Father, I Won’t Do Anything

The clear sky opened, and rain began to pour as if to wash away everything upon the earth – a torrential downpour. It resembled divine punishment descending.

Kwareurung!

The deafening thunder grew increasingly violent.

Wheeeing!

Following this, a storm summoned by Diamid’s hands assailed Black Night clan’s abode.

“Taylor, Taylor!”

Witnessing the motionless Taylor, Euriche charged forward in anguished fury, but a dragon’s physical assault held little potency without access to magic.

As Euriche lunged with jaws agape, Diamid hurled a massive blade of wind into her mouth.

“Ugh, heuhkk!”

Euriche couldn’t even scream. The surrounding dragons trembled in terror upon witnessing her instantly bisected frame.

“Don’t, falter! Even if our magic is sealed, it’s only temporary! Endure until then!”

“How long must we endure this human male’s humiliation!”

Back dragons charged forth, claws gleaming menacingly.

Dragons who perceived themselves as the pinnacle of creation, having reigned over the earth for eons, now exerted their utmost to slay a single human. Yet not one could so much as graze Diamid.

“We can still use non-dark attribute magic! He only sealed that aspect!”

Belatedly grasping Diamid’s magic, the dragons began channeling their mana, unleashing a relentless barrage upon him with overwhelming force.

Shoooosh!

Shoosh!

Though Diamid reflexively countered with his own spells, the dragons, anticipating his attacks, easily deflected them.

Baaaang!

The dragon scales, capable of withstanding any assault, glistened through the smoke.

While dark attribute magic was a vulnerability for Black Night clan, conversely, most other magic proved ineffective against them.

“If we slay the human male, the sealing magic will dissipate!”

Baaaaang!

The dragons unleashed non-elemental magic upon Diamid.

Though lacking the potency of dark attribute magic, and with most of their mana sealed, the sheer numbers attacking simultaneously posed a significant threat.

Moreover, whenever Diamid attempted to deflect or evade, they seized the opportunity to strike with their razor-sharp claws, leaving him no respite.

“Such insolence from a mere human!”

It was at that moment.

A mana signature of an entirely different caliber tore through the air, hurtling towards Diamid. Though he swiftly cast a haste spell to evade, the mana relentlessly pursued him.

“BelLon, to resort to using the clan’s sacred heirloom passed down for generations – have you lost your senses?”

“This is precisely the sort of dire emergency for which the sacred heirloom exists!”

Indeed, it was the dragon clan’s sacred heirloom.

True to its prestigious reputation, the sacred heirloom’s mana exhibited a will of its own, billowing toxic fumes as it unerringly tracked Diamid.

“Attack while that arrogant human male is distracted by the sacred heirloom!”

Shoooosh!

Shoosh!

Subsequently, several dragons formed ranks and unleashed a concentrated barrage upon Diamid.

Despite Diamid’s swift defensive barriers, the incessant magic and the sacred heirloom’s mana soon breached his defenses.

As Diamid attempted to re-establish his barriers, the onslaught’s relentless pace forced him to continuously cast haste spells and evade.

However, even that proved futile, as close-quarters combat was a magician’s greatest vulnerability.

For magicians were inherently ill-suited to solitary combat.

“Ugh…”

For the first time, Diamid let out a pained groan as the sacred heirloom’s mana grazed his shoulder.

The wound gradually blackened, the sacred heirloom’s toxin infiltrating his body.

‘This will be an arduous battle.’

Had he retained his immortal state, the previous attack wouldn’t have inflicted even a minor wound. But he had surrendered most of his mana and the power of immortality to revive Jaina.

In this moment, even he was merely an ordinary magician.

Diamid ground his teeth. Never before had he yearned for his former power as intensely as now.

‘But I harbor no regrets.’

His sacrifice had allowed him to save that child.

To atone.

All that remained was surviving this ordeal.

For as long as he lived, no one could harm Jaina.

Through his blurring vision, Diamid mechanically unleashed spells.

Dragon screams incessantly assailed his ears, yet he couldn’t smile, for excruciating pain emanated from his thigh and throughout his body.

‘Bezrice.’

In that moment, Diamid uttered Bezrice’s name like a prayer to the heavens.

‘Bezrice, help me. I must protect our child.’

Where the dragon claws had raked his flesh, the torn flesh dangled lifelessly. Though Diamid tried to endure the agony, he couldn’t prevent his legs from giving way.

Losing his balance, Diamid began plummeting earthward from midair.

‘…I can’t die.’

He fought to pry open his increasingly heavy eyelids – not out of any lingering attachment to life, but because he had family to protect.

