Chapter 69
After wrapping up his business in Cratel and before heading back to the desert, Adel sought out one final destination for the last task at hand. Though it was arguably the most crucial matter of all, he'd been able to put it off because he was certain no one else could lay a finger on the place he was going.
It was Shan's hidden lair.
[Worthy of being called an ancient dragon, indeed. Just how many barriers did he layer on? No wonder it can't be found by ordinary means.]
Shan's lair was astonishingly close by—right beneath the city. But even that alone wouldn't have stumped Kalderet. The real issue was the barriers cloaking the underground.
The city's entire sewer system, the wells' positions, even the layout of the buildings—all of it formed part of the barriers. In other words, the whole city was the barrier.
"First things first, I need to dismantle this."
[Think you can? This is a barrier poured together over countless ages. Even I might smash it, but dismantling it properly? Sounds tricky...]
"If I force it, sure."
[What do you mean?]
"Just like you said, it's a barrier so masterful even gods would tip their hats. Smash it, and the whole city comes tumbling down."
[That's exactly my point.]
"So don't dismantle it."
[...Huh?]
Adel shot Kalderet a smirk and extended his hand toward the barred door, as if to say watch this.
Woooong—
In that instant, the barrier shockingly began reacting to Adel's mana. Kalderet realized he was tricking it with the mana he'd gained from devouring Shan's heart.
[Unbelievable, even seeing it. You've already made the dragon's mana your own?]
"Not perfectly. I just know the trick, so it's quicker for me."
[You've eaten dragons before, then.]
"Yeah."
[No surprise there. Forcing your bloodline to expand with a god's descent, and now mastering mana control... Be honest. Don't you even need to learn magic?]
Kalderet spoke to Adel with genuine wonder.
"I do need to learn it. I know how to wield mana, but not how to cast spells."
[You're a strange one. Most learn mana control through spellcasting.]
"Eh..."
Adel slowly peeled away Shan's barrier as he replied.
"Never really needed to."
[Hmm?]
"Infusing mana into arrows wasn't that hard. For hunting, it was plenty."
[Mages would lose their minds hearing that. Some devote lifetimes just to mana control.]
"Then they shouldn't have become mages."
[...Spot on.]
Clunk.
Kalderet chuckled awkwardly at Adel's retort, and as if in response, Shan's barrier unraveled.
"Even I took a good while to master mana control. Only possible because it's all in my head from memory."
[How long?]
"Let's see... about a year after catching that dragon?"
[That's salt in the wound for mages.]
Adel chuckled.
[Only dragons could teach you magic, I suppose. But even a black dragon strong against illusions—would it leave its spells in a grimoire?]
"Doubt it. Shan was greedy as hell. Guy even tried defying old age itself."
[Would a creature like that leave anything behind...?]
"Of course. Naturally."
Kugrrr rumble...
Adel slowly opened the door to the underground lair.
"The greedy don't leave their own treasures—but they hoard everyone else's."
Adel had seen it time and again: nothing quite as bountiful as a miser's trove. Especially from a dragon, not a human.
This place had to rank among the world's greatest collections of rarities.
[Impressive...]
Kalderet nodded at the dazzling piles of weapons, ornaments, jewels crammed floor to ceiling.
[Every damn thing imaginable.]
Adel decided to inspect Shan's lair carefully. Truth be told, he'd shown little interest in Queen Spider Ralka's armory for this very reason.
'Ralka's gear was solid, sure—but it was all fit to divvy up among the hunting squads.'
But everything here was surely beyond even his tribe's captains.
Clank—
Adel picked up one item from the lair. It looked like an ambiguously long rod, just a bit over arm's length—but any who knew its worth would light up.
Kaaang—!!
Channeling mana produced a clear ring echoing through the lair. Astonishingly, the rod shortened to a handspan, sharp spear blades emerging from both ends where they'd been hidden.
"Raksha's Spear."
The artifact wielded by the demon hunter said to have slain eighty-nine fiends.
"Demon blood soaked into the blade. Potent demonic energy. Holding a legend like this feels fresh."
[Raksha... Right, I remember. Back when the demon and heaven realms twisted, spilling war into the human world. Probably led by Reat, the high god of the sun.]
"Yep. First king of the Holy Kingdom, too."
[Shan got his claws on quite the prize.]
"And that's not all. Most of this stuff's national treasures."
