By the time I returned to Dragon World, Dragon God-sama was already bedridden.
It was a dreadful sight.
Blood gushed from his shoulder, one eye wounded shut, one of his feet wilted.
In addition, a great gash on his hand from his battle with Demon God.
A body littered in wounds.
That’s the best I could describe Dragon God-sama’s condition.
Wounds inflicted by another god would not heal quickly.
Only after a long time… maybe hundreds of thousands of years, would it slowly heal.
“Ah, Laplace, well done.”
Despite being covered in wounds, Dragon God looked rather content.
In spite of the pain, his heart must have found peace now that his revenge was complete.
Whoever the criminal was, whether he still lives, now that their worlds were all destroyed, those questions had all become moot.
“Demon World fell silent as expected.”
“Mmm… Then you should get some rest. You must be exhausted.”
In that calm face there was a shade of anxiety and regret.
Maybe Dragon God-sama did regret having done so much?
This wasn’t what Lunaria-sama would have wanted.
If things just settled as is, maybe in ten-thousand years he would have found another path.
“No, I’ll rest after making my report.”
“Mmm… what is it?”
But that opportunity was forever lost.
I reported to Dragon God-sama the knowledge I gained from Necros Lacrosse.
“I Found Necros Lacrosse in the collapsing Demon World. According to him, Kirisis Calisis--”
Dragon God-sama listened to my report without any reaction.
Probably was wondering of the purpose of my report.
But as the story progressed, his expression changed.
Grim, shock, and concern.
By the time I wrapped up, Dragon God-sama looked full of trouble.
“That was all I have to report.”
“...”
“...Dragon God-sama?”
Deep in thought, Dragon God-sama did not respond immediately.
But my report was over.
I guess I should go get some rest as Dragon God-sama had ordered.
As I was thinking that.
“Yes… It’s him.”
Dragon God-sama suddenly murmured and stood.
He got up and was leaving the room.
“W-Where to?”
I hurried to ask, Dragon God-sama replied.
“Invade the Human World.”
I thought that was preposterous.
Why?
Human Race was the victim here.
We should also be grateful for them for cleaning up after our mess.
Unless the culprits were the human the whole time?
The humans wanted Dragon Race to destroy the other races?
But why?
There was no reason for it.
If Lunaria-sama had lived, then the Human Race and Dragon Race would have stood united atop the Six Worlds.
Moreover, Human God welcomed refugees from all the dead worlds.
Unless that too was for the Human Race’s benefit somehow?
In that case… wouldn’t my work as a diplomat have sufficed?
Eventually, there’ll be people of various races in every world.
All the destruction would be counterproductive.
If the Human Race was the culprit, their actions didn’t make sense.
I was troubled.
I couldn’t understand the reasoning behind Dragon God-sama’s thoughts and actions.
Knowing what I know now… the wise Dragon God-sama already realized the truth after hearing my report.
Despite the scant info, he was able to piece all the clues together.
Through that, he concluded who’s responsible, and who the true enemy was.
Of course, this was because Dragon God-sama knew more than what was in my report.
But back then, I didn’t understand.
Laugh at my stupidity if you like.
However, I just couldn't believe that the Human Race could be responsible for the whole sequence of events.
Why didn’t I notice…
But at that time, I didn't understand.
I lacked wisdom.
Moreover, he had planned ahead, for a long time.
“Convene the Five Dragon Generals, our battle is not yet over…”
Dragon God-sama did not explain anything to us.
Until that moment, we did everything as Dragon God-sama ordered.
So perhaps he thought a detailed explanation was unnecessary.
Of course, Dragon God-sama wasn’t wrong.
We should have followed his orders.
But back then, all I wanted was an explanation.
I thought it was absolutely necessary.
Only if...
■
"That's it. Everyone begin your preparations."
Dragon God-sama gave the order to attack Human World as soon as the Five Dragon Generals assembled.
Just the order.
With no explanation.
Then, he immediately dragged his injured body from the conference room.
Dragon God-sama seemed to be in a rush.
So we didn’t have a chance to ask anything.
And the order was too much of a shock.
