The Dragon Slayer Who Regressed After 1,000 Years - Chapter 23

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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 1000 Years — Chapter 23
Dragons instinctively master Magic.
They learn to draw in mana through their breath alone, refining it, and stack pure mana without impurities into their Dragon Heart layer upon layer.
Before they shed their Hatchling form, they have already forged nine rings within their hearts.
This was why dragons were called the originators of Magic.
Humans, even spending their entire lives, struggle to reach the realm of the 9th Circle—yet dragons are born there.
For this reason, Ignision suspected the culprit to be a dragon.
‘Mental Domination is 9th Circle Magic. Humans cannot have cast it.’
Of course, among humans there existed Magisters of the 9th Circle.
Magisters prided themselves among their own kind, but to a dragon they were nothing remarkable.
One does not marvel when a child takes its first steps, after all.
‘Magisters are exceedingly rare. I’ve heard only two have ever reached that height.’
One locked himself away in the Magic Tower, severing ties with the world; the other is a dark mage who turned the entire continent into his enemy.
Either way, neither had reason to be involved in this.
So he could only suspect his own kind.
‘I must go and learn more details.’
Ignision hoisted the unconscious Antonio onto his back and took flight into the sky.
Upon arriving at the Lair, he set him down and examined him once more, carefully.
‘I’m certain. Traces of Mental Domination remain.’
When magical power is exerted, it leaves marks upon the target’s body like scars.
Ignision could not possibly have failed to recognize the residue of Mental Domination.
‘Someone manipulated him. That’s why his memory is gone.’
He analyzed further, but could not determine who the culprit was.
While it was likely the work of one of his own kind, the Lich King too had reached the 9th Circle.
It was still too early to conclude that the perpetrator was a dragon.
‘Then….’
Ignision infused magical power and roused Antonio from sleep.
“Gasp….”
[Awaken, human. I am called Ignision. So you are the head of House Antonio.]
The moment Lorenzo caught the icy edge in that voice and realized before whom he stood, he froze entirely.
“A, a drag—”
Thud!
Lorenzo’s legs gave out beneath him, and he prostrated himself flat on the ground.
He did not have the courage to meet those orange eyes directly.
[Raise your head.]
Lorenzo lifted his head with difficulty.
But his gaze remained lowered.
[Look into my eyes.]
He forced his eyes upward with great effort.
The moment his gaze met those burning eyes like flames, he felt the illusion of his entire consciousness draining away into an abyss.
[From now on, you are my slave. You shall obey whatever I command. Do you understand.]
“Yes.”
As if he had never trembled at all, Lorenzo now stared into empty space with vacant pupils.

* * *
Between a dragon and its offspring exists something that transcends mere kinship.
Among dragons, it is called the Link.
A bond that cannot be severed—sensing each other’s life and death regardless of distance.
[The Link with my predecessor has been broken.]
Nerkasion felt it.
The death of Bellacors.
There was no other reason for a Link to break.
Yet his voice remained unmoved.
[At last, our moment has come.]
Rather than grieve, he saw his father’s death as opportunity.
[Follow me.]
[Let us follow!]
[Follow Nerkasion!]
The horde of Black Dragons led by Nerkasion cried out with thunderous voices.

* * *
Dragons are the enemies of mankind.
They speak, they reason, and yet for that very intelligence, they treat humans like dogs and regard them as insects beneath their feet.
So men gnashed their teeth at the very name of dragon.
Some dismissed them outright as monsters to be destroyed.
The Bellion Kingdom was no exception.
“Lord Russiwood.”
Russiwood, commander of the Bellion Knight Order, knelt on one knee.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I hear there have been unusual stirrings beyond the Eastern Mountains of late. You are aware of this?”
“The Eastern Mountains, sir? Isn’t that where the Dragons’ Lair is presumed to be located?”
“Precisely. From what I gather, the Black Dragons have gathered there and are fighting over territory. The nearby villages have suffered damage, and their people are gripped with fear.”
…….
Russiwood sensed it immediately.
Where the king was heading with this.
“I would have you put a stop to it.”
“You are ordering a dragon culling, Sire?”
“I am. Surely your knight order is more than capable of driving them out. Is this not the moment to demonstrate Bellion’s strength?”
“With respect, Your Majesty—if the dragons are truly locked in territorial dispute as reported, that place is already a living hell. I’m not certain that our intervention will—”
“I have faith you will manage it.”
The king cut him off sharply, and Russiwood found he had no choice but to yield.
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
Russiwood withdrew obediently, his lips drawn tight.
He took pride in his station as commander of the Bellion Knights, but that did not mean he would indulge every whim of a capricious king.
He obeyed only because it was a royal command.
When he returned to the knight order’s quarters, Leonan, his second-in-command, approached him.
“Commander? I heard you were meeting with His Majesty, but you look troubled. Has something untoward happened?”
“Untoward? I’ve heard some absolute bullshit.”
Leonan started at this.
“Sir, mind your tongue! Someone might overhear.”
“Someone is overhearing. You.”
Russiwood collapsed into a chair without ceremony and let out a weary sigh.
“What in the name of gods could he have said to upset you so?”
“He wants us to hunt dragons.”
“What? Didn’t our last culling end in failure? And now he wants another?”
“It’s not just one this time. And this isn’t about a previous operation either.”
“Then what—”
Bang!
Russiwood suddenly slammed the table.
“Damn the man! He thinks only of accolades, of climbing higher. He treats dragons like common monsters, for gods’ sake.”
“Explain it to me clearly, if you please. What exactly has happened?”
From Russiwood’s lips poured out the nonsense he’d just heard from the throne room.
As Leonan listened, his eyes grew wider and wider.
“Is that true? He means to throw us into that inferno?”
“Apparently so.”
“But surely His Majesty remembers the last culling? We failed, time and again. And now he wants to send us where there are not one but several dragons?”
“That’s exactly what I’ve been saying—our king cares only for glory and nothing for the facts.”
The Bellion Knight Order was not without experience in dragon hunts.
With four Sword Masters among them, including the commander and his lieutenant, they were more than capable of bringing down a beast.
But their results had grown thin of late.
Bad intelligence, or dragons fled before arrival—nothing but wasted efforts, one after another.
It had been years since they’d actually slain a dragon.
“This time, too, the information might be false. The villagers do so enjoy embellishing their tales, don’t they?”
“That’s true. And if we waste our efforts again, what’s the point of the march?”
“But even if it’s real, we’re in trouble. You need five Sword Masters per dragon, and they say there are several.”
“This might be our last mission on earth.”
“Damn it all, that won’t do. I’m not about to make my wife a widow. I should march back and lodge a protest right now—”
“Please, sir! Will a protest change anything? You know what kind of man His Majesty is. You’ll only earn his displeasure.”
Tch……
Russiwood settled back into his chair with an air of resignation.
While Leonan heaved sigh after sigh, he quietly shifted his position.
In a secluded spot, he pressed his hand against the Crystal Orb in his breast, and the connection was established.
“I am listening.”
―Speak.
“Just now, the King of Bellion issued a command. He’s ordered the subjugation of the dragons in the Eastern Mountains, and I believe an expeditionary force will be assembled and dispatched soon.”
―Understood. Keep watch on the situation, as circumstances may change.
“Yes.”

