Chapter 26
With this, the bet is my victory.
The final achievement Wolfgang accomplished before he was called the Tyrant was clearing the fourth stage, the ‘Neck’ trial.
I have now reached that very record.
‘The content of the bet was to achieve at least the same result as Wolfgang or better.’
Since I won the bet, once I leave here, Wolfgang must pass on the forms of <Frost Fang> to me.
No, he had personally said he would not only teach them but gift me the entire manual.
Receiving instruction from a martial artist who had reached the master realm.
Just this alone made challenging the trial more than worth it……
[You have passed the ‘Neck’ trial!]
[Reward will be given!]
However, there were still many things I needed to claim.
Each one was a precious gold nugget that I absolutely could not miss.
Whiiiing—.
What appeared above my head right now was one of them.
A sword-shaped aura.
This aura was the reward for the fourth trial.
[You have acquired the ‘Key to the Sword Forest’!]
The hidden area, Sword Forest.
The resting place of the spirits of martial artists who had mastered the essence of the sword during their lives.
It was after entering the ‘Sword Forest’ and receiving the teachings of the spirits that Wolfgang truly began walking the path of the Tyrant.
<Trial of Entur> had merely been a stepping stone; the ‘Sword Forest’ was his true great opportunity.
‘Now I too can taste it. That opportunity.’
The sword-shaped aura floating above my head was, as the name suggested, the only means of entering the ‘Sword Forest.’
The usage was simple. Just focus your mind on the aura and infuse it with mana.
Pop.
Since the aura was connected to my mind, I could naturally conceal it as easily as breathing.
It was a necessary function, of course.
There was no reason to advertise it everywhere, and walking around with an aura floating above my head was impossible.
‘The higher the realm I reach, the greater the level of martial knowledge the spirits of the Sword Forest can impart. Entering the Sword Forest now would be premature.’
There would come a time someday.
For now, I should focus only on the trials.
Crackle—.
After receiving the reward, the stone chamber collapsed and the staircase leading to the final trial finally unfolded.
It was steeper and taller than any staircase I had seen so far.
As if emphasizing that this was the last path to the summit.
“……”
But what truly caught my attention was not the staircase.
While I was fighting the berserker Dragonfang Soldier, the dark purple cracks had not decreased — they had only increased.
It meant the distortion of the trial was growing progressively worse. That meant……
‘Even after Wolfgang and Entur stepped in personally, the distortion hasn’t stopped?’
Just how grand a scheme had that crazy black mage Mirati pulled off?
At this point, even I was starting to feel uneasy.
I was extremely curious about what was happening, but……
I had no choice.
I couldn’t go back, nor was there any way to return.
The only option given to me was to move forward.
Step, step, step—.
I cast away all useless distracting thoughts and climbed the staircase.
From here on, it was the real beginning.
The true purpose of my challenge — the crossroads of whether I would obtain the Dragon Eyes or not.
The final stage that had never once been cleared even in the game.
The ‘Skull’ trial.
Hwaaaak—.
I stepped through the majestic, devouring door of brilliant light.
The place I arrived at was none other than……
Whoooosh!!
The middle of an ice field swept by a fierce blizzard.
A frozen land so cold that even <Aigon> would not dare compare.
It wasn’t just the ground that was frozen. The vast sky itself was frozen solid along with the clouds, as if an ice field had formed in the air as well.
It was clearly an unrealistic phenomenon, and only two beings in the world could cause such a thing.
A Constellation.
Or.
Kwoooooooo—!!
An ancient dragon.
Along with a roar that shook heaven and earth, a massive object was flying in from beyond the horizon.
Just the fact that the object was approaching me was enough to force me to activate <Iron-Blood Heart> to its utmost limit.
Otherwise,
My body and mind would crumble under the overwhelming pressure emitted by that supreme being.
<Ruth Fried.>
When I came to my senses, a white-scaled dragon with its wings fully spread was looking down at me from the sky.
It was Entur.
To be precise, an illusion that perfectly reproduced Entur’s true form.
Strictly speaking it was fake, but because every element had been perfectly recreated, it was no different from the real thing.
I steadied my breathing and faced Entur.
“Yes.”
<Are you prepared to face the final trial?>
Unlike her thought form, her tone was solemn and lofty.
She was treating me with respect not as a mere human, but as an honorable challenger.
I also answered with respect and reverence.
“Yes.”
