년 만에 귀환한 대마도사

【 】

낙하산
Visualised information.

Indeed, if it was possible to access information in this way, then it was certainly
possible to identify unknown herbs and fruits.

Of course, that didn’t mean to trust it blindly.

As if she read Lukas’ mind, Min Ha-rin calmly continued.

“To be honest, I didn’t really trust it at first. However, during a fight with a
Dragonling, I suffered from grievous injuries and would have died if not for a
medicinal herb that I found nearby.”

The information window had said the herb was effective at staunching bleeding and
restoring energy, so Min Ha-rin had taken the risk to crush some in her hands to
spread over her wounds before chewing on the rest.

After that, she passed out for several days before she finally woke up, her condition
much better than before.

“That’s when I began to trust it.”

Min Ha-rin had stayed on the Untamed Island for about a year, and in that time, she
explored a large portion. This was because she’d hoped she’d meet one of the others.

Of course, it couldn’t be said that she had searched the entire island. After all,
considering the size of the island and the amount of danger it contained, one year
was far too short.

In particular, some areas were under the control of certain, powerful monsters.

Usually, as long as one didn’t step into their territory, they didn’t show much
aggression or hostility. Unfortunately, Min Ha-rin, who didn’t know anything about
that, had entered those areas. As a result, she’d almost died two times.
From then on, she ensured that she always knew who was in control of what
territory, and she always paid special attention whenever she was passing by.

As time went on, Min Ha-rin began to feel tired and lonely.

At that moment, she no longer wanted to just meet one of the others. Instead, she
simply wished to find some other intelligent being she could communicate with.

It was only around a year and two months after her arrival that she was able to meet
a Dragonmen she could communicate with.

“Fortunately, they didn’t display any hostility towards me. In fact, they looked at me
with a bit of awe.”

They were researchers who had gone to study the island.

These researchers were greatly surprised to learn that Min Ha-rin had survived on
that island for more than a year, and they were very curious and interested.

Even if she felt a bit strange, Min Ha-rin gladly welcomed this. She immediately
joined their group, and after a while, she was able to go to the largest and safest of
the Seven Islands, ‘Peace Island’.

“While on Peace Island, I made my money by doing several miscellaneous jobs while
seeking news about the members of our team.”

Of course, as Lukas knew, her search hadn’t yielded any results.

The researchers who had taken Min Ha-rin to Peace Island told her that there wasn’t
much contact between islands.

From what Lukas was told, the culture, lifestyle, and values of every island were all
different.

In fact, apart from speaking the same language, they were basically a bunch of
separate countries.

In other words, despite being on Peace Island, the information she could receive was
very limited.
That was why Min Ha-rin decided to explore the other islands after acquiring the
minimum required funds.

The Heavenly Realm was made up of seven islands.

Combat Island, Untamed Island, Peace Island, Death Island, Adventure Island, Desire
Island.

And Dragon God Island.

Min Ha-rin had been able to enter all of the islands except two.

“Death Island is a forbidden area, and Dragon God Island is a sanctuary. Access to
both of them is strictly off-limits. Nevertheless, I heard that it’s possible to go to
Dragon God Island if you become the Grand Champion.”

“Grand Champion?”

”Yeah. It’s the title given to the strongest Champion on Combat Island. A competition
is held every ten years.”

“…”

In other words, Min Ha-rin had to become the Champion of the city in order to enter
Dragon God Island.

“I knew it was possible for there to be others here, but… this world is much larger
than I expected.”

‘Yeah.”

Min Ha-rin nodded.

If even the ‘Heavenly Realm’ which sat in the sky was large enough to be called a
world in its own right.

Then they couldn’t help but wonder just how large the world beneath the clouds
was.

In that case, Min Ha-rin and Lukas might actually be luckier than they thought.
After all, although it took five years, they had been able to start in the Heavenly
Realm, and they had even managed to reunite.

But what about the others.

‘When will we meet them?’

No, could they even meet them?

They had no idea where they were, and more importantly, they didn’t even know if
they were in the same time period.

What if someone had already appeared in this world decades ago? Or what if they
only appeared over a hundred years in the future?

If that was the case, then even searching for them would be a waste of time…

“Ha-rin.”

Min Ha-rin was awoken from her thoughts by Lukas’ voice.

She turned to look at him. The face of the Master from her memories. A face that
she’d thought about hundreds and thousands of times in the past. The face she likes
the most, although she never told anyone.

“You’ve learned a bad habit.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, you don’t have to worry about things on your own anymore.”

Those words caused Min Ha-rin’s mouth to fall open slightly.

It was only then she realised that at some point, she’d stopped opening her heart to
others.

In fact, she’d even begun to forget what she was like originally.

“Maybe we’ll meet the others sometime in the future. This was a game designed by
the Rulers, and they were the ones who made us pick five teammates. If there was no
way for us to meet each other, they wouldn’t have designated the number of people
we could bring.”

“…yeah.”

“There’s no need to rush. Now, we can think it over together.”

“…”

Min Ha-rin’s expression softened subconsciously.

Together.

For some reason, that word was really nice to hear.

After talking for a while, Lukas also told Min Ha-rin of his experience.

By comparing what they encountered, they were able to find a few discrepancies.

“I didn’t hear a voice… telling me about four statues.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But I think I might have heard some information about one of them.”

As she said that, Min Ha-rin got up from her seat, then, she took a piece of dried
parchment from a drawer in the corner and spread it on the table without bothering
to close the drawer.

Drawn on this piece of parchment was a map. It appeared to be a map of the

Heavenly Realm.

“This is Combat Island, where we are now.”

“To the extreme west.”

“Yeah. And this… is Dragon God Island.”

Min Ha-rin’s finger was now pointing at the very center of the map.

There, an island that was many times smaller than those around it, sat directly in the
middle.

Unlike the other islands which were all large enough to be called continents in their
own right, Dragon God Island was extremely small, comparable to an actual island.

“I’ve heard that there is a statue of the Dragon God here.”

“The Dragon God?”

“I’m not sure about the details. There’s also the possibility that it’s only a rumor. As
far as I know, very few Dragonmen were actually able to enter Dragon God Island.”

After hearing those words, Lukas lowered his head and appeared lost in thought for
a while.

Min Ha-rin glanced at his side profile for a bit before opening her mouth.

“Hey, Master, your power is limited right now, isn’t it? I remember you said you can
only use up to 7-star magic.”

“That’s right.”

“…then, I’ll protect you from now on, Master.”

“…”

Lukas raised his head and looked at Min Ha-rin.

For some reason, she was puffing out her chest, and there was a confident
expression on her face.

“I’ve grown much stronger in the past five years. Trust me.”

Lukas nodded inwardly.

She had the right to be confident.

Min Ha-rin had always been extremely talented. In the past five years, she had fought
in countless life and death battles like during her time on Untamed Island or in the
arena. And yet, she survived.

Those endless battles were the perfect opportunities which allowed her to grow
explosively.

In fact, even Lukas wasn’t exactly sure just how strong she was at that moment.

“Then, shall we fight?”

“Huh?”
“What’s wrong? I can only use 7-stars spell right now.”

She knew that. He’d already told her earlier.

Min Ha-rin’s expression was a bit strange.

“No. I mean… I think I’ve reached 7 stars.”

This was thanks to the special fruits and herbs that she’d eaten on Untamed Island.
Of course, she didn’t know any relevant spells, but it was clear that she had at least
stepped her foot into the realm of an Archmage.

“That’s something to celebrate.”

“…”

She wasn’t sure how to react.

Magic wasn’t Min Ha-rin’s only weapon. Her magical swordsmanship had almost
reached a state of perfection through the countless battles she had experienced. At
present, she was confident that she would be able to win even if she were to face
several Fighters at her level in the arena.

It was only at that moment that Lukas realised what his student was thinking.

“I see. So you were worried about me.”

“U-, umm.”

Min Ha-rin coughed slightly as Lukas accurately hit the nail on the head.

In his current state, Lukas could only use 7-star spells at best.

In addition to 7-star spells and magical swordsmanship, Min Ha-rin had also learned
several tricks over the years.

It wasn’t exactly unreasonable for her to be confident in her victory.

“It’s not a bad thing for you to worry about me, but I don’t think you’ve reached that
stage yet.”
“Huh?”

“Once you face me, you’ll understand.”

A gentle smile spread across Lukas’ lips at that moment.

“Why your Master is called the Great Mage.”

***

“By the way, Master, what exactly is your relationship with Bargan?”

“He calls me Lord.”

“Huh?”

“We fought and I won.”

“Ahh.”

Min Ha-rin nodded in understanding.

“‘Headsmasher Bargan’ is one of the most famous Fighters in the region. I’ve heard
that several Fighter teams in the arena invited him, but he ignored every one of
them.”

“…”

Lukas frowned slightly, thinking about Bargan.

At first, he had been doubtful of Bargan allegiance. He found it very hard to believe
and accept. But this was natural. After all, Lukas didn’t know how honest and
honourable Dragonmen were.

In fact, the only real reason that he kept him at his side was to obtain information
about the Heavenly Realm.

It was much more efficient to listen to an explanation given by someone else than to
investigate on his own in a place he’d never been to before.
But Bargan’s loyalty was no joke, nor was it a trick. At first, Lukas felt that it was
fortunate, but now, the situation had become a bit more ambiguous.

Because he’d met Min Ha-rin. After traveling around this region for five years, she
would certainly have experienced many things by now. So even if he didn’t rely on
Bargan, he could simply ask Min Ha-rin if he was curious about something.

“I wanted to let Bargan go, but I can’t seem to convince him.”

Lukas could feel the stubbornness within the Dragonman Fighter.

It was highly unlikely that Bargan would nod and say ‘yes’ if Lukas told him to leave.

“Master, did you fight a life and death battle with Bargan?”

“Right.”

“Mm… Then it’s possible that if you try to force him to leave, he will just kill himself.”

Naturally, Min Ha-rin knew that Lukas didn’t want him to die.

But they couldn’t exactly keep him with them either.

Lukas and Min Ha-rin hadn’t come to this world to play. They were participants of
the ‘Qualifiers for the Great Game’. They were fundamentally different from the
Dragonmen and other races that were native to this world.

There were times when they would have to talk about the ‘original world’, or ‘Rulers’,
of the ‘Great Game’. And it wouldn’t be feasible for them to avoid Bargan at those
times.

‘In all honesty, Bargan isn’t worth that much.’

Min Ha-rin knew.

Even if the ‘Heavenly Realm’ was only a part of the ‘Great World’, there were
countless powerful beings with unfathomable strength.

Even if she had become stronger, Min Ha-rin wasn’t confident that she could win
against them just yet.
‘If he was strong enough, it might be worth it to think of an alternative, but… ’

After thinking for a while, Min Ha-rin finally spoke in a slightly subdued tone.

“I might have a few ways.”

“A few ways?”

“Yeah. One would be to simply order Bargan to stay put. A loyal Dragonman Fighter
will obey their orders unconditionally, so he probably wouldn’t refuse.”

“…”

Lukas’ expression showed that he didn’t like this option.

That meant that even if Bargan wouldn’t be following them any longer, he would still
be under Lukas’ command.

That wouldn’t be good for Bargan or Lukas.

Of course, Min Ha-rin expected such a response from her master.

“Another would be to make him return the favor he owes you, Master.”

“What do you mean?”

“Bargan has given his to you. Master didn’t take his life even though you won the
fight. So in his eyes, he literally owes you his life. Bargan is a Dragonman, more
specifically, he is a Red Skin. That means that his loyalty towards you will never
waver until he thinks he has repaid his debt.”

Until he has repaid his debt.

Lukas understood what Min Ha-rin meant.

“So it’s just a matter of making Bargan think he has repaid his debt.”

“Right. In other words, if he believes he saved your life or did something comparable
to that, we can make Bargan go back to his own life.”
“Mmm…”

Lukas lowered his head in thought.

Make Bargan think he saved his life.

Such a situation wouldn’t just happen suddenly.

This meant they would have to create a crisis, but that was a tiring and annoying
endeavor.

Suddenly, a thought came to mind.

“What if we entrusted Bargan with the task of finding the other?”

Those words took Min Ha-rin by surprise.

“That could work!”

Such an order would mean that they wouldn’t have to keep Bargan with them, and at
the same time, they would be able to receive clues or even directly find the rest of
their companions. It would be a great help.

In addition, Bargan’s strength was around the top of the wandering Dragonmen.
Although it wouldn’t be worth it to set their expectations too high, it was still
possible for him to surprise them.

“Then we’ll let Bargan do that…”

Min Ha-rin’s voice trailed off after saying that.

She had her sword in one hand, and the other was held out with her palm facing
upwards.

This was a stance that had been created from her five years of combat experience.
Her ready stance.

“Do you really want to fight?”

“Right?”
Lukas nodded.

“I’ll let you make the first move.”

They were currently standing in the arena.

Min Ha-rin was a Champion, and the treatment she received befitted that title.

At least on Combat Island, individual strength was placed above law and order. This
meant that gaining the title ‘City Champion’ in this land was a very big deal.

In addition to the mansion they were in earlier, she was also given her own private
training grounds. And there were probably many more unseen benefits besides
those.

The arena in the center of the city was extremely large. To put it into modern terms,
it was several times the size of an indoor gym.

Naturally, this large space wasn’t just one large battleground.

Instead, not counting the space allocated for spectators, it was separated into eight
small arenas.

As the Champion, Min Ha-rin had the right to use two of these arenas as she pleased.
Of course, this was only applicable when there were no scheduled fights, but it was
an amazing privilege nonetheless.

It was in one of these very arenas that Min Ha-rin and Lukas stood, facing each other.
There were no spectators.

If there were any, they were already sent away.

Min Ha-rin looked at Lukas with a slightly worried expression.

‘I’ll let you make the first move.’

Lukas’ words rang out in her head once more. Nevertheless, Min Ha-rin found that
she couldn’t easily draw her sword.

Was she intimidated? That would normally be the case, but now, she was hesitating
for an entirely different reason.
Min Ha-rin knew just how powerful her master was.

However, she didn’t think her master understood how much stronger she’d become.

In fact, that was true. Lukas wasn’t sure exactly how strong Min Ha-rin was at that
moment. He also didn’t know exactly what she’d gone through over the past five
years.

Though their conversation had stretched over an hour, it still wasn’t enough to fully
convey the hardships and desperation she’d experienced.

At that moment, Min Ha-rin even thought about showing him her status window.

[Min Ha-rin]

[Level: 67]

[Title: Snow Flower, Great Mage’s Disciple, Untamed Survivor, Champion of the
Arena, One who has witnessed Five Islands]

[Occupation: Magic Swordsman]

[Race: Human]

[Skills: Magic(Lv.7), Swordsmanship(Lv.8), Magical Swordsmanship(Lv.5), Superior

Toughness(Lv.5), Adaptability(Lv.4), Untamed Killing Intent(Lv.6), Fire
Resistance(Lv.3), Poison Resistance(Lv.5), Survival Skills(Lv.6), Cooking(Lv.5)…]

In this world, level signifies one’s overall strength.

When she first arrived, Min Ha-rin had only been level 27, but now, it had been
raised by 40.

That wasn’t all.

Her magic level was now 7-stars, she had regained part of her former
swordsmanship ability, and her magical swordsmanship was near perfection.

In addition, she had many skills that would all play a role, large or small, in the fight.
On the other hand, what did Lukas have?

His ‘7 star magic’ was all.

That was why Min Ha-rin was concerned.

‘…if I were to win… ’

Would it be a form of disrespect to her master?

Would it affect their relationship and cause things to become awkward?

Nevertheless, these worries all vanished a few moments later.

Piht-

Because Lukas disappeared.

Min Ha-rin’s eyes narrowed in an instant, her gaze sharpening.

‘Blink.’

It was a spell that could be used to cross a short distance.

For a 7 star Wizard, covering the distance between them was something that could
be done in an instant. But Lukas didn’t come directly to her location. As if to test the
waters, he was slowly covering the distance by a series of Blinks.

No. Rather than that.

‘He is closing the distance to a Magic Swordsman?’

She couldn’t understand.

For Wizards, it was common to fight from a distance, and in a limited area like the
arena, it would be even more difficult to maintain that distance. But now, Lukas was
doing the exact opposite of that.

Was he trying to catch her off guard?

If that was the case, then Min Ha-rin felt that Lukas was looking down on her too
much.

The calmness that had been developed over thousands of life and death battles
wasn’t something that could be shaken by a simple unexpected situation.

Paht!

Deciding to stop hesitating, she drew her sword and rushed towards him.

She had a vague understanding of the intervals and distance traveled with each
Blink, so she felt she could predict it.

Every 0.7 to 1 second, he would move a distance of about seven steps.

‘He must be up to something.’

But there was no way that she, a Magic Swordsman, would avoid a close combat
opportunity with a Wizard.

Min Ha-rin swung her sword after predicting when Lukas would appear with his
next Blink. The Scarlet Killament, a sword made from the fang of a mutant
Dragonling, released an intense burst of heat as it rushed forward.

Piht!

And just as she predicted, Lukas appeared. While performing his blink, Min Ha-rin
had suddenly appeared in front of him, but there was no change to his expression.

Shik.

Then Lukas disappeared again.

Only this time, it wasn’t Blink. Instead, Lukas moved so quickly that it seemed like his
entire body had disappeared. He crouched down as low as he could, before shooting
up like a spring.

Paak!

“…!?”
Subsequently, Lukas’ fist struck Min Ha-rin’s face.

Min Ha-rin stumbled backward, a drop of blood rolling from her nose.

“There is a saying that making the first move leads to victory.”

Then she heard Lukas’ soft voice.

“But making the first move is not always enough. Only when the first move is
successful can your victory be assured. In battle, the most important aspect is the
initiative, and your ability to control the fight.”

“Ugh…”

Min Ha-rin finally regained her balance. Lukas’ physical abilities were unexpected,
but that was only because it was a surprise attack. It wasn’t at a level where she
couldn’t even react to it.

Min Ha-rin silently cast a Magic Missile.

In an instant, five Magic Missiles charged towards Lukas, each one aiming for a
different vital point. Even though her mind had been shaken and she was in pain, her
aim was still accurate.

Nevertheless, it still wasn’t enough.

Bang bang bang!

The Magic Missiles all exploded without even being able to touch Lukas. This was
because they were blocked by Energy Bolts that suddenly appeared from behind
Lukas.

‘No.’

Not suddenly.

It was clear that this spell had been cast beforehand, it was just that he hadn’t used
them.

He had probably cast it while using Blink.

Right. The reason he hadn’t immediately closed the distance between them with
Blink was that he was casting Energy Bolt as well.

‘I didn’t think enough.’

She’d never stopped to wonder why he was using Blink so many times.

Min Ha-rin swung her sword and struck an Energy Bolt that was rushing towards
her. But that spell wasn’t the only one.

Clang clang clang!

Each and every one of them was only a weak spell.

Just like Magic Missile, Energy Bolt could only be considered a 1-3 star spell.

Nevertheless, if the number reached tens or hundreds, with each one targeting a
vital spot, then it was a different story altogether.

‘Kuk!”

Min Ha-rin grunted as she constantly swung her sword at the incoming spells. But
Lukas didn’t let up. He continued to pressure Min Ha-rin with his fists, feet, and
sometimes even his head, making sure to always keep a close distance.

‘I can’t think.’

Min Ha-rin bit her lip.

She had completely lost the initiative.

One second.

If he had just one second, she was sure that she could regain her composure and
change this situation, but she couldn’t find any gaps. Weak spells continued to
bombard her as though a dozen Wizards were supporting Lukas.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t ignore them. No matter how weak these spells were, they
were still powerful enough to break skin and damage blood vessels. The only areas
Lukas kept aiming for were her vital points.
It was only then that she finally realised.

The period where she had the highest chance of winning had already passed.

‘It’s different.’

Different from fighting the Dragonlings or the Fighters.

Lukas’ fighting style completely shattered her prejudice against Wizards.

There were some similarities with her own occupation, Magic Swordsman, in that it
made use of both magic and martial arts, but that was it.

In the end, Magic Swordsmen were nothing more than humans who used two
different skills. In other words, if they focused on magic, then swordsmanship was
simply a support, and if they focused on swordsmanship, then magic was the
support.

But that wasn’t the case for Lukas.

He was using magic and martial arts simultaneously, almost as if he had two brains.

While this might sound simple, such a task was incredibly complicated. Even the
most intelligent humans might not be able to replicate such a scene. To put it into
more understandable terms, it was more difficult than drawing ten different pictures
with each of your ten fingers.
Min Ha-rin realised that this sort of close-up battle was extremely disadvantageous
for Magic Swordsmen.

She at least needed enough distance to swing her sword, but Lukas was so close to
her that she didn’t have the chance to catch her breath as he continued to swing his
fists. And as time went by, she found herself more and more on the defensive.

Tuk-

Suddenly, Lukas grabbed Min Ha-rin by the collar.

“Ah.”

This was bad.

Just as she had this thought, Min Ha-rin felt her body float up into the air.

Similar to a shoulder throw, this was one of the techniques of the Warrior King Fist,
‘Overturning the Bull’.

Bang!

Min Ha-rin’s body hit the ground so hard that cracks were formed beneath her.

As her back crashed against the ground, she felt all the air leave her lungs. If the slam
had been a bit stronger, she would have fallen unconscious.

“…”

Lukas didn’t follow up his attack. He only looked down at Min Ha-rin while shaking
his hand slightly.

Min Ha-rin couldn’t bear to meet his gaze.

She’d lost.
It was a complete and utter defeat.

She could still move, but when she’d hit the floor, her entire body had been full of
openings. If this were a real battlefield, she would be dead without a doubt.

—As for making some kind of excuse, she didn’t even think about it.

Min Ha-rin had been defeated before she could display even half of her true strength.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the experience she had gained over the years, she might have
asked for a rematch.

‘That’s what Master wants’.

He had intentionally ended the fight without allowing her to properly display her
strength.

If they were to fight again, while she might not lose as easily, it would be nothing
more than a loser’s consolation.

Then, Lukas spoke.

“Get up. You shouldn’t be tired already, right?”

“…huh?”

“We’re going to have another round.”

Min Ha-rin looked at him with a blank expression.

“Right now?”

“Right. I want to see all that you’ve developed over the past five years. At the very
least, I can see that you’ve developed some level of calmness and quick thinking.”

“…”

“And… I might have been a bit emotional just now.”

Lukas smiled wryly as he said this.

“After seeing my disciple worry about beating me after only playing around for five
years, I unintentionally forgot to hold back.”

“…”

Min Ha-rin’s mouth hung open, unsure of how to respond to that.

Hiding her blushing face, Min Ha-rin got to her feet.

“M-, Master is an Absolute, so that’s why you can fight like that, isn’t it? If you were a
human, I think fighting like that would be very…”

“Do you mean the combination of magic and martial arts?”

Min Ha-rin nodded, but Lukas shook his head.

“That’s not true.”

“Huh?”

“At this moment, I am just an ordinary 7-star Wizard, as weak as any other human. Of
course, my experience is much deeper than any other human, but that’s all. My pure
combat power, mental capabilities, and mana reserves aren’t much different from
back in the day.”

“Y-, you’re saying that…”

“Right.”

Lukas nodded.

“When I was a human, even as a 7-star Wizard, I was able to use magic and martial
arts simultaneously. Just like now.”

“…”

Min Ha-rin’s mouth fell open.

She’d always known that Lukas was amazing. But now that they were standing on
the same level, she was finally able to understand a bit.
Just how special this being in front of her was since the days when he was a human.

***

After that, they fought five more times.

However, she was defeated every single time. Almost as if it was a natural outcome.

The more they fought, the longer she was able to last, but that was it.

From beginning to end, she hadn’t been able to land a single attack on Lukas.

“…”

Min Ha-rin’s face was pale.

She was still proud of everything she had achieved over the past five years and how
much she had grown, but in front of her master, it felt like the achievements she’d
gained at the risk of her life were only so-so.

Compared to her master’s current state, all of her attributes were superior.

Nevertheless, it was the one area that she was inferior in that decided the outcome of
their fights.

User capability.

Click.

It was at that moment that the door opened and Lukas walked into the room.

“Did you have a good talk with Bargan?”

“Right. He didn’t have any complaints.”

“That’s good.”

Lukas looked at Min Ha-rin for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“You look depressed.”

“…well, it’s just… I wonder if I’ll ever be able to defeat you, Master.”

“You might be able to after about 4,000 years.”

“C-, can a person even live that long?”

“You can.”

Min Ha-rin didn’t know that Lukas had spent 4,000 years in the Abyss when he was a
human. Because he never mentioned those days when he talked about his past.

That’s why Min Ha-rin took Lukas’ words as a joke.

“You’ve grown stronger.”

Lukas continued.

At first, Min Ha-rin thought he might be joking again, but her master would never be
sarcastic with her.

“Really?”

As he heard this tentative voice, Lukas nodded.

“Right. Do you remember what I said before? That you’d need five years to surpass
Lee Jong-hak.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Min Ha-rin nodded.

After saying that, he’d said that if she listened to his teachings, she would be able to
surpass Lee Jong-hak using magic within a year.

“Ha-rin, you’ve definitely gotten stronger. Currently, you are on par or even above
him already.”

“…”

Min Ha-rin’s expression remained bewildered. Even if she trusted what Lukas was
saying, she still found it very hard to believe.

“Of course, this is only true if Lee Jong-hak is still on the same level compared to five
years ago.”

“Ah.”

She immediately understood what he meant.

If Lee Jong-hak had also entered this world a few years ago and continued his
training during that time, then he definitely would have become much stronger.

After all, Lee Jong-hak was no less talented than she was.

“Magical Swordsmanship… that is the path you chose in the end.”

Lukas continued in a low voice.

Magic and swordsmanship were not particularly easy fields even when one chose to
focus on them.

Nevertheless, she was already showing great success in both fields. Such an
achievement was difficult even for geniuses who had excellent comprehension
abilities.

But Lukas didn’t bother to say those things out loud. He didn’t think Min Ha-rin
didn’t know that already.

Everyone had their own innate gifts. You could even call it a talent.

Min Ha-rin must have constantly been contemplating and confirming her innate gift
while toiling for those five years in the Heavenly Realm.

And after all that time, the conclusion she reached was to continue the path of
‘Magical Swordsmanship’.

And since Lukas respected Min Ha-rin, he would naturally respect her choices as
well.

He wouldn’t be a true master if he were to recommend she give up her path just
because it was difficult.

Sometimes, it was necessary to support and understand a choice without saying

anything.

“What do you think your biggest problem is right now?”

“Umm… I’m not able to show 100 percent of my abilities.”

“Exactly. Now all you need to work on is refinement.”

“Refinement…? What does that mean?”

“I realised something during our fights. You picked up on a lot of tricks.”

“Yeah. Well…”

Min Ha-rin had learned about a dozen or so skills during those five years on her own.
There were many different kinds of skills. Some of them weren’t very useful, while
some of them had even saved her life.

“However, in our fights just now, you couldn’t use many of those tricks.”

“Yeah.”

She nodded.

Had they had this conversation before the fights, she would have been a bit skeptical,
but now, she understood.

What it was like to make use of all the weapons in your arsenal.

She could tell just from watching Lukas.

Because of his understanding of his weapons, he was able to bring out 120 percent
of their power by using them in the right place at the right time.

“In truth, it’s not very easy to use all of your power in a fight. This is because the
situation can change in many ways depending on who your opponent is, the terrain,
and whether or not you’re in peak condition.”
“Yeah.”

“Since you’ve mastered a large number of tricks and skills, you have a relatively large
number of options by which to respond to a variety of situations. The only problem
is that you can’t fully utilise them yet.”

“…then what should I do?”

“Until you can make every skill completely yours, limit the skills you use.”

“Huh?”
Min Ha-rin looked at Lukas, her head tilted to the side in confusion.

Lukas got up from his seat and walked to the window. From there, he was able to see
the arena in all of its glory.

“For now, when using sword techniques, you should minimise your use of magic.
Don’t just cast blindly. Sometimes, it’s necessary to do without something in order to
realise what you need.”

“Ah, okay…”

Min Ha-rin didn’t understand her Master’s intentions, but she decided to just listen
to him. In truth, as she was now, if Lukas were to look at something white and call it
black, it wouldn’t be too surprising for Min Ha-rin to tilt her head to the side and ask
‘Really?’.

“I also think it would be better for you to not increase your level or learn any new
skills for the time being.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t know any 6 or 7 star spells yet, do you? I’ll teach you a few of them in a
little while, so make sure to pay attention.”

“Understood.”

Lukas nodded. This much advice was enough. After all, Min Ha-rin was a smart kid.

Now, it was time to discuss the next topic.

“Our final goal is to find the ‘four special statues’. But in our current state, it would be
troublesome if we clashed with the other groups.”

Their group only had two people, and Lukas was currently limited to 7 stars.
On the other hand, although Min Ha-rin had become stronger to an extent, she still
hadn’t reached the point that Lukas considered the ‘peak of mortality’.

Min Ha-rin’s eyes lit up.

“So we should find the rest of our teammates first.”

“Or, find an item that will help me break free from these restrictions.”

They had two options.

Min Ha-rin also knew that there were many incredible items in this world. After all,
she had personally experienced explosive growth in her mana after eating special
fruits on Untamed Island.

“If we were to look for our teammates, who would we look for first?”

“Arid.”

Lukas answered without even needing to think about it.

The reason for this answer was obvious, so Min Ha-rin nodded.

“His Brilliance power would be very useful.”

“Right. If we have Arid’s Brillance, it would be much easier to find the others.”

Arid’s Communication power was something that would be extremely helpful in a

situation like this where they were all separated.

If they managed to find Arid, then finding the others would be a breeze.

“However, that leads me to believe that Arid hasn’t entered this world yet.”

“…if Arid was already in this world, he would have used ‘Communication’ to send us a
message by now.”

Lukas smiled slightly.

“That’s right. You’re definitely thinking more flexibly than before.”

“Ah, ahaha…”

That was because she had gone through many days where she would lose her life if
she made even a single mistake. Thanks to that, her stiff and conventional thinking
had loosened up quite a bit.

‘More than that… ’

Min Ha-rin looked at Lukas.

Maybe he was in a good mood or something, but she felt that he was smiling much
more than he did before. It was the same for his attitude.

Of course, this didn’t mean she didn’t like it or anything. On the contrary, it felt much
warmer than before, so she felt it was much better this way.

She wasn’t exactly sure how to describe it.

But she couldn’t help but feel that Lukas seemed more… human.

‘…it’s really been a while, hasn’t it?’

Min Ha-rin shook her head slightly to get rid of her thoughts before speaking.

“Who’s next?”

“Sedi.”

“Um… may I ask why?”

“That’s simple. She is probably the strongest person in the group now.”

In all honesty, Sedi was probably stronger than Lukas at this point.

Unlike Absolutes like Lukas, who had been restricted back to a mortal state, she had
probably not been restricted, and even if she were, she has the ability and experience
to achieve explosive growth.

In the five years that she was here, Min Ha-rin hadn’t encountered the other factions,
but it wouldn’t be strange if that changed tomorrow.
Therefore, it was imperative that they secured their strongest fighting power, Sedi.

Min Ha-rin lowered her head in thought for a moment before opening her mouth.

“So, statues, teammates, and an item that can help Master unlock your power. There
might be a chance to get all three at once.”

“What is it?”

“Championship.”

That word made him think about the conversation they’d just had.

“Do you mean the competition to determine the Grand Champion that is held every
10 years?”

“Yeah. If you become the Grand Champion, you will be able to go to ‘Dragon God
Island’ and receive the ‘Dragon God’s Blessing’ from the Goddess.”

“Dragon God’s Blessing?”

“I heard it was the Goddess’ special ability which would allow the receiver to bring
out their full potential.”

“…I see.”

Such a setting seemed to have been pre-arranged by the Rulers.

In other words, it was highly likely that it was the key to unlock the Absolutes’
powers.

“If you become the Grand Champion, your name will definitely spread throughout
the Heavenly Realm. This is because that is the highest and most honorable position
in the eyes of the Fighters. If that happened, then I’m sure our other teammates
would be able to learn about us.”

Min Ha-rin then added in a slightly solemn tone.

“Of course, there are some risks involved.”

It was the same risk that Lukas was prepared for when he decided to use his real
name.

Increasing his fame meant not only publicizing his name, but also his appearance to
an unknown number of people.

In other words, the other factions would also come to him.

Nevertheless, Lukas felt that Min Ha-rin’s idea was currently the best option they
had.

“In addition, it is said that there is a statue of the Dragon God on Dragon God Island.
Only those who are given permission have the honor of seeing it. It is an important
relic for all Dragonmen and is said to be quite special. So I think that it might be what
you’re looking for.”

This was also a fairly reasonable guess. If they were lucky, they would be able to kill
three birds with one stone.

“Alright. Then we’ll participate in this ‘Championship’.”

“Yeah. However, you can only participate in the Championship if you’re a Champion. I
can participate since I’m the Champion of ‘Herui’, but you wouldn’t be able to.”

“Then what should I do?”

“That’s simple. You can claim the title of Champion by conquering the arena in
another city. For someone as strong as Master, that wouldn’t be difficult at all.”

“Mmm.”

Lukas nodded before turning to look at Min Ha-rin.

Naturally, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to move with her. Min Ha-rin was the
Champion of this city, and she would soon begin to train herself based on the advice
Lukas had just given her.

“Then it seems we will have to part for a while again.”

“…”
Min Ha-rin, who had fallen silent, finally nodded in a slow, exaggerated manner.

“So it seems.”

“Will you be alright?”

“Of course.”

She smiled brightly.

“Just meeting Master again has already given me a lot of strength.”

***

“You’re going to ‘Lirua’?”

When Lukas nodded, Bargan’s expression became a bit strange.

He was just getting ready to leave the city. Since he was going to have to travel all
around the Heavenly Realm anyway, he decided to head to the largest major city
nearby, which was ‘Lirua’.

It was Min Ha-rin who had suggested Lukas should head to Lirua.

She told him that when he could become the Champion, the various rewards and
benefits he would receive were proportional to the size of the city. If he was lucky, he
might even option special items and equipment.

“What is your goal for going to that place…?”

“To become the Champion.”

“Mmm…”

Bargan’s expression became solemn.

He seemed lost in thought for a while before finally speaking in a heavy voice.

“My Lord is strong. You defeated me without even trying, so you are more than
qualified to become a Champion. If you were to go to a small town, you would be able
to secure the position with ease… So, I would really not recommend you go to Lirua.”

“Why?”

“…that is a place that has lost its fight.”

A place that lost its fight?

[It is recommended that participants head to ‘Lirua’.]

[Listen to the details from ‘Headsmasher Bargan’.]

After a long while, he heard the voice once again.

Lukas turned back to look at Bargan.

[Wandering Dragonman Fighter Bargan]

[Loyalty: 51]

The translucent window he saw before appeared above his head once again.

However,

[Difficulty: C]

There was a new line added beneath it.

“There is always a reason why a wanderer becomes a wanderer.”

These were the words Min Ha-rin had told Lukas before he left.

“This is especially the case for Dragonmen living here on Combat Island. I’m not sure
if it’s a racial trait or not, but… Dragonmen tend to have a very strong attachment to
their hometowns.”

This was a part of the reason why the Championship, which was held every ten
years, received so much attention from the Dragonmen.

If Min Ha-rin managed to do well in the Championship, then the entire city of Herui
would hold a large festival that would last for at least a week.

The Championship wasn’t just a competition to determine who was the strongest
among the Champions. It was a great regional event that not only Combat Island, but
the entirety of the Heavenly Realm paid attention to.

“It is incredibly rare for a Fighter as powerful as Bargan to become a wanderer. Even
if he didn’t have any attachment to his hometown like other Dragonmen, he would
still be treated well in any arena he decided to go to. By choosing to become a
wanderer, it meant that he had a complicated past that he wasn’t willing to reveal to
others.”

After a short pause, Min Ha-rin added.

“It might be a bit presumptuous for me to say this, but I think it would be best to not
pry into it.”

***

“What do you mean ‘it has lost its fight’?”

When Lukas asked this question, Bargan responded without hesitation.

“I mean that Fighters cannot survive there.”

“That’s strange. Rin was the one who told me about Lirua.”

‘Rin’ was the pseudonym Min Ha-rin used in this world. The full name was ‘Rin
Summers’.

When she told him this, with a slightly embarrassed expression, she added that she
hadn’t really thought much about it when she chose the name.

“She told me that Lirua is one of the eight major cities here on Combat Island. In
terms of the size of its arena alone, it is among the top five, and the level of fighters
there is quite high. Was she wrong?”

“No. Everything she told you was right.”

“Then why…?”

“…”

Bargan’s face became bright red.

This wasn’t because he was embarrassed or shy. Instead, it was because he couldn’t
control his agitation. In fact, he even began to breathe heavily.

For a while, he did his best to suppress his emotions, so he didn’t speak. It was
almost as though it was taking all of his concentration to calm his rising passion.

Lukas waited calmly to the side without hurrying him.

Then, after finally calming himself enough to speak, Bargan opened his mouth.

“There is darkness in Lirua.”

“Darkness?”

“Yeah. They have broken one of the greatest taboos.”

“Which taboo?”
An expression of extreme disgust and contempt flashed across Bargan’s face. He
closed his eyes as if he felt it was disgraceful to even say it, and spoke as if he had
swallowed a bug.

“Fight fixing.”

“What?”

“The arena in Lirua has a lot of fixed fights.”

Fight fixing… In other words, it meant that they were manipulating victory and
defeat in the arena.

“Why?”

“There are many reasons, both large and small, but the biggest reason will always be
money. With an arena as large as the one in Lirua, the amount of money that is
moved whenever there is a big fight is astronomical.”

“…I see. Others can bet on the fights.”

“Right.”

Bargain nodded, but Lukas frowned slightly and opened his mouth.

“Aren’t there people who can crackdown on corruption like that? There is no way
they would allow something like that to happen on a large scale.”

“There certainly are auditors, but they aren’t well known. In truth, they are nothing
more than puppets for those with money and power. They are scum who wouldn’t
even dare to stand against the City Lord of Lirua.”

It was possible that the people Bargan hated the most were those ‘auditors’. His eyes
were filled with fierce rage as if he was thinking about some irreconcilable enemy.

“How do you know so much about them?”

“…”

Bargain closed his eyes once again.

Then, he muttered in a low, defeated voice.

“I used to be a Fighter for Lirua.”

***

He heard everything.

Nevertheless, Lukas didn’t change his destination from Lirua.

There were several reasons for this decision.

The words the ‘voice’ had spoken before, the ‘darkness’ lurking in Lirua, and his
curiosity, among other things.

Bargan didn’t seem very pleased by Lukas’ decision, but he didn’t try to persuade
him any further.

Lukas also didn’t try to pry any further into Bargan’s past. It would still be fine to ask
in the future if his loyalty went up a bit more.

Lirua was a fair distance away from Herui. At the very least, with his current
strength, it would take him about two months to get there by foot.

‘The Championship will commence in two months.’

In this situation, he didn’t have the time to walk. He would have to find some other
mode of transportation.

When he mentioned this to Bargan, he nodded his head.

“I think it would be best for you to ride the ‘Sky Horse Carriage’(1).”

“Sky Horse Carriage?”

“Yes.”

Sky Carriages were a mode of transportation using Dragonlings. According to

Bargan, they were drawn by monsters known as ‘Flying Dragons’. Although it was a
bit strange for them to be called ‘horse carriages’, it would be a bit strange and
improper to call them ‘Dragon carriages’.

“Of course, there is a bit of a problem with that. They are incredibly expensive.”

“How much is it?”

“If it’s from Herui, a one-way trip would probably cost about 5,000 eru.”

Even after he heard that Lukas didn’t find it too expensive. This was because he was
still ignorant of the monetary values of the Heavenly Realm.

Of course, it might also have something to do with the fact that he had the money to
pay for it. This was because Min Ha-rin had given him 10,000 eru for travel expenses.

To be honest, it was a bit strange for the Master to receive money from the disciple,
but when he saw Min Ha-rin’s proud expression, he found it hard to refuse.

After all, he felt that it wasn’t a good thing for Min Ha-rin to spend the money she
earned with her blood and sweat for him.

Then Bargan continued.

“Of course, if that amount is too much for you, there are other methods. However,
these methods come with disadvantages.”

“That’s fine. Tell me what they are.”

“Well, you could join a subjugation team’s mission.”

(Note:

1. Going forward, I’ll just refer to this as ‘Sky Carriage’. I only added the ‘horse’ for the
comparison with ‘Dragon carriage’.)
Lukas tilted his head to the side as he heard the unfamiliar term.

“Subjugation team’s mission?”

Bargan naturally realised that he didn’t understand, so he explained in a calm tone.

“In addition to Dragonmen, there are many Dragonlings here on Combat Island.”

Dragonling.

This was a generic term used for the monsters found in the Heavenly Realm.

Most of the monsters on these floating islands all had some characteristics that were
reminiscent of Dragons, so they were given that name.

“It might be hard to see them near the cities, but they are quite common in the
wilderness untouched by civilization.”

“That sounds like a large threat.”

“Right. That’s why there are subjugation teams. These groups receive money from
the royal family to travel around the island at regular intervals. And based on
eyewitness accounts and other reports, they subdue the Dragonlings living in the
wilderness.”

Now that he had some understanding of it, Lukas realised what Bargan was
suggesting.

“So you’re saying I should move with the subjugation team?”

“Yes. This is usually the method used by people who don’t have enough money. It
might take a bit longer than using the Sky Carriage, but there is little risk involved.”

Then he added that it would take about two weeks to get there if he went with the
subjugation team.
That was about twice as long as the carriage.

“How much does it cost?”

“500 eru, but the meals cost extra.”

One-tenth of the price was a noticeable difference.

Lukas pondered for a moment.

In any case, there were still about two months to go before the Championship began.
And even if there was a delay, he didn’t think it would take more than a month for
him to obtain a spot.

‘The first thing I should do is unlock more of my strength.’

In a large city like Lirua, it was likely that he would find strong individuals that he
couldn’t defeat with just 7-star magic. If he wanted to defeat them, and subsequently
win the Championship, he would need to become stronger than he was now.

‘…special items.’

These things were more likely to be hidden in the wilderness than in busy cities. Min
Ha-rin had been able to experience tremendous growth in the past five years due to
the numerous items she found during the time she spent on Untamed Island.

With that in mind, he thought about the explanation he’d just received from Bargan.

In truth, although they were called a subjugation team, what they did seemed to be
more similar to that of a reconnaissance team. He said that there was a very small
chance to encounter Dragonlings, and even if they did, the ‘passengers’ usually didn’t
have to do anything.

This system was designed because the cost of running this subjugation team was
incredibly high.

Although this mode of travel wasn’t as safe as the Sky Carriage, the Dragonmen were
a race who welcomed adversity, dangers, and unknown adventures. So no one really
had a problem with it.
Of course, the biggest reason why people chose this method was because they were
short on cash.

After thinking about it for a while, Lukas nodded.

“I’ll go with that then.”

“Understood. Then… I’ll inform the subjugation team in advance. My Lord, please
head to the ‘Flame of Herui’ on the northwest side of the city tomorrow morning.”

The subjugation team had a base in every city, and Herui was no exception to this.

The Flame of Herui.

While thinking of this strange name, Lukas nodded to himself. It would be a short
two-week trip, but there were still a few things he had to prepare first.

The first place he headed to was an old bookstore. It was pretty easy to find since he
had received directions from Min Ha-rin before he left.

When he arrived, he opened a book and briefly glanced over it.

‘It’s English.’

Perhaps it was because most of the participants this time were from Earth.

Nevertheless, it was a good thing for Lukas. After all, even if he was quick, if it was a
new language, it would take him at least two days to learn it.

After confirming that he could read them, he picked several books in the store. His
plan was to study the culture and history of the Heavenly Realm. He could always ask
Bargan about the things he didn’t know, but it would be much less of a hassle if he
built up his foundation of knowledge before doing so.

Next, he headed to a weapon store. He wondered if there were any staff-like

weapons for sale.

In the end, his search was fruitless.

Not to mention staff, there wasn’t even a single magic related piece of equipment in
the store. All of the shiny weapons displayed in the store seemed to be perfect for
stabbing, slashing or, smashing, but none of them had any special qualities.

‘Bargan called my magic sorcery.’

The Dragonmen might tend to despise those who fought with other abilities instead
of using their bodies.

Nevertheless, he didn’t seem shocked by Lukas’ display of magical abilities. In the

first place, Min Ha-rin used both magic and swordsmanship in order to secure the
title of Champion.

For a moment, he couldn’t help but wonder if this concept was only limited to those
on Combat Island, or if it was a sentiment shared by the entirety of the Heavenly
Realm.

Lukas found an inn to spend the night.

He had originally been planning to leave on that very day, but now, he would end up
staying in Herui one day longer than intended. If he went to Min Ha-rin’s mansion he
would certainly be able to stay for free. But it would be a bit strange to meet again
after they already said their goodbyes to each other.

