Chapter 108

This wasn’t an extermination; it was a competition.

The four White-rank adventurers gathered here held this view for good reason. They weren’t fools ignorant of the terror of dragons. Even though most dragons vanished a thousand years ago with the end of the mythical era, their majesty still lived on in history. While each dragon varied, it was practically impossible for a single Sword Seeker to hunt a dragon alone.

That’s right. “Normally,” that is.

The Red Dragon and White Dragon, sealed beneath Cambria, were not your average dragons. Originally one, they had been split into two, struck down by Arthur and sealed by Merlin after losing much of their power.

They were once great dragons, but had lost their glory after falling underground.

Everything about the Red Dragon and White Dragon was already known—their characteristics, strategies, and even their weaknesses. Sealed for ages, they had weakened further. Was there anything more to say?

Five Sword Seekers would have no problem hunting them down. The important question was, who would land the final blow?

The adventurers gathered here made their judgment.

There might be some risk, but the reward was worth it: the dragon’s skin, bones, blood, and heart were all precious, top-tier materials. Every adventurer knew the astounding artifacts crafted from dragon materials.

Adventurers are people who weigh gold against danger.

For them, this dragon hunt was an enticing opportunity. The guildmaster of the Central Guild understood this and took the hunting rights. He must have thought the benefits outweighed the risks.

The Royal Guards were just a safety measure. The adventurers here should be enough for the hunt…

-That’s probably what they’re thinking.

Merlin shrugged her shoulders.

-If things had gone as usual, it wouldn’t be a wrong judgment. About two hundred years ago, the Red Dragon and White Dragon were resurrected again.

“This isn’t the first time?”

-Yeah, every couple of centuries, they slip through the cracks of the seal. Perfect seals can’t exist in this world. Anyway, each time, a few Sword Seekers hunted them easily, so they’ll think this time will be the same.

She perched on the conference table and crossed her legs. Of course, Merlin was only visible to Najin, so to the other White-rank adventurers, he seemed to be staring into empty air.

-But this time is different.

Merlin lowered her head to look at Najin.

-They’ve made two mistakes.

She held up two fingers.

-First, they think a weakened dragon will emerge. This time is different. The seal will break completely. The dragons they’ll face aren’t the weakened ones but the dragons from the mythical era that Arthur and I fought.

She folded one finger down, then wiggled the other.

-Second, they think that even if a fully revived dragon appears, they can still hunt it down. How naïve of them, right? This misconception has persisted for a thousand years.

Merlin snickered in amusement. A thousand years ago, when the dragons were struck down, Merlin was a 6th circle mage, and Arthur had reached the level of Sword Seeker.

-They believed that since Arthur and I managed to strike down two dragons by ourselves, many Sword Seekers could handle them easily. How laughable that was.

She couldn’t prove them wrong now that the dragons were sealed. Merlin sighed and propped her chin on her hand.

-If it were that easy, anyone could earn a star.

The stars could only be earned by achieving great deeds. Rolling her first star in her palm, Merlin looked at Najin. Her gaze wasn’t that of someone watching the king she was meant to guide, but of a senior looking at a younger follower.

-It’s your turn this time.

Merlin’s blue eyes locked with Najin’s dusk-colored gaze.

-It’s your turn to prove yourself in your own way.

A thousand years ago, Arthur had cut off the dragon’s wings and brought it down. How would Najin bring down the dragon? How would he imprison them underground? Merlin’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.

The boy was like Arthur but different.

Merlin was eager to see how the boy would answer in this hunt, and what kind of star he would earn. But that answer would have to wait a month.

Just as Najin could hear Merlin’s monologue, some of Merlin’s feelings flowed into Najin too. Many things had changed when he reached the level of Sword Seeker.

Feeling Merlin’s faint emotions, Najin grinned.

“You can look forward to it, Merlin.”

He thought back on Merlin’s advice and laughed as he mulled it over. He already had some ideas of his own.

After receiving the documents and information about the hunt from the Central Guild, Najin left. Every staff member he passed bowed in greeting, a privilege of the White-rank.

In the City of Opportunities, Cambria, only achievements mattered. And the White-rank adventurers had the highest achievements.

“So, that’s why they call them the nobles of Cambria.”

Najin thought this as he walked. The Empire’s calculation for when the seal would break was a month away, and Merlin’s estimate matched. So, that meant he had a month to prepare.

What would he do for a month?

He could take on small and large requests, but Najin knew he was already under a glaring spotlight. Whatever he did would be scrutinized, and his intentions questioned.

‘I’ve already received dozens of personal requests.’

He felt sorry to say, but he had no intention of accepting such transparent requests. Besides, he already had plans for the next month.

‘Merlin’

-Yes, what is it?

‘You said I’d go beyond the continent after catching the dragons, right? The Battlefield of Stars and the Land of Demons.’

-That’s right.

Merlin nodded.

-There’s no better place to build a reputation, achieve deeds, and earn stars. It’s also where many heroes tread.

The Battlefield of Stars and the Land of Demons. Najin remembered the illusion Merlin had shown him before. The landscape had shaken his soul and once made him kneel.

-I wanted to test you. You know that, right? I didn’t mean to scare you… well, maybe a little, but it was necessary.

A strangely sullen voice. She still seemed concerned about when Najin had jokingly said, “Didn’t you do that too, Merlin?” during their encounter with Gerd. Najin chuckled.

‘I know. It was a test, right?’

-Exactly?

Hearing Merlin’s brightened voice, Najin wanted to tease her more but held back.

‘Anyway, I’ll be heading there in two months at the latest. I’m thinking of checking it out beforehand.’

-Now?

Najin nodded.

