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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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He was right. The giants had also called them invaders, and Earth, where he had lived, was also another dimension.
-I’ll give you some of my blood and a piece of my heart. Use that staff to assimilate them and absorb them. It will resolve your physical limitations instantly.
With Elosette’s Staff, it wouldn’t be difficult.
However, he was still surprised.
Even if its physical body was dead, offering parts of itself, especially its heart, where its soul resided, was a significant gesture of goodwill. He hadn’t expected such generosity.
‘It’s not a trap… is it?’
It was just the body parts of a dead dragon.
He could easily examine them with his skills, so he deemed the possibility of a trap unlikely.
“If you’re offering, I’ll accept. I’m not exactly in a leisurely position. But are you sure about this?”
-What do you mean?
“If I reach 7th circle and turn you into a Legion Commander, you’ll become my undead.”
You’ll be bound to my commands, a fate arguably worse than your current state.
Would it accept that?
-HAHAHAHAHA.
The dragon roared with laughter for the first time.
-Your undead. That’s not entirely wrong. But you know, don’t you? A Legion Commander isn’t so easily acquired.
He was right.
If a Legion Commander deemed its master unworthy, it could choose to self-destruct or even rebel.
However, this dragon had chosen to become undead, so he hadn’t considered that possibility.
-I will cooperate with you to the best of my ability. But don’t think you can completely control me. I will respect you, but don’t expect my obedience.
In other words, it would become his Legion Commander, but their relationship would be more horizontal than vertical.
-As I said, I will cooperate. I will protect you if you’re in danger, and I won’t attack you or your companions. But remember this: my priority is protecting this continent and eliminating as many agents of the Holy Empire and the demon realm as possible.
It wouldn’t become his undead unless he accepted those terms.
Its words reminded him of something.
‘It’s similar to my relationship with Lineta.’
He was affiliated with Lineta, but their relationship was practically equal.
He would help Lineta if they were in trouble, but his own goals always came first.
Of course, it was a minor detail.
He chuckled.
-Hmm?
The dragon sounded puzzled.
-Why are you laughing? Do you find my situation amusing?
“No, not at all. It’s just… I see a strange similarity between us.”
-Hmm.
“I accept your terms. I’ve always wanted to try toppling the Holy Empire, and I don’t care about other dark magic users…”
He suddenly remembered his former master.
“Actually, there is one dark magic user I’d like to recruit.”
-He has a pact with a demon, I presume.
The dragon was quick-witted.
“Indeed. And with a demon king, no less.”
-That’s troublesome.
“I want to break that pact.”
-That will be difficult. If a demon king formed a pact with him, he must be a powerful dark magic user.
It was a pessimistic assessment, but he already knew that.
“Is there no way?”
-Do you know anything about the demon king he made a pact with? Or the terms of their agreement? Why he made the pact in the first place?
He told the dragon everything he knew, and the dragon fell silent, seemingly contemplating the information.
-Pergin… he made a pact with that troublesome fellow. No, he’s not so bad, I suppose.
Pergin was the name of the demon king he had been bound to in his previous life.
-An avatar… hmm. It’s not entirely impossible.
Then, the dragon asked,
-You retrieved the body of the human who killed me, didn’t you?
“It turned to dust, but yes.”
-Use that.
“It’s just bone dust. I can’t even make an undead with it.”
-Even so, you deemed it valuable, didn’t you? The demon king will feel the same. No, he’ll find it even more valuable. Pergin is quite capable. He’ll be extremely interested in the remains of a Dragon Slayer.
And that wasn’t all.
-If you can persuade the contractor, the chances of success are high.
It also suggested subduing the contractor before attempting the negotiation.
-But don’t let him see you.
The reason was obvious.
Even the dragon, in its current weakened state, had immediately sensed his unique nature.
The demon king had recognized his value in his previous life, even before he had learned dark magic, so avoiding direct contact was understandable.
While he could conceal himself, it was best to avoid being seen altogether.
The dragon added,
-He desires an avatar. He’ll want to use the Dragon Slayer’s remains to create an avatar for himself. If he sees you, he’ll covet you instead of mere bone dust.
“…That’s a valid point.”
However, his former master was a 7th circle dark magic user with his own dungeon. Subduing him wouldn’t be easy.
‘The only possibility is…’
Using the dark elves. And…
He glanced at Kayla.
Besides himself, she was the only one capable of subduing his former master, given the opportunity.
But not at her current level.
Master.
She needed to reach at least Master level to stand a chance against his former master.
Even then, she would likely need the dark elves’ assistance.
‘But there’s a chance.’
That was enough.
He had wanted to contact his former master earlier than planned because of the dragon, but now there was no need.
He had regained some of his lost time.
After discussing a few more things with the dragon, he received the promised blood and heart fragment.
-It’s a long-dead body, so it shouldn’t take long for your demonic energy to assimilate it.
That was good news.
He suppressed the urge to ask about his regression until their conversation ended.
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He wanted to ask about his regression.
But he couldn’t.
It was unlikely the dragon was involved.
It had claimed to be the last guardian dragon on the continent, bound to this land even in death.
He didn’t know if asking would be helpful or if it would simply reveal more information about himself.
