Chapter 182
Drip, drip.
Callius's red blood drips down through his torn armor.
His expression twisted instantly, but he didn't scream.
Screech, screech.
The caught Predator Sword screams.
Soon, he twists the sword and pulls it out.
However, the Mad Dragon wasn't about to just stand by and watch.
Dyed red claws.
With gangi shaped like a dragon's claw made of dragon power, it lunges once more.
-Isn't a sword useless once it's caught? Why do you fight so foolishly like a human even after gaining the dragon's power?
Though its mouth didn't move once, it was definitely the Mad Dragon's voice.
A voice full of doubt.
But the emotion contained within it was delight.
As if finding something so amusing, it continuously swung its claws and attacked Callius.
Clang! Claang-!
It tries to catch the sword again.
But at that moment. Callius's deflection, completed by Bernard, activates.
'Flowing Water Transformation.'
He twists the sword and lets it flow out of the Mad Dragon's grasp trying to catch it.
The corners of the Mad Dragon's eyes twitch.
It scoffs as if knowing exactly what he will do, and then its other claw rushes in.
A claw with fearsome power is swung, as if intending to tear Callius's chest apart once again.
However.
Boom-!!
Along with the sound of tearing air, a gleam appears in Callius's eyes.
-So you finally understand.
What blocked the Mad Dragon's claw was Callius's hand, covered in a red aura.
It was a claw of gangi, made of dragon power just like the Mad Dragon's.
"……."
-It is foolish to rarely use the power of the dragon after obtaining it. Little human who possesses much. To defeat the strong enemies that will entertain me, you must use what you have more appropriately.
"If you're just going to give advice, shouldn't you stop attacking?"
That's right.
The Mad Dragon was currently giving Callius advice.
Scolding him for not using dragon power well, it revealed how to use the power.
Saying that the dragon's power is that powerful.
-That won't do. I'm savoring this rare freedom.
It's quite a talkative fellow.
Callius thought so.
But at the same time, he felt that the Mad Dragon had no intention of killing him.
He didn't know why, but the Mad Dragon held a slight goodwill towards him.
The problem was only that the goodwill was a bit rough.
-Dragon power is the power that plunders the energy of nature and wields it. It is different from the demonic power those insects use. It is inevitably fundamentally different from those guys who watch for the will of the earth.
Dragons only wield power.
They don't need the will of nature.
Because of that, they cannot change the power's form.
However, they draw out a deeper-rooted power of nature and use it overbearingly.
Only attack. An intense strike.
Attacking in a form with higher destructive power is called dragon power.
-The power you use called Remnant is certainly an outstanding power found nowhere else. But it is still weak. Just because it embraces everything doesn't mean it is powerful. It would be different if you grew what you possess a little more. As of now, dragon power is stronger.
"……."
Standing still.
Callius, who had lowered his sword, agonized over the Mad Dragon's words.
Remnant is a power that draws out three powers in balance and combines them into one.
Thanks to that, it is his own power that exerts great force, and at the same time, is incredibly intense.
But the Mad Dragon was denying it.
To some extent, Callius admitted it as well.
Because as dragon power and demonic power increased, there was still room to spare in both powers.
Come to think of it, Callius hadn't used dragon power properly very often.
Because when he first used dragon power, he had a past of lying down for months due to the recoil.
Thanks to that, it was also true that he instinctively harbored a reluctance towards dragon power.
After that, he reached a state that transcended the human body and eliminated the recoil, but there was no need to use it since he obtained the power of Remnant.
Even when he did use it, he never used it as gangi, and only used it to strengthen his physical level.
-Dragon power is as simple a power as you think. But precisely because it is simple, it is strong.
A power to destroy something.
It could be seen as a completely different power from demonic power, which shares the same root.
An overbearing power, different from demonic power which harmonizes with nature and invokes it.
-Let me show you.
The Mad Dragon raises its hand in Tel's form. Seeing the ominously swirling hair, Callius's face distorts involuntarily.
"I don't think you need to show me..."
Rumble-
Red dragon power swirls across heaven and earth.
The ominous dragon power emanating from the Mad Dragon soon gathers at a single point.
-Dragon's Claw.
Crash-
The claw of madness rushes in.
The shape of a red claw soaring high into the sky aimed at Callius.