Just as he took out a book to read, Lukas felt his eyelids become heavy.

‘I’m tired?’

This unfamiliar sensation shocked him for a moment.

Then he realised that he was even a bit hungry.

‘I see.’

Now that his body had basically returned to a human state, it seemed he would have
to eat and sleep regularly again.

“…hoo.”

It was a bit frustrating because he would not have as much time as he was used to,
but it felt somewhat nostalgic to have physiological needs once again.
Lukas went down to the first floor and received a few pieces of smoked meat as well
as some cold soup from the inn’s owner before returning to his room. While eating,
he decided to take out his book once again and read it.

As he gnawed on the slightly chewy and salty smoked meat, Lukas’ eyes rolled back
and forth as he read quickly.

‘The Lightning God said that this world would be interesting.’

Lukas thought that there was some kind of hidden meaning in those words.

He thought of everything that made up this world, its very old culture and long
history, races with self-awareness and high intelligence, and size much greater than
most planets.

Right. This was literally a huge world, but it was highly likely that this world didn’t
exist before.

No. It wasn’t just highly likely. Lukas was certain.

This incredibly vast world was, in the end, an improvised stage created by the Rulers
in preparation for the Great Game.

Flap-

He flipped through the pages.

What Lukas was looking for were hints that might have been left behind by the
Rulers.

And as he expected, he did manage to find some clues in the book.

Especially since it was a book about mythology.

‘All of the Dragon tribes in the Heavenly Realm came from one source.’

The Heavenly Realm was not a mass that had been separated from the lower world,
and the Seven Islands had been divided since the beginning of time. This was proven
by the fact that the characteristics of each region were distinctly different.
What intrigued Lukas the most was the information about the other regions.

This world consisted of the Heavenly Realm, Thunder Gorge, Black Earth, and Giant
Field, with a large supercontinent in the middle.

However, it was a bit awkward to call these places regions. This was because each
one of them was so large, it wouldn’t be strange if one referred to them as individual
worlds.

Nevertheless, they weren’t separated like the different worlds in Lukas’ universe.
Each ‘world’ basically coexisted on one planet.

‘Though it is difficult to go to other regions.’

One couldn’t just enter the Heavenly Realm by flying into the sky.

In the Thunder Gorge, a seemingly never-ending thunderstorm constantly sent down

lightning bolts, irrespective of day and night.

The Black Earth was a place where thick miasma corroded the ground and air. A land
of death where most beings couldn’t survive for a second.

And regardless of their race, no being with even the slightest shred of intelligence
dared to get close to the Giant Field.

From their descriptions, Lukas was able to realise one thing.

It was basically an affirmation of the conjecture he’d formulated when he first

learned about the Dragon God.

‘Each region is associated with a Ruler.’

The Lightning Gorge was associated with the Lightning God, the Black Earth with the
Black Horned Demon King, the Giant Field with the Sun God, and finally, the
Heavenly Realm with the Seven Fanged Dragon God.

Each region seemed to have a distinct connection to the respective Rulers.

‘Then did each of the four Rulers create a region?’

That shouldn’t be the case.

It was said that the Seven Fanged Dragon God, the final Ruler, didn’t agree with the
others’ idea for the ‘Great Game’.

‘Except for the supercontinent, Gaia, there are four ‘worlds’.”

In simple terms, there was a high possibility that one statue was located in every
world. After all, it wouldn’t be balanced if all of the statues were located in one
world.

Taking out a small notebook, Lukas began to take notes.

Scribble scribble-

For a while, the sound of a pen scratch paper was the only sound in the room.

Time went by, and the sky gradually became dark. Not much time had passed. After
all, it had already been halfway through the afternoon when he found the inn.

Lukas lit a candle, illuminated the table in front of him. There sat a notebook filled
with his handwritten notes.

“…”

Suddenly, he turned to look out the window.

There, he was greeted by the sight of the beautiful night sky. Perhaps it was because
this world sat in the clouds, but he had a slight feeling that the stars were so close, all
he needed to do was reach out and grab them.

This reminded him of when he used to study magic in the past.

It was a sentimental memory that filled him with longing. Perhaps with a glass of
alcohol, he would be able to have a comfortable night’s sleep as he reminisced about
those times.

But he didn’t.

It was not yet time to dwell on the past.

Lukas got up from his bed around dawn. From his estimation, he had slept for about
two hours.

After tidying the bed and washing his face, he put on the clothes that he wasn’t yet
used to.

Then, he headed to the first floor of the inn to have breakfast. The item on the menu
for breakfast was crispy bacon.

In Lukas’ opinion, this was a bit too much, and something like a salad or bread would
have been better. However, the Dragonmen seemed to prefer to eat meat to an almost
extreme degree.

When he headed out onto the street after eating, he saw some Dragonmen also
beginning their days.

As he looked at them, Lukas couldn’t help but marvel at their different appearances.

Some were practically the same as humans except for the skin and eyes.

Some had protruding horns or tusks.

And there were even some who basically looked like bipedal reptiles.

Nevertheless, they recognised each other as their kin. Of course, this wasn’t to say
there wasn’t any prejudice at all, but in a modern sense, it was the same way that
humans recognised each other as humans.

This knowledge was also something that he’d obtained from the books.

Without further ado, Lukas passed them, heading towards the ‘Flame of Herui’ that
Bargan had mentioned the day before.

The Flame of Herui was one of the tallest buildings in the northwestern side of the
city. To speak in modern terms, it was the Heavenly Realm’s equivalent of a
skyscraper.

Of course, this didn’t mean that it was incredibly tall. At best, it was only a 10 story
building, but when compared to the 1 and 2 story buildings around it, it looked like a
mountain jutting out from the ground.

“…”

Lukas looked up at this large building. He could already tell from where he was
standing.

The top of the building had been designed to be a kind of landing pad for flying
dragons.

Flying Dragons.

Dragonlings who had the ability to fly across the sky.

Lukas couldn’t help but wonder just how big they were. Considering the size of the
building, it was fairly likely that they were much larger than he initially believed.

He headed into the building.

The first floor of the building was a large lounge. It had an atmosphere similar to a
bar, if not a bit harsher.

The smell of alcohol seemed to permeate every inch of the space, and above all else,
it was incredibly noisy.

It was still very early in the morning, but there was already a large number of people
sitting in the bar. It was likely that it remained open all day.

“…”

When Lukas entered, the volume in the bar lowered a bit.

The Dragonmen, who had been relaxing in the bar, glanced at Lukas and began to
whisper among themselves.

“Is he an outsider?”
“I’m not sure…”

“I don’t think so. Not even the outsiders look so weak.”

“…”

Ignoring them, Lukas headed to the middle of the bar.

Standing there was a man who looked incredibly close to a lizard and had almost no
human features.

To put it bluntly, he was more like the ‘Lizardmen’ from Lukas’ homeworld.

The man’s yellow eyes flashed dangerously as he spoke.

“Outsider, what brings you to the Flame of Herui?”

“I’m here to join the subjugation team’s travel service.”

Since the other wasn’t polite, Lukas didn’t try to be respectful either.

After looking at the Dragonman for a short while, he added.

“Bargan should have come to speak with you beforehand.”

“…you are Bargan’s Lord?”

“That should be the case.”

“I don’t believe it.”

The Dragonman’s voice was tinted with disbelief.

“Bargan was defeated by such a skinny outsider?”

“…”

His tone was strangely rough, but it didn’t seem like he was trying to refute him. This
was because there was a clear expression of admiration on his face.
It was the same for the other Dragonmen who heard their conversation.

This reminded Lukas of the attitudes of the guards who protected the gates to Herui.

It was at that time that Bargan came down from the second floor. As soon as he
spotted Lukas, he walked over at a brisk pace.

“You came early.”

“Should I have come later?”

“No… The preparations are already complete. All we need to do now is wait for
approval…”

Bargain turned to the Dragonman Lukas was talking to and opened his mouth.

“How about it, Taotan?”

“Your request has been approved. Did you say it’s just the two of you? Then you can
join Igaru’s squad.”

Bargain’s expression brightened at those words.

“Thanks. I’ll remember this favor.”

“What are you saying?”

The Dragonman Lukas had been talking to was Taotan, and Bargan seemed to know
him. Although their words were cold and stiff, there was a hint of familiarity mixed
into them.

After checking the schedules a few more times, Bargan turned to Lukas.

“Let’s go up.”

“Sure.”

After saying that, he followed Bargan up the stairs. Even though it was still early in
the morning, Dragonmen filled every floor of the building. Many of them didn’t seem
to be members of the subjugation force. Perhaps they were passengers like Lukas
and Bargan.

“If we were a bit later, they might have left without us. There are many more people
than I anticipated. If it wasn’t for Taotan’s help it would have been impossible.”

“It seems that the process is very complicated.”

“Not necessarily, it’s just a lot of reading. There are a lot of documents that you need
to go through.”

“Documents?”

“Right. It includes things like precautions you should be aware of when moving with
others, the risks involved, actions to be taken during an emergency, etc. And you also
need to write a waiver stating that, in the event you die, the subjugation team would
not be held responsible.”
The explanation Bargan gave was concise, but Lukas had a feeling that it was much
more complicated than that.

Nevertheless, Bargan did all of those frivolous tasks on his own.

Lukas was inwardly surprised by this fact. It seemed that he wasn’t just a wandering
Fighter who could only earn his living by fighting.

That wasn’t all.

Bargan seemed to have a good understanding of the behaviour one should have for
their superior and knew exactly how rude or polite he should be at any moment.

But this kind of behaviour couldn’t be innate.

Lukas suddenly asked.

“Did you serve someone before me?”

When he heard this question, Bargan’s expression changed slightly.

“No. This is my first time serving a Lord.”

There were other types of superiors that one could serve.

Lukas was curious, but he didn’t ask any further. He knew that, were he to ask, he
would certainly receive an answer. However, such an action would affect Bargan’s
loyalty.

‘Though I don’t really plan to increase his loyalty.’

He was a bit curious about this man named Bargan’s past, but that was all.

While Lukas was lost in his thoughts, they arrived at the roof of the building.
Upon opening the door and stepping outside, they were immediately greeted by
strong winds which ruffled their hair.

As Lukas had expected, the roof of the building had been fashioned into a landing
strip of sorts.

The Flame of Herui was the tallest building in the area, and from it, they were able to
see the beautiful scenery of the waking city. However, there was something else that
drew their attention.

Sitting beneath the slowly brightening morning sky were a group of large carriages.
And in front of each carriage, was an even larger flying dragon.

‘It’s big.’

The monster seemed to be at least five meters long, and if it spread its wings, it
would certainly be much larger.

Although it sat on the rooftop in a seemingly calm manner, the feeling it gave wasn’t
like that of a docile pet. Instead, it seemed to give a faint sense of danger like that of a
sleeping lion.

It was strange.

This monster was a flying dragon, something that should be as ferocious as the
drakes and wyverns in Lukas’ homeworld. That was why he found it strange that
they were able to tame them enough to pull their carriages.

“You’re here, Bargan.”

It was at that moment that a Dragonman approached them. It seemed that he also
knew Bargan.

“Squad Leader, Igaru, we’ll be in your care for a while.”

“Haha. I should say the same. After all, it is ‘Headsmasher Bargan’ that’s joining us.
You are much more reliable than even a hundred of my foolish squad members.”

When Bargan simply nodded, Igaru’s gaze turned to Lukas.

“You can call me Igaru. Are you Bargan’s rumored Lord?”

“Yes. I’m Lukas.”

“Hmm…”

Igaru briefly glanced at Lukas’ body before nodding.

“Nice to meet you. As you may have already heard, the cost of the trip will be 500
erus. Since there are two of you, it would normally cost 1000 erus, but Bargan has
joined us as a mercenary, so you only need to pay us half.”

“…a mercenary?”

It was Bargan who answered Lukas’ question.

“To put it simply, I’ll be helping the subjugation team.”

That explained why Igaru was so happy to see Bargan.

“I’m sorry for not telling you earlier. I thought it would be better to save, even if it
was only 500 eru.”

“No, thank you for your consideration.”

After saying that, Lukas turned back to look at the carriages once again.

Each carriage had one flying dragon attached to it. Before boarding, he decided to
see how the flight worked.

‘There is no way it can fly properly just by putting reins on a flying dragon.’

Considering the weight of the carriages and their occupants, no matter how
powerful the flying dragons might be, there was no way they’d be able to fly for
extended periods.

Lukas decided to take a closer look at the carriage. As he expected, runes were
engraved all over it.

There were runes for reducing weight, runes to block the wind and prevent shaking
to some extent, and also runes that helped with levitation.

‘The Dragonlings on Desire Island are said to be good at using runes.’

Runes was a field that could be considered quite common in different types of magic.

The difference between spells and runes was the fact that even those who might not
have the necessary magical talent would be able to use runes as long as they had the
required knowledge, materials, and tools.

‘It probably has something to do with the abundant mana in the air.’

Since there seemed to be a never-ending supply of potent mana in the air, it was
natural for the Dragonlings to not see the need of storing it in their bodies.

This also caused the direction of their development to move from using spells, to
using runes.

The principle behind runes was to take the energy flowing in the air and transform it
to suit your specific needs. For that reason, it was possible that the runes the
Dragonlings created could have only been used in the Heavenly Realm.

As he watched Lukas carefully observing the carriage, Igaru tilted his head to the
side.

“Are you a Sorcerer?”

Lukas thought for a moment before nodding.

There was no reason for him to tell him about spells, which would probably be a new
concept for him.

Suddenly, the squad members who had come over with Igaru burst into laughter.

“A Sorcerer…”

“I didn’t think there would be sissy’s who played with runes here on Combat Island.”

“…”
Unlike Igaru, the other squad members didn’t seem to have a very good impression
of Lukas. And when he turned to look at them, they gave him provocative glares as if
to say ‘what can you do about it?’.

Naturally, Lukas wouldn’t care about this kind of childish provocation, so he simply
got onto the carriage without giving them a second glance.

The interior of the carriage was much larger than he expected. It was large enough
for five or six people to sit comfortably.

Then, he heard Igaru’s voice.

“Everyone, get on the carriages!”

***

Three flying dragons flew across the blue sky.

The group this time consisted of nine squad members, including Igaru, Lukas,
Bargain, who was also controlling a flying dragon, and three other passengers.

On an island above the clouds, it was certainly a novel experience to be flying once
again, but Lukas didn’t find it interesting.

He had long since lost any interest in the scenery flashing past the window.

Rattle, rattle…

In all honesty, the ride was not good. Instead, it would be better to say that it was
terrible.

No matter how many runes were inscribed on it, the carriages were drawn by living
creatures. Whenever the flying dragons flapped their wings to propel themselves
forward, the entire carriage shook as if it had been buffeted by heavy winds.

Nevertheless, although this shakey trip was uncomfortable and puke-inducing, Lukas
simply sat with a nonchalant expression, reading the book he’d prepared in advance.

“Are you really Bargan’s Lord?”

When he lowered his book and looked past it, Lukas saw a man looking at him with
an expression of interest on his face.

The horns sticking out of the sides of his head were a clear indicator that he was a
Dragonman as well.

“That’s right.”

“Amazing. You really don’t look like much from the outside. In that case, how about
we spar later?”

“If we have the chance.”

“If we have the chance… That’s fine.”

The man then spoke with a smirk.

“I’m Guaba, by the way.”

“Lukas.”

“That’s a pretty weird name.”

Contrary to his serious appearance, Guaba was quite the chatterbox.

While the other squad members didn’t seem to pay any attention to Lukas, he
continued to talk nonstop.

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years.”

“Do I like this job? To an extent. As long as we fill our quota, we can take the rest of
the time off.”

“You don’t need to be scared. In the past 10 years, only two passengers who came
with our squad died, and they were both accidents.”

Of course, Lukas just read his book without responding to his chattering, but that
didn’t seem to bother him.

He had reached an interesting part in the book so he began to concentrate even

more.

[The lifespan of Dragonlings is much higher than that of Dragonmen. They also
continue to grow until they die.]

[Individuals that managed to survive for several hundred years are called Ancient
Dragons, and they gain strength that is on a completely different level from other
Dragonlings.]

[The ‘Untamed Island’ is the place where the most Ancient Dragons can be found, but
that doesn’t mean they can’t be found on other islands too.]

[Because of their extreme adaptability and tenacious vitality, it is possible for

Ancient Dragons to even survive on Death Island, which is known as the forbidden
land.]

Ancient Dragons.

That name reminded Lukas of the Dragons from his homeworld, but they seemed to
be a bit different. (TL: For reference, Lukas’ Master, Isolla, was an Ancient Dragon.)

‘No. I can’t say they are completely different.’

In the history of his world, according to Lord, Dragons were simply massive,
incredibly strong unintelligent beings who gradually developed as time passed.

So it was also possible that the Ancient Dragons had developed intelligence after
thousands and tens of thousands of years.

Lukas kept reading the book intently.

The next phrase piqued his interest even more.

[The corpse of an Ancient Dragon can only be described as a treasure trove. It is a

valuable treasure in itself, but many parts of it can also be used as unparalleled
elixirs, or supreme ingredients.]

[Bones, teeth, claws, scales. All of these are things blacksmiths pray to get their
hands on, but only a few are so lucky.]
[For most Dragonmen, fighting an Ancient Dragon would be no different from
throwing themself off a floating island.]

[There is no confirmation of this fact, but it is stated that the heart of an Ancient
Dragon has miraculous properties. Only a handful of those who try to refine it would
be able to handle the immense power contained within…]

‘An Ancient Dragon’s Heart.’

Recalling his past, Lukas nodded inwardly.

It could certainly be said that the heart was the essence of life. Especially for
monsters who have lived as long as the Ancient Dragons. Their hearts alone would
contain a tremendous amount of energy.

‘That might be a special item.’

Lukas raised his head slightly and looked at Guaba.

Even now, he was still chattering happily.

“That’s why, after this mission is over, I intend to confess to her…”

Lukas stopped Guaba before he could continue.

“Have you ever encountered an Ancient Dragon?”

Guaba rolled his eyes at that question.

“If I met one, do you think I’d still be here to talk about it?”

Lukas’ expression became a bit unsightly when he heard those words, and maybe he
picked up on it, as Guaba laughed heartily.

“Now I understand. You’re scared. Haha. There’s no need to be scared.”

Guaba laughed until his stomach hurt.

“In all of my ten years on the subjugation team, I have never seen even a trace of an
Ancient Dragon. Hahaha!”
After about three days, the group was able to reach their first destination.

[Samis Great Forest.]

It was a place filled with trees over dozens of meters tall. By the time they were able
to see the forest clearly, the sun had already begun to set.

Igaru’s eyes shone as he looked for a place to land near the dark forest. As he
searched, he spotted a plume of smoke rising from a clearing near the forest’s
entrance. That wasn’t all. If one looked closely enough, they would see an orange
flame flickering beneath the smoke.

Igaru pointed in that direction.

“Land over there.”

Soon, the three carriages landed near the forest. Then, Igaru led the three flying
dragons pulling their respective carriages and walked towards the clearing he’d
spotted from the sky.

Sure enough, when they arrived, they saw ten people sitting around a large bonfire.
This group also had a flying dragon and carriage.

That wasn’t all.

All of the members of this group were equipped with weapons and armor. Their
equipment wasn’t extravagant, but just from looking at them, one could see that they
were well used and well maintained.

Upon spotting them, a member of the group got up and headed over to them.

Igaru was able to see their silhouette from the light of the fire, and it was easy to tell
from the shape of their body that it was a woman.

“Who are you?”

It was a cold voice.

The woman’s expression was as icy as her voice.

She had a scar across one of her eyes and she was taller than most men. If it wasn’t
for her harsh expression, she could even be described as good-looking, but the
dangerous aura surrounding this woman made it impossible for anyone to have any
wayward thoughts.

Nevertheless, the thing that attracted the most attention was the giant saber she
held in her right hand. This vicious weapon, which appeared too large and heavy for
most men, was being held in one hand by this woman.

Igaru took a step forward and opened his mouth.

“The Herui Subjugation Team Branch 2nd Class Igaru Squad.”

“…Herui?”

The woman shook her head after a moment of thought.

“What brings you to the Samis Great Forest? I don’t think this area falls under your
jurisdiction.”

“The Herui Branch received a request for help.”

When she heard those words, the woman’s eyebrows furrowed and she spoke in a
harsh voice.

“Dammit. Those fools from the branch did something that embarrassing.”

“…”

The woman then looked at Igaru again and clicked her tongue before reluctantly
introducing their group.

“…Hirup Branch 7th Class Ashstar Squad.”

Even though it was revealed that this group wasn’t her enemies, the woman’s voice
remained cold. It seemed that she didn’t welcome Igaru’s squad at all.
Nevertheless, Igaru’s squad members didn’t get offended by the woman’s rude
behaviour.

Instead, looks of surprise blossomed on their faces.

“A-, Ashstar…?”

“The Butcher Ashstar…”

It seemed that she was quite the celebrity as even Bargan’s eyes lit up slightly. On the
other hand, Igaru seemed like he was lamenting inwardly.

“I’d like to set up camp, can I use the empty here?”

“Do what you want.”

After saying that, Ashstar immediately turned around and walked back to her group.
The members of her squad also retracted their gazes.

“That’s a rather unwelcome reaction to members of the same group.”

When Lukas said this, Guaba laughed bitterly.

“It’s natural for them to feel disgruntled. As she said, Samis Great Forest is not our
jurisdiction. We wouldn’t have been here if not for the direct request from the Hirup
Branch.”

“…I see.”

Sending a request for backup meant that they didn’t think this group would be able
to handle their mission alone…

In fact, in normal circumstances, there was nothing wrong with this kind of situation.
The problem here was that someone in the Hirup Branch had acted on their own
judgement.

Ashstar seemed offended by the fact that her superiors didn’t trust her team and
instead requested reinforcements.

Dragonmen, especially those living on Combat Island, seemed to have a very strong
sense of pride.

“It might seem a bit childish, but this is a pretty sensitive issue for the subjugation
team. If it had been the other way around, I would have been pissed too.”

Guaba let out a sigh.

“I don’t think this will be a very comfortable rest.”

***

As Guaba expected, the presence of the Hirup Subjugation Squad made the
atmosphere very uncomfortable. It was almost as though an invisible war was being
waged between the two groups.

Lukas realised that the Ashstar squad was higher ranked than the Igaru squad. In
addition, the Samis Great Forest was their territory, so they naturally held the
initiative.

“It’s a good thing we have Bargan.”

When Lukas tilted his head and Guaba’s words, he explained with a smile.

“They must have heard the stories about ‘Headsmasher Bargan’. That’s why they’re
not openly picking a fight.”

It was certainly obvious that several of the Ashstar squad members were eyeing
Bargan.

It was at that moment that Lukas realised Bargan’s reputation might be greater than
he initially expected. He also realised just why Igaru was so happy when Bargan
joined them.

He was actively taking advantage of Bargan’s presence. This fact was clear even now.
After all, as he was talking to Ashstar, he had Bargan at his side.

“How far have you gone?”

“We have only searched the area around the entrance.”

“Have you gotten any results?”

“Not yet.”

Several people had recently been reported missing near the Samis Great Forest.
Including the most recent disappearance, a total of seven people had already gone
missing, and it had only been about two months since the first reported
disappearance.

Seven people had gone missing in just two months.

“…Rather.”

Ashstar looked around before muttering in a low voice.

“Several of our group have also gone missing.”

“Mmm…”

Igaru frowned.

He could now understand Ashstar’s attitude to an extent. She must have been
frustrated not only by the actions of her superiors but also at the fact that they had
already suffered losses without making any progress.

“Tell us more about the situation.”

Ashstar glanced at Bargan before continuing.

“Our group has already lost three members. It’s been about a week since the first one
disappeared. The second was three days ago, and the last one… was this afternoon.
He went missing just a few hours ago.”

This meant that in addition to the original missing people, ten Dragonmen had gone
missing in this forest.

Igaru’s expression became serious.

These series of events pointed to only one fact.

An unknown being was currently lurking in this forest.

“…this isn’t the best time to eat leisurely. Have you stopped searching?”

“No. We are just taking a break. We will begin searching again immediately after
eating.”

“Then we’ll help you. Let’s split up and search two areas. My group will head west.”

Ashstar nodded.

“Then we’ll head east.”

After a short while, the search operation began.

Half of Igaru’s group were chosen to join the search party, while the other half was
left behind to guard the camp.

Lukas was one of the members left to guard the camp.

“I’ll be away for a while.”

“Be careful.”

“Yes.”

Bargan had been selected as one of the members of the search party. Before leaving
the camp, he bowed his head to Lukas, which caused the members of the Ashstar
squad to look at him strangely.

Headsmasher Bargan was bowing towards an outsider?

Did the outsider grasp his weakness or something?

All of a sudden, their attention had been drawn to Lukas. Even Ashstar turned to
look at him.

Their expressions seemed to be asking, ‘What’s going on?’, but Lukas didn’t pay any
attention to them. Instead, he was staring at the great forest.

‘…without a doubt.’

Something was in there.

Lukas wasn’t sure what it was, but he could feel faint traces of its presence.

Meanwhile, Guaba, who had also been chosen to guard the camp, began to chatter
once again with a relaxed expression.
In truth, over the past three days, Guaba was the person who spoke to Lukas the
most.

Bargan was in charge of another carriage, so he couldn’t find time to talk to him.
Igaru, who he had the best impression of among the squad members, was the most
important person in the group, so he couldn’t find the chance to talk to him privately.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Guaba was a bad person.

Except for being a bit talkative, he could be considered quite good, especially since
he didn’t have any prejudice towards outsiders. And above all else, he had a wealth of
experience.

From his stories, it was clear that he had not just explored Combat Island, but other
islands as well.

“Places to look for treasure?”

After asking that, Guaba glanced down at the mouse corpse in his hand before
swallowing it in one bite. His action was so nonchalant it was as though he had just
eaten a piece of beef jerky.

Lukas, of course, didn’t have any intention of meddling with another race’s diet, so
he remained silent.

“If that’s what you want then ‘Adventure Island’ is the best place to go.”

Lukas nodded.

From what he’d heard and read, Adventure Island could best be described as
‘unexplored’, and it was also the place where countless treasures could be found.

The reason there were so many treasures there was simple.

There had been dozens of countries on Adventure Island in the past.

“The people who used to live there were known for their viciousness and extreme
sense of belonging to their countries. After separating into different forces, they
were at war for hundreds of years…”
Guaba lowered his voice slightly.

“It is said that they eventually drew the ire of the Goddess.”

Lukas had already read this in a book, but he continued to listen instead of stopping
Guaba.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but ask.

“What happened after they drew her ire?”

“She made it rain.”

“…rain?”

“Right. For decades, it rained so hard the droplets could pierce through the scales of
any Dragonman.”

“…”

Heavy rain in a land above the clouds.

Had that also been created by the runes the Sorcerers used?

“The heavy rain from that time caused most of Adventure Island to be submerged.
Now, Adventure Island looks like an archipelago. Only about ten percent of the area
is land.”

And it was said that somewhere in the submerged regions, the legacies of dozens of
countries lay untouched.

“And, well, this might just be a rumor, but it is said that there are quite a few
treasures on Death Island.”

“I hear that it’s a forbidden land.”

“Right. Only a few people know why we’re banned from going there. But since it is an
order that came directly from Dragon God Island, no one dares to defy it.”

Dragon God Island.

Perhaps it played the role of a monarchy that ruled over the Heavenly Realm.

The awe the Dragonmen felt for the Goddess was similar to how subjects looked up
to their monarch.

Lukas wondered if the first thing he should do was meet this Goddess.

‘The stronger you are, the more hidden truths you are made aware of.’

This was one of the truths that transcended any specific world.

“By the way, why are you going to Lirua?”

Lukas decided to respond honestly to see his reaction.

“I’m going there to become the Champion in order to take part in the Championship.”

“…huh?”

Guaba’s expression became a bit strange.

“You do know that Lirua is one of the major cities that represent Combat Island,
don’t you?”

“Right.”

“And that its arena can be ranked within the top five of all cities.”

“Of course.”

“…right. I suppose only someone as ballsy as you could become the Lord of
Headsmasher Bargan.”

He nodded as if he had some kind of understanding.

And he continued in a voice as though he didn’t find anything wrong.

“Well, good luck. I’ll come take a look when I get the chance.”

“…”
That was it?

Guaba didn’t show any disgust or contempt as Bargan had.

What this meant was simple.

‘Guaba doesn’t know about the fight fixing in Lirua.”

Just as he drifted along this train of thought.

Thud…

A strange vibration came from the forest.

Flap flap!

And dozens of birds flew up from the forest at the same time.

Lukas was surprised that birds were living on the floating island, but now wasn’t the
time to think about that.

The ground shook again, almost as if an earthquake was occurring. It was so heavy
that the firewood scattered and the large bonfire immediately went out with a puff.

In an instant, their surroundings became pitch-black, which caused the members of

the subjugation team to become a bit panicked.

“Wh-, what’s going on?”

“Dammit. What the hell happened?”

“Ugh! Which bastard just hit me!?”

It was Igaru who organised the chaos.

“Everyone, take out your weapons!”

Unlike Ashstar, who had directly joined the search, he stayed back to guard their
base.
Igaru’s loud voice pierced the panicked haze that had settled on everyone’s minds.
They all drew their weapons and stared at the forest in anticipation.

“…”

“…”

As the commotion subsided, the area immediately became drowned in silence. So

much so that the sounds of gulping were clearly audible.

Huff… huff…

It also allowed them to hear the sound of panting. It wasn’t from someone in the
camp.

Instead, this sound came from the forest when the strong vibrations had just been
felt.

Only then did the subjugation team members realise that someone was crawling
towards them from the forest.

“Ku-, hu-, urk!”

“…!”

Igaru’s expression hardened.

The person who was slowly crawling out of the forest with unsteady movements was
his subordinate, ‘Naul’.

His face was white with fear, but he didn’t seem to want to get up. No, upon closer
inspection, they realised he couldn’t get up.

The lower half of Naul’s body was no longer there. Therefore, he had no choice but to
use his arms to slowly drag himself forward like a slug.

He called out in a shaky voice.

“S-, squad leader… ru-, run away… da-, danger is… co-, co-…”
Naul collapsed before he could finish his sentence.

The adrenaline that had been pushing his body forward had finally run out.

Lukas turned to look at the forest again.

Then, he heard a familiar voice once again.

[A great power has been sensed in the ‘Samis Great Forest’.]

[Warning!]

[It is recommended that the participant doesn’t approach the Great Forest at this
time.]

‘Why?’

The answer to this question came promptly.

[That being will be difficult for the participant to confront at your current level.]

***

“…relight the fire.”

At Igaru’s order, one of the squad members lit the bonfire once again.

Fwoosh.

Soft light once again filled their surroundings. Igaru also created a torch by wrapping
a cloth around a piece of firewood. Then he carefully inspected Naul’s corpse.

“…”

There were numerous injuries on Naul’s body. However, as he looked at these

injuries, Igaru couldn’t help but feel that none of them were enough to kill or even
incapacitate him.

Every single injury missed his vital points.

Was it because Naul had done a good job of dodging?

‘No.’

From Naul’s pale complexion and his missing lower half, it was obvious that the
difference between him and his opponent wasn’t small.

‘He was toyed with.’

Instead of intentionally killing him, the beast simply devoured his lower half and
enjoyed it as he crawled away in fear.

Right, devoured.

From the injury, it was obvious that Naul’s waist had been torn off by the teeth of a
huge monster. Naul must have tried desperately to crawl away from it after that,
filled with immense pain and even more fear.

Kori, the most knowledgeable member of Igaru’s squad frowned as he looked down
at Naul’s corpse.

“It has a powerful bite. It was able to tear through his skin like paper and his bones
snapped like twigs.”

“Was it a Dragonling?”

“Yeah. It’s possible that it’s a Mutated Dragonling, or…”

After a moment of hesitation, Kori added.

“It’s possible that it was an Ancient Dragon.”

“…”

Even though it was a shocking statement, it didn’t cause a big commotion. Instead, all
the Dragonmen present felt as though a cold wind was blowing against the napes of
their necks, and they didn’t dare to open their mouths.

That was the weight of the words ‘Ancient Dragon’.

Guaba, whose expression had been stiff this entire time, finally turned to Igaru.

“Squad Leader. What are your orders?”

“…”

It was a difficult situation, but that was exactly why the squad leader’s orders were
important.

Igaru took another look at Naul’s corpse then back to the pitch black forest from
which nothing could be seen before letting out a long sigh.

“…we will wait here until dawn.”

With the situation, the way it was, entering the forest now would be no different
from committing suicide.

Especially if their opponent was truly an Ancient Dragon.

All they could do was wait there for those who might come back alive.

‘…however.’

Night had only just arrived. They would need to wait for half a day for dawn to come.
Could those in the forest survive that long?

“Hoo.”

Igaru sighed and shook his head.

This wasn’t the time to worry about the search party. Right now, Igaru had to focus
on protecting those still in the camp.

There was no guarantee that the unidentified Dragonling in the forest wouldn’t come
here for them.

Guaba, who was wiping cold sweat off his forehead, spoke to his side.

“What a mess. Hey, Lukas, you’re a Sorcerer right. Is there any rune you can use to
send messages to those ins-…”
But he didn’t finish his sentence.

“…Lukas?”

This was because Lukas, who had been standing beside him the entire time, had
disappeared.
An eerie wind blew through the pitch-black forest, causing those who felt it to be
filled with a primal fear.

This feeling was magnified by the fact that they still didn’t know exactly what the
being trying to take their lives was.

‘If only it wasn’t so dark.’

Then they wouldn’t be as panicked as they were now.

As she had that thought, Ashstar looked up. The night sky was barely visible through
the thick leaves of the trees around them.

“How many are left?”

“Four of us, including you, Squad Leader.”

Ashstar almost clicked her tongue when she heard that answer.

When they first entered the forest to begin their search, their party had been made
up of nine members. But now, five of them had disappeared without a trace. In other
words, only less than half of her group remained.

‘There were already more than five screams from the darkness.’

In this situation, even the brightest optimist wouldn’t be able to feel hope for the
survival of those missing members.

Trying to get rid of her cynical thoughts, Ashstar opened her mouth.

“Did anyone manage to see it?”

“I only saw a shadowy blur, but… It wasn’t as big as I expected. At the very least, it
was smaller than a flying dragon.”
“That’s strange.”

Normally, Dragonlings’ strength was proportional to their size. If it was smaller than
a flying dragon, then even if it was larger than Dragonmen, it could only be a normal
Dragonling.

It wasn’t a group either. They were at least certain that it was only a single being that
was tormenting their group.

For just one being to deal such devastating damage…

Ashstar frowned.

“…no, it makes sense that it’s small. Otherwise it wouldn’t be able to maneuver
among the trees and toy with us the way it is.”

After pondering for a moment, she spoke in a heavy voice.

“We need a fire.”

“Wouldn’t that just give away our position?”

“From what I can tell, that monster doesn’t have any problem with the darkness.
Since it can find us without any light, making a fire won’t change anything. Do any of
you have cloth?”

“Yes.”

Firewood by itself wasn’t enough to make a torch. Instead, they needed cloth soaked
in flammable liquid to wrap around the end.

Luckily, one of the squad members happened to have one such piece of cloth.

Fwoosh.

When the torch was finally lit, their surroundings instantly became brighter. Their
situation hadn’t gotten any better, but at the very least, they felt less panicked now
that they weren’t surrounded by darkness.

Of course, this didn’t mean that they let their guards down.
Ashstar decided to look around first for any clues that might help her figure out
exactly where they were. But there weren’t any. There was no way for her to tell
which part of the forest this was. In the first place, this forest was so large that it was
given the name ‘Great Forest’ so such a result was kind of expected.

Just as she thought that.

Crunch-

A sound came from the bushes in front of them.

It wasn’t just Ashstar. Her entire squad heard it. They all immediately fell into battle
stances as they focused intently on the bush where the sound came from.

And after a short while, something appeared from the bushes.

“…you.”

It was a familiar face.

A Dragonman who had entered the forest with them. The Dragonman panted heavily,
and the various injuries that covered his body looked extremely gruesome as he
opened his mouth.

“Oh, Hirup’s subjugation team.”

“Bargan.”

As she called out the man’s name, Ashstar made a gesture. Although he looked like
their ally, she couldn’t be sure he wasn’t an enemy. At her signal, her squad members
slowly lowered their weapons, but they didn’t relax their vigilance.

“You were in charge of the west, weren’t you? Where are the others?”

“They’re all dead.”

Someone sucked in a cold breath at his response.

Meanwhile, bargain, who had caught his breath a little, said in a steadier voice.
“We have to get out of the forest. It’s that thing’s territory.”

“Have you seen it?”

Bargain didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked down at the club in his hand.
The club was filled with cracks.

This was a weapon that had been carved from the branch of a top-notch dragonwood
tree, and he had used it for over ten years without it suffering a single scratch. With
its quality, it would have been able to last a few more decades before he needed to
replace it, but now, it had been ruined in a single blow.

He could probably only swing it two or three more times at most.

“It’s almost safe to say that guy is a completely different species from normal
Dragonlings. He’s not that big. Only about three meters tall at most, with a large pair
of wings and tail. But he walks on two legs.”

“It’s bipedal? That…”

Just as Ashstar blurted out those words, a low murmur arose from the Dragonmen
around her. Some of them had become incredibly pale, and if one looked carefully
enough, one could see that their bodies were shaking slightly.

For a Dragonling to walk on two legs, it could only mean one of two things.

It was a mutant Dragonling, or it was an Ancient Dragon.

“Right. But that’s not something you need to pay attention to for now. Keep in mind
that he’s faster than most Dragonmen, a lot more vicious than normal Dragonlings,
just as clever as we are, and he knows how to make use of his advantages.”

Bargain spoke in a soft but firm voice.

“If we don’t leave this forest soon, we will all die.”

***

Afterwards, they began to rush to escape the forest.

Bargain had climbed the tallest tree to get a scope of their location. However, he
hadn’t been able to see the entrance. After being chased around by that guy, they had
unknowingly entered the depths of the forest.

Therefore, he had no choice but to use the stars in the sky to figure out which
direction to go.

South.

However, within just a few minutes of finding their bearings, the first casualty
occurred.

“U-, uahh…!”

It was the Dragonman at the back of their group. Something reached out from the
darkness and grabbed him by the ankle.

The Dragonman screamed and struggled with all his might, but was simply too
strong for him to resist.

“Frix!”

“Dammit!”

By the time the other Dragonmen tried to reach out to him, it was already too late.

“Sa-, save me…!”

Frix dug his fingernails into the ground, but he only left deep gouges as he
disappeared into the bushes.

The other Dragonmen tried to run after him, but Ashstar’s voice sounded like a crack
of thunder.

“Don’t move.”

Her words caused the Dragonmen to freeze in place.

Ashstar clicked her tongue.

In the current situation, everything would only get worse if she allowed them to
break formation. So she had to avoid that as much as possible.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for her to keep her cool either.

Ashstar bit her lip hard as she looked at the bushes where Frix disappeared.

Crunch, crunch…

From it, the sound of flesh and bones being slowly chewed was clearly audible.

When she heard it, she clenched her fists so hard they began to bleed.

‘Fucking bastard.’

It was eating him so close to them on purpose so that they could hear it. It wanted
them to be scared. It was clearly staged, but it still managed to get the reaction it
wanted.

“U-, uh…”

“Frix is…”

Fear quickly began to spread through the group.

The squad members Ashstar had selected were all talented individuals who could be
called elite in their own right, but they were not so cold-blooded as to keep their
calm in a situation like this.

‘He’s the only one that’s able to remain calm.’

Ashstar glanced at the man standing beside her.

He continued to look in front of them with sunken eyes, not showing the slightest
hint of fear or restlessness at the terrifying sounds that drifted from the bushes.

Headsmasher Bargan.

She’d heard a few rumors about him.

He was an outstanding fighter who stood out even in a place like the Lirua Arena. But
she heard that one day, he suddenly stopped being a fighter in the arena and instead
became a wanderer.

When she first heard the rumor, she thought he’d just run away because he got rusty
or was afraid of fighting, but now that she saw him for herself, she didn’t think that
was the case.

Suddenly, Bargan muttered.

“It was its tail.”

“What?”

“The thing that just dragged Frix away. It had a long prehensile tail.”

“…”

Of course, knowing that didn’t make much of a difference.

The monster had finished its meal and it would soon hunt again.

They had no way to deal with it either. It was clear from the start that their enemy
was many times stronger than them.
Bargan frowned slightly as he looked into the darkness.

The monster wasn’t hiding and attacking from the shadows because it didn’t have
the confidence to face them head-on.

Instead, it was doing it just so it could enjoy the hunt.

For example, even if it was day instead of night, and they were in a plain instead of a
forest, their chances of winning would still be very slim.

That was why Ashstar was so angry.

For the extremely proud Dragonmen, this kind of death was the most shameful. From
the start, they were the type who wouldn’t even want a peaceful death where they
could lay on a bed, close their eyes, and smile.

However, they had now been reduced to nothing more than prey and could do
nothing more than wait for their deaths.

For Ashstar, that was a kind of death that she could never accept.

By the time she had made this silent resolution, Ashstar realised that all her squad
members had disappeared.

To be precise, they were all dead.

And, as if to mock them, they arrived at a clearing.

Of course, they hadn’t escaped the forest. Instead, this clearing represented the
center of the Great Forest.

Standing in the middle of this clearing was their assailant.

As Bargan described, it was relatively small for a Dragonling.

In fact, its appearance was closer to that of a Dragonman than a Dragonling. Its slim
body and the fact that it stood on two feet emphasised this feeling.

The monster had jet-black scales, six sharp horns, and a tail. This tail, which seemed
to be much longer than its body, was pointed straight up toward the sky.

At first glance, it appeared more like a black spear than a tail.

Nevertheless, its most noticeable feature was the fact that it was covered in blood. It
was needless to say who this blood belonged to.

Bargan spoke in a frustrated voice.

“Looks like it’s grown tired of hunting. It probably intends to take us both head-on.”

“Ha. Should I be happy that I’ll die a different way?”

Ashstar sneered.

Bargan looked down at his club for a moment before speaking in a soft tone.

“I should be able to hold it back for about five seconds.”

“How surprising. You plan on acting as bait.”

While one side caught its attention, the other would deal the final blow. It was the
simplest and most efficient plan that could be used in the current situation. But there
was a high possibility that the one who took the role as bait would die.

It wasn’t possible for Bargan to not know this.

“My club can’t get through its scales. But your weapon might be able to.”

“…I see.”

Ashstar snorted.

“Well. We’ll both die anyway if I fail.”

[Ka, ka, ka.]

The Dragonling let out a sinister laugh as though it had heard the conversation
between them.

And upon hearing this laugh, Bargain and Ashstar kicked off from the ground at the
same time.

***

Ashstar had a distinctive weapon and fighting style which granted her the title
‘Butcher’. Once she designated someone as her enemy, she never showed any
hesitation or mercy when slaughtering them, and this trait was showcased in her
fights.

A weak-willed person would never be able to watch her fight. The process of her
slowly turning her opponent into minced meat with her huge saber was shocking
enough to cause many to vomit.

But now…

Ashstar’s renowned fighting style could not be displayed at all.

Clang!

Her saber bounced off once again. Her wrist ached as if she’d hit polished steel
armor made by a master craftsman.

It was bloody hard.

How could scales that hadn’t gone through any smelting process be so hard?

Bargain seemed to have expected her saber to be able to cut through its scales, but at
this rate, it seemed that would never happen.

Whoosh!

The long, flexible tail bent like a whip, hitting both Ashstar and Bargan at the same
time. Its tail wasn’t very thick. Rather, it was pretty thin and smooth.

But the shock she felt as it smashed into them was closer to being hit by a huge
boulder.
She could only barely get back to her feet after rolling several times across the
ground. Her heart pounded in her chest.

That attack had broken at least three ribs.

[Ka, ka, ka.]

The bastard didn’t take advantage of the opening. Instead, it simply clapped its
hands together and laughed at them.

It felt as if it could kill them at any time, and it was true.

At that point, she couldn’t even feel angry. Should she be grateful that it had spared
her life until now?

Ashstar let out a laugh.

She couldn’t believe she was having such thoughts. At this rate, she couldn’t tell
when she would finally kick the bucket.

“If this continues, we’ll both die.”

“It’ll probably happen when it gets tired of us.”

Bargan muttered softly before spitting something to the side. It was a broken tooth.

Ashstar narrowed her eyes as she looked at the monster in front of them.

“Is it an Ancient Dragon?”

“Probably.”

“Hoo…”

Ancient Dragon.

Ashstar had seen an Ancient Dragon before. It hadn’t been this small, but at that
time, she’d felt a similar sense of helplessness.

She knew that Ancient Dragons weren’t invincible. They also had weaknesses. It was
just that they couldn’t find them in their current circumstances.

It was simply too dark. Its scales were even darker than the night around them, and
if they concentrated, no, even if they focused with everything they had, it was so fast
that it could disappear in an instant.

