Episode 70
Chapter 24. Twisting Two Fates (Part 2)

How exactly was I supposed to stab him?

With the two massive dragons darting around wildly, just holding onto their scales was a struggle. Every time Murakan and Quikantel’s colossal bodies collided, Jin felt as if every bone in his body was shaking.

‘They’re treating each other like mortal enemies.’

Quikantel was clearly out to kill Murakan. His breath attacks were filled with lethal intent, and when he bit, he mercilessly targeted vital spots.

Fshhh!

Quikantel’s breath swept dangerously close across Murakan’s back. Jin broke out in a cold sweat just by looking at the scorched trail left behind.

Though Murakan was being pushed back, he wasn’t about to just take it lying down.

[Calm down and let’s talk this out, Quikantel!]

Whoooosh! Suddenly, black clouds swirled up in the sky.

The dark clouds were a massive spiritual energy manifestation conjured by Murakan. As Murakan soared straight up and hid within the energy, Quikantel let out a furious roar.

To Jin, the sound was deafening, like his eardrums were about to burst. The roar vibrated through his brain.

Just as humans have ranks from first star to creation star to measure strength, dragons also have their own hierarchy. Quikantel was among the top-tier combatants currently active.

If Jin hadn’t been trained, he would have lost consciousness from the roar alone.

In the pitch-black surroundings, Jin steadied his breath.

“I need to keep my head clear. Good thing I came along. If you’d died here at the hands of that silver dragon, no one would’ve even heard about it.”

[I’m not going to die. No matter how strong Quikantel is, he can’t get inside this barrier. Let’s think carefully about how to persuade him.]

But that was Murakan’s mistake.

[You really thought hiding inside that would keep me out?]

Quikantel’s wings sliced through the air with a sharp tearing sound. Then, like a diving strike, his massive body pierced through the spiritual energy and entered the barrier.

[Quikantel, how did you—?]

[You still don’t realize how weak you’ve become. You call this spiritual energy release? Murakan, I’m disappointed.]

[Hmm, Quikantel. For old times’ sake, why don’t we just end this here? I only came to ask you something.]

[Old times? I’d tear you to pieces a thousand times over if I thought about the past.]

[Well, fine. If you want to, go ahead. You’re always like this. We just parted ways, that’s all.]

Crack!

Quikantel bit down on Murakan’s wing joint. A sinister sound of something breaking and crushing echoed, and Jin reflexively drew his sword, Bradamante.

Murakan bit Quikantel’s wing in return. Even though their wings stopped flapping, neither dragon fell—they were wrapped in spiritual energy.

Though they attacked the same spot, Murakan suffered more damage. Blood kept dripping from his wing, while Quikantel’s wing only showed cracks like shattered glass.

Jin had to strike before the dragons moved again. The spiritual energy that had gathered like a cloud since Murakan was bitten was quickly fading.

‘This outer shell is tough enough that even Murakan’s teeth can’t pierce it. My current strike probably won’t even leave a scratch.’

So Jin chose Quikantel’s already cracked wing as his target. It wasn’t a vital spot, but better to take this one chance than waste it.

Vwoooosh! An aura enveloped Bradamante. Against the dark spiritual energy, the glowing aura stood out brilliantly.

[What!?]

To Jin’s surprise, Quikantel hadn’t even realized there was a human riding on Murakan’s back until just now.

Jin leapt like an arrow, gripping his sword backward as he descended onto Quikantel’s wing.

This was a full-power strike. Fortunately, the sword plunged deep into the crack, and Jin had no intention of stopping there.

‘Sword Release.’

A technique Murakan had warned him to keep sealed until reaching the fifth level of spiritual energy release. But now wasn’t the time to hesitate.

If this attack didn’t deal a fatal blow, there was only one option left: breaking Orgal’s pendant and summoning Luna.

Jin had no desire to do that, so he planned to use every card he had first.

More importantly, he had more than enough spiritual energy to fully activate Sword Release. Instinctively, he was absorbing the spiritual energy Murakan had unleashed.

[Good job, kid. Cut off that wing and snap him back to his senses!]

Jin didn’t hear Murakan’s voice.

As Sword Release began, time seemed to freeze, just like when he killed the White Wolf tribe.

Spiritual energy scattered everywhere, swirling and being drawn into Bradamante. Each time the energy squeezed in, Quikantel’s wing joint cracked open further.

She screamed in pain, but it was already too late to dodge the fully released Bradamante.

In other words, she’d let her guard down. Blinded by rage, she hadn’t even noticed the human on Murakan’s back and ignored all attempts at conversation.

The spiritual energy riding the sword had already pierced completely through Quikantel’s left wing.

