They ran out of the dragon’s breath’s range, but the Scarlet Dragon’s roar echoed through the mountains and the tremendous rumbling of the earth never subsided.

Cadel huffed and puffed as he followed the two subordinates, his legs straining to hold him up, and Van, who was holding Cadel’s wrist, hesitated and looked back.

“I’ll give you a piggyback ride, Commander. Get on my back.”

“I didn’t stop because it was hard. Rather…….”

After running for quite a distance, there was no sign of the Scarlet Dragon following, which meant that Lydon and Lumen were still dealing with it. They were pushing hard to buy themselves time to escape when it would have been best to deal with it in moderation and then run away.

Van knew Cadel’s concern, but he kept a straight face and tugged on his wrist again.

“I don’t know what that guy is up to, but I’m not letting Commander go, and I’m not giving in this time.”

“The opponent is a dragon. It’s the Scarlet Dragon, Van. It said it wanted me, but it didn’t ask for my life. It knew how to speak human language, and rather than just run away…….”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Because wanting Commander is the same as saying it wants to take Commander’s life.”

At first, he followed his subordinates, but as time went on, Cadel grew restless. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was risking his subordinates’ lives for nothing.

Cadel held on, and Van tugged. With Van’s strength, it would have been easy for him to scoop Cadel up and run right now, but not doing so was the most patience he could show.

In the heat of the moment, Garuel, who had been watching them, spoke up.

“Let me go back.”

“What?”

“With my demonic energy, even if I battle the Scarlet Dragon, I won’t die in vain. Isn’t that why you brought me into the Knight Order?”

“However―”

“Before I came here, I was the commander of a capable order of knights. I’ll do my best to make sure none of my comrades die. Give me the ring, Knight Commander. I’ll come to you when I know it’s safe.”

Garuel’s healing ability definitely eased Cadel’s worries. In fact, no matter how much he thought about it, it would have been best to voluntarily go to the Scarlet Dragon, but persuading his subordinates here seemed close to impossible. In the end, Cadel handed over the ‘Ring of Fate’ to Garuel.

“Never overdo it. Keep in mind that this isn’t the only way.”

“Of course, Knight Commander.”

Garuel, smiling lazily, slipped the ring on and turned his back. Impatient with Cadel’s hesitation, Van wrapped his arms around Cadel’s waist and lifted him up. A horrified Cadel demanded to be put down but to no avail.

* * *

Although he himself said that he could save them as long as they had a single breath left in their bodies, that didn’t mean they had to fight while putting their lives on the line like this.

Garuel, who returned near the waterfall, was speechless at the sight that unfolded before his eyes.

“Sir Lumen! Sir Lydon!”

Mother Nature, seemingly unstoppable, froze and thawed in scattered dragon’s breaths and blizzards. So did the roaring waterfall, and so did the rushing river.

Garuel searched for his two comrades, squinting against the blizzard that made visibility difficult. Blue flashes, sparks, and shards of ice streaked through his blurred vision. It was impossible to dodge all of the attacks, and Garuel’s wound-healing demonic energy surged through his body.

“Answer me! I can only help if I see you!”

As he raised his voice in frustration, an answer came from nearby.

“What. Why are you here? Where’s Cadel?”

It was Lydon. When I turned my head in the direction where I heard the sound, a picture of devastation was revealed.

“……You’re still alive, right?”

“Hmph, so a corpse could talk then, stupid.”

In that short time, Lydon seemed to have entered a state of mana depletion. Lydon looked at Garuel through bloodshot eyes and wiped annoyingly at his nose, which hadn’t stopped dripping blood.

“Knight Commander is on the run with Sir Van. I’m here to help you. …… It seemed like a good choice.”

“If you touch my body with that demonic energy, I will kill you.”

“Well, my demonic energy doesn’t work well with Sir Lydon anyway. So shall I pull out my light magic?”

Garuel placed a hand on Lydon’s back as he continued to chant something. As he healed Lydon’s internal wounds while eliminating demonic energy as much as possible, the Scarlet Dragon’s voice rang in his head once more.

[Come back, human. As long as you stay in these mountains, I can always find you.]

It seemed to be addressed to Cadel. Why on earth would the Scarlet Dragon want Cadel, he wondered at the inexplicable obsession, but he never had the chance to ask.

Lydon, who was receiving healing from Garuel while chanting a long chant, twisted his body in annoyance.

“That’s enough.”

“If you’re going to keep fighting like that, stop, you’re going to die.”

Garuel spoke firmly and met Lydon’s impassive gaze. Lydon looked him up and down, then replied in a tone that was far too casual.

“I know.”

Then, without warning, he flew through the blizzard and disappeared. Garuel bursted into laughter that did not fit the situation as he realized that the knight was fighting even though he knew he was going to die, or that he didn’t care because he had no intention of dying, but whatever the case, he was unlike any other knight Garuel had ever met.

‘Is Sir Lumen next?’

If Lydon, who was free to fly, was in such bad shape, Lumen, who was forced to make melee attacks in the dragon’s breath, must be in even worse shape. He didn’t answer Garuel’s calls, and the occasional blue flash across his vision was the only indication of Lumen’s survival.

He was worried that he might lose sight of Lumen at this point, but luckily for him, the scent of blood was strong enough for Garuel to detect. It didn’t take long to follow the scent and find Lumen.

“……Why are you here? What about Leader?”

“You sound exactly like Sir Lydon, and if that’s the case, shouldn’t you be welcoming my arrival?”

“I’m not going to deny it.”

Lumen dropped to one knee, his sword lying on the ground. Breathing heavily, he made a small grimace and spat the blood that had pooled in his mouth onto the floor. His cloak was more than half charred by the dragon’s breath, and his white uniform was stained with blood from his wounds.

Checking his condition, Garuel frowned as he noticed the deep gash across his back.

“I salute you for being alive.”

“Would you believe it if I was only slightly grazed by the dragon’s claws?”

Garuel said in a grave voice as he dribbled demonic energy over the wound.

“If I hadn’t come, you’d be dead. Let’s not push it any further, take Sir Lydon and retreat. We’ve stalled this long enough.”

“We can’t go until Leader is perfectly concealed.”

“It’s impossible to hide completely as long as you’re on this mountain. Didn’t Scarlet Dragon just say that too? It would be better for us to hide together for now, and then join them and descend when the Scarlet Dragon calms down. By this time, Knight Commander would have slowly slipped out of the Scarlet Dragon’s field of vision.”

“Even if that’s the case…….”

Lumen’s gaze was directed somewhere in the sky. After a short silence, he muttered in a tired voice.

“There’s no way to get that fairy out of there.”