Book 2: Chapter 306: Eccentric Power (1)

<Eccentric Power (1)>

The Dragon Lord has a weakness.

Cale was truly shocked to hear that. He did not hide this emotion.

“You know his weakness?”

“Yes.”

Everybody had a weakness.

It was just surprising that Axion knew about that weakness.

"What is his weakness?”

He didn't beat around the bush and Axion also did not beat around the bush as he answered.

‘Hmm?’

Cale could not understand what Axion meant.

“Based on what I know-”

Cale pointed at Axion.

“Aren’t you and the Dragon Lord the same age?”

Axion nodded his head.

He looked away from Cale.

All curtains of this study were closed except for one window.

He looked at the only window letting light in before turning his head again.

The light was shining toward the table he and Cale were seated at.

Cale could see the shadow on Axion's face.

“We are the same age. However, the Dragon Lord walks time differently than I do.”

‘Ah.’

Cale finally understood.

“Time, yes, it is time.”

The Dragon Lord’s attribute was time.

The Dragon Lord had used it quite well until now.

Whether it was the Time Prison…

Or creating a reference point to seal the aura of the world…

Then there was using a power that was similar to Cale’s instant to make everything else move slow as he used his powers.

Cale was sure that the Dragon Lord had other ways to use time as well.

Cale's eyes clouded over.

“Ha.”

Cale let out a short scoff.

He smiled as he answered.

“I guess time was fair to the Dragon Lord in the end.”

Axion picked up his teacup as he answered.

“That’s right. The Dragon Lord can turn what is one minute for us into ten minutes. He can do things we cannot do in that one minute in the time that he has slowed down.”

For example, when the Dragon Lord is facing an enemy…

He could do ten times the amount of attacks that an enemy would be able to do.

“But as you said, time has been fair.”

Despite Axion trying to hide it with the teacup, Cale could see the corners of Axion's lips curl up.

“It may be different if he made ten minutes speed up to feel like one minute, but… He has done the opposite to live ten minutes of time in one minute.”

Unlike Axion’s nonchalant voice, an odd look of excitement was on the solemn knight’s face.

“Even if his mind can handle it… His body has still experienced ten minutes.”

“That is why he has become old and feeble.”

“Yes. His body is not that of a true god yet.”

Click.

Axion put the teacup down and did not hide his smile.

He continued after saying that the Dragon Lord was not a true god.

“Attributes are not omnipotent.”

Cale agreed.

It was because he had seen a lot of things while being with Dragons.

Eruhaben could not turn everything in the world to dust or powder.

Sheritt could not always protect someone regardless of the situation.

Mila could not connect together everything.

Rasheel had his indomitability, but that did not mean that he would never face defeat.

‘A Dragon's attribute is not an omnipotent rule.’

It was not omnipotent.

Yes, it was an ‘attribute,’ a peculiar power that only that Dragon has…

But the level of power and its many uses depended on the Dragon.

Cale’s mouth opened again.

“But based on the information I've gathered, Dragon Lord Neo… His appearance is that of a healthy young Dragon. He looks so young that people wonder if time is flowing backwards for him.”

The people providing Cale information thought that the Dragon Lord was making time flow backward using his attribute.

“…Haaa-”

Axion laughed without being able to hold back.

“He is not a god.”

Axion sat up on the chair and leaned toward Cale.

“He is a Dragon like me. Similar to humans like you, he will eventually die.”

Cale looked into the emotions in Axion's eyes and nonchalantly commented.

“Is that why the Dragon Lord wants to become a god?”

“Who knows?”

Axion shook his head.

His face filled with chaos for the first time.

"Since we were young, Neo thought that Dragons were the greatest. He was proud of the fact that he is a Dragon.”

Neo.

Axion spoke as if he was talking about his friend.

“But then, he learned that Dragons were not the greatest and not the best.”

“He met a wanderer or a god?”

“……!”

Axion flinched at Cale’s comment before becoming calm again.

“Yes. He met a wanderer for the first time. She came to see him one day.”

Wanderers.

The Five Colors Bloods.

This was the first time Cale was hearing something concrete about them.

Cale leaned farther back in the couch as he focused on Axion’s story.

"She was looking for someone to carry on the Purple Bloods.”

“…Someone to carry on the Purple Bloods?”

“Yes. As you know, Dragons have been the patriarch of the Purple Bloods for generations. The wanderers traveled through dimensions to find a Dragon to carry on the next generation of the Purple Bloods.”

