“……don’t tell me you have a Dragon’s Heart…. do you?”, Envirus asked as his expressionless face turned into one of incredible shock.
Lee Sungmin nodded lightly with a bit of irritation that only mentioning this was enough to get Envirus to change his reactionless face.
“No way. You didn’t hunt dragons, did you?”, Envirus spoke, preparing himself mentally for more shock if Lee Sungmin would answer yes to this as well.
“That wouldn’t make any sense.”, Lee Sungmin replied curtly, shutting down the idea, since dragons were pretty much gone for good.
“Well, I suppose so. It would be pretty much impossible to even find a living dragon these days…. So how did you get your hands on Dragon Heart?”, Envirus asked with a curious expression.
“I was just lucky.”, Lee Sungmin replied.
“What are you going to do with it?”, Envirus asked, tilting his head.
“I’m going to eat it.”, Lee Sungmin spoke as if it were obvious.
(T/N : Omg we finally find out what he’s going to use it for! Kind of was hoping for him to eat since he has the black heart and all which will pretty much break it down and get all the good stuff for him. Also fyi envirus doesnt know he has the black heart I don’t think)
Enbirus blinked at Lee Sungmin’s answer and burst into laughter as he spoke, “You’re going to eat a Dragon Heart? Haha! Do you think Dragon Hearts are as easy to eat as Elixir’s or Energy Pills?”
“Would it be anything different?”, Lee Sungmin responded as he didn’t see anything wrong with it.
“Of course it’s different! Eating a dragon heart means that you have to deal with the enormous mana that the dragon had. Humans could never contain such an enormous amount of mana from a dragon, otherwise we might as well be Dragons ourselves if we could! Forget fully absorbing it, no, even half-absorbed, you’ll burst like a balloon and die!”
Envirus shouted at Lee Sungmin understandably as he was pissed that such a good item was in the hands of a fool. (T/N: GAHAH! I’m laughing so hard because Lee Sungmin is lowkey goated and might pull this off making this old man lose his marbles.)
“That’s my business.”, Lee Sungmin responded dismissing Envirus’ complaints.
“Business my foot!”, Envirus yelled at him once more agitatedly.
“Can I ask for your help or not?”, Lee Sungmin cut him off there, asking whether Envirus would help him process it or not.
At Lee Sungmin’s words, Envirus was feeling troubled.
In his view, Lee Sungmin was like a bomb that might explode at any time right now. Now, his balance between humanity and monster was unstable, even though it was still co-existing somehow, maintaining his humanity.
“……I will refuse. Dragon Hearts are too dangerous for you.”, Envirus spoke regrettably.
Envirus did want to process such a great tool like a Dragon Heart, but he felt that Lee Sungmin was quite literally going to blow half the continent up with his ambitions and stupidity.
“Can’t you do anything?”, Lee Sungmin asked once more, trying to reel in his frustration at the seemingly useless Wizard.
But again, Envirus’ answer was the same. He said in a clear voice, stubbornly shaking his head, “No, no matter what happens, I won’t be able to handle the Dragon Heart for you. Not because I’m incapable of doing so, but because you’re too dangerous.”
[That fucking bastard!], Heoju shouted with intense anger and frustration as he had stayed silent listening to Envirus’ stubbornness and remarks, denouncing him earlier.
For once, Lee Sungmin felt the same exact way as Heoju about something. Lee Sungmin no longer wanted to talk to Envirus, so he sat down on the spot to resume his training.
“I’ll do as I please then.”, Lee Sungmin let out a deep breath and started to resume the breathing technique.
Looking at Lee Sungmin’s back as he sat down to meditate, Envirus opened his mouth to say something, his body trembled.
“……Um!”
Envirus’ eyes narrowed.
He continued to look at Lee Sungmin with a stiff face. Lee Sungmin ignored Envirus’ actions and remarks to gain his attention and continued breathing.
