Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Ghosts of the Past (3)
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“Interesting bunch. What did that Dragonkin named Reshu look like, by the way?”
“His hair color was incredibly distinctive. A bluish-white.”
“A color that couldn’t appear on a human. No, even among Dragon Demon Hybrids, it’s rare…”
“What about your master?”
“Black hair.”
“Not him, then. But even so, the more I look at your Dragon Spirit Art, the more it reminds me of Reshu. That training method, too.”
“Hm?”
“The training where you catch water droplets. I taught that to Reshu. Though I told him to use kicks.”
“An amusing coincidence.”
“Well, it’s the kind of training anyone could come up with.”
And since Azel had been asleep for so long, Reshu could have taught it to someone else in the meantime. Perhaps Leticia’s master was that someone.
Azel thought so not because of Leticia’s martial prowess, but because the way she wielded her Dragon Spirit Art—the fundamental philosophy behind it—resembled what he’d last seen from Reshu. If there was no connection at all, it’d be hard for such intuitive aspects to match so closely.
‘Of course, it could just be coincidence…’
Azel gave a wry smile. His fixation on this stemmed from wanting to meet Reshu if he was still alive. Reshu was a Dragonkin who had lived through the Dragon Emperor War without getting involved, and considering he was a 1st-Gen Dragonkin, there was a high chance he was still around.
Wasn’t it natural for Azel, thrown alone into a future 220 years ahead, to cling to someone who’d shared his era?
3
Azel’s group was moving at high speed.
Ten days had passed since they’d acquired the White Dragon Armor. In that time, they’d traveled roughly 400 kilometers in a straight line under Yuren’s guidance and found Kallos’s ruins in the area. By now, Azel’s feelings toward Yuren had grown impossibly complicated.
“I was hoping for another amazing magic tool after the White Dragon Armor… but a training manual?”
What had been stored in these ruins was a type of training method. Kallos’s lingering will explained it like this.
‘Old man Nidel dumped it on me instead of a will. Said since you didn’t wake up till he died, he won. Told you to come to his grave later and admit defeat as the loser.’
…For a moment, Azel felt his blood boiling in reverse, but unfortunately, there was no outlet for his anger.
‘That damn old man!’
Azel and Crois Nidel’s relationship could be called that of mutual masters. At their first meeting, over drinks, they’d immediately started needling each other and ended up drawing blades right there. After a fierce fight, they acknowledged each other. But acknowledgment didn’t make them loving comrades.
It started with Crois. The next day, he sought out Azel, showed off a secret technique, and sneered.
‘You’re pretty skilled for a young one, but you can’t do this, right? How about it? You’re a valuable asset to the alliance, so if you bow your head and ask nicely, I might teach you.’
Azel bristled. He’d been through hell and back, learning secret techniques from four masters that no one else could imitate. He immediately countered by demonstrating one of his own.
‘I admit your skills are impressive, old timer, but times have changed. For the latest Spirit Order techniques, this is par for the course, right? Trading it for your outdated stuff would be a huge loss on my end, but since you’re an old guy still putting up a fight, I can take the hit out of respect. Shall I teach you?’
…Naturally, the two of them flared up again and had another brawl.
After that, they poured all their effort into one-upping each other at every chance. Every day, they exchanged secret techniques that would make any Spirit Order practitioner’s eyes pop, and fiercely debated martial arts and tactics. Through this pathetic pride contest, their skills skyrocketed, so it was no wonder onlookers were baffled.
By the end of the Dragon Emperor War, it was Azel’s victory. With both having emptied their arsenals, Azel taught Crois one final technique, and his confidence soared.
Yet 220 years later, to suffer a counterattack like this.
‘Damn it! Old man, you never grew up till the end! And this is cheating! You didn’t make it alone!’
Getting hit like this meant he couldn’t even pay it back!
Regardless of those feelings… this secret manual contained truly astonishing content.
“To overhaul Dragon Demon Armament creation like this.”
The method for creating Dragon Demon Armaments was as Azel had once explained to Kairen.
Through Spirit Order, Dragon Spirit Art, or magical rituals, one created them oneself. Humans or Dragon Demon Hybrids could accelerate the process via the Dragon Slaying Ritual.
There were two ways to shorten this process.
First, get help from other Dragonkin, Dragon Demon Hybrids, or humans with Dragon Demon Armaments. Assistants sacrifice their own power to concentrate it into one person, creating the Dragon Spirit Art.
Second, use a dragon’s corpse. Extract its latent power to accelerate Dragon Demon Armament creation.
The manual was based on the first shortening method.
“It’s truly symbiotic training.”
Originally, high-level Spirit Order practitioners or mages with dragon power sacrificed themselves to pour power into one person. But following the manual’s method, all participants gained benefits.
