Chapter 14

The air was foul and oppressive. A shiver clawed up my spine.

Above me stretched a sky where blood-red and ash-gray swirled together, eternal, with no sense of day or night. The air pressed heavy. Every breath set my whole body aching. Now and then, distant wails echoed—chilling the nape of my neck.

I didn’t know what this place was. Another continent? No… impossible. The Forest of Demons? No, there wasn’t a single tree in sight. Only stone and sand.

Even the smallest movement weighed me down, breath short, and each ragged breath brought pain. At least when I sat cross-legged and cultivated, my mind and body calmed, easing the pain. Sometimes, pitch-black liquid seeped from my skin, and when it did, the relief was beyond words.

Screeeech…

The eerie sound drew nearer. It reminded me of the desert, when I first fell.

I kept walking. Thanks to the Totoro fruit, food was no concern. I never skipped training. The refined Dragon Heart still rested in my robes.

First, I had to learn what this place was. For that, I had to move. Had to meet someone. And if I met beasts or monsters? I didn’t fear it. They would only serve as practice.

So I walked.

Time passed. I couldn’t tell night from day, but by monitoring my body’s rhythms, I counted the days. At least a year had gone by.

Much had changed. My clothes had changed. My personality had changed. I’d fought countless battles. The confidence I had when I first arrived had long since hardened into struggle. I moved to survive, I fought to survive.

The power I had once carried was nothing but arrogance. I’d been a fool, blind to what lay ahead.

For more than a year, I hadn’t seen another person. To keep my sanity, I thought… thought endlessly. I chased one thought into the next, never letting go, so my mind wouldn’t rot in emptiness. When thinking alone wasn’t enough, I moved, exhausting my body. Perhaps that was why I was still alive.

Screeeech…

That sound.

Its source wasn’t a beast. Nor a monster. It was a demon beast.

The moment I saw it, I knew—because the knowledge in my mind told me so.

Four eyes. Six legs. A grotesque creature. Now I could kill them easily. But at first, I barely survived. Magic didn’t work. Steel didn’t work. Only by imbuing my blade with mana could I pierce their hide.

Those battles honed me—sharpened me.

This was the Demon Realm. The portal had been a dimensional gate leading here.

At first, I denied it. The Demon Realm? Out of nowhere? I denied it again and again. But the knowledge in my mind forced me to face reality.

My fate was cruel. It was my fault, yet I refused to accept it.

“Khak!”

I coughed blood into my hand. Without panic, I sat cross-legged and began my breathing technique.

The air was poisoned. Magi—demonic energy—seeped into me with every breath. My circulation filtered most of it, but some always remained, building up inside me.

That corruption twisted me. Made me cruel, brutal. Sometimes, I wasted strength for no reason, drunk on power.

Whenever that happened, I forced myself deeper into thought, deeper into breathing, so I wouldn’t fall into deviation.

Training made me stronger, filled me with mana—but it also filled me with magi. And once magi accumulated too much, even cultivation couldn’t cleanse it.

That was when I discovered something new: refined Dragon Hearts could purify magi.

It was recent knowledge. And a dangerous temptation.

Because I didn’t know when—or if—I could escape this place. And so, I couldn’t rely on the Dragon Hearts forever.

Right now, they were nothing less than the tools keeping me alive. My lifeline.

Hazabut’s party returned to the Widav Kingdom after two days.

Two-thirds of them were dead, yet no one grieved anymore. Instead, they resolved to grant the dead men’s rewards to the survivors. That decision swept sorrow aside and left only greed.

Hazabut and Dumaine set down their burdens and went to face the king.

“We greet Your Majesty.”

Hazabut spoke first, bowing low. Dumaine followed.

“May glory dwell with you always.”

The king of Widav wore plain clothes, his face bright with a smile.

“You’ve done well.”

“We regret to have caused you worry, Your Majesty.”

“No, no. I’m glad you were able to pursue such a great cause.”

They traded a few more ceremonial words. Then the king dismissed the ministers standing by his side and spoke to the two of them alone.

“So, what did you achieve?”

Curiosity filled the king’s face.

Hazabut gave a full account of the expedition—without a written report, since the matter had been secret. The king listened with admiration, sometimes sighing.

When Hazabut finished, the king frowned slightly.

“So… no great results?”

Hazabut kept silent about the refined Dragon Heart.

“There were no immediate gains, but we are conducting a detailed study of the mana field covering the entire Demon King’s Temple. If we can learn to harness it, our military strength will rise immeasurably.”

“Hm. Not wrong.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Should other kingdoms’ magic corps ever encounter it, they would suffer a crushing defeat.”

