Chapter 206: The Traitor’s End (1)
“Is this… the one?”
Dalen asked with a hint of disbelief. The dwarf that Felber had captured was certainly no puppet.
Yet, for someone who was supposedly the king of ten thousand dwarves, he was rather unimpressive.
“P-please, spare me. I beg you…”
“Seems like it’s him. He looks just like the other puppets, and he had an unusually large number of guards.”
“I’ll do anything. Please…”
The dwarf, sitting on the ground, clasped his hands together in a desperate plea. His crown, studded with large jewels, lay discarded in the distance.
Perhaps it was the contrast with the haughty demeanor of the puppets that mimicked him. Seeing him now, drooling into his beard and trembling, was jarring.
“To think that all this gold belongs to such a pitiful dwarf.”
Even Volkmarr, the merchant leader who had been silently observing since they entered the dragon’s lair, couldn’t help but comment.
Then, the red spear spoke up.
[What’s so strange about it? Dwarves are driven by greed.]
“Greed?”
[Whether it’s a greed for superior craftsmanship or a greed for gold piled as high as mountains, dwarves are naturally drawn to what they covet. When they grow like pets under their master’s care, without needing to earn anything on their own, this is the inevitable result.]
The red spear spoke with a sneer. Dalen shrugged.
It’s not uncommon for humans to become recluses when they lose their purpose. For dwarves, who are said to be even greedier than humans, such a downfall isn’t surprising.
But the dwarf’s life story wasn’t the issue at hand.
“So, if we smash this one’s head, the earth dragon will come charging out of the great cavern?”
As Dalen said this and drew his axe, a voice echoed through the cave.
[There’s no need for that.]
With the voice, the magic in the entire chamber where they stood began to stir.
“Get back!”
Felber shouted, his eyes now glowing gold.
In an instant, a sigil formed beneath his outstretched hand, solidifying the ground beneath them.
But the opponent’s spell was faster and stronger.
Rumble─!
Sharp stalagmites shot up from the ground.
They shattered Felber’s earth magic and spread rapidly, creating a menacing thicket of spikes.
The spikes didn’t just grow; they began to mutate, forming new barbs around their cores.
It seemed the entire room would soon be engulfed in a dense bramble of thorns.
“Elle— Meralia!”
Felber quickly formed another sigil, raising his hand toward the ceiling.
The ceiling collapsed, sending hundreds of stalactites crashing down.
Crack!
The stalactites met the stalagmites, merging and halting their grotesque twisting.
Felber, catching his breath from the sudden spellwork, was supported by Tommy, who was readying the next spell.
Dalen stood in front of his companions, axe in hand.
From the other side of the room, filled with stone pillars, a voice of admiration echoed.
[To halt a spell by weaving it into a single flow of magic instead of breaking it… an intriguing shift in perspective. You’re more talented than I thought.]
Footsteps echoed between the stone pillars filling the large room.
Dalen glanced at the dwarf king, who had been begging for his life.
The dwarf king was now dead, impaled by numerous stalagmites, unable to even scream. His eyes, wide open, reflected the agony of his final moments.
[Surprised that I killed the dwarf king myself?]
The voice from beyond the pillars chuckled, as if amused.
[Let’s have a look at you.]
Rumble…
The stone pillars began to move.
Despite being rooted in the ground and ceiling, they slid smoothly, like skaters on ice.
They parted gracefully, revealing the owner of the voice.
Footsteps.
The man’s hair was a deep brown.
He wore a shabby leather outfit over a massive frame, muscles bulging beneath.
[Hoo.]
With a single sigh, the magic in the dragon’s lair trembled. His vertically slit eyes scanned the group, finally resting on Dalen.
His gaze shone with a clear amber light. The dragon spoke.
[Greetings once more. I am Tateaankart Parzium, the right gauntlet of the Dragon God.]
[It was a long slumber.]
The man spoke calmly.
[It seemed like the end would never come. Even after thousands of years, I couldn’t tell if it was approaching, just waiting endlessly… Without some form of amusement, it wouldn’t be strange to go mad. Don’t you agree?]
”…”
[Even if someone disturbed my lair, normally I would refuse to wake. It’s better to send a few gold coins and let them go than to be roused by vermin.]
The man gestured. Gold poured from between the pillars, wrapping around his body.
[G-gold…!]
It was real gold. The coins and ornaments that filled the room turned to liquid and flowed to their master with a mere wave of his hand.
‘This won’t be easy.’
Seeing the gold transform into armor, Dalen scratched his chin.
The sudden change in the room’s environment and the compression of gold into armor weren’t the real issues.
The real problem was the magic flowing through the area without any resistance.
