Chapter 210: The Blacksmith (2)
Clang… Clang…
The sound of a hammer echoed faintly through the valleys. Sitting cross-legged on a wide rock, Daellon turned his head to gaze at the towering pillar of fire rising between the snowy mountain peaks.
Rumble…
The fiery column, originating beyond the forest, swept away the blizzard, burning brightly. It licked the dark clouds above like a red flame devouring cotton candy.
That was the domain of Daellucahim, the Dragon Slayer, known as the “Forge Where Dragon’s Breath Scatters.” The flames shot up from its chimney.
“Can we trust that blacksmith?” Red Spear asked, approaching through the trees, a hint of skepticism in her eyes. Daellon shrugged.
“Probably.”
“I have no doubts about his skills, but… if you say so.”
“So, you just unleashed your breath without warning?”
“Don’t tease me. I thought it was another situation like the last time with the lightning sorcerer.”
Her dragon eyes narrowed slightly, and she sat down beside Daellon, who chuckled softly. By the time she arrived from the other side of the domain, Daellucahim had already surrendered, and the fight was over.
Unaware of this, Red Spear had unleashed her breath in her true form, and fortunately, the blacksmith had managed to block it with a sacrificial shield.
“A shield that took five hours to craft, just to withstand a dragon’s breath,” Daellon mused. The fact that it was reduced to tatters in one blow showed just how extraordinary Red Spear’s heat beam was.
“A forge built with dragon hide and bones… I’ve never heard of such a structure,” Red Spear murmured, watching the fiery pillar beyond the forest.
“Using a dragon’s heart to fuel a furnace made of dragon bones… Did the ancestors of that blacksmith’s family get eaten by a dragon or something?”
“Who knows,” Daellon replied. “Considering he was devoured by an earth dragon after creating that domain, it’s not entirely out of the question if you rearrange the timeline.”
After the blacksmith’s sudden surrender, the work involving the holy sword and the earth dragon’s tooth had been ongoing for quite some time.
In the snow-covered mountains, where the sky was perpetually overcast, there was no concept of day or night. They could only estimate the passage of time by their senses, which were far from precise.
When they retrieved the bodies of the martial artist and the lightning sorcerer, the time that had passed in the domain was significantly different from reality.
“The Well of Reversal, as I mentioned, foretells an inevitable closed ending for this world. Yet, it also speaks of gathering the possibilities of countless timelines to choose a being who can break that ending.”
A cold wind swept down from the mountain peak, brushing against Daellon’s nose. He scratched it absentmindedly.
“I heard about it from Charina.”
“Yes, she mentioned it too. But did you know?” Red Spear continued, closing her eyes gently.
“Though it seems to have reached the human world a bit late, the Well of Reversal has been saying this for thousands of years.”
“No, I didn’t know,” Daellon replied. How could he? He hadn’t been on this continent for even ten years.
Perhaps expecting this response, Red Spear swayed gently from side to side without further comment.
“The dragons were just as curious about the prophecy’s true meaning. There were countless theories—returnees, seers, those possessed through bloodlines—and many attempts to find the prophecy’s protagonist. But no one ever considered…”
Her swaying stopped abruptly.
“…that someone might appear who could make the power of other timelines their own.”
”…”
“You are absorbing the ends of countless timelines. My awakening in this snowy mountain is likely because you absorbed the potential of some timeline.”
Her crimson eyes turned toward him, the vertical slits of her dragon pupils posing a silent question.
“Isn’t that right?”
After a brief silence, Daellon nodded calmly. There was no reason to hide it. He had always expected she would bring it up eventually.
The domain was a world shaped by his imagination, and she was a part of it, more intimately connected to him than anyone else.
In that sense, it was almost overdue for her to mention it. It showed how cautious Red Spear had been in probing Daellon’s secrets and how considerate she had been of him.
“I found that body in the sewers. It was the fate of a mercenary kidnapped by cultists worshipping Enaxagus, subjected to experiments to enhance regenerative abilities.”
Daellon briefly explained the Apostles of Reversal, how they kidnapped people, and how they grew their power through human sacrifices and experiments, becoming the minions of an evil god.
“They infused the regenerative magic of dragon blood into humans?”
“Something like that.”
“Dragon blood… They say they handed over the remnants they couldn’t absorb to Enaxagus. To awaken it and graft it onto humans… those people are remarkable. Dragon blood is fundamentally a deadly poison to mortals.”
Red Spear shook her head. She wasn’t wrong. The Apostles of Reversal weren’t particularly strong compared to other major threats, but if not dealt with early, they became a massive threat later on.
They were a late-blooming organization that grew through successful experiments and rituals, repeatedly receiving Enaxagus’s blessings.
Daellon had poured countless playthroughs into defeating them early on for that very reason.
