When those gentle, lullaby-like words reached her ears, Sirin seemed to jolt awake from a dream, staring blankly as Bella took a few steps back, the vial clutched in both hands.
A sudden pang shot through Sirin's heart. She reached out, desperate to stop Bella.
"Wait! Bella! What are you doing?!" Sirin's panicked hand grasped at empty air. Bella had already widened the distance between them.
"A dragon is chasing us… Since there are no knights or heroes, the only one who can defeat a dragon… is another dragon…" Bella whispered, a faint smile on her face.
Even with his poor eyesight, Shu could see Bella's legs trembling, could see her knuckles white from gripping the vial so tightly.
Yet, her face held a determined, albeit strained, smile. Stiff, but warm.
"No…" Sirin seemed to realize what Bella intended. Shaking her head, she lunged forward, trying to seize the vial from her grasp.
"Wait… just a little longer…" Shu, leaning against the wall, struggled to his feet. Gasping, he pleaded with Bella, "Just a little longer… I… can…"
But Bella took another step back, evading Sirin again. It seemed she had never avoided Sirin before; in the past, it was always Sirin who would reluctantly dodge her enthusiastic hugs.
Man-eating flames landed nearby. The dragon seemed to have reacted to Bella's sharp turn. In ten seconds at most, the fireballs would engulf their current position.
And in ten seconds… they couldn't carry Shu very far.
"Lady Sirin…" Bella took a deep breath, composing herself. "I will become a dragon… and buy you time to escape. If… if I forget you, you don't have to come back for me…"
"I'll try my best. Don't worry about me… I… I…"
Struggling to find the right words, her thoughts in disarray, Bella turned to the silent Shu.
"Demon King… Shu… I'm sorry, I don't know what to call you…" Bella apologized, her eyes dimming. "But, please, protect Lady Sirin… If you protect her, she will use her magic to save everyone…"
Magic?
Shu stared at Bella in silence, about to speak, but the fireballs landing nearby cut him short.
This time, the fireballs were closer. Several precious seconds had already ticked by.
Shu swallowed his words, but Sirin didn't.
She suddenly broke down, waving her hand and shouting at Bella.
"What magic! Bella, stop dreaming! There's no such thing as magic!!" Sirin cried, tears streaming down her face.
Compared to the stunned Bella, Sirin was clearly the one in distress now.
Like a child whose dreams had been shattered, forced to face reality, Sirin cried out, "Don't put your hope in me! Don't expect me to be the hero of the story! Magic? Saving everyone?"
"I can't!!" Sirin clenched her fists, pouring all her strength into her words, yelling at Bella and herself.
Her vision blurred with tears. "You said I could save everyone with magic, but I'm not a hero! If I were, you wouldn't have to stay here for me, turning into a dragon!"
"Magic... there's no such thing! It's all fake, fake!!"
"There's no magic in this world!!"
Suddenly, Sirin felt herself enveloped in a warm embrace. In this cold, dark place, her dragon shared its last vestiges of warmth.
Although it was an embrace with only one arm.
Sirin opened her eyes to see Bella's other hand plunging the syringe into her own snow-white neck.
At that moment, the ceiling collapsed, the dragon's flames arriving a second early.
The firelight illuminated the darkness. Sirin saw Bella's tearful smile, heard her whisper in her ear.
"Lady Sirin… dragons… aren't real either, are they?"
As the serum entered her veins, Shu, with a supreme effort, raised his hands, preparing to cast one last barrier for them. He was ready for his own death, ready to return once more…
But at that very moment, a resounding dragon's roar erupted from Bella's throat. Its intense resonance tore through the descending flames, ripping the basement ceiling wide open, letting the outside light fall upon Sirin's face.
Another pair of immense wings unfurled. A blue, white, and black dragon soared from the underground, slamming into the fire-breathing dragon.
The monstrous dragon struggled, its fanged maw clamping down on Bella's neck. Bella let out a pained roar, her foreclaws digging into the dragon's shoulders.
The hard scales resisted Bella's blunt claws, but there were wounds on the dragon's shoulders, inflicted by Arahato!
With a powerful beat of her wings, a gust of icy wind extinguished the kingdom's flames, carrying Bella and the captured dragon into the sky.
Unlike the monstrous dragon's ferocity, Bella's form was streamlined and graceful. She roared mindlessly, yet with unwavering determination, she pushed the dragon further and further away.
Sirin collapsed to the ground, her arms still outstretched in an embrace.
Shu lowered his hands, gently clutching his heart.
He had just received a [Wish].
From [Bella Benares: Protect Sirin's smile].
"Bella…" Sirin watched the dragon, now a distant speck in the sky, tears flowing uncontrollably. "I…"
I couldn't even give you one smile in return…
"Sirin…" Shu gazed silently at the sky, then lowered his head, coming to Sirin's side and pulling her up.
"Let's go… Let's go prepare the [magic] to defeat the dragon and the Demon King…"
Sirin turned to Shu, dazed.
"Magic… really…" she murmured. Suddenly, Bella's last words echoed in her mind.
The dragon, which shouldn't exist, was now soaring above them. Therefore, magic did exist…
It just wasn't as beautiful as she imagined. It demanded a price from its user, a price so heavy, so unbearable…
Sirin clenched her fists, rising to her feet, a flicker of resolve finally appearing in her eyes.
But… magic did exist—!