God,
when I am called to duty,
wherever flames may rage,
give me strength to save a life.
Let me embrace a little child
before it is too late,
or save an older person from the horror of that blaze.
Enable me to be alert and hear the weakest shout,
quickly and efficiently to extinguish the fire.
I want to do my duty well.
Help me, Lord, to do my best
to protect my neighbors’ property and lives.
And if, according to Your will,
I have to give my life,
please, with Your protecting hand,
take care of my wife and children.
-A.W. “Smokey” Linn-
“Are you okay!?”
“I’m fine.”
Dariann and Tene entered the World Tree, which was filled with hot heat and black smoke.
“Oh my god… is this really the same place I saw last time?”
Tene’s eyes widened as she examined the interior without any restrictions, even in the acrid and smoky air, and she muttered to herself without realizing it.
Elixir production took place inside the World Tree because freshness was paramount.
It was efficient because all that was needed was to boil freshly picked World Tree Leaf in a large cauldron, so there was no need for complicated equipment.
Therefore, as full-scale Elixir production began, Tene would unknowingly peek inside the World Tree every time she came to the Great Forest. The inside of the large World Tree always smelled refreshing.
A cool breeze, from who knows where, and the fresh scent of nature, incomparable to phytoncides, always cleared the mind.
The floor, imbued with years of history, and the antique interior facilities resembled the dreamy home of a kind witch in a fairy tale, which Tene liked this space.
But it was different now.
The ancient trees were discolored by the fire, and instead of a refreshing breeze, a terrible heat that would instantly burn the lungs of an ordinary person was simmering.
“Snap out of it!”
“Hiccup!?”
Tene, who had unknowingly lost her mind at such a shocking sight, was finally able to come to her senses at Dariann’s shout.
“Listen carefully, I can only see a few meters in this situation.”
“But you’re different, aren’t you? Expand your senses and find anyone who’s still left.”
“Ha, but… I’ve never done anything like that before…”
Dariann, who was covering his mouth and crouching down thanks to the acrid smoke, looked at Tene and shouted, but Tene was not confident.
She was a Dragon, but she had never really trained using it, nor had she ever used her abilities for any purpose.
At best, she would act as an airplane for the Count of Evergarden, and because she was a Dragon, she didn’t feel the need to train or anything like that.
In such a situation, she felt embarrassed when she was suddenly asked to do something she had never done before, and she shook her head without realizing it.
However.
“You can do it. No, you have to.”
“But…”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
“…!”
“Even as we’re standing here, the lives of the people trapped in this fire are in danger!”
“….”
Tene’s trembling stopped at Dariann’s cry, which reminded her that people’s lives depended on each and every one of her actions.
“You can do it. You’re a Dragon, aren’t you?”
“…I’ll try. No, I’ll definitely do it!”
“Heh, that’s what a Dragon should do.”
Then, Dariann smiled at Tene and raised his thumb, and Tene began to concentrate with a firm heart.
‘Concentrate, concentrate… I’ve felt presences without realizing it before, haven’t I? Just do it intentionally.’
‘What’s around me? In this space? On this floor? In this World Tree…?’
Swoosh-
Then, a jet-black aura, different from the acrid smoke, slowly began to spread around Tene, who was concentrating.
‘Expand, expand… enough to cover this entire World Tree!’
Swoosh-!
Then, Tene’s eyes flashed open, and the aura floating around her body began to quickly cover the surroundings.
It didn’t stop there.
The aura that spread out from her surroundings quickly covered the space where she was, and then the entire World Tree.
Then.
-…help…
-Sa…ve me..
-Save me!!!
Flash.
“Two people in front! Three on the second floor! Two in the basement! And… three on the seventh floor!”
Tene, who heard the voices of the survivors as vividly as if they were right next to her, identified their locations and shouted in an orderly manner. “…Good job! Let’s move quickly!”
“Yes!”
Then, Dariann smiled and immediately began to run.
“I’ll start with the front!”
Even as he ran through the smoky haze where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, Dariann clearly understood the internal structure.
‘The wooden building means the fire is spreading very quickly…! The World Tree may not be an ordinary tree, but assuming that the fire is also not ordinary, it’s best to treat it as a wooden building.’
“There, they’re in front of us!”
“Run!”
Then, as the figures of people could be seen faintly in the distance as Tene said, Dariann increased his speed even more.
“Sa…ve…”
“Tene!!!”
“Yes!”
Dariann finally found the survivors.
They were leaning against the corner of the wall, sipping Elixir and barely holding on.
Fortunately, it seemed they were able to hold out because there was spare Elixir since the accident happened while they were making Elixir.
‘I should take some of this too.’
Dariann picked up a few Elixir bottles rolling on the floor and put them in his pocket, thinking they might be useful somewhere.
“It’s going to shake for a moment.”
Grab-
“Catch!!!”
“Ugh!?”
Dariann, relieved to have found the survivors, immediately grabbed the two Elves who were swaying and threw them to Tene, one in each hand.
