Set Me Free

Chapter 25. From the Ashes

---I-AM-A-LINE---

"Can beauty come out of ashes?"

---I-AM-A-LINE---

It had been two weeks since the beginning of winter, and just as quickly as time passed, so did the news of the annihilation of various camps across Endeavours Domain. There were two kinds of people among the people: those who feared the beast and those who hailed it as a new guardian.

Despite Endeavor's interference, the masses could only be silenced on the surface. Behind closed doors, whispers passed from person to person, down narrow halls, and along the icy roads to the ears of the many.

As hope rose, so did hate.

A middle-aged man armoured in deep red grinned almost wickedly, his eyes glinting at the approaching figure in the distant skies. The man couldn't believe his luck; the universe was going to deliver him a crimson dragon-scale cape. Well, that's what he would request as his reward for slaying the beast.

"Have the archers at the ready."

He had received a message from a survivor of another camp that the dragon had been making a direct line through Endeavour's land, right into his lap. Perhaps if he was fast, he could obtain one of the beasts' claws as a trophy. What a prize that would be.

However, it happened at such speed that before the man had even finished greeting his potential prize, it was already over. Being dressed so brilliantly in crimson dragon-scale armour made him an easy target for Kirishima, and she wasted no time.

The second in command squeaked in fright, seeing the fate his leader suffered, and he scrambled behind the gathering vanguard.

"Lock shields!"

A chorus of metal answered the call as a row of shields formed a line not a moment too soon as the inferno rained upon them. Curses could be heard from the vanguard as the seemingly endless barrage forced many to their knees, leaving others with no choice but to drop their shields and flee as the metal melted beneath the molten stream.

A volley of arrows soared overhead, bouncing harmlessly off the armoured hide of the beast as it soared overhead, coming around for a second strike. With little to no protection, they wouldn't stand a chance this time.

There were varied reactions; some ran, others stood their ground, but all shared the same grim expression. Some took solace in the fact that they would die in their homeland; others cursed their luck for being born under Endeavours domain, but it wouldn't matter soon enough.

Hitoshi Shinso was one of the many who accepted their fate and cursed this land. Treated like second-rate beings and forced into servitude under a master that obviously didn't care if they all burned.

The indigo-haired man clenched his fists. Was this all his existence was worth? A pile of ashes under the fury of a vengeful beast? He was no fool; he noticed the pattern early on, not that the information had done any good. His superiors hadn't believed him, and for that, he was going to burn alongside them.

However, there was no fire, no brimstone, and no fiery death like they had been expecting. Nothing but the heavy beating of the crimson dragon's wings as it stared them down, tendrils of smoke snaking out from its nostrils

Well, that was unexpected.

Faster than any thought possible from a beast of its size, the towering beast dived down sharply, skimming over their heads before extending its black-tipped claws to collect the remains of their fallen commander.

Then, just like that, it was gone. As fast as it had appeared, it vanished without a trace into the distant skies, leaving all but the single man it had killed behind.