Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 84

Anyone?who had?stood in front of a dragon?would lose?their right to laugh at anyone?who had?pissed their pants in fear.?There were two reasons for that. First, the presence of a dragon was more than enough to make one feel insignificant. Second,?a dragon would have?no qualms stepping on a creature in front of them, as they thought of?other creatures?as nothing more than ants in their way. Unfortunately, the latter was the more common?outcome?when any creature faced a dragon.

Any hints of complaint or grumbling were bound to disappear in the presence of a more powerful being. The crowd that?had been?rowdy?mere seconds before?suddenly?fell silent?at the appearance of the dragon. The silence was so deafening that they could hear?an ant’s breath.

“I said, where is the bastard?who?stole my child, who has not?even hatched from the egg yet?!” Ignus shouted in a loud, terrifying roar.

The elves?who?were directly in front of the dragon had blood coming out of their ears, and some started to slowly walk backward as if they were ready to make a run for it?at any moment.

“I will burn?everyone and everything in this place if anyone dares to run without providing an answer!” Ignus roared once again. A?frightening amount of fire started gathering in the dragon’s mouth. It was obvious that?someone?would lose at least an arm if the dragon’s breath as much as grazed past?them.

Who in their right mind would steal a dragon’s egg?

A man suddenly spoke, breaking?the dead silence.

“I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

All eyes were on Kang Yoon-Soo?as?Ignus?asked?fiercely, “Tell me, where is the bastard?who?stole my child?!”

“The thief is in this place,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.?The crowd started to murmur?noisily.

Ignus?fiercely blew fire out of?her?nostrils and asked, “Who is that arrogant bastard?!”

Kang Yoon-Soo confidently stood on the altar and said, “I’m the one who stole your egg.”

“I see!”?Ignus?exclaimed, and?fire spilled out of?her?mouth.

Most of those?in the crowd suddenly had their life flash before their eyes. They recalled their wills, their childhood friends, and things?they still hadn’t experienced.

It was a moment?in which?everything could go up in flames in a matter?of?seconds.

“You’ll never?be able to see your child?again?if you kill me?now,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Ignus?stopped gathering?her?fire, and the crowd let out a sigh of relief. Nobody had paid attention to Kang Yoon-Soo?previously,?but his presence?had?now been recognized by every single one of the five thousand troops.

“Tell me, you insignificant speck of dust! Where is my child?!” Ignus roared so loudly that the atmosphere shook.?Some of the elves in front of the dragon?were blown away by her?fierce roar.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and?replied, “I can’t?tell you that.”

“Die!” the dragon roared. A?large amount of flame once again gathered in?her?mouth.

The crowd closed their eyes as they braced, waiting?for the dragon’s flame to disintegrate them?at any moment. They thought,?‘We’re all going to die!’

“Oh, Ignus Dragon, why?do you think?I stole your child?” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Ignus?swallowed her?fire?upon hearing?Kang Yoon-Soo’s words. A?few in the crowd passed out as nerves flared in the tense situation. The dragon?asked,?“What do you mean?”

“Hasn’t?your egg not hatched?for?decades? It’s difficult to call it a ‘child’ anymore,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

The dragon was silent for a moment,?but she then?asked the human, “How do you know about that?”

“Do you still believe the egg will hatch?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked in return.

The dragon suddenly?roared angrily, “How dare you ask me that back?!”

Henrick, on the other hand, grumbled and?whispered,?“Eh? If it?hasn’t hatched for decades…?Isn’t this just a rotten egg?”

“Shh! The dragon might hear you!” Shaneth retorted, also in a whisper.

The dragon slammed its large claws?toward?the?altar.

Baaam!

The large altar was instantly?torn apart, but Kang Yoon-Soo safely managed to land?atop?the dragon’s claw without sustaining any?damage. He said, “Your egg won’t and can’t?hatch.”

“How can you be so sure? Who knows if my child will suddenly break the shell and stick?their?head out one day?!” the dragon roared,?anger evident in?her?voice.

Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and said, “That’s?just you stupidly?holding out hope?as a mother.”

Baaam!?Kwachiiiik!

The altar was almost?completely destroyed, and the crowd scrambled as they tried to avoid the debris falling from?it.

Henrick scoffed at the destruction in front of him and said, “That punk is trying to get all of us killed.”

