Chapter 100
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Power Contained in Words (6)
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At the same time, on Bibachen Street, 400 meters from the Immigration Control Office.
- Thud, crash!
Kaban lost his balance once more and staggered.
"Still... urgh, it's not over yet."
He clutched his churning stomach and muttered.
No matter how much it was said to deflect all magic, the armor couldn't block the internal shock from flying 400 meters and crashing into the ground like a meteor.
Fortunately, the armor was intact, but his insides were a complete mess.
"If I just... recover my stamina..."
He had fought for too long.
Because of the endless, utterly unreasonable battle, his entire body was screaming in protest.
It was all because of that Central Officer bastard.
He spat and grumbled.
"Central Officer... I won't forget you."
That was when it happened.
- Hummm.
The spear and armor began to resonate once again.
But this time, the direction was different.
Not toward the Immigration Control Office that he didn't even want to look at, but tilting subtly in the opposite direction.
"...?"
He frowned at the impossible phenomenon.
'A reaction in two places?'
There was only one dragon left in the world: Mnathil.
'And the first reaction was the Central Officer... Ah.'
As he pondered deeply, he suddenly jerked his head up as if realizing something.
"This must be where the real dragon is."
If the first resonance had pointed toward the Central Officer, Mnathil's minion, then this one was obviously toward the dragon itself.
Any thought of rest vanished.
The place the spear led him to was an ordinary house that looked just like any other.
A featureless two-story building.
- Drip, drip.
Strangely, the wall of that house wasn't wet from the rain at all.
No, its exterior looked unnaturally pristine.
Kaban realized what it was right away.
"Protective magic..."
A spell crafted to ward off external attacks and intrusions.
A thick layer of magic enveloped the entire house, strong enough to repel even the raindrops.
As if desperately guarding something inside.
And around the house, even in this downpour, people who hadn't left lingered.
"Word just came in that the current Dragon Hunter broke through the encirclement. Tighten security around the perimeter."
"Pass it on to those inside too."
"Yes, sir."
They wore the same clothes as those agents he'd seen earlier, pitifully firing arrows from the rooftop.
Kaban narrowed his eyes.
"Clever move, Central Officer."
Fitting for a dragon's minion.
The Immigration Control Office had been bait.
He still didn't know exactly why the sacred treasures had led him there, but using himself as bait to hide the real dragon's presence was bold and audacious.
He'd almost chased only that guy for real.
"But cheap tricks like that won't work anymore."
What a stroke of fantastic luck.
The last resort he'd chosen to break the encirclement had led him straight to his prey in the shortest path.
He couldn't let this heavenly opportunity slip.
- Step.
As he deliberately approached with heavy footsteps, the agents eyed him warily, then recognized him and shouted.
"...!! I-it's the Dragon Hunter!"
"He's here!"
"Sound the emergency bell! Tell the Central Officer he's come!"
Kaban had no reason to wait.
He gripped the spear with both hands, twisted it, and slammed it down onto the wall with all his might.
- Crackle!
The protective magics crumpled immediately under the Dragon Claw.
"My God... That's high-grade magic from the Magic Academy...!"
One agent gasped in horror as the complex spells and intertwined mana tore apart in an instant.
Nothing stood between the agents and the Dragon Hunter now.
"Shoot!"
"Aim for the head! That's the weak spot!"
They snapped out of it and hastily loosed their arrows.
Aimed precisely at his head, just like before.
But this time, Kaban didn't back down.
"In your dreams, you pathetic scum!"
Crude and monotonous attacks.
Unlike the arrows from earlier that had shown perfect coordination, striking only at openings.
Because these ones were alone.
No steadfast guards, no relentless golems.
To Kaban, they were nothing more than isolated soldiers standing around dumbly.
- Ting!
He deflected the arrows, then thrust the spear at the nearest agent.
- Stab!
The smoothly extended spear tip pierced the shoulder perfectly.
"Gaaah!"
Finally, the scream he'd been waiting for.
Kaban flashed a chilling smile at the sharp sound that awakened the thrill of the hunt.
"Why don't you call out that sneaky bastard's name for me."
Without the Central Officer, they were just a mob of people.
No command structure, no coordination—just riffraff.
It took less than two minutes to punch holes in all their limbs.
"No golems here, no guards, no one. No one's coming to save you."
He sneered down at the agents collapsing in pools of blood and rain.
Even if they came running at top speed, it'd take at least five minutes.
More than enough time for Kaban to slaughter everyone here and tear the house apart.
"Urgh... ugh...!"
"My arm... hngh..."
Pained groans filled the air.
Feeling like he'd reclaimed his position as the superior, Kaban grinned wickedly and reversed his grip on the spear.
"Don't interfere with my great task, you trash."
And just as he was about to thrust into one man's heart, filled with rage, frustration, and hatred for the Central Officer—
"Stop!"
A sharp voice rang out from behind.
- Halt.
Normally, he'd have no reason to falter at such words.
But that voice felt strangely familiar.
"What you want isn't the hearts of these humans."
A woman's firm yet matter-of-fact tone.
- Thud.
Kaban released the agent's collar and slowly stood.
