“Phew.”
I who returned from the past to reality, let out a long sigh and swept back my disheveled hair.
I thought to myself many times that it would be nice to see my father alive, even just once, but when I actually saw him, I felt strange.
It was good, sad, regretful, and angry at the same time.
“This is driving me crazy.”
As expected, he is the Emperor.
I smiled and held up the Dragon Heart so the Emperor could see it better.
“Do you want this?”
“Hand it over!”
The Emperor lost his mind when he saw the dragon's heart and rushed at me.
This time, instead of dodging, I took the Emperor's attack head-on.
Kakang-
My entire arm went numb and I almost dropped my sword for a moment, but I gritted my teeth and held on.
“Heart, give me your heart!”
When you listen closely, the voice sounds even more beggarly.
“If you want it so badly, take it yourself.”
My father said that if someone other than the owner tries to use the Dragon Heart, it will suffer a magical backlash.
Maybe the effect is still evident today.
That's why I didn't avoid it, but instead countered it and provoked him.
“Kiaaaaak!!”
That prediction was spot-on.
I who returned from the past to reality, let out a long sigh and swept back my disheveled hair.
I thought to myself many times that it would be nice to see my father alive, even just once, but when I actually saw him, I felt strange.
It was good, sad, regretful, and angry at the same time.
“This is driving me crazy.”
I who was struggling in a lake of emotions that I couldn't figure out, suddenly realized that the room I was in was different from what I remembered and frowned.
Overall it was the same, but there was one different thing.
It was the floor with blood writing that was presumed to have been left by Chernosser.
Red light leaked out through the cracks in the floor.
“What is this?”
The moment I put my hand up to check the identity of the light.
“...!”
The red light swallowed me up, opening its black maw.
I who was sucked into the light without any time to fight back, was thrown into a strange place where the sky was blood red and the ground was pitch black.
Although it was the first time I had seen this place since I was born, I instinctively knew that it was a rift in time.
It was also a place where those who disappeared from the basement stayed.
As evidence, the corpses of those who ignored the warning and entered the basement out of curiosity or other reasons were found here and there.
Among them was the corpse of Chernosser.
I stood before Chernosser's corpse, so emaciated that his bones were exposed.
Chernossor's body was covered in something dark red.
It didn't take long to realize that it was blood.
I could immediately guess whose blood it was.
'It must be my father's blood.'
It was clear that the Emperor had smeared Chernosser's body with my father's blood to have him brought into the basement of the ducal palace.
He killed my father to get that blood.
“You son of a bitch.”
A cold criticism flowed from my twisted lips.
As I searched Chernosser's body to see if there was anything else worth salvaging, I found a piece of paper and a pen in his pocket.
There was a sentence written on the paper that he couldn't finish writing.
[Anyone is fine, I]
I'll save you next time.
The paper Chernosser had was made of the same material as the note in the glass bottle that the boy had brought me earlier.
Did you send the note from here?
If that's the case, then it means there's a river nearby that connects to the outside world, and the moment I turn my head to look for it.
“...!”
A pitch-black shadow quickly flew over and covered me.
Adele was about to respond right away but stopped when she saw a familiar face.
“Byblos...”
"Shhhh."
The great sage, Byblos, covered my mouth urgently and stared somewhere. His expression was stiff.
Why are you doing that?
I looked in the direction Byblos was looking.
“...!”
There was a monster there with the upper body of a human but the lower body of a snake.
The force was so great that every time the monster swung its tail, the ground caved in and debris flew in all directions.
The monster itself, with its hideous hybrid appearance, was shocking, but there was something even more surprising.
'What is that?'
The monster's face was exactly the same as the Emperor's.
Could that monster be the Emperor?
My father said that the Emperor had given up being human to gain eternal life, so it was quite possible.
Didn't Perdes also say that he saw the Emperor's remains in the basement?
If that monster really was the Emperor, then everything they said was true.
