Chapter 70

Chapter 24. Twisting Two Fates (2)

How in the world am I supposed to stab?

With the frantic flying, it was already a struggle just to hold onto the scales. Every time Murakan and Quikantel's massive bodies collided, Jin felt as if every bone in his body was shaking.

'They’re treating each other like mortal enemies.'

Quikantel was truly out to kill Murakan. Her breath attacks were filled with murderous intent, and when she bit, she aimed for vital spots without hesitation.

Sssss!

Quikantel's breath narrowly grazed Murakan's back. Jin, who saw the path of the breath, felt cold sweat trickle down his back.

Although Murakan was gradually being pushed back, he had no intention of just taking it.

"Calm down, Quikantel! Let's talk this out!"

Whoosh! Suddenly, dark clouds formed in the sky.

The dark clouds were the massive spirit energy that Murakan had materialized. As Murakan flew vertically and hid his body within the spirit energy, Quikantel roared in anger.

To Jin, it was a deafening sound. The noise that entered his ears made his brain feel like it was vibrating.

Just as there are standards for measuring strength from 1-star to Creation in humans,

dragons also have their own hierarchy. Quikantel was currently the most powerful among the active dragons.

If Jin had not been trained, he would have lost consciousness from the roar alone.

In the midst of the darkness, Jin took a deep breath.

'I need to clear my head. It’s a good thing I followed. If you die here to this silver dragon, I wouldn’t even know.'

"I won’t die. No matter how strong Quikantel is, she can’t get in here. Let’s take a moment to think about how to persuade her."

However, that was Murakan's mistake.

"Do you think I can’t follow you in there?"

Quikantel's wings produced a sharp whistling sound. Soon, her massive body dove through the spirit energy and entered the interior.

"Quikantel, how did you—?"

"You still don’t understand how weak you’ve become. Is this what you call spirit energy liberation? Murakan, I’m disappointed."

"Well, Quikantel. How about we end this for old times' sake? I just came to ask a few questions."

"For old times' sake, I should tear you into a thousand pieces."

"Sure, whatever. If you can, go ahead. You’ve always been like this. We just broke up, didn’t we?"

Crack!

Quikantel bit into Murakan’s wing. A sinister sound of something breaking and crushing echoed, and Jin instinctively drew Bradamante.

Murakan also bit into Quikantel’s wing. Despite the flapping stopping, the two dragons didn’t fall because they were wrapped in the spirit energy.

They attacked the same spot, but the damage was greater on Murakan’s side. Blood clots continuously fell from Murakan’s wing, while Quikantel’s wing only showed cracks like a cracked glass.

Jin had to swing his sword before the two dragons moved again. The cloud-like spirit energy that Murakan had gathered was quickly dissipating from the moment he bit.

'Murakan’s teeth can’t even pierce this tough skin. It means that my current strike can’t even scratch it.'

Therefore, the point Jin chose to attack was the already cracked part of Quikantel’s wing. It was disappointing that it wasn’t a vital spot, but it was better than missing the only chance.

Whirr! Aura was infused into Bradamante. The aura shone brightly in the darkness of the spirit energy, standing out.

"What!?"

And surprisingly,

Quikantel had not even noticed that a human was riding on Murakan’s back. She just realized Jin’s presence.

Like an arrow, Jin leaped and fell onto Quikantel’s wing, holding his sword in reverse.

It was a full-power strike. Fortunately, the sword penetrated through the cracks, and Jin had no intention of stopping there.

'Sword Unseal.'

The technique that Murakan had advised to seal until he reached 5-star spirit energy liberation. But now was not the time to hold back.

If this attack didn’t deal a fatal blow, there would be only one option left: breaking the Orgeal pendant and summoning Luna.

Jin had no desire to do that, so he planned to use all the cards he had.

Most importantly, he had more than enough spirit energy to fully activate the sword unseal. Jin instinctively absorbed the spirit energy liberation that Murakan had deployed.

"Good job, kid. Cut off my sister’s wing to snap her back to her senses!"

Jin didn’t hear Murakan’s voice.

As the sword unseal began, time seemed to stop, just like when he killed the White Wolf Clan.

The scattered spirit energy around him was being sucked into Bradamante in a whirlwind. Each time the spirit energy penetrated, Quikantel’s wing joints opened.

Despite her painful screams, it was too late to avoid the already unsealed Bradamante.

In a way, she had let her guard down. Blinded by anger, she hadn’t even noticed the human on Murakan’s back and had ignored all attempts at conversation.

The sharp spirit energy that had risen along the sword had completely pierced through Quikantel’s left wing.

Jin twisted his body and applied force to the hilt. Kreeeeak! A strange friction sound echoed, and Quikantel’s wing was torn.

