Chapter 130

Hatshena Tal! Im Faraum!

Back in Courandhel, Akira was standing in front of a dummy.

Ever since the strain between his and Prince Mikael’s friendship, Akira decided to focus on his swordsmanship. Every night he trained until his hands were sore.

Clad in nothing but his trousers, Akira held an iron sword firmly in his hands, Grunford laid silently on a nearby wall. His body was covered in sweat that had started to evaporate. Watching from the side was Klein, who himself was out of his uniform. Usually, he would be resting in his room by now, but the Hero had been asking for his guidance as of late.

“Haa!!”

One swing, without Skill. But it was different. The dummy split cleanly and the feeling on his sword was strangely fulfilling.

“Well done, Akira,” Klein clapped his hand. “That was an exceptional cut. Even I could not do better.”

“Ah, so…this is…the feeling,” Akira inspected the dummy with his fingers. “Understanding the sword…It’s not just how you swing the sword, but also knowing the opponent,” he sighed tiredly. “Cornelia is correct. Mindlessly training is inefficient. Just swinging swords repeatedly without purpose means nothing.”

“If you can do with a regular sword, then you can do better with Grunford.”

“You think I should?” Akira asked him back with an expectant face.

“It’s up to you,” Klein shrugged.

Akira made up his mind and took Grunford by the hilt. Its bluish edge was mesmerizing under the moonlight.

Suddenly, one of the wyvern's eyes carved into the sword shone bright blue, enveloping him.

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Akira found himself standing on top of a small patch of land surrounded by pristine water. As he bent down to touch the water, he marveled at how clear the water was. That was until he noticed something odd. He looked up and saw an ominous red sky.

Blue and red. The two colors of that mysterious realm met on the horizon, yet they never mixed.

“Well met, Sakagami Akira.”

Akira turned to see the source of the voice. He flinched when he saw the figure of a dragon as large as a house.

The blue dragon with webbed claws was lounging with its powerful arms folded before its scaly chest. The great size and the heaviness of each syllable coming out of its huge mouth caused him to quiver.

Sensing the hesitance of the man before him, it glanced at the sky and said, “The sky? You get used to it.”

“W-who are you? Are you the spirit of Grunford?”

“I am Cavenjaal. Guardian Dragon of Calendia, sealed within Grunford by a contract with the First King.”

“Behold, Sakagami Akira. You will be faced with three trials yada yada yada, then you will obtain my power.”

“…” Akira’s mouth opened, but there was no voice coming out.

“What, you don’t want to obtain my power?”

“N-no, I’m just surprised by how callous the dragon residing in this sword is.”

“To be honest, I’ve already prepared a grand gesture for the next wielder of Grunford. But the visitor before you had taken away my spirit for such formalities.”

“You mean…Cornelia.”

“Yes. Fortunately for you, the girl showed no interest in wielding Grunford. Thus, you became the next candidate. However, Grunford has not accepted you yet. That is why you still cannot use its full power. I have witnessed how hard you are working. That is why you can enter this domain you are standing in right now.”

“That means, I have a chance to catch up to her?!”

“That girl? You might as well give up. You see the sky up above? That is the effect of her presence here. Even after she had left, the bloody sky stayed on. And this is after I used my power to take back the ground. Her will and mental fortitude is something rare, even comparing to the Heroes of ages past.”

“I will surpass her.”

The dragon lowered his head until he was at the level of Akira’s. “Did you not see the move she used to decapitate the Treant-Golem? That single move far outstrips the capability of a Swordsman. Even that of the First King. If you wish to gain the full respect of Grunford, then you must surpass that move. It is nigh impossible as you are now.”

“Even so. I will surpass her. I must! For I have people who rely on me to protect them.”

Hearing this, the dragon laughed hard. His voice shook the realm, causing Akira to almost fall on his bum.

