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Chapter 96. The Secret Of Funeral (2)
“In the end, I knew you’d come back here, Son.”
“I’m no son of yours, Heinrihi.’
“Hahaha. If that’s what you feel comfortable with, do as you please. However, the blood connection between us won’t change, right?”
Aster’s clenched fist trembled. He wanted to grab his neck right away and twist it to death. But he couldn’t kill that demon easily.
“Genoyer, get ready. Today is the time to fulfill our family’s long-cherished desire.”
Genoyer, who didn’t even know he was there, appeared in the dark cave. Seeing that he had a bottle of red liquid in his thin, fair hand, he seemed to be prepared for the time Aster would visit this place one day.
So, in the end, was Aster just a plaything in their hands? It was evident that even when he hid in the Waieos family, they pretended not to notice. It seemed like that was nothing more than his capriciousness and passed the time until this day arrived.
“Everything is ready. Dragon’s heart and blood. Even the vessel to put it in. Aah, that’s perfect.”
Genoyer threw the red bottle in his hand onto the glowing magic circle. Like the smell of iron, a bloody fishy smell was spreading, but the red magic stone emitted a bloody glow and absorbed the blood.
“Urgh.”
Aster gritted his teeth at the sudden pain. He didn’t know why, but it felt like someone was twisting his heart and tearing it apart. He felt suffocated and dizzy. He staggered and took a couple steps back.
The bloody glow shone even more brightly in the magic circle at that moment. It was as if the magic circle filled with blood was trying to catch him. Heinrihi looked at it and trembled in delight.
“Perfect. Hahaha! It’s perfect! Hahahaha!” Heinrihi, who burst into laughter, looked back at Aster. Somehow his figure looked as hideous as a fanatic who sold his soul to the devil.
Aster held on to his gripped heart and spoke. “That… what is it?”
“Indeed. I thought you’d wonder about this infinite collection of mana. Didn’t I tell you so many times? This is the ingredient that will make you perfect, Aster.”
“Ingredient?”
“Yes. People call it a dragon blood stone. However, this is a stone made from the heart of the 193rd dragon.”
“Dragon… what?”
“The dragon’s heart. The only dragon heart on this continent. And the mother you missed so much was the 193rd dragon, the last dragon.”
“…!”
“This will now be your new heart, Aster.”
Heinrihi caressed the dragon blood stone with affectionate eyes. His mission was to succeed and complete experiments that have been handed down from generation to generation. He had long intended to implant a dragon blood stone into Aster’s heart. Experimenting with Aster’s regenerative power through Genoyer for years was also an arrangement for today.
“I chose you. No, the Sestein family chose you.”
“…What nonsense. Did you really put my mother’s heart into that disgusting thing?”
“It was a sacrifice for a great cause. That was an inevitable fate.”
“Sacrifice? Did you say… sacrifice? Just to make something like that… you killed my mother…?”
“Yes, I killed her. I took out her heart with these hands. Hahaha.”
Aster’s rationality was cut off by that calm, snark tone.
Heinrihi said that his mother had fallen ill and died. It was a serious illness that even her beloved son couldn’t meet her. He couldn’t even see her body, as if he could get sick if he touched her. But was there something sinister behind that death?
My mother couldn’t reach heaven even after she died. Aster’s gaze, dyed red, turned to the brightly shining dragon blood stone. He couldn’t shake off his anger. What on earth is that piece of stone? Did you have to kill my mother, who was my everything? Okay, that’s good, Heinrihi. I’ll break it all down.
Aster reached for the dragon blood stone. Dozens, no, hundreds of barriers pushed his hand away, but Aster didn’t care. Even though his skin was peeled off and red blood dripped until they dug into and exposed his white bones, Aster didn’t stop. He even got closer, closer ane… closer! I will crush your long-cherished fate with these two hands!
Bang! Crash!  Eventually, the barrier broke, and when the dragon blood stone finally reached his hand, Aster grabbed it tightly.
In time, the grain was broken and the hemolytic stone finally reached his hand, and Astor grasped it tightly.
“Ooh— Finally!” Heinrihi couldn’t hide his excitement and exclaimed.
Look at the power of thoughtless destruction that has broken those countless ties and regained its own! Isn’t my child the true vessel to hold the dragon’s heart? His mad eyes glistened with greed.
