Chapter 262: Chapter 262

Chapter 262: Era of Dragons (4)

A fierce wind slapped his cheeks.

Park Siwoo was in a state of extreme tension due to the grip of the massive claws wrapped around his body. The blue dragon, Calsar, who had snatched him up and brought him here, opened its mouth bluntly.

―We have arrived, human. This is the place where you must roll.

The earth shook as Park Siwoo landed.

Where he landed was a desolate field.

But it was no ordinary field.

Thousands, tens of thousands of sword strikes were engraved on the ground, and a chilling fighting spirit that did not scatter even after thousands of years lingered in the air.

[You have entered the 'First Dragon Knight's Training Ground'!]

[In the days when dragons and humans first interacted, there was a knight who dedicated his life to piercing dragon scales.]

[This is the place where his thought form sleeps!]

Park Siwoo's head turned sharply.

Worn-out armor, yet emitting a bizarrely overwhelming presence.

The eye gleam shooting out from between the helmet stared piercingly at Park Siwoo.

It was the First Dragon Knight's thought form.

―I heard there is no time. Let's start immediately.

"Huh? Wait, at least some explanation...!"

―There is no explanation as good as actual combat.

The thought form's sword sliced through space.

He instinctively summoned the Holy Sword to block, but his body was bounced off by the tremendous weight.

He felt it instinctively.

It wasn't a simple difference in muscle strength.

The weight carried at the tip of the sword itself was different.

―Your sword is too light. Do not try to cut wide. Dragon scales are harder than mountain ranges. Striking a rock with a rock only breaks both. To pierce a rock, you must become an awl.

The thought form readjusted its grip on the sword.

Despite being a massive greatsword, the energy gathered at its tip was smaller than a needle's eye.

Park Siwoo, who had rolled on the ground after being bounced off, barely regained his balance.

His wrist throbbed as if it would snap from just a single blow.

He wasn't pushed back simply by strength.

That blow just now was an overwhelming violence of mass, as if forcibly crumpling a massive mountain range into a single needle's eye and slamming it down.

Pressure that would have made an ordinary swordsman lose their will to fight.

But Park Siwoo's eyes as he raised his head were glistening with a strange euphoria instead of fear.

A flash-like realization grazing his mind made his heart pound crazily.

"...I think I know that."

Park Siwoo staggered as he raised his body.

There was no hesitation in the motion of wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

Inside the helmet of the First Dragon Knight's thought form, the blue eye gleam rippled as if interested.

―Ho? You think you know?

"The Compression Lady Elaudia talked about. And the awl you showed. In the end, they're the same thing. Not spreading the power, but cramming it crazily into one point."

Park Siwoo readjusted his grip on the Holy Sword Arphesia.

The holy light flowing along the blade was trembling minutely.

―But, knowing is not enough.

The thought form slowly raised its greatsword.

The pressure, as if crushing space itself, filled the training ground.

―Prove it! That your mouth is not just bluffing!

The thought form disappearing from vision was instantaneous.

He instinctively raised his sword to block the front.

Along with a roar tearing the eardrums, Park Siwoo's knees buckled deeply.

Even though he blocked it, every bone in his body screamed.

But Park Siwoo did not back down.

He gritted his teeth and forcibly blocked the divine power trying to burst out.

'Don't release it. Lock it in a single point.'

He shoved the mana, which would normally have been spewed out flashily, inside the blade, deeper.

His blood vessels swelled as if to burst and his muscles spasmed, but he did not stop.

A groan like a beast burst out from Park Siwoo's mouth.

The continuous attacks poured out by the thought form's sword were like a storm. A rain of steel driving incessantly.

Within that, Park Siwoo swung his sword desperately.

Kang! Ka-ang! Kwajeek!

At first, it was close to a one-sided beating.

But as it passed over ten exchanges, a strange change occurred. Dull rupture sounds began to mix in with Park Siwoo's sword, which used to bounce off lightly.

Park Siwoo's pupils became blurry as if unfocused.

State of selflessness (Trance).

The genius recognized by the System was blooming.

The trajectory of the sword wielded by the thought form, the operation of power, even the minute tremors of the muscles.

Park Siwoo's eyes were sucking in all that information like a sponge.

[Your talent greedily absorbs swordsmanship!]

[The acquisition speed of swordsmanship increases explosively!]

[Skill generating...]

The principles of swordsmanship were rearranged in his head as if complex formulas were being fitted together.

To pierce a rock, one must become harder than a rock.

To become harder than a rock, one must harbor more than a rock in a single point.

Park Siwoo's sword slowed down.

It wasn't that he was tired.

Space began to distort around the blade of the Holy Sword Arphesia.

Divine power compressed to such high density that even light couldn't escape gathered at the tip of the sword.

The eye gleam inside the thought form's helmet shook greatly.

'...Look at this guy?'

It's a technique never taught.

This young human was stealing the principle merely shown to him in real-time and making it his own.

He wasn't even simply containing density and weight.

How much will be contained within that small single point?

―Interesting! Let's see how much you can take!

The thought form's sword strikes became even rougher.

But Park Siwoo was smiling.

With a face covered in blood, like a child who had just received a new toy.

Every time Park Siwoo swung his sword, a heavy bass sound resonated in the air.

