Chapter 165 - The Wise Dragon (2)
Chapter 165 - The Wise Dragon (2)
3
The Road of Emptiness existed within the Demonic land of Albatan.
It was something Laura, Yuren and Leticia didn’t know about. In truth, there was an independent Road of Emptiness present here. It was separate from the Road of Emptiness controlled by the Plain of Darkness.
“I was told my father installed it here as a gesture of goodwill towards Albatan-nim.”
Saibein spoke.
There weren’t that many waypoints, but it really was of big help when one wanted to travel across the vast Albatan forest.
Azell couldn’t suppress his surprise.
“It is an unbelievably useful facility. It really annoys me that you guys can use it to your heart’s content.”
If the Road of Emptiness didn’t exist, the party wouldn’t have been in as deep of a hole as they were in right now. Even if one could identify the location and destination of the party, time was needed to mobilize a force. Since their party was small in number, they should have been able to lose their trackers easily by fluidly changing directions.
‘As expected, I have to destroy it’
In the past, he didn’t want to reveal his location, so he had left the Road of Emptiness alone. However, the Vitan’s Chalice made it impossible for him to hide his whereabouts. It would be beneficial for him to steal their preternatural mobility by destroying all the Road of Emptiness.
“How long will it take to move the next set of people?”
Azell’s party consisted of four members. There were three from the forest including Saibein.
There were a total of seven of them, so they had to use the Road of Emptiness twice. The number restriction was four.
Saibein spoke.
“It normally takes around 10 minutes.”
“Hmmm…….”
After a short amount of time had passed, the rest of the party was moved.
Kairen expressed his amazement.
“When I heard the name, Road of Emptiness, I thought I would have to roam around the darkness. I just entered it, and I just popped out at the other end. Amazing.”
This waypoint for the Road of Emptiness was made with the same architecture and metallic material that was the propriety of the Plain of Darkness. There were magical etchings on the border as the structure slowly rotated in place. There was an darkness of unmeasurable depths at the center.
When one entered from one side, one’s vision would darken for a brief moment before one’s surrounding would change. It was an extraordinary device.
“Follow me.”
Saibein took the lead as he started to walk.
When they exited the waypoint for the Road of Emptiness, they caught sight of a lake. There were houses nearby the lake. These houses were made out of a mixture of wood and stone. The several dozen houses looked as if they were made to be part of the large trees that sparsely populated the lake.
“When I came here last time, they didn’t use stone…… It seems things have changed.”
“Is that so? It probably is the influence of outsiders like me.”
This place was called the heart of the demonic land, but it was the size of a small village. There were less than 200 houses here, and the population didn’t exceed 1,000.
Still, the whole party was tense.
It was in response to the Dragon Demons and Dragon Majins present here. There were almost an equal amount of them compared to the human residents here.
‘This is amazing.’
Kairen expressed his surprise.
There were Dragon Demons and Dragon Majins present, but this didn’t mean they were all combatants. It was true that they were born with superior physical capabilities and magical energy, but each of them held different interests like the humans. They chose to do what interested them.
Still, Kairen couldn’t help but feel threatened when he saw a large concentration of Dragon Majins and Dragon Demons. By the feel of the wave of Dragon Demon magic being emitted by them, there were many here that were cultivating magic or the Dragon Arts.
Suddenly, Yuren spoke.
“There are a lot of children here.”
He wasn’t talking about the human children. There were a lot of Dragon Demon and Dragon Majin children Everyone looked at the party with curious eyes.
Kairen spoke.
“There really is…. There’s a surprisingly high number of them here.”
In human society, it was very rare to see a Dragon Demon or a Dragon Majin. This was why Kairen had never seen this many Dragon Majin and Dragon Demon children before. It was more than the total number of children he had seen throughout his life.
Yuren let out a bitter laugh.
“It isn’t that surprising…….”
“Mmm? What do you mean?”
“The worshippers of the Dragon Demon race continue to have children to replenish their forces. The facility I grew up in had a lot of children.”
“…….”
“At least, these children were born into a happy environment.”
A bitter hurt stabbed into Yuren’s chest. He thought about the children he had been unable to rescue.
Saibein turned to look at him.
“You…. Were you part of our organization?”
“I betrayed them.”
“…….”
“If we are being frank, it is hard to find something good about the organization.”
“Mmmm…….”
From Saibein’s point of view, he was at a loss for words. After the Dragon Demon war, he had scraped together the remnants of the army. He was one of the main figures that had created the current organization.
He let out a bitter laugh as he spoke.
“I can't deny what you are saying. I’m here, because of that…..”
Suddenly, Azell became curious as to why Saibein had left the Plain of Darkness. It seemed he still held affection for his daughter, Niberis. Why was he living here in hiding after cutting off all communication with the Plain of Darkness?
“We have a lot to talk about, but…..”
Saibein stopped after reaching the northern end of the town. He spoke as he moved to the side of the road.
“We’ll speak about it at a later time after you meet Albatan-nim. Go, Azell.”
“I’ll do so.”
At the northern end of the town, the lakeshore led into the ridge of a mountain. Azell remembered the location of Albatan’s dwelling. It seemed the dragon hadn’t moved. Azell went up the mountain road with his comrades.
4
While they were climbing up the mountain road, they felt a pressure mount. Everyone in his party was somewhat familiar with this feeling.
