Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

As the destined god-slaying dragon, she was hated and ostracized. Sealed here from a distant era, she devoured its anger, its lament, and its hatred, throwing herself into a vortex of resentment. She should have become the calamity dragon that devoured all of humanity once protected by the gods in this era.

But all of this was undone by that man's words, though it's unclear whether this was a good thing or a bad thing for Typhon, the founder of the Taizu clan.

The red-haired girl stretched out casually at the bottom of the gradually calming lava lake, gazing up at the ever-rolling lava.

She had long forgotten the way she was taught to pray to Chaos or whatever when she was born, but she still couldn't forget the sight of the humans weeping and wailing on the ground when she drove away the gods who betrayed Chaos.

"Those humans will die sooner or later, so why should we show any affection for the dead?"

At the time, I didn't care about such ridicule at all. After all, humans don't have many years left to live, so giving up the struggle is...

In fact, it's not that difficult for pure-blooded dragons born from the Machine Gods. The so-called Age of Gods did not exist because of humans. In the Age of Gods, the world and powerful fantasy species would never give special favor to such insignificant beings as humans.

Looking back now, I realize I was completely unaware of that cold-blooded attitude.

Countless words spoken to the girl in the past flashed through her mind. She couldn't remember who said them; some were spoken face-to-face, some were spoken through the eyes of the gods, some were deliberately said so she could hear, and some were mixed in with words of faith—she had heard them again and again.

monster.

The girl thought to herself, "That's true."

Because she had no goal at all; she was simply there to kill the gods, and for that purpose she would trample everything in her way.

In reality, there was nothing I wanted to do, nowhere I wanted to go, and I didn't even know what I wanted to become. Although I was truly free, after losing hatred, I felt an emptiness all over my body that I couldn't even vaguely imagine.

Moreover, she knew that the world had become a human world, the gods had departed, and although she was free, she had nowhere to go and could only stay in this sealed volcano.

Typhon Ephmelos is a monster who tramples on life; the past cannot be changed, and the present cannot be changed either.

"...Oh, right, I almost forgot, I actually have something else to do."

Just then, the girl suddenly remembered the human's nonchalant expression and realized that she had almost forgotten to eat him. So she immediately got up and quickly walked towards the outside of the volcano.

As dusk faded, the clear blue of the night sky was replaced by a dark, cool blue hue, a boundless expanse reflecting the celestial bodies, a deep azure hue that stretched from the heavens to the earth.

This is the world Typhon has seen again after thousands of years, a world that is both peaceful and full of beautiful scenery.

This natural beauty caught the girl's eye.

“...that...human....”

The girl involuntarily let out a soft call.

The red-haired girl seemed unsure of what to say, but still wanted to convey something and spoke, her tone sounding clumsy.

"...It's...that...you..."

She didn't use any particularly cunning tricks, at least that's what she thought.

"I forgot to eat you."

115: A Chaotic Era

A light drizzle, barely perceptible, drifted silently down from the gray sky. Tiny silver droplets of water had somehow covered the silver-haired youth, making him appear as if he were covered in frost.

Somewhere on the Rhine, Avia quietly looked down at the flowing river.

He had been away from Mount Etna for a month, and the Bagauda rebellion, which had stirred up a great uproar in the Western Roman Empire, showed no signs of defeat against the elite Roman Praetorian Guard; on the contrary, it had reached a stalemate...

This was somewhat unexpected for him. It could only be said that the magicians, Dead Apostles, and Germans had done a great deal of work behind the scenes, but according to the Church's usual practice, such indifference was somewhat unsettling.

'This must be the Rhine River. I can sense the dragon essence I left here!'

As Avia gazed down silently, a voice suddenly echoed in her mind, the voice belonging to Typhon Ephemerus, the Greek patriarch.

Since that day, the red-haired girl has followed the silver-haired youth on her own. Whenever he asks why, she replies, "I haven't eaten you yet." She keeps replying with the same words, and over time, that's how it's been.

Typhon seemed to be unaccustomed to human form, walking like a toddler who had just learned to walk. But she naturally wouldn't say such an embarrassing thing. So Avia took the opportunity to mention that she lacked defensive equipment and might encounter an accident someday.

Then, the red-haired girl, beaming with pride, transformed into a mecha dragon, and then into a suit of armor, which she mercifully made Avia put on.

Ash Armor – this is the name Typhon himself gave it. Its essence is a weapon that reverses the concept of Mount Etna, reverses the seal, and limits the dragon's power to human form as a normal device for controlling power. In other words, to break this shell, one needs to have the power to destroy Mount Etna.

The armor's surface is often covered with lava-like red stripes. The part of the armor that exposes the face, from a modern perspective, is less like Kamen Rider and more like a mix of Ryuki from Final Fantasy and Dark Knight, or the third stage of the clone warrior, Flame Knight.

