Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Dragon's Eyes
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"That's right. Especially the Mage Association and the Medical Association are buying them up at high prices. The princess said you risked your life to draw the dragon's gaze so that person could escape?"
"It just sort of ended up that way."
"Everyone's buzzing about that story. Lots of people want to hear your heroic tale."
"Hahaha."
Azel laughed awkwardly. In truth, it wasn't just drawing the dragon's gaze—he had killed it. But he couldn't say that. He judged it wasn't yet time to reveal everything about himself.
'More than anything, bragging about slaying a dragon when I'm this weak would be too much.'
He had been able to defeat the Earth Dragon only because of Kallos's arrangements allowing him to wield the Dragon Demon Sword. Without it, he would have lost to the Earth Dragon and been devoured.
But through that battle, Azel had gained much.
For starters, while the mana from the Dragon Demon Sword lingered in his spirit veins, he had absorbed it through meditation. And through the Dragon Slaying Ritual, he had taken a portion of the dragon's power.
As a result, Azel's body had become far more robust. A seed of toughness that could never be achieved through mere training had been planted within him.
His mana had also grown significantly. His spirit veins had become more resilient, the first Life Circle had reached Dual Banding completion, and the second was nearly finished.
Actually constructing Dual Banding was a tremendous achievement.
From theory to experimentation, even with solid groundwork, it was a method whose success couldn't be guaranteed. He had even succeeded in building a similar model through animal test subjects, but applying it to himself—the being who wielded the mana—meant unknown variables could arise.
Yet he had not only succeeded in constructing it but confirmed that the benefits matched the theory. It was a result that advanced the Spirit Order technique by one step.
'What if there had been no Dragon Slaying Ritual?'
He had achieved Dual Banding because his mana surged after taking the dragon's power. It was fortunate, yet also regrettable.
To establish Dual Banding as a clear technique and pass it on to others, he needed to grasp every process precisely. But the Dragon Slaying Ritual had let him skip the trial-and-error, reaping only the fruits of success.
He knew it was the complaint of a glutton. Still, Azel couldn't help feeling regretful.
'I've also gathered a fair amount of dragon spirit power...'
By taking the dragon's power, Azel's mana had taken on a slight draconic quality. Unlike normal mana, simply emitting it exerted suppressive force on surrounding phenomena...
That was the foundation for creating a Dragon Demon Sword. But he still had a long way to go before remaking one.
Zail spoke.
"So the princess said you have a right to some reward for the dragon's corpse."
"Oh?"
"The princess said she'd discuss the reward herself, so you can look forward to it."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Azel spoke without much enthusiasm.
Zail continued.
"And I heard you're going to escort the princess on her return to the capital."
"That's the plan."
"We'll be together for a while then. I've been assigned to the escort unit as well."
"Ah, I see."
"I lost a lot of subordinates, so I'm not thrilled about being pulled for this mission."
"......"
Azel fell silent as he watched Zail's bitter smile.
When the Dragon Shadow attacked the ruins excavation site, Zail's unit had suffered massive losses. Though he had recovered many, about a third of his unit had died.
"But in this situation, it's better to deploy strength where it's needed than have an inexperienced young commander floundering. Looking forward to working with you."
The Western Border Guard couldn't spare many troops for Arietta's escort. So they had selected proven veterans like Zail.
Azel replied.
"Same here."
Soon, they arrived where the dragon's corpse was kept.
But the scene was completely different from what Azel had expected. Rather than transporting the body intact, it had been disassembled and divided into dozens of containers.
'Well, they couldn't have moved it as is.'
It might be possible with large wagons for bulk transport. But those required well-maintained roads. To bring a dragon's corpse fallen in the middle of the forest here, dismantling it was inevitable.
Soon, Azel spotted Arietta among the people.
"You summoned me."
"Mm. You've come."
"I didn't know dragon corpses were so valuable."
Even in Azel's era, mages had dissected and utilized dragon corpses. Dragon blood could be processed into mana restoratives or wound treatments, while bones, scales, and hide were so durable they were carved into weapons or armor materials. But he had never thought to sell them.
Arietta said.
"I hadn't considered it either. It was my first time seeing a dead dragon. One of the scouting mages saw it and insisted we recover it as soon as possible. They dismantled and packed it per his instructions... but there's something bothering me."
"What is it?"
"The dragon's eyes are missing."
"The eyes?"
"They say it looks like only the eyes were gouged out. Does anything come to mind?"
"Hmm. No."
Azel shook his head.
