Chapter 215
Chapter 215
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: Black Dragon Pavilion (6)
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The thing that fell from the severed arm onto Yuri's hand.
It was none other than a thick golden liquid.
Drip- drip-.
At first, it fell in a few plump drops, but then suddenly gushed out in a rush.
Gurgle- gurgle-.
With a bizarre sound, the sticky, opaque golden liquid pooled in Yuri's palm.
And strangely, it didn't flow down—it just kept stacking up.
“……?!”
Yuri's face grew paler by the second.
After a few seconds like that.
Drip- drip-.
Finally done pouring out, the golden liquid fell in a couple more drops before stopping.
But the weirdness didn't end there.
Gurgle- gurgle-.
Suddenly, the lump of liquid on Yuri's hand started wriggling like it was dancing.
Roll-.
Stretching and shrinking repeatedly, the liquid shrank in an instant and began emitting a faint glow.
Sss-.
Soon the light faded, and what appeared in Yuri's palm was a chunk of golden metal.
About 1 cm thick, broad and flat.
Shaped like it had been casually molded into a rough circle.
It looked almost like a ball of golden dough sitting in Yuri's hand.
It was only natural that Yuri's eyes went wide.
‘W-what is this? Gold?’
It resembled gold, but it wasn't gold.
And what gold in the world flows out of a severed corpse arm?
As the stunned Yuri blinked in shock, something else happened.
Srr-.
The metal lying still in his palm vanished as if absorbed right into his skin.
“Ah……?”
Yuri's mind blanked, and he instinctively shook his hand vigorously.
Shake-.
“Huh?”
Shake shake-.
“Huh?!”
Shake shake shake-.
“Ugh?!”
No matter how hard he shook, the metal chunk didn't reappear.
“Uh… where’d it go?”
As Yuri blankly stared at his own palm.
The severed arm's palm reached toward Yuri's palm.
As if trying to clap against it.
Then, finally, the severed arm's palm touched Yuri's palm.
Srrk-.
And passed right through it.
“……?!”
Yuri's mind went blank white at the sight.
Right now, in this moment, there was only one thought in his head.
‘P-penetrated? It penetrated? It penetrated?!’
Even generously….
No, a thousand times generously, say the severed arm could move.
And say it slammed its palm down.
‘At the very least… it should’ve collided, right?!’
The palms should’ve smacked together physically, not phased through like this—what the hell?
As far as Yuri knew, there was only one explanation for this phenomenon.
The moment he realized it, Yuri took a step back and let out a scream as he charged forward.
“GyaAAAAAAAH!”
Splash!
With Brain Fluid fully deployed, he reached the door in an instant and flipped the hourglass right over.
Bang bang bang-!
“Door! Door! Door! Open the door!”
He pounded desperately for it to open faster.
And thanks to his efforts.
Rrrumble-.
Finally, the door opened, and Glasses Guy appeared.
“Coming out with one minute left—gutsy….”
He’d meant to say he’d opened it with a minute to spare, that he would’ve left otherwise if it was even a bit later.
But he didn’t finish his sentence.
“Ghoooooost!”
Yuri burst out in a flash, shoving past Glasses Guy and hiding behind the door.
“…What the?”
Glasses Guy turned his head in disbelief at the suddenness.
There was Yuri, peeking out from behind the door, trembling like a bowl of jelly.
“Gho…….”
“Ghost?”
“G-ghost! It’s a ghost!”
“…….”
Glasses Guy’s expression chilled at Yuri’s shout.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“T-there! That! There’s a ghost there!”
Glasses Guy turned toward where Yuri pointed.
As he moved, Yuri subtly followed behind him.
Like he was using Glasses Guy as a shield.
The two arrived in front of the display case.
“So… this is the ghost you’re talking about?”
Glasses Guy pointed at the crystal orb on the display, his tone dripping with absurdity.
Inside it was the severed arm.
In exactly the same state as when Yuri first saw it.
Yuri’s eyes shook violently.
