Epilogue

“I’m sorry, Zagan,” Foll croaked out. She was a fair bit weaker now, since her body was back to normal. However, her rough breathing made it clear that wasn’t the only issue, which was why Zagan was treating her with the mana he absorbed through the Dragon Form. Thanks to the precautions Zagan took earlier, her clothes had morphed back to the native dress she usually wore.

“I’m going to... get stronger in a way... that better matches my size...”

“Sounds good,” Zagan brushed his daughter’s head as he gave her that reply.

“The Dragon Form isn’t vanishing...” Foll muttered as she cast her gaze through the window and spotted the golem standing guard outside.

“Yeah. It devoured a lot of mana this time, so it will probably stick around for quite some time.”

In fact, it had gathered so much that it could fight on equal ground with an Archdemon for several years. The powers of a dragon and the Sigil of the Archdemon were terrifying enough on their own, but when combined, they were practically invincible.

A shield that eats away at its enemies and grows with time... Something that powerful could be considered the ultimate form of sorcery. Though, at the same time, only beings on par with Archdemons or dragons could ever hope to use it.

“I’m thinking of leaving it here. I told Lilith she’s under my protection, so I need some way to guard her home.”

The calamity that once threatened the city at the bottom of the ocean had become its defender. The elders were frightened by the idea, but they didn’t shoot it down.

“Zagan, you’re different from the Silver-Eyed King,” Foll muttered in relief.

“What do you mean?”

“In the legend, the Silver-Eyed King couldn’t save one of his dragon friends, so he had to kill them. But... you saved both and basically turned your enemy into an ally. You’re way more amazing than him.”

“In that case, I’m sure you’ll grow to be far more amazing than him as well. You’re my daughter, after all.”

“Mm. I’ll do my best,” Foll replied as she nodded in satisfaction.

“Though, for now, you need focusing on resting. It’ll help you heal faster.”

“Okay... I’ll do my best!”

Foll’s stamina hadn’t really returned, so she fell back asleep almost instantly after Zagan left her side.

◇

Zagan found Nephy waiting for him outside Foll’s room.

“How is she doing?”

“She seems fine. Your healing did the trick, Nephy.”

Foll’s life was still in danger after Zagan rescued her. The lingering mana from the sigil was too much for her younger body to handle. Luckily, Nephy managed to use it all to heal Foll. However, she didn’t seem fully satisfied by that conclusion... Perhaps because she was confused by all the baffling turn of events, including how the curse was dispelled.

“It seems there’s something on your mind,” Zagan probed for more information as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

“Yes... Um, I can’t help but wonder how the curse was dispelled,” Nephy replied. She hadn’t forgotten the kiss they shared, but she couldn’t understand why it worked, which was why she worked up the courage to question him despite.

“Let’s see... Well, if all we did was connect, um... a path between us, Foll and I wouldn’t have regained our original forms.”

If it was that simple, Zagan would have solved the issue right away. Or well, however long it took him to work up the courage to kiss her, anyway.

“It only worked because of the specific situation. We’re lucky we had trustworthy allies around.”

“What do you mean?”

“That black dragon was formed out of a mix of Foll’s draconic powers and the Sigil of the Archdemon. In other words, it was a physical manifestation of the curse.”

“I see. Basically, the curse sprang to life.”

“That’s what I think.”

“It became a black dragon, then got injured by the Holy Treasures and a Sacred Sword. And in the end, you normalized the flow of my mana by forming a path between us. The curse was only dispelled because all three of those conditions were met.”

It was the same for Chastille and the others. They only managed to wound the black dragon when the Holy Treasures and her Sacred Sword were working in tandem. If even one of them were missing, even Barbatos, though Zagan was reluctant to admit it, they likely would have been slaughtered.

In short, Zagan was saved by all the people he’d befriended thanks to Nephy.

Is this what it means to rely on others? It honestly doesn’t feel too bad... Still, I need to finish off the person who dared to make Foll suffer... According to Nephteros, that was Alshiera.

“We must give our thanks to Miss Alshiera,” Nephy said, her ears quivering about happily.

“Huh? Why? She may be the one who put Foll through all that.”

“I know. I heard what Nephteros said, but considering everything that happened, doesn’t it seem like she planned all this? I mean, the bats who showed us where Nephteros was were hers, right? And all of this ended with the curse on you getting dispelled...”

I feel like you’re being far too kind to her... Zagan truly felt that way, but when he heard Nephy say that, he started to believe she was right. After all, the bats did guide Zagan’s group.

“Well, let’s just put her case on hold for now. It’s not like we know where she is, anyway,” Zagan said as he shook his head to free himself of such thoughts. It was possible she wasn’t their enemy, but he didn’t think she was an ally either. And so, he resolved to be better prepared for their next meeting.

Well, whatever. There’s something more important on my mind right now... The curse may have been dispelled, but there was no way to regain the time he’d lost.

“Um... In the end, I wasn’t able to keep my promise about our date, so why don’t we resche—”

“No, you did not break your promise at all, Master Zagan,” Nephy cut in, stopping his apology.

“Huh? No, I mean...” Zagan trailed off, unsure how to respond.

“We went somewhere new, dressed up, and... did something special,” Nephy replied as if reminiscing over happy memories. Then, she touched her own lips as her ears quivered about.

Oh, right! It did end with a kiss... Zagan recalled the moment, which made him turn even more red than Nephy.

“We managed to do everything you planned for our ‘date,’ Master Zagan.”

“Maybe, but shouldn’t we have done all that alone?”

“Didn’t we spend a lot of time by ourselves?”

Zagan’s memory of clinging to Nephy and crying in her arms sprung to mind when he heard that.

When she puts it like that, it does kind of feel like we went on a date...

“You’re right. This may have been a date,” Zagan said and he reached in and held Nephy’s hand.

“I’m glad you agree,” Nephy replied as she affectionately squeezed his hand back.

“So, when should our next date be?”

“...Excuse me?”

“It isn’t like we’re limited to one date! A lot of things went wrong, since this was our first attempt, so we have much to improve!”

“Well...” Nephy mumbled as she flashed an embarrassed smile. Then, in an unusual turn, she wrapped her arm around Zagan’s and said, “I shall accompany you anywhere, Master Zagan.”

On a later date, Gremory kicked up a huge fuss out of a desire to hear more about their date, but that is a story for another day.