However, due to Typhon's intentions, it doesn't usually show up, but the effect is always there.

"Yes, it was here a few years ago that Siegfried and I killed Fafner and obtained the Rheinmetall."

Avia pointed to the Rhine River below and said.

'That gold attached to your soul... it doesn't seem to belong to this world, it's more like something from another planet...'

"Who knows? These things aren't that important."

'Oh, right, it's not that important. I was just mentioning it casually...'

Perhaps his initial words hadn't had much effect, so Typhon sent another telepathic message into the young man's mind, urging him to say more.

"Speaking of which, I sensed a mixed aura of dragon and bull race within my fragment, right there in Gaul, as you mentioned."

".....I see."

Avia paused for a few seconds before calmly replying.

Typhon's casual remark revealed to him why the 'Bagad Movement' had been able to maintain a stalemate with the Western Roman Empire.

One of the three ancient magicians who conspired with Ptolemy in the past, Kiz, the ancient magician from the Wandering Sea who wields the 'Gate of Preservation' and the coffin, has made his move.

The three major magic associations, the seven world-destroying weapons of the Atlas Institute, the remains of Albion that the Clock Tower should rightfully possess, and the hidden divine principles of the Wandering Sea are all comparable.

The Wandering Sea possesses five hidden divine principles, each overseen by a magician with one of the five gates. Among them, Kiz's "Gate of Preservation" has the ability to keep the living god, Zagreus, the former form of the Greek god of wine and the prince of the underworld, as a contract object in the present world.

For some unknown reason, the current Kiz has allowed Zagreus, who swallowed the Typhon fragment, to assist the 'Bagodau Movement' in Gaul. And that mixed dragon and bull aura, if nothing unexpected happens, is probably the divine body of Kunitsu-no-Kami of Japan, the god of Ōkuninushi. It should be brought by the magician of the Mountain Court who conspired with him... Speaking of which, this magician of the Mountain Court seems to also have a fragment of Sun Wukong.

In the world of Type-Moon, the so-called struggle between the Dragon race and the Ox race has continued throughout the Age of Gods.

In ancient Babylonia, the hero-king Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu did their utmost to kill the bull of heaven, Gugalana, thus establishing their royal power.

In Greece, the chief god Zeus himself possessed the attributes of a bull and had anecdotes of transforming into one. The dragon he fought against was Typhon, the progenitor of the dragons.

In Egypt, there's an unexpected connection between the Greek and Egyptian gods, stemming from the legend of the Greek gods fleeing to Egypt out of fear of Typhon...

Benedict and Typhon were of the same ilk, but he became the god who banished serpents. During the voyage of the sun god Ra, he was also the water god who protected the chief god from the great serpent Apep. Later, he killed his brother Osiris and fought with Osiris's son Horus for the throne, but was ultimately defeated by the war god Set.

On the mainland, battles also took place between Chi You, the bull-type, and Ying Long, the dragon-type.

In Japan, subtle changes occurred. The most famous giant serpent in Japan, Yamata no Orochi, is sometimes regarded as the same being as Ōkuninushi, who is considered a dead rope. Ōkuninushi, the leader of the Kunitsukami, is a war god and shares the same origin as Chiyou, the bull-breeding god.

In short, the Kunitsu leader, Ōkuninushi, who was defeated by Amaterasu, was an extremely rare hybrid god of dragon and bull races worldwide.

Avia had to admit that the current situation was quite chaotic. The Huns he led weren't even unified yet, and these ancient magicians were already causing trouble and things weren't going according to plan...

After all, the Osiris body in the sea, one of their plans, was destroyed by him in the first century AD, so it's normal for them to start planning again after all these centuries.

If the Dead Apostles behind the 'Bagoda Movement' are actually acting on the orders of the White Wing Lord, the current apparent leader of the Dead Apostles, then things will be even more chaotic. In that case, the Fourteenth Ancestor, the Financial Demon King Van Fem, might very well abandon his hostility towards the White Wing Lord and cooperate with him in order to ensure the continuation of the Dead Apostles' legacy...

This financial tycoon and the Grand Marshal of the Magic Path are friends, and they are also friends of Messala Erskides in Monaco. Messala is the ancestor of the second disciple, Frat, and the magician who created the new human, Tia.

'Human, what's wrong with you? Why haven't you said anything for so long?'

"Ah, it's nothing, I was just a little surprised—"

As the two were talking, the sky continued to drizzle like mist. The silver-haired youth gazed at the mountain before him. On the other side of the trembling drizzle, the dark world stretched endlessly, and not a single person could be seen from there.

But just then, a familiar voice came from the rain-soaked forest.

"Is that Avia? It's been a long time."

"...Hmm, long time no see, Siegfried."

