Chapter 308: First Strike (1)

Following the unexpected betrayal by the Honcheon Sword…

Louis immediately began formulating countermeasures.

He had only two days left.

First, Louis brought Wang Cheolsoo to the Great Wall. Originally, the Twins had been guarding him, but with the war about to begin, they no longer had time for such duties. Thus, Louis entrusted Wang Cheolsoo’s surveillance to the Flame siblings.

Next, his task was to train Tania.

Tania had never wielded a sword in her life. Even though she could mimic sword techniques with a skill surpassing that of ordinary swordsmen, Louis knew that such rudimentary proficiency wouldn’t suffice for the battles ahead.

However, it was practically impossible to raise her skills to the level Louis desired within such a short timeframe.

Therefore, he emphasized only one thing to Tania:

“Just fight with your fists as you always do! But… finish them off with the sword!”

The so-called “Sword as Ornament” strategy.

After all, what Louis truly wanted was only the Honcheon sword’s ability to sever the dragon’s soul.

Whether she beat them with her fists or bludgeoned them with the sword, the ultimate goal remained: to sever Kaiders’ soul later on.

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

“No! If you’re going to use that sword like that, you might as well give it to me!”

Kendrick’s anguished cry as he watched Tania brandish the sword like a club was merely a passing incident.

Perhaps a war that would decide the fate of the world was brewing, but few were aware of it.

Apart from a handful who knew the truth, the vast majority of people around the globe continued to live their lives as usual.

Yet even in these ordinary lives, signs of change began to appear.

Rumble-

“Huh?”

In a secluded mountain village, a young man on guard duty at the village entrance cast his gaze into the distance, drawn by an odd sound.

“That’s…?”

The sound seemed to originate from the waterfall, a vital source of drinking water for the village and its surrounding communities. It was also a sacred place for the elders, steeped in legends of dragons that once dwelled there.

Rumble—

The sound echoed even longer and louder than before, causing the young man from the mountain village’s face to harden with concern.

I hope nothing’s gone wrong.

Two years prior, a sudden torrential downpour had collapsed the ground at the valley entrance, forcing the entire village to endure hardship.

The young man’s face darkened with worry as he considered the possibility of a similar disaster.

I need to report this to Chief Kang immediately.

Just as he resolved to leave his post,

Kudududududung-

A tremor so violent it shook his body slammed into him.

“W-what’s happening?!”

Flap! Flap! Flap!

The forest trembled, and startled birds erupted into the sky.

The young man, still reeling, barely managed to regain his balance when—

Kuwahhhhhh!

A deafening roar echoed through the air, pounding against his ears.

The young man frantically covered his ears, his face turning ashen.

M-Monsters?!

If the roar was this loud, it was likely a massive Monster.

But… there aren’t supposed to be any Monsters around here?!

Ever since he was born in this village—no, for centuries before that—this land had been blessed as a Monster-free zone.

Yet the sound he’d just heard was unmistakably not human.

“W-What’s going on?!”

“It’s an earthquake!”

The earthquake and the Monster’s roar threw the entire village into panicked chaos.

But their shock was far from over.

Flap-flap-flap!

The forest convulsed even more violently than before, sending countless birds soaring into the sky.

Simultaneously, something colossal began to rise from the depths of the woods.

”…Wh-what is that?!”

The young man froze in place at the sight of the overwhelmingly large creature that had suddenly appeared.

The colossal being soared into the sky, effortlessly circled the Holy Village once, then ascended even higher, vanishing in an instant.

Unable to flee or fight, the young man could only stare blankly at the gigantic creature.

As he watched the now-tiny speck fade into the distance, he murmured in a trance:

“A… a dragon?”

The colossal creature that had vanished into the sky bore an uncanny resemblance to the legendary dragons of old.

And this phenomenon occurred simultaneously across the four continents—Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

Two days had passed in the blink of an eye.

Time marched on equally, even for those stationed at the Great Wall.

As always, the soldiers of the Great Wall were on guard duty.

“Ugh, yawn!”

