Chapter 618: Dragon (Dragon)

Squeeeze.

I checked my body all over.

After repeating a few movements to confirm.

My left arm felt completely fine. The internal injuries were the same.

‘How can it be this clean?’

I had been wondering how I was going to deal with this.

The regeneration was completely finished.

‘How did this happen?’

At least three months.

An internal injury that would normally take half a year, if not longer.

An internal injury that even gods couldn’t fix quickly, requiring half a year.

And it healed all at once.

‘Even….’

I looked at my left arm.

It was the arm that had been torn off by his touch.

But now?

‘It’s fine.’

It was as clean as if it had never been torn off in the first place.

There wasn’t even a foreign sensation.

How could this be possible?

‘The place I was just in is the same.’

I looked around.

There was definitely snow everywhere, but it had vaguely felt like a garden.

Now, it was just a snowfield.

Maybe I had moved from the original location?

‘That might be the case, but….’

I didn’t think it was quite like that.

Because I felt that the previous space, the very space itself, was a lie.

The reason is simple.

‘That feeling.’

The feeling when space collapses.

And the atmosphere the space itself possessed.

It was a sensation I had definitely felt somewhere before.

I didn’t need to think too long.

It was a sensation deeply ingrained in my memory.

‘The Dark King’s Domain.’

The black space the Dark King used to create.

The place where I died hundreds, thousands of times.

That place was exactly like it.

‘Was it called Authority?’

The Authority (權能) one could receive for being a Dragon.

The Dark King referred to that power as his Authority.

The memory of repeatedly reviving even after dying countless times there.

It subtly resembled my current situation.

‘Then was the power just now also like an Authority?’

That somewhat explained why my arm was restored.

Though I didn’t know why even the internal injuries were healed.

“Hoo….”

After checking my body over, I let out a sigh.

Whatever the case, the important thing was.

‘That I survived.’

That I kept my life.

My arm wasn’t torn off, and I didn’t lose my life.

Thinking about it, cold sweat ran down my back.

How long has it been?

A situation where my life was threatened that much.

Let alone a situation where I survived thanks to the opponent’s mercy.

[Are you pureblood?]

The words the opponent left behind echoed in my mind.

‘Pureblood….’

What could they possibly have meant by that?

He was a dragon too.

All signs pointed to it.

‘What is pureblood? Does it mean he wasn’t pureblood?’

Pureblood.

The meaning contained within it was a question.

I had shattered my vessel and undergone shedding, after all.

Meaning it was rather ambiguous to call me pureblood.

Yet, he called me pureblood while looking at me.

‘To be precise.’

The moment I used Dragon Speech without realizing it.

He called me pureblood after hearing it.

What could be the difference?

‘Can he not use Dragon Speech?’

I had simply thought of Dragon Speech as a concept, my own Authority.

His reaction upon hearing the Dragon Speech.

That bothered me.

It was as if there was something more to Dragon Speech.

And.

His reaction the moment he seemed to think I was pureblood was also like that.

‘As if he had discovered some kind of goal.’

Is being pureblood that important?

Questions piled up.

The most important thing here was.

‘Ultimately, it means there are other dragons besides me.’

That was the most crucial point to consider.

Not cases like the Dark King or the Palace Lord, but beings I could recognize as dragons.

The fact that another one appeared, besides the Blood Demon.

And.

A being who became a dragon through shedding, just like me.

No, wait.

‘Perhaps being a dragon itself isn’t about being born, but about evolving?’

Such a question crossed my mind.

Thinking that.

Crack.

I grabbed the shackle in front of me and crushed it.

Grrr-!!

With a little force, the shackle broke easily.

Despite breaking it forcefully, I felt no other issues.

‘They said it had the effect of suppressing energy.’

I felt nothing special.

I casually brushed the debris aside.

“…Huh….”

She showed a strange reaction seeing the broken shackle.

It was Namgung Bi-ah.

Her eyes looked surprised.

“What’s wrong?”

“It…didn’t break…?”

Judging by her reaction, she seemed to have been trying to break it continuously.

Her reaction suggested it was effective.

“…”

Namgung Bi-ah’s wrist, where the shackle had been, was red.

Seeing that, I gently took her wrist.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“I know.”

I just wanted to do it.

At the same time, I checked Namgung Bi-ah’s upper body and waist.

I could see bandages wrapped through the gaps in her martial arts uniform.

They were different from the compression bandages she usually wore.

“…How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.”

I said it because she didn’t look okay at all.

“Haa….”

With a sigh, I stroked my own forehead.

Fortunately, I met Namgung Bi-ah ‘alive’.

Considering how worried I was that something might have happened, it wasn’t a bad outcome.

But it wasn’t entirely a good result.

Holding Namgung Bi-ah’s wrist, I asked.

“…What were you doing to end up like this?”

“…”

I felt a tremor in the wrist I was holding.

“I told you to stay put, didn’t I? We definitely made a promise?”

Don’t do anything reckless.

If trouble breaks out, abandon everyone around you and run the fastest.

Also, don’t get hurt.

Eat your meals properly.