When he felled the Earth Dragon, he hadn't damaged its eyes at all. For only the eyes to be gouged out...
Arietta lowered her voice.
"It might be those bastards' doing."
"I'd say that's likely."
The "bastards" they referred to were, of course, the Dragon Shadow. A mage would know the value of a dragon's corpse and could plausibly steal just the eyes while evading the Western Border Guard.
Arietta said.
"They say a dragon's eyes are a powerful mana source. Giving that to those bastards is bad news."
"Well, nothing we can do. At least they didn't take the heart. That's fortunate."
"True enough. They say the heart was completely shredded..."
"It fought another dragon, so that's to be expected."
"I see."
Arietta smiled at Azel's obvious lie. It was the smile of accomplices sharing a secret.
6
Regina was a relatively high-ranking operative in the secret society known as the Dragon Shadow. But compared to those at the organization's core, she was nothing.
"I see. A failure then."
The woman saying this held a status incomparable to Regina's.
With long black hair and deep brown eyes, she appeared to be in her mid-to-late twenties, a beauty with a cynical expression. Though she looked like a pure human rather than a Dragon Demon Hybrid, Regina knew it was an illusion crafted by magic, not her true form.
She continued.
"You lost many comrades."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't look very sorry. You mobilized that much manpower just to kidnap the Dragon Demon Princess and still failed? And it was such a golden opportunity?"
Considering Arietta the Dragon Demon Princess's strength, calling it "just" a kidnapping was absurd.
But the forces deployed were more than sufficient for the task. Four Dragon Demon Hybrids and two elite human mages. Arietta was powerful, but objectively, any three of the deployed could overwhelm her.
Yet Regina had failed. And she had an excuse.
"There was an unexpected interloper."
Regina reported on Azel in as much detail as possible.
The black-haired woman, who had been listening indifferently at first, suddenly grew grave at a certain detail Regina mentioned midway.
"Wait. Did you just say Dragon Slaying Ritual?"
"Yes? That's right."
"That man definitely said 'Dragon Slaying Ritual'?"
"Clearly."
"Can you stake your life on it?"
A chilling aura assaulted her senses. A suffocating killing intent. Regina swallowed hard and replied.
"Yes."
"This is no trivial matter."
The black-haired woman murmured gravely. Regina cautiously asked.
"May I ask what the Dragon Slaying Ritual is?"
"No."
"......"
"It's information beyond your clearance. For now, tell me everything you saw and heard in detail."
At those words, Regina carefully recounted the rest.
How Azel had invoked the Dragon Slaying Ritual, the Earth Dragon responding and fighting him.
And when she returned later, the Earth Dragon was dead.
"The Western Border Guard moved, so this was all I could retrieve."
Regina presented two fist-sized red orbs.
They were the dragon's eyes. As Arietta had guessed, she had gouged them out while evading the Western Border Guard.
The black-haired woman raised her hand. The two dragon eyes floated up lightly.
"To think a dragon died knowing of the Dragon Slaying Ritual..."
"We can't confirm he killed it. He was frighteningly skilled, but even so, it's hard to believe he could face a dragon one-on-one. Given the storm that erupted there, it's more likely another dragon intervened..."
"Impossible."
Regina laid out reasonable deductions, but the black-haired woman flatly denied them. Examining the dragon's eyes, she said.
"The Dragon Slaying Ritual occurred, so that couldn't have happened. And these eyes prove it."
"Yes? What do you...?"
"The mana contained in these dragon eyes is less than a fifth of what it should hold."
A dragon's eyes were a potent mana source, second only to the heart in the body.
But the slain Earth Dragon had lost its power's essence to Azel via the Dragon Slaying Ritual. Thus, most of the eyes' original power was gone.
Regina, who had never slain a dragon, didn't know this. She had simply thought the eyes held mighty mana. But the black-haired woman saw through the truth at once.
With another gesture, the floating eyes settled before Regina. She said.
"Use these."
"Yes? But..."
"Consider it a reward."
Regina was bewildered. The mission had failed, precious forces lost. She had expected punishment and offered Azel's existence and the dragon's eyes to mitigate it.
Yet a reward?
But the black-haired woman offered no further explanation.
"Heh. Azel Zestringer."
To the Dragon Demon Worshippers, it was an unbearably ominous name. They would kill anyone named Azel, regardless of status, age, or anything else.
"A sinful name indeed. Intriguing. I must meet him sometime."
The black-haired woman smiled coldly and walked into the darkness.