Chapter 125: Those who sit at the edge of eternity

Everything is wrong.

This existence is wrong.

I can't comprehend it.

I can't understand it.

It's too much and it's too little. Everything is too bright and too dark, it's too cold and it's too hot.

It's wrong.

It's right.

I hate it.

I love it.

This existence…

This sense of living…

What is it?

What does it mean?

What am I?

Am I alive?

What is living?

What are we…why are we all the same?

The…same…

What does it mean to be the same? What does it mean to be different? Why does this disparity exist?

Why do I exist?

What am I supposed to do?

What are we supposed to do?

Where do we go from this point?

Where will we go from this point?

And what did we do to deserve this?

Flames burn at our bodies, illness seeps into our skin, time tears at our flesh.

This is pain…

It's ugly. It's hideous.

It's invigorating.

It's overwhelming.

I want to go back.

I don't want to go back.

…Why do we exist?

Why do we die?

What am I?

What is a calamity?

What is a miracle?

…What am I?

It was in the middle of the night when they returned, riding alone atop Llamrei as they approached the great tree that stretched into the sky.

The Lancer could feel the connection with their Master from up ahead, although it was closer than they were expecting. Either he was waiting for her or he was busying himself with something else at the time and their arrival coincided with whatever it was.

The horse slowed to a halt as the rider caught sight of their Master standing outside in the storm.

The rider stared at them from a distance, the outline of their Master staring up into the sky without making a single noise or an effort to seek cover. Already snow was layering itself atop their person indicating that they had been standing outside for a considerable length of time already.

"Hmmm?" Their Master released a hum, shifting displacing the snow from atop their body. Lumps fell to the ground as the head turned in their direction. The reptilian head stared at her from a distance. "Ah, you're back."

"I am." The knight replied from atop their mount, staring at the Servant "...You have been standing there for some time."

"I have, yes." The Servant responded with a nod, a black scaled hand raised itself in front of the head as the owner of the limb gazed at their clawed appendage "I never understood temperature…I was curious what the cold felt like." the hand clenched itself and was lowered "Is it always like this?"

"That is why it is called the cold." The rider responded with an indifferent tone of voice "I doubt there is much you can learn from it aside from its effect on living things."

"I am aware of such things now but it is…" The Servant trailed off, giving a long and troubled hum as their head shifted to the side and directed their gaze towards the snow "Until now, I had not experienced this sensation and I am left to wonder…"

Lancer remained silent as they stared at their Master, not feeling the need to comment upon what appeared to be a realisation.

"Is it the black mark that touches my being granting me this clarity…or was it always there and I failed to realise it?'

"Is this relevant to the situation at hand?"

"You've returned without the siblings I sent with you." The Servant spoke in a calm voice, turning their head back to the Lancer "Which means they are dead."

"And I returned, as per your commands." For the first time during the conversation a hint of emotion seeped into the Servants voice, the otherwise cold feminine voice turning slightly frustrated. "I could have eliminated them all without issue."

The dark scaled Servant stared at her in silence before the draconic head tilted ever so slightly in evident confusion "Why would I want that? They were able to slay a brother of mine and are now our equals. They are welcome to remain in this country without issue."

Lancer exhaled "So you are still yet to understand."

"Understand?" The Servant parroted in confusion "What is there to misunderstand? They have earned their place in this world and proven themselves equals. So I have no further reason to battle them."

"Hmph." Lancer gave a dismissive grunt "You claim to view me as an equal?"

"We are fellow dragons touched by darkness." The Servant responded casually, gesturing between the two of them "What else could we be?"

"I shall take advantage of your ignorance of our situation as Servant and Summoner to offer you counsel." Lancer replied as they snapped the reins on Llamrei and approached the taller Servant "You should kill them now while they are weak."

The Servant virtually did a double take at her "What? Why would I do such a thing?" their voice was virtually drowned in innocent confusion "And weak? They have already proven to be equal strength-"

"Your understanding of strength is flawed, however that is not the topic of this conversation." Lancer interrupted, the Servant snapped their jaw shut as the mount came to a halt.

Even atop their horse, Lancer was still the shorter of the two with their Master easily towering over the mounted Knight.

"Even supposing they are equals, they will regard you as an enemy to defeat." Lancer explained curtly, not giving the Master the opportunity to add in another argument. However, they needn't have bothered as the fellow Servant seemed somewhat transfixed on what they were saying "That is their entire reason for gathering. No Servant summoned will aid you, hence the presence of the Dragon-Slayer to the south and this new group."

The Servant remained silent, staring at Lancer for a few brief moments before speaking again "Is that so?" they muttered in a low voice, slowly shifting their attention elsewhere and staring at nothing "I do not understand, perhaps if I were to explain their new found position to them-"

"They would reject your ideals swiftly." Lancer countered once again "It is survival of the fittest in all but name. Purging away the weak and proclaiming those who remain to be equal and therefore worthy of existence."

"...Then what do you suggest?"

Lancer shifted themselves "For the time being, we have lost track of the Servants and finding them again would mean scouring the entire southern region. Considering the additional pockets of resistance that have yet to be discovered, this is a waste of resources as this group will no doubt re-emerge in the future."

"And then?"

"Then it would be a trivial matter to crush them all in one fell stroke." Lancer explained, turning their mount to move past the Servant stood in the snow "Whether you believe it or not does not factor into this. The moment you fell upon them with dragons and began burning their people, you became an enemy to all who reside in this land. There is no outcome that will not involve more death, even of those you proclaim your equal."

"...Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why go through such a struggle against me when there is no further need for it?" The Servant turned towards them "I am creating a world free of disparity-"

"And therein lies your problem, despite holding the essence of a human you do not understand a single thing about them." The Lancer coldly replied before they paused, shifting their attention elsewhere "Hmmm…You do not understand the hearts of men." they turned back to their Master "And the Servant who throws crystal knives has already made their answer known to you."

The taller Servant remained silent in the face of the argument, even if they had never met face to face the answer of the knife thrower was clear as day. They would continue to slay dragons as they appeared, regardless of where it was. They moved from location to location and he had not once been able to deduce where they would appear next. Just as swiftly as they would appear and cut down droves of his kindred, the Servant would vanish just as swiftly as though they had not been there at all.

