Dragon Maken War

Chapter 26 - The 220 year gap (4)

“Yes. Especially the Magician’s Association and the Medical Association will buy it at an expensive price. I heard from the princess that you put your life on the line to distract the dragon, so she could escape?”

“It somehow worked out that way.”

“Everyone is talking about that story. There are a lot of people who want to hear your tale of heroism.”

“Hahaha.”

Azell laughed awkwardly. Truthfully, he did more than just distract the dragon. He had killed it, but he couldn’t say that. He had decided it wasn’t time to reveal everything about himself.

‘Also, I’m too weak to boast about killing a dragon.’

The Dragon Maken, which he was able to use through an arrangement made by Carlos, was the main reason why he was able to defeat the Earth dragon. If he didn’t have the Dragon Maken then he would have been eaten after losing.

However, Azell had earned a lot of things through the fight.

The magical energy from the Dragon Maken had flowed into his energy pulse, and while it remained there, he was able to absorb it through meditation. Then he was able to take a part of the dragon’s strength through the Dragon Slayer’s ritual.

This in turn made Azell’s body more powerful. A seed of strength that could never be earned through training was planted in Azell’s body.

Also, his magical energy had greatly increased. His energy pulse became sturdier, and he had completed dual banding his first Ring of Life. Also, his second Ring of Life was nearly finished.

The fact that he was able to construct the dual banding into reality was a huge accomplishment.

From theory to tests, he had gathered enough evidence that said it would succeed, but he had no idea if it would actually work. He succeeded in constructing an analogous model using animal experimentation, but when using the magical energy on himself, he didn’t know what variables might pop up.

However, he had deployed it in practice, and he had now confirmed the theory through the advantages he learned while building the structure.(TLN: structure of the ring)

‘What would have happened if the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual didn’t happen?’

His magical energy had steeply increased because he had taken the dragon’s power, and the dual band was formed from it. This was his lucky break, but it also left much to be desired.

He had skipped the trial and error process, and he was drunk off the fruit of success.

He knew he should count his blessing and stop complaining. However, in Azell’s perspective, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of frustration.

‘I was able to gather Dragon Demon magic to that degree….’

When he took the dragon’s power, Azell’s magical energy slightly took on the properties of Dragon Demon magic. Unlike regular magic, it was able to alter the present surrounding just by emitting it… (TLN:I’m guessing you can make direct changes to the world with Dragon Demon magic)

It was the basis for making the Dragon Maken. However, he still had to travel a long road before he was able to make the Dragon Maken again.

Giles spoke.

“Princess declared that you have the right to receive a certain portion of the compensation from the dragon’s corpse. ”

“Ho-oh.”

“Princess wanted to tell you directly about the compensation, so you could look forward to that.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Azell didn’t really mean what he said.

Giles spoke.

“Also, I heard that you are following the princess back to the capital as an escort.”

“It somehow worked out that way.”

“I guess we’ll spend a good amount of time together. I was also assigned to the troops escorting her.”

“Ah, I guess so.”

“I’ve lost a lot of subordinates, so I’m not too happy being reassigned to this mission.”

“…….”

Azell watched Giles smiling bitterly, so he kept his mouth shut.

When the Dragon’s Shadow attacked the ruin excavation site, Gile’s unit suffered a major loss. He was able to recover a lot of them, but around 1/3 of his unit was killed.

“However, it is better to be inserted into a military force where I am needed rather than becoming an experienced rookie commander with nothing to do. Let’s get along.”

The Western Border guard wasn’t able to transfer many troops into Arrieta’s escort. Therefore, they decided to reassign people like Giles, whose competence was guaranteed.

Azell replied.

“Please take care of me.”

Soon, they arrived at the location of the dragon’s corpse.

However, the sight was much different than what Azell had expected. The dragon’s corpse wasn’t transported here intact. It was cut and distributed into couple dozen barrels.

‘I guess they couldn’t just move the whole thing.’

It would be possible if they used a large cart used to transport large scale of goods. However, one need a well maintained road for it to be a workable solution. If they wanted to bring a dragon’s corpse, which was fallen in the middle of a forest, then they had no choice but to hack it into pieces.

Soon, Azell spotted Arietta within the crowd.

“I’ve come at your summons.”

“Mmm. You came.”

“I had no idea a dragon’s corpse could be turned into money.”

In Azell’s time, magicians used various parts of a dragon’s corpse. If the dragon’s blood was processed then one could make magic recovery potion or wound medication. The bones, scales and leather was so tough that it was used as ingredients for weapons or armor.

However, he never thought that it could be exchanged for money.

Arrieta spoke.

“I had know idea either. This is the first time I’ve seen a dead dragon. The scouting party’s magician saw it and he advised us to collect it with haste. We followed his direction, so he brought it here after dismembering it… However, there is one thing that is bothering me.”

“What is it?”

“The dragon’s eyes are missing.”

“The eyes?”

“Both disappeared as if it had been scooped out. Do you have any theory as to why someone would do this?”

“Mmmm. I have no idea.”

Azell shook his head from side to side.

