Chapter 264: Chapter 264

Chapter 264: Era of Dragons (6)

The pitch-black curtain of darkness slowly lifted.

The revealed landscape was truly a silent hellscape.

Dozens of Adult Dragons that had been pushing Park Siwoo just moments ago were scattered on the floor, having lost their heads.

Their persistent life force and the monster-like regenerative power that reattached severed heads were powerless before true death.

Han Siah stood alone in the middle of that mountain of corpses.

Dressed in a pitch-black dress instead of pure white priest robes, her appearance was closer to a Reaper than a saintess.

Her pale skin and eyes dyed red formed a strange contrast, exuding a chilling beauty.

She lightly reached out her hand toward the empty air.

Dragons wrapped in black fog crashed helplessly like puppets with cut strings.

As if an invisible scythe had harvested their souls, it was a clean death without a single external wound.

Kim Minwoo, whose gaze naturally went there, admired inwardly.

Isn't that completely another side of Han Siah?

Even Elaudia let out a voice full of admiration.

"It must be a power she just awakened, but her skill in handling it is extraordinary. As if she had been craving such destructive power all her life and visualizing it thousands of times in her head... very skillful."

There was no hesitation in Han Siah's gestures.

Rather, as if liberating instincts that had been suppressed, she was scattering death on the battlefield with a face full of delight.

That might also be one of Han Siah's true natures.

Unfortunate, and suppressed to death in the past.

Would she have had not a single speck of destructive mind?

If she had sufficient magical talent, she would have already sprinkled bloody revenge and then some.

He wondered if the dormant side had awakened due to this awakening.

'But that is our Cult's Saintess, right?'

He felt like he knew what it meant to feel full without eating.

"...You, hurry and read the book, human."

Thus, he read the book desperately...

Soon, the message he wanted appeared.

[You have completely realized the Secrets of Compression!]

[Skill, Compression (EX) is generated!]

A very faint sound was heard.

It was at that moment.

Elaudia vomited a mouthful of blood.

[The 'Resisters' pay the fourth price!]

[The causality of the 'Resisters' undergoes a cataclysm!]

[The sin of completely twisting causality as mortal beings.]

[The Curse of '???' is engraved!]

[1. Minister of War Rynax.]

[2. Northern Capital Commander Elaudia.]

[3. Unfallen Fortress Granit.]

[5. Executioner Dragon Shrike.]

The Curse of an Outer God is engraved?

Plus, isn't Rynax already dead?

He looked at Elaudia.

"What is happening right now?"

"...There is no rest even after death. That seems to be the content."

"Then Rynax, he also..."

"Enough. If it's the five of us, it's cheap."

Elaudia raised her body.

Showing a pale complexion, she pointed at the city.

The massive fortress walls that seemed higher than the sky were gone without a trace, and the beautiful buildings of the city had all collapsed.

"The Golden City is collapsing. Also... since causality has been reversed, he might come soon."

Elaudia sighed slightly.

"...My father's corpse was handed over to the Lord. Then what do you think the Lord did?"

The Lord who went half-mad coveting power.

To him, Rynax's corpse would have been no different from a well-cooked steak.

"Your thought is correct. He would have tried to compress it. However, even for the Lord, it is impossible to compress a Minister of War in a short time. Time is needed. But... a curse was engraved on that corpse."

"Then he can't compress it?"

"Probably. It seems the Outer God doesn't intend to give us rest even after death..."

Soon after, Elaudia stared intently at Kim Minwoo.

"Did your skeletons learn everything?"

"They are almost done learning."

The skeletons were also not the skeletons of the past.

They had advanced to Intermediate Rank.

Naturally, their learning ability was also incomparable to before.

Nodding at Kim Minwoo's words, Elaudia shouted out the window.

"Did you call, Commander."

"Proceed with incineration. Burn everything except for the five buildings here."

At Kim Minwoo's question, Elaudia stared out the window with dry eyes.

The city without the barrier was already in chaos.

The horde of mad dragons covering the sky, and the garrison desperately resisting against them.

But they were heavily outnumbered.

"It is literally that. I will burn this city and its residents."

"No, aren't there still living dragons? The garrison is also holding out..."

"That is the problem. That they are alive."

At the end of her gaze, wounded dragons were fallen everywhere.

"If they fall into the clutches of mad dragons, it's one of two things. Either go mad with hysteria and become monsters devouring yesterday's comrades, or become food to fill the Lord's hunger."

"Rather than letting them become monsters and kill each other, it's better to reap them with my own hands. I intend to grant them a dignified death for the last time."

Kim Minwoo was speechless.

He was someone who had been through all sorts of hardships.

He had fought numerous wars inside the game, and in reality, he was a Necromancer who raised corpses to create a legion.

But the tragedy of a commander who has to burn and kill her own city and people, like carving out her own flesh, was a weight he dared not fathom.

'Is this the Era of Dragons?'

There was no such thing as romance.

A cruel era where only survival and destruction, and the choice of the lesser evil existed.

Elaudia's hands were trembling.

Why wouldn't she want to save them?

But because there was no way, she was trying to bestow the most cruel mercy.

"I will tell you what I will do from now on. I will open a portal. It will take a little time. Since you learned the most important thing, even if there is something unfinished, go back. Because when he comes, everything will be too late..."

Saying that, Elaudia flew toward the center of the city. Explosive mana flowed out from inside her body.

