The Uninvited Guests 2

The one bellowing those words at the entrance was, quite unexpectedly, a World Tree guild member seen at the party just moments ago.

Everyone’s gazes turned towards the entrance.

“Hailing from the clan who inherited the blood of dragons, the most exalted existence under the heavens – the Ley family! From there…”

He hesitated briefly.

Then, hastily retrieving a piece of paper from his pocket, reading it, and stuffing it back in, he continued,

“I present the heir to the Ley Clan and the youngest Hero in history, His Excellency Ley Adrian Ocladellum Razvolnic!!”

“…Ley Hero?”

Everyone tilted their heads in puzzlement. Why had he suddenly come here?

Regardless, the Ley Hero appeared before them all, flanked by the Skeletonian royal guards.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The crisp footfalls of the guards’ boots, accompanied by the heavy thumps of a thick tail striking the floor, echoed through the room.

With a tightly gelled hairstyle yet still youthfully handsome features, an air of supreme confidence permeated his demeanor, stride, and bearing. His crimson cloak fluttered dramatically as if he purposefully moved his wings to create that flourishing effect.

Doyun chuckled softly at the sight, reminiscent of a younger sibling’s antics.

‘So a sister-complex, just as I’d heard.’

Ley strode forth, planting himself in the center of the dining hall as his thick draconic tail thudded against the floor.

“Eloah Noona, it has been too long.”

He raised his hand in a ceremonious greeting, attempting gravitas.

Eloah pinched her brow in exasperation. Honestly, calling her ‘Noona’…

‘Here we go again.’

She could already feel the oncoming headache.

“Who is this Disciple Han Doyun…”

Lowering his voice to address those around him, Ley trailed off. His gaze had fixated upon a particular Disciple emanating potent spiritual energy.

His eyes widened as the thought of Han Doyun the human faded into the back of his mind.

‘It must be him…!’

The World Tree’s hidden claw who had halted Satan’s invasion at Rockenmeyer.

There was no mistake. Heavens, such immense spiritual energy! Moreover, Ley couldn’t help but sense a peculiar kinship with this Disciple, momentarily wondering if this was the advent of their ancestor reborn.

“Hmph!”

While his instincts urged him to immediately foster amicable relations, openly claiming acquaintance would be unbefitting of his dignity. He needed to maintain a solemn front before everyone.

“Who is this Disciple Han Doyun.”

All eyes converged on the same individual, Ley following their collective gaze.

The subject of their attention was the very Disciple who had caught Ley’s admiration.

“…Are you Disciple Han Doyun?”

Ley posed the question in a brusque tone, and Doyun nodded in response.

‘…So not the hidden claw after all.’

But hadn’t he been introduced as a human? How could this be a human, emanating such pristine spiritual energy in droves?

Ley shot a puzzled glance towards the Skeletonian minister he had brought along.

‘He is indeed the one!’

The minister’s eyes conveyed the confirmation.

An anti-Guild faction member, he had accompanied the conveniently arriving Ley to undermine the World Tree’s recent meteoric rise.

Of course, Ley remained utterly oblivious to these underlying factional power struggles.

“Yes, I am Han Doyun.”

Doyun’s baritone resonated through the dining hall.

Ley frowned at Doyun’s unfazed demeanor. Did he not know who Ley was? No, he had clearly introduced himself impeccably upon arrival.

Any initial warmth faded as Ley recalled his true objective, rapidly growing disgruntled instead.

Clicking his leather shoes audibly, Ley strode right up to Doyun.

And then, his displeased grimace deepened at the upward angle required to meet Doyun’s gaze.

‘…What an irksome fellow.’

This man’s height slightly exceeded his own, just enough to be annoyingly noticeable. His features too… were quite comparably handsome.

Already riled up over such trivial details, Ley’s round eyes narrowed into reptilian vertical slits as he spoke,

“Do you dare claim to have encountered the supreme and exalted Dragon Lord?”

