Even though Ophelia had given him permission, that didnât mean he could run out of the Imperial Capital as if he had been waiting for permission. However, she mustâve known how he felt because she urged him to leave, saying that the longer they delayed their parting, the longer their reunion would be delayed.
Kim Seon-Hyeok simply expressed his regret by saying that he would come back as soon as possible.
As soon as it became daylight, Kim Seon-Hyeok immediately contacted the Warrior and explained everything he had discussed with Ophelia.
[If only it wasnât the Demon Realm or whatever it is. Then, Iâd be able to do it on my own.]
It seemed like the Warrior was feeling ashamed of himself for not being able to do his part whenever an important situation came up. Although he was supposed to be the Demon Kingâs adversary, he hadnât been able to deal with the previous Demon King with his own strength, and even this time, he had to get the help of Kim Seon-Hyeok again. His despondent tone wasnât completely incomprehensible.
âDonât say that. Right now, you and the Holy Sword have a big role to play.â
Right now in their current situation, none of them knew what happened to most of the Templar Knights and the priests inside the Holy Kingdom. Because of that, the existence of the Warrior and the Holy Sword was more important than ever. Even with the few lucky priests and Templar Knights who had been outside the Holy Kingdom, it was difficult to block the Wave.
Right now, where it was assumed that the high-ranking priests were almost annihilated, the Warrior was the only one who could fight against a powerful demon.
Kim Seon-Hyeok encouraged the now depressed Warrior.
âJust hold on until I return.â
[Iâll hold on. Even if my level drops to 1, I will hold on.]
Just by listening to the grimness of the Warriorâs voice, Seon-Hyeok could tell that the situation on the defense line was several times worse than what he had seen in the video.
He wished he could fly to the Central region right now and add his strength to it. However, it would be no different to a slightly stronger superhuman joining the front line. With just that, it wouldnât be enough to deal with the catastrophe in the Holy Kingdom.
That was why he could only tell the Warrior the same thing he told Ophelia, that he would return as soon as possible.
Having ended the communication, Kim Seon-Hyeok prepared to leave for the North immediately. He didnât need a lot of time to prepare; all he needed was a bit of food and a saddle to cinch onto Redvern. He was ready in no time at all.
âIâll be back soon.â
Opheliaâs expression was calm as ever as she held Victorius to see him off. However, even the iron-blooded Empress couldnât hide her trembling eyes at this moment.
âDonât worry about things here. Just please come back safely after finishing your business.â
Nevertheless, even in their last moments, she chose to see him off as an imposing monarch rather than send him off as a regular wife.
But her appearance only made her seem more pitiful. Kim Seon-Hyeok embraced her tightly and kissed her on the forehead before he left.
âBe healthy and safe until I come back. Donât overwork yourself.â
After hugging the newborn baby who couldnât even open his eyes, Kim Seon-Hyeok finally climbed onto Redvern.
âI promise. When I return, there will be no more threats to the Empire.â
He pledged to her from atop Redvern, who was flapping his wings vigorously.
âAnd I will never leave you again.â
With those words, Redvern flew away with a strong gust of wind.
âI value your safe return more than something like that.â
When Redvern finally wasnât visible any longer as he soared high in the sky, Ophelia sighed as she tightly hugged her squirming newborn.
âYour Imperial Majesty, the wind is cold.â
If it hadnât been for Marquis Reinhardt, watching by her side, leading her inside, she wouldnât have left her spot for a long time.
As soon as Kim Seon-Hyeok left the Imperial Capital, he saw a purple halation gathering. And then, it turned into a small and beautiful dragon.
With wings resembling that of a butterfly and a mysterious appearance, it was the Fairy Dragon.
He wasnât surprised at all by the sudden appearance of Geheimnis. It was as if he had known of its existence from the beginning.
Kim Seon-Hyeok just glanced at her wings that had gotten flashier than before as well as the new curled horns that looked like a ramâs horns.
âIâve been wondering when youâd appear. Itâs about time you did. I thought it was odd that you didnât when you shouldâve.â
He spoke to Geheimnis after stopping Redvern for a moment.
âYour role is to guide me to the Dragon.â
Kim Seon-Hyeokâs attitude had changed so much from before that the Fairy Dragon hesitated before responding.
[I will guide you to her.]
âOf course. Because youâve always said that thatâs your only mission.â
His attitude was all business.
Geheimnis was hesitating as if she had something to say, but Kim Seon-Hyeok had zero intentions of listening to the sly Fairy Dragon.
âWhatâre you doing? Why arenât you leading the way?â
When Kim Seon-Hyeok tipped his chin to the far north, Geheimnis hesitated again before she resumed speaking in a soft voice.
Kim Seon-Hyeok frowned, but the Fairy Dragon continued without paying him any mind.
[Wonât you make a contract with me?]
âA contract? Weâve already made a contract, havenât we?â
His lovely wife and child were in the Imperial Capital, and the Warrior and countless soldiers were in the Central region. They were all waiting for his return.
There was no way he would be happy when the Fairy Dragon was wasting time with something ridiculous when he was very busy.
[Not a fake contract like that, but a real contract.]
Geheimnisâ voice turned sweet as if it had been coated in honey when Seon-Hyeok continued to be apathetic.
[Truthfully, the relationship between you and me is only based on the contract between me and her. In reality, you and I have no relationship. If you were to establish a true contract with me, then I can give you many things. I am different from the other dragons who are stupid and only know how to use their strength.]
He stroked his chin for a moment before looking at Geheimnis.
âWhat can you give me that the Dragon canât?â
The Fairy Dragon shut her mouth.
