The Dark King had possessed talent.
And because he held the 'Authority' contained within the curse, harming others was no difficult task.
He did not become intoxicated by power, yet he consistently wielded it.
As time passed, he came to be called the Dark King and stood at the pinnacle of dark assassins.
As power gathered, other dark assassins began congregating around him.
The Cheolya Assassination Squad was created in that manner.
It was merely a hundred years ago….
"Wait… what?"
I had been listening intently to the Dark King's words when I cut him off.
The Dark King, who had been explaining calmly, closed his mouth and looked at me.
I found it even stranger that he was looking at me as if to ask why I was doing this.
Had I misheard? Something was definitely strange.
"…A hundred years ago? You just said a hundred years ago, did you not?"
"That is correct."
The birth of the Cheolya Assassination Squad was a hundred years ago?
For an expert of the Dark King's caliber to live that long was rare, but not unheard of.
'…Judging from the flow of the story, it seemed he had lived even longer than that.'
Listening to the stories the Dark King told, tales from far before a hundred years kept emerging.
Which meant.
"…Senior, if I may ask, how old are you?"
"After one hundred and fifty, I have never counted."
"…"
I had to clamp my mouth shut at the words he uttered so casually.
'…One hundred and fifty?'
I had clearly heard him right.
One hundred and fifty years old? And seeing that he hadn't even counted after that meant he was even older.
'That gentleman looks young.'
Judging solely by the Dark King's outward appearance, he absolutely did not look it.
The Patriarch had undergone rejuvenation, so that was one thing.
But no matter how generously one estimated, the Dark King was someone who did not even look forty.
Even if he looked somewhat strange now with his changed skin, when he had possessed white hair and white eyes, he had been a handsome man.
For such a person to be one hundred and fifty years old….
At an age far greater than expected, I found myself dumbfounded.
As I stared blankly at the Dark King, he brought up words as if to add an explanation.
"The curse does not permit even death."
"Then… does that mean you have achieved immortality?"
A curse that did not permit even death.
Should that truly be called a curse?
At the very least.
"…If you cannot die of old age, there is still death by another's hand, is there not?"
If one wished for death, one could simply be killed by someone. If suicide was impossible.
There would be poison, and likely other methods as well.
Why had he not done so?
Just as such doubt sprouted.
"Because it does not permit death by those of a lower race."
"Haha, what a load of bullshit."
Hearing the story, I instinctively cursed.
Just how great a race was he that such a fucked-up situation could occur?
Moreover.
'The Yeon Family's origin.'
The family of Yeon Ilcheon who saved the world. The Geumcheon Yeon Clan.
If their bloodline had received such a curse.
Why on earth…?
"…Do you not know how you came to receive such a curse?"
"It is recorded that the Great Dragon was enraged, and thus I received this curse."
Receiving the curse of dragon blood because the Great Dragon was enraged.
'The Great Dragon….'
When I tried to recall, there was naturally one fellow who came to mind.
'Blood Demon.'
He was the only one who could be presumed to be a dragon, so if a curse had been cast, it could only have been him.
The Blood Demon had cursed Yeon Ilcheon's blood.
Was that a judgment I should make? Immediately after thinking that far.
I said what I had been wanting to say to the Dark King.
"But, Senior."
"Yes."
"Can you not simply treat me comfortably?"
Please, uncross your kneeling legs; this sudden shift to honorifics was giving me goosebumps and driving me mad.
"Why are you doing this…."
"…"
At my words, the Dark King fell silent for a moment.
"Hmm."
Then letting out a short grunt, he moved slightly.
Then.
"…!"
Before I knew it, the Dark King's dagger was at my throat.
No, it had not touched me. Because the Dark King had stopped just before it did.
'What?'
Let us say I could not follow the Dark King's movement.
Killing intent had been fully felt.
He had clearly seemed to intend to kill me.
But for some reason, that attack had stopped.
Wondering what was happening, I looked at the Dark King, and as he withdrew his dagger, he spoke to me.
