Chapter 103. Uldran (3)
“Dodge. Hide. If you do that……”
“If I do that, then what? You gonna beg pathetically for your life or something?”
“Then do you plan to fight the dragons?”
“That’s exactly what I’ll do. They see Afraksas’s inhabitants as nothing more than vessels for themselves. I can’t sacrifice them.”
Elkalabi poured Uldran a drink.
“I’ve hidden the orb containing my power in the sanctuary.”
“Pardon?”
“When I die, pass it to someone you deem trustworthy. And……”
Elkalabi downed his drink as if his death were inevitable.
“Don’t come looking for me anymore.”
“What do you……”
Those were his final words. Elkalabi and Uldran didn’t meet again for a long time.
“I was a coward. I sided with the dragons, brainwashing the high dragons’ minions to gain as much favor as possible.”
“……Cowardly indeed.”
Uldran had to survive.
No matter how much he hated fighting, he was still a dragon.
While countless high dragons perished, Elkalabi survived over a hundred assaults.
But in the process, he aged, weakened, and grew exhausted.
“This is the last memory.”
As Uldran opened the memory again, a single tear of regret-streaked reminiscence fell from his eye.
“Huff…… huff…… you greenhorn bastards……!”
Elkalabi crawled across the ground, both wings torn, tail severed, all limbs lost.
The first apostles were far too strong.
“You’re stronger than expected yourself.”
The weary Lin wiped the blood coughing from his mouth.
Elkalabi, treated as the leader of the high dragons, was on another level too.
Including Lin, the apostle of Solgaleh, most apostles had died—except Palamkam of Ignirn and Galad of Raikazan.
“And such an enviable power.”
Elkalabi absorbed attacks with his skin, converting the mana into his own.
“Enviable, huh? Then kill me and take it.”
“Of course we will. You’ve committed too many sins against us.”
“Sure have.”
“So we’ll collect the debt from your minions.”
“……What?!”
“Uldran.”
With a snap of Lin’s fingers, Uldran emerged from the spatial hideaway.
“Forgive me, Elkalabi.”
“Uldran…… what have you done……!”
Uldran ignored Elkalabi’s words as best he could, clasping his hands and chanting a incantation.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
As Uldran chanted, Rock Dwarves emerged one by one from crevices in the gorge where they’d hidden.
From the youngest, Arak, to the eldest.
All the Rock Dwarves surrounded Elkalabi.
“Your minions will watch as your body is torn apart and explodes in death.”
“……What sins have they committed?!”
As Elkalabi roared, Galad, apostle of Raikazan, ripped open his belly at lightning speed.
Krraaack!
Red blood spewed as his entrails spilled onto the ground.
“Kuhuk!”
Next came the spine yanked out, limbs shredded and rolling across the dirt.
Right before the eyes of the Rock Dwarves who had followed him so faithfully, whom he cherished so deeply.
As the final slice reached his heart.
-Uldran……! My friend……!
-Please…… guide them.
Elkalabi made his final plea to Uldran and breathed his last.
“……The last high dragon falls.”
The dragon apostles turned away with cold, disinterested faces.
“Spare the Rock Dwarves.”
“Pardon? Not kill them?”
“They’ll serve as an example of what happens when they defy us.”
With Lin’s words, the dragons departed.
The true final battle with the Demon King awaited.
“Elkalabi…… elder……?”
The surviving Rock Dwarves stood soulless, staring blankly at his corpse, unable to even shed tears.
“……”
Uldran suppressed the bone-deep hatred boiling toward himself as he gazed at them.
“Rock Dwarves……!”
Instead, he cast an unprecedentedly powerful spell upon them.
“You are all my apostles and awakeners, Uldran’s.”
Pretending it was a dragon apostle’s spell, he began brainwashing them.
“All memories of Elkalabi will become memories of Uldran, and Elkalabi’s orb is my relic you must hide.”
Tears mixed with his voice, infused with mana stronger than ever.
The Rock Dwarves’ eyes filled with Uldran’s mana, gleaming fiercely.
“Forget all memories of Elkalabi.”
He erased all memories of Elkalabi’s death.
“Kuhuk!”
Mana leaked from his mouth.
His body could no longer withstand the overwhelming spell.
“I promise you. My awakener will return. One strong and steadfast, mirroring Elkalabi’s heart. When he comes, give him Elkalabi’s orb.”
“He’ll…… return, right?”
The still-young Arak asked.
“Of course. Absolutely.”
“That’s how it happened.”
The Path of the Weak Demon King: Persuade Garibaldi and uncover Uldran's secret.
