Ch.259Hall of the Gods (2)

“What kind of person is the Dragon King?”

That was the first question Llewellyn asked after regaining his senses, and the three who heard it each displayed different expressions.

Of course, only two of them could actually show expressions, but Valterok conveyed what would have been a clear expression through his voice, had he possessed a face.

“An old acquaintance. Though not as old as I am, she too is a dragonkin and has lived long. Before the Sword Saint appeared, she and I were typically considered the two strongest on the continent.”

His voice was excessively emotionless for someone praising himself. He was merely stating facts, and they were indeed facts.

Even in this pantheon, beings stronger than Valterok were extremely rare.

Even Llewellyn couldn’t guarantee victory without drawing upon a miracle.

And this Valterok declared it confidently. The two strongest on the continent.

“And now?”

“For magic users, I would have the advantage, but otherwise, the Dragon King would be stronger than me.”

Hearing Valterok’s words, Llewellyn nodded. He could tell just from the martial arts that remained vivid in his memory.

The Dragon King is powerful. An overwhelming force who has built up skills similar to the Sword Saint’s level.

Born with natural physique and technique, a being who has overcome all manner of adversity. Llewellyn estimated the attitude of the Dragon King whom he had said he’d finally found.

Perhaps the world’s destruction had already begun, and there might be an enormous number of monsters.

The Dragon King was surely coming this way while hunting those monsters. Llewellyn was certain, but…

“However… she has one minor flaw—she can’t find her way. Because of that, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen her face.”

At Valterok’s following words, Llewellyn raised his head blankly.

“She has no sense of direction?”

“Mmm. It’s fortunate that the Elven Abbot who often accompanies her finds the way for her. Otherwise, she would have died somewhere as a wanderer.”

Llewellyn’s pupils trembled chaotically. The possibility that occurred to him filled his mind, and he looked at the Court Count who wore a troubled expression.

“The Dragon King… is already an enemy who has killed one of our kin, a member of the necromancers.”

Though speaking impassively, there was a hint of anger in his expression. As the leader of his bloodline, he showed restraint; had the Prophet been asked, he would have been furious.

The Court Count suppressed his emotions with self-control and continued.

“But every subjugation attempt has failed, and like Valterok, the Sword Saint, and the Guardian Duke here, we’ve adopted a policy of avoidance and non-approach.”

“Every attempt?”

“Yes, every one. Even… when the Red Beast personally intervened, he was severely injured and had to retreat.”

Llewellyn thought of Hertol.

A master who had overwhelmed Llewellyn despite suffering extreme debuffs due to the Blood Oath.

If such a person had attacked in peak condition yet failed to defeat her and nearly got defeated himself, she must be an incredibly powerful being.

“The slain kinsman was no pushover either. One of the few combat specialists among necromancers… and I believe he had the advantage due to being of the same bloodline as the self-proclaimed Dragon King.”

But he died. The Court Count fell silent, and Llewellyn glanced down at his own hand.

In that hand resided Dragon Slayer, an evolved form of Dragon Dropper.

A martial art specialized in killing dragons—stripping scales, crushing bones, cutting wings, and running through the sky.

The Dragon King was a being capable of inspiring such martial arts.

In some ways, she stood out more in terms of talent than Valterok or the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint was essentially a master who had trained ordinary, typical techniques to their limits, while Valterok was the type who deeply mastered and developed his own unique qualities.

They were inevitably different from someone like the Dragon King who had developed special techniques to their extreme.

Rather, she was similar to Llewellyn’s type. Even more so given her innate qualities.

“But occasionally, subjugation teams reported encountering her in strange locations… so she was just lost.”

The Court Count’s expression lightened as if a long-standing question had been answered. Llewellyn stared at him blankly before turning to Melody.

Judging by how he had initially asked politely, it was clear that Llewellyn had directed his question to her.

He hadn’t expected the other two to answer, and since the information wasn’t bad, he had let it be.

But even so, Llewellyn trusted Melody more than the other two.

Using her sensitive senses, Melody noticed that Llewellyn had turned his gaze toward her from the faint sound of his head moving, and she felt a little smug.

That didn’t last long, though.

Melody quickly erased her smug expression and fidgeted with her mouth.

“Um, I understand what Llewellyn is worried about, so this is a bit difficult to say…”

The girl fidgeted with her hands as if checking the mood. With a deeply conflicted face, she said:

“We, that is, my sister and I, and the Blazing Duke, have actually met the Dragon King.”

Melody hesitated as if trying to avoid eye contact.

“But it’s just that… as Valterok and the Court Count said… we found her lost and wandering.”

Melody laughed awkwardly as if she herself had gotten lost.

And Llewellyn, feeling the image of the Dragon King crumbling within him, unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut.

It was spring.

*

“So, the Dragon King was lost and wandering?”

Coming out of the strategy meeting, I was faced with Lorian.

