Episode 180: Ill-Fated Ties (2)
Sometimes, even when you know you’re dreaming, you just don’t want to wake up.
“Father! Look at that cloud! It looks just like a wolf!”
For Karl Hopper, this was one of those moments.
Perched on his father’s shoulders, Karl pointed excitedly at the sky.
“You’re right. It’s a very handsome wolf,” his father marveled, holding Karl securely to prevent him from falling.
“You must have seen lots of amazing clouds, having lived so long, right?”
“Of course. I’ve even seen clouds that looked like lions.”
“Wow!”
Watching the sky with his father at sunset was Karl’s favorite time of day.
“Karl.”
Suddenly, his father’s voice turned serious, and Karl couldn’t help but feel a bit tense.
“You are my son, so you will live a very long time.”
Karl’s father was a dragon.
A creature of legend, found only in ancient history books and fairy tales.
At first, Karl didn’t believe his father. Who would readily accept that their parent is a dragon?
But when his father transformed one of his arms into that of a dragon, Karl had no choice but to believe.
“A long life can wear down your emotions and rob you of reason. You will have to fight against forgetfulness.”
Even at a young age, Karl listened intently, knowing that his father’s presence was meant to impart such wisdom.
“To combat forgetfulness, it’s best to express your desires. So, recognize your desires and strive to fulfill them.”
Karl nodded, then grinned mischievously.
“Got it. But can’t you show me your true form just once? I want to see you as a dragon!”
“You rascal, haven’t I told you? It’s impossible because of the pact.”
“Not even for a moment? Just a little peek?”
As Karl playfully shook his father, a sudden chill crept up from his toes, sending a shiver down his spine.
Danger.
It felt as if someone was holding a knife to his throat.
The instinct to prepare for a threat surged within him. Karl tensed his muscles, scanning his surroundings.
“Son? What’s the matter…?”
His father’s voice faded away. The sunset that filled the sky and the field beneath them vanished.
“Father! Father!”
Desperate to stay in the dream, Karl called out repeatedly.
But it was futile.
His body, sensing danger, pulled his mind out of the dream. Karl was abruptly thrust back into reality.
When he opened his eyes, he was bewildered.
He wasn’t in his tent but in an unfamiliar landscape.
”…What on earth is going on?”
Karl Hopper, the Mercenary King, rose to his feet, glancing around.
“I woke up with a bad feeling…”
In the ruins of a world, Damian Haxen stood with two strangers.
“Damian Haxen, what is happening here?”
“Why did he have to wake up now?”
Damian was taken aback by the Mercenary King’s sudden awakening.
The artifact’s influence hadn’t completely worn off, so something life-threatening was needed to rouse him.
Few things in this world could threaten the Mercenary King. Even Valentino’s killing intent, a master-class warrior, hadn’t been enough to wake him.
So why now?
”…It’s because of me.”
Damian quickly realized the cause. It was his own unleashed killing intent that had awakened the Mercenary King.
“Damn it.”
Cursing under his breath, Damian released his grip on the bracelet.
With the Mercenary King awake, he couldn’t unleash his dark magic. He had to keep his knowledge of black magic a secret.
“Can’t you see?” Damian’s words were sharp, his frustration at the thwarted revenge evident.
“That woman plotted to take you away,” he said, pointing at Sla. The Mercenary King’s eyebrows rose at the sight of her.
“Sla. I didn’t expect to see your face again.”
“It’s been a while since we last met in the Empire, hasn’t it?” Sla replied in a friendly tone. It seemed they were familiar with each other.
“Is what he says true?”
“Well… that was the plan, but things got a bit tangled.”
Sla still smiled, though her lips were slightly tense.
The infamous Sla, Empress of Pandemonium, found her titles meaningless before the Mercenary King.
“To think you’d try to trick me. Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?”
“If I worried about such things, I wouldn’t be able to advance my magic.”
“So you intended to use me as a mere experiment?”
The atmosphere turned icy. Sla awkwardly smiled, gauging the Mercenary King’s reaction.
“You’ve overstepped your bounds, you Pandemonium whore. I’ll make you pay right now.”
The Mercenary King stepped forward, prompting Valentino to move protectively in front of Sla.
“Step aside, boy.”
“Boy~? I’m long past that stage~.”
The Mercenary King sneered openly at Valentino’s words.
“You’re just a fledgling, unaware of your limits. Do you need a limb torn off to come to your senses?”
“Oh, how scary~. I was thinking the same thing~. This is perfect~.”
Valentino spread his arms, and the chains wrapped around his forearms unraveled, hanging loosely.
“Why not let the rookie have a go~?”
“Do as you please. A dead man can have his last wish.”
The Mercenary King’s words drew a chuckle from Valentino.
