Episode 164
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Dale nodded to Iris’s words, and the wind blew.
The wind was as cold as a piercing chill, and soon Dale was no longer in the Black Tower or the world of Eris.
A frozen land of cold and darkness.
Dale soon turned his head to look around, but his body refused to listen. It began to move on its own, out of control. It soon dawned on him that Dale was now inhabiting the body of some being, sharing his visual information.
The man standing in front of Dale was very familiar. He felt a sense of unease at the sight of the man, but soon realized the man’s identity.
The Immortal Frederick, the founder of Saxony, was there.
“The truth will set us free.”
Further along, a girl in a dress with goat horns was at his side.
As a shadow lord holding the Book of the Black Goat, he raised his head towards the enemies before him.
A light so bright that it was impossible to look straight at it was swirling around there. It was an entity that was shining so hot and brilliantly, as if one could not look straight at the sun.
But after seeing that sight, Dale held his breath in shock.
The man was there.
A hateful enemy that can never be forgotten.
The Golden Lord and the Sword of the Sun… Arthur Pendragon Magnus.
Furthermore, those who were by his side were also people he could never forget.
The Lord of Fire and Blood, Marquis Yuris. And the red witch, Lady Scarlett.
At the same time, there were countless strong men and monarchs who had been defeated as ‘warriors of the other world’.
The powerful rulers who once ruled the empires of today existed without a care in the world in the ancient landscapes recorded in history.
In ancient times, when black and white were one magic tower, and no other magic towers existed.
The black of that time did not mean the black magic tower of today, and the white of that time did not mean the white magic tower of today.
It was shadow and gold.
Only then could I finally understand.
This is the Black and White War, the War of Shadows and Gold, where the Immortal Frederick and his Black Party were defeated and fell. In the first place, all of the five-colored magic towers are collateral branches that originated from a single magic tower.
And as the leader of the shadows that stood against the gold, the shadow lord of the time was there.
The tentacles of the Shuve wrapped around his body, and the Dark Blood’s armor was placed over Frederick’s body, just as Dale had done.
Avatar of the Grimoire.
The dark-blooded armor that the Immortal possessed radiated a level of power and intimidation that could not even be compared to that of Dale’s avatar.
“That filthy human being… …!”
Looking at that sight, the Golden Monarch burst into laughter as if he couldn’t hold it in anymore.
The human-shaped body began to twist. The human skin became covered with scales like a fish’s, and the wing bones tore and animal wings sprouted.
His body, which should have stood on two feet, was bent and twisted like that of an animal.
The body grew infinitely larger and more massive, and began to emit an indescribable golden light.
The backlit magpie swallowed up the light and, claiming to be another sun, scattered its brilliant light across the area.
The golden dragon named Pendragon spread its wings and roared.
“The God of Light will devour you children of darkness!”
In front of him, the Shadow Lord created the ‘Black Blood Sword’ with his dark blood armor and adjusted the handle.
A black knight holding a sword in front of a dragon hundreds of times its size.
A scene that seemed like something straight out of an old myth was entering Dale’s field of vision.
The Shadow Lord, the Immortal Frederick, kicked the ground and rushed towards the golden dragon.
At the same time, the dark blood armor that was wrapping around Frederick’s body began to generate an innumerable number of tentacles and cover his body again.
There was a 《Shadow Colossus》 there, its tentacles coiling and coiling, rivaling the size of a golden dragon.
Not inferior to the golden dragon… …with indescribable madness and grandeur.
‘That’s the Shadow Lord’s avatar?’
An overwhelming scale that cannot even be compared to when Dale put on the armor of the Dark Blood.
Two kings standing at the top of the kingdom, the Shadow Lord and the Golden Lord, clash as their true forms are revealed.
And every time those beings clashed, a flood of unknown sensations began to seep into my head. It was knowledge that was unilaterally injected into my head in a pain that felt like my head was being torn apart.
Knowledge that is literally being hammered into your head with violence.
Just then, the girl ‘Shub’ who was guarding the Immortal’s side turned her head.
─ Come in, brother.
He looks at Dale and smiles.
─ This is the real power you will have, oppa. How is it, cool?
The Immortal Frederick, fighting against the Golden Dragon, is reborn as the Shadow Colossus in his dark blood armor.
In a sense, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it’s a giant avatar that reminds us of a giant robot.
And the golden dragon opened its mouth towards the Shadow Lord’s avatar. A blazing heat poured out like the wind of the sun.
At the same time, tentacles began to sprout from the armor of the Dark Blood. They were not the size of a person, but rather giant tentacles sprouting from the armor that seemed as if they could reach the sky.
Those very tentacles wrapped around the dark-blooded armor, fighting against the heat radiating from the golden dragon.
At the same time, a light of destruction swirled from the dragon’s mouth.
Each pitch-black tentacle, hundreds of meters long, collapsed like a pile of ash, and at the same time, pitch-black blood began to spray out like a flood, engulfing the area.
