Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Those Targeting the King's Blood (6)
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9
“Is that a tear mark?”
Kairen said as he looked where Azel was pointing. At a spot in the air, it looked as if the space beyond was distorted, like a small heat haze rising only there. It slowly trickled down like a water droplet stuck to a wall and then vanished.
Azel said,
“Exactly.”
“Hmm. You wouldn’t notice unless you were specifically looking for it.”
It was just a mark the size of a fingertip. Such marks were scattered every few dozen meters, so unless you knew in advance, it would be impossible to spot them. And in the dim, dark mountain night, it was even harder.
Azel said,
“The user is quite inexperienced.”
“For what reason?”
“Because they’re leaving such obvious traces. Normally, the marks are much smaller than this. Like a tiny raindrop… and they disappear right away.”
“You’re talking like you’ve seen it yourself.”
“I have.”
“…….”
Azel flashed an enigmatic smile and then looked toward the Guardian Shadows. But at that moment.
“Your path isn’t that way.”
A young man with an arrogant air, refined features peeking from under his pale red hair, appeared among the Guardian Shadows. Azel said,
“I don’t know who you are, but since you’re being cautious, you must have business with me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t try to fool me with cheap illusions, idiot.”
Azel’s “Eye of Truth” had the power to see through all illusions. He instantly recognized that the young man had overlaid an illusion on one of the Guardian Shadows to disguise it as a convincing entity.
The young man whistled.
“Wow, impressive. Well, since it changed right in front of you…”
“I don’t have time to listen to your chatter. If you have business, spit it out quickly.”
“Hmm. Quite the intimidating personality. My name is Zares. Or you can call me Omicron. I’m one of the Prophecy Guardians testing you.”
“Testing me? Are you in league with that Lennon fellow?”
“Our views on you differ, but yes. We’re testing you. It’d be nice if you tried to make a good impression.”
“I don’t care about your damned tests. I already know where you are. If you waste more time, I’ll chase you down and beat you senseless. Your Guardian Shadows have decent hiding abilities, so I’ll give you a chance to see if you can escape my eyes with that.”
“Haha. Such bravado…”
“You moved two steps to the side. To your left, from your perspective.”
“…….”
Zares’s expression hardened.
Azel said,
“Do you believe now that I’m not bluffing? Don’t ask how I did it. This is your last warning. Clear all other words from your mind. Say only what you must. Otherwise, no matter your intentions or desires… I’ll hunt you down and kill you first.”
“Ha…….”
“You’re calling the Guardian Shadows to your side. Do you think they’ll protect you once enough gather? Maybe. If you want to test that by making me your enemy, keep stalling.”
Azel spoke to the young man’s illusion with an icy expression. The lack of emotion in his voice made it all the more chilling.
At that moment, Azel was using a secret art of Spirit Order. His “Eye of Truth” pierced the illusion, tracking the movements of the real body projecting it. And he subtly infused mana into his voice to induce mental disruption.
Zares raised both hands.
“Ah, fine. As you wish. You must perform the Dragon Slaying Ritual.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. Of the two dragons fighting now, the Thunder Dragon was summoned by the Dragon Demon Worshippers, and the Frost Dragon was summoned by me. It was originally prepared to fight you, but things didn’t go as planned.”
“You meant for it to fight me? You were planning to test me with the Dragon Slaying Ritual?”
“Something like that. Close, but not quite.”
Zares sneered.
Azel frowned and asked,
“How did you control the dragon?”
“Using the Dragon Slaying Ritual as bait.”
“I knew it.”
Zares looked puzzled at Azel’s attitude, as if he’d expected it.
“You suspected?”
“There’s no other way. It’s not even a profitable venture, but some fools would still try it.”
It was a tactic already used strategically during the Dragon Emperor War, by both the Dragon Demon King’s forces and their allies.
But it wasn’t very clever, so it was rarely used in practice. There were two problems.
First, you had to face the Dragon Slaying Ritual afterward. Fighting a dragon one-on-one wasn’t advisable. Especially during a war when strong forces were precious.