It was only when the monster had gone far away that Byblos, who had been holding my breath and covering my mouth tightly, fell.
When he was out of sight and no longer felt any movement, Byblos finally let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor.
“Oh my, something strange happened and I got really scared.”
“There are things that the Great Sage is afraid of.”
Since you always say that you are strong, I thought you wouldn't be scared at all.
When I asked curiously, Byblos waved his hand.
“I’m not invincible. Especially not in a place like this.”
“A place like this?”
“A gap in time where reality and ideals coexist. To borrow the words of human magicians, it is another dimension.”
It was a difficult statement that I thought I knew but didn't understand.
Still, I nodded, thinking that I knew for sure that this was not the real world.
“I can’t use all my power here.”
If only he could return to his original form, then that guy would be nothing.
Byblos looked at my hand and muttered grumblingly.
“Then shouldn’t you just leave here?”
“I want to do that too, but that damn kid keeps getting in the way whenever I try to take a break from time to time, so I can’t.”
“Would it be possible if I give you some time?”
“What the heck...”
Suddenly, Byblos' eyes, which had been looking down, grew as big as lanterns.
He was surprised to see the dragon heart embedded in the hilt of my sword.
“You, that...!”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance. I just recently found out that this is Dragon Heart.”
I gripped the sword handle tightly.
“And I knew that I was the owner of this heart and that if I gave it to someone else, I would die.”
“...In short, you are saying that you cannot hand over the Dragon Heart to me.”
“Right now.”
I fight against the Emperor because I want to live, but what good is it if I die after achieving revenge?
“But later. When I have spent enough time and are ready to face death, then I will return my heart.”
“How can I believe that? Humans are a species that lies as easily as eating food.”
“I won’t deny it.”
Because I lied to Byblos too.
“But can you trust me just one more time? This time, I will definitely keep my promise.”
“...”
“Please, Byblos.”
I wonder if calling his name and speaking earnestly worked.
Byblos sighed in annoyance and tossed his head wildly.
“Let’s think about it after we take care of that guy. It looks to me like that horrible hybrid is after the Dragon Heart.”
“That’s right. He's after this because he wants to gain eternal life.”
“What a crazy thing to do. Living forever isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
“I think so too.”
Perhaps not liking my sympathy, Byblos glanced in my direction and bit his thumb hard.
And using the blood that flowed out, he drew a magic circle on the floor.
“If I use magic, the monsters that sense mana will come back.”
Byblos drew a magic circle and told me the plan.
“Then you have to make sure that guy never comes to me. Can you do it?”
“I absolutely have to do it.”
“Your resolve is good. Well, if you use that power well, you will win.”
The power that Byblos speaks of must be the power of the Dragon Heart.
I looked down at the dragon heart embedded in the sword hilt.
Although I said that I would stop that monster no matter what, I was a little uneasy.
No, I was very anxious. Just looking at it, it didn't seem like he was an opponent I could win against.
Byblos said that I would win if I used the power of the Dragon Heart well, but the problem was that I had never used this power before.
If I had known this would happen, I would have studied magic or something.
While I was feeling belated regret, I felt a terrifying murderous intent approaching me from behind at a rapid pace.
It was a monster in the form of an Emperor.
Even though I couldn't feel the thump of the ground, I could definitely tell that a monster was coming.
Before I saw the monster, I was worried whether I could win, but once I actually faced it, I was determined to win no matter what.
It was all thanks to that unlucky Emperor's face.
I can never lose to the Emperor.
I drew my sword and ran towards the monster, asking Byblos.
“How long can you hold out?”
“Just hold on for 20 minutes!”
Only 20 minutes? That's easier said than done.
I clicked my tongue lightly and jumped up, stepping on the monster's swinging tail as a stepping stone.
I tried to cut off the monster's chest, but the monster quickly blocked it with its strong tail.
The monster didn't stop there, it pushed me away.
“Ugh!”
I was pushed back by an incredible force, but thanks to my quick fall, I wasn't seriously hurt.