Adel scanned the piled artifacts. There was the Chan Kingdom's sacred relic among the central nine, Unquenchable Ember, the lost Healing Ring of Zen Kingdom, even the Ivory Tower mages' holy grail, Talan's Ornament.
"All famed artifacts. Tempting, but too hot to use."
Adel coveted Shan's collection, but wielding them would alert kingdoms and mage guilds.
'They're warded with tracking spells. Shan hid them well, but step outside the barrier? Alarms everywhere.'
[Why hoard weapons he'd never use?]
Too ancient to chalk up to mere draconic greed. Sure, some dragons stayed avaricious, but Shan craved life, not gold.
"They're all connected. The Unquenchable Ember holds regenerative flames, Healing Ring restores vitality."
Adel examined the artifacts one by one.
"Talan's Ornament too. Single-use, but packs a massive recovery spell. Top-tier with elixirs among extant restoratives."
[Ah... All things that could extend his life, then.]
"Exactly."
[What about Raksha's Spear?]
"Old tales say demon blood grants immortality. Demon realm's only accessible via the dimensional gate in the Forbidden Zone—Ulan turf now. Even a dragon can't waltz in."
Adel eyed the spear.
"But the blade's demon blood is still fresh."
[Believing that nonsense. Dragons go senile too, huh?]
"Desperation makes fools of us all. Enough to swallow gods."
[Hmm...]
Nothing immediately useful, but Adel figured he'd stash these relics safe. No need to rush them back to owners who'd overlooked them so far.
'Valuables make great bargaining chips. Better a fair favor than blind goodwill.'
"This haul... Should snag me a fortress per kingdom at least."
Adel gave silent thanks for claiming them intact.
'In my past life, Karono became the Liberator King, freed Cratel—but never found Shan's lair.'
Later, when Karon's Azal Kingdom unified the continent, his high-god contractors uncovered it. But Shan's barriers proved unbreakable, so they shattered them. The shockwave pulverized most first-floor treasures.
"Though that did reveal some hidden gems."
Adel left them and descended deeper stairs.
"Hmm."
The basement below seemed empty. Or appeared so.
'If memory serves...'
He scanned the walls. Amid seamless stone, he sensed faint mana flow.
"Here."
Bwoooong—
Adel gripped Raksha's Spear from the first floor lightly.
"Hup...!!"
Mana surged into the blade, glowing faint red.
Kakakang—!!!!
With all his might, he jammed it into the mana-seeping crack.
Kakak... Kagagak...!!
Metal screeched, blade bending near to breaking, but Adel pushed harder.
Crack—!!
A fissure split the wall. Kang!!! The blade snapped under the strain.
"Well... No dealing with the Holy Kingdom, then."
Adel murmured at the halved spear.
"Eh, they've got the Nell Church's saintess anyway. She'll handle it."
He tossed the legendary demon-slaying spear aside carelessly and squeezed through the cracked wall.
Compared to what lay within, first-floor junk was nothing.
Woooong...
Inside, despite the intricate barriers, the space was bare save for a single small table.
"Found it."
Adel nodded in satisfaction.
"Dragons waste nothing—hide, bone, claw. But the brilliant ones hide the true prize separately."
Step—step—step—
"Old saying goes: dragons have two hearts."
[Fool's talk from the ignorant. They're just godly lifeforms. One heart, like anything.]
"It's a metaphor. They hide one vital thing in their lair."
[What Shan treasured most...]
Kalderet peered at the table with interest. There lay a suit of deep black leather armor like Shan's scales, and two scales.
[Dragon tailfins. Special scales from hatchling days. Prime material.]
Indeed, unlike normal scales, they resembled razor blades. But that wasn't the point.
"Shan lusted endlessly for life, so he cherished it above all."
[Like the first-floor relics.]
"Those were mere byproducts of life-extension pursuits."
[...Then this?]
Instead of answering, Adel reached for the black leather armor on the table.
"To escape his fate, Shan conducted endless research. This is its pinnacle."
Shhhrrk—
The armor clung to his touch like a living thing.
"Dragon's Gluttony."
[Intriguing armor.]
Kalderet eyed the perfectly fitted suit.
[Quintessential Shan. No one else could've dreamed this up.]
This Dragon's Gluttony was the monster that had devoured countless dragons.
"It craves anything—and grows stronger by absorbing it."
[Devouring to evolve... For Shan, it barely bought time to live. But you're different.]
"Yeah."
Crack—
Adel clenched his fist, wrapped in the armor.
"I'll devour everything."