Ch.108The Edge of the World, the Outer Continent (2)

This is not a raid, but a competition.

There were valid reasons why the four White-ranked adventurers gathered here had come to this conclusion. It wasn’t that they were fools who knew nothing of the terror of dragons.

Even though most dragons had disappeared with the end of the Mythic Age a thousand years ago, their majesty remained vividly recorded in history books. While there were differences between individual dragons, it was generally considered nearly impossible for a Sword Seeker to hunt a dragon alone.

Yes, “generally” speaking.

The Red Dragon and White Dragon sealed beneath Cambria were far from ordinary dragons. They were originally one dragon that had been split in two, already brought down by Arthur and then sealed by Merlin after losing most of their power.

Once great.

A dragon that forgot its greatness when it fell to the earth.

The Red Dragon and White Dragon had their characteristics, strategies for defeating them, and even their weaknesses completely exposed. Moreover, they had been weakened by the long years of being sealed, so what more needed to be said?

Five Sword Seekers would be more than enough to hunt them.

The important thing was who would deliver the “final blow.”

That’s what the adventurers gathered here believed.

There might be some danger, but the rewards for taking that risk? The highest grade materials like dragon hide, bones, blood, and heart—all worth whatever price one named. And every adventurer knew that artifacts made from dragon materials possessed jaw-dropping capabilities.

Adventurers are those who weigh gold coins against danger.

For them, this dragon subjugation was a mouth-watering opportunity. The Central Guild’s guildmaster must have known this when he brought the subjugation rights first. He must have believed the benefits outweighed the risks.

The Imperial Knights were merely insurance; the adventurers gathered in this city would be more than enough for the subjugation…

—That’s what they’re thinking.

Merlin shrugged her shoulders.

—Actually, if things had gone “normally,” that wouldn’t be wrong. The White Dragon and Red Dragon were revived about two hundred years ago too, you know?

‘This isn’t the first time?’

—No, they pop out through the cracks in the seal once or twice every few hundred years. A perfect seal can’t exist in this world. Anyway, each time, a few Sword Seekers easily hunted them down, so they probably think it’ll be the same this time.

She sat on the conference room table, crossing her legs. Naturally, since only Najin could see Merlin, to the other White-ranked adventurers, Najin appeared to be staring into empty space.

—But this case is different.

Merlin lowered her head to look at Najin.

—They’re mistaken about two things.

She spread two fingers.

—One is thinking that a weakened dragon will appear this time too. This time is different. The sealing formula will be “completely” broken. What they’ll face isn’t a weakened dragon, but the mythic-age dragon that Arthur and I faced.

She folded one finger.

Wiggling the other finger, Merlin continued.

—And two, even if a perfect dragon is revived, they think they can hunt it. This misconception hasn’t changed in a thousand years.

Merlin smirked as if finding it amusing.

A thousand years ago, when they brought down the dragon, Merlin was a Six-Circle magician, and Arthur was a warrior who had reached the realm of Sword Seeker.

—The two of us brought down two dragons, so wouldn’t several Sword Seekers be enough? That’s what people said. I couldn’t believe how ridiculous that was.

And since we sealed them away, we couldn’t even demonstrate.

Merlin sighed, resting her chin on her hand.

—If it were that easy, could we have earned our stars?

Stars that can only be placed in the sky after achieving great deeds.

Rolling her first star on her palm, Merlin looked at Najin. It wasn’t the gaze of one looking at a king she needed to guide, but it was the gaze of a senior looking at a junior following in her footsteps.

—This time, it’s your turn.

Merlin’s blue eyes and

Najin’s sunset-colored eyes gazed at each other.

—It’s your turn to prove yourself, in your own way.

A thousand years ago, Arthur cut off the dragon’s wings, making it fall to the ground. Then how will you bring down the dragon? How will you keep them imprisoned underground? Merlin’s eyes were shining.

A boy who resembled Arthur, yet was different.

Merlin was so curious about what answer the boy would give in this subjugation, how he would obtain his star. But that answer would have to wait for a month.

Just as Najin’s monologues reached Merlin, Merlin’s monologues and emotions also flowed partially to Najin. Many things had changed since reaching the realm of Sword Seeker.

Feeling Merlin’s faintly flowing emotions, Najin raised the corners of his mouth.

