The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 79

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

Our Neighborhood’s Strongest (79)
In that instant, Emperor Soc Tramus’s face flushed crimson with rage.
The opponent was nothing more than a young dragon haggling against a single Sword Master.
“If you, a dragon, truly intend to kill me, then you too must stake your life on it.”
-My life? I don’t understand what gives you such confidence in that delusion. Shall we test whether I actually need to stake my life to kill you?
“By all means. If my loyal subjects pool their strength, we can handle even a dragon. I shall show you this.”
-Fine, good. Since we don’t know each other’s capabilities, it’s worth checking who has the upper hand. I’ll use Spatial Translocation to come to where you are now, so wait.
“Come! I, the Emperor, fear no dragon, so come as you will!”
-I’ll be there soon. Ready yourself.
Click.
The light on the Communication Device flickered out, and the connection severed.
* * *
After speaking with the Emperor, Jang Gain watched the dragon seething with fury and regarded him with a bewildered expression.
“This arrogant human emperor! I’ll go right now and obliterate him and all his so-called loyal subjects with my Breath!”
“Noxcasarsis, calm down for a moment, won’t you?”
“Calm down? Do I look calm to you right now? You heard him. How disrespectfully that Emperor just spoke to me.”
“An emperor of this realm can certainly speak that way, can’t he?”
“No, I’ve enjoyed myself in human form for over a thousand years, but since revealing that I’m a dragon, no emperor has ever dared address me so casually.”
“Even if his tone grated on you, doesn’t it seem excessive to charge off and slaughter everyone?”
“Humans who become kings or emperors delude themselves into thinking they’ve become something extraordinary. Sometimes they need to be reminded just how insignificant they truly are.”
“Goodness! Have you not considered that charging off in such a fury to unleash your Breath might end with you on the receiving end?”
“What? Me on the receiving end?”
“As far as I know, this empire has three Sword Masters as formidable as you, and it’s said they also have many high-ranking mages and advanced Elementalists. Can you really face them all alone? Not unless you can spray Breath endlessly like a madman, but I suspect that’s beyond even you.”
Noxcasarsis fell silent for a moment upon hearing Jang Gain’s words.
“Hmm, three Sword Masters of your caliber, plus mages and Elementalists. If that’s the case, I might indeed find myself in over my head alone. But having boasted so loudly just now, I can’t simply tuck tail and slink away.”
“Will you really risk your life just for the sake of pride?”
As Jang Gain tilted his head with a concerned expression, Noxcasarsis found himself swallowing hard without realizing it.
The thought that he might die if he went charging in without a plan suddenly struck him.
“Could you help me out?”
“Because there are three Sword Masters as formidable as you. Even if I handle one of them, what about the other two Sword Masters, the mages, the Elementalists, and the knights?”
“Hmm! The two of us alone won’t be enough. What should we do? Ah! Why don’t we visit that sea dragon at the Quardo Coast who created the sea fog, and ask it to come with us? We need to meet it anyway to ask why it created the fog, so if it joins us, it would be a considerable asset.”
“With two dragons, it might actually be manageable. But do you think that sea dragon will agree to come?”
“Once I tell it what disrespect the Emperor showed me, it’ll help. And if it refuses to care after hearing that, then I’ll go alone myself.”
“Going alone could mean your death. This is not something to stake your life on.”
“To be honest, I’m not really staking my life. I plan to go cause some chaos, and if things go south, I’ll escape.”
“Escape? Do you really think they’d let you flee?”
“Don’t worry about that. I have a hidden trump card that lets me escape from any situation.”
As Noxcasarsis withdrew a scroll from his Sub-space, Jang Gain tilted his head curiously.
“A Magic Scroll.”
“My father gave me this. It’s a Magic Scroll imbued with an Ancient Dragon’s power.”
“What kind of magic does it contain that makes you so confident?”
“Whenever I tear this scroll, no matter where I am, I’ll be transported to my father’s lair.”
