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245. Mithrael
Min-Cheol traveled to a location not far from Mithrael’s castle.
Only 24 hours remained.
For the past few days, Barub did not make a single move, staying quiet as a mouse.
There was a bit of a change since Min-Cheol properly slotted in the Flame Dragon’s Talisman into the armor that Dump had made.
Min-Cheol was now able to sense an energy signature that he wasn’t able to before.
No Awakened, demonic beasts, Protectors, or even the gods of the celestial plane emanated energy like this.
The source of where the energy was coming from was Mithrael’s castle.
A great amount of power was emanating from there.
Min-Cheol was positive that the talisman slotted in the armor was reacting to a dragon’s energy signature.
Min-Cheol hadn’t changed at all in the last few days.
The amount of power he has, the skills he possessed, and even the artifacts he owned.
If there was one thing that did change, it was that he had put the Flame Drake’s Talisman on correctly.
There was no way to know what that small change would bring in the future.
Min-Cheol was more desperate than anyone right now, but he was also more confident than anyone else.
Covering the distance in a single leap to Mithrael’s castle that was far off, Min-Cheol was met with a giant castle door.
Opening this door, the castellan would be inside.
However, wasn’t it strange?
Even if the counts and marquises were killed, the soldiers guarding the castellan would’ve survived.
Barub also did not bother with those without much power.
Because Barub could be done in from loitering near the castellan, the obvious choice was avoidance.
This was the residence of the strongest person in the entire country, a person that could be considered a king.
However, Min-Cheol could not sense a single living being near the castle.
With suspicion in his heart, Min-Cheol opened the door to the castle.
The lobby that came first into Min-Cheol’s view was quite dirty.
And as if time had stopped, there were signs of people being here some time ago.
There had been a commotion in the middle of the banquet before.
It had been caused by Barub going wild and butchering both slaves and the knights.
The castle’s banquet hall looked exactly the same since then.
Except now, not a single person remained, leaving only stillness and silence behind.
Passing the lobby, Min-Cheol stood before another door.
The energy signature that Min-Cheol had sensed was flowing out with greater intensity from beyond that door.
Like a predator that senses the smell of blood from afar, Min-Cheol continued walking forward to follow that energy signature.
With the door opened, Min-Cheol’s expression turned into that of a frown.
“…”
A completely white space.
The white expanse continued so far that it was hard to tell how far it went on.
And it was difficult to tell where the pillars and walls were.
Min-Cheol’s eyes rested on the bright blue glowing at the far end.
It was because he was sure that it was the light that he had seen back when he had lost consciousness.
There was no reason for Min-Cheol to move closer to the light, as the light was slowly approaching him.
And the person to arrive close to him was Mithrael.
“Looks like you’ve recovered far less than I thought. Did I overestimate you?”
“You’ve really left an amusing wound. I almost wasn’t able to stand back up.”
“But why are you alone?”
“Hm? If you’re talking about my clones, then they will come out in a bit.”
“I was referring to Demon. I expected you two to come together.”
“I think you’ve got the wrong idea. I’m not on Demon’s side. Is that the reason why you didn’t kill me and let me live instead?”
“It seems that my excitement has been extinguished in an instant.”
“I’ll amuse you aplenty, so don’t worry about it.”
“Did you forget already? I could kill you without lifting a finger.”
“…”
“I had thought that you would amuse me together with Demon, but I cannot put into words my disappointment.”
It seemed that Mithrael did not feel anything for the nobles that made up a large portion of his kingdom.
He was only focused on the amount of force that could be mustered up through a joint attack with Barub and Min-Cheol.
Not killing him and letting him live, and the castellan’s real identity being a dragon as well.
It was true that Min-Cheol could not figure out why the castellan was here and what his aim was.
Min-Cheol threw a question towards the unshaken castellan, Mithrael.
“Why is that no one else is around? I thought that because you’re the castellan, you’d be living in extensive security.”
“They were here until a few days ago. However, all of them were used to sate my hunger.”
“That’s quite the nasty hobby.”
“While it wasn’t the cleanest of blood, what can you do? In a situation like this, I have to be content with what I can get.”
“Is that why you took the maidens and Protectors…”
“Cease now. I am already hungry again. Kuhaha!”
“…”
Mithrael rudely continued on with a smug expression.
The maidens and young that had been kidnapped by Swesi and sold to the nobles to die in a cruel fashion.
All because of Castellan Mithrael.
If Min-Cheol hadn’t been able to destroy Swesi and rescue Berlette, then she would’ve been murdered to sate the hunger of the castellan as well.
Min-Cheol felt shivers run down his spine looking at his face as Mithrael spoke about such a horrific deed as if it wasn’t anything significant.
While Min-Cheol wanted to swing his sword and and cut Mithrael’s head off that instant, he held back and calmly continued his questions.
“Why is a dragon breaking down order in the society of humans?”
“Kuhu. You knew of my identity? Well, it would be strange if you didn’t know after getting rid of the Dragon’s Scar and appearing before me.”
