Frey felt a deep sense of incongruity, and in the next moment, he stopped moving.
[âŚsp-, spare me.]
The Demigod bowed his head and begged. Its big eyes were filled with tears.
Frey recalled his divine magic power.
The sea snake was strong. Especially underwater, it was an invincible being.
Unfortunately, it had met the wrong opponents this time.
The power Frey used the most was Indraâs lightning. By itself, the lightning was already incredibly strong, but the effect was amplified exponentially since the sea snake was covered in water.
The power Dro displayed was equally as amazing.
This was the first time Frey saw him fight.
âHe uses the power of Dragons as if it was his own.â
It wasnât just Dragontongue. He was also very skillful when it came to the use of his Dragon Fear.
His spells were excellent, and he always knew the best times to make use of the spirits.
Frey couldnât help but wonder if he really wasnât the Dragon Lord.
Anastasia, who was watching the fight from the ship, couldnât help but laugh.
âThis guy is really strange. Is that something a Demigod would say?â
âI donât think it is.â
âWhat?â
âThis isnât a Demigod.â
This creatureâs divine power was comparable to a Demigodâs. Its combat strength was also astonishing.
Nevertheless, it wasnât a Demigod.
Perhaps he heard Frey because the sea snake began nodding quickly.
[R-, right. Iâm not a Demigod.]
âThen what are you?â
[I am Neptunus.]
âYou stupid snake bastard. Who asked for your name?â
When Ivan shouted in anger, Neptunus shuddered.
[UhhâŚ]
âExplain properly.â
Although Frey tried to speak calmly, the sight of his teacherâs head in such a miserable manner made his voice grow cold.
Neptunus spoke even faster and in a more frightened manner than when he was threatened by Ivan.
[I, I was originally a sea serpent.]
âYouâre too large. Are you a mutant?â
He said that while thinking about Torkunta.
Neptunus nodded.
[You can say that, yes. I was much stronger than the others.]
ââŚâ
[I was originally in the great ocean. I had a fairly large territory there.]
âGet to the point.â
[âŚo-, one day, a Demigod appeared. It was a woman with grey hair. She looked like a human at first, but I soon realised she wasnât.]
A grey-haired woman. Leyrin.
Frey frowned.
âThen?â
[I was overcome with fear and attacked her. But I lost without her even lifting a finger. When I regained consciousness, I was in a dark place and my body was bound to a platform. And every now and then⌠I would feel terrible pain.]
Neptunusâ body shook.
[The pain of my scales being pulled out or of my flesh being cut⌠or of my guts being pulled out⌠I was never afraid of pain, but that was an exception. There were hundreds of times when I thought it would be better to just die, but she never let that happen. Then, at some point, the pain ended and my body became like thisâŚ]
He turned to the head of Isolla, Freyâs teacher, which was attached to his body.
[The grey haired woman gave me many orders, and I had no choice but to follow them. If I even thought of defying her for even a moment, my head would hurt like hell. The last order I received was to sink all the ships headed to Hitume Ikar.]
Only then did Frey realise what Neptunus was.
He was a lab rat created by Leyrin.
No matter how crazy Leyrin, who created the Blake family bloodline, was, it would have been impossible for her to fuse the body of a Dragon and a Demigod.
The proud Demigods would never allow impurities to be added to their bodies.
[But not long ago, that womanâs voice, which was always in my head, suddenly disappeared. I was so delighted, but when I realised it was only partial freedom, I was sad again.]
Neptunus would never have true freedom unless the Demigods disappeared completely.
Just as Frey was about to open his mouth.
[Uh, ah, ahâŚ]
Isollaâs head cried out once again.
It was like a whining baby.
ââŚwhat are you doing?â
This naturally caused Freyâs voice to become cold once again.
Noticing this, Neptunus hurried to explain.
[I donât know either. Ever since that womanâs voice in my head disappeared, it started making these mysterious noises.]
When Freyâs expression became even colder, Neptunus, who seemed to remember something, added.
[So-, sometimes it sounds like it said the word âLordâ.]
ââŚ!â
Frey looked at Isollaâs head once again.
Was he still alive?
Or was it a clue he left just before he died?
After thinking about it for a moment, Frey turned to the others.
âYou guys head over to Lesha. I think I need to talk to this guy a bit longer.â
Anastasiaâs expression was also one of displeasure.
Although she didnât notice it immediately like Frey, she eventually recognised the Dragonâs head.
ââŚis that really Lady Isolla?â
âRight. I think there might be important clues on him.â
âUnderstood.â
Ivan then poked Frank, who was still staring dumbly at the sky, with his finger.
âWhat are you doing? He said go.â
âA-, ahh. Oh, my God. Is this a dream? âŚw-, who the hell are you people?â
âWeâll explain on the way, so just get the boat moving. Just head straight there. Without that sea snake, you no longer have anything to be wary of.â
Frank had no choice after hearing Ivanâs rough tone.
In the meantime, Frey landed on Neptunusâ head.
âI am going to take a closer look at your body. Is there anything similar to an island around here?â
[Thereâs a rock island nearby.]
