Duke Pendragon

Fwaaahh!

Soldrake turned her head after looking at the remnants of the breath fall below the sea surface. The dozens of ships that filled one side of the sea until a while ago were returning.

[Strange children.]

She wondered why they were acting as such, but quickly lost interest and flapped her wings once more. She had lost some energy after using her breath since she was away from the Pendragon territory.

She needed to avoid using her breath when she was not near her vein since it exhausted quite a bit of her mana. Nevertheless, she was busy, and she could not let those creatures block her way.

If the sea griffons had not dared to block her way, she would have chased them away, as she had done a while ago. But the griffons insisted on blocking her way like annoying flies, and she had chosen to deal with them in the most efficient way possible – using her breath.

“Whoaaaaa!”

Soldrake dropped her long neck at the sound of cheers. The humans on the large and small boats below the long cliff were shouting and waving their weapons toward her.

She was unaccustomed to human emotions, but she was able to recognize their state due to the time she spent with her companion. Their shouts were quite different from the humans who were aboard the retreating ships.

They were radiating joy and gratitude.

[As expected, what strange children.]

After muttering the same words, Soldrake continued to fly past the sea and over the city, recalling a certain someone.

[Ray…]

A few days ago, she felt a pulsation that was only known to her and Raven. It was a different, more intense energy than usual.

The resonance of the soul.

She naturally recognized Dragon Blade, the skill that could only be used with the Pendragon Duchy’s treasured blade, the Widow’s Scream.

Dragon Blade was similar, but slightly different from the Aura Blades that was wielded by the very few, special humans called ‘Sword Masters’. The Aura Blade was a manifestation of the mana by those who were born with the fate of a wizard but walked the path of the sword.

Aura Blade could be formed by erupting one’s entire mana supply, then embodying the energy through specially crafted magic swords. On the other hand, Dragon Blade could only be expressed by one person in the world, the one who possessed Dragon Fear in their body. In other words, it was an exclusive skill of the Duke of Pendragon.

However, if the duke had a weak sensitivity or connection with Soldrake, he could not utilize Dragon Blade. If they attempted to force themselves, the Dragon Fear could go out of control and cripple the user.

The original Alan Pendragon had suffered through a similar case.

Ordinary people were unable to face Soldrake’s Dragon Fear. The only ones capable of accepting and controlling the Dragon Fear were the legitimate successors of the Pendragon Duchy.

However, Alan Pendragon was weak in both body and mind. Never mind controlling Dragon Fear and using Dragon Blade, he had failed to even overcome the pressure of Soldrake’s Dragon Fear, failing to make a contract with Soldrake.

And in return, he had been crippled.

However, Raven Valt was different.

He had honed his firm will and burning vengeance over the decade he spent on the battlefield. It had worked as the most important factor in allowing him to succeed in making a contract with Soldrake.

His strong will even allowed him to succeed in expressing Dragon Blade, which only two of the previous dukes had ever accomplished.

[But…]

Soldrake was a little anxious.

Dragon Blade consumed great physical and mental strength. Most of all, when a special ability such as Dragon Blade was used, other beings beside Soldrake could detect its presence.

And one of the beings was,

[Biskra…]

Soldrake recalled one of her brothers that she had not seen in a long time. Biskra was different from the other dragons in many ways.

He was irritable and vicious, and he was jealous and hated other dragons. It was not by his will that he lived alone deep in the sea.

He had been driven away by the other dragons, led by the Dragon Queen Soldrake.

On the condition that he would never set foot on the mainland again, Soldrake and the other dragons tolerated whatever he did at sea. In fact, until the founding of the Aragon Empire, Biskra had reaped countless lives at sea, not bothering to hide his horrors.

However, after the founding of the empire, his reign of terror suddenly stopped. In fact, he disappeared from the eyes of the world entirely.

It was later learned that he had come to form some kind of relationship with a human family called Arangis. It was suspicious, but the dragons condoned the relationship because he did not cause any more trouble.

Hundreds of years passed like that.

The horrible myth of the sea dragon, who once terrorized the inland sea and all ports, disappeared after the long passage of time. The dragons also forgot the work of their exiled brothers as they lived on in their own territories.

However, Dragon Blade had appeared near Biskra’s oceanic territory, and the energy belonged to the one he despised the most, Soldrake.

Soldrake knew that Biskra would not sit still. As such, she had set off for the South as soon as she sensed Raven’s Dragon Blade.

But strangely, she could not feel any trace of Biskra. He must have sensed her presence over the sea, but he did not even send a signal, let alone show up.

[…..]

Strange as it may have been, Soldrake gave up thinking about it. Biskra supported the man named Arangis, and Arangis had been the first to attack her companion.

As the contracted of the Pendragon Duchy and as the Queen of the Dragons, she intended to carry out her duties.

***

“Hmm, this seems to be the place.”

Kilian arrived at the cliff, then spoke after looking around. The time it took and the terrain were the same as Baltai had said.

“We will be going down the cliff! We do not know what exists down there, so don’t neglect your surroundings.”

“Yes!”

The soldiers started to unravel the rope wrapped around their waists at Killian’s words.

