The Dragon Slayer Who Regressed After 1,000 Years - Chapter 20

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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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Dragon Slayer Returned After a Thousand Years — Episode 020
Cain descended Red Salt Mountain in haste.
His accomplishments were not yet sufficient to withstand Ignition’s wrath.
‘If I had my way, I’d settle this right here and now.’
But he knew the truth: engage her now, and revenge would crumble to dust before it had even begun.
Ignition was an Ancient Dragon who had lived for six thousand years.
At Aura level six, Cain could not hope to match her.
‘At least I have time to escape. That much is fortunate.’
Before the Regression, he’d witnessed firsthand how fierce a mother’s love could burn in her.
He knew how foggy reason became when maternal instinct consumed all thought.
‘Even now, she won’t think to Teleport. How ironic.’
Amusing or not, he had to put as much distance between himself and her arrival as possible.
[Prophet, sir. Does this mean Ignition is coming?]
“Yes. Parent and child are connected by Link—it’s how she’ll find me.”
[A Link between parent and child…….]
Something strange colored Bernatus’s tone.
It was a lonely resignation—the melancholy of one who had never known such a thing.
Whether or not he dwelled on it, Cain quickened his pace.
Ignition must have already sensed her son’s death.
‘I managed to trap Camiloas by using Belacorss, but Ignition will be far harder.’
It’s not only Lord I must reckon with.
I owe Ignition a debt of blood as well.
Before the Regression, it was Ignition—the Red Dragon herself—who burned the Asel Kingdom on Lord’s command.
She had told him so with her own voice.
‘If I’m to take revenge, I’ll do it with proper preparation.’
And so it begins with her son—Camiloas.
‘When I lost my mother, I felt a pain beyond measure. You will taste that same agony.’
Not pain alone, though.
I mean to use him thoroughly.
Which is why I’ve arranged a gift within his corpse.
‘We’ll see if events unfold as I’ve foreseen.’

* * *
Not long after Cain departed,
a great red dragon appeared in the sky above Red Salt Mountain with a flutter of wings.
The dragon circled, her eyes scanning the terrain below.
Ignition’s pupils dilated the moment she spotted him.
It was Camiloas, sprawled motionless at the mountain’s base.
[Oh—my little one!]
She plummeted like an arrow, slamming into the earth with a thunderous crack.
Her enormous body skidded across the ground, but she had no mind for such things now.
[Baby! Camiloas! Camiloas!!]
Before her bleeding son, Ignition’s mind shattered into panic.
[What happened? The blood—there’s so much…….]
The red stone of Red Salt Mountain had grown darker still, soaked through.
Camiloas lay motionless, his amber eyes staring through empty space without focus.
[Camiloas…… what’s happened to you…… stay with me. Wake up, wake up…….]
Ignition’s hands shook her son in desperate frenzy, then froze.
Her gaze fixed on a single point.
His chest cavity gaped open, the flesh within torn to ragged shreds.
The space where his heart should have been was empty—and in that moment, knowing it could never simply vanish,
[Noooooo――!!]
Ignition’s rage shook all of Red Salt Mountain.
[I will end them! Whoever did this, I will find them and tear the living heart from their chest! I will shred them—shred them to nothing――!!]
Red Salt Mountain erupted into flame.
Fire poured from Ignition’s breath, consuming the trees around her.
Within that inferno, she held her son’s gaze.
Her eyes were infinitely sad.
[Who did this to you…… who could do this to my child…….]
She fought to master her ragged breathing, struggling to contain her fury.
To take revenge, I must first identify who did this.
Ignition examined Camiloas’s body.
She noticed wounds she hadn’t seen before.
‘There are small lacerations scattered across his face and body.’
A dragon’s scales are harder than anything else.
Even the Aura of humans, which cuts through stone effortlessly, cannot pierce them unless wielded by an Ancient Dragon.
‘He’s only Adult-Stage. He should be able to deflect most attacks, yet these wounds….’
And these marks—they actually carved through a dragon’s scales?
How could such a thing be possible?
Then Ignition’s gaze fixed on his head.
There was a wound on the back of his skull, as if something had pierced it.
‘It wasn’t stabbed through the chest first?’
If they had carved out his chest and removed his heart, there would be no reason to stab his head.
He’d already be dead.
‘Stab the head first… and then remove the heart….’
Heave—
Ignition suppressed the nausea rising in her throat and gazed down at her child’s corpse.
With tender, sorrowful eyes.
‘I swear… I will find the culprit and have my revenge. Until then… rest easy, my son.’
As she stared, something glimmering suddenly caught her eye.
Within the wound on her son’s head.
‘What is that?’
Ignition peered into the wound.
What appeared to be a sword’s hilt was embedded deep within her son’s skull.
With careful application of magical power, she drew it out.
The object that floated in the air before her was a sword.
A weapon used by humans.
‘Wretched humans, lower than insects…!’
Fresh fury toward humans surged to the crown of her head.
That anger extended to her followers.
The human sacrifices they’d brought her, the glittering jewels and treasures—all of it suddenly felt repugnant.
She was revolted by herself for ever accepting such things and finding them pleasing.
The thought came to her that all humans deserved to die.
But reason soon reasserted itself.
She needed to find out which human had done this.
‘Wait. This crest….’
Upon closer inspection, a distinctive symbol was engraved on the sword’s hilt.
‘Antonio House?’
Having long maintained relations with humans, she was well versed in the Eight Great Houses.
She knew their symbols well.
‘I’m certain. This is the crest of Antonio House from the Bellion Kingdom.’
With a memory that never forgot what it once beheld, Ignition fixed her fury on a target.
Antonio House.

