The ice dragon's movements became more and more sluggish and difficult.

In addition to its injured right claw, it had to do its best to avoid the large rocks that fell overhead. It retracted its wings as much as it could, and there was not much room for it to move, and many times it was impossible to avoid it, so it had to crumble its muscles and let the rocks fall on it. And beneath its feet, large swaths of the ground had sunk down, leaving it with little place to stay, as if it were a great cavity instead of solid earth and rock.

Maybe hell is down there.

As his gaze swept over the ruined altar, the ice dragon thought of this.

A dragon who has fallen into hell - it sounds like a story that people will love.

The ice dragon thought to himself, and as soon as he carelessly used his broken right claw, the pain causing it to tilt to one side and fall heavily to the ground.

It struggled to get to its feet, but the ground under its hind legs suddenly collapsed. It grabbed a protruding rock on the ground with one of its front paws and flapped its wings before climbing up.

A large rock slammed into its left wing, causing it to shrink in pain, and more ground beneath its body began to collapse. The ice dragon didn't dare to move anymore and fell down tiredly.

It knew it shouldn't turn back into a dragon in a place like this. It had that staff - even though it seemed to drain its power quickly, it was obviously more convenient to fight in human form.

But it just couldn't help but want Scott to see it as it was, but it couldn't tell whether it was punishment or fulfillment. It's just that...... If he wants to be a dragon-slaying hero, so be it.

The ice dragon lowered its head, and the magma-like wrath suddenly vanished, like a whirlpool, sweeping away all its sorrow, resentment, and despair in an instant.

There's nothing wrong with ending like this.

It watched as Scott dragged his greatsword as he slowly walked in front of it.

He didn't look much better, scarred and exhausted. The sloppy eyes were confused.

He raised his greatsword, his withered, cracked lips wriggling, as if trying to utter some incantation, only to shut his mouth blankly. Hanging his hands weakly, he stared at it blankly.

"Take your victory, Scott Christus. "Calcinate your sword with your flames, and it will pierce me in the chest - the last ice dragon died at your hands, and that should be enough for you to gain unsurpassed glory, may your god be satisfied......"

With a thud, the greatsword in Scott's hand fell to the ground. He approached it with stiff steps until he could reach for its head.

The ice dragon stared at him in confusion, and suddenly stepped back in a panic when he actually reached out to it. The ground continued to crumble, and the sound of stones falling deep into the ground could even be heard, and by the time it reacted, its entire body had fallen uncontrollably.

"Is!!"

Before it fell into the darkness, it heard that loud scream. With indescribable horror.

Feeling the first tremor of the ground, Ed and Norway exchanged a glance and jumped to their feet.

It was all too familiar - this was the kind of tremor they heard from under their feet as they tried to cause an avalanche on the slopes of the Silver Tooth Pit.

"Is?" Ed asked in alarm.

Mock said that the rock structure there was not stable in the first place, and that it might have nothing to do with Is. Norway tried to explain more calmly.

“...... But I think that's Is. Ed was still frowning, "He may have fought the undead to save Scott." ”

Or worse - he got into a fight with Scott. Cele Brian said, his voice flat as if he were talking about a harmless fight between two brothers.

“...... I'll just tell me to go in and find them again!" cried Ed.

Keller Brian squinted at him. Didn't say anything.

"Ed, no one knows if a necromancer saw what you did, and you probably won't be able to find Is, and you won't be able to get close to Scott - that's too risky. Norway had no choice but to continue to play the role of soothing the little one.

Ed squatted down in frustration: "It's useless to talk about this now......"

He immediately forgot that he had mentioned it first.

Fearing that the undead would pursue the fleeing barbarians after nightfall, the others had already set out for the camp of the Benlu tribe under the leadership of Domit. But the three of them stayed behind and waited for news from Scott.

Scott's original plan was disrupted by the barbarians' flight - though at least half of his plan could only be described as "improvisation". But he was caught alive as planned.

Scott was alive—that was the only thing they knew for sure. Ed didn't know how Celebryan knew, and he didn't bother to ask, the half-elf priest had answered all his questions with a "shut up!" at best, and he knew it all too well.

"Are we just waiting here for him to come out on his own?" muttered Ed in desperation, which was not the way he liked it.

Norway glanced at Keller Brian. The half-elf sat expressionless, rock-solid, and looked like he didn't care about his friend's safety at all.

