"Aylos! Don’t just stand there like an idiot—move!!"
Neira shouted sharply and yanked my forearm. With the eyes of a Dravergh queen, she was taking command of the dragons still inside.
Following her orders, I hurried my feet as well. A golden dragon kept flickering in front of my eyes, but I repeated to myself that I had to trust Varen.
Jostled by children and adult dragons alike, I walked along the tunnel carved out of the cavern. It was an anthill of a space, but the reception suite we’d stayed in for days was not hard to find.
With my nerves stretched tight, I knocked. The door flew open at once. Kallen stood there white as a sheet, and two small reptiles were curled up nearby, whining in distress.
"Ceryl! Where have you been?!"
"Sorry. I’ll explain later. Are you all okay?"
When I held out both hands, Rami and Miya crossed over to me at the same time.
Miya wrapped herself around my left arm as if it were natural, trembling hard. And even Rami—who hadn’t come near me because she’d been afraid of a dragon’s scent—burrowed into my chest, making small, plaintive noises.
They must have been badly frightened by the way the entire cavern had roared like it was about to collapse.
Lastly, Kallen couldn’t quite bring herself to hug me. She only reddened and teared up, her lips trembling.
Every time I saw her, she looked both pitiful and brave. I let out a bitter smile and patted her ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ head.
"The humans have started their attack. The war between humans and dragons is going to begin."
"T-Then... what do we...."
"Let’s take shelter in Varen’s room. He said it’s the safest place in Belzena—"
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG—!!!
Before I could finish, the bombardment started again.
It was a shock strong enough that it was hard just to stay standing. The children filling the corridor screamed all at once and collapsed to the ground.
The adult dragons were no different. They stared up at the shaking ceiling, frozen and uncertain what to do.
"Nobody stops! Get up right now! Take the children farther inside!!"
The one who crushed the chaos this time, too, was Neira. Her clear, ringing voice drove the dragons into motion.
I immediately grabbed one of Kallen’s hands tightly. Then I let myself be carried along by the dragons’ tide.
Varen’s room was in the deepest part of the cavern. I’d thought I wouldn’t be able to find it alone, but as if the owner of these clothes had cast a spell, my body was finding the direction on its own.
With every few steps, an explosion boomed as though heaven and earth were being shaken apart. We walked in a rush, but whenever the ground thundered we stopped, and when the aftershock died away we moved again.
Then, amid it all, a different noise forced its way into my ears—something other than rock being shattered.
"Kiiiaaaah—!!!!!"
My whole body froze on instinct.
That was unmistakably a dragon’s scream. A final, dying shriek, writhing with pain.
After stopping for a moment, I swept my bangs back in irritation.
"...You absolute garbage bastard."
It was only a moment, but I’d felt relief at the fact that the one screaming wasn’t Varen.
Whoever that dragon was—face and name unknown—I prayed they would survive. Clenching my teeth, I started down the corridor again.
Even as I did, my thoughts grew more and more tangled.
What kind of weapon had the human army brought, for a dragon to scream like that—so full of pain? If I squeezed my eyes shut, I could picture it: some enormous, house-sized dragon falling out of the sky, though I didn’t even know who it was.
Then, once again, a voice rang inside my head so vividly it made my eyes go wide as lanterns.
"Ordin!! Father!!!"
I stopped again and looked back toward the cavern entrance. Even as I was shoved and bumped by the evacuating dragons, I stood there like a wooden post.
Neira was the same. As if she’d heard the same voice, she was staring toward the exact same place.
And a moment later, Neira’s neck turned slowly until our eyes met. Her face had gone pale in an instant.
"That was Varen’s voice, right?"
Neira gave a small nod to my question.
And then my body reacted reflexively, with no plan at all. I began pushing upstream against the dragons trying to flee to safety, turning back the way we’d come.
"Ceryl! Ceryl, where are you going?!"
A girl’s desperate voice rang out as she tried to hold me back. But it only reached my ears—it couldn’t reach my mind.
A thirst and anxiety surged up like madness. The only thing I could feel was that if I didn’t confirm Varen’s safety with my own eyes right now, I might actually die.
But after only a few steps, I forced my legs—trying to bolt on their own—to stop. Not only Varen’s voice, but a wind like a storm and the continuing blasts were crashing through the air.
"Damn it. Even if I go...."
It would be a scene that would not be an exaggeration to call a war of gods. There was nothing a single weak human could do there.
Instead of helping, I’d only get in the way of Varen—the strongest force in this war.
Biting down hard, I turned back again and let the evacuation line carry me. All I could do was pray Varen would be safe....
"Neira! Help us! Ordin is down!"
That was when another urgent voice grabbed at my ankle.
A young female dragon came running up, her teal hair rippling like water as she moved.
At her appearance, Neira’s face tightened with impatience and alarm.
"Brinel? Ordin is down?!"
The woman called Brinel panted, but she reported the situation quickly.
"It’s not only Ordin. There are many warriors who’ve been hit by the humans’ weapons. It’s not even that they took a direct hit—just being grazed, and none of them can come to their senses."
Even in the clamor, Brinel’s words lodged in my ears. As if possessed, I stepped closer to them.
"The injured area is turning pitch-black and it reeks like rot. Ordinary healing magic doesn’t work—"
"Does the wound keep spreading, by any chance?"
When I abruptly cut in to ask, Brinel turned to me. She looked startled, but she answered without hesitation.
"Yes. A wound that was the size of a fingernail becomes the size of a palm in an instant."
"Sounds like necrosis.... Any paralysis in the body, or convulsions?"
"The limbs stiffen and twitch in small spasms. The lips twist, and the face stiffens too."
"If there’s facial paralysis, is the breathing okay?"
As the questions and answers continued, Neira grabbed my forearm and spun me around. When I faced her, she was glaring at me with eyes sharp enough to devour me.
"Aylos, how do you know the humans’ weapons?"
"I don’t know exactly what kind of poison it is, but just from the symptoms, it sounds like poison intoxication."
It would be easier to persuade them if I revealed my past as a veterinarian, but there was no time for that.
I brushed Neira’s arm off lightly and spoke to Brinel.
"First, it’s important to keep the poison from spreading through the body. Clean the affected area with clean water, and the wound needs to be kept lower than the heart. Apply pressure around the wound to control bleeding... and you said there are patients who can’t breathe, right? Then you need to secure the airway first, but...."
A look that said they couldn’t understand at all stabbed into my face. Me, Neira, Brinel—this was a frustrating conversation for all three of us.
I worked my brain hard. How could I explain emergency measures simply and accurately?
But I didn’t get to think for long. My unguarded wrists were seized by both women, and I was dragged away.
"You're a doctor, right? We don’t have enough hands on site!"
"It’s a human weapon. A human would know it best. Come see it and judge for yourself, Aylos."
At a glance, they were both shorter than me—slender women. But dragons, with their absurd strength, easily ignored my struggling as they hauled me toward the battlefield.