“Oh, how touching~. I’ll gratefully accept~.”
In an instant, Valentino vanished.
There was no warning, no sound. It was as if he had never been there.
Even Damian’s senses couldn’t track Valentino’s movements. They were that stealthy and swift.
But the Mercenary King was different. He looked up at the sky.
Damian followed his gaze. High above, Valentino hovered.
Valentino reached out toward the Mercenary King.
In that moment, the chains split apart. Hundreds of chains rained down on the Mercenary King’s location, like a torrential downpour.
“He’s truly insane.”
Damian marveled inwardly.
The chains falling from the sky weren’t real. If they were, a single chain wouldn’t have split like that.
They were aura blades, crafted by Valentino to mimic real chains, then unleashed in a deluge.
It was a combination of immense dark power and advanced technique.
Despite the hundreds of aura blades descending, the Mercenary King remained unperturbed.
He even had the leisure to glance at Damian.
“I thought you’d be terrified… but you’re fine.”
The Mercenary King added with a satisfied expression.
“Yes, a man should have that much courage.”
With that, the Mercenary King waved his hand toward the sky.
It was a casual gesture, like swatting a fly. Immediately, a blinding light erupted from the sky.
Lightning filled the heavens, obliterating Valentino’s chains.
”…”
The awe-inspiring sight left Damian speechless.
The Mercenary King assumed Damian wasn’t frightened by Valentino’s technique because of his courage, but the truth was slightly different.
Damian had faith in the Mercenary King.
Though he was foolish enough to nearly be kidnapped by a woman, his skills were beyond doubt.
The lightning that had painted the sky vanished. Soon, something fell from above.
It was Valentino, charred black.
He was almost unrecognizable, like a piece of charcoal, making it hard to tell if he was alive.
At that moment, Sla appeared beside Valentino.
“Still not a match for Karl, huh?”
Sla looked at Valentino with a hint of regret.
“At least you’re not dead. Don’t worry, Valentino. I’ll make you a stronger body.”
Sla reached out to Valentino. Her hand transformed into a massive mouth and swallowed him whole.
Sla had the ability to create a subspace within her body to store things.
Since Valentino wasn’t dead, she intended to take him for treatment.
“Karl, it seems it’s not the right time for us to fight. Let’s meet again when the opportunity arises.”
“Who said I’d let you escape?”
The Mercenary King’s voice was laced with thorns. Sla laughed in response.
“Karl, you’re strong, but… if I decide to flee, catching me won’t be easy.”
“Such arrogance. I’ll break your legs right now.”
The Mercenary King seemed to vanish, reappearing right in front of Sla.
He reached out to grab her, but in that instant, Sla’s body swelled dramatically.
Sla’s body exploded like a balloon, sending thousands of pieces of flesh flying in all directions.
The Mercenary King quickly unleashed his lightning power, incinerating the scattered fragments. Yet, some pieces managed to escape his grasp.
“You think I’d let you get away?” he growled.
He unleashed another barrage of lightning, burning the remaining fragments to ash.
“Phew, that was a close call,” came Sla’s voice suddenly from the void.
“Kal, we’ll meet again. Next time will be very different from today.”
Sla’s disciple, Rubia, had already begun to reassemble her shattered body, pulling the pieces back together.
It was clear that Sla, too, had used the fragments the Mercenary King missed to regenerate himself.
“And you, Damian Haxen, wasn’t it?” Sla addressed Damian, not forgetting him.
“It’s been a while since someone made my heart race like you did. I’ll arrange a meeting later so we can have a proper conversation.”
A smile spread across Damian’s face at those words.
He had been frustrated at not being able to finish the job, but now Sla was promising to come to him. He couldn’t have been more pleased.
“When we meet again, I’ll make sure to kill you for real,” he thought, his mind brimming with knowledge of the dark magic of the Frenzy School.
Unlike the Mercenary King, Damian was confident he wouldn’t let Sla slip away next time.
“Damn it, he got away,” the Mercenary King muttered, clearly humiliated.
“Of all the people to catch Sla’s attention, it had to be you,” he said, shaking his head with a look of pity.
“Still, I owe you thanks. Because of you, I didn’t end up captured by that wretched woman.”
The proud Mercenary King offered his gratitude to Damian without hesitation.
“But why are you alone? Where’s Athena? Where are the others?” he asked, puzzled.
It was strange to see Damian without the rest of the Fafnir Mercenary Company.
“This isn’t the time for questions. You need to return quickly,” Damian urged.
“Has something happened? It’s odd. My men don’t fall into danger so easily,” the Mercenary King said, tilting his head in confusion.
“The mercenary company is on the brink of splitting, and Athena has been imprisoned,” Damian explained.
The Mercenary King’s eyes widened in shock at the news.