Second, even if you mobilized a dragon that way, the Dragon Slaying Ritual could stop it. If a qualified person invoked the ritual, the dragon had no choice but to respond. And if it lost that way, you’d just be doing the enemy a favor.
Azel said,
“Whatever. I don’t care what garbage test you idiots planned. The point is, if I use the Dragon Slaying Ritual on the Thunder Dragon, you’ll move the Frost Dragon to take out Aunsor’s successor?”
“Yes.”
“Got it. Simple enough.”
Azel said that, then glared.
“I refuse.”
“What?”
“I have no reason to follow your orders. Next time you pull this, take a hostage first. Of course, the retaliation you’ll face will be that much more painful.”
“Hmm. If you keep this up, we might judge you not just unfit for the prophecy, but an enemy of the Guardian Shadows.”
“You think that’s a threat right now?”
Azel scoffed. He then glared at Zares with contemptuous eyes.
“Idiot, let me give you some advice.”
In that instant, Zares’s face twisted in agony.
“Guh, this is… what…….”
“There is no true one-way street in the means of ‘conversation’ in this world.”
Spirit Order’s secret arts used all human senses as conduits for the spell. Not just mana sense, but sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell—all were targets.
From the start, Azel had seen through the illusion and located the magic’s source during their talk. He then infused mana into his gaze and voice to inflict pain on Zares.
Zares collapsed, unable to even scream from the heart-wrenching torment. As Azel turned away, he said to Kairen,
“Let’s go.”
“Hmm. I like it. That’s the man I acknowledged.”
“The more I see, the more the Guardian Shadows seem like a bunch of scatterbrains.”
“I think so too.”
Azel and Kairen ignored Zares’s agonized illusion and walked on. But then.
“You… look like him.”
A girl’s voice rang out.
At the same time, above the Guardian Shadows, a girl whose appearance didn’t suit the rugged mountains appeared out of nowhere. It was Laura, Aunsor’s descendant who had subdued Seiga.
10
Laura, who had escaped the Labyrinth of Lament, wasn’t holding the Dragon Demon Armament Cup of Lament. But the moment Azel saw her, he said,
“Another Dragon Demon woman. Are you Aunsor’s successor?”
“Do I look like a Dragon Demon?”
Laura tilted her head with an expressionless face. Visually, she was perfectly human. Even the aura she emitted was mana, not Dragon Demon mana.
Kairen asked,
“She looks human everywhere you check.”
“No.”
“Even her appearance aside, she doesn’t have Dragon Demon mana?”
At that question, Azel looked at Laura and said,
“The horns and Dragon Demon Stone match the color of her irises. You might think I guessed from her eye color, so I’ll explain in detail. The horns are feather-shaped, curving upward and spreading out.”
“…How did you know?”
Laura was amazed. But with almost no change in expression, she had a doll-like beauty that felt devoid of humanity.
She dropped her disguise. The intricate illusion vanished, revealing her Dragon Demon form.
Just as Azel described. Long golden blonde hair, amethyst eyes, porcelain skin, and horns like amethyst feather ornaments curving upward and spreading out. The Dragon Demon Stone embedded in the back of her hand gleamed the same color.
At the same time, a massive wave of Dragon Demon mana began to spread. Kairen was shocked.
“She hid this much power, perfectly disguised as human mana?”
Surprisingly, Laura’s Dragon Demon mana surpassed Kairen’s. He wasn’t seeing a Dragon Demon with stronger mana for the first time, but the perfect disguise as mana was astonishing.
Azel said,
“Dragon Demon Worshippers are all exceptional at concealing their Dragon Demon mana scent. Did they develop a special spell?”
The Dragon Shadow members and Nibelis were the same. If nothing else, their skill at hiding Dragon Demon mana was top-notch.
Laura asked,
“Azel Zestringer, right?”
“Yes. You don’t use the long, annoying title.”
“The bearer of the sinful name?”
“That’s me.”
“Our bloodline has a different view on that…….”
“Hm?”
“Not all of us call the name Azel sinful…….”
Pzzzzzt!
In that instant, blue sparks flew before her.