Ley didn’t believe it.

The Războlnic legacy… truly galling, but he could grudgingly accept it if luck had soared to the heavens – the Alliance had provided proof of that, after all.

But the Dragon Lord? That was simply too outlandish a tale.

Not just him, but many were skeptical of the Alliance’s announcements, with even their verification team reportedly divided in opinion.

Dragons were sacred, celestial existences closest to divinity. And a Lord at that! Not some lesser sacred beast to be so casually mentioned. They were virtually divine emissaries!

And Ley himself possessed the noble bloodline inheriting traces of the draconic lineage. Yet this human dared boast of meeting the Dragon Lord in his presence?

‘What insolent lies from this devious human scoundrel!’

Ley took an intense dislike to Doyun.

The only pure humans he acknowledged were the great Războlnic himself, his own martial master, and his older brother.

But despite Ley’s scorching glares, Doyun simply nodded calmly,

“Yes, that is my claim.”

His audacious composure made Ley’s brows twitch.

‘For a mere human to possess such arrogance…!’

It seemed he would need to assert his dominance from the outset.

Pulsing with rage, Ley’s draconic bloodline manifested. Still immature with a limited range and poor control, his aura nonetheless blanched the nearby minister’s complexion ghostly pale.

Doyun’s eyes gleamed as he observed this.

‘So this is… an Aura?’

Auras exerted pressure through sheer disparity in karma. But Doyun’s soul, laden with profound karma from his past life, didn’t feel oppressed by Ley’s in the slightest.

Instead, he focused intently, analyzing the flow of mana.

‘I don’t think I’d be incapable of this either.’

For a moment, Doyun considered mimicking the feat but decided against it for now. Manifesting his own aura could quickly complicate matters.

Instead, Doyun grasped another possibility.

Conventionally, manipulating external mana was considered impossible. If everyone struggled to control even their own internal mana, relying on their heartbeat, how could external mana be commanded?

This had held true even for Enoch.

But now, it was different.

‘…I think I could manage it.’

He felt capable of dominating this ferocious aura mana pressing inwards, thanks to the changes brought about by the Dragon Heart.

‘Kukku. Hey. Having trouble breathing? Hm?’

Having discerned the nature woven into the aura’s mana, Doyun imbued his feet with mana carrying the corresponding nature.

“Don’t get too cocky, you devious human scoundrel. Between draconic nobility like myself and your commonplace ilk, there exists…”

Then, raising one foot slightly,

“An insurmountable disparity of karma that you can never…”

He gently stomped down.

Thud.

Mana rippled outwards from Doyun’s foot, dispersing the ferocious aura throughout the area.

“…!”

Ley recoiled in shock, his eyes bulging wide as his jaw dropped.

He simply couldn’t comprehend Doyun’s actions. No, he understood, but it should have been impossible.

With his draconic keen senses, he had perceived it.

‘Manipulating… no, dominating the area’s mana…? And nullifying my aura…?’

Was such a thing even plausible? Ley could only gape, utterly unfamiliar with this phenomenon.

“You… just now…!”

As he forced his mouth open, the minister who had escaped Ley’s aura exploded in outrage,

“You insolent wretch!”

Ley flinched, startled.

“How dare a worthless punk like you hold your head so high before a Hero, just because of one lucky break!”

Eloah and Millaine’s expressions turned frosty.

While their relations with this anti-Guild faction minister were never particularly warm, such blatant disrespect crossed a line.

He likely thought provoking a mere newcomer guild member would allow him to undermine the guild’s momentum with minimal repercussions.

“A blowhard peddling the Dragon Lord’s name for infamy, mocking a Hero! Do you think some dingy guild can protect scum like you!”

The minister’s insults escalated rapidly. Even Ley looked somewhat taken aback, prompting such intense rage.

Just as Eloah prepared to intervene, another minister rushed into the dining hall, utterly flustered.

“Th, this cannot continue!”

