Chapter 5: Second Sun

     After the sudden disappearance of the flames, the scorching heat followed, and the temperature began to drop. The crackling sound can't be heard anymore, but they can still hear the faint sobbing and cries from the villagers.

     Their attention shifted when the dragon roared louder. The village people, including Silas and Reika, looked up into the sky. They noticed that the Wildfire Dragon Veylir was burning!

     Its entire body was set ablaze by the flame for unknown reasons. But despite being burned alive, to their surprise, the dragon was completely fine, showing no signs of discomfort at all.

     The dragon flew higher in the sky, until the entire village could see him clearly. Everyone witnessed his majestic form, like a phoenix burning above the sky. With a single flap of its wings, the flame that engulfed its body vanished into thin air.

     The entire village fell silent after witnessing a dreadful scene. The silence was broken when the dragon roared once again.

     ROOOOAAAAARRR!!

     The villagers covered their ears immediately, fearing that the loud roar might damage their eardrums. After the horrifying roar, the dragon lifted its head above the sky and opened its huge mouth. 

     A huge fireball slowly materialized on the dragon's mouth again, and the entire village immediately noticed the sudden rise of temperature. The fireball shone brighter above the sky, overlapping the sun's brightness. The temperature continued to rise exponentially, so high that the puddles started to evaporate. Witnessing such a horrifying situation, the entire village felt scared and began to tremble in fear. Without having a clear chance of surviving in this predicament, they closed their eyes and hugged their loved ones. The tears that came from their eyes started to evaporate as soon as they dropped to the ground.

     Soru saw the dragon slowly build up and unleash a fierce attack. The fireball reached a certain point and stopped growing.

     "It's over for us..." One of the village men murmured.

     In a split second, the gigantic fireball that materialized in the dragon's mouth vanished. The entire village witnessed it, as if it never existed in the first place. After a moment, the villagers were surprised that the dragon's body was engulfed in flames once more.

     Enraged by the confusing situation, the dragon roared louder.

     ROOOOAAAARRR!

     Despite being burned alive for the second time, the flame didn't damage its thick scales or penetrate its soft skin. To expel the flames from its body, the dragon flapped its two wings. The flames that covered its body vanished again. Witnessing such an event, the villagers began to worry.

     "The flames... The dragon was still alive even after being burned twice!"

     The villagers noticed that the dragon began to behave strangely. It flapped its wings violently and flew further up into the sky. The image of the dragon was getting smaller and smaller, and it completely vanished in the clouds. The villagers fell silent, fearing what the dragon might do next.

     "M-Mom... Will that monster ever come back...?" The child uttered while trembling in fear.

     The kid's mother hugged her child and tried to calm her down.

     "Hush... Everything's going to be alright..."

     A minute had passed, but there are no signs of the dragon coming back. The entire village felt relieved, as if a huge thorn had been plucked from their skin.

     "Thank the heavens! The dragon never came back!"

     "Probably the dragon felt scared when it got burned twice for unknown reasons!"

     Their short-lived joy lasted until they heard a loud bang above the sky.

     BOOOOM!!

     Everyone looked above and saw that the sky became clear all of a sudden. The thick clouds that once scattered were pushed outward, forming a circle in the sky. In the center, they saw a strange object casting a shadow on the sun.

     As the strange object drew closer, its figure became clear, and the villagers finally figured out what it was. It was the dragon they feared, approaching them at incredible speed.

     "It... It's...!"

     The reason they heard a loud boom is due to the dragon breaking the sound barrier with its speed of descent. Combined with the force of acceleration due to gravity, the dragon gained a speed that exceeded the speed of sound, approaching the speed beyond Mach 1.

     "That's... That's the dragon!"

     At that moment, the entire village thought one thing as they watched the dragon descend from the sky: they had to run as far away as they could.

     Their muscles began to move involuntarily. Their natural instinct, the act of fleeing from danger, flooded their minds. Without hesitation, they ran away from the village. Others picked up their children in a hurry and ran as fast as they could. Everyone was panicking, and surviving was their priority.

     Despite the crowds fleeing in fear, there was only one man who stood his ground, not budging in the slightest. It was Soru.

     In the distance, Reika saw him standing still. She realized that he has no intention of running away. 

