.｡.:✧ Chapter 86 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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To the dragonkin who believed in dragons as gods, there was no king, no hierarchy divided by bloodline, and no name for their nation.

The dragonkin, bound together as a race rather than a nationality, could be considered a theocracy compared to the monarchical Frisia Kingdom.

However, the beings they called gods actually existed and were currently immersed in a long, death-like slumber, essentially leaving the dragonkin neglected.

Nevertheless, they always knelt and prayed to their gods three times a day.

They wished for the peaceful rest of their gods, who were simply sleeping, hoped for their care and guidance, and believed that their current slumber was just a temporary respite for a greater purpose.

While the Frisia Kingdom called those who guarded the Dragon’s Boundary the National Border Guards, the dragonkin used the term Heretic Inquisitors.

This was different from Heretic Judges. If there were any dragonkin who doubted the dragons, they would be sent to the Heretic Judges.

Matters involving other races were delegated to the Heretic Inquisitors.

Dragonkin were given the opportunity for a trial, but other races who did not worship the dragons were already confirmed as heretics, so there was no trial for them, only judgment.

“Phew, may the breath of the dragons be with us today as well.”

Finishing his evening prayer by placing his hands on his chest and exhaling once, the Heretic Inquisitor, Zeronia, slowly stood up and began to organize his work for the day again.

Some ridiculed it as a remote area, while others praised it as the shield protecting the dragonkin, but in reality, the Dragon’s Boundary was neither arduous enough to be mocked nor sacred enough to be praised.

Boredom.

Yes, the only thing filling this place was sheer boredom and tedium.

Occasionally, when insane or criminal humans crossed over, they would play with them to find peace of mind and body, but that was it.

As the sun slowly set and it was time to light the lanterns, Zeronia thought his day would end just like any other.

Hurried footsteps.

The gently flickering lantern swayed violently.

The agent, who was no different from the right-hand man of the Heretic Inquisitor, entered the Inquisitor’s room in a rush without even knocking.

Normally, he would have immediately reprimanded him, but Zeronia, seeing his state, thought it wasn’t an ordinary matter and waited for the report.

“I-Inquisitor! Currently, at the boundary, a human has crossed over the fence and is on the run after injuring two of our soldiers!”

“Insane.”

A human dared to?

Zeronia picked up his helmet and large halberd, which he had taken off for evening prayer, and listened to the continued report.

“Fortunately, one of the two dragonkin escaped and is currently investigating the human’s appearance, clothing, and escape route…”

“I’ll go.”

Stepping outside, Zeronia headed to the interrogation room, which was separate from the agents’ quarters.

The interrogation room was usually a place where they would bring humans to play with or torture, so it had to be at a distance from the quarters and other work facilities.

Dragonkin had sensitive senses, so they couldn’t bear the smell of human excrement or blood near their quarters.

Roughly opening the bars and entering, Zeronia could face a dragonkin who was trembling but seemed to not understand why he had to be in the interrogation room.

“Explain the situation.”

It was a simple phrase, but the dragonkin answered in a rambling manner, struck by the heavy voice.

Suddenly, the human guard captain said that their soldiers were turning into dragonkin.

Then, a man who didn’t seem to be a guard broke the fence from behind, charged at them while wielding a sword.

Although his head ached a bit from the disorganized explanation, he roughly grasped the situation.

“The injuries?”

The priest who had bandaged him on the side answered not to worry.

“There are many wounds, but not to the extent of endangering his life. The human doesn’t seem to be very skilled.”

“…Is that so?”

For a moment, Zeronia felt a sense of unease but dismissed it for now. Catching the human was the priority.

If they let him go here and he entered the dragonkin’s land, not only would they face difficulties in searching, but it was clear that he would have to take responsibility for it.

“Alright, first…”

The moment he was about to tell the agent who had followed him to take immediate action.

A heavy thud was heard from outside.

The priest thought it might be a fruit falling from a tree they were growing, but Zeronia, as a Heretic Inquisitor, immediately grabbed his halberd.

This wasn’t a sound that could be made by a mere fruit.

“Guard?”

He casually called out to the guard who was guarding the interrogation room from outside.

Only the strong wind blowing heavily and the flickering shadow of the lantern responded.

“Guard?”

Crack!

The moment he called out again, the sound of something breaking rang out.

Zeronia stopped the agent, who realized the seriousness of the situation and tried to go out with a weapon.

The enemy was coming this way anyway.

It was wiser to wait for him to come in while inside and launch a surprise attack rather than going out to fight.