“Haha! This is why I love humans! No matter how high the sky is, they always desire to reach it.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Forget the trial then! What trial is more fitting for a Hero than trying to overcome someone who could make even dragons tremble?!” he roared towards the red sky and proclaimed. “I, Cavenjaal the Water Dragon. Oathbound to the First King. Guardian Dragon of Calendia!! Hereby acknowledge Sakagami Akira as my Contractor!!”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He then pierced Akira’s chest with his webbed claw, creating a scar that became the mark of their contract.

“Now, return outside this realm, Akira,” Cavenjaal narrowed its reptilian eyes. “I feel something evil in the castle.”

Akira suddenly woke up from his trance and found himself lying on the ground with Klein sitting beside him.

“Akira, are you okay? Your body began glowing blue along with Grunford. I don’t dare to do anything.”

The young man returned his worried gaze with a reassuring smile. “Yes. I’m fine. I just met with the dragon sealed inside Grunford.”

BOOM!

A sudden explosion caused the castle to shake. The two men turned their attention towards the source of the explosion and saw a plume of smoke rising into the night sky.

“What was that?!”

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Half an hour ago…

In the dungeon where Calendia’s greatest secret was kept, the guards and the Mages worked in rotation within their roles. The man guarding the only access to the outside world was now counting his time until the next shift. His eyes were already fighting to stay open, but the stress and longing for the sun had made his eyes droopy.

Clang.

“State your name,” the man said. His arm at ready from the sudden noise.

“It’s me, Ron,” a low, hesitant voice came from behind the door.

“I still need you to tell me your name. It’s protocol.”

“…Horace Newman. I’m replacing Ashley in a few.”

The guard named Ron exhaled and opened the heavy iron door.

“Hey, Ron,” the man in a Mage’s robe walked in, his face looked exhausted and there were bags under his eyes. “Is Lord Blackmore here?”

“No, he’s attending his son’s birthday. Captain Forey is in charge tonight,” Ron said. “You have something to tell him?”

“No, just making sure,” the Mage turned to him and then said with eyes full of regret. “I’m sorry.”

“Huh -?” The guard did not manage to utter another sound as a shadow slipped in behind the man and clasped a hand over his mouth to prevent him from screaming. A knife stabbed him between the clavicle, ending his life. Once he went fully limp, the figure slowly laid him down.

Four figures in dark cloak followed behind the Mage, whose face was now ashen from the realization of what he just did. “Keep your promise, let my family go,” he said painfully.

It has been done. The sole female in the group of Assassins wrote.

The relieved expression on his face suddenly turned into surprise as a knife went through his back.

Heskar! Why did you kill him? Arryn gestured angrily at her fellow Assassin.

We cannot afford for him to jeopardize our plan. His family is safe. But ours aren’t.

At that, Arryn held her silence. She knew that he was right, despite her unwillingness.

Leyn raised a hand and gestured forward. They stopped as they were about to reach the end of the tunnel.

Three men at the top. Five at the bottom. There are three Mages on each side of the seal. Take care of them first. He gestured furiously. Take out the smoke bombs. Throw them at the count of zero.

The four Assassins behind him all took out a pair of fist-sized balls from within their cloaks.

Leyn showed three fingers which he closed one by one. The moment he lowered the last one, eight smoke bombs rolled inside the Dungeon. Smoke diffused quickly from the bombs, catching the men guarding the seal off-guard.

“What the -!” the guard at the top shouted in alarm. But a poisoned dart had hit him in the neck, causing him to choke on his own swollen tongue.

“Enemies! Kill them!” Captain Forey, a middle-aged man with a stern face, ordered as he unsheathed his sword. His keen senses had saved him from a sneak attack from the right and even counterattacked. He could feel his sword drawing blood and was immediately emboldened.

“Show yourselves, Assassins!”

The captain was an experienced man who had fought in the frontline. Even at such a disadvantage and with the screams of his men all around him, he managed to keep calm. He managed to fend off another attack on his vitals. He stepped forward and thrust his sword into the body of the attacker.