"I not only cannot harm you, but I must also show the utmost respect within my capability."
"…What happens if you do not?"
"I must."
Hmm.
So. The Dark King was saying he had to act that way toward me even if he did not wish to.
And he could not attack me either.
Was he saying this to prove it?
I gently rubbed my cold neck.
It was slightly annoying that I had not been able to react.
"…I see. I understand everything."
Yes, the Dark King was afflicted by some curse.
I understood that gentleman had become a half-dragon, and because I had become a dragon, he had to act that way toward me.
"So, Senior, what is it that you wish from me?"
What did the Dark King want from me now?
I needed to know exactly.
'Hadn't he asked me to undo his curse?'
Release his curse. The Dark King had made that request of me.
'How am I supposed to undo that?'
Even if he asked, I had no way of doing so.
No, even if there were a way, I had to know it to undo it.
'How can I undo it when I do not know the method?'
With the situation as it was, I did not know what to do even with the Dark King acting this way.
Regarding this, the Dark King spoke.
"It was said that if you meet a dragon, it will be resolved. They said dragons would know."
I furrowed my brow at those words.
It would be resolved if I met a dragon?
"…Who told you such a thing?"
That meeting a dragon would resolve the curse? If he had judged that since a dragon cast the curse, a dragon could remove it, that would be one thing.
But if he had heard it, the story was different.
Because it meant someone had given him such information.
I asked the Dark King with a somewhat grave expression.
"Tai Tian."
He answered thus.
"The Master of Tai Tian said so."
"Tai Tian… Tai Tian?"
My eyes widened at those words.
If it's Tai Tian… surely not.
"…Do you mean the Demonic Realm in the northeast?"
The Demonic Realm of Tai Tian.
It refers to an open Demonic Realm near the Heukryong River region at the border of the Central Plains.
Unlike a Demonic Realm Gate or a True Demon Realm Gate, it does not pour out demons.
One of several open Demonic Realms managed by the Martial Arts Alliance.
It was the one located furthest among them.
However.
'Master.'
The word 'master' that the Dark King had uttered.
That word struck me particularly deeply. Here, 'master' ultimately meant.
'The master of the Demonic Realm called Tai Tian.'
It would be equivalent to saying the master of the world.
Then, the Dark King had met the master of the world called Tai Tian.
And heard from him that meeting a dragon could release the curse.
'Just what kind of being is he?'
Not only did a being from another world pop out of nowhere.
It was strange that he had spoken of dragons.
"Does that mean… could it be related to the reason you are here, Senior?"
"Yes."
The Dark King answered without hesitation to the question.
The reason the Dark King was here.
He surely had the Patriarch's request as well. But I thought of something else first.
"What about the Black Dragon Sword?"
The clear reason I had come to Sacheon.
It was the Dark King who had destroyed the Black Dragon Sword in a single strike when it transformed into a bizarre form.
Was that related as well?
"Tai Tian said it. To undo the curse, one must meet a dragon. So, he said he would tell me the dragon's location."
The Dark King's stiff honorifics continued to grate on my ears, but I did not point it out.
"That was the deal to hear that."
"…That being?"
"Eliminating the strayed apostle."
Apostle?
He had answered thus regarding the reason for finding the Black Dragon Sword.
'Does that mean the Black Dragon Sword was Tai Tian's apostle?'
Just from hearing, Tai Tian seemed to be the master of another world.
The Black Dragon Sword was the apostle of such a master. Leaving aside how such a process had unfolded.
That meant then.
'…So that's why the one said to be dead came back to life.'
The reason the Black Dragon Sword, said to have met death at the hands of the Sword Sovereign, was alive.
If a high being from another world had reached out, it roughly added up.
Though there were some doubts.
"Then, why did you not deal with the Black Dragon Sword immediately, Senior?"
The reason the Dark King had to come all the way to Shinnyong Hall to kill it.
I could not understand this.