When he defeated the Earth dragon, he hadn’t damage the eyes. However, the eyes had disappeared as if it had been scooped out….

Arrieta lowered her voice and spoke.

“Those bastards might have done it.”

“The probability is high.”

The bastards they were talking about were, of course, the Dragon’s Shadow. A magician would have known the value of a dragon’s corpse. It wasn’t strange that someone had avoided the eyes of the Western Border guards to only dig out the dragon’s eyes.

Arrieta spoke.

“I’ve heard the dragon eyes are sources of powerful magical energy. This is unfortunate.”

“Well, we can do nothing about it. We are fortunate that they weren’t able to get their hands on the heart.”

“I guess so. I heard the heart was entirely ripped apart….”

“It’s possible since it had fought against another dragon.”

“Is that so?”

Arrieta smiled at Azell, who was obviously lying. It was a smile of an accomplice that shared the same secret.

6

Regina was a follower who had a relatively high position in the secret organization called the ‘Dragon’s Shadow. However, she couldn’t be compare to the member that was considered to be the back bone of the organization.

“I see. You failed.”

The woman who spoke held a high position that couldn’t even be compared to Regina.

She had long black hair and dark brown eyes. She looked to be in her late 20s and she was a cold beauty.

She didn’t look like a Dragon Demon. She looked like a pure human, but Regina knew she had changed her original appearance through magic.

She spoke.

“You lost a lot of your comrades.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t really look like you are sorry. For a mere job of kidnapping the Dragon Demon Princess, you mobilized that much manpower yet you failed. Do you have any excuse? There probably won’t be a better opportunity to kidnap her.”

When she thought of the powerful Dragon Demon princess Arietta, she thought it was ridiculous to use the expression ‘mere’.

However, the manpower she had rounded up would have been enough to finish the job. There were 4 Dragon Demon and two high level human mages. It was true that Arrieta was powerful, but if one assessed her power, three of the members deployed could have overpowered her.

Nevertheless, Regina had failed. However, she had an excuse.

“There was an unexpected disrupter.”

Regina gave a detailed report about Azell.

At first, the black haired lady listened apathetically, but her complexion turned serious mid-report when Regina mentioned a certain event.

“Wait. Did you just say Dragon Slayer’s ritual?”

“Yes? Yes, I did.”

“Did that man really say it was the Dragon Slayer’s ritual?”

“I’m sure of it.”

“Can you guarantee it with your life on the line?”

A cold energy assaulted her senses. Her murderous intent made one hard to breath. Regina spoke, while she gulped.

“Yes.”

“This isn’t something we can dismiss.”

The black haired lady mumbled seriously. Regina carefully asked a question.

“May I ask what this Dragon Slayer’s ritual is?”

“You may not.”

“…….”

“It is a level of information you aren’t allowed to know. First, carefully tell me what you had seen and heard. ”

At those words, Regina carefully told her the rest of the story.

Azell had requested the Dragon Slayer’s ritual, and the Earth dragon had accepted. Then they started to fight.

When she went back afterwards, the Earth dragon had already died.

“The Western Border guards were mobilized, so I was only able to bring this.”

Regina brought out two red globes, and it was as big as a small child’s body.

It was the dragon eyes. As Arrieta had guessed, Regina had dug the dragon eyes out, while she avoided detection from the Western Border guards.

The black haired lady held it up in her hands. Then the two dragon eyes started floating into the air.

“There was a person who knew about the Dragon Slayer’s ritual, and he also killed a dragon….”

“I have no idea if that man killed it. It is true that he possessed frightening skills, but it is hard to see him being able to fight one-on-one against a dragon. Moreover, if one considers the storm that occurred there, I think another dragon intruded…”

“That is impossible.”

Regina gave a logical deduction, but the black haired lady flatly denied it. She spoke while she carefully observed the dragon eyes.

“There is no way such an event would have occurred if the Dragon Slayer’s ritual was being held. Moreover, the proof is in the dragon eyes.”

“Yes? How….”

“There isn’t even twenty percent of original magical energy left inside the eyes.”

The eyes of a dragon was a powerful source of magical energy. After the heart, it had the most magical energy within a dragon’s body.

However, Azell had stolen the essence of power from the dead Earth dragon through the Dragon Slayer’s ritual. Therefore, most of the power a dragon’s eyes usually held was mostly gone.

Since Regina had never killed a dragon, she wasn’t aware of this fact. She just assumed the dragon eyes held powerful magical energy. However, the black haired lady immediately saw through to the truth. She spoke.

“You should use this.”

“Yes? But…”

“It is your reward.”

Regina became confused at those words. She had failed in her mission and she had lost valuable manpower. She had thought she would be punished. To minimize it, she had told the lady about Azell and she also gave her the dragon eyes.

Instead, she received a reward?

However, the black haired lady didn’t elaborate any further.

“Hoo hoo. Azell Zestringer.”

For those who worship the Dragon Demon King, it was an unbearably ill-omened name. When they ran across anyone with the name Azell, they killed them all no matter if they were young or old.

“It is a name with a lot of sin. This is interesting. I’ll have to see him at least once.”

The black haired lady wore a cold smile and she started walking into the darkness.