They set up the magic circle Kallos designed and supplied it with mana. The circle wove the mana together for qualitative integration, using Dragon Demon Armaments to enhance the dragon power’s nature. It then accelerated and cyclically amplified the power as participants continued supplying it.
Thus, participants received more mana back than they’d given. Even those without dragon power could gradually acquire it through this process.
“The idea itself is simple enough, but to perfect it for this level of dragon power enhancement.”
This training fused Spirit Order and magic. Kallos must have taken Crois Nidel’s concept, refined it through countless sensory experiments and improvements.
Azel immediately gathered the group to test it. Using the Sword that Cleaves the Heavens, the Cup of Lament, and including Laura, the results shocked them with their efficiency.
“…This is insane?”
Azel stuck out his tongue. The training’s efficiency scaled with participants’ quality. Excluding Yuren, all had Dragon Demon Armaments or innate pure dragon power.
‘At this rate, I could manifest the Sword that Cleaves the Heavens without a Dragon Sword in less than a month?’
Even digesting the dragon power from the third Dragon Slaying Ritual was accelerating.
Laura said,
“This puts me at the biggest disadvantage, huh?”
She gained almost nothing from this training. Her vessel was nearly complete. Her mage skills could still grow, but her dragon power’s growth potential wasn’t high.
Kairen was similar. But he accelerated his own Dragon Demon Armament creation through it.
Azel said,
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can create your own Dragon Demon Armament.”
“……”
Laura’s expression grew strange. Azel asked, puzzled,
“What’s wrong?”
“…No, I never even thought of that.”
“Huh?”
“I only ever thought about becoming the Cup of Lament’s inheritor…”
Becoming Aunsor’s inheritor meant inheriting the Cup of Lament. So creating her own Dragon Demon Armament had never even been an option.
Laura murmured blankly,
“I see. I can make my own Dragon Demon Armament…”
It was obvious, yet she’d never realized it. Laura let out a hollow laugh.
Azel grinned and asked,
“You never even considered it? Don’t tell me you’ve never chosen your own path before?”
“Yeah.”
“…Not at all?”
“For little things, maybe. But even those were within the framework my family set.”
Laura had sought out old records like the Aunsor manuscripts in her free time, and spoken with unnamed elders—not because she was told to, but of her own will. That was surely her choice.
But thinking back, even that freedom was within the family’s bounds. You can do this in your free time. But not that.
“Now that I think about it, Azel Zestringer, following you was the one and only choice of my life.”
“……”
“You’re making a weird face.”
“What?”
Azel frowned at Laura’s head-tilt. She said,
“You looked embarrassed. I don’t know why, but did something in my story make you uncomfortable?”
“…That obvious?”
“Yeah.”
“I see.”
Azel gave a wry smile. Anyone else would’ve seen through that expression. He pitied her.
‘She can’t even recognize that… Has she really only lived as a tool?’
The longer they were together, the more confused he grew about how to treat her. And she wasn’t the only one.
4
“Wouldn’t it be better to just openly travel with us? I could spare you a room.”
Azel approached the man camping about 100 meters from their lodging and asked. The man, eyes closed but not asleep, slurped soup he’d boiled over the campfire. It was Balsel, the Prophecy Guardian of the Guardian Shadows.
Since their first meeting, Balsel had kept a consistent distance while following Azel. Unlike other Guardian Shadows, he didn’t hide his presence. Yet when stationary, he was ghostlike in his lack of aura, nearly causing Azel to lose him.
Balsel said,
“Appreciated, but I’ll pass.”
“Why? Afraid I’ll stab you in the back?”
“No. Because I don’t want to stab yours.”
“What’s that mean?”
“If I stayed close to your group for long, it’d be hard to hold back killing intent. I know myself well.”
“……”
He said it flatly, but Balsel’s face and voice showed no emotion. In terms of emotional expression—or lack thereof—he was even more extreme than Laura, creating a stark disconnect.
Suddenly, Balsel said,
“Hm. Come to think of it, we’ve made good use of the info you provided.”
“Destroyed some Void Path bases?”
“Two so far. The rest will be hit as my comrades move.”
Azel and Kairen had told Balsel about the Void Paths. Guardian Shadows were useless as messengers, but Prophecy Guardians were different. Balsel immediately contacted Prophecy Guardians across the continent, verified the info from Laura, and began attacks.
Azel wondered,
“Only two so far? I thought your communication was lightning-fast…”
“But travel speed has limits. As you’ve seen, not all Prophecy Guardians are highly combat-capable.”
“Don’t you have Guardian Shadows? Why not get their help? Unless you don’t want to reveal the Prophecy Guardians’ existence…”
“No. But unlike us, they have their own lives and positions.”
“What do you mean?”