The Dragon Slayer Who Regressed After 1,000 Years - Chapter 9

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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 009: A Thousand Years’ Return
Consuming a Dragon Heart grants strength.
Cain learned this fact nine hundred and forty years ago, the first time he succeeded in hunting a dragon alone.
Back when he was swallowed whole instead of merely hunted.
Protected by Mana wreathing his body, Cain avoided dissolving in the creature’s gastric juices—and tore his way out from within.
In the process, he accidentally drank the blood of the Dragon Heart as it burst, and felt an enormous surge in Mana.
‘And so I learned: consume a Dragon Heart, and you grow stronger.’
He had to hunt as many dragons as possible and consume their hearts.
Only then could he grow faster than in his previous life.
That was why he had insisted on accompanying the Subjugation Force in the first place.
To kill the dragon and monopolize its heart.
But there was another reason as well.
‘There’s a chance this dragon might be holding a Relic. Slim odds, but possible.’
As for Relics in this era—he knew where some were, but there were gaps in his knowledge.
So before he killed the dragon, he would search the Treasure Vault first.
‘The odds Lord would trust a Relic to a dragon barely seven hundred years old are low… but better to check.’
Dragons loved treasure.
Most kept it stored deep within their Lairs.
Descending into the darkest reaches, Cain focused his Aura toward his eyes.
Not quite daylight, but the shapes of things became visible enough.
‘It would be easier to brighten my vision with Magic, but if I did, the dragon might notice.’
But as he advanced, reading the future through his Seer’s Eye—
‘Look at this one. The bastard set traps.’
Just a few steps ahead, he saw a future where he plummeted downward.
Cain lightly vaulted over the pit.
But there was not just one trap.
Dozens of them revealed themselves through his Seer’s Eye—placed to guard the Treasure Vault.
‘Younger dragons are all the same.’
Wary of humans who might stumble upon them, they cluttered the vault entrance with crude snares.
Dragons over twelve hundred years old, like Bernadus, grew bored and stopped bothering; but at seven hundred, this one still had the energy for it.
‘Is this the way?’
After dodging every trap using his Foresight Ability, he finally reached the Treasure Vault.
Jewels and precious metals lay heaped like mountains before his eyes.
‘In another life, I’d take it all, but there’s no time for that.’
Though treasure lay scattered about, nothing caught his eye as particularly valuable.
‘No Relic here.’
Just as he suspected—the young dragon wasn’t trusted with one.
‘I’ve come this far; I should take something.’
He surveyed the vault carefully for anything useful when something snagged his attention.
‘This… is a Mana Amplification Necklace?’
He could tell from the enchantment alone what adorned the chain.
‘With this, I could channel a 4-Circle spell with the force of a 5-Circle incantation.’
Worth hundreds of millions of Gold on the open market.
He fastened it around his neck immediately.
With this alone, the trip was worthwhile.
‘Time to go.’
Time to kill the dragon.

* * *
“Phew, cough-cough…”
Walter spat out the dirt filling his mouth, cracking his eyes open in slits.
He remembered being seized by the Great Sandworm and dragged underground.
But where here was, he had no idea.
‘Am I alive?’
His body ached, but he could move.
He wasn’t bound to the Sandworm either.
‘Where am I? What is this place?’
He brushed the dirt away and stood, but all that greeted him was absolute darkness.
There was only something like a silhouette.
‘What is that?’
When Cain focused his Aura on his field of vision, the silhouette began to sharpen.
And it was.
‘Gasp!’
Enough to make Walter’s blood run cold.
‘A, a dragon?’
A creature the size of a house stood mere inches before him.
Even on dragon-hunting expeditions, he’d only ever been assigned regional reconnaissance—never this close, never like this.
[So you’ve awakened, human.]
A pair of silver eyes larger than a man’s head fixed upon Walter.
Though he hadn’t been struck by Petrification Magic, his body had turned rigid, refusing to obey.
[I have been waiting for you to wake.]
“I, I’m sorry—why are you—?”