“Priest, stay back.”

“May the breath of the dragons be with you all.”

The priest, for whom this kind of emergency was a first, hastily clasped his hands and began to pray.

All the dragonkin present felt the thick bloodlust slowly approaching from outside the door.

The tense silence that heightened the tension in the darkness.

The appearance of an enemy like a ghost, not even breathing audibly.

‘Is it really a human?’

The moment he thought it might not be a human but an undead.

A palm-sized hole was made in the thick wooden ceiling, and a grappling hook-attached rope flew in from there, wrapping around the neck of the agent guarding Zeronia’s side, starting to pull him up to the ceiling.

“Gah! Ugh! Urk!”

Suddenly subjected to a hanging, the agent, suspended in the air, began to flail.

Even though dragonkin usually had similar physiques to humans, they weighed twice as much, yet he was lifted so easily as if his neck was grabbed like a chicken, hitting the back of his head against the ceiling.

“Hold still! Stay still!”

It was difficult to cut the rope with the halberd, so he drew the dagger from his bosom, but the agent was flailing so violently that Zeronia couldn’t approach him.

As the agent gradually lost consciousness and foamed at the mouth.

The taut force on the rope loosened, dropping him.

“Cough! Huff!”

The agent clutched his neck and rolled on the floor.

‘Why?’

Although it was fortunate that the agent survived, why didn’t he kill him?

No, more than that, in the first place.

“Wasn’t he outside the door?”

The spine-chilling bloodlust had definitely entered through the crack of the door, piercing his skin. And that bloodlust remained unchanged even now.

Thinking that there might be one more intruder, Zeronia hurriedly opened the door.

Only a few fallen dragonkin were visible, with no other beings present.

However, upon opening the door, the bloodlust was felt even more fiercely.

Zeronia instinctively felt that the mass of bloodlust was behind him now, turning his body and swinging his halberd at the same time, but…

“Ah, ah…”

The man wasn’t behind him.

To be precise, he had misunderstood.

The mass of bloodlust was so immense that he naturally thought it had grabbed him from behind.

In reality, that wasn’t the case.

The hole in the ceiling that had grown larger as if he had descended from it, the unconscious priest, the agent, and the escaped dragonkin.

It was difficult for dragonkin to determine the age of humans, but Zeronia had his own knack for it. Seeing no wrinkles on his face, he could tell that he was young.

With his black hair and intimidating presence, it was like seeing a grim reaper that young dragonkin often mentioned as harvesting lives.

Whenever he heard such stories, the rigid Zeronia would say,

“What is there to fear when the dragons protect us?”

However, when he actually laid eyes on a similar being, he was convinced that if he knelt and prayed at this moment, his neck would already be gone.

“There are many wounds, but seeing that his life isn’t in danger, he must not be very skilled?”

Feeling the priest’s words come back like a boomerang, piercing his heart, a self-deprecating smile formed on his face.

In terms of mathematics, the equation was correct.

The numbers and symbols were correctly placed where they should be.

But the calculation itself was wrong.

The fact that there were many wounds but no danger to life meant, conversely…

It meant that the opponent was skilled enough to inflict so many wounds without endangering life.

“You, what is your purpose?”

Even amidst fear, Zeronia spoke with a dignified voice. It was the only struggle he could muster.

The man also seemed to have the intention of having a conversation, slowly turning his body to face Zeronia and asked.

“There are humans turning into dragonkin. Do you know anything about this?”

A chilling voice.

His baritone was so chilling that the dignified voice he had barely managed to utter felt like child’s play, as if he had arrived in a snowy field.

“…”

Zeronia couldn’t answer.

At first, it was simply because of the bloodlust he emitted along with his trembling, chilling voice, but he also truly knew nothing about it.

“I see, you don’t know.”

As if a judge was pronouncing a death sentence.

The voice echoing faintly in the interrogation room prompted Zeronia to hurriedly swing his halberd, but…

He lost consciousness without even properly grasping the situation.

The Dragon’s Boundary was quite vast, but the number of outposts wasn’t very large.

However, each outpost was always assigned a Heretic Inquisitor in charge.

And late at night, a man’s voice rang out from the emergency communication devices of the Heretic Inquisitors.

It was the news that the Dragon Horn Outpost, which could be called the front line, and the dragonkin guarding it had been overrun by a human.

“There is only one condition, an exchange of information for hostages.”

Surprisingly, the one who used the emergency communication device to convey all this was none other than that human.

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