“No matter where? But you said before that Spatial Translocation is difficult in places with Demon Gates or interference magic circles.”
“That’s only true at my level. This scroll, imbued with my father’s power, is different. Unless an Ancient Dragon stronger than my father deliberately sets up an interference magic circle, Spatial Translocation will work anywhere.”
“Really? That’s an incredible artifact. But… you’re not planning to just teleport away yourself if things go badly while fighting alongside me, are you?”
“This Magic Scroll transports the entire vicinity around me—roughly a fifty-meter radius—wholesale to my father’s lair. So when I have to use it, I’ll call you. As long as you’re within fifty meters, you’ll be transported too.”
“You said Spatial Translocation is an extremely difficult spell, but this transcends common sense. Don’t you have a spare scroll like this?”
“This is the only one.”
“I was about to ask for one if you had two, but I suppose I’ll have to make do. Having that dragon at the Quardo Coast lend a hand is really the best option we’ve got.”
“Right. If that dragon helps, we won’t even need to use this.”
“By the way, when I spoke with Aleingde Mir before, he said dragons don’t have large numbers and mostly know each other. Is it possible you don’t know the one at the Quardo Coast?”
“I know nearly all dragons, but that doesn’t mean I know every one. Moreover, I’ve never heard of a dragon at the Quardo Coast, so I suppose we’ll have to meet it and see.”
“Well, there’s no way to know until we meet.”
“Then come with me to the Quardo Coast.”
“Let’s go.”
Noxcasarsis immediately drew a Spatial Translocation magic circle and departed for the Quardo Coast with Jang Gain.
* * *
Whoooosh.
“What sea fog… it’s a truly magnificent sight.”
Having arrived in a single bound via Spatial Translocation to the highest peak among the various islands of the Quardo Coast, Jang Gain found himself momentarily at a loss for words, gazing at the dense sea fog rolling below and the jagged mountain peaks jutting through it like teeth.
“It’s just sea fog. Why are you so startled?”
“Because it doesn’t feel like ‘just’ sea fog. I’ve seen countless sea fogs in my time, but never one this dense. You can’t see more than a few meters ahead in that fog.”
“It’s magically conjured, so it’s unnaturally thick. But this aura feels like Virus… Why would Virus, who prefers the deep sea, show up on a coast like this?”
“Did you sense another of your kind? I don’t feel anything.”
“It’s an aura only dragons can sense, so it would be difficult for a human to perceive. This is definitely Virus’s presence. I’ll return to my true form and summon him.”
A deafening roar tore through the air.
Noxcasarsis transformed into his colossal dragon form and let out a single thunderous cry. Moments later, a blue dragon burst through the sea fog and took flight toward them.
“Wait—is that a… dragon?”
Jang Gain’s eyes widened at the sight of the blue dragon.
The dragon’s form was strikingly similar to the one he’d seen at Daecheonsan.
“A dragon? The same one from the previous world—the one whose forehead you marked with a seal to block its ascension?”
“Yes, this dragon resembles the one I knew very closely.”
“Dragons like Virus who inhabit oceans and rivers tend to look much like that, given how much time they spend underwater.”
“Ah! The dragon I met in the previous world lived in an enormous lake too—so vast it took a full day to circle it once.”
“A lake that size would certainly be suitable for a dragon.”
A bellowing wind swept across the shoreline.
As the blue dragon drew near, its wingbeats sent the surrounding trees swaying as though caught in a typhoon.
Jang Gain made his body heavier using the Thousand-Weight Technique to avoid being swept away by the gale.
The blue dragon eyed Jang Gain and Noxcasarsis in turn, then transformed into a human wearing clothes of deep blue and descended to the ground.
“Noxcasarsis, what brings you to these waters?”
Noxcasarsis then shifted into his human form as well.
“I came to investigate who had cast such an extensive sea fog from that island all the way to this coast, and I found it was you, Virus.”
“You came because of the fog?”
“Yes. But why have you spread this fog here?”
