Chapter 322: The Platinum Dragon’s Lair (3)

Flash—!!

Karyl moved akin to a streak of light, soaring above the Chimera’s head.

“Skreeeee...!!”

The beast, though unable to track Karyl with its eyes, instinctively lashed out with its long tongue, trying to predict his trajectory.

Zzzzzz...!!

As the tongue cracked like a whip, it sprayed a steaming, toxic liquid that sizzled as it hit the ground.

“Shield,” Karyl muttered calmly, then slashed with his hand downward, summoning a milky barrier around him.

Fssshhhh!!

The Chimera’s venom hissed sharply as it struck the shield, dissolving it in an instant. But the shield had held long enough. Karyl had bought himself the crucial moment he needed. In a flash, he moved again.

Whirrrr...!!

The Chimera, sensing the threat, flapped its transparent wings desperately, sending a cloud of delicate white spores swirling into the air.

Thoom! Boom...!

The spores exploded violently upon contact with the air, sending shockwaves through the chamber.

“Flare,” Karyl whispered, launching a superheated flame into the spores.

Boom!!!

The spores ignited in a massive chain reaction, but instead of continuing to explode, they burned out instantly in a single, deafening blast.

With the Chimera’s cloaking powder gone, the beast’s outline became crystal clear. Startled, the creature leaped into the air, its powerful locust-like legs launching high up. Its wings shook, ready for another maneuver.

“Rock Storm.”

Five pillars of stone erupted from the ground, crisscrossing in front of the Chimera.

Crash!!

Unable to control its momentum, the Chimera smashed into the rock pillars, reeling from the impact.

“Krrrk?!”

Its wide, frog-like eyes rolled in confusion as it glanced downward. In that instant, Karyl drew Agnel from his side. The Chimera tried to escape, its thick legs propelling it into another desperate leap, but Karyl was faster.

Crack—!!

Karyl landed atop the Chimera’s hard exoskeleton, pinning its head down into the ground.

“Krrak!!” The beast let out a strangled screech, its long tongue flopping uselessly from its mouth.

“Stay still. I need to aim properly,” Karyl spat, crossing his blades above the creature’s neck like an executioner.

Vrrrrr...!!

Both Agnel and Lakna hummed in resonance, vibrating with power. With a swift motion, Karyl brought Agnel down across Lakna, sending a cascade of sparks through the air. At the point where the two blades crossed, an intense wave of sword energy condensed.

Boom!!

A powerful burst of energy shot out, Agnel’s flaming aura merging with the deadly precision of the Sword Demon Technique from Lakna.

Shhhk!!

The energy tore through the Chimera’s thick hide with ease, the fire and the sword’s edge working together in perfect harmony. Chimera let out a final, weak gurgle as the force tore through it.

Annihilation Strike.

“That’s the...”

Miliana could barely comprehend what had just happened. All she noticed was a flicker of light around Karyl, followed by the deafening sound of an explosion and a powerful gust of wind that blew through the hall.

“Ugh...!” She quickly shielded her face from the intense heat and dust that filled the chamber.

[How was that? Not even a Sword Master could react to that speed,] Allen's voice echoed softly in her mind.

Her bewilderment lingered.

“...”

All Miliana could do was wait, stunned, as the dust settled around her. When her vision finally cleared, she saw Karyl standing, one foot planted firmly on the Chimera’s severed head.

“That’s why Karyl intends to return Agnel to its resting place after his journey,” Allen explained, sounding more animated than Karyl himself.

“Lakna is made purely of magic and requires immense power to maintain its form, but Agnel is a different story. While both were forged from Clear Distilled Water, Agnel’s blade is perfectly suited for storing and concentrating mana, something Lakna can’t do. Perhaps they’re meant to be used together—a deadly pair of weapons for a true Great Warrior,” Allen mused.

At that, Miliana gave a chuckle.

“I get it. You don’t have to go on and on. I already understand how insane that power is.”

But Allen kept going, clearly proud of Karyl’s growth.

“No, you don’t quite understand,” he said with a light smile.

“What do you mean?”

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“He’s operating on a level far beyond me, sure. But the crucial part is that his power is still incomplete.”

Allen nodded toward Karyl.

“It might sound strange, but my old grudges don’t matter anymore. What I’m most curious about now is whether he can master not just swordsmanship, but also the other half—magic—and wield Great Magic perfectly. That would be a sight to behold.”

Allen shrugged as he added, “Of course, if he uses that power to cut off the Platinum Dragon’s head, all the better.”

Crunch—!!

As if on cue, Karyl crushed the Chimera’s head into pieces. Standing over the shattered remnants of its frog-like head, he sheathed both Agnel and Lakna, letting out a slow, steady breath.

“...”

His wrist throbbed painfully. Even after just a single attack, the backlash was intense.

The recoil is this bad, even if I hold back. If I’d pushed my magic to the limit, I might’ve broken my wrist outright,

he reflected, his lips curling into a contented smile.

Most people would hesitate to use a technique with such severe backlash, but not Karyl.

Losing an arm would be a small price for a guaranteed lethal strike

, he determined, excited by the challenge.