Immediately igniting Remnant and casting Re-liquification, he blocked the Mad Dragon's massive claw.
Screeeech!
No.
He couldn't block it.
Pushed back as he was, Callius barely dodged the shape of the three massive blade-like claws.
Crash! Crash!!
[Damm it.]
Boom-!
The sanctuary exploded.
Along with the sanctuary shattering and falling like glass fragments, the Northern landscape reveals itself once more.
The North was still in chaos.
The soldiers were fighting with all their might.
The battlefield was full of heat, and the still-living trolls and demonic beasts.
And they were shouting the song of bravery while facing the brainwashed knights.
Bernard's unique ability.
It was the effect of turning the vanished star into a sanctuary.
They had fought for quite a long time inside the sanctuary, but only a moment had passed in the North.
"Huu, huk. Huu……."
The recoil of the sanctuary-ization rushes in.
Callius's body, clearly showing signs of exhaustion, was reddened with blood.
The area under his eyes was slightly dark, and his complexion was pale, but the Northern soldiers who saw that sight all felt their hearts sink.
"Lord Callius...!"
"Lord Callius!!"
Callius was covered in blood as if he would die soon, but the woman facing him was completely unharmed, which was why.
-Have you finally come to feel the dragon's power a little?
"Perhaps."
Because what he possessed had rather increased.
His past life, lived having nothing, would have held him back.
To grow his meager power.
What he had to do was train, and train again, and acquire many things.
Because he had nothing.
He had a compulsion to fill that.
So he was greedy for this and that.
He rose to his current position because of that, but Callius felt it.
That he needed to become even stronger.
"Let's try it your way for now."
The dragon's power.
The fairy's power.
The god's power.
How to utilize these.
Not just increasing the quantity, but increasing the quality and using them in the right places.
"Niol."
[Yes, my lord.]
Callius, who had taken out the Iron Lord at some point, called Niol and received the sword.
The sword he received was the Fire Dragon Sword-Ervyetru.
The heat contained within it transmitted from his fingertips.
Callius had never shot a breath with only dragon power contained in the Fire Dragon Sword.
He had never fully used the dragon power he obtained after killing the fire dragon.
Because he hadn't met a strong person he could pour everything into.
Swish.
Callius, who spun the sword once, raised the Fire Dragon Sword high into the sky.
With the heat of the sword, the snow piled up around him instantly melted.
The blood-stained snowfield melted in an instant, and the damp earth dried in a flash, a murky color spreading instantly.
The dragon's breath emanating from the Fire Dragon Sword.
Added to that, Callius's dragon power took on a red hue and enveloped the area.
All dragon power.
Callius, who had pulled out even the root of the dragon power that occupied one peak of Manhwabongyuk, vomited blood and smiled.
"How is it?"
Chuck.
He gripped the sword held in one hand with both hands and struck down just like that.
Rumble-!
The fire dragon's breath shooting out in a straight line.
The breath that burns everything is reproduced in Callius's single strike.
The breath carrying a massive heat enough to blow away the North's cold in an instant headed towards the ghost of the past.
-Magnificent.
The Mad Dragon's dragon power gathers in its mouth.
Small red particles gather little by little and make the air quiver.
Soon, having taken a deep breath, it exhales the breath all at once.
Roaaaaar-!!
The Mad Dragon's breath.
Reproduced with a fairy's body, it brightly illuminates the dark night sky in an instant.
The breaths of the fire dragon and the mad dragon meet, clashing dizzily and mixing together.
With the subtle harmony of light, an aurora unfolds in the sky for a moment, and an abnormal air current is created by the collision of massive power.
But soon.
A massive explosion that made the sky ring out occurred, and Callius, the Mad Dragon, and the majority of the demonic beasts were caught up in the explosion.
* * *
Flinch.
Opening my eyes suddenly, I saw a ceiling that was familiar yet unfamiliar.
This is probably the room I used to use in the past.
The room I've used since childhood.
As a member of Zervan…….
'Member? Father?'
Callius's brow furrowed.
And as soon as he got up from the bed, a voice was heard as if it had been waiting.
"You have awakened."
Startled but not showing it at all, Callius looked at the woman who had been nursing him.
"Tel?"
A woman with long, lush green hair wearing some maid clothes.