"Can he really come out on his own?" he couldn't help but ask, "there's a whole army in there......"

Ed had told them about the undead standing in the ruins of the giants standing in the darkness, waiting to be summoned. Otherwise, those young barbarians would not have been so easily obedient and escorted their people away.

Keller Brian glanced at him and gave him an answer: "If he says yes, he can......; He knows how to find me. ”

His determined tone made Norway envious of the trust in his companion.

"What if something happens?" Ed asked, skeptically, "Are you really not worried at all?"

Celebryan looked up at the sky, and the moon had risen, it was not very round, and the cold light shone on the earth.

"There are no 'surprises'. He replied lightly, "Never." ”.

In the darkness, Scott sat up sharply.

He probably had a nightmare, his heart was pounding, the panic was boundless, and his forehead was covered with cold sweat, but he couldn't quite remember what he had dreamed about.

Then he felt the pain. It was as if someone had thrown him to the ground countless times, and there was no place in his body that didn't hurt.

Above his head was a large hole, and the faint light fell, but it couldn't illuminate the darkness around him.

Scott was in a trance for a while. I remembered why I was here.

He fell.

Jumped, to be exact. Eth - The ice dragon instinctively reached out to grab it as it fell to the collapsing ground......

- Idiot!

He could almost hear Celebrion's cold scolding.

The priest scolded him every time he treated his wounds from the mess...... But that's not what he's worried about right now.

Little by little, the chaotic memories came back to his mind, but it was also as if the blood in his body was being drained at the same time, replaced by a bitter chill.

"Is......" he shouted. The sound is harsh and small.

He killed him - just as he had promised Nutka. He ended it all.

But what surrounds him at this moment is not sadness, not exhaustion, and not relief after completing the task...... It's panic.

Boundless panic surrounded him, making him shiver uncontrollably. He had never felt so scared in his life—not even when he was floating in the endless void.

That's not right.

A voice repeated over and over again in the back of my mind.

It's the right choice.

That's not right at all.

You did the right thing.

――That's not right at all!!

He almost roared. The last image in my memory is a white shadow falling rapidly in the darkness...... No, he remembered the dragon that flipped its body in mid-air, flapping its wings with difficulty, its angry but helpless golden eyes, and its silvery claws......

It saved him.

"Is!!!" he cried out with all his might, his hoarse, broken voice echoing coldly in the darkness.

In the silence, Scott could hear a myriad of voices.

"At least give him a chance to explain. ”

Nalya had pleaded.

"Your brother. There was no shadow in his eyes. ”

The elf had reminded him.

"Aren't you supposed to be the one who believes in him the most?" questioned Ed Singel, "you raised him!"

And he ignored it all, ignoring that the dragon had countless opportunities to kill him, but in hesitation, he missed it again and again......

He killed it.

- Did he kill it?

At least it still had the strength to fly up and catch him when it fell...... Then it is likely to be alive!

That faint glimmer of hope made Scott struggle to his feet.

"Is......" he shouted again, only to realize that it was likely gone, or that even if it did, it wouldn't want to give him any response.

He wanted to cast a simple spell to illuminate the darkness around him. The body was empty, and there was no trace of strength to be found.

Another god had left him - there was probably no other person in the world who could be so miserable.

But at the moment, he didn't care at all.

He called out the familiar name, staggering through the darkness. At the very least, he had to make sure it was really gone...... Confirm that it is still alive.

Accustomed to the dark, the eyes gradually distinguish the blurred outline. He vaguely saw a large white mass, like an inanimate rock, lying there quietly.

He rushed eagerly, only to tripped and fell to the ground. As he got up, he touched the stick at his feet—a walking stick. It was exactly what he needed right now.

When his hands finally touched the white, the feeling of the dragon's scales being cold and hard like metal made Scott both happy and frightened.

"Is...... Is!" he cried out eagerly. For a while, I was worried because there was no trace of temperature in the body under my hands, and for a while, I remembered that the ice dragon had no temperature in the first place.

But he didn't feel any ups and downs from his breathing, and he couldn't even figure out which part of the ice dragon's body he was touching.

Finally, the giant beast under the palm of his hand trembled, and an annoyed voice in the darkness sounded low: "Get out!".

(To be continued.) If you like this work. You are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to read. )