Chapter 151
Chapter 151
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 151
Chapter Title: Dragon Child Corps (1)
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-You must beware the grave keeper?
-Yes.
-……So it was you, Lord Od, who leaked this place’s location to Troyvan.
-You suspected as much.
-A little.
Cassandra had given Theo a brief warning before he set off to rescue his companions.
Beware of Od.
-The sword secret the elders spoke of wasn’t completely lost. Only the basics of the secret art remained, but even that was incomplete. Still, a portion had been passed down.
-Then those inheritors…?
-Yes. Exactly.
Theo sensed a hint of pity in Cassandra’s voice.
It was an emotion only those who could glimpse past, present, and future—and peer into people’s histories—could show.
-They are the ‘grave keepers’ of this heroic tomb.
* * *
-The captain did have a disciple.
-Yes. A very young child.
-But because of that, he couldn’t properly inherit the secret art…
-He remained as a grave keeper like that. Poor child.
The ghosts gazed at Od with forlorn eyes.
They weren’t unaware of the story behind the grave keepers.
Yet they hadn’t stepped forward because they couldn’t physically convey their voices to Od or the previous inheritors.
Only a selector could receive them.
“You’re not denying it?”
Od bit her lower lip hard.
As if caught in a truth she hadn’t wanted exposed.
The other members hurriedly looked at Theo.
“Theo, we can’t follow your story at all. Explain it so we can understand. What’s this sword secret? What’s an inheritor? You’re saying Lord Od isn’t just a simple grave keeper?”
Selferd glanced at Theo while confirming Od showed no other reaction.
Kukukuku…!
Theo spoke quickly while eyeing the noisily shaking ceiling.
A bit of time remained before the new enemies arrived here.
“Everyone buried in this heroic tomb sacrificed themselves to block the monsters beyond the Great Wall.”
“Yeah, we know that. So?”
“Then do you know there’s a lord they could never find?”
“A lord…?”
“Yes. The Ragnar family head of that era. The master of the 300th heroic tomb, absent from this place.”
“The 300th heroic tomb…”
“But sadly, the absolute secret art he possessed was lost. Troyvan is pursuing exactly that secret art.”
Theo briefly explained why Troyvan needed Cassandra and his goal in seizing the heroic tomb.
These were events hard for ordinary swordsmen, who weren’t selectors, to easily accept.
“Wait, hold on! So to sum up what you’re saying simply, Troyvan’s throwing this tantrum to get that sword secret? Then what about Lord Od? The Dragon Lord clearly said Lord Od is a righteous soul who single-handedly guards a heroic tomb that hardly anyone in Ragnar even remembers anymore.”
“Yes. That’s right. A righteous soul. Who else guards only this heroic tomb across dozens of generations?”
“But why…?”
“The problem is that grave keepers have another role besides protecting the heroic tomb: restoring the sword secret.”
Od remained silent.
Theo continued, keeping a close eye on her.
“Grave keepers are descendants of the family head who sacrificed himself back then. They bear the responsibility and duty to restore the lost lineage.”
“……”
“And Troyvan figured that out and approached Lord Od, the grave keeper, ahead of time. Isn’t that right?”
Od clenched her fists tight.
Veins bulged on the back of her trembling hands.
“But isn’t it strange? If you’d already colluded with Troyvan, wouldn’t you have told them the real location of the heroic tomb beforehand?”
Troyvan had indeed found this place only after Theo’s group had caught their breath.
If it had been a trap, they would have stormed in much earlier.
“I can’t know the exact reason, but perhaps even you found Troyvan suspicious?”
“Ah.”
“If it was a negotiation like, ‘If what you say about restoring the sword secret is true, bring proof—until then, I won’t open the heroic tomb’…”
“Stop.”
“So you brought us here to confirm the proof with your own eyes, and only after verifying Troyvan’s words were true did you contact them.”
“Stop!”
“It makes sense.”
“I said stop!!”
Od finally bellowed.
“Fine! You’re right! Troyvan proposed restoring the sword secret and sharing it, and I brought you here to verify their claim that if you prepared the means to restore it, we could too. So what? Was that wrong?”
Her gaze, boiling with rage, fixed on Theo.
“See! Just as they said, you’ve already restored it! It should have been mine by right! You took what I’ve pursued my whole life!!”
“If you’d given me prior notice, I would have shared it.”
“Shared? You, a collateral descendant?”
Od twisted one side of her lips wide.
A sneer.
“Listen well. Ragnar’s rightful lineage isn’t you lot—it’s me. Me, Od Ragnar! You’re just thieves who snuck into the master bedroom while we hesitated for a moment!”
Od and the other grave keepers lived harboring the pride that they were the ‘true’ rightful Ragnar lineage.
Otherwise, they couldn’t have guarded the heroic tomb across hundreds of years, generation after generation.
And on the other hand, they vowed that one day, upon restoring the sword secret, they would reclaim the usurped throne.
But at this moment, that long-held dream shattered to pieces.
-It’s just regrettable.
-The position of sword secret master isn’t assigned to anyone from the start…
-Hmph! What’s there to regret! Survival of the strongest is Ragnar’s identity. If they thought the throne was truly theirs, they should have come claim it themselves! What were they expecting?