She was wearing new clothes instead of the dress that Llewellyn had torn, but they seemed to be not her own as they were too small, occasionally revealing glimpses of her hips.

‘This is provocative too.’

I liked it. Llewellyn was staring at Lorian when she suddenly bowed her head to get his attention, bringing him back to his senses.

“Yes. She was panting after killing all the monsters in their midst.”

“Hmm, I see. The Dragon King. She was renowned even among our clan.”

For good reason. Wasn’t she one of the three strongest on the continent?

Of course, that lineup sometimes changed to include the Guardian Duke or Annihilation Lucilla, but it was certain that she could be called one of the continent’s finest without exaggeration.

If limited to fighters, she was undoubtedly the strongest.

The fact that such a person had no sense of direction was quite a shock to Llewellyn, but it wasn’t difficult to accept.

“In fact, I tried to keep tabs on Lucilla, Valterok, the Sword Saint, and the Dragon King. I even attempted to place tracking blood magic on her a few times.”

“Really? Did it work?”

When asked that, Lorian let out a small laugh. She adjusted the short skirt she had borrowed from Melody and answered:

“Of course not. The immense magical power flowing through the Dragon King’s body quickly pushed out the blood magic.”

It was unfortunate. The fact that it had been inscribed at all was impressive, but still.

“So, judging by your questions, you’re planning to go find her?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, given the situation, I wonder if the time spent searching and returning might be too precious…”

“That’s fine. I can tell she’s in this vicinity.”

“Oh?”

The scenery Llewellyn’s senses had picked up.

The Dragon King was killing monsters in a forest. A forest covered in white.

It reminded him of the place where he first met Isla. From what he’d heard later from Servan and others, there was also a sea nearby, so it seemed reasonable to assume that the Dragon King had crossed the sea and was now lost in the forest.

“So.”

“Yes. I want to go find her, and I’d like your help.”

Lorian tilted her head with an ambiguous expression. Llewellyn noticed her unspoken question and answered first:

“Of course, I know Eshatherna and Isla would be perfect for finding people. That’s why I’m taking them too. But… I think you’re quite good at it as well.”

“Um, hmm, even if you suddenly compliment me…”

“Lower your smile and speak.”

“Ahem!”

Lorian was visibly embarrassed but agreed.

She believed that if she were just a mediocre blood knight relying solely on blood magic tracking, she wouldn’t have been sent to pursue Llewellyn.

And that was true. While Lorian often appeared clueless, she was fundamentally a capable blood knight.

If Melody was a pentagon or quadrilateral missing some parts…

Lorian was a hexagon with one or two protruding sides.

Meaning she was good at whatever she was asked to do.

Of course, she couldn’t surpass Eshatherna, Isla, or Melody in the field of tracking and finding people.

But Melody was busy. Even after Llewellyn had left, the strategy meeting room remained closed.

With Llewellyn absent, they were likely debating fiercely, searching for a better direction.

Llewellyn didn’t want to burden Melody further in such circumstances.

“So it’s me.”

“That’s right. I know you’re not exactly free either, but what you do can probably be handled by other blood knights to some extent.”

At those words, Lorian rolled her eyes bitterly. Where her red eyes landed, knights with faces, skin, hair, and eye colors reminiscent of her were busily moving about.

They were hastily building walls, guiding skeletons created by necromancers to determine where to build walls, and collaborating with humans to exchange ideas.

Normally, they might have looked down on or attacked these “inferior species” by their standards, but thanks to Llewellyn’s orders and speech, such tendencies were no longer visible.

“Above all, I feel more comfortable with you nearby.”

Life returned to the blood knight’s bitter expression.

“Really, what kind of lord flatters his own knight? How frivolous!”

Lorian grinned and lightly punched Llewellyn’s shoulder.

Despite her words, she didn’t seem displeased. If anything, she was pleased.

Perhaps that’s why Lorian followed Llewellyn without protest.

“Is this a walk? I was about to get upset because my lord only takes that ugly, furry quadruped for walks.”

“I don’t think so. Judging by the personnel, it’s either exploration or hunting.”

“Could it be assassination?”

“Lu doesn’t need to do things like assassination. No matter who the opponent is, he just goes in and does this… swoosh-swoosh.”

Isla and Eshatherna were together. Perhaps because they had nothing to do, Llewellyn took them along as he left the pantheon.

A brief outing, a walk to find the Dragon King.

That’s what he thought it would be, but the situation unfolded differently than expected.

About 30 minutes after leaving the pantheon.

When there hadn’t even been a change in the displayed play time.

Llewellyn found a red-scaled, bipedal lizard buried in snow.

“Oh my, the Abbot is here too. She’s dying—may I kill her?”

Beside her was an elf in a similar condition.

Llewellyn shook his head with an expression colder than the falling snow.

“Let’s go back.”

That day, the Dragon King completely crumbled within Llewellyn.

And he brought back a lizard to the pantheon.