Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”-

Chapter 8.12

Through a blurry, foggy vision, Nozomu saw the scene.

Huge hailstones poured down from the sky, engulfing and destroying small towns on the ground.

The hail pierced roofs, shattered walls, collapsed houses, and pummeled people who screamed and ran for cover.

It was a very common scene in this land. But for an ordinary human without power, it was a deadly disaster.

A being appeared and desperately tried to protect the town in such a crisis.

A body clad in jet-black scales. The Black Dragon Tiamat, one of the species that stood above those with flesh bodies, possessed immense power in their bodies.

She began to protect the helpless people from the army of hail that was pouring down, covering the city with the power of darkness she had carried in her body.

Seeing their Lord coming to their aid, the people shouted in relief, joy, and praise.

However, for some reason, the black dragon's expression was not good. For she alone could prevent the hailstorm, but she could not stop it.

She is a black dragon. She cannot directly control water or wind spirits. She had no choice but to endure until the hail calmed down.

A lonely battle.

She was avoided even by her own people. No dragon was willing to get involved in the buffer zone, and none of them agreed with her intention to help the humans.

To make matters worse, the source element of water covering the sky began to increase in concentration.

The falling hailstones gradually increased in size, and the barrier of darkness began to be impacted with even greater intensity.

Tiamat's power is not infinite. If the water element covering the sky exceeded her power, the humans below would definitely lose their lives to the blade of nature.

Tiamat began to pour more power into the barrier.

It was an endless battle with no end in sight.

The hailstorms that pummeled her barrier were like young leaves being eaten by insects, eroding her mind and stirring up the sense of helplessness and complexes that nestled in her heart.

(Even so, I am ...!)

Even though she felt helpless, even though her heart was about to break, she did not want to give up.

Below her, many humans were looking up at her in prayer.

The first beings she wanted to protect. Those who, because of their vulnerability, could understand the feelings of others and their pain.

She looked up to the sky with a burning sense of responsibility and duty in her heart, and above all, a strong feeling of affection.

(O spirit of water! Thaw the frozen bodies of my friends and turn them into drops of life.)

At that moment, a dignified and pure voice echoed through the air.

In the blink of an eye, the clouds that had covered the sky cleared and the sun revealed itself.

Then, bathed in the light of the incoming sun, a single blue dragon appeared.

"Oru! You came!"

"Yes, I heard from Mikael. It looks like you're helping out with some serious matter."

Tiamat shouted with joy at the sight of her friend who had rushed to the scene. She no longer felt the sense of helplessness that had been eroding her heart.

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"Come on! Boy, what are you thinking?

"Uwa~!"

Zonne's scolding echoed through the forest.

The day after the dance practice at Irisdina's mansion. Nozomu had asked Zonne to train him early in the morning.

However, because he was so focused on the scene that came to his mind, he ended up receiving a scolding from Zonne.

The scene that had just crossed Nozomu's mind was the one he had seen in his dream last night.

Perhaps it was about Tiamat's past.

Perhaps because he had received Mikael from Shina, he felt as if he had touched Tiamat's emotions more deeply and directly than ever before.

"What's the matter with you? Even though you've just been given a day off. Come on, concentrate!"

"O-, oh. My bad."

Nozomu switched his mind and concentrated on his training.

He could think about the dream he had this morning later. For now, he needed to focus all his attention on this training.

"Fuh~..."

He regulated his breathing and released the [Soul-Sealing Chains].

A torrent of Qi overflowed simultaneously. Nozomu sensed the power raging within his body and simultaneously focused his awareness on the inside and outside of his body.

The five-colored element leaked from the depths of the abyss, deep within himself.

The torrent of power, as chaotic as a spray of paint and as unrelenting as a tornado, raged through Nozomu's body, seeking to devour him with Tiamat's hatred.

The spirits around him, hit by the overflowing Qi, began to make a commotion, fleeing from the scene with all their might.

Nozomu's eyes turned toward the spirits who were flying away.

"Hou~..."

Zonne, perhaps noticing that Nozomu was sensing the spirits, sounded impressed.

Meanwhile, Nozomu, while desperately trying to control Tiamat's power, was reaching his limits. His entire body was covered in a waterfall of greasy sweat, and his skin was ripping with a pithy, shredding sound.

The time he was able to release the chains was not much different from the last time.

But there was progress. Zonne nodded, satisfied to some extent.

"That's enough, brat. It's time..."

"Guu, gah~!"

Suddenly, Nozomu vomited blood. He tried to push the limits and continue to release his power.

Randomly released forces carve further wounds on Nozomu's body, sprinkling spewed blood and swirling around him.

As Sonne glances over her hand in a hurry, the emitted white light begins to suppress the power of the leaked Tiamat.

Zonne hurriedly held up his hand and the white light emitted began to suppress Tiamat's lekaed power.

"~! What are you doing! Stop it quickly!"

"G-, guu ... gahah~!"

Invisible chains wrapped around Nozomu's body, and the power that had been flowing out like a muddy stream subsided. At the same time, Nozomu fell to his knees as if collapsing without force.

"Haa, haa, haa..."