One soldier yawned deeply, blinking his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings.

The faint light of dawn was beginning to break through the horizon.

It was time for the guard duty shift change.

“When’s the next shift coming? Isn’t it time yet?”

“They’ll be here soon… Ah! They’re here now.”

The exhausted soldier’s face lit up as he spotted the incoming guard team approaching from behind.

In contrast, the soldiers about to begin their shift sighed heavily.

”…Anything unusual?”

“Nothing to report!”

“Good work.”

“Yeah, good luck on your shift.”

The team leaders from both shifts smoothly completed the handover.

With lighthearted chatter and springy steps, the previous shift was about to head back when…

Suddenly, their steps came to a halt.

More precisely, when the Team Leader leading the way stopped, the Squad Members following behind also stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“What… what is that?”

The Team Leader was staring not at the Maha Sea, but inland.

Even when anomalies occurred, they always originated from the Maha Sea; there had never been a single incident arising from the inland side.

Initially dismissing the Team Leader’s reaction, the Squad Members shifted their gazes—only to have their expressions freeze in place.

“Huh?”

”…Birds?”

Against the backdrop of the rising sun, a flock of what appeared to be birds emerged.

At the Squad Members’ murmurs, the Team Leader tilted his head in confusion.

Birds? Is that what they are?

Of course, they could be birds.

But…

Are there birds that big?

Moreover, they were approaching the Great Wall with incredible speed.

The unknown life form grew larger by the minute.

It wasn’t just the Team Leader who noticed the anomaly.

“Wh-what’s that?!”

“Oh my god, what is that?!”

Following the squad members’ horrified exclamations, the Team Leader urgently shouted:

“What are you waiting for?! Sound the alarm!”

At his command, one squad member raced to ring the alarm bell.

The initial ringing set off a chain reaction, spreading the alarm throughout the Great Wall according to the emergency protocol.

Ding-ding-ding—

It was still too early for A Day to begin.

The alarm caused chaos to erupt across the Great Wall.

Meanwhile, the massive flock of birds that had been visible in the distance finally arrived above the Great Wall.

The Team Leader, who had first spotted them, muttered a curse under his breath.

“Fucking hell…”

He pinched his cheek.

“Am… am I dreaming right now?”

“Then… are we all having the same dream?”

Hearing the Team Leader’s mutter, the Squad Member immediately refuted his words.

Even as they argued, their gazes remained fixed on the sky, unable to tear themselves away from the spectacle above.

“Hey, if my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me… that… that’s a dragon… right?”

“Uhm… yeah… I think I’m seeing the same thing, sir?”

What had captured the attention of both the Team Leader and the Squad Member was none other than dragons of all shapes and colors.

The legendary apex predators that had only ever appeared in countless myths and stories.

Dozens—no, easily over a hundred—massive dragons, each seemingly tens of meters long, soared through the sky in a colossal swarm.

“W-what do we even do about this?”

“W-why are you asking us? You’re the Team Leader! You’re supposed to know!”

”…I don’t recall any dragon-fighting training during my lectures.”

”…That’s the same for us, isn’t it?”

Ding-ding-ding!

The warning bells clanged loudly against the Great Wall, finally jolting everyone awake.

The people stared in stupefaction at the colossal shadows looming overhead, their faces frozen in awe.

Even Lokan VII was no exception.

“Y-Your Highness! D-dragons! Dragons have appeared!”

”…I have eyes too,” Lokan VII replied with a sigh as the frantic escort warrior rushed toward him.

A single dragon could shake the world to its core, so the panic was understandable when an entire flock of them descended.

What kind of calamity is this?

Just a few days earlier, the Priest of the Church of the Divine had revealed the truth: the being residing in Maha was none other than the Dragon King himself.

According to Louis, the presence of this creature was causing the demon surge.

Had this story come from anyone other than Louis, Lokan VII would have dismissed it as nonsense and moved on.

Yet, despite this, a sliver of doubt lingered…

Hah… So dragons really do exist, just as the Priest claimed.