Suddenly, Bargan spoke.

“Its tail.”

“What?”

“Target its tail.”

“The scales on its tail are hard too.”

“It would still be better than its body. Its tail is very flexible, which means it will have
a lot of joints, and the gaps on its tail at those spots are the best targets when
compared to anywhere else.”

“…”

It was true.

Whether or not his accumulated experience was useful or not, this was the best he
could think of in this situation.

Ashstar also thought that Bargan’s plan was pretty good, but she still pointed out the
major loophole.

“It won’t die even if we cut its tail off.”

“But we would gain a weapon.”

“…you want to attack it with its own tail?”

It was a really crazy idea.

Bargain responded in a flat tone.

“Do you have any better ideas?”

“…”

Of course, she didn’t.

Ashstar rolled her eyes slightly as she said.

“Fine. Fine. The only other choice is death anyway. But won’t that be our only chance
to catch him off guard?”

“That’s why we have to catch the tail before it falls to the group and stab a vital spot
with it.”

There was only one reason why the Ancient Dragon was so relaxed at that moment.

Because it didn’t see them as threats.

That is to say, it had let its guard down. This also meant that the moment it became
vigilant, they would lose all hopes of winning.

The level of difficulty was absurdly high considering that they only had one chance,
but that was the reality. Especially for the weak who were on the brink of death.

Nevertheless, Ashstar felt grateful at that moment.

At the very least, the possibility that she would die a meaningless death was gone.

Even if she were to die now, she wouldn’t feel any regrets because she aimed for a
chance at victory, a chance to take its life.

Suddenly, the Ancient Dragon began to walk towards them. It could move faster, but
it was walking slowly on purpose.

In all honesty, the sight of an Ancient Dragon walking towards them was terrifying.

If it’s hard to understand, think of a lion or tiger suddenly standing on two feet and
walking towards you.

It was strange.
But Bargan was focused on another fact that he noticed.

Its back was hunched.

In other words, while it could walk on two feet, it was probably most used to walking
on all fours.

Suddenly, the Ancient Dragon disappeared from their sight.

And at the same time, Bargan and Ashstar focused their hearing. After all, it was
almost impossible to follow him with their eyes in the darkness.

Sshhk.

The sound of something moving through the bushes was faintly audible.

It was on the left.

As he had this thought, Bargan increased the strength with which he gripped his
club.

‘This will probably be the last attack.’

Hang in there for one time.

With this earnest desire in his heart, Bargan swung his club to the left.

Crack!

And it immediately broke into several pieces. It had hit the tail.

The Ancient Dragon’s tail could almost be considered as an independent entity. This
was because it seemed to move as if it had a mind of its own.

Rumble-

Bargan’s muscles swelled greatly.

When his club broke apart, the Ancient Dragon must have been happy. But Bargan
had intended to give up his weapon from the start.
Paak!

[…!]
For the first time since their fight began, the Ancient Dragon had an expression of
surprise. This was because Bargan had caught its tail with his bare hands.

[Kaaak!]

With a loud cry, it pulled its tail back.

The tail of the Ancient Dragon was like a whip with shards of metal embedded into it.
When someone tried to hold it with their bare hands, their hands would naturally be
shredded.

Bargan’s hands were filled with hard calluses that had formed over decades of hard
work, but when compared to the Ancient Dragon’s scales, they were no better than
paper.

“Kuh…!”

Nevertheless, Bargan refused to let go. Instead, he increased the strength of his grip
even though his hands felt like they were on fire.

Blood freely flowed from his palms, covering the tail and dripping to the ground.

“Good job, Bargan!”

It was at that moment that Ashstar appeared, her cleaver held high.

With all the strength she could muster focused on her arms, she swung down on the
tail that was held defenselessly.

Crack!

And felt it immediately.

The Ancient Dragon’s tail had been cut off. By then, Bargan’s palms were ragged and
bloody, but his next actions were still as quick as lightning.
Grabbing the tail, he twisted it around before stabbing it into the monster’s chest like
a spear.

Crack!

The sharp tail easily penetrated the Ancient Dragon’s scales.

Ashstar cheered.

“That’s it!”

“…”

However, instead of excitement, an expression of shock slowly spread across

Bargan’s face.

He had a lot of real world experience, and he had killed many people in his life.

So he knew.

He knew exactly what it felt like to pierce someone’s heart.

“This guy… its heart isn’t-…!”

Crack!

Bargan was unable to finish his sentence before he was sent flying. The same was
true for Ashstar, who had released a cry in anticipation of their victory.

[Kaaaaah!]

The Ancient Dragon roared and spread its wings. It was then revealed that its wings
were twice as large as its body.

Flap!

Then, it flew into the sky. Ashstar, who was laying on the ground, coughed up a
mouthful of blood and said.

“What the hell… happened?”

“…its heart wasn’t there.”

“What…?”

He stabbed the tail through its chest and didn’t feel anything.

Was its heart on the right side? Or was it a species whose heart wasn’t in their chest?
Did it even have a heart in the first place? Could there be a living being who didn’t
have a heart?

All these questions disappeared in an instant as the Ancient Dragon looked down
from the sky and opened its mouth.

“…it’s over.”

This time, Bargan was certain of his death.

Deep in his bones, he understood that Dragonmen would never be able to deal with
Ancient Dragons on their own.

In general, Dragonmen didn’t have the means to reach the same level as Ancient
Dragons.

For one, Dragonmen didn’t have wings. Of course, they couldn’t use flying dragons,
either. After all, in the end, flying dragons were Dragonlings, and for Dragonlings,
Ancient Dragons were at the very top of the food chain and couldn’t be contested.

No matter how fearless a flying dragon might be, the moment it heard the roar of an
Ancient Dragon, its entire body would freeze instinctively.

It didn’t matter how amazing its trainer was. It was impossible to train a flying
dragon to confront an Ancient Dragon. This has been proven by tests and
experiments carried out over the past few hundreds of years.

Of course, if they were to use the power of sorcery, it was possible for them to
remain in the sky, but, at best, that could only be called floating in place.

Flying freely in the sky and floating in place were so different that they didn’t even
need to be explained.
It was like a person who had lost both of their legs going against a professional
runner.

[Ka, ka, ka.]

The Ancient Dragon let out another laugh. It had already realised its absolute
superiority.

It always enjoyed slaughters like this one.

It could never get this kind of pleasure while killing Dragonlings. There was no point
in killing weak things that only ran or froze without doing anything.

It wasn’t fun at all.

Devouring a trembling Dragonling was no different from eating food that had been
set out on a table.

But Dragonmen, on the other hand, was different.

They were also terrified whenever they encountered it, but they never gave up and
always did their best to survive. Some of them even tried to fight it.

It liked that.

What the Ancient Dragon wanted to do was hunt, not butcher, and Dragonmen were
the perfect actors for its play.

Fwoosh.

The Ancient Dragon opened its mouth wide and black flames appeared in it.

Whoosh.

But what shot out was more like a bullet than a breath attack.

Bang!

The instant the ball of black flames hit the ground, half of the clearing was destroyed.
The force of the attack sent Bargan and Ashstar rolling across the ground like
ragdolls.

‘Kuh… ’

It had missed them on purpose.

It knew they couldn’t avoid it. The black ball of flames was far too fast for them to
even hope to dodge.

Fwoosh.

The Ancient Dragon opened its mouth again.

It was about to spit out another bullet.

Originally, it had intended to play with them until dawn, but it had changed its mind.
These Dragonmen had dared to attack it and had even cut off its tail.

The intelligence was still there, but the patience had run out.

This was probably the most decisive difference between Dragonmen and
Dragonlings.

“Ha.”

Ashstar snorted as she finally let go of her saber.

She never thought she would die in such a ridiculous way.

…It wasn’t so bad to die to this kind of opponent.

“…”

Unlike Ashstar, who had already resigned herself to her fate, Bargan continued to
glare at the Ancient Dragon.

There wasn’t any big reason for this.

It was simply because he had sworn to never turn his head away if the day of his
death finally arrived.

However, this allowed him to witness a very strange sight.

From somewhere in the forest, a whitish blur suddenly shot towards the Ancient
Dragon.

It was almost like a group of pure white bats were flying.

[…]

It took the Ancient Dragon a while to notice their presence, but when it did, it
immediately shot its ball of black flame towards them.

But these objects which suddenly appeared flew through the black flames as though
it wasn’t there before tearing the Ancient Dragon’s body to shreds.

[…ka, guh, uk…?]

The Ancient Dragon’s body shook as it looked down at itself in disbelief.

This was because it realised that the things that had pierced the scales it was so
proud of and made its body a ragged mess were only pieces of ice.

“Ice…?”

It was Ashstar who called out in disbelief.

It was a bit chilly as there was still some time before dawn, but it wasn’t cold enough
for ice to form. And even if it was, there was no way the ice would be strong enough
to withstand those powerful black flames, or sharp enough to pierce the scales that
even her prized saber could do nothing about.

Bargan, on the other hand, immediately knew the source of this incredible
phenomenon.

Bang!

At that moment, the Ancient Dragon’s body fell to the ground.

Its mouth was wide open, and doubt, shock, fear, and resentment were clear in its
dark eyes.

Instant death.

A death that was still unbelievable even after they witnessed it with their own eyes.

How could this monster, who even Bargan and Ashstar had to risk their lives to just
cut off its tail, die so easily?

Juk-

It was at that time that a man appeared from the forest. There was a cold, hazy mist
drifting off of his body.

“You…”

Ashstar’s eyes narrowed slightly.

It was the outsider that Bargan had been strangely polite to.

Lukas looked over to them and spoke.

“It seems I wasn’t too late. Are you okay, Bargan?”

“Yes.”

Bargan responded while suppressing the pain from his ribs and palms. Instead, he
smiled slightly.

“…to defeat an Ancient Dragon on your own. I knew you were an amazing person, My
Lord.”

But Lukas’ expression became strange when he heard those words. He shook his
head as he looked down at the monster’s corpse.

“You’re wrong about something.”

“What do you mean?”

“This isn’t an Ancient Dragon.”

“What did you say?”

It was Ashstar who asked this question.

Lukas looked into the forest and said.

“Don’t you remember the huge vibration that shook the forest earlier? It caused most
of the birds in the Great Forest to fly away simultaneously. This guy isn’t strong
enough to cause that kind of vibration. In other words…”

Lukas looked down at the Ancient Dragon again.

No.

“This is nothing more than a mutated Dragonling.”

“…!!”

As he ended his words, he pushed the ‘mutated Dragonling’ slightly with his foot.

Bargan’s expression stiffened.

Although he didn’t really want to accept it, it certainly did clear up some of the
doubts he’d been feeling from the start.

For example, the monster was even smaller than normal Dragonlings, and its
physical structure was so ‘deformed’ that it could hardly be called a Dragonling.
Finally, its pride, fighting style, and burgeoning intelligence were different from
normal Dragonlings.

Ashstar spoke in a trembling voice.

“So the thing that beat us so badly wasn’t an Ancient Dragon… It was just a mutated
Dragonling bastard…”

Krrrr…

Suddenly, another vibration shook the entire forest. Something was moving on the
other side of the forest.

Whatever it was, it was big. So big in fact that they couldn’t even see all of it at once.
Its size was so overwhelming that they didn’t even have any thought of fighting back.

Even though it was night, a feeling of immense darkness seemed to cover the entire
forest. It was almost as if a mountain had suddenly appeared and its majesty pressed
upon the shoulders of everyone in its shadow.

Flap!

The real Ancient Dragon Spread its wings.

This movement alone sent a tremendous gale rippling through the forest. It was so
powerful that the ancient trees that were deeply rooted in the ground were sent
flying like small weeds.

Bargan and Ashstar, who had only just returned to their feet, suddenly lost all
sensation in their knees, causing them to collapse to the ground once again.

Lukas, on the other hand, remained standing, gazing at the Ancient Dragon.

Indeed, if it was a being on this level, it wasn’t a surprise that the voice would think
he was unable to deal with it.

“You did well, Bargan. Now go join back up with the main group.”

As he said that, Lukas turned around.

For a moment, Bargan didn’t understand what Lukas was doing. Then, when it
clicked in his mind, he hurriedly tried to get back to his feet, his feet trembling all the
way.

“M-, my lord. What are you planning to do?”

“Hunt the Ancient Dragon.”

It was crazy. Absolutely Insane.

Even Bargan was unable to keep his cool when he heard this response. He cried out
to Lukas in an anxious voice.

“It’s suicide…!”

“I’ve heard that many times before.”

Once again, Bargan was made speechless by Lukas’ remark, but Lukas simply smiled
at him and added.

“That just means that no one has ever done it before.”

The Ancient Dragon, which was the size of a small mountain and covered in jet black
scales that seemed to devour the moonlight, finally opened its golden eyes.

‘Overwhelming.’

That was the only way to describe this monster.

Only Dragons that had survived for at least a few hundred years were qualified to be
called

‘Ancient Dragons’.

Lukas had realised that the wilderness of the Heavenly Realm was a place ruled by
the primal rules of the jungle. In fact, it was very similar to the Demon World from
his home universe, a place where the desire to become strong was embedded into
the very roots of every being.

After all, only the strong had the right to survive in such places.

Ancient Dragons had survived not for decades, but for centuries in such an
environment. That fact alone was proof of just how strong they were.

[Warning!]

[Immediate escape is strongly recommended.]

[At the participant’s current level, it would be extremely difficult to face such an
opponent.]

The voice’s warning sounded in his ear once again.

Even so, it was already too late.

The burning gaze of the Ancient Dragon had already pinpointed Lukas as something
that had to be exterminated. It was clear as day that even if he were to turn around
and run with all his might, the Ancient Dragon would chase him to the ends of the
world.

At that moment, however, Lukas was only wondering if there was any way to turn off
the annoying voice.

[There is no way to disable the advisory function.]

“…”

He shook his head with a sigh.

‘Then at least you can be quiet for now.’

After he snapped inwardly, he no longer heard any response from the voice. Maybe it
was just him, but it almost felt like the voice was sulking.

Nevertheless, Lukas decided to ignore the voice as he analysed his current strength.

He could only use 7-star and lower spells. That meant that his options were
incredibly limited. And to make matters worse, the Ancient Dragon was certain to
have annoyingly strong defenses.

Suddenly.

[Rooaar!]

The Ancient Dragon let out a loud roar before charging towards Lukas.

As if to vent its rage, it simply charged towards him without any technique, but when
one put the Ancient Dragon’s size into consideration, such a sight was terrifying.

It was as though a natural disaster was rushing towards him. Trees were sent flying
in every direction, heavy winds buffeted the entire area, and the ground shook
heavily.

Lukas avoided the attack by rising into the air with the Fly spell.

However, the speed of the Ancient Dragon’s rush belied its enormous size, so he was
only able to barely avoid it after using Blink as well.
Boom!

The ground where Lukas had been standing sank.

Based on the extent of the damage, it would probably take a few decades before the
forest would be able to recover to its former state. While the thought buzzed in the
back of his mind, Lukas analysed the Ancient Dragon’s state.

‘It’s angry.’

Incredibly so, in fact.

The reason for this wasn’t too difficult to guess.

The mutated Dragonling that Lukas had killed was probably its child.

Lukas cast a spell at the Ancient Dragon’s defenseless back.

Bang!

It was just a spell to test the strength of its defenses.

A sphere of energy formed in his palm before shooting down towards the Ancient
Dragon at so fast a speed that the air split apart.

The Ancient Dragon sensed the attack, but it didn’t try to avoid it. Clearly, it had great
faith in its defenses.

But apart from that, it was a bit confused.

In the hundreds of years that it had been dominating this island’s wilderness as the
top predator, it had never encountered such a fighting style. It was very strange. To
avoid its attack, this tiny being had flown into the sky with strange movements.

For the Ancient Dragon, Lukas’ magic was unknown.

Lukas, on the other hand, was very familiar with beings like the Ancient Dragon.

He had fought many monsters of similar size and he already had an idea of their
habits and attack style.
Clang!

The energy sphere directly hit the back of the Ancient Dragon.

However, if others were to view this scene, they would not have believed the spell he
had just cast was Hyperbolt.

The destructive power of this spell was immense.

That was a fact. The spell Lukas had just cast, in theory, contained the maximum
output one could compress into a Hyperbolt.

In theory, it should be impossible for any Wizard to truly achieve a 100% magic
power output, but Lukas had just done this.

There were two reasons for this.

One was the abundant mana which seemed to fill the Heavenly Realm to the point of
saturation.

[…]

The other was the fact that Lukas was no ordinary Wizard, he was the Great Mage.

After a short while, the smoke cleared up and he was able to inspect the Ancient
Dragon’s back once again.

There, he saw faint scorch marks on its scales. The Ancient Dragon was jet black, so
one really needed to concentrate in order to see the faint marks.

Lukas nodded inwardly. It seemed that even an enhanced Hyperbolt was only able to
leave a few scorch marks at best.

[Rooaa-!]

The Ancient Dragon began to let out another roar, but it was forced to stop in
surprise.

Papapa!
For a moment, it couldn’t help but wonder if it was already dawn. But instinctively, it
knew that there was still a short while before dawn arrived.

If that was the case then…

Where had this bright light that instantly washed away the darkness of the forest
come from?

“…”

Lukas wasn’t chanting any spells at that moment. He didn’t need to.

At his current level, it was possible to cast spells just by thinking about it. With just a
little hand gesture, he could cast dozens of spells at the same time.

This wasn’t possible for normal 7-star Archmages, but it was possible for Lukas
because he had only been suppressed to this stage by a special force.

The restrictions limited his state, but it didn’t limit his mind.

Earth Fang, Flame Ball, Frost Scream, Hyperbolt, Howling Tempest.

Most spells from 4 to 6 stars were sent towards the Ancient Dragon at the same time.

The Ancient Dragon felt as though it had been placed into a magical storm. The sight
of dozens of spells created a beautiful image that lingered in one’s mind.

It was like an illusion.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t lethal.

Boom!

Dozens of spells rained down upon the Ancient Dragon like an aerial bombardment.
It was as if its scales were being struck by extremely powerful hail.

The image of a supreme Wizard pouring countless spells onto a large black Dragon
had such a classic feel that it would almost make one laugh.

This was a story that could only be found in those old hero tales that no one read
anymore.

Of course, Lukas’ expression didn’t show any of the determination or ferocity one
would expect when fighting against a deadly foe.

Instead, he watched on in silent contemplation as the spells crashed into the Ancient
Dragon’s body.

Burns, cuts, and other injuries were slowly accumulating.

This proved that the Ancient Dragon’s scales were not invincible.

In fact, its defense didn’t seem to be much higher than the mutated Dragonling from
before. Or maybe it just didn’t have a way to cope with magic.

‘Or is it both?’

Lukas had this thought, and he came to a conclusion as he looked at the damage.

It wouldn’t be possible to kill the Ancient Dragon with just this much. At best, it
would only make it feel pain akin to being continuously slashed with a knife.

‘I’m glad I can use up to 7-star spells.’

Otherwise, it would have taken him much longer to deal with this monster.

Lukas’ eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the Ancient Dragon’s body.

He hadn’t just cast dozens of spells without thinking.

Every living creature had its own unique trait.

This was especially true for beings that had lived for a long time.

Living for a long time meant that it had polished the talents, traits, and
characteristics gained at birth over time. For non-human beings, these traits tended
to have greater influence on their outside rather than their inside.

For the Ancient Dragon, its black scales were one such trait.
Lukas judged that the Ancient Dragon’s scales had been ‘transformed to have strong
physical defense’.

And from what he could tell, its mutated Dragonling baby had inherited this trait.

That was why he had poured spells from multiple different elements onto it.

From the basic elements like water, fire, earth and wind, to lightning, light, and
darkness.

In terms of pure power, each spell was about the same, but some only lightly
scratched the Ancient Dragon’s scales while others successfully sliced through the
scales to reach the flesh beneath.

‘As expected, it seems that ice magic is the most effective.’

This was something he believed to be highly likely.

After all, it was the ice spell, Frost Scream, that had killed its young.

By the time Lukas finished his analysis, the Ancient Dragon spread its wings once
again.
[Rooaar!]

Chht-

The fierce roar of an apex predator caused the muscles of every creature that heard
it to tense up in fear, their legs unable to move because of how intensely they were
shaking. This was true even for Bargan and Ashstar, who heard the Ancient Dragon’s
roar despite being several kilometers away.

Lukas, on the other hand, was only a few hundred meters away from the Ancient
Dragon. This meant that the effects of the roar should have been multiplied several
times.

However, the stimulating effects only worked for those whose mental power was
weaker than the Ancient Dragon.

It was no exaggeration to say that Lukas was immune to such mental attacks.

[…]

And the Ancient Dragon also noticed this fact.

This bug in front of it was different from the other bugs. It used tricks that it had
never seen before, and it wasn’t intimidated by its immense power.

It had never experienced such a situation in the entirety of its long life.

It wasn’t afraid, but it felt like this enemy could not be easily defeated.

The Ancient Dragon wasn’t sure what to do.

But Lukas was already thinking about how to end their confrontation.

Flap!
When the Ancient Dragon had spread its wings once again, it wasn’t to intimidate its
opponent with its large size but to prepare for any emergencies.

The forest shook heavily.

This was natural, as an immensely large being was preparing to take off.

But Lukas was already prepared.

No, ‘prepared’ wasn’t really the right word.

Instead, it could be said that Lukas now knew his greatest strength.

Spell casting speed.

He didn’t need to use any chants or runes to cast spells.

There were only two things that could indicate what Lukas was doing.

One was gestures. Of course, these gestures were unnoticeable, as they ranged from
the shake of a hand to a simple wink.

But the other was even harder to notice.

“Hoo…”

A sigh.

As he built up a huge amount of mana in his body, he had no choice but to relieve
some of the pressure, and that was the reason for the sigh.

As he sighed, a puff of white smoke escaped from Lukas’ mouth.

There was no way for the Ancient Dragon to notice this.

Of course, even if it had noticed, there was nothing it could have done.

Crackle!

A cold breeze swirled around Lukas before spreading in every direction. Like a
raging wildfire, this breeze swept through the forest, freezing everything it touched.
And as if it had a will of its own, the cold breeze surrounded the Ancient Dragon.

The Ancient Dragon roared and struggled, but the ice had already begun to spread.
Like a predator hunting prey, the cold breeze rushed into the Ancient Dragon’s body.

It only took a few seconds before this majestic creature became nothing more than a
giant ice sculpture.

Blizzard.

Among all 7-star spells, this was the only one with enough range and lethality to
freeze the giant body of the Ancient Dragon, who was the hegemon of the Samis
Great Forest.

Lukas looked at the ice statue for a moment before casting another spell.

This time, he pointed his finger to the sky before making a forward slashing motion
with his hand.

Boom!

A huge bolt of lightning shot down from the sky.

Giga Lightning.

It was a 7-star spell like Blizzarrd, but its single target destructive power was on par
with Lava Blast. Naturally, this meant that it had the power to destroy the ice statue.

Krrr…

The Ancient Dragon’s enormous body fell to the forest floor in dozens of large ice
chunks. Its body had been split into dozens of pieces, and there was no longer any
chance of it surviving.

He’d won.

In all honesty, he’d won much easier than he expected.

In the end, the Ancient Dragon couldn’t even be considered a formidable foe for
Lukas.

At best, it was like fighting any other monster.

Even if it had gained intelligence comparable to humans, the Ancient Dragon

prioritised its emotions over logic. In fact, in terms of cunning, the mutated
Dragonling that had hunted Bargan and Ashstar was much more superior.

Lukas couldn’t help but wonder why the great ‘Ancient Dragons’ were overestimated
to such an extent, but it didn’t take him very long to find the reason.

For Dragonmen, an Ancient Dragon was certainly invincible.

This was natural.

After all, Dragonmen were a race who prefered bladed weapons and close combat.

The Ancient Dragon’s scales might have appeared weak under Lukas’ elemental
bombardment, but it boasted an almost impregnable defense against swords and
spears.

And even if they did manage to break through its scales, for a being of its size, such
injuries would be similar to being pricked by a needle. In addition, all of these
arguments were only based on the assumption that they were fighting on the
ground. Ancient Dragons usually had the ability to fly.

A being able to soar in the sky and release incredibly powerful breath attacks was
nothing short of a disaster for the Dragonmen.

On the other hand, Wizards had the means to offset these advantages of the Ancient
Dragons.

Even if they had scales that couldn’t be penetrated by blades.

Even if they flew into the sky out of reach.

Even if they were to spew their breath from the air.

Even if their roar would stimulate the primal fear of every creature who heard it.
None of that could hinder Lukas.

No one in this world could understand.

What Wizards were, what powers they wielded, and what they were capable of.

‘Wizards.’

Compared to humans, they shined even more when dealing with monsters.

It might be a bit hasty, but Lukas had a thought at that moment.

In the Heavenly Realm, when it came to ‘Ancient Dragon hunting’, he might be a

specialist.

[You have successfully defeated the ruler of the Samis Great Forest, ‘Bultasie’.]

[Great Achievement!]

[You have earned the title ‘Legendary Dragon Hunter’.]

[The prestige of ‘Dragon Hunter Lukas’ spreads throughout Combat Island.]

‘Prestige spreads’.

So it seemed that this was a way to spread his name in addition to winning the
Championship.

With that thought in mind, Lukas turned around.

Most of the giant trees in the area had been uprooted. Thanks to this, it was easy for
him to spot the survivors of the Dragonmen subjugation team that were looking at
him from a distance.

Bargan and Ashstar were also with them. It seemed that they’d been able to find
Igaru without any problems.

Bargan was the first one he noticed. He was currently staring at Lukas as if he was a
mythical hero.
[Due to your amazing achievement, the loyalty of the wandering Dragonman Fight,
‘Bargan’, has increased.]

Lukas nodded inwardly.

This was a by-product he expected.

It would probably allow him to learn even more about the situation in Lirua.

He wasn’t sure exactly how strong the individuals in a major city would be. But he
wasn’t afraid. In all honesty, the reason he felt discomfort was because he had been
suppressed to 7-stars.

In his current state, even a single Swordmaster would be more of a threat to him
than the Ancient Dragon who once ruled over the Samis Great Forest.

Just as he had this thought.

[The loyalty of subjugation squad leader, ‘Ashstar’, has increased significantly.]

“…”

This was unexpected, so he was a bit speechless.

However, it seemed that the voice had only just begun.

[The loyalty of subjugation squad leader, ‘Igaru’, has increased significantly.]

[The loyalty of subjugation squad member, ‘Kori’, has increased significantly.]

[The loyalty of subjugation squad member, ‘Numaha’, has increased significantly.]

[…]

[…]

The continuous ringing of the voice in his ear was deafening.

Lukas’ attention was then drawn to the Dragonmen behind Bargan.

That was why he realised that the gazes of these dozen or so Dragonmen were
similar to Bargan’s.

…No.

Their gazes might have been even more intense.

Lukas recalled the passage he’d read in the book.

[The corpse of an Ancient Dragon can only be described as a treasure trove. It is a

valuable treasure in itself, but many parts of it can also be used as unparalleled
elixirs, or supreme ingredients.]

[There is no confirmation of this fact, but it is stated that the heart of an Ancient
Dragon has miraculous properties. Only a handful of those who try to refine it would
be able to handle the immense power contained within…]

Then he looked at the corpse of the Ancient Dragon that was currently before him.

Bones, teeth, claws, scales.

It was a huge mountain of treasure that blacksmiths would sell their souls to get
even a single portion of.

However, in all honesty, Lukas didn’t feel like this Ancient Dragon’s corpse was a
treasure trove.

After all, the Ancient Dragon’s body had been broken into pieces. This was natural
because it had been turned into a giant ice statue before being shattered with
lightning. Not to mention the fact that the magical bombardment it suffered had
greatly damaged its prized scales.

Animal hide was always worth more the less it was damaged.

That was why it was usually difficult to obtain good quality hide from powerful
beasts. It was very difficult to kill a beast that was struggling to survive without
doing any damage to its hide.

Therefore, Lukas felt that the value of the corpse of the Ancient Dragon he’d slain
would be rather low.

Of course, that didn’t matter to him. What he was after was its core, not its shell.
Lukas looked at the Ancient Dragon’s heart. It was as black as its scales, and one
rubbed it gently with their hand, they would find themself with a handful of ash.

The heart was also much larger than Lukas. It was about as large as a small cabin.

‘I need to control the ice so it doesn’t melt.’

Lukas also had fairly deep knowledge about alchemy. He knew that if he were to let
the ice around the heart melt, it would gradually begin to lose its vitality, which
would, in turn, mean that it would lose value.

‘Can I really refine this?’

This thought appeared in his mind for a moment, but he shook his head after
thinking about it.

He didn’t think he would completely fail the refinement at all, but on the other hand,
he wasn’t 100 percent confident in his success either.

After all, he knew nothing about the biological structure of Ancient Dragons, nor did
he know how their parts should be handled.

Such things were better left to the professionals.

Refiners.

His current priority would be to find someone who could purify and refine the heart
of the Ancient Dragon for him.

Of course, if he couldn’t find one, then he would have no choice but to research on his
own and figure it out himself…

But that was only a last resort.

***

“None of it should be thrown away.”

Bargan spoke in his normal cold tone.

But despite his voice, his eyes shined with respect and admiration.

Not really paying attention to it, Lukas said.

“What do you mean?”

“The Ancient Dragon my Lord defeated.”

“…”

“The rights to deal with the Ancient Dragon’s corpse goes to the one who defeated it.
I will keep an eye on it so that no Dragonman tries to touch your property.”

After saying that, he turned to stare at the Dragonmen who were wandering around
the Ancient Dragon’s corpse. When they felt his gaze, they flinched as though they
had been pricked by something.

“Do you not trust Igaru and Ashstar?”

As for the wandering Dragonmen, they were naturally the surviving members of
Igaru and Ashstar’s squads.

Bargan shook his head at those words.

“Those two are proud. They will only pay respect to my Lord’s achievement and will
never try to take your spoils unjustly.”

“Then…?”

“Don’t you intend to move the parts? As I said before, no part should be thrown
away.”

His gaze then turned to the carriages pulled by the flying dragons.

“However, even if we were to remove all the cargo from the carriages and use all the
available space, we still wouldn’t be able to load the entire Ancient Dragon.”

That was natural.

The Ancient Dragon was the size of a small mountain.

The carriages they came with were relatively large and the luggage compartments
were spacious, but as the name suggested, they were made to store luggage. As
Bargan said, even if they used up all the available space, they wouldn’t be able to fit
even a single one of the Ancient Dragon’s arms.

“Both squad leaders have called for reinforcements from their respective cities.”

“Ah.”

Lukas finally understood.

Flying a carriage in the middle of the night wasn’t particularly dangerous, but the
chance of encountering a wild flying dragon was definitely higher than during the
day.

Nevertheless, the squad leaders could not wait for daytime.

“They might have just called for backup and to report the situation, but there will
definitely be vehicles capable of transporting the Ancient Dragon’s corpse in the
group. It’s even possible that the respective City Lords will also make an appearance.
And they will definitely fight to decide whose city the Ancient Dragon’s corpse is
moved to.”

“Is moving a corpse that important?”

“It’s very important.”

Bargan nodded several times before he explained.

“After moving the corpse to the city, won’t you try to sell the parts? After all, you can’t
keep such a huge corpse by yourself.”

“That’s true.”

“A black dragon the size of the one you slew is enough to equip hundreds of
Fighters.”

“I see.”

It was that he understood what Bargan was trying to say.

“Would that increase the average level of the Fighters in the city?”

“It wouldn’t just increase, it would increase explosively.”

Lukas knew a bit about the subtle relationships between the cities on Combat Island.
While they weren’t exactly hostile towards each other, there was still a certain level
of competition between them.

‘The level of the Fighters in the city represents the strength of the city.’

This relationship would be even more strained than usual since the ‘Championship’,
a competition that would determine the strongest in the realm, was soon
approaching.

“My Lord, in this kind of situation, you slew an Ancient Dragon. I’m not too sure
about the details, but I can guess that the value of this black dragon will be beyond
imagination.”

“I’m not sure if I agree. It’s quite damaged.”

Lukas looked back at the corpse as he said this, but Bargan’s expression became a bit
strange.

“Is it even possible to kill an Ancient Dragon without damaging its hide? In addition,
the damage to its body is limited to its scales at best. The claws are still intact, and
the bones are still in good condition except for the cute ones. I think this can be
considered a top-quality material.”

Bargain knew.

Just how much manpower, effort, patience, and luck were required to defeat an
Ancient Dragon.

The subjugation rate of Ancient Dragons was generally considered to be less than 10
percent, and even if they succeeded, the Ancient Dragon’s corpse was usually no
better than a damaged wet rag. Nevertheless, such corpses were still viewed as
incredible treasures, not to mention the one Lukas had killed, which suffered
practically no damage except for its scales.

Lukas nodded slightly.

The dozens of spells he casted had thoroughly damaged the Ancient Dragon’s scales,
but most of them had failed to penetrate its flesh and cut its bones. And naturally, its
claws were fine because it hadn’t even gotten a chance to use them in the fight.

“And above all, the skull… I heard that the skull of an Ancient Dragon was
comparable in strength to that of mythical metals. And that part has been perfectly
preserved. The value of that alone would be enough to make anyone cry out.”

Bargan’s voice was filled with confidence as he spoke.

Even so, Lukas simply listened at the side without much change in his expression.

He naturally did have a need for a certain amount of money, but on the other hand, if
he received an exceedingly large amount, then he wouldn’t have anywhere to spend
it.

Of course, there was a saying that as far as money went, the more you had the better,
but that was just one of the tricks spread by those obsessed with coins.

‘I don’t know if I’ll even require such a large amount of money.’

Lukas looked up at the sky as he had this thought.

A dim orange glow was beginning to spread from the horizon.

The long night had finally come to an end, and dawn had come.

To be honest, at that moment, Lukas was still underestimating the achievement of

slaying an Ancient Dragon.

He didn’t expect that it would create a storm that would affect the cities near where
he had single-handedly defeated an Ancient Dragon, no that would affect the entirety
of Combat Island.
Even in the cities of Dragonmen, City Lords existed.

However, it was a bit incorrect to view them as absolute or supreme powers. This
was because the meaning of the position was stronger than the City Lord’s authority.

Of course, this didn’t mean that it was just a nominal position or that they didn’t have
any real power.

It was simply the fact that it was not easy to get the position in the first place.

In order to become a City Lord on Combat Island, there was a condition that first had
to be satisfied.

‘Maintain the position of Champion for at least one year in five different cities.’

It was a condition so difficult that most would just give up upon learning it.

Becoming the Champion of a city was, in itself, a difficult task, but it was even harder
to maintain that position for a year.

And yet, one would only be eligible for the City Lord position after repeating this
process five times.

It was for this reason that all City Lord were relatively well-known, including the City
Lord of ‘Hirup’, Sshiris.

However, Sshiris was different from other City Lords.

Even after taking the seat as City Lord, most Champions do not neglect their training,
but it had been more than 10 years since he last held a weapon.

His pretentious appearance, which was completely unlike any other Fighter, proved
that fact.

The reason for this was simple. Sshiris had become infatuated with the charm of
wealth. Something extremely rare for Dragonmen, and even rarer for those living on
Combat Island.

This was the reason why he didn’t easily believe the report he received just after
dawn.

“…what did you just say?”

He stared at the Dragonman in front of him in disbelief.

He was certain that this was a member of the ‘Ashstar Squad’. He just couldn’t
remember his name.

At first glance, this Dragonman appeared nervous, but he was even more excited
than that.

“An Ancient Dragon appeared in the Samis, Great Forest…!! A, a huge one! And a
Sorcerer named Lukas managed to slay it on his own! S-, Squad Leader Ashstar said
that we should quickly go retrieve the body before other cities have the chance to
intervene…!”

“…”

Sshiris frowned slightly.

For someone like him, who was picky 24 hours a day, he usually wouldn’t tolerate
this kind of rude gibberish.

More importantly, the squad member’s report was filled with unbelievable nonsense.

The fact that an Ancient Dragon had appeared in the Samis Great Forest. The fact
that the monster was huge enough to be described as a small mountain.

And above all, the fact that the monster had been slain not by a group of well-known
heroes or great Champions, but by a single Sorcerer.

Just as he was wondering just how to deal with this foolish squad member who had
come to tell him such nonsense first thing in the morning, the squad member
hurriedly pulled something from his pocket.
Perhaps he had sensed his bad intentions.

“T-, this is Squad Leader Ashstar’s letter.”

“Give it here.”

Sshiris quickly looked over the piece of paper with the letter.

“…”

It didn’t take long for his eyes, which had been a bit dull and blank to become sharp.
This sharpness gradually became surprised, and the surprise soon morphed into
shock.

Tang!

Sshiris roughly smacked the letter onto his desk. His beard trembled.

This was a rare(?) sight that could only be seen when he was extremely excited.

“How many Sky Carriages are available right now?”

The attendant at his side quickly answered.

“17, sir.”

“Not enough.”

That wasn’t enough.

Sshiris stroked his chin for a moment before saying.

“Contact every carriage that is out on missions of lesser importance and tell them to
return immediately.”

The attendant made an expression of surprise.

“That means not only those on subjugation missions but also those transporting
passengers… There will definitely be some backlash.”
“Tell them that we will refund them double the fee and they will be able to use a
direct carriage after the city has completed its task.”

“Understood. What do you intend to do, my Lord?”

“Head to the Samis Great Forest with the least amount of people necessary.”

Intense greed flashed in Sshiris’ eyes.

An opportunity of a lifetime had appeared before him.

Fortunately, he’d received the news before anyone else and would be able to move
one step ahead of the other City Lords.

‘Dragon Hunter Lukas.’

It was said that he was an outsider, so it was highly likely that he was ignorant of the
true value of the Ancient Dragon’s corpse. In other words, if he played his cards right,
he could get his hands on a mountain of treasure for practically nothing in return.

As he had this thought, sweat began to appear on his palms and his heart raced.

‘Is this finally my chance to get out of this god-forsaken city?”

Sshiris’ heart pounded heavily in his chest.

He had great ambitions, and in order to realise them, he needed to get out of this
small, cramped city as quickly as possible.

It was possible that this opportunity would become the great cornerstone to him
achieving his ambition.

Sshiris left his seat and practically floated out of his office.

At that time, his excessive excitement caused him to overlook a certain fact.

The more one tried to hide something, the faster it would spread.

***
Igaru was a squad leader from the city of ‘Herui’. So naturally, the news of what
Lukas had done reached the City Lord there.

And once the news reached the City Lord, it wasn’t hard for it to spread to the ears of
the City’s Champion.

In other words, Min Ha-rin.

“Ahahaha! Ahahaha…!”

Upon hearing the news, she burst into laughter like a little girl. In fact, if she could,
she would have even wanted to roll around on the ground.

That was how happy she was.

She felt much more refreshed than if she was standing on a coast, being hit by the
ocean breeze.

As expected, he was on a completely different level.

In less than a month, Lukas had easily overtaken even her greatest achievements.

Nevertheless, she didn’t feel jealous or inferior.

She felt proud.

She remembered when she’d first entered the Heavenly Realm.

For Min Ha-rin, it was a world that was big, scary, and altogether unfamiliar.

Wild Dragonlings threatened her life daily, and extremely strong beings constantly
stimulated her inferiority complex.

And yet, in this place infested by monsters, her Master stood tall, as usual.

Right.

In her eyes, even this huge world wasn’t enough to be much of a problem for Lukas.

To put it bluntly, what she was feeling was, in essence, surrogate satisfaction, but Min
Ha-rin almost felt like saying, ‘What’s wrong with that?’.

After all, she was that person’s disciple.

“I’m not really surprised.”

…Dragon Hunter Lukas.

It wasn’t quite as nice sounding as Great Teacher or Great Mage, but she thought the
name suited him quite well.

“I have to work hard too.”

This wasn’t really the time to feel admiration.

She was the Great Mage’s first disciple.

Lukas was preparing to run. This was simply the first step. And yet, it had already
created such a stir.

Min Ha-rin couldn’t help but wonder just how powerful the storm would be when he
finally began sprinting.

Gripping her sword tightly, she muttered.

“As expected of the Great Mage Class.”

They were told that it would take around three to four days for reinforcements to
arrive at the Great Forest. This meant that he would be delayed much longer than
expected.

In truth, Lukas wanted to stop worrying about the Great Dragon’s corpse and go to
the major city, ‘Lirua’, as soon as possible.

Since it was a major city, there was a very high chance that it would have expert
refiners, and he also wanted to analyse the Fighters there.

Bargan was incredibly shocked when Lukas expressed this to him.

“You don’t really intend to abandon the Ancient Dragon’s Corpse, do you, my Lord?”

“…would you like to have it? I really don’t care as long as I get a bit of the money and
the heart.”

“Haha. That’s a cruel joke.”

Bargan shook his head at Lukas and let out a laugh. This showed just how absurd
Lukas’ words were, as it was his first time seeing Bargan laugh.

Reluctantly, Lukas decided to stay in the forest until the Ancient Dragon’s corpse was
properly taken care of.

The question that remained was how to efficiently make use of the time he now had
on his hands, but luckily, Lukas found something he wanted to try.

He looked down at the Dragonling’s corpse.

It was the one who had killed dozens of Dragonmen with its extremely long
prehensile tail.

This guy’s scales and tail were high-quality materials, but what Lukas paid the most
attention to was its core.
[Heart of the Mutated Dragonling]

[The heart of a mutated Dragonling. Although it was only a young Dragonling, it had
a huge amount of vitality inherited from its parents. If processed with a special
refining method, there may be many uses for it.]

[※Because it was left unattended for a long time, most of the inherent vitality has
dissipated.]

Visualised information.

It was the thing that Min Ha-rin called ‘Information Window’.

Lukas decided to call it that as well. He liked the name because it was simple and
intuitive.

‘As expected, it lost its vitality because it wasn’t preserved properly.’

This was natural since it was left unattended for a long time after it died.

Though it was only a day or two, the heart was the organ that could be described as
the ‘source of life’, so it wasn’t strange that its vitality would dissipate if it had
nowhere to pump it to.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Blizzard reduced the temperature of the surroundings, it
would have lost all of its vitality by now, and the Dragonling’s body would have
begun to decompose.

Lukas decided to refine the heart of the mutated Dragonling with the knowledge he
had. This was because he thought it was fine to experiment with it since its value
was significantly less than the Ancient Dragon’s.

But in order to do that, he would need other materials as well.

Luckily, the place they were in could be called one of nature’s treasure troves.
Thanks to this, he would be able to obtain the items he was looking for just by
walking through the forest.

“We will help you.”

“Do you know anything about herbs?”

“…no.”

“Then it’s fine.”

Bargan’s expression at that moment was priceless.

Although it could be said that Lukas was just as ignorant when it came to the herbs
in this world, he had the information window.

Thanks to that, he could easily distinguish different medicinal and poisonous herbs,
and he was also able to learn their uses.

He didn’t have a mortar and pestle to crush the herbs, or test tubes and beakers in
order to separate and combine them into different ratios. Moreover, he didn’t have
any equipment with which to have accurate measurements.

But that didn’t matter.

Because Lukas’ collection of herbs could only be described as ‘researching to pass

the time’.

—And so time passed.

Four days later, someone looked on intently as Lukas gathered dozens of medicinal
and poisonous herbs that had many useful effects depending on how they were used.

“…”

The person half hid behind a tree, staring at his back.

It was Ashstar.

In fact, this wasn’t that surprising.

It had already been a few days since she’d begun staring timidly at him from a
distance. It seemed that she wanted to tell him something, but she simply couldn’t
muster up the courage to do so.
Nevertheless, Lukas didn’t approach her first and simply allowed her to continue
looking at him.

But it seemed that today was bound to be a bit different from usual.

Ashstar clenched her fists at her sides and was walking up to him with a determined
expression on her face.

Then, she opened her mouth and spoke in a cautious voice.

“Are you from Dragon God Island, Mr. Lukas?”

She was the first Dragonman, other than Bargan, who had gathered the courage to
speak to him after he slew the Ancient Dragon.

Not to mention Igaru, who was a squad leader, even Guaba, who he’d thought had a
relatively good relationship with him, was hesitant to approach him.

It wasn’t that they disliked him or anything like that. The voice had already proven
that wasn’t the case.

Nevertheless, the problem was simple.

[Hirup Subjugation Team Squad Leader Ashstar]

[Level: 58]

[Occupation: Fighter]

[Race: Dragonman]

[Skills: Swordsmanship(Lv.7), Brawling(Lv.8), Charisma(Lv.4), Bloodthirst(Lv.4)…]

[Loyalty: 76]

[Difficulty: E]

They had an absurdly high amount of loyalty.

Ashstar was staring at Lukas with a gaze similar to the way one would look at a
legendary hero or historical figure.

That was also the reason why Lukas was able to see so much of Ashstar’s
information compared to when they first met.

‘More information is revealed as loyalty increases.’