To this question, the Dark King tilted his head slightly and spoke to me.
"That was the best method."
"Specifically."
"I had to approach the Black Dragon Sword. And he happened to be seeking my help. So, I used him."
"…!"
At the Dark King's casually uttered words, I finally realized the black curtain that had spread across Shinnyong Hall at that time.
"…Was that your doing, Senior?"
Every time I recalled it, I had thought it felt familiar.
Now I knew why.
'It is similar to the curtain used when killing me hundreds of times.'
The barrier that had been spread all night claiming to help my training.
Was this the reason the power I had seen then seemed similar?
The reason the Dark King had appeared at Shinnyong Hall out of nowhere.
I realized this belatedly.
So this was the reason.
To obtain information to find a dragon.
He had been complying with Tai Tian's request for that purpose.
"…And by doing so, while listening to the request, you met me?"
"Yes."
He met me, who resonated with him at Shinnyong Hall.
Finding it strange, he followed me partly due to the Patriarch's request, and I ended up shedding my shell and becoming a dragon.
Was this the meaning?
'Is there such a fucking coincidence?'
I denied my own inward thoughts.
This was no coincidence.
It absolutely could not be a coincidence.
No matter how much I wished it to be one.
'Tai Tian…'
Perhaps that being of unknown identity had known I would become a dragon.
And so, while having the Black Dragon Sword dealt with, he sent the Dark King to entangle with me.
This was purely delusion, but somehow I had a premonition that it was not wrong.
'Why was the Black Dragon Sword eliminated?'
I did not know what kind of being he was, but if the Black Dragon Sword was his apostle, why eliminate it now?
'…Tai Tian was at the Heukryong River.'
The Demonic Realm that was somewhat accessible.
Of course, various martial artists including the Alliance had formed camps around it, so one could not enter.
It was in a relatively easy-to-find location.
The distance was the only fucking problem.
'I should go there.'
I made up my mind to go there.
Even if impossible in the near future, I would add it to my list of things to do.
Moreover, judging by how the Dark King kept answering, it seemed I could obtain information if I sought it.
Before that, I had to finish what I was saying earlier.
"I do not know how to undo your curse, Senior."
I answered honestly.
Because I did not want to test the waters with something I did not know how to do.
"…"
Despite answering with such sincerity, the Dark King's expression remained unchanged.
What?
Was this not it? I looked at the Dark King with a strange expression.
"It does not matter."
"…Yes?"
I had to pause briefly at the answer he spat out.
It does not matter?
The one who had been kneeling begging to have his curse undone until just now? Just as I was thinking what bizarre nonsense this was.
"If you cannot undo my curse, I have another request."
"Another one?"
He had something else he wanted from me besides undoing the curse?
"What is it?"
I asked for now.
I had to know what it was to decide whether to refuse or not.
Asking the Dark King with an uneasy expression, he immediately gave his answer.
And.
"Right here, right now,"
I had to hold my breath hearing the Dark King's words.
"please kill me."
"…!"
A terrifying request spat out in a dry, parched voice.
'This…'
Seeing those words and his gaze, I could realize that the request the Dark King had wished for from me from the beginning was the same.
The words asking to undo the curse.
And the current words were ultimately the same.
What the Dark King wanted from me from the beginning was that.
He.
"And so, I earnestly implore you to save me."
From the beginning, he had been wishing for his own death.
Night passed and dawn arrived.
To be exact, it was just around the time the sun was barely rising.
"Hoo…"
Right after simply finishing my dawn training, I washed my body in the wind.
It was partly to wash away the sweat that had flowed, but I simply wanted to wash something away.
It was also proof of how frustrated I was.
"…What am I supposed to do?"
I was extremely troubled because of what happened last night.
—Please kill me.
The Dark King who had come suddenly explained his curse to me and requested that I kill him, but.
In the end, I did not kill the Dark King.
"Kgh…"
If asked why I did not kill him, the reason was simple.
'How can I just kill someone because they ask me to?'
