Chapter 180

Chapter 180

As YuSung and HimChan began walking in the 14:00 direction, the lava-covered ground eventually became a mineral-filled cave.

Tap.

Before entering the cave, HimChan crouched and placed his hands on the floor.UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

"Wait."

Within the open space of the cave, it would be easy to notice even the smallest movements. Not only that, but if a dragon were inside, it would probably have its mana spread to detect intruders.

"Hmm. I can't feel any movement. Judging by the fact that theres a dungeon, though, Im sure it was summoned.

Not only were they not able to detect any traces of a dragon, but it was also surprisingly silent.

'There isn't any movement?'

YuSung found that weird, so he also put his hands on the floor. He used his Super Sense to check the area, but he couldn't sense any life inside.

"On top of that, YuSung, doesn't it look a bit like a maze?"

HimChan spoke as he looked at the beautiful crystals.

"I once went to an amusement park that had a maze like this inside, but it was full of mirrors instead of crystals."

YuSung gave him a curious look, and HimChan said, Ah! with a laugh and then began to kindly explain.

"It was a place full of mirrors that you had to find your way through. Although it might sound easy, the reflections make it difficult to find your way.

HimChan smiled and began walking again. The farther they walked through the cave, the narrower it became. The crystals were scattered around in pillar-like shapes.

Slide.

There was a chilly energy coming out of the crystal mine, and two doors opened as if theyd been waiting for YuSung and HimChan.

"This... is a zone."

YuSung reacted first. He'd experienced Lorelei's zone, so he was able to recognize what was in front of him. Although the quality of mana was different, it was clearly constructed as a type of zone.

"A dragon's zone... I'm not that great with opponents like this."

To HimChan, facing a dragon that rushed forward with its mouth open was more comfortable than facing a dragons zone.

Since a dragon's zone was higher-dimensional magic, it was something not even YuSung could destroy with Mana Resonance, and the only way to catch the Incarnation was to go into the zone.

"Still, the opponent is one of Sardonyx's Incarnations. I was ready for this much. Student YuSung, will you enter the dragons zone?" HimChan shouted.

Shin YuSung nodded.

'There's no other choice.'

As they walked toward the passageway, blue light began pouring toward YuSung, creating a dream-like atmosphere. The crystals either reflected YuSungs image or rainbow-like colors.

- To think that dealing with an Incarnation would be so hard. We should continue forward as we talk to ensure we're aware of the dangers.

HimChan's voice echoed through the cave. Since they'd entered the opponent's zone, their location was already known to the opponent. Therefore, keeping tabs on each others locations was a good idea.

"Okay." YuSung replied shortly.

HimChan began thinking about what they should talk about.

- Student YuSung, do you know why Sardonyx was divided into Incarnations?

Why had Sardonyx, the strongest red dragon, been divided into Incarnations? What HimChan or the other hunters knew was superficial. After all, most of their knowledge was based on the information in the Tower Records.

Although they couldn't see each other, YuSung nodded.

"I heard Sardonyx was looking for fun."

Compared to humans, dragons lived eternally, so they often couldn't handle the boredom and traveled around the human world.

- Right. In the Tower Records, it says that Sardonyx divided herself so that she could enjoy the human world.

Did she enjoy spending time with humans? The final part of the Tower Records wasn't very detailed. For some reason, Sardonyx had lost her mind.

Feeling responsible, a few red dragons tried to stop her. but it was useless. The damage caused was nearly unimaginable.

- I was curious What caused a dragon who broke her soul into pieces just to meet humans to lose her mind and start attacking people?

[Sardonyx invaded the human world. She ended up being sealed by the hero and the red dragons.]

That was all that was written in the Records. No matter how much they wondered about it, with the information they had, all they could do was guess.

- Haha! Of course, being curious about the boss we have to subjugate is dumb.

It seemed like HimChan's story had touched a nerve.

"You're wrong..." A girls voice countered him. They could feel sadness in the girls tone.

Crack!

Cracks began appearing in the crystals surrounding YuSung, and a huge magic circle appeared on the ground.

Swoosh!

They'd come prepared, but as expected from a dragon, the zone surrounded the entire cave. It was bigger than they'd thought.

Paf!

Pat.

Then the screen turned off.

Crupeos looked at YuSung.

"But there was a variable. To a dragon who'd lived a boring life... Her first love was too intense."

Crupeos was starting to convince YuSung, little by little. She was trying to explain why something like that had happened.

Swoosh.

The screen turned on again. Taru returned from the battlefield at 17 years of age, and the town welcomed the return of a war hero.

"Taru came back!"

"Welcome back! Why do you have so much baggage?"

"He's a noble now! Everyone, treat him with respect!"

"From what I heard, even the Lord shows interest in him. It seems like there was a huge uproar."

"His achievements are impressive, but did you hear what his enemies said?"

"They said theres a polymorphed dragon among Rendell's generals."

"Haha! With Taru's beauty, of course they'd think that!"

Taru passed through them and walked toward someone in particular before he slowly removed his helmet.

"Lepina"

Three years had passed.

Although so much time had passed, Taru smiled like a young boy as he looked at Lepina.

"I'm back."

17-year-old Taru, a man whod made a dragon fall in love with him, looked a lot like Shin YuSung.

His beauty was so intense that it was easy to understand why Sardonyx had fallen in love with him.

Crupeos's hair blew in the wind.

"Humans live short but intense lives. The time she spent with Taru... Maybe it was too intense for her."

The light scattered from Crupeos's hands, creating a night sky full of stars.

"Taru..."

"Lepina... thanks for staying by my side for such a long time."

For a human, 70 years was their entire life, but for a dragon, it was the blink of an eye. Although Taru aged with the years, Lepina still looked the same. That was proof enough that she was a dragon.

"No... should I call you Sardonyx? Once Im gone... you're probably going to leave... Thank you, Lepina."

Taru expressed his thanks to Lepina, who'd stayed next to him until the end, and he also prayed for her life after he was gone, but Sardonyx wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

Maybe 70 years was a lot for a human, but it was too short for a dragon. She wasn't ready to send him off yet.

"No... I'm not going to leave. I'll... find you."

While crying, she said in a firm voice, "I swear it... People from Rendell are reborn, right?"

She grabbed Taru's hands and felt the life flowing out of him.

Before he could pass away, she quickly opened her mouth. "No matter how many years pass... No matter how you look, Taru... I'll find you."

At that moment, the world blurred and shone as Sardonyx used Soul Language to make a promise to Taru.

"No matter how many years pass, I'll..."

Just like Taru had made a promise to her, she smiled and made a promise to him.

"Ill find you."

Taru's fire went out.

The flames faded to ashes and scattered into the night sky to witness their promise.

The strength of Soul Language was absolute, so the light would probably become a new flame and burn again, but not all stories can have a happy ending.

Sardonyx tried to find him hundreds, thousands of times; she even tore parts of her soul apart to find Taru's reincarnation.

Still, she was never able to find him or fulfill her promise.

Crupeos smiled bitterly at YuSung.

"The stronger the dragon is, the more absolute a promise made with Soul Language becomes... Even more so since it was Sardonyx, who created me."

Even if Crupeos didn't say anything, YuSung understood why Sardonyx had created Incarnations and ended up losing control.

"Regardless of the place, as long as theyre summoned, the Incarnations will follow her wish and continue to look for Taru, but..."

Blue mana fluctuated in the area, and Crupeos smiled as she walked toward YuSung and said

"It seems like I've already found him..."