Dragonlord

Ep 197. Warmonger. (4)

Ep 197. Warmonger. (4)

Ep 197. Warmonger. (4)

The smell of burnt goods continued to prick at Patrick’s senses.

Coal-like woods and bricks crunched beneath his feet. He could swear some of them were bones, but when everything was charred black, he could hardly tell the difference.

With his expression twisting into a frown, the mage looked to his friend – who seemed likewise revolted by the sight surrounding them, using one arm to cover her nose and mouth.

“Are you sure we’re at the right place?”

“...Yeah. I’ve been to Kavir before.”

“...”

According to Iris’ memory, Kavir had never been a particularly lively town.

Situated within a vast desert, the city had previously seemed like it’d been abandoned to rot. Hardly any activity went by as the entire town lived off of the supplies that were provided by Asuria’s capital, just barely enough to keep things afloat.

But right now, what little livelihood Kavir previously had seemed to have vanished in flames.

Walking behind the two enforcers through the razed streets, Serenis continued to sniff the air, her eyes darting from corner to corner to look for its source.

‘...I can hardly smell anything besides. What is this fiery scent? It doesn’t seem natural...’

Such a large fire couldn’t possibly have been natural – but as far as Serenis could tell, it didn’t seem to have been induced from magic, either. While the dragonlord continued to expand her senses in search of any residual, fire-aspected mana, there was hardly anything of note.

The surrounding mana seemed devoid of life. Much like the array of razed buildings and corpses that filled her vision.

“...I must say, this is far worse than what I expected.”@@@@

Hearing his sibling, Patrick let out an exasperated sigh.

“I agree, but I guess we can’t be too surprised. Considering how much elves hate Asuria...”

“? They do?”

Serenis turned to her brother with a puzzled expression. The surrounding climate seemed unsuitable for elves, yes – but Patrick’s tone suggested a far more serious reason.

Without even turning to face his sibling, Patrick made his reply as he continued to walk, scanning the streets for any signs of life.

“Oh, you don’t know, do you? Elves aren’t considered ‘people’ under Asurian law.”

“...? What do you mean, not considered people?”

“...Basically...even if someone were to murder an elf in broad daylight, there aren’t any repercussions in Asuria.”

“...”

Then, Patrick briefly halted his steps.

His piercing gaze fell upon what seemed to be a charred chain at his feet. It seemed that one end had torn out of a crumbled wall.

Unfortunately, fires induced through other means were not bound by their mana amounts.

The inferno that swallowed Kavir was not bound by anything but things to burn – and it clearly hadn’t stopped until every corner of the town had been razed to ashes. Such fires would leave little room for escape. Unless the individual could somehow navigate their way through the burning streets of Kavir, they would practically have been trapped inside, with nowhere else to run.

“...”

While Patrick likewise grimaced at the morbid thought of being trapped in a storm of fire, he still managed to croak out a small protest to Iris.

“Still...there could be a survivor that fell unconscious or something, right? Beneath the rubble or something?”

Before Iris could answer her friend, the dragonlord dutifully took a step forward – and would soon answer in the enforcer’s stead.

“I would doubt that, Patrick.”

“Huh? Why?”

“...”

Instead of a verbal answer, Serenis roughly grabbed Patrick by his hair.

She then abruptly yanked his head towards her to pull him sideways – and in that painful moment, Patrick felt something hot and bright blazing past where he’d been standing to incinerate the spot. The ground began to release copious amounts of smoke, radiating from the heated sands beneath.

Eyes widened in shock, Patrick looked to the source of the heat blast, together with Serenis.

An individual stood alone atop a nearby rampart, equipped with an enormous hand cannon that was emitting heaps of smoke from its muzzle. Their black, tattered cloak covered nearly every inch of their body, with black bandages covering the rest; even their facial features were hidden beneath a black veil, making Patrick question whether they could even see properly.

But despite their hidden features, both Serenis and Patrick could at least discern the sharpness of their ear tips: an unmistakable sign of one’s elven heritage.

Soon, the figure slightly tilted his head. The voice that followed was husky, almost broken.

“A surprisingly quick reaction. I see Denon’s sending better soldiers now...”

“...”

Serenis had no knowledge to answer that remark. No reason to answer that remark.

Instead, she spared one last glance towards Patrick.

“...It seems there already have been efforts to find survivors.”

Vicious attempts. But attempts nonetheless.

Then, the dragonlord wordlessly took a step towards the elven individual.

It certainly wasn’t the deity of creation: if they were, Serenis should’ve long detected their divinity. Unfortunately, this individual didn’t even so much as carry noticeable mana, much less any hints of divinity.

And they weren’t a survivor of Kavir’s inferno, either: had that been the case, they would’ve been seeking help and shelter, not trying to kill Patrick who was just walking by.

But whatever reason there was for the cloaked figure’s decision to remain in Kavir...

‘...As long as they can provide us with a lead to finding this deity.’