Chapter 254 – NIGHT AT ARGON PORT (2)
Terms used in this episode:
With my sixth door, I’ll pound you into rice cakes. – This is a Naruto meme(?) in Korea. The quote was originally said by Might Guy when he joined the fight against Kisame and Itachi who tried to kidnap Naruto in chapter 143. The reason why I’m not sure if it’s a meme or not is because the English translation translated that line differently. Guy’s line became ‘So that is Itachi.’
Pound the rice cake is actually a slang for ‘to have s.e.x’. So I’m not sure if this was censorship in the English translation, or Koreans purposely replaced the original line with this quote, just for meme purposes.
One day, a dwarf artisan from Sword Seeker thought.
What is the ultimate sword?
What is the strongest sword?
Is the ultimate sword simply a sword with a strong attack power?
It isn’t.
I don’t think it is.
Because you can’t properly prove it if it’s the sharpest or the toughest sword in the world.
“Then what is the strongest?”
How can one prove that a sword is the strongest?
“The strongest sword is one that can defeat the strongest being. That is the ultimate level we must seek.”
It was a story that began to get a little weird as it proceeded, but the ancient dwarves were a race that only ran forward once they were fixated on something.
The dwarf who originally came up with that idea then gathered dwarves with similar thoughts as him, and these dwarves became one of Sword Seeker’s seven guilds.
“The sword that cuts the strongest being. What we need for that is an existence that everyone recognizes as the strongest.”
The G.o.ds of heaven had left the earth.
The demons of h.e.l.l were banished from the earth.
Who was the strongest remaining being on the earth then?
“Dragon.”
The strongest race.
Those who were born as rulers of winged creatures and wild animals.
Descendants of the First Monarch who inherited the ley lines of fantasy.
“The ultimate will be realized when we beat the strongest.”
Thus, the Dragon Bane Guild was created.
A group of dwarves who sought to kill dragons.
As a matter of fact, it had a somewhat practical purpose.
To begin with, the dragons and ancient dwarves were often at odds with each other over the ownership of a mountain range.
In fact, many of the dwarves in the Dragon Bane Guild had lost their relatives in the fight against the dragons.
“Revenge.”
A word that described a characteristic trait of the ancient dwarves.
Their tenacity to never forget what they had suffered and to enact vengeance.
Of course, most of the dragons who confronted the dwarves were the common Adult Dragons.
It was too much for the ancient dwarves to face an Ancient Dragon, one that had gone beyond the limits of a dragon.
“So we must go beyond it.”
“A sword that can kill an Adult Dragon is not enough.”
Their goal was the strongest being.
An ultimate sword that could even kill an Ancient Dragon.
The founder of the Dragon Bane Guild was Valoran, a dwarf who was born and grew up in Sword Seeker, but it was actually Dragon Hunter Khandomik who led the Dragon Bane Guild.
He was someone who not only lost all his loved ones to an ancient dragon who invaded the mountain range, but also lost one of his eyes to it, so he poured out his everything in making a sword that could even kill an Ancient Dragon.
But it was an Ancient Dragon.
They were the strongest among the dragons who had transcended their limits, so it was not an exaggeration to say that they were like G.o.ds who descended on earth.
Khandomik and the dwarves of the Dragon Bane Guild created the ‘Dragon Slayer series,’ which became the subject of fear, resentment, and hatred for many dragons, but none of these could reach an Ancient Dragon.
The Ancient Dragons were too powerful that not a single sword could reach them.
But Khandomik and the dwarves did not easily give up.
Their tenacity – another word that symbolized ancient dwarves, made them continue despite failing over and over again.
And one day.
After many failures, they were able to come up with one answer.
Or rather, the answer came to them as if responding to their tenacity.
“Power, do you want it?”
Facing the old and weary Khandomik was an Ancient Dragon who was about to die.
An Ancient Dragon who hated Ancient Dragons.
To an Ancient Dragon like herself, she lost everything she loved as well as her life.
“Revenge, do you want it?”
The Ancient Dragon smiled at Khandomik’s question.
To him who answered her question with another question, she nodded her head to the man who had suffered the same fate as her.
She gave him everything she had.
“Ultimate Three.”
The third of the seven ultimate swords produced by Sword Seeker.
A dragon-slaying sword made by forging the soul and body of an Ancient Dragon.
It was the birth of Ascalon.
***
The Dragon Breath was split.
That power, which symbolized a dragon’s strength, destroyed the ground and shook the central square even though it had been split, so it caused an even bigger surprise to those present.