“Milner, send the griffons. According to what Baltai said, the last of the trackers had disappeared around there. They wiped out the demonic army and the lizardmen, so observe the surroundings very carefully.”

“Yes, Sir Killian.”

Soon, Theo Milner flew towards the forest under the cliff with several griffons.

“The forest is too dense and deep. I wonder if we will be able to find anything.”

Killian licked his lips as he observed the griffons disappearing in a flash. Even though the griffons were able to fly and possessed good eyesight, it would be a little difficult to scout through the dense, wide forest that stretched to the end of the horizon.

“Then the orcs will go.”

Karuta stepped up.

“The Ancona friends? Well, are you sure?”

He did not doubt the orcs’ ability, but Karuta asked in a concerned voice. They were treading in unknown territory after all.

Karuta grinned after tapping his large fang.

“Where do you think we were born and lived our whole lives?”

“…I made a mistake. Then I will have to burden you.”

Although it was not comparable to the Great Forest, the Ancona Forest was quite large as well. Furthermore, monsters had roamed its depth and no one dared to enter until the mausoleum had been recaptured.

Karuta and the other orc warriors had lived and fought in the dangerous depths of the Ancona Forest their whole lives.

“We will head down first and take a look first. Let’s go, you orcs!”

“Guwuh!”

The Ancona Orc warriors headed down the cliff at Karuta’s words.

“Huh…!”

Killian shook his head helplessly as the orc warriors climbed down the steep cliff without bothering to use any safety devices.

“Ready, Sir Killian!”

“Good! We will head down as well.”

The soldiers of the Pendragon Duchy began to descend the cliff one by one at Killian’s words.

“Please hold on, Your Excellency.”

Killian, the head knight of the Pendragon Duchy, once again strengthened his will as he gazed into the dark, green forest.

***

“…..”

The Red Moon Valley elves observed their surroundings with anxious expressions.

Bizarre stone statues stood erect in random places and unknown patterns were carved into the structures where buildings once stood. Moreover, tree roots and vines had overgrown and occupied the structures, making it difficult to recognize their identity.

After they passed the long stone wall, which was covered in moss, they could see several buildings of a historical city. The large, magnificent buildings were engraved with the faces of the ancient gods long forgotten, and the thick roots wrapped around the stone seemed to represent that they had been left unattended for many years.

However, the stone structures that made up the floors and buildings were sophisticated, solid, and strong enough to withstand the passing of hundreds or even thousands of years.

“To think a place like this existed in the Great Forest…”

Eltuan spoke in an admiring voice as she looked around the area.

“…..”

Raven continued to walk without giving an answer, cutting up the branches and bushes that barricaded his way.

When he first arrived here in the past, he and the soldiers of the demonic army had been even more surprised than Eltuan and the elven warriors.

Most of the demonic army were ignorant, but some of them stemmed from noble or knightly backgrounds. After they saw the ruins, they made a fuss, saying that the buildings were definitely constructed by an ancient civilization, and that they might contain ancient relics or treasures.

But there had been no such things.

When the demonic army had entered with high spirits, something else had been waiting for them…

“Everyone, get ready. It’s about to start.”

Raven arrived in a relatively large, open space in front of the largest building around.

“Huh?”

“Their attack. Eltuan, Ellaja. As I said yesterday, the two of you will stand around me with the nimblest warriors.”

Eltuan remembered Raven’s words from the night before. She signaled to her brother Ellaja and several other elven warriors.

Soon, a dozen warriors gathered around Raven in a circle, and the rest of the warriors got into groups of around fifteen warriors before taking something out of their waist.

They held leather pockets filled with oil. They had extracted it from the body of the ogre from a while ago.

Whoosh…

A small burst of wind swept through the quiet space.

Craack!

A sound resembling splitting stone resounded, and the elven warriors turned their heads.

Craack! Crack!

The roots and the vines were moving. Rather, the buildings that were wounded in vines started to fracture and rise up as if they were alive.

Kiee…

Their body shapes were similar to humans, but the wings on their backs and the distorted faces betrayed their identity. They were gargoyles.

“Now!”

As soon as Raven shouted, the elven warriors hurled their leather pockets towards the entrance of the building.

Thud! Thuud!

The leather bags drew a large arc in the air before striking the gargoyles as the creatures began appearing between the roots and vines.

Kiyaaaaaat!I

The gargoyles let loose a long cry as the yellow oil dyed their stone bodies. It was bizarre to see nearly a hundred gargoyles become mobile atop of the ancient temple, letting out a wail altogether.

But the Red Moon Valley elves were not startled at the sigh. They quickly prepared their next action. In an instant, arrows aimed towards the gargoyles, and some of the elves quickly dashed while lighting the arrowheads with fire.

“Everybody, fire!”

With Raven’s roar as the signal, the flaming arrows flew into the air, leaving behind a red trail.

“Let’s go!”

Simultaneously, dozens of warriors charged forward with Raven and Eltuan at the head.

Fwoosh!

The Dragon’s Spirit wound around Raven’s two swords.

“That is our target!”

Raven’s gaze shone with a deep blue ray. His gaze was headed towards a red gargoyle with two long horns sticking out of its forehead. The monster was easily twice as large as the others, and it looked down towards Raven with its arms crossed.