The Purple Bloods had not carried on for generations in one specific dimension.

“And Neo agreed to work with them. Wanderers. He traveled with her across dimensions to meet the last generation's patriarch. After that, Neo became the patriarch of the Purple Bloods.”

Axion stopped for a moment before continuing in a peaceful tone.

“I followed him.”

Cale looked into Axion's eyes.

Axion noticed Cale’s gaze as he spoke.

“Because I thought that was the right thing to do.”

Cale asked after hearing that.

“Destroying Aipotu?”

Was that the right answer?

Axion immediately responded.

“No.”

He shook his head. He then smiled again.

He leaned closer to Cale and asked, almost in a whisper.

“Do you look at the side effects first when you do something? Or do you look at your own greed first?

Haha.”

He chuckled.

“If you see a large benefit, if you see something very positive about it, you don't even look at the trivial side effects.”

Cale closed his eyes for a moment.

Trivial side effects.

That was the destruction of a world.

Cale opened his eyes again and asked.

“…What is the thing you were greedy for?”

What was so great that Aipotu was seen as a trivial side effect?

Axion opened his mouth to answer.

"There is a simple reason the rest of the Dragons follow him.”

“The foundation of this world?”

“Haha.”

He laughed again.

“The foundation of this world does make us Dragons stronger, but for Dragons to bow their heads to another Dragon for that… A Dragon’s pride is not that shallow.”

“Then why do they follow him?”

The smile disappeared from Axion's face again.

As Cale thought that the shadow on Axion's face became darker…

Axion gave the answer.

“Eternal life.”

‘What?’

Cale could not fully accept that answer at first.

“Neo has promised eternal life to the Dragons who have sworn to follow the Purple Bloods.”

Cale soon figured out the meaning behind that.

“…Virtual reality.”

Axion nodded his head.

“Yes. You do know about it. They call it a virtual reality game? But we call it something different.”

“You Dragons call it something different?’

“Not us Dragons. It is what the Hunters who know about it call it.”

To them, virtual reality was-

“New World.”

Either that, or…

“New Dimension.”

Crossing worlds to the birth of a new dimension.

Axion looked at the silent Cale and mumbled.

“Nobody wants to die.”

Cale shook his head.

“No. There are many who accept their deaths.”

Cale, even as Kim Rok Soo, had seen many people who had accepted their deaths.

Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo had done so in the past…

And, although he was rejuvenated now, Eruhaben had chosen to accept that he did not have much time left to live at one point.

Furthermore-

‘The majority of Aipotu’s people preparing to fight against the Dragon Lord know that they may die.’

Whether it was Wiesha or Haru Kingdom's King Dennis…

They truly believed that they could die.

Despite that, they pushed forward.

“Yes, I guess there are.”

Axion accepted Cale’s comment.

There are many who accept their deaths.

“They can choose to accept their deaths. But I didn't want to die. Why? Because living is fun.”

More than a Dragon becoming a god, Axion was drawn most to eternal life.

Maybe that was why he wasn’t plotting ways to become a god as Ryan had done.

That was probably why he didn't do something like the Second Saint Dragon, who became a believer of the God of Chaos. He simply lived as the Sword of the Dragon Lord and laid down his roots in this world.

It made Cale curious.

“Then why did you decide to betray him now?”

Axion avoided Cale’s gaze for the first time.

He looked at his dark study, hesitated a while, before finally answering.

“…Life needs to continue.”

Cale asked back.

"Are you talking about your child?”

“Yes. I-”

Axion’s face was full of regret.

He struggled to reveal his deep remorse.

He eventually managed to get it out.

“I-”

“Hold on.”

Cale raised his hand.

“You met your current wife, a human, fell in love with her, and chose to betray the Dragon Lord for the child you two had together. Furthermore, it isn’t just her. Pretending to be friendly to humans ended up with you having affection for your human subordinates and wanting to protect them as part of your ‘people.’ Is that it?”

Cale spoke some of the clichés he had read about in novels.

He thought maybe that was it.

He then saw it.

“…How did you know? Have you taken a look inside my soul?”

Axion's pupils shoot intensely and he was unable to hide his emotions from Cale for the first time.

Cale avoided his gaze as he answered.

“I just… I’ve just seen something similar many times.”

Cale would usually focus on the other party's story, but regardless, Axion was a Dragon who had worked quite hard to destroy this world and had agreed to do things for his own benefit.

Cale needed to clearly keep that fact in his mind.

He then had a question.

