Dragon Maken War

When he saw the earth-shattering feat in front of his eyes, he thought of a single person.

It was the man that was called ‘The Sword that parts the storm’ Almarick.

He was one of the four Dragon Demon general, and his Dragon weapon, ‘Storm’s Scream’, had a special characteristic that was quite troublesome for Azell.

Almarick was able to control the weather and storms. This meant he could freely control thunder.

This special characteristic was very advantageous to use against large opponents like Dragons, and large armies. It’s effectiveness decreased when it was used in one on one battle. However, Azell’s forte was to create and control thunder to cause confusion amongst his enemies. It was frustrating, since he wouldn’t be able to use one of his strengths.

Almarick was called ‘The Sword that parts the storm’, because he could control the weather to create a localized storm. However, his power didn’t end there. He was also able to disperse the storm.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the feat he had just pulled off was proof that he was Almarick.

However, the one to appear in front of Azell was an unfamiliar old Dragon Majin. He had white hair, and blackish-blue horns. He was an old warrior wearing a heavy armor.

The answer came from Laura.

“Elder.......”

“He’s that elder?”

Azell was surprised.

Laura had talked several times about some unknown elder she had consulted before. She knew that he had lived for a long time. He predated the Dragon Demon war, and she was told he was a being that caused fear and confusion amongst human just by showing his presence.

However, no one ins Laura’s vicinity knew the true name and identity of the elder. In the past, this was how Laura had described the elder.

He looked like a frail existence, but Laura had speculated that a magical rite had caused him to look like that. In truth, he probably was hiding an incredible power.

The old Dragon Majin spoke.

“I’ll have to put up with the hassle of putting on a mask I’ve taken off once before, but..... Ausaurus’ heir had been a companion with whom I could chat with, so I feel the need to give her a formal introduction.”

As he spoke those words, he brought his hand towards his face.

Then.... He slowly started ripping away the skin on his face.

It was an unbelievable sight. No matter how one saw it, the mask had looked like his real face, yet he was ripping it away with his bare hand?

At the same time, his appearance started to change.

Yuren was surprised.

“Illusion? I couldn’t’ detect it at all.....”

Laura was also surprised. Two high rank magicians had been unable to detect the disguise of the old Dragon Majin.

As the skin on his face was ripped away, his appearance started to distort in small increments. The height and width of his body grew. He now stood tall, and his body had turned imposing. The texture of his horns turned into that of volcanic stones, and his right eye was dyed red.

Azell spoke his name.

“...you are still alive, Almarick.”

His opponent didn’t deny the fact.

“You too, Azell. We should be surprised at each other’s survival, but.... Now that we are facing each other, isn’t it too obvious?”

Almarick, who had become a legend as one of the four Dragon Demon generals in the Dragon Demon war, grinned.

According to historical records, all four Dragon Demon generals had met their end on the battlefield.

The first one to die was Reygus, and it was thanks to his personality. He had charged into a trap set by the allied forces despite the fact that he had lost a massive amount of blood.

The second to be killed was Baldazark. He was killed in a duel with Azell.

The third to be killed was Aunsaurus. He had lost to Carlos, and while retreating, he had been killed.

The last to die was Almarick. In the final battle, it was known that Duke Croix Nidel had killed him......

Laura vacantly mumbled to herself.

“Elder was Almarick-nim.....”

“I wasn’t in a position where I could reveal my identity so easily. However, nothing I told you before is a lie.”

“I know.”

While Almarick posed as an old Dragon Majin, he had told Laura a lot of stories. She had been surrounded by Aunsaurus tribe, who was filled with madness. The stories he had told her, and the different perspective of the world he offered her had been a big comfort to her.

Still, she had hardened her heart, since she knew she would have to oppose him in the future.

However, she would have never imagined that he was the Dragon Demon general Almarick.

Azell spoke.

“Since you’ve gotten a little bit older, have you decided to be more respectable? Your style have changed a lot.”

Almarick’s outer appearance differed greatly from what he remembered.

At the time, he had been a ferocious looking middle-aged Dragon Demon, who had just popped out from the wild. He had dirty long white hair, and his red eyes had been filled with chaotic murderous intent. He possessed thick horns that had the quality of volcanic stones, and he never wore armor. He had been quite the sight wearing only Dragon leather.

After 220 years had passed, he had tamed his unruly white hair by brushing it backwards. The light within his eye was much more grounded with reason. His outfit was quite fashionable as he wore an all black armor.

The air of being a dangerous beast still remained, but it felt much more restrained than the version Azell remembered. Even how he spoke had softened, so Azell wondered if this person was really Almarick.

‘By looking at the resonance of his Dragon Demon magic, he can’t be someone else.... No, 220 years had passed, so maybe the fact that Reygus’ personality had remained the same is abnormal.’

Suddenly, Almarick’s hand touched his left eye. There was only an ugly scar left there in place of an eye.

Azell knew the origin of that scar. The scar came from the wound he had given Almarick.

“I had to act like an old man in the back room living a free and easy life in retirement. It made me turn out this way. Since I only had one eye left, I took up reading as an hobby.”

“You and reading....... It is an unlikely combination.”

“I think so too. However, I had nothing to do, and I couldn’t go anywhere. This was why I found a hobby that brought pleasure to my mind.”

“Old man Croix said he made sure he ended your life....”

“He was telling the truth. However, a magical rite prepared by the king revived me. The old man had been satisfied with just piercing my heart. He should have destroyed my entire body.”