The deeper the sword penetrated, the more the spirit energy dissipated. Exerting dozens of times the power Jin usually could, the spirit energy was being consumed inefficiently.

Quikantel’s wing was so tough that even a 7-star knight’s full power couldn’t cut it, which was to be expected.

Swoosh!

The sword blade fell through the wing and dropped, and Murakan lifted his tail to catch the falling Jin.

Cold sweat poured down his body from the sudden exertion of immense power. But seeing the heavy wing fall into the sea, he realized the magnitude of what he had done.

A moment later, Quikantel also began to fall. Her remaining wing flapped helplessly.

'Did I just become a dragon slayer?'

The sea swallowed Quikantel, and a grand splash symbolizing the death of a dragon rose.

"Huff, huff!"

Jin also had to deal with the aftermath. Handling power beyond his capabilities always came with a price.

'Fortunately, it’s not as excruciating as when I killed the White Wolf Clan. I must have advanced in my realm since then.'

Still, his limbs trembled and intermittent pain surged. Just as he wanted to collapse on Murakan’s back,

"Now, the only thing left for us to do is pray that Quikantel regains her sanity."

"What do you mean? It’s not over?"

"Dragons that can manipulate time don’t die easily. Just like this."

Looking down, Jin gasped.

There was a large, dark afterimage on the surface of the sea. In the next moment, Jin witnessed the unique power of a being that could manipulate time.

Reversal.

The severed wing and body that had fallen into the sea were slowly rising back into the sky. Quikantel’s time was being reversed.

Moreover, she wasn’t even defenseless. The space around Quikantel was strangely distorted, and swinging the sword through it felt like cutting through an illusion, with no sensation.

Jin’s entire body was covered in goosebumps.

"This is why powers and magic are distinguished. But don’t worry too much. It’s a power that consumes energy terribly, so it’s not sustainable. And you should act like you’re still fine."

After a while, Quikantel had completely returned to her original position, with her severed wing fully reattached.

As the distorted space returned to its original form, Quikantel began to move again.

As Murakan had said, she looked quite exhausted. Her breathing was very labored, and her flapping was noticeably slower.

She didn’t seem capable of attacking immediately.

"Seeing that you’re not attacking, it seems you’re finally willing to talk."

"…What’s going on, Murakan? Could the human on your back be the contractor of Solaret?"

"Yeah. Are you done venting? I didn’t know you held such a grudge after we broke up. We ended things amicably, didn’t we?"

"Amicably? You unilaterally dumped me. And at that time, you, like me now, didn’t even give me a chance to talk."

"Is that the same as this? And every time I mentioned breaking up, you’d go ballistic. How could I give you a chance? Honestly, I didn’t even cheat. What could I do about our incompatible personalities?"

Is this really the conversation of dragons that have existed for thousands of years?

Jin could only swallow a sigh.

'Dragons don’t necessarily have to be noble and majestic, but… they’re too human. No, did you just attack me like that because you were upset about a breakup?'

The argument between the two dragons continued for a while. They repeated the same words, and the conversation didn’t really progress.

"Anyway, let’s end this, Quikantel. I didn’t come here to fight you. I came to ask a question. It’s a matter of life and death for a fellow dragon."

"Ha! The arrogant Murakan worrying about a fellow dragon. How many of your own kind have you killed? What a despicable thing to say."

At the mention of "your own kind," Murakan hesitated. It was a very sensitive topic, and Quikantel, realizing her mistake, seemed to avoid Murakan’s gaze.

"…Among the dragons I killed, there was your brother’s enemy. I killed that guy, who had nothing to do with me, just because you hated him. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Murakan sighed and continued.

"Alright, it was my mistake to ask you. I’ll ask another dragon."

"Just tell me. Damn it, every time I see you, I get emotional. I apologize for my outburst."

"Why did you leave out the part where you attacked me like you wanted to kill me?"

"That was for a good reason."

"Sure, sure. Anyway… one of Az Mil’s guardian dragons has gone missing recently. Do you know anything about it? The contractor of Az Mil is desperately looking for it."

"Missing? Could you be talking about 'Latry'?"

"Yeah, that’s right. Latry. I’ve never even heard of that young dragon."

At this, Quikantel blinked her eyes slowly.

"That’s a strange story. That child was taken by the Wind Dragon Viretta recently."

The Wind Dragon Viretta.

The dragon associated with Andrei Zif. As soon as the name was mentioned, Jin and Murakan were filled with a bad premonition.

"Why did Viretta take her?"

"Since there are no other active guardian dragons in Az Mil recently, I heard she was going to teach her dragon speech magic."

The moment the culprit who had kidnapped Uria’s guardian dragon was revealed.