“Preposterous...”
“Wasn’t this war to honor Lunaria-sama? For what purpose would invading her homeland serve?”
“I don’t know, but Dragon God-sama must have his considerations, but…”
The Five Dragon Generals were all in shock.
Only natural.
They thought the war was finally over.
Now it’s time to heal the wounded, rebuild, mourn the dead, and look forward to a new future.
To suddenly be told the fight was not yet over.
Moreover, the opponent this time was our ally.
An ally we had no reason to fight.
“What could be Dragon God-sama’s reason for this?”
“Human World has long stood by us.”
“There must be a reason to attack and destroy the Human World..?”
To continue the meeting without Dragon God-sama was unusual.
Normally, once Dragon God-sama gave us an order, we all went our separate ways to fulfill that order.
However that day, we continued our discussion.
There were many reasons.
Human World was Lunaria-sama’s homeland.
Human God was always an ally for the Dragon Race, and he had helped us many times.
Take me for example… but I realized that the other Dragon Generals received his help many times as well.
Destroying Human World should be trivial compared to the other worlds.
But the war was a tribute to Lunaria-sama.
All those factors put a brake to our usual prompt actions.
The discussion got heated and stalled.
That’s because we didn’t understand Dragon God-sama at all.
“Laplace. What on earth did you tell Dragon God-sama?”
After a while, Szilard asked.
So I answered honestly.
What I heard in Demon World.
What happened in Demon World.
Upon hearing that, Szilard said, "I see," with a confident look.
"I'm confident that you were deceived."
“Fooled? Me?”
“Yes. To save his own life and protect Demon God’s daughter, Necros Lacrosse conceived a convenient lie to instigate war between Human and Dragon World.”
I didn’t think Necros Lacrosse would lie.
However, if he could, then it would fit.
Until told by Szilard, my idiotic self never believedthat Necros Lacrosse would conceive a lie to save his own skin.
I was convinced that he couldn’t lie.
Since he long fought for peace between the worlds, maybe seeing his own beloved world destroyed changed him.
It’s only natural that he would want to sow discord among his enemies.
Perhaps he never entered battle, because he was plotting behind the scene? If so, his usual ineptitude might just be a foolish act to throw off any suspicion.
When people’s thoughts are in turmoil, they would rather trust an outsider’s opinion than their own intuition.
Necros Lacrosse never lies.
But that fact faltered against the thought that “he may lie.”
There wasn’t any definitive proof otherwise.
“Maybe… so…”
But something tugged at my heart.
“Normally Dragon God-sama won’t be fooled, but… if it’s your report, Dragon God-sama would trust it because of his trust in you.”
When I was told that, I couldn’t respond.
The reason that Dragon God-sama trusted the report was because of his trust in me.
By giving Dragon God-sama false information, this had become my responsibility.
“As the Five Dragon Generals, we are Dragon God-sama’s limbs. Normally we would simply obey Dragon God-sama’s orders without a doubt, but this…”
My next sentence forced the Five Dragon Generals to make a decision.
“But shouldn’t we try to stop Dragon God-sama this time?”
Everyone of the Five Dragon Generals held their breaths.
No matter the bad intelligence, we had received our orders.
Dragon God’s decisions are final.
To disobey is to deny Dragon God-sama.
If only we had tried to convince Dragon God-sama before he made his decision.
To deny god.
Is to deny your most earnest beliefs within your heart.
It’s an act of great courage.
Have you ever had to resist your deepest urge?
It was my first time.
“Alright… I agree.”
The first to concur was Chaos.
He was the most heartbroken by the loss of each of his comrades.
Despite his warlike nature, he celebrated the most for the end of fighting.
Of course, if war was necessary, he wouldn't object.
Rather, he would rush to the frontline faster than anyone else.
But a pointless battle…
“Indeed. No matter how weak the Human Race is, Human God is a god as well, and Dragon God-sama remains heavily injured. He should recoup…”
Maxwell agreed.
He did not wish to Dragon God-sama labor so.
Dragon God-sama may die if he continues fighting.
Not that Dragon God-sama would lose.
