Okay, steel cast is removed, thumb is okay, fracture is healed, and now undergoing self rehabilitation since I lost the feeling of efficiently moving my right thumb the way I want it to. Anyhow, chapters will probably be released every 2-3 days due to the drop in speed and accuracy of my right thumb, but it's healed, so hoorah!

Have a chapter.

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After Aimi got patched up, her day off officially started. Body still in pain, she shuddered at each movement she made on the way to the bath. Aomi followed by her feet not wanting to add some burden on Aimi's shoulders. Avani and Tirta went back to their own business while the Floating Shield followed Aimi from behind.

In the bath, Aimi tried bathing in cold water to numb the pain. She stayed in the bath until the water became room temperature. Getting out, she found another set of clean clothes in a basket nearby, put them on, and went back to her room to sleep for eight hours. The effects of the dragon meat were lost while she was bathing but she needed time for her muscles to mend themselves.

Cavaron prepared breakfast as usual, plus lunch, and left a charged Pyrocite underneath the plates to keep them warm. After that, he called for his contracts, "I will be gone for a while." and told them of his plan of action, "Keep the place safe. I'll be back after lunchtime." His three contracts affirmed the order and Cavaron went off to who knows where.

Aimi continued to sleep as her body repaired itself. With the help of mana, her recovery went faster than normal and was fully healed in five hours of sleep. Like some sort of alarm, she woke up and began inspecting her body, 'I'm not in pain anymore? That was too quick.' She got off the bed and immediately felt the pangs of hunger. Her body rapidly digested the food to use as energy in repairing itself, thus the reason for her sudden hunger.

Having no other choice, she went down to the kitchen and found the plates of food Cavaron left for her. Thinking well of his deed, she accepted the food offered on the table.

After eating breakfast, she wondered what to do next until she realized Cavaron wasn't in the area. "Burkhard, where's Cavaron-senpai?" She asked the floating shield who replied, "Master left for a while. For what reason, he never mentioned but he will be back after lunchtime."

An "Oh..." left Aimi's lips. Hearing so, she decided to wander around the area only to find a curious looking book on the living room table. Its cover was tattered, yet the designs of gold and silver were intact. Lifting the book, she opened it and saw it had blank pages, all pages were blank. However, she felt something from the book, similar to what she felt with the parrying dagger and gauntlets earlier. Her curiosity winning her over, she fed the book with mana. Suddenly, at the moment of contact, words filled a page, "Please state your query."

It was the Byblos. The artifact that contains all of Edeortha's information.

Aimi remembered the conversation between Cavaron and Ethra a few nights ago, and what this artifact was. Words left her lips,

"Tell me about Cavaron-senpai..."

---

I was sent to deal with a dark elder dragon that the demons were using to destroy human cities. According to the information given to me, the dragon is being escorted along a valley road in Central Edeortha. The messenger who gave this information died from a cursed flame that devoured the body little by little. Fortunately, he was able to find a swift horse to run back to a human fortress and deliver the report.

Having no other recourse, Aldric requested that I deal with it as per my summons. This was, after all, a war that has lasted over a thousand years. Even if I eliminate the leaders, new ones will pop out to replace them. The Sky had over 974 million in population; the Earth had around 732 million; the Sun had a whopping 2.5 billion in their population. Fucking hell, so many people in this super continent that can compare to the Terran Pangaea.

I always wondered why the fuck the humans, with their vast numbers, haven't conquered this world yet. The answer lies with them being fucking cannon fodder. For fucks' sake, every world I've been to, humans are the same everywhere... Then again, I'm human, too... or "was" human... Demi-god, maybe?

And now we come to me walking along a forested area within the reported valley, along with some Sun Knights and Magi numbering to merely 2000. A small size compared to their main force that is half their total population, and their so-called elite troops. Elite? I'll be the judge of that.

As we were creeping through the forest, a knight approached me, "Sir Cavaron, do you have a plan?" It was a woman. Looking at the emblem on her armor, she should be a captain but, for some reason, captains in this world command over 800 soldiers. Anyway, I didn't bother knowing her name so I'll call her FC. FC asked me a question so I just answered, "You take care of the others and I'll take care of the dragon." and continued walking.

FC stood in her place in disbelief. I wonder what she's thinking right now? Well, whatever. We were nearing the target ambush location. It was a cliff that hugged the forest and was wide enough for a two platoons to march through. If the Intel was right, there should be an escort of 1500 lizardmen and the dragon coming through here any time now. The other knights and magi took up positions while concealing themselves within the forest. The others also lathered themselves with mud and dirt just in case. They're pretty smart, I'll give them that though it is still nothing compared to how long they have been at war.

After another hour of waiting, we heard the rumble of a marching army plus the faint roar of a dragon to our east. Jackpot. Looks like these demons never thought of a possible ambush when they found that scout. They really should learn to ensure his death rather than leaving him alone. What? I'm just stating the truth in war.

Two hours have passed after we first heard the roar. Finally, we see the silhouette of an army forming over the horizon, and the shadow of a giant dragon lumbering behind them.

One thing I never heard was the size of the dragon. The dark elder dragon marching with the escort was half the size of Aldric's castle and had shiny obsidian-black scales. I don't see the presence of wings so it must be a land dragon. When I used Mana Sight to see the other parts of its body, its legs were fucking huge and powerful looking that it could smash any wall that impedes it. Not to mention that it had a cursed breath that erodes anything it hits.

We wait for another hour so they could get in range of our ambush. Little by little, louder and louder, the demons came closer to the doors of death. Letting the escort pass us by, we reached their middle and immediately launched our assault.

