The White Dragon's End

“Guh!? Ga…f…!?”

Fafnir’s fangs caught hold of Lindwyrm’s white throat.

“Lord Fafnir! There! Bite down and tear it off!”

An excited Patricia shouted encouragement.

Henrik also clenched his fist tightly and nodded repeatedly.

Henrik was surely projecting himself onto Fafnir.

He had entrusted that vengeance for his father, which little him couldn’t accomplish, to that Black Dragon.

Meanwhile, Jonah—

“Why…”

Considering the difference in strength between the two dragons and the wounds they bore, Jonah had thought Lindwyrm’s foreleg would seize Fafnir’s head or neck and that would be the end.

But the result was that Fafnir miraculously dodged the foreleg and delivered a life-saving strike to its throat.

–Smack!

“Jonah! I understand you’re puzzled, but now is the time to cheer for Lord Fafnir!”

“Ah… y-yes! Mr. Fafnir, please do your best!”

It seemed Patricia shared the same question.

Patricia patted his back, and Jonah joined in the cheers.

“Gwo… gwooo…!”

“Gahf… f…!”

Fafnir’s fangs sank deeply into the throat, and Lindwyrm wore an expression of agony.

Even so, Fafnir, lacking energy, also looked to be in a dire state.

“This looks like it will come down to who can endure longer.”

“Yes…”

If Fafnir ran out of strength and released its fangs now, it would only be destroyed by Lindwyrm.

This was exactly the watershed that would decide victory or defeat.

“…For Fafnir, you’re really trying… aren’t you?”

“…………………………..”

Lindwyrm curled the corner of its mouth and made a sarcastic remark.

Fafnir did not answer; he concentrated all its effort into its jaws.

“Do you… understand…? If you let go of those fangs… you’ll be killed by me…”

“…………………………..”

Lindwyrm continued to taunt, and Fafnir silently tried to bite through the throat.

From his vantage point in the stands, Jonah couldn’t tell exactly what state the two were in now.

“…This is bad.”

“Huh…?”

“Look. Lord Fafnir’s breathing is getting labored, and his lower jaw is drooping slightly.”

As Patricia pointed out, it did appear that Fafnir was reaching its physical limit.

Lindwyrm also looked pained, but still seemed to have some strength left.

At that moment.

“…!?”

“Gwoooooooooooaaaaaaahhhhh!”

To everyone’s shock, Lindwyrm lifted Fafnir while its throat was still clamped.

If it slammed them down onto the arena now, Fafnir’s fangs would be dislodged, and then Lindwyrm would toy with and kill them.

“Aha, ha… this is the end for you…”

“…………………………..Not yet!!!”

Fafnir, who had remained silent until now, snapped its eyes open and, using its own weight, half-rotated its body.

“Gagaga, gagah!?”

Lindwyrm let out a strange cry as its throat was twisted and torn.

–Thuddddd…

Fafnir’s massive black body fell, shaking the arena.

A moment later, Lindwyrm’s white bulk fell on its back, blood gushing from its throat.

“My… victory…!”

Drawing on its last reserves, Fafnir stood up.

“Gwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooaahhh!”

It raised a victorious roar toward the wide sky.

“Aha… ha… That I, of all beings, would lose to someone like Fafnir… how laughable…”

Under the watch of Jonah, Patricia, Henrik, Kuu, and the victorious Fafnir, Lindwyrm continued to sneer.

Yet, was it just Jonah’s imagination that he sensed a certain clarity, a refreshing ease, from the defeated White Dragon?

“Why…”

“Why…? Ahaha… I… I don’t even know what I’m saying…”

Lindwyrm laughed and feigned confusion at Fafnir’s question, but its voice was weak and its breathing faltered.

The blood spurting from the bitten throat had stopped, but the wound exposed bone; there was no hope of survival.

Then.

“Ha… serves you right! You got this because you killed my dad… my dad!”

Henrik spat at Lindwyrm, filled with hatred.

Tears spilled in great drops from his eyes.

To him, Lindwyrm was the enemy who had taken his father—a being he could never forgive.

And yet, along with hatred and resentment, Henrik’s heart was mixed with complex feelings that couldn’t be put into words.

Henrik was apparently still too young to name those feelings.

“Lindwyrm… I want you to tell me. Why did you eat Henrik’s father? Why did you call someone who should have been your friend a traitor…?”

Jonah had been bothered by this for some time.

From what he had heard from Fafnir, Lindwyrm was said to have been very interested in humans and delighted to have made a friend.

So why had it had to do such a thing? What, exactly, had it been betrayed by?

Because someone told it, ‘I won’t see you anymore’? Ridiculous.

Surely Lindwyrm had a reason.

A reason that forced it to eat its friend.

“Aha… ha… well… who knows…”

Lindwyrm refused to answer Jonah’s question and stared at the sky.

“Goba… go… gopo……………………..!”

“…!?”
“…!?”
“…!?”
“…!?”

It spat out dark red blood from its huge mouth and, eyes wide open, breathed its last.

And yet.

“Why… Why are you making that face…? You should suffer more! You should taste the same pain as my father…!”

Henrik collapsed and wailed, pounding the stands’ floor with his fists again and again.

Lindwyrm wore a peaceful smile as if it had met a friend, cradling its own chest with its forelegs as if in affection.