Chapter 215
Chapter 215
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: Tower of the Gods (16)
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The bone dragon's skeleton had reached the pinnacle of both physical and magical resistance.
Even the curses unleashed by Chronos were shattering harmlessly against it.
However, the bone dragon's bones were corroding, and its heart was rotting away alongside them.
The bone dragon was the former body of the dragonkin Arcana.
Dragons leave behind their hearts upon death.
The bone dragon would be no different.
'I have to preserve the heart intact.'
A dragon's heart was the finest material imaginable.
It greatly aided in wielding mana.
For starters, embedding it in equipment as a core could skyrocket mana output, add dragon magic as an option, or make high-level spells far easier to cast.
And that was just the beginning.
Fashioned into a tool, it functioned as an infinite power source. Used in barriers or talismans, it made them permanent. Its uses were practically limitless.
Consuming it could even grant a class related to 'dragon' on rare occasions, making it a treasure no one could afford to discard.
"……."
In that instant, Chronos halted.
All attacks and curses ceased simultaneously.
Yet there was a sense of dissatisfaction lingering in the air.
Chronos had been determined to utterly destroy the Despair Dragon Arcana.
Naturally, Park Chan-woo could feel that emotion too.
Chronos's tangled feelings toward the bone dragon—Arcana.
It was a raw mix of hatred and love, pure love-hate.
...Chronos stared at Park Chan-woo with eyes brimming with disappointment.
'You halted me... for a mere dragon heart?'
Why else would he stop?
There was only one reason.
He coveted the dragon's heart.
Even if it had fallen into grotesque undeath, that heart was the real deal.
It belonged to Arcana, patriarch of the Despair Clan.
The mana dwelling within could shake heaven and earth.
Not to mention, a dragon heart's functions were peerless—so versatile it was called an all-purpose divine tool.
A mage—no, anyone—couldn't refuse such a supreme treasure!
There was no way Park Chan-woo would let this chance slip.
'...Did I expect too much?'
The first perceiver.
The very fact that he had been recognized proved he harbored an 'error.'
Park Chan-woo had mastered the transcendent Lil's authority.
He'd achieved the impossible for a mortal.
On top of that, he possessed the 'Demon-Sealing God's Chalice.'
Each feat was unprecedented on its own.
And a single human bore them all.
Even more astonishing, that wasn't the end of it.
Park Chan-woo's very existence was truly inscrutable.
Chronos couldn't probe his true nature.
Every attempt triggered an instinctive terror that stopped him cold.
Unknown. Unknowable.
A grand error.
Thus, he had hoped.
A being beyond the common sense of Chronos, who had lived eons.
Park Chan-woo seemed capable of mending his curses and errors.
With his unyielding will and radiant soul, he might even save the Abyss.
'A delusion.'
It had all been a delusion.
Park Chan-woo was just another maniac obsessed with power.
A man living solely for the desire to grow stronger.
Would the heart of that grotesquely fallen Arcana even be intact?
Riddled with curses, it was probably unusable anyway.
Above all...
...Chronos's tangled emotions—he must have known them well.
He couldn't be ignorant of Chronos's true intent: to erase the bone dragon and honor the brilliantly shining Arcana of old.
He ignored that sincerity.
He prioritized his own greed.
In the end, Park Chan-woo was just human.
Just another pathetic human, wrapped up in desire and stubbornness.
Thud.
Park Chan-woo walked toward the fallen bone dragon.
Standing right beside it, he slowly extended his hand.
"Arcana."
His hand didn't touch the dragon heart.
It rested on the bone dragon's cheek.
He placed his hand on the cheek of the dragon lying powerless on the ground and called its name.
"Do you have a story you want to tell me?"
......What was he doing?
Both Ataraxia and Chronos were utterly baffled.
The bone dragon was a fake crafted from a dragon corpse.
Its mind and body were mere puppets under control.
Its soul should have long vanished, its will nonexistent.
Speaking to someone like that was impossible.
But.
'I can hear it.'
Park Chan-woo could hear it.
Arcana's voice. The resentful spirit trapped in curses.
—Dan, shin, eun…...
Arcana's final lingering will.
It lifted its head toward Park Chan-woo.
—D, ra, gon… sa, ve… us… Se, pi, ro…!
Arcana's will floated above the bone dragon's head, then was absorbed into Park Chan-woo.
And then, he saw it.
All the hidden history.
Why he had become the 'bone dragon.'
Why he was on the 20th floor of the Tower of the Gods.
All of it.
There was only one way to end this meaningless war.
The great Ten Lords.
The demonic gods who ruled the Abyss.
Negotiating with them would surely bring the war to a close.
If even one could be reasoned with, there was hope.