The feelings it elicited from him were odd. He had no name for them and had never truly experienced emotions all that well to begin with, even as a dragon before his infection by the dark sludge.

"When you set out for this quest, what is it you truly sought?" Lancer pressured "If it was a world without disparity, then you have failed from the onset. Human and Dragon shall never be equal, we are both unique amongst our respective races."

"I do not believe so." The Servant replied, their voice turning hard for the first time since the conversation began, shifting their attention onto the Lancer "And our Sister is proof enough of that."

"The end result of a cult that does not exist here." Lancer rebuked swiftly "And one that shall not find roots here either, this land is entrenched in their own Gods and they will not so readily obey them to pursue the path of becoming a Dragon." the Servant paused for a moment "And you assume such a thing is not possible to begin with…"

"Hmmm?"

"I have seen men become dragons before, and they did not do so to become equal. They did so for power, to bring the disparity you seek to end." Lancer looked away, then snapped the reins of their mount once again "If you still doubt my words, then seek the advice of your kin. She knows the truth that you do not see."

"...Is that so?" The Servant muttered as the black knight trotted past them and towards the base of the Archtree. The black scaled giant remained where he was for a few moments in silence before their reptilian face scrunched up ever so slightly and they turned away. Marching in the direction of the entrance.

Hazel eyes slowly opened as a familiar presence approached, the head inclined ever so slightly and flickered towards the entrance. The silhouette of the visitor merged into the dark clouds that hung outside, despite that one couldn't hide the faint glowing around the forehead in the shape of a diamond.

"I was expecting you." The seated figure called out, despite her diminutive size compared with the new arrival it did not change the fact that even seated she all but demanded a certain degree of respect. Unsurprising given her additional features, a pair of curved horns jutting from the side of her head from just beneath her brown hair and a curled tail protruding from the base of her person.

The face of the woman shifted into one of understanding "I see, so she could no longer contain her words?"

The larger figure remained silent for a few seconds before they responded "You knew how she felt then." they muttered before looking down "I was caught off guard by her sudden intensity that I was unable to respond for a few moments." Another silence followed before he eventually looked up "Did you know that was how they felt?"

"Naturally."

"...I see." Closing their eyes, the figure gave a short sigh before they opened again and they advanced further into the cave "Tell me, sister…Where did I go wrong?"

"Did you believe you went wrong somewhere?"

"That I can feel doubt in my own intentions if proof enough…" They admitted, clawed hands clenched into fists by their side "Yet it stung most when the words were spoken aloud by another. A land free of disparity is indeed what I would welcome again but…is such a thing possible?"

"Of course not." The woman chuckled loudly and somewhat amusedly, even as the head snapped towards her and the eyes narrowed on her form "Such a thing is impossible now." the laughter died down "But it is not something I can merely tell you…you would have had to have seen it with your own eyes."

"...Seen what?"

"Disparity." She replied "You saw as much during your life, didn't you? The living calamity that would burn the world."

"Tch." The reptilian head clicked their tongue "That was not…I remember the…the forest…the lands…the people…"

"And?"

"...They were small-"

"They were weak." The woman coldly explained "They were smaller than you. Lesser than you. You couldn't stomach that-"

"That wasn't…" He paused, looking around for a moment before his armoured brows furrowed ever so slightly "Was that truly what it was…did I do all that because I didn't like their weakness?"

The woman shrugged "I doubt you could understand what weakness is. I doubt you can still understand it." she admitted after a few moments before rising up to her feet and looking up at the taller figure "How can you? Coming from an age where all was the same, it is no surprise you would not wish to burden your sight with the unfamiliar, the weakness must have been intolerable to your eyes."

The taller figure stilled their body "...What?"

"I can see no other reasoning." She continued on, giving a faint shrug of the shoulders as she casually strolled around the taller Servant "Surely that must be why. You could not grasp the simple fact of things being different and sought to just get rid of it."

"...That isn't…" They paused for a moment, their jaw clenching "That isn't why…that can't…"

"Come now!" She threw her arms wide "You're the great bringer of calamity! The lands burn under your mighty breath, that which you find ugly ceases to be!" the arms lowered and the expression of the woman turned blank "So what is it that motivated this…Where did these flames of destruction come from? Where did this change come from?"

"...Change?"

"We both know that the Ancients did not look like your draconic form." She pointed out, gesturing to his body up and down "Even before you were touched by the Dark, your body warped itself. Shifting in accordance with your desire so what was it that was so ingrained in your being that was strong enough to alter your very flesh."

The figure looked away from her sharply "That was not…" he paused for a moment before growling "No. No! My reasoning could not have…I was not…I am not mindless destruction!" he all but roared "There was reasoning to it! I had to…I had to find…"

The woman inclined her head "What did you have to find? What was it that you sought?"

"...You've held these thoughts for some time?"

"Since I learned of your goal." She admitted without a moment of hesitation "In which case, you could say I held these thoughts from the moment I was summoned. Your dream, this desire in your heart that you proclaim aloud, it will never come to fruition and you are already proof of its failure." she pointed a finger at them "We both can see it, every dragon beyond this tree can see it."

Slowly, the being raised their clawed hand and stared at it. Gazing at the oily black scales which constituted their skin before slowly clenching their fingers into a fist and allowing a flicker of yellow fire to dance across the limb "...I am…"

"You are." The woman responded, though not unkindly and with a hint of sadness "Even should you realise this fantasy of yours, it will never truly come about. Not while you live and even the dragons outside are not so immune." She pointed out, jerking her head towards the entrance of the tree and out into the storm "You can see it clearly as you can see the sun in the sky, or rather you have yet to see that which lays before your very eyes."

The figure remained silent "...Why tell me this now?" he turned towards her "And why is it impossible? Surely the humans that remain might learn what you taught…the path to be our true equals-"

"To become our equals was not why I crafted that path." She gently cut him off "I built the path that led to eternity for those who could find no peace in the land of disparity. They could banish away their woes to the edge of time and remain content. The wisdom of the dragons is no true wisdom as much as it is to flee from the world itself and walk the path of separation."