‘I should fight something like a dragon to catch one, but there’s nothing suitable inland.’

A creature similar to a dragon. One with a faint hint of dragon blood but without the same mystique: the wyvern. Najin had already picked it as a training target.

-Wyverns are upper-tier monsters, so they’ll be in the Demon Realm. So you’re going to hunt them?

‘I need to get a feel for it. I don’t think I’ve fought anything that flies.’

After some thought, Merlin nodded.

-That’s not a bad idea. And it’d be a good show for those curious about your movements.

Najin was aiming for that too. He wanted to show those watching him that he was testing the waters of the Demon Realm and planned to operate there later.

-It’s not a bad idea, but…

Merlin trailed off, seemingly troubled.

-It’ll be shocking at first, you know?

‘The wyverns?’

-No, the Outer Land.

Trying to explain, Merlin held back.

-It’s easier to show you than tell you. So, are you heading there now?

Sooner wouldn’t hurt. Factoring in the travel time, a month was already a tight schedule. Najin nodded and immediately hired a carriage.

The edge of the continent.

A carriage that would go directly to the border, known simply as “The Boundary.”

Beyond the continent, in the Outland).

Some called it the Edge of the World, or the Outside, and that wasn’t incorrect. Most of the rules that applied to the world were distorted or broken here.

The line between the living and the dead was blurred. Corpses not properly buried would begin to move on their own after a night and wander as the undead.

Time did not flow consistently. Some places moved quickly, some slowly, and others were petrified and frozen. As a result, all seasons coexisted, or one repeated eternally.

A place where rules and order were in disarray, and where stunning vistas mixed with wastelands.

Thus, the constellations who had long left this world could intervene here in the Outside. The Demonic Realm, home to demons and Najin’s destination, was also here.

-Some demons are on par with the constellations. Some even are constellations. After all, being a demon doesn’t mean they can’t be a constellation.

“Are they that powerful?”

-The rulers of the Demonic Realm, known as Demon Kings, are. Baal, whom I incinerated, had at least nine stars.

After listening to Merlin’s explanation for days, the carriage suddenly stopped. The driver refused to go further, dropped Najin off, and turned back toward the continent.

Left alone in the wilderness, Najin blinked and surveyed his surroundings. A stable-tavern named “The Last Drink” stood nearby.

“Is this your first time here?”

A man sipping alcohol outside the tavern asked Najin. When he nodded, the man pointed in a direction.

“You’ll get there in about an hour.”

With that, the man continued sipping his drink in silence. Najin turned to look where he pointed. The landscape twisted endlessly, a wasteland stretching into the distance. Without a word, Najin began walking.

He walked for some time before he stopped and looked up at the sky. He had to stop.

The sky was shattered.

Cracks ran through the blue sky and stretched far into the distance.

-You’re almost there.

Merlin’s voice prompted him, and Najin resumed walking. But he soon had to stop again. A boundary had been drawn across the ground, splitting the world in two. No one knew who had drawn it, but it stretched into the distance like it divided the world.

-That was drawn by the first Sword Saint.

Merlin smirked.

-He saw Arthur drawing the boundary of Camlann and decided to draw one himself. This is the result.

A thousand-year-old sword scar remained. It was hard to imagine how a sword could leave such a mark. Najin studied the boundary for a moment, then took a deep breath.

And stepped beyond the line.

One step.

One footfall.

As Najin stepped into the Outland,

“…!”

His eyes widened as his heart pounded violently and his mana surged madly. His pupils were bloodshot, and his senses were on high alert.

The air had reversed.

The flow of mana had inverted.

His senses screamed in agony.

Then, he heard a crack. Najin looked toward the sound. His skin was splitting. No, not just his skin. His body was slowly crumbling apart.

-Cover yourself with mana.

Najin quickly surrounded himself with mana, and the cracking stopped.

-You must always be shrouded in mana here, or adapt your body to it completely. You might last a few months without mana, thanks to Excalibur, so try it if you want.

Not that I’d recommend it.

While Merlin murmured, Najin took a steady breath. He was taken aback. Just one step had broken his understanding of the world.

-That’s just how things work here.

Merlin stood next to Najin with a bitter smile.

-You haven’t seen anything yet.

She pointed upward, prompting Najin to raise his gaze. Not just the atmosphere but the entire landscape had changed. The scenery inside the boundary was nothing like what was beyond it.

The desert and vegetation coexisted. Snowstorms raged alongside parched wastelands. But the most striking features were the weapons, regardless of distance, clearly visible.

Giant swords embedded in the ground, broken spears, arrows, chains, and scythes—a chaotic array of weapons.

-Those are the symbols of the constellations. They’re warnings: “Don’t enter our territory.”

Explaining this, Merlin pointed upward again, as if to say, “Look at the sky before you inspect the rest.”

Najin obliged.

He raised his head and looked up.

And he understood why Merlin had wanted him to look.

The sky was shattered, like a broken window, with the cracks dyed black.

Between the blue sky were patches of dark night, dotted with stars. Stars shining in various colors, and to Najin, they looked like eyes.

-You’re right.

“What?”

-They are eyes. You’re exactly right.

Merlin shrugged and snapped her fingers. The barrier shrouding Najin’s soul was lifted, and he gasped as countless sensations hit him at once.

He felt the gazes.

It wasn’t just one. He felt dozens, hundreds, thousands of gazes. The stars themselves watched him from the sky, each twinkling star representing a set of eyes. Hundreds of stars focused on Najin.

-The Outland.

Merlin spread her arms wide.

-Welcome to the land of these damn stars.

An ancient constellation, one who held the second most stars after King Arthur, smiled bitterly.