Chapter 24: Those who protect (2)
Make Green like this?
It seemed to be talking about Bom, who was lying down from a high fever due to the aftermaths of magic transference.
Clack–
When four large steel armours were all in this small room, it made the room appear rather small.
He knew they would be appearing soon. There had been a fissure in the dimension above the skies and these must be the ones that left through the gap.
These masses of steel armours, were protectors.
Living in the dragons’ lairs, they would protect the wealth of the dragons or their hatchlings while acting as bodyguards for hatchlings that left on Amusements. They were one of the things that had been lost in the midst of the dimension travel.
“Where is my response? Did I not ask you whether you were the one that made Green like this or not?”
A voice that resembled the screeching noise of metals flowed out and from the owner of the voice, a dense mana of green dragons could be felt.
Ignoring its words, he decided to continue his thoughts for a little longer.
Originally, he should be killing the protectors.
They weren’t voluntary slaves of dragons. Dragons, known for their short and dirty tempers, took usable monsters or humans and attached leashes on them, telling them to protect their house till their death.
This leash was called Magic of Servitude.
But during the travel through dimensions, the protectors had their Magic of Servitude undone. Now, they no longer had compulsiveness in trying to protect the dragons. In the previous rounds of regression, after looking for the dragons, they realised that there was no reason for them to protect the dragons anymore and went their own ways.
Therefore, he killed all the protectors in other rounds. Due to the disappearance of Magic of Servitude, it had created a whole lot of other troubles.
However.
It was slightly different in this round.
In other regressions, only one showed up or they would never show up at all. And yet this time, there were four that looked for him – the protectors of Bom, Yeorum, Kaeul and Gyeoul had all shown themselves.
At the same time, it was also the first time that they visited this early.
There was no way that these existences that weren’t even dragons, somehow held their hands together and endured through the gaps of the dimensions. Thus, it seemed that there was a need for him to look into this strange situation.
“Why is there no response, human–!”
While he was remaining still, a protector shouted and although it was an ear-splitting bellow, it did not reach outside the room. Yu Jitae’s mana was wrapped around the entirety of Bom’s room.
“Just be quiet. She might wake up.”
Closing the door of the room, he walked in.
Did it think it was being looked down on? Green’s Protector reached his hand out to the side as a large greatsword was then formed via mana before resting in his hand.
He pointed the sword at Yu Jitae.
“This is my final warning. Answer me.”
“…”
But for some reason, these bastards were too arrogant.
“When you visit someone else’s house, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?”
“It seems you are not catching up. Asking is the right of the strong. In other words, I’m the one that can ask in this situation, you lowly human–”
In that instant, a purplish-black aura oozed out of the armoured body and enveloped the dorm. Soon, they were standing in a black space as if they were thrown out into the middle of space.
It was a protective barrier that was a level lower than the Laws of Nature unique to dragons, Black Gaze.
Cling–
With that as the signal, other protectors also drew their own weapons, ranging from an axe, to a spear and a longsword.
Seeing the suspicious man in front of them, the protectors felt an inconceivable feeling of repulsion. It was a warning given from their instincts. Even in the calm before the storm, the man showed no sign of tension.
“…Okay I got it. I’ll tell you. The Blue Dragon was born. Green Dragon wanted to teach it polymorph and conducted a magic transference and due to overworking itself, it ended up like that.”
“Then who are you.”
“Their guardian.”
“Guardian? What a laughable self-introduction. Do you even know who you are referring to when you say that?”
“Of course I do. Now it’s time for me to ask. How did you come here so fast? You guys should have lost track of each other in an extremely distant dimension gap.”
“…It seems you know a lot of unnecessary things. There is no reason to give a response to someone that’s going to die soon.”
The protector took a step forward. Seemingly starting to get slightly annoyed, Yu Jitae’s eyes twitched.
“I am the one that protects the history of cause and effect.”
It’s crimson eyes flickered ominously.
“At the same time, I am the protector of these children. Seeing as how you haven’t caused any harm to the children, I feel regretful about the thing that will happen to you from now on. Normally, sending you away would suffice but…”
A sharp gaze flew at Yu Jitae, as if scanning through him.
“No matter how I see it, you are very far from being good. If I didn’t see it, that would be a different story but now that I have, I cannot leave you alive.”
The protector raised the two-handed greatsword up. A bluish-black aura wriggled ominously and it appeared to be a demonic sword made from Lakshatium, a metal from the demon world. Soon, an intense killing intent started flowing out of the protector’s body.
For some reason, he knew that things would go this way. By nature, things that were related to dragons were always inflexible like this.
[Sword of a Servant]
With the [Eyes of Equilibrium] catching onto its authenticity, its name as an ability surfaced.
Soon, its two-handed greatsword overflowed with corrupt mana and formed a sword aura. A bluish-black demonic mana of lightning covered the blade. It was a near perfect aura.
“There won’t be any pain.”
Jumping through space, the protector reached nearby and took a step in with a large swing. No matter what was in front, it was a slash that could demolish anything in its path but with a light tapping noise, it stopped right in front of Yu Jitae’s nose.
