Chapter 190
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Heir of the Light Dragon Emperor (5)
“Kyle. How are you here?”
Granata’s face was filled with considerable shock.
And well it should be—he had assumed Kyle was back at the Ragnar stronghold.
For Kyle, it was a situation where the Light Dragon Emperor could appear at any moment.
Which meant he couldn’t move rashly.
That was the exact reason Kyle hadn’t taken the front lines during the Northern War.
He had to be fully prepared to step in at any time.
‘And ironically, that allowed the Ragnars to exclude Kyle from their forces……!’
It was also why Granata had been able to set a trap for Theo.
But Kyle merely sneered.
“You planted your spies, so what law says I can’t do the same?”
“……!”
“I’ve known for a long time that this wasn’t a situation where the Light Dragon Emperor would step in. You’ve been my target from the start.”
“……No way. Then all this time, you didn’t show yourself on the front lines because…”
“To make you drop your guard.”
Kyle’s sneer deepened.
“Thanks to that, you walked right into it. Whether it’s him then or you now, neither of you has learned a thing, Granata.”
Grind!
Granata ground his teeth.
-Granata. You’re too hot-tempered. Too impatient. Keep that up, and you’ll never step out of my shadow your whole life, you fool.
It was some time ago.
They had briefly crossed paths under the pretext of exchanges between the North and the East.
Kyle was already a genius whose name rang throughout the Empire, while Granata was a total novice just stepping onto the stage.
Naturally, his youthful pride had flared up against Kyle.
And he’d been thoroughly crushed.
He couldn’t even land the first technique properly.
Even after the exchange event ended, Granata had visited the Ragnars several times to challenge Kyle.
And lost every single time.
He trained his bones to the breaking point, so why couldn’t he even graze Kyle’s sleeve?
Frustrated, he’d lashed out in anger, and that’s when Kyle had said it.
You don’t know how to wait.
Weaving a plan isn’t just about calculations—it’s about knowing how to wait for the right moment.
Back then, it had grated on him, coming from someone looking down from above, so he hadn’t listened.
Why was he suddenly remembering that now?
The bait of the Selector was right there in front of them, and Kyle had anticipated they wouldn’t sit still—he’d laid his plans step by step.
Kyle had.
“Don’t make me laugh.”
Flash! Fwhoosh!
Several shadows landed behind Granata.
Figures wearing wooden masks over their faces and robes over their bodies—Shadow Envoys.
Especially the eyes of the 9th Shadow Envoy, Nine, and the 8th Shadow Envoy, Arct, gleamed with feral intensity.
They had each been dispatched on missions outside, only to return tasting the humiliation of failure against Theo.
“Fine. I admit I was too hasty and fell for your scheme. But you show yourself here in person? Your arrogance will be what drags the Ragnars to ruin—you need to know that.”
Granata decided to change his approach entirely.
If he could kill Kyle here and capture Theo alive, wouldn’t that be the perfect scenario?
Kyle would die because of his own scheme.
Fwaaash—
The Shadow Envoys shot toward Kyle like streaks of light.
“These must be the so-called ‘experiments’ they made in league with the Magic Tower, huh? Transplanting the flesh and souls of the disgraced to create infinite mana. But they all failed and turned into monsters hiding behind masks?”
Beneath the hems of the robes the Shadow Envoys wore were no ordinary bodies.
Grotesque tangles of tentacles.
The tentacles unraveled wildly, sweeping around Kyle.
Their tips dripped with venom.
A drop would melt an ordinary person—the poison of the demonic sea.
“Exactly. Vessels born to replace you Nine Dragons—no, to ‘evolve’ you. Since you know that much, you must know just how dangerous they are.”
Ziiing!
Granata poured mana into his Dragon Bow Sword.
While the Shadow Envoys pinned Kyle’s feet, he would decapitate him with this.
‘True, it’s a shame I couldn’t complete the trial without the Dragon Slayer Sword…… But this should be enough.’
The Dragon Bow Sword was considered the supreme relic among all ancient dragon artifacts.