Just then, the golden dragon flew towards the Shadow Lord, biting into his bloody armor with its jaws.
The Shadow Lord in his gigantic form roared, and madness began to take hold of his mind.
It was a clash of cosmic beings that literally shook the heavens and the earth.
But at least until that point, the Immortal Frederick had not given up on being human.
* * *
Choaack!
The pitch-black tentacles that had wrapped around the heart of the Immortal Frederick were torn away. It was like an operating room where parasites inside the body were being forcibly removed.
The 『Book of the Black Goat』 that had been assimilated into the body of the Immortal was torn away, and he struggled in pain.
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However, the Golden Monarch who was watching him, and even the ‘Blood Prince’ who was performing the surgery, did not show even a hint of emotion.
The pain of defeat and the feeling of bone-chilling despair he was feeling were simply superimposed onto Dale’s brain.
‘A human body cannot defeat a dragon.’
‘You cannot defeat that being without transcending humanity.’
‘You can’t reach it without becoming more and more horrible and repulsive.’
In deep despair at the weakness of man.
‘──I will give up on humanity.’
In the agony of defeat, the Immortal Frederick muttered as he lost the Book of the Black Goat.
The world was engulfed in darkness.
* * *
When I looked up, Shuv was there, tentacles writhing beneath the hem of her skirt.
─ I liked my old dad.
Shuv smiled as he looked down at the struggling Frederick.
─ I mean, Oppa. I like humans. The ugliest and most foolish struggles they can show, they’re so lovable I can’t stand it. And Dad back then, he was really lovable too.
“Is it so enjoyable to watch our destruction?”
That’s why Dale asked coldly. Thinking of the despair and pain that the Immortal Frederick felt, he desperately gathered his will in the midst of it all.
─Why do you think so?
Shuv tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.
“The Immortal Frederick gave his all to confront the Golden Lord and was defeated. A human cannot defeat a dragon.”
─ No, you’re wrong.
Shub shook his head, puffing out his cheeks in a mocking manner.
“You said it was wrong?”
Dale asked, and Shuv smiled and said.
─ Because only humans can kill dragons.
The Golden Lord, the leader of the dragons.
“Then why was the Immortal Frederick defeated?”
─ Because I gave up on being human.
“The fact that the Immortal gave up on humanity was ultimately a result of defeat.”
─ No.
Shuv shook his head and answered.
─ The order is reversed. Think back carefully to that day’s battle.
I recalled the overwhelming scenery of the Black and White War, when the Lords of Gold and Shadow faced off.
Against the golden dragon… … the shadow lord is clad in a bloody armor, reborn as a dark titan.
“no way.”
Dale muttered softly, and Shub smiled in amusement.
In that very battle, the Immortal Frederick reached his ultimate end, transcending humanity.
─ When he fought the dragon, Dad believed he was a god. That’s why he lost.
So I lost.
“… … Then what exactly is a human?”
After hearing that question, Dale asked back.
─ A creature that knows courage.
Shubu answered. It was a truly ridiculous answer.
─ Courage is an emotion that only humans can have. Do you know why?
Dale was silent for a moment, and then answered.
“To know courage, you must know fear.”
The strong do not fear the weak.
Dragons and vampires never feel fear of humans. Not being afraid is not courage. However, humans who face dragons and vampires are not like that. They will be afraid. That is why courage is needed to overcome fear.
─ That’s right, humans are truly weak creatures.
At those words, Shub clapped his hands and laughed heartily.
─ But when it came to the very end, Dad couldn’t find the courage. So he gave up on being human and chose to become a god.
“Couldn’t even a god defeat a dragon?”
─ Because killing a dragon is something only the weakest being in this world can do.
Shubu laughed.
─ Courage is the preserve of cowards. And I love cowards. I can’t stand the sight of them struggling.
“… … .”
Dale remained silent, stoic.
The alien beings that ruled the empire, and the reason the Golden Monarch reigned at their peak was for one reason only.
Because those who do not know courage and do not know fear can never defeat a dragon.
At the same time, the only beings capable of defeating the dragon are those who are ruled by those ‘alien beings’.
When Dale realized that, he burst out laughing.
“… … Was that so?”
It seemed that I could finally understand what Eris meant, and what they meant by ‘human’.
My heart felt very light.
From the 3rd circle, it was never a skill or technique to reach a higher level. There was only one thing.
Enlightenment.
It was this realization that Eris and Shuve gave to Dale.
The rest is just a matter of how far this will can be carried out.
Right now, in front of Dale was the entrance to the realm of the 5th Circle. And it had a decisive difference from that of the other Saxon lords.
Because they didn’t have the Book of the Black Goat.
Therefore, the fact that Dale today inherits the history of Saxony had only one meaning.
The founder of Saxony and the first Shadow Lord… … carrying on the legacy of the Immortal Prince Frederick.
It was time to inherit the throne of the Shadow Monarch in the true sense.
