The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 382

Jaren had thought this, rather carelessly, when the ancient dragon first appeared at the Northern Castle.

‘Jackpot.’

A life spent stuck in the Northern Castle, doing nothing but staring at dragons. He’d finished one dragon hunt already, so he figured there was no way he’d ever see a second dragon in his lifetime.

【Kneel, you insignificant vermin—!】

The moment Karjien appeared—reducing even that ancient dragon to a child—Jaren forgot his position and lit up like a pubescent boy.

History books, legends, myths, songs, even fragments of ancient ruins. The ancestors who praised dragons as “the strongest and most beautiful beings on the land” hadn’t been wrong.

“To be enemies with a dragon like that… is this fate…?!”

Even meeting a beloved lover as an enemy wouldn’t have felt this tragic!

What a cruel destiny. To be forced to oppose, with his own hands, the dragon he had admired and chased after all his life…!

‘This time, let’s try to keep it alive if possible.’

—that thought vanished the instant the battle began.

Dragons were truly insane creatures.

Watching the Northern Castle through the dream-path felt like a scene from a movie.

Six outer walls still stood. The Sky Tower hovered above. Even the holy knights of Lemuren had arrived to help—yet it still looked like the Northern Castle was going to lose.

And there was only one reason.

The dragon.

‘What even is that thing?’

Kwaaang—!

Dozens of high-tier spells—magic that only a castle-class mage could normally cast—were unleashed simultaneously. And on top of that, that beautiful colossal body itself was a terrifying weapon.

A gesture, a casual movement, even a breath was enough to completely overwhelm the forces of the Northern Castle.

Saaaa—.

Just by existing, the surrounding area was freezing over.

I asked the boy seriously.

“At that level, isn’t that just a walking natural disaster?”

“Dragons are originally beings like that.”

“And you went to that thing asking for help? You’ve got guts.”

Instead of answering, the boy smiled softly. My reaction seemed to amuse him.

Meanwhile, monsters continued to spawn endlessly from the Abyss, and the black mages—refusing to die—were entrenched everywhere like malignant tumors.

Could the Northern Castle really survive?

“I’ll help.”

The boy said it with sparkling eyes, like someone happy to finally have a role to play.

I tilted my head, wondering how he planned to help. Then the boy grabbed my hand and together we ‘aimed’ at somewhere beyond the screen we were watching.

───.

A horde of monsters evaporated in an instant.

“But… is that area okay?”

“Ah. The Abyss is real, yet not quite reality, so it’ll be fine.”

“I see.”

“And… monsters have a very vague sense of self or race. They’re just creatures that eat while alive, reproduce, and kill other beings.”

I suddenly found myself wondering what Karjien had been thinking, taking in creatures like that. Was it really necessary to share his immortality to keep them alive…?

At that moment, Karjien was rampaging.

Uh—wait, is that a breath attack?

“Hold on! If that hits, won’t the Northern Castle disappear?!”

“If things go wrong, half the northern continent could be blown away.”

“That bastard! On our family’s land?!”

“He hasn’t fully recovered his former strength yet, so it won’t be quite that powerful, but…”

The boy’s eyes gleamed. Our joined hands aimed at Karjien’s cheek as he gathered his breath.

“Shall we try it?”

Is it really okay to use this on a dragon?

──!

It wasn’t as powerful as when used on monsters.

But the sight of Karjien roaring and thrashing after being slapped out of nowhere was hilarious in its own right.

【You bastard—come out! Come out here!】

“Hahaha.”

He really does look gentle at first glance. Is this why they say you can’t judge a person by appearances?

But knowing his past, it felt different to me.

‘Karjien, this is your karma!’

This is why they say kind people are the scariest when they get angry.

“Haha. As expected, it didn’t deal much damage. Want to hit him more?”

“More?! Right now?!”

Even if it wasn’t serious damage, the sheer physical force that dented the scales on Karjien’s cheek was no joke.

When I asked in disbelief, the boy shyly winked.