Iris?trembled uncontrollably?as she clung?to?Shaneth and said, “I?am scared. A dragon is really scary…”

“It’s okay, unni,” Shaneth said, trying to calm?Iris down.?She?did not feel any fear toward the dragon for some reason, and?remained?able to stand steadfast in?Ignus’ presence.

“Shaneth?” Iris called out worriedly?as she saw Shaneth walk toward the dragon.

Ignus?roared once again at Kang Yoon-Soo, “You dare mock my child?!”

An invisible aura of bloodlust filled the air. The dragon’s hostility alone?was more than enough to create fissures in the?ceiling. The crowd’s fear?only grew as they felt?the dragon’s breath was about to descend?toward them?like a storm.

“You shouldn’t kill me,” Kang Yoon-Soo?said?confidently, not budging?an inch?despite?the pressure exerted by the dragon. In fact, he was standing face to face against the dragon.

“How dare an insignificant creature like you stand in front of me?!”?the?dragon roared once more, blowing?Kang Yoon-Soo’s hair backward.

Kang Yoon-Soo said without any hesitation, “It’s because I’m not scared of you.”

“You arrogant little—!” the dragon roared,?now severely enraged.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo ignored the?dragon’s ranting?and?asked, “Why do you think your egg isn’t hatching?”

“Grwaaaaaah!”?Ignus?roared and gathered a ball of flame in?her?mouth. The dragon launched her breath?toward Kang Yoon-Soo.

“Aaaaaah!”?The crowd screamed in fear of?the intense dragon’s?breath.?By the time the thick black smoke subsided,?they all?expected the brave human to have been burned and melted without leaving a single bone behind.

“Oh,?Ignus Dragon-nim. Please calm down,” Shaneth?pleaded, standing?in front of Kang Yoon-Soo with both of her arms?spread wide.?She was completely unscathed even after being hit with the full force of the?dragon's breath.

The dragon stared at Shaneth for a moment and muttered, “I see. You are the one?who?inherited my powers.”

“That’s right,” Shaneth replied.?She had?obtained a fragment of?Ignus’s?powers from the Orb of the Covenant. Perhaps?that was why?she was not afraid of the dragon at all.

“Why are you protecting that?man?! Stand aside at once! Do?not worry;?I will?only burn him to within an inch of his life,” the dragon?replied.

“No, I can’t?do?that,” Shaneth replied.

Ignus?stared down at Shaneth, who was smaller than?one of her claws. She asked,?“Why is that?”

“This person is precious to me. That’s?why I can’t let you kill him,” Shaneth replied.

“Then are you asking a mother who had her child stolen from her to just let it?go?!” the dragon retorted.

Shaneth was speechless. She could not deny that Kang Yoon-Soo?had done?a bad thing, and there was no way to justify what he?had done?no matter how precious he was to her. She turned around and asked?him,?“W-what should I say?”

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo walked forward and said, “Please withdraw your anger for a moment.”

“What an arrogant request. You would be burnt to a crisp if that bitch?who?inherited my power?had not?protected you,” the dragon?growled, scoffing at him.

“I’ll?just?ask you one thing. Why didn’t you?break the egg that hasn’t hatched for decades,?instead choosing?to keep it in your lair?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“Are you suggesting?you would kick a child who could not walk?out of your house?” Ignus?replied.

“Would?you kill the only doctor?who could?make your child walk?” Kang Yoon-Soo retorted.

The dragon scoffed?and replied, “Are you claiming?you know a way to make my egg hatch?”

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied with a nod.

Ignus?was silent for a moment before?saying, “Impossible.”

“No, I can make your child hatch out of the egg,” Kang Yoon-Soo said with full confidence.

Ignus?lowered her head for a moment before saying, “I admit it. My child in the egg is already dead.”

Shaneth gasped in surprise.

Ignus?lamented?angrily, “You asked me why I was keeping the egg in my lair??Because it is my child! Why am I angry even though I know it?is a dead egg??Because it is my child!”

The dragon’s roars were so loud that?the crowd felt?as if?their eardrums?were?about to explode. It was a roar?filled both?with anger and the sadness of a mother losing her child.

“Not a day has passed?that?I?do not remember?my child?who?died because of my mistake! I?am sure the egg has rotted as time passed, but I cannot accept that my poor child died without even having the chance to be born!”?Ignus?lamented?further.