For example, with Bargan, only his name, loyalty, and so on were visible at first, but
as his loyalty increased, details such as his level, titles, occupation, race, and even his
skills, were visible.

The same was true for Ashstar.

Her loyalty was 76, which was even higher than Bargan, who was Lukas’ actual
subordinate.

Judging from Bargan’s attitude, it wouldn’t be hard for him to make her come under
him with only a few words.

However, Lukas had no intentions of increasing his follower count at that moment.
Bargan alone was more than enough.

‘…in any case.’

When he thought about Ashstar’s attitude when they first met, he couldn’t help but
feel like she was an entirely different person.

Standing up, Lukas turned to look at her.

“Why do you say that?”

“I’ve heard that the Black Sorcerer and White Sorcerer who protect the Goddess can
create mountains and cut the sky in two.”

“…”

Create mountains and cut the sky in two.

In other words, they were so powerful that they could affect nature, something only
8-star Wizards were capable of doing.
Suddenly, Guaba’s words rang out in his head once more.

The Goddess from Dragon God Island made it rain for decades, even to submerge an
entire island.

‘To make it rain for such a long time over such a vast region… ’

It was very strange. Who or what exactly was this ‘Goddess’?

Lukas shook his head, deciding to put aside his doubts about Dragon God Island for
now.

“I’m not.”

“I see.”

He decided to shut that thought down before any unnecessary misunderstandings

arose.

Luckily, Ashstar didn’t seem to have any strange thoughts. He thought he would be
suspected because he was an outsider, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Lukas once again looked at Ashstar, or to be more precise, he looked at her status
window.

[Difficulty: E]

This was the part that he was the most curious about.

What exactly did the difficulty mean?

In the case of Bargan, his difficulty was C, but the difference between him and
Ashstar was not that big.

In fact, if the two of them were to fight, the odds of winning and losing would be
almost even to the extent that a single paper-thin factor could influence the outcome.

This meant that the fact that one was C and the other was E didn’t necessarily have
to do with their combat power.
He’d looked at others as well, but he had yet to find someone higher than Bargan.
This was because the others tended to be F or E, like Ashstar.

“Squad Leader!”

It was at that moment that someone called out to Ashstar.

Ashstar, who was about to begin what she believed was a pleasant conversation with
the hero she admired the most, immediately turned to face her squad member. Her
expression at that moment would freeze the heart of even the bravest Dragonman.

Nevertheless, she had no choice but to quell her anger when she heard her squad
member’s following words.

“Reinforcements from Hirup have arrived!”

When he heard that, Lukas looked up at the sky.

There, he saw a large squadron of sky carriages flying towards them with the sun at
their backs.
“Nice to meet you, Hero.”

Sshiris, Lord of Hirup City, was the first Dragonman of his kind that Lukas had
encountered.

Most of the Dragonmen that Lukas saw were Fighters, those who didn’t neglect their
self training and care. Such single-minded people usually had similar expressions,
gestures and vocal tones.

Sshiris, on the other hand, had a face that was almost hidden behind plump flesh. It
was as though his features had been submerged beneath waves of skin and fat.

And yet, the smile on his face as he came to greet Lukas was filled with such
confidence that it was almost amusing.

‘Are all City Lord’s like this?’

Nevertheless, Lukas bowed his head slightly to the man in front of him.

Since the other side had been polite first, it was only right for him to return the favor.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lukas.”

Of course, there was no need to be more polite than that.

In Dragonman society, apart from the Goddess, there wasn’t much of a difference of
status.

Sshiris didn’t show any signs of displeasure.

In fact, from the start, his gaze hadn’t been focused on Lukas, but on the corpse of the
Ancient Dragon beside him.

‘Indeed.’
He had to force himself to hide his smirk.

The report wasn’t wrong. In fact, it might have even been an underestimation. This
Ancient Dragon corpse was the size of a mountain. It was more than enough to equip
all of the Fighters in Hirup.

In addition, since it was frozen with sorcery, the degree of preservation could only be
described as top-notch.

“I’ve heard all about you… great achievements from Squad Leader Ashstar. In fact,
I’m sure that the entirety of Combat Island will soon learn the name of the great
‘Dragon Hunter Lukas’.”

“You praise me too much, City Lord.”

“Haha. It’s not too much praise. Instead, it could even be considered a bit
inadequate.”

He continued his unnecessary flattery.

This was the type of conversation that Lukas disliked the most. Therefore, before
Sshiris could open his mouth again, Lukas spoke up.

“So what exactly brought Lord Sshiris of Hirup City all the way here?”

“Naturally, I’m here to pay homage to the mythical achievement of a great hero, and
to help you.”

“By helping me…”

“I mean help you move the black dragon’s corpse.”

“…”

Lukas turned to the carriages behind him.

Just from a glance, he could determine that thirty or more carriages were waiting
there. Most of them were even larger than the one he’d arrived in. With this much, it
would probably be possible to move the entire corpse of the Ancient Dragon in one
go.
However, the expression of Igaru, who was standing beside him, looked at Sshiris
and the carriages behind him with a trace of suspicion.

Come here to help him? He must have worded it intentionally in order to take
advantage of Lukas. Nevertheless, Igaru never thought that he would do it so
confidently and openly. Was it possible for even a scumbag like this to become a City
Lord?

But Lukas nodded cooperatively at Sshiris’ words.

“Thank you for the help.”

Igaru’s expression at that moment was priceless. Was Lukas really going to fall for
such a simple trick? That couldn’t be possible.

Igaru looked up at the sky with anxiety clear on his face.

When would the reinforcements from ‘Herui’ arrive?

If this continued like this, he would only be able to stare as the entire Ancient
Dragon’s corpse was taken away in one go.

“But it’s a bit too much.”

At those words, Sshiris’ eyes widened slightly.

“…it’s too much? What do you mean?”

“Squad Leader Ashstar only asked for reinforcements and aid, didn’t she? But City
Lord brought an entire squadron. It seems that the injured will each be able to sit on
a carriage.”

“…”

In just a few words, the dozens of carriages at the back, which had come to carry
away the corpse of the black dragon, had become reinforcements and aid.

***

Sshiris was silent for a moment before finally bursting into laughter.
“Since I was a child, I always heard that I did things excessively. Nevertheless, don’t
you think you are lucky in this case? I came just in time to help you carry the large
amount of cargo you obtained.”

“…”

“I’ll help. Originally, it would have cost a lot of money to move so much cargo, but
since I’m already here, I won’t charge you a single…”

“This is all my Lord’s property, City Lord Sshiris. Thank you for the favor, but there is
no need to force yourself.”

It was Bargan who cut him off with a sharp voice.

Sshiris’ expression became a bit unpleasant. While it was true that Bargan was a
well-known Fighter with a good reputation, Sshiris was a City Lord. Whether he was
well-known or not, there was no reason for him to care about a single wandering
Dragonman.

From his perspective, it was as though someone, who was nothing more than an
attendant, had interrupted him.

However, the displeased expression disappeared even faster than it appeared.

Sshiris was a man who was very good at hiding his true feelings.

“Did it seem like I was pressuring you? I beg your pardon. However, think of my
words as advice. After all, it’s just a matter of time.”

“A matter of time?”

“I mean the ice. It looks like it will soon begin to melt. If the Ancient Dragon’s corpse
starts to decompose, don’t you think its value will decrease significantly?”

“…”

Those words were true, so Bargan had no choice but to close his mouth.

Sshiris was gradually gaining the initiative.

This couldn’t go on. After having this urgent thought, Igaru decided to step in.

“Excuse me, may I say something?”

“You are?”

“I am Igaru, a Squad Leader from the Herui Branch.”

“Hmm. Herui Branch…”

Sshiris lowered his head slightly as he muttered.

His narrowed eyes swept across Igaru’s entire body like a snake looking at its prey.

Then, he smiled and spoke.

“Say it.”

“I have also sent a report and request for reinforcements to Herui. Hirup is one of the
cities closest to the Samis Great Forest, but Herui is the same.”

“So?”

Igaru gulped slightly before continuing.

“…so I think Herui can also help Mr. Lukas with his cargo.”

Although the other was a City Lord, Igaru didn’t back down. Instead, he stared at
Sshiris with blazing eyes.

The value of an Ancient Dragon’s corpse was much too high for him to be frightened
or intimidated by the other’s status. Even if he was overwhelmed by Sshiris’ power
and authority, he could not miss out on such a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Suddenly, Sshiris let out a laugh.

“So that’s what it was. Herui is definitely not far from here. In fact, the distance
between our two cities is fairly even, but… I wonder why they’re not here yet.”

“Huh?”
“Strictly speaking, the Samis Great Forest can be considered the midpoint between
Hirup and Herui. That’s why we perform joint missions here from time to time. But
that brings to question, why haven’t the reinforcements from Herui arrived if we are
already here?”

“Th-, that…”

Igaru stuttered with a slightly anxious expression.

Sshiris’ words had accurately pinpointed the problem that had been making him
nervous this entire time.

It was at that moment that the corners of Sshiris’ lips curled up slightly.

“They must have encountered some kind of unforeseen circumstances.”

“Unforeseen circumstances…?”

“It’s rather common, isn’t it? They could encounter a swarm of flying dragons, or get
into conflict with another group, or any kind of unforeseen situation like that… And I
suppose they would have no choice but to slow down or stop.”

It would be rather unfortunate.

The moment Sshiris added those words quietly, Igaru’s eyes went wide.

“C-, City Lord Sshiris…! You… No way…!”

“Watch yourself.”

Sshiris’ narrowed eyes became cold. There was also a chill in his low voice.

Igaru flinched at the sudden attitude change.

Even if he had become weaker due to his lack of training, Sshiris had once been a
true Champion. Even if fat grew on his body and his mind dulled, the achievements
and memories of the past would never disappear.

“If you try to insult me with that kind of uncertain guess, I’m not sure my men will be
able to endure it.”
Shling-

At those words, the Dragonment that Sshiris had brought with him, who had been
silently watching on from the back, all drew their weapons.

Igaru couldn’t help but take a few steps back, his complexion pale.

There were at least a few dozen Fighters standing behind him.

‘Lord Sshiris of Hirup City.’

He had heard many rumors about his vulgar personality, but he never thought that
he would be such a scumbag.

Igaru cursed inwardly.

‘Shit.’
Just as Igaru suspected, no reinforcements would arrive from the other cities near
the Samis Great Forest. It was highly probable that Sshiris had deployed troops all
around the forest in order to prevent anyone else from interfering.

There were two reasons why such tyrannical actions were possible.

One was that the Great Forest technically fell under Hirup’s jurisdiction and could be
considered its territory. This meant that even if he didn’t try to think up some grand
excuse, Sshiris had the right to prevent the intervention of other cities.

The other was the difference in strength between the cities.

To put it bluntly, Herui was only a small city on the edge of Combat Island while
Hirup could be considered a mid-sized city.

So if he was determined to restrict access to the Samis Great Forest, then there was
nothing Herui could do.

‘He’s being so shameless.’

Like Igaru, Ashstar’s expression was also bitingly cold.

She was glaring at Sshiris with her fists clenched.

She couldn’t believe that the City Lord was displaying such a low-class, shameful
appearance in front of the hero she greatly admired.

Sshiris smiled and looked at Lukas.

Since he was not a fool, he should have already understood his point by now.

There would be no reinforcements from other cities.

In other words, Sshiris had reduced his options to one.

Nevertheless, although he had lost his right to choose, it couldn’t be considered a bad
deal for either of them.

After all, he really couldn’t do anything else in this situation. If he didn’t choose to
cooperate, then the value of the Ancient Dragon’s corpse would plunge.

Sshiris didn’t openly say this because he wanted to see if this man could understand
his situation. The same was true for the Dragonman, who had an appearance similar
to a monk, standing beside him.

Lukas might have been desperately thinking at that moment, but that didn’t mean
that other options would suddenly appear.

‘Now, then.’

Since he’d shown him the stick, it was time to show him the carrot.

Sshiris smiled at Lukas and said.

“It seems that you froze it with some kind of sorcery trick, but something on such a
large scale can’t be used often, right?”

Then he added in a soft voice.

“Hirup is the city closest to the Samis Great Forest. In other words, these parts could
be transported to it much faster than to any other city, so you wouldn’t have to worry
about the ice melting.”

“…hoo.”

Lukas let out a soft sigh.

Sshiris took that as a sign of resignation, but that wasn’t the case.

When he looked up, he found that Lukas’ eyes were brimming with irritation.

In all honesty, this short meeting was beginning to get on his nerves.

He had a lot that he wanted to do, and from the start, he didn’t really care about how
he disposed of the Ancient Dragon’s body.
He didn’t even care about selling it at a price higher than its original value. In fact, he
didn’t care even if it was sold at a lower price.

As long as it wasn’t too cheap.

He’d heard that even if he got the lowest price possible, it would still be something
that most people couldn’t afford.

That’s why Lukas wasn’t very pleased with ‘Bargan’s plan’.

Nevertheless, he decided not to say anything. After all, only a Dragonman would
know Dragonmen best.

But when he saw them arrive, Lukas had intended to trade with Sshiris since he
came first, but it seemed that the feeling wasn’t reciprocated.

Instead, Sshiris was clearly trying to take advantage of him.

Lukas became very displeased.

“Firstly.”

So he decided to clear up the illusion that this man in front of him seemed to be
under.

“This ice will never melt.”

After everything he’d seen, he’d come to realise that Sshiris wasn’t a polite person at
all, so there was no need to continue being polite.

“Haha. Can you still make jokes like that?”

Sshiris burst out laughing. He didn’t even care that Lukas was no longer being polite
to him. In his opinion, Lukas had already lost his cool, which proved that everything
was going just like he planned.

He pointed to the black dragon’s corpse with his fat fingers.

The half-melted ice had already caused the ground in the area to become damp and
muddy.
However, Lukas spread his fingers and pointed his hand towards the pieces of ice.
Showing it one time would be much more effective than explaining it one hundred
times.

Crack crack crack!

From his open palm came a burst of icy wind that was so cold it felt like it was biting
into their skin. This icy wind was so terrifyingly cold even though it had been blown
away from them.

In an instant, the melting ice-covered parts of the Ancient Dragon’s corpse froze once
again.

“O-, oh my God!”

“I-, impossible…!”

The mouths of not only Sshiris but also the Fighters from Hirup who accompanied
him fell open.

In the blink of an eye, the Ancient Dragon’s corpse had become frozen once again.

“Secondly.”

Lukas looked up at the sky.

“You’re not the only one I can trade with.”

“Mm? What are you talking…?”

Suddenly, a huge shadow covered the area.

It was as though an enormous object had blocked the sun.

It couldn’t be a cloud. The Heavenly Realm was a world that existed above the clouds,
so there were only two things in this world that could block the sun.

Flying dragons soaring across the sky,

And Sky Carriages.

But with this size… This was not a normal Sky Carriage.

Sshiris’ expression became stiff as he stared up at the sky.

“Th-, that…!”

Just as he let out a cry of shock, it appeared.

It was huge.

Extremely huge.

This was natural. After all, it had been able to cast a shadow so large it covered up
the entire area for a moment.

Nevertheless, from its shape, it was obviously a Sky Carriage.

However, it was much larger than the ones Sshiris had brought with him. In fact, it
was so large that it was still not certain whether all thirty or so of Sshiris’ carriages
would be larger than it even if they were all combined.

And pulling this carriage was an enormous flying dragon. From a single glance, one
could tell that this flying dragon was an Ancient Dragon.

“T-, the Sun Carriage…”

“It’s the Sun Carriage.”

“Did the Lord of a major city come in person?”

—Sun Carriage.

An extremely large means of transportation that only existed in eight major cities.
And yet, five of these Sun Carriages appeared in the sky at the same time.

That wasn’t all. Each of the carriages carried a flag with different patterns engraved
on them.

“Wh-, what the hell is this…? How did they…?”

This time, Bargan was the one who looked at Sshiris with the corners of his mouth
raised.

It was very similar to the smile he had just shown at him.

Of the Eight Major City Lords, five of them had come to the Samis Great Forest at the
same time.

This result far exceeded his expectations.

“…then, my Lord.”

Bargan bowed towards Lukas before continuing.

“Shall we prepare the negotiation table?”

“My Lord, it’s possible that you will be pressured by the City Lords that arrive.”

“Pressured?”

“Yes. Especially from Sshiris, the City Lord of Hirup. There are many bad rumors
about him… It’s possible that… he will try to take your property through unfair
methods.”

Lukas slowly closed his eyes at those words.

He wasn’t really worried about getting pressured or forced by anyone, but he also
couldn’t just let Bargan’s advice go to waste.

After all, Bargan wasn’t the type to needlessly worry or interfere.

Since he came to Lukas with such a serious expression, there was probably a certain
amount of danger to take note of.

“Please leave it to me.”

Bargan suddenly spoke out in a clear voice.

“I will turn this situation around.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, but… I have a slightly rude request.”

His tone was cautious, but Lukas nodded without drawing any attention to it.

Bargan then turned to look at the corpse of the young Dragonling.

“Please give me a few of its scales.”

When he heard that, Lukas waved his hand, causing the Dragonlings scales to fly off
and float towards them. Then, he handed the scales over to Bargan and said.

“You can have all of them if you need them. Is that enough?”

Bargan nodded.

“It’s enough.”

***

Bargan didn’t do anything special.

He simply gave a few letters to one of the subjugation squad members heading to
Herui and asked them to deliver it to the major cities.

In fact, finding someone to deliver the letters was the hardest part. After all, the
Squad Leaders had ordered their members to keep the details about the Ancient
Dragon a secret.

Fortunately, Bargan was well acquainted with one of the members set to return to
the city.

No, they weren’t just well acquainted. Bargan had saved his life about three years
ago.

For Dragonmen, not to mention three years, they wouldn’t forget the favor of
someone saving their life even after three hundred years.

Therefore, by making use of the communication channels in Herui, the squad

member was able to send the details about the Ancient Dragon to the Eight Major
Cities.

Of course, even if they were to suddenly receive such a report, he would only be
treated like a crazy person, which is why he also attached the scales to the letters.
This was the so-called ‘concept of proof’.

Transmission techniques had many restrictions that the senders had to abide by.

For one, the item being transferred couldn’t be much larger than a fist, and it could
not be too heavy. Additionally, no living creature could be transferred, not even a
small bug the size of a fingernail.

Fortunately, the young Dragonling’s scales were small enough to meet the
demanding requirements of the transmission technique.

Therefore, the subjugation squad member was able to send 8 scales with a single
message attached to each of them.

“This isn’t from a real Ancient Dragon. This is simply the scale of one its offspring.”

Any discerning eye would be able to recognise the value of those scales. And Bargan
was certain that there would be at least one person talented enough to see it in each
major city.

Nevertheless, it was half a gamble.

Bargan was the one who made this plan, and he thought that it could be considered a
success if even two Major City Lords were to come.

What he wasn’t aware of, was the overflowing competitive atmosphere that had
overtaken the entirety of Combat Island.

The Championship.

The most honorable competition on Combat Island to determine the one and only
Grand Champion.

Like uncut gemstones, Fighters who had been training in secret would begin to
appear one after the other.

And in order to protect the honor of their arenas, each city needed to get their hands
upon these Fighters before the other cities.

If the overall quality of their Fighters improved, so would the chances that an
outstanding Champion would appear in their cities, and naturally, the chances of
them producing the Grand Champion would also increase.

Then, what was the most important thing to attract these independent Fighters to
their arenas?
Honor? This would naturally be obtained the more they won. Dragonmen Fighters
risked their lives for their pride, so they would not covet honor that someone had
artificially created for them.

Wealth? While it was nice to have, few Fighters attached great value to money.

No.

The thing that Fighters raved about the most was a ‘good weapon’.

Whenever a weapon that could be called a ‘treasured weapon’ appeared as a prize,

hundreds of Dragonman Fighters would risk their lives in fierce, bloody battles to
obtain it.

And if it was the corpse of an Ancient Dragon, then hundreds of such weapons could
be made.

That was the reason that five of the Eight Major City Lords went to the Samis Great
Forest.

It was to the point that they even brought out the Sun Carriages that they were most
proud of.

***

The Sun Carriages didn’t land on the ground. If the five carriages were to all land in
the forest, the ground of the great forest would be completely ruined and the damage
would be irreparable.

Clank-

Instead, doors at the side of the huge carriages opened, and five smaller carriages
flew out.

These carriages were all normal-sized, but they were all more luxurious than even
the best carriages that Sshiris had brought, and the flying dragons that pulled them
wore shining iron armor.

However, instead of the luxurious carriages or the majestic flying dragons that pulled
them, what Bargan paid attention to were the flags on each carriage. Then, he
approached Lukas and spoke in a soft voice that only he could hear.

“They are the Major City Lords of Uruk, Akad, Bakdad(*), Tikrit, and Babylon.”(* –
Would you guys prefer I used ‘Baghdad”)

Those were the names of the major cities. Perhaps it was because each city had
different cultures, but the styles and decorations of the various carriages were quite
distinctive.

But before they could properly appreciate these differences, the carriages landed on
the ground.

“Hup.”

Sshiris took a few steps back.

Until just a moment ago, his face had been filled with confidence, but now, he was so
anxious that he looked like a different person.

He couldn’t help it.

Just because they were all City Lords didn’t mean they were on the same level.

Just like he could ignore Herui, which was a small city, because he was the lord of a
mid-sized city, the lords of the major cities could ignore him.

No. In fact, the difference between them was even wider.

Of the hundreds of cities on Combat Island, there were only eight major cities.

Therefore, even if there wasn’t any sort of thing as a Small City Lord or Medium City
Lord, there were Major City Lords.

Finally, the doors to the carriages opened, and the Major City Lords made their
appearance.

‘…these are the Major City Lords.’

Bargan looked at them with a slightly nervous expression.

This was his first time seeing so many Major City Lords in one place. When these five
people who all had overwhelming presences made their appearance, Sshiris, the fat,
greedy Dragonman, was nowhere to be seen.

This couldn’t be helped.

The requirement to become a City Lord was to hold the Champion position for a year
in five different cities. But in the case of Major City Lords, there was an added
requirement.

That was to reach ‘at least the semi-finals’ in a Championship.

This meant that at one point in time, the Major City Lords had to have been within
the top five among all the Dragonmen on Combat Island.

The Major City Lords weren’t the only ones who got off the carriages. Next to them
were around four Fighters who had come to accompany them.

Bargan felt that every one of these Fighters was stronger than most of the
Champions from other cities.

“…”

Suddenly, Lukas’ eyebrow twitched slightly.

This wasn’t because he admired their strength like Bargan.

The Major City Lord of Babylon.

The face of a Fighter standing beside her, who was the only female among the Major
City Lord’s present, looked very familiar.

Even though it had changed a bit, it wasn’t so different that he couldn’t recognise
them.

The change wasn’t as dramatic as Min Ha-rin’s, but it was clear that he hadn’t come
to the Heavenly Realm recently, like Lukas. This was because the similarities
between him and the surrounding Dragonmen weren’t things that could appear in a
short time.
“…!”

Then their eyes met.

His eyes widened slightly as he spotted Lukas, but he soon calmed down and
regained his composure.

Lukas looked at him for a moment and had a thought.

Was it possible for him to view his status window?

As it turned out, he could.

[Lee Jong-hak]

[Level: 97]

[Titles: Whirlwind of the Arena, Swordsman of Destruction]

[Occupation: Warrior]

[Race: Human]

[Skills: Plum Blossom Sword Method(Lv.9), Demon Slaying Sword Method(Lv.7),

Nine Palaces Sword Method(Lv.7), Tempest Sword Method(Lv.7), Taiqing Sword
Method(Lv.7), Seventy-Two Waves Sword Method(Lv.7), Thirty-Six Worlds Sword
Method(Lv.6), Sword of Destruction(Lv.9), Endurance(Lv.9), Patience(Lv.7)…]

“…”

He’d gotten stronger.

Lukas wasn’t quite sure exactly how strong Lee Jong-hak had been originally, but he
had definitely gotten much stronger. He could easily tell from the fact that he was 20
levels higher than Min Ha-rin.

Lee Jong-hak looked at Lukas for a moment before shaking his head slightly. Did that
mean that he should pretend he didn’t know him for the time being?

To show his understanding, he nodded his head slightly.

Nevertheless, Lukas couldn’t help but feel a bit curious.

Lee Jong-hak’s status window had neither loyalty nor difficulty. Was it because he
wasn’t a native of this world?

He wasn’t sure.
In any case, there were many things he wanted to ask him. His relationship with him
wasn’t as close as with Min Ha-rin, but he was still glad to see him.

Nevertheless, this wasn’t the time for the reunion.

“Are you the Dragon Hunter?”

One of the Major City Lords spoke up.

It was a Dragonman with an extremely large body. His scales were covered in various
scars of different sizes, his neck was long and thick, and his nose and mouth
protruded to form a snout filled with sharp teeth.

According to Bargan, this large man, whose appearance was very reminiscent of a
Dragon, was the City Lord of the major city, ‘Uruk’.

“You are?”

“Gargad.”

As he responded briefly, he turned to look at the corpse of the Ancient Dragon before
turning to Lukas once again. Then, he spoke in the same blunt tone.

“10 million erus.”

“…what?”

“If you agree to sell it to Uruk, I will give you 10 million erus, on top of the cost for
the Ancient Dragon itself.”

“…”

Lukas preferred conversations that got straight to the point, but that wasn’t exactly
the case with Gargad. To say that it was sudden would be an understatement.

Not to mention that the amount of money he offered was completely unbelievable.

10 million erus. Now that he’d gained some knowledge after reading the various
books in his possession, he understood, to an extent, just how formidable this sum
was.
To put it simply, with such a sum, even if he were to buy several houses in the heart
of a medium-sized city, the amount he had left wouldn’t change much from the
original.

And yet, Gargad was saying that not only would he give him this amount, he would
also pay him for the corpse.

This wasn’t a joke, nor was it a lie. From his serious expression, it was clear that he
meant it.

Suddenly.

“I’ll give you 12 million erus and 20 high-class Slave Fighters.”

The Major City Lord of Tikrit spoke up.

He had the appearance of an old man who might die at any moment, but the aura
radiating from his body and the glow in his eyes was no weaker than Gargad.

“We will give you 13 million erus and ten flying dragons.”

The expression of the Major City Lord of Bakdad didn’t change, but he gave off a faint
feeling that he would never give up the Ancient Dragon’s corpse.

Apparently, because of Lukas’ lack of expression, they all seemed to think that he
found all of their offers unsatisfactory.

“You’re all being so generous. But I won’t back down either… Let’s see.”

The Major City Lord of Akad had the appearance of a young boy. Of course, that was
only his appearance. There was no way to confirm just how old he actually was.

He looked at Lukas with sparkling eyes that suited his apparent age. Then, he lifted a
finger and said.

“I heard that you are a powerful Sorcerer. So I will give you 15 million erus and three
extremely rare magical tomes that I obtained from Dragon God Island. Mm…, I’m
sure you’re already aware, but those are not something that you can just find at the
market. Unlike Slave Fighters and flying dragons, they are not things that can be
obtained with money alone.”
The Major City Lord of Akad smiled confidently.

And, in fact, his confidence was not misplaced. Although he remained expressionless,
Lukas had been paying close attention to their offers, and he was most interested in
the proposal of this young-looking Dragonman.

This was because he was interested in the sorcery techniques of the Heavenly Realm.

Suddenly.

The Major City Lord of Babylon, who had simply been watching from the side with a
smile on her face, finally let out a burst of laughter.

“Ahahaha. You guys don’t know anything.”

It was a very pleasant laugh.

In all honesty, this woman had the appearance of some kind of noblewoman instead
of a Dragonman Fighter, and a former Champion at that. She even fanned her face
gently with a folding fan in her hand.

However, the feature that stood out the most was her piercing purple eyes.

When one looked into them, it was as though strange magic power tried to suck out
their very soul.

“…Ishuta, don’t try anything stupid.”

Gargad spoke in a displeased voice, but Ishuta didn’t stop whatever it was she was
doing. Instead, she simply lifted her fan to cover her smile.

“This man doesn’t want riches or wealth. You can tell just by looking at him.”

Then, she secretly shot a gaze at Lukas.

When he realised this, the expression of Lee Jong-hak, who was standing beside her,
shifted slightly. He sighed inaudibly.

“Hey, Mr. Dragon Hunter. What do you really want? I can give you anything you
desire, even if you want me.”
Her voice appeared in his ear like a whisper.

Lukas felt a tickling sensation as if something soft was gently nibbling on his ear.

In fact, when she spoke, most of the people in the area stumbled drunkenly.

[The ‘Magical Eye of Enticement’ is seducing you.]

It was some kind of mental attack.

And in fact, its effect was true to its name.

Lukas looked around subtly. It wasn’t just the subjugation squad members or Sshiris’
troops, even some of the Major City Lords reacted openly.

They weren’t as affected as the other Dragonmen, but it was clear that they were all
doing their best to deal with Ishuta’s mental attack.

It must be a relatively high-level power that could even affect Major City Lords on the
same level.

‘Was Lee Jong-hak also affected by this?’

Lukas couldn’t help but wonder.

[Skill ‘Thousands of years of Innocence’ has been activated.]

[You have perfectly defended against the gaze of the Magical Eye of Enticement.]

He locked eyes with Ishuta.

“A-, ara?”

Ishuta blinked slowly, her expression filled with bewilderment.

Whether her skill worked or not, and if it did work, how effective it was.

She could easily tell that by looking into the other person’s eyes.

That’s why she was so surprised.

This was the first time.

This had never happened before.

There had never been a time where her Magical Eye of Enticement had failed to
affect someone.
While Ishuta was experiencing full-blown panic at this unexpected situation, Lukas
had finished his inspection of Lee Jong-hak.

And he concluded that he wasn’t being influenced or manipulated.

‘Right, just like I thought.’

It was none other than a firm will that couldn’t be shaken by anyone else that formed
the basis of Lee Jong-hak’s personality. His imperturbable mind was not something
that could be influenced easily. Even if it was by a power on the level of Ishuta’s
Magical Eye.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Lee Jong-hak would be able to completely negate the
power of her Magical Eye. He would still be affected to some extent, but at the very
least, he would be able to remain in control of his actions. If worse came to worst, he
would still be able to take his own life before doing something he didn’t want to.

There were a few people who would choose death over subservience, and Lee Jong-
hak was one of them.

“Ahahaha! How interesting. It seems Ishuta’s Magical Eye has no effect at all.”

The Akad Major City Lord burst into laughter.

The more one looked at him, the more one would feel that his real age actually
matched his appearance. His gestures and way of speaking seemed to reflect that.

Ishuta stared at him in displeasure for a moment before lifting her folding fan to
cover her face again. Then she spoke in a posh manner similar to a noblewoman.

“In addition to 20 million erus, I will introduce you to Babylon’s ‘Fire Hammer’.”

“Mmm.”

“Hoh…”
At those words, the eyes of the other Major City Lords lit up. This was the same even
for the Akad Major City Lord, who had been ridiculing her just a moment ago.

Of course, Lukas had no idea who Babylon’s Fire Hammer was.

After all, it was natural that he wouldn’t learn about famous figures by simply
reading a few books.

It was times like this that made the usefulness of Bargan’s presence stand out.

“He is one of the greatest blacksmiths in Babylon… no, in the entirety of Combat
Island. He is known for making famous items like the ‘Fire Dragon Armor’, ‘Wind
Listener’, ‘Supreme Spear’, and countless others.”

“…”

“However, he is known for being extremely proud. So much so that he wouldn’t lift
his hammer even if the heaven’s forced him to. From what I’ve heard, there are only a
few people who can control him, including the Babylon Major City Lord.”

An excellent blacksmith.

That wasn’t necessarily a bad offer, but Lukas couldn’t help but silently lament the
fact that he wasn’t a refiner.

Of course, he still felt that it would be good to obtain a good quality staff, but what he
needed most right now was neither weapons nor armor.

Lukas’ lack of expression caused those looking at him to feel that he was still
unwilling.

Once more, Ishuta’s confident expression crumbled. At this moment, in her eyes,
Lukas was a completely unreadable outsider whose desires she was unable to grasp.

“We can also match the price of 20 million erus.”

It was Gargad who spoke.

The other Major City Lords also nodded to show their agreement. If they were to
compete without any regard for each other, the price would definitely have soared
beyond their control. But now, it seemed that the price would not go past 20 million.
This was probably the maximum amount that they had agreed to beforehand.

Suddenly, the Bakdad Major City Lord spoke up.

“This is the greatest sign of sincerity that we can give. Outsider, if you continue to be
greedy, then…”

He intentionally lowered his voice at the end of his sentence.

He thought that would be enough of a warning, but Lukas turned to look at him and
said.

“If I continue to be greedy then…?”

“…”

The Major City Lord looked at Lukas with surprise for a moment before responding
in a cold voice laced with killing intent.

“It would make us very angry.”

The atmosphere became frozen.

Nevertheless, Lukas’ expression remained the same.

The Bakdad Major City Lord hated being looked down upon and ignored the most.
And the current situation made him feel like that was exactly what was happening.

Crunch.

Just as he clenched his fist tightly.

“Relax, relax. We’re not here to threaten you.”

The Akad Major City Lord chuckled.

“Lukas was it? We are people who don’t have much free time on our hands. So I hope
you can make your decision soon.”
Bargan gulped slightly, inwardly agreeing with that statement.

Those were exactly his thoughts.

After all, these were Major City Lords. They were inherently different from pigs
blinded by greed, like Sshiris.

Even Ishuta, who still had an expression of surprise, was known in the arena as a
‘Demonic Woman’ who never revealed the full extent of her abilities.

‘In that case… ’

Bargan began to calculate the profits and losses of this situation.

The offers made by the five Major City Lords.

First of all, the money offered by all sides was set to 20 million erus.

Then, he thought about the other things that had been promised. Slaves, flying
dragons, magical tomes. But in truth…

‘…that isn’t all.’

Not at all.

Accepting the proposal of one of them meant refusing the other four.

Of course, they wouldn’t openly express their displeasure or try to attack them, but
having a bad relationship with a Major City Lord on Combat Island was very bad for
many reasons.

More importantly, it wouldn’t just be one Major City Lord, but four.

In other words, they couldn’t just look at the products that were promised.

The answer should only be given after thoroughly comparing the actual influences of
each Major City Lord, the sizes of their cities, the popularity of their arenas, and
whether their cities would be suitable to stay in the future.

‘This is all my fault.’

Bargan’s heart suddenly felt heavy.

If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have sent letters to each of the
major cities. In the first place, he thought they could be considered lucky if even a
single Major City Lord was to make an appearance.

But in the end, it could only be said that Bargan’s hasty judgement had been
incorrect.

Bargan turned to look at Lukas.

He saw that his head was lowered and he seemed to be agonising over something.

‘It’s natural for him to feel troubled.’

No matter how bold Lukas was, there was no way that he could easily give an answer
in this type of situation.

Time.

Right. The thing he needed the most at that moment was time.

But in this situation, asking the five of the Major City Lords for time might bring
ridicule and scorn.

Such a role should be taken by the subordinate, not by the Lord.

“Can you please give us some time to think about it?”

At those words, five pairs of eyes all turned to focus on Bargan. Within their cold
gazes were traces of surprise and contempt as though they never expected someone
else to interfere.

Those gazes alone were enough to make him feel immense pressure.

In an instant, Bargan found that it was hard to breathe, and his legs began to shake
subconsciously.

This caused a question to appear in his mind for a moment. How did Lukas manage
to remain calm under these gazes?
Bargan tried to not show how much he was suffering from the pressure, but there
was no way for him to stop the cold sweat from slowly rolling down his cheek.

He forcibly spoke through his constricted throat.

“…Ma-, Major City Lords, please understand that this is not an easy decision to make.”

At those words, the Akad Major City Lord nodded slightly with a soft smile on his
face.

“Your courage is commendable. You are a pretty good slave.”

“…”

“Let’s see… We’ll give you 15 minutes. How about that?”

“Spera.”

Even when the Bakdad Major Lord called out his name, the Akad Major City Lord’s
expression didn’t change.

“What is it? I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“…”

Gargad, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke in a heavy voice.

“We will give you ten minutes to think about it.”

“Th-, thank you.”

Bargan bowed his head to them slightly before turning toward his Lord.

But Lukas spoke without looking at Bargan.

“Are you trying to buy time for me?”

“Yes.”

“There is no need. I’ve already made a decision long ago.”

“…i-, is that so?”

He shouldn’t have said anything.

Bargan’s face flushed slightly as he had this thought, and he bowed his head.

“Then I suppose I did something unnecessary… I’m sorry.”

“No. You did well.”

“Huh?”

Lukas’ eyes remained on Ishuta.

To be precise, they remained on Lee Jong-hak, who was standing beside her.

Lee Jong-hak seemed to be saying something to Ishuta. And as she listened to what
he said, Ishuta’s eyebrows rose up in surprise. Then, she glanced over at Lukas
before nodding with an expression of interest on her face.

Lee Jong-hak bowed slightly towards her in a business-like manner before walking
over to Lukas.

Seeing this, Lukas spoke.

“Bargan.”

“Yes?”

“Step back for a moment.”

Lee Jong-hak looked pretty good in the clothing style of the Dragonmen.

He had tied his slightly longer hair into a single ponytail behind his head, and his
gaze seemed to be deeper than before. He also appeared calmer than before.

Nevertheless, there was one thing about him that didn’t change. And that was the
sword that rested at his waist.

“…Dragon Hunter Lukas, it certainly was worth it to apply for this escort mission
after hearing your name.”

“I’m sure that my name is quite rare in the Heavenly Realm.”

Lee Jong-hak nodded before bowing slightly.

“It’s been a while.”

“Right.”

“…”

After that, neither of them spoke for a while.

Compared to the warm reunion with Min Ha-rin, the atmosphere between them
could only be described as stiff.

…This was natural.

After all, Lukas’ current relationship with Lee Jong-hak was very awkward.

Even until now, he was unsure of just what Lee Jong-hak thought of him. His attitude
seemed to be much softer and more polite than in the past, but the difference was
barely noticeable.

“Where have you been all this time? I looked around for the others but I wasn’t able
to find anyone.”

“Not even Ha-rin?”

“…do you know where she is?”

“In a small city called ‘Herui’ that’s not too far from here. She’s the Champion there.”

“Herui’s Champion… you mean Rin Summers?”

Lee Jong-hak raised an eyebrow in surprise before nodding slightly.

“It makes sense that she is Min Ha-rin. I did think that name was a bit unusual, but…”

“Are you also using a pseudonym?”

“Yes. I’m going by the name ‘Li Hao’ right now.”

If both of them were using pseudonyms then it made sense that they weren’t able to
find each other.

“I haven’t been in the Heavenly Realm very long. It has only been about a week.”

“Huh? What do you…”

Lukas then explained that each participant entered the Heavenly Realm at different
times. Then, in order to figure out the reason behind it, he decided to finally ask the
questions he was most curious about.

“How many stages did you clear in the tutorial?”

“8 stages.”

“And when did you enter the Heavenly Realm?”

“…about two years ago.”

“I see.”

Lukas nodded his head.

“It seems that each stage of the tutorial counts as a year.”

“Ah.”

Lee Jong-hak also nodded,

Now that he thought about it, that indeed seemed to be the case.

Min Ha-rin, who had cleared five stages, entered the Heavenly Realm five years ago.

Lee Jong-hak, who cleared eight stages, entered two years ago.

And finally, Lukas, who had cleared all ten stages, was only able to enter the
Heavenly Realm around a week ago.

This conclusion gave rise to several possibilities.

Leo Freeman had entered the Heavenly Realm at the same time, or maybe even
sooner than Min Ha-rin.

Arid was still an uncertainty.

And finally, Sedi. With her abilities, it was highly probable that she had also cleared
all ten stages like Lukas.

‘In other words.’

Sedi had probably entered the Heavenly Realm very recently as well.

***

“…”

Sedi Trowman lay on the ground, looking up at the sky.

It was currently as dark as her hair.

A hot yet familiar breeze brushed against her skin. Any other living being might have
shuddered at the sensation, but Sedi didn’t seem to notice it as she muttered.
“Where am I?”

She couldn’t help but wonder as she laid there.

She had just cleared the tutorial and was told to check her status window, but when
she did, a bright light covered her, and when she opened her eyes again, she found
herself in this place.

In other words, all she knew was that she was finally in the Great World or whatever
it was called.

Whoosh.

A burst of hot air ruffled her hair.

She didn’t know where it was coming from.

Nevertheless, this place wasn’t unpleasant for Sedi who was used to being
surrounded by demonic energy.

‘In fact… ’

It felt like her entire body was filled with fighting spirit.

Perhaps this place would allow her to regain some of her past strength.

With that thought in mind, she continued to enjoy the breeze with her eyes closed.

Thud-

Then she felt a vibration.

Wondering what it was, she opened her eyes and was immediately greeted by a
gigantic yellow eye.

“…”

[…]

The owner of this eye was looking down at Sedi from a very high place. This wasn’t
to say that this being was standing on a mountain or a large building.

No, this being seemed to be able to touch the sky with just the height of its body. It
was a monster that looked somewhat like a Dragon, but it was so large that she
found it a bit strange.

As she stared at it, Sedi tilted her head to the side.

When did this guy appear? No. In this case, did this mean that she’d appeared in its
territory?

“You’re really big.”

It was so ridiculously big that she couldn’t help but say those words out loud. If she
weren’t lying down, she would have had to tilt her head almost 90 degrees to look at
its eye.

More importantly, there wasn’t just one of these big guys.

Thud, thud…

Maybe it was because they smelled Sedi, but huge dragon-like monsters began to
appear one after the other.

Thick saliva dripped from their mouths.

It was only at that moment that she understood just why these guys were looking at
her like that. Was this place so desolate that they had nothing else to eat?

But they were all so big. Sedi was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to fill one of their
stomachs even if it swallowed her whole.

Stretching her fingers, Sedi counted the dragons.

“One, two, three, four, five.”

[Krrr…]

Sedi didn’t know.

That these Dragon-like monsters were all Ancient Dragons, beings that could be
described as disasters in the Heavenly Realm. More importantly, every single one of
these Ancient Dragons was larger, stronger, and more ferocious than the black
dragon Lukas had hunted.

Well, in truth, nothing would have changed even if she knew.

At that moment, there was only one primitive thought in her mind.

“Fortunately, I won’t have to worry about going hungry.”

As she muttered this, Sedi got up from her spot on the ground.

“These five lizards will be more than enough.”

Lukas decided to ask Lee Jong-hak about his relationship with Ishuta.

“Is she controlling you?”

“No.”

His response was firm and clear.

Although he didn’t explain, he spoke in his usual calm tone.

“I owe Ms. Ishuta a great deal. She was the one who taught me, who was still
ignorant about this world, how to live and grow. In return, I will work in Babylon as a
Fighter for a year. There is about half a year left until the deadline.”

After hearing what Lee Jong-hak said, Lukas couldn’t help but bring up something
else that he was concerned about.

“Do you intend to take part in the Championship?”

“Yes.”

“Then you are the Champion of Babylon?”

“That’s not it. Now that I think about it, you haven’t been in the Heavenly Realm for a
long time so it’s natural for you to not know.”

After mumbling those words, Lee Jong-hak explained.

“The Arenas in Major Cities are incredibly large, so they are allowed to enter three
people into the Championship.”

“I see.”

In other words, in Babylon City, even if Lee Jong-hak wasn’t the Champion, he could
at least be considered within the top three of the entire arena.
Of course, that didn’t mean that it was lower or easier than being the Champion in
another city.

In Babylon alone, the number of Fighters belonging to the city easily surpassed 500.
If the independent Fighters were to be included then this number would certainly
surpass 1,000. And even if their numbers were large, the average level of these
Fighters was not low.

So, to put it simply, to become one of the top three Fighters in such a large arena was
actually even more difficult than becoming the Champion in a small or medium-sized
city.

“Then the Champion of Babylon is stronger than you?”

“Yes. Much stronger.”

Lukas couldn’t help but feel a little surprised when Lee Jong-hak answered his
question without any hesitation.

Lee Jong-hak’s current level was 92, and he was much stronger than any Dragonman
Lukas had encountered in the Heavenly Realm before that day. Compared to Min Ha-
rin, who was the Champion of the Herui Arena, Lee Jong-hak was still several steps
ahead.

Nevertheless, Lee Jong-hak was now claiming that the Champion of Babylon was
much stronger than him.

‘No.’

Lukas turned to look at the Major City Lords that were standing at the side. The
difference between them and Lee Jong-hak hadn’t reached a ridiculous level, so the
strength of the Babylon Champion should still be within an acceptable range.

“Two years…”

Lee Jong deliberately trailed off after saying those words.

It seemed that he wanted to ensure that Lukas was paying attention to him at that
moment.
“I have seen and experienced many things in this place.”

There seemed to be some kind of hidden emotion within Lee Jong-hak’s voice.

Lukas knew that two years was by no means a short amount of time.

The majority of Absolutes would never be able to sympathise with this, and they
would instead find it amusing or ridiculous, but Lukas was different.

