Chapter 154: The Human Emerges

Astonishingly, what rose from Mayporin’s back was a ‘human.’

One with thick black hair, pure white skin, and a solid build.

He looks familiar somehow…….

For some reason, the human seemed familiar.

Where had he seen him?

Askra quickly racked his brain.

Soon realizing the human’s identity, Askra was greatly shocked.

Gaon!

It was definitely Gaon.

Though his body was more toned than in his memories, it was clearly Gaon.

And astonishingly, the divine artifact’s aura emanated from Gaon.

In other words, Gaon possessed the divine artifact.

That wasn’t the only surprise.

This is completeness……?

There was something he hadn’t sensed from afar, but realized upon facing him directly.

Namely, that ‘completeness’ emanated from Gaon.

H-how…….

Askra was extremely confused.

He couldn’t understand what on earth this situation was.

Just then.

“Oh, Askra.”

Gaon saw Askra and greeted him with a bright smile.

“It’s been a while.”

“……It’s been a while.”

Askra, who had been lost in confusion, snapped back and returned the greeting.

He quickly organized his thoughts.

One thing’s certain…….

Gaon had brought the divine artifact.

And he had killed Mayporin, who had abandoned mana.

From these two facts, one situation could be inferred.

He’s an ally.

Gaon was definitely an ally.

He was Perbeng’s disciple to begin with.

It was a situation where he had to be an ally.

Having organized his thoughts, Askra turned his head to look at Mayporin.

Askra and Mayporin hadn’t gotten along well even before Mayporin abandoned mana.

But perhaps because of the long time they had spent together for the clan’s sake?

Seeing Mayporin’s death felt bitter.

Just then.

“You know it couldn’t be helped, right?”

Gaon said.

Askra turned his head to face Gaon and replied.

“……I know. In fact, I should be grateful.”

“Good, then.”

Gaon wore a satisfied expression at Askra’s response.

“And…….”

Gaon trailed off, extending his hand downward.

Something rose swiftly from Mayporin’s back and settled in Gaon’s hand.

It was Mayporin’s dragon heart.

“No issues with all of it, right?”

It was a broad question.

But Askra knew what it meant.

It clearly meant he intended to handle everything about Mayporin, not just the dragon heart.

“……Of course.”

Askra agreed.

Of course, he didn’t agree because it was ‘obvious,’ as he said.

He agreed because it was Gaon.

If it had been someone else asking this?

No matter that the target had abandoned mana and was a kin, he would have punished them for desecrating a dragon.

At Askra’s answer, Gaon wore a satisfied expression and waved his hand.

Blades of wind appeared and flew toward Mayporin.

Mayporin began to be dismantled by the blades of wind.

“Hmm.”

Askra let out a groan and turned his head.

They had become enemies who had to kill each other, but watching the dismantling still felt uncomfortable.

Gaon asked such an Askra.

“But what were you planning to do with this?”

At Gaon’s question, Askra looked at the clan’s divine artifact, the ‘silver dagger,’ that Gaon held.

“To trap them here.”

“……Trap them? That’s it?”

Gaon asked back with a skeptical expression.

“……Yes.”

Askra hesitated at Gaon’s reaction before answering.

“They won’t be able to escape without the divine artifact. No need to worry.”

The barrier was extremely powerful.

Honestly, even if all the dragons with Askra combined their strength, making a hole in the barrier was impossible.

He hadn’t asked for the divine artifact for nothing.

Moreover, those who had abandoned mana needed even more power to break through the barrier.

In other words, escaping the barrier without the divine artifact was impossible.

“Well, sure.”

Gaon nodded as if understanding.

He knew well how solid the barrier was.

“But that doesn’t solve it, does it?”

“……?”

Askra wore a puzzled expression at Gaon’s words.

Then what did he suggest?

Then, he suddenly noticed the dragon heart in Gaon’s hand.

He recalled Mayporin’s corpse being dismantled.

“……!”

In that moment, Askra was shocked.

He thought he knew what Gaon was thinking.

“……You’re going to kill them all?”

Askra asked.

“Is there perhaps someone I should spare?”

Gaon responded to Askra’s question with a question.

“That’s…….”

Askra trailed off.

He couldn’t think of how to answer.

Then Gaon continued.

“They’ve already abandoned mana, right?”

At Gaon’s words, Askra couldn’t say anything.

Honestly, Gaon’s suggestion was something he hadn’t even considered.

Killing all the kin who had abandoned mana?

It wasn’t an absurd idea.

Mayporin’s death was evidence.

Gaon showed no signs of fatigue.

Not even a tiny wound.

He hadn’t seen the battle directly, but Gaon must have killed Mayporin very easily.

Who was Mayporin?

He was among the top ten strongest of those who had abandoned mana.

Killing Mayporin easily meant he could kill the rest without much difficulty.

“If I oppose, will you accept it?”

Askra asked.

“No, I’d have to talk to my master.”

Gaon shook his head.

Honestly, Askra’s opinion wasn’t important to Gaon.

“But are you going to oppose? Is there really someone to spare?”

“……No. I was just curious.”

“Good, then.”

While they conversed, Mayporin’s dismantling finished.

Gaon collected all of Mayporin’s hide and such, then asked Askra.

“You’re returning now, right?”