“We don’t know when we’ll get a chance like this again.”

“That’s… true.”

And from my perspective—someone who had to protect the Northern Castle—letting Karjien continue rampaging was not an option.

“Let’s do it!”

Karjien seemed to realize our goal and tried to take flight to evade, but the boy landed every hit without fail.

“Nice shot, boss!”

“?”

“I’ve always wanted to say that at least once.”

His aim was no joke.

If he’d been born in modern times, he could’ve made a name for himself as an FPS pro—or maybe even become a national shooting champion.

Watching Karjien crash down from the sky, I asked,

“He’s not dead, right?”

“No. There’s no way he’d die from this.”

Then why isn’t he getting up—ah. Guess he’s too embarrassed to move right away. That happens.

What mattered was that we’d dealt meaningful damage to Karjien. Though, of course, that wasn’t purely a good thing…

Sssssk—.

Half of the boy’s body was disappearing.

[!Warning! You have been exposed to power beyond endurance. Physical overload……]

[!Warning! The body is being contaminated. Immediate……]

Bright red warning windows flooded my vision.

“I’m fine.”

You really don’t look fine.

“Unfortunately, my allotted time is over now.”

Yeah… I figured. I nodded worriedly, and the boy smiled.

“Thank you.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you.”

I knew how incredibly difficult it was to affect ‘reality’ from a space where past and future were tangled together like this.

‘But why is he looking at me like that?’

Eyes full of pity, like he felt sorry for me.

Then, somewhat out of the blue, the boy spoke.

“That dragon is a very lonely being.”

“Huh?”

“Think carefully about why his epithet became ‘the Grief-Stricken Tyrant.’”

A riddle? Now?

When I tilted my head, the boy smiled.

“And every meeting has a reason.”

The boy began to glow white.

“Just like how I waited for you.”

With those words, the boy—who had only half remained—vanished, leaving behind a small orb.

I understood instinctively.

He had given all that remained of his authority to me.

—Please judge our foolish regrets and write a new story.

 

 

****

 

 

 

The Apostle of the End saw the future.

A future where a lonely girl looked at him.

A prophet can only see the future—never change it. That was true when he saw the future of the world, and when he saw his own.

Even when he saw the future of the mother who embraced him with love, the prophet could do nothing.

But…

I did it, Mother.

The only person who kept me from breaking.

The only being who believed in me.

Hearing his mother’s voice calling a name she herself had forgotten, the boy smiled.

Mother. My mother. You don’t have to suffer anymore.

For a moment, it felt like the mother who had always been crying was smiling. That smile was enough for him.

 

 

****

 

 

 

A powerful light swallowed me whole.

The memories and emotions of the boy called the Apostle of the End flowed faintly into me.

‘…He suffered so much.’

I felt the tangled emotions he held toward his mother.

Guilt and remorse toward the mother who had borne such a heavy burden because of his inadequacy—and resentment toward the power that eventually consumed even her.

Swept up in a torrent of emotions like a massive wave, I found myself thinking of my own mothers—Mehen, who raised me, and Shione, my birth mother, from my previous life onward.

Just as my mind felt like it was sinking, as if being devoured by the boy’s emotions—

Flash!

I opened my eyes.

Something had grabbed me—no, it felt like a powerful pull, as if someone had taken my hand and yanked me back to awareness.

“Uh?!”

I squinted against the intense backlight.

The first thing I saw was a shattered moon. No—was that really a moon?

The sky—filled with fragments of what used to be the moon—was a clear deep blue.

Less like a sky, more like outer space.

Then the backlight shifted, and I met a pair of vividly glowing red eyes. Jet-black hair spilled down in loose strands.

This really wasn’t the time to think this, but—

‘He’s insanely handsome.’

And it was a face I knew.

That man!

“You ran into something strange.”

“Pardon?”

Something flared to life in the man’s hand. The light illuminated the delicate lines of his face.

Yeah. No matter how many times I see it—

that face is unreal.