Because he was an Absolute who was once human.

“Looking back at it, when I agreed to follow you, I was still unsure about many
things.”

There was a reason why he was unsure.

This was because Lee Jong-hak himself could not tell right from wrong.

Before that, his life had been different, much simpler. His enemy was clear and they
were beings that had to be destroyed.

Demons.

They could be called absolute evil. Therefore, Lee Jong-hak never had any hesitation
or guilt when he killed them.

Even thinking about whether it was right or wrong had never been something he
needed to do. Because there was no real reason for his actions.

But Lukas… forced Lee Jong-hak to look back and think about his actions for the first
time.

At first, he couldn’t accept the things Lukas had done.

This being, who was more powerful than anything he’d ever seen, chose to support
the humans from the shadows without helping them directly.

That fact alone caused his anger to soar. He didn’t understand it. And he thought that
it wasn’t something he could accept, irregardless of the reason.
But that wasn’t it.

When Nodiesop, the man who devoured the Asian Branch, demonstrated his power
without restraint, Lee Jong-hak felt that it was wrong for some reason.

‘This power, can he use it without any restrictions?’

It didn’t make sense.

However, he could only describe it as a ‘feeling’.

It could be called an instinctive reaction.

To put it into simpler terms, it felt like he was using a nuclear bomb to get rid of an
ant nest. Such power wouldn’t simply stop at destroying the ant nest. Instead, it
would leave enormous scars and aftereffects on the surrounding area.

…So what if Lukas had a similar reason?

What if the reason that he didn’t use his power wasn’t because of some preconceived
idea, arrogance, or a lack of care, but because he was worried about the world’s
existence?

If that was the case, then Lee Jong-hak had made an unforgivable mistake towards
him.

While he was filled with these worries, Lukas came to him. And he asked for his help.

He didn’t have a choice.

At least, when he decided to go with Lukas, that was how Lee Jong-hak felt.

It was only after entering the Heavenly Realm that Lee Jong-hak regretted his hasty
decision.

“Are you still unsure?”

When Lukas asked this question, Lee Jong-hak only smiled bitterly.

“Somehow, it feels like when I solve one problem, another one appears to take its
place. I’m not complaining. It’s just that it feels like that’s always been the case.”

“…”

In all honesty, Lee Jong-hak’s current attitude filled Lukas with a strange feeling.

To a certain extent, this was all unbelievable. But this was natural.

After all, from Lukas’ perspective, he had met Lee Jong-hak only a little over a week
ago, and at that time the man had appeared lost.

But for Lee Jong-hak, it had been two years.

Again, two years was by no means a short time. It was enough to figure out at least
one thing that troubled you.

This was why the inner change he had experienced was somewhat understandable.

“Mr. Lukas.”

It felt like this was the first time Lee Jong-hak had called his name.

Lee Jong-hak looked at him with a gloomy expression and spoke in a low tone.

“I saw a demon in Nodiesop.”

Lee Jong-hak wasn’t talking about the Demon Race that had ruined his life.

Instead, he was talking about demons in a symbolic sense. The evil which stood on
the other side of God.

Monsters that brought disasters and calamity to people for no reason.

“I realised afterward that, in his eyes, humans were nothing. We were no different
from weeds growing at the side of the street. It was such an existence that held the
Asia Branch in his hand and waved it as he pleased. I want to stop that. So…”

Lee Jong-hak decided to stop hesitating.

He decided to finally put the solution he’d thought of after careful consideration into
action.

“Please forgive me for my rudeness in the past. And please help me.”

“…”

“I would like to fight by your side.”

Lukas didn’t answer.

Instead, he simply nodded slowly.

But that small action was enough to make Lee Jong-hak feel like a large lump, which
had appeared in his chest at some indiscernible time, was melting away.
Lee Jong-hak said that he would remain with Ishuta for the time being. He was a man
who took favours and grudges very seriously. So he probably didn’t intend to leave
her side before he felt that he had repaid his debt in full.

This wasn’t much of a problem for Lukas. In fact, it could even be described as a good
thing. Lukas intended to travel alone for the time being, and it wasn’t a bad thing to
have a reliable contact in a major city like Babylon.

Of course, Lee Jong-hak wasn’t staying with Ishuta just to pay her back.

“Ms. Ishuta has a pass to Death Island.”

“Death Island?”

“Yes. I was looking for a way to go there. That is the only place in the Heavenly Realm
I have yet to go.”

Lukas couldn’t help but look at him in surprise at those words.

“Do you mean that you’ve already been to the other six islands? Including Dragon
God Island?”

“Yes.”

Lee Jong-hak nodded before deciding to explain a bit.

“It’s not as amazing as it sounds. I only went there and I wasn’t able to thoroughly
search. As you should know by now, except for Dragon God Island, the seven islands
which represent the Heavenly Realm are all similar in size to a small continent.”

It was impossible to thoroughly search such a large place.

Lee Jong-hak had visited the busiest regions and asked if any strangers had appeared
in the region but to no avail.
Min Ha-rin was proof of just how difficult searching for each other was.

Even though they were on the same island, they hadn’t been able to find each other
because they were both using aliases.

‘This is why fame is important.’

Championship.

If they were to participate in this event and fight to the top, rumors about them
would certainly spread across the entirety of the Heavenly Realm.

After thinking this, Lukas turned to look at Lee Jong-hak again.

“Did you get to meet the Goddess?”

“No. I wasn’t allowed to. I simply followed Ms. Ishuta as an escort.”

“I see.”

Lukas also asked Lee Jong-hak about the ‘four special statues’.

That got a reaction out of him.

“The most important statue in the entire Heavenly Realm is definitely the Dragon
God’s Statue.”

“I heard that it is kept on Dragon God Island. Did you get the chance to see it?”

I didn’t see it. From what I’ve heard, it only reveals itself to those worthy of seeing it.”

“The statue reveals itself?”

“That’s what the rumors… No. That’s what the legends say.”

“…”

Lukas fell silent for a while.

Of course, it didn’t surprise him that much that a statue seemed to have its own
consciousness.

There were dozens of reasons for such a phenomenon.

Nevertheless, there was still something that weighed heavily on his mind.

If the Dragon God Statue was truly one of the ‘four special statues’ mentioned by the
voice, then it might be troublesome if it really had its own consciousness.

After exchanging a few more words with Lukas, Lee Jong-hak returned to Ishuta’s
side.

The 10 minutes period that he’d been granted was slowly running out.

When Lee Jong-hak left, Bargan approached Lukas once again. His expression was a
bit tense.

“What did you talk about with the Whirlwind of the Arena?”

Whirlwind of the Arena.

Recalling that it was one of Lee Jong-hak’s titles, Lukas responded.

“He’s an old acquaintance, so we just had a short reunion.”

“…I see.”

Bargan nodded as if he’d understood something.

“Then do you plan to sell the Ancient Dragon’s corpse to Babylon?”

There was no time for Lukas to answer him.

This was because the five Major City Lords had approached him as if they were
counting the time. The atmosphere in the clearing instantly became heavy.

Looking at their expressions, it was clear that they could no longer stall for time or
refuse to answer.

“Now then. Let’s hear your answer.”

After saying that, Gargad pointed towards himself.

“Lukas, are you willing to sell the Ancient Dragon’s corpse to Uruk?”

“No.”

Gargad’s expression became hard at this answer which came without any hesitation.

Then, the Major City Lord of Bakdad, who was behind him, spoke.

“Then do you intend to sell it to Bakdad?”

“No.”

“…Tikrit?”

“I won’t sell it to you.”

The atmosphere became even heavier and a faint scent of blood began to fill the
clearing.

The faces of the Major City Lords who had been rejected by Lukas were all as cold as
ice, and their gazes were as sharp as blades. The killing intent that began radiating
from their bodies was enough to make the other Dragonmen in the clearing numb.

Spera, the Major City Lord of Akad, seemed to have roughly understood the situation.
He smiled in embarrassment before speaking up anyway.

“Looking at this situation, I don’t suppose you will sell it to Akad either, right?”

Lukas simply nodded without answering.

Then the Major City Lord of Akad scratched his cheek with a complicated expression.

“Hmm. This is awkward.”

At that moment, a roar of laughter could be heard.

It was Ishuta. She spread her folding fan wide and gently waved it at her face.
“Ahaha. It seems that you have a good relationship with my ‘Li Hao’.”

“…”

“You’re definitely his close friend, so it’s not strange that you also have amazing
abilities.”

Although Li Hao was an outsider, he was strong enough to easily overpower all but
the most powerful Dragonmen Fighters in her arena.

Amazing people usually grouped themselves with other extraordinary people, so she
could barely accept the fact that her Magical Eye, which she was most proud of,
didn’t work on him…

‘…but I can’t really… ’

Of course, even if she tried to brainwash herself, it wasn’t something that she could
overlook that easily.

But for now, the Ancient Dragon’s corpse was more important.

She wondered if this victory could be attributed to luck. It was all thanks to Li Hao, a
Fighter that she’d worked hard to acquire, that she was able to win the competition
for the Ancient Dragon’s corpse today.

Ishuta smiled brightly and said.

“Mr. Dragon Hunter, Babylon guarantees that you will be treated as our greatest
guest…”

“There’s no need for you to do that. I don’t intend to sell it to Babylon either.”

When Lukas finished talking, Ishuta’s expression cracked for the third time since
they had met.

The Major City Lord of Bakdad spoke up with an angry expression.

“Did you call us Major City Lords out to such a distant place just to tell us that you
won’t sell it? Don’t tell me you just wanted to use us to get rid of that trashy City Lord
over there.”
The once confident Sshiris, who was now being called out despite trying to make
himself as small as possible, flinched.

Even Spera, who had maintained a playful attitude all this time, couldn’t help but
speak out with a vicious smile on his face.

“We all rushed through the sky for four days and four nights without even taking a
break to rest. And it’ll take just as long for us to return. So that would mean that you
made five Major City Lords waste an entire week.”

It wasn’t just about wasting time.

Each of them had brought multiple Sky Carriages and troops with them to assist with
the transportation of the Ancient Dragon’s corpse. If they hadn’t been brought for
this task, they could have been sent to complete at least a few dozen tasks even if
they were to only do the most important ones. Naturally, this meant that the losses
for this trip would be enormous.

The Major City Lords’ anger was more than justified.

“Answer me, Dragon Hunter. Do you intend to make fools out of us Major City Lords?”

“You’re being too hasty. Why are you already concluding that you will return with no
gains?”

It was Ishuta who shot back an answer with an annoyed expression on her face.

“You’re the one who said you won’t sell it to anyone.”

“I did say that I wouldn’t sell it, but is that synonymous with saying that you won’t be
able to obtain the Ancient Dragon’s parts?”

“What are you talking about?”

“…”

When Lukas didn’t respond for a while, Gargad decided to speak up.

“If you’re trying to play some trick…”

“I’m not. I just have one thing to say.”

Lukas pointed towards the Ancient Dragon as he continued.

“I won’t accept your money. Instead, I intend to split this Ancient Dragon up and
share it among the Major City Lords.”

“…wh-, what?!”

It was Bargan, who was beside him who cried with disbelief.

Although there was a certain gap of strength between them, the Major City Lords
reacted similarly.

“…”

On the other hand, Lee Jong-hak looked at Lukas with narrowed eyes.

He knew a bit about Lukas, so he wasn’t as panicked as the others.

Lukas wasn’t the type of person who would simply do good deeds for no real reason.
He was extremely logical, had more experience than probably everyone there put
together, and had the broadest and furthest vision.

That was why, more than anything, Lee Jong-hak was curious at that moment.

Just how far ahead was Lukas looking to make such a decision?
A refreshing breeze tickled his hair.

Gently sweeping away the hair that had been blown into his face, Lukas muttered.

“This city is huge.”

Although he knew Lukas was just talking to himself, Bargan still nodded his head
and responded.

“[Lirua] has a large arena and is considered one of the Eight Major Cities, but just a
few decades ago, it was still classified as a small city.”

“Small city.”

That didn’t seem to be the case at all.

Anyone who saw the sight in front of them would have the same thought.

Of course, Herui was the only city in the Heavenly Realm that Lukas had visited, but
it was classified as a small city.

This was why Lukas was feeling a sense of disparity at that moment.

He couldn’t quite believe that this enormous city in front of him was developed from
a small city like Herui in only a few decades.

Lirua had an appearance similar to that of a castle city, and it had a staircase-like
structure in which the ground gradually rose as one passed through the different
inner walls of the city.

Because of this, the building located in the very center of the city also occupied the
highest point in the area, and its tall and large size made it appear even more
daunting.

Lirua was large, so large that it wouldn’t be strange to describe it as a city-state. And
yet, there were still seven other cities of similar size on Combat Island alone.

As expected, the Heavenly Realm really was a place that could be described as its
own world.

“Is that the arena?”

It was obvious that it was, but there was a reason that he asked that question. That
was because, be it appearance or size, that building didn’t appear at all like an arena.

Even the royal castles of some countries would not be so large and luxurious.

The building was very thick, almost like a tower, but the difference from a normal
tower was the fact that the building was flat on one side, almost as if it had been cut
by a huge knife. Nevertheless, it was extremely tall and wide.

Maybe the architects had deliberately designed the building in this way to give the
feeling that it was still unfinished.

“On the days of major fights, the ceiling is removed so that people can enjoy
watching the matches from above.”

“Watching from above? Do you mean by using Sky Carriages?”

“There is a grandstand installed on a floating platform. Of course, such a thing is

incredibly expensive to maintain, so those who don’t have a lot of money would
never be able to enjoy it.”

Upon hearing that, Lukas narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the arena, and
sure enough, he found a small floating platform above the building.

From this distance, it appeared as nothing more than a pebble, but he was able to
infer just how large it actually was.

Dragonmen were born on floating islands, so they probably didn’t have a fear of
heights, right?

Just as Lukas had this thought, Bargan spoke.

“…are you really okay?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Ancient Dragon’s corpse. Even if you gave it to the Major City Lords…”

—It had already been a week since Lukas gave the Ancient Dragon’s corpse over to
the five Major City Lords.

But there were still a few things that Bargan couldn’t understand even when he
thought back to that time.

This included Lukas’ attitude, as well as the attitude of the Major City Lords.

They were offered the Ancient Dragon’s corpse for free, but none of them appeared
happy about it.

In fact, they all had subtle changes to their expressions and their faces became stiff
as if they were seriously contemplating something.

In Bargan’s opinion, the best way to handle the Ancient Dragon’s corpse would have
been to sell the parts equally to the five Major City Lords. As for areas with higher
value like the skull they could have let them compete among themselves and sell it to
the ones who offered the highest price.

By adopting this method, they wouldn’t need to give in to any specific Major City
Lord.

However, to his surprise, Lukas didn’t do that. Instead, he decided to give the Ancient
Dragon’s corpse to them for free.

Was he trying to win the Major City Lords’ favor? No. They weren’t that simple.

To expect them to owe or return a favor just because of this could only be considered
naive.

In any case, although they were reluctant, the Major City Lords didn’t reject Lukas’
proposal. They must have thought that Lukas was up to something, but the
temptation of the bait was much too strong for them to reject.

“I didn’t give it to them. They paid me for it.”

“…compared to the price of the corpse, it was barely enough.”

The Major City Lords all decided to give Lukas 20 million erus, the amount they had
previously agreed upon. And since he was receiving it from all of them, it meant that
he’d gained 100 million erus. He didn’t refuse this.

But the other incentives like the flying dragons and slave Fighters were all refused.
This was because he didn’t really need those things at that moment.

‘And the tomes.’

Lukas thought about the three magical tomes in his bag.

They were the items offered by Spera, the Major City Lord of Akad, which he
accepted because of his interest in sorcery.

He’d originally intended to read them on the way to Lirua, but he didn’t have the
chance to because he was still working on the heart of the young Dragonling.

In any case, the Major City Lords left with the corpse of the Ancient Dragon. With the
cliched words of treating him well if he ever went to their cities.

Lukas roughly responded appropriately while making eye contact with Lee Jong-hak,
who nodded slightly.

That was enough.

Lee Jong-hak was currently in a position and had the ability to become a strong
backer for Lukas. Therefore, for the time being, it would be beneficial to let him
solidify his position building his skills and reputation on his own.

In the end, the only parts that Lukas kept for himself were the Ancient Dragon’s skull
and heart, and the body of its offspring.

Bargan asked Ashstar to help them transport the goods.

He didn’t ask Igaru because he felt guilty to ask him when he didn’t receive anything.

Of course, it was the same for Ashstar, but she was already feeling guilty for the
Sshiris incident. So when Lukas asked her for a favor, she readily accepted it.
Ashstar transported all of their luggage for free, and when they arrived, she bowed
her head to Lukas.

“…I am sorry.”

Lukas didn’t think she had anything to apologise for, but after thinking about it for a
moment, he decided to nod his head and accept it.

“There are many skilled blacksmiths in Lirua. They might not be on the same level as
Babylon’s Fire Hammer, but they should be able to handle the skull of an Ancient
Dragon.”

“I don’t have any intention of using the Ancient Dragon’s skull or its offspring’s
corpse for now. I would just like to store them for the time being.”

“That’s possible. But it will cost a lot to store them.”

The cost to store the skull of an Ancient Dragon was not something to be overlooked,
but with the amount he had at hand, money was the least of Lukas’ worries at that
moment.

After storing the items away, they finally walked along the streets of Lirua.

‘It’s been an intense week.’

From encountering an Ancient Dragon and witnessing it being slain to meeting five
of the eight Major City Lords and even negotiating with them.

Bargan realised that this short period had been the most intense experience he’d had
in his entire life.

On the other hand, Lukas, who was the center of all this turmoil, appeared calm and
unreadable as usual.

Sometimes, Bargan couldn’t help but wonder if he even had feelings in the first place.

“I would like to visit the arena, but before that, let’s find a place to stay. Bargan, lead
the way.”

“…of course. Please follow me.”

As he followed Bargan, Lukas looked around at the streets of Lirua.

He could get a rough idea of the atmosphere in the city just by observing a few
blocks on the street.

Lirua was a city filled with vitality. It was early in the morning, but those walking
through the streets seemed to be overflowing with vitality.

That wasn’t all. The overall condition and quality of the various buildings in the city
were very high. He’d had this feeling when he looked at the arena in the center of the
city, but it seemed almost too sophisticated to have been made by the rough hands of
the Dragonman race.

“The buildings in Lirua were built according to designs made by architects from
Peace Island.”

“I see.”

According to what he’d read, Dragonmen living on Peace Island were so different it
was almost as if they were an entirely different race.

It was said that those living on Peace Island were usually calm, intelligent, and had
incredible artistic talents.

The building Bargan guided him to was also a very stylish building.

Creak-

As with most inns, it also had a bar on the first floor. The difference was that the
ceiling was very high as it seemed they had removed the floor between the first and
second floors.

Because of this, even though it wasn’t a very large space, it didn’t feel cramped at all.

The bar was relatively quiet. It wasn’t that there weren’t any people there, it was just
that most of the seats were empty. This was natural since bars were usually the
busiest around sunset.

Bargan approached the man standing behind the counter and exchanged a few
words before returning to Lukas.
“Would you like to eat at the counter or at a table?”

“Let’s eat at a table.”

“Understood.”

Bargan nodded before ordering the meal.

In the meantime, Lukas found a quiet spot before taking his seat. After finishing the
order, Bargan came back and sat in front of Lukas with a slightly awkward
expression on his face.

In fact, it felt extremely wrong for him to sit beside his Lord, but it couldn’t be
helped.

Lukas was a rational person, and he didn’t think that one group should sit at
separate tables to eat.

Perhaps because the inn wasn’t busy at that moment, they received their meal
quickly. It was piping hot bacon soup, smoked meat, with optional beef jerky. The
side dishes were also filled with meat, but by this point, Lukas had already become
accustomed to Dragonmen culture to an extent.

He scooped a few mouthfuls of soup and ate it without complaints.

For a while, only the clattering of tableware could be heard. And before long, their
meal was over.

The two of them lowered their tableware at almost the exact same time. This was
possible mostly because Bargan had intentionally matched Lukas’ eating speed.

Lukas took a sip of water before finally opening his mouth.

“Bargan.”

“Yes.”

“You said that Lirua was a city that had already lost its fight, right?”

“…that’s right.”
“I would like you to explain that for me.”

Bargan’s face became a bit dark when he heard that.

Lukas looked at him silently.

[Wandering Dragonman Fighter Bargan]

[Level: 54]

[Titles: Headsmasher Bargan, The One Who Does Not Compromise]

[Occupation: Fighter]

[Race: Dragonman]

[Skills: Swordsmanship(Lv.7), Malice(Lv.6), Survival Skills(Lv.7), Untamed

Sword(Lv.5)]

[Loyalty: 81]

[Difficulty: C]

[Feelings towards Participant: Trust, Admiration, Loyalty]

Lukas realised that when the loyalty stat passed 80, new information would be
revealed in the status window.

And this information actually included the feelings that person had towards him.

It seemed that Bargan fully trusted him now. He could tell as much just by taking a
single glance at the status window. This meant that he would probably tell him
everything about what was happening in Lirua.

“The darkness in this city is much deeper and more dangerous than you think, my
Lord. Of course, I don’t mean to underestimate you. But if you were to really listen to
what I have to say… it might put you in danger.”

“It’s fine, you can tell me.”

“…understood.”

Just as Bargan opened his mouth with a heavy expression on his face.

Creak-

The door opened and a group walked into the bar.

Lukas’ eyes turned to look at them. He wasn’t the only one, and the reason for this
was obvious.

It was because this group was being so obnoxiously loud, that they filled the entire
first floor of the inn with their noise, and they acted like the entire world revolved
around them.

By the look of them, it could be assumed that they were Fighters.

Nevertheless, Lukas soon took his eyes off of them before turning back to Bargan.
Since the first floor had become so noisy, it would be better to go up to their room
before continuing the conversation.
However, he saw that Bargan was staring at this group with a hard expression.

“Bargan.”

“Ah… Yes. Yes. I’m sorry.”

Bargan shook his head, quickly returning to his senses.

Deciding not to mention it, Lukas continued in a calm voice.

“It’s noisy here, let’s go up.”

“…I think that would be a good idea.”

With that said, the two of them got up from their seats and went up to the second
floor. Or, to be precise, they tried to do so.

“Bargan?”

Someone called Bargan’s name.

Bargan stopped walking, his expression becoming even more severe.

“Right, it’s Bargan.”

Did he know Bargan?

However, maybe because of his exuberant mood, the man’s voice seemed to have a
hint of ridicule mixed into it.

Lukas turned around to look at the person who called out to Bargan, and upon
seeing the man’s face, he knew that it wasn’t because of his mood.

“The cowardly bastard who ran away like a dog with his tail between his legs has
returned to Lirua?”

The one who spoke was an extremely large man who had nothing but sarcasm and
contempt on his face.

However, the problem was that it wasn’t just the man. All of the Fighters around also
had similar expressions on their faces.

“Bargan? The guy who got kicked out of the arena and became a wanderer?”

“Rumor had it that he’d been drifting around the area near Herui.”

“Ha! How pathetic. I can’t believe he decided to settle in a small city like that… It’s a
disgrace to the Lirua arena.”

One by one, they all shouted their own insulting remarks.

Some of them even spat on the floor, saying that their alcohol had lost its taste.

Bargan took a deep breath before turning around to look at them. By then, his
expression had become much colder.

“…long time no see, Himba.”

“Right. It’s been about 10 years, hasn’t it?”

“It should have been longer.”

“Kukuku.”

Himba chuckled.

“Come drink with us. It’s been so long, let’s have a good talk.”

“No. I’m busy right now, so I’m just going to leave.”

After shooting those words back with a cold tone, Bargan turned around again. But
Himba spoke in an exaggerated tone.

“Uhuh. You don’t have to be ashamed. It’s been a long time since we last saw each
other. Or is it that you can’t afford it? Don’t worry, it’ll be my treat. As you know,
Lirua’s Fighters never lack money.”

“…”

Bargan’s expression became filled with contempt. He clenched and unclenched his
fist a few times. He knew that if he were to stay, he would no longer be able to
control his emotions.

“My Lord is waiting for me.”

“…Lord?”

Himba asked with genuine surprise before turning to look at Lukas for the first time.

Then, he asked with an even more bewildered expression.

“That wimpy looking man over there is your Lord?”

***

Wimpy man.

Lukas looked down at his forearms.

Now that he thought about it, he’d always heard people mention how thin he was.
Even though he’d done his best to train his body when he was fighting against the
Demigods or when he had become ‘Frey Blake’ his body had always been like this.

‘Now that I have a different body… ’

He could practice martial arts and develop his body.

When he thought about that, the first thing that came to mind was the Warrior King
Fist. It was the perfect martial art for developing and building muscles.

But for now, Lukas didn’t really have any desire to practice the Warrior King Fist.

“Ah. Don’t be scared, little man. Even though I look like this, I’m not that type of
person.”

Himba grinned slightly as he said that.

Lukas, who had been lost in thought for a while, finally raised his head and looked at
him.
“What do you mean?”

“I would never attack someone who isn’t even a Fighter.”

“…”

When Lukas failed to respond, Himba seemed to have come to the conclusion that he
was scared stiff. It was a big mistake, but Lukas didn’t bother to correct it.

Instead, it was Bargan who could no longer contain his anger. He gritted his teeth
roughly as glared at Himba.

He had long become used to others mocking him. In fact, at this point, it didn’t even
bother him.

However, when he saw them looking down on and mocking Lukas right in front of
him, Bargan found that he could barely hold himself back.

Several times, his lord had been insulted by someone.

Now, he could no longer contain his anger.

“You guys…”

“Enough.”

It was none other than Lukas who had stopped Bargan, whose aura had erupted as
though he was about to attack.

Bargan turned to Lukas with a puzzled expression.

“My Lord.”

“We just came to Lirua. It would be better to not cause a commotion.”

“…understood.”

Himba looked at him with an expression of disgust and pity.

In the past, he was the ‘Headsmasher Bargan’, a Fighter admired by all of Lirua. But
now, he was nothing more than the subordinate of someone who appeared to be an
outsider.

Moreover, Lukas’ ‘shabby’ appearance made Bargan seem even more pathetic.

Lukas also sensed the meaning in Himba’s gaze, but he still turned and headed
upstairs without any other reaction.

This was blatant disregard, but to Himba, it only looked like he was running away.

“Kikiki.”

“Be careful on your way, cowards.”

His companions also waved their hands and jeered as they left, but Lukas never
looked back in the end.

Click-

The bedroom door closed.

The interior of the room was neither too spacious nor too narrow, but it had
everything that it should.

Beds, chairs, a table, a window, and a sink to wash their faces.

Lukas gave a cursory glance around the room before pulling one of the chairs, sitting
down, and looking at Bargan.

Bargan stared out of the window for a while, and it seemed that he had something on
his mind. Finally, he slowly raised his head as he felt Lukas’ gaze.

“…the Major City Lord of Lirua.”

Bargan’s voice was soft. This was proof that he’d regained his composure.

“Is a man named Kangki”

“That’s a funny name.”

A smile threatened to spread across Bargan’s face at Lukas’ honest statement.

“Yes. However, no one on Combat Island would ever laugh when they heard that
name. Instead, they would be filled with awe and admiration.”

“Because he is a Major City Lord?”

“That is one of the reasons, but the most important reason is that he is a former
Grand Champion.”

Lukas couldn’t help but be a bit surprised by this statement.

Grand Champion.

In other words, Kangki had once completed his goal of becoming a Champion and
winning the Championship.

“He also won the title of Champion in as many as 16 cities. Kangki is… one of the
strongest Fighters in the world.”

“Is that still true?”

“Probably. He was never the type to neglect his training just because he earned the
title of Major City Lord. Sometimes he even participates in exhibition matches, where
he would overpower the current active Fighters as if it was nothing.”

Lukas, who was even more confused at that moment, couldn’t help but ask.

“And you’re saying that such a man condones match-fixing? Someone who was once
the Grand Champion?”

“It’s not just condoning. Kangki is… the one who started it all.”
After a moment of silence, Lukas opened his mouth again.

“Something could be going o-’

“The circumstances don’t matter!”

Bargan seemed to be startled by his own outburst.

He immediately realised just how rude his actions were. Not only had he cut off his
Lord’s words, but he’d also raised his voice at him.

Nevertheless, Lukas continued looking at him with the same calm expression as
before. There was no anger or condemnation in his eyes.

As his eyes met this gaze, Bargan felt his anger cool down.

Then, after taking a deep breath, he continued in a much calmer tone.

“…the outcome of a Fighter’s match should never be decided before the match has
even begun. It is an insult to the Fighters who constantly risk their lives on the
battlefield, and to the spectators who cheer them on with pure hearts.”

“…”

“Kangki is… the one who brought corruption to Lirua. He poisoned the noble souls of
Fighters with just a small amount of money. I couldn’t understand or accept that.”

“So you left Lirua.”

“Yes.”

In fact, it would be better to say that he had run away.

Knowing this, Bargan couldn’t help but chew on his lip slightly.
“How many people are aware of the match-fixing?”

“…all of the renowned Fighters in the arena, and the wealthy and powerful people in
the city support it from the shadows.”

“So the Dragonmen who enjoy the fights don’t know.”

“Yes.”

Then why didn’t he spread the rumors about it to the Dragonman populace?

There was no need for him to ask such a question. The answer was obvious.

Kangki was a former Grand Champion.

Lukas had already experienced the kind of effect such powerful achievements have
on most Dragonmen.

This meant that Kangki had an enormous amount of wealth, overwhelming power,
and a reputation that everyone on the island raved about.

At the very least, it could be said that within his territory, his reputation was
absolute.

On the other hand, Bargan was only a Fighter who had a bit of reputation for his
performance in the arena.

Even if he were to cry out about the match-fixing until he spat blood, very few people
in the city would believe him.

‘Nevertheless.’

Lukas couldn’t really understand Kangki’s carelessness.

If he had been more thorough… Bargan would never have been allowed to leave the
city alive.

It also couldn’t be that he’d forgotten Bargan’s existence or didn’t know his
whereabouts. Himba and the other Fighters in Lirua knew exactly where he had
been wandering around.
No matter how insignificant they might be, as long as there was even one other
person who knew the hidden truth, they could become an unknown variable.

There was no way a man in Kangki’s position wouldn’t know something like that.

‘…no.’

He recalled the characteristics of the Dragonmen living on Combat Island.

The good was that they were tough, but the bad was that they were simple.

If Kangki’s personality was the same, then his choice to let the secret leak out would
be a bit more acceptable. Nevertheless, he still couldn’t understand.

“You said that just a few decades ago, Lirua was a small town.”

“That’s right.”

“Then it can be said that Kangki is the one who developed the small city into a major
city.”

Bargan didn’t want to accept this fact, but the truth was the truth.

He nodded reluctantly.

“Yes.”

“…”

Lukas became lost in thought for a while.

The match-fixing involved most of the Fighters in the arena, not just the Major City
Lord.

The wealthy and influential people in the city also supported it from the shadows.

“As expected, I’ll have to see him for myself.”

“Huh?”
“I’m talking about Kangki.”

Bargan’s explanation alone wasn’t enough. It seemed that he would have to see it for
himself before he could make a decision.

Lukas raised his head and looked at Bargan.

“Where can I see him?”

***

Leaving the inn, Lukas headed towards ‘Paigwam Square’, one of the largest
shopping districts in Lirua.

There was a large fountain in the center of the square, which made it easy to spot
from a distance.

Since it was midday, the square was filled with people. Street vendors selling food
and miscellaneous items could be seen everywhere, and many would-be customers
stood, wondering what to buy.

Passing them, Lukas headed to the fountain.

Being sold next to the fountain were newspapers that showed the various news and
rumors circulating the city and surrounding area.

That was Lukas’ goal.

The price of each newspaper was 5 erus.

This could be considered fairly expensive for a newspaper, but for Lukas, funds were
the least of his problems.

After purchasing it without hesitation, he opened the newspaper and began to scan
the information contained within.

[‘Hilla’s Twin Blades’ dethroned after keeping his seat for six years?! Who is the new
Champion?]

[Relics of an ancient kingdom have been found on Adventure Island!]

[Big Match of the Century! Totoran VS Archisus! An expert claims, ‘This fight has
already transcended the level of ‘a friendly’…]

It was normal news about Champions and rookies who were quickly rising to fame
from every city.

The analysis of the upcoming ‘Championship’ was also hot news.

Among the articles was a ranking list of the Championship candidates. It was said
that this list was created after dozens of arena experts debated for a very long time.

Lee Jong-hak’s name was also included in the list.

He was ranked 24th.

This evaluation was much higher than Lukas expected.

Were there really only twenty-three people stronger than Lee Jong-hak?

‘…maybe they overestimated… ’

Lukas only had this thought in passing. He knew that there was little chance of such
a thing happening.

Flip-

When he turned the page, a large phrase at the top immediately caught his eye.

[The first Dragon Hunter in 10 years has appeared! His name is ‘Lukas’]

“…”

Lukas’ eyes narrowed slightly.

[An outsider made an incredible contribution to the subjugation of a black dragon.

Could he be a Great Sorcerer?]

[What is the relationship between the new Dragon Hunter and Dragon God Island?]

[The value of the Ancient Dragon’s corpse is estimated to be at least a few billion
eru…]

[Babylon’s Fire Hammer picks up his hammer for the first time in six months after
seeing the Ancient Dragon’s corpse!]

After that, there were several speculative articles written about Lukas’ true identity.

‘Rumors are certainly faster than feet.’

The entirety of Combat Island had already heard Lukas’ name before he had even
reached Lirua.

‘The story has changed slightly. Instead of being slain by me, they claim that it was a
collaboration between several major cities with me as the main contributor.’

Lukas had become a sorcerer who’d stood out in a major battle against an Ancient
Dragon.

The Major City Lords were probably not the ones who had spread the false rumors.
Instead, it was probably the people who found the truth too hard to believe. That was
why it wasn’t too surprising that the rumors weren’t completely accurate.

There was a lot of interesting news in the newspaper, but Lukas hadn’t bought it to
see these things.

He found what he was looking for on the very last page.

[Lirua Arena Match Schedule]

The schedule was packed.

Small letters filled the entire page with no gaps.

There were at least 20 matches per day, and there were even days where 30 or more
matches were scheduled.

The notable matches were written in larger fonts and different colors. Lukas
memorised dates and times for a few matches before putting the newspaper away.

Then, he headed towards the arena.

 ***

The Lirua arena was truly an amazing place. It was completely different from the one
in Herui, which had a bit of a rustic feel. In particular, the lobby area, which had
receptionists in charge of various tasks like organising the spectating areas,
receiving applications, or posting projections, was so dazzling that it might even
cause you to go blind if you were to come here in the middle of the night.

Lukas headed to a free reception desk.

“Welcome. May I ask what brings you to the Lirua arena?”

A young Dragonman woman greeted him with a polite smile.

Not beating around the bush, Lukas immediately got down to business.

“I would like to register as a Fighter.”

“I see. Do you have any experience working in other arenas?”

“I don’t.”

“Which arena are you affiliated with?”

“None.”

“So you are inexperienced and independent.”

The receptionist continued with a slightly more strained smile.

“I’m sorry, but since Lirua is classified as a major city, you cannot register to be a
Fighter here without experience.”

Lukas’ expression shifted slightly. This was not a problem he’d expected to
experience. Why hadn’t Bargan on Min Ha-rin told him about this?

Just as he was wondering about this, the receptionist continued.

“Or, if you’ve done anything worth mentioning.”

“Anything worth mentioning?”

“Yes. Even if you’re not a registered Fighter, you can have unique achievements. Or a
reputation for doing something other than fighting in the arena…”

Lukas thought for a moment before speaking.

“I killed an Ancient Dragon.”

“Huh?”

The receptionist blinked.

“What did you just say?”

“I said I killed an Ancient Dragon.”

The receptionist froze, her pupils shaking slightly.

“Umm, may I ask your name?”

“It’s Lukas.”

“Dr-, Dragon Hunter Lukas!”

The receptionist’s exclamation was much louder than expected, and because of the
structure of the lobby, it easily resonated throughout the building.

In an instant, it became so quiet that one would be able to hear a pin drop.
Dragonmen on Combat Island didn’t carry around anything like an identification
card.

This didn’t mean that the concept of identification cards didn’t exist. However, since
the process of obtaining one was tedious and required money, most people chose to
live without it. For most, it was not something they needed to have.

Of course, there were still cases when it was necessary.

The most typical case was when traveling between islands. At that time, strict
screening was carried out on both sides, so those who didn’t have any form of
identification were not allowed to cross over to another island.

In addition, identification cards were required for self-employed people, signing

important contracts with each other, or having special jobs. Of course, these people
were the minority, and most Dragonmen went their entire lives without getting one.

Perhaps the characteristics of the people living on Combat Island were part of the
reason.

The Dragonmen living here were very against the act of lying, and they would never
think about using someone else’s name to impersonate them.

Because of this, when Lukas revealed his name, no one doubted him.

Instead, the Fighters beside him all shot sideways glances at him and whispered to
each other.

Even without listening carefully, it was easy to get a rough idea of what they were
saying.

‘The Dragon Hunter? That man?’

He certainly didn’t look like a Dragonman.

‘He looks weaker than I expected.’

Lukas spoke to the receptionist without paying any attention to their whispers.

“Is that enough for me to register as a Fighter?”

“Ah! Yes. Of course!”

The receptionist quickly erased her shocked expression and responded with a
professional smile.

“This is the contract. Please read it carefully and write your name in the blank space
at the end.”

Lukas collected the document and read it through.

Deciding to only focus on the important things, he directly ignored the small clauses.

The minimum contractual period for a Fighter was three months.

They had to fight at least five times a month no matter what.

And they had to accept the fact that they could die in a match without complaint.

After reading it, Lukas wrote his name in the space provided before handing it back
to the receptionist.

She received the document and coughed slightly before speaking in a serious voice.

“Mr. Lukas, you said that you don’t belong to any arena, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then how about signing an official contract with the Lirua arena?”

“Are there any disadvantages for not signing the contract?”

The receptionist shook her head.

“There aren’t. However, if you do sign the contract, there would be many
advantages.”

“Like?”

“For one, you would be able to rent equipment exclusive to our arena at half the
price. As your value as a Fighter increases, the price will become cheaper and
cheaper, and later, you may even be able to borrow the items for free.”

Naturally, since it was a major city, the weapons, and equipment in the Lirua arena
were all high-quality items. In fact, many Fighters came to the Lirua arena
specifically for the weapons here.

Nevertheless, Lukas, who had no interest in the Fighters’ weapons or equipment

wasn’t the least bit interested.

Realising this, the receptionist dropped for a moment before she began speaking in a
slightly more frantic manner.

“A-, and you would have access to the various amenities of the Lirua arena at half
price! Not just meals, but also blacksmiths, clothing stores, accommodations…”

“…”

“You will also receive three times your salary as a down payment! O-, of course, your
salary will also increase based on your number of wins!”

Money.

He had already received more than 100 million erus, so that offer was not appealing
either.

Lukas decided to voice his thoughts.

“I will remain independent.”

“…yes.”

The receptionist’s face became a bit pale, but she did not pursue the issue any
further.
“How do I register for a match?”

“You just have to tell me.”

“Then I would like to apply for one immediately.”

“Yes. Do you have any specific date in mind?”

Lukas thought back to the match schedule that he’d seen before coming.

“The earliest date possible.”

***

Lukas’ first match was scheduled two days later.

The receptionist didn’t really want to do that, but it was what Lukas wanted.

“If you postpone a match because of personal reasons, you will receive a fine. Please
note that if you accumulate a certain number of absences in a short time then you
will no longer be allowed to fight in the Lirua arena.”

Lukas nodded at the receptionist’s reminder.

Afterward, he didn’t leave the arena right away. Instead, he headed inside.

According to the newspaper, there was a big match scheduled for around that time.
But Lukas’ goal wasn’t to appreciate the match.

‘Of course, it is worth it to see the level of my competition in the Lirua arena.’

But what he truly wanted to see was something else.

Lukas found his seat and sat down.

Naturally, the prices varied greatly depending on the location of the seats.

The price of one on the ‘Sky Stand’ that Bargan had mentioned was 3,000 erus, while
the ‘A Stand’ that Lukas was currently sitting in only cost 30 erus. The prices were
one hundred times apart.
Nevertheless, this didn’t mean that the A Stand wasn’t good. The seats in this stand
were clean, and there was little trash strewn about. The only downside was that
there wasn’t a very clear view of the arena below.

This didn’t really matter for him since he would be able to see everything perfectly
just by focusing slightly.

Murmur-

Maybe it was because the seats in this stand were the cheapest, but his surroundings
were filled.

The spectators were all looking at the arena with eyes filled with anticipation. The
Fighters hadn’t even appeared yet, but the heat in the arena was already beginning
to rise.

They didn’t know.

That the match they were so enthusiastic about was being thoroughly manipulated.

Thinking about it, Bargan’s anger was understandable.

Suddenly.

“Big Match!”

A loud voice erupted, spreading across the entire arena.

It came from the sky. The eyes of everyone in the crowd turned to look in that
direction, and some of them had even begun to cheer.

There, they saw someone standing on a platform floating above the arena. But before
anyone could get a better glance at him, he did something completely unexpected.

He leapt from the floating platform.

Bang!

And when he landed, the ground caved and cracked. The dust cloud that rose up was
much thicker than Lukas expected.
“Are you guys ready for the fight?”

The voice was heard again.

It was a simple murmur, but it strangely sounded like it was coming from right
beside their ears.

“Woooooaaah!”

“Kang! Ki! Kang! Ki!”

At the same time, the crowd began to go crazy. It felt like the temperature in the
arena rose by a few degrees in an instant.

As the crowd chanted his name like fanatics, Lukas found out who the owner of the
voice was.

Whoosh!

A huge burst of air erupted, clearing away the dust cloud.

And a huge Dragonman could be seen in the center of the arena.

He was really huge.

This wasn’t just a simple difference in appearance. For a moment, Lukas wondered if
he was a different race. At first glance, he appeared more like a Dragonling than a
Dragonman.

Generally, male Dragonmen tended to be about two meters tall, but this man
appeared to be at least five meters tall.

He was sitting cross-legged on a stone throne, which wasn’t there when he jumped.

‘The Major City Lord of Lirua, Kangki.’

Lukas’ eyes narrowed slightly.

“Ah! You guys are really hot today!”

Kangki smiled before taking a large wine bottle from his pocket.

Then, without even bothering to open it properly, he tore the bottleneck off with his
hand and poured the wine into his mouth.

Gulp… gulp…

Because of his large size, the bottle he took out was as tall as most adult men.
Drinking this bottle was no different from a man drinking an entire barrel of wine.

Crack!

After he was done, Kangki threw the bottle on the ground before shattering it
beneath his foot.

Then he got up from his throne and roared.

“Maintain his undefeated streak without any signs of stopping!”

Clank!

An iron gate to the left of the arena slowly rose up. Then, a Dragonman walked out
from it.

“The current fourth place ranker in the Lirua arena! In order to compete in the
‘Championship’, he cannot afford a single loss!”

Papapang!

Fireworks shot into the sky. At the same time, the crowd’s voices became so loud it
even shook the ground.

Kangki also exclaimed in excitement.

“Kaytai!”

“Waaah!”

“Kaytai! Kaytai! Kaytai!”

The crowd screamed his name.

The Dragonman called Kaytai swung his large axe a few times before releasing a
savage roar. The audience became even more excited by this unrestrained display.

“The emergence of a super rookie! Who said that green skins only have peaceful
personalities? In the 15 matches he has fought so far, this Fighter has never spared a
single opponent! The one with the overwhelming performance, Toirask!”

On the right side, a green-skinned Dragonman walked out from behind the gate. He
looked a bit nervous, but he was certainly a formidable Fighter.

Lukas turned away from the Fighters and looked at Kangki, who was looking
appreciatively at the two contestants, once again.

‘…indeed.’

Lukas admitted honestly.

At his current level, he wasn’t Kangki’s match.

Lukas left the arena without bothering to watch the match.

That match would probably be won by the man named Kaytai. Although the
Dragonman called Toirask was relatively strong, he hadn’t fully matured yet.

The place he headed to next was a blacksmith. Of course, there were dozens of
blacksmiths in Lirua, but the one he went to was the place that Ashstar had left the
Ancient Dragon’s skull earlier that day.

Clang! Clang!

The clanging sound unique to smithies resonated through the entire area. The
blacksmiths were all busy with their work.

These blacksmiths had appearances closer to humans than to Dragonmen, and many
of them were old.

Lukas approached one of them. This blacksmith was sitting on a chair and wiping
sweat from his forehead as though he’d just finished his work.

“Customer?”

He asked in a blunt tone.

Lukas nodded and said.

“Yeah. I would like to commission an item.”

“Hmm. Wait a minute…”

The Dragonman looked at Lukas with slightly hazy eyes for a moment.

“…aren’t you the Dragon Hunter who left the Ancient Dragon’s skull here earlier
today?”
“That’s right.”

