'A dragon?'

A dragon, he said?

There was indeed a dragon in the Erjest Mountains. Before his regression, the revelation of its existence had caused quite a storm.

That was why he had warned Krutu and the princesses. There was no reason to clash with a dragon, said to be the strongest creature in Arain.

But it wasn't supposed to become known yet. And it was wounded?

"Where are you?"

『We're at...』

"I'll be there shortly."

Berge spread his black wings.

* * *

There really was a dragon there. The enormous body lying on the pristine snow was unmistakably a dragon.

But it had long since lost the majesty befitting one.

Its gleaming scales had all been shorn away. Its wings were severed, its tail gone. Its broken claws had lost their sharpness.

The dying creature soaking the white snow with its blood looked less like a dragon than a toothless lizard.

"My lord."

"Why is it in this state?"

"It was already like this when I arrived."

Berge carefully examined its condition. Despite having shed enough blood to leave its body half-submerged, it was alive.

And dying. That faint spark of life would certainly go out if nothing was done.

- A Demon King...?

Its dim golden eyes followed Berge.

- Heh heh.

It let out a feeble laugh.

- How absurd. Defeated by a hero, only to lose my life to a Demon King.

- To think my greatness would meet such an end.

"A hero?"

- Oh? Now that I look at you, you're one of my kind.

The power of its dragon eyes pierced through Berge. A faint spark of vitality returned.

- No, perhaps calling you one of my kind is a stretch.

The demonic dragons of the Demon Realm differed in nature from Arain's dragons.

Both belonged to dragonkind and were born with mighty powers, but unlike Arain's dragons, whose true bodies exceeded thirty meters, demonic dragons had no particularly enormous true form.

This humanlike shape was Berge's true body. Even with every restriction lifted, he would only transform into something resembling a humanoid dragon.

Still, both were dragons, and it was difficult to say whose powers were superior.

"Enough nonsense. What do you mean, a hero did this to you?"

- Curious, are you?

- Well, you are a Demon King, after all. It's only natural you'd be curious about heroes.

The dragon laughed. Its scales, reddened further by the blood coating them, trembled.

- If you want to know, save me.

"What?"

- Surely a Demon King, and a dragon at that, has some means of doing so.

- As a great dragon, I cannot die at the hands of a mere human, even a hero granted the dimension's power.

- Save me as a fellow dragon, and I'll give you information about them.

"Do you not understand your position?"

- I say this because I do.

- I will have revenge on those who did this to me.

- Save me. I swear by the dragon tongue: not only will you hear the answers you seek, I can serve you for a thousand years.

A thousand years was an immensely long time, but for a dragon that lived ten thousand years, it was only ten percent of its life. Even ten percent was no small amount, yet he would gladly serve for the sake of revenge.

"A thousand years of service..."

That was somewhat tempting.

At this favorable response, the dragon brightened.

- Yes. You would command me, a member of the great Red clan.

- If you save me and give me a chance to take revenge on those damned heroes!

- I will help you conquer this dimension!

"Are you not a creature of this dimension yourself?"

- Surely you know? A dragon's powers can transcend dimensions as well.

- Of course, I would be affected by interference in another dimension, but time would resolve that.

"Then let me ask. Who did this to you?"

- Saving me comes first.

"I swear upon the great first Demon Emperor and the Guide that I will save you. Now answer."

- The first Demon Emperor...

The dragon gave a faint nod.

- I don't know who he was. But there was more than one of them, and the bastard who drove his sword into my heart was immensely strong.

"Not much to go on."

- A sword. He had a sword made from the bones of my kind.

"... The bones of your kind?"

That meant a dragon sword made from dragon bone. And as far as Berge knew, only one dragon sword existed.

"What color was its blade?"

- Red. The sword's blade was red.

"...!"

He had found it.

A shudder ran through Berge.

"Are you certain it was red?"

- A dragon never forgets what it has seen.

"What was his name?"

- I don't know that much.

"Whatever the case, you're certain it was red."

"Heh heh..."

Berge burst into laughter. At last, at long last, he had a proper lead.

'If it was a group of heroes, not just one, there's only one possibility.'

The expedition that had come to Erjest to slay him. One of them held the red sword.

'Could he be the same man?'

He probably was. This was a dragon, no less—the strongest creature in Arain.

If the man was powerful enough to mortally wound such a dragon, it explained everything. It explained why Berge had been doomed to die.

"If you don't know his name, what did he look like? His hair or eye color!"

- ... Save me first. Quickly.

- I've lost too much blood. I can no longer keep my wounded heart functioning.

"If you want to live, answer quickly."

- Black hair! His hair was black! His eyes were black too! I vividly remember those murderous eyes shining even in the dark!

"Black hair, black eyes."

That, too, matched the man who had killed Berge.

He turned the details over in his mind again and again, determined never to forget them.

- N-now save me!

- All the treasures I've amassed over thousands of years will be lost as well, becoming a dimensional labyrinth!

- Please...!

The Red Dragon pleaded.

"Ah, right."

Berge slowly approached him and gently stroked his wounded scales.

Then.

CRUNCH

He pierced the scales and seized the wounded heart. The Red Dragon spewed a gush of blood.

- W-why...?

"Unfortunately, there's no way to save a dragon whose heart is half-shattered."

Taking him as a servant might allow Berge to lend him strength, but it would not save a dying creature.

Nor did the tower have a healing mage skilled enough to save a dragon.

- Th-the oath you swore upon the first Demon Emperor and the Guide...?

"Ah, I forgot to mention."

Berge shrugged.

"I despise the first Demon Emperor and the Guide. I'm the only Demon King who can even call the first Demon Emperor a son of a bitch."