âLetâs go there.â
[U-, understood.]
Neptunus nervously nodded at Freyâs words, and before long, they arrived at the island he spoke about.
[How are you going to⌠take a closer look at my body?]
âStay still.â
As he said this, Frey pointed his finger.
â[U-, urkâŚ?]
Neptunusâ entire body slowly rose up from the sea. It was a magnificent sight to behold, similar to that of an island floating up into the sky.
But Neptunus, the main subject in this scene, couldnât afford to enjoy his first flight.
âWh-, who the hell is this human?â
He felt that he was even more terrifying than the woman who captured him. In fact, he wasnât even sure if this man was a human in the first place.
Filled with anxiety and fear, Neptunus wanted to struggle, but he was afraid of Freyâs gaze, so he felt that it would be best not to.
Meanwhile, Frey was scrutinising Neptunusâ body.
ââŚâ
Seeing it with his own eyes confirmed it for Frey.
The scars on this sea snakeâs body were much worse than he thought. It wasnât just Isollaâs head.
He had a pair of shabby wings that did not match his enormous size, numerous eyes embedded in his chest, six legs, and countless patches and stitch marks carved across his entire body.
âHow many creatures did she splice together?â
Just looking at it allowed him to see the madness of the creator.
If it wasnât for Neptunusâ strong vitality, he would have died many times over. Instead of a sea serpent, he should have been called a chimera.
âYou, can you use mana?â
[N-, no. I canât even use divine power at will. I can only use it to strengthen my body.]
Frey looked at Isolla once more.
Isolla was dead. Or she was on the verge of death.
That much was certain.
But it was possible that a faint bit of his ego⌠still remained. It was just that Neptunusâ power prevented him from waking up.
âTake a nap.â
[What?]
Boom!
Subsequently, Neptunus felt an intense shock behind his head. His mind was shaken in an instant.
Just before he lost consciousness, he looked at Frey with a hurt gaze.
[I, I wouldnât sayâŚ]
Neptunus fainted without being able to complete his sentence. His head then collapsed on the rock island.
Frey looked at Isolla.
Even though Neptunus was unconscious, it was still murmuring. In other words, Neptunus and Isollaâs egos were not connected.
He touched the head.
He could feel divine power. It was left behind by Leyrin, but she was an Apocalypse. So the amount of divine power at her disposal was very large.
âHe said that Isolla started murmuring after Leyrin died.â
With her death, most of the divine power in Neptunusâ body disappeared, and Isolla was able to regain a bit of his consciousness.
So if all of the remaining divine power was removedâŚ
Chch.
He was already able to control divine power as well as he could mana. Heâd simply knocked Neptunus out so that it would be easier.
Thanks to this, in just ten minutes, all the divine power in Neptunusâ body disappeared.
The next thing he noticed was Neptunusâ heart.
When he was inspecting Neptunusâ body, he had noticed a large number of scars and stitches on his chest.
And just as he expectedâŚ
âI knew it.â
Neptunus had two hearts. And the heart on the right that was shaking fiercely was, without a doubt, a Dragon Heart.
This should have been what Dro felt.
Without hesitation, Frey pumped mana into the Dragon Heart. His mana was purer and denser than even the most mana rich locations on the continent.
Babump!
The Dragon Heart began to beat heavily. Like a traveler who had wandered the desert for several days before finding an oasis, the Dragon Heart sucked in the mana like it was drinking water.
Paht.
As soon as the Dragon Heart was filled, Isollaâs murmuring stopped.
After a while, she opened her eyes.
It was not the same as the unfocused eyes from before. There was clearly intelligence in her eyes.
Frey hesitated before saying.
ââŚMaster?â
[âŚyou areâŚ]
âItâs Lukas.â
This reunion made Frey feel joy and sorrow at the same time. However, there was no time to think about that.
Isolla blinked before saying.
[Luka-, s? But⌠Lukas is deadâŚ]
âA lot has happened.
They didnât have time.
Frey summarised everything to the best of his ability and told her about the situation.
Isolla seemed to have a hard time believing it at first, but she still listened to Frey. And when he finished, she let out a long sigh.
[âŚright. As you said, a lot has happened.]
Isollaâs voice was weak. This made Frey even more sad.
He couldnât find any traces of the gentle and relaxed expression from the past.
âWho did this to you, Master?â
[âŚLord.]
As expected.
Frey grit his teeth. His anger towards Lord had reached new heights at that moment.
[Lukas, we donât have the time to enjoy our reunion.]
He knew what she was saying was true. It was already a miracle that her consciousness had persisted for so long.
It wouldnât be strange if she suddenly died.
[âŚyou said you met someone you suspect to be the Dragon LordâŚ]
âIâm not sure⌠do you know him?â
[Of course. I was also an ancient.]
After falling silent for a moment, she spoke again.
[I donât know the exact identity of that man named Dro. But if he really is the Dragon Lord, Lukas, you canât trust him.]
ââŚwhy?â
When Frey asked this in a surprised voice, Isolla gave him a shocking answer.
[Because the Demigod Lord and the Dragon Lord were like brothers.]