I Became the Cure for the Cursed Prince - Chapter 76

The dragon from the legends stood before them.

Sensing that today’s opponent would be no easy foe, Leon growled lowly, his eyes sharpening. The fully-formed dragon spread its wings wide. With its mouth agape, it looked ready to attack at any moment.

Realizing that now was the time to unleash the secret ability he had been developing in secret, Leon bristled his fur and gathered his energy.

It was a power to create a weapon imbued with the full attack might of the Tiger,  the King of All Beasts. Once used, this ultimate move couldn’t be used again until the next day.

“Growl… Roar!”

As Leon roared loudly, lightning crackled around the dragon, and the deafening thunder shook the fortress. Flames erupted from Leon’s entire body, growing larger and larger, until he seemed like one massive ball of fire.

— Since when did Theron… have such a power…?

Leon, who had been swelling his body to pounce immediately, hesitated for a moment. The voice he heard definitely belonged to the Black Dragon — yet it had called him Theron. Though the unfamiliar name puzzled him, now was no time for hesitation.

Leon, a blazing mass of fire, slowly approached the Black Dragon. Once close enough to clearly see each other, Leon narrowed his eyes. His pupils were no longer just red; they had turned pitch black. Upon seeing them, the dragon spoke in a low voice.

“…It’s you… the King of All Beasts… Without Haros… how…?”

The dragon’s voice kept breaking off, as if echoing from a dream.

“Growl. (Enough talking. We’re fighting.)”

Leon swung his massive forepaw, and a sizzling sound accompanied by a strange smell filled the air. However, the dragon’s scales were tougher than expected, and he couldn’t inflict a deep wound in one strike. Internally surprised, Leon quickly checked his own condition — he still had strength left.

Without giving the dragon a chance to escape, Leon unleashed a flurry of blows. The energy gathered at his claws created new flames that scorched parts of the dragon’s body.

“…Your spirit is impressive, but you are weak.”

“Growl!”

Just as Leon prepared to leap again, the dragon’s body began to distort. He had aimed to strike the heart directly, but it seemed he had failed. Forced to pause, Leon began forming another fiery explosion in his mouth. Meanwhile, the dragon’s horns began growing longer and longer. If he waited any longer, the horns would become as large as the dragon’s own body.

As the hardened horn approached dangerously close, Leon hurled himself at it. Sizzle! Parts of the horn melted where they touched Leon’s flames.

Leon could feel his strength draining. Deciding there was no more time to hesitate, he opened his jaws wide and reached out with his claws, aiming to seize the dragon’s torso and bite its neck.

Crunch! His blazing claws dug into the dragon’s flesh. Concentrating his energy there, a revolting stench filled the air. Holding his breath to avoid inhaling it, Leon prepared to sink his teeth into the dragon’s throat.

“Growl!”

At that moment, a sharp horn shot out from the dragon’s belly and pierced Leon’s hide.

“Argh!”

Wounded, Leon crashed to the ground. The flames that had covered his body vanished without a trace.

“…No matter how strong you are… you beasts… cannot wield your power alone.”

Seizing the opportunity, the dragon beat its wings heavily and descended.

Pinning Leon down with a foot on his stomach, the dragon opened its jaws wide. Just as the dragon’s fangs were about to sink into the thick fur around Leon’s neck, a cold, gleaming blade slashed past the dragon’s head.

Startled, the dragon turned its head, and Leon used that moment to roll his body and turn toward the direction the blade had come from.

“Growl! (Luca!)”

It was Lucas, whom Leon thought had left. Blood still oozed from the wound in Leon’s belly where the horn had struck, but just seeing Lucas made him feel as if his strength was returning.

Planting his four paws firmly on the ground, Leon roared and moved toward Lucas. A chilling aura surrounded Lucas — something Leon had never seen before. It was a cold, seething fury, and it was directed entirely at the dragon.

“You filthy monster! How dare you lay a hand on my Leon!”

The voice was so powerful it was hard to believe it came from Lucas. With every step he took, blue energy burst forth from his body — an energy Leon had never seen before.

How intense must his rage be to make such an aura visible? Even while bleeding, Leon couldn’t take his eyes off Lucas. If the dragon even so much as touched Lucas, Leon was ready to charge at it immediately.

“…Haros…”

It was another unfamiliar name. Yet Lucas showed no sign of surprise, as if he recognized it.

“I will never leave without killing you.”

Lucas began charging toward the dragon.
As the distance between them closed, Lucas removed his gloves and cast aside his cloak. A blue light swirled around his fingertips — the same light that had once cloaked the body of a fairy he had seen in a dream.

