Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Birth of the Dragon Sword (1)
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Chapter 18
Birth of the Dragon Sword (1)
1
Two months had passed since Azel rescued Dragon Demon Prince Sei from the Dragon Demon Worshippers' kidnapping attempt.
As Lanse Mountain, where Azel's villa was located, turned white with snow and ice in the grip of winter's chill, Kairen kept his promise.
Just as he had said at the beginning, the Dragon Sword for Azel was completed in a mere half year. Upon hearing the news, Azel decided to leave the villa on Lanse Mountain and head down to Tarantos Castle.
"Though it's a bit late to say it..."
Hasban remarked.
"Your body is incomparable to when you first arrived."
"It's the kind of body I've always wanted."
Azel, shirtless in front of the mirror, struck a pose that made his muscles bulge.
It was completely different from half a year ago. Though harsh training had left countless scars on his body, there wasn't an ounce of excess fat—only perfectly balanced, elastic muscles.
It wasn't just the outward appearance that had changed. His Spirit Veins were now incomparably more active than before, and the vessel for his mana had greatly expanded. The improvement in his physical abilities far surpassed what could be gauged from the visible changes.
Moreover, the Life Rings encircling his heart numbered six, all fully processed with Dual Banding.
Such rapid recovery of strength was possible only because of the perfect environment and support, and because the one utilizing it was Azel. Additionally, the power of the Thunder Dragon absorbed through the Dragon Slaying Ritual had enabled growth beyond his goals.
'Still, it's not enough to forge a Dragon Demon Armament again.'
By performing the second Dragon Slaying Ritual, Azel's mana had taken on an even stronger dragon demon nature. But it was still a bit short of reforging a Dragon Demon Armament.
'But perhaps...'
However, there was one thing nagging at him. He began to feel a faint sense of incongruity in his Spirit Veins.
This incongruity had appeared after the second Dragon Slaying Ritual. As the dragon demon nature of his mana grew stronger, something like a fragment drifting through his Spirit Veins began to make its presence known.
In other words, it was something that couldn't even be sensed until his dragon demon power reached a certain level. It was clearly something that reacted only to dragon demon power...
He had some guesses, but Azel decided not to speculate and to observe calmly for now.
"Well then, I suppose it's time to go."
Dressed, Azel bid farewell to the villa on Lanse Mountain, which he had grown accustomed to over the past half year, and descended to Tarantos Castle.
By then, full winter had arrived. Snow piled up on the mountain paths, and ice formed everywhere, making the descent slow. Azel or Hasban could have leaped down easily, but they couldn't leave the others behind.
So by the time they arrived at Tarantos Castle, the sun was setting, and Kairen's patience was at its limit.
"You're late! What have you been doing all this time!"
"The winter mountain paths are treacherous. I couldn't just leave the delicate ladies behind and go on alone, could I?"
"You could have left it to Hasban and come by yourself!"
"I'm not so heartless as to abandon the people who cared for me for half a year."
"Urgh. You're still as unyielding as ever."
Kairen grumbled.
Azel grinned.
"I am truly grateful to you, Duke. Thanks to you, I could focus on training as much as I wanted."
"I'll take my thanks in a spar."
"Anytime, as much as you like."
Azel bowed exaggeratedly. Kairen snorted and led Azel underground to a secret chamber prepared for the magic ritual.
There, Burein sat in a chair, dozing off with his head nodding. Sensing their presence, he opened his eyes.
"Yawn? You finally made it. Making an old man wait—such impudent fellows."
"It seems the Duke didn't consider when I might come down at all."
"That guy's always like that. He thinks the world revolves around him."
Burein stood, dusted off his waist, and walked to the center of the room.
There was the Dragon Sword.
"This is..."
The Dragon Sword floating above the magic circle didn't look like a sword at all. The hilt was exquisitely crafted by master hands, but what extended from it wasn't a blade—it resembled a roughly hewn club shaped like a sword.
Azel approached the Dragon Sword, which didn't look like a sword at all. Burein said,
"You remember the explanation I gave last time, right? The final completion is done by your own hand."
"Yes."
Azel gripped the hilt as he spoke. At that moment, the Dragon Sword trembled.
Thump.
Azel's heart pounded in response. Simultaneously, the mana from his Life Rings resonated with the dragon demon power infused in the Dragon Sword, causing a resonance phenomenon.
