The Oldest Dragon
The smoke that filled the alley began to dissipate little by little.
This was because the presence of dragons roaring in the distance was tearing apart the barrier that the Great Mother had created.
"Is it enough now?"
However, under Radu's feet, instead of the white smoke created by the Great Mother, there were now pools of bright red blood.
The blood spilled by the last member of the Dragonslayer Knights was proof that Radu had kept his promise to Vlad and, at the same time, ensured the safety of the Ruga family.
"But this makes me uneasy. I hope it doesn't end up strangling me in the future."
Radu, who was looking at the knight lying on the ground, touched the tattoo on his neck and frowned.
Radu might not have known, but the sinister tattoo, which looked as if it were wrapped in thorns, resembled the vow that bound the oldest dragon.
"Hmm?"
Boom-!
Beyond the now completely destroyed barrier, a roar accompanied by a dazzling light began to emanate.
The world of Mirshea was like a flawless gem.
Radu, who realized where the light was coming from, began to walk through the alley with a bitter expression on his face.
"That guy is talented, unlike me."
Although they were born of the same father, Radu was only half-human, while Mirshea was a perfect dragon.
Radu, who had never been able to face Mirshea's world sincerely, showed a complex and ambiguous expression as he watched the brilliant glow of the gem in the distance.
"…I think I've done enough."
Radu, who thought he had fulfilled his promise to Vlad, turned away from the direction the group was moving and began to move in the opposite direction.
Both the fierce north that awaited him and Vlad, who had bound him with a collar through a mystery, were choices that Radu did not wish to make.
"…!"
However, Radu, walking alone down a dark alley, stopped for a moment.
A chilling sensation at the nape of his neck sent an intense warning.
"What is this?"
Recognizing the source of the warning instinctively, Radu felt the damp air of a dark basement, as if he were back in that place where he had drunk blood.
"Father?"
In the direction Radu anxiously looked lay the only gate of the city of Namarka.
The sight of the banners approaching from beyond the city walls was, for him, a symbol of reverence but also of terror.
***
BOOM! CLANG! BOOM!
"Ugh!"
Each time the two swords clashed, bright red sparks flew in all directions.
With each clash of swords, Mirshea found himself involuntarily groaning in pain.
'…The power of the fragments!'
Even after unleashing his world, which shone like a jewel, Vlad's strength didn't wane.
In fact, as time passed, the edge of Vlad's sword became even fiercer, surrounded by a dragon's energy that was clearly recognizable.
Clang!
With a fierce clash of steel, Mirshea's body staggered violently once more.
Not only because of Vlad's overwhelming strength but also due to the increasing pressure of the fragment he carried.
"…What have you done with the fragment? It shouldn't be this powerful."
"How am I supposed to know?!"
Although Vlad wielded the dragon fragment, he didn't fully understand what was happening.
If Mirshea had recognized the nature of the metal surrounding Vlad's sword, he wouldn't have needed to ask the question.
'As time passes, the situation worsens.'
The noble metal that always guided toward the right and true path.
Mirshea, who wasn't affected by the fragments due to the metal surrounding Vlad's sword, felt a sense of crisis as Vlad's strength grew stronger over time.
"I don't know how you've done it, but you've come well-prepared."
Then, from his closed left eye, Mirshea unleashed his world once more.
It was a world as radiant as a jewel, which now began to push back the golden line that Vlad had drawn.
"It's better to finish this quickly."
When Vlad saw the perfect world of Mirshea, he paused for a moment.
This was because it was a world that he, who had been crawling in the mud all this time, could never possess.
"And who gave you the right to decide that?"
But precisely because of this, he didn't want to lose.
He didn't want to be crushed by Mirshea's world, which looked down on him from above.
Vlad clenched his teeth and began to resist fiercely the repulsive force of Mirshea, who was trying to push him away.
That greedy attitude of never letting go of the momentum he had gained, along with his innate instinct, was also a lesson engraved by Vlad's masters.
"Didn't you say before that you hated dragon blood?"
"Hating it doesn't mean I won't use it; I'd be an idiot if I didn't."
He hated the dragon blood he was born with, but he couldn't help but use it.
Because Vlad had grown up in a place where he couldn't survive without fighting with all his might.
"I don't want to be someone who dies by taking it easy."
Crunch-
Mirshea began to grit his teeth again as he watched the tip of the sword gradually disappear.
This was because he could finally feel Vlad's ruthlessness as he wielded anything he could get his hands on.
"Even if I have to use this damn blood, I'll do it until I'm satisfied!"
Crash-!
Looking into Mirshea's blue eyes that resembled his own, Vlad cursed harshly.
Because he felt he couldn't bear the boiling anger in his heart without releasing it into the world.
"…!"
"…!"
Clang! Clang! Boom!
And so, a series of attacks with neither side backing down.
The alleys of Namarka began to howl as the two clashed fiercely without a moment to breathe.
The surrounding buildings were collapsing due to the intense wind pressure that was constantly being created, creating a massive cloud of dust.
