Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 120
The Forest of Peace had fallen into chaos in an instant with the appearance of the Black Flame Dragon. Terrified, the forest fairies abandoned the World Tree and fled in panic. Needless to say, the Fairy King was the first to run.
But Kakaros alone remained by the World Tree until the very end. To protect the tree that had received his mother’s soul, he was the last one to stay and fight.
【 Why are you still here? 】
The Black Flame Dragon looked down at Kakaros standing before him and spoke. The voice was not heard through the ears, it resonated like a vibration deep within his chest.
Kakaros tried to meet its gaze, but his knees gave out helplessly. It felt as if heavy air were crushing him, and he could not move at all.
‘Submission’. It was one of the Black Flame Dragon’s powerful abilities.
“Why… did you burn the World Tree?”
Kakaros asked in a trembling voice.
With eyes as red as blood, the Black Flame Dragon looked down at Kakaros, who was pressed flat at its feet. There was not the slightest trace of sympathy or pity in its gaze. Only a faint hint of curiosity.
【 Why shouldn’t I? 】
At that question, Kakaros parted his lips. Because it was obvious that it shouldn’t be done. That was what he wanted to say, but somehow the words would not come out.
【 They say the World Tree maintains the balance of this world. So I became curious. If the World Tree burned, would the balance of this world collapse as well? 】
Kakaros slowly lifted his head. The dragon’s face was so high above that he could barely look at it, yet he still raised his head and gazed upward.
An indescribable sense of awe covered his entire body, as if he were standing before a god.
【 But now I know. The balance of this world was already broken from the beginning. Don’t you think so? 】
The Black Flame Dragon slowly lifted its foreleg and placed it above Kakaros’s head. His scalp grew cold, as if something like ice had been pressed against it. Goosebumps spread over his entire body.
【 This world needs a new order. 】
Kakaros wanted to ask who was supposed to establish that new order. But the overwhelming pressure kept his mouth from opening.
【 I admire your courage. So if you wish to stand on the side that creates order, come and find me. 】
Leaving only those words behind, the Black Flame Dragon flew away, leaving Kakaros alone.
After that, Kakaros tried to extinguish the flames consuming the World Tree. In the end, he failed.
Then he encountered the hero’s party, who had come chasing the Black Flame Dragon. When they asked him to help them pursue it, he joined them.
“Kakaros, if we find the Black Flame Dragon, can we put out the fire on the World Tree?”
Kyle had asked that not long after they began traveling together.
“Kakaros doesn’t know.”
“Then why are you chasing the Black Flame Dragon? Because it killed your people?”
At that question, Kakaros could not answer yes. The reason he pursued the Black Flame Dragon was not because it had slaughtered his people.
“Yes. That’s right.”
But Kakaros held back the truth.
“Don’t worry. We all carry that kind of pain. We’ve all lost someone precious, and we’ve overcome it. You’ll overcome it too.”
Kyle was the first person who had ever comforted Kakaros’s heart. Kakaros came to see him as family, and at some point, his purpose in seeking the Black Flame Dragon became the same as Kyle’s.
And when he first met Lysian in front of the dragon’s lair, he felt a familiar aura of the Black Flame Dragon from him.
Confused, he tested him by raising his claws, but seeing Lysian’s dull reaction, he soon dismissed the thought as nonsense.
After learning that Lysian had once been the Great Sage, he became convinced that Lysian, too, was probably seeking the Black Flame Dragon for a reason similar to his own.
Kakaros wanted to find the Black Flame Dragon and ask.
Why did it want to establish a new order in the world? And who was meant to stand on the side that created that order? If even the World Tree could not be protected, could that world’s order truly be upheld?