Envirus concentrated his mind and moved his mana. Around him, the whirlwind of mana concentrated and formed a panel in front of him like a screen as it showed a sight of a place away from the forest.
“……Oh…my goodness!”
At the sight in the panel, Envirus exclaimed out in shock as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He hurriedly lost all his dignity and ran over to Lee Sungmin grabbing him by the shoulder with trembling fingers.
“Oh. What now?”, Lee Sungmin looked back at Envirus, openly expressing his displeasure.
Envirus replied in an urgent voice, not caring about Lee Sungmin’s glaring eyes, “There’s a problem.”
“What problem?”, Lee Sungmin asked back uncaringly.
“Something bad is about to happen in the City of Endless Night.”
Lee Sungmin’s eyes suddenly widened as he turned visibly shocked, since his companions were in the city right now. Not only that, for once, Envirus didn’t seem to be talking nonsense to him.
Lee Sungmin slowly raised himself up. He asked as he looked at Envirus with focused eyes, “What exactly is happening?”
“Something…strange…. They’re trying to storm the city.”, Envirus muttered as he showed Lee Sungmin the panel he was looking at from his mana.
“What the hell is that evil thing?”, Lee Sungmin asked as he saw a giant monster going crazy, with the city evidently becoming more and more tattered and destroyed.
“……Um.”, Envirus hesitated a little. After swallowing his saliva, he said to Lee Sungmin again.
“I don’t know why. A Lich, a powerful, undead, Dark Wizard, is trying to conjure up some kind of evil magic in the city. I don’t know what they’re trying to do or who they’re acting with, but their kind of magic never produces good results and always tries to take innocent lives.”
“……so?”, Lee Sungmin asked back.
The only Lich he knew was Frescan, the lich who made the black heart and chimera, Aine. That’s why when Envirus talked about a Lich, Lee Sungmin naturally recalled Frescan.
“You have to stop them no matter what. But…… I may not be strong enough alone, so I think I’ll need your help.”, Envirus spoke to Lee Sungmin in a serious tone.
“Why should I help you?”, Lee Sungmin spoke, brushing off Envirus.
“Then are you just going to ignore them?”, Envirus asked Lee Sungmin inquisitively.
“You’re the one who said it. Fucking fate. Will the Lich succeed or fail as you say they will?”, Lee Sungmin spoke in a mocking tone.
“That’s…..maybe. But maybe we can change it. I don’t know what they’re trying to do, but there’s no guarantee that it will lead down the right path of fate.”, Envirus said hesitatingly.
At the words, Lee Sungmin smiled unconsciously because he remembered what Frau had said to him. ‘If taking a shit is where fate leads to at the end, then it’s about the process of taking the shit that can be changed’.
“Are you asking me to help you without offering anything in return?”, Lee Sungmin asked with a smile.
Envirus’ shoulders trembled at the remark. The sword was naturally turned over to Lee Sungmin as he held the decision and lead of the conversation now.
Envirus himself, was well aware of the fact. He hesitated for a long time, and eventually closed his eyes tightly.
“Okay… the dragon heart. I’ll process it for you.”
“Words are cheap, make an oath.”, Lee Sungmin spoke without hesitation to confirm the deal.
“I swear on my wife.”, Envirus spoke with a bit of conviction now as Lee Sungmin was now willing to help.
It was an inevitable choice. If Lee Sungmin ends up becoming a monster, he would become a terrible being with the power of a dragon’s heart, but that was a far-off future that has yet to happen.
‘Maybe this is also fate.’, Envirus chewed his lower lip.
If it was fate to be this way, Envirus alone could not stop it.
Whether one was a Dragon or a God, it was impossible to change the outcomes of fate. That being said, they must resolve the immediate crisis.
“Collapse.”, Envirus said as he swung his hand in the air lightly.
The space cracked apart and split, the turbulent mana made a teleportation portal to the City of Endless Night. Envirus walked through the portal with a busy step in his stride, and Lee Sungmin followed in the footsteps of Envirus.