His regression was his greatest secret and his most powerful weapon. He hadn’t even told his companions, and he wasn’t willing to reveal it so easily.
“That was quite the unbelievable story.”
Kayla spoke as soon as they exited the dimensional fragment.
“Judging by what he gave you, it seems to be true.”
He looked at the dragon’s blood and heart fragment.
Even if the dragon was lying about its intentions, as his undead, it would be destroyed along with him if they clashed.
Therefore, it was likely telling the truth.
Still, he would thoroughly examine the fragments just in case.
They had spent a considerable amount of time talking with the dragon, and the sky was beginning to brighten.
Orie informed them that nothing had happened during the night, and he was relieved.
While he hadn’t slept, he wasn’t unbearably tired.
As soon as dawn broke, the monsters attacked again, but with their increased strength, they easily repelled the assault.
The monsters retreated faster than the previous day, perhaps deterred by their strengthened defenses. He immediately gathered his companions, including Untinia.
He told Kayla to rest, and since they weren’t entering the dimensional fragment this time, she obediently returned to her room.
He shared some of what he had learned from the dragon, carefully omitting certain details due to Untinia’s presence.
Simply confirming the dragon’s involvement 200 years ago and the sequence of events—the dragonian summoning the elves, followed by the other demihumans—would be enough to verify the truth of its story.
“I thought that history was forgotten by all humans except the Empire’s leadership. You know about it.”
Untinia confirmed that what he had said was true.
“It was going to be discussed during this exchange. Do the other kingdoms also remember this history?”
“I don’t know if the Six-Kingdom Alliance is aware of this information. I learned about it through other channels, by chance.”
“I see. We assumed the Six Kingdoms had either completely forgotten or intentionally concealed this history, but perhaps we were mistaken. Though their revival of the Earth Mother Religion still makes me question their motives.”
“Why would the Alliance assume that?”
“Because even if the Empire succeeds and connects with the Radiant Land, the outcome wouldn’t necessarily be bad for humans.”
That was true.
If they converted to the Radiant Faith and became devout followers, they could survive, and perhaps even live better lives.
‘I see. That’s why they thought the kingdoms had intentionally concealed the history.’
If the Radiant Land and the continent were connected, faith would likely become the new standard.
The high-ranking nobles and the royal families wouldn’t want that.
They weren’t fanatics, and they didn’t need to submit to the Empire.
However, the Demihuman Alliance was unaware of this.
There was little interaction between the two alliances, and many noble houses within the Six Kingdoms were close to the Goddess Religion.
The Demihuman Alliance couldn’t discern the true intentions of the royal families and likely viewed them as potential enemies.
However, they had witnessed the revival of the Earth Mother Religion and learned of the royal families’ involvement. This had led them to believe that at least the royal families weren’t hostile and prompted them to initiate contact.
“But why did this suddenly…?”
“The reason for the sudden surge in monsters is related to that 200-year-old history.”
He explained that he had learned about the past through certain channels and discovered the reason for the sudden monster appearances, but he couldn’t confirm the information and needed verification.
“So, you can resolve this?”
“Yes. But it will take some time.”
The incident was caused by a gate located deep underground, quite a distance away.
Reaching it would be dangerous, and even if he managed to close it, the monsters that had already been summoned would remain. If the oasis fell while he was gone, he would be stranded in the middle of the Barren Lands.
Moreover, he needed to completely secure this area.
“Once this area’s defenses are reinforced, we need to reclaim the other two oases quickly. Otherwise, the monsters here might spread beyond the Barren Lands.”
For now, thanks to his earlier efforts and the fact that the monsters had just been summoned, they were unlikely to leave the Barren Lands.
However, once they adapted and established their territories…
‘The displaced monsters will leave the Barren Lands. That’s unacceptable.’
He needed to rebuild the defensive line, the sinkhole that drew in the monsters.
While he had rescued his companions, the situation was still dire.
Sealing the gate would have to wait.
“It won’t be resolved in a day or two.”
“You’ll be delayed, but I’ll ensure your safety.”
“As I said before, I’m fine.”
“You should be able to send a message to your house in about a week.”
The dragon had explained that the dried-up Lake of Blood and the communication disruption were aftereffects of the gate’s activation.
The gate had consumed a massive amount of mana, destabilizing the surrounding area and disrupting communication.
The Lake of Blood, despite being made of demonic energy, was connected to spatial magic and had been directly affected by the gate.
‘Just my luck.’
“That should be fine.”
If he could contact his house, they could relay the information to the others, preventing any major issues.
The monster attacks subsided for two days after that initial assault.
He didn’t know if they were fighting amongst themselves or if they had shifted their focus to the other oases after realizing his and Kayla’s presence made this area a less appealing target.
Regardless, it gave him time to reinforce their defenses, and he used the accumulated monster corpses and his resources to build a fortified perimeter.
He constructed bone walls, a new tactic he hadn’t tried before, filled the tombs with as many undead as possible, and unlike before, where he had maintained a limited number of constructions, he built numerous underground tombs and other structures across a wider area.
Since he was using the readily available corpses instead of prepared ones, the efficiency was low, but he was able to significantly increase the number of undead.
He would likely dismantle most of them once the situation stabilized, but he needed to bolster their forces quickly.
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