“Then the earth dragon was right. I don’t exist in this timeline.”
“My condolences.”
“I must have lost my sense of self and truly become part of the dragon god. Only the shattered remnants of my identity would be left in an incomplete form near Enaxagus’s throne.”
A sorrowful sigh escaped her lips, the white breath mingling with the cold air. Daellon watched it dissipate before asking suddenly.
“Why did you oppose the dragon god?”
“Oppose… I thought it was a problem that could be resolved through dialogue.”
Red Spear shifted slightly, resting her head on Daellon’s crossed legs. Her short, dark red hair spilled over, reminding him of a paladin’s golden locks. He hesitated for a moment, considering pushing her away.
But the hesitation was brief, as Red Spear continued her story smoothly.
“The dragon god was born from the imaginations of all of us. We all took responsibility for the being we created. We each shared a bit of our power, and the strongest thirteen inscribed their second names as part of him.”
Her crimson eyes wandered through the air, tracing the paths of memories long past.
“During the ancient great war, the dragon god and the dragon race remained neutral. After decades of fierce battles, the evil gods fell, and the mortals, led by humans, claimed victory. But soon after, the dragon god changed his stance, declaring an end to neutrality.”
“He decided to become an evil god.”
“Yes. But we believed there was still hope. A being born from the noble imaginations of dragons… even if his heart leaned, we thought he wouldn’t become like the vile evil gods. That’s why we responded to his summons.”
But the response to their trust was not goodwill. Only a tragic end awaited, struck down by the combined assault of the White Sword and the dragon god, and killed by her subordinate and comrade, the gauntlet.
“I wanted to talk to the dragon god for that reason. I thought there might have been a misunderstanding. But hearing that he sold fragments of my power to Enaxagus… perhaps I was just clinging to past regrets.”
A soft laugh escaped her lips. She didn’t seem inclined to dwell on it, shaking her head lightly as she lay there.
Then, with a playful glint in her eyes, she asked, “Do you know what makes mortality shine above all else?”
“You’re talking like a spellcaster again.”
“No dragon ever built a kingdom and united the opinions of millions. But humans did.”
”…”
“No dragon ever unearthed relics from thousands of years ago and called it history, or built walls to block the north and laid roads like a web across the continent. But humans did.”
Red Spear met Daellon’s gaze with eyes full of wonder and admiration. Daellon found himself curious about how she would react if she were dropped onto Earth.
A world where metal contraptions flew through the sky and messages crossed oceans in a second. A place where technology was hardly different from magic.
If he ever returned home, perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad not to be alone. As he entertained these idle thoughts, Red Spear rose and stepped off the rock.
“Is that why the gods descended in human form? Or perhaps humans were created closest to the most supreme beings.”
“The gods descending in human form… isn’t that a tenet of the Paladin Order?”
“Do you think a knightly order with a history spanning thousands of years just sprang up from nothing? The great hero who shone during the Great War truly existed.”
Jeokchang answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Dalen absentmindedly stroked his chin.
It wasn’t for any religious reason involving gods or the like. It was simply because the image of a certain warrior had come to mind.
The man he first encountered in the Vicher of the High Orcs, who had lent him an inexplicable power during the battle with Daltalion. The one who had guided him to the Well of Reversal at Charina’s request.
”…The Great Ancestor.”
Could it really be a coincidence that both myths and legends pointed to the same era?
The great hero who fought against the evil god.
“You’ve been lost in thought for a while. Let’s head back.”
Jeokchang interrupted. Dalen lifted his head.
He turned his gaze toward the distant sound of hammering, noticing that the towering pillar of fire had changed color.
Rumble…
The distortion of lightning on the blue pillar of fire. A strange scene where a frost storm, born from the pillar, crackled with thunder.
The forging of the sword to slay the evil god was nearing its end.
Clang!
“Just finishing up.”
Clang!
“To harness the power of the heavens, I used the bones of an ancient dragon from the depths as the foundation. They complement each other well.”
Clang! Clang!
The scene in the forge had transformed completely from what it was before.
Gone was the modest hut, replaced by a towering structure where furnaces and intricate machinery operated autonomously.
The sound of hammering echoed among countless weapons, the noise forming a bizarre harmony, almost like a symphony.
It was more akin to a sophisticated magitech factory than a simple forge.
In the midst of it all, the blacksmith hammered away, sweat pouring down his brow in thick beads.
‘The domain of the Dragonbone Sword’s master, Daelukahim.’
“The Forge Where the Dragon’s Breath Scatters.”
All these facilities and the intense heat were the crystallization of the blacksmith’s lifelong vision.
Dalen quietly surveyed the scattered equipment before asking, “Are those weapons to be crafted after death?”