“As expected, this is a formidable opponent.”
Well, that's why Byblos said it was an annoying opponent.
The silver lining was that the monster didn't care about Byblos and was completely focused on me.
“A... Dele...”
Calling my name in a strange voice that was impossible to hear.
“Your Majesty the Emperor, correct?”
“Ha, give me... your heart...”
Overall it was the same, but there was one different thing.
It was the floor with blood writing that was presumed to have been left by Chernosser.
Red light leaked out through the cracks in the floor.
“What is this?”
The moment I put my hand up to check the identity of the light.
“...!”
The red light swallowed me up, opening its black maw.
I who was sucked into the light without any time to fight back, was thrown into a strange place where the sky was blood red and the ground was pitch black.
Although it was the first time I had seen this place since I was born, I instinctively knew that it was a rift in time.
It was also a place where those who disappeared from the basement stayed.
As evidence, the corpses of those who ignored the warning and entered the basement out of curiosity or other reasons were found here and there.
Among them was the corpse of Chernosser.
I stood before Chernosser's corpse, so emaciated that his bones were exposed.
Chernossor's body was covered in something dark red.
It didn't take long to realize that it was blood.
I could immediately guess whose blood it was.
'It must be my father's blood.'
It was clear that the Emperor had smeared Chernosser's body with my father's blood to have him brought into the basement of the ducal palace.
He killed my father to get that blood.
“You son of a bitch.”
A cold criticism flowed from my twisted lips.
As I searched Chernosser's body to see if there was anything else worth salvaging, I found a piece of paper and a pen in his pocket.
There was a sentence written on the paper that he couldn't finish writing.
[Anyone is fine, I]
I'll save you next time.
The paper Chernosser had was made of the same material as the note in the glass bottle that the boy had brought me earlier.
Did you send the note from here?
If that's the case, then it means there's a river nearby that connects to the outside world, and the moment I turn my head to look for it.
“...!”
A pitch-black shadow quickly flew over and covered me.
Adele was about to respond right away but stopped when she saw a familiar face.
“Byblos...”
"Shhhh."
The great sage, Byblos, covered my mouth urgently and stared somewhere. His expression was stiff.
Why are you doing that?
I looked in the direction Byblos was looking.
“...!”
There was a monster there with the upper body of a human but the lower body of a snake.
The force was so great that every time the monster swung its tail, the ground caved in and debris flew in all directions.
The monster itself, with its hideous hybrid appearance, was shocking, but there was something even more surprising.
'What is that?'
The monster's face was exactly the same as the Emperor's.
Could that monster be the Emperor?
My father said that the Emperor had given up being human to gain eternal life, so it was quite possible.
Didn't Perdes also say that he saw the Emperor's remains in the basement?
If that monster really was the Emperor, then everything they said was true.
***
It was only when the monster had gone far away that Byblos, who had been holding my breath and covering my mouth tightly, fell.
When he was out of sight and no longer felt any movement, Byblos finally let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor.
“Oh my, something strange happened and I got really scared.”
“There are things that the Great Sage is afraid of.”
Since you always say that you are strong, I thought you wouldn't be scared at all.
When I asked curiously, Byblos waved his hand.
“I’m not invincible. Especially not in a place like this.”
“A place like this?”
“A gap in time where reality and ideals coexist. To borrow the words of human magicians, it is another dimension.”
It was a difficult statement that I thought I knew but didn't understand.
Still, I nodded, thinking that I knew for sure that this was not the real world.
“I can’t use all my power here.”
If only he could return to his original form, then that guy would be nothing.
Byblos looked at my hand and muttered grumblingly.
“Then shouldn’t you just leave here?”
“I want to do that too, but that damn kid keeps getting in the way whenever I try to take a break from time to time, so I can’t.”
“Would it be possible if I give you some time?”
“What the heck...”
Suddenly, Byblos' eyes, which had been looking down, grew as big as lanterns.
