98. The Sinking Forest (2)

In that instant, I heard Remiella’s voice, sounding utterly shocked.

But I was already plunging into the sinking lake, into that dense pool of Mana. And the moment I fell into the lake, I realized, ‘Ah, shit.’

I couldn’t breathe. No, it wasn’t just that I couldn’t breathe. The crushing Mana pressure on my body felt like it would flatten me like a pancake.

‘If I’m careless, I might die.’

That’s no exaggeration. Not even when I encountered the remains of the ten-thousand-year-old dragon, Kraiupe, did I feel this much Mana pressure.

A concentration of Mana that had been accumulating in a narrow lake for a very, very long time. That pure Mana is practically poison to an Awakened one.

‘Absorb such dense Mana and use the Mana Acceleration Method? There’s no way that’s possible…’

It was definitely a method I came up with on the spur of the moment, but…

I was just about to admit it was reckless. And at that moment, my Mana Heart. I felt that Dragon Heart, sensing the danger, accelerating rapidly.

‘No, I can’t allow myself to lose. Not to this damn lake… If it’s impossible, I’ll make it possible somehow.’

Perhaps, that’s just my natural personality.

Since I was young, I was quite the troublemaker. The lively Young Master of Reinheim. That was the nickname little Yulian von Reinhardt often heard.

‘No, not just lively, but actually a damn peculiar personality.’

The Reinhardt family was originally one where bloodlines were extremely precious. My maternal grandfather had barely managed to have Agnes von Reinhardt, his only child.

And I was her only son, my mother’s only son.

So, even if I, his only blood relative, was a bit peculiar, my grandfather, the Grand Master and famous Lion Grand Duke, a hero of the Empire, couldn’t really say anything to me.

‘Besides, I lost my parents when I was young, so my grandfather cherished me even more.’

So, it was only natural that I grew up to be a rather spoiled brat. Even Wilhelm von Reinhardt, the great ruler of Essenmund, a living hero written about in the Pantheon’s lecture books, was at my beck and call.

Not only that, but little Yulian was damn peculiar and hated to lose to anyone.

I don’t know if my personality became twisted because I lost my parents when I was young, or if it was because of the Reinhardt blood flowing through me. But when I look back on my childhood, I seem to have caused a lot of trouble in front of the people of the mansion.

The only person that peculiar me was wary of was Aylin.

Actually, it’s a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but I fell for her the moment I first saw her.

‘But that damn voice… because of the Curse of Knoia…’

But my body wasn’t normal. Instead of my deceased parents, I was left with the Curse of Knoia. Because of that, my personality became more and more twisted as the days went by.

No matter who I met, I got angry and couldn’t deal with them normally. It was only natural that I, having become a chaotic mess, couldn’t properly train in swordsmanship.

But even so, I wanted to show Aylin a cool image somehow. Since the standard of a cool man in Essenmund is a very rough man.

So, I would pick fights with the people of the mansion and the people of Reinheim for no reason.

‘Even if it’s because of the curse, it’s damn embarrassing when I think about it again.’

Anyway, my innate competitive spirit and that damn curse turned me into an incorrigible delinquent.

Of course, I completely escaped that damn curse thanks to my mother’s arrangement. But to get to the point, my personality of hating to lose to anyone is still the same.

Kuluk, kuluk-

I’m trying to force myself to breathe, even though I can’t breathe properly.

Actually, I didn’t just jump in recklessly.

Now there are only two days left in the primeval forest. If I can’t complete the Breath by then, the plan to recapture the Imperial Capital from the rebels will fall apart.

As Remiella said, Chris, who is by Grius’s side, seems to be an enemy that I can’t handle in my current state.

‘If I can’t even overcome someone like Chris, I can never catch Duke Pedro.’

So, I had to get the Breath no matter what. For that Breath, I needed 15 seconds.

——-

「Limit Release – Dragonification」

* The grade of Dragonification increases with the magic power passed down from the Archduke of Demons.

### Dragonification (Level 2)

: Temporarily increases all stats by a large amount.

: Currently sustainable for 4 minutes and 45 seconds (+15s)

[If you can maintain Dragonification Stage 2 for 5 minutes. A new skill, Breath, becomes available.]

——-

The system appears before my eyes. Just yesterday. I increased Dragonification Stage 2 by 15 seconds more through training with Lucia and Rosette.

In fact, it was a very intense training session, to the point where I received Yunir’s priest’s focused healing. And not only that training, but also through very passionate lovemaking with the two of them.

I received the magic power of the three Archdukes of Demons I had contracted with.

‘But even so, 15 seconds is not enough.’

The moment I woke up in the bedroom today. I instinctively sensed it. I could increase the time a little more with the same training as yesterday, but I wouldn’t have enough time to complete the Breath.

So, when I heard the story of this sinking forest from Remiella. I decided to try the most intense training.

‘Damn it. So, I can’t lose, even if I die.’

I resisted the Mana pressure that felt like it would crush my whole body. I unleashed my body’s maximum potential, Dragonification Stage 2.

***

I’m alive for now.

Horns and wings, still awkward. And a tail sprouted from me.

Unlike the very cute golden Cecilia when she’s Dragonified. The evidence of that Dragonification, like my tyrant, is a rough black color.

And my Mana Heart, the Dragon Heart, which changed its shape like a dragon’s armor to match that Dragonification. It started accelerating so fiercely that I could feel the vibration directly.

‘I have to use the Lucia style to the maximum to maintain Stage 2.’

I wrapped the refined Mana, Aura, created by that Dragon Heart around my horns, tail, and wings. Then the created shield barely began to push away the dense Mana around me.

