Black Badger

“They’re coming.”

Kairos, who had looked unusually bright for the past ten hours, smiled.

His orange eyes curved like crescents.

“Both of them.”

Those with sharp senses understood him immediately.

Even though there was not the slightest sound of footsteps, they knew Hildebert was approaching.

It meant that Hildebert’s instincts had recovered to their former state.

Whether it was because the exhaustion had finally caught up to him or because his strength had returned, it was hard to tell for now—but in any case, the Swordmaster who had finished his treatment was deliberately erasing his presence.

A corridor where only faint footsteps could be heard.

Footsteps drawing closer.

The cafeteria door opened.

“Hilde!”

Ami bounced on her feet.

“Hilde! Are you okay? How do you feel?”

“I’m soaked in sweat and probably smell terrible.”

The moment he saw Ami about to rush him, Hildebert panicked and raised his palm.

“I’ll go change first—”

“Stop talking nonsense and report.”

Yun cut in immediately.

“No need to come closer. Report from there, then go change.”

Golden eyes curved.

Hildebert leaned a hand against the doorframe and smiled, showing neat teeth. It was a bright smile they hadn’t seen from him in quite some time.

A smile with not a shred of sorrow in it.

The white-haired man smiled soundlessly, then let go of the doorframe.

“I’ve recovered.”

He ran a hand through his white hair, tucking it behind his ear.

“My instincts, and my stamina as well.”

Scale-like growths had formed along his mastoid.

The discoloration from burns had vanished as well.

Ami started hopping in place.

“That’s great!”

She shouted brightly.

“That’s such a relief! Congratulations, Hilde!”

She looked like she wanted to run over and hug him right away, but held herself back, knowing he’d be embarrassed.

Ricardo, Sophia, and Carl all wore faint smiles.

Only Yun’s expression didn’t change.

“All functions working properly?”

“It’s noisy again now.”

Hildebert replied with a smile.

“I missed even that.”

“What do you mean, noisy? It’s not like a monster’s presence would be loud.”

“Well. There’s something like that.”

Hildebert gave an answer that wasn’t exactly clear, still smiling.

At that breezy reply, only the summoner frowned, clearly dissatisfied.

The rest of the team, sensing it was a delicate topic, didn’t press him. Yun, on the other hand, stared at Hildebert with a look that plainly said, What kind of answer is that?

Standing in the middle of their gazes, Hildebert didn’t explain—he just smirked.

“I’m not going to tell you the details.”

“Doesn’t look like your liver’s healed.”

Yun said flatly.

“I nursed you day and night, and you repay me with insubordination. Even I, a sociopath, know how to show gratitude.”

“You didn’t come to nurse me. You came to observe my body.”

Hildebert shot back without hesitation.

“And unfortunately, the scales on my mastoid grew back and healed up as soon as you weren’t looking. That’s disappointing, isn’t it? You wish they’d stuck around a bit longer.” 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“No, this is good. Now I can test all sorts of things.”

Yun replied, unfazed.

It sounded less like a retort and more like genuine honesty.

He’d narrowed his eyes, staring thoughtfully at the area around Hildebert’s mastoid.

Hildebert looked at Choi Yun as if wondering what kind of creature he even was.

“It’s good to be able to sense you again.”

When the white-haired man fell silent, Kairos spoke up.

Hildebert turned his gaze away from his mentor.

The eyes of kin met in midair. Seeing another who shared the same mastoid, the Swordmaster broke into a grin.

“Thanks. No need to tell the others—they already know.”

“Kyle knows too, then.”

“He does. There was no way to hide it. The moment the leaf-veins recovered, he would’ve noticed. You can’t cast a concealment spell before recovery.”

After saying that, Hildebert lowered his eyes for a moment and closed his mouth.

He stood there with his head bowed, silent—then his eyes curved as he smiled.

“It’s nice. Hearing his ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) voice again.”

Kairos let out a small snort.

“Looks like the emotional-transference function is fully restored too. That’s a shame. I wanted to test your emotional receptivity.”

“Don’t cross the line.”

“Where can we see Hildebert’s swordplay?”

Sophia was the one who shifted the mood.

Kairos and Hildebert stopped talking and turned toward the senior. The dragon, who had been standing at the cafeteria entrance with an easy smile, also turned his head.

Sophia accepted the chilly gaze without flinching.

“It’s too dark outside to see anything, isn’t it?”

“I can see just fine.”

The Ice Dragon’s gentle smile widened.

“But since it’d be good for all of you to see, I was thinking of taking everyone here to the Arctic for a bit.”

“Huh.”

Ami gasped.

“The Arctic...?”

“With my magic, it’ll be quick. We’ll watch this man’s swordsmanship, then I’ll bring you straight back. I might linger there a little longer myself.”

Ami pressed her lips into a line.

She looked at the Ice Dragon with a thoughtful expression.

As several people watched her in confusion, Sophia glanced sideways at her junior and lightly tapped her back.

Ami tucked her lips inward.

Seeing the human who looked like she needed the bathroom, the Ice Dragon smiled.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“Yes.”

Ami clasped her left fist with her right hand.

“Go on.”

“Well... um. Would you, by any chance, like to go see penguins with me?”

Yun turned his head.

He stared at his little sister like she’d just spouted complete nonsense. Hildebert and Ricardo let out strange, stifled laughs.

But Ami remained serious throughout, lips tightly pursed as she waited desperately for the dragon’s answer.

The dragon laughed softly.

“So the cocoa was a bribe.”

“I hope you liked it.”

“I did. You even floated the marshmallows carefully.”

At his pleased tone, Ami’s face brightened.