Killing people was not something I feared.
How could I be afraid of such a thing now?
Nor was I unable to kill him because of any special affection for the Dark King.
What affection would I have for him?
If I had to find a reason, it was simply that it felt wrong.
I understood his wish and the problem of the curse, but for some reason, killing him felt uncomfortable.
I did not know if the problem lay in the curse binding him or in my being a dragon, but.
That was truly the reason.
Moreover.
'There are not many situations where I can obtain information like this.'
Not only did it feel wrong, but it was also a situation where letting the Dark King go as is felt regrettable.
'He wants something from me.'
What the Dark King wanted was clear.
He wished for the curse entangling him to be undone.
Whether he wished for it to be undone directly or to be liberated through death.
Do you know what my first thought was upon hearing this?
'Can I use that?'
Disgustingly, that was the thought.
When considering the value the Dark King possessed, I could not help it.
Even.
'I need to know about myself too.'
He seemed to know more about dragons than I did, and because he possessed dragon blood, he said he could use a power called 'Authority.'
'Was that the power at Shinnyong Hall?'
Not only that, but the reason he had helped me train by killing me hundreds of times seemed to be that power as well.
'So it was not martial arts.'
The identity of the power that seemed not to be martial arts no matter how I looked at it—upon learning of it, I understood better.
It had been ambiguous to call it a formation.
It had been far from martial arts, so no matter how much I thought about it, I could not understand.
'Rather, if it's a non-human power, I can understand.'
In fact, if it were an individual power, that would be better, let alone.
'Can I use it too?'
If even I, who was no longer human, could use it, it was somewhat welcome news.
Since I was severely lacking in power, it would not be bad to fill it with anything.
The problem was.
'So… just what the hell is a dragon?'
Before that, I had to find out what a dragon was.
The Dark King—that is, the curse cast on the Yeon Family's bloodline—was presumed to be by the Blood Demon.
The Blood Demon was presumed to be a dragon.
'He was called the Dragon Emperor.'
Recalling that Hyeolgi had called him the Dragon Emperor, unless something was amiss, it meant the Blood Demon was a dragon.
'Then, what about Mother?'
Recalling Father's reaction here, I could tell my mother was also a non-human being.
I had known from the start that she was not human since she was called a calamity.
'…Is Mother a dragon too?'
I wondered if that was how I should see it.
I judged that Father thinking of Mother upon seeing my changed appearance might be for that reason too.
The Blood Demon was a dragon.
If my mother was a dragon too.
"…Could it be that calamities themselves are all 'dragons'?"
If so, did me currently becoming a dragon mean I could consider it a calamity's devotion?
"Hmm…"
Gathering the infuriatingly scattered information one by one and fitting it into the frame to make it whole.
Somehow the result felt even more fucked up.
"…Fuck."
No matter what, the conclusion had not changed: I was like a calamity.
It was even becoming clearer.
It was an utterly fucked-up situation.
"This is why I should have kept my head down and lived quietly from the start."
As I had intended at first, I should have gathered what I needed and lived holed up in the mountains.
Why did I go around saying I'd save the world and end up like this?
It was absurd.
'I tried to stop the Bloody Calamity, and now I've become the calamity.'
Truly ridiculous.
No, it was not yet confirmed that I was a calamity.
Should I hold out some hope?
'Bullshit. As if that would work.'
I knew it was a nonsensical wish even thinking about it myself.
I was merely barely holding back doubts that refused to be acknowledged.
'If I'm a calamity, there becomes a problem with the Heavenly Demon.'
It was the Heavenly Demon who caused the Bloody Calamity.
Knowing that, I was scrambling like mad to stop the Bloody Calamity that would erupt in the future.
If I were a calamity here, wouldn't that be strange?
Because of that one reason, even if all arrows pointed at me, I could not easily believe it.
"…Noya, don't you know anything?"
I called out to Noya with a frustrated heart, but.
[…]
Noya gave no answer.
"Hmm…."