* * *
Word reached Alton’s ears as well.
The Bellion Knight Order was preparing to sortie against the dragons.
“A subjugation…… Ha.”
For Alton, who knew the dragons dwelling in the Eastern Mountains, an empty laugh was the only response.
“You’re in no position to make such a move, King of Bellion.”
The Eastern Mountains, Bellion’s domain, are the territory of the Black Dragons.
Not one, but twelve of them gather there—a region that can never be subjugated.
‘To send out a subjugation force without even knowing such a thing… the man has lost his mind.’
So he’d been blinded by the prospect of glory—it was true after all.
He was said to be on good terms with the newly ascended King Asel, but could he truly be a puppet dancing to an enemy nation’s tune?
‘Whatever the case, the dragons will face no threat.’
The real problem was the vacancy left by Bellacors.
The Black Dragons were vying for dominance over that very position.
Without a leader established, the followers wouldn’t know whom to obey.
‘Even if I speak to Ignision, he’s unlikely to offer aid…….’
Should he reach out to another Elder Dragon?
Alton continued turning the matter over in his mind.
How to resolve this crisis.

* * *
“Cain!”
Meeting Cain at their designated spot, Jake could only stare at him with bewilderment.
“What’s with that look? Did you roll around on the way here or something? You’re covered in dirt.”
“Well, it was an accident.”
In truth, it was dragon’s blood that had faded, but he offered an adequate excuse.
After all, he couldn’t tell the truth.
“Did you buy the medicinal materials?”
“Yeah. I got everything you asked for, but…….”
Jake’s gaze drifted toward the sword and Cloak that Cain had brought.
“What are those? Where did you get them?”
“I saw something nice on the way and picked them up.”
“Where on earth have you been?”
“That’s a secret. It’s late—let’s get back quickly.”
Jake watched Cain hurry into the carriage with a look that said he couldn’t stop him even if he tried.

* * *
The day after returning to the royal palace.
Jake came running with an excited expression.
“Bellion?”
“That’s what I’m telling you?”
At the unexpected news, Cain questioned him again with skeptical eyes.
It was too startling an announcement to take at face value.
“You didn’t mishear?”
“No, really. I was passing in front of the palace gates and overheard soldiers talking about it—Bellion is going to launch a subjugation of the dragons in the Eastern Mountains.”
“That’s going to be chaos.”
“Exactly! We were just there not long ago. We could have been in serious trouble.”
Jake exhaled in relief, but Cain was smiling instead.
‘Just as I anticipated.’
In truth, he had foreseen this to some degree.
‘With the Black Dragons’ hunger for a leader, they won’t let this opportunity slip away.’
The Black Dragons would never let Bellacors’ vacant position remain unfilled.
They were a clan that needed nothing less than a victor determined—whether by combat or death.
But he hadn’t anticipated that the King of Bellion would march out to suppress them.
‘No matter how hungry for subjugation he is, he’d really enter that place?’
The situation was dangerous, certainly.
The Eastern Mountains would be a war zone like no other.
‘But I can’t let slip a chance to claim a heart for nothing.’
With the thought taking shape, Cain quickened his pace.
Toward the king’s study, nothing less.
He couldn’t have simply walked in like this, had he not been of royal blood.
“Cain. What brings you here?”
“I have a proposal, Your Highness.”
“What is it?”
“You’ve heard of the Bellion Kingdom’s dragon subjugation, haven’t you?”
“Ah, yes—I’ve heard the news myself. Why do you ask?”
Cain met the king’s gaze squarely.
“I wish to take part in that subjugation.”
“……What?”
The study fell silent.
The smile vanished from Adriel’s face.

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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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