<I shall explain the final trial to you. The method to pass is truly simple. It will also end quickly.>
The moment she finished speaking,
Crackle—.
Frost climbed up the ice sheet and froze both of my legs solid.
Firmly, so I could not run anywhere.
Then Entur’s brief explanation continued.
<From now on, I will exhale my breath upon you. Endure it. If you do, it will be your victory.>
Even in <Trial of Entur>, where the content changed every time, there were two elements that never varied.
One was the list of rewards.
The other was the content of the final trial.
Surviving a direct hit from the ancient dragon’s breath.
That was the condition to pass the final trial.
—“Did a cat make this game?”—
That was the first impression I had as a user back then.
***
Rumble—.
A massive, rotting hand flickered in a translucent state.
Every time the black bell, radiating a sinister aura, shook, ‘something’ gradually began to reveal itself.
“Ah, aaaaah……!”
Belgious.
The evil-aligned Constellation bearing the alias <Devourer of the Abyss>.
A calamity that must never manifest was trying to appear in this place by feeding on human blood.
Mirati’s complexion was so pale it would not be an exaggeration to call her severely anemic.
Yet ecstasy flowed from her lips. The moment of glory was right before her.
“Finally!”
Kwaaaaaang—!!
A loud explosion erupted at the same time as her shout.
It was not the sound of Belgious manifesting, nor an explosion caused by Mirati.
Mirati, who had been immersed in rapture at the imminent descent of the evil god, looked toward the source of the noise with startled eyes.
There stood
“I will give you ten seconds from now.”
Wolfgang Demiorck.
The Lord of <Aigon> had torn through the heat and appeared, radiating immense killing intent.
Caught off guard by the unexpected intervention, Mirati bit her lip.
“If you cannot explain within ten seconds why I should tolerate your actions, I will cut you down.”
“It’s almost done, so don’t interfere, you son of a bitch!”
“It seems there’s no need to count.”
Kaaaak—!!
The Dragonfang Soldiers howled as they charged toward Wolfgang.
Since undead had the nature of attacking indiscriminately except for their own kind, this was a welcome development for Mirati, who needed to buy time at all costs.
Slice—!!
She hadn’t expected all the Dragonfang Soldiers to be cut down by a single sword strike from Wolfgang.
Wolfgang pointed <Frost Fang>—its blade swirling with frost energy—at Mirati.
“Vile black mage bitch. You dare mock me, the Lord, and defile a sacred trial?”
“Y-You idiot. If you’re going to kill me, then k—”
Crack—.
The sound of something rupturing rang in her ears, causing Mirati’s heart to sink.
The high-grade barrier that had not gained even a single crack despite being pounded thousands of times by the Dragonfang Soldiers……
“F-Fuck……”
Was on the verge of shattering from a single horizontal slash by Wolfgang.
It was a sight that fully proved the title ‘Tyrant of the North’ was no empty name.
Then,
Kwa-chiiiiing!!
When Wolfgang struck down with another aura-infused sword strike, the barrier shattered helplessly.
“Ah, no! Don’t come!”
“……What exactly were you planning to do, you wench?”
With the barrier gone, an utterly bizarre scene came clearly into Wolfgang’s view.
Mirati, covered in blood and drenched in cold sweat,
The black bell ringing incessantly beside her,
And that rotting hand continuously emitting an aura that seemed to corrupt the very lungs.
“……Good heavens. Were you trying to summon an evil god? Inside the remains of an ancient dragon?”
A chill ran down his spine.
At the thought of what kind of catastrophe would have occurred if he had been even a little later.
Wolfgang, who found even cursing her a waste, swung his sword at Mirati’s neck with terrifying speed.
Or rather,
He tried to.
Kwaaaaaang—!!
“……!!”
The rotting hand flickering above the black bell struck Wolfgang.
Even though he had wrapped his entire body in aura and raised <Frost Fang> to block at the last moment, his body was sent flying far away.
“Kuhuk!”
Wolfgang, slammed into the stone chamber wall, coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Pain as if struck by lightning.
However,
The moment he witnessed the being summoned by the black bell, he momentarily forgot even that pain.
<Haaaa—>
Something dyed in black exhaled a long breath.
At first glance, it looked like a giant wearing a robe.
Inside the hood was not a face with features, but a mass of flesh densely packed with teeth.
Twitch—.
In the center of that vivid red flesh, a heavily bloodshot single eye rolled into view.