In the era when only a Selector could become the Ragnar Family Head, it had served as a symbol of lordship, like a scepter.
Its hidden power was the activation of dragon authority.
It could instill loyalty in those born with dragon factors and freely toggle their mana on and off.
Granata had already used the [Blue Key] given to him by the Light Dragon Emperor to unlock the trial and awaken the Dragon Bow Sword’s functions.
Without its set counterpart, the Dragon Slayer Sword, he wasn’t fully recognized as its master.
But it was more than enough to seal Kyle’s dragon authority for a few seconds.
And in the world of superhumans like them, ‘a few seconds’ could decide life or death.
Bwoooom!
In that instant, the Shadow Envoys clashed with Kyle.
Boom—crack!
It was just as Granata swung the Dragon Bow Sword.
“Didn’t I tell you? You’re too hot-tempered. The arrogant one isn’t me—it’s you.”
Kyle’s voice, laced with amusement, pierced Granata’s ears.
What?
Before he could even voice his question.
Splurt!
Granata’s right arm suddenly flew into the air.
Still clutching the Dragon Bow Sword.
“Showing your back to the enemy like that.”
Kyle’s mocking whisper drilled into his ear again.
Granata stared in shock at the Shadow Envoy who had ambushed him.
Nine.
-You planted your spies, so what law says I can’t do the same?
Kyle had said it, but still—they thought the Shadow Envoys couldn’t be.
Especially Nine.
Hadn’t Nine failed the most spectacularly against Theo and the Ragnars during the Floating Archipelago assault, harboring the deepest grudge?
The eyes visible beneath the wooden mask twisted in irritation.
「Tch! I could’ve killed him. And he dodged it?」
Nine lunged to take Granata’s remaining arm and head.
In that instant, an overwhelming pressure surged, heavy enough to make the air tremble, crushing down on Granata’s shoulders.
Fwaaash!
Nine’s form vanished into a burst of light, emerging transformed.
A colossal figure nearly three meters tall.
“Tyrant Dragon……!”
Horror spread across Granata’s face.
The one said to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Demon Dragon among the Nine Dragons in strength—no, perhaps even surpassing him—why was he here!
Granata couldn’t know.
That the man of light Nine had encountered sinking into the Floating Archipelago’s seabed was none other than the Tyrant Dragon.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each time the Tyrant Dragon stomped the ground, massive tremors erupted.
Kwaaaang!
Finally arriving before Granata, his swung fist was as menacing as a battering ram shattering castle gates.
Having lost his right arm, Granata desperately blocked it with his left hand alone.
An enormous shockwave spread out, sending a towering plume of dust skyward.
At the same time, beams of light pierced through the dust cloud from above.
Sword Dragon Plum Palace Lord, Black Dragon Robert, Ice Dragon Niel, Illusion Dragon Blue Sword Guard Captain, and even Origin Dragon Elder Council Leader.
Five of the Nine Dragons had arrived.
“Blue Sword Guard Captain, given your suspected collusion with Torkel, if you don’t rack up proper merits in this battle, we’ll have no choice but to pursue your charges. Same for you, Elder Council Leader. If you want to wash away your past failures, fight with everything you’ve got.”
The Black Dragon issued a curt warning before launching himself forward first.
His target: Granata.
He couldn’t let the quiet Tyrant Dragon claim such a vital achievement.
“Damn it. Of all the rotten luck.”
“……My left hand isn’t fully accustomed yet. But if this is the way to prove my innocence…”
The Illusion Dragon thought of Torkel, his drinking buddy of the past few days, and vented his frustration.
Wolfgang stepped forward to slay the subordinates of his half-brother, who had once helped exile him long ago.
A blade-like gale rushed in.
Rumble!
Granata’s hands and feet flailed in chaos.
A new emotion crept into eyes that had brimmed with confidence moments before.
Despair.
And fear.
* * *
[All Buff Mode ends.]
[Penalty incoming.]
Thud!
Theo collapsed to the ground, his body heavy as waterlogged cotton.
He’d thought assassinating just Torkel would do it, but then Kyle and the Nine Dragons showed up.
