Chapter 4: The One Who Bears Solitude

I know no sorrow—

I shall hide within this great darkness.

Thou art the darkness; Sinking heavily, envelop me.

— Byron

"Haa... haa... haa... haa..."

A lone man dragged his body through the Ashlands, his footsteps heavy and labored.

He was covered in blood, with bullet wounds visible across his frame. A rugged man with a beard and a distinctive cross-shaped scar between his brows.

A pack of Ogretails emerged, lunging at the dying man.

"Hmph!"

With a pair of God Arcs in his hands—the Biting Edge—he slashed through the leaping Ogretails in a single motion before they could devour him.

"......Cheated death again, it seems."

The man, Werner Gadolin, walked away from the spot, leaving the remains of the Aragami to dissipate into thin air.

Having sustained fatal wounds, Werner had attempted "Ash Storm Suicide."

Yet, for some reason, he survived. Whether it was a stroke of good luck or a curse of misfortune, he couldn't tell. Perhaps it was simply his "devil's luck."

With a self-deprecating smirk, he leaned his back against the rubble of a ruin and sank to the ground.

"......But this is the end. To die for my ideals... it's not a bad way to go. My only regrets are the Crimson Queen and the future of the AGEs...... I care not if history remembers me as a great sinner, but I want them to reach a tomorrow filled with light......"

It was a selfish wish. The AGEs, especially the members of the Crimson Queen, would undoubtedly suffer terrible treatment from here on. He was, quite cowardly, trying to thrust the responsibility onto them.

"......Forgive me, Hilda. My apologies, Ricardo. I shall pray for your happiness from the hell I'm heading to...... Hm? Wh—!?"

Before he knew it, a massive Aragami stood before the crouching Werner, silently looking down at him.

Long twin horns, gauntlet-like arms with savage patterns, and a gargantuan tail.

A draconic, humanoid Aragami.

A Hannibal.

But this was no ordinary Hannibal.

Blue-black crystals—seemingly adapted through the erosion of Ash-devouring—shrouded its body, radiating an ominous and overwhelming pressure.

An Ashwrought, a subspecies, or perhaps a new species entirely? No, he had heard rumors. In the deepest parts of the Crimson Ashlands, there were Aragami that had achieved further evolution.

Its right eye burned a reddish-purple, while the left was a void of pitch black, as if consumed by darkness.

That dark, singular eye stared intently at him.

"......Heh, it seems the Grim Reaper has come for me...... Fine, devour me. And then, guide me to the underworld......"

Werner smiled.

To have his end come by being devoured by an Aragami. It was a fitting conclusion for a foolish martyr who had toyed with the fates of so many others.

However, the bluish-black Hannibal made no move to predate him; it simply continued to watch.

"......? What is it? Did you not come to feast on me?"

Werner felt a flicker of doubt.

Suddenly, the Hannibal turned on its heel and vanished.

"......What was that Aragami......?"

After a short while, the Hannibal appeared before Werner once again.

"......So you did come to eat?"

The creature held a large quantity of what appeared to be Aragami meat in its claws.

Thud! Squeltch! The chunks of meat—once part of an Aragami—were dropped in front of Werner.

"......Are you telling me to eat this?"

When Werner questioned the beast, he felt as though it gave a slight nod.

"......Sorry, but I'm not hungry...... Humans don't eat Aragami. Did I look like I did? ......To think I'd receive mercy from an Aragami...... Ghu! Guuuh......! Is this... the end......"

Werner groaned, clutching his wounds.

It seemed his time was up. To think his final moments would be witnessed by an Aragami.

His consciousness began to fade.

In his blurring vision, the massive silhouette of the Aragami shifted. The giant body began to glow faintly, gradually shrinking and becoming slender.

The mountain-like frame transformed into the delicate, supple, bronze skin of a woman. Bluish-black crystalline scales covered her naked form with an eerie yet captivating beauty, barely veiling her full chest and private areas.

The gauntlet remained on her left arm, and a lithe tail extended from her well-shaped hips. Long, beautiful silver-purple hair flowed with a brilliant sheen.

Two long, dark-red horns remained on her forehead as a vestige of her true form. Her reddish-purple eye sparkled with the light of intelligence, while the other held the depths of the obsidian night.

Werner thought to himself:

What a beautiful Goddess of Death.

The draconic goddess stepped toward the dazed Werner. With a motherly tenderness, she drew him into her nearly naked, fertile embrace.

As if cradling an infant.

Then, she used a sharp claw to slightly cut her own beautiful fingertip.

She brought the blood flowing from her smooth, bronze finger to Werner's lips and let it drip in.

It was hot.

A boiling, yet sweetly melting warmth and scent of blood slid down his throat.

Upon his failing pupils, the face of this maiden—possessing an inhuman beauty and sensuality—was seared forever into his mind.