Prologue

The age of beasts before the fire rose.

It bit into the jaw of the evil dragon that had torn the sky apart, and at last carved out a land for the humans who were born.

Like a tale of heroism.

In reality, it was nothing more than a continuation of fragmented tragedies, unrelated to such tales.

Beasts.

Avoiding those devilish beings we called that, we moved in hiding by day and fell into sleepless sleep at night, hoping not to be devoured.

A time when death was expected and survival uncertain.

It was an era where humans clustered together to increase even the slightest chance of survival, and life was simply living on, having miraculously grown older and survived.

I was no different.

Why on earth should I live like this?

I was born by chance, and once I could run I spent my life fleeing.

Just as that vague fear began to feel familiar.

It was probably around then.

Rain fell and cleared, and like harvesting flowers and fruit growing on plants, change always came suddenly at an unexpected moment.

On the day heavy rain poured as if the sky itself were collapsing.

The group I was with was struck by a beast attack, as if pierced by thick raindrops.

The day those who shared my blood screamed as they were slaughtered like livestock, their feet mired in soft mud and muck so they couldn’t flee.

With the darkened sky settling, we cut down a giant beast and followed the man who suddenly appeared beneath a brilliant beam of light, and ate a heart the size of a child’s head.

Pain spread as if I had swallowed fire, and instead of vomiting out the heat, I screamed.

What was born after that was a blade that cut the beasts’ windpipes, I swung the sword the man left behind and slashed countless beasts.

Death, mud, and blood.

That was all life was.

The sparks that bloomed here and there became a blaze that cut the beasts’ throats, humans robbed of their lives saw that light and gathered into packs.

We — I — could no longer run.

Now the situation had reversed.

We no longer feared the beasts, and no matter how gigantic a beast stood in our way, we did not stop moving forward.

People began to mourn the dead, singing of their deeds and crying out for bloody vengeance.

They didn’t care how strong the opponent was or how massive their bulk.

Death no longer held us back.

“People have broken through the chokepoint.”

“How many died this time?”

“Twenty. Stabbed the hearts with spears.”

A familiar guy picked up a glossy black spear and spoke.

It was definitely the beast’s.

I spat clear saliva, then picked up the sword leaning beside me.

“Go. Another one will soon try to claim the territory.”

We cut down the beast blocking our path and swallowed its heart, and the survivors wielded stronger power and strode toward even mightier beasts.

How strong they were, how many hearts they had eaten — none of that mattered.

Those who cut the darkness at the front died first, as if their blades had dulled, and with their blood as a whetstone, new ones rose sharp.

They burned away the beast’s energy contained in their hearts to light the night, keeping watch through sleepless hours until dawn came.

The places of comrades who had shared life and death were filled by others, and familiar faces one by one fell asleep in memory.

I remembered all of them.

They had all been dreaming of something.

There was one who wanted to lie down on soft grass and sleep until the warm sunlight faded and a sky full of stars poured down.

When I scoffed at that daydream I’d never heard, he began to boast about what he’d experienced far to the south.

And again the rain fell.

Cutting, piercing, shooting out.

The war that repeated for years showed no sign of ending, and every winter favored the beasts.

Those who sobbed while holding children dying of fever feared going any further, and that fear spread like wildfire, causing some to begin abandoning the group.

Arrows that had been shot with vigor began to lose direction and waver.

Beasts came in unending waves, and we could not promise a tomorrow.

Then spring returned, the frozen ground thawed, and even steps forward grew heavy.

A horde of beasts emerged through a gap in the high mountain range.

• Buuu.

With the low sound of a hornpipe, the hordes of beasts began to descend on the humans’ group.

Beasts moving as if one body, following some command.

Those stunned by the sight fled in terror, and the remaining were paralyzed by fear, unable to move their limbs properly.

“The endpoint of this long, long journey lies beyond there!”

Advance forward.

I couldn’t tell who had spoken.

But those awakened from a swamp-like deep dream began to step forward one by one, and I too burned my blade and extended the energy within my heart.

“Forward!”

The energy that rose as if burning the last soul began to sever the beasts’ windpipes.

We were bitten by sharp teeth and swept away by forelegs like massive pillars.

Heads burst open, entrails spilled out.

Even as we were surrounded by hordes of quadrupeds and our skin was torn, we never stopped.

Crying out the future instead of screams.

We became sharply honed spearheads hurled toward the terminus.

At the moment we looked around to cool our inflamed lungs after cutting through a giant beast’s body, but agonizingly, at the instant we felt certain we could not possibly overcome the encircling horde of beasts, a shadow descended onto the ground, tearing the clear sky apart.

[―――――!!!]

A flesh-beast that a dozen or so had latched onto and were stabbing burst open.

The tangled mobs of beasts and people waging a chaotic fight were swept away.

An evil dragon.

The arrogant maw of the evil dragon stretched toward the heavens and shook the world, and both people and beasts alike stood in stunned awe, watching it.

Even without being told, we knew.

that the destination of the long journey, burning its own body to press on, lay there.

Without anyone counting who went first, the survivors rushed in, and I too ran to the front line, extending the blade that would cut the darkness.

On that day when torrential rain shot down like spear blades.

The scene of cutting through the storm clouds that pressed down the world filled my vision.

At the moment the dragon’s spear-like roots pierced a heart, my blade, stained dark red, pierced the dragon’s jaw and sent forth a ray of light.

Watching the evil dragon’s body slowly topple, my vision began to darken.

Now murky memories began to surface one by one.

I am a blaze — perhaps the fire that covers and counters the field-devouring flame.

Amid distant cheers and the cries of comrades, I finally lit up the darkness.

There was no regret.

Only pity remained.

The terrified days when I ran until my breath hitched rose to mind.

I wanted to witness firsthand the age of humans that had finally begun.

I wanted to walk the floral path the survivors would tread.

As consciousness faded like sinking into a dream, a scene I had never seen before came to me.

Death, mud, and blood.

A soft lawn far removed from all of them.

I saw warm sunlight dim and a starry sky pouring down.

That would probably be the most perfect life.