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Chapter 58: Evil Energy? Where?
Chapter 58: Evil Energy? Where?
Chapter 58: Evil Energy? Where?
The dragon crashed to the ground.
Ian wiped his sweat at the scene and smiled.
“Fortunately, it’s not too late.”
It was a good thing to bring the ballistae even if he ended up overdoing it.
Then the centurion approached Ian.
“Your Highness, we have an issue.”
“What’s going on?”
“That, there are people that say you shouldn’t catch that dragon…!”
“What?”
But the situation didn’t allow him to care about it.
Kraaraaa!!
“!!”
The fallen dragon let out a howl.
The knights were immediately on their guard.
Well, as they thought, it would not end with that.
Blood was gushing from its side, but it was clear it didn’t kill the dragon merely with that.
Of course, except for one person. Walter’s eyes twinkled.
“Would you look at that… How can you stand it when you get directly hit by it? The skin durability is unusual. No, I should have made the nib with a sharper double-edged blade…”
Ignoring Walter’s desire to study the dragon right away, Ian urged him to move.
“Now we have to subdue it first. Reload the next!”
Walter hastily started reloading at that moment.
The problem was the following.
Flap!
“!!”
The dragon began to spread its wings. It was clear that it was trying to escape into the sky.
Ian exclaimed urgently.
“Sir Nathan, stop it! It’s even more dangerous if the dragon flees to the sky!”
Of course, the dragon was far away. But Ian was sure Nathan would be able to reach the dragon before it took off.
Reading Ian’s intentions, Nathan nodded.
“Just leave it to me.”
Flash!
Light burst from his body and Nathan disappeared in a flash.
The <Oath> was invoked.
His Oath was a skill of swiftness with speed as the weapon.
Nathan disappeared and reappeared in front of the dragon in a blink of an eye.
“Go suck your momma’s milk some more, you monster bastard!”
As soon as the words fell, Nathan climbed onto the dragon’s torso.
He sought its wings while avoiding the dragon’s tail that flew roughly. The body might be sturdy, but the skin on the wings was just a thin film.
His thoughts were exactly right.
Pow!!
Kiiieekk!
The wings became a rag in no time.
Walter exclaimed in amazement at the sight.
“If it’s like that, I can catch it!”
That’s how good Nathan was.
But Ian frowned.
“No. Now he is just stopping it from flying. It’s not over yet.”
Indeed it was.
The only thing that Nathan’s sword worked on was the wing. The sword did not properly pierce its body.
It was skin as hard as steel.
Nathan, who specialized in speed, was intentionally attracting the dragon’s attention, but that was not enough.
Ian shouted at Walter.
“Is it not ready yet?”
“It’s almost done… Just a sec… Done!”
“Aim!”
Creaak creaak!
At Ian’s resolute command, the ballista’s string was pulled tight.
And.
“Fire!”
Tang!
With an earsplitting sound, the ballista flew to the sky once again.
It was the torso earlier, but this time it’s an attack aimed at its neck. No matter how solid the body was, it would not be able to hold out if it got hit.
However.
Kraaaa!!
The dragon was aware of the impending crisis.
Its vitals began to glow red. It was as if its appearance changed in accordance with anger.
No, it didn’t just change the color.
Ting!
“!!”
The huge ballista bounced off. The body was originally like steel, but now it was clearly sturdier than before.
Finally, the moment to give the reload order once more.
Kraaraa!!
“!”
Ian flinched.
It was because of the gaze the dragon was directed to. What its eyes locked on were the ballistae.
No.
‘Is it looking at me?’
Sure enough, the dragon began to zip straight toward Ian.
Grooooo!
“Your Highness!”
Apparently, the dragon knew at once the culprit that created this situation. However, the soldiers who did not know that fact hurriedly dragged the ballistae away.
“Your Highness! It seems to be aiming for the ballistae!”
“Move the ballistae! Quick!”
The soldiers hastily moved to the side, but the dragon didn’t even glance at the ballistae.
What it was after was Ian!
And Galon noticed it, and his eyes lit up.
[Never fall down or give in.]
Light rose from Galon’s body after invoking the Oath, and he immediately rushed alone to the dragon targeting Ian.
The reckless sight freaked Fiosen out.
“It’s dangerous if you approach the dragon like that!”
No matter how strong Galon was, the opponent was a monster.
“You will die!”
Of course, Galon knew it was dangerous, but he didn’t stop.
If he left it as it was, it was obvious that Ian would be attacked.
And the moment the panicked Fiosen and Nathan rushed to help, the dragon and Galon finally collided.
Bang!!
Something surprising happened with the bang.
Contrary to their expectations, the dragon was bounced backward by the power of <Invincibility>.