“But even if you don't betray him, wouldn’t the Purple Bloods have protected your subordinates? Wouldn’t the best way to protect your child be to serve Neo and go to the virtual reality world with your family?”

Wouldn’t that allow them all to have a happily ever after forever?

“That is impossible. I need Aipotu. To be more specific, I need the foundation of this world.”

Cale looked back at Axion.

“I’ve fed the foundation of this world to my wife.”

Because humans have short lifespan.

Axion did not wish to lose the person he chose as his soulmate.

It was the first time he felt that someone else’s death would impact him more than his own death.

“As a result, my wife is human but also not human.”

Her lifespan increased quite a bit and she became stronger.

But that aura within her made her humanity ambiguous. Of course, there were some side effects as well, but they were not things for him to tell Cale.

“Anyway, that allowed my wife and I to have a child together. Our child is growing inside her right now. That child has received that aura from my wife as well.”

It was such a relief.

Their child would be able to live longer than regular humans as well.

"But-”

The child had some differences to his wife.

“…My child slowly loses the foundation of this world. That child needs to absorb more foundation of this world every so often. It is my fault.”

Cale spoke the thought that came to his mind.

“The Dragon's blood is running wild……?”

“Yes. Unlike my wife, my child has some Dragon blood.”

Axion's Dragon blood was running wild inside the child’s body.

Maybe the child was subconsciously doing it for protection, but the foundation of this world inside the body was being consumed to suppress the raging blood.

Seeing the child’s life being so fierce even before being born, Axion had only one choice.

"But Neo has no thoughts about maintaining Aipotu. His only thought is to destroy it.”

Axion sat up straight.

“I need Aipotu, or more accurately, I need a regular supply of the foundation of this world. That was why I tried to make a deal with you.”

But seeing Cale’s strength made Axion realize that a deal might be difficult.

“I planned on offering the location of the Dragon Lord’s lair and his weakness as my side of the deal. Those were the two biggest cards I had. In return, I was going to ask for a periodic procurement of the foundation of this world. Of course, I do not need too much of it. I just needed enough for the child to survive.”

“Hold on.”

Cale stopped him.

“That portion about the foundation of this world is not for me to decide. It is something you should personally ask the foundation of this world.”

“That’s true. I will ask the foundation as well. However, in order to defeat Neo-”

Axion bowed his head.

“I need your strength.”

Cale observed the bowing Dragon.

“I plan on betting my whole life on you.”

He slowly raised his head as he asked.

“Can you defeat him?

Ah.”

He let out a short gasp.

“No answer is needed.”

Axion got the answer as soon as he looked into Cale's eyes.

That was why he spoke with certainty.

“I'll bet on you.”

Just as the foundation of this world had done…

And the World Tree…

And the lives of this world had done…

I too…

Cale shrugged his shoulders.

“What are you betting on me for? I'm nothing much.”

He waved his hand as if to say it was annoying before continuing to speak.

“You and the foundation of this world discuss that part. Just give me the info.”

He sat up on the couch and leaned toward Axion.

“The place he sent the signal from earlier wasn’t the Dragon Lord's lair?”

Axion smiled after seeing Cale acting completely chill as if nothing was an issue.

In fact, Cale being like this made him more reliable.

He was someone who showed others by his actions.

Axion opened his mouth.

“The place the Dragons have gathered at is not the Dragon Lord's lair. Neo is hiding its location. However, as someone who has known him since he was young, I was able to hypothesize the location of his lair. I was able to find it while he was in a different dimension.”

And…

“I've already said that the Dragon Lord’s weakness is that he is old and feeble.”

“Yeah. You did say that.”

“It won't be visible on the outside. However, the inside is so old and feeble that it is barely maintaining its life.”

“His insides are already at their limits?”

“Yes. And among them-”

Axion’s smile became even bigger.

“The Dragon heart.”

Cale's eyes clouded over.

Axion looked at him and continued to speak.

“I presume his Dragon heart has already reached its limit. No.”

The Dragon heart.

Their heart was where the Dragon’s mana and potentially all of their foundation was gathered.

“It has already gone beyond its limits and is barely able to keep itself from breaking.”

Axion raised his hand.

He then raised one finger.

“One time.”

Just one time.

“If anybody manages to approach the Dragon Lord and send a large shock to his heart…”

Axion was telling Cale how to deal with the Dragon Lord.

“His Dragon heart will break right away.”

And if that happens…’

“That would be the end for Neo.”

—

Translator's Comments

One hit KO? That's it? That sounds easy.

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