The blacksmith’s face immediately brightened.

“Hoho. I see. Are you thinking of entrusting us with the skull now?”

His voice was even more excited than his expression.

Now that he thought about it, Lukas realised that these blacksmiths had probably
been eager to process the skull from the moment he asked them to store it for him.

Of course, since he hadn’t decided on what he would do with the Ancient Dragon’s
skull yet, he refused.

“No.”

The scene was a replay of what happened earlier.

The Dragonman’s excited expression rapidly devolved to one of disappointment.

“Then what kind of commission would you like to order? We have most of the
materials that you might need here in our forge, but the quality isn’t very good
compared to that. And on that subject, the cost would be a bit high too.”

“Didn’t I entrust another set of materials with you as well?”

The Dragonman tilted his head in confusion for a while before nodding with an ‘ah’.
The impact of the Ancient Dragon’s skull had been so big that he had completely
forgotten it.

“You mean the corpse of the Ancient Dragon’s offspring.”

“Yes.”

“Well, it is a mutant, and the strength of its bones and scales are pretty good, so it
wouldn’t be a problem to use it as materials.”

The blacksmith nodded.

In particular, the long, flexible tail could be used to make a unique piece of
equipment, whether it was a weapon or armor.

“Fine. I’ll get started on it right away.”

“Please do. How much will it cost?”

“It’ll probably cost around 3,000 erus. You can pay when I’m done.”

“Understood. How long will it take?”

“Hmm. Well. I’ll have to figure out where to start, but I think it’ll take at least a
week…”

“…”

At least a week.

Lukas rolled this thought around in his head for a while before nodding. It was a bit
longer than he would have hoped, but it couldn’t be helped.

“All right.”

“Then you can come back to me in a week.”

After saying that, the Blacksmith turned around without hesitation. It seemed that
he was preparing to work again, so Lukas decided to leave the smithy.

Clang!

That was until a clear sound rang out.

It was definitely the sound of metal striking against metal.

But in this environment where the sounds of hammers striking metal came from
every direction, it was only this sound that caught Lukas’ attention.

He turned towards the direction the sound was coming from.

Clang!
The person behind this sound was so eye-catching that Lukas couldn’t help but
wonder how he hadn’t noticed them before. But after thinking about it for a moment,
he realised the reason.

It was because compared to the large Dragonmen, her physique was rather small.
Right, it was a female Dragonman.

Even though she wore baggy clothes, was covered in soot, and her face was
scrunched in concentration, she could still be considered beautiful.

Clang!

The sound of the hammering was extremely clear.

Lukas grabbed the blacksmith who had turned his back to him and pointed to her.

“Who is that woman? Is she also a blacksmith?”

“Her… don’t mind her.”

The blacksmith replied with a strange expression on his face. Lukas had a feeling
that he shouldn’t ask any more questions.

He turned to look at the woman again.

By then, the blue-haired woman had put down her hammer with a slight frown on
her face. Was she done with her work?

That was probably the case. Her gaze turned to the table beside the anvil she had
been working with.

“…”

Then, her eyebrows twitched slightly and her lips parted.

“Rytol! You son of a bitch!”

Although it wasn’t very loud, her voice strangely resonated through the entire
smithy. It reminded Lukas of Kangki’s voice back in the arena.
The blacksmith in front of Lukas flinched when he heard her shout.

It seemed that he was the very same ‘Rytol’. With his back hunched, he carefully
approached the woman.

“…what do you need?”

Why was he being so polite?

Contrary to Lukas’ curiosity, Nekdu frowned with an unforgiving expression.

“What do I need? You little pig-nosed bastard, what did I tell you yesterday?”

“…If it’s the hirometal that you mentioned, I put 10kg below your anvil.”

“Besides that! The towels and water in case I get thirsty while working! I told you to
leave them beside me, didn’t I?!”

“Ah.”

“Ah? You little bastard.”

The woman seemed to be less than half Rytol’s size.

In truth, it wasn’t that bad, but when compared to the Dragonmen who were usually
2m tall and extremely muscular, she appeared thin and fragile.

Nevertheless, Rytol simply lowered his head, seemingly unable to respond to the
woman’s cursing.

Lukas continued looking at the woman.

Maybe.

She was a really good blacksmith. He didn’t know much about blacksmithing, but he
did know a lot about ‘sound’.

And the sounds she made with her hammer were not normal.

But that wasn’t the only thing that caught Lukas’ attention.
[Blacksmith of Lava Nekdu]

“…”

Unlike Bargan and Ashstar, she didn’t have any ‘loyalty’ stat.

Perhaps it was because she and Lukas were complete strangers. Nevertheless,
besides a name and a title, there was one other thing that Lukas could see.

[Difficulty: B]

It was the B difficulty that he was seeing for the first time.

At that moment, their eyes met. Nekdu opened her mouth.

“What’s with this wimp?”

It seemed that this was the impression that all Dragonmen had upon seeing Lukas
for the first time.

Rytol hurriedly whispered.

“That’s him.”

“Am I supposed to know this person? I hope he’s not some trash sent by Kangki aga-”

“He’s the one who entrusted us with the Ancient Dragon’s skull.”

“…”

Nekdu’s expression dropped immediately, then she hurriedly changed her words.

“N-, now that I take a closer look…”

She looked at Lukas with an expression that seemed to say she was doing her very
best to think of something nice to say.

“He is a really muscular and handsome guy. Ha, haha. I must be tired from working
all night, which is why I couldn’t recognise such a handsome man.”
“…”

Lukas was at a loss for words

Lukas pondered for a moment.

Originally, he had just wanted the blacksmiths here to make some equipment for
him. That’s why he’d said it so bluntly without adding any specifics to his order.

He didn’t think the blacksmiths here would be able to create the weapons he wanted
even if he wanted them to.

This wasn’t because he was looking down on their skills.

Instead, it was because the things he wanted were concepts that the blacksmiths
would be unfamiliar with. Even if they had exceptional skills, it would be incredibly
difficult for them to make custom equipment that they had never encountered
before. In addition, the more skilled a blacksmith was, the more proud, and the more
likely that they wouldn’t have any curiosity towards new concepts.

But Nekdu gave him a different feeling compared to the other blacksmiths.

He didn’t just mean her skills.

If it was her, then maybe…

With this thought, Lukas opened his mouth.

“Are you the best blacksmith in this smithy?”

“That’s right.”

Nekdu responded casually with a nod.

Rytol, who was still beside her, didn’t refute it. In fact, his expression didn’t even
change.

This meant that at the very least, the best blacksmiths in the smithy recognised her
as their better. Rytol’s reaction, or lack thereof, was the best proof of this.
“There is equipment that I would like to have made.”

“With the Ancient Dragon’s skull?”

“It’s not that, but…”

“Ah. Then that’s fine.”

Nekdu had a hopeful expression at first but waved her hand carelessly before Lukas
could even finish speaking. Nevertheless, Lukas calmly finished what he had to say.

“It’s a weapon that no other blacksmith can make.”

“Ah. Really? What is it?”

Her expression became one of curiosity and anticipation.

“A staff.”

“…a staff?”

A suspicious yet disappointed glint appeared in Nekdu’s eyes.

“You don’t seem to have any problems with your legs, or are you talking about
something like a wooden club that you can use as a weapon?”

“…it’s a similar concept.”

After saying that, Lukas pointed to a piece of paper on the table.

“May I use that?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

Then, he picked up the pen beside it and started sketching.

“…”

At first, Nekdu was only watching on indifferently, but the more the image gradually
took shape, the more the look in her eyes changed.
After seeing the finished product, she couldn’t help but ask.

“…this is…?”

“A quarterstaff. It’s the weapon I would like you to make.”

“Hmm…”

She tilted her head to the side for a moment before finally opening her mouth.

“By any chance, have you ever worked in a smithy before?”

“No.”

“Ah. Right.”

“…by the way, why do you always speak informally?”

Lukas asked.

Not because he was offended by the way she spoke, but because he was genuinely
curious about the answer. Even Rytol, who seemed to be extremely proud, was still
polite to customers, but Nekdu didn’t seem to care at all.

“It’s because I’m old enough to.”

“…how old are you?”

“I stopped counting after reaching 500.”

“…”

While Lukas became speechless for a while, Rytol, who had been standing quietly at
the side, opened his mouth.

“You’re an outsider, so I guess it isn’t that surprising that you don’t know. Blue skins
are renowned among Dragonmen for their longevity. Well, her case is a bit unique
even for them, but…”

Of course, that wasn’t the reason why Lukas was speechless.

Nekdu hadn’t raised her head to look at him at all, instead, her eyes remained glued
to the sketch Lukas had drawn.

Then, she pointed towards the top of the staff.

“There is a groove here. Do you intend to put something in it?”

“Yes.”

Lukas nodded before taking the heart of the young Dragonling from his pocket. Of
course, it didn’t actually have the shape of a heart. To put it into other terms, it was
like a jewel that didn’t shine. This was because most of its vitality had been
exhausted.

In all honesty, in its current state, it was already impossible to use it to make some
kind of elixir. Or at least, that was the judgement Lukas reached.

Nevertheless, this heart was once a storage box that contained an enormous amount
of energy. It could still play a similar role.

In other words, it was the perfect mana storage device.

“What main material do you think the body should be made of?”

“I think it would be best to use the tail of the Ancient Dragon’s young as the main
material.”

“It would be very difficult.”

It was Rytol who said this.

He was also looking at the sketch with a baffled expression.

Naturally, Lukas was aware of this as well. It was common for staves to be made of
wood. Metal could also be used at times. However, it was extremely unconventional
for the tail of a living organism to be used as the main ingredient.

As Rytol had said, it would be an incredibly difficult task. That was why he hadn’t
intended to mention it at first.
If he hadn’t met Nekdu, Lukas would not have brought it up at all.

His eyes remained on the blue-haired woman. Her forehead was wrinkled and it
seemed that she was deeply contemplating something.

“Give me that.”

She took the pen out of Lukas’ hand as if she was stealing it.

Then she began to draw over his sketch.

“The tail would be too weak to support it on its own… It would need metal to hold it
firmly, and I’m sure you’d prefer a softer material for the grip. Something like rubber
maybe. And with this overall shape and appearance, the audience probably wouldn’t
look at it even if you were standing in the center of the arena.”

Rytol turned to Lukas with a sigh.

“You can go now.”

“…”

“It seems that she has already started working on it.”

“How long do you think it’ll take?”

“If it’s short, then within the week. If it’s long… it could be two or even three
months.”

“Huh?”

Rytol couldn’t help but shake his head when he saw Lukas’ expression.

“It’s your fault for getting her so interested. Whether that was a mistake or a good
deed will only be known once the finished product makes its appearance.”

“…”

“Now is your last chance to stop it. It seems that she hasn’t become completely
immersed in her own world yet, so you might be able to bring her back to her
senses.”

Lukas turned to look at Nekdu for a moment.

Unlike her low mutterings, her eyes were shining brightly as though they were filled
with starlight.

He knew people like this.

People who were deeply immersed in their own worlds, and who didn’t really care
about anything unless it was something that interested them, like Nekdu, were
usually those who became extremely successful in their chosen fields and were often
called geniuses.

“It’s fine. I’ll be waiting for the results.”

This time, Rytol was the one to look surprised.

Nekdu’s skills could only be described as amazing, but even among the blacksmiths
who were known for their quirks, she was fickle and had a bad temper, so she rarely
had customers.

She was a woman who had kicked away a customer after a month of hard work and
acquiring materials while saying that she’d lost interest. No matter how amazing her
skills were, it wasn’t very surprising that she wasn’t very popular.

Nevertheless, it was clear that Lukas had become interested in Nekdu.

“It seems that you’re a weirdo too.”

“…”

“I will find out how long it’ll take. Come back in a week.”

“Thank you… Is it fine if I ask one more question?”

“What is it?”

“Where can I find a refiner with excellent skills?”

“…a refiner?”

Rytol tilted his head to the side.

“You’re looking for a strange person. Why do you want to find a refiner?”

“I was wondering how to make use of the Ancient Dragon’s heart.”

“Aha.”

Rytol chuckled.

“I knew you brought that frozen heart to be stored for a reason. So it’s because you
believe those bullshit rumors too.”

“…bullshit rumors?”

“The rumors that say that highly skilled refiners can transform the hearts of Ancient
Dragons into elixirs…”

“Is that not true? It’s something I read about in a book.”

“If everything in books were true, wouldn’t this world be a fairy tale?”

This caused Lukas to fall silent for a while. Rytol continued.

“Those rumors are just myths. The Ancient Dragon’s heart is useless.”

“It’s not a myth.”

The one who spoke was Nekdu, who seemed to have temporarily awoken from her
concentrated state. Her eyes were still locked onto the sketch, but she had an
annoyed expression on her face.

“It’s not bullshit. There are refiners who can do that.”

“Do you know any refiners?”

“Yes. But I don’t know where they are now.”

Then, before Lukas could ask any more questions, she continued.

“That’s all I know. I’m only telling you that because you showed me something
interesting, so I decided to tell you something interesting.”

Lukas wanted to get more clues, but it seemed that Nekdu wouldn’t answer any
more of his questions. This time, her attention was completely focused on the sketch
to the point that she had even begun to lean over the table.

From her back, he could see her clear desire to not continue the conversation.

Therefore, Lukas had no choice but to leave the smithy.

‘At least I can obtain a weapon.’

The staff which didn’t exist in the Heavenly Realm, would be a valuable tool that
would drastically improve his fighting strength.

So for now, he should be satisfied with this result.

Shortly after returning to the inn, Lukas called Bargan to his room.

Their rooms were right beside each other.

In fact, considering the size of the rooms, it wasn’t necessary for them to get two, but
the stubborn wandering Fighter didn’t dare to sleep in the same room as his Lord.

He even forced Lukas to let him pay for his own stay.

“You called for me?”

“Right. Have a seat.”

“Yes.”

Lukas had an unusually serious expression at that moment.

It wasn’t just that, it seemed that he was unconsciously releasing his aura. Bargan
had encountered many strong people in his life, but whenever he faced Lukas, he
couldn’t help but feel that his strength was fundamentally different from theirs.

With a slightly nervous expression, he went down to one knee and lowered his head.

“Bargan.”

“Yes.”

“I do not gather people casually.”

“…”

Bargan’s expression darkened. He hesitated for a while before lowering his head
even further, unwilling to open his mouth.

“If there is anything I lack, I will do my best to fix it.”

“That’s not it.”

“…I’m sorry. My knowledge is limited, so I don’t dare to assume my Lord’s

intentions.”

“I accepted your allegiance because I needed your knowledge. As you know, I am an

outsider who knew nothing about the Heavenly Realm or its culture.”

Although it might not have seemed that way, Lukas had asked Bargan many
questions during their time together.

“And now, I have enough of an understanding about the culture of the Heavenly
Realm. Even if I have more questions in the future, I have at least adapted enough to
be able to find the answers on my own.”

“…are you saying you don’t need me anymore?”

“Right.”

“…”

Bargan’s heart grew heavy in his chest, but he couldn’t refute it. As far as he knew,
there were only two people that Lukas was really close to.

Rin Summers, the Champion of the Herui Arena, and Li Hao, the Whirlwind of the
Babylon Arena.

Compared to Bargan, there was a large gap between them both in terms of strength
and standing.

It was only natural for Lukas to find him useless.

“I will become the Champion of Lirua.”

“…yes.”

Although he nodded, Bargan was still skeptical about that remark. If Lukas had
aimed to become the Champion in any other major city, his attitude would certainly
have been different.
However, this was Lirua.

In this city, there were limits to how far one could reach just by fighting.

“However, that alone isn’t enough.”

“…what do you mean by ‘not enough’?”

“The match-fixing.”

Bargan’s body shook.

“I went around the entire city today. And I could tell with a single glance. Everyone in
this city loves fights and loves the arena.”

“…”

“You must have too, Bargan. That’s why, when you found out about the darkness in
Lirua, you were unable to accept it and ran away.”

When he heard those words, Bargan almost burst into tears.

Ran away?

He did.

That’s what he’d done when he found out about Lirua.

“…!”

Belatedly, he lowered his head again in order to hide his surging emotions. Under his
bowed head, his eyes, which were always steady, rolled around excitedly.

“You have to do what you should do.”

“What should I do…?”

“You once ran away from Lirua. You refused to accept your responsibility and threw
it away instead. No matter how much time passes, that fact will never disappear.
Therefore, you must find that which you once threw away, and pick it up again. In
some form or other.”

“…that.”

Was he telling him to face the darkness in Lirua head-on? If so then that was no
different from telling Bargan to rush to his death.

Bargan looked at Lukas with a stiff expression on his face.

But Lukas looked back at him with a freezing cold gaze.

“Then what do you intend to do, my Lord?”

“I will also do what I should do, Bargan.”

Lukas spoke in a calm voice.

“Don’t look for me any longer.”

“…”

“Forget about me, and think only about what you have to do.”

***

There was a lot to think about, and a lot to do.

Therefore, two days flew by in a flash.

And now,

Lukas was standing at one end of the Lirua arena.

“Wooaaahh!”

“Dragon Hunter! Dragon Hunter!”

The crowd roared Lukas’ title with overwhelming enthusiasm.

It was inevitable.
For the two days after his match was decided, numerous newspapers and articles
talked about the upcoming match. This fuss naturally became a form of
advertisement, and before long, there were few Dragonmen in Lirua who didn’t
know about Lukas.

As a result, today’s match became so big that it could no longer be seen as the debut
of a new Fighter.

The opponent was also formidable.

Lukas looked at the Dragonman standing in front of him.

‘Jaihum.’

From what he heard, it was quite unusual for a rookie Fighter to compete with a
veteran Fighter as well known as him in his first appearance.

Jaihum was a Fighter ranked 78th in the Lirua Arena, and his recent record was 8
wins and 2 losses. He was someone who was considered to be rising to the top with
unstoppable momentum.

‘Good enough.’

His goal wasn’t just to take part in the Championship, but also to deal with the
match-fixing in Lirua.

And this opponent was a suitable first step to allow him to break into the darkness of
the arena.

Crunch.

He could feel the roughness of the sand beneath his feet. A hot wind suddenly blew
over.

Lukas looked at Jaihum with a solemn gaze.

“Begin!”

The match began following the referee’s cry.

—And so, Dragon Hunter Lukas, the huge rookie Fighter that many people had great
expectations for, stepped into the Lirua Arena for his first match…

And suffered a devastating defeat.

[The Dragon Hunter’s shocking record, 12 consecutive losses!]

[Is his hunt of the Ancient Dragon nothing more than an exaggerated rumor?]

[Hirup Subjugation Squad Leader, ‘Butcher’ Ashstar, says the hunt of the Ancient
Dragon is not a lie and that Lukas is the strongest Sorcerer she has ever seen…]

“…”

Bargan read the article again with a strange expression on his face.

He’d already read it five times before, and the words in the article hadn’t changed,
but he still couldn’t believe it. Eventually, he put down the newspaper with a sigh.

“Ah. He has a match today.”

“He?”

“I’m talking about Lukas.”

“Ah, the Dragon Hunter?”

The square was the center of the city and it was also the place where one could
easily hear discussions about the hottest news in the city.

And at that moment, the topic the people were talking about was none other than
Dragon Hunter Lukas.

“The Dragon Hunter is a fraud. You’ve never seen one of his matches have you?”

“Mhm. That’s why I intended to take a look today.”

“Don’t bother. I’ve seen three of his fights and I don’t want to see him fight ever
again.”
When the man said those words through gritted teeth, the woman in front of him
tilted her head to the side.

“Is it that bad?”

“That guy lost 12 matches straight in only two weeks! Usually, if a Fighter loses 5
times in a row, they would begin to consider retirement, but that bastard continues
to fight as though he has no shame.”

“Losing 12 times in a row… Wow. That must be a record.”

“That’s right. Shit. I’m an idiot for going to watch him three times.”

The Dragonman crushed the newspaper in his hand as he clicked his tongue. From
start to finish, he had continued grinding his teeth so much that it wouldn’t be
surprising if powder came out of his mouth.

Pretending not to see that, Bargan let out a soft sigh.

This Dragonman wasn’t the only one who had such thoughts.

Combat Island.

True to its name, the biggest entertainment for those living here was to watch fights
in the arena.

No, for them, the fights in the arena were more than just simple entertainment.
Instead, it was an inseparable part of their culture and life.

And Lirua was a city that had one of the largest arenas on Combat Island.

The citizens of this city always eagerly anticipated the appearance of new Fighters,
dark horses, and underdogs. Naturally, because of Lukas’ unique identity as a Dragon
Hunter, the interest in him was unprecedented.

In fact, on the day of his first match, all the tickets in the arena had been sold out.

…If Lukas had won that fight.

No, if he had even been able to display a performance equal to his opponent, they
would have only let out shouts of disappointment at most.

“Kuk.”

Bargan clenched his fists.

He knew.

He’s seen it with his own eyes and felt it with his own body.

Just how strong Lukas actually was.

…Of course, he understood that fighting against an Ancient Dragon in the wild and a
Fighter in the arena was different. It was also common for Sorcerers to be at a
disadvantage in head on combat.

‘Nevertheless.’

The strength of Lukas, who had been able to deal with an Ancient Dragon single-
handedly, was not that simple.

Right.

If Lukas had lost to the Champion of Lirua or even one of the top five Fighters in the
rankings, he wouldn’t find it too strange.

In the end, Bargan only had one question.

‘Why is he losing on purpose?’

He wanted to ask him directly. But at that moment, he couldn’t.

‘You have to do what you should do.’

‘Don’t look for me any longer.’

The words Lukas had left behind had become shackles that wrapped around his
chest.

‘…do what I should do.’

What the hell did that mean?

Did that mean that he had to pick up and face the responsibilities that had been
given to him? The ones that he’d thrown away when he ran.

He didn’t know, and it was giving him a headache.

He was a Fighter.

Rolling around questions in his head until he found the answer had never been a
trait he possessed.

So instead, he decided to make internal guesses about what Lukas was planning.

‘Does he intend to continue losing for a while before turning it around and getting a
winning streak in order to turn the crowd’s curses and criticism into cheers and
admiration?’

It was something that would surely make him into a star.

However… that couldn’t be it.

If Lukas planned to do something like that, then he would never succeed.

The audience wasn’t made up of fools. Many of them were people who had fought in
or watched countless arena battles during their lives. Their eyesight was so
developed that they could almost be compared to experts.

He didn’t think that a childish plan like hiding his power before suddenly revealing it
would be able to fool them. Instead, it would probably spark outrage because he
would be insulting the spectators and Fighters.

‘It can’t be that.’

Bargan clenched his fist.

Whatever it was that Lukas was planning, he couldn’t just stand around and do
nothing.

So what should he do?

“…”

His shaky gaze slowly turned to the arena.

…In the end, he was a Fighter.

And from the past to now.

There was only one way for Fighters to prove themselves.

***

“Twelve straight losses, huh?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Kangki remained silent, his chin resting against his knuckles.

The person who was currently bowing in front of Kangki waiting for him to speak
was someone that anyone in Lirua would be able to recognise with a single glance.

It was the 3rd place Fighter in the arena rankings, ‘Padudu’.

Of course, it wasn’t strange for Fighters from the arena to be polite to the City Lords.
The problem was that Padudu’s current posture was something that went far past
simple courtesy.

He was currently on his hands and knees on the floor with his head almost touching
the ground. This type of posture was something that not even slave Fighters would
take when expressing their complete surrender.

Just because they were called slave Fighters didn’t mean they were actually slaves. At
the very least, in Dragonman society, you still had to at least show a certain level of
respect to the slaves that followed you.

Their pride was the bottom line for all Dragonmen, and their loyalty stemmed from
this pride. Therefore, regardless of how the slave owner might feel, they would never
touch the pride of their slave.
Otherwise, if they were to provoke them carelessly, the slave might stop caring about
their own life and death or even kill themself directly.

—In other words, one thing was clear.

The fact that Padudu was able to take such a position in front of Kangki meant that
he didn’t have the slightest shred of pride.

“Hunting the Ancient Dragon… didn’t he do that on his own?”

Kangki frowned.

It was said that the Ancient Dragon had been as large as a small mountain.

For such a large Ancient Dragon, he didn’t even dare to guess how valuable its corpse
would be.

Kangki had received the news too late, so he hadn’t been able to take part in the race
for body parts with the other Major City Lords.

But he became even more upset when he learned that the Ancient Dragon’s corpse
had been shared among the Major City Lords for free.

The fact that he couldn’t take part in such an opportunity was more painful than
anything he’d encountered for a long time.

However, the Dragon Hunter, the main character in the subjugation of the Ancient
Dragon, had actually come to Lirua. Since he’d received this news, Kangki had been
paying close attention to Lukas.

Lukas had entered the arena.

This was something he expected. After all, there were only so many reasons why
such a talented person would come to a major city like Lirua.

Because of this, he had some expectations.

Of course, he didn’t have any expectations of Lukas’ strength.

Instead, what he focused on was how much the title of ‘Dragon Hunter’ would
increase the profits from the arena.

With that in mind, he decided to choose a fairly good fighter as his opponent.

To put it simply, he was laying the groundwork.

If Lukas won, the attention he gained would multiply in an instant.

Nevertheless,

‘Complete defeat.’

He never would have expected it.

The man who had defeated an Ancient Dragon was suppressed by a Fighter on the
level of Jaihum?

Was he hiding his power?

Kangki thought that was likely to be the case.

Although he had lost, Lukas hadn’t received a single injury. Anyone with eyes could
see that he hadn’t been trying at all.

Similarly, he wasn’t hurt in the next battle either. If he had been hurt in the first
place, then there was no way he could do something crazy like fighting 14 matches in
two weeks.

‘Disgusting tricks.’

Kangki’s lips twisted into a cold expression.

He felt dirty.

Like his authority was being violated.

He was the only one who could decide who won or lost in the arena. This was
something that only he, Kangki, Major City Lord of Lirua, could do.

And now, an outsider who he didn’t know had come to trample all over him with his
dirty feet.

It would be strange if he wasn’t upset.

“He is Bargan’s master?”

“Yes.”

Bargan.

He remembered him.
Bargan appeared in Kangki’s thoughts.

He was one of the Fighters who had persistently stood in his way when he was trying
to expand his business. That had been decades ago, but there was a reason why he
could still remember him even now.

This was because he felt that Bargan’s skill and talent would be fairly eye-catching.
Therefore, he’d tried to win him over.

But in the end, he failed.

Bargan was unable to look at the bigger picture. It was said that Fighters were
usually ignorant, but Bargan was an extreme case.

If he had continued to grow steadily, with proper support, it wouldn’t have been hard
for him to have a win rate ranking among the top 10 in the Lirua arena.

“Tch.”

In any case.

The fact that Lukas was Bargan’s master meant that there was a very high chance
that he knew about the match-fixing in the Lirua arena.

Even though he came to this realisation, Kangki’s expression didn’t change in the
slightest.

‘This is pretty interesting.

Even if Lukas had made a great contribution during the subjugation of the Ancient
Dragon, he was just a Sorcerer anyway.

In front of Fighters who could be said to be experts at fighting other people,

Sorcerers were at a major disadvantage.
In addition, this was Lirua.

This was the territory that he’d shed blood and sweat for decades in order to
develop to its current state.

Even if the opponent was another Major City Lord, they would not act carelessly in
his territory.

‘It’s said that he left the skull of the Ancient Dragon at a smithy.’

He wondered if he should continue to spend money to advertise him, or if he should

do something else instead.

After thinking for a while, Kangki looked at Padudu.

“Call ‘Hubi’.”

***

‘The target is hiding his real strength, so be careful.’

The assassin, ‘Hubi’, thought about the advice Kangki had given him before he left,
but he didn’t really take it to heart.

It wasn’t that Kangki’s advice had entered one ear and left through the other. It was
just that he felt that even if his enemy was strong, it would not impact the
completion of his mission.

Sss.

The window opened with a soft sound. Nevertheless, Hubi didn’t immediately enter
the room. Instead, he remained in his position and waited for a while.

…No movements could be felt from the room. This proved that the inhabitant hadn’t
noticed his intrusion. Even after coming to this conclusion, he still waited a while
longer before finally entering the room.

His movements were as silent as a shadow.

“…”
The target, Lukas, was laying on the bed, sound asleep.

The dim moonlight from the window dimly revealed an outline of his face.

Indeed, this wasn’t the face of a Dragonman, but an outsider from some distant place.

Shing.

Hubi slowly drew his dagger. The dagger seemed to gleam slightly in anticipation of
what was to come.

Quietly, he took slow, measured steps until he reached Lukas side. Then, he covered
his mouth with his left hand.

It was only at that moment that Lukas opened his eyes.

“…!”

Confusion, urgency, and fear were easily discernible in the man’s wide eyes.

But Hubi didn’t pay any attention to it as he carried out an action that he’d done
many times before.

Without the slightest hesitation, his dagger skillfully slid between the ribs and
penetrated his target’s heart in one clean motion.

Groan.

The convulsions of the man beneath him were enough to cause the bed to creak
slightly. This was the final struggle that could only have been seen at the moment
before death.

It was a bit noisy, but this was an inn that also took the role of a bar. Even now, the
shouts of Dragonmen could be heard from the floor beneath them as well as the
clinking of their glasses being hit against each other.

No one would be able to realise what this creaking was.

Pushing his dagger deeper, Hubi counted in his head.

One, two, three.

“…”

It was over.

After confirming that Lukas’ eyes had rolled back, he finally took his hand away from
his mouth.

Thick saliva coated his hand, but he roughly wiped it away on his clothes as he
looked down at Lukas’ body.

If he were to leave like this, it would certainly cause a commotion when the body was
found. This was something his master didn’t want.

Fortunately, he knew of a few ways to quietly dispose of a body.

Of course, the sudden disappearance of a person would surely attract some

attention. But Lukas was an outsider who currently had the lowest reputation in the
entirety of Lirua. It was safe to say that there wasn’t a single Dragonman who looked
at him favorably after his streak of consecutive losses.

Even if someone were to notice and point out his disappearance, others would
simply curse at him. They wouldn’t try to look for him. They would loudly declare
that he had quietly run away at night out of shame.

With that thought, Hubi wrapped Lukas’ body in his blanket before sliding out of the
room again with his cargo in tow.

Creak-

Unlike when he entered, there was a subtle noise from the window as he left.

But that was all.

After his figure completely disappeared into the dark night, silence fell in the room
once again.

***
“You already completed your mission?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Kangki looked down at Hubi.

The assassin in front of him was the sharpest and truest of all the daggers he had
created.

Up to that point, the number of people that Hubi had killed for him probably
exceeded 20,000. And despite the number being so large, this man had always
completed his missions with perfection.

Naturally, several of the missions he had been tasked with could be considered
difficult.

And in Kangki’s opinion, this mission should have been similar.

He looked at Hubi again.

There wasn’t a single wound on his body. Except for the fact that his clothes were a
bit wrinkled, there was basically no difference from when he’d left.

“Were there any problems?”

“No.”

He answered shortly, then, thinking that an explanation might be necessary, he

continued.

“The target only became aware of my existence after it was too late. He might be a
powerful Sorcerer, but he is ignorant of the silent dangers of the night.”

This meant that Lukas had died without even realising that Hubi had broken into his
room.

If that was the case, then it could even be said that Lukas was the easiest task Hubi
had ever had to complete.
“The corpse?”

“It has been dealt with.”

“Where is your proof?”

“Yes.”

Hubi stepped forward and took something from his bag. It was a severed finger.
Perhaps an index finger.

Kangki glanced down at the finger. It was definitely not a Dragonman’s finger. It also
matched the skin color of the target. He touched it, he smelled it, then at the end, he
put it in his mouth and chewed it.

This was the surest way. The tongue was the most sensitive part of the body. With it,
one could easily find a single grain of sand on a piece of meat.

‘The strange thing is… ’

There wasn’t anything strange.

Frowning, Kangki spat the finger onto his palm. It looked like a chicken bone that
had its flesh removed.

Seeing this series of actions, Hubi couldn’t help but ask in a cautious tone.

“Is something wrong?”

“It ended too easily.”

Even if it might just be a small doubt, Kangki wouldn’t let it go. Even if it was only a
feeling that stemmed from his instinct without the slightest bit of proof.

No.

He believed it even more because it came from his instincts.

This kind of warning had saved him many times when he faced dangerous situations.
‘It shouldn’t have been completed so easily.’

After having this thought, Kangki gave Hubi new orders.

“Think that the thing you killed was just a doppelganger and search the entire inn.
Investigate every trace of the Dragon Hunter. And if you find something strange, no
matter how trivial it might seem, make sure to report it right away.”

“As you command.”

Hubi bowed his head without any complaints. Even if he had absolute confidence in
himself and his skills, orders were orders.

After taking a step back, he bowed politely once again before his body gradually
merged with the darkness of the room and he disappeared completely.

“…”

Alone now, Kangki slowly lowered his head.

He was looking at the bottle of wine he had been drinking just before.

“I hope it’s just a delusion.”

He muttered those words with sincerity.

Kangki was never the type to leave a bottle of wine unfinished but he was no longer
in the mood to drink.

After thinking for a while, he decided to call someone.

Bargan sat in the stands of the arena and looked down at the field.

It was really large.

It hadn’t been this big when he left. By the looks of it, the arena was at least 10 times
larger than when he last saw it. It had probably taken hundreds of architects from
Peace Island to build it.

Now, the arena had become a symbol that represented Lirua and had become its
pride at the same time.

“…”

30 years.

Bargan suddenly realised that it had been 30 years since he’d left the city.

It had clearly been a long time, but even when he thought back to that time, no
memory really stood out. All he had were desolate feelings and a body that was
steadily growing older.

Such was the life of a wanderer.

That’s why the week or so that he’d spent with Lukas had become a powerful
memory for him.

“Dammit. He still hasn’t shown up yet?”

“He really just does whatever he wants.”

“Can we get ticket refunds?”

There were spectators sitting here and there in the mostly empty stands. And the
ones sitting behind Bargan constantly muttered in a dissatisfied tone.
He understood them.

It was already past the time for the fight to start, but only one Fighter stood in the
arena.

Even the Fighter’s expression showed displeasure and irritation. Anyone in his
position would probably have had the same expression if their opponent still hadn’t
appeared ten minutes after their fight was supposed to start.

Bargan’s expression was also not good, but for a different reason. His face didn’t
show any irritation or impatience with the current time-wasting situation.

To put it simply, he didn’t look upset, he looked extremely serious.

“Dammit. If it wasn’t for the fact that Padudu is fighting in the next match, I wouldn’t
have come to see this one.”

“What are you talking about? Kingtan’s matches are all worth watching.”

“That’s only when the opponent is also competent! If the opponent is a loser who
lost 12 consecutive matches then he won’t even break a sweat!”

Most of the spectators usually didn’t care which side won as long as they could watch
them fight. Unless they were a big fan of that Fighter.

What the spectators were enthusiastic about was a thrilling battle that made their
hands sweat.

A battle where, after hundreds of clashes, the winner was decided by a paper-thin
advantage.

Those were the famous matches.

And Dragon Hunter Lukas, who was currently the most criticised Fighter in the
entirety of Lirua, had never shown such a match.

“…”

Bargan bit his lip as a feeling of anxiety welled up within him.

The reason he was sitting in the stands was, of course, to watch Lukas’ match. He’d
told him to not come to him, but he hadn’t said he couldn’t watch him fight.

But even though he’d used such a cowardly excuse to buy a ticket, Lukas hadn’t
appeared even after 10 minutes had passed.

This had never happened in any of his 12 fights.

‘Did something happen?’

Just as he had this thought…

One of the officials entered the arena and walked to the referee before whispering
something in his ears. The referee’s expression hardened, and he let out a soft sigh,
though he tried his best to hide his reaction.

Then, he raised his hand and shouted.

“Kingtan wins by default due to the absence of Dragon Hunter Lukas!”

Winning by default was one of the most humiliating ways for a Fighter to win a
match.

In a way, it was much worse than directly losing. Because of this, Kingtan’s
expression twisted fiercely and he simply turned around and left the arena without
saying a word.

Booo!

The crowd booed, but they weren’t booing Kingtan.

Instead, they were booing Lukas, who had failed to appear.

“Is it because he didn’t want to take part and directly lose in 13 consecutive
matches?”

“He really is creating history in the arena in a different way.”

“Mm. Maybe something happened?”

“Ha! If something did happen, it was probably that he couldn’t walk to the arena
because his legs were shaking too much! He’s just a disgusting, cowardly bastard!”

Tweh.

One of the audience members spat on the ground.

That remark caused Bargan to turn around. When his eyes met with that audience
member, they flinched back. This was because the fierce look in his eyes was truly
frightening.

“D-, do you have something to say?”

“…no.”

Bargan realised that he was just childishly venting his anger, so he turned away and
got to his feet.

“What the hell was that…?”

“Is he crazy?”

Bargan heard the voices coming from behind him, but he just ignored them and
continued walking to the lobby.

Then, he headed towards a free receptionist.

Looking at her, Bargan spoke in a blunt tone.

“Please set the match as soon as possible.”

“Huh?”

The receptionist blinked.

“Yesterday, I registered as a Fighter for this arena. I didn’t pick a time for a match
then, but I’ve changed my mind.”

“…ah, I see.”
It was only then that the receptionist smiled and nodded.

Then, after Bargan told her his personal information, she checked the schedule and
nodded after a while.

“A match can be scheduled for tomorrow morning. Would you like to do it then?”

“Can’t it be sooner?”

“It’s not possible to reserve a match for the same day.”

The receptionist spoke in an embarrassed tone, but Bargan continued without

hesitation.

“Didn’t Kingtan’s match end up as invalid? Looking at the schedule, it doesn’t seem
like he has another match for a while.”

“If it’s Sir Kingtan… Yes. He doesn’t have any matches scheduled for next week.”

“He’s probably pretty heated right now. There is still a while till the next match.
What do you think?”

Bargan pointed to himself.

“I’ll fight him on behalf of the Dragon Hunter.”

***

In the end, Bargan’s coercion worked.

A middle manager who seemed to have some authority had taken the place of the
disgruntled receptionist.

His attitude was pretty lukewarm at first, but it quickly changed after he learned of
Bargan’s identity.

“Headsmasher Bargan. You were originally from Lirua.”

“…that’s right.”
This was why Dragonmen risked their lives for fame.

Even if it was in a major city like Lirua, one was still able to receive a certain degree
of recognition with a reputation like Bargan’s. If one managed to become the
Champion of a city, they would be well received no matter what city they went to.

Of course, Fighters who didn’t fight didn’t receive the same treatment.

Most Dragonmen didn’t have identification cards. This didn’t just apply to wanderers
like Bargan.

So if people were killed or eaten by Dragonlings while traveling between cities, no

one would remember them.

And that was something that the Dragonmen living on Combat Island feared the
most. To be completely forgotten after their death.

For no one to remember they’d existed in the first place.

Because they didn’t want that, the Fighters fought.

They all wanted to become legends that would be remembered for decades and
centuries, not forgotten after a year or two.

In other words, even after death, they wanted to be talked about by many
Dragonmen.

That was the ultimate goal of the Fighters who risked their lives in every battle.

“This is interesting. The return of Bargan, a former Lirua Fighter.”

The manager said this with a bright smile.

“I’ll give you 30 minutes to prepare.”

“No need. If he’s ready to fight, we can start immediately.”

“Huhu, you really are a role model for other Fighters.”

He smiled in satisfaction and beckoned to his subordinate.

 ***

Bargan stood in the arena for the first time in decades.

There weren’t many spectators in the arena. Since the match had just ended
anticlimactically, most of them had left or gone to watch another match.

“I think you’ve long passed the age to be running around in the arena.”

There was a sneer on Kingtan’s lips as he said this. He looked like he was in a much
better mood. Perhaps he was happy that he now had someone to vent his anger on.

“I’ve heard the rumors about you. 30 years ago, you were pretty famous in the
arena.”

“…”

“But this place is completely different from back then, so you better be careful. Well,
you don’t have to worry too much. Since you’re my senior, I won’t-”

“You talk a lot. Is that tongue of yours your weapon?”

Kingtan’s expression immediately became hard.

“…of course not.”

Creak.

He squeezed the handle of his mace. His mace, which was covered in ferocious
spices, seemed like it would shred Bargan’s skinny body to bits in an instant.

He spun his mace in his hand.

Bargan looked at him for a moment before he slowly raised his club.
“Huu.”

Nekdu put down her hammer as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

After finally finishing her work for the day, she looked around for a while. There
were no signs of activity in the smithy.

This was natural since everyone had already gone home.

“Mmm.”

With a loud yawn, she got up from her seat. She grabbed her coat in preparation to
head home before something in the corner caught her eye.

“…”

It was a cane.

No, did he call it a staff?

It had been four days since she completed it, but the person who had requested its
production hadn’t shown his face. She didn’t mind that though. In fact, she actually
hoped that he wouldn’t turn up.

That way, she could take the skull of the Ancient Dragon for herself.

That thought caused a laugh to burst from her mouth.

“Thank you.”

Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind her.

“…what the hell?”

Nekdu turned around.

There, a man whose entire body was covered by a black robe stood. His body was so
covered that she couldn’t see anything but his eyes.

She was shocked for a while but it didn’t take her very long to recognise the voice
and scratch her head.

“Look who it is. I’ve heard a lot of rumors about you. Worst Fighter in Lirua’s arena,
coward, fraud, embarrassment… What was the other one?”

“Runaway.”

“Right, that.”

Nekdu snapped her fingers with a nod.

Contrary to her exaggerated actions, her voice remained indifferent.

“I don’t care about my public reputation. I’m just dressed like this because this isn’t
the time for me to make an appearance.”

“Really?”

Even though she asked this, Nekdu’s voice remained flat as if she wasn’t the least bit
interested. Then, as if she had just remembered something, she asked.

“But what are you thankful for?”

The staff Nekdu had made was already in his hands.

Was it for making that?

It couldn’t be. She hadn’t done him a favor.

He paid, and Nekdu had done the required job. There was nothing for him to be
thankful for.

“You told me that you knew refiners capable of dealing with an Ancient Dragon’s
heart.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Nekdu nodded carelessly for a while before suddenly narrowing her eyes as she
thought of something.

“You don’t mean…”

“Yes. I listened to your words and decided to search for them. And not so long ago…”

Nekdu realised that the eyes beneath the hood of the robe were shining.

“I found them. The refiner.”

***

His head was hot and his heart was pounding.

The blood in his veins was so hot that it felt like it was boiling. No. It felt as though
molten iron was flowing through his body…

Crunch.

Bargan clenched the handle of his club tightly.

The loud pulses that seemed to resonate from his heart seemed to flow down to the
club in his hand.

That was exactly how he felt at that moment.

It was probably because of the intense excitement filling him at that moment.

Surprisingly, a certain amount of excitement was actually beneficial during fights.

This was because it not only enhanced one’s instantaneous judgement, but it also
pushed one’s physical ability to a higher level.

That was exactly what was happening at that moment.

On the other hand, the expression of the Fighter in front of Bargan was extremely
sour.

“Tweh!”
Himba spat on the ground.

He was forcibly suppressing his anger as he stared at Bargan.

‘This fucker… ’

When did he become so strong?

Maybe it was because he was nervous, but sweat was starting to build upon his
palms. Without letting his guard down, he roughly wiped his hands on his leather
coat.

Just like in an encounter with a Dragonling, even a moment’s carelessness was not
acceptable.

He didn’t know even when he ran into him at the inn. He didn’t know that there
would be a time when he was put in such an embarrassing situation by this son of a
bitch.

In the center of the arena before a full audience of spectators no less.

“Do you think that I’m strong?”

Bargan suddenly spoke.

Himba felt as if he had been caught, but instead of showing it, he suppressed his
emotions and sharpened his gaze.

“It’s a really pathetic thought. Himba, why don’t you put down your flimsy denial and
accept the reality?”

“…what are you talking about?”

Bargan sneered coldly.

“It’s not that I’ve become stronger, it’s that you’ve gotten weaker.”

“What did you just say?”

“You… haven’t grown at all in these years.”

“…you bastard!”

His pride had been thoroughly bruised this time.

Spitting a curse, Himba swung his fist.

He was a man who could be called a giant among Dragonmen. His fists were so large
and powerful that he could easily crush boulders with a single punch.

However, that was it.

Himba’s attacks lacked finesse and skill.

It was a simple punch that was filled with emotion.

Excitement and anger were similar emotions, but they were fundamentally different.

Fwoosh.

Bargan easily avoided the clumsy attack that seemed like it wouldn’t hit him even if
he stood still, and raised his club.

A look of shock appeared on Himba’s face, but it was already too late.

Himba was extremely tall and had long arms.

In other words, it would take longer for him to pull his fist back after he had
outstretched it.

Paak!

Bargan’s club hit the back of Himba’s head.

“…”

Himba’s eyes instantly rolled back into his head. He staggered a few times like a
drunk man before finally collapsing to the ground.

He had a hard skull so he probably wouldn’t die, but he would probably be confined
to a bed for a few months.
“Ba-, Bargan wins!”