But if he was further injured, it could be irreparable and life-threatening.
"..."
Dora-sama was at a loss.
As the most loyal among us, it was the most difficult for her to disobey a direct order from Dragon God-sama.
“If it’s for the sake of Dragon God-sama.”
She consented eventually.
Because her loyalty was stronger than anyone.
If it was for Dragon God-sama’s own sake, even with great reluctance we must stop him.
That was her will.
■
After making our decisions, we went to Dragon God-sama.
At first, we tried to persuade him with words.
Human God was always on our side.
The intelligence from Demon World was an impossible lie.
We’re concerned with the state of Dragon God-sama’s health.
Let’s not invade the Human World.
But it didn't work.
Dragon God-sama won’t listen.
No matter our explanation, Dragon God-sama won’t heed our concerns.
“Human God is no longer Human God. I don’t know what he’s plotting, but I have to kill him.”
I didn’t appreciate the meaning of those words then.
Because Human God seemed the same as the first time I met him.
Rather, it was Dragon God-sama that changed.
Dragon God-sama -- who was wise, benevolent, loving, and peaceable -- had become the physical incarnation of war.
"We don't want to fight the Human Race. Dragon God-sama, please rescind your order.”
Then we tried to abandon the fight.
We refused to fight.
So Dragon God-sama had to too.
“It doesn’t matter. You may stay, I will go alone.”
However, Dragon God-sama would not relent.
Leaving us behind with those words to head toward the Human World.
“Please, reconsider!”
“No.”
"Why? Human God has always been by our side. Didn’t Dragon God-sama trust him as well? Isn’t our current prosperity due to the efforts of the human race?”
“Human God was the culprit of this war.”
“Where’s your evidence?”
“In the Human World.”
You know the word, “pestering”?
It was exactly that.
We tried every method to persuade Dragon God-sama.
But we couldn’t.
The conclusion was always the same.
Dragon God-sama refused to listen, adamant on attacking Human World
At the very least, why are we invading the Human World?
Why must Human God be killed?
If Dragon God-sama explained the details of these questions to us, we might have understood the wisdom of his actions… and it wouldn’t have ended that way.
However, I think it was unavoidable.
We, the Five Dragon Generals, were expected to obey Dragon God-sama.
No matter how wise and talented, Dragon God-sama must have found it difficult to handle our objections, when everyone had obediently followed his orders for hundreds of thousands of years.
Explaining himself would not come naturally to him.
For example, what if the broom you use everyday suddenly said, “I don’t want to clean anymore?”
Do you explain to the broom why cleaning is necessary, or that the purpose of a broom is to clean?
Do you force the broom to clean by force?
Or do you just find another tool to replace it?
I think it was the same situation for him.
Dragon God-sama was too reliant on the loyalty of the Five Dragon Generals… no, that was incorrect.
Dragon God-sama trusted in us, the Five Dragon Generals.
He believed we would never bear our fangs against him.
Dragon God-sama must have believed that if he stubbornly proceeded, we would eventually relent and obey him again.
But we betrayed that trust.
“If Dragon God-sama won’t relent, then we’ll have to stop you by force.”
The face of Dragon God-sama when Szilard said that was, even now, heartbreaking to me.
I have never seen Dragon God-sama looking so shocked.
I even wondered if we did something irredeemable.
But even if we lost Dragon God-sama’s trust, we thought it would be okay.
We were prepared for that.
Even if we lost our positions as Dragon Generals and were banished from Dragon World.
As long as Dragon God-sama lived.
That’s what we thought.
"...Just try it."
But even that failed to change Dragon God-sama’s mind.
Killing Human God was that important.
We just didn’t realize it then.
If we had a little bit of time.
Even if it’s a waste.
If Dragon God-sama explained in more details, why we must invade Human World and kill Human God.
If only one of us had the wisdom to understand it.
I can’t help thinking that.
No, even then, this battle would have been inevitable.
I knew.
He took a long time to prepare for this.
Still, I wonder.
If something was different, it wouldn't have turned out this way.
Such foolishness.
Such, that was how the battle began.
The most miserable, stupidest, most meaningless final battle...
