Arilleia was an island nation shrouded in a serene mystery.
In a wide, open clearing along the coastline, one dragon and one knight remained.
Freya and Regarda.
The young dragon and the Dragon Knight who taught her.
No matter how many months he spent teaching, the lessons seemed infinite. He taught her the habits of dragons and the mindset they must possess. He taught her the role of a demigod, the protector of this world, and how to conduct herself.
While carving those values into her heart, she also had to learn Dragon Tongue magic and Dragon Breath.
Today, as usual, their training continued.
“It’s… noisy,” Regarda remarked.
The center of the island was unusually loud today. The center was quite far from the coastline where the two were standing. Nevertheless, Regarda looked toward the middle of the island as if such a distance were trivial.
Freya followed his gaze and looked toward the center as well.
『It is, isn’t it?』
It was proof that she, too, was growing as a dragon. The island of Arilleia was by no means small, yet she didn’t just marvel at Regarda’s ability to sense the disturbance; she used her own Magic Power to catch the aura herself.
A dragon was expected to be able to do at least that much.
Regarda hoped Freya would grow even further beyond that.
“Figure out the reason as well.”
『The reason for the noise?』
“Yes.”
Simply sensing that it was noisy was something many could do, even if they weren’t powerful experts on Regarda’s level. A knight with sharp senses or a Magician with a certain amount of Magic Power… well, there were no Magicians left, so they were out of the question.
Regardless, it meant many people could detect such a commotion if they focused and expanded their senses.
“As long as you set your mind to it, there is nothing you cannot see. Sensing a presence should be as natural as breathing, but you must do more than that.”
“So I can see what I want, whenever I want…”
Freya held her head high and stared toward the center of the island.
With her elevated perspective and superior vision, she should have been able to see the center, but even for a dragon, the naked eye had its limits. Regarda likely wasn’t asking for that kind of sight anyway.
Thus, Freya closed her eyes and focused her mind.
‘Beyond just feeling.’
The only thing she needed was her will.
The moment her will manifested, her Magic Power began to surge. Dragon power required none of the complex processes found in the Circle Inscriptions created by weak humans. Magic Power understood the dragon’s will and began to move on its own to fulfill it.
That was the Dragon Tongue.
[SHOW ME]
Upon the white mental image behind Freya’s closed eyes, the scene she wished to see began to appear clearly. It was an effect that could easily be called Clairvoyance.
In the vision, she saw a very familiar person. He was a man flying atop a white horse with wings, wearing ornate Magician’s robes.
Because she found him, Freya shouted with a heart full of joy.
『Mr. Magician!』
Hio Pavlenko had returned to Arilleia.
After mastering the 5th Circle Necromancy spell, Sarcophagus of Death, he had headed to the Elven kingdom of Arilleia. Since they had last parted in the Holy Kingdom, it had been several months since he had seen Regarda and Freya.
“Did you find what you were looking for in Hibernia?”
“If you mean the Holy Magician’s House, then yes. I was lucky.”
In just a few months, Freya had become a proper dragon.
Of course, she was still far below Regarda’s standards, but in Hio’s eyes, she was already quite impressive. A dragon’s true body was a massive entity, spanning dozens of meters in length and reaching over 10 meters in height. She could control that body freely and even use the Dragon Tongue. She was certainly worthy of being called a magnificent dragon.
When Hio praised her, Regarda turned his head to look at Freya.
“She is still a long way off compared to the ancient dragons who protected this world.”
Regarda was a cold-hearted master.
Despite meeting after a long time, he insisted that their scheduled training must continue, giving Hio no time to chat. Freya seemed to have resigned herself to this, as she moved a short distance away with a dejected expression to practice her Dragon Tongue magic.
Well, even though she moved away, her massive body made it so she didn’t look very far at all.
“The quality of her soul is growing to match her body. Since it was the same soul to begin with, it seems she finished her adaptation quickly, didn’t she?”
“Even so, there is a serious problem.”
Regarda’s expression as he watched Freya was as blunt as ever. However, if one looked closely, it was easy to see that his expression was filled with worry.
“A serious problem?”
“Her heart is too soft.”
If the quality of the soul is weak or its size is small, one can simply grow it. The soul of a dragon was the foundation, after all. If Regarda’s teachings were added to that, it wasn’t a particularly difficult task.
However, one’s innate nature cannot be helped.
“You can tell by looking at her eyes.”
Originally, a dragon’s eyes should look down upon everything as a predator and a ruler. As a guardian, a dragon should watch over the world with impartiality.
However, Freya’s eyes were far too clear for a dragon’s. They were clear and pure.
She wanted to closely observe the beings she was supposed to watch from afar, and she emphasized deeply with their hearts. She wanted to grieve with them and rejoice with them. Even though she learned other things quickly, that specific mindset was not easily adopted.
“Therefore, Freya is disqualified as a guardian.”
A guardian must not be swept away by private emotions.
There was once an anecdote about a dragon who had formed a soul contract with a Magician long ago. Because the soul was bound by the contract, the dragon was forced to use its power according to the Magician’s desires.
A guardian must never be like that. They must remain detached and always watch from a distance, yet Freya was unable to do so.
“What does it matter if she isn’t a guardian? It’s not like anyone is forcing her.”
“…Forcing her, you say.”
“Yeah. There’s no need to be so tied down. Freya is the last remaining dragon, and this is her life now.”
Regarda fell silent for a moment at Hio’s words while looking at Freya, then nodded slightly as if conceding the point.
“I suppose there won’t be any magic like that anymore.”
“Huh? Magic like what?”
“There is such a thing. A truly terrible magic that disappeared in ancient times.”
Just as Hio was about to ask what that was.
“More importantly, Magician, what is your real business here?”