The entire magic and environment of the dragon’s lair flowed according to the man’s will, without a single spell.
[Think of it as facing a great demon in its hell. Though this isn’t a realm built on the infinite possibilities of a fantasy world, the power accumulated in the dragon’s lair can open a similar horizon of possibilities.]
The red spear spoke with a tone of caution.
It wasn’t wrong. Dalen could clearly sense what the dragon meant.
A culmination of spells accumulated over thousands of years, solely for one master.
Like dust and sand forming layers and becoming strata, the overlapping spells and magic operated like a world of their own.
Realms and hells are worlds built on the infinite possibilities of fantasy.
Depending on the will and nature of the transcendent or demon, they can bend physical laws and even recreate the concept of existence.
The dragon’s lair was a similar environment. Built solely for one being, it had the potential to defy the laws of the world.
“Old man, I’ll leave the merchant leader to you.”
“Rest assured. I’ll support you whenever needed.”
Dalen nodded.
Even if the power to twist time was used, its foundation lay in reading the memory of the earth.
Facing an earth dragon with similar earth-based magic could unravel its roots.
It’s a volatile power that needs careful handling. As Felber retreated, shielding Volkmarr and Tommy, the man raised an eyebrow.
“Are you going to face me alone?”
“I’m not good at fighting while protecting others.”
[There’s a limit to arrogance. You haven’t even fully surpassed the sixth rank…]
Dalen’s form vanished, cutting off his breath as he charged.
Clang!
The man’s golden sword clashed with Dalen’s relic axe, sparks flying.
[The red spear!]
The man, recognizing the source of the crimson flames on the axe, widened his eyes.
[How… Your name and power were surely taken by the Dragon God!]
“No need for idle chatter.”
Boom!
The crimson flames exploded, pushing both of them back. The stone pillars lining the sides shattered, opening up the space.
[I saw it with my own eyes! Your body crumbling, your dragon bones shattering! The final moment when the light of your heart faded!]
[Your tongue wags too much, Parzium.]
The voice that slipped from Dalen’s lips wasn’t his own.
Echoing between the fallen pillars was the voice of a dragon that shouldn’t exist in this world.
As he stared at the wide-eyed man, Dalen drew a newly acquired spear with his left hand.
[But if you’re truly curious…]
With a voice slipping between his fangs, his form vanished again, leaving a crimson afterimage.
[Find out before you die.]
Boom!
As a towering pillar of flame rose, the ground deep within the dragon’s lair began to melt.
The earth dragon’s lair was vast and deep.
Countless passages stretched endlessly, with large and small chambers and caverns in between.
The lair expanded in proportion to the true dragon’s power, making the earth dragon’s abode akin to a small world.
In a small lakeside of this subterranean world.
“Thunderstrike.”
A flash of lightning burst from the empty air, transforming into a massive pillar of light that struck the water’s surface.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning pierced straight to the bottom of the deep lake, sending waves several meters high crashing upwards.
A man clad in golden armor raced through the waves, heading toward the warrior standing at the point where the lightning had struck.
“Golden One!”
With a mere gesture, the ceiling of the cavern collapsed, and chunks of gold rained down.
Necklaces, bracelets, and crowns melted in an instant, reshaping into new forms.
In that moment, hundreds of golden spears and swords shimmered against the distant ceiling.
Swoosh—!
The compressed golden weapons, imbued with the power of a true dragon, poured down like rain.
“Like master, like servant. You dwarves sure love your bullets and weapons.”
In the midst of the golden rain, Dalen chuckled softly.
He stomped his foot.
Boom—
The heavy step split the water’s surface, revealing the remnants of the lightning strike that had pierced the lakeshore.
Gathering all the residual currents, he used them as the starting point for a new spell.
What he crafted was one of the five secret techniques left by Daltalion, the legendary lightning sorcerer, using every ounce of his potential as a sorcerer.
“Sudden Rain, Vibrant Blue”
From the ripples beneath his feet, hundreds of blue lightning bolts surged forth.
Crackling!
The wave of lightning, having evaporated the lake’s water, charged toward the sky where the golden rain fell.
─────!!
Golden and blue lights intertwined, creating a series of grand explosions. Against this backdrop of dazzling blasts, two figures began to clash on the dried lakebed.
“Do you not feel shame, clinging to a human body as a dragon?”
The earth dragon roared, launching a punch.
Each time his fist, clad in a sturdy gauntlet, extended, the space around it warped, and golden magic exploded.
“Spell Armor”
“Flame Armor”
Dalen did not retreat. Enveloped in searing flames like armor, he swung his limbs, unleashing fire rivaling a dragon’s breath.
“Return to the Underworld”
“Eightfold Step”
Without opening a domain, eight identical figures moved in unison, cloaked in the same flames.
