Epic Of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

Chapter 2232: Tin Man

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"And it’s done..." I murmured, closing my eyes. I felt it. Pure power racing through my body.

"No new Divinities or Divine Abilities though," I shrugged. "Maybe if I’d eaten those zombies and the Mutated Espers, I might have gotten something... but they’re all ashes now. So why even bother."

"Great growth! And this time you barely did anything, dear," Andromeda said, appearing by my side.

"I mean, I was guiding everyone, right?" I said. "I even guided little Triton there and Amethyst, and I was watching over everything too! I made the barrier and stopped them from escaping."

"Yes, yes, I recognize your efforts, no need to repeat them," Andromeda giggled, patting my head. She was taller than me, much taller actually.

"With all of this finally over, I believe it’s time to go back to the King and the Queen, tell them what happened, and then quickly depart to Vanaheim. I wish I could stay here, but even a day is precious... I don’t know when it’ll happen, but this world is in peril," Drake said.

"Well, I agree with your remark. It is indeed in peril. Well done, Dragon King. I believe you have earned the title of a Venerable."

"Huh?"

My eyes widened as I felt the same powerful presence I had felt before.

I was completely paralyzed for a moment, as the surroundings seemed to have stopped.

From behind, the figure of a dwarf walked toward me.

He looked like any average dwarf, but he wasn’t.

He had fiery red hair and glowing golden eyes. His skin was slightly tanned, perhaps burnt from being in the forges for so long.

He had a rather serious expression, but he smiled warmly after he saw me.

What the hell?

This wasn’t even the first time. This was the second time he had done this!

I was not going to let him intimidate me anymore.

"Hey, that’s enough."

RUMBLE!

With a single thought, my Venerable Aura erupted, clashing against his own "Presence" and overpowering it, making this time-stop effect finally end. The world around us resumed, but he was still there.

"I see you’ve become stronger than I am now, impressive... I guess there’s no time to waste. You must already know who I am, right?"

"Of course I know, and I was wondering where you were, Onyx Hammer Blacksmith Demon Venerable."

"Hahah..."

The golden-eyed dwarf slowly walked toward me. His size was much smaller than mine, but his power was almost equal to mine.

He wasn’t wrong, which surprised me.

I was stronger than him?!

"I prefer people to call me by my real name, Augustus. I know it’s a simple and normal name, but it was what my mother gave me," the dwarf said, smiling and appearing unassuming after trying to intimidate me all this time.

"You’re sure I can call you by your name? Wouldn’t it be insolent?" I asked.

"What? Why do you care about such dumb manners? We are between Venerables here," laughed the dwarf. "Hah! You’re indeed a dragon if you’re worrying about such worthless things that nobody cares about."

"Hey..." I groaned.

"My bad," he smiled. "I know you’ve got plenty of questions, so before I tell you my intentions, I’ll answer a few. Go ahead."

"How did you revive? And why does nobody in this Kingdom seem aware? You said you were Charlotte’s ancestor?" I asked.

"Indeed, the people who built this Kingdom are my descendants. I can feel it," Augustus said. "I have not told them of my resurrection, however, as I don’t desire to stir further chaos in their Kingdom, nor do I desire praise or worship either. There was an inheritance temple below that I used to revive faster than the rest... well, because I cheated a little."

"What?" I asked.

"I used a... well, I shouldn’t really say this much, but let’s do it so you can trust me more," he said. "I revived myself using Magitech, Dwarven Technology. My soul is here, but this body, although it may seem like that of a dwarf to you, is not. It’s a golem."

"What?!" I was shaken by that revelation. "That’s kind of amazing, but why would you ever want to become a tin man?"

"Tin man?" he laughed. "I like that nickname, gahahahah! Oh well, the reason is quite simple. I had no desire to revive with a completely new body, reincarnating as a child, and simply bringing back my old body was not possible either. With my powers, I could have probably aged my new baby body to maturity like most will probably do, but I had no desire. It’s not that I dislike flesh or blood or that I don’t miss eating. It’s that I simply wanted something stronger that was also the embodiment of all my work and a perfect counter to the Demon of Technomancy’s inheritance, which is in Oberon’s possession."

"I see. You really thought about this then," I nodded. "Hmph, I guess... you’re trustworthy to an extent? I cannot be too sure though. You’re an ancient Venerable, so I cannot fully trust you. I may never be able to, just for my own safety."

"It’s fine," he said. "As long as you’ll listen to me, I’ll make your time worthwhile. As you already know, our world is coming to an end."

"An end? But..." I muttered.

"I know that you think you can save it, and I believe you could, but as things stand, it will end. Oberon will destroy it," Augustus said. "And from its ashes, he will gain the power to traverse the stars and seek the truth of all things."

"So his desire is to destroy the world and fucking escape?" I asked.

"More than just that, but you’ve summed it up pretty well," he nodded. "Partially."

"So you want to join me? Really? I... I thought we would be enemies or something," I said.

"What? Why would I become an enemy of someone stronger than me? Gahahaha! Even less the famous Dragon King and the golden child of Tiamat!" Augustus laughed. "I am not insane, you know?"

"Hah, you don’t know how relieving it is to hear that," I said. "Although I still cannot fully trust that statement, I appreciate it. I was getting tired of fools throwing their lives away by fighting me."

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