Regarda turned his head, his yellow eyes staring straight into Hio’s.
“I told you. There’s a magic I’m researching. I came to master it and to see your faces.”
“It seems you still don’t know. Lies are useless in front of a knight who handles Ideation.”
“…That really is a cheat. This ‘Ideation’ thing.”
“The fact that you came to master something is the truth. That you came to see Freya and me is also the truth. However, it is a lie that those are the only reasons.”
When Hio asked how that was possible, Regarda replied that he would naturally find out once he started handling Ideation.
That damn Ideation.
It was the only clue to stepping into the realm of a true superhuman, beyond the power of the system.
Just as Regarda said, there were three reasons for Hio’s visit to Arilleia.
The first was to master the ‘Ancient Grimoire: Book of Dragon Summoning’ and use it on Freya as soon as the magic was completed.
The second was to see how the two of them were doing.
And finally, the third reason was.
“How do you handle Ideation?”
It was to learn about Ideation in earnest.
His magic had reached the 5th Circle, and to progress further, having a lot of Magic Power was not enough. It meant he needed a form of enlightenment.
Ideation was the path he chose to find that hint.
And as expected, the answer came from Regarda.
“That is not something that can be handled just because it is taught.”
It was a similar answer to what he had heard from Vitalianus before.
“I know. What I want is just some simple advice.”
“Advice.”
“Yeah. Like what it feels like to use it, or even just watching you use it from the side would be fine.”
Enlightenment cannot be spoon-fed by someone else.
He knew well that he had to realize it himself. However, wouldn’t it be much more helpful to have someone who had already walked that path by his side, rather than trying to figure it out from nothing?
To that, Regarda nodded without much hesitation.
“That is no problem. I will give you whatever help I can while you stay here.”
His place of stay until the next raid was decided.
He would research the Book of Dragon Summoning in Arilleia while simultaneously trying to get a feel for Ideation.
It was the next task he had to perform for his goal.
***
The room was incredibly wide, terrifyingly high, and reached the pinnacle of luxury.
But all the lights were out.
Without light to reflect the splendor, luxury had no meaning.
‘Can I win?’
The room was no longer splendid because the lights were extinguished.
Sitting there alone was Antiphus Praman.
His original name was Phil Knight.
In the real world, rather than the Vental World, it was a name that everyone knew. It had been that way since before the Cataclysm, and it was even more so now.
In a skyscraper where the city of New York could be seen at a glance, he stayed on the top floor, a ruler who always had everything beneath his feet.
A king of a country without a king.
One of the world’s leading billionaires and a powerful figure in America.
The First Awakened and the strongest man in the world.
Throughout his life, Phil Knight—Antiphus Praman—had received such praise and admiration.
‘No.’
However, in the dark room, he was clutching his head alone.
‘I cannot win.’
The purple space he had seen at the end of the Floor of Breakthrough and the figure of the man who created it haunted him. That overwhelming presence, which felt as if the man had truly become a god, would not leave his mind, rising up to torment him.
‘I can never win.’
He had run the simulation hundreds or thousands of times.
The purple universe.
A space where a rich aurora spread enchantingly and many stars drifted faintly.
Could he have sensed the signs of its creation?
No.
The only sign was a compressed vibration, as if the air were being squeezed.
‘Could he have avoided it?’
It might be possible by utilizing various skills, but the opponent was Jijoncheonma. There was no way he would just stand by and watch, so that too was a slim possibility.
‘In that case, could he stand against him within that space?’
…Impossible.
The moment one stepped into that domain, the master of the space was Jijoncheonma.
The other idiots probably just thought of it as a pretty space or a good skill and moved on, but Antiphus could feel it clearly. He felt that bizarre miracle that could annihilate the space itself.
‘By what means could he possibly oppose that?’
No matter how much he thought and thought, nothing came to mind.
His Trait was Dominion.
Another name for it was Failure.
There should be nothing that a ruler cannot dominate. There should be no other existence above a ruler’s head. If there were, wouldn’t he ultimately be the same as the ruled?
The moment that happened, he would lose all the power he had built as a ruler and simply become a failure who failed to dominate.
“Whatever it takes, I must…”
He had to win.
Only by winning could his heart, which had become accustomed to defeat, move again.
“How, how should I…”
Because of that, whenever he tried to think of a method, that space would inevitably come to mind. A space that could return everything to nothing.
That was why he sat clutching his head, shut away in his room and submerged in darkness.
‘Is it really impossible to win?’
He didn’t know.
Specifically, he didn’t know if this was truly his own thought. He didn’t know if the voice he heard was a voice coming from his own mind.
‘Do you really think so? There is a way.’
Ever since he left the Floor of Breakthrough—precisely, since he saw that thrilling space—this thought had been wandering through his head.
‘Was this truly his own thought?’
‘An easy way to defeat that loathsome fellow.’
However, such questions could not be sustained and were pushed far away. Did it even matter? Was he not incredibly curious about the method?
Since the days when it was just a game, Jijoncheonma had always been above him. Since he couldn’t even guess what method it would take or what it would feel like to defeat and place him under his dominion, Antiphus stopped moving.
Holding his head, he focused his mind on the words in his head.
‘Did the voice know Antiphus’s heart?’ A hint of laughter mixed into the grim voice in his head.
‘The world will soon undergo a great change. The light will sink and the darkness will rise.’
Even madness seeped into the faint laughter.
‘Join the Abyssal Depths.’
As if possessed, Antiphus lowered his hands. His legs slowly stood up from his seat.
‘Rule the Abyssal Depths and become the king there.’
The voice was secret, dark, and gloomy, but to Antiphus…
‘Make Jijoncheonma kneel. Break Jijoncheonma’s neck with your own hands. Take that power.’
…It sounded sweeter than anything else.