Dragon Eyes.
As he became a true Dragon Knight, Skal shared his senses with the Dragon.
This meant that, as long as Frostnax allowed it, Skal could see the same landscape as the dragon.
âDo you see it, brat?â
The King of All, he could see.
The bones of his brothers littering the earth, weathered by the winds of time. Even the way they died, as he pierced further back into the past.
A shocking sight indeed.
No answer came from Skal.
Frostnax continued.
âThe flapping of a dragonâs wings contains unfathomable power. They can soar and glide across dimensions. But even with these wings, my brothers have not been able to cross this mountain range.â
The reason was simple.
The top of the mountain range.
Because thatâs where Claudiâs old home was.
âWhat a past youâve been hiding, Eunaxus â¦â¦. â
Elder Dragon, Eunaxus.
Even when he lost the support of his own kind, no dragons set foot in the Forbidden Zone. At that time, the brothers had no reason to live.
Their home, the Arcana continent.
They had wasted their time freely while the land was being turned into a living hell by the flooding of the Demon World, and even their mother, the World Tree, had been lukewarm in her response.
In hindsight, this was just the hidden past. They probably just decided that it was better to bury the past in memory, Eunaxus.
âNo matter how much you say itâs a thing of the past.â
But.
âThis is too much.â
He counted the number of his brothers who had been reduced to skeletons and dust.
It seemed to be at least a hundred.
No wonder the brat kept vomiting.
One-sided slaughter.
Dragon Eye, the past seen through my eyes was truly miserable.
The dragons, the kings of all things, had fallen.
Claudi, never once looking like a king in their presence.
ââ¦â¦Can you fly a little further?â
Frostnax snorted at Skalâs cautious question.
âWhy, do you think Iâd be scared?â
Is it Hatchollingâs youthful spirit?
If not that, then a past existence.
It was my faith in the Claudie I faced.
âIâm going to ask you why, brat.â
Frostnax cut straight to the chase.
âI think weâll find a clue once we enter Claudiâs former territory. My adventurerâs vision is shining, and I think I can see the truth about Claudi and the Dragon.â
Indeed, he was seeing.
Instead of answering, Frostnax flapped his wings.
Then it came into view.
The image of Claudiâs old estate.
ââ¦â¦This.â
For the dragon, the king of all things, there was no lack.
If they needed something, they could get it. Frostnax had no interest in it, but there were others of his kind who were fascinated by all things shiny.
Many dragons adorned their lairs with gold and jewels. But the gold and silver treasures they had so painstakingly accumulated seemed to be for naught.
A shining castle.
The ruins were still shining brightly, and the reason was simple. This was because Dwarves, small guys, built castles and walls using only rare minerals that no one could use.
âWell, whatâs so grandâ¦â¦? â
The scale was enough to make even Skal, who was accustomed to this kind of scenery, feel intimidated.
Havenât we already seen such magnificent citadels in the real world, in the Kingdom of Yusra?
No, Claudiâs castle was more than the Golden Palace of Yusra.
Skalâs vision flickered.
[Hidden Piece, âClaudiâs Castleâ was discovered.]
[Claudiâs sense of intimidation envelops you].
[All stats drop drastically].
I dared to assure you.
No temple dedicated to any god on the Arcana continent could be grander than the castle in front of us. It was a tall, majestic, and splendid castle.
Depending on how you look at it.
Frostnax opened his mouth.
âIndeed, it would be an understatement to describe it as âarrogantâ.â
Skal muttered in a low voice.
âThe Tower of Babelâ¦â
The first thing that came to mind was a real-life anecdote.
But Skal shook his head.
Now was not the time to be distracted by trivialities.
[Curses: Claudiâs Discipline]
[Restriction: those who have entered the Forbidden Zone]
The curse was right in front of me.
I knew about the dangers of curses. Why, even on Jeju Island, where Paimon appeared. Wasnât the rift in Seoul created by the Eighth Throne Demon King Barbatos also a curse?
Skal realized the point.
âIâm not the Commander-in-Chief.â
Unlike Hoyeol, who could easily attack even the Curse of the Ten Thrones, he could not relax. Although the status abnormality was constantly occurring, Skal did not hesitate.
âPlease enter straight ahead, Frostnax-nim.â
The Hidden Class, the Dragon Knight, shares everything with the dragon while sitting on it. Skal, even if heâs suffering from the status abnormality, as long as itâs harmless to Froznax.
âYouâre in good spirits, brat.â
Flapping.
âGood.â
That meant he could move about without any restrictions. Soon, Frostnaxâs wings swept across the graves of his kin. Toward Claudiâs citadel.
[Enter Curse, âClaudiâs Disciplineâ].
Skalâs vision blinked.
And he began to feel it.
The power of the curse.
âUugh.â
He hadnât seen anything yet, but Skal had been completely emptied. Frostnax was not angry. He could understand the bratâs frustration.
âIt transcended dimension, no, time.â
Is this what you mean by âcurseâ?
The brat was nauseous when he crossed space, let alone dimensions.
Worse, heâd crossed the time line.
Frostnax opened his mouth.
âCome to your senses, Skall.â
â â¦â¦ Yeah. Yes, Frostnax-nim.â
âFrom now on, reality and the future are in our hands.â
With the intuition of the King of All, he intuitively understands the essence of the curse.
He realizes that the curse can be used to manipulate the future through time. Of course, he understands that dramatic changes are impossible, like bringing back his kin who have been turned into skeletons.
But.
âIf I can be of any help to Grandfell-nim.â
I needed to witness a little more of the Claudi family.