Woooooong!
Waves of light spread out. Azel couldn't hide his excitement at the intense dragon demon power emanating from the Dragon Sword. This reaction was even stronger than when he had gripped the Dragon Sword Kairen lent him. The thrilling sensation he felt when holding a Dragon Demon Sword coursed through his entire body.
'The form is already set.'
The final stage of Dragon Weapon creation was performed by its future owner. In the state of the first resonance phenomenon, powerful image-making determined the final form of the Dragon Weapon.
Azel had long decided on the form of the Dragon Sword for himself. It was the form of the Dragon Demon Sword that Kallos had preserved for 220 years with great magic.
Woooooong!
Fierce waves of dragon demon power swirled through the room like a storm. The momentum was so intense that the magic circles in the room shook, unable to withstand it.
Burein looked flustered.
"It's much more violent than last time? Is this okay?"
"His mana has grown to a level incomparable to before. In such a short time..."
Half a year was a subtle period—too short to call it long, yet too brief for a Spirit Order practitioner to dramatically enhance their mana.
But now, Kairen was witnessing Azel emitting mana incomparable to before. This was the strongest level among all humans he knew!
Crack... Craaack!
Countless cracks formed on the surface of the Dragon Demon Sword, and it shattered. From within emerged a Dragon Sword with a blade of pure white dragon bone, like snow.
"Hahaha..."
Azel burst into laughter without realizing it.
"Hahahahaha!"
The power of dragon demon energy, which could impose phenomena on nature through imagery alone.
The power humans could obtain only through the Dragon Slaying Ritual was now erupting from Azel's hand. Azel contained the explosively surging immense dragon demon power into the Dragon Sword and unleashed a sharp slash into the air.
Shing!
A chillingly clear sound rang out, and an astonishing phenomenon occurred. Ordinary people wouldn't notice, but Kairen and Burein were stunned.
"The mana waves..."
"He... severed them?"
The fierce mana waves swirling around him were cleaved by Azel's slash. The strike was so clean that it severed the flow, and as if by magic, the mana waves dissipated, bringing silence.
A chilling blow. Was it possible to interrupt and subdue mana flow like this?
To the two frozen in shock, Azel said with an excited, flushed face,
"This is the greatest gift. Truly... thank you. Duke, Earl."
"Then it's time to repay me. You won't pretend to be a good child and say it's bedtime, will you?"
"Of course not. I'll spar with you until dawn tomorrow if you wish."
Azel smiled in response to Kairen's demand.
2
Kairen hadn't been idle for the past half year either. Early on, when Kairen visited the Lanse Mountain villa, Azel fulfilled his previous promise.
"By the way, have you fully mastered Gaze Detection?"
"Hmm. Honestly, it was an exhausting technique."
Kairen grumbled.
Gaze Detection. Azel had taught Kairen this technique, which seemed more useful than any detection ability. Since Spirit Order and Dragon Spirit Arts had many compatible elements, he could easily grasp the essence.
Kairen trained the technique according to Azel's instructions, but the early days were extremely grueling.
One becomes aware when someone looks at them.
It seemed incredibly useful at first glance, but it wasn't all good. The flood of information from countless gazes he hadn't noticed before caused mental confusion, and processing the overload brought pain. Azel had warned that failing to overcome this could lead to illusions of being watched even when not, potentially causing mental illness, and Kairen felt the weight of that advice deeply.
Azel said,
"Techniques that handle the mind are painful to master. More so than those for the body."
"I agree. But it's an incredibly useful technique."
Once he overcame it, Kairen gained crisis detection far superior to before. He tested it by having his subordinates engage in guerrilla warfare with snipers, and he preemptively detected and countered all arrows or spells.
Azel said,
"Then it's time for stage two."
"What?"
"I'll show you what happens when those who have mastered Gaze Detection fight each other."
At the same time, Kairen felt a chilling gaze from behind. A gaze filled with killing intent, and something rapidly closing in.
'An afterimage?'
Kairen already knew Azel used the substantial afterimage technique 'Dance of Shadows.' Without hesitation, he spun, slashing left while preparing his right sword for a frontal attack.
'Huh?'