The referee who was overseeing the match declared the outcome.

At the same time, cheers erupted from the stands.

“Woooaaahh!”

“Bargan! Bargan! Bargan!”

Compared to the lukewarm reaction when he defeated Kingtan, the crowd was so hot
that it didn’t seem like he was a returning warrior.

“I love you! Wanderer-!!”

“Ohhh! I trusted you. Shit!”

The audience members who bet on Bargan were particularly pleased. So in the
stands, some were dancing while others were in tears.

“…”

This was all familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Bargan stood quietly in the middle of the arena for a while.

—The moment when they won and received the crowd’s cheers of enthusiasm.

Pleasure that was more addictive than any drug rolled down his spine.

Unable to suppress it anymore, Bargan began to tremble.

Most Fighters could never forget this scene and feeling, so they continued to run to
the arena until they died.

‘…I thought that I would never feel this again.’

30 years after leaving Lirua.

Bargan, who thought he would reach the end of his life as a wanderer, was once again
receiving the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd in his hometown arena.

In all honesty, he hadn’t expected the crowd to show such a reaction.

This was because Bargan thought he wouldn’t receive any recognition in this city.

But that wasn’t the case.

At least on this island, there was nothing that couldn’t be solved by fighting. As long
as one was capable enough, they could even erase their past mistakes.

‘I might be able to make a change.’

His heart raced.

This feeling was different from the excitement of fighting.

A faint glimmer of hope began to rise in his heart.

On Combat Island, honor was the factor that had the most influence. For example,
though it might be limited to Combat Island, former Grand Champions had greater
influence than even Major City Lords. And naturally, the ripple effect that could come
from a single statement of a Grand Champion was beyond imagination.

As a wandering Fighter, no one would care about what Bargan said even if he talked
about the match-fixing till he vomited blood.

But what if Bargan became the Champion of Lirua?

Were ‘Champion Bargan’ and ‘Wanderer Bargan’ the same?

‘No.’

Not in the slightest.

It had taken him this long to realise something so simple. On Combat Island, one
could achieve anything they wanted simply through fighting.

It was at that moment that Bargan came to a decision.

To climb up from the bottom and deal with the darkness in Lirua with his own
hands.
Bargan headed back to the lobby to receive his match earnings from the receptionist.

“Great job, Sir Bargan, that was an amazing match,”

With a big smile on her face, the receptionist’s attitude was completely different
from before.

On the other hand, Bargan’s blunt attitude hadn’t changed at all since the beginning.

“I’m here to collect my earnings.”

“Yes! Here it is.”

Clink.

She took out a bag that seemed pretty heavy.

“It’s 1,500 erus. Also, congratulations, Sir Bargan, for winning four consecutive
matches.”

Clap clap.

She even gave him a soft clap afterward.

Bargan ignored her and looked at the bag.

1,500 erus was by no means a small amount. To be specific, it was twice as much as
he’d earned in his previous match.

This was natural since the higher the value of the Fighter, the higher their earnings.
Bargan was gradually increasing his value day by day.

If he were to win his next match, his earnings would probably be doubled again.

‘Of course, the higher the ranking, the harder it is to get a match.’
At least, he wouldn’t be able to fight multiple times in a few days like he was doing
now.

Nevertheless, it was fine for now.

In all honesty, his four consecutive victories were a surprise to him as well.

Bargan was well aware of his skill level. He could only be considered among the best
of the lower-ranked Fighters in the Lirua Arena.

And yet, he had won four times in a row.

In all honesty, there wasn’t that big of a difference between Bargan and Himba, who
he’d fought today.

Nevertheless, the battle had been one-sided. At first glance, it might have seemed
like a rather fierce battle, but Himba’s attacks hadn’t even caused him any trouble.

Of course, it could be said that the result had been influenced by luck and other
complex factors that were difficult to calculate, but the most decisive factor was
Bargan’s momentum.

‘As long as I maintain this form, it would be worth trying even if I meet someone
stronger than I am.’

More importantly, Bargan felt that he was getting stronger the more he fought.

Leaving the arena, Bargan began to head to the inn, but he stopped not long after he
started.

It was just starting to get dark.

“…”

And a man was standing in front of him.

A Dragonman with blue scales.

“You’ve got a lot of skill, senior.”

Senior.

It was an awkward title and not something he expected to hear from someone he’d
met for the first time.

Bargan shot back in a cold voice.

“I don’t remember having a junior like you.”

“That’s natural. This is our first meeting.”

Bargan narrowed his eyes slightly at the sly answer. Just as he started to reach for his
club, the man changed his attitude and hurriedly waved his hands.

“Ah. Relax, relax. I didn’t come here to fight.”

“Do you expect me to believe that?”

“Really. I have something to tell you.”

“Say it then. I’m listening.”

“I can’t say it here.”

“…”

Was he messing with him?

Just as Bargan’s irritation was about to reach another level, the man spoke urgently.

“I swear. I have no hostile intentions towards senior. Rather, it could be said that we
are on the same side.”

“On the same side? Are you saying that you know what I want?”

Bargan had a cold sneer on his lips but the man in front of him just nodded calmly as
if he had been waiting for such a question.

“Of course I do. Aren’t you dissatisfied with the darkness in this city?”
“What?”

“The match-fixing.”

“…!”

Bargan’s expression changed slightly at those words.

When he saw that, the man let out a soft sigh of relief.

“Are you interested now?”

“…who are you?”

“You can call me Aram. A Fighter who is dissatisfied with the darkness in Lirua just
like senior.”

Aram looked around for a moment before continuing.

“We should change locations first. There are too many eyes and ears around here.”

***

In the end, Bargan decided to take Aram to the inn where he was staying. Aram
followed him with great caution. Sometimes it seemed like he was checking to see if
anyone was tailing them.

Click.

Even after they entered the room and closed the door, he didn’t let his guard down.
Instead, he thoroughly checked the room for a few minutes and even opened the
window to look around outside.

It was only after this that he finally opened his mouth.

“…hmmm. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like we picked up a tail.”

Aram wiped some cold sweat from his forehead before casually sitting on the bed.

“First off… should I say that it’s nice to meet another comrade?”
“Forget about the greeting and get to the point.”

Aram let out a bitter laugh.

But it seemed like he’d gotten used to Bargan’s cold tone to an extent.

“Fine then. I’ll just say it outright, senior. Please join us.”

“…us?”

Aram nodded.

“That’s right. Like senior, I’m one of the Fighters who are dissatisfied with Lirua’s
current state. I think that Kangki and the other leaders in the city are all crazy.”

“…”

“However, I only ever had vague thoughts about it. After all, I didn’t have the courage
to do anything about it. The opponent is a super-strong man who managed to make
it to the semi-finals of the Championship, and the forces supporting him are
unfathomable.”

Those words were things that Bargan could relate to.

He had also struggled against the darkness in Lirua and had felt despair when he
realised its depth.

“…but then I met him.”

“Him?”

“Ountar.”

This was his first time hearing the name.

“Under his leadership, comrades who all had the same thought were able to come
together. I cannot tell you the exact number, but I can at least say that we have grown
enough to be considered an organisation.”

Aram’s expression became a bit sad.

“It took a very long time and a lot of patience.”

“…”

Bargan was speechless for a moment.

He never would have expected something like this.

He couldn’t believe that a man like Kangki didn’t know about the existence of an
opposing organisation in the city he controlled.

‘I didn’t know either.’

Even after leaving Lirua, Bargan had never even heard rumors about them. This was
his first time hearing about Ountar and the organisation Aram was a part of.

“There’s a reason why I came to you, senior.”

“Isn’t it because you want me to join your ‘organisation’?”

“That too, but it’s mostly because we would like to borrow senior’s strength for an
operation.”

“Operation?”

Aram lowered his voice.

“This might be our best chance to kill Kangki.”

“What? How…?”

“Once a month, the Lirua Arena will be closed for a day. The excuse is that it’s for
cleaning, but that’s not the truth. That’s the day that Kangki uses the arena for
himself.”

“Using the arena for himself?”

“That’s right. Even now, he never neglects his training. On the day that the arena is
closed, he calls some Fighters there and makes them his fighting partners. The
Fighter usually depends on Kangki’s mood, but this time, we can confirm that the
Fighter will be ‘Kaytai’, who is ranked 4th in the arena.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because Kaytai is one of our comrades.”

This meant that the 4th ranked Fighter was a part of their organisation.

Bargan couldn’t hide his surprise.

It seemed that this organisation led by this man named Ountal was larger than he
initially thought.

Aram continued to speak in a solemn tone.

“So we came up with a plan. It’s not too complicated. We will all attack Kangki, who
will go to the arena with minimal security that day. This month is our best chance. If
we miss this opportunity, we might not get another like it for several years.”

“Why do you say that? Doesn’t he use the arena once a month?”

“Because this time, two of his three henchmen have gone missing.”

“Three henchmen…?”

“They are the most dangerous and terrifying beings that support Kangki.”

Even as he said this, Aram trembled slightly. This showed just how terrifying these
‘henchmen’ were.

“They are ‘Samash’, the current Champion of the Lirua Arena, and ‘Hubi’, also known
as the Midnight Reaper. According to Kaytai, they are both currently carrying out
special missions for Kangki.”

“Special missions?”

“That’s right.”

After closing his mouth for a while, Aram spoke in a serious voice.
“I’m not too sure about the details, but it seems that they are looking for someone.”
Time flew by in the blink of an eye. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t afford to
waste even a single second.

After all, at the moment, he was shackled by his body which could only move
properly after it had received a certain amount of rest and nutrition.

“…”

Lukas shook his head for a moment, denying this thought.

Even the other Absolutes wouldn’t consider this body of flesh and blood their bodies.

Then, he raised his head.

In front of him was a huge castle that reached up to the sky.

Most of the preparation had been completed, and it was time for the endgame.

Of course, if anyone were to see him now, they would see his actions as a way to
commit suicide. But his plans were by no means hopeless.

“You there, halt!”

It was at that moment that a guard in front of the castle called out to Lukas in a
cautious voice.

He was dressed in a robe to the extent that not even his hair was visible. So it was
natural for them to feel suspicious.

“Who are you? And why have you come to the city lord’s castle?”

“Take off your hood so we can see your face.”

“…my name is Lukas.”

Lukas lowered his hood, revealing his face.

“And I’m here to see the Major City Lord.”

***

“Who is the last henchman?”

“No one knows.”

Bargan narrowed his eyes slightly as Aram shook his head with a confused
expression on his face.

His attitude seemed to say that he didn’t know anything.

“It’s the truth. But I heard that they’re even more secretive than Hubi, who lives in
the shadows. No one has ever seen them.”

“Your words don’t make sense. If that is true then you would call them the two
henchmen, not three.”

It could certainly be called caution to sometimes add enemies whose existences you
weren’t fully certain of, but in this case, it seemed more appropriate to call it a
delusion.

Nevertheless, Aram didn’t back down, and instead spoke in a confident voice.

“No. There are several circumstances that prove that they do, indeed, exist. You don’t
have to believe me, but at the very least, our organisation believes they exist.”

“…”

“The fact that they have never been exposed means a few things. One is that they
might not be very good at direct battles.”

Otherwise, there would be no better time to reveal their existence than when two of
the three henchmen were not around.

As Aram said, this was an opportunity that might not come again for several years, if
not several decades.
He continued in a serious voice.

“Senior, we are staking our lives on the success of this plan. We will do our best to kill
Kangki by any means necessary.”

“…will killing him make the darkness in Lirua disappear?”

“It won’t happen immediately. However, wouldn’t it be easier for us to declare war?”

His words were true.

It couldn’t be said that Kangki himself was the darkness in Lirua, but he was the
leader who held absolute control. Killing him was enough to be considered half of a
victory.

Aram then spoke in a cautious tone.

“By chance, are there any Fighters in Lirua that you are acquainted with?”

“No Fighters. Just ordinary citizens.”

Of course, there were some whose strength they could make use of, but Bargan
shook his head decisively.

He didn’t intend to ask them for help.

Unlike him, who could easily give up his life if the plan failed, they were all people
with families.

Aram scratched his cheek for a moment.

“Well is there anyone that you can ask to assist us? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a
Fighter. Anyone with the capacity to help would be most welcome.”

“…there is.”

Lukas.

Bargan said this while thinking about his lord.

“Are they strong?”

“Yeah. Very.”

He didn’t say who it was.

He knew the kind of evaluation Dragon Hunter Lukas had in the city. He was certain
that Aram had at least heard the negative rumors about him.

Fortunately, Aram didn’t ask him any more questions about his helper’s identity.

“If it’s someone that senior suggested then I’m sure they can be trusted. Where are
they now?”

“I lost contact with him for a while. But I believe that we will meet again very soon.”

Lukas had told him that he would become the Champion of Lirua and that he would
clear up the darkness in the city.

Bargan had firm belief in Lukas.

“I’ll look for him when I have time. When is the operation scheduled for?”

“Two weeks from now.”

“…”

There was plenty of time.

He was sure that Lukas would show up before then.

“In any case… Thank you so much for your help.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Huhu, you don’t know how nice it is to have someone as strong as senior join us at
such an important time.”

Aram smiled before rising to his feet.

“I will take my leave now. I will contact you again when it’s time.”

“Understood.”

After saying those words, Aram left the room.

Bargan didn’t see him off and instead fell into deep thought as the door of the room
closed.

He couldn’t trust Aram’s words right away.

If his story was true, then it certainly would be one of the best chances to kill Kangki,
but the question was whether they would even be able to kill Kangki or not.

More importantly, Bargan didn’t actually know how strong the organisation behind
Aram or this ‘Ountal’ was.

That’s why he needed Lukas’ help.

Of course, he wouldn’t just sit still and ask for help.

‘I will also do everything I can.’

Even if it meant risking his life.

***

It was about four days after investigating in earnest that Hubi, who was thoroughly
searching the surroundings, finally felt that something was strange.

The scope of his investigation, which stemmed from the inn Lukas stayed at,
continued to expand day by day until it had reached tens of blocks away.

Nevertheless, Hubi’s attitude towards the investigation had remained unchanged

since the beginning.

He was calm, cautious, and above all, he maintained his focus.

In a way, he was the perfect example of a good assassin.

“…”

It was about time for the sun to start peaking from below the horizon. Although he
was underground, Hubi instantly realised this fact.

This was because this was usually around the time when he would be preparing to
go to work, but he couldn’t do that today.

Hubi was currently looking around a general store.

He’d heard that Lukas had been poking around this place a few weeks ago.

However, this general store was currently not in operation. And Hubi even knew
where the owner of the general store was at that very moment.

That was the reason why Hubi felt strange.

This store had not received any customers for a long time. But now, someone had
been seen coming and going even when the owner wasn’t around. That was more
than enough to make him suspicious.

Because of that, Hubi had come to carry out a thorough search of this general store.

After searching almost every corner of the three-story building, the only place left
was the underground warehouse. In fact, he had chosen this place for last on
purpose.

In this dark, dank space filled with cobwebs, there were countless piles of dust-
covered junk strewn everywhere.

Searching a place like this would require fairly high levels of concentration and
patience. If he were to relax his focus even a little bit, it was possible for him to miss
something without realising it.

It was thanks to this work ethic that Hubi was able to discover something.

“…”

It was a place where several boxes had been piled to form large towers.
But on the floor, there were traces of someone moving those box towers. There was a
thinner layer of dust in the path of the box which allowed Hubi to notice it.

Creak creak—

Hubi carefully moved the box tower aside.

What was revealed was the same floor that looked no different from the rest. If ten
people were to look at it, at least 9 would have this thought.

Hubi’s gaze turned.

‘It’s said that he is a Sorcerer.’

This meant that it was possible for him to use strange or incomprehensible methods.

His dagger struck the ground like lightning.

Puk!

It didn’t feel like stabbing the ground. Instead, it felt softer, like piercing flesh.

At the same time, the ‘soft thing that was disguised as the ground’, collapsed. In other
words, the hidden space beneath it was revealed.

Thud…

It took a while for the sound of it landing to reach his ears, followed by what
sounded like flowing water.

This gave him an idea of the depth of the hidden passage.

Even so, Hubi wasn’t scared.

Instead, feeling joyful that he’d finally found some clues about Lukas, he threw
himself into the hole without hesitation.

His body was quickly swallowed by the darkness.

Splash.
A perfect landing. He immediately raised his five senses and scanned his
surroundings. He was ankle-deep in what should be water.

It was a culvert. The secret passage below the general store led to a culvert.

The air in the tunnel was stale and humid, sticking to his skin in an uncomfortable
way.

Nevertheless, Hubi didn’t pay any attention to the discomfort.

Shuk.

His pupils dilated and he was able to clearly see despite his dark surroundings.
There were no signs of people nearby. It wasn’t until he was certain of this that Hubi
began to slowly move forward.

For a while, only the sound of the flowing water could be heard.

But soon after, Hubi stopped walking.

This was because he found something piled in front of him.

It was a pile of corpses.

“…”

Finding a pile of corpses in a gloomy underground waterway was bizarre enough to

shake even someone with nerves of steel, but Hubi only looked at it with curiosity
and a bit of confusion.

Were these really corpses?

‘It doesn’t smell.’

He knew how horrible the stench of rotting corpses could be. And in such a warm
and wet environment, it would be strange if they didn’t rot.

Nevertheless, the pile of corpses in front of him didn’t stink at all.

That wasn’t the only strange thing. Noticing that something wasn’t right, Hubi slowly
approached in order to identify the corpses, but his face gradually grew pale.

“Th-, this.”

There was a hint of fear in his stuttering voice.

This was because all of the corpses piled there had the same face.

More importantly, it was the face of the person Hubi had been looking for so intently.

“…”

In front of him were more than ten corpses with Lukas’ face.

‘Did I also kill a corpse like this?’

However, it… had really struggled like someone who was alive.

With a gulp, Hubi took a step backward.

—But he suddenly stopped moving.

His pupils shook violently. He felt as though his entire body had frozen into a block of
ice.

It was an underground tunnel, so he was able to feel it immediately.

A moment ago, the airflow had suddenly changed.

Cold sweat slowly rolled down his cheek.

Someone was standing behind him.

Without moving the rest of his body, Hubi slowly turned his neck and looked behind
him.

“…”

A man was standing there.

A man with the same face as the corpses in front of him.
Non-stop victories.

As Bargan had predicted, he continued to ride his momentum.

He fought three more consecutive matches and won all three of them.

Of course, the fights steadily became more difficult as he progressed.

He hadn’t received any major injuries today, but Bargan had only won by a paper-
thin margin.

Nevertheless, he was happy.

‘I’m growing stronger at an explosive rate.’

The more he fought, the more certain he became of this fact.

“7 straight victories!”

Aram let out a hearty laugh.

“It seems that you are in your best condition. But can you maintain this form until
‘that’ day?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

“Sure.”

“…”

There was about a week left.

As he had this thought, Bargan looked out at the street.

He was currently sitting with Aram at a table in an open-air restaurant. Aram held a
large piece of roasted meat in one hand and was biting into it with his sharp teeth.

In front of him was a large pile of bones without a hint of flesh remaining.

Seeing his casual appearance, Bargan muttered softly.

“You don’t seem that worried. There isn’t much time left.”

“Haha. Well…”

Aram, who ate the rest of the meat in one go, wiped his oily mouth with his hand.

“Nothing will change even if I’m worried about it, will it? It’s much more productive
to fill my stomach.”

His words were right.

Nevertheless, Bargan still couldn’t bring himself to eat.

Instead, he took sips from a glass of beer as he spoke.

“By the way, Aram.”

“What is it?”

“Have you really never met the man named Ountal?”

Aram’s expression became embarrassed when he heard this question.

“It’s because he’s always busy dealing with our situation… The rest of our comrades
are also extremely busy.”

“…how many are in your group exactly?”

“Including me… there are 15 of us.”

This was less than Bargan had expected.

He’d already heard about the ‘plan’.

But it wasn’t detailed or elaborate enough to be called a proper operation.

Early on that day, they would enter the arena and hide in a safe spot until their target
arrived. They had chosen the stands. Although the arena was large, most of it was
empty space, so there weren’t many places to hide.

Then, they would stay hidden until Kangki came to fight Kaytai, and ‘attack him all at
once’.

That was a rough breakdown of their ‘operation’.

‘…fifteen.’

It was a number that had no chance of winning an all-out battle.

There wasn’t just Kangki, there was also his group of bodyguards.

In other words, the first surprise attack was extremely important.

Even if they couldn’t kill him in the first attack, they had to at least land one or two
lethal attacks that would help their chances of achieving victory.

“By the way, what about your helper?”

Aram suddenly asked this question as if he’d just remembered it, but Bargan shook
his head.

“I couldn’t find him.”

“Mm. That’s too bad.”

“…”

Aram drank the rest of his beer in one gulp before standing to his feet.

“It’s become pretty cold, so I’ll see you later, senior. Since I called you to hang out
with me, I’ll pick up the tab.”

“I owe you one.”

“No need for that.”

Aram smiled broadly, and after paying the bill, left with his hands swinging at his
sides.

Bargan calmly watched him leave for a while before finally getting to his feet as well.

Thuk.

Then he started following Aram.

***

He knew how skilled Aram was.

He’d seen him fight a few times in the arena. Aram was a Fighter whose level was
considered around the mid-levels of the Lirua arena, and his ranking was similar to
Bargan, who had won several consecutive matches.

Nevertheless, this didn’t mean that his true skills matched his ranking.

In fact, Bargan’s experience and intuition told him that Aram was actually hiding his
true skills. Of course, this meant that there was no logical basis or proof for this
guess.

…So to sum it all up,

Bargan simply didn’t trust Aram completely.

In fact, his current evaluation of him was currently bordering between complete
distrust and suspicion.

Of course, it felt nice when he met him at first.

When heard that there was an ‘organisation’ rebelling against Kangki from the
shadows, he had great expectations, and he even felt admiration for ‘Ountal’ who had
managed to find these like-minded people and unite them.

But after thinking about it a bit more deeply, he noticed a few discrepancies.
‘Even so… ’

Bargan awoke from his thoughts for a moment and checked his surroundings.

The number of people walking around had been steadily decreasing. This meant that
from now on, he had to be a bit more careful as he followed him.

Aram walked along the empty street with his unique swagger. Then, he turned into
an alley on the side of the street.

Bargan stopped.

An alley.

‘From here on… ’

His chances of getting caught would be much higher.

In such a cramped and deserted alleyway, he would have no excuse for his tailing if
he were to be discovered.

If things didn’t go like he wanted them to, the relationship of trust that he’d built up
with Aram would be destroyed.

After having this thought, Bargan snorted slightly.

‘What relationship of trust?’

They had only known each other for a week.

The ‘organisation’ had no choice but to stay hidden from Kangki’s eyes. In other
words, it was perfectly understandable for them to set up a hideout in a deserted
area like this one.

The same could be said for why Aram was hiding his strength. If he showed his true
skill, he would attract attention. There was nothing strange about that.

Nevertheless, the feeling of discomfort in his chest didn’t disappear.

Bargan quietly ducked into the alley.

The towering buildings became rough curtains that blocked the moonlight. Thanks
to this, the narrow and complicated alleyways became a dark maze.

Bargan felt that he could not get any closer without being found.

‘Then.’

He would have to use something that he couldn’t when there were more people
around.

Rely on his hearing.

Tuk, tuk…

The sound of footsteps came from not so far away.

Aram was the only person who entered the alley, so naturally, these footsteps
belonged to him.

Taking a deep breath, Bargan slowly followed the footsteps.

Tuk, tuk…

Focusing on his hearing was more frustrating and tiring than he expected.

Perhaps because the distance between them was too far, the sound of the footsteps
was faint, and it would even cut off at times.

He was nervous.

He was also tense.

Nevertheless, Bargan didn’t stop following.

Then.

Tuk.

The footsteps stopped.

“…”

Bargan also stopped moving, his expression stiff with tension.

The footsteps could have only stopped for two reasons. One was that he had arrived
at his destination, and the second was that he had noticed him.

‘What should I do?’

To confirm that, he would have to get closer.

If it was the former, then his shadowing was a success, but if it was the latter…

“…”

Bargan decided to stop thinking about it and move. He couldn’t back down after
already coming this far.

After approaching the corner that Aram had turned down, he carefully poked his
head around.

There, Aram was standing.

With his back straight, he stood at a dead-end where not even a mouse hole could be
seen.

“Come on out, senior.”

“…”

It seems he had heard him too.

With a barely audible sigh, Bargan slowly walked around the corner.
Aram turned around to look at Bargan. Then he spoke with a hint of confusion in his
voice.

“Why did you follow me?”

“Because I still have doubts.”

“About me? Why?”

“Your organisation.”

While looking at Aram’s confused expression, Bargan couldn’t help but think.

If that expression was all an act, then this man had the darkest heart of anyone he’d
ever encountered.

“You never introduced any of the other members to me.”

“Didn’t I already tell you that everyone was busy?”

Aram’s expression seemed to say that he didn’t understand the problem, but Bargan
wasn’t satisfied with that.

“Are they so busy that they can’t even show their faces after an entire week?”

“That’s right. It’s the truth. Hoo.”

Aram pressed his hand to his forehead.

“No. This is all my mistake. We’re about to risk our lives together for this operation,
but I didn’t even tell you their names.”

Aram seemed to ponder about something for a while before finally nodding.

“I guess it can’t be helped. Come in first, senior. I’ll explain everything about the
group in detail.”

“Come in? Where?”

“Here.”

After saying that, Bargan pushed his hand into the wall. When he saw Bargan’s
startled expression, he spoke in a slightly smug tone.

“It’s just a simple technique. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s also very efficient. Unless
you reveal it yourself, it’s very hard to get caught.”

“…”

“Come quickly. The window for you to enter is limited.”

Aram stepped into the wall first. Bargan hesitated for a while, but when he saw
Aram’s defenseless appearance as he stepped into the wall, he couldn’t help but
follow him.

It was a very unsettling experience to walk through what should have been a solid
wall. As soon as he walked in, his vision became black. It was so dark that he couldn’t
see his surroundings at all, but he could feel the change in the air current.

It seemed that they had entered a completely different space.

He had no choice but to rely on Aram’s footsteps to move in the darkness, but there
were things that he couldn’t help but notice.

This didn’t seem to be a place where people lived.

It smelled stale and disgusting. There was a constant cloud of dust as if it had been
left unattended for over a decade.

“It… doesn’t seem like there’s anyone here.”

He must have heard Bargan’s murmur, but Aram didn’t answer. He just continued
looking around as he walked as if he was looking for something.

Then his eyes caught a flag that was hanging from a wall.
“Ah. I remember now.”

“Remember what?”

“The name of this group.”

“…”

What was he talking about?”

Aram sat on an old chair nearby.

As he slowly curled the corner of his lips in this situation, it gave an entirely different
impression from before.

“The [Fangs of Kamesh], that was the name.”

“…what are you talking about?”

“Senior is really smart. I like that about you.”

By this time, Bargan’s hand was already on the handle of his club.

Aram smiled and shrugged, seemingly not caring at all.

“Come on, senior. I didn’t lie. There really was a group who wanted to kill Kangki, and
there really was a man named Ountal. About 10 years ago.”

“…10 years ago?”

“Right. I annihilated them 10 years ago.”

Aram looked down at the ground. There were bloodstains there, very old
bloodstains.

“Those guys really were a huge rebel force that was the most annoying to deal with,
so it took some time for me to hunt them down. Nevertheless, 10 years is a long time.
I couldn’t remember their name until I saw that flag.”

“In the end, you really work for Kangki.”

Aram’s smile widened. He showed his bright white teeth.

“I told you that Kangki has three henchmen. Remember?”

“So you’re the last henchman.”

“As expected, senior is really quick-witted and easy to talk to. Maybe it’s because
you’re a wanderer, so your thinking is much more flexible than those other stone-like
Fighters.”

Bargan immediately looked around.

Could he escape?

No. It was difficult to escape this place when he didn’t know where he was. And even
if he did manage to escape, there was a high chance that he would be caught soon
anyway.

As for the passage that they’d used to enter this place… it was better to think that it
was blocked already.

He could tell from Aram’s attitude.

It was as though he was dealing with a fish trapped in a net.

“Why does senior think I approached you while acting like this?”

“Probably to find the Dragon Hunter.”

“Kukuku.”

Aram seemed genuinely happy.

It was as though he was sincerely praising Bargan’s brain.

He didn’t have to repeat anything he said before and they could even progress the
conversation without him having to go into any lengthy explanations.

“That’s my goal… In other words, if I catch him, I won’t need to kill senior.”
“…”

“Do you understand what I’m saying? It might sound strange, but I’ve grown fond of
you, senior. If we combine senior’s potential and star quality, it would create an
amazing synergy in Lirua. That’s the only reason why I’m suggesting this.”

He reached out to Bargan.

“How about starting over?”

“…what?”

“Restart your life as a Fighter here in Lirua that you abandoned before, senior. You
were born to be a Fighter and you can’t escape that fate. You tried to change your
essence after decades of wandering, but it was impossible and I’m sure senior
realised that too. While standing in the arena, you remembered where you really
belong.”

Creak.

The old chair squeaked loudly as Aram got to his feet.

”The arena is the place where senior truly belongs.”

“Are you trying to entice me?”

“I’m sure Lord Kangki can do it even better than I can. He has always had a favorable
opinion of senior’s talent. It’s not too late. Start a new life here with us. Senior is
someone who deserves to stand at the top of the Lirua Arena. I promise I will give
you my full support to make that happen.”

“…”

“If you refuse, then I will have no choice but to kill you. Like the [Fangs of Kamesh]
and all the other cockroaches that infest Lirua.”

It wasn’t a bad offer.

Bargan had seen the Lirua arena and had even participated in a few matches.
Through his repeated victories, he knew just what he had to gain.

“I refuse.”

Aram’s heated expression immediately became stiff when he heard Bargan’s answer.

“…can I ask why?”

“You said that it’s the Lirua Arena. But that’s wrong. That huge building in this city is
not an arena. It is a tower of deception that was built out of disgust. That’s all it is.”

Bargan then smiled coldly.

“But regardless of that, I never had any intention of betraying my Lord.”

“That’s unfortunate, senior. And… I take back what I said before. Senior isn’t flexible
at all.”

“All Fighters are the same.”

As he responded coldly, Bargan measured the distance between them.

About five steps. This was something he could cross in a single bound.

‘…this is my chance.’

One of Kangki’s henchmen was standing in front of him. By himself without any
other subordinates nearby.

If he wanted to kill him, this was his best chance.

Aram couldn’t have known that he would choose to follow him today, so he wouldn’t
have had the time to call for reinforcements.

“You ignored my offer, but you don’t need to worry. I have no intention of killing you.”

“That changes nothing. I’m going to kill you.”

“Huhu. then I’ll say it again more clearly.”

At that moment, Bargan’s body shook heavily.

“K-, uh…”

“To be precise, I don’t intend to kill you here.”

His mind became fuzzy. He felt so sleepy that he couldn’t even stand properly.

The fingers holding his club lost their strength.

“I’m sorry, senior. But please serve as bait for a little while longer. I have my orders,
so I have no choice but to think of a way to force Lukas out.”
Splash!

He was awakened by a bucket of freezing cold water.

“Cough! Cough!”

Bargan coughed.

His mind was awake, but his body still felt weak.

‘Where… am I?’

Before he even had the chance to look around, he heard a voice.

“It seems you’re still not fully awake yet. I guess the water wasn’t cold enough.”

The voice spoke in a mocking tone. It was a voice he knew.

It was Aram.

He was looking down at him with an empty bucket in his hand.

“You…”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Kekeke.”

Aram wasn’t alone.

There were about ten Fighters around him.

Swaying slightly, Bargan got to his feet.

“What do you intend to do? Why haven’t you killed me?”

“I told you already. I intend to use you to lure Lukas out. Lord Kangki is very angry.
We have to catch him and kill him no matter what.”

“So you plan to use me as bait?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s a childish plan.”

“Didn’t you know? Sometimes, the most simple and childish plan is the most
effective.”

It was sophistry.

Rage practically flowed from Bargan’s eyes. Now that he had regained some of his
strength, he should be able to bite through his tongue.

It was at that moment that Aram smiled and opened his mouth.

“Well, even if I say that I don’t think Lukas will reveal himself that easily. That’s why
I’d like to make an offer. Please listen to what I have to say. It won’t be bad for you
either.”

“Do I look like a man who would negotiate with trash?”

“I know that senior is one of the wisest Fighters on Combat Island. That’s why I
decided to bring you here.”

“…”

Bargan finally looked around at his surroundings.

They were in the arena, but there was no one in the audience.

Bargan and the Fighters were the only ones in the large, desolate arena.

Then Aram threw something over.

Clatter.
It was Bargan’s weapon, a club.

“The rules are simple… As long as senior wins, then I’ll listen to whatever senior has
to say.”

“…you mean you want me to fight all of you?”

Bargan sneered coldly, but Aram frowned in displeasure.

“I still have a conscience. The matches will be completely 1:1. This is our last bit of
pride.”

“…”

“Please show us that you can get what you want through ‘fighting’.”

“I’ll go first.”

One of the Fighters stepped forward with a determined expression.

Bargan recognised him immediately.

Jaihum.

He was the Fighter who had defeated Lukas in the first match.

“To be honest, I still don’t understand what Lord Kangki is thinking. I can’t see why
he would consider that scammer as a formidable enemy. I fought him before so I
could tell, he’s nothing but a coward and trash.”

“…”

“I hope that you, his slave Fighter, are strong enough to satisfy me.”

Bargan looked down.

To put it simply, his physical condition was the worst.

He didn’t even know how he’d fainted in the first place, and the cold water made it
feel like he was freezing. He couldn’t put much force in his fingers.
In fact, it wasn’t just his fingers. His entire body seemed to be filled with a sense of
exhaustion and weakness.

It didn’t matter if it was the muddy ground beneath his feet, he just wanted to lay
down and sleep.

But he couldn’t do that.

Crunch!

Gripping the handle of the club, Bargan glared at Jaihum.

Even if he was in perfect condition, this was an opponent he wasn’t sure he could
defeat.

Nevertheless, this wasn’t a situation that would allow him to make excuses.

He should be thankful that it would only be 1 on 1 like Aram said.

“Take it easy, Jaihum.”

“It won’t be fun if you finish it too quickly.”

The Fighter laughed and jeered, but Bargan didn’t let himself be swept away by the
atmosphere.

He gathered himself before charging forward.

“…!”

Jaihum, who had been standing relaxedly in front of him, hurriedly raised his axe to
block his attack.

‘Fast.’

It was strong too.

His axe creaked slightly.

Everyone was surprised. Where did this power come from?

‘Shit!’

Clang! Clang!

Bargan continued his quick attacks. He smacked the axe endlessly.

The biggest strength of the weapon called a club was its durability.

Because it was blunt and thick, it would not be badly damaged even if he struck it
against rocks or metal.

An axe, on the other hand, was different.

It lacked the sharpness of a sword, but it had the advantage of having instantaneous
destructive power. Nevertheless, it was, surprisingly, not that durable.

Clang! Clang!

The melee battle in which the weapons constantly clashed against each other
continued.

Jaihum was desperate to stop his attack.

‘It’s too late to stop it…!’

From the moment the fight began, he had been on the defensive. And as time passed,
he knew he wouldn’t be able to build his momentum easily.

If he had handled this seriously from the start, it wouldn’t have become like this.

It was true that he had looked down on him, but it wasn’t entirely Jaihum’s fault.

Who would have thought that this man, who had been showing such a weak
appearance before, could have such an explosive performance?

‘K-, kuh… ’

Unable to endure Bargan’s rising momentum any longer, Jaihum took a step back.

In fact, at first glance, it might seem that Bargan had an overwhelming advantage,
but that wasn’t necessarily the case. It was just that, because of his poor condition,
he was trying to end the fight as soon as possible.

‘If I don’t take advantage of this opportunity, I might lose!’

Perhaps Bargan’s desperate desire had an effect.

Crack…

“…!”

Eventually, cracks began to form on the axe.

Jaihum’s expression became solemn. Just as Bargan was prepared to deal the final
blow.

Puk!

He was forced to halt his swing and step back.

Bargan turned and glared at the Fighters standing at the side.

“What are you doing?”

His gaze was locked onto Aram.

It was this man who had just thrown his sword and interfered with the fight.

“You… Didn’t you say that it would be 1 on 1?”

He was breathing so heavily that it was hard for him to speak fluently. Nevertheless,
the cold gleam in his eyes didn’t waver.

It might have intimidated others who saw it, but Aram simply smiled.

“I did say that. But I didn’t intervene, senior.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s player substitution.”

“What…?”

Aram pointed to another Fighter.

“We intend to swap our Fighter.”

“…”

“Ah. Did I not explain the substitution rule? I apologize for that. But please don’t be
angry. This rule can be used fairly by both sides. If you’re having a hard time, why
don’t you take a break and swap?”

He said those shameless words with a straight face.

Bargan couldn’t take it anymore and grit his teeth fiercely.

“…you son of a bitch.”

“Now, then.”

Aram ignored him and continued with a smirk.

“Let’s start round two.”

***

How many had it been?

“Huff huff…”

He panted heavily.

Even breathing hurt as it felt as though his lungs and airways had been torn.
He had already exceeded his limits a long time ago. It felt like he could faint at any
moment.

Nevertheless, Bargan didn’t give up.

How could he even move at that moment?

“Amazing.”

Aram was genuinely amazed.

He had already replaced six Fighters, and yet they were still unable to take down
Bargan. It looked like he could collapse at any moment, but he never did. Instead, it
seemed that his concentration had become focused solely on taking his opponent’s
life.

It was clear that Bargan was a Fighter worthy of fighting to the death in the arena.

‘However.’

This was the end.

When Aram turned to look at a man, he nodded and stepped forward.

“I’ll be your opponent this time.”

Bargan wiped the sweat from his eyes as he looked at his next opponent.

“…”

And thought that he would not be able to win this time.

It wasn’t that he was giving up before the fight even began.

He knew that anything could happen in battle and the outcome could sometimes
only be seen at the last moment.

However, this opponent was different from the others.

It was the 4th ranked Fighter of the Lirua Arena, Kaytai.

Right. It seemed that this guy had also submitted to Kangki.

‘…from the start, there probably wasn’t anyone.’

Anyone who dared to rebel against Kangki.

Kaytai didn’t attack immediately. Instead, he stuck his sword into the ground and
opened his mouth.

“Why do you choose to walk down this thorny path? I can’t tell what you’re after.”

“…instead of that, I’d like to ask you. Do you… think that Lirua’s current appearance
is right?”

“…Bargan.”

Kaytai spoke with an expression of pity.

“Are we killing anyone? Are we persecuting them or harassing them? We’re not…
Lord Kangki simply has a natural sense for commerce. He knows what moments the
audience are most excited about. With that perspective, he balanced the entire
system and created countless outstanding matches. In fact, Lirua was able to become
a major city in only a few decades because of his guidance.”

“…”

“Did anyone lose anything in the process? The spectators gained a lot, and so did the
Fighters. The fear of losing their lives disappeared and their profits soared
tremendously. I think it’s a happy sight for everyone.”

“It’s false happiness.”

“It is falsehood in good faith.”

In this world, there was truth that shined brighter only when it was hidden, and this
was an example of that.

“The simple and barbaric fighting in the arena has become a smooth and wonderful
system. All of the Fighters in Lirua have accepted it. You are the only one who still
refuses to. Everyone is saying that you are wrong, so why can’t you accept it?”
“Because my heart can’t understand it.”

If there was a reason, then that was the reason.

“Kaytai. A lie is a lie. No matter how much you try to cover up your actions, it doesn’t
change the fact that you are deceiving the spectators… No.”

There was something far more important than the audience.

And there was something Bargan really wanted to ask.

He wanted to ask not only Kaytai in front of him, but the other Fighters as well.

“You… Are you really fine with it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Are you really happy participating in matches when the result is already set?”

After going silent for a moment, Kaytai smiled.

“Do you know how much I can earn just by fighting one match now?”

“…”

“At least a few million erus. Kuhuhu… It’s an amount that a wanderer like you might
never see in their entire life. You can’t even imagine the things you can do with that
much money.”

“What can you do?”

That question left Kaytai speechless for a moment.

He never expected him to ask in such a direct manner.

“You can do anything you want. Whether it’s buying a grand mansion, drinking the
best wine, or buying pieces of art that you can admire just by looking at them-”

“Kukuku.”
Bargan’s chuckle interrupted him. It was clear that he was mocking him.

Kaytai’s expression became cold.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I’m laughing because of how disgusting you are. You really are a slimy bastard.”

“What did you just say?”

“…it’s not like that.”

Right. It wasn’t like that.

Many people living on other islands scorned fighting as vulgar scuffles.

They exalted the studies that they buried themselves into as noble, and downgraded
fighting to lowly fist fights.

But Bargan didn’t agree.

Why did they risk their lives while fighting?

“…fighting is… a desire to be recognised. A desire to leave a name behind. Those with
such a desire gather together and fight against each other in tacit agreement with
the opponent they respect.”

“…”

“It is a desire to show the world that they are the stronger Fighter and to prove that
the resolve they have held for their entire lives isn’t wrong.”

True pride could only be achieved after fighting for your life and your belief.
Was it a bad thing to risk your life for a sense of accomplishment?

Or was it wrong to have such a desire in the first place?

“Bullshit…! Do you feel like you’re doing something great? No! Isn’t the only thing a
Fighter does, at best, is take another Fighter’s life? Fighting for your lives? Wanting
to prove that you’re stronger? Those are just vulgar and barbaric ideas no different
from the thoughts of beasts! If you die then it’s all over!”

“That’s why we fight.”

To be remembered.

“Kaytai, you must have been a Fighter once too. Do you want to close your eyes
quietly on a hospital bed with a fat stomach? Do you think people will remember
such a Fighter?”

“Why do you want to die as a Fighter? Do you know how other Dragonmen view us
here on Combat Island? They see us as simple savages! They curse at us and call us
ignorant and uneducated fools!”

“Their curses don’t matter.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t matter what those bastards who know nothing say. They look down on us.
But I don’t care about them either. I don’t care about their pointing fingers, insults, or
contempt. At the very least we… I am proud of myself.”

“…”

“Is that the case for you? Brothers.”

Bargan’s voice cracked a little as he said this.

He wasn’t just speaking to Kaytai, but to all the Fighters around him.

“Are you proud of yourselves right now?”

“…”

“I…”

Bargan looked back at himself.

One eyeball had burst,

His left arm was numb,

His right leg was sprained,

His ribs pressed uncomfortably against his lungs.

He was no different from someone who had one foot in the grave.

However, even more, because of that.

“I am proud.”

…He continued to fight.

Even if he lost the fight and died, he did not regret even a single drop of blood spilled.

He had been prepared from the moment he picked up his weapon.

Because he knew.

Even if they were to kill him here today and no one else knew about it, they would
never forget him.

It was ironic.

The enemies whom he was risking his life to defeat would end up becoming the only
ones to remember him in the end.
Great Fighters would feel much comfort from that fact.

Bargan was no different.

He remembered all of those who had fallen and left their bloodstains on his club.

There was a sublime sensation that came with fighting to the death.

What did it matter if other people pointed their fingers?

His body, his heart, his soul.

He could say with perfect honesty that he was proud of himself.

“…those words don’t make any sense.”

Kaytai raised his sword with a stiff expression on his face.

Seeing that, Bargan quietly made his decision.

“Ssss…”

-A deep breath.

He swallowed what might very well be his last breath before slowly exhaling.

He was ready to accept his death.

Then he realised.

It was only now that he was able to truly see.

All of a sudden.

It felt like all of his senses had been enhanced.

His body felt light.

It was light as if something had been removed.

It was a strange, contradictory feeling.

Something had obviously disappeared, but now, instead of feeling a sense of loss, he
had a sense of fulfillment.

‘Ah.’

At that moment, the pain that came from every part of his body seemed distant.

The world seemed to have lost its color and faded to nothing but black and white.

And in the midst of this, Bargan’s concentration seemed to soar to the limit.

‘This… ’

Sometimes in a single battle, one might gain experience that they couldn’t obtain
after decades of training.

No. It wasn’t just an experience.

This phenomenon wasn’t something that could have been obtained simply by
training.

It was a miracle that only occurred when fate and fortune intersected with each
other.

Bargan was currently experiencing only the very tip.

Ta, ta, ta.

Kaytai started running.

He was neither fast nor slow, but he seemed to be rushing forward with
overwhelming momentum.

And it was coming.

An attack that could never be avoided with a limp leg.

-Drip.
“…!”

Kaytai’s eyes widened.

On the other hand, Bargan’s expression was extremely calm.

He slowly lifted his club.

Every time before this, he would always swing at his opponent.

But this time he didn’t do that. Instead, he thrust it forward.

Puk!

“Kuk!”

Bargan’s outstretched club pierced Kaytai’s solar plexus. The stab was so deep that
almost half of the club was buried.