The single eye glanced at Wolfgang once before shifting its gaze downward to look at the human who had summoned it.
Not only Mirati,
But even Wolfgang began gasping for breath as if suffocating under the merciless energy the being emitted.
<Are you the one who called me?>
Simply facing an evil god made Mirati feel as if her throat had gone completely dry.
“Y-Yes…… This lowly woman has dared to summon your great self.”
<I am not the first you have called. Many humans have offered their own blood as a sacrifice to manifest me. They claimed to have found a splendid vessel to anchor my wandering spirit from the ‘Abyss.’>
Belgious, who had wandered the darkest and coldest seas far from the sanctuary, had always dreamed of one thing.
Manifesting in the clear and warm world known as the ‘continent’ and enjoying an immortal life.
For that, he first needed an excellent body.
<However, none of the vessels satisfied me. They only offered insignificant containers utterly unworthy of the immortal life I desire. That is why every human who summoned me has died by my hand until now.>
“……”
<Will you become one of them as well?>
“N-No! No! Look!”
A warning bell rang in Mirati’s head as she hurriedly spread both arms wide.
“It is the remains of an ancient dragon! A body befitting a god — it will surely be able to fully accept the great Belgious-nim!”
<……An ancient dragon?>
Only after hearing those words did Belgious roll his eye and survey the surroundings.
On the surface it appeared to be nothing more than a simple stone chamber, but the evil god’s insight instantly saw through the fact that everything was an illusion created by magic.
What Belgious saw was beyond the stone chamber.
Indeed.
<The remains of an ancient dragon, huh……>
A brief, mind-numbing silence fell over Mirati.
Grin.
Belgious’s single eye curved like a crescent moon.
<This should be sufficient as a vessel.>
—Who said you could take over someone else’s body?
Whooooosh—!!
A blizzard swirled in the middle of the stone chamber filled with sinister energy.
Belgious, who had been greatly excited at the prospect of claiming an excellent vessel, revealed his anger.
Because the blizzard was transforming into the shape of a woman, and an increasingly undeniable wave of power could be felt.
—I am still wide awake, yet you dare to do something so ridiculous. Go ahead and try.
Entur.
She released a cold air akin to the northern seas as she pressed down on Belgious.
<Entur? Aha. So that’s how it is. I wondered whose body it was — it belongs to that pathetic fool who was defeated by a human.>
—Shut your mouth—!!
Crackle!
The moment Entur, provoked at her reverse scale, tried to roar,
Golden currents suddenly shot out from all directions and wrapped around her silhouette.
—……?!
Her body grew heavy as if her feet had sunk into a swamp.
Mirati burst into laughter at the sight of the clearly panicked Entur.
She had predicted that Entur would interfere and had made full preparations in advance.
Necklace-shaped talismans designed to distort the spiritual power of the thought form had been placed all over the stone chamber.
“Insane……”
Wolfgang, who had been relieved by Entur’s appearance, fell into despair once more.
A human with serious injuries and a powerless thought form.
A fully manifested evil god.
There was no need to say which side held the advantage.
***
……There was no way to avoid it.
The frost that had climbed up to his knees completely immobilized both legs.
The only way to escape the restraint was to cut off his own legs.
And what scene would unfold after that?
The sight of him crawling on the ground with his lower body severed as the breath poured down on him.
‘……I have to take it head-on.’
The probability of surviving after being exposed to an ancient dragon’s breath?
Surprisingly, it did exist.
A dragon’s breath was not only physical damage — it came with a passive effect of ‘instant death’ with a 99.9% probability.
As the name suggested, any human afflicted with the ‘instant death’ effect would die. That was obvious.
In other words,
‘To survive the breath, I must first overcome that 0.1% probability.’
One might ask if <Authority of Resistance>, which defended against all status ailments and curses, would be enough?
It wasn’t.
<Authority of Resistance> only reduced the effect by 90% and did not grant 100% immunity.
Against magic effects like ‘instant death’ that killed instantly upon activation, <Authority of Resistance> was useless.
<I shall begin.>
Goooooo—!!
Beyond Entur’s wide-open maw, white flames swirled.
She hadn’t even exhaled her breath yet, but the shockwave created by the flames shook the entire ice field.
“……”
0.1%.
A one-in-a-thousand chance.
Without absurdly good luck, the trial would end in failure right here.
And then,
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!
The breath poured down upon him.