“Red Flame Pillar”
“Triple Force Reversal”
Three of them retreated, summoning pillars of fire with their hands, turning the entire lakebed into a hellish inferno.
[――――!]
A roar imbued with dragon words echoed through the cavern. The ground of the lakebed flipped over, extinguishing the hellfire in an instant.
Instead, the overturned earth took shape, rising as an army of grotesque golems that filled the cavern.
Screech!
Rumble!
This was a testament to the immense power the dragon’s lair granted the true dragon. Yet, Dalen remained unfazed, calmly preparing his next spell.
‘Arbor. Spear.’
[Yes!]
Spears poured from a pocket dimension, transforming into dozens of fiery serpents that swept through the golem army.
“Ignition”
“Holy Blaze Prison”
A crimson blaze unfurled like a massive cage, perfectly isolating Dalen and the earth dragon from the battlefield.
It was a battle where both sides held back their trump cards.
Despite the time that had passed, neither had opened their domain, nor revealed their true form.
Victory would be decided by who revealed their final move first, or perhaps who exhausted their strength first.
However, engaging in a battle of endurance against a dragon thousands of years old in its own lair was a disadvantageous proposition for him.
Thus, Dalen deliberately mixed black flames into his fire spells, provoking his opponent.
“You wretched worm! Confess how you obtained the power of the Red Spear!”
The earth dragon’s amber eyes grew increasingly frenzied.
They say the moment of betrayal is remembered more vividly by the betrayer than the betrayed.
Even without a shred of guilt, the memory of that moment lingered.
Especially when the resurrected comrade who had stabbed him in the back stood before him, it was something even a dragon of millennia could not endure.
“Enough.”
“You wretch, lower than a dwarf!”
The earth dragon’s amber eyes had long lost their focus.
Rage, hatred, fear, or perhaps an inexplicable stubbornness.
A myriad of emotions swirled, seeking to unleash them upon the unseen presence before him.
The limits of his patience arrived sooner than Dalen anticipated.
“Show me now! The source of your power!”
A wave of magic surged like a tide.
All the spells within the dragon’s lair converged upon a single entity.
The true form of the dragon emerged in an instant.
The figure of the man in golden armor vanished, replaced by a massive form devoid of any majesty.
Rumble…
Dust rose thickly over the half-collapsed lakebed.
Beyond it, a creature thrashed its tail, far removed from the typical image of a dragon.
A body as long as a train, with dozens of legs, and a maw split into four parts, resembling a centipede.
The only features reminiscent of the previous statue were the eight pairs of eyes on its head and the four pairs of wings on its back.
“Red Spear—!”
With a roar like grinding metal, it unleashed its breath. A sticky, amber breath akin to molten lava.
Even the body of a transcendent would be obliterated if struck directly, yet Dalen did not flinch before the breath.
Before it could reach him.
━━━━━━━━━
A crimson-black line drawn behind him shattered the lava-like breath head-on.
Crack—!
It pierced through.
One heat crushed another, penetrating its depth and tearing at its source.
“Aaaagh!”
A wing was torn from the dragon, and its centipede-like body thrashed wildly, shaking the entire cavern as if an earthquake had struck.
Watching the frenzy, Dalen let out a deep sigh. The metallic taste rising in his throat. A trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
It wasn’t from injuries sustained in battle. Rather, it was the backlash from forcibly executing the prepared move.
[You’ve done well. Though your skill in handling domains has improved, summoning my true form must have been a close call.]
A soft voice from behind confirmed the success of the maneuver.
Seeing the crimson-black hair pass by, Dalen took a few steps back.
“I’ve granted your wish to meet, so handle the rest yourself.”
He said.
[Indeed.]
The Red Spear smiled.
“Domain Unleashed: The Cliff Where the Forgotten Ancient Dragon Rests”
Suddenly, behind him, a familiar snowy landscape of a mountain appeared.
Perched on a cliff overlooking a cabin and the snowy mountain scenery, Dalen sat on a random rock.
Having fought in the scorching depths for so long, the cold rock of the snowy mountain was a welcome seat.
And by then, the earth dragon, having restored its torn wing, shouted in disbelief.
“Red Spear! How, why! How can the weapon of the supreme dragon god be subjugated to a mere mortal’s domain…!”
[Let’s stop wagging our tongues.]
With a light push off the ground, it transformed into its true form in an instant.
Unlike the grotesque form of the earth dragon, it was the ideal image of a dragon, a majestic crimson-black figure.
The dragon, perched on the snowy cliff, planted its four feet firmly on the overturned lakebed.
[Before I go to meet the dragon god, I should at least bring the head of a traitor as a gift.]