At the same time, the system starts counting down the time.

About 4 minutes and 40 seconds. Until Dragonification Stage 2 is released, I think I can somehow survive in this deep sea of Mana.

‘No. I didn’t jump in here to go scuba diving.’

I’m barely holding on with Dragonification. At this rate, there’s no interaction with the high concentration of Mana around me at all.

‘I have to be able to absorb that Mana into my body. That’s the only way to get the remaining 15 seconds… the Breath…’

I instinctively felt it. My Dragonified body is different from a human.

The Lucia style, based on the Reinhardt and Orhaim’s original training methods. But that special attribute Mana training method is only for humans.

When I’m at my maximum potential like now, transformed into a Dragon, I instinctively realized that I need another training method.

‘Just like when Dragonification started instinctively when I was about to suffocate from Mana a little while ago…’

But if I get rid of the Aura shield as it is and try to breathe, I’ll just suffocate from the high concentration of Mana.

‘Damn it. There’s no time to think like this now.’

I didn’t jump in recklessly. The Magic Dragon, born very rarely even among dragons. Tricia told me that even in the Demon King’s kingdom, very few people know about that Magic Dragon.

But, I already know someone who should know the Magic Dragon better than anyone else. No, not a person, but a demon.

I shouted out to that demon.

“Ruirill! Come out right now!”

The Grand Duchess of Lust, Ruirill. I called out the name of the Grand Duchess who had reached the pinnacle of the demons I had contracted with.

But there was no response.

‘This lewd Grand Duchess. Acting expensive.’

I shouted her name again.

“Are you going to pretend you don’t know? You’re good at peeking at other people’s fucking moments every day. But when I really need you…”

At those words, Ruirill appeared with a seductive smile.

“Hehe. There’s no need to be so hasty like a premature ejaculator, is there? I would have come out like this even if you didn’t rush me so much.”

Ruirill appeared before my eyes. Unlike the appearance of the voyeuristic Grimoire Lemegeton that appears when I and my heroines share love.

She stood before my eyes in the form of Emily, the blue-haired witch whom Ruirill had possessed last time.

And it’s not just her face that she borrowed, but like the noble young ladies of Pantheon. She was wearing a young lady’s dress that showed off her cleavage, and she was holding a parasol in her hand.

Emily was a beauty comparable to my heroines. So, Ruirill, who appeared in that form that any man would be drawn to, smiled at me.

I said to her.

“Were you late because you were changing clothes?”

“Not only that, but I was late because I was putting on makeup. That’s how female animals are.”

Ruirill retorted to my joke like that. Then she glanced at my appearance and said.

“Anyway, you’re doing something you don’t usually do. Yulian, as you felt, the concentration of Mana here is excessively high. Even for you, it’s dangerous to jump in recklessly… Hmm. Now that I think about it, you’ve released your usual leash.”

“Leash? Are you talking about the Rosario?”

She nodded slightly.

As Ruirill said, I took off my mother’s Rosario from my neck and gave it to Remiella. Since that Rosario is a sacred object and something directly connected to me.

I threw it to Remiella for fear that she would worry about me for no reason.

‘No, actually, there was another purpose.’

And Ruirill pinpointed that intention exactly.

“Well. If you had been wearing that Saintess’s Rosario. Your mother would have stopped you from jumping into such a dangerous lake.”

Like Ruirill said. My mother, Agnes’s Rosario, makes my personality excessively calm. Thanks to that personality stabilization, I successfully put my heroines in my harem and achieved my current growth.

“A man can’t grow if he’s always in his mother’s arms.”

At those words, Ruirill laughed out loud.

“Haha. You’re just like my contractor. That’s right. The men of the North were famous for being rough. If you want to satisfy the Archduke of Wrath in the future. You have to have that manly side. It’s useless to just shake your dick roughly in bed.”

Considering what she said, she was the one who was happiest when I shook my hips, but that’s enough joking around.

“Anyway, I understand. Ruirill. Please teach me quickly. The Dragon’s Breathing Technique.”

At my words, Ruirill smiled as if surprised.

“Amazing. Even with that fusion style you already created… no, was it the Lucia style? You wouldn’t be lacking with just that special Mana training method. You realized that you need the next level yourself. That’s the kind of diligence that the Archduke of Sloth would be horrified by.”

“I don’t need compliments. If your contractor suffocates when the current Dragonification is released. Are you going to just watch?”

“Hehe. Men who rush are not attractive at all. But if that man is my contractor, he’s special. Okay, I understand.”

Ruirill folded her parasol. Then she came up behind me and hugged me from behind.

Emily’s breasts, as big as Chloe’s. So, that soft sensation pressed against my wings and back.

Then, Ruirill, who was caressing my upper body with a lewd touch with silk gloves. Her hand stopped near my heart.

“You are a descendant of the Reinhardt, a prestigious family of swordsmanship. But even so, it seems that you have used magic and alchemy yourself at Pantheon Academy.”

Ruirill’s words were true.

My bloodline is a bloodline of swordsmen. But in the time at Pantheon that I mistakenly thought I was possessing. I had definitely used spiritism and alchemy very skillfully.

‘It was definitely the game’s system. The ability to purchase and use traits with those game points.’

After purchasing the spiritist and alchemist traits, I was able to use those abilities. Of course, it was actually reality, not a game. The system was a divine spell lost in the ancient empire era.

Ruirill continued.

“But it’s strange. Even if you use the same Mana. In the first place, the way magicians and swordsmen refine Mana is completely different. You know that too, right?”

At the same time, Ruirill bit my earlobe slightly with her lips and whispered softly.

“That’s where the answer to the Dragon’s Breath lies.”