Before anyone could realise, killing intent bloomed. Yu Jitae’s [Shapeless Sword] had blocked the protector’s initial attack.
It’s eyes flickered.
“Rather than this, how about solving it with a conversation.”
None of the protectors returned a reply.
A ray of light was shot out of the protector’s bright red eyes. When Yu Jitae lowered his neck to dodge the ray that was aimed at his head, other protectors appeared from all around in the blink of an eye and swung their respective weapons.
Kaang–!
Yu Jitae either dodged or blocked them.
Their cooperative strikes did not stop. Just like machines, the protectors completely synchronised their movements with each other as they aimed for Yu Jitae’s life.
As if he was merely lowering one finger down, Yu Jitae calmly matched their rhythmical movements. Slightly shifting the trajectory of the spear that came flying in, he parried the axe and lowered his knee to dodge a sword.
Kuung…!
In the middle of all that, a fierce blow came rushing in.
He blocked it. Mana erupted with the Shapeless Sword in the centre and covered the alternate dimension like a tempest. However, it did not burn a single hair on Yu Jitae’s body, who was in the eye of the storm.
“…No-one’s listening.”
Right, how could someone like me have a normal conversation – with a self-deprecating smile, he slowly licked his lips.
He then took a step forward. It was but one step, and yet the entire Black Gaze shook.
Feeling a change in the situation, the protectors distanced themselves but Yu Jitae was slightly faster. By the time they realised that his body was turning hazy, a sword was right before the head of one of the protectors. The protector urgently pulled out his sword aura.
Kagagagang—!
Although the killing intent wasn’t much, it was enough.
Together with the sound of an operating electric saw, the guardian’s sword aura started cracking and the protector, who was unable to absorb the impact, was shoved all the way back. Seeing that, other protectors utilised their mana.
[Maditarria Henge]
Behind the protectors’ backs, a large rectangular stone started soaring out from the bottom of the dimension.
It was magic borrowing the powers of necromancy.
Hands formed from shadows crawled toward Yu Jitae. Those hands would deprive any source of life upon contact.
[Summon Death Knight]
[Summon Dragontooth Warrior]
At the same time, several black knights riding dark warhorses appeared from thin air. Even the strongest undead warriors born from the teeth of dragons likewise raised themselves up by lifting their bony wings.
This was the entire army that defended a lair.
Soon, the protectors dashed in along with the monsters. Perhaps they had matched their movements a thousand times already as they systematically took turns to start pressuring Yu Jitae.
Now.
Carefully choosing the timing, the protector of the Green Dragon raised his two-handed greatsword up to the sky.
[Sword of a Servant. Final Form. Sword of All Ends]
This was formed based on the demonic aura of a living armour, a part of the demon race.
The root of all power gathered at one place. Right when it seemed that the Dragontooth Warriors, Death Knights and the undeads completely sealed off Yu Jitae’s legs, the Sword of a Servant raised above the skies explosively let out demonic auras.
Final Form – a power only gained after mastering an authority close to its maximum. A deep, pure demonic aura created after countless filtering, close to a deadly poison, fell at Yu Jitae in the blink of an eye.
*
Dark warhorses and knights were completely bisected as they rolled on the floor. A single strike that followed cut the dragontooth warrior’s sword and followed through till it slashed the warrior’s neck.
The same happened with the auras of necromancy. Swinging a sword, the man slashed the alternate dimension apart with a speed and a trajectory that could not be followed by human eyes. After that, the hands that had been following the shadows were cut off as is, as they lost their powers.
And the Final Form was broken head-on.
It wasn’t broken by a fancy miracle and neither was a skill resembling an authority visible.
What happened was outside their comprehension but was nevertheless the reality.
The strong did not need to rely on some skills. With nothing but a killing intent that surpassed normal standards a few times, the man overwhelmed the protectors.
That was merely the beginning.
An invisible sword came flying in and crushed the armour of a certain protector as the sharp killing intent dug through. It slashed past the protective barrier of the protector, before directly piercing through the metal body and after reaching the core made of mana, it tore it apart.
“…!”
A protector crumbled just like that.
The man did not stop. He held the helmet of another protector that was about to raise itself up. Then, he pushed the helmet forward with sheer power – a strength that was unthinkable to be from a human. Due to that power, the neck of the wearer was bent back and the joint between the helmet and the armour was opened up. The man pierced through the gap with the same invisible sword and slashed all the mana apart from the inside.
And when all four protectors each received critical strikes, they collapsed.
However, there was one that endured without collapsing. It was the protector of the Green Dragon, who had half of its upper body destroyed along with one of its arms. With one knee on the ground, the protector held itself up with the support of the cracked greatsword.
Kagagack…!
Metals screeched from the cracked joints and the crimson eyes that used to be fierce lost its spirit and faintly flashed.
“…”
The protector could not believe what was happening.
Power had an endogenous origin and thus before being released, it cannot be clearly discerned. So before when they were looking at him, they did not imagine at all that he could be this strong but now that things turned out the way they did, a late doubt started surfacing up inside,
Perhaps, perhaps the existence before them was stronger than an adult dragon.
What sort of fucked up world was this?
And,
“Who, might you be…”
Who was this transcendent being?