“Nephy...”
However, Zagan found himself unable to blame her for those feelings.
“When you were turned into a child... I thought the exact same thing.”
At that time, Nephy was an innocent child who could naturally smile. She had no painful memories, and had a blindingly brilliant future ahead of her. It should have been possible for Nephy to grow up just like that, having cast aside all her painful memories.
But I like Nephy as she is now... Zagan fell in love with the Nephy who was born as a result of those painful memories. That was why he dragged Orias out and returned Nephy to normal.
“But it’s different, right? Thinking that you should stay as you are is the same as denying all that time you’ve spent doing your best to live, right?” Nephy gazed right into Zagan’s eyes as she said that, then continued, “I’m not a pure maiden like in those stories. I’ve done horrible things, and imagined even worse, but... even so, I want to be of use to you, Master Zagan. Will you accept me?”
Zagan’s consciousness was growing hazy, so he was unable to discern the true meaning behind Nephy’s words. Still, he smiled as widely as he could.
“Isn’t it obvious... that I’ll accept you? Haven’t you... done the same for me... this whole time?”
Even when Zagan was degraded to such a powerless state, there was no way he wouldn’t accept Nephy. And upon hearing that reply, Nephy let out a deep, heartfelt sigh.
“Then... please accept this. This is... all that I can offer you.”
Nephy placed her lips atop Zagan’s.
Huuuuuuuuuuuuuh!? What!? Why are we kissing now!?
That was something Zagan planned to initiate himself... not that it really mattered... Zagan’s eyes darted about in complete confusion as he experienced his first kiss. However, at the same time, he felt the flow of mana in his body return to normal.
A path opened...? The newly opened path ran through Zagan and repaired the broken flow within his body. And not just the backlash from using Dragon Form, either. It even repaired the flow from the Sigil of the Archdemon.
At that moment, he was reminded of a fairy tale he heard during his days as a waif. He forgot the exact details, but the only thing that was able to return the cursed prince to normal... was a kiss from the princess... And, as if to recount that fairy tale, his small body began to change.
His thin and unreliable arms turned thick and sturdy. His short legs firmly planted themselves into the ground. He had to look up at Nephy before, but now he was tall enough to look down at her. His clothes were unable to withstand the change, and transformed into his usual robes like he had set up beforehand. And, by the time his lips parted from Nephy’s due to his growth, Zagan’s body had completely returned to its usual form, which left even Nephy, who kissed him in the first place, staring at him in shock.
“Y-You really... returned to... normal?” Nephy asked.
“Y-Yeah. Looks like...” Zagan replied, unable to even believe their good fortune.
“Did you know about this, Nephy? That a curse can be broken like that, I mean.”
“W-Well, there was a scene like that in a story I heard recently...” Nephy’s ears turned red as she mumbled those words before she continued with, “But... it was something Miss Lilith said she learned from Miss Alshiera, so I thought it might be related...”
It was a hint from Alshiera...? Even though she seemed to be provoking, making fun of, and messing with Zagan, she indirectly gave Nephy advice on what to do. Thinking back on it, he realized she was likely also the one who showed them where Nephteros and Foll were earlier. However, it also looked like she was the who attacked Foll in the first place... What were her true intentions?
“She doesn’t matter right now. I need to save our troublesome daughter,” Zagan stated with a shake of his head. Then, he held his hand out to the sky, where the scattered lights of the Snowfield still remained. His sorcery was still in effect. That was why he was confident he could show them its true form at last.
“Heaven’s Scale Dragon Form.”
The lights of the Snowfield gathered once more at his call, and this time they took on the form he intended. Suddenly, a golem that possessed a dragon’s form was kneeling before them.
“Let’s go, Nephy. We’re going to get Foll back.”
“Yes, Master Zagan!”
And just like that, the two of them headed off to do battle with the black dragon.
◇
When Zagan and Nephy charged in atop the Dragon Form, the black dragon unleashed its breath at them without any hesitation. Lilith deployed her Holy Treasure to try and block the attack, but Zagan was just a little too far away for her to make it.
“It’s no good!” Lilith yelled out in despair. But Zagan simply replied with a haughty laugh.
“Don’t waver! The Archdemon you serve yields to no one!” Zagan roared as his golem crashed into the black dragon’s breath and swallowed every last ounce of its mana. Immediately after that, the black dragon flapped its wings to flee upward.
“Nope! You won’t get away!” Selphy exclaimed as she held out her jewel and manipulated the ocean’s currents, obstructing the black dragon’s movements. Thanks to that, it could no longer flap its wings, so it was stuck. And so, since both its breath and wings were sealed, it tried to use its claws to strike down the Dragon Form, but...
“I won’t let you!”