But nothing was there where the attack came from. No afterimage or anything— instead, Azel, accelerated with Flash Step, struck from the side in that gap.
Boom!
An explosion rang out as Kairen was pushed back. He was shocked.
'He's gotten incredibly strong!'
Not combat ability—pure physical strength felt in the sword clash. Azel's physical prowess far exceeded Kairen's expectations.
'He defeated a dragon one-on-one, so of course he's no ordinary human, but even so...'
But he couldn't leisurely ponder. Gazes began assaulting from all directions. Left, right, behind, front... countless gazes stimulated and vanished, sowing chaos in his senses.
Ignoring them was impossible. His Gaze Detection clearly signaled someone with attack intent was watching. And moreover...
Crash!
Azel's afterimage actually appeared, attacked, and vanished.
"Urk!"
Clang clang clang clang!
Azel unleashed a ferocious assault at terrifying speed. Even without deploying much mana, his speed was incomparable to before. It wasn't something Kairen could block.
"Damn it!"
Kairen's stance crumbled, and he was flung back. As he barely regained his footing, Burein quipped,
"Oh, this is a new experience. I never imagined the day you'd be so thoroughly embarrassed by a young fellow. My eyes are feasting today."
"It was just a probe! Shut up and watch."
Kairen snapped. Azel said,
"You're right, it was a probe. I've given you a taste, so shall we get to the main event? You know what to do."
"As you wish."
Belatedly, Kairen deployed his dragon demon power. The Dragon Spirit Art's effects amplified, rapidly boosting his physical abilities.
Woooooong!
Until half a year ago, when sparring with Azel, he had restrained his abilities and focused on technique. Azel's skills were impressive, but the gap in physical ability and mana was too vast.
But now, it was different. Azel's physical abilities had reached Dragon Demon Hybrid levels. Even Kairen, trained to the extreme, couldn't take it lightly!
Kairen asked,
"How exactly did you make a human body like that?"
He couldn't comprehend it. If Azel was truly a descendant of Hero Azel Karzark as he claimed, were all the human heroes from the Dragon Emperor War this strong, allowing them to stand against Dragon Demon Hybrids?
Azel said,
"Train your Spirit Veins down to the fine veins."
"Fine veins?"
It was a term Kairen had never heard.
Azel explained,
"Blood vessels have capillaries, and muscles have tiny fibers, right? It's similar. Spirit Order practitioners basically form Spirit Veins along the natural mana flow paths in the human body and strengthen them."
Thus, Spirit Vein forms share a general framework but differ in details per individual.
Azel—or rather, Riglen's teachings—went further, branching fine veins from the main Spirit Veins to every corner of the body, ensuring no part lacked mana flow. This not only vastly expanded the mana vessel but also greatly strengthened the mana supporting the body.
Hearing that, Kairen was astonished.
"That's... just like our Dragon Demon Hybrid bodies, isn't it?"
"Exactly. Mimicking the Dragon Demon Hybrid body filled with the grace of dragon demon power. That's the ultimate physical enhancement."
Dragon Demon Hybrids, born from the fusion of power-hungry dragons and life-hungry demons.
From birth, their bodies were filled with mana—specifically dragon demon power. No corner lacked it, granting them sturdiness incomparable to humans.
Kairen said,
"So, you're saying you've reached Dragon Demon Hybrid levels even without temporarily enhancing physical abilities with Spirit Order."
"But it's not complete yet. I haven't finished the final touch."
"Final touch?"
"By taking a dragon's power through the Dragon Slaying Ritual... humans can surpass even Dragon Demon Hybrids."
Thus, at his peak, Azel surpassed Dragon Demon Hybrids with sheer strength and speed alone. Only Dragon Demon King Atein himself, his direct bloodline, and the Four Great Dragon Demon Generals matched him physically.
Azel said,
"Well then, shall we continue?"
"You're one arrogant bastard."
"Pardon?"
"Weren't you hiding your power and toying with me during our previous spars?"
"Not really. I just lacked the foundation to use the techniques."
"And now you have it?"
"Yes. Not fully, but."
A faint blue light began flowing like waves over Azel's Dragon Sword. He held it before Kairen's eyes and said,
"I'll show you everything without holding back, Duke."
And... Kairen truly felt, for the first time since his parents' death, what a perfect defeat beyond any counter was.