Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Dragon (4)
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[Switching to User Protection Mode.]
[Protection Mode requires a significant amount of energy.]
[Remaining User Protection Time: 37 minutes 12 seconds]
[Warning. Possibility of exposure to high levels of radiation.]
[Warning. Evacuate within the duration.]
I ignored the ceaseless voice of Zero.
Then it kindly displayed the remaining time right in front of me, urging me to escape.
The time dwindled moment by moment.
'It's enough.'
I'moved forward without hesitation.
'As long as it's active, it protects me completely from radiation.'
Zero's words from the past.
I trusted that confidence.
An artificial intelligence machine created to save humanity contaminated by radiation.
That was Zero.
Of course, it was something no sane person would do.
Because I'd seen warriors dying right in front of me, their bodies mutating.
Even someone with nerves of steel wouldn't dream of stepping into that cave.
That was because of Zero.
Even someone with nerves of steel wouldn't dream of stepping into that cave.
Of course, it was something no sane person would do.
'If I don't claim the dragon, I'll die anyway.'
Because I'd seen warriors dying right in front of me, their bodies mutating.
I'd either die to Carlos Grand Duke or to Hero Malfiel.
Or, as Baal said, I'might be selected for a feat and meet some sudden mishap.
Only by claiming the dragon could I weaken Carlos Grand Duke's power and ensure safety from Malfiel.
That story about Malfiel not attacking Carlos Grand Duke because of the dragon's existence.
Even if only half of it was true, the dragon's value was beyond imagination.
And if I was going to die anyway, just a matter of timing, I wanted to die choosing and challenging on my own terms.
'My stomach's churning.'
The problem was that with every step, it felt like stomach acid was surging up.
Zero was using all its energy solely to block the radiation intrusion.
Even the slightest influx of radiation would be fatal to the human body.
Due to that gap, dizziness was setting in.
I shook my head and took a few more steps, and soon the outside was no longer visible.
'I've surpassed the domain of great warriors.'
Suddenly, it grew noisy outside.
I knew that the deeper into the cave, the grade of the defeated was determined.
Great warriors. Honorable beings rare even in the North.
I'd gone well over ten steps, so even the saintess would have to acknowledge it.
Even if I turned back now, it would count as achieving the goal.
But I didn't stop.
Seeing it through to the end had been my aim from the start.
I kept walking, and after about a hundred steps, it opened into a vast plain.
The corpses piled at the entrance were no longer visible.
Proof that no warrior had ever reached this far.
[Radiation levels are rising sharply.]
[Please be cautious.]
All sorts of gases were now clearly visible to the eye.
This was no place for a human to go any further.
'Did Carlos Grand Duke reinforce his sanctuary to enter?'
That gave rise to doubts about how Carlos Grand Duke had claimed the dragon.
The deeper it went, the more it seemed impossible for a human to reach the end.
If there was any possibility, it was his specialty, 'Sanctuary.'
A power that sanctified one's surroundings, allowing no intrusion whatsoever.
But no matter how powerful Sanctuary was, it couldn't be completely free from this radiation.
This place's radiation exceeded what [Nano Machine] could purify.
In other words, even Sanctuary, being mana-based, would ultimately be devoured by the radiation.
'Maybe it was possible because of his close ties to the lich, as rumored.'
Lich.
A being that stores its life separately, achieving eternal immortality.
Black magic like liches or undead had long been abandoned.
But there were rumors that Carlos Grand Duke had contracted with a lich.
There was a possibility he'd used that lich to claim the 'dragon' of the holy site.
Conquering a holy site using the dead. A plausible idea.
If liches truly existed, that is.
Whatever the case, if Carlos Grand Duke had claimed the dragon, there was no reason I couldn't.
"Sa... ve... me..."
How much further had I gone?
When I spotted a passage leading underground, a 'lump of flesh' beside it caught my eye.
No matter how I looked, it was a lump of flesh.
Mashed and burst, eyes, nose, and mouth indistinguishable.
But it was clearly speaking.
'Huh.'
It was astonishing.
To encounter something alive this deep inside.
This was far beyond the standards of the defeated they spoke of.
I'd come at least a thousand steps.
No great warrior, nor anyone since discovering the holy site, had reached this place alive.
Though its form was far from human.
It felt almost like a slime.
"Who are you?"
"I... am..."
It was definitely human.
But the lump of flesh couldn't give a proper answer.
It'seemed to have forgotten who it even was.
From the looks of it, it hadn't been here just a day or two.
'Best to just pass by.'
Even now, time was ticking down moment by moment.
When User Protection Mode ends, my body would mutate in an instant.
Considering the time to claim the dragon and get back, ignoring it was wisest.
However, I couldn't just walk past.
Because I saw it.
[A vast quantity of unauthorized nanomachines is sustaining life.]
An enormous amount of nanomachines.