Kaytai groaned painfully. He felt a great deal of pain in his abdomen. It felt like all of
his organs had done a flip.

“You son of a bitch!”

A spark appeared in Kaytai’s eyes and he made a diagonal slash with his sword.

This attack was so fast and strong that it was difficult to see.

Nevertheless, he could avoid it.

It might be too much for him to block it, but he could avoid it.

Bargan’s figure blurred slightly as he avoided the attack like a wraith. After that, he
appeared behind Kaytai as if it was natural.

Kaytai, ranked 4th in the Lirua Arena.

In preparation to defeat him, Bargan took a step forward.

But suddenly.
Paak!

“…k-, uk.”

It felt like thunder in his head.

Bargan fell to his knees. He felt warmth flowing from the back of his head. This
proved that his skull was cracked and blood was leaking out.

…It wasn’t Kaytai.

Someone else had attacked him.

“It really is such a waste, senior.”

Then he heard Aram’s voice.

“It seems that your fatigue has accumulated, which caused you to collapse so
suddenly.”

Bargan didn’t respond.

It would be more accurate to say that he didn’t have the strength to even open his
mouth.

He could feel exhaustion fill his entire body.

All he could do was stare at Aram with a subdued gaze.

“Why are you staring at me like that? It’s almost as if someone attacked you from
behind.”

“…”

“I swear nothing like that ever happened. Look… we are all witnesses here. No one
interfered with senior’s match.”

“Naturally.”

“There’s no trash here that would interfere with a Fighter’s fight.”

“Kikiki!”

“…”

Looking at them, Bargan felt more like laughing than swearing at them.

But now, his tongue couldn’t move at all as if it had hardened.

“You impudent bastard!”

Kaytai strode towards him with an angry expression.

“I’m going to kill you…! I’m going to tear you into little pieces and feed you to a sky
dragon.”

He had lost all his reason due to anger.

He lifted his sword high.

With Bargan’s current weakened state, his body would be split in two by this attack.

Bargan forcibly lifted his head to look at the oncoming sword.

At the very least, he wanted to face his death without shying away from it.

‘How unfortunate.’

He had just realised this fight.

That he could go higher.

That his growth hadn’t ended yet.

There…

‘It felt like I was almost grabbing ahold of something.’

In the end, it couldn’t be helped.

He closed his eyes.

Maybe they wouldn’t remember him in the end.

He could tell by looking at Aram. He had completely forgotten about the ‘Fangs of
Kanesh’, a group that he had annihilated with his own hands.

But that didn’t matter.

Bargan felt that it was fortunate that he was able to at least have a satisfactory
experience at the end of his life.

He decided to calmly accept his death.

But his death was delayed a bit further.

Clatter…

Because something rolled over.

It was a miraculous moment.

Not only the other Fighters, but even Kaytai, who was about to swing his sword,
froze.

At first, they thought it was a ball.

It wasn’t.

“Huk…!”

Aram subconsciously drew in a breath.

What had flown over was a Dragonman’s head.

And the face on the head was someone Aram knew, someone who’d gone missing a
few days before.

At the same time, their disappearance was the decisive cause for Kangki’s
discomfort.

It was the head of a man. One of Kangki’s three henchmen was given the moniker
‘Midnight Reaper’.

It was Hubi’s head.

A cold voice slowly floated into their ears.

“If you kill that man.”

It came from the same direction Hubi’s head had flown in from.

The voice was low and quiet as a whisper, but for some strange reason, it was clearly
heard by all of those in the arena. It penetrated their ears almost as if it had been
spoken right beside them.

Bargan, who had just been ready to accept his death, opened his eyes wide.

“You will all die too.”

From the entrance of the arena.

A single man slowly walked in.

It was Lukas.
In the frozen atmosphere, it was Aram who regained his composure first.

“…I didn’t expect…”

He slowly fixed his hardened expression and spoke in a calm tone.

“…you to come here with your own two feet. And what’s this?”

He looked down at Hubi’s head which was still rocking slightly on the ground.

A hint of fear was visible in his wide eyes. He couldn’t help but be shocked. After all,
this was the head of Hubi, a man who was given the moniker Midnight Reaper.

Hubi.

He had a relatively good relationship with Aram.

In fact, this was the case for all of Kangki’s henchmen.

This was because they were clearly aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
They acknowledged each other, and they would willingly lend a hand whenever
difficult situations arose.

There was never any conflict between them because their areas of activity differed
from each other.

Nevertheless, Aram wasn’t that affected by Hubi’s death.

And if their positions had been reversed, he was sure Hubi would be the same.

He put his foot on Hubi’s head.

Crunch!

The stench was more disgusting than the sliminess he felt beneath his feet.
Aram pretended to pinch his nose in disgust.

“How disgusting. From the smell, you must have killed him and left his corpse
unattended for a while. Were you carrying his head around this entire time? Haha. I
didn’t know you had a fetish like that.”

“…”

“Is there more to your performance? Or did you think we’d be scared after seeing
Hubi’s head?”

“It was just a warning. But I’ll admit that it was different from my original plan”

“Hoh. What was your original plan?”

“I was going to hang it on top of Kangki’s castle.”

“…”

Those words were effective.

Not only Aram’s but also the other Fighters’ expressions became cold.

These were people who had already lost their pride as Fighters. For them, there was
nothing more appropriate to hurt them than to insult the master they happily
wagged their tails for.

“At the very least, you’re a champion of running your mouth.”

It wasn’t Aram.

It was Jaihum who opened his mouth with an angry expression on his face.

“I’m so annoyed I can’t take it anymore. Hey, coward, how dare you show up in front
of us with a brave expression like that?”

“…”

“I really can’t understand why Lord Kangki cares so much about a piece of trash like
you… No.”
A sneer spread across Jaihum’s lips.

“Actually, this might be a good thing. If I were to rip you apart here, I’d be able to
prove my worth to Lord Kangki and help him relieve his worries a bit.”

“Don’t go, Jaihum. You’re not his match.”

“Ha. It’s the other way around. I have experience fighting him.”

Despite Aram’s warning, Jaihum’s expression didn’t change.

When Lukas first appeared in the arena, it was Jaihum who faced him first.

Jaihum recalled the match at that time.

No. There was nothing to recall because it couldn’t even be called a match.

Pop. Pop.

After cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders, Jaihum started walking towards
Lukas, and Aram stopped trying to hold him back.

There were two reasons for this.

The first was that it would be good to observe Lukas’ overall skill level.

And the second was to buy some time.

‘He’s a Sorcerer.’

And Aram was well aware of the weakness of Sorcerers.

In fact, it was nothing special since even a snot-nosed brat knew that Sorcerers were
exceptionally vulnerable in close combat situations.

A Sorcerer’s true value could only be revealed after they were given enough time to
prepare.

‘The same goes for Lukas. He must have appeared here because he thinks he can take
care of himself.’
He probably thought that he was sufficiently prepared.

Nevertheless, Aram wasn’t worried.

It was true that, with adequate preparation time and materials, a Sorcerer would be
capable of dealing with dozens of Dragonmen Fighters at the same time with large,
devastating attacks. But that wouldn’t be the case for Lukas.

There were a few reasons for this.

One of them was the presence of Bargan.

And the other was a fatal flaw of Sorcerers.

It was difficult for them to adjust the range of their attacks.

If they were to mess up even a single calculation, the Sorcerer could not only destroy
themself, but they could also destroy much more than the expected range. Top-class
Sorcerers were no exception to this rule.

It went without saying that the sharper the blade, the more difficult it was to wield.

And the sorcery that Sorcerers wielded were at least dozens of times as risky.

In other words, unlike when hunting an Ancient Dragon, large-scale techniques

would not be possible, and they didn’t fear small and medium-sized techniques.

‘It’s obvious that Lukas was hiding his power.’

So the most important thing now was to figure out just how much power Lukas was
actually hiding.

Aram stopped thinking about it and gestured to the Fighters around him.

Crunch.

The Fighters nodded and started spreading out. They moved so quietly and secretly
that it was hard to imagine there were ten people moving at the same time.

In that same moment, Lukas also began making his move.

“Ha.”

Jaihum smirked widely.

This was because Lukas was walking towards him. His steps fell at the time as
Jaihum’s as if they were in sync.

Jaihum never would have expected a Sorcerer to voluntarily narrow the distance
between them.

“I really don’t know what’s wrong with your hea-”

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence.

“…k-, kuk!”

Instead, he felt an unimaginable pain in his stomach. It felt like his bones, muscles,
and internal organs had all been destroyed.

His bulging eyes slowly looked down.

And he found Lukas’ arm buried into his stomach.

‘When?’

How did he move so fast? What was this power? Didn’t they say that he was a
Sorcerer?

These questions appeared in his head one after the other before they eventually
disappeared. To be more precise, they had no choice but to disappear.

Puk!

This was because Lukas raised his palm and struck Jaihum’s chin.

He was fortunate that his tongue wasn’t bitten off as his upper and lower jaws
clashed violently together.

In his head, it felt like lightning flashed and thunder rolled.

Then, as he felt the pain of dozens of teeth being smashed at the same time, Jaihum’s
eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out.

“…”

Silence fell in the arena.

The scattered Fighters were all shocked by Lukas’ sudden approach and his even
faster dispatch of Jaihum.

Pok!

Lukas kicked Jaihum’s body as it collapsed to the ground. His unconscious body flew
in the sky on a parabolic path.

And Aram stood at the end of that path.

Kaytai appeared in front of him.

Paak!

Kaytai also kicked him to the side as if he were a piece of garbage.

Jaihum’s unconscious body rolled across the ground of the arena.

“You’re pretty strong.”

Aram muttered these words in a low voice.

He had kicked Jaihum’s body away like a used soda can.

Aram looked at Lukas with a wary gaze. Although he had made kicking him away
look easy, Jaihum weighed at least 150kg. More importantly, he was wearing heavy
armor.

Lukas’ ability to kick him so far caused a question to arise in his heart.

Was this guy really a Sorcerer?

‘I couldn’t figure out his abilities from the rumors.’

It wasn’t unreasonable for Aram to be wary at that moment.

He had investigated Lukas as much as he was able to.

He knew that it had been about a month since he’d first appeared, that he first
appeared in the vicinity of Herui City, and that Bargan was his slave Fighter.

However, he could not obtain any detailed information about his ‘Ancient Dragon
hunt’.

All he knew was that the Major City Lords had appeared with their armies after
everything was already over. Therefore, only a few people had actually witnessed
Lukas’ fight with the Ancient Dragon.

‘Perhaps.’

Lukas wasn’t a Sorcerer.

With that thought in mind, he nodded towards Kaytai.

Kaytai was the 4th strongest Fighter in the arena while Aram was only in the middle
of the rankings at best. Normally, this would mean that he wouldn’t dare to give
orders to someone like Kaytai, but in truth, Aram was the one in charge.

And the subordinate he could trust the most at that moment was Kaytai.
Suddenly, Lukas spoke up.

“There are only ten of you. Do you think you can surround me with only this many?”

There were currently ten Fighters, including Kaytai, surrounding him.

Because Jaihum wasn’t able to buy as much time as they expected, they weren’t able
to get closer. There were still a dozen or so steps between them and Lukas.

“Did you show up here because you were confident that you could deal with ten
Fighters?”

A smirk crept across Aram’s lips.

“If so, then that was a big miscalculation on your part… To be honest, I didn’t think
we could lure you out with just Bargan. So I was worried that I’d prepared too much.”

Shuk.

As he spoke, Fighters began appearing all over the arena.

“Seems I was worried for nothing.”

Bargan’s expression became stiff.

It wasn’t just one or two Fighters. There were so many of them that one couldn’t help
but wonder where they had all hidden. This matter was by no means a joke.

He hadn’t noticed them until they had finally made an appearance. This meant that
every one of these Fighters was talented enough to deceive Bargan’s senses.

“I really admire Lord Kangki’s insight. He advised us to use our full strength to catch
a rat bastard.”

“…”

“Subjugating an Ancient Dragon is certainly a great and awe-worthy achievement…

but for a skilled Sorcerer, it’s nothing more than taking down a slightly strong
Dragonling.”
“You seem to know quite a bit about Sorcerers.”

“That’s natural. I’m also a Sorcerer.”

“…!”

Bargan, who was laying on the ground, couldn’t help but stare at Aram in surprise.

However, now that he thought about it, it wasn’t that strange. He had easily passed
through the wall when he lead Bargan into the old hideout of the Fangs of Kamesh,
and he had caused him to fall asleep with some strange trick.

Instead, now that he learned that he was a Sorcerer, many things began to make
sense.

“That’s why I can do things like this.”

Aram began to make strange movements with his hands. It seemed like he was doing
some kind of hand ritual.

“Omnidirectional Annihilation of Ki.”

Woowoong-

With a soft hum, a whitish film that seemed to cover the entire arena appeared.

“Hooo.”

Aram panted as if he’d consumed a large amount of vital energy, but a smile of
satisfaction spread across his lips.

“I’ve destroyed all the natural ki in the arena. That should be enough of an
explanation.”

Bargan’s eyes grew wide when he heard this.

The near-infinite amount of natural ki was the driving force that enabled the use of
sorcery. The absence of it would mean that Lukas could no longer use any sorcery.

“This is one of the most talked-about techniques among Sorcerers. If even a single
mistake is made, then the seed of life in the area would dry up completely. But
everything should be fine since I already obtained Lord Kangki’s permission.”

“…”

“Of course, by using annihilation it means that I can’t use sorcery either. But that
doesn’t matter. There are 100 Fighters here.”

Aram’s voice was filled with confidence.

“100 men, Dragon Hunter. Even a Grand Champion couldn’t guarantee victory
against 100 Fighters.”

“I’m not a Grand Champion.”

After a long while, Lukas finally opened his mouth.

“That’s right. You’re nothing but a Sorcerer.”

“No.”

He shook his head.

Aram.

No, none of them knew anything about him.

Outsider, Sorcerer, Dragon Hunter.

There was nothing wrong with calling Lukas these things.

But, that wasn’t all.

“Someone who can’t use sorcery when all of the ki in an area is destroyed. Is that
what you call a Sorcerer?”

“That’s right. Many restrictions come with borrowing the power of nature. And a
limit to what Sorcerer’s can do.”

“Borrowing the power of nature…”

Lukas closed his eyes as he muttered those words.

Then he slowly opened them again.

“Even that is different.”

“What are you…”

Paht!

Bright blue light erupted from Lukas’ body.

“Wh-, what?!”

Aram’s expression became incredibly stiff.

Energy was being released from Lukas’ body.

But he didn’t know what it was.

It felt different, but also similar to the power of nature.

“How? The natural ki… Didn’t all the natural ki in the arena disappear?”

“It’s true that you destroyed the natural ki in the arena. However, your actions don’t
affect me.”

“Wh-, what…? It doesn’t…?”

Aram stuttered, not fully comprehending what Lukas was saying.

“Is this concept difficult for even a Sorcerer to understand? Collecting natural ki,
purifying it, and storing it in the body so that it can easily be used at any time?”

“Wh-, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Mana.”

Lukas spoke in a deep voice.

“It’s the name for natural ki that is stored in the body. If Sorcerers borrow the power
of nature, we calculate the laws of nature.”

“…!”

“We dig into the mysteries of nature, create a connection, adjust the laws, and in the
end, we control them. We’re different from you all, who only know how to fear
nature.”

Aram took a step back in disbelief and fear as if he was hearing the description of a
fearsome monster that he’d never heard of before.

“I, I have never heard of such a thing in my life! Wh-, who the hell are you…?”

If he had to introduce himself in one word.

Then Lukas couldn’t help but repeat the answer he’d always given in the past.

“I am a Wizard.”

Crackle!

Storms of fire and ice appeared from his hands.

The spells manifested violently as if to display Lukas’ inner feelings at that moment.

Wizards and mana.

These were probably a strange name and concept for them.

But Lukas was certain.

None of the people here would ever forget the existence of a Wizard.

Of course.

That was if any of them managed to survive in the first place.

The first one to get the strange feeling was Aram.

He was shocked by the sight in front of him, but at the same time, he was at least able
to come to one conclusion.

‘No.’

He looked around.

Instead of looking at the two storms that were spreading from Lukas’ hands, he
looked at the faces of those who were facing these storms.

He looked at the Fighters who were struggling fiercely without knowing what to do.

Why?

All the Fighters gathered here were elites who had undergone countless hardships.

The Lirua Arena was one of the largest and most popular among the major cities.

Even if they had lost their true sense of battle because of the match fixing, the
strength that they had honed was not false.

More than half of the Fighters he’d gathered had experience fighting against
Sorcerers, and the other half knew how to handle their sorcery.

“D-, dodge!”

“Ahhhh!”

“Sp-, spare me…! P-, please spare me!”

And yet, without even the chance to fight back, they were now being swept away like
insects in a hurricane.
‘This isn’t sorcery,’

With his eyes wide open, Aram came to that conclusion.

This guy.

He only watched on as if all of this was natural. What had he said earlier? Wizard?

‘Mana.’

Storing the natural ki in the body? Calculating the laws of nature?

What exactly did that mean?

He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand any of it.

Nevertheless, one thing was clear.

Everything that was happening now far surpassed Aram’s scope of understanding.

“Kuh!”

Shik.

Aram bit his lip harshly. The pain and taste of blood from his torn lip seemed to help
him clear his mind a bit.

“Spread out as far as you can! Don’t stick together! Then…”

…Then, then…

What should they do next?

He instinctively tried to use a technique before realising it was pointless.

The omnidirectional annihilation of ki was still active.

Unexpectedly, the technique he’d prepared to suppress the opponent was

suppressing Aram instead.
“Kaytai! Capture Bargan!”

In this situation, they had no choice but to use Bargan.

After all, Lukas’ goal must be to rescue Bargan.

Since that was the case, they would attempt to negotiate using that guy’s life.
Otherwise, they would have no other way out.

Kaytai nodded and began to approach Bargan.

Bargan, who was staring at Lukas’ spells in a daze, finally came back to his senses.

He hadn’t fully comprehended the situation at first.

But now, as he saw more than a hundred Fighters being easily tossed around by
Lukas, he realised.

‘I cannot become a burden.’

He’d already been saved by his Lord twice.

Once when he’d lost in his fight against him.

And the other time when the Ancient Dragon appeared. (TL: Technically, it was the
Dragonling that kicked their asses.)

And now, it seemed that Bargan owed Lukas his life once again.

‘Even if I die, reincarnate and die again, I won’t be able to pay off this debt.’

So at the very least, he couldn’t become Lukas’ burden. Or at least, that was his
desire.

Groan.

However, despite his wishes, his body, devoid of even the slightest ounce of energy,
remained motionless. The more he tried to force himself to move, the more it felt like
his entire body was being torn apart piece by piece. He couldn’t even move a single
finger.
‘Please move one last time.’

If he could move his body at that moment.

He wouldn’t care if it meant being crippled for the rest of his life.

“Ha!”

Was he still unwilling to give up in this situation?

Kaytai let out a cold snort as he rushed towards Bargan.

It was at that moment.

Crack crack!

The ground around Bargan rose up to cover him.

The raised ground joined together to create a solid barrier as if it was protecting
him.

“Your wall is useless!”

Kaytai swung his greatsword towards the barrier.

Kak!

He’d swung with the intention of destroying it with one blow, but his sword ended
up stuck in the barrier like a fork in a cake.

This swing had contained enough force to destroy the wall of a fortress, but it was
stopped by this small barrier.

‘Is this not an ordinary wall?’

If he kept swinging, he would probably be able to break it eventually, but he didn’t

know how long that would take.

Kaytai turned to glare at Lukas with a blazing gaze.

He looked into the glowing blue eyes of the Wizard, who was controlling the two
storms as easily as taking a stroll.

“I should’ve warned you, you can’t touch Bargan.”

“Right. I guess you want to die first.”

Kaytai grit his teeth before pulling his sword out.

“I don’t care if you’re a Wizard or whatever, but do you really think these ice and fire
storms can stop me? Do you think a Fighter is that easy to deal with?”

He took a step forward.

A reddish glow began to rise up from Kaytai’s body.

His muscles began to swell.

The leather armor that covered his body began to stretch as if it was going to burst
apart.

The skin that was visible under the armor became red, and his veins protruded.

“This is nothing…!”

Kaytai raised his greatsword into the air.

Boom!

And as he brought it down, a storm appeared.

Kaytai’s sword cut the arena ground in half. The crack in the ground quickly spread
to Lukas like a snake moving beneath the earth, but Lukas simply rose into the air.

Aram was shocked when he saw this.

This wasn’t floating, instead, it seemed to be an ability close to true flight.

But Kaytai was determined to not be surprised by anything he saw anymore.

Taht!

Without paying attention to it, he tightened his grip on his sword, and kicked off
from the ground, quickly narrowing the distance towards Lukas.

His large figure leapt 10 meters into the air in an instant.

His muscles ached like they had been torn by his actions.

Because he was making many forceful movements one after the other, he was putting
great strain on his body.

But Kaytai chose to ignore the pain. The grip on his sword was firm.

And after stretching his back to the limit, he swung it forward.

Clang!

His wrist throbbed.

This was unbelievable. With the power that he’d put behind his sword just now,
Lukas’ body should have already turned into a pile of meat. And even if it didn’t he
should have at last been cut into two pieces.

But he hadn’t been…

‘Something blocked it… ’

A round, invisible membrane was surrounding Lukas.

“Barrier.”

Lukas murmured in a soft tone.

“You have all kinds of tricks up your sleeves. However…”

“You.”

Lukas interrupted him.

At that moment, Kaytai felt that Lukas was looking at him for the first time.

“Why are you mad?”

“What the hell are you…?”

“Do you think you have the right to be mad right now?”

“What the fuck are you talking about you bastard…?!”

“I don’t understand. The one who has the biggest right to be angry here is Bargan,
not you.”

Lukas’ voice reached the ears of Bargan, who was groaning on the ground below.

Urk.

At that moment, Bargan’s chest felt stuffy and his throat became tight.

In the thirty or so years after he’d left Lirua, he had never felt this way before.

It was a feeling of pleasure as if there was finally someone who understood him.

Moreover, the person who understood him was the man he admired the most.

“And after him, I’m the one who is most angry.”

Anger flickered deep within Lukas’ eyes.

He looked at Kaytai.

Then he turned to look at Aram.

He looked at the hundred Fighters, and looked into the distance to where he knew
Kangki was.

What was it that separated humans that should be saved from humans that
shouldn’t?

This was one of the first concerns Lukas had when he became an Absolute.
That’s why he saved many races.

There were humans.

And there were also non-humans.

Years went by.

He wandered through countless universes, repeatedly saving and destroying. And

after a long time, Lukas came to a conclusion.

Humans were beings who were shaped according to the journey they walked, the
teachings they accepted, and the bonds they created.

Some said that they were beings of choice and possibility.

Throughout the entirety of the multiverse, it was rare to find a race in which good
and evil could collide so violently.

There was no human who didn’t have any evil in their hearts.

No matter how good a human might appear on the surface, there was at least one
time in their life when they had a bad heart. There was no human who didn’t get a
little dirty after walking near the dust.

Therefore, the thing that Lukas considered the most important was their attitude
towards their inner evil.

They couldn’t turn a blind eye to it.

Nor could they give in to the darkness wriggling in their heart.

Accepting inner evil meant the loss of the soul, and the death of the possibility to
become a better being.

And that’s exactly what these Fighters reminded him of.

They had been devoured by their inner darkness.

They had given up the path of fighting beautifully and had tarnished their pride. Not
only that, but they also insulted those who continued to fight.

‘Disgusting.’
Lukas looked around at Aram and the others.

Their behaviour reminded him of those he hated the most.

Those who had chosen to be sheep.

Those who had lowered their heads.

Those who had given up their pride.

Those who had chosen to be livestock instead of humans.

They might have wrapped their actions in a different type of packaging, but in the
end, they were no different.

They had been enticed by the overwhelming sweetness of the idleness and wealth
that Kangki had given them.

Therefore, Bargan, who didn’t back down till the very end, was a human that should
be saved. (TL: In other words, for Lukas, humans aren’t just homosapiens)

“You call yourself Fighters? That’s strange. In my eyes, there is only one person in
this arena who can be called a Fighter.”

“An outsider like you doesn’t know anything!”

“I don’t need to know.”

Clang!

Icicles that appeared in the air without warning, stabbed into Kaytai. The force
behind these icicles were so great that it caused Kaytai, who hadn’t been able to
contain his anger and shouted, to fall heavily to the ground with his eyes rolled back.
It all happened so fast that he didn’t even get the chance to scream.
“Dammit!”

When he saw this, Aram couldn’t help but swear.

Who the hell was this guy?

While he had been paying attention to Kaytai and venting his anger, he hadn’t shown
even a single opening.

It was unbelievable.

While half of the Fighters had been swept away by the storm, Aram had been paying
close attention to Lukas. All of his focus had been on finding Lukas’ weaknesses.

But in the end, he couldn’t find a single one, and at the same time, goosebumps
appeared all over his skin as if someone was staring at him.

It was only then that he realised something was wrong.

‘Is this guy’s field of view really that large…?!’

It was almost as if Lukas was looking down at the arena as though it was in the palm
of his hand.

Was that even possible? What the hell was wrong with this guy’s brain?

For Aram, Lukas was no longer just an outsider. Instead, he was an incomprehensible
monster.

It was at that moment.

Boom!

Something came crashing down from the sky.

The falling object instantly dispersed the storms of ice and fire.

“…”

A huge being slowly straightened up within the billowing clouds of dust.

“The Lirua Arena.”

Bang!

Following the voice, a huge boulder flew out of the dust cloud. It was accompanied
by a loud sound as if a cannon had been fired.

Lukas tried to dodge, but the large projectile was much faster than he anticipated.

Boom!

In an instant, the barrier in front of him, which hadn’t so much as cracked when
Kaytai attacked with his full strength, shattered. Lukas wasn’t able to dodge
completely.

Paak!

The boulder struck his left arm, tearing his cloak. His arm, which was now exposed,
was swollen and bleeding.

“Is my territory.”

Fwoosh!

The dust cloud, which covered a large area, was cleared in an instant.

“Lo-, Lord Kangki…!”

The surviving Fighters cried out with joy at the sight of Kangki.

Kangki’s eyes, which were finally revealed, were red with rage.

He slowly looked around the arena.

“More than half of the 100 Fighters are dead. Did you know, outsider? The
Championship will be held soon.”

“…”

“Naturally, in this period, the attention and interest the arena receives will be at their
peak. Do you understand what this means?”

His voice was soft, but the anger overflowing within it was like a volcano that was
about to erupt.

“It means that I, Kangki, who has only received profits until now, will instead suffer
from immense losses in this great event which only occurs once every ten years.”

The momentum in his blazing eyes as he looked at Lukas would have turned him into
ashes if it could.

“All! Because! Of you! I don’t even want to calculate just how much damage Lirua has
suffered…!”

Kangki’s roar rang throughout the arena.

It was so powerful that some of the exhausted Fighters directly fainted with pale
faces.

“I don’t care.”

“…”

Kangki closed his mouth at Lukas’ calm dismissal.

His killing intent which had seemed to rise into the sky disappeared like a bonfire
that had been doused with cold water.

This drastic change was many times more terrifying.

“…I won’t kill you now. Instead, there is a place beneath this city that is perfect for
you. It’s a place filled with screams and pain. You will wish I’d killed you.”

Ignoring his words, Lukas looked down at his throbbing left arm.

It had only been grazed slightly, but his entire arm had swelled up as though it had
been broken.

This wound showed that Kangki’s strength had long surpassed the scope of common
sense.
And now that he thought about it, Lukas realised that this was the first injury he’d
suffered since coming to the Heavenly Realm.

Whether it was in the fight against Bargan, or when he hunted the Ancient Dragon,
Lukas hadn’t received a single scratch.

As for the wounds that had been received during his twelve losses in the arena, those
weren’t him, but doppelgangers.

He’d always known that Kangki wouldn’t be an easy opponent. Therefore, he’d made
sure to prepare sufficiently before facing him.

‘I wanted to annihilate all 100 Fighters.’

As expected, things in the world didn’t always go the way we expected them to.

In addition, his opponents weren’t just Kangki and the surviving Fighters.

Paht.

Three more Dragonmen appeared.

With blazing momentum, they surrounded Lukas.

Only three more Fighters had been added.

But they put more pressure on Lukas than when he had been surrounded by 100
Fighters.

This was because they were the three Fighters who represented the Lirua Arena.

The 3rd ranked Fighter, Padudu.

The 2nd ranked Fighter, Usa.

And the number one fighter and current Champion of the Lirua arena, Samash.

On top of that was Kangki, who had once reached the semi-finals of the
Championship and was the current Lord of Lirua. (1)
“Major City Lord Kangki, you must have been a Fighter who once aimed to be the
Grand Champion. So I’d like to make a proposal.”(1+)

“A proposal?”

“If you have even a handful of pride as a Fighter left, then tell your men to stand
down.”

At those words, Kangki’s expression became one of confusion.

“Are you saying you want to fight me one on one?”

“Right.”

“Ha, hahaha… Kuhahahaha!”

Kangki couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“You’re actually saying something like ‘let’s have a fair one-on-one contest’ when
you’re already in this situation.”

“…”

“I’m sorry, but I have none of the pride you speak of. I reached this position only by
being thorough. Of course, this doesn’t mean I’d lose to you if I were to fight you on
my own, but I don’t want to put in that much effort.”

“I thought you’d say something like that.”

A smile crept across Lukas’ face.

“So I called for reinforcements of my own.”

***

A commotion erupted from the entrance of the arena.

Boom!

Following the sound of an explosion, five Fighters were sent flying at the same time.
Looking at their rolled eyes, it was clear that they were all unconscious.

Five Fighters had been incapacitated by one attack?

“Wh-, what the hell?”

Aram turned to look at Lukas in disbelief.

He was an outsider, and it had only been about a month since he’d come to the
Heavenly Realm.

And yet, in such a short amount of time, he was able to establish a relationship with
someone so powerful?

‘This guy is insane!’

He didn’t know who it was that had chosen to help Lukas, but attacking the Fighters
here meant going against the major city, Lirua, and its lord, Kangki.

Any sane person would probably understand what it meant to make an enemy of a
major city, right?

“Kuk.”

Aram pushed through the Fighters until he saw what Lukas called his
‘reinforcements’.

And he became speechless for a while.

“That guy…”

It was someone he recognised.

Not because they knew each other, but because the other party was fairly famous.

His untrimmed black hair billowed in the wind.

Black hair.

It was a very rare color among Dragonmen. In addition, this man’s facial features
were different from those of most Dragonmen.

There was only one reason for this.

As Aram knew, this man was an outsider.

“The Whirlwind of the Arena.”

He knew him.

How could he not know him?

He was a Fighter from Babylon who was almost certain to be a strong contender in
the upcoming Championship.

Kangki’s gaze also swept across the arena and headed to Lee Jong-hak, who was
sweeping Fighters away with his sword.

“One of Ishuta’s people? Her possessiveness is insane… How did you manage to get
her to agree?”

“Well…”

(Note:

1. The author keeps mentioning the fact that Kangki reached the semi-finals of the
Championship, which is required to be a Major City Lord, but doesn’t mention that
Kangki is a former Grand Champion. Ref. chapter 179 – the conversation with
Bargan.

+ At this point, I’m pretty sure the author forgot they made Kangki a former Grand
Champion.)
Kangki looked at Lukas with a raised eyebrow.

“…right. Now I get it. Was this the reason you made the doppelgangers? To avoid my
watch and head to Babylon to persuade Li Hao to come help you?”

“…”

“That must mean that Li Hao is the trump card you prepared.”

Trump card.

The term ‘assurance’ would be a better answer, but Lukas didn’t bother correcting
Kangki.

Nevertheless, Kangki continued to speculate.

“Now that I think about it, Li Hao is an outsider. And you’re also an outsider… So I
can assume that you knew each other before you came to the Heavenly Realm which
is why you reached out to him for help. If that’s the case, then…”

After finishing his calculation, Kangki looked at Lukas with a cold sneer on his lips.

“I suppose I should thank you, Lukas. This situation is not bad for me at all… Now
that Li Hao, a Fighter from Babylon, is messing around in my arena, I’ll be able to
gain a few benefits from Ishuta.”

It was widely known that the Whirlwind of the Arena was one of Ishuta’s favorite
Fighters.

If he were to capture him without killing him and offer to return him to her in one
piece, Ishuta would have no choice but to accept it.

“What if I asked for the body parts of the Ancient Dragon that you sold to her? I think
that would be enough to make up for the damages I suffered today to an extent.”
“You’re quite delusional. Do you think your men are enough to subdue him?”

“Haha! On one side is a man who ranks third in the Babylon Arena, while on the
other side are 50 of my best Fighters together with my Champion, Samash.”

Kangki’s voice became cold.

“Which one of us is the delusional one?”

“You don’t know.”

“What?”

What kind of man Lee Jong-hak was.

Lukas swallowed the rest of his words.

The man who was wielding his sword in the arena was a genius.

A genius who had fought against beings like the Demons who were inherently
stronger, and had even created a technique to help him hunt them more efficiently.

The Evil Vanquishing Sword Technique.

This was the sword technique Lee Jong-hak had created at a young age. Even if one
were to only look at that fact, it meant that he had long entered the realm of martial
arts grandmaster.

In addition, the Evil Vanquishing Sword Technique was created by combining dozens
of existing sword techniques.

In a sense, creating a sword technique by combining several sword techniques which

had different forms, styles, and foundations, was much harder than creating a sword
technique from scratch.

And if Lukas’ predictions were right, then Lee Jong-hak had probably already created
a sword technique with which to use against Dragonmen Fighters.

That was why he wasn’t worried about him.

“Let’s put aside the small talk and get started, shall we? Since I’m aiming to be the
Grand Champion, it shouldn’t be difficult to defeat someone like you who only made
it to the semi-finals.”

“…Grand Champion… that’s not a title that outsiders who don’t know anything
should mention lightly.”

Kangki narrowed his eyes.

“Fine then. Since you want it, I will show you. The power I have gained.”

***

Dragon Hunter Lukas.

He was already aware of the fact that he wasn’t a Sorcerer, but something else.

There was no need for him to hear any reports from Aram.

The omnidirectional annihilation of ki that he’d used was still active even at that
moment. Nevertheless, Lukas was clearly displaying the powers of nature, which
looked similar to sorcery.

In other words, Lukas wasn’t actually using sorcery, but something else.

‘…it doesn’t matter what it is.’

He didn’t care, he didn’t care a single bit.

Kangki slowly increased his fighting spirit.

This was similar to the process where warriors would calm their minds in order to
bring out their best condition before battle.

However, in the case of Fighters, instead of calming down, they increased their
fighting spirit.

Thirst and hunger.

And extreme hostility towards their opponent.

All of these combined to create a state of intentional agitation.

Ku, gu, gu-!

In a way, the immense fighting spirit that erupted was, in its own way, a form of
pressure for the opponent.

Kangki’s surroundings began to distort. This was because of the immense heat that
was beginning to rise off of his body because of his scorching hot fighting spirit.

Bang!

Following that loud sound, Kangki’s giant figure seemed to disappear from the arena.

And the place that he eventually appeared, was behind Lukas.

Crackle.

He stretched forward a fist filled with explosive power so potent it seemed to warp
the space around it.

To Kangki, it didn’t matter if Lukas tried to block this attack with the invisible barrier
he’d used earlier. No matter how many shields he tried to erect around himself, his
fist would definitely crush all of them.

Swoosh!

Perhaps Lukas also realised that, because he narrowly avoided the attack by a small
margin. Moreover, the way he avoided the attack was strange.

Even with Kangki’s dynamic vision, he failed to follow Lukas’ movement.

‘He didn’t move to avoid it, but disappeared instead?’

This must be another one of his tricks.

He was certainly better than any Sorcerer he’d faced before.

But he didn’t panic.

Kangki’s burning figure didn’t budge from that spot. Instead, his red eyes swept
across the entire arena in an instant.

And he was able to find Lukas not that far away.

Woowoong-

However, his attention was immediately drawn to the strange rod in Lukas’ hand.

A stick… No, was it a cane?

It had a shape that he had never seen before.

A dark red jewel sat at the top of it, and it seemed to glow softly as though it was
filled with molten lava.

Paht!

At the same time, dozens of spells suddenly appeared behind Lukas.

Kangki didn’t move, instead, he narrowed his eyes.

‘Fire, ice, electricity, rock, wind… ’

He couldn’t recognise most of the other attacks.

Was this just a massive attack? Or was he planning something else?

“How interesting!”

Kangki let out a loud roar.

“I’ll let you attack this once!”

Without bothering to respond, Lukas pointed his finger towards Kangki.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

And dozens of spells shot towards Kangki at the same time.

Kangki didn’t try to dodge.

Instead, he looked at the incoming attack and opened his mouth.

Woong-

Something began to light up within Kangki’s throat.

This was similar to something Lukas had witnessed before.

‘…no way.’

Rooaaar!

With a loud roar, a breath attack shot out of Kangki’s throat.

When he saw this, Lukas couldn’t help but be surprised. After all, he never would
have expected a Dragonman, not a Dragonling or an Ancient Dragon, to use a breath
attack.

Crash!

Moreover, the power of this attack was overwhelming.

Although most of them were weak, the power that the dozens of spells had when
combined was nothing to scoff at. Nevertheless, they disappeared in an instant in the
face of the breath attack.

And even after that, the power of the breath attack didn’t diminish at all. Without the
slightest decrease in speed, the breath attack shot towards Lukas.
Lukas looked at the attack shooting towards him.

The range of the attack was so wide that he wouldn’t be able to avoid it even if he
used Blink. It was also too powerful to block with a barrier.

‘I have no choice but to cancel it out.’

As he quickly came to this decision, Lukas roused his mana.

Woowoong-

And as a result, the black staff in his hand began to vibrate.

[Staff of the Distant Night Sky]

[A staff created by an eccentric but extremely skilled blacksmith. The tail of a

mutated Dragonling was used as the main material while an artificial gem created by
processing the heart of the same Dragonling was embedded into the top.

It can efficiently absorb and convert the ki of mother nature, but the required
method is not something that ordinary people can learn.

Although it is in the shape of a staff, it is incomparably sturdy, and it won’t break

even if the user were to swing it around recklessly.]

As he expected, Nekdu’s skills were reliable.

Although he knew that it was because he’d embedded the heart of the Dragonling
into it, the part that caught Lukas’ attention the most was the fact that it could
efficiently convert the ki of mother nature, or in other words, mana.

Thanks to that, even something as simple as the storm of ice and fire was able to
sweep through the arena with much more power than it had originally.

‘…I have about a third of my mana left.’

Since he’d been continuously using his mana even before he arrived here, he couldn’t
afford to use the rest recklessly.

Nevertheless, he decided to use all of his remaining mana in this spell. This is
because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hurt Kangki with just any spell.

“Lava Blast.”

Rumble!

Lava that erupted from nowhere shot towards the breath attack like a tsunami.

In an instant, the temperature in the arena soared exponentially.

Starting from 7 star spells, all spells reached a level where they would affect the
surrounding environment to some extent. In Lukas’ case, he was able to use his
superb control to reduce the damage to an extent, but that didn’t mean that the
power of his spell was reduced.

“…!”

Kangki couldn’t help but flinch in surprise when he saw this spell.

Lukas thought that Kangki would try to dodge the Lava Blast.

After all, the torrent of lava had already devoured most of the breath attack.
Nevertheless, it didn’t seem satisfied, and continued to rush forward as though it was
searching for its next victim.

But contrary to his expectations, Kangki instead took a big step forward.

“…!”

And the Lava Blast swallowed Kangki without hesitation.

Did he really take that attack head on?

A 7 star spell that contained all of Lukas’ remaining mana?

‘Why?’
He didn’t think Kangki had underestimated the strength of his Lava Blast.

And it also didn’t look like his scales were stronger than an Ancient Dragon’s.

In other words, this meant that he had something else to rely on.

Shuk!

“…!”

A huge fist popped out of the river of soaring flames.

He didn’t have time to react properly.

The fist hit Lukas’ body with a violent crash.

Crunch!

The arm and leg that he raised to block the attack were smashed in an instant.

The pain of so many bones breaking at the same time was so terrible that even the
strongest willed men would scream in pain, but Lukas didn’t even frown.

If he hadn’t reduced some of the momentum by stacking several barriers, that attack
might have actually killed him in one hit.

This was the way a Wizard’s fight always was.

A single mistake or moment of carelessness could lead to an irreversible situation.

Thud!

The force of the attack buried Lukas’ body into the ground of the arena.

After lying motionlessly for a while, he staggered to his feet. His forehead felt hot.
Had his head been injured?

Wiping the blood out of his eyes with his good hand, he glared into the flames.

“This… is the power of wealth.”

A deep murmur broke the silence.

Kangki slowly stepped out of the Lava Blast.

Scratches and burn marks were certainly present on his red hot scales, but
considering the power of the Lava Blast and the fact that he took it on directly, this
damage was far from enough.

Nevertheless, he seemed a bit surprised.

“I never expected you to hurt me in this state… I see. Was that technique just now
your secret weapon?”

Lukas ignored his question and asked.

“…what are you wearing?”

Kangki chuckled softly.

“[The Creed of Kamesh].”

Tsss-

The red hot scales cooled rapidly.

Clank, clank.

And a strange sound came from inside his body.

“As long as I am wearing this armor, no attacks can reach me.”

Armor.

But Lukas realised that it wasn’t the conventional use of the word.

“…I always thought that you were overwhelmingly large among Dragonmen. As if you
were a different species altogether. Now I understand why.”

“Hoh? What’s the reason?”

“That huge body isn’t your real body, it’s a puppet. Your real body is hidden within
it.”

To put it simply, it was a concept similar to the Golems from Lukas’ home universe.

But this puppet was more like a mechanical device that the user could attach or
detach, rather than an artificial being that could move independently.

With that understanding, everything began to make more sense.

Why he was several times larger than other Dragonmen.

And why he could even let out breath attacks.

“Kuhahaha-!”

Kangki roared with laughter.

He then turned to look at Lukas’ staff with a sneer.

“That’s right… [The Creed of Kamesh] is a machine armor. You have a good eye. Or
did she tell you?”

“She?”

“It seems that you also used her power to make that cane of yours, but your
opponent was just a bad match for you. Even if it was made by the same ‘Hammer of
Babylon’, my equipment works better against you.”

“…Hammer of Babylon?”

Lukas shook his head slowly.

“You’re mistaken. I asked Nekdu to make this staff for me.”

“Hmm.”

Kangki just tilted his head to the side when he heard Lukas’ rebuttal.

“You’re joking, right? Did you really ask her to make something for you without
knowing her real identity?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Haha. I really didn’t expect this.”

Kangki shook his head as if he’d encountered something strange.

“But it doesn’t matter anyway. Quit yapping and accept your fate. We both know that
attack was your last. You can’t launch anymore attacks.”

“…”

After a moment of silence, Lukas finally nodded.

“Right. You’re right.”

“Hoh.”

Kangki watched on with slight interest at Lukas’ sudden acceptance.

“I’ve already used up all of my mana, and it’s hard to stand with my arm and leg
smashed. Even if I had more mana, I think it would be hard to break through your
armor.”

“So…”

“By the way, Kangki. About the place beneath the city that you mentioned earlier, I’ve
already been there.”

“…”

Kangki’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“There were a lot of skilled persons who were being enslaved by you and your men
there. And among them were the refiners that I’d been looking for.”

“…you know about them? You’re really making it hard for me to let you live.”

Lukas ignored his words.

“Everyone there hates you. Initially, I wanted to strike a deal with them in exchange
for rescuing them, but I didn’t have to. They fully cooperated with me… And helped
me refine the heart of the Ancient Dragon.”

“The Heart of the Ancient Dragon?”

“Did you know? Taking the elixir doesn’t mean that it will go into effect immediately.
Because of how much energy there is, it takes a long while to dissolve. It’s called the
digestion process.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Lukas sneered slightly.

“The digestion process is accelerated the more you use your body and mana.”

“You…”

By the time Kangki had finally realised what he was trying to say, Lukas’ gaze
lowered slightly.

He was looking at the status window that hadn’t disappeared since he’d taken the
Ancient Dragon Heart elixir.

[Heart of the Ancient Dragon, current digestion rate 99.8%.]

[When the digestion is complete, some of the user’s skills will be unlocked.]

Then…

Beep!

[Digestion has reached 100%!]

[Some of the user’s skills have been unlocked.]

Boom!

An explosion of bright blue light erupted from Lukas body.

This was different from before.

This time, when the blue light appeared, the ground around him sank. This showed
that Lukas’ mana was now interfering with the physical world.

Kangki couldn’t know.

Just what this eruption of blue light which shot into the sky like a beam really meant.

[Skill, Magic(Lv.7) → Magic(Lv.8)]

Only the mana of an 8 star Wizard could have such an effect.

Lukas slowly opened his eyes.

“Let’s continue, Kangki.”

The continuation of their battle.

Here in the arena.

“Let’s start the second round.”