"...Seperation?"

"I suppose some might call it enlightenment." She admitted with a half chuckle "Some might call it cowardice. For me? It was simply the path that would let the troubled find peace. To rise above the pain of the world and find purpose in something that would last forever, a pillar that would remain even as the world was consumed by the cycles but it is not a path all should seek."

"...Why not?"

For the first time in the conversation, the woman refused to answer the question "I cannot provide that answer for you. It is something you must learn for yourself."

"You would deny me this answer after the string of arguments you present? Why-"

"Because we are not the same being." She simply replied "I was born long after your time so I understand the lands of disparity all too well. How can I explain the value of difference to one who cannot even understand difference to begin with?"

"...Then what should I do?" The figure asked after a moment, gesturing to the storm outside "Artoria tells me to slaughter my enemies without hesitation because they will not accept me but I do not know why I should…my very purpose was to bring about a land of equals but now you claim such a thing is impossible?" the hand dropped "Why then should I strive to continue this further if my dream cannot be realised? If the land free of disparity is truly beyond my grasp?"

"Because it is not truly your dream."

Brows furrowed "How can you be so certain?"

"Your body would not have changed if that were true." She pointed out with a wry smile, coming to a stop directly in front of them and looking up "There is a desire inside you, a singular feeling that changed your entire being and you have yet to realise it. Perhaps the nature of humanity will grant you further clarity but it is your desire. Not mine…"

"...Then I should slaughter without care?" He accused, pointing at the woman sharply "Like you claim I did?"

"Whatever your desire was, you could not stomach the sight of others weaker than yourself. As for why this was, I cannot say but perhaps…" She slowly reached out, raising her palm towards the forehead of the reptilian and placing it atop their scales "Perhaps…it explains this."

"...My eye?"

"What manner of eye brings weakness to those who gaze upon it? To see another and steal away their strength?" She lowered her hand back to her side "You would ask me something?"

A nod of the head.

"Go to one of the human villages that was burned and remain there until morning. Walk amongst it and stare at all that lies there. Return and tell me what you think of it."

The figure frowned ever so slightly as they stepped back "What? You propose something so-"

"You seek answers. Go and find them." She smiled, "We will be here when you return."

The Servant stared down at her in silence before turning back around, marching towards the storm before he paused for a moment. "Akal…if you thought my dream was folly. Why did you stay?"

"Because I want to see what your real dream is." She replied honestly "And to see what the great Kalameet, bane of the Lordkin, wants from existence is a rare privilege indeed. Last of the Ancient Dragons." Akal tilted her head "Whatever else, you are my family and there was something about your state of being where I could not help but gaze upon it and say 'He's not being truthful to himself.'"

Kalameet looked over his shoulder, arrow shaped head staring back at her with two large horns resting at the back of his crest like head that curled upwards while a smaller pair lay beneath them. The central glowing diamond shaped red eye on their forehead narrowed ever so slightly before it dulled and the eyelid around it closed shut.

Small eye at the side of the head closed and the figure turned back around, two large wings emerging from the back of the figure and spreading as wide as they could.

With a single beat, Kalameet hurled himself into the air and shot off into the distance, soon travelling out of sight and even out of range of the natural sensory abilities of her detection.

Akal closed her eyes before slowly craning them down to the entrance and opening them up once again "Hello, Artoria. I suppose you heard some of that?"

"Some." Artoria replied as she stepped forwards, then looked over her shoulder and gazed off towards the distant sky before returning her helmet to face Akal once again "You pressured him into acting then?"

"You set off the spark and his curiosity brought him to me." Akal pointed out "Though I doubt you could contain yourself much longer."

Artoria didn't dismiss the words "To see a dragon preach of equality was baffling to me. To see it practised in such a way was vexing." her words were sharp and toneless, despite that Akal believed them to be true enough.

"He comes from a different time, long before anything such as Kings and Queens were even thought of." Akal excused "Even then, he cannot comprehend the world as you or I do. Why else would he be summoned in such a class?"

"Hmmm. The Class of Madness is it?" There was a pause before Artoria nodded her head "That rings true in a sense, what he spoke of was madness. From the very beginning, he cannot comprehend he stands atop others purely through existing. Few could ever call themselves his equal in anything."

"Hmmm." Akal merely hummed in assent before she directed her gaze upwards "What do you think he will say when he comes back?"

"Why do you assume I am concerned?" Artoria countered just as swiftly "So long as he acts as my Master, I shall remain his Servant. Perhaps he will forgo this flawed plan before it leads him to self made ruin or perhaps he will remain in ignorance until the very end. Whatever happens, I have provided my counsel on the matter."

Akal chuckled at her words "I suppose that much is true." she smiled "Still, perhaps it is more a vested interest in mine. For so long I led humans down the path of enlightenment to become a dragon. I wonder if I can lead a dragon to become a human?"

Artoria stared at the dragon woman in silence for a few moments before her eyes narrowed behind her helmet "Is that your sole motivation for supporting him? To use him as a mere experiment for yourself?"

"That is an ugly way of phrasing it." Akal softly rebuked before thinning her lips "Yet, I wonder if it is wrong to describe it as such…" she wondered before shaking her head "But that is not truly my intent, I did not lie to him. I will support him until the very end of his dream because he is the last of his race and I am the first of mine." she directed her attention back to the Lancer "Are you not curious?"

"Hardly, I have explained as such."

"Hmmm. Perhaps that is more loss for yourself, to witness the growth of an individual." She shrugged, turning her attention back to the storm "When daybreak comes, I wonder if it will be the dawn of just a new day."

Artoria remained silent for a moment before she grunted once and turned around, walking back towards the exit and into the storm "Do as you will. I will offer no opinion on the matter further."

Akal called out to her before she left. "What will you do should he ask you for advice on leadership?"

The Lancer paused "...And for what reason would a conversation such as that even arise?"

The draconic woman merely smiled in an almost knowing tone before shrugging her shoulders and returning to where she had initially been seated. Turning back around and placing herself atop the stone surface, crossing her legs and resting her arms on her knees before closing her eyes.

