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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Yuma stared at the sky where the Black Dragon had vanished into nothingness.
‘Shit.’
The Dragon Heart.
He hadn’t managed to get it.
Forget the Dragon Heart, he’d made the dragon’s entire body disappear from this world.
But the regret didn’t last long.
It had literally been a moment between life and death.
There was no room to think about spoils.
Yuma looked around.
The gazes of the people looking at him were unusual.
Beyond surprise, there was awe and admiration in their eyes.
He saw citizens of the Count’s territory kneeling and trembling in prostration.
Even dozens of knights and soldiers were doing the same.
“…O Hero, O Hero who slayed the evil dragon!!”
“We wish to spread the name of the Dragon Slayer far and wide. Please, tell us your name!”
They were like fanatics before a saint.
Step
Yuma just walked forward with dignity.
His destination was inside the Count’s castle.
He wanted to check on how the eldest son Kaisen was doing.
Inside the castle’s medical room.
On the bed in that room lay a middle-aged man.
Though clearly middle-aged, Count Rubelt’s face looked like that of an already senile old man.
“How is the Count’s condition?”
Kaisen raised his head at Yuma’s voice.
The reverence in his eyes was the same as the others.
When the Black Dragon Acreon spread its massive wings and took to the sky, one couldn’t help but notice the arrival of such a being, whether they wanted to or not.
So he had seen it.
El Cam—Acreon vanishing in mid-air.
The scene of Yuma obliterating a black dragon larger than the Count’s castle with a single strike.
Kaisen stared at the healer who continued examining Count Rubelt’s body.
The healer slowly shook his head.
“…I’m sorry. It doesn’t seem like there will be any meaningful change from his current state.
Even if he regains consciousness, it will be difficult for him to last more than a week. The magical energy has deeply permeated his entire body.”
Yuma gazed at Kaisen, who seemed to have fallen into anguish.
However, this dilemma was entirely Kaisen’s to bear.
After all, Kaisen was the one who would have to lead the Count’s territory from now on.
“Do you remember the location of the dragon’s cave your knight saw?”
Kaisen nodded.
“I didn’t hear the exact location, but I think it’s one of the two large caves in the south. That’s the area my knight was supervising.”
Yuma’s eyes gleamed.
The place where dragons make their nest.
That becomes the Dragon Lair.
Even though Acreon had settled in the Count’s territory for less than half a year, he thought there might be something left behind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A blue-eyed princess with long white hair.
First Princess Brigitte was dumbfounded by the news that had just been brought in.
“…Killed a Black Dragon? Not a hatchling, but a fully mature one?”
Baron Bennett, one of Brigitte’s supporters, bowed.
“Yes. The information arrived as an urgent report through the Information Guild, so it’s accurate.”
Bennett swallowed hard.
“It seems certain that Your Highness’s proxy, the Warrior Yuma, slew the dragon.”
Brigitte could hardly close her gaping mouth.
Baron Bennett continued:
“The Black Dragon rising into the sky was also seen from the transit city of Arkan. And the Blue Magic Tower also observed the Black Dragon.”
Sweat was beading on Bennett’s forehead.
“They witnessed the massive dragon disappear along with a red flash.”
Brigitte slowly opened her mouth.
“The corpse?”
“…It’s said that Sir Yuma eliminated the dragon so completely that not even a speck of ash remained.”
Just how powerful must an attack be to erase a dragon so perfectly?
Brigitte now had no idea what kind of person she had recruited.
Brigitte barely managed to collect herself.
“Are there any other important matters?”
“We’ve received a request for military support from the Tornel Margrave family guarding the southern front of the Empire.”
The Tornel Margrave family.
The border guardian family defending the southernmost border of the Empire.
It was very rare for the Tornel Margrave family to request troop reinforcements.
“It seems the movements of the barbarian country Pineon are concerning.”
The barbarian country Pineon.
The reason Pineon was called a barbarian country was because it had expanded its territory in a short time through very barbaric use of force.
Pineon had started as a kingdom.
It even conquered the Rommel Kingdom above it.
That was 7 years ago.
It was from that incident that Kament began to be called the Conqueror King.
“Originally, when such high-level troop support requests came in, the Empire’s Ten Seats would provide that support, but…”
Baron Bennett sighed.
The Empire’s Ten Seats were in a terrible state now.
Thanks to a certain someone, they had somehow become the Empire’s Six Seats.
“It seems the Tornel Margrave has specified Sir Yuma for high-level troop support, citing the incident of halving the Empire’s Ten Seats. He’s certainly proven his military might, after all.”
If they knew about him slaying the dragon this time as well, they would want Yuma even more fervently.
“But Sir Yuma is carrying out the task given by Your Highness…”
Bennett watched Brigitte’s reaction carefully.
As one of Brigitte’s closest aides, Bennett knew about the divine message given to Brigitte.
So he also knew the importance of the mission Yuma was carrying out.
Finding the blue-haired Sword Saint was the most urgent priority from Princess Brigitte’s standpoint.
Knock knock!
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door from outside.
-“It’s the head butler, Your Highness.”
Michael, the First Princess Brigitte’s personal guard knight standing next to the door, quickly opened it.
