Chapter 78

A bluish lightning bolt pierced the dragon’s jaw.

“Next.”

The sharp trajectory of a spear sliced through the dragon’s wing and split its head vertically.

“Next lizard.”

A right hand wrapped in blue lightning grabbed the dragon and turned it into a massive lump of charcoal.

“Come at me all at once. Don’t hide like cowards.”

Camilla hunted the dragons while gasping for breath.

Straight-line weapons like spears were disadvantageous against multiple enemies, but she compensated for this flaw with her unique abilities.

She could control the electric currents in her body to the extreme, unleashing firepower beyond ordinary lightning strikes. Of course, achieving this required body modifications, but that was nothing to her.

The Empress had modified her eyes to better perceive her enemies’ movements, the Emperor had overhauled his nerves to handle flames more efficiently, and Raul had modified his muscles and lower body for more effective vibrations.

“If you won’t come, I’ll go to you.”

She utilized everything she could. Even her own body was no exception.

Her lifespan, her body, her emotions—all were merely tools to be used.

Her inhuman body broke the dragons’ horns, burned their scales with lightning, and crushed their heads with unimaginable strength.

“Today, I’ll finally burn all those disgusting bodies to ash.”

“Y-you crazy woman! Don’t get cocky! We still outnumber you!”

“Do you think numbers can bridge the gap between you and me? No matter how many ants gather, they can’t take down a beast.”

Even so, the situation was precarious.

Each dragon was a being far beyond ordinary creatures, and killing even one required considerable effort. With over a thousand dragons, the situation was dire.

Fighting one-on-one a thousand times was entirely different from facing a thousand enemies simultaneously. While killing one, she had to remain vigilant against the other 999.

Physical exhaustion was compounded by the mental fatigue of extreme concentration.

Despite the grim situation, Camilla laughed.

“Ahaha… this is fun.”

She enjoyed the fight. She enjoyed fighting to protect her friends. Most of her battles were like this.

The satisfaction of risking her life to protect her friends was like a drug to her. The feeling of finally being useful was indescribable.

And today, the joy of battle was accompanied by the lightness of having unburdened her heart. Shedding the weight that had pressed on her mind made her feel so light that fatigue didn’t even register.

“…Truly, you live up to the title of the Blue Thunder Emperor.”

“Hey, I hate that childish nickname, you know…?”

“Don’t underestimate the Blue Thunder Emperor! Change the target! Prioritize killing the Blue Thunder Emperor before capturing the Giant Hunter!”

“Don’t you dare, you bastards!!!”

She hated her nickname intensely.

While Raul was called the Giant Hunter, she was stuck with the embarrassingly childish title of the Blue Thunder Emperor.

“But… what did you just say? Capture Raul?”

It must have been the wicked Queen’s order. The Queen, who had her eyes on Raul, was like a rival. What she intended to do with Raul didn’t need to be questioned.

“…”

“The Thunder Emperor’s aura has changed! Everyone, be careful!”

Her anger was so intense that being called by her hated nickname didn’t even faze her.

The thread of reason snapped, and her thunderous voice regained its calm.

“That damn woman…”

Camilla pulled a few pills from her pocket and chewed them down.

Even though the effects of the enhancer she had just taken were still active, she took more.

The enhancer cost her a month of her lifespan, and taking additional enhancers would undoubtedly have severe consequences.

Her body would suffer fatal damage, but she didn’t care.

It was no different from when she fought the Demon King. For the greater good, for the sake of more people, for victory, she would stop at nothing.

A hero doesn’t discriminate in whom they save, nor in the means they use to save them.

“Hooooo…”

A fierce storm of blue lightning began turning the dragon race into ashes.

Before the overwhelming electricity her body emitted, the dragons were like withered trees waiting for a lightning strike. Helpless trees standing still, waiting to be charred to death. No matter how long their lives, they couldn’t withstand the momentary strike of lightning.

“You won’t capture that fool. I’ll make sure of it.”

“We will win. That fool will make it so.”

“That fool will be happy. No matter what, we’ll make sure of it.”

Camilla loved Raul. Asel and Penelope also loved Raul, but their love was somewhat different.

She also held the love of a friend, but at its core, it was romantic love.

When Camilla was very young, her father treated her and her brother as if they were invisible.

He wouldn’t respond when spoken to, didn’t care if they were sick, and even though they lived together, he never asked the servants about their well-being.

