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chapter 168




Lord.
As soon as he heard that word, Frey’s expression subconsciously hardened. But he knew that he could not be referring to the Demigod’s Lord.
The man in front of him couldn’t be ‘that Lord’. This was something that he could be certain about.
On this continent, there were numerous people who were called Lord, this man could just be one of them.
Then Frey recalled the being he’d heard about from Anastasia.
‘Dragon Lord.’
The unknown hatred towards the Demigods, the power to easily kill one single-handedly, and the title of Lord naturally connected with the existence of the Dragon Lord.
But didn’t Hector say that the Dragon Lord had been sealed in the Demon World after losing a battle to Lord 5,000 years ago?
Why would he show up in the middle of the Amakan Desert?
And without his memories on top of that.
Frey put all his questions aside.
In any case, it would be difficult for him to comfortably call him Lord for many reasons.
“Do any names other than Lord come to mind?”
At Frey’s words, the man fell silent for a while.
“Dro.” (TL: Should I call him ‘Drol’ instead? The hangul was reversed, but it doesn’t turn out the same in english)
“…Dro?”
“Right. If you don’t like Lord, then you can call me that.”
It was a strange name. No, was it even a name?
Frey felt like it was just a play on words, but in the end, it was still better than calling him Lord.
He nodded before saying.
“I’ll be heading to the city of Nempatal now.”
“Why?”
“Including the explanation, can we talk while on the move? Time is not on our side.”
“Sure.”
Dro nodded gently.
And so the journey with the strange new companion began.
* * *
Contrary to his indifferent expression, Dro seemed to be very inquisitive.
He almost constantly bombarded Frey with questions, and Frey answered all of them to the best of his ability.
He seemed to be particularly interested in the Demigods. And if one was to talk about them, it was inevitable that Lord would be mentioned.
“…”
When he learned about Lord, Dro’s expression changed.
He frowned and spoke with an unpleasant tone.
“That guy, is Lord?”
It was just one word, but he spoke it harshly as though he wanted to chew it.
Seeing this, Frey couldn’t help but ask.
“What do you mean?”
“…did I just say something?”
Dro tilted his head, completely unable to recall what he’d just said. It was clear that he wasn’t pretending.
It seemed his consciousness was still unstable.
Frey buried his growing suspicions within and continued his explanation.
Fortunately, Dro seemed to be very smart. He didn’t ask a question he asked before, and he was even able to derive the answers to his own questions by combining answers that he’d heard before.
About a day after they began their journey, he was able to grasp most of the current situation on the continent.
It was after Frey brought up the topic of Dragons that Dro showed a strange attitude. To some extent, this topic was also brought up by Frey intentionally.
“I think you might be the Dragon Lord.”
Frey confessed honestly, hoping that this would bring back some memory in Dro’s head.
However, Dro simply tilted his head at him.
“A Dragon?
“Yes.”
“I don’t have scales.”
“I know.”
“I also don’t have wings or a tail. Yet you think I’m the Dragon Lord?”
Frey told him about Hector.
When he heard this, Dro’s expression became strange.
“Can I check your body for a moment?”
When he nodded to show his assent, Frey walked behind him and placed his hand against his back. Then he muttered soon afterwards.
“Right. This is just a shell.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your body. It’s just a shell… a very well made shell.”
It was concealed so well that Frey would not have been able to tell if he hadn’t been touching him directly.
There was an enormous power resting within Dro’s chest that was constantly pulsating.
“Dragon Heart.”
He could feel a power that the Half Dragon, Beniang, could not compare to. But it wasn’t enough to say that it was the power of the Dragon Lord.
At best, it barely reached the level of an adult Dragon, and to put it bluntly, it didn’t reach the level of an Ancient.
‘He managed to easily kill a Demigod with just this power…’
Frey opened his mouth and asked the question that suddenly filled his heart.
“How did you kill the Demigod?”
“I borrowed the power of nature.”
The power of nature?
“Do you mean mana?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“…”
He didn’t receive an answer.
Dro simply fell silent with his distinctive, expressionless face.
Frey frowned.
The power of nature. It was too abstract to understand.
But Dro didn’t seem to have any intention of explaining further. This meant that it was probably not something that could be easily explained.
Dro suddenly sighed before saying something else.
“I might be the Dragon Lord as you said. But…”
Suddenly, Dro became silent as he stared into the distance.
“What is it?”
“Something is over there.”
Frey followed Dro’s gaze.
There was nothing. Just the endless sandy desert.
But with a confident stride, Dro headed towards the area he pointed out.
Frey was forced to follow suit.
Looking down at the sand, Dro muttered softly.
“The earth here is sad.”
“What do you mean?”
“For thousands of years… something has been buried here. I’ll take it out.”
Dro then snapped his fingers.
Grrr.
And the sandy ground immediately began to vibrate.
Frey realised that something, which had been buried tens of meters below the surface, was rising with a fierce momentum.
Puhk!
Soon, something burst out of the sand.
It was an item that Frey was very familiar with, but it was also an item that he never expected to find in this situation.
“The Tiger King’s Gloves…?”
It was one of Kasajin’s three artifacts.
Dro glanced at Frey before handing him the item.
“It seems you know what this is. Hmm, take it.”
Frey took the gloves from Dro with a complicated expression on his face.
“How the hell did you do that?”
“The earth told me that there was a relic buried here. So I took it out.”