“H-huh? No way… it was moving and came out! I swear!”
Glasses Guy tapped the crystal at Yuri’s indignant cry.
Tap tap-.
The sound rang solidly.
“So, you’re saying this severed arm moved on its own, broke through this special sealed container, and came out?”
“…That’s what happened, for sure…….”
“Doesn’t it look way too intact for that?”
“…….”
As Yuri couldn’t respond, irritation crept onto Glasses Guy’s face.
“Don’t waste time with this bullshit. I’m not extending your time for crap like this.”
“No, it’s not that…….”
“Didn’t I warn you? No funny business this time?”
“I-it’s true…….”
“You’ve already exceeded your allotted hour. Choose. What are you taking? I won’t give you a third chance—choose carefully.”
“…….”
Yuri let out a frustrated wail beyond indignation at Glasses Guy’s firm tone, which showed he didn’t believe a word.
‘Why won’t he believe me!’
* * *
…And so Yuri spilled everything that happened in the Black Dragon Pavilion to Yohan.
Yohan snorted and said.
“Why won’t he believe you?”
“Yeah!”
“You seriously asking me that? You don’t know?”
“Nope, no clue?”
“Probably everyone in the world knows but you.”
“Why?”
Why? Obviously.
Because of your batshit crazy personality.
Glasses Guy must’ve thought, ‘Ah, this guy’s at it again.’
Yohan knew the perfect answer but didn’t bother saying it.
“Just live your life never knowing.”
“…Asshole.”
Yuri’s lips puffed out in dissatisfaction.
But the wind went out of him quick, and he launched into another rant.
“Anyway, ghost! It was definitely a ghost!”
“Sure.”
“No, it was a ghost!”
“So?”
“…….”
Yuri’s lips puffed out again at Yohan’s apathetic response.
Yohan clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Why’re you so scared of ghosts?”
“Scared? Me? What’re you talking about? I’m not scared of ghosts. I just hate ’em.”
“Yeah, that’s what all you scaredy-cats say.”
“No? I’m not a scaredy-cat?”
“Yeah yeah, you scaredy-cat who’s afraid of ghosts.”
“Fuck, I said I’m not! I just hate ghosts ’cause no matter how hard I swing my sword, it doesn’t do shit to them!”
“Effort vs. results?”
“…No matter how hard I slash, ghosts take zero damage.”
“Classic scaredy-cat cop-out.”
“Ugh, fuck, I’m not a scaredy-cat!”
After that, Yohan kept teasing him as a scaredy-cat, and Yuri kept denying it—their bickering went on for a while.
After some time.
Looking refreshed after thoroughly teasing him for the first time in ages, Yohan asked.
“Anyway. So… what’d you bring from the Black Dragon Pavilion? You said three spirit items called to you?”
“You’re more curious about that than my ghost story right now?”
“Duh? So spill it, scaredy-cat—show me what you picked.”
Yuri’s shoulders trembled, but he sighed and pulled a small wooden box from his bosom.
After leaving the Black Dragon Pavilion, he’d been body-searched.
Waited through the boring check to see if anything from there had gone missing.
Ridden that coffin-like carriage for hours to get back.
Finally, he opened the tiny wooden box, small enough for a ring.
Click-.
Inside was the spirit item he’d chosen.
A dark crimson pearl.
Yohan frowned slightly at the sight.
“Why pick this one? Looks ominous as hell.”
At Yohan’s question, Yuri replied flatly.
“The shy one… that yellow fruit felt like it was testing me without committing, not wanting to lose out, so I passed.”
“Then the white root?”
“That one liked me too much.”
“Huh? Isn’t that good?”
“How’s it like me already without even seeing me? It was way too eager—exactly like the vibe I know.”
“What vibe?”
“Classic scammer. Super friendly up front, promising the world, then stabs you in the back once they get what they want. That white root gave off that exact vibe.”
“…Your life experience really shows. So this was the only one left, and you picked it? This red bead?”
“It was the last option, yeah. And it felt good.”
