Limited Extra Time - Chapter 133

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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—— Page 1 ——

“What… is that…?”

Those who had emerged from Leopold Manor could only gape in astonishment.

Peng and the maidservants, the attendants, Winston, Periel Kalos, and Millaiyen—none were exempt from their shock.

A colossal chasm had torn through the center of the Mountain Range, which had always stood as an immutable fixture of the landscape.

And near the Forbidden Forest, something massive with unfamiliar wings flapped through the sky.

It was a creature so enormous it could be seen from this distance. It descended and ascended in relentless cycles, devouring whatever lay in its path.

And from the sky near the Forbidden Forest, something continued to rain down ceaselessly. Too distant to discern with the naked eye, it was likely the blood of Magical Beasts and creatures.

“How abominable…”

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Millaiyen murmured low. The Forbidden Forest and the Pestellio Dukedom lay at considerable distance from one another. Yet the thick stench of blood carried on the wind reached even here—a distance that would take half a day even at a gallop. For one as sensitive as Millaiyen, it was all the more nauseating. What in the world could that be? A powerful predator, radiating terrible bloodlust and malice—the very source of the dread he had felt. The problem was that there was nothing they could do from here. Siege warfare was impossible against a Magical Beast that flew through the heavens, and aerial combat was beyond wingless humans. Even from this distance, it appeared immense—how much larger would it seem if encountered on the ground? It was beyond human capacity to confront. Periel, who had been quietly observing the colossal shadow, suddenly opened his mouth in shock. “…A dragon…?” “What?” At Periel’s low murmur, Millaiyen’s head snapped around. He still held Carina Leopold cradled in his arms. In such circumstances, he could not leave her alone, nor did he wish to. “A dragon…?” Gasps echoed from those around them. The fact that her drawings could induce unconsciousness was common knowledge within the Duke’s Estate. Knowing it consumed her very life force, they could not help but pay her closer attention. Millaiyen’s face hardened visibly upon hearing this. “Yes. Carina’s drawing wrought a miracle,

Periel’s mouth fell open in surprise. “…Dragon….” “What?” At Periel’s low murmur, Millaiyen’s head snapped around. He was still holding Carina in his arms. He couldn’t leave her alone in this situation, nor did he want to. “Carina… she drew a dragon earlier.”

“A dragon…?” She heard people around her catching their breath. The fact that she caused fainting through her paintings was common knowledge within the Duke’s Estate. Because they knew it was consuming her life, they couldn’t help but pay more attention to Carina. Millaiyen’s face hardened immediately upon hearing the story. “Yes. Carina’s paintings are miracles—”

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and what escaped from it was merely a wisp of light. Unlike with Herta, nothing was born from it.

Then what?

I thought it a misfire, but it drained nearly all of her remaining life force.

Millaiyen’s mouth fell silent at Periel’s words.

The gaping hole at the center of the Mountain Range differed from something deliberately destroyed.

It appeared as though that very spot had been torn away.

Your territory… Did it perhaps contain a dragon’s corpse as well?

Or perhaps something had slumbered for a long time before awakening.

At Periel Kalos’s question, Millaiyen’s face contorted. He had not been born into this land long ago either. If one measured from when the land itself came into being, he would be utterly a child.

In the first place, this land had never belonged to the Empire

from the beginning, so records of its history were scarce.

All that remained were oral legends and folklore passed down through generations.

I know nothing of dragons. Did Carina Leopold create that thing?

It seems more accurate to say she resurrected something that already existed.

…The miracle of art grants the speaker’s wishes, or so they say. If that’s true, then is that also what Carina Leopold desired?

What?

He fixed his gaze upon the forest, from which a terrible stench of blood wafted forth, and asked.

One need not approach closely to understand. That was a massacre. Nothing less than one-sided slaughter.

If she truly created that, it won’t harm us. But Carina Leopold matters more. She is… what is her condition? Is she well?

Millaiyen asked with a contorted face.

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asked.

Since earlier, he had noticed her breathing was extremely faint. Both her heartbeat and respiration were unstable. Her body grew progressively colder, and even after covering her with a blanket, the situation did not improve.

“The miracle she wrought stands before our very eyes. Perhaps this was… her final miracle.”

She had brought forth something far too immense.

She had not created new life from nothing—

Should I feel relief about that?

Periel Kalos buried his face in his palms. He wanted to collapse right there. Everything felt as though it were crumbling to dust.

“I heard Harun wasn’t obtained…”

Even the place where the leader Herta should be was in this state. A dragon that I thought existed only in legends was tearing through the forest.

To face the dragon and kill the leader Herta within that chaos

was nearly impossible.

“…What about killing the dragon? Is there any chance that dragon also possesses Harun?”

“Are you just wrapping up a suicide suggestion in prettier words?”

At Millaiyen’s words, Periel Kalos furrowed his brow deeply in response.

Fight a dragon. The dragon, which existed only in legends, ancient histories, or archaic records, was said to possess immense power.

A single beat of its wings could level mountains,

and a single breath of flame could incinerate half a nation.