Karyl’s hunger for power, his desire to grow stronger, had driven him to where he stood now. His enemies were no longer mere humans—they were beings far more dangerous, and he had already accepted that he wouldn’t defeat them by playing it safe.

Shrrrk—!

Karyl drove his sword into Chimera’s hard exoskeleton and dragged it down with all his strength, tearing open a large gash. Thick, black ooze poured from the creature’s body, evaporating into dark smoke the moment it touched the ground.

Inside, the Chimera’s shell was hollow.

“No muscles or bones... yet it could move. Even a golem needs a basic framework. Hmph... This must be some kind of magical construct. It’s no ordinary monster,” Allen remarked, studying the remains.

“This couldn’t have been created by just dark magic. As the Spirit King suggested, there’s a trace of light energy. But how did Narh Di Maug harness the power of light?” Allen mused, still examining the Chimera’s remains.

“Narh Di Maug...”

Crack—!

Karyl smashed through the Chimera’s tough backplate with his sword.

“What were you really doing here?” he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted, “Karyl MacGovern.”

The soft yet clear voice reverberated through the lair.

“...!!!”

Both Karyl and Miliana jerked their heads up in alarm.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

Torches along the dark corridor ignited one by one, illuminating the walls and revealing the intricate magical runes on them. At the end of the passage stood a young girl.

Karyl immediately noticed her striking eyes—one golden, the other silver.

“Odd Eyes...?” Miliana whispered, her voice tense with caution as she gazed at the girl with strange eyes, which were unlike anything she had seen before.

“The message is for you,” the girl said, completely ignoring Miliana and focusing solely on Karyl.

We didn’t notice her...

Karyl suddenly tensed up. The girl looked entirely out of place in this twisted, grotesque lair, yet somehow, it also felt like she belonged here.

Could it be...?

Karyl’s gaze narrowed as he focused on her Odd Eyes—silver and golden. While those colors weren't inherently strange, they weren’t something seen in ordinary humans either.

He recalled what Nain Darhon had once told him—that there was only one human on the continent known to possess both a silver eye and a golden one.

“Rael...?” Karyl muttered, his heart pounding.

The girl of ethereal beauty looked him in the eye as she introduced herself.

“I am Rael Stallen,” she said, placing a hand over her chest and bowing her head slightly.

At that, Karyl’s heart raced even more.

This little girl...

He couldn’t believe it. The leader of the fanatics, the high priestess who had driven the continent into madness, stood right before him. He had never imagined he would actually get to meet Rael Stallen herself, especially not here, out of all places.

I searched everywhere in Heim for her, but... she was here all along? Could she really be connected to the Platinum Dragon?

His mind raced with questions as he stared at her in disbelief bordering on shock.

“I have been waiting to deliver a message from the Platinum Dragon,” Rael continued in her calm, serene voice, seemingly oblivious to Karyl’s inner turmoil. “It was to be given to the one who slayed the Chimera.”

“To the one who slayed the Chimera? That means you’ve been watching us this whole time. You knew we were coming. Just who are you?” Miliana demanded, her tone filled with suspicion.

Rael responded with a calm, almost condescending tone, “No one can predict who might come here, unless they are a god. However, if you had been devoured by the Chimera, that would have been the end of it. It would have meant you weren’t worthy of hearing from the Platinum Dragon.”

Her cold tone, devoid of any emotion, made Miliana’s wrist throb even more, as if reminding her of the Chimera’s vicious assault.

“You...!” Her anger flared up.

However, Rael disregarded Miliana and instead turned her gaze back toward Karyl.

“After those events in the north, he left instructions. ‘If someone comes to this lair, deliver this message.’”

“Hmph, seems like this was all for nothing,” Miliana muttered under her breath, still fuming. “The Platinum Dragon anticipated that someone would invade his lair from the very beginning, she went on, reaching for her blade.

“This is a dragon’s lair. Were you foolish enough to believe he wouldn’t have prepared for intruders? The Platinum Dragon can read humans effortlessly. He is a being of supreme knowledge,” Rael sneered, her cold eyes looking down on Miliana’s frustration.

Karyl, however, was unfazed by Rael’s attitude. In fact, he was smiling.

“And what is your connection to the Platinum Dragon?” he asked curiously.

Rael said nothing, and her expression was unreadable.

“Well, it seems the dragon anticipated my arrival,” Karyl concluded, his tone dropping as he exhaled. “Dragons are dragons, after all. But you see, he made one mistake.”

Rael’s face stiffened against Karyl’s cold glare, sensing a shift in him.

“If he knew I was coming, he should’ve waited here to fight me head-on, not flee,” Karyl sneered, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade.

Rael stared at him with the same blank expression, unable to read his intentions.

“You say there’s nothing to take here? That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve found something, and thanks to you, I don’t even have to search for it,” Karyl continued, his voice now laced with menace. I should thank you, really.”

Before Rael could react or make sense of his words, Karyl’s hand was already on the hilt of his sword.

“I finally get to take your head.”

Woosh!

Karyl moved in a flash, faster than even Miliana could react. His sword cleaved through the air with terrifying speed, aiming straight for Rael’s neck.