd: that she had done the same thing to him. Najin chuckled.

'I understand. It was a test, wasn't it?'

"Right?"

Hearing her voice brighten made him want to tease her a little more, but he firmly resisted the urge.

'Anyway, I expect we'll be heading there in two months at the latest... so I'm thinking of taking a look beforehand.'

"Now?"

Najin nodded.

'If I'm going to hunt dragons, I think I should at least face something similar first. But there's nothing suitable in the Inner Lands.'

A monster resembling a dragon.

A creature with a faint trace of dragon blood, but no share in their Mystery. A wyvern. That was the practice opponent Najin had chosen.

"Wyverns are fairly high-level monsters, so there should be some in the Demon Realm. You're going there to hunt one, then?"

'I need to get a feel for it. I don't think I've really fought anything that flies.'

After a moment's consideration, Merlin nodded as well.

"Not a bad idea. It'll also make a good demonstration for those wondering about your next move."

That was another thing Najin was aiming for.

He intended to show all those watching him that he was testing the waters in the Demon Realm, and that he would be active there in the future.

"It's not a bad idea, but..."

Still, Merlin trailed off as though something troubled her.

"The first time you see it, it's... a bit shocking, you know?"

'A wyvern?'

"No. Beyond the world. The Outer Lands."

Merlin started to explain something, then closed her mouth.

"Seeing it once will be quicker than explaining it. So, you're planning to leave right away?"

There was no harm in leaving sooner.

Considering the time needed for the round trip, even a month might make for a tight schedule. Najin nodded and immediately hired a carriage.

It would take him nonstop to the edge of the continent—to the place known as the Boundary.

3.

Beyond the continent lay the Outer Lands.

Some called that place the world beyond, outside the world. And the description was not wrong. Most of the rules that held true in the world applied there in distorted or broken forms.

There was no clear division between the living and the dead. A corpse that had not been prepared for burial would rise and move of its own accord after a single night, wandering the world as one of the undead.

Time did not flow at a constant rate. In some places it passed quickly, in others slowly, and in others it stood completely still, preserved in place. Thus, all seasons might coexist, or a single season might repeat for eternity.

A place where rules and natural order were in disarray.

A place where breathtaking scenery and wasteland mingled indiscriminately.

That was why Constellations who had already departed this world could intervene there, beyond the world, in the Outer Lands. The Demon Realm, home to demons and Najin's present destination, lay there as well.

"Some demons rival Constellations. Some are Constellations to begin with. Being a demon doesn't mean you can't become one."

'They're that powerful?'

"The rulers of the Demon Realm—the ones called Demon Kings—probably are. That Baal fellow I burned to death had nine stars, I think."

He traveled for several days, listening to Merlin's explanations.

Then the carriage, which had been driving for days on end, abruptly stopped. Declaring that he could go no farther, the coachman dropped Najin off, turned the carriage around, and headed back into the Inner Lands.

Left alone in the wilderness, Najin blinked. Looking around, he saw a tavern that doubled as a stable, with a sign reading The Last Drink.

"First time here?"

A man sipping liquor outside the tavern addressed him. When Najin nodded, the man extended his arm and pointed.

"Walk for about an hour and you'll get there."

With that, the man said nothing more and simply continued sipping his drink. Najin turned to look in the direction he had indicated.

Warped terrain and barren earth stretched on without end. For now, Najin set off in silence. How long had he walked? Casually glancing up at the sky, he stopped in his tracks. He had no choice.

The sky was broken.

Cracks ran through the blue sky, stretching far into the distance.

"Almost there," Merlin said.

Najin started walking again. But before long, he was forced to stop once more. A boundary line had been drawn across the earth. He did not know who had drawn it, but it stretched far into the distance, as though dividing the world in two.

"The first Sword Saint drew that."

Merlin grinned.

"After seeing Arthur draw the boundary of Camlann, he decided he ought to draw one himself, and did it on the spot. This is the result."

A sword strike whose mark had endured for a thousand years.

Najin could not fathom how anyone could swing a sword to leave a mark like this. He studied the boundary for a moment, then took a long, steadying breath.

And stepped beyond it.

One step.

A single footfall.

The instant he stepped outside the world—

"...!"

Najin's eyes flew wide open.

His heart pounded violently, and the mana inside him surged like mad. His eyes became bloodshot, and every sense in his body sharpened to its limit.

The air changed drastically.

The flow of mana reversed.

Every sense screamed.

Then came the dry crackle of something splitting. Najin looked toward the sound. His skin was cracking. No—not his skin. His flesh was slowly crumbling away.

"Wrap your entire body in mana."

Najin swiftly cloaked himself in mana.

Only then did the cracking stop.

"You have to keep yourself wrapped in mana here at all times. Either that, or adapt your body to this place. Well... thanks to Excalibur, you could last a few months without the mana, so you can try it if you want."

Though she didn't particularly recommend it.

As Merlin muttered, Najin slowly steadied his breathing. He was bewildered. He had taken only a single step, yet it felt as though everything he knew as common sense had broken apart.

"That's just how it is here. That's the kind of place this is."

With a bitter smile, Merlin stood beside him.

"And it's too early to be surprised."

She pointed upward.

Najin slowly raised his head. The flow of his surroundings was not the only thing that had changed in an instant. The scenery he had seen from beyond the boundary was completely different from what he saw after crossing it.

Desert and vegetation coexisted, as did raging blizzards and parched wastelands. Most striking of all... were structures that appeared in his field of vision in defiance of perspective.

A gigantic sword driven into the earth, a broken spear, arrows, chains, scythes... weapons of every kind.

"Those are the Constellations' symbols. They're warnings that those places are their territory, and you won't enjoy what happens if you enter."

As she explained, Merlin pointed to the sky again, as though telling him to leave those sights for later and look at the sky first.

So he did.

Najin lifted his head and looked at the sky.

Then he understood why Merlin had told him to look. The sky was divided into irregular pieces. Like a shattered windowpane, it was broken, and every broken patch was stained black.

Black night skies lay scattered throughout the blue.

And shining stars studded those night skies. Stars gleaming in their own colors. Najin thought they looked like eyes.

"Exactly."

'Sorry? What did you say?'

"I said, exactly. Those really are eyes."

Merlin shrugged.

Then she snapped her fingers. The veil she had wrapped around Najin's soul fell away. At that instant, he gasped at the sensations flooding into him all at once.

Gazes. He could feel gazes.

Not just one. He felt dozens, hundreds, thousands of gazes. They came from the sky. Every shining star was a gaze. Hundreds of stars were watching Najin.

"Beyond the world. The Outer Lands."

Merlin spread her arms wide.

"Welcome to the land of those damned constellations."

An ancient Constellation, whose stars were outnumbered only by King Arthur's, smiled bitterly.