Thus, Arcana poured all his strength into reaching one of the Ten Lords.
"Despair's Arcana. You've boldly entered my domain."
"Lord of Giant Evil! I earnestly beg you—end this war!"
He was one of the great Ten Lords.
Known as the Lord of Giant Evil.
Arcana stood before him in tatters.
He'd barely made it, yet he was in a state where death could claim him at any moment. Yet he dared stand before the Lord of Giant Evil.
The Lord of Giant Evil sneered.
"Haha! Want to end the war? Then go tell your master to kneel before us."
"Dragon God Sepiro has no interest in this war."
"Ridiculous. The one who started it has no interest?"
"……."
"You know nothing, do you? Then again, he's a self-serving bastard. No reason he'd tell you his plans."
"What are you talking about...?"
"Tsk tsk. Poor puppets who don't even realize they're being controlled. Sepiro isn't the noble figure you imagine. However."
The Lord of Giant Evil eyed Arcana with interest.
"You're a bit different. You've slipped free of Sepiro's bonds, somewhat."
Bonds?
Did he mean spells or magic?
The Lord of Giant Evil smiled.
"Let's make a wager. If you win, I'll do everything to end this war. If I win, you're mine."
"...What's the wager?"
"I'm curious if Sepiro would take interest when a proud dragon falls."
"You mean to corrupt me?"
"Exactly. I'll turn you into a 'bone dragon.'"
"......What?"
A mad tale of turning a dragon into an undead.
No sane person would suggest it.
To make a dragon undead required doing so while alive.
In other words, the dragon had to consent.
"Unprecedented in dragonkin history. Don't you think it'd pique Sepiro's interest?"
...That was why there was potential.
It had never happened before.
A dragon becoming undead of its own volition.
It was dishonorable—something they'd sooner die than allow.
It just might draw Sepiro's attention.
Arcana pondered.
His death was inevitable.
Having come before the Lord of Giant Evil, he couldn't leave alive anyway.
"Can you swear before the Messenger of Oaths?"
"Of course."
The Lord of Giant Evil nodded.
A vow before the Messenger of Oaths bound even the great Ten Lords.
Not a bad bet.
And if he won...
'I can end this war.'
No more of his kin dying.
No more young dragons sacrificed.
But...
Would Sepiro care?
The Dragon God. Master of dragons. An absolute being even the great Ten Lords feared touching.
One who cared for nothing but his own interests.
'One last time.'
He wanted to believe.
Lord Sepiro.
My master.
"......Fine. If my death can end this pointless war, then gladly."
Please, look upon us dragons with mercy.
Arcana became the bone dragon.
Time passed relentlessly.
Long ages came and went.
The Sepiro he awaited never appeared.
Arcana waited.
Kept waiting.
Believing Sepiro would come and end the war.
He didn't need Sepiro's interest.
If the Dragon God saved the dragons himself, he could die smiling.
"Looks like Sepiro has no interest in you after all."
Even the Lord of Giant Evil discarded the bone dragon Arcana had become.
Forgotten by all, Arcana drifted aimlessly through the rifts.
Arcana kept waiting.
Waited and waited.
And finally.
—Se, pi, ro…!
......He appeared.
Sepiro appeared.
The holy one hadn't forgotten him!
Now the war would end.
This meaningless war would finally conclude.
"You did well."
What?
"I won't forget that noble will of yours."
Ah...
"Arcana, patriarch of the Despair Clan. Your sacrifice saved all dragons."
Aah...!
"The war is over. Rest easy now."
Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle-!
Curses poured out.
Vast curses accumulated over eons erupted from the bone dragon's body.
"……!"
「Arcana……!」
Both Ataraxia and Chronos could only gasp in shock.
Scales formed over the bone dragon's skeleton.
Soon, it regained the form of Arcana at his prime.
The Despair Dragon.
Arcana, lord of despair, stood upon the ground.
His majesty overwhelmed the chamber in an instant.
But.
Crackle-crack!
Thud-thud-thud!
It didn't last.
Bones and scales crumbled to the floor, losing their shape.
In moments, it shattered completely, not even leaving a draconic form.
"......In the end, it seems he wanted to show one last thing."
Ataraxia spoke in a trembling voice.
The reason Arcana had briefly restored his true form.
It was.
"To show that great one it wasn't broken. That the dragon's will is eternal..."
He had proven it.
Even as a 'bone dragon.'
Even fallen grotesquely, bereft of his original form.
Wasn't it that he wanted to prove to Sepiro he hadn't truly fallen?
That's why.
The corpse didn't vanish.
Not the bones, nor the scales, nor even the heart.
Arcana's noble will had overcome even the Abyss's curses.