‘You can look forward to it, Merlin.’

Recalling what he had thought while listening to Merlin’s advice,

Najin smiled.

He was already thinking of his own method.

2.

After receiving information and documents related to the subjugation from the Central Guild, Najin left the guild. During this process, every employee he encountered bowed their heads to him—another privilege of the White rank.

In Cambria, City of Opportunity, only achievements determined one’s status. And White-ranked adventurers were those with the highest achievements.

‘So this is what it means to be called nobility in Cambria.’

Najin thought as he walked.

According to the Imperial Court’s calculations, the seal would crack open in a month, and Merlin gave a similar answer. This meant he had about a month of leeway.

What would he do during that month?

He could take on various quests, large and small, but Najin was well aware that he was currently receiving an excessive amount of public attention. Whatever he did, eyes would follow him, and his intentions would be questioned.

‘I’ve received dozens of designated requests addressed to me.’

Unfortunately, he had no intention of accepting requests with such obvious ulterior motives. In fact, he had already thought about what to do during this month.

‘Merlin.’

—Yes, what is it?

‘After we catch the dragon, we’ll definitely go beyond the continent, right? To the battlefield of stars and the land of demons.’

—That’s how it will be.

Merlin nodded.

—There’s no better place to build fame, achieve great deeds, and engrave stars. And it’s also where countless heroes walk.

The battlefield of stars and the land of demons.

Najin remembered the vision Merlin had shown him before. Scenery that had shaken his soul and once brought him to his knees.

—Th-that… was a test. You know that, right? I didn’t intend to just scare you… well, not entirely, but it was a necessary process.

‘I know. Why are you bringing this up suddenly?’

—You said it before, didn’t you? That Merlin also acted crazy with me…

A strangely sulky voice.

It seemed she was still bothered by Najin’s joking comment “Merlin, you did the same thing” when they encountered Gerd. Najin chuckled.

‘I know everything. It was a test, right?’

—Right?

Seeing Merlin’s brightening voice, Najin wanted to tease her more but held back.

‘Anyway, it seems like we’ll be heading there in about two months at the latest… I was thinking of going to take a look in advance.’

—Now?

Najin nodded.

‘To catch a dragon, I should at least face something similar to a dragon, but there’s nothing suitable in the inland.’

A monster similar to a dragon.

A being with traces of dragon blood, yet without sharing its mystique. A wyvern. That was the practice opponent Najin had in mind.

—Wyverns are fairly high-level monsters, so they should be in the demon realm. So you’re going to hunt them?

‘I need to get a feel for it. I don’t think I’ve fought flying creatures much.’

After thinking for a moment, Merlin nodded.

—Not a bad idea. It’s also good to show those curious about your movements.

That was also part of Najin’s intention.

He wanted to show those currently watching him. That he was testing his advancement into the demon realm, and would be active there in the future.

—It’s not bad, but…

However, Merlin trailed off as if something bothered her.

—When you first see it… it might be a bit shocking.

‘The wyvern?’

—No, the outside world. The Outer Continent.

Trying to explain something, Merlin closed her mouth.

—It’s faster to see it once than to explain it in words. So, are you thinking of going right now?

There was no harm in being quick.

Considering the time for the round trip, even a month could be a tight schedule. Nodding, Najin immediately hired a carriage.

The edge of the continent.

It was a carriage that would travel non-stop to the place called the boundary line.

3.

The outer side of the continent, the Outer Continent.

Some referred to it as the outside of the world, the world beyond. And this was not an incorrect expression. Most of the rules that applied to the world were distorted or broken there.

The living and the dead are not clearly divided. Uncremated corpses begin to move on their own after a night, wandering the world as the dead.

The flow of time is inconsistent. Some places are fast, some are slow, and some are completely frozen, preserved. Thus, all seasons coexist, or a single season repeats eternally.

A place where rules and principles are in disarray.

A place where scenic beauty and wasteland are randomly mixed.

Therefore.

The Outer Continent is where Constellations who have already left this world can intervene. The demon realm, where demons dwell and where Najin was heading, also existed there.

—Some demons are comparable to Constellations. Some of them are actually Constellations. Being a demon doesn’t mean you can’t become a Constellation.

‘That powerful?’

—The rulers of the demon realm, called Demon Lords, are about that level, I think? Baal, whom I burned to death, had about nine stars, I believe.