These were old records, so considerable exaggeration was likely, yet no dragon had ever been described as weak.

The dragon was a being beyond human reach. There were even records of it being worshipped like a god.

“Then…what am I supposed to do?”

Millaiyen’s face contorted.

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“How can I save her, Periel Kalos?”

He gazed at Periel Kalos while cradling Carina Leopold in his arms.

His voice was plaintive, his expression twisted. It wasn’t anger born of overwhelming emotion, nor was he about to draw his sword.

Periel fell silent, watching the desperate expression on Millaiyen’s face—as though he might collapse to his knees at any moment.

In all the time since they had met, Periel had never once seen Millaiyen wear such an expression.

‘…He truly loves her.’

To love someone, it seemed, was to feel this way—a sentiment so profound that one would surrender everything, cast aside even one’s own pride without hesitation, if only to protect that person.

Periel gazed silently at Millaiyen.

“I’ll find a way.”

“Master! The dra—no, the abomination is heading this way…!”

Peng, who had been watching from above the manor, rushed down urgently to inform Millaiyen.

At Peng’s words, Millaiyen’s head snapped up. Just as Peng had said, something was hurtling toward Pestellio Territory at tremendous speed.

It was a distance that would take several hours even on horseback.

Yet the gap between them closed with each passing moment. Millaiyen handed the woman he had been cradling to Periel.

“Protect her. If you do anything foolish, I’ll kill you.”

“You?”

He drew his sword without a word.

Screams began to echo from various corners of the territory. Millaiyen exhaled sharply, his brow furrowed.

He turned his gaze. The Knight he locked eyes with trembled in terror.

“Go tell the soldiers not to open the city gates and send all the residents back to their homes—”

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“Send it back.”

“Yes, understood!”

No matter how many battles I had fought against Magical Beasts throughout my life, dragons were different.

Where in the Territory could anyone be who hadn’t heard that roar? It was a warning cry meant to provoke and suppress the opponent.

There was no way to overcome the surging terror.

This was the primal and instinctive emotion that prey felt before a predator—something everyone possessed from birth.

It was a fundamental and instinctive emotion that I had.

Whoooosh—

The leisurely flapping of wings was menacing.

Millaiyen laughed bitterly. How could I, holding merely a single sword, appear so powerless and pathetic? I had never once thought that I couldn’t overcome something to this degree.

‘…But if Haron were here.’

There would be nothing I couldn’t dare to challenge.

This primal fear was not something that couldn’t be overcome.

The dragon crossed the Territory in an instant. It flew straight toward the Duke’s Estate, circling above the manor twice.

Then it descended, trampling the Leopold Manor’s garden beneath it.

The dragon’s tail, resembling that of a long lizard, easily shattered the gate.

The talons raised for landing scraped against trees and ground, and the breath that rushed forth turned the carefully tended garden into chaos.

The roof and floor were scraped, and the breath that blew in turned the well-maintained Garden into complete chaos.

Flesh still clung to its jaws, and blood dripped steadily to the ground. It was a grotesque and terrifying sight.

The dragon lowered its neck and narrowed its eyes.

―Ah, is this the master who breathed life into me?

Ajidahaka narrowed his eyes and brought his head close to Periel Kalos.

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He pushed back.

Periel Kalos tensed as the massive creature’s face drew within arm’s reach of him.

“…Ancient tongue?”

Ajidahaka’s eyes widened slightly at Periel Kalos’s murmur. He hummed low, seeming somewhat perplexed, then tilted his head.

-Could the language system have changed in the interim?

-…The foundation of the language remains the same, though it has become simpler and more systematic.

Periel Kalos answered slowly.

He was not entirely unfamiliar with it, though the ancient tongue was not something he knew fluently.

It had been a mandatory liberal arts course at the Academy, but the ancient tongue was necessary when reading aged manuscripts—so Periel Kalos had grown accustomed to it.

Particularly, many old texts were written in the ancient tongue. Even nobility typically learned it.

-Ah, fortunate indeed that someone understands my words.

Ajidahaka spoke with evident satisfaction. Millaiyen Pestellio, listening from beside them, stepped in front of Periel Kalos. His hand gripped his sword as his brow furrowed.

-If you have no business here, leave.

The ancient tongue flowed from between Millaiyen Pestellio’s lips.

-So this was the master’s wish. You need not worry. I swear I shall do nothing within your domain, human.

Ajidahaka spoke.

Beneath the wish to slay magical beasts lay the desire to protect this man.

It was the wish of the one who had brought him back to life.

It is the wish of the one who saved his life.

What needed to be protected had to be protected.

-…Did you kill the Magical Beasts in the Forbidden Forest?

-Yes, I’ve dealt with all the ‘Beasts of the Forest’ for now. Though they’ll only be reborn

eventually anyway.

Ajidahaka spoke with meaningful weight.

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Millaiyen’s brow furrowed. He ran a frustrated hand through his disheveled hair, then released a low sigh.

If he killed all the Magical Beasts, he couldn’t save Haron.

Faced with that undeniable truth, Millaiyen clenched his fists tightly.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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