"What are you doing! Do you really want to die?!"

"I-, I'm sorry... I thought I could go a little longer..."

"You fool! I've told you before! Neither spirit magic nor the control of unique abilities can be done overnight! If you rush it and step out of line, you'll go straight to the other side!"

While healing Nozomu's wounds, who seemed to be out of breath, Zonne scolded the boy for his reckless behavior in a hoarse voice.

If he made a mistake, the boy's life wasn't the only thing at stake. If Tiamat were to be revived, Arcazam would surely collapse. Even neighboring countries would not be left alone.

Nozomu, too, was fully aware of this, and while looking apologetic, he quietly received Zonne's treatment.

"Haa~... It seems that you can now sense the spirits. So, what's it like?"

"I'm not really sure ..."

Nozomu himself could only describe it like that.

Tiamat's hatred and resentment, which he now felt more than ever, were as endless as a bottomless swamp, and the elements that could be sensed were a mess, and as usual, there was no sign of him being able to control them.

"Fumu~. Well, it can be said that her power is chaos itself. But you did it a little better now. You seem to be able to sense the spirits."

"……Eh?"

"I have told you before. To control that power, you have to face the source of the power itself and know it all. In that sense, the means, however small, are not wrong. You should thank that elf-ojousan."

Nozomu's eyes widened at the name Zonne mentioned.

"Why, are you telling me that it has something to do with Shina?"

"She told you that I asked her to give you Mikael, didn't she? When I told her about you, she seemed to have something on her mind.

A "I've got it!" kind of smile came across Zonne's mouth. Zonne looked at Nozomu, who could not hide his surprise, with that kind of smile on his face.

Nozomu, on the other hand, seemed to remember something.

It reminded him of the glamorous figure of a young girl, who exposed her pure naked body under the moonlight. Nozomu found himself staring at Zonne, trying to keep the heat rising from deep within his body from showing on his face.

"…………"

"Don't look at me so suspiciously. I have an idea of the ritual she performed on you, but I don't know the details how she did it."

Since the only factor that makes the blood-covenant ceremony possible is the mixing of the flowing blood, Zonne could guess that Shina had performed the blood-covenant ceremony with Nozomu, but he did not know how she had performed the ceremony.

But the smile on Zonne's mouth made it hard for Nozomu to shake off his doubts.

"Is that true?"

"Yeah, it's true. But from the look on your face, which is like a boiled octopus, I can see that you have been subjected to some pretty stimulating things."

"Wha! This damn old man!"

Nozomu's shame was aroused all at once, and he involuntarily raised his voice.

Zonne quickly waved his hand and deployed a technique with a devilish grin plastered on his face.

"Ho, ho, ho~! Today's training ends here! Farewell~!"

"This pervy dragon! You better remember this!"

With a mocking line, Zonne activated his transfer magic. A torrent of light rushed up from under Nozomu's feet and enveloped his entire body, instantly shifting him from the forest to the academy.

When the light subsided, Nozomu was already standing under the school's martial arts garden.

In the blink of an eye, Nozomu was sent to the dimly lit basement, where he repeatedly took deep breaths in an attempt to calm his agitated mind.

"Good grief, this old man sure give me a lot of trouble."

Finally calming down, Nozomu sighed and carried his luggage, which was left nearby.

As he walked through the entrance leading outside, Nozomu looked down at the palm of his hand.

The wound on his fingertips. He looked at the marks on his fingertips where Shina had performed the blood ritual while reflected on today's training.

"A step forward, but still ..."

It was all thanks to Shina that he was able to sense the spirits. As a result, he was able to sense Tiamat's power more subtly.

In just one day, this is more than enough of an achievement. However, the control time, which showed no sign of increasing, made Nozomu feel frustration instead of joy.

A reddish-black pressure ulcer covered the wound on his index finger. Its rusty iron color reminded him of Irisdina's blood-stained raper.

Nozomu found himself clenching his fists.

"Still a long way to go..."

Nozomu, who came out of the entrance, frowned at the bright sunlight, but turned to go to his classroom. It was almost time for the first day of school.

(I've made one step forward. Let's be satisfied with that for now.)

With that in mind, Nozomu took a deep breath and relaxed his clenched fist, calming the agitation in his chest. However, a single trickle of blood dripped from the scar on his clenched fist.

It was as if to show his frustration.

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Zonne, who had sent Nozomu back, was thinking about the training Nozomu had just done.

"Good grief, this could be bad..."

What should have been an opportunity to get Nozomu to rest and calm down turned out to be making him even more restless.

Never before had Nozomu continued to release his power beyond the limits of his own crisis-sensing abilities.

Zonne began to wonder if it was a mistake to leave Irisdina and the others in charge, but there was no one else that Nozomu Bountis was open to but them.

"I shouldn't take my eyes off of them..."

He couldn't let his guard down. At first, he planned to simply watching over Nozomu's training. But now, he was beginning to think that he needed to take further steps.

"I think I'm at the end of my rope. I may need to inform Jihad-dono and the others and tell them the details..."

While muttering so, Zonne turned on his heel and stepped out into the forest. He believed that he needed to take all the steps he could, to make sure.