'I need to find an opportunity.'
Mirshea's eyes glimmered in the dense dust.
Despite the intensity of Vlad's attack, he noticed a gap in his stance.
"…One strike will be enough. Just one."
Though Vlad's gray armor was full of cuts, he continued to advance, determined to pierce Mirshea's defense.
As if this was the only way to break Mirshea's strong defense, Vlad's eyes seemed to show even a dark madness.
"Haaah!"
Now was the time to cut.
If he allowed Vlad's momentum to continue, there would be no turning back.
Mirshea's sword, aimed at the opening Vlad revealed, began to cut fiercely.
Thanks to this, the momentum Vlad carried was interrupted, but the eyes of Vlad, which had been shining just a moment ago, returned to their original color as if they had never been otherwise.
"I knew you would do that."
"What?"
In a sword fight, distance determines everything.
However, unlike Mirshea, who retreated, Vlad, who had designed the current scene with a reckless advance, only shuddered quickly in preparation for the next strike.
Vlad's stance was very low, with a cloak billowing.
Mirshea could tell he had been hit by looking at the fluid posture, as if it had been predicted.
'Damn it!'
The smoke in the middle of the alley gathered around the tip of Vlad's sword, forming a condensed circle.
It was a small circle, like a dot, but Mirshea was sure that a vast world would soon emerge from its end.
"It wasn't enough back then, but today I will surpass you."
Vlad's eyes shone with blue light as he looked at Mirshea.
Vlad's eyes glowed with an intense blue radiance. And at that moment, Mirshea knew he had no choice but to accept what was coming.
"And someday, I'll surpass Dragulia too."
No sound was heard when the sword pierced through the gathered circle.
However, Mirshea could feel that the calm he felt now was like the calm before the storm.
Crack-!
The mystery of the Ruga tribe was unleashed along the golden line that Vlad had drawn.
Mirshea didn't dare react to the sharp whirlwind that arrived faster than sound, and red blood began to form all over his body.
"Vlad!"
As Vlad's cutting wind pierced through him, Mirshea fully unleashed his world.
Although his world was bright and perfect, to Vlad, it was nothing more than a barrier to break.
"Haaaah!"
The dragon that had broken the chains of its instinct charged toward the barrier in front of it.
The dragon, which could reach anywhere because it wasn't swayed by its innate desires, now looked toward a brilliant jewel below, trampling on the wind.
Kwaaaaang-!
The sound of sharp swords and swords shaking the city.
The storm of Vlad, which began with that sound, started to engulf Mirshea's entire body.
Because it was the wall that needed to prove itself, the tip of Vlad's ruthless sword was mercilessly piercing Mirshea.
***
"…"
It was as if a storm had swept through the place.
The buildings on either side of Vlad lay collapsed, crumbled to the ground.
"Who are you?"
However, the tip of Vlad's sword, which had been drawn with such force, had not reached Mirshea.
Because there was a gleaming sword blocking its path.
Cold sweat was already forming on Vlad's back due to the immense weight that wouldn't budge no matter how much he pushed.
"Who are you?"
He had struck with all his might, pouring his entire world into that attack.
Yet, the sword in front of him remained calm, without the slightest movement.
That stillness reflected the vast gulf between Vlad and the owner of that sword.
"At last, I see you, my son."
With those words, the sword that had blocked him lifted slightly, as if teaching him a lesson.
Vlad's head was forcibly raised, and his eyes met those of the man standing before him.
"I've wanted to see you for a long time."
Blond hair and blue eyes, but of a color much deeper than his own.
Looking at the man before him, and the depth of his colors, Vlad felt as if he were staring into the edge of an endless cliff.
[Run now! Vlad!!]
The sword he held wept along with Kihano's sharp warning.
He recognized the fragment that the man before him possessed.
But unlike Vlad's fragment, this man's had already lost its form, fully fused into his veins, becoming part of his blood.
"Bloody... Dragon."
He didn't need anyone to tell him who that man was. It was his father.
"...Sarnus."
The name his heart whispered was unmistakably Sarnus Dragulia, Lord Dragon.
Seeing his son speak his name, Sarnus nodded and sheathed his sword. Vlad whispered the name with a tone of reverence and fear.
"That's right. I am Sarnus Dragulia."
Though he had put away his sword, Sarnus's presence didn't diminish in the slightest.
Even as Kihano continued to scream for him to run, Vlad, looking upward, felt as if he couldn't move, not even to take a step back when he saw Sarnus, who seemed so boundless.
"Well then, why don't we continue this conversation at home?"
Behind Sarnus's gentle smile toward Vlad were many banners of Dragulia.
It was far too much military force for taking a mere disordered city, and seeing this, Vlad's feet seemed glued to the ground, unable to move.
[Vlad!!]
The more he looked at Sarnus, the more vast and overwhelming his world became.
As it originated from his blood, as his father's blood weighed down on him, Vlad's right eye began to close.
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