Dragon's Breath (1)

A notification window popped up before my eyes. Unusually, it wasn't an item—just a name.

Its grade and description appeared alongside it.

The grade was a staggering Celestial, on par with Sielertia.

And I had finally learned the true name of that being of chaos I had called "the voice" until now.

'Knoya. It means human, or humanity.'

Marquis Gerald expressed his reverence that I had come to know its true name.

True to his status as the empire's representative, Marquis Gerald possessed a vast collection of ancient texts from the High Empire era. And as a renowned alchemist, he was fluent in the High Empire language.

From the ancient scriptures passed down through the Jedin Sect, he had succeeded in deciphering the name of that being of chaos beyond the Kaotic Gate.

Thanks to the true name I learned from the marquis—Knoya.

Simply knowing the name of the being of chaos would reduce that instinctive fear from now on.

'A tremendous harvest. Especially for facing Duke Pedro ahead.'

After the meeting with the marquis concluded, I left Lilia, Eirin, and Cecilia in his camp and departed.

With no non-combatants, the return to the imperial capital was incredibly swift.

"Lord Yulian, as expected, Pantheon's defenses have become far looser than before."

As Lucia, standing by my side, said, I returned to Pantheon with her and Rozette— just the two of them.

There didn't seem to be much to do right away in this place under curfew and martial law, but that wasn't the case.

The portal—an artifact from the High Empire era, now mostly lost and exceedingly rare on Iseland. One such portal existed in Pantheon's underground temple.

'And it's one that connects directly to the Primordial Forest.'

The three of us planned to enter the Primordial Forest through that portal.

To master the true ultimate technique of Dragonkin Transformation Stage 2: Dragon's Breath.

"Time is tight, right?"

I nodded at Lucia's words. Pulling Marquis Gerald into Lilia's camp had been a massive gain.

Thus, the rebels who had rampaged through the capital as if they owned the world after its fall were now on edge.

'In fact, it's the rebels who are surrounded now.'

Holding off the dungeon conquest mission for now, Lilia's faction guards were returning from the northeast of the capital. And to the south, Marquis Gerald's private forces had set up camp.

Once Lilia's guards arrived in the capital, full-scale war would erupt.

"I've aligned with Marquis Gerald. In three days, the battle begins."

I had three days left. I needed to perfectly master Breath and return to Pantheon within that time.

When the battle between the rebels and Lilia's allied forces started, I had to seize the chaos to swiftly eliminate Grius.

And credit that feat to Lilia, positioning her as the next emperor candidate.

'Lilia has already given me her body and heart. She's incredibly sharp herself. If she ascends to the throne, it couldn't be better for me.'

Then I'd become the emperor's husband, wielding immense power as the future lord of Essemont.

Of course, with the time of ruin at hand, I craved not just that power, but what lay beyond.

'I must become the focal point against Duke Pedro's forces.'

Knoya. The chosen of that being of chaos, the herald of doom—Pedro de Orhain.

If we couldn't stop his forces, Iseland would march toward the ruin Knoya ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠desired.

Sorting my thoughts, I stood before the portal with the two women.

"Then, off to the Primordial Forest."

The familiar sight unfolded before us once more.

Magi and colossal trees filled every direction. It was the same Primordial Forest where Chloe, Tricia, and I had come a month ago to obtain the reverse scale of an ancient dragon.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'Well, it was just a month ago.'

The difference now was that I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fully recovered all my memories as Yulian von Reinhardt.

And the demonic blood flowing in me seemed thrilled to have arrived here.

"What a truly wondrous place. Not just mana, but magi too—it's overflowing. Being here feels like I'll awaken to the profound truths of ancient magic."

Rozette said, floating lazily on her black magic wand.

True to her skill as an exceptional witch who had even created a womb tattoo, she was already sensing the magi around us.

"You're feeling it too, Rozette. That's why this Primordial Forest is special."

And above all, it was crucially important to me. The reason we entered the Primordial Forest: to master Dragon's Breath.

Breath. The very exhalation of a dragon—but naturally, worlds apart from a human's breath in concept.

The heart of the Snow Wyvern I consumed to awaken my Dragon Heart. Its breath was a projectile of immensely powerful energy, similar to what that Snow Wyvern spewed.

'No, comparing the breath of such a loathsome lesser dragon to a true dragon's is impossible from the start.'

According to Tricia, an ancient dragon's breath could obliterate an entire city.

'Though mastering something like that right away would be greedy.'