“Dragon Bane Ascalon.”
Kajsa tightly hugged Scarlet as she said with a stunned expression.
The sword of the great hero Carlos.
The legendary sword he used to defeat the Ancient Black Dragon Malekith.
Kajsa’s heart began to pound like crazy.
It was only natural because the legend she had longed for since childhood had become a reality and appeared before her eyes.
“Aah… Aaah…”
Her body heated up.
She couldn’t contain her excitement.
Despite the two Black Dragons in front of her, all her senses were focused on the Ascalon that Jude was holding.
“Wait a second, wait.”
Scarlet said just then.
She had also admired Jude’s prowess when he split the Dragon Breath with Ascalon, but her reaction was a little different from Kajsa.
Because she was a Rogue Master.
‘You need a Dragon Factor.’
In order to properly use Dragon Bane Ascalon, having the Dragon Factor was necessary.
In other words, it was a sword that ordinary humans couldn’t use properly in the first place.
Carlos himself had dragon blood, though he was a quarter dragon.
But the moment Scarlet thought that and tried to say her knowledge out loud, she bit her lips again. As she held back her words, she exclaimed once more in admiration.
“Dragon… Factor?”
Scarlet had seen Ascalon for the first time, but she could tell.
Ascalon was crying.
Ascalon was roaring in Jude’s hand.
‘What the… was he a dragon’s descendant?’
He wasn’t.
He wasn’t a dragon’s descendant.
Unlike Cordelia, Jude was a pure human being.
But Jude had the Dragon Factor.
And it wasn’t just limited to Jude.
“Guardians of the Wild Lands.”
Cordelia said with a smile.
The same pattern appeared on the back of her and Jude’s hands.
The emblem of the Golden Dragon King.
The guardian symbol given to them by the Golden Dragon King, the G.o.d of the wild lands.
In the game, there was no way to properly use Dragon Bane Ascalon.
Because none of the playable characters inherited the blood of dragons.
But now.
Jude and Cordelia had the Dragon Factor now.
“Hehe, hehehe.”
Cordelia burst into giggles as her gamer brain began to work, while Jude responded to Ascalon’s roars. By activating the Dragon Factor contained in the Golden Dragon King’s emblem, he accepted Ascalon’s power.
And it was at that moment.
“My successor is shameless.”
Time had stopped.
The scene in front of him had changed.
A world where both the sky and the earth were black.
And a voice full of complaints came from behind.
“Valencia-…nim?”
Jude turned around in his surprise, and broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it.
Because the pouting Valencia was glaring at him coldly.
“Two-timer.”
“No, that is…”
“Cheater.”
“W-wait.”
“Pervert.”
“Wait.”
“You said that you’ll only use me for the rest of your life.”
“Eh?”
I never said that?
I never said that I won’t use another sword.
‘Wait, this is making me sound like a sc.u.m.’
Jude shook his head as he came to his senses, and said urgently.
“Valencia-nim! We’re in an emergency now!”
“Playboy.”
“Ugh.”
Come to think of it, she’s a woman who completely gave up the sword after getting Sword Origin, saying that it was like cheating.
So from her point of view, my behavior is no different from cheating itself.
‘Wait, it’s not cheating! I’m just using two swords!’
Jude tried to calm down and quickly said.
“Valencia-nim, I have to use two swords out of necessity. I hope you understand this because I have to fight against dragons.”
“Are you going to cheat on me then? Is this a harem declaration?”
“Nooo…”
Why is this cheating anyway?
‘Come to think of it, she didn’t say anything about Cordelia, right?’
But that was natural.
Because Valencia herself a.s.serted that she was a sword.
“Haa… My successor, it really can’t be helped.”
“Valencia-nim?”
“I’ll specially permit it. As you say, it’s an emergency. My successor is still not skilled enough.”
In other words, she was saying that she would allow the use of two swords because he was weak now.
“Thank you very much. I’ll make sure that you don’t regret it.”
“You sound like a real playboy.”
Valencia said with narrowed eyes, sighing again before she shrugged her shoulders.
“Anyway, let’s hurry. Time flies slowly because this is the world of your consciousness, but that doesn’t mean it has completely stopped. We don’t have much left to maintain this current flow of time.”
Her words were all correct.
But why in the world are we hurrying?
“Because we’re meeting her. Shouldn’t we at least introduce ourselves since we’re in the same situation from now on?”
She.
A being who had a similar situation as her from now on.