116: Kraken, the Giant of the North Sea

“Originally, I planned to go to Gaul to help the Western Roman Empire and the Church of England quell the ‘Bagoda Movement’.”

Siegfried was talking to Avia, whom he hadn't seen for years. The young man simply listened quietly, without frowning or showing any surprise.

Years have passed, seasons have changed, and the sun and moon have turned, but the feelings he had for Avia at the time of parting still remain. He has always worried that the young Hungarian who is holding the Rhine Gold might fall into misfortune.

However, over the past few years, the silver-haired man, as the 'great hero who slays the dragon,' has gradually accumulated more achievements.

No one knows when, but he had become a well-known figure in the area. Although he had always explained that he was not the only one who slew the dragon, nor was he the one who contributed the most, a man's fame was unstoppable and invincible.

In the blink of an eye, it has soared to the level of people's admiration.

"You must be Siegfried, the one who killed Fafner. You are indeed a great hero."

"No, no, it wasn't just me who killed Fafnir, but also my friend, whose name was Avia."

"Hmm? Who is this person?"

"The Huns."

Siegfried did not believe that people were divided into high and low classes, but only that their actions were either 'just' or 'evil'.

"........Hahaha, you're really joking. Those are just barbarians. But with you protecting us, we'll definitely be safe here."

"That's right, that's right, you are the true hero of justice."

Over the years, Siegfried has visited the Rhine River more than once, and has seen the scenery at various times, whether it was morning, noon, evening, or all day.

As evening falls on the Rhine River, a crimson orange sun slowly descends, casting an orange hue over the water and sky, gradually fading into the darkness of night. Birds call as they fly overhead, while the surrounding forests, decaying and stripped of their vibrant colors, stand in stark contrast.

There are countless people in the world, each with their own thoughts and lives, and these people rise and fall like the tides every morning and evening.

Copernicus felt as if he were floating in some kind of enormous vortex.

Siegfried, who had always lived in a world full of 'affirmation', learned about 'negation' for the first time.

"Moreover, I am a Hun born with an evil will, and even if I slay a dragon, my nature will not change in the eyes of the world."

Recalling their parting words, Siegfried finally understood that Avia had already foreseen this outcome.

Perhaps others see the explanation that the dragon-slaying hero insists on as foolish, but the man chooses to follow his own heart, believing that 'people must know.'

"I was able to kill Fafner only because of Avia, and I will never forget that."

　The silver-haired man said this, and he always felt that the two of them, who had spent half a month together to slay the dragon, were like partners.

So although we're not friends, we're closer than friends.

Now that they meet again, Siegfried feels that Avia is not much different from a few years ago, except that her face has matured a bit.

"Originally? Then Siegfried, where are you going now?"

After listening quietly for a long time, Avia stretched lazily, calmed the somewhat impatient Typhon, and then asked Qigefei with a smile.

In Avia's view, Siegfried is no longer cursed by the Rhinegold, so he will not suffer the original tragedy. If we follow the story of "The Song of the Nibelungs", he should have arrived at the process of helping someone marry the Queen of Iceland.

However, according to Avia's understanding over the years, there is no queen in Iceland now, because it is Kittland's territory.

In the northwestern corner of Europe, on the Scandinavian Peninsula—the largest peninsula in Europe and the fifth largest in the world—there is now a unified country called Kitland, and its king is named Beowulf.

Speaking of which, Beowulf, along with the French Song of Roland and the German Song of the Nibelung, is considered one of the three great heroic epics of European literature. Both Beowulf and Siegfried are known for their dragon-slaying exploits, and Avia can also be considered a dragon-slaying hero in the present day.

In response to Avia's question, Siegfried did not hesitate for long and quickly replied:

"I'm going to kill the giant ancient species that still lives in the North Sea, the Kraken, the giant of the North Sea."

..........

Somewhere in Beihai, the sky was covered with dark clouds, as if shrouded by a huge black cloth, with not a ray of sunlight.

The rain poured down, the dense raindrops hitting the sea surface and splashing up sprays of water.

The man sitting on some kind of marine animal on the sea turned his head, but all he could see was the raging storm; nothing else existed.

“Mei Lian, so you're the one Van Fem sent.”

"Haha, you're really rude. I'm just an employee, you know?"

The laughter seemed out of place amidst the scene before them, and the person called Mei Lian did not appear.

"By the way, Fuaburo, I'm here to help you no matter what, so let's get along well. A lot of Dead Apostles wanted to come, but I insisted on coming."

"Sigh, after all, they couldn't protect you. If things went wrong, we might all die together. That's why Van Fem said to leave it to me. As soon as he said that, I rushed over."

"This is the first time I've heard of you having a sense of companionship... Just wanted to confirm, what happened to the Dead Apostles who were supposed to come with me?"