By the time I returned to Dragon World, Dragon God-sama was already bedridden.
It was a dreadful sight.
Blood gushed from his shoulder, one eye wounded shut, one of his feet wilted.
In addition, a great gash on his hand from his battle with Demon God.
A body littered in wounds.
That’s the best I could describe Dragon God-sama’s condition.
Wounds inflicted by another god would not heal quickly.
Only after a long time… maybe hundreds of thousands of years, would it slowly heal.
“Ah, Laplace, well done.”
Despite being covered in wounds, Dragon God looked rather content.
In spite of the pain, his heart must have found peace now that his revenge was complete.
Whoever the criminal was, whether he still lives, now that their worlds were all destroyed, those questions had all become moot.
“Demon World fell silent as expected.”
“Mmm… Then you should get some rest. You must be exhausted.”
In that calm face there was a shade of anxiety and regret.
Maybe Dragon God-sama did regret having done so much?
This wasn’t what Lunaria-sama would have wanted.
If things just settled as is, maybe in ten-thousand years he would have found another path.
“No, I’ll rest after making my report.”
“Mmm… what is it?”
But that opportunity was forever lost.
I reported to Dragon God-sama the knowledge I gained from Necros Lacrosse.
“I Found Necros Lacrosse in the collapsing Demon World. According to him, Kirisis Calisis--”
Dragon God-sama listened to my report without any reaction.
Probably was wondering of the purpose of my report.
But as the story progressed, his expression changed.
Grim, shock, and concern.
By the time I wrapped up, Dragon God-sama looked full of trouble.
“That was all I have to report.”
“...”
“...Dragon God-sama?”
Deep in thought, Dragon God-sama did not respond immediately.
But my report was over.
I guess I should go get some rest as Dragon God-sama had ordered.
As I was thinking that.
“Yes… It’s him.”
Dragon God-sama suddenly murmured and stood.
He got up and was leaving the room.
“W-Where to?”
I hurried to ask, Dragon God-sama replied.
“Invade the Human World.”
I thought that was preposterous.
Why?
Human Race was the victim here.
We should also be grateful for them for cleaning up after our mess.
Unless the culprits were the human the whole time?
The humans wanted Dragon Race to destroy the other races?
But why?
There was no reason for it.
If Lunaria-sama had lived, then the Human Race and Dragon Race would have stood united atop the Six Worlds.
Moreover, Human God welcomed refugees from all the dead worlds.
Unless that too was for the Human Race’s benefit somehow?
In that case… wouldn’t my work as a diplomat have sufficed?
Eventually, there’ll be people of various races in every world.
All the destruction would be counterproductive.
If the Human Race was the culprit, their actions didn’t make sense.
I was troubled.
I couldn’t understand the reasoning behind Dragon God-sama’s thoughts and actions.
Knowing what I know now… the wise Dragon God-sama already realized the truth after hearing my report.
Despite the scant info, he was able to piece all the clues together.
Through that, he concluded who’s responsible, and who the true enemy was.
Of course, this was because Dragon God-sama knew more than what was in my report.
But back then, I didn’t understand.
Laugh at my stupidity if you like.
However, I just couldn't believe that the Human Race could be responsible for the whole sequence of events.
Why didn’t I notice…
But at that time, I didn't understand.
I lacked wisdom.
Moreover, he had planned ahead, for a long time.
“Convene the Five Dragon Generals, our battle is not yet over…”
Dragon God-sama did not explain anything to us.
Until that moment, we did everything as Dragon God-sama ordered.
So perhaps he thought a detailed explanation was unnecessary.
Of course, Dragon God-sama wasn’t wrong.
We should have followed his orders.
But back then, all I wanted was an explanation.
I thought it was absolutely necessary.
Only if...
■
"That's it. Everyone begin your preparations."
Dragon God-sama gave the order to attack Human World as soon as the Five Dragon Generals assembled.
Just the order.
With no explanation.
Then, he immediately dragged his injured body from the conference room.
Dragon God-sama seemed to be in a rush.
So we didn’t have a chance to ask anything.
And the order was too much of a shock.