Everyone shouted in amazement.
“Sir Galon is the best!”
“Kaistein’s Three Great Knights!”
Ian couldn’t hide his surprise.
Others seemed to think it was possible because he was the renowned Galon, but even for <Invincibility>, such a reckless move wouldn’t work.
But at that very moment.
“What?”
Ian could see clearly.
An unusual light bloomed from Galon’s body. It was as if a thread stretched out of him.
But Ian immediately frowned.
The thread he just saw disappeared as quickly.
‘What is it? Is it an illusion?’
But Ian didn’t have time to care about it.
The longer they dragged this on, not only Helgaia but also the lives of the knights could be in danger.
“Sir Walter! Is there anything stronger than the one you just had?”
“Oh, uh, that’s… umm…”
“You don’t?”
“Actually, I have one good thing. There is a snare bullet for the Dragon Killer that I made before.”
“Then go ahead and use it!”
“But… but that’s…”
Walter was fidgety. It looked like there was some big problem.
It was when Ian asked what the problem was.
Walter answered with a very serious look.
“It’s expensive. Like, really expensive. It costs 10 gold pieces spent only to compress the chains. It’s a prototype, so I haven’t even tested it properly yet.”
“Get it ready right now!”
Ian exclaimed as if it didn’t matter. The important thing now was to catch that dragon. If there was even a slight possibility, Ian could give Walter any amount of money he needed.
“I will be responsible for the research funds, so catch that guy first.”
“Is that for real? You can’t change your mind later.”
The reinvigorated Walter hurried back to the wagon. He obviously had been under considerable pressure from research funds for quite a while.
“Just a min! I will prepare right away! Please wait a little bit!”
But right then.
Kraaraaa!
The dragon let out a ferocious cry.
A huge wave boomed, reaching not only the knights but also the lord’s castle.
“Ugh!”
The wave did not last long.
But the problem was next.
“Damn it!”
“What’s going on?”
Ian also bit his lips.
‘Shit. My body doesn’t move.’
It felt like being paralyzed. This was the [Dragon Fear] he had only heard of. In a word, it broke its opponent’s spirit and paralyzed their body.
The dragon sneered at the abominable humans and swung its tail at Ian.
‘!’
Ian, unable to move, reflexively closed his eyes.
But it was then.
Bang!
“Hang in there, Your Highness!”
Fiosen, who appeared in front of Ian, was blocking the dragon with a shield.
[Nobody can get through unless I fall down first.]
It was the Oath that made Fiosen in Ian’s past life earn the title ‘The Iron Wall.’
Perhaps the Dragon Fear didn’t work for the knights who activated the Oath.
Of course, it wasn’t like it didn’t have any effect at all.
“Shit, my body got numb! That shitty idiotic lizard!”
Nathan’s and the knights’ speed had significantly decreased.
And.
“My strength has weakened a little, so be on guard.”
Fiosen’s hands were shaking, too.
Ian frowned at the effect of the dragon’s roar.
‘At this rate, Sir Fiosen will fall first.’
It’s great enough now, but Fiosen hadn’t achieved enough feats to be called the Iron Wall yet.
If it went as it should be, it was a miracle that was only possible after Duke Lavaltor fell and he awakened.
As expected.
Bang!
Fiosen eventually dropped the shield due to the dragon’s persistent tail attack.
‘The Iron Wall’ had collapsed.
“Ugh…”
It wasn’t just that.
“Urk!”
The dragon, hell-bent on aiming for Ian, flung its tail around Ian and Fiosen. Because it knew that there were more effective methods than physical attacks.
Sure enough.
“Your Highness!”
“Sir Fiosen!”
The dragon grabbed the two immobile with its tail and began to inhale as if to blast a fire.
It intended to burn the two people to death.
Ian shouted hastily.
“Is it still not done yet?”
“Give me a little more time and money…”
“Sir Walter!”
“One minute is enough!”
But they didn’t have that much time. Let alone one minute; it was only 10 seconds short.
At last, the moment the dragon was about to unleash its flames.
Woong-woong!
Ian’s <Faith> began to thump hot.
[My steps never stop.]
It would be invoked more strongly by noticing the owner’s will.
However, Ian frowned.
‘Not with Faith.’
He had no choice.
Ian’s body was too small and the radius of the dragon’s breath was much wider. No matter how hard he tried to block, he couldn’t stop the attack from going all the way to the ballistae.
But at that moment.
Woong-woong!
A new phrase was inscribed under the phrase of <Faith>.
No, it was emerging as if resonating with the power of the Seven Virtues in Ian’s heart.
[Be humble. All things shall be silent before me.]
It was one of the Seven Virtues that Countess Aria had.