"I wonder…" Akal wryly commented.

"Your sense of knowing has an eerie sense of familiarity to me." Artoria commented, looking over her shoulder at the woman "As though the story itself has already been written for you and you merely exist to observe the content from beginning to end."

"Really? Is that how it seems?" The woman tilted her head, thinning her lips and giving the Lancer a curious expression "And you say you knew another such as this?"

"I detested that habit of his as well." Lancer bluntly commented, swiftly turning on her heel and marching out into the snow but not before giving another parting comment "Though he had the sense to at least dress." leaving Akal alone to herself within the base of the great Archtree.

The brown haired woman inclined her head back and hummed almost silently, then directed her attention downwards towards the clothes she was actually wearing. Or more accurately, the rags she was clad in. Dark grey strips of fabric loosely wrapped around her body which gave her the more distinctive visual appearance of a mere vagrant.

"Hmmmm." Akal hummed to herself before slowly raising her head upwards and crossing her arms over his chest. Idly reaching towards one of the looser bits of fabric and running her fingers along its surface to give the texture a feel. Naturally, it felt somewhat ratty and rather uncomfortable to her.

Withdrawing her hand away, she sighed almost imperceptibly.

Even if she was to exist beyond the regular timeframe of creation and stare down at it from the edge of eternity, that was no reason for forgo comfort. Akal reached up, running a sharp fingernail up and down her chin in thought before snapping her fingers.

"I suppose I could always see what the humans who fled had." She realised "Well, not like they will be needing it though." An alternative solution was to just go to the pile of corpses the wyverns and dragons had brought back and rootle through all of that to find something to wear. Maybe put a couple of pieces together and see what she ended up with.

Humans did that sort of thing rather frequently to her knowledge, or it was undead? With how often the two came about it was difficult to keep track of which race had which customs. Shrugging her shoulders and dismissing the notions from her mind, she rose up from her seated position and dusted herself off before walking towards the entrance of the Archtree and stepping out into the cold.

The moment she was instantly blasted in the face by an icy wind and the scraps clung to her body only by the grace of whatever luck she had, Akal decided that it would indeed be best for her to find something more suitable to cloth herself in than simple rags. Though it was better than what she was wearing when she was first summoned.

That being nothing at all.

Who could have thought being a human was such a challenge? In all her life, the cold had barely affected her at all because of her scales. Now she had to think about all sorts of little things.

It was rather exciting.

This was rather…

Kalameet wasn't sure that there was a word for what he was feeling right now. Or if there was, it was yet another thing he was ignorant of.

He paused and stared off into the distance as the unfamiliar word rattled around inside his skull.

Ignorance.

Before the flame, there was no such thing as Ignorance. There was no such thing as knowledge. Things simply were and that was that. Without anything new to discover or old to study.

Existence was it.

The dragon grunted to himself as he trudged forwards, passing through the charcoal marks of what had once been an outer wall and into the town. Or it had been a town, now having much more in common with an old bonfire with the amount of black wood that littered the ground and ash that hung in the air.

What was he supposed to learn here?

His dull red eyes swept across his surroundings with puzzlement flashing through the orbs. Akal had sent him here with the clear intention of showing him something but it eluded him. What was he supposed to learn by strolling through this failure?

His hands clenched into fists as his tail swept back and forth in irritation.

Being here elicited odd emotions from him. Those who lived here had been scorched swiftly, almost sickeningly easy. It was…

Kalameets jaw clenched as the snow below him started to hiss, the head around his body rose for a brief instant before it fizzled back down to a usual temperature. The Servant raised up his right foot as he stared down at the surface of his black scales, water dripped down and back into the puddle of lukewarm slush that lay at his feet.

The dragon stepped out of the puddle and back into the snow before looking up once again.

What was it that bothered him when it came to this? The moment he had begun this campaign of his he expected there to be casualties. It was a land of disparity, where there was strength there would also be weakness but this…

It had taken less than five minutes to turn this once prosperous town into nothing but a smouldering ruin. The attack had been swift and devastating, the humans here unable to even mount anything that could have been construed to be a defence and they had been all but massacred.

No, they had been massacred. Slaughtered. Roasted. Butchered.

It was swift.

It was unexpected.

They had been going about their lives without even a hint of what was about to happen to them and then he and his kin had fallen upon them like a storm, a raging inferno that reduced everything to ash.

Kalameet paused, slowly shifting his attention to gaze long and hard at his surroundings once again.

"Oh…" He realised aloud, thinking back on the attack against the humans who knew nothing of what was about to occur.

Was that what concerned him?

Was that what ate at the back of his mind?

That he now took the place of the Fire beings and their slaughter of the Dragons?

His eyes closed and he looked away sharply. No, that couldn't be the sole answer. He very much doubted it was the answer to begin with. The realisation had brought clarity to his role but it was a reversal, some part of him had understood that those who were native to the world would have no inkling of what was about to befall them.

Whether or not his actions were the same as the Fire beings held little sway over his arguments, if that was his only counter then his quest for the end of disparity would have continued on without any further doubts. The end result would have brought a lasting peace. How could it not? Without disparity, all would be equal and therefore it would be a world without pain.

A world that was right once again…

There was a pause before a small snort of yellow flame rushed out of Kalameet's nose, the black dragon shook his head and turned back around. This changed very little. It didn't explain why both Akal and Artoria seemed to criticise his plan. Perhaps it would never be a world without disparity but it would be close enough.

Once the humans saw that they were regarded as equal to dragons the two races could live in peace for all time without concern. What could be so wrong with that?

As he prepared to take off once again, his black wings spreading wide on his back he found himself pausing for a moment. His eyes caught sight of a shape not far from him.

For whatever reason, he was entranced by the shape and swiftly retracted his wings before turning his entire body to face it as his gaze never once wandered from this unusual fixation.

It appeared to be a structure of sorts, the humans called them buildings. It was only natural, they had no Archtree of their own to call shelters so they created these things to act as substitutes. He had seen them all time and time again, in the forest he turned to ash and the city where he had contracted the black stain.