“I look forward to it.”

“My apologies, Your Majesty. Though this time yielded little, I believe with a few more attempts, the opportunity will come.”

Hazabut bowed deeper. Dumaine, who had maintained silence throughout, lowered his head as well.

“I shall expect it, then. For now, you haven’t even had time to rest after your journey. Take your leave.”

“Your grace, Your Majesty.”

Hazabut and Dumaine went straight to the top of the Magic Tower.

In his office, Hazabut drew a transparent vial from his robes. Inside glimmered a faintly glowing blue liquid.

“Take it.”

The scent of mana hung thick.

“A Mana Elixir.”

Dumaine’s gaze darkened. This was the reason he had agreed to the expedition. With the Mana Elixir, he could push through his stagnation and rise to a higher realm. But now… they had discovered a refined Dragon Heart. Compared to that, this elixir hardly mattered.

Still, he accepted it and tucked it into his robes.

“What do you intend to do with the… other thing?”

“….”

Dumaine didn’t answer.

He was the one who found it, but that didn’t mean he could claim it as his own. It was something even kept from the king. If he tried to handle it alone, would Hazabut stay silent? Of course not. He’d expose everything, and Dumaine would end up a hunted man. They’d tear his heart out with burning eyes. Even if he absorbed the Dragon Heart, he couldn’t fight an entire kingdom.

“You’d best decide quickly—for both our sakes.”

Hazabut was right. Clean handling was the only path forward. But how could one split the mana of a refined Dragon Heart in half? There was no such method.

“I’ll leave it to your research. Even a rough way to divide it would be useful.”

“I already have a few ideas… but first I’ll need the item itself to study.”

“Hm…”

Dumaine didn’t like it. If Hazabut used some mage’s trick to steal it or drain the mana, he would have no way to stop him. Against magic, he was ignorant and weak. A life spent with a sword left him unfit to read the schemes of an old sorcerer.

Still, the artifact seemed to defend itself. Maybe that was protection enough.

“I’ll contact you soon.”

Dumaine nodded slowly. Hazabut smiled inside, polite on the surface.

‘Fool.’

“Could I see it just once today? Not for study—just to look. I’ll sleep better if I do, hahahaha.”

Dumaine led the old mage to his home, showed him the Dragon Heart locked under four layers of safeguards, then sent him away.

Thirty days passed.

Hazabut visited Dumaine every other day, claiming to check on the Dragon Heart’s safety. So often, in fact, that nobles in Wiv whispered about their sudden closeness. Once, they had looked at each other like ox and chicken—mutually indifferent. Now they met almost daily, and tongues wagged. But the two men themselves, consumed by guarding and watching over the treasure, hardly noticed.

Dumaine, meanwhile, spent ten days consuming the Mana Elixir. Instead of training, he meditated—fusing the new mana with his own so it wouldn’t clash.

Across the continent, every kingdom had its own supreme mana techniques. Efficiency varied wildly depending on the method, so research into better mana cultivation continued even now.

“That should do… heh.”

Opening his eyes from meditation, Dumaine smiled as he rose.

The Mana Elixir had fully absorbed into him. His mana had increased by roughly ten percent, and his sensitivity to it had sharpened. Such small margins could decide life and death. Yet he felt no satisfaction. He had seen the Dragon Heart. Compared to that, the Elixir was nothing.

He wanted it for himself.

That desire grew stronger with each passing day—until at last, it devoured him. He accepted the greed.

The Dragon Heart must be his.

He sat at his desk, pulled out a sheet of parchment, and picked up his pen.

“You’re requesting leave?”

“Just three days.”

Count Gaontri, the Minister of the Interior, looked up at Dumaine, eyes full of unspoken questions.

“No special reason?”

“No. I’ve hit a bottleneck and feel stifled. Thought I’d clear my head.”

A Master-level knight was one of the kingdom’s greatest weapons. Dumaine was one of the few Widav possessed. He had his role to play. Another Master commanded the knight order, but Dumaine was assigned as reserve force—kept for emergencies. Unless war broke out or grave crises erupted, even his absence wouldn’t cripple them.

Gaontri checked through the recent papers to be sure nothing urgent had occurred.

Dumaine waited silently.

“Hm. Very well. Travel safely.”

Gaontri smiled as he set aside the papers, then signed the parchment Dumaine handed over.

“Thank you. Then I’ll be off.”

Business concluded, Dumaine returned at once to his residence and summoned his butler—his companion of eight years. More than loyal, he was one of the few people Dumaine truly trusted.

The butler sensed immediately that something was about to happen.

“Yes, my lord?”

“There’s an item I want you to acquire.”