     What the hell is that idiot doing at a time like this!?

     Soru, still staring at the dragon above, squinted his eyes in order to see the dragon clearly. He then moved his hand and covered his eyes slightly. His fingers acted as a shield to keep the rays of the sun from blinding him while letting some of the light enter his vision.

     "Stay put."

Suddenly, the sky shone bright. It was quick, yet the entire village noticed it. Those who were directly staring at the sky covered their eyes, fearing that the light might blind them.

     Although it was a fleeting moment, those who witnessed it with their own eyes saw it clearly. The dragon, which vigorously descended from the sky, shone like a white mass of light. It was so bright that the brightness emerged from its body outshone the sun. As if a second sun descended from the sky, shining on the afternoon sky with its blinding light. 

     BOOOOOOM!!!

     All of a sudden, the bright light mysteriously vanished in an instant. Ten seconds later, a deafening sound of explosion could be heard. It produced a shock wave so loud that, upon contact with the ground, the villagers covered their ears immediately. Some of the villager's ears bleed, while others' ears ring for a period of time.

     Everyone witnessed a black matter falling from the sky while leaving a trail of smoke behind. It was followed by a small tremor, shaking the ground as the black matter finally landed on the surface.

     THUD!!

     The entire village tried to approach the strange object that fell from the sky, but Soru stopped them from doing so.

     Soru closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again. He moved his body aside, indicating that the villagers could finally see it.

     Upon having a closer look, they were surprised at what they saw. The black matter that fell from the sky was the dragon's corpse.

     The color of the dragon's body turned black, like charcoal. It was burned to a crisp, with all of its scales lost and turned into dust.

      While they were fussing over the dragon's corpse, others were busy with the aftermath of the fire. They could still smell the burned wood and organic materials. Although it seems like everything was burned to the ground, it was partially devastated thanks to Soru's ability to stop the fire.

     They noticed that there were some parts of the wood and objects that were intact, as they had been partially burned out by the dragon's breath.

     Despite his heroic deeds in saving those houses from being burned further, it was too late to save all of them. There were a few of them who died in the disaster. Those people are those who were buried alive by the debris and those who didn't make it and were caught in flames.

     Children who saw the dead bodies cried out in fear and immediately ran towards their parents and siblings.

     There are unlucky children whose parents died in the disaster. They sat on the ground where the bodies of their burned parents or siblings lay and cried at the top of their lungs. And those parents whose child or partner died cried in agony.

     "My child... You're still young... Why did you leave Mama and Papa so early... Sniff"

     "UWAAAHHH!! Papa... Please don't leave me..."

      Silas ordered those who were still capable to find all the dead bodies and gather them at the center of the village. The villagers immediately followed the old man and began to gather them one by one. After a while, all the bodies were laid out in the middle of the village. 

      A total of five bodies were brutally burned to death and buried alive. Eleven were injured due to the slight burns they received or being caught by the falling debris but rescued earlier. No one was found missing. Those villagers who lost their loved ones gathered around their deceased ones. They mourned, while others condemned themselves because they couldn't do anything to save them.

     Amidst the devastating scene, a certain man who was lying beside his family's dead bodies stood up and picked up his hatchet. Everyone who saw him was shocked by his action.

     "My family was killed all of a sudden... All because I was busy helping others escape from the disaster... If I saved them first instead of others, then I...!"

     The man raised his hatchet and pointed the tip of the blade at his chest. Reika saw it from afar and was surprised at what she saw. 

     That man—isn't that the one who guards the entrance gate...?

     Although she couldn't understand what the guard was saying, she could see the emotion in his eyes, filled with sorrow and regret. She also saw a dead body of a young kid and a woman on his feet, which confirms her speculation.

     "IT'S BETTER IF I'LL FOLLOW THEM THAN LETTING MYSELF DROWN IN DESPAIR IN THIS FORSAKEN WORLD!!"

     He was about to pierce his chest, but one of the village men saved him from taking his own life by holding his hand, preventing the blade from stabbing his chest. The other men grabbed the hatchet and threw it away from the guard.

