Roar!!!
Fortissax's agonized roar echoed through the underground world.
A jet of crimson dragon blood burst from its throat like a bloody arrow, shooting straight into the air before its body slammed heavily into the muddy water, throwing up a spray of blood.
Blood poured endlessly from Fortissax's mouth like a fountain, staining the surrounding mud red and forming a horrifying pool.
Every drop seemed to carry endless pain, as if it had been forced out of its body, and even the soil became tainted with the scent of death.
Agony swept through Fortissax from head to tail. Every bone and every muscle seemed to groan in pain.
It felt as though some colossal force had torn its body apart, then shoved it back into the mud, like someone was trying to bury it alive.
Fortissax's head grew heavy and clouded, and its thoughts slowed.
But through sheer force of will, it raised its head and fixed its gaze on Nolan. As expected, Nolan had changed completely.
Nolan now had a suit of Scale Armor even Fortissax could not match, along with six dragon wings.
His speed and strength were more than a step above Fortissax's. Every movement was almost impossible to follow, and every strike carried terrifying force.
With strength like this, even in the ancient era, he would have been a hero qualified to contend for the throne.
Nolan stood upside down on the rock ceiling at the top of the Deeproot Depths. His legs tensed, and he vanished from Fortissax's sight, appearing before it in the very next instant.
Fortissax forced its massive body upright, then whipped its thick tail forward in a sweeping strike.
It could lose, but it would not shame that prince who had gone and died on his own. It would fight until its final breath.
Boom, boom, boom!!
As Fortissax's long tail lashed out, thunderous bursts of air exploded around it.
The muddy water surged like detonated explosives, rising into a massive wave that crashed forward like a towering wall.
The Ancient Dragon's thick tail struck Nolan's arm like a giant black python, sending his small frame flying.
But Nolan had already spread his six wings, and with a light beat, he steadied himself in midair.
The Ancient Dragon's attack not only failed to hurt Nolan in the slightest, it made Fortissax suffer for it.
More Scale Armor fell from its tail in the collision, revealing the rotting flesh beneath.
Yet Fortissax did not stop attacking. Its assault remained savagely fierce as it continued lunging at Nolan with fangs and claws bared.
What a ruthless dragon.
Nolan could not help giving the Ancient Dragon a look of admiration. It knew it could not win, yet still fought with such disregard for its own life. Its resolve to die was already clear.
He could not help wondering what kind of charisma Godwyn had possessed to make an Ancient Dragon so utterly devoted to him.
If Godwyn had become Elden Lord, the Lands Between might truly have entered a better golden age. But in the end, he was dead.
"Still, someone has to carry on what he left unfinished," Nolan thought.
Now that he had become a ruler in his own right, Nolan did not think he was any worse than Godwyn.
Perhaps Lansseax was right. A qualified Lord first had to learn how to deceive himself, to make even himself believe he was good enough.
Nolan stood in the muddy water, then drove both feet down and lunged forward. Muddy water rose in his wake, forming a murky curtain.
In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Fortissax, sweeping through it along with the muddy water.
That speed was far too fast.
Fortissax swung its right claw, but a small fist had already smashed into it.
With a sharp crack, several of Fortissax's claws snapped at once, shattering as easily as fragile eggshells against stone.
Fortissax did not retreat. It was like a beast driven into a corner, with no surrender left in it, only madness.
It opened its jaws, baring sharp dragon teeth, and lunged at Nolan like a starving tiger pouncing on prey.
"Godwyn will return. I will not die after him."
That roar contained the full will of the Ancient Dragon, and the Death Dragon's charge pressed forward without hesitation.
Facing Fortissax's desperate attack, Nolan could not help admiring its courage.
For the sake of its friend and lord, it was truly willing to fight him until one of them died.
In truth, whether for public or private reasons, Nolan did not want to kill it. But selfish pity would only insult this knight.
Fortissax the Ancient Dragon had not disgraced the name of Godwyn's knight.
To live for another, and to die for another. Was it worth it?
Everyone had their own answer. But for Nolan, he was probably the least qualified person in the world to say it was not.
He had done too many things that would make others ask him that same question, so he would not ask it of Fortissax.
Whether it was worth it was something only the person himself knew, and only the person himself needed to know.
"A lord and his vassal, side by side. It is magnificent."
Nolan felt as though he were witnessing the birth of a new epic. A surge of heroic spirit rose in his chest, and he threw another fierce punch.
The blow landed on the side of Fortissax's face.
A crisp crack rang out. It was the sound of the Ancient Dragon's incredibly hard skull shattering.
Fortissax's entire body was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the muddy earth and water.
Fortissax was still struggling, just as it had years ago beneath the walls of Leyndell, never understanding how to give up.
That seemingly frail Demigod had truly hit hard. His body had even shone with brilliant golden light. So flashy, and so impractical.
Yet that Demigod of the Golden Order Dynasty had said that the eyes of the people would fall upon the Lord, and that a qualified Lord would guide them in the right direction under the gaze of all.
How ridiculous.
And yet, in the end, the ancient dragon had still fallen beneath the Golden Prince's Iron Fist. That oversized head, never very bright to begin with, had been thoroughly brainwashed by the prince's damned ideals.
"I want to become a qualified Lord. I want my people to follow behind me without fear or confusion."
That fool, who loved dragging others into lofty discussions, had wanted nothing else. He had no grander ambition than that.
The Golden Prince was supposed to inherit the throne and become the Lord of the Golden Order Dynasty. That was how things should have been.
But on that night decades ago, everything changed.
A pitch-black assassin appeared in the prince's palace, and as the prince fell in a pool of blood, the Ancient Dragon could only let out a furious, grieving roar.
That same bitter rage surged up again. The Ancient Dragon's body was still covered in wounds, but it showed no fear.
Facing that same heavy fist, Fortissax only raised its head and roared to the heavens.
"Godwyn."
There was not the slightest regret, nor a single word of blame. It simply called out the prince's name.
Fortissax rolled over and stood, then lunged at Nolan again and again like a frenzied beast.
Nolan swung his fists, hammering blow after blow into Fortissax's body.
These fists seemed even heavier than Godwyn's.
Yet Fortissax felt no pain. It did not even feel its body gradually breaking apart.
It only felt as though it were dreaming.
It was such a long dream.
One moment, it was fighting fiercely in Leyndell against those champions of the Royal Capital. The next, it was sitting with those same opponents in the Golden Prince's palace, forcing wine down one another's throats.
And at the end, it flew into the sky together with that fellow named Godwyn, flying higher and higher, so very high, higher even than the Erdtree.