Chapter 194
The vision shown by the Lord of the Dead looked almost like a painting.
That is, unlike the visions of Incensus, it was not an experience of entering someone's mind.
However, regardless of its form, the vision presented by the Lord of the Dead was truly shocking.
'... What is this?'
What he showed was a scene where humans were treated like slaves. There was not a trace of humane treatment to be found.
No hope could be seen in their eyes. They simply did the work before them in silence.
From monumental constructions that one could hardly believe humans had built, to light labor—humans took on every job as slaves.
And then, the scenery came into view.
Watching over the humans suffering under hard labor were countless 'dragons.'
Their slit eyes monitored each and every human.
Soon, the voice of the Lord of the Dead could be heard.
― All humans were slaves. They received treatment worse than livestock.
Then, two more dragons came into view.
These dragons, who appeared younger than the others, looked at the humans with a distinctly different gaze.
Compassion was visible in their eyes.
One of these dragons had golden scales, glinting in the sunlight with every movement.
The other dragon had white scales.
In Erich's eyes, the two dragons appeared unimaginably beautiful.
They were utterly different from the corpse-like dragons he had encountered until now.
They conversed with each other, though Erich could not understand them.
However, a hint of a wry laugh from the Lord of the Dead followed.
― Incensus and I thought. While all other dragons regarded humans as mere beasts, we pitied them.
Incensus and the Lord of the Dead.
The golden dragon and the white dragon.
What the Lord of the Dead showed was precisely a vision of their past selves.
'Incensus was a dragon? But the Lord of the Dead, no matter how I look, just appears to be a human corpse...'
It seemed the Lord of the Dead was aware of that thought.
― Snap!
With a finger snap, the vision faded to black.
Even though humans lived as slaves and suffered horribly...
The era of dragons shown by the Lord of the Dead was beautiful.
The sunlight was brighter than ever, and nature greener than ever.
Yet, as the scenery darkened, the sky was stained with light purple and crimson hues.
And the humans were no longer slaves.
― We led the humans. The world of dragons collapsed under our guidance.
Incensus and the Lord of the Dead taught the humans how to use power.
They took up weapons and revolted. Unlike when they were slaves, they unleashed a mighty power.
And that was—
"... Aura?"
― That's right. What you call aura originally comes from the way dragons channeled their power. The same goes for magic.
Humans could not handle power as immense as the dragons.
Therefore, when wielding that power, they had to be far more efficient than the dragons.
The power of the dragons, which could split the sky and topple mountains—when contained in a human body, became extremely feeble.
Those who wielded aura started to be called Swordmasters. They began to channel aura into their swords.
Those called mages could not imprint power onto their bodies, so they started to engrave it with tattoos.
All of that originated from Incensus and the Lord of the Dead.
Then, the white dragon rose to his feet.
His massive draconic body began to gradually fade and shift, transforming into human form.
Joy filled his eyes.
'... He became human?'
― I abandoned my draconic body. I cherished humans that much. I could not treat them in the image of those who once exploited and abused them.
"... Is that even possible?"
― But in exchange, my power weakened beyond compare. As you are seeing now.
However, contrary to the Lord of the Dead's words, even as a human, he still possessed great power.
As a result, every day his body was burned by his own power, but still, he maintained his human form.
Incensus, the golden dragon, did not follow that path.
He remained as a dragon and led the humans together with the Lord of the Dead.
Before their combined power, dragons fell one by one.
The Lord of the Dead placed a hand upon the forehead of a collapsed, gasping dragon.
― Fwsh!
Tremendous power was absorbed from the Lord of the Dead's hand.
Incensus likewise drew strength from the body of each fallen dragon.
The two beings thus integrated the dragons' powers into their own.
Before long, very few dragons remained in the world.
But that was only for a short while.
Soon, a fierce argument broke out between the two beings.
It was the Lord of the Dead who first shouted.
"We could grant them eternity. How can you say it's not allowed?"
"Can't you see that our race fell into corruption because we possessed eternity?"
The Lord of the Dead insisted that eternity should be given to humanity.
Soon, knowledge the Lord of the Dead held began to flow into Erich's mind.
Eternity—originally power possessed by dragons.
If the two, who had now absorbed almost all of the power of the dragons of the world, combined their strength—
They could confer the eternity once held by dragons upon humans.
But Incensus opposed this.
He claimed the corruption of dragons was because of eternity, and that humans must remain mortal.