“So, where’s the Lich?”, Lee Sungmin asked Envirus with an annoyed expression.
“… … they’re towards the city’s central square. I don’t know what the hell they’re trying to do there, but I have a bad feeling…….”, Envirus slowly floated himself into the air casting levitation magic on himself, saying so.
Lee Sungmin looked up at the flying Envirus. There were many sorcerers who used magic to float in the air, so the Envirus that suddenly floated into the sky did not surprise Lee Sungmin.
“Don’t resist.”, Envirus first said so and then reached out to Lee Sungmin.
Then a gentle flow of mana enveloped Lee Sungmin’s body. Then, Lee Sungmin’s body rose up and settled next to Envirus’.
“It would be fast enough for me to run.”, Lee Sungmin grumbled at Envirus.
“But you don’t know the direction, do you?”, Envirus quipped back at him and flew higher into the air with Lee Sungmin.
After the two rose to a certain height above the buildings that would not impede their flight, the two of them accelerated northbound in the direction of the square.
“I hear you’re a great wizard.”, Lee Sungmin spoke while they flew unimpeded.
“Who said that?”, Envirus questioned back, as he could not understand who would know of his identity since he kept himself out of worldly affairs.
“Rubia was the one who told me. I’ve also heard that Lloyd, the owner of the Gold Tower, is your disciple.”, Lee Sungmin spoke, as he shifted his gaze over to Envirus mid-flight.
“Well… …Rubia, that kid would always overrate my skills to others. And yes, Lloyd is my disciple. It was a long time ago when I last taught others magic.”, Envirus spoke with a bitter smile, recalling his old memories.
“Can’t you use teleportation or something like that to get there faster?”, Lee Sungmin said, cutting off Envirus’ boring manner of speech.
“You have no idea how stupid that sounded.”, Envirus spat out with a look of absurdity.
Lee Sungmin only asked this question purely out of curiosity since he wanted to get there faster, but he never thought he would get this kind of answer back.
When Lee Sungmin looked at Envirus with a dazed face, Envirus coughed in vain and explained a bit.
“……spatial movement is not human magic. There are a few spells that humans can use in regards to spatial magic like blink, but that is only limited to a few meters, not instant teleportation across long distances.In order to use portals, the only other kind of space magic relative to teleportation, you need to know the spatial coordinates of both locations, however those always change and there is no definitive way to find them out. If you tried to force it, your body would be crushed to smithereens in the abyss without anybody to find your remains.”
“But in places like dungeons, don’t you find scrolls that enable space movement?”, Lee Sungmin asked with an inquisitive look on his face.
“That’s why dungeons are mysterious places. It’s where common sense becomes meaningless and irrational. I’ve tried to complete a teleportation spell by researching countless scrolls found in dungeons but to no avail… hmph!”, Envirus spoke and snorted at the difficulty of research he had gone through.
“What is it?”, Lee Sungmin asked him.
“I’ve failed so many times in trying it. The amount of animals I’ve killed as test subjects that have become paste would be enough to feed a village.”, Envirus spoke with a depressed look.
While they were talking about teleportation and spatial magic, the two of them arrived at the central square, which Envirus had located as the target of the Lich’s evil magic.
No, to be exact, they didn’t arrive. It was because Envirus stopped flying with the city square in front of him.
“……it’s a barrier.”, Envirus spoke as his face was distorted.
It was as he said. A translucent black membrane covered the central square in a semi-spherical form. Envirus came close and reached out with his hand towards the barrier.
Dingggggggggg !
The mana sent by Envirus hit the surface of the barrier and simply bounced right off of it. Envirus chewed his lower lip with an anxious look as the sensing mana he sent out couldn’t do a thing.
“I think he’s going to rule out any kind of interference……He’s going to make fucking undead monsters from the people here!”, Envirus shouted out in surprise as he finally understood what the Lich’s sinister plans were.
Envirus seemed genuinely angry at the current situation despite being so emotionless when speaking about fate with Lee Sungmin. Eventually, Lee Sungmin and Envirus came down to the ground lightly, dispelling the levitation magic.