Azel had launched a sudden attack. Laura was startled—there was clearly an Azel right in front of her, yet another Azel appeared and struck.
“Huh? Clone?”
Had she failed to notice a clone created and swapped in a face-to-face situation?
As she wondered, the attacking Azel vanished. The one here had been a clone from Dance of Shadows. At the same time, the real Azel dashed in with Flash Step.
‘Claws of the Thunder Dragon!’
The sword unleashed lightning.
Krarung! Kwang!
That strike tore through Laura’s barrier like paper. It was incomparable to when he fought Nibelis.
But from beyond the space-searing lightning, a pure white flash erupted.
Paaaa!
Azel twisted his body urgently to dodge it. Landing on the ground, Azel grumbled,
“Insulating Flash. Fast.”
The moment Azel attacked, Laura had pulled back beyond the reach of his physical sword. She then used Insulating Flash magic to ground the lightning.
No matter how fast a Dragon Demon’s reactions, it was impossible to defend without predicting Azel’s use of lightning beforehand. Proof that Laura had read the technique’s nature from his mana flow.
Laura said,
“Impressive.”
At the same time, a flash struck down before her.
Wooooo!
A overwhelming wave of Dragon Demon mana spread out. Kairen was shocked.
“What is that?”
It wasn’t from Laura—the flash emitted Dragon Demon mana surpassing most Dragon Demons. Azel narrowed his eyes.
“Cup of Lament… it really stayed and was inherited. I don’t know how, but.”
One of the four Dragon Demon Generals, Aunsor’s famed Dragon Demon Armament, Cup of Lament.
Among the Dragon Demon Armaments from the Dragon Emperor War, one of the strongest, it was now in Laura’s hand, exactly as Azel remembered.
Staring intently at Azel for a moment, Laura said,
“You really look like him.”
“What?”
“Your face. It resembles Azel Karzark from the records.”
“…….”
“His descendant? They say he has no descendants, but humans breed so easily… it’s possible, they said.”
“Who knows.”
Azel replied offhandedly while probing for openings in Laura. But with the Cup of Lament, she showed no gaps unlike before. Her own Dragon Demon mana resonated with the armament’s, radiating immense pressure.
After watching Azel a bit longer, Laura said,
“I won’t fight you now.”
“Will it be that easy? Even with the Cup of Lament…….”
Mid-sentence, Azel flinched and looked up.
“…Why?”
A heavy roar shook the ground. A massive shadow spread its wings and rose above the mountain.
It was the Thunder Dragon. The one that had been fiercely battling the Frost Dragon was approaching, wrapped in lightning.
Laura said,
“Diverting a dragon’s attention is easy. If you prepare an opponent willing to fight to the death.”
“Dragon Slaying Ritual?”
“Yeah.”
Laura admitted readily. The Dragon Demon Worshippers had used the ritual to draw out the Frost Dragon, freeing the Thunder Dragon. Laura had remained calm because she’d been waiting for this.
“Facing you, the Dragon Sword Duke, and the Guardian Shadows all at once is impossible. I’ll leave that to the dragon.”
“Guh……!”
Before the frustrated Azel, the space around Laura rippled like waves. She vanished into it.
At the same time, the three horns on the Thunder Dragon’s head glowed, unleashing a barrage of lightning.
Krarurung! Kwagwang!
The lightning swept the area, kicking up thick dust.
A noise like hundreds of children whispering echoed around. Groans from the Guardian Shadows caught in the blast.
From within, Azel asked,
“Are you alright, Duke?”
“More or less. Can you teach me that trick later? You defended so effortlessly, it’s annoying.”
While Kairen had endured the dragon’s lightning with a barrier, Azel had deflected it with almost no effort using Insulating Flash. Azel chuckled.
“Sure. And I have some very regrettable news.”
“What?”
“As annoying as it is, it looks like we have to follow that idiot’s plan.”
“I had a feeling it’d be that.”
“So, rescuing the prince is up to you, Duke. As for me…….”
Azel spread his wings wide and glared at the Thunder Dragon landing on the mountain ridge.
“I’ll perform the Dragon Slaying Ritual.”