Those eyes stared at him blankly, with a little disbelief and doubt...... and indescribable sadness and despair, as if he thought that what he saw was not real, but just a shadow in a dream.

"Ed," Is's voice spoke again, softer but firmer, "it's me. ”

Ed blinked, a hint of anger on his blank face. Then, like the waves of ecstasy, the deep blue of the night sky finally returned to his eyes.

He screamed, turned and lunged over, almost jumping on top of Is, hugging him with all his might.

Isis was knocked back and took a step back to gain his feet. He subconsciously wanted to pull Ed's arm away - he strangled him out of breath.

But Ed was trembling.

He shivered so much, like a discarded puppy cowering in the cold wind of a winter night. Is's raised hand into the air hesitated, then landed lightly on his back and patted it awkwardly.

It doesn't seem to be of much use. Ed held him so hard that he wouldn't let go, and he had to let him hold him in embarrassment. His gaze crossed Ed's shoulder and unconsciously landed on the wreckage.

That's like...... It's not just crumbling stone walls and dirt being lifted.

“...... What's that?" he blurted out, stepping forward, trying to see better.

Ed was shocked, and in a panic, he pressed his head down with all his might, and after that failed, tried to cover his eyes with his hands.

"Don't look!" he pleaded, sniffling, "Don't look at ......"

Without a word, Isse pulled him off and pressed him aside.

He narrowed his eyes, and in the seemingly indistinguishable gray and white, he could distinguish the familiar lines—the lines of dragon scales. Then there were twisted and broken wings under the rubble, and huge heads beyond......

It was a dragon, a dragon that had almost turned into a pile of fragments, scarred, scaly and torn open from its back to its abdomen by a terrible wound, its long neck broken in two, and its indestructible horn was left with only one of its horns, stabbing into the sky.

Iss involuntarily touched his neck—the jagged wound that looked as if it had been torn alive by some tremendous force.

And he recognized his own face...... It may not seem like a human thing, but the thorns on every ice faucet are never the same.

"It's ...... Me?" he began, his voice fluttering.

"No!!" Ed's almost snarling denial startled him.

"It's not!"

Ed clung to him with all his might, his eyes wide and frighteningly bright.

"You're here...... You're here!" he said, "So, that ...... That's not!"

“...... So what are you crying about. Isis said.

Maybe it's because Ed has been too intense, maybe it's because he still doesn't feel real, and he doesn't have much fear even when he looks at his corpse in front of him...... Although the cold sweat of his palms and the pounding of his heart told him that he was not without feelings.

But at least, he can hide.

"What the hell is this place?" he asked.

Ed opened his mouth and closed it again, his eyes flickering, unconsciously avoiding his gaze.

He didn't want to answer, and he knew he couldn't make up a lie that would fool him.

Iss looked at his transparent face and didn't ask any more.

He tried to spread his wings—though he felt a twisting pain inexplicably. The ice dragon's massive body was so much heavier than normal that it could barely fly. The natural power in its blood is like a parched river, with only the sticky silt at the bottom of the river.

It barely hovered high or low and then landed. The scenery in the distance was blurry, and it couldn't see anything clearly, and it vaguely felt that if this was also a certain space...... It's not even as big as Inglis's library.

It looked back at the three-storied tower. Even if it collapses, it's still quite high, if you can fly to the top of the tower......

“...... It's a fragment. Ed hung his head and whispered. If it weren't for the fact that its sense of hearing was still sharp enough, and there was a dead silence around it, it might not have been able to hear at all.

It lowered its head to his eyes. Ed looked up at him, and quickly looked away, not a lack of guilt, but a fierce fear—he thought of the hornless, severed head not far away.

The ice dragon silently stepped away, but Ed chased after it in panic, reaching out to grab it.

"Fragments of what?"

The ice dragon crouched down and let him shrink to its feet.

"Some kind of ...... Possible outcomes. Ed hesitated, and after the ice dragon had expressed his displeasure with a long silence, he had to continue, and unconsciously said faster and faster: "The past that has happened, or the future that will happen...... One, a fragment of the world after our defeat. It floats in the sea of nothingness and the torrent of time, like a meaningless ...... Litter. But that's the only thing I still have, it's ......."

"Ed. The ice dragon interrupted him vigilantly, "Who told you this?"

Ed froze.

“...... I. He said.

"You guess?" the ice dragon stared down at the gray mess of hair on top of his head - this young man in his twenties looked like a disheartened old man.

Ed was silent.

"But it seems to me that this is more likely someone's trick. "It's not that hard to create such a space, it's not even that big...... No matter how real it may seem, it's fake. ”

"Your eyes can see through all illusions. Ed replied softly, "...... And this is not an illusion. ”

"Sculpting a vivid person with snow seems to me to be just as vivid. "But it's not a living person, is it?"

Ed involuntarily touched the cold scales on its legs—something more real, indeed.

“...... Really?" he asked, looking up dumbfounded.

Why didn't he hope so? But something can't be fake.

"But that's my own ......," he muttered, "it's my fault that ruined it all, and it's my fault......"

"If you have to think it's true," the ice dragon's long tail patted its "corpse" side, "that's me—you're saying that no matter how hard we try, I'll only be able to ...... in the end Is there no corpse in that way?"

It was quiet, low and calm, but it sounded like thunder in Ed's ears.

“...... No!" he jumped up, "No!!"

The ice dragon's tail cocked, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The human soul is sometimes very strong, and sometimes it is extremely fragile. It doesn't really know for sure that this "fragment" is necessarily fake...... But at this moment, it doesn't matter.

"Anyway," it said, "we must get out of this place first...... How did you get in?"

Ed nodded and shook his head, embarrassed and stammering, "I...... I don't know. ”

Book Keju Reading Website: