Chapter 96

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 96:The Dragon God Drakia Returns

Drakina is connected to Kalvine?

The first thing that came to mind was the Dragon God, Drakia.

As soon as I received the red gem from Hercules, a familiar voice echoed.

The voice of the Dragon God, Drakia.

[It’s been a while.]

“How did this happen?”

[Thor was determined to capture me. I was about to self-destruct, but the Lord of Chaos intervened and sealed me.]

Drakia spoke indifferently.

Did the ‘Smiling Devil’ help?

“Was Kalvine destroyed?”

[The planet wasn’t completely obliterated, but its civilization was annihilated.]

“Hm, I haven’t been able to access it for a while…”

[Is that so? Time should have simply been rewound. Isn't that strange?]

That’s true.

If it was like Eshtar, it should’ve just been reversed.

What exactly happened?

Oh, right—there’s a Lord of Chaos here too.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Is it only audible to me? The thing is…”

When I asked Hercules about my doubts, he answered simply.

“Of course. We’re only rewinding time in specific regions.”

“Only in specific regions?”

So they were only rewinding certain areas?

Ah… that makes sense.

Thinking back, in Kevrian, I was in the fortress, and only the areas near the fortress seemed to rewind.

Once the first phase ended, the second phase began in a different location, where the quest continued.

In Kalvine, I was in the dragon’s lair.

Originally, the situation was unwinnable, so I ran away, making me an irregular case.

A quest even appeared to kill Drakina.

In Eshtar, people only kept going through Erundal and the surrounding dungeon areas—they never seemed to visit other nations.

So only the designated stage areas had their time rewound?

“Yeah, think of it like this—on Earth, instead of rewinding the entire planet, it’s like only rewinding time in the Greece region. Reversing time for the whole world would consume too much SP.”

Hercules frowned as if displeased.

“They should’ve just invaded Earth directly and destroyed everything, but because of others’ greed… The vote was rejected, 3 to 2.”

“What vote?”

“Olympus proposed a deal. They suggested splitting the SP generated from this so-called ‘Broken World.’ In exchange, we would delay the invasion of Earth.”

“What? Split the SP?”

“Yeah, the Smiling Devil was the most proactive supporter of the deal. That bastard definitely received SP as a bribe from Olympus.”

The Smiling Devil…

He was acting strangely in Kalvine too.

He just stood by and watched the irregular situation?

He didn’t agree with Asgard’s time reversal.

“What’s his true identity?”

“I don’t know. He wears a mask.”

“You guys aren’t very close, huh?”

“There’s no reason to be. Enough with the questions—we’re talking about the Lord of Chaos, after all. I can’t just reveal everything.”

Hercules waved his hand dismissively.

Well, that’s disappointing, but that’s as far as I’ll get.

“Then, I’ll be going.”

“Oh, but can you do me one more favor?”

“…What is it?”

“Summon one more A-rank dungeon.”

“Why?”

“So Drakina can train too.”

Hercules glanced at Drakina, who had been frozen since he arrived.

Then, surprisingly, he agreed without much resistance.

“The descendant of the Dragon God? Hmm, fine.”

That was easier than expected.

When he touched the ground, two navy-colored dungeon portals appeared.

“From now on, I’ll summon two at a time. Handle them yourself.”

Then, just like that, Hercules disappeared.

As soon as he was gone, the Dragon God spoke to me again.

[Asgard will keep looking for me, so let’s enter the dungeon.]

“Understood. Do you have anything to say to Drakina?”

[Now is not the time.]

Drakia cut the conversation short.

No sense of family affection, huh?

“Got it. Drakina, are you going over there?”

“…Yeah, I got it.”

Drakina, who had been frozen stiff since Hercules appeared, disappeared into the dungeon first.

I stepped into the adjacent A-rank dungeon.

This time, the dungeon had a desert-like environment.

Since there were no enemies in sight yet, I continued talking with the Dragon God.

“How exactly did things unfold?”

[Sigh… The destruction of Kalvine was a success.]

The dragons faithfully followed the orders of the Dragon God.

Meteor showers rained down indiscriminately, hitting both the Order and Neutral factions.

At first, the Holy Empire resisted with their divine barriers, but they couldn’t withstand the high-level magic fueled by dragon hearts.

[I didn’t get to witness the complete destruction myself. Thor’s elite Valkyries pursued me, and I was about to self-destruct before they could capture me. But then, out of nowhere, the Smiling Devil appeared and sealed me inside this gem.]

“You saw him?”

[No. He just said, ‘This should be fun,’ and sealed me.]

What the hell is that guy’s deal?

While inside the A-rank dungeon, I briefly explained everything that had happened so far to Drakia.

[So, the Lord of Chaos will descend no matter what in 2030?]

“Yes.”

[Not much time left, then.]

That’s for sure.

[But at least Hercules thinks highly of you. Shortening your path to A-rank is a huge advantage. And if your soul-related class upgrades again, other factions will value you even more.]

“Is that so?”

[Even as a Soul Mediator, you already possess impressive abilities. If you go beyond that, Olympus and Asgard will both be desperate to recruit you.]

That makes sense.

As my level and rank rise, SP becomes the key resource.

And since I have skills that generate SP efficiently, my value skyrockets.

If a normal awakened one encountered the enemy Lord of Chaos, they would’ve tried everything to take them down.

But instead, the gods of Asgard ordered that I be treated well.

Considering that, maybe I can afford to be a little reckless.

[So, what do you plan to do now? Will you crush Olympus and Asgard’s schemes as Hercules suggested? Or will you cooperate with them to create a new god?]