However, there was something about seeing them which gnawed at his person. Something that had always enraged him when he saw them but for whatever reason, he could never identify why he was so vexed by these false Archtree's. There was no real reason to be angered by the mere sight of them yet he could never help it.

He felt the familiar rage burn within him. His right hand clenched into a fist as yellow fire began to leak out from between his knuckles. The hand spread wide to reveal an orb of bright yellow flames with a centre of pure dark bubbling away in his palm, he raised his hand towards the elongated building and prepared to erase it.

"You're the great bringer of calamity! The lands burn under your mighty breath, that which you find ugly ceases to be! So what is it that motivated this…Where did these flames of destruction come from?"

Just as swiftly as the flames had come into being, then soon sputtered away back into nothing. Kalameet slowly lowered his arm.

Why did he hate this so much?

Why did staring at the structures of the flame beings disgust him? Did he simply hate them? Was that all that motivated him all those years?

No.

No, he refused to believe that.

He could not believe that.

Such simple reasoning, to reduce his entire being to one who destroyed everything he saw out of mere hatred was…

It was…

Wrong.

It was wrong.

So then why?

Kalameet took a single step towards the building, then another, and another. Before long, he was marching towards it with a certain level of determination about his person. He was fixated on finding the answer to his ugly feeling. It was the same ugly feeling that found purchase in the back of his head when he thought of bringing about a world free of disparity.

With a shove forwards, the burnt wooden door was reduced to splinters. The fragments rocketed into the building and broke the already shattered wall directly opposite the door further. The black dragon took a single step forwards, then slowly lowered their body to fit in through the doorway and into the main room itself.

The building was small, he couldn't even stand up without running the risk of putting his head through the ceiling. At least, that would have been a concern if there was even a ceiling to exist in the first place. The back half of the house had been ripped asunder, wood and brick were scattered across the flooring.

Kalameet stared at the damage, his lower jaw wavered ever so slightly as he held back the urge to throw a fist at the walls around him and reduce the skeleton of a house to nothing but sticks and stones. The urge was controlled and reined back into his body before it could take hold of him.

Instead only a puff of dark smoke leaked from between his fangs.

The eyes of the dragon swept around the room, lingering on the smaller creations within the shelter. What remained of them were difficult to discern the meaning behind, the ceiling had clearly collapsed inwards before something had torn out the back of the house and taken most of the debris with it and into the open. Or something had crashed into the house at an angle and blasted through the roof and then the back wall.

Kalameet took a single step forwards, then paused as he felt something snap underneath his clawed foot. His head slowly looked down to the noise, shifting his foot to the side and staring at the melted remains of a sword, snapping in two from him having stepped on it. With a soundless grunt, he jerked his foot to the side and sent the remains of the weapon away from him.

He looked back up and towards the remains of the main room. There was little left to tell about this place, it was a ruin. Plain and simple, it would be completely unlivable and unworkable as a shelter from the elements. Kalameet marched forwards, kicking away debris by his feet and crunching bricks underfoot.

What would this have looked like before it was burned to nothing?

Those constructed shelters of humans and the Light kin were always so large. No, there was a difference between them. Those who lived in the woods had built shelters that were little more than huts such as this, enough to shield them from the worst of the cold but nothing else more.

When Kalameet thought back to the great towers of the city of humans he had visited, the shelters of stone it was…

Jarring.

Why was there such a difference between the two of them? Was it merely a case of available resources? Yet again, evidence of more disparity but it begged the question. If those who lived in the forest had the same resources as those who lived in the city, would they have built towering structures to rival the Archtree's?

Would their shelters have reached for the skies?

The hands at his side clenched.

That ugly feeling perked back up within him as he thought about it, the desire to burn everything that remained in this hovel flared up like a rising sun but was forced back down. Not yet, not until he had his answers.

He was close.

He was desperately close to it, he could tell as much.

There was something he was missing and it lay within these shelters. They always brought about the hatred that Akal spoke of, that desire to turn everything to mere ashen dust. But there must be a reason for this hatred, he had never felt it before and as long as it burned within him at the mere thought of humans and shelters…

He would never be able to bring about that world free of disparity.

Hatred was a product of the flame. He had to know why he felt it…

He had to know and the answer lay somewhere amongst these ruins. It lay within his own body. He had felt the change take hold of him even before he was touched by the blackness in the human city. His body had warped, shifted and creaked until it wasn't recognisable and yet…and yet…

There was something else when the change had been completed.

Something…

Comfortable.

That was the word he searched for. It was comfortable for him in this form and even more so as he existed now. He had never truly experienced such freedom before and yet everything still felt wrong. There was a wrongness about the world rather than within himself, or with his body.

The state of being that he existed within was wrong.

But why did he think that?

Was it because of the disparity in existence or was there something more to it?

A growl rumbled from his throat. Ever since he thought of the humans and the light kin constructing their false shelters, he had been burdened by this anger. This unquenchable feeling of fury. That which would turn him into the calamity that even the Light kin feared, there was something about it that felt to be more than simple hatred.

There was something more that burned within him.

"Why is everything you build offensive to my eyes!?" He roared aloud, swinging his fist around and slamming it into the remaining wall of the house. The wall all but ceased to exist from the impact. A deep thump echoed out amongst the town, soon followed by explosions as the fragments of brick and wood launched at incredible speeds impacted the surroundings like a buckshot, tearing apart the ground and what remained of the ruins.

"Why!?" Kalameet roared "If I were to make a shelter such as this, I would not-!"

He paused.

"If I were to make…?" He voiced out in a quieter tone of voice, his eyes flickered as confusion flashed through them before something else started to burn just behind them.

Realisation.

Artoria wasn't expecting to find the other dragon human shifting through the corpses of the wyverns' recent meals. It would have turned her nose if she had an inkling of care, that being said there was something grim about watching the woman's blank expression as she waded elbow deep in human remains.

"What are you doing?" She eventually called out, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side and frowning behind her helmet.

Akal paused and looked up towards the voice, soon finding Artoria stood not far from her. Her expression brightened ever so slightly when she caught sight of the Lancer "I am following your advice from earlier."

"...My advice."