The nanomachines were swarming around the lump of flesh.
Not just swarming, but maintaining the lump's 'life' against the radiation.
The quantity was more than even the 8th Circle Archmage Edis.
So, I couldn't help but ask again.
"Why are you still alive?"
What was the reason for clinging to life so desperately?
What drove it to endure, having forgotten who it was, lost its original body?
Despite constant agony from bodily mutation, that lump pursued life.
I was drawn to that will.
"Ul... ti... mate..."
Ultimate?
The final, the end. Did it mean surpassing the wall?
"Take... me... there..."
"You mean take you to the end of the cave?"
"......"
The lump of flesh fell silent, as if exhausted.
Affirmation.
Its desire to see the cave's end seemed greater than its will to survive.
What had drawn it into this cave?
What kept driving it forward?
There was no need to agonize over it.
It was a waste of time.
The old me would have kicked away the repulsive thing for even speaking.
With a look of disgust, I'd have tossed it far aside.
It wasn't much different now.
I stepped forward.
Ignoring the lump of flesh to reach the dragon.
But I soon stopped.
I turned back, sighed, and picked up the lump of flesh.
"...You're stronger than me."
I wasn't strong.
I'd ultimately failed to overcome the mania.
No matter how much Zero suppressed my brain, in the end, I'd surrendered my body to the mania myself—that was undeniable.
I killed and killed again, dyeing the continent in blood.
I'merely cursed the world.
But this lump hadn't given up even in such a form.
Its life, its goal.
In this hellish place where everyone else had died, it had fought ceaselessly for countless ages.
I paid my respects to that will.
My own form of admiration for one who'd achieved what I couldn't.
I felt its life fading, but at least I could let it see the end.
'It's light.'
The lump was light.
Holding it in one hand, I pressed on.
And soon after, a massive iron door appeared.
Thud!
I pushed and pulled at the door, but it didn't budge.
'It's absorbing nanomachines. There's something inside emitting radiation.'
It meant even aura or magic couldn't force it open.
The door was protected by powerful magic or some authority.
I bit my lip.
This beyond was probably the end of the holy site.
I couldn't stop after coming this far.
[Master. Please place your hand on the center of the door.]
That was when Zero spoke, as I was devising a method.
I slowly placed my hand on the center of the iron door, and with a click, gears meshed inside.
[Beginning security code hack.]
Click. Tiriririk.
With a strange sound, the iron door emitted a blue light.
And before long.
[Hack complete.]
Kiiiek.
The iron door screamed as it began to open.
I was momentarily stunned.
I knew Zero had many functions, but I hadn't imagined it could do this.
'A universal key in its own right.'
Life is unpredictable, they say.
The worm in my head.
The one I'd resented daily was now faithfully playing the role of my right hand.
'If it works well, it could even open the imperial treasury.'
A door rigged with all sorts of devices that only the emperor could open.
This iron door before me was comparable to that imperial treasury.
If I could secretly open it, I could take another spirit weapon from inside.
But those thoughts didn't last long.
"You've finally arrived."
Inside the door.
Atop a massive crystal sat a black-haired man.
Lines protruding from various parts of the crystal connected to the man's body, but there was only an upper body— the lower half seemed severed and absent.
Soon, the man opened his closed eyes and looked at me.
No, his gaze went not to me, but to the lump of flesh.
"Demon King, our wager has come to an end after a thousand years."
......Demon King?
Was he calling the lump of flesh I held the Demon King?
Like Kai Chel, called the Demon King of the White Silver, there had been a few called Demon King.
But in the North, there had been only one called Demon King in a thousand years.
'Demon King Gaf,' said to be the only one who unified the North a millennium ago.
The 4th Imperial Consort was the successor bearing Demon King Gaf's blood, so I couldn't not know.
And if this lump truly was Demon King Gaf, that explained the massive amount of nanomachines.
The man said,
"In the end, I couldn't kill you, nor you me, so strictly speaking, it's a draw... but still, I acknowledge the effort it took you to reach me."
The man's eyes sank.
With a gaze blending sorrow and joy, he spoke again.
"You win, Gaf."
Brrrr!
The lump of flesh shook violently.
Though no expression was visible, the emotion was palpable.
Hearing the man's words, I too was astonished.
Demon King Gaf!
I'd suspected, but it really was Demon King Gaf.
'Dragon.'
Then that man was the dragon.
The tale of Demon King Gaf battling the dragon was still passed down as Northern legend.
Meaning that battle had lasted a thousand years.
Above all, being in the deepest part of the holy site left no room for doubt.
However, the dragon's eyes ignored me.
As if I weren't there at all.
But from the moment I saw that dragon, my expression wouldn't relax.
Not because of the snub.
This was an instinctive rejection I couldn't hide.
The reaction when encountering one you can't coexist with under the heavens.
And that made sense.
"......Malfiel."
How could I forget that damned face.