Jude turned around naturally.
He looked beyond the darkness, and discerned a huge presence.
Ancient Blue Dragon Ascalon.
A dragon who hated dragons.
A being who became a sword spirit after her body and soul was melted into Ultimate Three.
A woman stood above the head of the Blue Dragon who was lying down on the floor as if it was dead.
She had long sky blue hair and a white fluttering dress that were like that of a G.o.ddess.
With closed eyes and a gloomy expression, she raised her head.
She spoke with her eyes still closed.
“Power, do you want it?”
She didn’t even introduce herself.
The s.p.a.ce was twisted, and Jude was suddenly in front of the woman. Valencia stood next to Jude and stared at the woman warily, but the woman didn’t stop. She continued to speak with her eyes still closed.
All that mattered to her was the will and vengefulness of a dragon.
“If you want power…”
Her words were a cliché, but it was fine.
Jude took the woman’s outstretched hand, and Valencia held Jude’s other hand as if she didn’t want to lose.
Valencia’s hand was warm while the woman’s hand was cold.
The woman slowly opened her eyes.
She finished her words as she stared at Jude with her blue eyes.
“…I’ll give it to you.”
The power to bring about the destruction of dragons.
A blue light rose.
It swallowed everything around them.
***
“Jude!”
Cordelia shouted and Jude blinked before opening his eyes.
Once again, the two adult Black Dragons opened their mouths in front of them.
A second shot of Dragon Breath.
It was quite hard for them too.
But the Ascalon in Jude’s hands forced them to do so.
And Jude realized it.
Ascalon’s true power had been drawn out, though it was only at the first stage.
Kaaaaaaaaaaa-!
Ascalon roared.
A cry that only dragons could hear then covered the entire port, and the dragons, who had just opened their mouths to fire their breaths, screamed and flapped their wings. They soared into the sky as if running away.
A Dragon Fear that overwhelmed dragons themselves.
Ascalon’s sword was white in color.
It was a two-handed sword that was close to a claymore than a normal longsword, and the blade and handle were connected as one without anything separating it.
And a blue gem.
The gem embedded in the part connecting the handle and the blade was cold blue in color like Ascalon’s eyes.
Ascalon bestowed her power to Jude.
The white sword was filled with the energy of the dragon and glowed blue.
The Black Dragons’ scales, skin, and so on were powerless against such a power.
“Kiaaaak!”
“Kiaak!”
The roars of the two Black Dragons shook the sky, and Cordelia smiled but flinched when she looked ahead.
Matteo and his men were running towards them.
Moreover, they weren’t the only ones.
Cordelia instinctively turned around and looked up the sky.
“Crazy.”
Creatures covered the dark night sky.
Wyverns belonging to Malekith’s Black Dragonflights.
Sicilia no longer spared her troops.
She revealed her card called Matteo, and poured out all the troops under her command.
‘Ascalon.’
The dragon sword that defeated Malekith.
They must take it. They had to steal it.
“Keuaaa!”
Wyverns and Drakes roared as they charged. And it wasn’t just them.
“The ground is shaking.”
It was as Kajsa had said.
The ground was shaking because of the group rushing from afar.
The Vorgs from the Black Hand Mercenaries.
Having lost their boss, Gamorr Khan, they were brought under Sicilia’s command and headed to the battlefield, following her present commands.
“What a spectacular sight.”
Matteo said with a smile.
Their numbers reached in the hundreds with just the demons he was leading now.
Count Luculia’s twenty or more swordsmen were added to this, and with the dozens of wyverns in the sky and the hundred Vorgs in the ground, their power was truly astounding.
Moreover, there were two adult Black Dragons in the sky.
‘The 7 southern families cannot come forward.’
Argon Port was under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family.
It was a kind of neutral ground for the 7 southern families, so the families only stationed a small number of troops in Argon Port.
‘Ten to twenty at most.’
The southern families wouldn’t send out their troops with just that number. They would be busy protecting or fleeing their homes.
‘Even if the knight order came forward, it would be useless.’
The Knights of the Sea Lion that were under the royal family’s command were the ones in charge of the port’s protection.
But they numbered only around twenty at most. The number of guards were also around thirty, so if they headed to this place, they would only be killed.
“It seems like victory is promised to our side.”
Matteo spoke softly as he drew out his sword, and so did his subordinates.
“D-d.a.m.n it.”
Kajsa had blushed when she felt the power of Ascalon that she had admired as a child, but it was different now.