Wearing an expression of utter dismay, he vehemently restrained his anti-Guild faction colleague.

As one of the few privy to Doyun’s Boss Monster Killer status within the royal palace, to him, Doyun was a national treasure surpassing even esteemed state guests like the Heroes.

‘So much transpired in the brief time I was away!’

This was never supposed to happen. But during the lapse when he and the king had been preoccupied, the clueless prince, swayed solely by the ‘Hero’ title, had dispatched the royal guards to accompany Ley.

And the anti-Guild faction minister had exploited this opportunity to meddle, thoroughly entangling the royal family in this mess – an utter debacle.

“Please stand down. This is for the kingdom’s sake!”

“Enough with the kingdom’s sake! His Majesty has summoned you in utmost fury!”

“…What do you mean, His Majesty is enraged?”

The minister asked in bewilderment.

While the king leaned pro-Guild, he valued maintaining factional balance. It seemed uncharacteristic for him to so blatantly take one side.

Even Ley tilted his head quizzically.

‘The king is angry…? Why?’

He may have overstepped slightly, but he was a Hero and the Ley heir after all.

At that moment, Eloah and Millaine intervened in this chaotic situation, their expressions severe.

“Just what is the meaning of this disturbance?”

“Disturbance? Such disrespect before a Hero…!”

“Minister. Are you responsible for inciting this situation?”

“Wha, what is this…?”

“I asked if you can take responsibility for this.”

Her chilling aura befitted the guild leader of the continent’s foremost guild.

“Minister! You must apologize immediately, now!”

Even the pro-Guild faction minister urged him on.

Only then did Ley and the anti-Guild minister sense something amiss.

“…Noona? But I…”

“Ley. Stay out of this. You’re the worst offender here.”

“Pardon? Eh, Eloah Noona?”

Ley faltered, his thick tail curling up as his wings folded, utterly bewildered.

He couldn’t fathom this situation. Hadn’t his Noona always been warm and gentle? While her sudden coldness was jarring, surely provoking a mere newcomer didn’t warrant such an intense reaction…?

‘Ah, it can’t be serious enough for this kind of scolding… right…?’

Oblivious to many factors, he could only blink in bafflement.

Then, as his frantic gaze darted about, Ley noticed the long javelin Doyun held, its tasseled end slightly disheveled.

‘That is…?’

He tilted his head quizzically at the partially exposed javelin blade.

Wasn’t that one of the treasured javelins his brother cherished?

‘Why does this guy have it?’

Just as he opened his mouth to inquire, Doyun’s low baritone reverberated softly,

“Then perhaps you would believe it directly from the source.”

“…The source?”

Ley, the minister, and those around them all turned puzzled looks towards Doyun.

“Just who are you referring to as ‘the source’? Surely you don’t arrogantly elevate yourself to such regard? Have you no shame?”

Latching onto that phrasing, Ley childishly harped on the triviality. But Doyun merely smiled in response.

Gesturing with his chin towards the entrance, he spoke,

“There. ‘The source’ arrives.”

Thud. Thud.

Footsteps echoed through the room.

“…?”

Strangely, an overwhelming presence reverberated with each measured step – the kind that instinctively compelled all living beings to hold their breath, as if before a celestial advent.

Amidst the tense stillness, two silhouettes manifested at the dining hall’s entrance.

Thud. Thud.

“A party, is it?”

A profoundly resonating voice that seemed to resonate within one’s very soul despite the lack of mana.

“And yet…”

A deportment more noble than any aristocrat or royalty. Truly exalted elegance personified.

“The atmosphere seems rather ill-suited for a festive occasion.”

“Tch. It would appear my damned disciple has caused a ruckus yet again.”

And at the man’s side stood a vagrant-like elderly figure carrying a long staff.

“Eh…?”

Ley mumbled in bewilderment.

The identities of the two who had appeared in the dining hall were none other than:

“Master…?”

The Vagabond Hero and the Dragon Lord Tiamat herself.