“Preposterous...”
“Wasn’t this war to honor Lunaria-sama? For what purpose would invading her homeland serve?”
“I don’t know, but Dragon God-sama must have his considerations, but…”
The Five Dragon Generals were all in shock.
Only natural.
They thought the war was finally over.
Now it’s time to heal the wounded, rebuild, mourn the dead, and look forward to a new future.
To suddenly be told the fight was not yet over.
Moreover, the opponent this time was our ally.
An ally we had no reason to fight.
“What could be Dragon God-sama’s reason for this?”
“Human World has long stood by us.”
“There must be a reason to attack and destroy the Human World..?”
To continue the meeting without Dragon God-sama was unusual.
Normally, once Dragon God-sama gave us an order, we all went our separate ways to fulfill that order.
However that day, we continued our discussion.
There were many reasons.
Human World was Lunaria-sama’s homeland.
Human God was always an ally for the Dragon Race, and he had helped us many times.
Take me for example… but I realized that the other Dragon Generals received his help many times as well.
Destroying Human World should be trivial compared to the other worlds.
But the war was a tribute to Lunaria-sama.
All those factors put a brake to our usual prompt actions.
The discussion got heated and stalled.
That’s because we didn’t understand Dragon God-sama at all.
“Laplace. What on earth did you tell Dragon God-sama?”
After a while, Szilard asked.
So I answered honestly.
What I heard in Demon World.
What happened in Demon World.
Upon hearing that, Szilard said, "I see," with a confident look.
"I'm confident that you were deceived."
“Fooled? Me?”
“Yes. To save his own life and protect Demon God’s daughter, Necros Lacrosse conceived a convenient lie to instigate war between Human and Dragon World.”
I didn’t think Necros Lacrosse would lie.
However, if he could, then it would fit.
Until told by Szilard, my idiotic self never believedthat Necros Lacrosse would conceive a lie to save his own skin.
I was convinced that he couldn’t lie.
Since he long fought for peace between the worlds, maybe seeing his own beloved world destroyed changed him.
It’s only natural that he would want to sow discord among his enemies.
Perhaps he never entered battle, because he was plotting behind the scene? If so, his usual ineptitude might just be a foolish act to throw off any suspicion.
When people’s thoughts are in turmoil, they would rather trust an outsider’s opinion than their own intuition.
Necros Lacrosse never lies.
But that fact faltered against the thought that “he may lie.”
There wasn’t any definitive proof otherwise.
“Maybe… so…”
But something tugged at my heart.
“Normally Dragon God-sama won’t be fooled, but… if it’s your report, Dragon God-sama would trust it because of his trust in you.”
When I was told that, I couldn’t respond.
The reason that Dragon God-sama trusted the report was because of his trust in me.
By giving Dragon God-sama false information, this had become my responsibility.
“As the Five Dragon Generals, we are Dragon God-sama’s limbs. Normally we would simply obey Dragon God-sama’s orders without a doubt, but this…”
My next sentence forced the Five Dragon Generals to make a decision.
“But shouldn’t we try to stop Dragon God-sama this time?”
Everyone of the Five Dragon Generals held their breaths.
No matter the bad intelligence, we had received our orders.
Dragon God’s decisions are final.
To disobey is to deny Dragon God-sama.
If only we had tried to convince Dragon God-sama before he made his decision.
To deny god.
Is to deny your most earnest beliefs within your heart.
It’s an act of great courage.
Have you ever had to resist your deepest urge?
It was my first time.
“Alright… I agree.”
The first to concur was Chaos.
He was the most heartbroken by the loss of each of his comrades.
Despite his warlike nature, he celebrated the most for the end of fighting.
Of course, if war was necessary, he wouldn't object.
Rather, he would rush to the frontline faster than anyone else.
But a pointless battle…
“Indeed. No matter how weak the Human Race is, Human God is a god as well, and Dragon God-sama remains heavily injured. He should recoup…”
Maxwell agreed.
He did not wish to Dragon God-sama labor so.
Dragon God-sama may die if he continues fighting.
Not that Dragon God-sama would lose.
