“……Demon King, how are you here?”

“Karanus.”

“What?”

“That dragon. His name is Karanus.”

“Karanus… how do you know that?”

“We've met before.”

“You’ve… seen him before?”

“When I descended to the human realm.”

“Ah…”

“He attacked me first back then too. Still as violent as ever. Hey, Karanus.”

Grrrrr—

“Looks like his consciousness has been devoured. He’s lost his will.”

“Humans are forbidden from stepping foot in this sacred place.”

“Hey, Karanus. Do you remember me?”

Karanus unleashed his breath.

“Quick, dod—!”

Park Yeon’s eyes widened. Karanus’s breath was being sucked into Seo-jun’s grasp.

This was impossible.

A dragon’s breath could be blocked using a high-powered shield or dodged, but absorbing it like that was unheard of.

That was the common understanding of dragon breath Park Yeon had. And yet—

Ssssss—

Seo-jun, wearing a relaxed expression, steadily absorbed Karanus’s breath as he walked toward him.

“Karanus, didn’t you once say it yourself? That dragons never forget…”

“……”

“But from what I see now, it seems you’ve forgotten.”

“……”

“I believe I warned you once before—if you harbor murderous intent toward me again, it won’t end with just a wing this time.”

At that moment—

Karanus’s own breath exploded out of Seo-jun’s hand.

“Graaaaah!”

The breath Seo-jun had absorbed had been infused with demonic energy, doubling its power.

Karanus, struck directly by the breath, howled and writhed in agony.

At the same time, a longsword materialized in Seo-jun’s hand with a smooth shimmer. Seeing it, Park Yeon stepped in front of him.

“Wait!”

“……”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to kill him?”

“Then should I let him live?”

“He’s just had his consciousness devoured. If it’s you, Demon King, you could restore—”

“I can’t.”

“……”

“That dragon hasn’t simply been overtaken.”

“……He hasn’t?”

“He’s lost his self entirely.”

“……”

“Dragons are beings who do not know forgetfulness. For such a dragon to lose its sense of self… he’s no different from a monster now.”

Park Yeon stared at Karanus, still writhing in pain.

Red-tinged scales, massive wings, glowing eyes even in agony… and that pure, radiant divine power.

He looked every bit the herald of a god. A divine messenger who served the gods and conveyed their will to humanity.

And yet he was now no different from a monster?

It was unbelievable. If this had been Park Yeon from a few months ago, he would have accused Seo-jun of deceit and attacked him.

But things were different now. Park Yeon slowly stepped aside from Seo-jun’s path.

Seo-jun quietly approached Karanus and thrust his crimson-tinged longsword into the dragon’s heart.

In that instant, a blinding flash burst across the surroundings. It was an overwhelming light, enough to blind the eyes.

Thud—!

They were in a hollowed cavern.

The giant body, now separated from its head, collapsed helplessly, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Thump-thump-thump!

The severed head rolled with a heavy thud and came to a stop at Park Yeon’s feet.

“……”

The eyes in the head remained wide open. Meeting the gaze of the decapitated dragon, Park Yeon’s mind was filled with turmoil.

It was true.

Seo-jun had said he could sense other dragons like Karanus—ones who had also lost their sense of self.

At first, Park Yeon hadn’t believed him. No… to be precise, he hadn’t wanted to believe him.

But that disbelief proved pointless. Seo-jun’s words were true. There were two more dragons just like Karanus.

Seo-jun approached Park Yeon, who was standing there in a daze.

“We should get going.”

“……”

“Hey, Park Yeon. People are coming.”

“What happened here?”

“As you can see—I beheaded a dragon.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You definitely know something.”

Seo-jun shook off the dragon’s blood dripping from the blade of his longsword. Then, with a calm expression, he said:

“I don’t know what kind of guess you’ve made, but… I have nothing to say. You need to know something in order to speak of it, don’t you?”

“When Deikarant appeared, I asked you. I said you must know how he became a prime dragon and appeared on Earth…”

“……”

“And you calmly fed me lies, just like now.”

“……”

“And the feather at Namhae. I saw a feather on your shoulder.”

“Probably a duck feather. Or maybe you mistook a leaf for one.”

“No. That was a feather that should not exist on Earth.”

“……”

“What are you hiding? What is it that you’re so determined to keep under wraps?”

Seo-jun let out a sigh as he looked at Park Yeon with a complicated expression.

“What do you think of the being known as God?”

It was a complete change of subject. When asked what he was hiding, he suddenly brought up God…

“Answer me. What do you think of the being known as God?”

“That depends on which god you mean.”

“Tell me about Trbilon, the god of abundance.”

“He grants abundance to mankind, ensures we do not live in hunger, and always hopes for our prosperity.”

“And Verokunos, god of life?”

“He watches over life and death, judges good and evil, and wishes our lives to be filled with peace.”

“Then how about Herpetheron, god of war?”

Park Yeon furrowed his brows.

“What’s the point of these questions?”

“If you want an answer, then answer mine first.”

“He wishes for peace among humans, hopes that any disputes will be resolved fairly and justly, and leads us down a righteous path so that we do not fall into corruption.”

Lee Seo-jun nodded and opened his mouth.