After traveling for days while listening to Merlin’s explanations…

The carriage that had been running for days suddenly stopped. The driver said he couldn’t go any further, dropped Najin off, and turned the carriage back toward the inland.

Left alone in the wilderness, Najin blinked. Looking around, there was a stable-cum-tavern with a sign that read “The Last Drink.”

“First time here?”

A man sipping alcohol outside the tavern approached Najin. When Najin nodded, the man stretched out his arm, pointing in one direction.

“You’ll arrive in about an hour if you walk that way.”

With those final words, the man said nothing more and continued sipping his drink. Najin turned his head to look in the direction the man had pointed.

A place where distorted terrain and desolate land stretched endlessly. Najin silently began walking. After walking for some time, he looked up at the sky and stopped in his tracks. He had to stop.

The sky was broken.

The blue sky had cracks in it, and the fissures extended far into the distance.

—We’re almost there.

Merlin said, and

Najin resumed walking. But he had to stop again after a short distance. There was a boundary line drawn on the ground. Whoever had drawn it, the boundary line extended far away as if dividing the world in two.

—That was drawn by the First Sword Master.

Merlin smirked.

—After seeing Arthur draw the boundary of Camlann, he suddenly decided he should draw one too, and this is it.

A sword strike that left a mark even after a thousand years.

Najin couldn’t understand how, in what way, one could swing a sword to leave such a mark. After staring at the boundary line for a moment, Najin took a deep breath.

Then he took one step beyond the boundary line.

One step.

One footstep.

The moment he stepped into the outside world.

“…!”

Najin’s eyes widened.

Thump, thump, thump—his heart beat violently, and the mana in his body surged wildly. Blood vessels appeared in Najin’s pupils, and all his senses were on high alert.

The air had changed.

The flow of mana had reversed.

All his senses were screaming.

Then there was a cracking sound. Najin looked toward the source of the sound. His skin was cracking. No, not his skin. His physical body was very slowly crumbling.

—Surround yourself with mana.

Najin quickly enveloped himself with mana.

Only then did the cracking stop.

—You always need to surround yourself with mana here. Or adapt your body to this place. Well… thanks to Excalibur, you could probably last a few months without surrounding yourself with mana, so you can try if you want.

Though I don’t recommend it.

As Merlin muttered, Najin slowly caught his breath. It was disconcerting. He had only taken one step, yet it felt like all the common sense he knew had been shattered.

—That’s how this place is. That’s the kind of place it is.

Merlin smiled bitterly, standing right next to Najin.

—And it’s still too early to be surprised.

She pointed upward with her finger.

Najin slowly raised his head. It wasn’t just the flow of the area that had suddenly changed. The scenery seen from beyond the boundary line and the scenery seen after entering the boundary were completely different.

Desert and vegetation coexisted, and areas with blizzards coexisted with parched wastelands. And most notably… structures that entered the field of vision, ignoring perspective.

A giant sword stuck in the ground, broken spears, arrows, chains, sickles… all kinds of weapons.

—Those are symbols of the Constellations. It’s like a warning saying this is their territory, so don’t come in if you don’t want trouble.

Merlin explained, then pointed to the sky again with her finger. As if saying to look at the sky first and see that scenery later.

So that’s what he did.

Najin raised his head to look at the sky.

And then, Najin could understand why Merlin had told him to look at the sky. The arbitrarily shattered sky. Like a broken window, the sky was cracked, and each crack was stained black.

Between the blue sky, there existed a black night sky.

And in the night sky, shining stars were embedded. Stars shining with their own colors. Najin thought those stars looked like eyes.

—That’s accurate.

‘What did you say?’

—I said that’s accurate. Those are eyes.

Merlin shrugged her shoulders.

Then, she snapped her fingers with a “click.” The veil that Merlin had placed around Najin’s soul was lifted. At that moment, Najin gasped at the sensations that rushed in simultaneously.

Gazes, he felt gazes.

Not just one. Tens, hundreds, thousands of gazes were felt. Those gazes started from the sky. Each of those shining stars was a gaze. Hundreds of stars were focusing on Najin.

—The outside world, the Outer Continent.

Merlin spread her arms wide.

—Welcome to the damn land of constellations.

The ancient Constellation who had the most stars after King Arthur smiled bitterly.