He was surprised to see the dragon heart embedded in the hilt of my sword.
“You, that...!”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance. I just recently found out that this is Dragon Heart.”
I gripped the sword handle tightly.
“And I knew that I was the owner of this heart and that if I gave it to someone else, I would die.”
“...In short, you are saying that you cannot hand over the Dragon Heart to me.”
“Right now.”
I fight against the Emperor because I want to live, but what good is it if I die after achieving revenge?
“But later. When I have spent enough time and are ready to face death, then I will return my heart.”
“How can I believe that? Humans are a species that lies as easily as eating food.”
“I won’t deny it.”
Because I lied to Byblos too.
“But can you trust me just one more time? This time, I will definitely keep my promise.”
“...”
“Please, Byblos.”
I wonder if calling his name and speaking earnestly worked.
Byblos sighed in annoyance and tossed his head wildly.
“Let’s think about it after we take care of that guy. It looks to me like that horrible hybrid is after the Dragon Heart.”
“That’s right. He's after this because he wants to gain eternal life.”
“What a crazy thing to do. Living forever isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
“I think so too.”
Perhaps not liking my sympathy, Byblos glanced in my direction and bit his thumb hard.
And using the blood that flowed out, he drew a magic circle on the floor.
“If I use magic, the monsters that sense mana will come back.”
Byblos drew a magic circle and told me the plan.
“Then you have to make sure that guy never comes to me. Can you do it?”
“I absolutely have to do it.”
“Your resolve is good. Well, if you use that power well, you will win.”
The power that Byblos speaks of must be the power of the Dragon Heart.
I looked down at the dragon heart embedded in the sword hilt.
Although I said that I would stop that monster no matter what, I was a little uneasy.
No, I was very anxious. Just looking at it, it didn't seem like he was an opponent I could win against.
Byblos said that I would win if I used the power of the Dragon Heart well, but the problem was that I had never used this power before.
If I had known this would happen, I would have studied magic or something.
While I was feeling belated regret, I felt a terrifying murderous intent approaching me from behind at a rapid pace.
It was a monster in the form of an Emperor.
Even though I couldn't feel the thump of the ground, I could definitely tell that a monster was coming.
Before I saw the monster, I was worried whether I could win, but once I actually faced it, I was determined to win no matter what.
It was all thanks to that unlucky Emperor's face.
I can never lose to the Emperor.
I drew my sword and ran towards the monster, asking Byblos.
“How long can you hold out?”
“Just hold on for 20 minutes!”
Only 20 minutes? That's easier said than done.
I clicked my tongue lightly and jumped up, stepping on the monster's swinging tail as a stepping stone.
I tried to cut off the monster's chest, but the monster quickly blocked it with its strong tail.
The monster didn't stop there, it pushed me away.
“Ugh!”
I was pushed back by an incredible force, but thanks to my quick fall, I wasn't seriously hurt.
“As expected, this is a formidable opponent.”
Well, that's why Byblos said it was an annoying opponent.
The silver lining was that the monster didn't care about Byblos and was completely focused on me.
“A... Dele...”
Calling my name in a strange voice that was impossible to hear.
“Your Majesty the Emperor, correct?”
“Ha, give me... your heart...”
As expected, he is the Emperor.
I smiled and held up the Dragon Heart so the Emperor could see it better.
“Do you want this?”
“Hand it over!”
The Emperor lost his mind when he saw the dragon's heart and rushed at me.
This time, instead of dodging, I took the Emperor's attack head-on.
Kakang-
He hit it with his nail, and it made a sound like steel against steel.
“Heart, give me your heart!”
When you listen closely, the voice sounds even more beggarly.
“If you want it so badly, take it yourself.”
My father said that if someone other than the owner tries to use the Dragon Heart, it will suffer a magical backlash.
Maybe the effect is still evident today.
That's why I didn't avoid it, but instead countered it and provoked him.
“Kiaaaaak!!”
That prediction was spot-on.
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