Beyond Cloudfall - Chapter 7

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The sight of the Evil Dragon destroying the city as it flies toward Tarus City becomes everyone’s nightmare that day.

When I finally break free from close combat with the Legion and rush out of the Sanctuary, all I can see is the dragon’s figure disappearing into the dark clouds.

Very quickly, the trail of blood dripped along the dragon’s flight path causes everyone to realize—the Evil Demon is gravely wounded.

At once, the large and small Legions of Justitia, along with those who plan to benefit from the dragon’s death, all surge toward Tarus City.

I strip the armor from a fallen Legion soldier, blend into their ranks, and hurry there as fast as I can.

I have to hurry ahead of all those who want to kill the dragon to save him.

Even if fate had just shown me that I am the only one who can truly kill him.

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When I arrive at Tarus City, all I see are flames surging towards the sky, and the dragon’s lair atop the high cliffs nearly reduced to ruins.

MC: (How is this possible…!)

The Legion of Justitia has set up checkpoint after checkpoint along the roads, and I can hear their shouts on the wind—

Legion Soldier: That Evil Demon is too badly wounded to flee that far. Search for it!

MC: (Where can he be right now… He’s not in Tarus City, and it’s impossible that he’s returned to the Abyss. Besides these places, there’s also…)

The brand on my neck sends a searing pain from the as if drawn by the fragment of soul the dragon had left inside my body—

My gaze unconsciously crosses the withered forest and catches sight of the half-collapsed obsidian spire.

Vendor: Before long, the demon will again encounter his nemesis decreed by fate.

Vendor: Right over there.

MC: (Nemesis decreed by fate…)

I yank a mounted Legion soldier riding past off his horse, mount it myself, and gallop toward the black chapel.

The closer I get to the chapel, the more vivid the crimson bloodstains become on the mountain path.

The horns and cries of the dragon hunters slowly fade away, leaving only rapid hoofbeats and my anxious heartbeats.

On the obsidian steps, the small rivulets formed by crimson liquid have already almost dried up.

When I push open the doors of the long-abandoned chapel deep within the withered forest, the moon hangs high in the night sky.

Pale moonlight spills through the shattered spire, and in a daze, I see the great dragon lying in the center of the chapel, gasping his last breaths.

MC: …Sylus!

No one responds. I rush over, paying no mind to how many Legion of Justitia soldiers have died in the chapel beneath the claws of the great beast.

On the dais, the dragon lies with his eyes closed, blood covering his body and pooling beneath it, dripping steadily from the edge.

MC: How could this be… Shouldn’t your wounds heal quickly?!

I try to stop his bleeding, but all of my efforts are in vain. His chest—

MC: (It’s… the wound I inflicted…)

There are no signs of healing. Every wound on his body is the same.

A roar suddenly erupts as the dragon opens his eyes. A fierce wind forces me backwards, slamming me heavily against a carved pillar.

MC: !

A metallic sweetness fills my mouth. The dragon fangs pressed against my neck have already pierced my skin—a little more force and my spine will snap.

MC: Sylus, Sylus… You are Sylus…

The brand on my shoulder burns with the agony of death. I push past my fear, raise my trembling hand, and gently place it over the dragon’s eye.

In the vast empty black chapel, a faint requiem begins to echo.

The roaring gradually subsides, and as if something has been awakened, the dragon begins to violently struggle.

That gaze, like that of a beast, slowly clears. By the end of the song, my face is finally reflected in his eyes.

MC: Sylus…

I close both eyes and press my lips against the dragon before me.

A moment later, a familiar figure appears before me. With his lashes lowered and form swaying, he falls on top of me as we collapse together onto the floorboards.

MC: Sylus… Sylus! Wake up, don’t sleep—Sylus!

Black mist seeps from every wound on his body, like his life flowing away.

Our blood mixes together, slippery and cold. The moment I touch his chest, surging with black mist, a sharp pain suddenly stabs my mind.

MC: Devour him… He is yours…

MC: Kill him… consume…. Power…

My heart pounds with excitement as feverish desire echoes incessantly in my ears.

My arm trembles as it rises and straightens. Unable to control myself, I aim for Sylus’s heart.

MC: Yes… I just need a little more force like this…

My hands shake nearly uncontrollably as I grit my teeth, trying to shake the voice from my mind, when suddenly, my wrist is grabbed.

