Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Heir of the Mad Dragon Emperor (1)
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Ding!
[A quest has arrived.]
+
[Scenario Quest #9]
The opponent is a betrayer who has been lurking in the family for a long time. His current guardian deity is [Nameless Lord].
Execute the betrayer.
· Difficulty: A+
· Reward: Orb of Dishonor
· Failure: Death
+
The quest message floated before his eyes.
But Theo barely registered it.
"Your true identity...? You call that a question, little brother?"
Torkel smirked and spread his arms wide.
"What else? Obviously, your big brother."
Kwah-kwah-kwah-kwah!
Demonic energy and madness continued to billow up, forming a vortex.
Kwarung! Kwarrung!
Black demonic energy clashed with yellow lightning, exploding in all directions.
Now Theo was matching Torkel blow for blow.
"The heir to Ragnar, the one who will soon take the throne and change Ragnar. That's how you should think of it, right?"
Theo watched Torkel's eyes slowly turn black.
"Change Ragnar? You? After embracing the identity Ragnar has rejected all this time?"
"Ragnar's identity!"
Torkel bellowed, clearly offended by Theo's words.
Veins bulged on his face and neck, threatening to burst.
"Is something only the victor possesses! I am merely claiming my rightful inheritance as the legitimate heir!"
By now, his eyes had turned completely black, like obsidian orbs.
Theo recalled a piece of history that every Ragnar must know, from the man's appearance.
-The Mad Dragon Emperor's visage.
It was said that when madness consumed his reason and body, his pupils' black and whites became indistinguishable...
"So the throne you speak of isn't Father's, it seems."
"Of course not! He is nothing but a traitor who schemed to usurp the weakened throne through cowardice! That seat belonged to Grandfather."
Grandfather.
To them, only the Mad Dragon Emperor deserved that title.
"I, as Grandfather's sole heir, will now move to reclaim my rightful place."
Torkel spurred his ironclad horse and charged at Theo.
Theo kicked off the ground fiercely at the same time, swinging Drake's blade upward.
Kwaaaang!
Their second clash.
* * *
At the resurrection altar, there were exactly two places where even Ed Troyvan dared not intervene recklessly.
Where the two dragons, Julius and Ed, collided.
And the other...
Kwah-bang! Kwah-kwah-bang!
Kwarung, kwarrurung—
Rurrr...!
Was where Theo and Torkel were clashing.
A greatsword flashed, followed by a black spear.
Three swords struck like lightning bolts into where Torkel stood.
Chachachachang!
In their frenzied battle, there was no opening for Troyvan to insert himself.
"Theo... no, Acting Squad 5 Leader is that strong?"
"Holding his own against the Black Iron Knight Commander. Hah!"
"We've heard it multiple times, but this development speed is utterly unbelievable."
The White Dragon Knights' squad leaders were astonished yet overjoyed.
A stronger member meant greater unit strength.
At this level, he wasn't just a top heir—he was right below the Nine Dragons, wasn't he?
It proved his claim to become the next White Dragon Knights Commander was no empty boast.
Of course, Theo could hold his own against Torkel only because he was in full-buff mode right now.
At normal strength, exchanging a few blows would be his limit.
Torkel was a completed warrior in his own right.
But that fact was crucial to Theo.
That he could face Torkel with his own power alone.
Didn't that mean he could win, depending on how he fought?
Puhwaaak!
"Not bad... You've studied me well."
Torkel glared at Theo, his face slightly twisted.
Even after revealing the Mad Dragon Emperor's hidden aura, he hadn't subdued Theo yet. To him, it was utter humiliation.
"You were someone I had to surpass no matter what, after all."
Three swords aligned neatly around Theo.
"Well, now it feels like I really can surpass you."
"Let's see how long you keep up that arrogant attitude."
Theo strongly sensed that Torkel's face, hidden beneath the helmet, was badly contorted.
Paaat!
Kwaang—
Another clash ensued.
Kwarurung!
The spreading demonic energy and lightning waged a territorial war, each trying to devour the other.
'Next is the left nape?'
In an instant, a black curtain briefly obscured their vision, and a spear tip thrust deeply.
Theo deflected it sideways with the Spirit Phantom Sword, while Dragon Slayer and Moonblade Sword sliced toward its waist from both sides like scissors.
But Torkel spun like a top, batting away all the attacks.
Chaengchaengchaeng!
Telekinetically wielding three swords freely was impressive enough, but Torkel blocking them all with one spear—and counterattacking into the gaps—was breathtaking.
If comparing weapon mastery alone, he could rival the Plum Palace Lord.
Without the intense insights from the Sword Orb, Theo would surely have been swept up in that flashy spearwork.
Shushushushuk!
'Spear techniques, footwork, body techniques, insight, even minor habits... All too similar to the Mad Dragon Emperor.'
Theo couldn't help recalling the intel on the Mad Dragon Emperor he'd seen as an informant.
Black Snow and Intelligence had vast records on him—from eating habits to personal letters with friends.
He'd found it odd back then.
The Mad Dragon Emperor hadn't been subject to record erasure.