“Go, Zagan!”
Kuroka and Chastille used their blades to sever the black dragon’s forefeet. Then, Barbatos used the shadows to pull them away to a safe distance, since they had left themselves utterly defenseless.
At that point, there was nothing left to obstruct him, so Zagan landed on the black dragon. And when he did, he spotted Foll buried within its head. She was still bigger than she originally was, but it was clear she’d begun to return to her original form.
“I’m here to pick you up, Foll.”
“Zagan...?” Foll dimly opened her eyes, looked up at him, and mumbled his name upon hearing his declaration.
“Just hold on. I’ll clear away that nuisance,” Zagan stated as he snapped his fingers, which made black sparks burst out all around Foll. It was a heavily suppressed Heaven’s Phosphor. A large hole was formed in the black dragon’s head, and all that was left was the young dragon. Then, as the two of them fell from the sky, Zagan gently embraced her. Foll probably had much she wanted to say and ask, but she couldn’t manage to do much more than feebly cling to Zagan’s chest. And as she did, Zagan and Nephy embraced their daughter together.
Glad I made it in time... Kuroka, Chastille, and the others may have been able to defeat the black dragon, but there was no guarantee they could have saved Foll. Zagan had nearly lost his precious daughter there.
“Seriously... don’t make me worry so much.”
The black dragon was still squirming around beneath them. Despite losing its core, it still seemed to possess some form of sentience. They were in a situation where it could bare its fangs upon them at any moment, but Zagan simply embraced Foll and brushed her head gently. And then, in a completely obvious turn of events, the black dragon opened its massive jaws and came rushing in.
“Za...gan... behind...” Foll called out to him in a faint voice, but Zagan didn’t turn to look at the black dragon.
“It’s alright, Foll. Master Zagan is here.” Nephy said, acting as if she understood her role perfectly as she pressed her forehead against Foll’s to calm her down. At that, Zagan stopped brushing his daughter’s head, and lightly swung his hand toward the black dragon to drive it away. However, he wasn’t clenching his fist, so it was like a casual wave to an acquaintance... Luckily, the Dragon Form was there to answer his greeting. Its golden tail smashed the black dragon’s nose, making it shatter.
“Huh!?” Foll’s eyes shot open in shock.
...Hm? Its power has gone up quite a bit... Naturally, he had meant for it to be quite powerful, but it still shouldn’t have been strong enough to
obliterate the black dragon’s head. He pondered the matter, and a sudden thought came to mind. Perhaps it had grown because of the path that had been opened between him and Nephy... Whatever the case, the black dragon had become quiet, so Zagan finally let Foll go and looked at her face.
“You’ll do well to remember this, Foll. Power isn’t something that’s simply used for destruction. It’s something that can be stolen and gained from others.”
“St...olen...?” Foll repeated his words, searching for the meaning behind them. And, after leaving his daughter to Nephy, Zagan had the Dragon Form ascend overhead. Having lost its core and its head, the black dragon was crumbling away.
But it’s still kicking... Though it could no longer move, it was still a swelling mass of mana born from stealing the powers of a dragon and an Archdemon.
“Foll, you’re a dragon. Dragons reign at the peak of all living beings, and are the world’s strongest predators.”
In the simplest of terms, they lived in a different realm from beings who had to consume food to live. Dragons pillaged and preyed upon power itself. He hoped she understood his point.
“Devour — Dragon Form.”
The golem opened its jaws and engulfed the corpse of the black dragon. This was Heaven’s Scale, a sorcery that devoured the mana of everything it touched and used it to amplify its own abilities. It didn’t vanish instantly like Heaven’s Phosphor, so in a way, it could be considered even more dangerous.
I modeled it after the dragons in legends... By that point, the black dragon couldn’t maintain its form. And before long, the black dragon’s body vanished into the dew, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
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.
Afterword
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Fuminori Teshima here. I’ve come to bring you “An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride Volume 6.”
Nephy turned tiny last time, so it’s Zagan’s turn! And, as a bonus, Foll grows bigger too! Now that he’s younger, Zagan’s even more petty, honest, and awkward than usual. The stage is set at the bottom of the ocean, so there’s no beach. Guess you’ll have to wait until next time for swimsuits, yukatas, and an extremely excited Gremory!
Also, the manga version of Elf Bride goes on sale in August, so be sure to read it!
Now then, I only have a single page for the afterword, so let’s get down to thanking everyone!
To the one responsible for me, K. To the illustrator, COMTA. To everyone who helped with the cover design, proofreading, publicity, and other publishing tasks. To the manga artist, Hako Itagaki. To my editor, A. To my children. And to you, my dear readers, who have picked up this book. Thank you very much!
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 6 Page 19