“Oh, Ignus Dragon, I understand the foolish hope?you’re holding on to,” Kang Yoon-Soo said?to the?dragon.

“What are you trying to say?!”?Ignus?roared.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at Shaneth for a moment before?saying,?“I’m living off of a foolish hope as well, just like you are.”?He continued, “I understand the pain of not being able to see your child as well.”

Kang Yoon-Soo was the same as?Ignus. He had also lost his child,?whom?he would?never be able to see again.

“What is your?point, you?insignificant creature?!”?Ignus?growled.

Kang Yoon-Soo got straight to the point.?“I’ll make?it so?you can hatch your egg if you participate in the war.”

Ignus?closed her mouth and?fell?silent for a moment. The dragon was seriously considering the offer.?She then??stared down at Kang Yoon-Soo and asked, “Is something like that even possible?”

Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “There is a man who?can turn?back time and return from the dead. The right to resurrect a life will be granted?if we manage to kill him.”

The Ignus Dragon started to listen?intently?to the words of the human, and Kang Yoon-Soo started to convince?her?in front of the five thousand troops.

***

Several stone golems fought against?Kartheon’s invading army amid?the vast,?rocky desert.

“Who are you?” asked a golem.

“The one?who?will kill you all,” Kartheon replied.?His?thousands of mummies crushed the stone golems, and?he?slowly accrued experience points and temporal power?as the?golems fell one by one.

“W-why did we come here?” Katz asked, gulping?dryly.

There were a lot of dangerous monsters in the rocky desert, but Kartheon calmly replied, “Follow me quietly, Katz—if you do?not want to wake that?being?up.”

“Who are you talking about,?Your?Majesty?” Katz asked; his voice was?filled with anxiety and fear.

Kartheon laughed at the human and?replied, “There?is nothing to be scared of. That?being?is going to be one of us soon.”

Kartheon and his army reached the center of the rocky desert. What they found at the center was a complicated set of inscriptions and an octagonal seal.

“The?being?trapped in this place since ancient times is still stuck here,” Kartheon said with a smile.?The ancient king bit his finger and?released?a drop of his blood?into?the center of the?octagon.

Rumble…!

The ground they were standing?on?started to tremble, and it felt?as if?something humongous were?moving in the vast rocky desert.

“W-what the hell is that?!” Katz screamed, falling?on his?rear.

A gigantic creature, with tattoos all over its large body and skin as hard as steel, stood up from the sand. The giant?had a jewel embedded in the center of its head.

“Are you surprised?” Kartheon asked with a laugh.

Katz replied while trembling, “I’m more than surprised!?I almost fainted! What is that giant?!”

The?massive?giant made the Fire Giants they had killed look like children.?Kartheon looked at the gigantic creature that was so tall?he?could barely see its head and said, “That is a Colossus.”

A Colossus was a creature multiple times bigger than?a giant; Colossi were also?known as the gods of the giants. They were creatures that?were supposed to have?only existed in mythology,?unlike dragons or golden goblins,?which?existed but were?extremely rare.

“A C-Colossus? Why did it show up all of a sudden…?!” Katz asked in surprise.

A Colossus was?said?to be able to?rip a?mountain?out of?the ground with one hand, and was supposed to be strong enough to overpower a dragon by its strength alone.

“This was where my kingdom,?Sharshyanon, existed?in the past, and that Colossus used to hold the ground of the capital together,” Kartheon explained.

The words spoken by the ancient king sounded like something that would only be passed down as?myth or folklore.?Katz could not help but look?at Kartheon?in disbelief.

“There?is nothing to be so?surprised about. A magic tower where the Colossi gather and?live?together exists?on?the continent. That?being?was the weakest one among them and was banished from the tower,” Kartheon explained.

“B-banished? It looks?as if?it would be bigger than a dragon, just judging from its size…?” Katz?exclaimed.

“Do you not think we will?at least need?someone?like this to destroy the continent?” Kartheon?replied with a smile.?The ancient king moved his left hand, and the Colossus responded to?his command and moved its gigantic body.

‘999th regression?’?Kartheon thought as his?gaze?turned sharp.

If there really was a man?who was living his 1,000th life, that was something interesting in itself. There was no better place than the Desert of Death to face such an opponent. The ancient king planned to use both his power to control time and the Colossus to thoroughly step on the self-proclaimed regressor.

‘I will kill all life?on this?continent, and I will regress back in time.’