Chapter 207 : Chapter 207
Translator: AkazaTL
Pr/Ed: Sol IX
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Chapter 207. A drift (4)
The vast, open sea. As the explosion of light released countless souls, the Divine Beasts could not hide their bewilderment.
Souls that should have disappeared long ago—beings who slumbered within history—had manifested, transcending time itself.
This was not a phenomenon explainable by the word “Mystery.” It blatantly violated the laws of nature. To Divine Beasts—born of nature and living within nature’s blessings—this was far too alien. So they dared not move hastily. Because they were afraid.
That alien power… looked as though it could snuff out their lives with absurd ease.
【G-great ruler of the sky…】
Why…? Wasn’t the Karavan still unripe? The Divine Beasts, who had come to crush the fledgling Karavan before his wings fully spread, now hesitated before the unexpected.
Naturally so. They hated Karavan—but feared Karavan several times more.
The boy holding a sword amid the raging sea looked different from, yet unmistakably similar to, the man the Divine Beasts remembered. And that faint “similarity” awakened a powerful trauma within them. A truly powerful trauma.
【M-may we return? We—】
The phoenix stuttered.
The moment it sent out its mental wave, BOOM—its flame was snuffed out and it turned to ash.
It was the dragon’s enraged gaze. The burning bird born of the elements did not resurrect—it died for good.
Seeing the phoenix vanish in an instant, the kraken silently retreated into the deep sea.
The Divine Beasts fled in terror, leaving the dragon alone as it looked upon the boy.
The boy wreathed in light let out an incomprehensible roar against the sea. And he glared at the dragon. A creature without wings dared to look up at the ruler of the sky.
“A Karavan is a Karavan, is that it?”
All the other Divine Beasts were gone. But the dragon’s aura did not diminish in the slightest.
Dragons were beings that fought alone by nature. Among the seven races, the most perfect and greatest, a dragon was a calamity capable of facing a nation alone. And this dragon before me was one who had once carried out a sacred duty even among dragons.
“The last Karavan.”
Beyond the Azure Heaven. The sentinel who guarded the Land of Dragons atop the Sky Mountains. After becoming disillusioned with the ancient dragons, he had abandoned his post and descended into the outer world—but his strength had not faded.
“I let you go last time.”
The Sentinel of the Dragon’s Land—Kaluah.
This dragon remembered the last Karavan. The sinner who had dared step into the dragon domain beyond the Azure Heaven of the Sky Mountains, yet escaped alive without paying the price.
“This time, you will not escape.”
Kaluah’s eyes flashed. He no longer intended to toy with the boy. Leaping forward head-on, Kaluah would unleash the violent powers he had accumulated as a sentinel. He would prove it— The ancient dragons were wrong. The past would not repeat. The bloodline of Steel, worn down by time, could never recreate the tragedy of the ancient age. Dragons no longer needed to be chained by the Oath of Steel. Never again.
“It is time for you to disappear, a remnant of the past.”
Kaluah saw the souls rising from the sea. Each soul held a shining sword. But none would ever reach him.
The moment Kaluah’s gaze fell upon them, the elements trembled. The soaring needle snapped. A female swordsman lost her body and returned to light. The wind-wreathed ronin leaping from behind—his wind ceased obeying him and instead followed the dragon. SHLNK—the wind sharpened into blades and shredded the ronin’s body. Another sword returned to light.
“Times change.”
A shining lamp flickered out. The approaching soldiers were destroyed by a single beat of the dragon’s wings, and yet another sword crumbled.
The roaring Orc Great Warrior’s body disintegrated entirely. The assassin hiding in the shadows? The moment his eyes met Kaluah’s, he exploded.
When Kaluah revealed his power without restraint, he became living violence himself. Violence that could destroy anything.
“Do not defy the era, forgotten Steel.”
Kaluah looked at the boy. The last Karavan. Staring at the final descendant of Steel, Kaluah uttered the sacred language of dragons—Dragon Tongue.
A brief utterance of an absolute language brought about an absolute phenomenon.
The boy approaching through the current froze. The last remaining sword soul froze.
But.
『Just one more flight, lad.』
The Land of Dragons—azure light resembling the Azure Heaven burst forth, shattering Kaluah’s Dragon Tongue. For the first time, Kaluah faltered. A human? How?
『Let’s fly—just one more time.』
Hesitation creates openings.
The instant Kaluah paused, the last Karavan spread his Wings and leapt. But the distance was not enough. The dragon was too high; the boy too low to reach him in a single bound. A human without wings could not reach the ruler of the sky in one jump.
However.
“Climb on.”
The soul of a sword. The old adventurer willingly offered his back. The old man gave the boy a chance. TAP—using the aged soul as a foothold, the boy leapt again. This time the distance was enough. The wingless human, stepping on one another’s backs, reached the ruler of the sky at last. A streak of blue light shot from the earth to the heavens.
