Author’s Note: This is a story where love is heavier than gravity, but please bear with me warmly.
Goblin: I’m trying out MTL. This is a very short Japanese webnovel. Let’s see if I can do it. The rest of the chapters are really long, so don’t know when the next one will come out.
The cruel glow of the blue crystals mockingly looked down at the girl’s scarred body, as Ruby limped forward with a limp and just kept her feet moving.
[Why ……?]
All her weight was on her right leg. She couldn’t feel her left leg. The cave was filled with tranquility, and her heart— with sadness, and betrayal.
Sparkling mineral crystals protruded from the cave— blue, purple, white, pale pink. When she first set foot in this place, she was awestruck by this fantastic sight. But now, the girl had come to the place of her memories, where she had first met him, to confront him.
“Hmmm. Is everyone dead?”
The boy’s voice, still loud and clear, echoed through the cave. Perched lazily on his favorite flat rock, a boy with silver hair and crimson eyes reminiscent of blood was looking at the girl.
The boy rested his elbows on his knees, his chin on his right fist, and smiled.
“Kahh…ah!”
The girl spits out a glob of blood from her throat as if gagging. Chills and nausea run down her spine, as she shivered and trembled, then slumped and crouched down on the spot.
[Someone tell me it’s not true. I’m just having a scary dream.]
[Kami-sama…]
A few moments ago, a swarm of demons suddenly attacked the village. There were only a few people who could fight. They were the most vicious demons she had ever seen!
Blood, red blood, splattered like a flower pattern on the walls of the house. Her father, mother, aunt, and priest were all stained red and fell down as they were trampled.
[I don’t know who’s “alive” and who’s “not alive.”]
“Yes, I know. I understand.”
The boy nodded with a sullen look on his face. The girl felt a burning anger in the pit of her stomach at the look on his face. With grim, brown eyes, she glared up at the boy.
“Did Yuto attack us? Why? No one in… village did anything wrong!”
The boy looked down at the girl cowering in the rock cave with cold eyes.
“By that logic, if a person has done something wrong, he or she should be allowed to die. Heh~. You sound like a god. Since when did you become such an haughty person? It’s funny, you’re just a village girl.”
“No, I’m not! Don’t change the subject. I’m asking you why did you make the demons attack the village and kill everyone! Yuto is… kind, gentle, plant and mineral lover, just a normal boy. You are not the kind of being who would do such a terrible thing.”
“Ah. I’m not a human being. As you expected.”
The boy’s eyes flashed. The crimson eyes, the proof of the Demon King, were now tinged with the glow of darkness. The girl’s felt goosebumps as she felt the surge of magical power at such a close range. Even the air in the cave began to swirl horrifyingly.
[No way.]
[The priest-sama said that the Demon King will return, no way!]
“The Demon King and the Heroes are always born in pairs. The current ‘Demon King’ is me.”
Before she knew it, the boy was standing right in front of her. He slowly bends down to meet the girl’s eyes. The boy looked into the girl’s eyes and smiled faintly.
“You are the ‘Hero’. You didn’t realize it, did you? It’s a pity.”
He kissed her lightly on the cheek, as his crimson eyes narrowed in a nasty smile.
“Come and kill me. To the ends of the earth. I’ll be waiting for you. See you later!”
Without waiting for the lingering echoes of his words to fade, the beautiful silver boy’s figure faded away, cloaked in darkness and ice.
“You….”
The girl screamed, clawing at her chest in a storm of frustration, bitterness, and mangled emotions. The cold glow of the crystals in the cave watched her emotionlessly as she sobbed.
This was the opening scene of the legendary “Ragnarok Fantasy: Dragons’ Battle”.
It had beautiful characters, as if drawn by a god. It had fantastic worldview, magnificent and delicate background music that foreshadowed the tragedy and battles to come, and the lineup of gorgeous voice actors who spared no efforts. The scene was renowned for its ability to fully demonstrate all of these elements.
And this opening scene, which lasted less than two minutes, was the whole reason why this work was so highly praised.
Because everything after that was trash. The legend was not so legendary. The storyline, which could only be evaluated as having unimaginable bugs and plotholes, was waiting for the players. Which made numerous players more frustrated and angry with every second of it.