“It doesn’t seem as though you want to create your own kingdom. I just don’t understand your reasoning.”
“Yeah. As you said, I’m a dragon. In a far away memory, I can still recall when I used to live together with my kin.”
“…”
“However, while I do not recall when, I ended up in human society. I now had to live with these lower lifeforms. Me, a great dragon.”
“But you still wanted to be king among them?”
“Haha! It’s a given that a superior lifeform like I outshine the rabble.”
“So you had no reason to come here and have no goals? So you’re saying that you didn’t come here of your own will?”
“That’s right.”
“How funny. I just cannot understand or get used to this shitty world that Karupedan has created.”
“In such a dull life, an interesting situation has finally come. You two’s appearance only affects me that much. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Seems you’re not much different from those from the celestial plane.”
“I am not interested in such a pitiful fight. And it hasn’t been long since I finished my meal. Hurry and disappear from my sight.”
Mithrael turned his body around to go back further into his residence.
It was as if he wasn’t interested in Min-Cheol’s life at all.
However, Min-Cheol had no plans to let him go in one piece.
Grabbing onto his sword, he summoned his clones that he could not do without.
Sensing that, Mithrael stopped his steps and sighed as if he had to play along with an annoying foe.
“Whew… Don’t you have any desire to return without causing a fuss?”
“I already told you. I wouldn’t disappoint you.”
“It seems that there are humans that do not value their own life.”
“Ugh!”
“With this, it’s over. You won’t be recovering from the Dragon’s Scar by chance again, and you will not be able to stand once more.”
“Argh!”
The situation hadn’t changed at all from before.
Mithrael was able to make Min-Cheol kneel without moving in the slightest.
A massive amount of blood poured out between his armor, soaking the white space in dark red.
Almost as if trying to bleed out every drop from his body, the bleeding continued like a raging waterfall.
A weak scream was the only sound heard, and Min-Cheol shuddered uncontrollably while holding onto his chest and stomach.
However, the clones stood still without any movement.
Perhaps amused at the sight, Mithrael spoke with a snicker.
“Pff. Seems that even the clones that follow you refuse to help a weak master. It seems that I was foolish for expecting something from a lesser being such as a human.”
“Ugh…”
Turning his back on the collapsed Min-Cheol, Mithrael’s steps went further and further away.
The way that Min-Cheol’s clones were acting was different from before and strange.
It would be normal for them to drag Min-Cheol towards them to heal him or retaliate against Mithrael.
However, the clones were completely laid back.
As if Min-Cheol’s situation had nothing to do with them, they acted as if they had abandoned their owner, Min-Cheol, like Mithrael had said.
However, they hadn’t rescinded their loyalty to Min-Cheol.
Their reaction was only possible because they completely saw through Min-Cheol’s plan and knew that the power of the Flame Dragon’s Talisman would activate.
Mithrael, who was walking his own way, suddenly shuddered and stopped in his tracks.
His body shook slightly due to being excited uncontrollably.
His stiff facial muscles tightened, and he regained his energy.
And as if finding hope in a bleak situation, he muttered with overwhelming joy.
“This energy…”
“Pain is quite interesting. No matter how many times that I experience it, I cannot get used to it. Even if it was the same pain I’ve already experienced.”
“How can you…”
“How about it? Is it somewhat amusing now?”
“This cannot be. However. However…”
Mithrael looked at Min-Cheol with disbelief.
In his view stood a perfectly healthy Min-Cheol.
He was no longer letting out groans as if he was going to die at any minute.
Not only did his wounds heal and his bleeding stop, but Min-Cheol was now letting out a completely different and vast amounts of energy.
The energy emanating was exactly the same as his.
And just like that, the power of the Flame Dragon’s Talisman that Min-Cheol owned activated.
It was true that Min-Cheol did not exactly know the conditions for the talisman to activate.
He had visited Mithrael without any plan, and had tried to find the solution through him.
However, the way to activate that he discovered accidentally was far simpler than he had thought.
“Seems I have to completely become a husk first. To use this overhyped power of the dragons.”
“D-Dragon… This is definitely the energy of the dragon!”
Only after Min-Cheol lose all the power he had that the power of the dragon was able to flow through him.
He had to become a complete husk first to accept the power.
However, he did not permanently lose all the power he had obtained so far after obtaining the dragon’s power.
He had recovered and evolved from the power of a dragon, which increased even his original strength.
Mithrael had become extremely excited after facing the power of his own kind after hundreds of years.
This wasn’t an excitement that comes from meeting a familiar face in a long time.
This was joy from being able to trade blows in a fight against an opponent equal in strength.
Mithrael walked towards Min-Cheol, step by step.
Walking but refraining from moving quickly, he came close and spoke quietly.
“The power of my kin. An overwhelming amount of power. And not only one, but six…”
“It won’t be long, but it’ll be fun.”
“Yes. It definitely will be.”