“……Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

At Gaon’s words, Askra turned silently.

He could face the three dragons who were gauging his reaction.

Askra said nothing to their gazes.

The three dragons had seen and heard everything.

What more was there to say?

Askra kept his mouth shut and passed the three dragons.

He began flying toward the base.

Perbeng couldn’t say anything.

He simply stared blankly at Gaon.

It wasn’t just Perbeng.

In this place, besides Perbeng and Gaon, all the leaders or leader-level dragons were gathered.

And they too kept their mouths tightly shut, staring blankly at Gaon.

“So you’re planning to kill them all?”

Soon, Perbeng, who had regained his composure, asked.

“Hmm…….”

At Perbeng’s question, Gaon let out a groan and glanced around.

The dragons who met his eyes flinched and averted their gazes.

Gaon smirked at their reactions and looked back at Perbeng before speaking.

“You’re okay with it, right, Master?”

“Of course. I think we need to return them to mana’s embrace as soon as possible. Before it’s too late.”

The dragons who had abandoned mana and accepted demonic energy.

Perbeng wanted to return them to mana’s embrace right away.

Of course, not all dragons shared Perbeng’s thoughts.

In fact, those who thought like Perbeng were in the minority.

Perhaps that was why?

Many wore awkward expressions at Perbeng’s words.

But that was all.

Previously, when Perbeng voiced an opinion, there were objections, but now no one spoke.

The reason they couldn’t speak was precisely because of Gaon.

There wasn’t a dragon who couldn’t sense Gaon’s completeness.

And there wasn’t a dragon who didn’t know what completeness meant.

In other words, they wanted to speak but couldn’t.

“Then we need to end it all as soon as possible.”

Gaon replied with slight relief.

If Perbeng had opposed?

He would have had to spend a lot of time persuading him.

“Ah, and…….”

A sudden thought prompted Gaon to tell Perbeng about the Heavenly Realm, Demon World, and Demon King Mirdaon.

“……!”

Perbeng was shocked after hearing everything.

The demons obtained completeness?

He had vaguely known about the Heavenly Realm’s situation.

But this was the first he’d heard of Demon King Mirdaon’s ‘completeness.’

So that’s why…….

It was extremely shocking.

And everything made sense.

Why the Heavenly Realm had fallen.

Damn, I told them to train!

Perbeng cursed inwardly.

The targets were the ‘gods,’ rulers of the Heavenly Realm.

Ordinary beings thought gods were omnipotent.

From their perspective, they could be seen as such.

But they weren’t truly omnipotent.

Gods had weaknesses too.

Honestly, the only true god in the meaningful sense was the creator god ‘Resion,’ who created all worlds like the Heavenly Realm, Demon World, and Middle World.

Hah…….!

Perbeng let out a soft sigh inwardly, without showing it.

To resolve this crisis, they would need to end Mirdaon, who had obtained completeness.

It wasn’t easy.

It would be extremely arduous.

Just then, Gaon spoke.

“Of course, I’m confident, so no need to worry.”

Perbeng hadn’t shown it outwardly.

But Gaon, who had spent much time with Perbeng, could tell what he was thinking just from his eyes.

“His completeness isn’t complete.”

Mirdaon had separated his completeness.

To others, it might still be complete, but at least to Gaon, it wasn’t.

That’s why he was confident.

He was sure he could win without difficulty.

Gaon glanced around and waved his hand.

Whoosh!

A barrier appeared.

The reason Gaon created the barrier was because he had something to tell only Perbeng.

“Mirdaon separated his completeness. At least against me, he won’t stand a chance.”

“……Ah, so that’s it!”

Perbeng, who had been curious about the basis of Gaon’s confidence, had his eyes flash.

“And…….”

Gaon then told him about the time regression magic circle.

How it had been twisted by demonic energy, sending him to the future instead of the past.

“I see.”

Perbeng thought briefly and nodded as if understanding.

Then, stopping his nod, Perbeng began gauging Gaon’s reaction.

Gaon wore a puzzled expression at Perbeng’s behavior.

Gauging like that meant he had something to say.

What on earth did he want to say that he was gauging so much?

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Gaon said.

Then Perbeng opened his mouth as if waiting.

“Could I perhaps request a spar?”

“Ah…….”

Gaon let out a soft exclamation.

Then he grinned and replied.

“Sure.”

Who was Perbeng?

The gold clan’s leader and an 11th-Circle mage.

And not newly entered, but over 500 years ago.

If he hadn’t obtained completeness?

Perbeng was a being he could never defeat alone.

Moreover, now he had to face beings on Perbeng’s level.

It seemed good to gauge their power through Perbeng.

“Is there a suitable place?”

“Of course, there’s a sparring ground nearby.”

“Then shall we go there?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Having finished the conversation, Gaon waved his hand to remove the barrier.

Perbeng stood first and went outside.

Gaon followed behind.

After the two left, the remaining dragons began gauging each other’s reactions.

Then the green dragon ‘Bakun’ spoke.

“Are we all just going to stay like this?”

“Mmm.”

“Hmm.”

At Bakun’s words, several dragons nodded as if agreeing.

But that was all.

They didn’t add weight to the words.

Then Tron, the blue clan’s leader, spoke.

“Then? Are you planning to speak on behalf of Gaon?”