“Unfortunately, the old man is long dead, so I can’t complain to him about it.”

They said such words in hindsight, but Azell knew Duke Croix Nidel hadn’t been in a situation where he could do so.

By the time he killed Almarick, the duke had also suffered serious injuries. The remaining enemy forces had been ready to die as they charged forward to recover Almarick’s corpse. The duke had been barely able to escape with his life.

Suddenly, Almarick let out a bitter laugh.

“However, I never expected to take off my mask in this fashion. I thought it would happen at a much later date. However, once you took the child.....”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Vitan’s Chalice.”

“Mmm?”

“You probably heard it from this child, but our four Dragon weapons are returned to the Plain of Darkness when they become ownerless. They return through the Great Darkness. Moreover, I’m able to locate all of them.”

“So that is why you guys were able to track us.......”

Azell swallowed a groan. He had wonder how they were able to track them down, and now he knew.

However, something was wrong.

According to Laura, the Great Darkness was under the domain of Queen Aincera. What if the ability to track the Dragon weapons of the Dragon Demon generals wasn’t an ability possessed by Queen Aincera? What if it was Almarick’s ability, and it was kept secret from the Dragon Demon king worshippers?

‘They didn’t reveal such important truths to the younger generation, who are working as their main force. I wonder what problem exists between them.’

The problem between them was much too large to call it friction between two factions. Azell knew there was important circumstances involved in this matter.

Almarick asked him a question.

“Things have devolved to this point, so why isn’t Carlos showing himself?”

“...you guys are saying that again. What evidence do you have that Carlos is alive?”

“I’m not sure if you are acting ignorant, or you actually don’t know the answer. Azell, you were always great at hiding your true intentions. However, the fact that he hasn’t show himself yet makes me think you are telling the truth.”

“The only thing I’m sure is that you guys think Carlos is still alive.”

“There is no reason why I can’t tell you the basis for that opinion.”

“What?”

Almarick spoke to the puzzled Azell.

“The king had a divine revelation.”

“Ha. You are going to spout some religious mumbo jumbo? The Almarick I knew wasn’t that kind of a person.”

“However, I’m telling you the truth. When the king’s revival became near, his will came to reside within the Great Darkness. Originally, the king created a groundwork for the four of us to be revive before his revival.”

Atein hadn’t been planning on just reviving himself. He planned on reviving all four Dragon Demon generals. This was why he made a mechanism that would preserve their Dragon weapons.

If their body was preserved at the time of the death, the revival was able to occur at a relatively fast time frame. It took Almarick 50 years before he was revived. As soon as he woke up, he received Atein’s order. He kept his identity hidden.

“We did this, because an enemy of ours could peek into the Great Darkness.”

Almarick knew about Omega. He didn’t know how such an existence could exist, and he didn’t know the exact identity of this being. However, he had known that someone was peeking into the Great Darkness to steal information from them. This was why Almarick had been careful to keep everything hidden.

“Originally, Aunsaurus should have been revived around the same time period as me. However, it didn’t happen.”

This incident had caused great shock to Almarick.

Atein had put great efforts in preparing this plan over a long period of time, yet someone had intervened in the execution of this plan.

It was unbelievable. Atein was the first magician, and his knowledge about magic was transcendent. In terms of battle capability, Baldazark and Ausaurus were said to be comparable to him, but they couldn’t even reach his toe in terms of knowledge of being a true magician.

So who was able to interfere with Atein’s arrangements?

Azell asked a question.

“Are you trying to say Carlos did that?”

“That’s right. We had stolen power and knowledge over a long period of time from the humans. This was why we were careful to monitor all the possibilities.”

After the Dragon Demon war, the Plain of Darkness kept close eyes on all the high rank magicians, Spirit Order practitioners, and Dragon Arts practitioners. Then they took every opportunity to eliminate them to methodically weaken humanity’s power.

“Most of this happened before I was revived.... I was able to read the record engraved in the Great Darkness like a book, and no one truly terrifying had appeared. They were all quite mediocre. The only surprising part was about Baion, who ended the Great Darkness.”

At his words, Yuren flinched. However, everyone was focused on Almarick, so no one noticed his reaction.

“On the human side, there had been only one person that was able to mess up what the king arranged. It’s Carlos Rizester.”

“That’s... It does sound like something he could pull off, so I’m not saying it couldn’t be true.”

“It seems you don’t plan on telling me anything until the end. If I kill you here, will he finally show his face?”

“Why don’t you test out that theory?”

A thick killing intent started to emanate from Azell and Almarick.

Almarick spoke.

“When I see your weakened state, it reminds me of that time.”

“Which incident are you talking about?”

“The time when I lost an eye to you....”

Almarick brushed the scar that had replaced his left eye as he spoke.

Azell knew what he was talking about.

At the time, Almarick had lost an eye in a fight with Azell, and he had suffered heavy wounds. Almarick had to retreat, but he was chased down by Duke Croix Nidel. He had to fight the duke when his wounds hadn’t fully healed. He had met his death in that fight.

Now 220 years had passed, and Azell would have to face Almarick with a wounded body that was incapable of fighting properly. Almarick couldn’t help, but think about the past.

“This will leave a bad aftertaste.... Still, I have to end you here. I’m not as big of an idiot as Reygus.”

<You know I am listening to you, yet you are able to say such words.>

From a far away location, the ominous voice of an Undead rang out.