‘For you sacrificed your life to bring this child into the world, so I must risk mine to safeguard her.’

Even as he helplessly plunged through the air, Diamid channeled his mana to deflect the relentless attacks, inwardly repeating Bezrice’s name.

‘Bezrice, don’t be so stubborn. Without Jaina, I would have followed you. Isn’t it too soon? Can’t you grant me a little more time?’

However, the sacred heirloom’s toxin and the wounds from the dragon claws proved too severe.

Before he knew it, his knees had struck the ground, his entire body drenched in blood.

Was this truly the end?

After inflicting only further trauma upon that child… to be unable to take responsibility until the very end…

Diamid couldn’t easily accept the death looming before him.

For he understood the grief of those left behind better than anyone.

‘Inflicting one wound was enough. I can’t bear to hurt that child again.’

Somehow, Diamid poured his dwindling mana into moving his body, gradually rising to his feet.

But at that very moment, the distant roar of an incoming dragon spell resonated.

‘Has the seal been lifted…?’

As Diamid gazed blankly into the void, it was then that–

Bababang!

A barrier manifested before his eyes, revealing the familiar visage of a young girl.

‘A dream…?’

Yet proving it was no mere dream, a longed-for voice echoed forth.

“Tower Lord, are you alright?”

Diamid doubted his senses. Could this be a hallucination?

“Jaina, we’ll handle the dragons, so you protect the Tower Lord!”

However, the familiar voices of Seiden, Mikael, and Hilvenzia soon followed in quick succession – too vivid to be a mere dream.

‘Not a dream, then.’

Bababang!

As another spell hurtled towards Diamid, Jaina deftly countered it with an identical spell, her movements practiced and fluid.

“How, reckless…”

“It’s alright. Please tend to the Tower Lord’s wounds first.”

Once more erecting a barrier around Diamid, Jaina continuously infused it with mana, fortifying its durability.

“…Jaina.”

It felt like the first time he had uttered her name.

“Jaina.”

As Jaina momentarily flinched, he smiled and spoke again, his expression pure and childlike.

“I’m grateful to have called your name before my demise…”

The blood trickling down his brow obscured his vision, preventing him from clearly discerning Jaina’s expression.

“Who said anything about dying!”

However, her voice rang out clearly. As it quavered with encroaching tears, Diamid’s heart ached more acutely than from his physical wounds. Witnessing Jaina’s distress pained him far more than any injury.

He longed to rise, to gently caress her face and wipe away her tears, but his body utterly refused to move – a fact more maddening than anything else.

“For you to act so recklessly, the Tower Lord is truly foolish…”

“Such words are a first for me…”

“Of course. Who would dare address the peerless Tower Lord in such a manner? Only I can.”

Despite Jaina’s biting words, Diamid could only laugh softly. Regarding his amusement, Jaina exclaimed in exasperation.

“You can still laugh in a situation like this?”

“Yes, I’m overwhelmingly happy.”

“…Why would you go to such lengths for me?”

“…”

“You know dragons have no fathers, right? The Tower Lord has no obligation to take responsibility for me.”

Those who had ultimately abandoned her in her previous life – her father and relatives. And the dragon race, which shirked parental duties…

To Jaina, Diamid was no different from them.

She had distanced herself from him, citing dragon excuses, assuming he too would eventually discard her once she became inconvenient.

For resigning herself from the outset seemed preferable to suffering the pain of betrayed expectations.

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”

“What…?”

“If I had only been a little braver… If I hadn’t pushed you away, it wouldn’t have come to this.”

However, Diamid instead claimed responsibility, stating that he had been the one to push her away.

“I’ve always wanted to apologize. But I kept postponing it, uncertain of how to broach the subject… And now, I find myself speaking in such dire circumstances…”

Rendered speechless, Jaina could only gaze at him in a daze, utterly at a loss for how to respond.

Yet a chilling sensation crept up her spine.

The fact that he, who had never once revealed his innermost thoughts, now abruptly laid them bare filled her with unease and trepidation.

“That’s enough for now.”

“…?”

“His Highness Rosian’s severed arm was reattached using Lady Hilvenzia’s reagent, wasn’t it? It can heal the Tower Lord’s wounds as well. So please, let me hear the rest later.”

“But…”

“After a deep, restful sleep, I’ll listen then. So please.”

Diamid understood. His condition, afflicted by the sacred heirloom’s toxin, differed greatly from Rosian’s severed limb.

That he had endured thus far was due to his inherent resilience.

But to continue would only bring tears to the child before him.

Parting his lips, Diamid ultimately smiled and nodded in acquiescence.

“Very well, then.”