The two could not understand each other.
No, from the beginning, their paths diverged.
Incensus believed that those with the power of dragons should slowly fade away from the world.
The Lord of the Dead believed they should grant eternity to humans and guide them across the ages.
'... Eternity, huh.'
― Incensus was a coward. Even after freeing humans, he never thought to lead them. Do you understand? He intended to simply release these children into the world and neglect them.
Erich did not answer. He merely watched the next vision in silence.
The world split into two factions.
Humans who followed Incensus.
And humans who followed the Lord of the Dead.
Up until then, the Lord of the Dead had no doubt that humans would stand by his side.
He had cherished humans more than anyone in the world and wanted to give them everything dragons had held.
Especially eternity.
At that time, the powers of Incensus and the Lord of the Dead were perfectly divided.
If Incensus won, the world would become humanity's, and the remaining dragons would quietly fade away.
If the Lord of the Dead won, the world would be led by humans granted the power of eternity.
However—
Humans did not side with the Lord of the Dead.
Rather than the Lord of the Dead who had taken human form—
They followed Incensus, who remained in dragon form.
No matter what grand cause the Lord of the Dead had.
Yet, even with only a handful of supporters, the Lord of the Dead fought Incensus' faction on equal footing.
Their immense power gradually diminished as the conflict wore on.
The battlefield of the two factions was the north.
That is, beyond today's Great Wall, an eternal winter arrived.
Because of their mighty clash, the world's environment was changed forever.
Yet even such power was eventually depleted.
The Lord of the Dead realized.
With his remaining power, he could no longer grant humanity eternity.
― That is why I was enraged. By following Incensus, who wore the figure of an oppressor, they discarded the greatest gift they could have ever received.
Countless human corpses were scattered.
These were the bodies of those who would have been called the greatest Swordmasters in history.
The enormous might of the dragons was utterly wasted in their war.
The Lord of the Dead could no longer bear it.
He had abandoned parents, siblings, and blood-related dragons for humanity.
He had wanted to free them so badly, he even abandoned the perfect, unchanging body of a dragon.
But humanity refused to take the dragons' place.
So, the Lord of the Dead reached a conclusion.
They had no right to receive eternity...
Soon, the Lord of the Dead's appearance changed. Even though his dragon form had become human—
His former beauty remained unchanged.
But after endless struggle, he had grown old.
His body twisted and his skin shriveled.
His love for humanity soon turned into malice.
His once-white gaze now carried a chilling, ominous energy.
Then, the dead around him began to rise.
The eternity he once wished to grant humans manifested in an imperfect form.
*
Gradually, the vision faded. Erich, sword in hand, now faced the Lord of the Dead directly.
Erich quietly spoke.
"... Why show me this?"
― You are worthy of seeing it. Even if you received Incensus' power, you managed to unite the humans and stand against me, did you not?
But Erich shook his head.
"There is a reason for everything. The reason you offer is not sufficient. Are you attempting to persuade me?"
― Of course not. Here, you represent all of humanity. I just wanted to say this.
"To say what?"
― To name your sins.
A flash passed through the Lord of the Dead's white gaze.
From him, such overwhelming energy surged forth that the very space around warped.
The white frost energy of the dead was barely visible.
The corruptive energy spread by commander-level beings like Death Fear could be seen to some extent.
However, the violet energy pouring from the body of the Lord of the Dead was on an entirely different level.
A power that corrupts all things.
A power so vast, it inspired dread beyond comprehension.
Erich gripped his sword before the Lord of the Dead. Just standing there felt as though his mind might snap.
'... This battle, it's been going on for longer than I could have imagined.'
Not just a thousand years.
In reality, for untold ages, humanity following Incensus had struggled against the Lord of the Dead.
Soon, Erich spoke.
"I understand now. Lord of the Dead."
― What do you mean?
"That it's time to finally end this accursed enmity, right here, right now."
The Lord of the Dead narrowed his eyes. But a chilling smile soon rose to his lips.
― Such simplicity is good.
Immediately, a golden light flared from Erich's entire body.
His power began to push back against the violet energy surging from the Lord of the Dead.
As their strengths clashed, sparks flew where their auras met.
It was the moment when a long, long grudge, continued over eons, was finally coming to an end.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
The Lord of the Dead is like a kid throwing tantrums after not getting what he wanted.
【(⩌_⩌ )】