Chapter 317: Faded Promise (9)

The brilliantly blazing fire that filled the vast chamber began to swirl into Song Ha-Eun.

“

Agh!

” Song Ha-Eun’s expression twisted in pain.

A massive wave of mana surged into her.

The demonkin, who had been locked in a fierce battle against Kwon Oh-Jin, groaned and stumbled back from the overwhelming heat radiating from Song Ha-Eun.

“

Kugh!

”

“W-What is this heat?!”

“Ha-Eun!” Kwon Oh-Jin ran toward her in a panic as she absorbed the flames.

The closer he got, the more he could feel his skin burning from the searing heat.

Sizzle!

“Kellion...!” Kwon Oh-Jin glared fiercely at Kellion as the situation unfolded differently from the so-called prophecy.

Naturally, when planning this mission, they had accounted for the possibility of Kellion betraying them. Even so, they had gone ahead with the plan because Kwon Oh-Jin had seen no signs that Kellion was lying after observing him calmly for the past few days.

Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t instantly see through every lie. At the very least, he had never failed to detect a lie after thoroughly investigating a suspicious person over several days.

Kellion didn’t deceive us.

If that was the case, then what on earth was happening right now?

Kellion’s face turned pale as he stared blankly at Song Ha-Eun, absorbing the Dragon God’s soul.

“Why... is this happening?”

According to Caelus’s prophecy, the woman with the Draconic Eye was supposed to awaken the Dragon God from his slumber. However, even after the Dragon God’s soul had been released, the god’s tightly shut eyes showed no signs of opening.

The Dragon God’s eyes not only remained shut, but its body was also melting from the heat that filled the chamber. The rhythmic breathing that had pulsed from its nostrils finally stopped, and the suffocating pressure it once exuded weakened.

The Dragon God, Kaleios, was dying.

“This isn’t what the prophecy foretold,” Kellion said.

Something had gone wrong, like assembling the wrong puzzle pieces and discovering that the resulting picture made no sense.

“Lord Kaleios...” Tears streamed down Kellion’s cheeks.

He rose to his feet and staggered toward the dying Dragon God.

Sizzle!

Even through the searing pain of his burning flesh, he didn’t stop walking.

The Dragon God, Kaleios, was the only dragon who had remained behind in the kingdom to save the dragonkin, who were mere slaves. Kaleios was a merciful god who, even as the other dragons pointed fingers at him, refused to abandon the dragonkin until the end.

Was it when the demonkin army invaded? It had been over a hundred years, but the conversation he had with Kaleios back then was still vividly etched into his heart.

“This place is dangerous!”

At Kellion’s urgent warning, Kaleios nodded gently as if he already knew.

“You must abandon the kingdom and flee!”

Kellion shouted.

While not immortal like dragons, dragonkin also possessed long lifespans. Kellion had led the dragonkin even back when the demonkin invaded a century ago.

At the time, Kellion had urged Kaleios to abandon the kingdom and escape with the remaining survivors. However, Kaleios’s response was resolute.

“Is this land not your home?”

Despite being born as a noble dragon, Kaleios declared that he would risk his life to protect the homeland of the dragonkin, who were born to serve him. He was a foolish dragon like a king drawing his sword and heading into battle to protect his subjects. No, perhaps he was even more foolish than that.

The relationship between a dragon and the dragonkin wasn’t mutually supportive like that of a king and its subjects. A king could not exist without his subjects, but even without dragonkin, a dragon could live on. To the other dragons, dragonkin were nothing more than convenient slaves.

Why had Kaleios risked his life for such worthless beings?

At Kellion’s question, Kaleios warmly smiled.

“You are not slaves. You are my proud children. You are my most precious treasures.”

Even after a hundred long years, those words had never faded.

“Why... why won’t you open your eyes...?” The tears running down Kellion’s cheeks evaporated in the heat.

When he found the woman with the Draconic Eye, he had been filled with hope that he could finally meet the Dragon God once more.

“Didn’t you say... as long as she had the Draconic Eye, he would awaken?”

Hope was the greatest seasoning for despair. In place of the fading hope, thick despair entered.

Kellion vacantly stared at the Dragon God, gradually melting away, as if his soul had vanished. Through the burning heat, he took one step after another toward the dying Dragon God. When burns covered Kellion’s entire body, a hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back.

“Get a grip, you bastard!” Kwon Oh-Jin shouted.

Kellion collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. “Damn it...”

Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lip nervously as he stared at the flames being absorbed into Song Ha-Eun. Seeing Kellion so lifeless and dazed, he clearly hadn’t intended this.

If that was the case, then who could’ve done something like this?

This isn’t the time to think about that.

Rather than wondering who orchestrated this, he first needed to check whether this situation was harming Song Ha-Eun.