— It’s useless. Your curse has no effect… Gah!

Contrary to the dragon’s claim, every swing of Lucas’s hand tore through the dragon’s wings with blue energy.

— Krrgh!

The dragon, with only one wing remaining, plummeted toward the ground.
Seizing the opportunity, Lucas leaped onto the dragon’s body.
Just watching him made Leon’s fur stand on end.
As Leon gathered his strength to rush to Lucas’s side—

Crackle!

Lucas clung to one of the dragon’s wings with a single arm, tearing it apart.

— Aaargh!

The dragon writhed in agony, its wings flapping so violently that the surrounding air shook, but Lucas held on with tenacity.
Leon could hardly believe what he was seeing.

How could someone who had seemed so fragile just this morning now wield such overwhelming power?

Lucas’s movements, pouring cursed blue energy into the dragon’s wings, gradually slowed.
At this rate, he wouldn’t last long.
But perhaps because Lucas’s power was so fierce, the dragon thrashed about even more violently.

Crunch!

Thick, sticky fluid oozed from the gaping wounds.
Clenching his eyes shut, Lucas poured all his energy deeper into the dragon’s wings, intent on tearing them apart completely.

Even amid the struggle, Lucas never stopped checking on Leon.
Leon was slowly making his way over, ready to join the attack.

“No! Leon, stay back!”

As Lucas shouted, his concentration wavered.
In that brief moment, the dragon beat its wings and flung Lucas into the air.
The dragon’s form began to distort again, as if it intended to escape.

Even as he fell, Lucas’s eyes stayed locked onto the dragon.

“I can’t let it get away…!”

Lucas stretched out his arm, trying to grab even a single fading scale, but the distance between his falling body and the dragon grew wider.

Seeing Lucas desperately reaching out even as he plummeted, Leon gritted his teeth.
An excruciating pain tore through his body, but he could not allow himself to stop.

Even if he lost all his blood from the wound splitting open, Leon couldn’t just let Lucas crash into the hard ground.

Leon leapt with all his might.
He managed to catch Lucas’s falling body just in time.

“Uuurgh…”

All Leon could manage was a beast’s cry, though he desperately wanted to call Lucas’s name.
Even now, Lucas, perched weakly on Leon’s back, glared fiercely at the place where the dragon had disappeared.

A chilling, deathly coldness seeped through Leon’s fur.
It felt as though he were carrying a lifeless corpse.
Gone was the sweet, warm life force he always sensed from Lucas.

Could it be that Lucas had used up too much power?
Like Leon’s own ultimate move, had Lucas poured all of his last strength into this one moment?

Even as Leon worried, Lucas tried again and again to get off his back.
Refusing to let him, Leon carried Lucas and broke into a sprint.

In a voice cracked and broken from pain, Lucas spoke:

“Your Highness… please… stop. If we don’t… catch that dragon now, someday… it will come for Your Highness’s life…”

Though barely able to string the words together through groans of pain, Lucas’s regret over the escaping dragon was painfully clear.
Leon roared louder, overwhelmed by sorrow.
What had driven Lucas to this point?

Was it because he, too, had shared in the nightmares Leon had endured?
Or was it because of the strange name the dragon had spoken?

Burying these endless, agonizing questions deep in his heart, Leon growled lowly.

Please. Please, no more.
It’s my fault.

“It’s gone now… In the end… I failed to stop it.”

With a final whisper, Lucas went limp.
A thick vanilla scent, mingled with the smell of blood, invaded Leon’s nose — a suffocatingly sweet and terrible fragrance.

But that very scent was proof that Lucas was still alive.
And just by smelling it, Leon could tell — Lucas had burned through every last ounce of strength.

Lucas had performed a superhuman feat, all for the sake of saving him.

The cursed energy that had always tormented Lucas had once again driven him into unspeakable pain.

Tears streamed endlessly from Leon’s eyes.

Lucas getting hurt had never been part of the plan.
Even if they couldn’t destroy the dragon, even if they failed to win Lucas’s sympathy, they should have taken their time, persuaded him slowly.

Had they done so, they wouldn’t have pushed Lucas into such agony.

I guess… I’m still not an adult yet, Lucas.
Not if I let you suffer like this.

The wound in his belly hurt terribly, but the wound in his heart hurt far worse.
Leon ran — and ran — toward Lucas’s room.

Behind them, a trail of blood droplets, whose origin was uncertain, dripped along the path they had taken.

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