Chapter 309: First Strike (2)

The scene unfolding before Elvis was so shocking it defied his understanding of the world.

He was so stunned that he even dropped the Mana Stick he had been holding.

W-what is this?

Elvis wondered if someone was playing a prank on him—a particularly crude one.

That man… he’s Genelocer?

Who was Genelocer?

The embodiment of destruction, who had plunged the continent into chaos.

Before his Regression, Elvis had fought him for decades, seeing only Genelocer’s face stained with blood and madness.

And yet…

“Aigoo, my dear son!”

It had been like that for sure…

“Didn’t you miss Daddy?”

Just who is this doting fool?!

The gulf between the Genelocer Elvis knew and the one standing before him left Elvis reeling, struggling to regain his composure.

Something’s terribly wrong here!

Two days ago, Elvis had been present when Louis first mentioned the Mad Dragon. At the time, he’d simply assumed that “Kaiders” might be another name for Genelocer. After all, he didn’t claim to know everything about the Mad Dragon. Back then, he’d been content knowing that the Mad Dragon’s existence meant his Regression hadn’t been in vain.

But now…

“Cut it out already. People are watching,” Louis grumbled.

“So what if they’re watching? A father can’t be happy to see his son?” Genelocer retorted, his cheerful demeanor undeterred by Louis’s complaints.

Genelocer’s behavior, his fondness for Louis despite the scolding, completely shattered Elvis’s preconceived notions and values.

And then there was another revelation, one he had overlooked until it belatedly struck him:

Wait a minute… Son? Son?!

If this was indeed the Mad Dragon Genelocer he knew…

The Louis whom he called “son”…

That’s a dragon, isn’t it?!

Elvis trembled, his eyes wide with confusion.

Turning his back on Elvis, Louis briefly gazed up at the sky.

They’ve really all gathered.

The sight of countless dragons soaring through the heavens was a spectacle even Louis had never witnessed before.

Roughly 150, maybe?

His casual estimate suggested at least that many.

It was almost absurd to think so many dragons had been living in hiding across the world.

Of course, their numbers weren’t vast, but considering each one was a dragon, their combined might could overturn the world several times over.

And then there were the Eleven Elders of Zero Rank.

The dragon race’s full mobilization made it clear once again that they were staking their very survival on this endeavor.

Unlike their usual practice of meticulously concealing their existence, the 150-odd dragons were now flaunting their presence, as if determined to re-etch the dragon race’s existence into the world’s collective memory.

This message had been conveyed to Louis the previous day:

This decision had been reached through the Elder Council. The dragon race’s determination to reveal the Kaiders’ existence to the world and correct the distorted historical record.

With this decision now communicated to the entire dragon race, they were gathering on the Winter Continent with unprecedented boldness, radiating their presence without restraint.

Louis agreed with the Elders’ decision.

Even if the dragons were to lose this war, their widespread appearances would undoubtedly put many nations on high alert.

This, in turn, would bring the war between the dragons and the Kaiders to light.

As Louis pondered this, a deep, resonant voice boomed from the sky:

The voice brimmed with battle fervor.

Its owner was none other than Pamus, Louis’s grandfather.

“That old geezer… Your grandfather’s on your back again.”

“I know, right?”

“I’ll head out first.”

“We’re coming too!”

“Hurry up!”

With those words, the Twins and Genelocer’s new forms shot skyward.

Transforming into silver and black streaks, they soared to a certain altitude before swelling into colossal shapes.

The swelling light swiftly transformed into colossal dragons, three of them appearing in an instant.

Hoom- hoom-

Propelled by powerful wingbeats that generated violent gusts of wind, their massive bodies soared into the sky with explosive speed.

”…?!”

King Lokan VII and the others were stunned speechless as the individuals they had been conversing with just moments before suddenly morphed into dragons.

Meanwhile, Louis turned to the Flame siblings.

“I’m going.”

“Be careful, Master! Leave the rear to us!”

“We’ll catch up soon!”

Louis smiled serenely at the disciples’ resolute gazes, his form gradually rising into the sky.

As he ascended, a pure white light emanated softly from around his heart, spreading gently across his entire being.

Louis swept his gaze across his disciples.

Children he had personally raised since they were little tots.

Now grown, they were declaring their readiness to stand by his side.

Well, it would be best if that never comes to pass.

He had told them to become daggers to plunge into Kaiders’ heart, but he genuinely hoped such a situation would never arise.

Wang Cheolsoo’s Soul Extraction could last indefinitely, and the battles ahead would be too overwhelming for the Flame siblings.

If he were to lose them in those conflicts, he would be quite… no, utterly enraged.

Just as Louis was thinking this, a radiant light, originating from around his heart, illuminated his entire body.

The pure white light rapidly expanded, coalescing into a pristine White Dragon.

“Ah…”

Abel stared in awe at the breathtaking form of the White Dragon, completely mesmerized.

She wasn’t the only one.

Everyone on the Great Wall was gazing at Louis.

Pure white scales and violet eyes.

An appearance so sacred it could rightfully be called Divine Dragon.