“Ha-Eun!” he called out to her, who was now engulfed in fire and no longer visible.

Had she lost consciousness from the massive wave of mana? No response came from within the flames.

Goddamn it.

Kwon Oh-Jin stepped closer to the fire surrounding Song Ha-Eun, but the overwhelming heat pushed him back as if warning him not to approach.

“Don’t give me that crap.” He pushed through the burning heat with another step.

As he walked into the raging flames, he drew upon the power of the Black heaven.

Rumble!

There’s no choice but to absorb the fire with the Black Heaven.

Since he didn’t know how the immense mana contained in the dragon’s soul would affect her, his only option was to consume all of it in her place.

“

Haaa...

” He placed a hand over his chest, where the Black Heaven lay dormant within his pounding heart.

As he summoned the Black Heaven, dark clouds flowed out and began devouring the blazing flames.

It’s working.

He could feel the mana within the flames flowing into him through the Black Heaven. Fortunately, he could absorb the fire instead of Song Ha-Eun.

But it’s not enough.

The amount he was absorbing was nowhere near enough. To be exact, the flames contained an overwhelming amount of mana.

Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lip again. In the end, only one option remained.

I’ll have to use Open Heaven.

He had no other choice.

With his hand still on his chest, he began to softly chant, “The one who passes through me—”

“O-Oh Jin, you’re gonna use that skill, aren’t you?!” Song Ha-Eun suddenly shouted from within the flames.

“Ha-Eun...?”

“I’m fine, so don’t use it!”

How could she be fine while taking in such an enormous amount of mana?

“Don’t lie—”

“I’m not lying, you bastard! You’re good at telling when someone’s lying, right?!”

Just as she said, she actually sounded more normal than he expected from within the flames.

“Hold on. It’s almost over! Just wait a little longer!” she said.

The blazing fire that could engulf the entire world began to subside. Within the calming flames, he could see Song Ha-Eun walking out.

“Ha-Eun...”

As she emerged from the flames, she looked more like a dragonkin than fully human. Red scales covered parts of her neck and cheeks. Her ears had become pointed, and her pupils were vertically slit like a reptile’s.

Hot flames burned around her transformed physique. More precisely, parts of her body had turned into fire itself, similar to when Kwon Oh-Jin used Open Heaven or Lightning Form.

The fire that made up her burning form radiated overwhelming heat in all directions.

“Holy shit. I seriously freaked out when I started absorbing it out of nowhere. Is it supposed to be like this?” Song Ha-Eun looked around with a puzzled expression. Her eyes landed on the melting Dragon God. “

Huh?

Why’s he dying?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is it because of me...?”

Kwon Oh-Jin remained silent.

It did seem like the soul was supposed to go to the Dragon God, but ended up in Song Ha-Eun instead. No one could explain why she had absorbed the soul rather than the Dragon God.

“Hold on, I’ll tone down the heat a bit.”

Perhaps realizing she had to stop the Dragon God’s body from melting, Song Ha-Eun drew back the flames radiating from her body. The heat scorching the entire chamber almost vanished instantly.

However, the Dragon God’s breath that stopped never returned.

“Is he dead...?”

Even the flames that had periodically flared from his nostrils, proving that he was still alive, were no longer there. The Dragon God, Kaleios, the merciful deity who once sacrificed himself for the dragonkin, was now dead.

Kellion stumbled toward the Dragon God’s half-melted corpse.

“

Ah... aaaaah!

Lord Kaleios! Lord Kaleios!” He clutched the god’s lifeless body and sobbed uncontrollably.

His sorrowful cries echoed through the chamber.

Song Ha-Eun looked at the Kellion with a conflicted expression.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The demonkin, who had backed away from the overwhelming heat, began approaching again.

“

Haa, haa!

”

“W-What was that heat just now?”

Song Ha-Eun’s gaze shifted from Kellion to the demonkin. “Come to think of it, you guys are still here.”

The flames she had absorbed reignited, blazing outward with ferocious heat.

Whoosh!

“Oh-Jin, let me try taking them on by myself this time.”

“Will you be okay?”

Even though their numbers had thinned slightly while fighting Kwon Oh-Jin, nearly thirty demonkind still remained. In the past, Song Ha-Eun wouldn’t have stood a chance against that many alone.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be fine.” She nodded confidently and slowly walked toward the demonkin.

With every step she took, the fire within her flared more violently.

“D-Damn it!”

“Kill her!”

The demonkin, who had been hesitating in the face of the terrifying heat, finally drew their weapons and charged at Song Ha-Eun.

“H-Holy shit, Oh-Jin. I’m so fucking strong now.”

It didn’t even take her ten minutes to reduce the nearly thirty demonkin to ashes.