Chapter 309
Chapter 309
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 309
Chapter Title: Chapter 7-1. The Sixth Fragment, Requiem
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"For some reason, that one seems perfectly fine."
Lime spoke calmly, gazing at the dragonkin guarding the door with eyes full of curiosity. But the gulp he swallowed right after finishing his words suggested he was still plenty tense.
Just as he said, the elite dragonkin guarding the entrance to the imperial palace hadn't lost his reason. In fact, he was blocking those who swarmed toward the pillar of fire like moths to a flame.
He spun his body at the sight of a dwarf—small but sturdy-framed—charging with a massive hammer from who-knows-where, and smashed it away with his tail. With a thud, the dwarf flew off into the distance, writhing like a worm on the spot as his guts burst apart.
Next, the elite dragonkin reached out with scales protruding and claws sharpened toward another dragonkin teleporting in short-range behind him, grabbing its head and slamming it into the ground. Mana gathered in his hand before exploding with a bang. The sight of him mercilessly bursting even his own kin's skull was profoundly striking. He narrowed his eyes at those approaching from the front, drawing up his mana. An overwhelming aura poured from his body.
"No one enters without permission! If you want to go in, take down Cesare Oros—me first!"
Of course, the crazed ones hesitated at his presence, but Requiem's seductive mana proved stronger than their fear, and they charged at him even more fiercely from that shout onward.
-He's on a different level from the other dragonkin.
Whether because the situation wasn't dire yet, Iris slung her scythe over her shoulder, tore out a page from her notepad with a memo written on it, and handed it to Yuda. He took the proffered note, checked the contents, and nodded.
"They say elite dragonkin who complete their awakening are anywhere from three to four or five times stronger than regular ones. So that level of power isn't surprising. The other elites are probably still holding their reason and blocking intruders from the palace too."
Yuda started to hand the torn paper back to Iris but paused, realizing it was trash without the notepad. He could just toss it, right?
-Just throw it away.
Spotting his hesitation, Iris handed him another note with a smile that said the same thing. He read it and crumpled it up.
At this rate, wouldn't it be better to just talk?
Her voice wasn't something you wanted to avoid—it was the kind you could listen to forever. If voices could be beautiful, she'd be the epitome. But she rarely spoke. Unless it was as urgent as last time, her routine was scribbling notes like this. He flicked the note away, and Lime spoke up from behind.
"So, we can consider him an ally for now?"
"No, you're mistaken. We've come back to a hundred years ago—the era when humans and dragonkin were most hostile. For them, just being human is reason enough to kill us, and it wouldn't be strange at all. Sane or insane, they're both our enemies either way."
"Ah...."
"And they're only sane for now."
"For now?"
"Yes, they haven't lost their reason yet. Not yet."
But it wouldn't be long before they succumbed to the madness.
Esther Selion. Once she emerged from the temple after taking Requiem and knocking out everyone performing the sealing ritual with her, the second wave would erupt. Then, most elite dragonkin except a few would go berserk under Requiem's mana, just like the rest.
In other words, it was best to assume there were no allies here.
"Get ready."
Yuda said to Lime, Arhil, and Iris. It didn't really need saying, but once they went over that wall, they'd be in real combat. While riding the dragonhead and moving, the crazed ones swarming like they were entranced moved the same way, so they hadn't been attacked as long as they didn't block their path. But inside the palace, things would change.
The elites might not see Yuda's group—riding a magic beast—as the culprits, but they'd view them as highly suspicious and attack without question. And those drawn by Requiem's mana invading the palace would attack too.
Ruuuuum...
The dragonhead crushed a flowerbed reduced to dirt—the flowers long gone—and raised its head with a cry as the wall neared. Vision rose sharply, taking in the surroundings at a glance.
He'd expected it to some degree, but the area was a worse bloodbath than imagined. Especially beyond the palace wall. Not even an hour since the pillar of fire shot up, and already countless intruders lay dead at the elites' hands, corpses strewn everywhere.
Boom!
