Chapter 582
Thud! Thud!
Arkelon walked at a leisurely pace. But its speed was by no ans slow.
That was because a single step of Arkelon was comparable to the speed of a human running at full force.
Thanks to that, Serion and her subordinates were able to comfortably take in the sights of the desert as they traveled.
“I don’t know if it’s alright for this to be this comfortable.”
Serion looked at the mug in her hand with a dumbfounded expression.
Steam was gently rising from the mug, which had a heating enchantnt cast on it.
The liquid inside was tea extracted from a cactus.
With its slight sweetness, every sip made her feel as if her entire body was lting into relaxation.
She almost felt confused about whether it was acceptable to enjoy such luxury in the middle of the desert.
The Mote tribe, who lived inside Arkelon, treated Serion and her subordinates kindly.
It wasn’t because Serion and the others were elves.
It was because they were part of Zeon’s group.
To the Mote tribe, Zeon was no different from a savior. That was why they extended such hospitality even to his companions.
“What on earth did he do for them to treat him like this?”
She had asked the reason, but no one from the Mote tribe told Serion the truth.
Because of that, her suspicions only continued to grow.
—Kraaah!
From afar, the cries of demonic beasts could be heard.
It was a pack of great horned hyenas, the scavengers of the desert.
There seed to be hundreds of them, likely a large force led by a queen.
Even so, it didn’t concern them much.
No matter how many great horned hyenas gathered, they were no threat to Arkelon.
In reality, the hyenas only howled at Arkelon and couldn’t even approach it.
Arkelon, too, paid them no mind and continued walking.
Even among demonic beasts, the difference in size was absolute.
Small beasts could not defeat dium ones, and against large ones, they weren’t even worth comparing.
The great horned hyenas barked fiercely as if trying to threaten it, but just by looking at their curled tails, it was obvious.
Whether they barked or not, Arkelon paid them no attention and leisurely moved forward.
Following the hyenas, a dium-sized demonic beast appeared.
It was the ironclad rhinoceros, notorious for its foul temper.
A mindless tyrant that would charge first at anything that entered its territory without permission. But even that ironclad rhinoceros beca docile upon seeing Arkelon.
It instinctively knew how to control its anger.
Like that, wherever Arkelon went, peace followed.
Perhaps trusting Arkelon, Zeon did not show himself outside and remained holed up in his room.
To properly use the fused Exion, that level of intense effort was required.
But Serion, who was outside, had no way of knowing that.
At that mont, Serion’s gaze turned toward Levin.
Levin was chatting excitedly with a child from the Mote tribe.
He showed no sense of tension whatsoever. Because of that, everything felt strangely unreal.
The desert she knew was a dangerous place where one could not let their guard down even for a mont.
“Hoo…”
A sigh escaped her without realizing, due to the cognitive dissonance.
Just then, Zeon ca out.
He had now beco able to perfectly use the unified Exion.
As soon as Zeon appeared, Levin was the first to greet him.
“Hyung!”
“Nothing unusual happened?”
“As you can see, it’s peaceful.”
“I see.”
“Most demonic beasts run away with their tails tucked just from seeing Arkelon’s shadow.”
“And Tesserina?”
“Over there.”
Levin pointed to the top of Arkelon’s head.
Tesserina was sitting right on top of Arkelon’s head.
Judging by the way her lips kept moving, she seed to be talking with Arkelon.
Arkelon also responded occasionally with low cries.
“They suit each other.”
“They really do.”
“Thanks to Arkelon, we’ll reach the Forest of Origin faster.”
“But will they really welco them? Dark elves don’t like ordinary elves.”
“On top of that, they don’t like humans either.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s why Lady Serion’s role is important. Depending on how she approaches them, the dark elves may open their hearts.”
“Do you think Lady Serion can do it?”
“If she can’t, then no one in this world will be able to open the hearts of the dark elves.”
“That makes sense.”
Levin nodded.
Everyone living in this world was broken in so way.
In order to survive in a hostile environnt, they struggled, and in the process, gradually beca damaged.
Those like the dark elves, who had lived their entire lives under persecution, had stronger suspicion and hostility. That was why it was not easy for them to open their hearts.
On the other hand, Serion had lived her entire life embracing others.
She had gathered those who couldn’t enter El Harun and had been left behind, forming a group and dedicating her life to protecting them.
Soone like her might be able to open the hearts of the dark elves.
It was then.
Suddenly, Zeon’s senses detected sothing unusual.
Zeon raised his head and looked toward the east.
Almost at the sa ti, Tesserina sprang up from Arkelon’s head and glared in the sa direction.
“What is it?”
Levin made a confused expression.
Judging by their reactions, sothing unusual was happening, but he couldn’t sense anything at all.
Levin narrowed his eyes and stared in the direction they were looking.
Then, far off near the horizon, he saw sothing moving.
It was so small it looked like a dot. But it didn’t take long for him to realize it had the shape of a person.
“But… is that really a person?”
Levin’s eyes widened.
The being walking straight toward Arkelon clearly had the form of a human. But it was so massive that it was hard to believe it was human.
It was too far to tell exactly, but it seed to be well over five ters tall.
