Chapter 195 : Chapter 195
Chapter 195
A strange hostility, a feeling of killing intent for some unknown reason, enveloped the inside of the cave. The gaze of the blond, blue-eyed man, the Dragon Lord Desmond, was on Karl. From his body, the dragon's energy called Dragon Aura was blazing.
“What business does a human have here? Agnitus, what were you thinking, letting a human into the sacred hall of dragons? Just because I consider you a friend does not mean I will forgive your disrespect to the Lord.”
“Calm down, can’t we at least listen to what this human has to say?”
“No, this time you’ve gone too far.”
Desmond, as if he wouldn't listen to Agnitus' story any further, enveloped himself in a golden Dragon Aura and approached Karl as if disappearing.
In his hand was a scimitar with a beautiful blade, and the scimitar flew straight for Karl’s neck.
Woooooong!
In a very brief moment, an aura of a slightly different, more beautiful color than Desmond's golden one was emitted against his Dragon Aura, and Karl’s sword, Laevateinn, and his sword clashed.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
The inside of the cave seemed to have been specially made, as it held up well without even a tremor despite the huge shockwave created by the two men’s swords.
“That sword… why, why is it in your hands?”
“Ah, are you talking about Laevateinn?”
“It’s the Dragon Sword. Why does a human have the sword of the Dragon Lord?”
“The dwarves gave it to me.”
A very short answer, and that answer of his certainly grated on Desmond’s nerves.
The Dragon Sword that Karl was holding was a sword that Baccarat, his lover who had ended her life as a Mad Dragon, had also held.
Desmond, who didn't want to recall that painful memory, had not inherited the sword as Lord.
“…How dare you, how dare you….”
Anger erupted from his mouth.
And his dark memories began to envelop his head. The memory of that day when he had no choice but to pierce his lover's heart with his own hands.
Woooooong!
A more violent golden Dragon Aura was emitted from his body. And his sword flew at Karl’s neck dozens of times.
Karl, with light movements, blocked his sword and gradually wore down the Dragon Aura.
Rather than returning to his true form to fight, Desmond preferred his humanized state during combat.
People think that a dragon’s true form is that of a monster with a huge body and wings, but the dragons of this world had a human-like body that was also like their true form.
It meant that there were no restrictions or penalties on their power, and although there were pros and cons.
In a situation like now, where he could use weapons and show various movements, the humanized state was much more efficient.
Kwaaaaaang! Kwang! Kwangkwang!
The sound of explosions-like clashes continued endlessly from here and there.
During the dozens of exchanges, Desmond had to allow several attacks from Karl’s punches, shoulder attacks, and irregularly incoming kicks.
An incomprehensible strange gap.
Desmond was feeling that subtle difference in his confrontation with Karl.
‘I’m being pushed back by a human?’
He was someone who had polished his martial arts for over thousands of years. Not being able to gain the upper hand in a confrontation with a human who couldn't even live for 100 years was a shocking event.
Of course, Desmond had not invested all his time in swordsmanship during that time, but still, the shock did not diminish.
‘How can a human fight on par with me?’
He used various magic in addition to his Dragon Aura on Karl. And yet, Karl blocked the intermittently cast magic at the right moments.
“You know how to use magic?”
A human who had surpassed even a Transcendent with a sword knew how to use magic. Was that one really a human? Even a human who had contracted with a demon was not like this.
Desmond, humans are beings with infinite potential. That means they are not to be underestimated.
The voice of the one he had loved the most replayed in his head.
Desmond, humans seem to live by burning their souls in a moment that is less than 100 years. Their one year might be like our 100 years. I like that passion of humans.
She was always like that. She always looked at humans with an affectionate gaze.
Sometimes, no, often, he had thought she was frustrating. He had thought that they were just humans, after all. But, the human in front of his eyes now felt like the very embodiment of the infinite potential and value that Baccarat had always talked about.
“Why, why are you humans….’
Desmond, don't hate humans. Love them. Because they are always living by burning their souls.
Desmond’s Dragon Aura reached its peak.
His power surpassed a certain level. Agnitus also judged that it was dangerous this time and tried to stop him, but Desmond, who had already lost his reason, threw his final blow at Karl.
The dragon's sacred ground, the cave protected by an absolute defensive magic, exploded and was cut apart.
Wooooooong!
Karl, who saw his attack, raised his sword.
[Karl Meyer Style. Transcendence. Sky Severance.]
The sword that split the sky split Desmond’s sword.
Kuuung.
The Dragon Lord’s consciousness was cut for a moment. And a huge impact sound echoed inside the cave for a long time.
***
Desmond, it's time to get up. You did nothing wrong.
Swoosh.
The image of Baccarat, still vivid in his eyes, gradually turned to dust and disappeared. At the same time, Desmond’s eyes slowly opened.
“Are you up?”
His old friend, with a face that always looked like he lived for his own greatness, threw out a single word.
“Didn’t I die?”
“Die? He went easy on you at the end so you wouldn't die. That monster-like human over there.”
“…”
A situation that was completely incomprehensible.
No matter how much he wasn't as strong a dragon as Agnitus, he was also an elder dragon and an equally strong being.
And yet, he had been defeated by a mere human. And by a margin that could be called overwhelming.
“Why did you save me? Human?”
“Why should I kill you?”
“…”
For a moment, he was at a loss for words. Come to think of it, he also didn’t know why he should kill him.
“Well… didn’t I try to kill you?”
“You were not a threat.”
“…”
Although it was humiliating, he had nothing to say.
“I came to ask for help. And also to give help.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Desmond got up and listened carefully to what Karl had to say. For some reason, he felt that he could hear Karl’s story better after the confrontation with him.
“I felt it from Milen back then too, but you are also full of evil energy. I don’t know the reason, but are dragons originally vulnerable to evil energy?”