Reward: Next main quest, Reduced hostility from Ignirn
Branching main quest still forming. Quest will adapt to your story.
Ignirn's hostility decreases.
The quest was complete.
This shocking, brutal tale was all true.
Jeonghyeon was utterly speechless for the first time.
“That’s the truth.”
“……I see.”
Jeonghyeon placed a hand on Uldran’s shoulder.
“You’ve suffered.”
“……What?”
“You’re not the only one who had to abandon comrades because you were too weak. That’s war.”
Kim Jeonghyeon hadn’t defeated Demon King Malekith despite leading countless alliances and awakeners.
Without the high dragons’ unification, victory would’ve been impossible.
Solgaleh and the dragons’ choice was cruel, but rational.
He wouldn’t empathize or follow it, but he understood.
And Uldran had carried too heavy a burden of guilt in between.
“Let’s head back now. I get it.”
“Really, that’s it? No other questions? Like why I did it, or that you find me repulsive.”
“Not expecting that. You’ve already paid for your sins yourself—no need for me. And above all……”
Jeonghyeon spoke as if seeing himself in Uldran.
“Regret won’t change the past.”
“……Thank you.”
Uldran bowed his head.
And toward such a Uldran, Jeonghyeon spoke warmly and gently.
Whack!!
He socked him hard.
“That’s that. You still gotta take your licks.”
“Kuhuk! W-wait!”
Thwack! Whack! Pow! Thud!
Interfering with Jeonghyeon’s thoughts meant physical damage.
Uldran took a solid beating for several endless minutes.
“Whew. You deserve another ten years, but we’ll stop here.”
“Huff…… huff……!”
It wouldn’t kill him, but it hurt like hell.
“So, what now?”
“Pardon……? What?”
“You didn’t lose the orb, achieved your goal. What’s next?”
As Jeonghyeon said, the past was past—what mattered was the future.
“You really gonna kill the Demon King?”
“Obviously.”
Uldran let out a chuckle at Jeonghyeon’s words.
Chuckles? Not beaten enough?
As Jeonghyeon debated one more hit, Uldran spoke.
“I must apologize to the Rock Dwarves. I’ll reveal the truth.”
Uldran nodded resolutely.
“……Yeah.”
Jeonghyeon had nothing more to say.
Thus, Jeonghyeon and Uldran went to meet the Rock Dwarves.
Uldran’s mana drained from the gathered Rock Dwarves in Dragon Falls Gorge, and they stood silently for half a day.
Like zombies to any onlooker.
Their long brainwashed memories were reassembling.
After a long while.
“……Forgive me.”
Now only Arak fully recalled, but Uldran knelt in apology.
“……No need.”
Arak, memories restored, embraced the kneeling Uldran.
“It was painful, but because of you, we survived.”
“Arak……!”
“You didn’t forget us and returned. That one can lead us, clear the misunderstanding with the dragons, defeat the Demon King.”
Arak turned to the other Rock Dwarves. As if waiting, they bowed to Uldran.
“You’ve suffered greatly.”
“You all…… too…… suffered so much.”
To the teary-eyed Uldran, the Rock Dwarves replied in unison.
“Damn right we have.”
“I’ll pass my talisman to you.”
“Thought it was for Philip.”
“Aren’t you my awakener too? Here’s my talisman.”
“Fine by me.”
Jeonghyeon growing stronger would strengthen Philip too—mutual benefit.
Resentments cleared, rewards were rewards—take them.
“But in our stead, slay the Demon King. And look after the Rock Dwarves.”
“What bullshit? You dying too?”
Suspecting lingering guilt, Jeonghyeon teased Uldran, tapping his shoulder.
“Yes.”
An unexpected reply.
“……Huh?”
As surprised Jeonghyeon widened his eyes, Uldran smiled faintly.
“Long-term brainwashing of the Rock Dwarves weakened me greatly. Passing my talisman means I’ll vanish.”
“……Dragons die too?”
“I need rest. Near-immortal, but I’m unique. Without mind power, dissipation is death. You’ll carry on for me.”
Uldran placed his slender hand on his head.
A humming mana surge formed a horn-shaped circlet.
“My horn. All my power within.”
Uldran placed the horn on Jeonghyeon’s head.
“Take care of Philip and the Rock Dwarves.”
Inherit Uldran's power.
Can now communicate with dragons.
Domination over subordinate Philip greatly enhanced.
Mana capacity transcends human limits.
Overwhelming perks.
The moment Jeonghyeon finally surpassed his limits as an awakener.
“Hey. So now what I gotta……”
When Jeonghyeon checked his status window and turned.
The dragon was gone, only empty air remained.