Tene barely caught the Elves who were suddenly flying through the air.
“Send those survivors outside first, and then come to the basement!”
“A, alright!”
With two people, time and manpower were tight.
The Elves, who were already weakened, couldn’t last long in this fire, so Tene, who could quickly travel back and forth between the inside and outside of the World Tree, delivered the survivors, while Dariann continued the rescue operation.
‘Since it’s a high-rise, there’s time while the fire spreads, but if I don’t go to the basement now, the foundation could collapse, so I have to rescue them
as quickly as possible!’
“Hmph!”
Dariann left the survivors to Tene and immediately ran to the basement.
Ignoring the stairs, Dariann threw himself down as if he were jumping off, and soon found the survivors in the basement.
“You, you came to save us… Cough! Cough!”
“Don’t talk, cover your mouth with this.”
“Th, thank you…”
The survivors in the basement were somewhat okay because they had a magician who had put up a barrier, but they continued to cough, having inhaled smoke.
Dariann handed them the cloth soaked in Elixir that he had picked up earlier and instructed them to cover their mouths.
“I’m here!”
“This time, three people!”
Grab-
“W, wait a minute…! We can walk—”
“Catch!!!”
Whoosh-
“Kyaaaaack!!!”
Thud-thud-thud-
“I caught them!”
After that, Dariann threw the Elves into the air like luggage (it was the most efficient way), and Tene quickly caught the Elves this time.
Their faces had turned pale from the shock of flying through the air, but their lives didn’t seem to be in danger.
“Next is the second floor!”
“Yes!”
Dariann rescued the survivors in the basement and ran to the second floor.
His muscles, which he had trained so far, were strongly condensed as if responding to his will, and gave him explosive power.
As if the training he had done so far was not in vain, Dariann’s body readily followed his will, and Dariann was able to reach the second floor in an instant.
This time, there were three Elves who were red all over, but their lives were not in danger, and he was able to rescue the survivors by throwing them to Tene one by one.
“Now, there’s only one left…”
That left one survivor on the seventh floor, only one area left.
Bang-bang bang-!
“Th, this is…!”
But as the terrible fire reached its limit, the World Tree also seemed to be reaching its limit, and the floor collapsed and the burning wood fell from the ceiling and shattered.
There was not much time left.
Crack-crack-
“Move, move, move!!!”
Dariann shouted intensely as he climbed the stairs one floor at a time.
Clang-!
“Ugh!?”
Even as he climbed the stairs, the fire had already spread to this point, and the scene in front of him was hazy and the floor was as unstable as walking on a half-frozen ice rink.
Nevertheless, Dariann moved forward.
A little faster, a little more quickly, he had to move.
To be a ray of salvation for those in danger.
That was all a firefighter existed for.
His heart began to beat rapidly as he climbed the stairs with Aura around his body.
He barely reached the seventh floor.
“Hmph… Is there anyone!!! Is anyone there….!”
Unlike Tene, he only knew that there were people on the seventh floor, so there was no way to find the survivors at once.
But he could at least let those in fear know that he had arrived.
“…He…re… here I am….!”
“There!”
As his loud shout echoed through the fire, Dariann hurriedly ran towards the faint voice he heard in the distance.
“Sa, save me!!”
“I found you!”
Dariann, who had been running around the seventh floor, was able to find three Elves huddled inside a small room, trembling.
The fire had reached this place later than other areas, but unlike other floors, they had to endure with their own bodies without Elixir or magicians, so the damage was more severe.
“Ma, Mason is unconscious!”
“…?!”
Even as they were exhausted from inhaling a lot of smoke, the survivors were holding onto an Elf who seemed to have lost consciousness and were crying.
‘He’s still breathing, but it’s too faint. He must have inhaled too much smoke…!’
‘Quickly, we have to get out as quickly as possible!’
“Don’t worry! We’re here, so you’ll be able to get out safely!”
“A, are we alive now…?”
“Of course!”
“I, I’m alive…! I’m alive!”
“But Mason…”
“He’s just lost consciousness for a moment. He’ll wake up soon when we get out.”
Dariann smiled as much as possible and reassured them, even though the situation was not good.
There was no good that would come from the survivors falling into despair.
“I’m here!”
“You’re here!”
Meanwhile, Tene, who had transported the survivors outside and climbed up to the seventh floor, was shouting from outside the room.
The plan was going smoothly.
Now all he had to do was send these survivors to Tene and leave this place himself.
No problem. Perfect.
Dariann muttered to himself, smiling without realizing it.
But problems always arise when things are going smoothly.
Creak-creak-
“….Huh?”
“Huh?”
Then, just as Dariann was about to lift the survivors to save the last survivors.
Crash—!
“Tene!!!”
The ceiling of the room, which had been holding on until now, finally failed to overcome the fire and collapsed.
Then, the exit was covered in burning trees.
Now, the time of despair had come.