Since the enemies were reptilians, the magi delivered a barrage of ice magic then the other knights rode forth from hiding to eliminate the stragglers. The enemy became a mess and we were able to take out around 200 in one fell swoop. While they were trying to reorganize themselves, I charged towards the dragon to kill it in the middle of the chaos. However, it was a mistake, the dragon was smarter than it looks and let loose a breath of pure darkness towards my direction. Enveloping my swords with Mana Blades, I cut through the flame with minimal effort. Sadly, I couldn't say the same for the people behind me. Around 300 knights got enveloped by the large swath of flame, including FC. The knight captain woman died in the breath. Elites my ass, they were all cannon fodder.

The other knights and magi continued their assault while I made myself busy with the dragon. Hm? Damned shit's eyeing me, let's see if you'll survive a barrage of Mana Blades.

I sheathed my short swords, and summoned my blood and mana swords while coating them with Mana Blades. A wall of lizardmen tried to stop me but I effortlessly cut through them. My blood sword vibrated through the air as it drank the blood of my enemies, while my mana sword shined brightly as my mana fed it.

With Mana Pulse, out of the 3500 estimated total of both demons and humans currently here, only 1380 were left. Some glances here and there showed me lesser humans and even lesser lizards. Numerically, we have the advantage. However, when it comes to raw firepower, the dragon has the advantage. One breath can easily take out hundreds of soldiers.

Reorienting myself, I resumed to attack the dragon leaving the lizardmen to the knights. A rain of ice covered the battlefield as the magi tried to annihilate the lizardmen. Suddenly, with a stroke of bad luck, a flying horde appeared over the horizon. Sky Knights! The damned angels took this chance to eliminate both the Sun and the Earth. Great, from their speed and distance, I have ten minutes to kill the dragon.

The other magi noticed the Sky Knights and launched a flurry of thunder magic. The Sky Knights retaliated with their own magic, raining fire all around us. The dragon before me had its entire focus on me as it tried to take a bite. For a massive dragon, its bite attacks are quite fast. I had to slow down and jump to evade it.

Eight minutes left, I was able to go around the dragon and attack its legs. With the help of the Mana Blades, I was able to penetrate its hard as fuck scales. The dragon winced and roared in pain, and tried to use its tail as a whip. I openly received its tail and brought down an overcharged Mana Blade to sever it. The dragon lost its tail, and I figured that its tail would be useful so I threw it into my inventory. The dragon roared hard at the disappearance of its tail and let loose another breath attack, which missed me but took out a hundred lizardmen and twice its amount of human soldiers. The dragon entered into a berserk rage and attacked me with reckless abandon.

Each attack it delivered, I dodged and returned an attack of my own. With each hit it received, it lost pieces of its body until I totally destroyed all of its scales revealing delicious pink meat that I carved off, harvested, and sent off to my inventory. Three minutes left and a fireball exploded next to me giving me a slight concussion, and allowed the dragon to release its final breath attack. Launching an overcharged Mana Blade at its neck, I successfully severed it only to have another fireball explode next to me and knock me towards the cursed flame's trajectory.

Shit!

I got hit on the torso as I was sent hurtling down the cliff. Damn my carelessness!

...

..

.

---

Darkness... Absolute darkness. I am here, alone, floating in the black oblivion. Beyond my sight, there is nothing. Nothingness is all around me. I feel... peaceful? As I thought so, I hear a voice from beyond the blackness of this space.

"------------!"

I feel weird. I want to know whose voice that was yet, I feel no urge to do so.

"------------!"

Again, the voice echoes throughout oblivion, as though oblivion itself had a form.

"------------!"

"------------!"

"------------!"

Repeatedly, the same voice calls for me. I muster all of my will to face the source. Turning my body, I see a small white dot within the void.

"------------!!"

Closer and closer, I approach the dot, and the voice becomes louder. Nearer and nearer, the dot becomes bigger. It wasn't a mere dot, but a ball of warm light. When I arrived before it, the voice became silent, yet the ball moved closer to me, entering my body, touching the very essence of my soul.

...

..

.

---

I opened my eyes. It looks like I got knocked out with no idea where I went nor how much time had passed. I see a wooden ceiling above me, am I in someone's house? I try to get up but felt a sharp pain on my chest, "Argh!" Gritting my teeth, I looked down to see the damage.

I was half naked and a black... thing.... was festering over the center of my chest. It also pulsed together with my heart. However, there were some flower petals around it, stuck on the surface of my skin, with alternating blue and white colors. I looked around to inspect my surroundings.

I was in a room, with a bookshelf across where I lay. The door was on the opposite where the bed was, and at the door was a woman with silver hair.

"Oh good, you've woken up. How do you feel?" she asked me as I stared at her, "Hey, how long will you stare at me? It's a bit uncomfortable, you know."

She came inside with a basin of water and placed it at the foot of the bed. "I found you in the forest nearby, collapsed, and with a black flame on your chest." She started talking to me, "I guess you got hit by a Dark Fate dragon. Those petals around it ward off all sorts of dark essences."

She suddenly started to explain the things on my chest. She must have noticed my gaze earlier. I look at her again and found beautiful amethyst eyes. Our gazes locked onto each other and she let out a serene smile. "Well, how do you feel?" Not having the strength to say a word, I just nodded at her question.

Again, she smiled at me until her face turned into shock, "Ah! I forgot to introduce myself." She stood up and bowed to me,

"My name is Aisha."

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I realize that writing about Aisha will be hard. This will take a toll on the release speed since I will most likely write, rewrite, and revise so often that I have no idea how to write her story. Most of the time, the story writes itself and I just follow it.

By the way, I already have an idea on how to end Cavaron's story. Look forward to it after X arcs; where X is the number of planned arcs after Edeortha.