[City Commander, Elaudia is generating a dimensional portal connected to 'Earth'!]

[Time Remaining: 30 minutes]

Remaining time is at most 30 minutes.

Skeletons, please learn quickly.

After a quick prayer.

He examined the skill obtained this time.

[A skill created by processing part of '???'s knowledge.]

[Effect 1. Can compress items.]

[Effect 2. Can compress skills.]

[Effect 3. Can compress objects.]

The first target to use it on is...

Kim Minwoo's gaze turned to his sword.

The Ancient-rank item, Shadow Sword

"Just in time, I have something to combine."

What he took out from the inventory was a violin.

The item of Demon Lord Rank 7, Paimon, whom he hunted by entering Vulcan's past.

[The instrument of Demon Realm Rank 7, Great Demon Lord Paimon.]

[Effect 1. Can transform into two forms. (Destruction/Harmony)]

[Effect 2. Can use skills in each transformed state by consuming mana.]

[Effect 3. Mana + 200]

If he synthesizes this Maestro into the Shadow Sword, what result will come out?

Maybe all sorts of music might burst out every time the swords clash.

And that, music of destruction and harmony.

[Using Compression (EX)!]

[Target: Shadow Sword (Ancient), Maestro (Ancient+)]

[The grades of compression targets are similar!]

[Possibility of a better result increases!]

[Consumed Mana: 10,000]

[Do you want to compress?]

A brilliant halo of light burst out inside the office.

As the light faded, a pitch-black sword was floating in the air.

But it was no ordinary sword.

The entire blade vibrated minutely like a violin string, emitting a strange resonance sound as if playing space itself.

A form that was beautiful yet chillingly ominous.

[The compatibility of materials achieves a miraculous harmony!]

[A Mythical rank item is born!]

Kim Minwoo's eyes widened.

To think it's Mythical rank, surpassing Ancient!

Until now, Kim Minwoo had obtained only one Mythical rank item.

The Death Emperor's Crown, which was the Death Lord's item.

He gripped the sword handle with trembling hands.

At that moment, a cool thrill flowed through his blood vessels all over his body.

In his ears, the screams of thousands of dead spirits were heard as auditory hallucinations like a magnificent orchestra.

It wasn't a simple sword.

[Checking Item Information.]

[Name: Hell Rhapsody]

[Description: A magic sword miraculously fused from the Demon Realm Great Demon Lord's instrument and the Shadow Sword via 'Compression'. The blade itself becomes a single string, starting a performance of ruin that gnaws at the enemy's soul every time it is swung.]

[Effect 1. 'Scream-mixed Performance' ― Sword strikes inflict direct damage to the target's soul. Ignores 50% of physical defense.]

[Effect 2. 'Conductor' ― Significantly increases attack speed and movement speed of allied undead within a 500m radius.]

[Effect 3. 'Variation' ― Can transform the sword's form into a violin to play. Effects also change upon form transformation.]

[Effect 4. 'Finale' ― Once a month, consumes mana to generate a dissonance in front that shakes the soul.]

Combining two Ancients created a Mythical?

It was truly a dizzying profit, enough to make one lose their mind.

Because unless one was a psychopath, anyone would choose the latter if asked whether they wanted two Ancient items or one Mythical item.

'It falls a bit short compared to the Death Emperor’s Crown though...'

The Crown is a monster-like item with six effects, and even its true power is still sealed.

Compared to that, it's slightly regrettable, but...

'Well, isn't it enough that it's Mythical rank?'

Mythical is Mythical.

Destructive power of a completely different level from an Ancient grade sword was felt at his fingertips.

"It's overflowing to be used as a weapon."

As he swung the sword lightly, a screeech― metallic sound rang out eerily in the air like a violin melody.

A vibration that felt like the heart sinking struck the earth.

It was different from an earthquake.

A strange resonance as if space itself was screaming in fear.

Elaudia's mouth, who was connecting the portal, hardened stiffly.

Her pupils shook violently as if an earthquake had occurred.

Kim Minwoo hurriedly looked out the window.

Thousands of mad dragons covering the sky stopped moving all at once.

Beast-like roars and the sound of wing flaps disappeared.

In the middle of that silence, someone was slowly descending.

It wasn't a massive dragon.

It wasn't a grotesque monster either.

Kim Minwoo's eyes opened wide.

The existence stepping down on the empty air was a child looking only about ten years old at most.

Pure white hair, and a youthful face.

That alien appearance, completely unsuited to the battlefield, stimulated instinctive fear even more.

Was it because he realized the Secrets of Compression?

He recognized it instinctively.

That power to swallow a planet was crammed into that small body.

Also, he realized instinctively.

That bastard was the very Dragon Lord he faced last in the past, at Stage 5!

[Demon Eye (EX) is activated!]

[The target's status is unfathomably high!]

[Only extremely partial information is analyzed!]

[Name: Archaia (Primordial Dragon State)]

[Armament Level: Astounding]

[Characteristic: Went half-mad due to '???'s knowledge. ?#@@!%@!#@#@!!#@!!#!@#!%]

[Thoughts on the Target: My meal.]

[%@!#%!@#: ?%!@#$!?%!##@!?]

The child, no, the Dragon Lord smiled looking at Kim Minwoo.

It was a bright smile.

He merely opened his mouth, but the city air became heavy like lead.

Absolute pressure that felt like one had to get permission even to breathe.

Overwhelming violence descended there.