The atmosphere was strange, there was no sign of life whatsoever and the empty streets inside the barrier exuded a dreary feeling like that of a ghost town.
Envirus looked around with a cold expression. The two of them had yet to know what was happening in the city, but the situation that was immediately visible to Lee Sungmin was incredibly sinister as corpses lay strewn about the empty street.
“We have to stop it.”, Envirus murmured to himself, trying to boost his confidence.
He rolled up his sleeves and stretched out his hands wide toward the barrier.
Then he began to chant and move his lips as he murmured a spell.
Shinnnnngggg! Envirus outstretched hands began to emit a bright golden light as he moved them to touch the surface of the barrier
“Shit!”, Envirus cried out as his hands burned and sizzled from just touching the black barrier.
“This…this is bad”, Envirus muttered as cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck.
Through the simple spell Envirus had cast to try and dispel the barrier, Envirus had realized that this Lich was no simple Lich, and one that had reached incredible heights as a Dark Wizard.
But it was more or less the same for Envirus as he was incredibly talented and probably one of the best wizards in all of Eria. He continued to tune his mana with the spell to find a counter frequency to the dark mana supporting the barrier so that it would break it effectively.
Soon, the barrier started to fluctuate and the mana rippled apart forming a small entry area big enough for Envirus and Lee Sungmin to walk through.
“… …if anything bad is going on in this city. My party may be in danger.”, Lee Sungmin for the first time, started to take the situation seriously, as he realized the Lich they were dealing with seemed to be much worse than he thought, as he saw Envirus struggle earlier.
“That’s…! You don’t have to worry. The source of the evil mana is ahead of us. There might be some commotion in the city, but it won’t be too dangerous for them.”, Envirus spat out in a disheartened voice as he also tried to convince himself that Rubia was okay.
Lee Sungmin lightly nodded at Envirus’ words. He carefully thought to himself that although Rubia was a little weak, the Crazy Heavenly Demon was with her, and he could certainly help get her out safely if they focused on retreating.
Rather, instead of the Crazy Heavenly Demon and Rubia who were still in the streets of the city being in danger, it was more likely Lee Sungmin would be in danger as he was in the very middle of the crisis entering the dark barrier with Envirus.
“You go in first……!”, shouted Envirus, who was struggling by holding the passage from closing in on itself..
Lee Sungmin quickly passed the passage first, as Envirus quickly followed. After they passed through the barrier, the opening quickly closed back up.
Inside of the barrier, it was incredibly hard to see. The area of the once populous and lively city square was now desolate with a dark, eerie fog.
However, it wasn’t just the fog that was making the square so eerie. Lee Sungmin and Envirus could hear a distinct noise of something being chewed on loudly…. One that sounded like flesh being eaten.
There was a disgusting, rotting stench permeating throughout the area. The terrible stench reminded Lee Sungmin of when he had placed the restriction of smell on himself in the Mountain of Mush.
“……prepare yourself.”, Envirus muttered as he did not lower his rolled-up sleeves from earlier in wariness.
Lee Sungmin glanced at Envirus’s bare forearms, which looked so thin and frail as if there were zero fat or muscle on them. However, on his arms there were engraved and distinct patterns which looked interesting.
Envirus started to prepare himself as he fortified his resolve that this wasn’t going to be an easy task. He unclenched his tightened fists and put one arm around the back of his cape and pulled out a wand.
Lee Sungmin just nodded his head without verbal confirmation as he pulled out his orcicalchum spear.
He has understood well what Envirus said earlier.
Krrrreeeeeeeeeeeeee !
Suddenly a loud cry could be heard as a building’s wall collapsed and a grotesque and pale looking ghoul came out of it and screeched at the two of them.
“It’s a ghoul.”, Envirus muttered as he pointed his wand towards the ghoul.
“I guess it isn’t just any old Dark Wizard, but a necromancer…”
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