“Didn’t you say it was bossy and commanding?”
“Yeah, but this one was straightforward—no hiding. ‘You must pick me. No choice. Or you’ll regret it.’ That’s the vibe.”
Yohan glared at the dark crimson bead as Yuri explained.
“What is this thing? You know?”
“Hmm…….”
Yohan crossed his arms and leaned his face close to the box.
“Hmmmmm.”
After a long moment, he looked up with a serious expression.
“No clue.”
“…Fuck! Don’t say it so seriously like that! You got my hopes up!”
“But seriously, what is it? No other info?”
“You think I’d show the old man if I knew? Doesn’t he know anything like it?”
“There’s something called a sun clam pearl—made by holding and spitting out over centuries… kinda similar, but way bigger and different color.”
Sun clam pearls were flame-red and child-fist-sized.
This one was just thumbnail-sized and blood-red.
And as far as Yohan knew, no other spirit items came in pearl form besides sun clam ones.
‘Of all things, he picks something unique whose identity no one knows.’
Among what Yuri mentioned, the bright yellow fruit.
That was an equivalence fruit—parasitic in the body to refine mana, but required steady mana supply in return.
‘The white root… definitely a bloodsucker vine.’
Pure white and beautiful, packed with mana, but using it built an insatiable thirst for blood.
A spirit item with serious side effects.
Still, both were incredibly rare, nearly impossible to find nowadays.
‘He filtered those two out.’
Skipping the ones with drawbacks was commendable, but the problem was Yohan didn’t know what this blood pearl was.
‘Doesn’t feel particularly special despite the look… but nothing else registers either.’
Yohan had never seen a spirit item that cloaked itself this thoroughly.
‘What the hell… is this thing?’
As Yohan’s face hardened slightly, Yuri asked worriedly.
“…Why? Think I shouldn’t eat it?”
Yohan shook his head.
“Nah, it’ll be fine.”
He briefly explained the equivalence fruit and bloodsucker vine, then continued.
“Bottom line, your instincts were spot on. So let’s go with your gut this time too.”
Yuri had passed on those two purely on feel.
So his feel for this blood pearl should be right too.
Yohan’s words lit up Yuri’s face.
“Really? Then when do I eat it?”
“Better with me here, right?”
No sooner had he said it than Yuri popped the blood pearl into his mouth.
Gulp-.
Yohan watched Yuri’s throat bob.
“…You crazy bastard?! Why the fuck are you eating it NOW?!”
Panicking, eyes wide, he smacked Yuri’s head hard.
Thwack-.
Yuri rubbed the spot, blinking.
“You said eat it with you here?”
“At least give me time to prepare! If you fuck up eating that, I’m the one cleaning up!”
“Oh, that’s what you meant?”
“Yeah, that’s what I meant, you little shit!”
“But hey, old man.”
“What!”
“I feel… kinda sick right now.”
“…….”
“Take good care of the cleanup.”
With that, Yuri hurriedly sat in lotus position.
Immediately, a mana storm erupted from his body.
Whoooosh-.
A clear mana current, visible to the naked eye, swirled around Yuri.
Seeing the unnatural mana flow, Yohan muttered softly.
“This bastard… what the hell did he just swallow?”
The tiny blood pearl of unknown origin that Yuri gulped down.
The amount and density of mana pouring from him now… was the highest Yohan had ever seen from countless spirit items.
* * *
A few hours after Yuri left.
Two men entered the quiet Black Dragon Pavilion.
One was the owner, Sword Lord, possessor of everything inside.
Naturally, Gordon stood beside him.
Step step-.
The two walked silently to a display case.
Where an item once was, now only an empty crystal orb remained, bathed in glowstone light.
[3-19]
Gordon checked the display number and let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“Heh heh… that guy actually took this one.”
At Gordon’s laugh, Sword Lord gazed at the empty crystal and asked flatly.
“What was here?”
At the owner’s question, Gordon’s smile faded, eyes gleaming as he answered.
“A dragon heart.”