“Upward. Higher.”
The sword-wielding boy approached.
Kaluah spread his wings to ascend, but the last Karavan was faster. Swift as light, the boy raised his fingertip to the edge of his blade. As if brushing dust off, as if sweeping gently along the blade, he moved his hand. In the next moment, a sacred radiance filled Karavan’s sword.
Instinctively, Kaluah understood. Steel. And Steel powerful enough to split even a dragon’s scales.
“You dare—”
Eyes widening, Kaluah glared at the boy. Without looking away, he summoned the dragon’s full authority.
The elements around him began singing of rage. The dragon’s power that wielded nature as a weapon surged. Kaluah attempted to disrupt the elements composing the boy’s body—boil his blood, explode the air in his lungs, tear apart flesh and bone.
But it did not work. Why?
‘What is this…?’
He understood at once. Nature was refusing. There was only one reason for this. The opponent must be a dragon.
A dragon’s authority does not work on another dragon. Dragons were masters of the elements, beloved by them. Natural violence cannot act on its own kin. But Karavan was not a dragon.
Then why did nature refuse to destroy the elements making up his body?
“You—”
It took only a moment to grasp the truth. Kaluah sensed a faint dragon aura flowing from Karavan. Within Karavan’s heart—within the Steel Heart—beat a fragment of a Dragon Heart. If Karavan died, that mysterious dragon heart would be destroyed as well. Thus nature rejected Kaluah’s command. For the elements love all dragons. Especially young dragons.
“You dare—Steel-blooded one—carry a dragon’s heart?!”
Kaluah’s fury became indescribable.
As a beast-like roar erupted, Arhan’s hand released Polished Light. A blade that could cut the flesh of a descended Great Warrior.
Steel that radiated its own brilliance sliced through the mighty dragon’s scale.
Sacred blood sprayed, and Kaluah glared at the boy floating before his snout, fury boiling.
One scale. To the boy, an incredible feat.
One scale. To a dragon, a mere scratch.
After sacrificing countless souls, reaching Kaluah at last, and pouring out everything… Was this all he could achieve? Kaluah reached out and grabbed the small boy’s body. CRUNCH—weak flesh and bone compressed beneath his grip.
“Take it. A scale means nothing to me.”
Kaluah thought: I was right. The unripe Karavan, even if he gave everything, could only tear off one dragon scale. The great conqueror of Steel the ancient dragons once feared no longer existed. Steel’s glory ended in the Age of War. It crumbled into forgotten history. Having proven that, Kaluah could give up a scale. Gladly—truly gladly.
“And in return, I will claim the last Karavan.”
Holding the boy tightly, Kaluah slowly opened his jaws. Within the parting maw, countless elements boiled.
Breath. The strongest violence a dragon possessed. A violence that burned not only flesh, but soul. As the dragon’s breath gathered, the boy struggled desperately. But he could not escape. Dragons possessed the most perfect bodies among the seven races.
Born to survive the harshness of the Sky Mountains and fly for a lifetime, their physical strength allowed them to hold a human for a hundred years without issue. Especially a swordsman who could barely manifest Wings.
“Now, it all—”
And then.
“—ends—”
Starlight fell.
“……!”
The falling starlight shone not upon Kaluah, but upon the boy. Starlight at midday carried a divinity even Kaluah could not defy. His eyes shut instinctively—and when he opened them, the boy was gone. Kaluah immediately realized whose work this was.
“……Goddess of Stars.”
The Goddess saved Karavan.
“Why…?”
Kaluah looked up at the sky. But no answer returned. Gods were always like that. They changed the natural order without concern and gave no explanation. But this time, Kaluah could not accept it. One of the Seven Lords and Nine Goddesses helping Karavan? The very ones who should hate the Steel Blood more than anyone?
“Why…?”
No answer, no matter how much he asked.
Dragons might be rulers of the sky but there was a sky above even them. And the one who had interfered was one of the rulers of that highest sky. Exalted beings who could consider a mighty dragon nothing more than a lizard, a speck of dust.
“…….”
Kaluah spoke no more. Left alone, the dragon looked upon the now-calm sea. He looked at the sun resting on the horizon. No one would answer him. The sentinel who had abandoned his post simply stared beyond the horizon. There was no need to think deeply. Simple thoughts were better. Who was helping Karavan, why they helped, what reason lay behind it—none of that mattered.
Kaluah’s nature was that of a dragon. And a sentinel.
A dragon had the duty to exterminate the Steel Blood. A sentinel had the duty to catch the intruder he once failed to capture. With those two duties aligned, Kaluah had only one path: Chase the Karavan who had escaped once more—and this time, sever his breath for certain. That was enough.
“……Where have you gone, wingless human?”
Yes. That was enough……