     While the guard was busy struggling with the village men's grip, he was surprised when someone punched him in the face. Blood gushed out from his mouth, drooping all the way down on his chin. When he looked around, he saw the old man, Silas, standing in front of him with an angry look on his face.

     "Are you out of your mind? Do you think ending your own life will spare you from misery?"

     The guard pushed the village men away from him. He then wiped the blood with his hand.

     "What do you think your wife and your daughter would say if they knew that you tried to end your life?"

     "Don't you dare...!?"

     The guard stopped when he saw both familiar figures behind the old man. They stare at him with a worried look on their faces.

     "M...Mathilda? Emilia..?"

     The guard blinked once, but the figures vanished after he opened his eyes.

     He was left speechless and began to fall to his knees. Tears came rolling from his eyes, and he sobbed quietly.

     "I'm sorry... Mathilda, Emilia. I have failed you both as a husband and a father..."

     The villagers gathered around the guard, checking his current condition. They comforted him, along with Silas.

     Reika, who saw the entire commotion, lowered her head in silence. She remembered the villagers who died in the accident.

     I couldn't do anything to save them all...

     Reika glanced at the families who had lost loved ones. She saw how devastated they were, helplessly crying for someone who wouldn't come back again.

     During the time that I fell from the rooftop by accident, the thought of dying didn't even cross my mind. As if... I was laughing at the face of death...

     Reika released a deep sigh.

     Maybe this is a reminder that death is always around us. That the hands of eternal slumber will extend their arms anytime, dragging us to the end of our lives...

     In this second life, I swear I will cherish it!

     While Reika was busy with her thoughts, she was distracted when she saw Soru heading outside the village through the entrance. Driven by her curiosity, she followed him.

     ...

     Soru was following the path that led to where they had come before. Midway, he stopped when he saw the sun as it slowly met the horizon in the west. Seeing such a spectacle, Soru quietly stared at the scenery as he listened to the rustling sounds of the wheat being blown by the gentle wind. It was indeed beautiful, along with the birds that were hovering above his head and the red-orange light that dyed the entire sky.

      While he was enjoying the view, he heard someone's footsteps drawing closer to him. Soru turned his head to his right and saw Reika approaching him.

     When Reika finally reached where Soru was standing, she stood still beside him. A gentle afternoon wind passed over her, blowing her hair slightly above her shoulders.

     While following him earlier, she was hesitating to confront Soru by asking him the truth about his identity.

     Should I ask him if he knew everything from the start...? But... What if I was wrong all along? That would be embarrassing!

     Reika stood rigidly and thought about the situation carefully. Soru stared at her, wondering what Reika was doing.

     Reika, just think about it! Every situation that you have encountered so far is filled with danger and shock. I mean, you encountered those monsters; they even tried to kill both of you! And yet... He's still unbothered by all of those life-and-death situations...

     Seeing Soru walking towards the unburnt wheath field, her face turned serious.

     Now that I'm standing in front of him, there's no time for hesitation. I must unveil his true identity, right here, right now!

     "I...!"

     Reika stopped when she noticed him moving his body in order to face her. She saw Soru's empty eyes staring at her coldly. His eyes were devoid of any emotion, and the muscles of his face were all relaxed.

     Those eyes... 

     Reika lowered her head and talked in a soft voice.

     "There are families who have lost their loved ones because of the dragon's rampage..."

     Soru didn't utter a single word and just listened to her in silence.

      "I have a suspicion that you're the one who saved me when we were falling from the sky, and those monsters who tried to attack us, I have a hunch that you used some strange methods to deal with them... Luckily, every questions that kept piling up in my mind was answered when you used it once more, extinguishing the flames that burned the houses and possibly killing the dragon with it..."

     Reika raised her head. Tears came out from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks slowly.

     "If you have such methods, why didn't you use them earlier to save those people from their demise?"

     While her tears keep dripping down, Reika glanced at him, trying to see his response. However, his face didn't show any sign of guilt or sadness. She clenched her fists while trembling in anger.

     "You... What kind of person are you? Are you pretending not to care at all? "

     Reika raised her hand, aiming it at Soru's face. Witnessing such a seemingly heartless response, Reika misunderstood it, and her sadness turned into resentment and anger.

     "With those eyes of yours, it reflects how heartless you truly are!"