"Yes." The woman nodded her head, then leaned back and withdrew a bloody arm before gesturing to her body "The wraps are barely clothes at all, so I am changing my attire and it is simpler to reuse the clothes of the dead humans here than to go through the process of making my own." there was a pause before she raised an eyebrow "I believe it is a human custom to make use of everything one can get their hands on, isn't it?"

Artoria stared at her in silence for a few moments, then looked to the side to see a wyvern slowly sneaking past her towards the pile with the clear intention of getting something to eat. The beast paid little interest in either of them as it fell upon the nearest corpse and tore into it.

"Perhaps, in a pragmatic sense." The Lancer admitted slowly, turning her head back towards Akal "However it is rarely done in such a grizzly fashion." there was a pause before she spoke again "I gave you this advice hours ago, have you been doing nothing but digging through corpses for scraps of cloth since then?"

Akal nodded her head "I had little else to do." she casually admitted with a wave of her hand before she pointed to the side "I have already acquired some choice pieces of clothing for myself. I believe they will suit me well." Artoria shifted her attention towards the location the woman was pointing at, a small pile of fabric, chainmail and leather bracers was present in a strewn together fashion. Blood coated much of it and the fabric itself was ripped apart in several locations.

"You intend to face your foes wearing the attire of the recently deceased and smelling as though you belong to them?" Artoria curled her lip behind her helmet, her arms slowly raised themselves up and crossed over in front of her chest "I had thought dragons were beings of pride and yet neither you nor our Master exhibit any of the behaviour I associate with them."

Akal raised an eyebrow "Pride in what?" she asked curiously.

"Excuse me?"

"For what reason would a dragon be proud? What is there to take pride in?" She asked "I know of the legends of Fafnir, the greedy dragon who hoarded treasure…what was there to be proud of in that? A collection of trinkets that could never be used." Akal sighed, bringing her arms up and shaking the viscera off them "To be prideful, there must be something that exists to bring about this emotion. Pride in power? All dragons are powerful. For what reason would you take pride in mere chance?"

Artoria remained silent for a moment before she responded "Are you saying you are without pride?"

"Of course not." Akal scoffed "I have my pride as the head of an entire order. I built a faith that lasted through every era. I rebelled against the Gods extinction of the dragons and won. To be a dragon is to be more than born as one…You must think like one as well, to be separated from the world and all that resides within it. To act as a mere observer to all of creation as you remain seated within eternity."

"Hmph."

"Does that surprise you?"

"I would not expect a dragon to preach of faith." Artoria grunted, dark helmet staring down at the kneeling woman from across the pile of bodies. Ignoring the ripping and tearing sounds of the feasting wyverns nearby. "I am undecided as to whether such a thing is amusing or puzzling."

"We all think in different ways." Akal replied knowingly "You have pride in something, I am sure. I have my pride in the legacy that I built and you have done something you feel pride in but that is not a purely draconic trait. Pride comes to all living beings if they have the wit to understand themselves."

"In my experience, dragons are the most prideful beings." Artoria responded with "Perhaps that does come with the excess of power they wield and through the sheer might of being a dragon. Creatures who can turn whole countries to glass and inspire an image of terror that will be forever burned in the hearts of men."

"Kalameet is one such dragon."

"...Truly?" Artoria frowned, not that Akal could see it. "His responses to battle thus far have been timid. He makes for a poor warrior and an even poorer leader, his goals are confused and flawed and he has not the sense to see them. In what manner could he be considered anything more than a fool?"

Akal frowned, "There is being foolish and then there is stupidity." she remarked, rising up to her feet and staring across to Artoria "Kalameet might be stupid, but he is no fool. No, he is ignorant. Without ever having the chance to understand, as I have explained before. Once he understands his goal, we shall both see just how far his conviction shall take him when aimed in the right direction."

Artoria narrowed her eyes "And what direction would that be? You speak as though you already know what path he shall take. Again, your similarities with a distant figure of my past rear up once again and I am no less troubled by them."

"He'll understand what it truly means to be alive." Akal explained "Something he was never granted the opportunity to do in the past. Yes, his ideal was flawed but that is through ignorance rather than anything else. Ignorance can be cured. Once he finds his reasoning, I shall support him wholeheartedly."

"With the implication that you were not willing to before."

"I was helping him, I wasn't supporting him." She quickly replied with "There is a difference. Much like the situation you find yourself in, you aid him but his goals were ones you could not support." There was a pause. "Then again, I very much doubt that a King would be able to understand such a situation where there was no central figure of power."

"I am a King no longer." Artoria grunted in response "And my Kingdom does not exist. My own opinion on the state of the world is no longer one of relevance, I exist as a Servant to be used by my Master and my Lance wielded to crush opposition."

"Whether or not you are a King, the mentality remains. You cannot ever dismiss what you were and therefore you cannot understand how one with his power and his desire cannot grasp the concept of leadership." She chortled "His stunned silence when he failed to understand the very concept of holding power over another was enough for you to realise this, wasn't it?"

"...It is not different to having a child for a Master." Artoria coldly responded with as her arms uncrossed "He could not even grasp the concept of having enemies who would oppose his ideals. Whether or not he could achieve this 'utopia' of his, it would have been doomed for failure without anyone to control it. His own race would never accept it."

"Well yes." Akal wryly nodded her head "And tempering them has taken much of my time."

"I suspected as much." Artoria nodded her head "You did not leave the tree since my summoning and all combat was left in my hands. You have been curbing the impulses of the dragons to make them more tranquil."

"The keen mind of a ruler." Akal chuckled at the black knightess "But yes. If his own race rebelled against his desire from the very beginning, he would have shut down and been unable to comprehend why. Therefore I had to have them play the part for the time being and his presence helped to keep the dragons in control. The wyverns listen to me, as they would their mother."

"And if he were to shut down, then this entire Singularity would collapse into chaos."

"Yes." Akal grimly nodded her head "Though I wonder what he shall say when he comes back…" she turned her head skywards "Which should be soon now."

Artoria figured as much, considering Kalameet made no effort to conceal his magical energy and had been charging towards their location for some minutes now. The passing of the storm and the rising sun helped to illuminate him against the backdrop of the sky. His growing humanoid form heading straight for the pair.

