Chapter 180
As YuSung and HimChan began walking in the 14:00 direction, the lava-covered ground eventually became a mineral-filled cave.
Tap.
Before entering the cave, HimChan crouched and placed his hands on the floor.
"Wait."
Within the open space of the cave, it would be easy to notice even the smallest movements. Not only that, but if a dragon were inside, it would probably have its mana spread to detect intruders.
"Hmm. I can't feel any movement. Judging by the fact that theres a dungeon, though, Im sure it was summoned.
Not only were they not able to detect any traces of a dragon, but it was also surprisingly silent.
'There isn't any movement?'
YuSung found that weird, so he also put his hands on the floor. He used his Super Sense to check the area, but he couldn't sense any life inside.
"On top of that, YuSung, doesn't it look a bit like a maze?"
HimChan spoke as he looked at the beautiful crystals.
"I once went to an amusement park that had a maze like this inside, but it was full of mirrors instead of crystals."
YuSung gave him a curious look, and HimChan said, Ah! with a laugh and then began to kindly explain.
"It was a place full of mirrors that you had to find your way through. Although it might sound easy, the reflections make it difficult to find your way.
HimChan smiled and began walking again. The farther they walked through the cave, the narrower it became. The crystals were scattered around in pillar-like shapes.
Slide.
There was a chilly energy coming out of the crystal mine, and two doors opened as if theyd been waiting for YuSung and HimChan.
"This... is a zone."
YuSung reacted first. He'd experienced Lorelei's zone, so he was able to recognize what was in front of him. Although the quality of mana was different, it was clearly constructed as a type of zone.
"A dragon's zone... I'm not that great with opponents like this."
To HimChan, facing a dragon that rushed forward with its mouth open was more comfortable than facing a dragons zone.
Since a dragon's zone was higher-dimensional magic, it was something not even YuSung could destroy with Mana Resonance, and the only way to catch the Incarnation was to go into the zone.
"Still, the opponent is one of Sardonyx's Incarnations. I was ready for this much. Student YuSung, will you enter the dragons zone?" HimChan shouted.
Shin YuSung nodded.
'There's no other choice.'
As they walked toward the passageway, blue light began pouring toward YuSung, creating a dream-like atmosphere. The crystals either reflected YuSungs image or rainbow-like colors.
- To think that dealing with an Incarnation would be so hard. We should continue forward as we talk to ensure we're aware of the dangers.
HimChan's voice echoed through the cave. Since they'd entered the opponent's zone, their location was already known to the opponent. Therefore, keeping tabs on each others locations was a good idea.
"Okay." YuSung replied shortly.
HimChan began thinking about what they should talk about.
- Student YuSung, do you know why Sardonyx was divided into Incarnations?
Why had Sardonyx, the strongest red dragon, been divided into Incarnations? What HimChan or the other hunters knew was superficial. After all, most of their knowledge was based on the information in the Tower Records.
Although they couldn't see each other, YuSung nodded.
"I heard Sardonyx was looking for fun."
Compared to humans, dragons lived eternally, so they often couldn't handle the boredom and traveled around the human world.
- Right. In the Tower Records, it says that Sardonyx divided herself so that she could enjoy the human world.
Did she enjoy spending time with humans? The final part of the Tower Records wasn't very detailed. For some reason, Sardonyx had lost her mind.
Feeling responsible, a few red dragons tried to stop her. but it was useless. The damage caused was nearly unimaginable.
- I was curious What caused a dragon who broke her soul into pieces just to meet humans to lose her mind and start attacking people?
[Sardonyx invaded the human world. She ended up being sealed by the hero and the red dragons.]
That was all that was written in the Records. No matter how much they wondered about it, with the information they had, all they could do was guess.
- Haha! Of course, being curious about the boss we have to subjugate is dumb.
It seemed like HimChan's story had touched a nerve.
"You're wrong..." A girls voice countered him. They could feel sadness in the girls tone.
Crack!
Cracks began appearing in the crystals surrounding YuSung, and a huge magic circle appeared on the ground.
Swoosh!
They'd come prepared, but as expected from a dragon, the zone surrounded the entire cave. It was bigger than they'd thought.
Paf!
Light covered his eyes, and YuSung was teleported somewhere else.
'A teleport...?'
If hunters used Traits, dragons used magic. Of course, even among magic, large-scale teleportation was very difficult.
YuSung looked around nervously and saw that the ground was made of a transparent crystal, and he was surrounded by blue light and fog. There was only pitch-black darkness ahead.
"That story is wrong..."
Tap, tap.
Someone walked out of the darknessa girl with mysterious-looking hair that resembled the night sea with stars reflecting off of it.
"That's not why Sardonyx created us..."
* * *
* * *
The girl didn't seem to be intending to attack YuSung. Instead, it seemed like the girl was trying to convince him of something.
"You're Crupeos...?"
The girl nodded at YuSung's question.
"Yes. I'm Sardonyx's second Incarnation. I'm the second piece of her soul, and I contain her gentleness... That's how I know what I do."
It was something that hunters didn't know, but Crupeos was a fragment Sardonyx had created with her gentle personality.
The only information written in the Tower Records was that Crupeos was the second strongest of Sardonyx's Incarnations.
Crupeoss personality was shown in how she didnt immediately attack YuSung.
"Do you want to know Sardonyxs reason for creating us?"