[Why have I been waiting, you ask?]
When the dragon smiled, pointed teeth like pillars came into view.
[Humans taste far better alive, you see. Hehehehehehe!]
“Ah….”
No weapon. No armor.
He’d come on reconnaissance with nothing but his bare hands, and now he was going to die like a dog.
That’s what Walter thought.
Until someone appeared like a savior.
“There you are.”
“C, Cain?”
Shock froze him solid.
‘Did he… come to rescue me?’
Walter’s pupils trembled with confusion.

* * *
Walter wasn’t the only one shocked.
‘What? That human?’
The Blue Dragon’s eyes rolled toward the new prey that had so brazenly entered.
To dare stride into his Lair with such confidence.
But there was something that caught his eye far more than that.
‘That… is that my necklace?’
The Blue Dragon’s eyes went wide.
Though he’d piled treasures high as mountains, he remembered each one.
That was unmistakably his own possession.
‘Damn you, wretched human…!!!’
Not content to simply break in—the creature had stolen treasure too!
He’d eat that one first instead of the human he’d caught earlier.
He’d tear the limbs from its body one by one, savoring the screams as seasoning!
But the Blue Dragon found himself unable to act on these thoughts.
For he had caught sight of the spirit hovering beside the human.
[Do you know who I am?]
[Gasp!]
The Blue Dragon started at having his true nature pierced.
He could not fail to recognize the kinship resonating in that voice.
[A, a dragon…?]
[Yes. I am Bernadus of the Green Clan. I have lived 1,231 years this age. How old are you?]
In dragon society, deference to the elder is absolute.
That is why the eldest dragon becomes the Lord of the Clan.
[I, I have lived 701 years this age.]
[Then why do you still hold your head so high?]
At the disapproving tone, the Blue Dragon flinched and lowered his head sharply.
[I, I beg your pardon! My apologies for the late greeting! I am Aoleios of the Blue Clan!]
[Not to recognize one’s elder, and only now to show respect. Is this how all of the Blue Clan conduct themselves?]
[I, I am most deeply sorry.]
Bernadus, who had been regarding the stammering Aoleios with clear displeasure, spoke with solemn authority.
[I have a question for you. Do you know anything of the ancient Relics?]
Aoleios blinked his eyes.
Why would he suddenly ask about Relics?
“I don’t know the details.”
“Has Lord ever given you a Relic?”
“Arcadion? I’ve never even met him. As for Relics, I’ve only heard rumors—I’ve never actually seen one.”
“What rumors did you hear?”
“That it’s an ancient Relic possessed of mysterious power. I was told it’s the key to preventing the Dragon Race Extinction, and that it must be guarded at all costs.”
“What about the Relic’s location? Who possesses it now? Do you have any such information?”
“Ah… I’m afraid I don’t…”
Aoleios trailed off uncertainly, and Bernadus sighed.
“Well, I suppose I can’t blame you for knowing nothing. Very well.”
“I apologize… though…”
His gaze flickered.
Aoleios’s eyes drifted toward the human who had stolen the necklace.
“Who is this human? Why do you travel with him? Ah—is he a slave? A human slave in your service, Bernadus?”
“Insolence!”
Aoleios flinched at the outburst, blinking in bewilderment.
“What do you mean…?”
“Do you not know who this is?”
Who?
A mere morsel of prey—and yet a dragon of their noble race addressing him with such reverence?
It made no sense, but Aoleios asked anyway.
“Who…?”
“The Seer himself—he who will save our race from extinction!”
“The… Seer?”
It was an old tale, passed down since time immemorial.
Overwhelming strength, ancient magic, lifespans that bordered on immortality.
The Dragon Race, born with everything, came to regard themselves as gods.
The Celestial Gods, witnessing such hubris, gazed down upon the earth and spoke thus:
The Dragon Race would not endure. Their extinction was written in fate.
Yet, moved by pity, a Seer would appear in this land to deliver them from ruin,
and for this savior, they must willingly offer forth the Relic.