* * *
Alton was troubled.
He had discreetly sent word and summoned the leaders of the houses, excluding Antonio.
“You’ve all heard the news, I’m sure—that Belacorss has gone to see Camiloas.”
Alton continued with a grave expression.
“It seems he’s gone to settle the matter of the dukedom being set aflame, but if things go wrong, a serious confrontation could break out.”
“You’re right. We must intervene.”
“And how do you propose we stop such great ones?”
“Then? Are you saying we should simply sit and watch? Shouldn’t we at least make an effort to dissuade them?”
“This is not a matter for us to meddle in.”
“Agreed. All we can do is observe, as if watching a fire from afar.”
Opinions were divided.
Alton kept silent and listened to the debate.
Good ideas often came to him when he let others speak.
But the heat of the argument showed no sign of cooling.
Those who favored intervention stood against those who favored observation, deadlocked.
Bang! Bang!
Alton struck the table and stepped in to mediate.
“This chamber was not meant for quarreling. I’ve sent men to Red Salt Mountain to observe the situation. Let us wait and see what unfolds.”
“Hmm… that would be best.”
“We shall defer to your judgment, Duke Drake.”
Alton exhaled quietly.
He always had to be the one to step in and restore order.
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
“My apologies for the intrusion.”
A subordinate burst through the door in haste.
“What is it?”
“We’ve received word from the scouts sent to Red Salt Mountain… They’ve found a body.”
“A body?”
“It appears to be the body of Camiloas.”
Everyone drew in a sharp breath.
Silence fell over the chamber like a shroud.
“Understood. You’re dismissed.”
Once the subordinate had left, the lords finally found their voices.
“This is… madness!”
“Camiloas… is gone!”
“It cannot be…”
Shock and lamentation mingled in the air.
“Surely Belacorss was behind this! A reprisal for the burning of his domain!”
“That must be it! Belacorss is particularly possessive of his territory, after all…”
“I’ve heard the Black Dragon Clan is ruthless, but to exact such vengeance…”
Though Alton maintained an outward composure, inwardly he could not hide his alarm.
‘An Adult-Stage dragon, dead…’
Though Camiloas was not the kingdom’s premier dragon, Alton had maintained a relationship with him nonetheless.
He had offered him no small number of human tributes and gifts of fealty.
‘But if Camiloas is truly dead…’
Whose fury would be kindled was as clear as the rising sun.
He knew the bond between Camiloas and Ignition all too well.
“That is not the pressing issue here.”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean, Duke Drake?”
“Is there a problem greater than this?”
Alton had just opened his mouth to voice his concern when—
“My lord!”
The same subordinate who had just left burst back through the door without so much as a knock.
“A crisis! A Red Dragon has been sighted above Bellion Kingdom!”
“A Red Dragon…?”
Alton’s dread had become reality.

* * *
Each dragon had its preferred lair.
The Green Dragon Clan favored dense forests.
The Blue Dragon Clan preferred deep oceans or deserts.
The Red Dragon Clan preferred Red Salt Mountain and volcanic regions.
The Black Dragon Clan favored swamplands.
Belacorss’s lair was no exception.
[Not bad at all.]
Belacorss gazed upon his treasure chamber, now swollen to twice its former size, and allowed himself a satisfied smile.
A twinge of guilt stirred within him—after all, the wealth he’d seized belonged to another—but it soon faded.
[Arrogant whelp. Why provoke me in the first place?]
He muttered this to himself, pushing the guilt deeper down.
[Ignition raised the brat poorly. I’ve always said you can’t just indulge them at every turn.]
He too had offspring, though he hadn’t laid eyes on them in over five hundred years.
[I mustn’t let the mortals know about this hoard.]
If his followers learned of this gain, they might send fewer tributes.
[I’ll have to wring compensation from the duchy for my burned domain.]
Treasure is always best in abundance.
As he gazed contentedly at the hoard, the Crystal Orb in his Lair flared with light.
[I was about to reach out anyway. Perfect timing.]
Pouring his magical essence into the Magical Tool his human followers had prepared, he established the connection.
—Belacorss. It seems you should make for the kingdom at once.
[What’s happened?]
—A Red Dragon has… appeared in the sky above the city.
[What?]
Who could it be?
Had Camiloas come to apologize?
Belacorss acknowledged the message and severed the connection.
Whoever it was, the fact that they’d invaded his domain uninvited gave him ample reason to drive them out.
Whoom!
Rising from his Lair, he unfurled his massive wings and soared toward the skies above Bellion.
Far in the distance, a single scarlet dragon hung suspended in the air.
One thing was certain: it wasn’t Camiloas.
The creature was nearly his own size.
[I’ll kill them all.]
[Ignition?]
Only as he drew nearer did he recognize her, though her muttering made her seem almost unhinged.
[What are you doing here, Ignition?]
[Belacorss…….]
Ignition’s hollow gaze fixed upon him.
[My son is dead.]
[……What?]
[The Antonio House killed him.]
[…….]
Belacorss fell silent.
Rather, words failed him.
Truth be told, he was stunned.
‘That… that one… is dead?’
[Why do you react that way?]
Ignition’s eyes narrowed.
[Could it be… you killed him?]
In that moment, Belacorss understood.
That Ignition suspected him.

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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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