There were reports he'd lost his head to Kyle's sword, so all documents should have been destroyed.
Yet they remained.
He'd wondered but dismissed it as preparation against potential rebellion.
Now, it seemed otherwise.
It was as if they'd anticipated it.
-The Mad Dragon Emperor's return someday.
Perhaps the Black Dragon knew everything, training Black Snow to grasp Mad Dragon Emperor intel quickly.
And Torkel's sudden death might have been Black Dragon and Black Snow's scheme.
Unlike in the past when his identity was revealed much later, now the butterfly effect from Theo had exposed him quickly.
'How is the Mad Dragon Emperor even alive?'
If his head was severed, he couldn't be.
Then Theo's mind flashed to something else.
The other power Torkel wielded—demonic energy.
'If Torkel truly allied with the Demon Cult, couldn't the Mad Dragon Emperor have pledged to them too?'
[Nameless Lord] was an outer god, a type of deity.
One that tampered with providence and laws, distant from death.
Could 'resurrection' by such a being be possible?
-The Mad Dragon Emperor began going mad in earnest after crossing the Great Wall under the pretext of exploring the Demon Sea... At that time, his eyes were shrouded in demonic energy...
One document from his past life said something similar.
'Then the Mad Dragon Emperor really... resurrects?'
Suddenly, many of Theo's lingering questions resolved themselves.
Why Black Dragon and his sworn brothers, including Julius, had hunted 'something' for so long.
Why they'd left family spies alone for years.
Only expelling them after a pawn like Ed raised his head.
Why Troyvan obsessed over ancient dragon relics.
Why the Demon Cult sided with Troyvan...!
Kwaaaang!
Theo shoved Torkel far back, his face coldly composed as he asked.
"I've been thinking wrong all this time. Troyvan didn't ally with the Demon Cult—Troyvan was just one of the Demon Cult's many puppets from the start. Right?"
Beneath the helmet, only Torkel's black eyes gleamed fiercely. No answer came.
"If the Mad Dragon Emperor, who entrusted himself to the Demon Cult, created Troyvan... Then it all makes sense."
Troyvan's executives, like Ed, always shouted the same thing when clashing with Theo.
That they were the 'true' ones.
From their perspective, at least, it wasn't a lie.
Troyvan firmly believed they were the 'true' main line of Ragnar.
That explained why Ed infiltrated Ragnar to gather ancient dragon relics,
And why his numerous followers were so loyally devoted and deeply rooted.
Torkel was probably another seed planted long ago by the Mad Dragon Emperor and Troyvan.
The Black Dragon had been cutting off Troyvan's shadowy tendrils, likely discovering Torkel's identity relatively recently.
"..."
Still no response from Torkel.
Theo took it as silent affirmation.
"What a joke. A guy who once fought on the front lines to repel the [Nameless Lord] ends up defecting to their side and jerking off to being the 'real' one. Not even funny?"
Theo hurled maximum scorn.
He meant it.
Fancy words for defection—when his position weakened, he betrayed and piled on excuses.
"...You babble on without knowing the truth."
"I have zero interest in whatever 'truth' trash like you spout."
Torkel fell silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.
"I really can't stand you, Theo."
His voice echoed eerily.
"Lucky enough to become a Chosen and spout off like you see through everything... Hah!"
"Lucky? Yeah, maybe it looks that way to you."
Theo saw no point in arguing.
To him, Torkel seemed like someone born under a talented mother, receiving every support, earning the Mad Dragon Emperor's trust to become Black Iron Knights Commander.
But Torkel had lived diligently and fiercely in his own way.
And so had Theo.
In the end, this wasn't a battle of who was righter.
It was who fought more fiercely.
All the more regrettable that the man once untouchable now seemed no different.
"But oh well? Whatever you were aiming for, your plans seem to have gone up in smoke."
The black flower was blocked from recovery by Theo and Julius,
Torkel's identity as Troyvan and Mad Dragon Emperor's spy was fully exposed, leaving no foothold in Ragnar.
Plus, the Black Iron Knights were completely pinned by the White Dragon Knights.
Torkel's ambush plan had failed entirely.
But,
"Up in smoke? Me? No idea what you're talking about."
Torkel laughed instead.
Theo frowned, suspecting bravado—then heard an odd sound.
Dudududu!
Hooves pounded the ground roughly from somewhere,
Keeeek!
And a dragon-like cry echoed from the sky.
"What... is that?"
"White Dragon? What the hell!"
To the west, a black cavalry legion charged amid dust clouds.
The characters on their fluttering flag seared into Theo's eyes.
-Black Iron Knights.
And to the east, a flock of white-armored wyverns flew in formation from the sky.
The name and crest on their flag were all too familiar.
-White Dragon Knights.
"......!"
The arrival of new Black Iron Knights and White Dragon Knights.
In this absurd situation, Theo and his squad members' faces hardened,
"Didn't you just say it? That Troyvan is another Ragnar created by the Mad Dragon Emperor."
Torkel smirked, as if saying the one trapped was you, not me.
"So it wouldn't be strange if there were other Black Iron Knights or White Dragon Knights, right?"