“At that size, isn’t it basically an ogre?”
It was hard to believe, but the man was as large as an ogre.
Until the man ca closer, even Levin thought it was a real ogre.
A muscular giant well over five ters tall, with a square face covered in a thick beard. Fierce eyes like a demonic beast and a blunt nose.
An enormous mass of black hair spreading in all directions like a lion’s mane.
From the man, clad in a single-piece armor covered in pitch-black scales, an overwhelming aura could be felt.
At a glance, he was clearly no ordinary being.
—Kuuuu…
Even Arkelon let out a frightened cry and ca to a stop.
Serion’s eyes trembled.
She too felt an indescribable pressure emanating from the man.
‘Just who is that…’
The chill that began at her spine spread throughout her entire body.
Serion had lived for over two hundred years.
She prided herself on having experienced all kinds of hardships, yet she had never once felt such pressure.
At that mont, Zeon kicked off Arkelon and flew toward the man.
Landing in front of him, Zeon slightly bowed his head and greeted him.
“It’s been a while, Lord Nigel.”
“I sensed a familiar presence and ca to see… and as expected, it was you. Sand Mage.”
The gigantic man looking down at Zeon was none other than the half-dragon, Nigel.
They had t long ago when going to subjugate the necromancer Pilgrim.
The man who had cast off his dragon body and beco a half-dragon was Nigel.
“Did you change your direction to et ?”
“Yes. There is no one else with such a distinct presence as you. And…”
Nigel’s gaze turned toward Tesserina, who was standing on Arkelon’s head. Tesserina then used flight magic and flew over to Nigel.
Tesserina slightly bowed her head to him and spoke.
“Tesserina Castlow of the Silver Clan greets the ancient dragon of the Black Clan.”
“As expected, you are of the Silver Clan. But your condition is unusual. You didn’t polymorph—did you transfer your consciousness into a chira?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you make such a choice? What happened to your original body?”
Nigel asked without hesitation.
“If I explain everything, it will take quite so ti.”
“And what of it? Ti is sothing dragons have in excess.”
“Then let’s go inside Arkelon. I would like to speak quietly.”
“Very well.”
Nigel accepted her proposal without the slightest hesitation.
The three of them entered inside Arkelon’s shell.
Kailey looked at Nigel with a puzzled expression.
“And this person is?”
“I’ll explain later. If you have a quiet space, lend it to us.”
“Okay.”
Kailey imdiately offered her workshop.
It was the only space large enough to accommodate soone over five ters tall.
Tesserina imdiately cast a spell, completely isolating the workshop from the outside.
Nigel sat on the workbench and spoke.
“Now then, tell . Why did a proud mber of the Silver Clan abandon her original body?”
“It was because of a parasite.”
“A parasite?”
“Yes. This is what happened…”
Tesserina explained in detail how she had been infected by the parasite and had her original body taken.
After hearing everything, Nigel spoke.
“So in the end, the crystal containing Krasias’s will was the problem.”
“Yes. It granted imnse power even to sothing as lowly as a parasite.”
“Even so, to have your body taken by sothing like a parasite… your carelessness is the real issue.”
“I… apologize.”
“You need not apologize to . I am no longer a dragon.”
“Then, Lord Nigel… how did you co to take on such a form?”
“Because this form is the most suitable for combat.”
“…What?”
“The dragon’s body is large, but not suited for battle. So I reshaped myself into a form fit for combat.”
“That’s… possible?”
Tesserina looked at Nigel with disbelief.
She herself had transferred her consciousness into a chira as a desperate asure, but Nigel had transford his original dragon body into a human form.
Within that five-ter fra, the full power of a dragon’s body was contained.
Tesserina couldn’t even begin to imagine how powerful he must be.
Dragons were beings that grew stronger the longer they lived.
Naturally, an ancient dragon was several tis stronger than an ordinary dragon.
That such an ancient dragon had reshaped its body to beco even stronger was hard to believe.
With a stiff expression, Tesserina asked,
“Was there a reason you had to go that far?”
“There was.”
“If it’s not rude, may I ask the reason?”
“Tesserina.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how many dragons have crossed into this world?”
“I don’t know exactly. But I believe there aren’t many.”
“There are six in total.”
“Six?”
“Among them, the youngest, the White Dragon Neos, was hunted by humans. The foolish child being mined by humans beneath Neo Seoul—that is Neos.”
“I see.”
“The Gold Dragon Hyltun was also killed by a human. By the very human who traveled with that one.”
Nigel’s gaze was fixed precisely on Zeon.
Zeon frowned.
“How do you know that?”
“There is nothing I do not know, Sand Mage.”
At Nigel’s arrogant words, Zeon could not refute him.
He didn’t know how Nigel knew, but it was indeed Dyoden who had killed Hyltun.
Nigel bared his white teeth as he spoke.
“Now, only three dragons remain.”
“Shouldn’t it be four?”
“One of them died by my hand.”
“You… killed your own kind?”
Tesserina was shocked.
For dragons, killing their own kind was sothing unimaginable.
Nigel smiled.
“Yes. That one had harbored Krasias’s will.”
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