âIf not, then I really donât want it.â
[Itâs difficult right now, but as time passesâŠ]
Even before Geheimnisâ words full of ulterior motive could fully enter his ears, Kim Seon-Hyeok spoke with a cold expression.
âYouâve been quiet this whole time, but now that it seems like Iâll be seeing the Dragon, you want to make a real contract with me?â
The Fairy Dragon tried to say something again, but this time, he was faster.
âYou must really think Iâm a fool.â
Perhaps if it had been in the past, he would have accepted her proposal. But not now.
âI have a rough idea of what happened from Bluegon.â
He had spent a long time in the deep sea in order to heal his broken body. And during that time, he had been able to have many conversations with Bluegon. In all honesty, Bluegon was a terrible conversationalist who was arrogant and not very truthful. But that didnât mean Bluegon was arrogant enough to ignore his questions.
âI might not know what crimes youâve all committed in the past. HoweverâŠâ
Bluegon might not have ignored his questions,[1] but he had still been stingy with his words when talking about the past. That seemed to be one of the punishments they received.[2]
âI think I know now what you were originally, and what you could gain because of me.â
The Fairy Dragonâs eyes shook as if an earthquake had occurred.[3]
âAt first, I was a bit dubious? But seeing you come out like this, Iâm convinced now.â
Staring straight at the Fairy Dragon, he continued talking.
After pausing for a bit, he finally spoke with conviction.
âAre Dragons, right?â
At his question, the Fairy Dragon froze.
âI thought it was weird from the beginning.â
Unless he was an idiot, there was no way he couldnât have guessed the identities of the dragon sub-species by now. Especially since the sub-species began looking surprisingly similar to the Dragon as they slowly regained their past appearance as time went on.
âBoth Joon-Min and Min-Young are uncommonly powerful people, but strangely enough, in my eyes, they seemed to be lacking in something.â
The Warriorâs power with his non-human-like resilience and rate of growth, and the Illusion Beast Tamerâs power with her ability to summon countless Illusion Beasts â both of them were strong enough that itâd be difficult for them to find enemies on the continent. And yet, he still didnât feel anything special about them.
In fact, there was a time when he overcame a large gap between levels and brought the Warrior to his knees. That wasnât normal.
âBut when I thought about it, it wasnât that Joon-Min or Min-Young was weak.â
No, it wasnât that they werenât special.
âI was just too strong.â
He had realized this fact when he had been able to defeat the Demon King even though he hadnât met the Dragon yet.
âAnd thatâs because I have a contract with more than one dragon.â
Nearly ten years had passed since he had first heard the Dragonâs voice, and now, he finally realized this fact.
âOf course, I would be this strong. Iâve monopolized the strength that five Dragon Riders should have.â
The dragon sub-species werenât meant to be beings who lent him their strength until he met the Dragon. They were all Dragons who were capable of making a contract with Dragon Riders.
âWhen we first met, everyone was in such a pathetic state that I had no clue.â
Goldrake had been on the verge of starvation, Bluegon had been terrified of completely turning into a sea serpent, Redvern had been captured by a mere monster hunter, and Redwyrm had been corroded by the demonic energy and become a demonic dragon. None of them had been normal.
Who could have imagined that such beings would be the same beings as those great Dragons?
[That is enough. The Mystery Clan is not yet qualified to tell you personally about their existence.]
As if pressing down on Geheimnisâ thoughts, an overpowering will penetrated Kim Seon-Hyeokâs mind. It was the Dragon.
[Companion. The only one who can tell you the truth that you want to hear, is me. So take the step you have stopped taking and come to me. If you do that, youâll finally learn everything.]
âEven if you hadnât said so, I was planning on doing that. At least, thatâs what I would have been doing if Geheimnis hadnât been dragging things out with the excuse of some strange contract.â
At his rather provoking and spiteful words, his mental connection with the Dragon was cut off. Seeing how the Fairy Dragon was flinching, it seemed like they were mentally talking to each other.
[No one will be able to stop you any longer.]
With those words, the Dragon stopped talking to him.
They hadnât been able to wrap up their conversation on the contract, but Geheimnis didnât dare comment on it anymore. Seeing how low her head was bowed, it seemed like she had been warned by the Dragon.
âYouâre not moving?â
When Kim Seon-Hyeok urged her again, the Fairy Dragon reluctantly answered.
As soon as she finished talking, the Fairy Dragon spread her wings wide, with her body still drooping. A mysterious purple halo spread out and created a path in the sky.
[You must never leave this road. You cannot get to her by simply flying fast.]
Having said that, the Fairy Dragon got on Redvernâs back.
âLetâs go, Redvern.â
At his masterâs words, Redvern spread his wings and started moving again.
Kim Seon-Hyeok leaned on Redvernâs saddle and then glanced at Geheimnis. He couldnât help but feel sympathy as he looked at the beautiful Fairy Dragon slumped over.
However, he had no intention of accepting Geheimnisâ offer so easily.
Even if he accepted the contract, he would only do so after he corrected the sly Fairy Dragonâs habit. If he didnât fix the Fairy Dragonâs habit, somewhere down the road, she might purposefully omit the truth in order to make use of him.
After staring at the Fairy Dragon for a moment, he turned his head and looked back at the path of light that had unfolded in front of him.
âNow, the end is really near.â
Seeing the world moving oddly fast, Kim Seon-Hyeok had an intuition that the day he would finally meet the Dragon wasnât far off.
This road made of purple light was a milestone that would put an end to his long journey. The Dragon, whom he had so desperately wanted to meet, was at the end of it.
He calmed his breath as he felt the Dragonâs presence gradually getting clearer.