Jin twisted his whole body, gripping the hilt tighter. Kreeeek! A grotesque scraping sound rang out as Quikantel’s wing tore apart.

The deeper the sword sank, the more the spiritual energy dissipated. The power was dozens of times greater than Jin’s usual strength, so the energy consumption was extremely inefficient.

Quikantel’s wing was so tough that even a seventh-level knight at full power couldn’t cut it, so this was expected.

Shreek!

As the black blade sliced through the wing and fell downward, Murakan raised his tail and caught the falling Jin.

A sudden surge of power made cold sweat break out all over Jin’s body. But seeing the massive wing fall into the sea, he finally grasped the magnitude of what he’d done.

A moment later, Quikantel began to fall as well. His remaining wing flapped helplessly.

‘Did I just become a dragon slayer?’

The sea swallowed Quikantel, sending up a spectacular spray that seemed to mark the death of a dragon.

“Huff, huff!”

Jin had to endure the backlash. Handling power beyond his limits always came with a price.

‘Luckily, it’s not as agonizing as when I fought the White Wolf tribe. Maybe I’ve leveled up since then.’

Still, his hands and feet trembled, and waves of pain came and went. Just as he wanted to collapse on Murakan’s back, exhausted—

[Now, all that’s left for you and me is to pray Quikantel regains his senses.]

“What do you mean? This isn’t over?”

[Dragons who control time don’t die so easily. Like this.]

Jin looked down and swallowed hard.

A massive, dark afterimage hovered over the sea’s surface. Then, he witnessed the unique power of a being who manipulates time.

Rewind.

The severed wing and body submerged in the sea slowly floated back up. Quikantel’s time was reversing.

He wasn’t defenseless either. The space around Quikantel twisted strangely, and swinging the sword into it felt like cutting through an illusion—no sensation at all.

Jin shuddered all over.

[This is why divine power and magic are different. But don’t worry too much. Such an overpowered ability consumes an enormous amount of energy. And you’re still holding strong.]

Moments later, Quikantel rose back to his original position, his severed wing fully restored.

As the warped space returned to normal, Quikantel began moving again.

True to Murakan’s words, he looked quite exhausted. His breathing was heavy, and his wingbeats had slowed considerably.

It seemed he couldn’t attack for now.

[Since he’s not lunging right away, maybe he’s ready to talk.]

[…What’s going on, Murakan? Are you saying the human on your back is a contract holder of Solderet?]

[Yeah. Done venting? I didn’t expect you to still hold a grudge after all this time. Didn’t we part on good terms?]

[Good terms? You were the one who dumped me. Back then, you didn’t even give me a chance to talk, just like now.]

[Is that the same thing? And every time I bring up breaking up, you flip out and attack. How am I supposed to give you a chance? It’s not like I cheated on you. We just didn’t get along!]

Is this really how dragons who’ve lived for thousands of years talk?

Jin couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

‘Dragons don’t have to be noble and majestic… but this is way too human. So all that rage and fighting was just because you were bitter about being dumped?’

The two dragons bickered for a while longer, repeating the same arguments with no real progress.

[Anyway, let’s drop this, Quikantel. I didn’t come here to fight. I came to ask something. It’s about the life of one of our kind.]

[Ha! The arrogant Murakan worrying about our kin? How many have you killed? What a disgusting thing to say.]

The moment the words “the kin you killed” were spoken, Murakan flinched. It was a deeply sensitive topic, and Quikantel, realizing his mistake, deliberately avoided Murakan’s gaze.

[…Yeah, among the kin I killed was your brother’s enemy. I killed that guy, who had nothing to do with me, just because you hated him. Is that what you wanted to hear?]

Murakan sighed and continued.

[Fine. It was my fault for asking you. I’ll get the answers I need from another dragon.]

[Just tell me. Damn it, every time I see you, I get all worked up. I’m sorry for what I said earlier.]

[Why leave out the part where you attacked me like you wanted to kill me?]

[That had a good reason.]

[Sure it did. Anyway… recently, one of Az Mil’s guardian dragons has gone missing. Do you know anything about it? Az Mil’s contractor is desperately searching.]

[Missing? You mean ‘Latri’?]

[Yeah, that’s right. Latri. I’d never even heard the name before—just a young dragon.]

Quikantel blinked slowly, his eyes narrowing.

[That’s strange. That child was taken recently by the wind dragon, Buretta.]

Buretta.

The dragon connected to Andrei Ziphl. The moment the name was mentioned, Jin and Murakan were overcome with a bad feeling.

[Why did Buretta take him?]

[Since none of Az Mil’s other guardian dragons have been active lately, I heard Buretta is teaching him dragon speech magic instead.]

The culprit behind the kidnapping of Yuria’s guardian dragon had just been revealed.