In that reality where they were treated as if they didn’t exist, the young Camilla couldn’t help but be hurt.

Even when she clung to her father’s pant leg and repeatedly called him “Dad,” there was no response. Instead, she was often swept aside by his forceful steps.

Her brother occasionally looked out for her, but his gruff nature meant he was never particularly warm.

Shrinking further into herself, one day she followed her brother to visit the Berze Family Mansion.

“…Don’t cause trouble and stay quiet.”

After a brief warning, her brother headed to the study for lessons with Arthur Berze.

Timid to an unimaginable degree now, she felt burdened by people’s eyes and slipped out of the reception room to a quiet corner of the garden.

Finding a suitable tree, she leaned against it and cautiously tried to sit down.

“…Sorry, but that’s my spot.”

“Eek!”

Startled by the sudden voice, the young Camilla fell to the ground.

“That’s my spot.”

“W-who are you…?”

“Just a nobody who lives in this mansion.”

Despite his young age, the boy spoke humbly.

“Y-you…”

“If you’re looking for a place to hide, don’t worry. I’m the only one who comes here at this time, and my mother rarely looks for me.”

Looking at him closely, Camilla was shocked a second time.

Young Raul’s cheek bore a fresh, bleeding wound.

“…I got this for leaving onions during dinner. I don’t really get it, but I guess it’s a fair reason.”

“…That’s not fair.”

“Usually, it’s just insults like ‘pathetic,’ but today she must have been really angry.”

Camilla had always thought she was the most pitiful.

While indifference was a cruel hell, Raul’s environment was an even harsher one.

Indifference, violence, verbal abuse… he endured everything that should never be directed at a child.

Yet, the boy, though lacking in motivation, didn’t care about others’ opinions.

“…How do you do it? How can you be like you…?”

“I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

“My story is…”

“Your voice when you screamed earlier was much more beautiful.”

Raul didn’t mean much by it, but the word “beautiful” struck a chord in young Camilla.

“Beautiful…?”

It was a word she could never hear from her indifferent father, gruff brother, or the rigid atmosphere of her family.

She had read about it in books, but hearing it spoken aloud for the first time moved her deeply.

“…It’s just my personal opinion, but people generally have a unified atmosphere. Voice, appearance, behavior… they all need to match to be beautiful.”

At the time, Raul was more articulate than he is now.

“I’m probably a dull black, but I think a color like that doesn’t suit you.”

Raul looked around and plucked a blue hydrangea, handing it to her.

“I think blue suits you.”

“…That’s my hair color, right? Are you just saying that?”

“Now that I look, your hair is blue. I only thought your eyes were blue.”

“You’re just saying that, aren’t you?”

“Your eyes are so beautiful that I didn’t notice your hair.”

“…!”

Holding the hydrangea, young Camilla felt her heart flutter for the first time.

“Blue suits you, like your eyes and hair. Bright, bold, cheerful… that kind of blue. A blue that stands out no matter where it’s placed.”

“…Can we meet again?”

“Maybe. If fate allows it, we might meet again. If you become as striking as that blue, it might be possible.”

From that day on, Camilla changed completely.

She shed her timidity and strived to become a striking, vibrant person wherever she went.

Strength, beauty, attitude—she painted everything in blue.

“…So, I can’t die here.”

Blood trickled from her lips due to the enhancer’s side effects, but Camilla didn’t care.

What mattered was that she was still alive. And that Raul was alive. That was all that mattered.

The timid hand that had nowhere to go now held a spear.

The timid gaze that once looked only at the ground now glared at her enemies with killing intent.

The timid face that always wore a tense expression now bore a maddened smile.

“Kill the Blue Thunder Emperor! The Queen’s orders…!”

“No. I won’t die. No matter whose orders, we absolutely cannot die.”

Camilla and the Emperor and Empress remembered Raul on the day they lost Layla.

No one spoke of it, but they all shared the same vow in their hearts.

A firm vow to never let Raul make that expression again.

“Ah. Come to think of it, you all contributed to Layla’s death…”

She didn’t blame them for Layla’s death.

She was angry, but it was something that happened on the battlefield.

Layla had prepared for death. It was absurd for her, not Raul, to be angry about it.

She didn’t intend to be angry about it.

But making Raul cry was a separate matter.

That, she couldn’t forgive.

“You made him cry, didn’t you?”

That day, the dragon race felt a terror that surpassed even the Queen’s wrath.