kscans

Chapter 226 - The Sword Demon, the Thousand Poisons, and the Dragon King.

In the Kingdom...

The Salamander's victory was absolute.

Leona and Glad, who had fought to the very end, were finally brought down by the Salamander's fiery breath. Their shields had protected them from the worst of the burns, but the intense heat had made it difficult to breathe, and they'd lost consciousness. Even if they were to wake up, they'd be in no condition to fight.

The Salamander, along with the nearby monsters, headed for the gate. The goal was to instill terror in the humans and rob them of their will to resist.

Just then, a purple smoke enveloped the area.

Monsters that inhaled the smoke collapsed. They were still conscious, but unable to move. It seemed the smoke contained a paralytic agent.

The Salamander, however, seemed unaffected. Whether it had a resistance or was simply less susceptible was unclear. It unleashed a blast of its fiery breath, fanning it out to clear the smoke. The smoke dissipated, and just as the Salamander was about to advance, a lone figure appeared before it.

It was a centaur with the head of a bull and a massive black greatsword: Sidoor the Sword Demon.

"What are you doing here?" Sidoor demanded. "Weren't you ordered to be Shinsuke's opponent?"

The Salamander answered with its flame-wreathed tongue.

The horizontal slash was met by the sword in Sidoor's right hand. The flames licked at Sidoor, but they didn't burn him; in fact, he didn't seem to feel the heat at all.

"You've got a lot of nerve for a piece of meat," Sidoor said. "That's enough."

With a flick of his sword, he parried the tongue.

The single swing had enough force to whip the Salamander's head to the side. Undeterred, the Salamander cloaked its entire body in flames and charged.

Sidoor held his magic-infused sword in both hands, raising it high above his head... and brought it down in a single, swift motion.

Before it could even reach him, the Salamander was sliced in two, as if by an invisible blade in a single, decisive blow. Its eyes rolled back, and it stopped moving.

"To think it would charge at me," Sidoor mused. "It must have been under some powerful brainwashing. Now then..."

He turned to face the other monsters.

Paralyzed, the monsters could only shrink back at the sight of him, their will to fight completely gone. Believing his work was done, Sidoor glanced toward the capital.

Before the gate...

A purple smoke had spread through the area where dozens of monsters were gathered. A soldier cautiously approached to investigate and immediately collapsed.

"C-Can't move," he muttered.

Nearby soldiers, careful not to inhale, retrieved their fallen comrade. He recovered after a short while. According to him, a single breath of the smoke had been enough to numb his limbs.

A captain of the guard looked toward the mist. "Is this poison? If so, then those on the front lines..."

The captain and A-rank adventurers were still out there.

Just as he was about to order a rescue, a knight stopped him. "No! We don't know what other effects this mist might have. Rushing in blindly would be suicide."

The flustered captain argued, "But that's all the more reason! Captain Glad and the others are in there!"

At that moment, Queen Olivia emerged from the guardhouse. "I will not permit a rescue," she commanded, her face expressionless. "As this man says, the mist is dangerous. We cannot afford any more casualties."

The captain fell silent and bowed his head. The knight, relieved, did the same. Normally, the knight would have lorded this victory over the captain, but he said nothing. He, too, wanted to go to their aid, but was cursing his own powerlessness.

Inside the mist...

Monsters who inhaled the smoke were paralyzed, unable to move. But they didn't collapse; they stood frozen like dolls. The only ones who saw this were the Skeletons. Lacking respiratory systems, the poison mist had no effect on them.

Just then, a figure emerged from the mist. It was an insect-faced monster: Lates the Thousand Poisons.

"I've already researched you," Lates said. "Perish here."

A green mist erupted from his body.

As soon as the mist touched them, the Skeletons began to melt.

"This mist contains a toxic substance that dissolves anything it touches," Lates explained with a laugh. "It requires a delicate touch to handle, but since it's just you lot here, I can really let loose."

The Skeletons tried to move, but their legs dissolved from under them, and they collapsed. In less than a minute, they had vanished without a trace.

Lates turned to the paralyzed monsters. "You. Once the paralysis wears off, hurry back to your nests. If you try anything... you know what will happen, don't you?"

He unleashed a wave of killing intent.

The monsters broke out in a cold sweat. Lates then released a yellow mist, neutralizing the poison. As soon as they could move, the monsters scattered and fled.

"Alright, time to clear the mist in front of the gate and disappear," Lates said to himself.

The mist vanished completely, and so did he.

The fog that had shrouded the area lifted.