Standing at the door was Royan, the head butler of the First Princess’s palace.
He was an old man with neatly trimmed white mustache.
“Royan.”
As Brigitte approached, Royan slowly opened his mouth.
“The Holy Maiden says she has an urgent divine message to deliver to Your Highness.”
A divine message.
“I understand.”
Brigitte immediately prepared to set out.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The cat-tribe swordswoman Hestia perked up her scarlet cat ears.
“…Yuma is the Dragon Slayer, Yuma is the Dragon Slayer.”
Cloney stared intently at Hestia, who had been repeating the same words for a while now.
Hestia’s green eyes sparkled.
“How could he take down such a massive dragon all by himself!”
“I know, right?”
Cloney gazed at Yuma’s back as he headed towards the cave.
Yuma’s power that exceeded the limits of common sense every time she saw it.
How many years of training would it take to have such power in a human body?
Cloney felt thirsty again.
A thirst for growth.
Yuma entered the huge cave.
Thick icicle-like stalactites densely adorned the cave ceiling.
Water droplets clung to the tips of the stalactites.
Yuma walked deeper into the cave.
Hestia and Cloney’s eyes widened in surprise.
There were clear signs of habitation in the massive cave.
“…Wow, he really set up a whole lair!”
Hestia gaped as she scanned the cave.
The cave was exuding the grandeur of what could truly be called a dragon’s lair.
Stone display stands that seemed to be made by magic.
And numerous jewels placed on those display stands.
And.
“It seems he did eat the kidnapped people one by one.”
Cloney’s delicate brow furrowed.
Unlike the jewels and stones laid out as if on display, and a few bottles and weapons, there were torn clothes dumped in a corner.
It was evidence that people had been devoured.
“The Count’s territory is going to be in an uproar.”
The two soldiers who had been ordered by Young Master Kaisen to accompany Yuma’s group clicked their tongues.
The clothes of the missing persons.
Their acquaintances would recognize them if they saw them.
“We’ll take care of the clothes, Magician.”
A soldier bowed deeply towards Cloney.
“Alright.”
Even as she replied, Cloney scrutinized the clothes carefully.
Her face was filled with sympathy as she examined them.
Among the various items, Yuma touched the most eye-catching one.
He activated his Appraisal skill.
That object that looked like a red ore was:
The Dragon Heart of the Red Dragon ‘Vulcan-Dehit’.
It is the heart of an Ancient Dragon that died 1301 years ago.
It is impossible to predict what power is contained within it.
It was a Dragon Heart.
“Cloney.”
Yuma called for Cloney.
“Yes, Sir Yuma!”
Cloney quickly walked over at Yuma’s call.
“Can you read this?”
Where the Dragon Heart had been placed, there was writing that looked similar to magical language.
“It says… ‘In memory of the peaceful rest of my friend Dehit’.”
Anger flashed in Cloney’s eyes.
What a ridiculous fellow he was.
The one who had chewed up humans like meat to restore his own body was commemorating his friend’s peace.
Cloney stared at the Dragon Heart in Yuma’s hand with a hardened expression.
“Is that a Dragon Heart?”
“It seems so.”
Yuma’s gaze turned to Cloney.
“Do you want it?”
Cloney shook her head.
“No. It’s an item I dare not handle. I don’t have the right to possess it.”
Yuma scrutinized the Dragon Heart.
Acreon.
Would he really have refrained from consuming this Dragon Heart out of a desire to honor his friendship?
He could have replenished his magical power and restored his body in a short time, without the need to bother eating people.
He wasn’t a Green Dragon, but a Black Dragon.
There was no way he would have such a human-like aspect.
‘Dragons cannot consume Dragon Hearts of different attributes from their own.
Doing so would kill them.’
It seemed that Loop Blood’s formula was functioning the same way in this world.
‘If I ate this now, I’d die too.’
Even a Sword Master with a sturdy body and a mana heart overflowing with high-density mana would die if they consumed a [Dragon Heart] just like that.
And if Yuma, who was literally just an ordinary person, swallowed this now, he would simply die instantly.
‘In [Loop Blood]… you had to consume it together with the blood of a demon lord-class demon and a sprout of the Golden Rule.’
Whether that game’s formula would apply in this reality-like world was uncertain.
For now, Yuma put the [Dragon Heart of Vulcan-Dehit] into his spatial pocket.
In the end, he had obtained a Dragon Heart that he couldn’t get from Acreon.
“If you need any weapons, take them.”
Yuma said to Hestia, looking at the swords and spears placed on the stone display stands.
“Ooooh!”
Hestia’s eyes lit up like a child in a toy store.
‘As expected of a Sword God, I suppose.’
The twelve swords in the Sword God Chronos’s spatial pocket.
All of those swords were far superior to the swords Acreon had collected.
So there was no need to take any.
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Night fell.
Yuma’s group returned to the Count’s castle.
“He-He’s waking up!”
The healer’s cry rang out.
Count Rubelt’s eyes, lying on the bed, slowly opened.
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I am so immersed in reading that I read this is one effing sitting. Damn.
Bro, 24 chapters is literally nothing. Plus, the chapters in this novel aren’t long at all. I often read 70-80 chapters in one sitting when I have free time.