As he let out a long sigh, a fragment of a past conversation flashed through Lokan VII’s mind:

Louis, who had warned that war would break out in a matter of days, had simply told him to wait.

And he had said it with such conviction.

No way?!

Lokan VII’s eyes glinted sharply.

“Your Highness… What shall we do?”

“First, calm the soldiers. They don’t seem particularly aggressive for now.”

“Understood.”

The escort warrior received the order and sprinted back to the barracks.

And at that very moment…

“Awake already?”

Louis strolled in with a relaxed, cheerful voice and a light, casual gait, as if on a leisurely walk.

Behind him were the Flame siblings and Lavina.

Lokan VII nodded at their arrival.

“If I didn’t wake up amidst all this commotion, I might as well be a corpse, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Indeed, it is quite noisy, isn’t it?” Louis’s eyes curved into crescent shapes.

In stark contrast to his composed demeanor, a figure radiating an entirely different energy burst onto the scene from another direction.

“Kendrick! Kendrick!”

Elvis stormed onto the scene with a thunderous shout. Abel and Jerome followed close behind.

In an instant, people swarmed around Lokan VII, creating a bustling crowd.

“Kendrick! It’s a dragon! A dragon!”

”…?”

“Now’s not the time for this! We need to prepare immediately! They might be agents of the Mad Dragon too!”

”…What’s this kid even babbling about?”

Kendrick and Tania shook their heads at Elvis’s frantic behavior, glancing sideways at Louis. They were watching to see when Louis would finally knock Elvis out.

But Louis merely stood there, smiling.

That’s when it happened.

“Louuuuuiiiis!”

“Yahooooo! Louuuuuiiiis!”

A thunderous shout echoed from the sky.

Startled, Jerome frantically drew back his bowstring, while Lokan VII’s escort warriors formed a protective ring around the king.

In the meantime, two shadows plummeted before Louis.

Thud.

“Lou, Kani’s here!”

“Me too!”

The Twins landed with astonishing grace, considering the great height from which they’d fallen, and scampered to Louis’s side.

“You’ve arrived?”

“It’s been a while, Twin Lords.”

“Brother Khan! Sister Kani!”

The Flame siblings and Lavina greeted the Twins warmly. After all, it had been seven years since they’d last seen them.

“It’s been a while for you too!”

“How have you been?”

Seeing the reunion of old friends, the guards sheepishly lowered their weapons.

But they had to raise them again when a dark shadow surged from beneath Louis’s feet.

Swish-

The shadow, shimmering like a heat haze, molded itself like clay before transforming into the figure of a young man.

A stranger had appeared.

Yet someone recognized him immediately.

“G-G-Genelocer!”

Elvis’s eyes bulged as he let out a scream-like shriek.

Genelocer’s gaze momentarily shifted to Elvis.

“Do you know me, human?” His voice was icy.

Elvis was now certain.

How could he ever forget?

He still vividly remembered that gaze—the way Genelocer had watched as his comrades were driven to their deaths, his eyes looking at them as if they were insignificant insects.

It’s him! It’s definitely Genelocer!

Elvis tensed, aiming his Mana Stick at Genelocer.

Startled by Elvis’s stance, Jerome drew back his bowstring as well.

A sudden tension filled the air.

Then, a voice abruptly cut through the silence:

“You’d better put that down.”

The speaker was Louis. The warmth in his usual smile vanished in an instant, replaced by a chilling edge.

“Unless you want to die.”

It was a quiet warning.

But the one issuing the warning was none other than Louis.

Jerome and the other warriors flinched and lowered their weapons slightly.

Meanwhile, Tania, Kendrick, and Lavina stepped forward to block the party, as if protecting Genelocer.

W-why?!

Elvis’s mind whirled in confusion. He couldn’t understand why the Flame siblings and Lavina were blocking them.

But what happened next was even more incomprehensible.

“We…”

The epitome of destruction and death.

The worst of the Mad Dragons, stained with madness.

He…

adeudeudeudu

With a beaming grin, he charged toward Louis.