Her body had stiffened at the ominous energy that surrounded them, and she hurriedly turned to Cordelia and said.
“That thing! That moonlight!”
The Moon Crystal’s s.p.a.ce leap.
But it was impossible right now.
The Moon Crystal’s s.p.a.ce leap could only be used three times a day, and it required a little preparation time before each use.
“It’s cooldown time.”
“What the heck is that!”
But she could tell from the atmosphere of Cordelia who responded. It seemed like she couldn’t use it right now.
“d.a.m.n it.”
Kajsa cursed again before she took a deep breath and pulled out the axe on her back.
Now that it had come to this, she had to crazily go wild.
Kajsa Ophand was a brave wolf and not a frightened puppy.
“A head-on confrontation is stupid. We have to find a way out.”
Scarlet quickly spoke and lowered her whip sword. Cordelia nodded and spread out her wings as her hair turned black. It was her Fallen Angel mode.
And Jude looked up the sky.
As if they were wary of Ascalon, the Black Dragons were preparing magic from high above, and the wyverns were flying at some distance away. There were also the Black Hand Mercenaries who shook the ground as they came rushing in.
‘My successor, don’t be afraid. I will be with you.’
Sword Origin Valencia said.
Jude smiled at her words.
He was surrounded by numerous enemies and faced the worst crisis, but instead of trembling in fear, he turned his head in happiness.
His eyes saw Cordelia’s face.
“Jude?”
“You don’t know yet?”
What are you talking about?
What is it that I don’t know?
So Cordelia looked into Jude’s eyes and immediately understood. She realized that they had been distracted by Matteo and the forces surrounding them.
That was why she brightly smiled like Jude.
“What the-… Have you two gone crazy?”
Scarlet nodded her head at Kajsa’s question. Because it was a question that she had also wanted to ask.
But it wasn’t like that.
The magic spell of the Black Dragons in the sky were completed, and the wyverns and Vorgs roared as their distance to them had suddenly narrowed before they knew it, and Matteo, a member of the Ten Great Swordmasters, also drew closer.
Jude gazed at the night sky.
And as he expected, they came.
He heard the cries of crows from afar.
“Ghostblade Kamael.”
The main protagonist of the first episode of Legend of Heroes.
One of the Four Great Swordsmen in Pleiades.
The leader of the Vorgs, who was blindly rushing, then collapsed.
A streak of blue light swept through them as red blood flowed. The bodies of several Vorgs were cleanly cut into two and rolled on the white frosted floor.
And the flock of crows scattered.
A white-haired swordsman dressed in all black then appeared in between the crows.
Kajsa’s eyes widened.
Scarlet looked up the sky and her eyes sparkled.
Cordelia said with a bright smile.
“Holy Angel Lena.”
White light rained down from the sky.
Just like the Day of Judgment that Cordelia used, dozens of light blades struck the wyverns in the lead.
“Keuaaaak!”
“Kaaaak! Kaak!”
Several wyverns and a couple of drakes in the front plummeted to the ground.
The vigorously flying wyverns faltered and instinctively felt fear at the white angel in front of them.
The members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.
Those members had arrived at Argon Port a few days before Jude and Cordelia, and they had done their duties properly.
They managed to call Ghostblade Kamael and Holy Angel Lena to this place.
And the appearance of those two could only mean one thing.
Matteo shuddered at the eerie sensation he felt that seemed to stab his back. For the first time since he became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, he looked back in fear.
He wasn’t the only one.
The entire force Sicilia mobilized also became aware of that presence. They couldn’t help but notice it given its huge presence.
A man who stood tall on the ground.
A giant who stood in the middle of the main road across the central square.
“May the muscles always be with you!”
Cordelia shouted in joy.
Kajsa was so surprised that she jumped up from her spot, while Scarlet swallowed hard at the appearance of a legend.
And that person responded to everyone’s gaze and attention.
“A mind of steel, an indomitable will, and an invincible body.”
Two adult Black Dragons.
Dozens of wyverns and a hundred Vorgs.
Matteo Luculia, the Sword of Heavy Pressure who was considered to be above average among the Ten Great Swordmasters of the kingdom.
The twenty elite swordsmen he raised.
Over a hundred demons and more than ten low-ranking demonic humans.
There were many of them. And powerful enough to destroy at least one city.
But that person wasn’t afraid at all.
Rather, he said with a smile that was like the sun.
“With my sixth door, I’ll pound you into rice cakes.”
Iron Man Landius.
The strongest force of humanity shook the entire Argon Port.