* * *
Thunk.
The sword in his hand dropped to the ground.
He didn’t bother picking it up.
His gaze remained fixed on the great calamity.
The thought of making noise to wake it briefly crossed his mind, but he abandoned the idea.
Judging by its state, it likely wouldn’t wake up anyway.
“Am I lucky?”
Or is this misfortune?
Kaindel muttered softly as he picked up his sword.
The fact that his target was fast asleep was undoubtedly good fortune.
But something didn’t sit right.
The thought of everything he had endured, only to slay a slumbering calamity, left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He hadn’t wanted to die, not really.
“This will have to remain a secret.”
The people of the kingdom believed the great calamity to be alive and waiting to strike.
They eagerly awaited the hero’s triumph.
If they learned that the calamity had simply been asleep all this time, their attitudes would change.
It was all too obvious how they’d react, and Kaindel decided it was better not to tell anyone.
Not even his comrades.
It was a decision born out of something like spite.
Kaindel approached the great calamity, raised his sword high, and plunged it toward its chest.
On the first strike, the blade failed to pierce its tough hide and bounced back.
But after two or three attempts, a small gap appeared, and black liquid began to ooze out.
Finally, he drove the sword deep into its body, the blade scraping against bone.
Knowing the location of the ribcage, Kaindel discarded his sword and thrust his hand into the gap.
He needed to retrieve the heart as proof of his victory.
As the black liquid gushed from the wound, it seared his skin, emitting the scent of burning flesh.
It’s venom.
Kaindel confirmed inwardly as his fingers reached the calamity’s heart.
The organ was four times the size of his hand.
Gripping his dagger, he severed it from the body.
The moment the heart was removed, the once-majestic dragon began to crumble.
Its body disintegrated into fine dust, scattering with the wind.
Unlike other monsters, it didn’t rot or turn to ash. Instead, its demise was eerily quiet, marked only by the distant howls of monsters outside the cave.
“Kaindel, what’s going on with those monsters…?”
Sehir, startled by the commotion, rushed into the cave.
His shock was evident as he observed the great calamity disintegrating.
His disbelief was clear as he blinked several times.
“Is that… the great calamity?”
“Seems like it.”
“And you’ve already killed it?”
“If you call taking out its heart killing it, then yes.”
“Its heart?”
Sehir’s eyes fell on the calamity’s heart in Kaindel’s grasp.
Despite being removed, the heart still beat faintly, as if alive.
“That thing?”
“Yeah. Kind of anticlimactic, isn’t it?”
“It’s not that it’s nothing special… Kaindel, did you handle it alone? In such a short time?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Well, maybe I just got lucky.”
Kaindel shrugged his shoulders.
Though he felt he could confide in Sehir if anyone, he knew the truth would only leave him feeling hollow.
After all, learning that all their efforts had been for nothing more than slaying a sleeping dragon-like calamity would surely feel anticlimactic.
It was better for him to believe that the calamity was truly a formidable threat and that he had finally ended it, allowing him peace of mind.
If only to spare him the same disillusionment he felt.
Placing the calamity’s heart on the ground, Kaindel turned to the other members of their group entering the cave and spoke.
“It’s over.”
“What?”
The first to react was Ruen.
Scratching his head as he approached, he frowned upon spotting Kaindel and Sehir standing idly in the center of the infamous calamity’s nest.
It was as if their lack of vigilance seemed odd to him.
“What do you mean, ‘over’? What’s over?”
“The calamity is dead, Ruen.”
“…The calamity?”
It wasn’t until Sehir briefly explained Kaindel’s statement that Ruen began to grasp the situation.
His frown softened as the news sank in, and then he gaped at the remains of the calamity—reduced now to nothing but a single massive foot.
“That’s the calamity?”
“Yes.”
“It’s… that pitiful?”
“It only looks pitiful now because all that’s left is the foot. Originally, it was massive—big enough to fill that entire wall.”
“Huh.”
Kaindel pointed his chin toward the place where the calamity had once been.
Ruen shut his mouth with effort, though his disbelief remained evident.
Meanwhile, Owen, who had been quietly inspecting the cave, redirected the conversation.
His gaze landed on the heart Kaindel had placed on the ground—a black heart that pulsated as if still alive.
His eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“Is that… a heart?”
“It’s the calamity’s heart. I just removed it.”
“It’s still beating, even though it’s clearly dead.”
Owen tapped the heart and marveled at it.
A heart that continued to beat after death—it was his first time hearing of such a thing.
He mused aloud, “Could it be the calamity isn’t completely dead yet?” before clapping his hands as though struck by a realization.
“Earlier, I noticed something strange. The monsters outside… they all started killing themselves, almost as if they’d made a pact. Could it be related to the calamity’s death?”
“When I carved out the calamity’s heart, the monsters outside let out a cry.”
“Then there must be a connection between the calamity’s death and the mass suicide of the monsters. Fascinating. I’ll need to investigate this further when we return to the temple.”
Kaindel listened silently to Owen’s musings.
Now that he thought about it, he did recall hearing eerie wails outside the cave as he removed the calamity’s heart.
Perhaps they had indeed all perished simultaneously.
“The temple?”
Ruen, who had been standing idly, snapped out of his daze and caught Owen’s words.
His eyes gleamed with sudden interest.
Owen, startled by his intense gaze, adjusted his glasses and nodded slowly in affirmation.
“Yes, I plan to return to my master at the temple.”
“But didn’t you run away from there?”
“Technically, I left for a break. I told my master I’d return once we dealt with the calamity.”
Murmuring about his roots at the temple, Owen glanced at the deep pit left by the calamity’s corpse, large enough to fit ten grown men with room to spare.
Daniel, who had been quiet all this time, finally spoke as he gazed into the pit.
“So… it’s all over?”
“Yes, it’s over.”
Kaindel nodded, picking up the calamity’s still-beating heart.
Even though its body had vanished, the heart’s continued pulsation was grotesque.
“It feels… anticlimactic.”
“Better this than all of us dying.”
“…I suppose so.”
Daniel started to agree but trailed off, his gaze shifting to something beyond Kaindel.
His eyes widened, his dark pupils rippling with disbelief as the veins on his hands stood out.
Kaindel frowned at the sudden change.
What was Daniel staring at?
There was no way the calamity could reappear.
“Behind you.”
Before Kaindel could ask, Daniel raised a trembling finger to point behind him.
His voice was tight, as though he could say no more.
Kaindel turned, clutching the heart tightly.
Whatever it was, it had to be significant—Daniel never reacted so strongly.
And when Kaindel saw it, his face mirrored Daniel’s shock.
“…Isa.”
There stood the silver-haired man Kaindel had looked for so long.
* * *
Ryness says: 