The back-to-back massive events had his head spinning.
But the tension eased all the same.
He had no doubt they’d win.
‘Not content with using me as bait, he even assigned the Tyrant Dragon as some watcher-protector I didn’t know about.’
When one of the Shadow Envoys revealed himself as the Tyrant Dragon, even Theo had been stunned.
Neither he, nor Selphard and Arin who’d run the mission with him, had known.
Just how many moves ahead had Kyle planned to take down Granata?
『The more I see of him, the less human he seems.』
Lordbroke seemed thoroughly displeased with such a Kyle.
『No matter how much family revival is the priority, how can he treat his own son like nothing but a tool? In the end, that kid Torkel was just used by Kyle too, wasn’t he?』
Theo suspected Torkel’s rebellion had been one of Kyle’s setups from the start.
『He said he was on the verge of divine realm. Is that why? All emotions erased?』
‘I see it differently.’
『What?』
‘Didn’t you have your own agonies before making such ruthless choices?’
『My companion, after spending so much time with your father, do you still not know what kind of man he is?』
‘Lately, I’ve been thinking the father we all imagined might not be the real one.’
Theo recalled his meeting with Kyle before deployment.
His face was still expressionless as ever.
But somehow, it felt like he had words he wanted to say, forcibly swallowed down…
『Sure. He’s your father, not mine. But watch your back—you never know when he’ll strike. He’s more than capable of it.』
Lordbroke’s distrust of Kyle remained immense, leaving Theo awkwardly scratching his cheek with nothing else to say.
“Ugh, I’m dying here.”
Just then, Holcus plopped down beside Theo with a sigh.
It spared him further bickering with Lordbroke.
Theo smiled faintly.
“Thanks.”
It covered ending the argument and saving his life moments ago.
“……I didn’t do anything worth that.”
Holcus turned his head away, the bridge of his nose faintly red.
He meant it.
He’d stepped up to protect Theo, but without Kyle’s arrival, he wouldn’t have helped at all.
But Theo shook his head.
“What do you mean nothing? You landed a solid hit on Granata.”
“I couldn’t even clash swords properly……!”
“Who cares? The point is, you bought time for the Family Head to show up. Granata achieved nothing because of it.”
“……!”
“You pulled off an incredible feat, Holcus. And you’re my lifesaver.”
Thump-thump-thump!
With each word from Theo, Holcus felt his heart pounding wildly.
-Finally, Theo acknowledges me.
The warmth in that one line from his admired friend held immense power.
All his inferiority and self-loathing vanished.
Holcus wanted to say something, but his throat was too dry.
“Hey, little bro. You’ve been such a total loner lately I thought you were useless, but now you’re kinda cool?”
Then Erika wrapped an arm around Holcus’s neck as she sat, while Ray settled beside Theo, nodding in agreement.
As if endorsing her words.
After the long battle, all four of them looked a mess.
“Damn…… it.”
His chest tickled.
Overwhelmed, Holcus whipped his head aside.
“What? You crying? Bawling? Puhaha! Big lug like you!”
“Who’s crying!”
“No one’s crying.”
“Don’t copy me!”
“Don’t copy me.”
“Stop copying!!”
“Stop copying-gr.”
“Hey!”
Watching Holcus and Erika bicker like siblings.
‘If I form a squad. If it’s with these guys, wouldn’t it be fun?’
The thought flickered through Theo’s mind.
Running around the world with them would be a blast.
Like how Kyle and his sworn brothers built the current Ragnars.
Maybe he could forge a new Ragnar with them too.
‘Wish Well was here too—it’d be perfect.’
A brief longing for Wellington crossed his mind.
And he resolved himself.
Even if the Black Dragon said Wellington might have to die, he’d somehow make him one of his own.
The Earth Dragon too—and even Hilda.
‘The Ragnar I build won’t have room for Torkel types anymore. Let’s make it that way.’
As he steeled himself for the future.
Slash!
The harsh sound of a neck being severed rang out.
Theo and his friends’ gazes all turned that way.
Granata’s head was flying from a single strike by Kyle.