“Then which god do you believe in?”

“I believe in all gods.”

“Then let me ask you this. What is the god of prosperity, Tbilon, doing that people are starving to death?”

“It's because of a few corrupt humans.”

Lee Seo-jun nodded. Then he reached out his hand toward the dragon’s head.

A white flash burst out as the dragon’s head scattered into pure white particles.

“This is what the gods you believe in have done.”

“……!”

“They are arrogant and wanton.”

“That’s blasphemy!”

Lee Seo-jun gave a bitter laugh.

The truth is always uncomfortable.

“Then you protect your beliefs. I don’t care what you believe in.”

- Aether levels are stable! We’re going in!

“Go now. Looks like people are coming.”

“They say the situation in Busan has also been resolved!”

Lee Myung-seop, who was monitoring the Dongui Elementary channel, felt a wave of relief at the deputy director’s words.

His trembling legs gave out as the tension released. As he collapsed to the floor, cheers rang in his ears.

Everyone at the scene was letting out cheers of relief, without exception.

It had been a nerve-wracking time for everyone, not just for him.

“Deputy Director.”

“Yes.”

“Notify the Blue House that the Busan situation is resolved.”

“Aren’t you going to report it personally, sir?”

“Look at this. My legs are shaking. I don’t even have the strength to make a call.”

“You’ve done well. I’ll take care of contacting the Blue House.”

“Yes, please handle it a bit longer.”

After the deputy director left, Lee Myung-seop continued to look at those hugging and congratulating each other.

Everyone must be overjoyed.

It was a dragon. Not even a Bone Dragon, but a living dragon—something that had never been reported before.

And it wasn’t just one, but three such dragons had appeared in Korea. Even a Born Dragon was near-catastrophic, and three living dragons had shown up.

Massive damage had been expected. In the security council, there had even been suggestions to abandon Daejeon and focus firepower on Seoul and Busan.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say they had come back from the brink of death. But not everyone had returned.

Lee Myung-seop looked at a scorched watch, a pair of sneakers with melted soles, and a weathered, cracked wallet.

These were the belongings of the fallen from the field. This was all they left behind.

Judging from the ground markings and their last communications, they had likely been vaporized by a breath attack.

“Hoo…….”

For a long while, Lee Myung-seop looked down at the mementos with a heavy heart. It felt as though a boulder had been laid upon his chest.

But the burden he had to carry wasn’t over yet.

Lee So-in gently caressed the ring on her fourth finger. Today was her wedding anniversary with her husband.

“It’s already been seven years.”

“Mom, what has?”

Lee So-in smiled brightly and stroked her daughter’s hair.

“It’s been seven years since your dad and I got married.”

Her daughter, still only six years old, didn’t quite understand what marriage meant. Lee So-in held her daughter’s hand, who was laughing innocently, and stepped out of the house.

Today, she had decided to make her husband’s favorite omelet rice as a special treat.

Normally, with the high price of eggs, she wouldn’t even dream of it, but today was special.

However, instead of going to the grocery store near home, she went to one 2 kilometers away. The prices there were about 2,000 won cheaper.

She bought eggs, snacks for her daughter, and some groceries that had run out, then headed back home.

With the setting sun at her back, she walked home with a full smile on her face.

She could already picture her husband happily enjoying the omelet rice.

When she got home, she turned on her daughter’s favorite kids’ show and started prepping ingredients for the meal.

How long had passed?

Ding-dong!

The doorbell rang unexpectedly.

The clock showed it was just before six o’clock.

“Not falling for it a second time.”

Last year, her husband had disguised himself as a delivery man on their anniversary and surprised her with flowers and a gift.

She had fallen for it once, but not again. Speaking into the intercom, she said:

“That trick won’t work twice.”

No reply came.

Chuckling to herself, she decided her husband’s antics were cute and that maybe she’d fall for it one more time on purpose.

“What’s taking you so—”

She trailed off. A stranger was standing at the front door instead of her husband.

She had been careless in times like these. She quickly tried to shut the door.

“My name is Lee Myung-seop, Director of the Administration Bureau.”

“Sorry? Who?”

“Director of the Administration Bureau, Lee Myung-seop. Are you the wife of Team Leader Kang Yoon-gu?”

Lee So-in nodded with a guarded expression.

Lee Myung-seop clenched his fist. At this moment, he had to suppress the flood of emotion as best he could.

So he forced himself to speak calmly… coldly, as it might seem to an outsider.

“Team Leader Kang Yoon-gu was killed in action during the operation. I regret to bring you such unfortunate news—”

“No, no. You’ve got the wrong person.”

Unable to accept the situation, Lee So-in shut the door. Standing with her back to it, her heart pounded violently.

“Big juicy watermelon! Sweet red watermelon! One gulp, gulp!”

This is a dream. It has to be a dream. Her daughter was only six. Still young enough to be delighted by a nursery rhyme… So no. It couldn’t be. It mustn’t be.

“……I’ll wait.”

“Kkhh…!”

Realizing it wasn’t a dream, she broke into tears. Sobs reached Lee Myung-seop’s ears as well.

The wailing of a wife who had lost her husband was like a knife through his chest.

Yet there was nothing he could do. All he could do was wait in silence…