A woman stood at the door.
A woman who looked stunning in red.
"Dragon Hunter, it's been a while."
Words that seemed to know his identity precisely.
Kaban instantly realized she wasn't human.
- Hummm...
Because the armor and spear were trembling more wildly than ever.
Toward the round object cradled in her arms.
The thing he'd desperately hunted for two whole weeks.
"The egg..."
For a moment, his eyes filled with greed, then cleared.
He slowly raised his gaze.
She looked utterly human, but had a dragon's tail and horns.
And... those unforgettable blazing red eyes.
Kaban muttered, unable to hide his excitement.
"...Mistress of the Volcano."
The prey he'd sought so relentlessly had finally appeared.
Complete with the gift for a new era.
The dragon and the Dragon Hunter stared at each other.
"You look like hell, Hunter. Did you get beaten somewhere?"
"...None of your business."
Though much had happened, Kaban saw no need to explain.
Instead, he aimed the spear tip at her and sneered mockingly.
"You shrank your body to live a little longer, huh, Mistress of the Volcano."
"..."
"Don't worry. That arrowhead lodged in your heart should be pulling your lifeline anyway."
By now, Mnathil's time was surely running out.
Kaban remembered clearly how precisely he'd embedded the mithril arrow in her heart.
'Standing there so composed must be pure bravado.'
Prideful dragons like her would never show weakness, even on the brink of death.
"Hah."
But Mnathil let out a short scoff and pulled something from her bosom.
"...Do you know what this is?"
"...!! That's!!"
A palm-sized object sparkled in Mnathil's hand.
"That's right. The very arrowhead you embedded in my heart."
Mnathil's voice trembled.
"Such cruel aim. Targeting me and my egg at once, making it impossible to dodge."
"How did you extract it!?"
Impossible.
Without help, no one could pull it out.
And since it was in her heart, immediate healing would be needed too.
Then, one name flashed in his mind.
The one man wrecking his plans in real time.
That guy might be capable.
"Central Officer... That son of a bitch! Dragon's minion!"
"Minion... Fitting words from someone who sees the world only in black and white."
"No. It changes nothing. This time, I'll take your head, not your heart. And hand over that egg."
He readjusted his grip on the spear.
But something felt off.
- Hummm.
The trembling spear tip kept pointing not at her, but at the egg.
Sacred treasures were supposed to be drawn to a dragon's aura.
Why weren't they targeting the last remaining dragon?
Kaban stared at her blankly and muttered.
"These treasures aren't reacting to you. Don't tell me... you've lost all your power as a dragon?"
"..."
Mnathil didn't answer.
And at that sight, Kaban began laughing uproariously.
"Heh, hahahaha! What a sight!"
His blatant mockery echoed down the street.
"How does it feel, Mistress of the Volcano? The apex predator of the world, a being akin to a god, dragged down to human level?"
But her response left him flustered.
"Feels great."
"...What?"
Mnathil grinned.
"The day I came here, I already breathed my last as a dragon. Now I'm living my second life. My name is Mnathil Terenas. The lady and mistress of this house."
She smiled as if shedding a great burden.
Utterly unexpected.
"...You're completely insane. A dragon happy to become human."
Kaban grimaced in disappointment.
"No, actually better. A human body will be even easier to cut down."
But Mnathil raised an eyebrow without a hint of fear.
"Fool. Why do you think I'd come out here with the egg right in front of you?"
She turned and called a name.
"Elaine. Erzena."
From behind the door, golden energy slowly flowed across the floor.
The first to appear was a woman with sky-blue hair.
She clasped her hands at the sight of the fallen agents and closed her eyes gently.
- Whoosh.
As if nothing had happened, the spear wounds healed cleanly.
"Hah, hah... Th-thank you, Lady Erzena!"
"Get up. You're not meant to fall here."
And following her, a woman with green eyes emerged.
Kaban tilted his head in confusion.
"Elaine? Erzena?"
Names he'd heard somewhere before.
He racked his memory.
Even he, who cared nothing for worldly politics—
And soon, he realized who they were.
"...!!! Why are the princess and the saintess here!?"
They were the Holy Church's Saintess and the Crossroad Kingdom's princess.
It made no sense.
Why was the saintess, who vanished mid-pilgrimage, here?
Why was the mute princess, who never left the castle, here?
And why were they at Mnathil's side?
Shocked by connections that should never link, Kaban stared blankly.
Even as coincidence, this was too absurd.
Mnathil gazed at his expression with satisfaction and answered.
"They saved me. All thanks to the Central Officer's connections."
Central Officer.
That bastard's name kept cropping up endlessly.
Every damn time.
Kaban spat in fury.
"That damned bastard to the end...!!!!"
But he couldn't continue.
"...Damned bastard?"
"...Urgh?"
The composed Erzena and Elaine twisted into demonic glares at those words.
Elaine's fist clenched tight.
- Crunch.
At the same moment, the shoulder of his dragon armor crumpled.
The dragon scales, never scratched before, dented.
With enough force to twist his bones.
"G... aaaaagh!"
For the first time in three years wearing the dragon armor, he screamed in agony.