“Finally today— our family’s long-cherished wish came true, Aster. Do you feel it? The mighty power contained in the dragon blood stone held in your hand. Now it is all yours. It will become your strength and make you stand as the owner of the continent. So come on! Put the dragon blood stone into your heart!”
“You’re completely crazy.”
“Hahaha. Yes, this father is crazy. How could this great achievement have been achieved without going crazy? Ah, Son, just imagine that. Your overbearing figure stands at the top of the continent and commands the people below you. You must see the end as a great wizard. Thus, we must prove the greatness of the Sestein family.”
“Was it just for such a reason that you wiped out the dragon clan? Just for such a reason! You killed my mother… my precious person!”
Aster squeezed the dragon blood stone in his hand. When the veins on the back of his hands popped out, an ominous sound came out of the dragoon blood stone. Crack. Crackle. Crack.
Heinrihi’s smiling pupils shook violently. He shouted in astonishment. “What are you doing, Aster!”
“Didn’t you say it was mine in the first place? So my decision is to destroy it with my own hands.”
“W-what?”
As if mocking the flustered Heinrihi, Aster put strength into his hand. Then, the glowing dragon blood stone made an ominous sound. Crack. Crackle.
“No! Stop it!”
“Look carefully, Heinrihi. This is the great end of the dream you dreamed of.”
Aster sighed and squeezed the last of his strength. At that moment. Crush. The dragon blood stone was crushed. Heinrihi widened his eyes in disbelief. He hurriedly grabbed Aster’s hand. No, he was trying to grab it. However, before he could grab his hand, the red fragments first scattered in all directions.
Shaaaaaa— Hundreds, thousands, ten thousand red fragments scattered in all directions. Heinrihi rushed madly and grabbed it with his hand.
“Ah… Ah… The long-cherished dream of our family…!”
Heinrihi, who was waving his hands in the air, couldn’t overcome the shock and collapsed to his knees. The red fragments that fell on the floor lost their light as they mixed with dust.
“H-how it can be!”
Heinrihi gathered the red fragments and screamed. This was his last chance. Wasn’t that why he dried up the seed of the dragon clan and destroyed them? Soaked in grief, he sobbed with red fragments in his chest.
“It can’t be like this. This can’t be ruined like this. I finally got the perfect ingredient. I even prepared a vessel that wouldn’t ruin. I can’t afford to lose in vain like this—”
At that moment, Heinrihi’s body was lifted into the air. “Ugh. Keheugh.”
His hand, which had been lost in the air, soon grabbed the hand of the person who strangled him. “A-Aster. You, keheug, why?”
“It’s so disgusting to see you cry out in misfortune.”
“U-urgh.”
“I will just kill you.”
Heinrihi’s pupils quickly rolled left and right. As his life approached a crisis, his desire to stay alive bloomed.
He looks ugly until the end. I can’t believe this man is my father. Aster, who had gritted his teeth, put more strength in his hands. A wave of mana rose around Heinrihi, but it did not impact Aster.
“Stop, just die.”
Heinrihi’s neck dropped with a crackling sound as if to say goodbye. After confirming that Heinrihi had stopped breathing, Aster lightly shook his hand. And at that time.
“Hiik.”
Astor, who was wiping his hands, turned his head to where he heard the sound.
“Genoyer?”
“Hi-hiiik.”
Genoyer, who turned blue, stepped backward and fell to his knees. He was terrified, and his legs gave out.
“S-spare me.” Ridiculously, that was the first thing that popped out of Genoyer’s mouth.
Aster let out a laugh. Well, he is a person like that. Aster then swept his own hair and took a step closer.
Genoyer’s eyes instinctively turned to Heinrihi’s body. Because whether it was in the past, present, or future, the only person he could rely on was his ‘father.’
Wriggle. Heinrihi’s hand moved. Seeing that, Genoyer was startled and covered his mouth. Father is alive. Even though he was happy, Aster was only a few steps away from him.
The red bottle on the half-broken table fell with a clang at that time. Aster’s gaze naturally turned there. The bottle was intact, probably because of the protective magic.
“This is.”
As if seeing something familiar, Aster stretched out his hand. He opened the lid, savored the scent, and smiled. “This is… the poison at that time.”
“…!”
The poison that had driven him to the brink of death hundreds of times and brutally revived him.
As Aster smiled coldly, Genoyer’s heart sank.