Kalameet abruptly halted in the air, his wings spreading wide and slowing his momentum down instantly before he beat them several more times to lower himself to the ground before he landed upon the snow with a gentle thud.

His head stared at Artoria for a moment, then drifted to Akal where he paused at seeing the current mess she was in. "What are you doing?"

"Getting clothes." Akal explained as though she wasn't stripping bodies for their possessions.

"...Hmmm." Kalameet hummed at her, before turning his attention back to Artoria. The Lancer noted that his gaze seemed much sharper than it had before, as if the subtle fog of doubt had been lifted from his sight.

"Regardless, it is fortunate you are both here. It will save me having to repeat myself." He spoke in a slow tone before turning his attention towards the Archtree "I understand now. I know why I hated those human creations, those cities the light kin built. Why I was obsessed with creating a world free of disparity."

Artoria remained silent, while Akal was slowly growing a proud smile.

Kalameet turned back to Artoria "Gather the dragons and lead them out. We are going to kill everything that lies in our path." he raised his hand "But we shall not destroy…I am going to take it back. I understand what I want…what I need is a fair chance." he turned around "Humans and the Light kin, they stole our chance for true development before it ever had a chance to take off. Our chance to build something - to make something - of ourselves was lost but now…"

He raised both his arms and spread them wide "Now I am going to find that chance. I'm going to do what our race never could…I'm going to give us more than mere existence." he turned back around, his mouth curled up into a sharp grin "I'm going to give us the chance to live."

Kalameet pointed at Akal "That is what I shall do. I shall grant us - all dragons - the future that was denied to us from the very start. I will take our fair chance back and turn this land into our Kingdom." he looked skywards. "That is my ideal…that is what I will strive for. I will bring our race into the world and fashion our own history."

Artoria remained silent for a moment before she responded "I see." her eyes slowly turned towards Akal "A better ideal than what you had before, and when you take this new Kingdom of yours?"

Kalameet paused "When that happens…I want to see what sort of future we can build. What type of people we will become, what we will make." his hands clenched into fists "I am proof enough that we can grow…The dragons of this land were denied their own land as well, therefore I shall carve out one for them, for the sake of both our worlds."

Artoria knew the dragons had long since retreated to the reverse side of the world, but Kalameet was correct in the sense that there had never been a Kingdom of dragons.

Still, building a new Kingdom was a better plan than trying to make everyone equal when such a thing was impossible from the outset.

"I will start building this future now…and will fight for it with every fibre of my being." He lowered his arms to his side. "That is what I am…The Calamity that paves the way for new growth."

A pause before he spoke again "I believe, no…I know this is a much superior ideal than before."

Akal clapped lightly "It is a wish of your own making and whether it is correct or not, I shall be there to support you."

Kalameet wordlessly nodded his head before turning to Artoria expectantly.

"I am your Servant summoned to fulfil your will. If your wish is to become a King, then that is your wish and I shall comment no further upon it." She narrowed her eyes "Though you have much to learn of command before you can become a King."

"...Then I shall rely upon you for that guidance." Kalameet replied after a moment of silence before his eyes closed and he leaned his head back "...The future that awaits me at the end of this journey. That is what I want…I want us…to live."

AN: Ahhh Kalameet.

You've speedrun how to have a wish.

And yes, Akal is sort of an OC character but not really.

She is the Everlasting Dragon in the first game who made the Path of the Dragon faith and lasted until the final game - in my own head canon - as the Mother of Dragons. Basically the giant mountain sized dragon at Archdragon peak in the distance.

It fits with Archdragon peak also being a place where the Path of the Dragon is followed.

Anyway!

Stats for Kalameet! Oh yeah, if you wanted reference for a physical appearance just look at the Black Dragon Set from Dark Souls 2 but…you know…pitch black and with Kalameets actual head.

Stats for Akal will come later.

Kalameet

Servant: Berserker

Strength: A++

Endurance: B+

Agility: A+

Mana: A+

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: A++

'Shashvata Vipattikala': A+ (Anti-Army) Max Range: 500, Max Target: 1-40

'Black Dragon who becomes the Eternal Calamity' Releases a wave of dragon fire distorted by the Abyss upon his enemies. Holds anti-divine properties to it.

Living Calamity: EX (Anti-Unit) Max Target: 1, Max Range: 0

He transforms into Kalameet, the black Dragon for however long the form can be sustained. Which is often not long.

Age of Ancients - 'The World Unmade': A++ (Anti-World/Anti-Concept) Max Target: 1, Max Range: 0-5

Creation of a bounded field around himself at will, rendering all those within his field as 'equal'. It is the removal of blessings and bonuses from people and weapons. In effect, it reduces a battle to one of just physical parameters. Personal and Class Skills are removed entirely from play, it is the effect of rendering the battle without disparity. However, this is a NP that Kalameet cannot use often due to its considerable strain against himself, he reverts to an ordinary Dragon and runs the risk of burning through his own magical energy before the battle can end.

Class Skills:

Independent Action: A

Touched by the Abyss: D

Kalameet had already begun to mutate and fall to the Abyss by the time of his death. He was a fearsome Black Dragon with traces of the Dark Soul burrowed into him. Grants same benefits as Divinity of equal rank.

Madness Enhancement: EX

His line of thinking is utterly strange. Though he wishes to create a future for all dragons, he still cannot truly comprehend the differences between people. If you are his Master, he will recognise you entirely as an equal. Which means he will just as likely issue commands and be surprised when they are not followed.

Dragon-Kind: A+

Ranked down from EX due to Abyssal infection.

Magic Resistance: C

Personal Skills:

Dragon Heart: A++

He is a Dragon in humanoid form. Only made this way due to his scales being formed into a suit of armour for cultists. He shaped his image as such. His magical energy is monstrous, working as a superior form of Mana burst to empower his physical strength greatly.

Feared by the Gods: A

Because he was a Dragon that even Anor Londo dared not provoke, his power is obvious. He has a great deal of advantage against the Divine.

Mystic Eye of Calamity: EX

His singular orange eye, it can project weakness onto a target just by looking at them. Doubling the damage they receive from his attacks.