‘There is a dragon on the other side.’
Everyone could feel this truth.
There was a dearth of Dragon Demons and Dragon Majin in town. They were only several hundred meters away, yet a much larger presence could be felt from the other side.
Kairen queried.
“What kind of Dragon is Albatan?”
“He is basically a winged dragon.”
“Basically?”
“He was a winged dragon until he gained his wisdom. Now he is a dragon that common sense cannot be applied. It is useless to discuss what type of dragon he is. This is why you should erase all preconceptions you have regarding dragons.”
Soon, the party arrived at the summit of the mountain. Aside from Azell, everyone was unable to hide their shock.
It was enormous.
Of course, all dragons were large. However, the dragon that was looking down at them as it perched on top of the peak was….. It was bigger than any Dragon they had seen before.
Normally, flying dragons were on the smaller size compared to the other Dragons. Usually the smaller Dragons were 20 meters long from the head to their tail. The large ones were usually 40 meters long. It was rare to see a flying dragon that was over 30 meters long. However, the dragon in front of them was a flying dragon, yet it was at least 60 meters long.
‘Is that really a flying dragon?’
Kairen couldn’t believe what he was seeing, so he carefully observed the dragon. It had large wings, and an sleek body. Then there was the white scales that had a bluish sheen….. It was most definitely a flying dragon.
The flying dragon suddenly grinned.
The party members became startled. It was from a completely different species, yet it was as if a playful old man was laughing at them. Its emotion could be clearly read through its expression.
In the next moment, something more amazing occurred. The dragon opened its jaws, and it started to speak in the language of humans. The dragon was precise and clear with its speech.
“It has been a while. Should I call you Azell Zestringer or sir Azell Karzark? Which do you prefer?”
“You can call me whatever you like. You can just call me Azell. Albatan, has your growth period ended?”
Azell smirked as he replied. Albatan raised its front paw to scratch its cheek. It was such a human-like gesture that everyone stared at Albatan with a dumbfounded expression on their faces.
“I think so. I don’t think I’ll get any bigger.”
“Your power seems to have grown.”
“I don’t think the growth period for my power has ended yet.”
The resonance of power flowing out of Albatan was subdued. However, there was heavy weight to it. One could guess that an incredible amount of power dwelled within its enormous body.
Suddenly, Albatan lowered its body, and the party saw a pose that was more amazing than the one before. It bent its arms as it placed its elbows on the ground. Then it propped its chin on its paws.
“Huh huh huh…….”
Each it movement was so surreal that it was as if they were in a dream. Kairen let out a laugh that sounded forced.
Albatan laughed as if it enjoyed seeing such reactions.
“This is interesting. I knew you would visit me someday, but now that you are here, I’m very surprised. You are a human, yet you haven’t changed much through the years.”
“I was also surprised…. It is good to see you.”
After he had woken up, Albatan was one of the few beings left that had known Azell in the past.
Azell had been thrown into this era. It felt as if he was a ghost from the past. This was why he had been delighted to see Reygus and Almarick. It was also why he didn’t react with hostility when he met Saibein.
These beings remembered the era Azell had lived through. They recognized him, and it was a joy to talk about those times. Azell couldn’t hide the happiness and excitement he was feeling right now.
“Do you know why I man here?”
“I heard you slept like the dead for the past 220 years. I do sleep occasionally, but I’ve never slept past 20 years. It is amazing to see a human sleep so much. Now that you are a loner with no friends, are you expecting me to introduce you to a nice girl?
“…your knowledge about humans have really broadened.”
Azell grumbled.
He queried the dragon.
“How did you know I was asleep for a long time?”
“In terms of how humans keep track of time, Carlos Rizester looked me up a long time ago. He told me about you. He said he’ll stay at Laus, and he’ll be waiting for you.”
“Hmmm…….”
“If you want permission to go to Laus, you can do whatever you want. That is also what I told Carlos Rizester.”
“What happened to Carlos?”
“That is a question you can answer by going to see him.”
“I know that, but…….”
“He was in a state where it would have been difficult for him to live amongst humans. That is all I’ll say on the subject. He became a being that might explode one day like a volcano.”
“I’m not sure what you are trying to say.”
“You’ll find out once you go there yourself. It isn't something that interests me. Moreover, Carlos Rizester probably wants to reveal everything to you himself.”
“I think so too.”
Azell let out a sigh.
There were too many things he wanted to ask when he met Carlos again.
At the same time, he was afraid to meet Carlos.
Carlos was his best friend, yet Azell was afraid to meet him again….
It was absurd. Azell had been severed from all his relationships from the past, and he was sent far into the future. The fact that Carlos was still here was a precious miracle.
Still, he was afraid.
After he received his Dragon weapons from the Keepers of Prophecy, he met Carlos through a dream that had been arranged by him. Afterwards, Azell was swept up by a foreboding premonition. It felt as if something would come to an end if he met Carlos. It was only a hunch, but…..
Albatan spoke.
“I know why you are here. Someone told you to visit me, right?”
“That is correct. Could you tell me who that someone is?”
“I can’t.”
“Was it Carlos?”
“You’ll have to find that out for yourself.”
“…….”
“I’ve also made a promise, so I cannot speak about it.”
“Then…….”
Azell took a deep breath before he spoke once again.
“What are you going to give me?”