Crupeos rested her hand on the floor.
Plaf.
As if it were a drop of rain rippling over a lake, the surface began playing images of a dark place as if it were a movie screen.
"It's because of a promise she made."
Swoosh.
The dark place brightened, and a green forest was shown with birds chirping in the trees.
The footage that Crupeos created with magic was perfect, even with regard to sound.
All they could see in the beautiful forest was a boy with brown hair.
"Hey, Taru!" A girl with red hair called out to the brown-haired boy.
"Wake up! Ms. Heinda says to come to eat! The soup has a lot of meat, so you should hurry."
"Okay, Lepina..."
The girl called Lepina seemed to care about the boy called Taru.
Tap.
The video suddenly paused, and Crupeos looked at the girl called Lepina with a sad expression.
"At first, it was out of caprice. Sardonyx was bored with the eternal life that dragons had... She felt envious of humans."
YuSung was sure that the girl with red hair and eyes was, in reality, Sardonyx.
Crupeos read YuSung's thoughts.
"You have good eyes. That's right, she's Sardonyx. She felt so envious of humans that she chose to live a normal life, just like them..."
Swoosh.
Another video appeared.
A few years passed, and Taru seemed to be about 14 years old. His pretty childhood face had become eye-catching.
"Lepina..."
Taru was chosen as a young soldier.
Outlined by an evening glow, Lepina answered with a bitter expression. "Yes?"
"I'll be back."
Taru was about to leave when Lepina grabbed his hands and said, "You made a promise, so you have to come back, okay?
The promise between the two looked like a typical one between a young soldier and a country girl, but it wasn't a normal promise. The girl was the leader of the red dragon clan, Sardonyx.
"Yes, Lepina, I swear."
The moment Taru answered, the world around them began shining.
Sardonyx had made a promise through Soul Language. A dragon's Soul Language was strong enough to change the results of a battlefield, but on top of that, it was Sardonyx who made the promise, so protecting Taru's life wasn't hard.
Pat.
Then the screen turned off.
Crupeos looked at YuSung.
"But there was a variable. To a dragon who'd lived a boring life... Her first love was too intense."
Crupeos was starting to convince YuSung, little by little. She was trying to explain why something like that had happened.
Swoosh.
The screen turned on again. Taru returned from the battlefield at 17 years of age, and the town welcomed the return of a war hero.
"Taru came back!"
"Welcome back! Why do you have so much baggage?"
"He's a noble now! Everyone, treat him with respect!"
"From what I heard, even the Lord shows interest in him. It seems like there was a huge uproar."
"His achievements are impressive, but did you hear what his enemies said?"
"They said theres a polymorphed dragon among Rendell's generals."
"Haha! With Taru's beauty, of course they'd think that!"
Taru passed through them and walked toward someone in particular before he slowly removed his helmet.
"Lepina"
Three years had passed.
Although so much time had passed, Taru smiled like a young boy as he looked at Lepina.
"I'm back."
17-year-old Taru, a man whod made a dragon fall in love with him, looked a lot like Shin YuSung.
His beauty was so intense that it was easy to understand why Sardonyx had fallen in love with him.
Crupeos's hair blew in the wind.
"Humans live short but intense lives. The time she spent with Taru... Maybe it was too intense for her."
The light scattered from Crupeos's hands, creating a night sky full of stars.
"Taru..."
"Lepina... thanks for staying by my side for such a long time."
For a human, 70 years was their entire life, but for a dragon, it was the blink of an eye. Although Taru aged with the years, Lepina still looked the same. That was proof enough that she was a dragon.
"No... should I call you Sardonyx? Once Im gone... you're probably going to leave... Thank you, Lepina."
Taru expressed his thanks to Lepina, who'd stayed next to him until the end, and he also prayed for her life after he was gone, but Sardonyx wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.
Maybe 70 years was a lot for a human, but it was too short for a dragon. She wasn't ready to send him off yet.
"No... I'm not going to leave. I'll... find you."
While crying, she said in a firm voice, "I swear it... People from Rendell are reborn, right?"
She grabbed Taru's hands and felt the life flowing out of him.
Before he could pass away, she quickly opened her mouth. "No matter how many years pass... No matter how you look, Taru... I'll find you."
At that moment, the world blurred and shone as Sardonyx used Soul Language to make a promise to Taru.
"No matter how many years pass, I'll..."
Just like Taru had made a promise to her, she smiled and made a promise to him.
"Ill find you."
Taru's fire went out.
The flames faded to ashes and scattered into the night sky to witness their promise.
The strength of Soul Language was absolute, so the light would probably become a new flame and burn again, but not all stories can have a happy ending.
Sardonyx tried to find him hundreds, thousands of times; she even tore parts of her soul apart to find Taru's reincarnation.
Still, she was never able to find him or fulfill her promise.
Crupeos smiled bitterly at YuSung.
"The stronger the dragon is, the more absolute a promise made with Soul Language becomes... Even more so since it was Sardonyx, who created me."
Even if Crupeos didn't say anything, YuSung understood why Sardonyx had created Incarnations and ended up losing control.
"Regardless of the place, as long as theyre summoned, the Incarnations will follow her wish and continue to look for Taru, but..."
Blue mana fluctuated in the area, and Crupeos smiled as she walked toward YuSung and said
"It seems like I've already found him..."
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