That prophecy, preserved across countless millennia, had spread to every dragon.
Not a single dragon—save perhaps a Hatchling—was ignorant of it.
‘This human… could he truly be that Seer?’
A sharp rebuke cut through Aoleios’s wide-eyed stare.
“Show proper respect at once! What are you doing?!”
“A-ah… I’m terribly sorry! Seer!”
Aoleios bowed his head toward Cain.
In doing so, he missed the satisfied smile playing at Cain’s lips.
‘Well done, Bernadus. You perform assigned tasks admirably.’
Cain had revealed himself openly before Aoleios, yet felt no fear.
Dragons were bound by strict hierarchy; they would not easily transgress against those above them.
Least of all if the name “Seer” was invoked.
‘Most dragons know of the catastrophe foretold. They have no choice but to revere the Seer.’
Yet he was no Seer.
He was merely one human who despised dragons.
‘This Blue dragon is no exception.’
The creature had devoured humans.
It had laid waste to five villages and slain knights besides.
Leaving behind only a child’s single shoe.
If left alive, it would continue to sow destruction.
‘I had Bernadus extract information, but the worm seems to know nothing of value.’
It would be best to end it here.
Of course, slaying a dragon was no simple task.
Only a Sword Master could manifest the Aura Blade.
Without it, piercing a dragon’s hide was nearly impossible.
‘Yet there are other ways.’
Cain’s lips curved upward as he approached the dragon.
“Your name is Aoleios, then?”
“Yes? Yes, Seer.”
“For a dragon of seven hundred and one years, you seem to have forgotten your manners.”
Huh…?
Cain spoke to the bewildered creature.
“How dare you meet my eyes. When did I ever permit you to look at me?”
Ah… I… I apologize.
Aoleios, chastened, squeezed his eyes shut.
Yet his mind churned with confusion.
Never before had he bowed his head to a human, never heard himself rebuked like this.
But an elder named Bernadus stood beside him, and he had spoken the word Seer himself….
Ignorant as he was, Aoleios had no choice but to follow the mood that swept over him.
It was a fatal mistake.
Because Cain drew closer to the back of Aoleios’s neck.
‘A weakness left so unguarded.’
This was when being a Seer proved useful.
Shing—
Even as he unsheathed his blade, the creature stayed still, eyes closed, offering no resistance.
‘One stroke. That’s all it will take.’
A dragon’s hide is ordinarily thick, yet not all of it is equally so.
There are always places where the scales run thin.
And a dragon of only seven centuries? Such a creature would be underdeveloped.
‘Die.’
Cain wrapped his blade in Aura.
He drew forth mana and suffused it with flame.
To incinerate the wound from within.
The fusion of Aura and Magic.
A power only the world’s sole Sword Mage could wield.
Thud!
He drove the sword to the hilt.
Only at such depth could he sever the spine and burn the nerves to ash.
Nnnnggaaahhh!
Sudden agony erupted from the back of his neck, and Aoleios’s eyes snapped wide open.
Struck at his most vulnerable point while utterly defenseless, he could not gather his wits.
Rraaahhh, roooaaahhh!
His death throes shocked even Bernadus, watching from the side.
He had pressed Aoleios as ordered, yet he’d never imagined the Seer meant to kill him.
S-Seer? Why on earth…?
“That one would prove an obstacle to my plans ahead. So he is being removed.”
Cain spoke softly, then his voice turned cold once more.
“Finish him yourself, Bernadus.”
Bernadus gazed mournfully at Aoleios, his spine broken but breath still clinging to him.
…….
A brief silence fell.
Bernadus’s mana crashed down upon Aoleios’s wound.
Craaaaaahhhhh!
The wound tore open, and blue blood cascaded down like a waterfall.
Cain stood motionless as the spray spattered across his hair, indifferent.
Thump.
The thrashing ceased moments later.
A seven-hundred-year-old dragon, dead by the hand of a single human.
Dead by the hand of a 2-Star Knight who had not even mastered the Aura Blade.

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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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