It was no longer a sharp sword.

It was a massive blunt weapon crushing everything it touched, and at the same time, an awl piercing through everything.

Park Siwoo roared and dug into the thought form's front.

His sword tip rotated in a spiral, emitting a fierce momentum.

The moment the genius's strike, which had begun to apply his own color beyond simple imitation, exploded.

[Your genius talent has gained enlightenment!]

[You have mastered the first style of the Dragon Slayer Sword!]

[1. Dragon Slayer Sword ― Spiral]

The entire training ground shook violently as if an earthquake had occurred.

In front of Park Siwoo, who was gasping for rough breath, the thought form was nodding as if satisfied.

"Now is the time to refine that awl precisely."

"As much as you want."

At the fact that there was still more to learn, Park Siwoo smiled brightly.

She was also heading toward a new place.

"We have arrived. This is the Penance Room."

The place the green dragon dropped her off was the deepest and darkest underground of the city, the 'Corridor of Silence'.

A strange space surrounded by mirrors on all sides.

Han Siah, left alone in the middle, slowly raised her head.

[You have entered the 'Room of Mirrors'.]

[Light always accompanies shadow.]

[This is the place to face one's contradictions and determine their form.]

Soon after, the illusion of a dragon with silver scales rippled inside the mirror.

It was the thought form of a Silver Dragon.

She narrowed her eyes as if piercing through Han Siah.

―Possessing the power of light, yet its essence is darker than pitch black. Death. The god you serve is completely disparate from your original ability.

Han Siah smiled bitterly.

The god she served was Kim Minwoo, who handles 'death'.

But the power she actually possessed was healing and light that saves lives.

―Child. You, madness-filled priest. What was so regrettable? I see darkness surging in the deepest part of your heart...

"I was always... passive."

Park Siwoo swings the Holy Sword Arphesia to cut the enemy's neck.

Seo Yerim, who obtained the alias Divine Archer, was the same.

They slaughter those blocking Kim Minwoo's path.

They protect Kim Minwoo by eliminating threats in advance.

But she was different.

Her power only proved its worth when Kim Minwoo was hurt.

A passive authority that only operated when he bled and suffered the pain of flesh being torn off.

Like a battery that uses His pain as fuel.

Han Siah bit her lip tightly.

Her eyes in the mirror wavered.

What she wanted was not the clean-up after the fact.

The power to first tear apart and judge the approaching 'heretics' so they wouldn't dare inflict a single scratch on His jade body.

She wanted punishment, not prayer.

"...I don't want to be a shield anymore... I want to be a sword. So I won't just watch helplessly anymore..."

It was at that moment.

The Silver Dragon in the mirror smiled gently and spoke.

―It is a contradiction. But Dragon techniques can flip even that contradiction into a 'form'.

The Silver Dragon's voice wrapped seductively around her ears.

―We change our massive true bodies into human forms. That is Polymorph. A technique to change the shell while maintaining the essence. If so, wouldn't you be able to flip your divinity of death as well?

―Think of it this way. You are a dragon. But only your outward appearance has changed into a human. The dragon sleeps deep within your heart. But you can return to that form anytime. If only you set your mind to it...

Han Siah's eyes became dreamy, as if realizing something.

If the divinity of death is the dragon's true body.

Her form of light was merely a human form, if compared to a dragon.

Like a dragon pretending to be a human by transforming with Polymorph!

She had merely been deceiving others by pretending to be a Priest of Light.

The essence is a dragon.

[Your genius talent allows you to acquire bizarre enlightenment!]

Han Siah's heart beat roughly.

"...Please teach me that."

Madness-filled desire lingered in Han Siah's eyes.

There was no hesitation.

She was only filled with the conviction that she could become a more useful tool for Kim Minwoo.

―Good. Imagine the darkness dormant within you. More intensely than anything else! And define that as your new 'form'! I will help you...

The power of punishment to tear apart those blocking His path.

Benevolence becomes cool killing intent, and healing transforms into terrible pain.

The holy light at her fingertips died black.

It was no longer a light for salvation.

The Room of Mirrors was dyed in black light.

The pure white priest robes wrapping Han Siah's body began to be dyed pitch-black in an instant.

The neat hem of her clothes transformed boldly as if being torn, and the holy atmosphere changed into a suffocating decadent beauty and killing intent.

[Your blind faith blooms a new possibility!]

[Skill Reversal: 'Death Saintess' is generated!]

Han Siah exhaled a deep breath.

Her pale skin stood out even more, and her eyes were bloodshot red, shining bewitchingly.

An overwhelming sense of liberation was felt all over her body, as if a fish that had been walking on land had entered the sea.

She reached out into the air.

Then, instead of warm healing light, a black fog that corroded everything it touched rose up.

[You are in 'Death Saintess' state.]

[All healing skills are reversed to 'Death' and 'Punishment'!]

[Divine power is converted to 'Death' attribute, explosively increasing attack power.]

She smiled ecstatically while looking at her reflection in the mirror.

It was closer to the appearance of a witch seducing a Reaper than a saintess.

Han Siah moved her lips, which were dyed black.

"I can mete out proper punishment to His enemies."

A pure white healer and a pitch-black executioner.

She had now become Kim Minwoo's perfect shadow.