But if he was further injured, it could be irreparable and life-threatening.
"..."
Dora-sama was at a loss.
As the most loyal among us, it was the most difficult for her to disobey a direct order from Dragon God-sama.
“If it’s for the sake of Dragon God-sama.”
She consented eventually.
Because her loyalty was stronger than anyone.
If it was for Dragon God-sama’s own sake, even with great reluctance we must stop him.
That was her will.
■
After making our decisions, we went to Dragon God-sama.
At first, we tried to persuade him with words.
Human God was always on our side.
The intelligence from Demon World was an impossible lie.
We’re concerned with the state of Dragon God-sama’s health.
Let’s not invade the Human World.
But it didn't work.
Dragon God-sama won’t listen.
No matter our explanation, Dragon God-sama won’t heed our concerns.
“Human God is no longer Human God. I don’t know what he’s plotting, but I have to kill him.”
I didn’t appreciate the meaning of those words then.
Because Human God seemed the same as the first time I met him.
Rather, it was Dragon God-sama that changed.
Dragon God-sama -- who was wise, benevolent, loving, and peaceable -- had become the physical incarnation of war.
"We don't want to fight the Human Race. Dragon God-sama, please rescind your order.”
Then we tried to abandon the fight.
We refused to fight.
So Dragon God-sama had to too.
“It doesn’t matter. You may stay, I will go alone.”
However, Dragon God-sama would not relent.
Leaving us behind with those words to head toward the Human World.
“Please, reconsider!”
“No.”
"Why? Human God has always been by our side. Didn’t Dragon God-sama trust him as well? Isn’t our current prosperity due to the efforts of the human race?”
“Human God was the culprit of this war.”
“Where’s your evidence?”
“In the Human World.”
You know the word, “pestering”?
It was exactly that.
We tried every method to persuade Dragon God-sama.
But we couldn’t.
The conclusion was always the same.
Dragon God-sama refused to listen, adamant on attacking Human World
At the very least, why are we invading the Human World?
Why must Human God be killed?
If Dragon God-sama explained the details of these questions to us, we might have understood the wisdom of his actions… and it wouldn’t have ended that way.
However, I think it was unavoidable.
We, the Five Dragon Generals, were expected to obey Dragon God-sama.
No matter how wise and talented, Dragon God-sama must have found it difficult to handle our objections, when everyone had obediently followed his orders for hundreds of thousands of years.
Explaining himself would not come naturally to him.
For example, what if the broom you use everyday suddenly said, “I don’t want to clean anymore?”
Do you explain to the broom why cleaning is necessary, or that the purpose of a broom is to clean?
Do you force the broom to clean by force?
Or do you just find another tool to replace it?
I think it was the same situation for him.
Dragon God-sama was too reliant on the loyalty of the Five Dragon Generals… no, that was incorrect.
Dragon God-sama trusted in us, the Five Dragon Generals.
He believed we would never bear our fangs against him.
Dragon God-sama must have believed that if he stubbornly proceeded, we would eventually relent and obey him again.
But we betrayed that trust.
“If Dragon God-sama won’t relent, then we’ll have to stop you by force.”
The face of Dragon God-sama when Szilard said that was, even now, heartbreaking to me.
I have never seen Dragon God-sama looking so shocked.
I even wondered if we did something irredeemable.
But even if we lost Dragon God-sama’s trust, we thought it would be okay.
We were prepared for that.
Even if we lost our positions as Dragon Generals and were banished from Dragon World.
As long as Dragon God-sama lived.
That’s what we thought.
"...Just try it."
But even that failed to change Dragon God-sama’s mind.
Killing Human God was that important.
We just didn’t realize it then.
If we had a little bit of time.
Even if it’s a waste.
If Dragon God-sama explained in more details, why we must invade Human World and kill Human God.
If only one of us had the wisdom to understand it.
I can’t help thinking that.
No, even then, this battle would have been inevitable.
I knew.
He took a long time to prepare for this.
Still, I wonder.
If something was different, it wouldn't have turned out this way.
Such foolishness.
Such, that was how the battle began.
The most miserable, stupidest, most meaningless final battle...