A soldier cautiously surveyed the surroundings. The mist was gone, and there was no sign of the monsters. Upon hearing this report, Olivia immediately dispatched a rescue team. Time was of the essence. Knights and soldiers on horseback galloped toward the battlefield where the Salamander had been.

When they arrived, the first thing they saw was the corpse of the Salamander, sliced clean in two. They cautiously approached and confirmed that it was completely dead.

"This is no human's work," a soldier muttered. "Who could have done this?"

Questions and unease swirled in the air.

If the one responsible for this was an enemy, there was nothing but despair in their future.

"Let's worry about that later," a knight said, shaking off the thought. "Right now, our priority is rescuing the captain and the others."

They recovered the fallen captain and his men from the battlefield and headed back to the capital.

Far from the capital, Sidoor and Lates rendezvoused.

"Are you sure about this?" Lates asked. "Leaving the Salamander's corpse behind?"

"If there's no body, they can't be sure," Sidoor replied. "Humans are cowards, after all."

It was the answer of a seasoned veteran who had completed his mission.

Lates seemed to understand. He nodded in agreement—though it was impossible to tell from his insectoid face.

At the Empire's border...

Amon reacted to the dragon's words. "G-Gone too far? Didn't you yourselves try to overthrow my country a year ago?!"

"Overthrow?" the dragon replied. "We only care that the country exists. As long as some human becomes its leader, the nation functions, interacts with other countries, and runs smoothly, we are content. But that woman refused to do so. Therefore, we had her dealt with as a monster and arranged for the other woman to take her place. What you are trying to do is the same: to rule over everything. And not as a human, but as a monster. That alone is absolutely unforgivable. Monsters and humans must each fulfill their respective roles."

Upon hearing this, Amon retorted, "W-What is this? You may be a Mediator, but you speak as if you rule the world. Aren't you the one who is truly in control?!"

He argued back, despite his fear.

The dragon laughed. "Hahahaha! Me, in control? When? What have I controlled? Have I ever commanded humans? Have I ever worked them like slaves? I have done nothing. I may use humans to kill time, but only when they have their own ambitions and seem interesting. Like your daughter. She was quite amusing."

It laughed mockingly.

"A-Amusing?" Amon seethed. "So you feel nothing at all! You have no heart!"

Anger, powerful enough to overcome his fear, now consumed him.

"How dull," the dragon said. "We only grant something like a heart to those we deem worthy. And no matter what you say, what I am about to do will not change."

An overwhelming killing intent washed over Amon.

It was an aura so potent that even a high-level being would lose consciousness upon contact and not wake for a long time. Amon withstood it, gathering flames in his mouth.

"Die! Extreme Heat Wave (Spicule)!"

He unleashed a sun.

His target was the dragon in the sky. The distance was considerable, and even a direct hit would do next to no damage. But for Amon, not acting was not an option.

Unfazed by Amon's attack, the dragon also opened its mouth wide. From within, a blue flame shone like a sun.

Its brilliance made Amon's sun look like a mere lightbulb.

"Vanish," the dragon commanded. "Dragon Breath."

It fired the colossal blue sun.

Amon's sun collided with it, but the difference in size was so immense that it was pushed back without any struggle. Unaware that he was losing, Amon continued to fire his sun.

And then, the blue sun struck the spot where Amon had been.

There was no explosion. Instead, a pillar of blue light erupted, swallowing Amon whole.

When the blue pillar vanished, there was nothing left. Not just Amon, but the very ground he stood on was gone, leaving only a massive black abyss so deep its bottom couldn't be seen. It was overwhelming power. Power that no one could defy.

I unconsciously looked up at the sky. For a fleeting moment, I felt as if the dragon had looked at me.

But it quickly averted its gaze and let out a roar. The atmosphere vibrated, and an earthquake shook the land. The humans couldn't even stand, forced to crouch on the ground. The monsters fled from the spot as if terrified.

Back in the Empire's capital...

There was no fighting there. The captains and their men could do nothing but glare helplessly at the monsters.

Just then, a violent earthquake struck, and a gale strong enough to shake the very air swept through.

The Skeletons standing behind the monsters were blown to bits by the wind alone. Then, a voice that only the monsters could hear commanded, 'Return to your nests.' Terrified, the monsters fled all at once. The captains could only stare in a daze at the empty battlefield, unsure of what had just happened.

When the dragon's roar subsided, it looked at me again.

There was no hostility in its eyes. It felt more like I was watching a spectacle.

The dragon shifted its gaze upward and disappeared into the clouds.

And so, the incidents that had plagued each nation came to a close.

No one but the dragon had been a direct witness to the resolution. And by order of the General and the Emperor, the dragon's existence was to be kept a closely guarded secret.