The dragonhead smashed through the wall with its body and entered. He felt bad for the elite guarding the entrance, but the wall was already crumbling. One more hole wouldn't make a difference. But crashing in like that might've drawn too much attention.
He felt eyes snapping toward them. The dragonhead pressed on toward the pillar amid the stares. It could climb walls too, scraping up the outer building wall with its massive bulk. It didn't hesitate even at spots aflame. Several dragonkin and otherkin pursued, unwilling to let Requiem go easily, as it plunged inward in an instant.
Blocking those coming head-on fell to Iris. Her scythe had a bow-like range, so she handled those leaping up from the ground. Yuda, mounted on the dragonhead's back, dealt with those approaching the head. The armored shell from head to tail was like spiked mountains chained together, awkward for footwork, but he accurately hurled Altemia from afar like a ghost to shake off climbers.
As they rapidly closed in on the soaring pillar, dragonkin with a different aura appeared, scaling the outer wall. The pressure they exuded as they blocked the dragonhead's path was enough to make even a mid-tier magic beast like it falter, slowing before halting right in front of them.
"...Why are humans here?"
"His reaction looks normal, unlike the others."
"Never seen that monster before. What are they? Similar to dragons in appearance, but the aura feels awfully weak."
The three dragonkin seemed elite, holding their reason. Yuda gripped the dragonhead's horn to steady himself and glanced at Iris. Coincidentally, she was looking at him too.
"Take them down. They're enemies anyway. I'll attack, so..."
Iris shook her head.
"Then I'll handle defense."
This time, he nodded. Arhil promptly reapplied blessing magic, and Lime readied spells for defense or support attacks anytime. Yuda summoned three wraith knights possessing the souls of spirit sword owners. But before the wraiths appeared, one dragonkin materialized behind Arhil.
"Where!"
Lime spotted it and triggered his spell instantly. A bubble-like white barrier trapped the emerging dragonkin. Then, with a crackle, it froze solid in a flash. But that wouldn't take down an elite. Yuda kicked off the dragonhead's horn and leaped toward the ice orb.
Lime's spell would've threatened regular dragonkin plenty, but against elites, he was powerless. Strong magic might work, but instant casts like that only bought a moment. Proof: cracks spiderwebbed across the orb less than a second after freezing the dragonkin, shattering it.
"Kyahat! With that pathetic—?!"
"Right. That pathetic thing can't kill you."
But what if sliced by a fragment?
He didn't know how tough dragonkin scales were, but they couldn't withstand Yakal's cutting power. Yuda activated [Shadow Sword Arts 6th Form: Upward Slash]. The red blade cloaked in darkness slashed a line through empty air. The dragonkin's arm severed cleanly along it.
"!?"
Not even feeling the loss, the dragonkin's eyes widened narrowly. Yuda swung Altemia in his left hand to behead it, but as he thrust, the dragonkin vanished before him.
Short-range teleport.
Annoying in games or here, same deal. A quick glance back showed it reappearing right behind. But he wasn't the only one with evasion skills.
Shadow Sword Arts 4th Form: Phantom Sword.
His body snapped away like a spring. The dragonkin's sharp claw pierced an illusion. Yuda planted his foot on the dragonhead's crown and swung Yakal. Agile and strong stats weren't for show. He slit the dragonkin's throat in one motion. Thunk—the body tumbled from the dragonhead's top and rolled downward.
Glancing at Iris, she'd already felled one of her two and finished the last the moment he looked. Good. Even if elites were strong here, struggling against them would be trouble. Hordes would swarm soon enough.
The silver lining...
'Esther Selion is the strongest dragonkin in this country right now.'
This <Otherworld> repeated the scenario post-fragment fall a hundred years ago. Even with Yuda twisting fates and adding variables outside, here it was fixed. Same actions, same events looping. No variables.
At least, that's what Yuda believed.
Dragonkin as strong as or stronger than Esther Selion would be in the temple now, exhausted and struggling against her. And they'd die by her hand in the end.
Boom!
An explosion rang out not far off, black smoke billowing. Yuda kicked away the severed arm at his feet and commanded the dragonhead.
"Let's go. The dragonkin princess is waiting for us."