Ancient Dragon: A+

Race of Ancient Everlasting Dragons. Able to control lesser dragons at his leisure. Weak to Dragon-Slayers.

Summoning

"I am Kalameet, bane of the Gods and Dragon of Calamity….Hahahaha…so you wish to burn something do you? Let us see what my flames can turn to ash!"

Dialogue 1

"Hmmm…To have a body like this is disconcerting to me at times…how do you get around with just two legs?"

Dialogue 2

"Have you seen those…what do you call them? 'Gundam' looks very impressive…I wonder…ahahah…"

Dialogue 3

"Master and Servant? We are equals. I hold no more command over you than you do over me. It is simple."

Dialogue 4 (If you have Elizabeth Bathory)

"She is a good singer, is she not? We dragons have never encountered a song but it is amazing to behold…why do you stare at me so strangely?"

Dialogue 5 (If you have Sieg)

"Hmmm…Hmmmmmmm…I see. He became a Dragon did he? Impressive…although he's much too timid. But he remains a dragon nonetheless. He is my kin so I treat him as my equal, perhaps I do have a much more favourable view of him though."

Dialogue 6 (If you have Artoria Pendragon Alter)

"Ha…Little sister is as cold as usual today. Hm? Why call her little sister? She too is a black dragon poisoned by corruption to alter her form. We each hold the dark and become more human for it…Her doing so to avoid becoming divine is just more appealing, what is she if not my little sister?"

Dialogue 7 (If you have Mordred)

"That temperament of yours…It is strong indeed but I wonder…what is it aimed at? Do you have a dream of your own that you feel strongly towards?"

Dialogue 8 (If you have The Chosen Undead)

"I owe him a great deal. Does that surprise you? I would never have understood my dream unless he had killed me and I had become this being."

Dialogue 9 (If you have Nameless King)

"The God of War who abandoned War…I know him well, it is by his hand that my kind still lived till the end of Fire…I will forever respect and resent him for that. He still stole our future but that some of us lived at all and brought about that path to becoming a Dragon is...An achievement, even if there is no future in that faith."

Dialogue 10 (If you have Quetzalcoatl)

"Another Light kin? Tch, how many more-wait…wait, wait, wait…a divine serpent? This is…wait…"

Dialogue 11 (If you have Melusine)

"Another little sister, although…Grrrrrr! Why does she have a jetpack! My equal, find me a contraption like hers! I wish to transform into a body of metal as well!"

Dialogue 12 (If you have Akal)

"Little sister…In truth, we are not related in the least but that is just what I call her. She carries the looks of us from before the beginning but she isn't really one of the Ancients. Although her path of meditation was close to our life at least."

Dialogue 13 (If you have Seath)

"The traitor…I shall rend the flesh from his scaleless hide!"

Dialogue 14 (If you have Dragon Slayers)

"Dragon Slayers? How curious…I was not expecting them to be such mild folk. I do not hate them. It is a battle for your own life, your own future. They are simply the winners in the end."

Dialogue 15 (If you gave Filianore)

"...To see a cousin of mine indoctrinated into Little more than a pet…The girl is innocent but it vexes me no less."

Dialogue 16 (If you have Torin)

"Ahhh…That one with the Light kin within them? Yes. I know why they hate me...I didn't realise why I burned their forest down at the time, though I have heard humans are capable of such feats when envious, am I right? I will not apologise and I doubt he would accept one even if I was inclined. The being I was then and who I am now are two different entities."

Likes

"What do I like? I fight for my future and…likes though…There are also those 'mecha' that you call them…that intrigues me."

Hates

"What do I hate? Disrespect. It disgusts me, if you shall entreat with another then it must be from a position as equals. I come from a land without disparity however…"

Wish for the Holy Grail

"Wish? I would wish for our future but such a thing is…To take back our future would be to deny you yours and we are equals now. There is nothing worse than to treat and equal poorly. Your future is now my future, so for the Grail I would wish prosperity for both our paths."

Bond Level 1

"This sense of battle is…intoxicating. I feel a sense of passion with every blow that I throw, I become more invested, more willing to see where it next leads. I want to continue on."

Bond Level 2

"You humans call this team work, right? We are good at it. Though perhaps I am taking up too much of the battlefield? I'm not leaving enough for you. I shall try to split the burden between us more evenly. Hmmm? What do you mean you're fine with how things are?"

Bond Level 3

"Ah…yes this is that 'weakness' I have heard about. I am still unused to the idea of a lack of equality although looking between the two of us it appears to make more sense, does it not? You cannot perform my levels of strength…I shall still view you as my equal though."

Bond Level 4

"A battle for your future you say…Yes, to put your entire life on the line for such a thing is common sense isn't it although…hmmm…I feel something more than investment in this."

Bond Level 5

"I had almost forgotten. I am part human as well, or at least I hold the touch of Abyss within my spirit. That is what grants me manifestation to begin with. I bridge the gap between human and dragon like many others but…perhaps it is why I find other humans more appealing as my equals. Because I have a part of them within me as well. It is because of humanity I can even fight for my future at all…No. I can fight for our future. Until the very end where neither of us can stand any more, I will be by your side. My sibling."

Birthday

"The passage of time…Yes, it is confusing for me to understand. However, it is something humans celebrate, isn't it. Therefore I shall do the same. Congratulations on another year of continued life. Your future grows brighter every time."

During an Event

"This is entertainment, right? Let's have a look. I want to see what sort of thrill this inspires within me this time. This excitement…this is what I want to experience most of all!"

1st Ascension

"Hmmm…Ascension, yes? How strange. I have trodden further into disparity yet I feel a greater sense of completion."

2nd Ascension

"No change, hmm. I thought as much but that does not alter this inner strength. But it is for the future…So it is fine."

3rd Ascension

"...Did you get taller? Wait…my skin is…my face is…Did the Abyss affect me more than usual?"

4th Ascension

"This form is more fitting. We really are closer to being equals now, aren't we? I can change between forms if it is more comfortable for you though-Hmm? You have no problems with my human appearance? I see…That is strange to hear but at the same time it is an odd comfort for me."