She was definitely the Great Fairy who almost brought the North to ruin with her rampage.
It was Tel.
"As expected, you know my name."
"...The Mad Dragon?"
"It disappeared. No, it would be more accurate to say it returned."
It returned.
At that, Callius placed his hand on his heart.
'I see.'
Certainly.
The Mad Dragon Sword had settled in Callius's heart once again.
Seeing as she said it disappeared, or returned, it was likely the Mad Dragon's will rather than hers.
"What happened?"
"A month ago. At the end, you and the Mad Dragon clashed, and the Northern war also came to a close. Because the battlefield was completely devastated with the massive explosion."
The final strike.
The Mad Dragon and Callius, who shared that blow, both lost consciousness.
The Mad Dragon used all its strength to return to him on its own, and Tel, who regained consciousness, immediately restored the North to its original state.
"After that?"
"We subjugated the remaining remnants, the North has found stability, and by your arrangement, the beastmen are also busy building their village. Other places are also carrying out restoration work."
The reinforcements that arrived from Carpe finished the battlefield and are proceeding with the restoration of the heavily damaged villages.
"The North has won."
At Tel's appearance speaking with a bright smile, Callius asked back.
"What are you going to do?"
She was waiting for him in her original fairy form, not the appearance of Nohitel.
Callius couldn't guess what that implied.
"Why are you wearing maid clothes?"
"My mindset has changed, and the times have changed, so it is to serve Zervan with a new body and mind."
"...Is that so."
"Yes. I used to serve Zervan in a new form every time the lord of the North changed in the past. Of course, it was only a superficial service, but this time is different."
Tel took Callius's hand.
"I will protect the North now."
No longer a bystander.
At Tel's appearance proclaiming that she would become the guardian of the North, Callius slowly nodded his head.
'The North won't be a worry now.'
Tel would annihilate any ordinary enemies.
If only the risk of being brainwashed like this time is eliminated, Tel's power won't easily fall behind no matter who comes.
'And there are few who know better than Tel about Zervan's finances and current situation.'
These reasons were also involved in why he saved Tel.
Because Callius was not a person who could settle down and live only in the North.
To become stronger.
To save Carpe.
For the continent.
For his ambition, he needed to become stronger, and therefore he was destined to not be able to settle in one place.
'Also, it's not good to stay in Carpe for long, if only because of the dragons.'
If there was a reliable proxy, his mind would be much more at ease.
The North is the place Callius will return to.
Whatever happens, it's his hometown.
"Are you satisfied with that?"
"...Yes. I almost destroyed the North, which I have watched over for nearly a thousand years, with my own hands. I will live atoning for that... and keeping my promise with my friend."
Tel spoke while looking at one corner of the bed. Following her gaze, there was the Guardian Sword of the North.
Zervan's family heirloom and the sword made by the progenitor.
The Storm Sword-Kallis stood upright in its scabbard.
Kallis.
The presence of Kallis, melted into her years, was that immense.
But Tel's eyes were now directed not at Kallis, but at Callius, who held it.
"Elberton said he would retire now. He wanted to leave everything to you."
Beside Kallis was Roas. Bernard.
The Iron Lord was also stood side by side with them. Precious swords with enough value to be exchanged for a city even if there was only one.
Callius got out of bed.
"……."
When he paused for a moment due to the pain in his chest, Tel gently supported him as if it were natural.
"Your body's recovery is twice as fast as others. But still, your body hasn't fully recovered yet. Be careful."
"Thank you."
Only after gathering all the swords did he sit down and put on his clothes.
In Callius's room, where he had organized his clothes with Tel's help, a neat knock was heard just in time.
"Come in."
He knew who it was.
The footsteps and the aura felt were telling him who it was.
Only after he put on a somewhat comfortable outer garment did the door open, and the figure of a woman bowing to Callius was seen.
"You're awake."
A woman with fluttering light pink hair.
And behind her.
"Father."
Emily's face, full of complaint, was reflected in Callius's eyes.
Callius's eyebrows twitched as an obviously troublesome combination appeared.
"What is it?"
To his question, Emily answered.
"Grandpa said this woman left me in Zervan and ran away, is that true?"
"Is that true?"
"……."
Callius froze for a moment, then soon spoke nonchalantly.
"I have a lot to do, so everyone get out."
His answer was an evasion.