She leaned forward.

“Can I go?”

“I’ll take you after we visit the Arctic.”

“Thank you!”

Ami beamed and started hopping in place.

“Thank you so much! I’ll watch YouTube really hard! I’ll watch all the videos on the DK account ten times each!”

***

The Arctic.

Once the region hit hardest by global warming.

But after the First War drastically reduced the population and confined humanity to limited living zones, the progress of global warming slowed, like a train slamming on the brakes. The Earth began to recover—slowly returning to its former state. Agonizingly slow, but never stopping.

The wounds the Arctic had suffered hadn’t healed overnight.

Even so, this land showed the power of nature’s self-purification.

Now, the Black Badgers stood on that white expanse, borne there by the dragon’s magic.

Hildebert, having changed out of his sweat-soaked clothes, walked across the snow.

White hair fluttered in the knife-like wind.

The sword hanging at his waist gleamed gold.

The Empire’s Swordmaster walked across the snow-covered continent without looking back.

“I’m going to spread my wings too.”

Because they needed to keep their distance, the dragon turned to those watching Hildebert’s receding back.

“Try not to be too shocked.”

He didn’t wait for a reply.

The moment he finished speaking, he vanished. A vast white plain stretched out, nothing but white as far as the eye could see—then, suddenly, a massive living presence appeared among the glaciers.

A gigantic shadow fell across the snow.

Transparent, sky-blue scales reflected the sunlight and sparkled.

An ancient dragon.

An immortal monster.

A blue being whose mere presence sent a chill through the air. When it spread its wings, the snowfield itself seemed to be covered. Though it was far away, it was so enormous it left them speechless.

Stunningly beautiful.

Like a masterwork carved from ice.

With a single light beat of its wings, the Badgers had to brace their legs just to stay standing.

Even those who had faced a Thunder Dragon felt the difference in pressure—it was on another level.

Carl let out a hollow laugh.

“If it spreads both wings, it could blot out the sky.”

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

Kairos murmured, his voice entranced.

His orange eyes were fixed on the Ice Dragon, unable to look away.

“The Ice Dragon is also considered one of the most beautiful dragons...”

Now, far in the distance, Hildebert stood facing the dragon.

He had walked so far he looked no bigger than a pencil. The shrunken knight lifted his head to look up at the Ice Dragon. His golden eyes were hidden behind his white hair, but the upward curve of his lips was clear.

The ancient dragon gazed down at the Swordmaster.

Hildebert said something to the old being.

At the sound of his voice, the dragon’s eyes narrowed.

As if in assent...

“Whoa.”

At the sudden ripple in the air, Ami grabbed Yun by the chin.

“The dragon didn’t even flap its wings!”

The wind rose.

Hildebert was swallowed by a vortex.

Or rather, the opposite—Hildebert created the vortex.

The Badgers watched the Swordmaster standing firm on the snow.

At some point, the man had drawn his sword in his right hand.

The blade, angled downward, looked almost playful, as if it were lightly dancing through the air.

Snow was gouged from the tip of the sword. Wind followed in its wake. Snowflakes mixed into the spiraling gusts, and within that small snowstorm, white hair whipped wildly.

Not a single strand was cut by the blade.

The wind born of the Swordmaster’s movements danced. It skimmed along the ground, surged upward as if to threaten throats, then pressed low again as if showing mercy. The sword led the flow, and white snow wrapped around it. Within the white wind, the blade seemed to vanish entirely.

The gentle storm grew stronger and stronger.

Sword strikes spread in all directions.

BOOOOM!

A strike that bared the flesh of the land itself.

Like skin being sliced away, the snow was split, the blow climbing the ice walls.

Crack—

Craaaack—

BOOOOM!

“Ahhh!”

“That lunatic...”

As Ami nearly lost her footing to the force, Yun grabbed her by the chin and frowned.

Carl and Ricardo caught the staggering Sophia.

The wind battered their bodies relentlessly.

Holding his sister along with the summoner, Yun squinted through the gale at Hildebert.

“He gets recovered and immediately forgets how to control his strength—”

And then they saw the wings.

Pure white wings.

Layer upon layer of massive wings.

They were born from Hildebert’s sword strikes.

The blows that tore through the snow left streamlined traces, etched into the ground and the ice walls alike. The paths of the wind overlapped in wing-shaped arcs.

From where the white-haired knight stood, dozens of wings bloomed.

If the dragon hadn’t explained it, they’d have been too overwhelmed by the power of the strikes to grasp the shape.

Gracefully curved, layered over one another. Wings extended in every direction around Hilde, encircling him. They spread as vast as a dragon’s wings, then slowly shrank, folding as if drawing a circle—only to flare outward again, like a dragon spreading both wings.

It would be even more beautiful from the sky.

Kairos thought.

Then you would understand more clearly why he had been called the Empire’s Sacred Wings.

When would one ever see swordplay this pure again?

If not here, they would never have seen white wings unmarred by red.

BOOOOM!

Snow roared. Glaciers split.

The sword strike carved through the snow, spreading enormous wings to both sides.

At the center of it all, Hildebert laughed.

“Hahaha!”

A laugh that cut through the howling wind.

A surge of satisfaction bursting from his core.

“Haha!”

A powerful presence stood upon the ice.

The heavy existence only those who had reached the realm of the Swordmaster could possess.

Having reclaimed it, Hildebert continued to unfurl his translucent sword strikes for a long while—

Until the Ice Dragon, satisfied with the sight, returned to human form.

Only after drawing dozens of wings across the vast snowfield did the Swordmaster return.

The return of a knight who had never once failed to take revenge.