“So much human blood has been spilled into the seawater from their wars. If I’d left things as they were, gates would open or demons would infest this place like flies. So I spread this fog to stop the fighting.”
“That makes sense. But word is this fog has given the Bermuda Maritime Alliance an advantage while putting the Kram Empire at a disadvantage, and there’s considerable resentment about it. Why favor only one side?”
“I haven’t favored either side.”
“Yet the Bermuda Maritime Alliance’s ships move freely through the fog while the Kram Empire’s vessels run aground the moment they enter it.”
“Is that so? Since I set up the fog, I’ve noticed the amount of blood seeping into the seawater has dropped significantly, so I haven’t paid attention to it since. But how are the Bermuda Maritime Alliance’s ships able to navigate through fog where you can’t see more than a few meters? They shouldn’t be able to find the reefs.”
“Didn’t you make special arrangements for them?”
“I created the fog to stop the fighting—there was no reason to favor one side. Let me think… The Magic Circles I laid down don’t seem damaged. What could it be? I’ll need to examine them more carefully.”
“Look, I’d rather you help me with something first.”
“Help you with what? What kind of trouble are you in?”
“About two months ago, a gate opened in a place called Sapir…”
As Noxcasarsis recounted what had happened and his conversation with the Kram Emperor through the Communication Device, Virus’s expression darkened.
“So what you’re really saying is, the Kram Emperor was disrespectful, and you want me to come along and teach him a lesson?”
“Yes. During our argument through the Communication Device, I wanted to kill him on the spot, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized I might end up dead myself. So I thought it would be better if we went together.”
“Under normal circumstances, I’d go with you and educate the Emperor. But right now, that’s a problem.”
“Why is it a problem?”
“As I said—there’s been far too much blood spilled in this region. Do you think I’d have gone to the trouble of setting up Magic Circles and spreading this fog otherwise?”
“Are you saying a mass slaughter could open a gate?”
“There’s a very high chance of it.”
“Hmm. So if I fight the Emperor, a gate could open in the middle of it.”
“That’s why I wanted to talk you out of it, but I didn’t want to wound your pride either, so I wasn’t sure how to handle it.”
As Jang Gain listened to the two dragons’ exchange, his head tilted slightly.
“Noxcasarsis, couldn’t you just close the gate if one opens?”
“Hm? Noxcasarsis—what is this human? He carries a considerable aura for someone who speaks to a dragon in casual speech.”
“He’s the human I worked with to close that gate in Sapir I mentioned. He’s a Sword Master—and far stronger than any Sword Master I’ve known before.”
“Even for a Sword Master, it seems presumptuous to speak casually to you like that.”
“I permitted it, so it’s fine.”
“Ah, I see. Well, if you’ve permitted it, then.”
“Since we’re on the subject, let me introduce him. This human is my colleague, Marquis Jang Gain. Unlike you, he’s agreed to come help me teach the Emperor a lesson.”
“Your colleague? Hmm. If that’s the case, I suppose I can’t treat him carelessly either. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Virus.”
“The pleasure is mine. I’m Jang Gain. Since I’m a Marquis of the Smed Kingdom, feel free to call me Marquis Gain.”
Virus’s expression suddenly hardened.
In an instant, his brow furrowed.
“Even if I said I can’t treat you carelessly, I didn’t give you permission to speak casually. No matter that you’re Noxcasarsis’s colleague, show some respect.”
“Respect? Do you mean I should grovel and tell you how magnificent and great you are, like everyone else does?”
“Not to that degree, but use formal speech.”
“Why should I?”
“What? Ha—Noxcasarsis. How much longer must I tolerate this man’s insolence?”
“If you can’t bear it, don’t. You needn’t mind my presence.”
“What! What do you mean by that?”
“Simply put, you’re saying you want to beat him into submission, but you haven’t been able to because of me, yes?”
“Yes, that’s… that’s right.”
“Then stop worrying about my opinion and beat him. But if you end up getting thrashed instead, you can’t blame me for it.”

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