“Got you!” He shouted angrily. But then as he was about to pull his sword off of the Assassin's body, he saw that the black-clad man had gripped hard onto his sword, preventing him from pulling out. At that moment of weakness, another assassin came up from behind and slit his throat.

“Y-you..ghh..ghoward…!”

When the smoke settled, the men guarding the seal had been taken care of.

It is done. But we lost Orell. The tallest Assassin made a solemn gesture with two fingers across his heart.

Another one of our kin is lost. One of the other Assassins cursed. When will our suffering end?

It was a question that had no answer. Thus, they did not dwell on it. They then looked up at the grotesque demon that was the whole purpose of their presence there.

Their arrival did not evoke any joy from the demon. In fact, while all this was happening, the demon named Bet-Huda was spectating the scene from inside his seal. A smile of amusement and ridicule upon his deformed face.

The Assassins excepting the one named Arryn quickly moved to remove the power sources of the seal that held Bet-Huda.

“Ah, the lowly Tongue-Cuts. The Tarnished. Bet-Zebek’s little experiments,” Bet-Huda said with his gravelly voice. “I’d have never thought the likes of him would care about me.”

“And you are right in your assumption. I care little of you, O Beleaguer of Souls.”

“Bet-Zebek,” the Ur-Nagud groaned.

The answer came from a mirror that Arryn was holding up. Decorated with the blasphemous letters in Demon Tongue, the mirror showed the half-rotten face of what looked to be a humanoid creature with teeth where eyes were supposed to be. He was wearing a faded luxurious robe of a kingdom long gone. The voice that came from the horrible creature evoked a feeling of the damp coldness of a cemetery.

“If you are not here to save me. Then why have they come here?”

“To take away your Essence Crystal.”

“You dare!!” Bet-Huda growled in anger.

“The humans have disgraced you until you are nothing more than a shell of your former self. Such a pitiful fate.”

“Did you risk having your men discovered just to spite on me, Bone Eater?”

“That thought does come to my mind in the dark of night. But no, Maluk Sedi Ged-Abidanab has ordered me to save you if it was at all possible. In case that it isn’t possible, however…” the demon paused. A definite glee was apparent on his face. “He told me to take away your Essence Crystal.”

“Grrr…” Bet-Huda growled. His deep growl caused the Assassins to tremble.

“Rather than having the further indignity of your Essence Crystal being turned into a weapon, should you not offer it to Our King? At the very least, your death will serve a purpose,” Bet-Zebek said.

“…” Bet-Huda fell into silence.

Suddenly, one of the Assassins combusted. A muffled scream echoed in that underground dungeon.

“Take them out!” Blackmore appeared along with the old Advisor, whose cane was still bursting with Mana from the magic fire he conjured.

Instantly, the Assassins were surrounded by more than thirty men.

“Give it up, Assassins,” Alrond said. “You might have sneaked through the Barrier that I had installed to this dungeon. But do you really think I did not prepare a contingency plan?”

The Assassins' expressions were grim. But Bet-Zebek, safe from the dire situation behind the mirror, merely scoffed.

“What is your decision, Bet-Huda?” he asked again. “Will you stay here and become their plaything once more…or will you offer your life to Our King?”

“I did not fear sacrifice. Only that I regret having disappointed Our King.”

“…Close your eyes, Tongue-Cuts,” Bet-Huda growled when he saw another one of the Assassins lost his life to the humans. “Im Faraum! I offer my life to you!! May you bring eternal damnation to the Races! Hatshena Tal!! Hatshena Tal!!”

Hundreds of eyes appeared from within Bet-Huda’s body. From inside his mouth and from the open wounds that spewed out pus and rotten flesh. All of them moved independently of each other.

And then, with the final drop of strength that he had, he unleashed a devastating Skill that he had never used before. His Unique Skill.

“Madness Scourge!”