Sylus: Not sure where to stab?

Sylus has opened his eyes at some point. As he presses down on my wrist, the corner of his mouth seems to twitch slightly.

Sylus: I’ll tell you.

The greatsword’s phantom almost appears again. As if waking from a dream, I gasp in shock and fling his hand away.

MC: Are you insane?!

Sylus slowly starts to smile, his pupils gleaming like gemstones in the depths of darkness.

Sylus: What about you?

Sylus: Before the mark disappears, you still have a chance to kill me.

He tightly grips my arm as he turns over in the pool of blood with great difficulty, leans against the pillar, and reaches his tail toward me.

Sylus: You were clearly already aiming right at my heart. Why were you still unable to go through with it?

There seems to be a knot in my throat as I kneel beside him and am forced to meet his gaze. I try to struggle, but his tail coils around me even faster.

Amid the clear sound of heartbeats, his searing breath, like a raging inferno, engulfs me inch by inch.

Sylus: Do you still remember? The only person who can truly kill the Evil Dragon is his nemesis decreed by fate.

Sylus: Who do you think that person is?

A nameless anger rises within me. , opening my mouth to bite down on the web between his forefinger and thumb as it brushes against my lips.

Sylus: Ugh…!

MC: What nemesis decreed by fate—you think I believe that!

The moonlight seems to boil in his eyes as Sylus laughs, suddenly lowering his head like a predator to bite my shoulder.

MC: You!

Pain spreads, but in the next moment, Sylus extends the tip of his tongue, very slowly licking the wound on my shoulder, as if to soothe or claim.

Sylus: If you want to push me away, now is your chance.

The licking and biting continue in turn, and amidst the lingering pain, a strange tingling sensation spreads throughout my body.

The throbbing wound is licked over very, very slowly, as Sylus’s tail coils tighter and tighter, his eyes filled with feverish excitement and insatiable hunger.

Sylus: But if you don’t want to push me away…

The brand in the hollow of my shoulder, which belongs to him, begins to faintly burn. Dazedly, I raise my eyes and as my strength ebbs away, I see his wounds slowly healing.

MC: …Sylus, did you know all along that we would instinctively want to devour each other?

Sylus: …

MC: Then why, at the very beginning—in the Abyss—why did you still save me?

My struggles are easily subdued as his fingertips slide between my fingers and lock tightly.

Sylus: What about you? Why didn’t you just directly strike me down just now?

In a moment of silence filled with moonlight, Sylus raises his hand and gently brushes it over my eyes.

In the next moment, in the midst of darkness, a kiss as light as falling petals lands on my eyelashes.

My limbs tremble and go weak as I gaze into his eyes for a long while.

No longer are they an unfathomable darkness within the vast expanse of primordial chaos—at this moment, I can finally see his eyes clearly.

Sylus: “The Evil Demon and his nemesis decreed by fate will encounter each other again here.”

Sylus: I’ll count that as him being right.

Sylus: I told you before, I’d give you two more chances to kill me. Now, you only have one left.

My wavering heart steadies in this instant and I turn my hand to clasp his firmly.

MC: He was only half-right.

MC: I also told you before—I’m greedy, and I hate being controlled by others. If fate demands that I kill the Evil Demon…

Pale warm golden light flows from my palm as I press it against the wound on Sylus’s chest.

MC: Then I’ll defy it and save him instead.

Sylus: Save me? Do you know what price you’ll have to pay?

Sylus: Once our hands intertwine, from now on, we will be bound together through life and death.

Sylus: Offer up half your soul and merge it into the other’s… to form a link that can never be broken.

Sylus: Living bound to a demon—I fear this may be a punishment even more painful than having your soul devoured.

Sylus: You really won’t regret this?

MC: I told you before, I’m not afraid to pay any price.

MC: If following our hearts’ deepest desires is also a sin, then in this world, you and I are the

Moonlight replaces candlelight and ignites the night. Amidst our overlapping heartbeats, he kisses the inside of my wrist with something akin to reverence.

Sylus: Then… stand by my side for all eternity.

Under the moonlight, the dragon’s tail gathers me close, pulling me into his embrace. He spreads a single dragon wing to shield us from the cold wind and the sudden midnight rain.

That night, I fall into a deep sleep within his embrace.

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