The earth told him?
Elves were said to be able to talk to the forest, but that was more like a communication of feelings than a conversation. More importantly, trees were still living creatures.
It was the complete opposite of this barren land where not even a blade of grass dared to grow.
He wasn’t Hruhiral, who was connected to the land, but the earth told him that an item was buried there?
‘Ah.’
It was at that moment that Frey recalled Anastasia’s words.
[The Dragon Lord is organically connected to the entire continent. If he dies, there will be unforeseen destruction throughout the continent.]
A being who was organically connected to the continent.
The Dragon Lord.
Did it have something to do with those words?
“So the strongest Demigod in Silkid is Agni.”
Those words woke Frey up from his thoughts.
Dro had already lost interest in the Tiger King’s Gloves.
Frey put the gloves into his bag before saying.
“He is one of the strongest Demigods.”
“Then wouldn’t it be better to kill him first?”
“It’s not so simple. He’s much stronger than the other Demigods.?
“Hmm. To what extent?”
“…well.”
The only Apocalypse that Frey had ever personally fought was Ananta. And although it was a long time ago, he remembered it clearly because of how desperate a fight it was.
Reminiscing about that time, he couldn’t help but mutter.
“At the very least, he’s compared to three Demigods combined.”
“Hmm. So if I can face three Demigods at the same time, I can beat Agni?”
“It’s not as easy as it sounds.”
Dro fell silent again, seemingly unbothered by Frey’s words.
“You’re a Wizard, so why are you going to Nempatal on foot? Isn’t this a very inefficient way to travel?”
“I can’t make too big of a stir. To get there, I have to pass through the Demigods’ territory. It would be troublesome if I were to move and get caught by Agni.”
Fighting Agni would come only after he’d reunited with Ivan and the others.
Dro spoke softly after hearing Frey’s words.
“So you just have to move without causing a commotion.”
“Do you have a way?”
“Give me a map.”
Frey handed the map to him and Dro looked at it for a moment before nodding.
“[Deil Gaia]”
After those words, the sand in front of them rose up and gathered together. Forming the shape of a muscular man. His copper colored skin shined in the sunlight.
“Deil Gaia. The Earth Spirit King?”
While Frey looked at Dro with a puzzled expression, Deil Gaia also looked at him and said.
[It’s been a long time, old friend. If you have anything to ask, you can just go ahead and say it.]
Frey was shocked.
The Spirit Kings were among the absolute masters of the Second World, second only to the six rulers of the Demon World.
Although they weren’t as arrogant as the Demons born in the Demon World, they were still a very proud group.
Therefore, Deil Gaia’s current attitude was completely unexpected. He was looking at Dro with clear affection, as though he was looking at a long lost friend.
Dro pointed to a spot on the map, it was Nempatal.
“Can you take us here? Without leaving a trace.”
[That’s easy… but who is the man beside you? I can feel an unpleasant power within his body.]
It was clear that he had noticed the divine power.
Deil Gaia was looking at him with a suspicious gaze, but there was no need for Frey to open his mouth as Dro spoke for him.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
[…hmm. Since you’re the one saying it, I’ll trust you.]
Blind trust.
Deil Gaia nodded and shook his hand once.
Kugugu-
And in an instant, a whirlpool appeared in the middle of the desert. It wasn’t very large or intimidating, but it could easily fit a wagon in its mouth.
[Dive in there. Then you’ll reach your destination.]
Was this the power of a Spirit King?
Their powers were certainly the closest to forces of nature, and they didn’t leave a single trace.
Especially since the desert was one of the best places for Deil Gaia, the Earth Spirit King to use his powers.
“Thank you. If I need your help again, I’ll call for you.”
[Then I’ll be waiting, old friend.]
After giving a friendly smile, Deil Gaia disappeared.
Still unfamiliar with such an attitude, Frey dived into the whirlpool after Dro.
“Ugh…”
Frey was shaken to the core. He felt like he’d been trapped in a small box and shaken thousands of times.
It was such a terrible sensation that he couldn’t help but miss the stability of a Warp.
His brain had been shaken so much that he felt like vomiting, and sand covered every inch of his body.
“Tweh…”
Frey got up from the ground, spitting sand from his mouth. He also didn’t like the sensation of sand falling from his hair.
“The power of nature. I see. So you got the help of a Spirit King when you defeated the Demigod.”
Dro didn’t answer, but Frey was sure he was right.
This wasn’t strange.
After all, the Dragons had always been close to the Spirits. Their connection was dozens of times stronger than that of the Elves, who had the highest sensitivity out of all the living creatures on the continent.
Furthermore, the power that a Spirit King could wield relied heavily on the capabilities of their summoner.
Frey recalled Snow’s brother Oidin. He had also summoned a contract with the Wind Spirit King, but it was clear that the power he’d been able to handle couldn’t even touch the tips of Dro’s toes.
In any case, thanks to Dro, he’d been able to reach Nempatal in no time. More importantly, without being noticed.
The last part was especially important.
Agni knew about Milled’s death, but he wouldn’t know about his movements.
“Well. It seems we were a step too late.”
“What?”
Frey looked ahead, completely speechless.
Black smoke was constantly pouring out from the city of Nempatal. A place he thought the Demigods’ evil hands would not be able to reach.
(TL: And so ends Book 7. Just three more to go till the end of season one.)