Only then could I fill the void left by Eunaxus and Kudhanax.
Soon, the image of Frostnax was shared.
âI understand.â
Skal wiped the corner of his mouth and looked straight ahead.
The landscape of the curse came into view.
Dragons swarmed across the sky.
Frostnax was more surprised than Skal at the sight.
âEunaxus, Kudhanax.â
He hadnât expected the two old dragons to be here, in the past.
They were as strong as the years they had lived.
Moreover, in the past, they would not have aged.
Frostnax could guess. If he were to face the two dragons of the curse now, he could see that he would not be able to land a single blow.
âAnd yet we couldnât avoid thisâ¦â¦?â
I couldnât believe it.
But he had to believe.
Because soon, the curse began to shine its full light on the past.
The King of All.
Like the elves before their transformation.
Dragons, who were arrogant to say the least.
There was a being there who imprinted the feeling of âhumilityâ in them.
Arrogance.
No, a being that makes even arrogance a modifier.
Claudi.
ââ¦The Dark Dragon.â
The imprint of Frostnaxâs dragonblood was once again etched.
And its influence.
It was passed on to Skal, the Dragon Knight.
[Status Abnormality, âFearâ.]
[â»Warning: Mental strength is too low].
ââ¦..!â
It makes sense.
How could it have been silent all this time?
âFor some reason, there were too many dead bodies.â
Those were all the dragons who visited the Forbidden Zone out of curiosity.
They had fallen to the curse and died.
Skal gritted his teeth.
kkwaag.
He squeezed the cold ice dragonâs scales in his hand to jolt the increasingly sluggish Frostnax. As he did so, he realized he was being a fool.
Just when I thought Iâd overcome all odds and become a worthy Dragon Knight, I was stuck in a curse with a dragon and end up dying on the Arcana Continent?
However.
âFrostnax-nim!â
âCanât you hear me?â
âFrostnax-nim!!â
Skal now had a reason to clear this curse, to survive⦠Grandfell, did he say? Whatever the manâs past was, it had nothing to do with Skal himself.
Because it wasnât Hoyeol.
So he shouted even louder.
âHey Ice Dragon!!!â
See.
ââ¦â¦Brat, what did you just say to me?â
*
That was a struggle I learned from âsomeoneâ.
ãBlack Crownã
Ulrichâs senses stopped. Of course, it wasnât the Black Crown that was manifested by my will. Grandfell looked at Ulrich, who remained still, and said.
âDo not repeat your foolishness.â
It was the same feeling I had when I looked at the Blood Grown Lycoris Flower planted in Claudiâs territory. It was as if he had known this was how things would turn out for a long time.
Suddenly, the words struck me.
-âHe knew this too.â
Maybe he was just pretending, like always.
âYou were good at pretending in real life, werenât you?â
Grandfell was an Arcanian, after all. Even though he didnât know the knowledge about the Arcana Continent, the knowledge about reality was something that Granfell already couldnât know.But something was different.
Grandfell was drawing a line in the sand.
It was distancing me.
Because I felt it to the point where I felt sad.
âYou can leave Claudi Territory.â
His words.
In Claudi territory, the words of the lord, Grandfell, are absolute.
As if to prove it.
Ulrichâs body is completely engulfed in magic and disperses.
-Face the Truth of the Six Sight Brooch (Ongoing)
The quest objective blinks faintly, then disappears completely.
Itâs a clear indication that Ulrich has left Claudiâs territory.
âTime is short.â
Grandfell said to himself.
Then he really drew on his magic and manifested a portal.
He didnât say where he was going, but I was a pretender now.
âWhat, are you going back to Seoul?â
Grandfell doesnât spit out nonsense.
Heâd rather keep his mouth shut, but he doesnât lie.
If thatâs the case, then the words heâs saying now arenât meant to deflect the situation.
âClearly, something happened in Seoul.â
Me, Lee Hoyeol.
If it were normal, I would have questioned it.
What on earth are you doing from earlier?
âI was talking to you.â
If itâs something you didnât really want to hear, you shouldnât have heard it in the first place, right? If it was such an uncomfortable story, you could discuss it with me in advance, right? You spoke harshly, but are you afraid I wonât understand?
The words came up in my throat.
I couldnât get the words out.
It was because I felt it intuitively from Grandfellâs attitude.
âYou have to tie the knot securely.â
An expression that Grandfell had never shown to anyone.
It was directed at me.
It was because he ended his sentence with that expression.
âWe donât have much time left.â
What are you saying nowâ¦â¦?
*
â¦wriggle.
Why are they called a fighting race?
The orc was recovering quickly as if to prove him.
Mortal wounds didnât matter, their muscles were strong enough to knit themselves together and move past broken bones.
âTheyâre so stupidly persistent!â
The players werenât in the mood to slack off either, not after the blows to the back of their heads. They raised their weapons again, and this time, we had to make sure to cut off their breathing.
ppadeug.
Just as everyone was steeling themselves for battle.
From somewhere, a shout came.
It was a shout, but somehow it sounded like it was filled with excitement.
âLee, Lee Hoyeol is hereâ¦â¦!!!â
The Commander-in-Chief is here?
For a moment, Nam Taemin was stunned.
There was no familiar sound in his ears.
âAnd without a sound?â
It was definitely the Commander-in-Chief making his way through the crowd.
Nam Taemin shook his head.
Perhaps his nerves had become overly sensitive.
âCommander-in-Chiefâ
He thought to himself.
âFor you.â
Hoyeol no, Grandfell said.
âDo I still look like âhimâ to you?â