There are multiple choices.

I could hinder Zeus and Odin’s time reversal or take sides with either of them.

But I don’t really want to side with them.

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I just can’t trust them.

“Well, for now, I’ll focus on getting stronger and watching how things unfold. I’m too weak at the divine level right now—I died from a single attack by a Substitute.”

[Haha. Yes, at the very least, you need to reach godhood to survive.]

“But honestly, I don’t like Olympus or Asgard that much. They’ve already wronged me, and if they become creators, they’ll probably wipe Earth clean.”

[Then… should I interfere a little?]

“Interfere?”

[No, just give me a little SP support.]

With that, Drakia asked for 100,000 SP.

Now that my income had increased, I opened the trade window without hesitation and threw it in.

Then, light leaked out from the gem, and a small dragon, about the size of my body, appeared in a semi-transparent form.

Drakia stared at the gem for a moment before breathing fire.

The gem burned pitch black, and a shrill scream rang out.

Seeing that, he smirked.

[Did you think I wouldn’t notice that you hid the ‘Eye of the Demon’?]

Was it something hidden by the ‘Smiling Demon’?

Of course, they wouldn’t just let it go easily.

Then, Drakia breathed fire once more.

The pitch-black gem returned to a red glow and sparkled.

[Now, I can reside normally. Tell me, how much is my awakening percentage?]

“It’s at 6% now.”

[Until I recover to at least 20%, I’ll have to stay in the dungeon.]

“What do you plan to do then?”

[Once I recover my strength, I will go to Kevrian.]

The dragon raised its transparent arm and drew lines across the ground.

[Olympus and Asgard’s main source of income is the SP that comes from Earth. Additionally, as extra income, they are taking over divine seats on five planets and extracting SP from them.]

“That’s right. Isn’t this something they split in half with the forces of Chaos?”

[Indeed. By the way, what is my SP income from soul mediation looking like right now?]

At his words, I checked the soul mediation window.

Drakia’s SP earnings had slightly decreased.

He used to earn 6,000 to 7,000, but now it was around 5,000.

If the soul mediation level increased from 6 to 7, his earnings should have increased since a higher skill level expands the mediation range.

But despite the level-up, the earnings had actually decreased, meaning the overall income had dropped significantly.

“It’s gone down quite a bit.”

[SP from the planet Kalvine has almost completely disappeared. Since it's on the verge of total destruction, there’s no one left to send SP. However, Kevrian is still in relatively good shape. You mentioned that entry there is restricted, correct?]

“Yes.”

[Why is entry restricted?]

“Good question. What is the defeated Elprian up to? She’s still steadily sending SP through soul mediation.”

[If Elprian had been quietly handling SP mediation, Kevrian would have reopened. But considering the broken world still hasn’t been restored, there must be some kind of problem.]

Could that be the case?

Elprian had all her limbs severed and was basically a clay doll.

Could she still be up to something in that state?

Well, if she’s been gathering SP, she might have recovered her strength somehow...

The soul mediation contract with Elprian was made quite early on, so she should have accumulated a decent amount of SP.

If a divine-level being decides to escape, it’s notoriously difficult to catch them, as proven by the Dragon God.

The Dragon God rampaged on Kalvine, but Elprian doesn’t seem like the type to cause an obvious disturbance.

Could she be scheming something, which is why Kevrian hasn’t been reopened?

[Elprian is a very cunning woman. In the struggle for dominance over Kevrian, I fell for her devious tricks more than once. She must be up to something again.]

Is that so?

She seemed kindhearted to me...

Then again, I’ve only seen her as a pitiful figure with her limbs severed.

[This time, we’ll need to cooperate with her. Once I recover my strength, I’ll go with you and try to persuade her. Without your mediation, she won’t cooperate with me.]

“How big of an enemy were you to each other?”

[Well, I simply devoured several of her children right before her eyes. That wretched woman’s screams were quite satisfying. Elven gods have an especially strong attachment to their kin.]

Drakia spoke as if it was nothing.

Damn, this guy is something else.

Is it really okay to take him along?

Won’t they try to kill each other on sight?

As I looked at him with skepticism, Drakia shook his head.

[That was already thousands of years ago. No matter how attached she is to her bloodline, she should know how to separate personal matters from business.]

“Well, if you say so. First, let’s get you to 20% recovery. How do you plan to do that?”

[Can you provide SP two more times?]

Twice?

That’s 200,000 SP... It would cost 300,000 in total.

Well, that’s just two days’ worth.

I should invest.

I also need to receive the Dragon God's awakening reward.

“I can do it.”

[Thank you. After you give me the SP, hand the gem over to Drakina. I will need her flesh and blood. I’ll gradually consume her in the dungeon.]

You’re going to eat your daughter to recover?

This guy...

He really doesn’t have the vibe of a benevolent god.

“Drakina won’t die, right?”

[I have no interest in killing the golden goose. She is essential to my recovery.]

Though I couldn’t feel a shred of fatherly affection in his words, the way he said it made me believe he would keep Drakina alive.

Rather than a daughter, she seemed more like a spare life supply.

“Alright. I’ll do it that way from now on.”

[Good. You should focus on leveling up. Reaching A-rank is crucial. I’ll make sure they don’t interfere.]

“Understood.”

I easily cleared an A-rank dungeon and handed Drakia’s gem over to Drakina.

Drakina looked like she was about to die for a moment but then forced a smile, saying she would gladly serve the Dragon God.

Tch, just don’t get eaten too much.

And so, after completing my 10th A-rank dungeon—

I finally received the long-awaited message.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have reached Level 200.]

[Translator - Night]

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