Cain applauded as he walked toward me. "Well done, Lil," he said, tapping my shoulder. "I know you can defeat it. That was a very good fight. It will even take some time for me to defeat that giant monster. You've grown a lot."
"Um! Thanks for encouraging me," I replied.
Cain went to take the soul of the battered giant octopus. Everything that has life has a soul—that white smoke that Cain collects will lead to my freedom from the curse, although I feel more free and alive with this curse. I could go anywhere I wanted and do anything.
A few moments later, Cain finished taking the soul of the gigantic octopus and brought me to a train station. He said that my enemy is on this train, so we rode it. We didn't even buy tickets; we just barged in without being noticed by the watcher. We sat down on the empty seats and relaxed. As the train left the station, the passengers started screaming and running around.
"What's going on?" I asked, confused.
"It seems like zombies have gone rampant," Cain said, standing up from his seat. "You should kick them out of this train for the people to calm down."
"But how about my enemy? Aren't we here for my enemy?"
"Don't be selfish, Lil. We're here for your enemy, but you can't just let all these people die," Cain replied.
"When did you start to care about people?" I sighed.
But maybe Cain's right. I got so focused on myself that I don't care about others anymore. He just wants to remind me about humanity, though in the end, nothing really matters. I remember what that man told me. He said it always depends on the user how to use his powers.
So, I stood up and went to the part of the train where the zombies were coming. I transformed my arms into swords, cut their heads off, and threw them outside. I think that was all when suddenly, something big fell down from the skies, causing the train to stop moving.
"What now?" I asked.
"That is, your enemy—" Cain said.
People are screaming, making me unable to hear what Cain is saying. Some already went outside, not knowing that it's more dangerous to go there because of the zombies, but they have no other choice. If they stay on the train, they'll get killed too, so they choose to run for their lives.
I and Cain went outside as well. There's a great snake-dragon coiling its body around the train. I thought it was a comet or an alien's spaceship that had fallen from outer space—the reason why the train stopped moving—but it's a snake-dragon with green, blue, and white skin. Its eyes are large and as cold as polar snow.
"Holy shit," I said. "Where did that dragon come from?"
"It seems like the portal that connects the world of humans and the land of dreams is still open, and creatures that only exist there have come out," Cain replied.
"Didn't we kill all the enemies from the land of dreams? How could there be a dragon?" I asked. "It must have come out from somewhere else."
"It's a land of dreams, Lil; everything there is possible, so no matter how many enemies we killed there, there'll always be a possibility that those enemies are still alive," Cain explained.
"That's the best explanation I've ever heard, though you're just making it more complicated." I sighed.
So, it's also possible that everything that happened in the land of dreams and everything we saw there wasn't true? Maybe sleeping with Kaila in one room and having her as company was also an illusion.
"We don't have time to chitchat, Lil. You have to defeat that thing before it can cause a destruction," Cain said.
"Um!" I transformed my arms into a bazooka and launched the rocket-propelled missile at the dragon. The bazooka is so heavy, but all this time, I have grown stronger. I can carry a three-story building with just one hand. I'm not joking, but it depends on you to believe me or not. I don't even remember what I looked like when I was little.
Unfortunately, the dragon is so tough. It's not unscathed at all. It uncoiled its body from the train and attacked me with ice magic. The wind is cold, and the surroundings got covered in snow. The trees and some people were frozen when they got hit by the frost.
I countered the frost by using wind magic. The snake-dragon got angry and attacked again. It has coiled its body around me, but I used spatial magic to escape. Cain has taught me teleportation. I can easily find an opening to attack this persistent dragon, that's what I thought. I didn't expect it would be so difficult to beat it.
The surroundings are now covered in snow and ice. It's difficult to move around on the ground because everything that touches the snow freezes. I used wind magic to control the wind and fly, but it didn't cause much damage to the dragon. Wind magic is only good for countering the ice magic and escaping the dragon.
I summoned a tornado, destroying everything around. It caused a hole in the ground; the dragon lay in the bottom of the pit, still alive. I'm supposed to end it using lightning magic, but I heard it say a word.
"Please spare me," it begged through telepathy.
"And for what reason should I spare your life?" I asked. "You're my enemy, and we need to take your soul. If there's something you can give me better than freedom, then I shall spare your life."
"I... I'll serve you with all my life. You don't have to kill me now. I can help you with your enemies," the dragon said.
"Hmmm..." I think about it for a while.
Sure, this dragon is powerful and might betray me once I trust it. Dragons are usually tricky and deceitful. If I give it a chance to live, that means I'm giving it a chance to kill me. I don't trust a word it said. It might attack me while I'm not looking, so I decided to kill it.
I summoned lightning and struck it at the snake-dragon. The dragon was already dead before the thunder roared. It's not the first time I encountered a dragon, but it's the first time I killed one. I was afraid of dragons, but having slaughtered one of them gives me lots of confidence.
"That was insane!" I screamed, stretching my arms as I go down to the ground and watch Cain check the snake-dragon. "Don't worry, that's already dead," I assured him.
"Just making sure," he replied like a referee.
Cain finally agreed with me that the snake dragon is already dead and decided to perform the ritual to take its soul. He's saying things I can't understand, as if in a foreign language. After hearing it many times, I already memorized it. I just didn't want to ask him what it means.