She didn’t have full power like him, and Ian took some of her power away, so it disappeared at the same time it was used.
But that alone was enough.
Pats!
A tremendous wave broke out around Ian’s body.
And the very moment the wave flashed past the dragon as well as the knights and the soldiers.
Whoosh—
The flame of the dragon that was about to erupt vaporized.
The flame disappeared, and only black smoke quietly rose.
The dragon was perplexed.
Grao?
Of course, it was the same with Nathan and Galon.
“What?”
Even Walter, who managed to equip the ballista with the weapon.
“Wh, what! Why did the breath suddenly disappear…!”
As everyone was confused.
Ian quickly came to his senses in the unexpected situation and shouted.
“Fire!”
And.
Bang!
A chain ball exploded in front of the dragon and spread out, pouring out innumerable iron chains.
***
“What in the world is that…!”
Around the same time, the wizards, who were watching Ian’s fight from a distance, were at a loss for words.
They were observing Ian with clairvoyant magic, but they couldn’t help but doubt their eyes.
“It’s said that no one can subdue that with Kaistein’s power!”
“Y, yes…! Obviously, with Kaistein’s current power…”
The wizards were bewildered.
Power aside, the dragon was a masterpiece they had magically augmented.
“Even if it’s a Celestial Dragon with Earth Dragon class specs…”
Although they could not get the legendary Celestial Dragon class, which had intelligence above humans, that dragon was a special creature they developed by taking into account the knights’ <Oath>.
And yet.
“Did the last breath get evaporated?”
“Damn it. How do we report this to our home country? The weapon under development just happened to fall into the hands of Kaistein.”
“Yeah, I never expected Kaistein to develop a weapon like that…”
“More importantly, it’s a technology that evaporates the breath of a dragon. We need to let the kingdom know as soon as possible.”
No, that wasn’t the only problem now.
“That royalty brat. If by chance he is aware of our existence…”
Golden eyes.
That was definitely a characteristic of Kaistein’s royal family.
“What should we do? They will find out about our existence if they investigate, right?”
“Worse case, if they dissect that dragon, they might notice our involvement.”
Moreover, they could not let their precious experiment be seized just like that.
“We can’t lose it to those savages.”
They had to move quickly.
***
“Prince, are you all right?”
The knights hurried up to Ian.
And seeing Fiosen’s worried face, Ian smiled as if to show he was okay.
“As you can see, I’m fine. Had it not been for Sir Fiosen, I would have become ashes on the spot.”
“No, actually, thanks to Your Highness…”
The knights were relieved.
Fortunately, the dangerous moment was over.
Kraaraaa!
It was only natural. The dragon had been strongly bound by the steel chains.
The more the dragon moved, the more it got intertwined, and the more it suffered by it. Galon and Nathan were watching over the dragon so it could not escape.
Nathan soon asked.
“What do we do with it? Shall we process its sirloin, tenderloin, and rib eye right here?”
“No. Take care of the wounded first and deal with the dragon later. It’s good to have it fresh as long as it is alive.”
Ian couldn’t stop the corners of his lips from rising as if things were going well.
However, consoling the permanent residents came first.
“It would be a good idea to set up a place for the permanent residents as a payback. A lot of people have died because of that dragon.”
“That’s a wise judgment, Your Highness.”
Of course, it wasn’t just out of charity.
‘This is how I can get the support of the people here. Now they are my people.’
“Anyway, hold the dragon well so that it can’t run away. It is a must-have for the envoy reception.”
As Ian strongly emphasized their mission.
“That’s amazing. To think you caught the dragon.”
“!”
Several strangers approached Ian.
At first glance, they looked like peddlers, but Ian squinted his eyes.
It was because of the small rune letters on their skins.
‘Those letters…’
They faked it as a tattoo, but Ian’s eyes, who had fought in the war against the Kingdom of Magicians in the future, became sharp.
Sure enough.
“Who are you?”
“We are wandering merchants passing by this area. We sell herbal medicines.”
They took some valuable herbs out of their packs as if to prove it.
“We need to save the people first, don’t you think so? We won’t take the payment for medicinal herbs in particular.”
“Is that so?”
And then, the person, who appeared to be the representative of the merchants, flashed a smile as if he finally got to the main point.
“Speaking of, what are you going to do with that dragon?”
“!”
“If you don’t mind, why don’t you sell it to us?”
Ian frowned.
Then the other party added despite seeing his vigilant eyes.
“That dragon harbors miasma and evil energy. If you kill it as it is, you will definitely be cursed.”
“Miasma and evil energy?”
“Yes. Instead, allow us to dismantle it, so you only have to pay the cost. We will take care of the meat part you want.”
Ian’s eyes glinted at that.
Look at these guys?