The blessing unique to dragons: the Dragon Heart.

The breath born from that ultra-high-output mana concentrate, incomparable to a normal Mana Heart, equated to at least 6th tier magic.

But even a dragon's breath, if the Dragon Heart isn't sufficiently matured, lacks the expected power.

'If it's just 6th tier potency, even a human could manage it.'

The Dragon Heart's absurd output comes from eons of mana accumulation, of course. Yet I'd only awakened mine three months ago.

'So I haven't met the minimum conditions to produce breath yet.'

Of course, my body is special. Half-human, yet inheriting the extraordinary Reinhardt bloodline.

The Reinhardt lineage's polyhedral Mana Heart structure. And on each facet, my mana roads were densely packed—an unusual constitution.

'Even Medica Order's scholarly professor studied my Mana Heart structure.'

Now, that Mana Heart had evolved further into a Dragon Heart.

This hybrid of two disparate hearts could, paradoxically, produce explosive mana growth beyond a pure Dragon Heart.

'Plus, I can use the Fusion Method—no, the Lucia Method of mana cultivation.'

Thus, awakening breath in this mana- and magi-rich Primordial Forest with my unique Dragon Heart wasn't impossible.

Even if I only had three days.

I checked the current status of Dragonkin Transformation via the system.

Dragonkin Transformation Stage 2. The special buff state unleashing draconic power.

What I could barely sustain for a minute before had now extended to a full 4 minutes 30 seconds.

'I gained three minutes in the underground 6 Temples.'

The intense lovemaking shared with Eirin and Cecilia. Afterward, I received magi as compensation from Louiril.

And consuming Lilia's holy milk there had skyrocketed my transformation time.

'Now I just need 30 more seconds.'

That would allow 5 full minutes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Stage 2. And at that point, with my Dragon Heart sufficiently reinforced...

That was the minimum requirement to use breath.

'But it won't be easy.'

Just 30 seconds might seem trivial, but I could feel it directly through my Mana Heart.

Bridging that gap would be far harder than the previous jump from 1 minute to 4:30—like shattering a 100-meter sprint record.

'The extreme training to shave off those tiny seconds.'

That's why we came to the Primordial Forest. What might take ages in the capital could be drastically shortened here.

"Then let's head to our destination."

I summoned Sylph and asked her to guide us to Unir Temple, where I'd arrived a month ago.

We reached the temple faster than my visit a month ago.

Lucia was incredibly swift on foot, and Rozette rode her magic wand—no mobility issues.

There, elf priests emerged to greet me.

"We greet the noble one."

The lead priest bowed deeply and formally.

Unir Temple. The priests here had all perished at the hands of the centaur knights sent by Duke Pedro.

But I had avenged them personally. And after I left the Primordial Forest...

Priests from other temples in the forest had been reassigned to continue the temple's duties.

'Remiella told me it would happen.'

Remiella. A high elf knight, friend of Tricia. And a high-ranking member of the Royal Knights, loyal to my father Lucipiel.

I stayed in touch with Remiella via the darkness spirit Teneb.

The new high elf priest, now head in place of the deceased elder, spoke to me.

"Lady Remiella will arrive here shortly."

Perfect timing—I had matters to discuss with her about the Archduke of Wrath, so I'd asked her to come.

I headed inside the temple with my companions, guided by the priest.

Lucia and Rozette, being human, were seeing the demon kingdom for the first time and gazed around throughout the journey.

"What a fascinating place."

Temples to Jedin, god of light, were grand and ornate. This one to Unir, goddess of darkness, was overall dim and modest.

"But somehow... it feels incredibly comfortable."

Lucia seemed to prefer this temple's atmosphere. Rozette agreed.

"The carvings on the walls... Magi, Unir's divine power—it resonates with magic."

They both took to the place.

'With their womb tattoos, it feels instinctively familiar.'

And that mattered. These two would accompany me to Grius's hideout to eliminate him.

Lilia and Chloe were huge assets too, but Lilia was pivotal in this battle.

She needed to avoid risks in Marquis Gerald's camp as much as possible. Chloe was her bodyguard.

'So only these two can come with me.'

Just as I had to master breath in these three days, these two—linked to me by womb tattoos—needed to grow stronger.

'Push their limits to the max.'

Above all, they were the perfect sparring partners for me to acquire breath.

"Time's short, so as we discussed—both of you, come at me. Go all out, ideally until I'm half-dead."

Their expressions turned subtly conflicted at my words.