These were the promises made when Namgung Bi-ah insisted on going to the Northern Sea.

“Which of these did you keep?”

“…I…ate well….”

“Don’t make me laugh, it’s obvious you’ve lost more weight.”

She looked even thinner than when I last saw her, claiming she ate well.

“If you weren’t going to listen to a word I said, why did you even come?”

She really kept none of them.

I was dumbfounded.

“I told you, if trouble happened, to run without looking back. You recklessly charged in and almost died, didn’t you?”

“…”

“And what’s this about guarding a princess? What exactly have you been doing? If I knew you’d act like this, I wouldn’t have told you to go….”

I was about to keep talking but shut my mouth.

Because Namgung Bi-ah grabbed my arm with her hand.

“…I’m sorry…don’t scold me”

I had a lot to say. I really had a lot to say.

But this simple gesture silenced me.

“…Hoo….”

It’s fine.

I tried hard to convince myself.

‘As long as she’s alive.’

It was enough that she was alive.

As long as she wasn’t dead, nothing else mattered.

However.

“…Alright, let’s talk about the rest later.”

That didn’t mean I wouldn’t talk about it.

It just wasn’t the time.

“…”

Hearing that, Namgung Bi-ah subtly turned her head away.

Seeing that, I got up first.

It wasn’t the situation to be having a long conversation.

“First… let’s wake that one up.”

I walked over slightly.

Yuri was lying there, unconscious.

I calmly approached her, placed my hand on her forehead, and

Woong-! channeled energy into her.

Then.

“Huk…!”

Yuri, who had been unconscious, immediately regained consciousness and sat up.

Yuri sat bolt upright, her eyes wide as she looked around.

“Where….”

“Are you awake?”

“Goo Gongja…?”

Yuri’s gaze turned towards me.

Soon after, she tightly grabbed my sleeve.

“What about Bi, Bi-woogun? That friend…what happened to him?”

As soon as she woke up, she asked about Woo-hyeok.

Seeing that reaction, I couldn’t help but bite my lip.

It was because the image of Woo-hyeok being dragged away by him flashed through my mind.

“I lost him.”

“…You lost him…?”

“What happened to you? Why did you suddenly appear, captured?”

“Captured?”

Yuri looked puzzled at my question.

Judging by her state, she didn’t even seem to know she had been captured.

‘She didn’t even notice him approaching in the first place. It makes sense.’

No matter how injured I was internally, she didn’t notice him approaching closely.

Whether it was due to such a difference in level, or because some other method was used, I don’t know.

Either way, the fact remains that I lost him.

“…Your kin intervened. That’s how you were knocked out, too.”

“Yes…?”

“He looked like a man, so it must have been either First Young Master or Second Young Master.”

It was just as Yuri had expected.

The white-haired youth who looked like a dragon.

I lost to him.

It was no different than having Woo-hyeok taken away without being able to resist properly.

[How pathetic.]

His words echoed in my ears.

I thought I had long abandoned pride.

But being trampled like this felt terrible.

It was an overwhelming defeat.

And.

[It seems you still haven’t decided.]

[I see. So.]

It seemed to be because of a problem I hadn’t resolved myself.

It made me even angrier.

‘What does he know?’

For what purpose did he take Woo-hyeok?

What does he plan to do with Woo-hyeok?

Also.

How did the Ice Palace’s kin become a dragon?

What is his objective?

What did he figure out by looking at me?

It wouldn’t leave my mind.

His oppressive gaze. The look that saw me as insignificant.

My instinct to kill him.

It still remained, confusing my mind.

Swish.

I felt a touch on my hand.

Checking, it was Namgung Bi-ah’s hand.

“Calm down….”

“…”

My gaze shifted to Namgung Bi-ah’s waist.

The injured area.

Seeing that cooled my head.

I realized this wasn’t the time to be like this.

“…First, we need to go back.”

It wasn’t for any other reason than Namgung Bi-ah’s condition.

Also, there was something I needed to ask the Palace Lord.

As I remembered this and tried to get up.

“Just a moment….”

Yuri stopped me with her words.

Looking at her, I let out a shallow sigh.

It seemed losing Woo-hyeok was the problem.

“It’s impossible to find him right now. For now….”

“No, who is that young lady…?”

“Huh?”

I wondered what she meant, but Yuri was pointing at Namgung Bi-ah.

What was she talking about now?

“Who? You said she was your escort. What do you mean?”

Yuri had clearly said that Namgung Bi-ah had served as her escort for a while.

But now she doesn’t recognize Namgung Bi-ah?

I asked, filled with doubt.

“Escort? What are you talking about…?”

Yuri still wore a confused expression.

“Princess.”

“Huh?”

Yuri’s eyes widened instantly at Namgung Bi-ah’s words.

“This voice… huh…? Could it be.”

As if realizing belatedly, she forgot she had collapsed and jumped up.

“Baek-yeou…? Is it Baek-yeou?”

“Yes.”

Namgung Bi-ah nodded at Yuri’s words.

Hearing that answer, Yuri covered her mouth with her hand.

“What…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Why, why. Are you pretty?”