“Evil energy?”
Desmond thought that his body felt much lighter. Recently, his mind had been hazy and he hadn’t been feeling well, and it seemed to be the effect of what Karl had called evil energy.
“I just found out too. During the fight with Karl, a turbid energy was leaving your body.”
“…”
The two dragons and one human continued to ponder for a moment.
“Dragons are ultimately born by eating the energy of the continent and are beings that are with the energy of this world. It might mean that there is that much evil energy spread throughout the continent.”
“Why aren't Agnitus and the other unaffected dragons like that?”
“There are species that are not easily invaded. The Flame Dragons burn the evil energy with their very existence. And the Water Dragons will block it from invading. The Black Dragons, in the first place, they would have been born with the attribute of darkness.”
It meant that except for those distinctive dragons, they could be affected by evil energy.
“If we’re not careful, the probability of a Mad Dragon appearing will also increase.”
“Can you get rid of the evil energy from other dragons, like you did with me?”
Karl nodded his head without hesitation. That wouldn't be difficult.
“Of course.”
He just had to beat them up diligently, and the evil energy would be shaken off on its own. After that, the three of them talked diligently. And a while later, a dragon council meeting was held.
“Why a human?”
Starting with those words, Karl fought with more than half of the dragons present at the dragon council meeting and subjugated them. Among them, there were also those who were tainted with evil energy.
Those people, like Milen, had to have the evil energy beaten out of them while being beaten like crazy.
After that, there was no dragon anywhere who complained about Karl attending the dragon council meeting.
“So, in the end, the story is that we have to create a special team made of elder dragons to catch the Gray Demons that are attacking the dragons. And also to save the dragons who have been invaded by evil energy. Until the Gray Demons disappear, for the time being, the lairs of each dragon will be designated near this meeting place.”
Because they were strongly independent and individualistic, they had never made such a decision, but since the matter was what it was, everyone agreed.
The number of dragon individuals on the entire continent was about 100. And a call was sent out to all of them.
A special team including five elder dragons and Karl began to travel to the places where the 20 or so dragons who did not come despite the call were.
Some were dragons who couldn't come because they were hibernating, some were enjoying their amusement, or the call hadn't reached them.
“…This place has already been hunted.”
It seemed that 10 of the 20 dragons had already been sacrificed to the Gray Demons. Of the remaining 10, 5 were sent to where Desmond was after being informed, and they had just arrived at one of the remaining 5.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
The place they arrived at was where Amadeus, an elder dragon among the Black Dragons, was located, and he was in the middle of a fierce battle with a Gray Demon.
The number of Gray Demons there was a total of 10, and Amadeus was being pushed back.
‘They’ve developed.’
It was a Gray Demon that had evolved differently from the ones that had fought with Milen before. The appearance of wearing armor and being 1.5 times larger than a human body was similar.
The armor seemed to be alive and moving, and every time an attack landed, the body was defending the attacked part. The bodies of the creatures, which had melted in the high-temperature fire called hellfire, were withstanding the magic of the elder dragon.
“Moreover, they’re using joint attacks.”
Previously, the creatures had definitely moved individually. But now, they were moving as if they were a single organism.
“They’re really moving as one. Amazing.”
A pure admiration came from Agnitus' mouth as he watched their joint attacks. The Black Dragon was putting up a good fight against the enemy's joint attacks and was blocking their attacks well.
The Black Dragon, which boasted a high level of combat power on par with the Red Dragon. Among them, it was because he was the elder dragon-grade Amadeus that he could hold out. Perhaps even an ordinary elder dragon-grade would have collapsed quickly if it were the joint attack of those 10.
“Shouldn't we be helping soon?”
Milen looked at Agnitus and Karl, who seemed to have no intention of moving at all even in Amadeus' precarious situation, with a confused eye.
“He hasn't even used his Dragon Aura yet, so that one has room. Let’s wait a little.”
Agnitus spoke in a calm voice.
Karl also didn't think that Amadeus was using his full power yet, so he just crossed his arms and looked at the front with a relaxed expression.
Among the three, only Milen was fidgeting, not knowing what to do. Just then, the surrounding air vibrated, and a black current erupted from Amadeus.
The Dragon Aura, the ultimate military skill used by the dragon race in their humanized state, fully enveloped his entire body.
Kwaaaaaang!
Uniquely for a dragon, Amadeus, who used fists, a Gray Demon that had rushed in was completely shattered and exploded by his punch.
‘Fajin, it is.’
In this world, the concept of fist arts was very rare, and the level of fist arts was very low, so I thought that techniques like internal force manipulation or fajin could not be found. But now, Amadeus was utilizing fajin, which could be said to be the deepest realm of fist arts.
‘A perverted dragon, I see.’
That was the result of a terrible obsession created by purely going mad for fist arts and researching it himself. Karl also knew well because he had done the same thing.
After Amadeus used his Dragon Aura, the decisive battle with the Gray Demon was his overwhelming victory, to the point of being one-sided.
The Gray Demon, after fighting for a long time, seemed to feel that there was no possibility and tried to scatter in all directions to escape from him.
“We can't let a single one escape.”
Karl jumped up first and blew the heads off two of the four fleeing Gray Demons. The Gray Demon that couldn't react properly to the suddenly appearing enemy collapsed helplessly on the spot.
The remaining one had its head blown off by Amadeus' fist, and the other was devoured by Agnitus' flame.
“You’ve finally come, Agnitus! Let’s have it out!”
Just as the Gray Demon was dealt with and they were about to talk, Amadeus' black Dragon Aura surged, and he flew towards Agnitus, becoming a ray of light.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
In an instant, Agnitus, who had emitted a red Dragon Aura, and the all-black Amadeus clashed, and the surroundings instantly exploded.