Some ghosts looked at Od with pity, but most eyed her with displeasure.
The reason the ghosts hadn’t reacted much upon seeing Od.
They already knew of the warped attachment passed down through the grave keepers.
That’s why, when previously passing on the sword secret, they hadn’t clearly informed Theo of the inheritors’ existence.
But Od didn’t know that.
“And yet you, a collateral descendant and a thief, would hand it over like charity? You dare…! Who do you think you’re teaching?”
“So that’s why you leaned toward Troyvan? You’re not ashamed to receive teachings from them?”
“Hohoho! You’ve misunderstood to the end. Who said I received teachings from Troyvan and leaned toward them?”
In that moment, Theo wondered if his assumption had been wrong.
“Then could it be that Troyvan knows the sword secret’s true nature because…?”
“Yes. I told them myself.”
“……!”
“I drew Troyvan here and set the board in motion. No better bait for restoring the sword secret.”
Theo’s expression hardened rigidly.
-W-What?
-That lunatic!
-Letting an outsider meddle in Ragnar affairs?
The ghosts finally realized the situation was far graver than they’d thought and cried out in shock.
Some roared and drew their swords. But their fury and threats couldn’t reach Od.
“‘Ragnar matters are resolved within Ragnar alone’—you’re saying you broke that rule by bringing in an outsider?”
Not just Theo, but Selferd and Ray glared at Od with anger-filled eyes.
No matter how internal strife from throne competitions was daily life in Ragnar, there was a ‘line’ they had to uphold.
Cross that line, and even a successor would face Ragnar’s retribution.
It was Ragnar’s pride.
Yet,
“Broke the rule? Who?”
“What are you saying? Didn’t you just admit with your own mouth that you brought in Troyvan?”
“I did.”
“Then what nonsense is this!”
“That’s why I’m asking—why does that count as breaking the rule?”
Theo felt once more that there was something else he hadn’t realized.
“Surely you don’t mean Troyvan isn’t an outsider…?”
“You really know nothing, child.”
Od’s sneer deepened.
“Even after getting close to the throne despite your youth, inheriting the sword secret, becoming the selector—you still don’t know a damn thing.”
Gooooo—
A mighty gust of wind began leaking from Od.
Kurururu!
The cavern trembled.
As if it would collapse the cave any moment.
Even with his dragon blood awakened, Theo felt his skin sting.
“No matter how I look at it, you’re no vessel for the sword secret. I’ll take it back.”
The wind pressure swirled into a sphere above Od’s head.
Similar to an eclipse, but slightly different.
[Black Ice Full Moon]
A pitch-black sphere.
Resembling the moon more than the sun.
No heat at all—instead, only chill permeated.
A phenomenon born because she couldn’t manifest black flame.
Proof that the secret art, partially transmitted, had evolved in its own way.
Pajijijik!
Theo summoned mana in response, forming a thunder orb.
The all-buff’s remaining time: just over 4 minutes.
He had to subdue Od within that and block the Blue-Black Corps approaching here.
「Selferd, take Arin and go to the center with Ray. Check the ceiling there—you’ll find a passage to the outside. Cassandra will help, so move.」
「What about you?」
「I’ll follow right away.」
Selferd didn’t ask Theo his plans. Theo was already the group’s leader.
Paat—
He hoisted Arin on his back as ordered and dashed to the core with Ray.
Od made no attempt to stop them.
She intended only to reclaim the sword secret from Theo.
“My ancestors couldn’t restore the ‘sun,’ so they created the ‘moon’ as a countermeasure. Lacking flames to burn all, they infused chill instead.”
Od assumed a sword stance, aiming at the sphere.
Her form resembled the captain from the memory, yet differed.
“The efforts of my ancestors and I to reach the founding ancestor. Do you think you can handle it?”
Just then, the Blue-Black Corps entered the cavern.
Simultaneously, Od swung her sword fiercely.
Squeak!
A flash trailed the ‘moon,’ severing above from below.
[Lunar Eclipse]
The split twin half-moons shattered, scattering blizzards and ice hail everywhere.
Kwaaakwa—
Theo smirked coldly before it.
“Handle it? Why should I?”
“What?”
Od belatedly sensed something off, but
Theo had already deployed [Ruyi Jutsu Sun]’s eclipse.
“No matter the reason, you’re a traitor. I’ve no reason to understand a traitor’s sword.”
Squeak—
The thunder orb burst, leaping lightning striking floor and walls.
‘Walls?’
Od realized too late the lightning defended only Theo at minimum, ignoring her and hitting irrelevant spots.
‘No way!’
But by the time she grasped Theo’s intent, it was too late.
Kwaakwang!
The cave, its durability worn from accumulated shocks, collapsed entirely.
The lightning-struck spots were all places Theo had pre-marked with his [Spirit]-infused eyes.
Warrururu—
Before Od or the Blue-Black Corps could react, they were all buried under rubble and entombed alive.
-This punk’s turning our tomb into a real grave!
「I’ll restore the heroic tomb soon.」
-Make it way better?
-Change my coffin for me! Sick of staring at the same damn thing every day!
-I want murals! Add murals to the walls!
「I’ll grant all your wishes.」
Theo bantered lightly with the ghosts as he mounted Umbra and leisurely escaped the heroic tomb.