- Y-you bastard...!

- Have you no shame as a dragon...!

"Before I'm a dragon, I'm a demon. A moment's shame earns me such excellent materials. Isn't that a profitable bargain?"

Berge sneered at him.

"I'll make very good use of your heart, scales, bones, and flesh."

And.

"As for your revenge..."

He would take it for him.

"I'll see it done, no matter what."

CRUNCH

The dragon's heart was ripped out.

* * *

"..."

An enormous, half-shattered heart. Faced with the immense mana it contained, Berge hesitated for a moment.

Was eating it really the right choice?

Mana and demonic energy were entirely different powers. They conflicted with each other and could not coexist.

'But the Phoenix's power dwells within me, coexisting with demonic energy.'

It had been pure coincidence.

The greatest stroke of luck possible for a demonic dragon, born with two hearts. He had gained the ability to use mana and demonic energy simultaneously, created the identity of Pale, and roamed the continent freely.

But he wondered whether he could absorb this as well.

The dragon's mana was vaster and fiercer than the Phoenix's. As dragon mana and fire mana, it had a certain familiarity, but ultimately, it was still mana. A power distinct from demonic energy.

'Still, it would be too much of a waste not to eat it.'

It was a dragon heart, after all.

Something unquestionably worth claiming, even at a risk.

'I am a demonic dragon.'

The most arrogant and greedy race even in the Demon Realm. Yet a great race entitled to that arrogance, capable of digesting anything.

'Am I frightened of a mere dragon from a lower dimension?'

Impossible.

'It might cause serious problems, but if I digest it properly, perhaps I can regain all the power I had in the Demon Realm.'

So he had to eat it. Hesitation was a luxury.

Berge gripped the heart. Using demonic energy, he suppressed its rampaging mana. He compressed it, then compressed it again.

At last, he swallowed the heart, now the size of a small bead.

─────!

* * *

"... Wow?"

Lavinia, who had been helping construct the imitation tower with monsters she had turned into chimeras, turned her head.

Her eyes sparkled.

She dropped everything and ran. The corpse that emerged from the Demon King's storage dimension surpassed anything she had imagined.

"Dragon."

It was beautiful.

"Dragon."

Though its scales were damaged and its eyes had lost their light, that did nothing to erase its dignity.

"Dragon."

The remnants of its might were still unmistakable.

"Dragon."

What would it be like to make a chimera from this?

The mere thought filled her with ecstasy, making her shudder.

"Yes, it's a dragon."

The Demon King answered. Her gaze shifted to him.

"Mine?"

"No."

"Mine."

"Nothing in this world is free."

"What?"

"Will you become my servant?"

"Servant, dragon?"

"Yes."

Until now, he had let the matter slide because she was cooperative, but a dragon was another story. Handing this over required a fitting price and trust.

And to Berge, trust meant being his servant.

"Hmm."

Lavinia considered it.

Once she became the Demon King's servant, there would be no turning back. She would no longer be helping him as a guest or collaborator. She would become his subordinate.

Was that all right?

'There's no reason it wouldn't be.'

Ernyan. Elena. Kaede. Louise.

All the princesses she knew had done so. They had become the Demon King's servants without hesitation and lived contentedly.

So much so that she almost wondered if she was the strange one for not having become his servant yet.

And above all.

"Dragon."

The dragon's corpse was far too enchanting to refuse.

Lavinia nodded.

"Swallow it."

She ate the Armani Orb. Its soft, squirming sensation was repulsive, but she endured it.

"Now?"

"Yes, I'll set aside a portion for you."

"Thanks!"

Lavinia hugged Berge. Only then did she notice something strange.

"... Different?"

His hair was dark red. So were his eyes. But it was not something that could be expressed through appearance alone.

He had grown deeper.

Something had changed, so profoundly that she could not begin to glimpse its limits.

"Yes, I've changed."

Berge kindled a flame of demonic energy in one hand and a flame of mana in the other.

The demonic dragon's flames and the Phoenix's flames were entirely different.

Both were fire, but as demonic energy and mana, they stood at opposite extremes.

The dragon, however, was different.

It shared its dragon nature with the demonic dragon, and its mana with the Phoenix.

The dragon's all-embracing, all-devouring mana and powers, along with the fire they shared, had woven those two disparate powers into one.

The three powers had become wholly united within Berge's body.

"I'm no longer constrained by demonic energy or mana."

This was fundamentally different from using demonic energy and mana separately through two hearts.

His essential nature as a demonic dragon of the Demon Realm had not changed, so dimensional interference had not vanished. But the two different powers no longer clashed, nor did he need to use them separately.

Yes, now Berge could use demonic energy and mana equally as a single power.

A power made even mightier by absorbing the dragon heart.

"Woooow."

CLAP CLAP CLAP

Lavinia applauded furiously, then pointed at Berge's horns.

"Horns?"

"Don't try that shit."

"... Wings?"

"I take it you don't want the dragon either?"

"No!"

"Go finish the tower. If it isn't completed on time, I'll give everything to the dwarves, dragon materials and all."

"No! Dwarves bad! Thieves!"

Lavinia scampered back to her original position. She blocked the dwarves, who had belatedly spotted the dragon and were about to lose their minds.

"Work!"

"But the d-dragon...!"

"Hurry!"

"It's unfair to keep it all for yourself! We won't stand for that, even if you're one of the Four Heavenly Kings!"

"That's right! That's right!"

"Work! Work!"

Berge chuckled at the scene, which looked like something out of a play. Then he clenched his fist.

"I look forward to it."

The day he would meet that damned hero of the Red Sword again.