Whoosh- whoosh-

Louis began flapping his wings, turning his head toward the Flame siblings and Lavina as he opened his mouth.

His voice carried a hint of playful mischief.

Before the words had even faded, Louis’s divine form soared into the sky, merging seamlessly with the dragon horde.

He quickly took the lead, guiding the massive horde forward.

Toward the Maha Sea.

“Hah…”

As he departed, silence fell over the crowd.

No one dared to speak rashly.

Occasionally, only sighs or moans escaped their lips.

The people stared blankly as the dragon horde rapidly dwindled into distant specks.

It wasn’t until the dragons had completely vanished from sight that Elvis finally spoke.

”…Did you know?”

The question, wrung out as if from a vise, was directed at Kendrick.

Kendrick blinked.

“Know what?”

“That he… your teacher… that he was a dragon… did you know?”

“Of course I knew.”

“When exactly…?”

“A while ago, I guess?”

Elvis’s eyes grew vacant at Kendrick’s nonchalant tone, as if Louis being a dragon was of no consequence.

So it was all because of that… dragon Louis.

He had suspected as much from the beginning.

Louise was an inhuman being who had lived for hundreds of years.

And because of him, Elvis’s future had been irrevocably altered.

But…

To think he was the son of my lifelong Archfoe…

A hollow, wind-like laugh escaped Elvis’s lips as the Truth dawned on him.

“Ha… ha ha… ha ha ha.”

Meanwhile, Elvis wasn’t the only one who had grasped the Truth.

For Lokan VII, it felt as though all the pieces of the puzzle had finally clicked into place in his mind.

So that’s it! That’s how it was!

Louise’s cryptic words from a few days earlier—Wait and you’ll understand.

And the absurd, divine power he had demonstrated before.

Everything now made sense.

It was only possible because Louise was a dragon.

At the same time, a thought flashed through his mind.

No way…?!

The portrait of the late Crown Prince and his wife hung on the wall of the king’s study. Within it was a depiction of their three children:

A white-haired boy and silver-haired twins, a boy and a girl…

The images of Louis, Khan, and Kani superimposed themselves over the memory of the ancient painting.

Could all of this… be a coincidence?

At the same time, Lokan VII recalled Louis’s parting words as he left the Winter Continent.

Lokan VII’s body began to tremble violently, as if struck by lightning.

“So that’s it…”

The smile Louis had shown him that day was vivid in his mind’s eye.

“That’s what it was all along… Ha ha.”

Finally grasping the thread of truth, a smile spread across Lokan VII’s face.

A total of 153 dragons soared across the sky in a triangular formation.

Every single one of them had reached at least the Top Tier Rank, and among them were a staggering eleven Elders who had achieved Zero Rank.

Leading the formation was Louis, a Zero Rank dragon with two Attributes.

Flanking him were his grandfather Pamus and Genelocer.

Whoosh—.

The dragons sliced through the air and swiftly arrived at the area where the mist barrier had been.

Instead of the mist, they were greeted by a colossal wall of Black Ice, resembling an overturned giant rice bowl.

Faced with this barrier, the dragons halted their flight.

The Mental Attribute Elder Odilia’s voice echoed telepathically throughout the dragon ranks.

In response, the tightly clustered dragons instantly dispersed, scattering into their assigned formations.

This applied equally to the Twins and Genelocer.

They, too, had their assigned roles.

The three dragons winked at Louis, as if to say, We trust you.

Then, they gracefully soared away and vanished.

As they departed one by one, Louis found himself standing alone.

Hmm…

He gazed at the wall of Black Ice.

The subtle aura flowing through the ice wall reached Louis.

Though he didn’t yet fully understand the wall’s mechanism, one thing was clear:

The aura has definitely weakened significantly.

Compared to his previous inspections, the aura had noticeably diminished, and the wall’s thickness had also thinned.

As Louis examined the ice wall, Odilia’s voice echoed in his mind, her voice carrying the weight of her role as commander:

-Are you ready?

The voice was directed solely at Louis.

In response to her question, Louis let out a long sigh.

He had been briefed on the plan to some extent.

A wry smile curled at the corners of his lips as he recalled it.

Dragons’ thinking… truly extraordinary.

Dragons were inherently individualistic and selfish creatures. They mourned the death of their own kind only when it was a Hatchling whose survival the entire Clan was sworn to protect.

But the deaths of Silvio and Sandra were different.

Kaiders’ resurrection and the lies he had sown throughout the world had ignited the fury of the entire Clan.

It was Kaiders who had created the Mahyeol, and subsequent generations of dragons had been manipulated by his deceptions.

For eons, Kaiders’ lies had deceived and betrayed the entire dragon race.

And at the hands of this Traitor, their Elders and comrades had perished.

Enraged by the death of their comrade, the Elders vowed to avenge him without fail.

Having sworn this vow, the Elders put their heads together and devised a method to shatter the ice wall.

Louis, recalling this plan, signaled Odilia:

In response to Louis’ signal, Odilia broadcast a message to the entire Clan:

Her thunderous voice echoed through their minds.

Instantly, the dragons began to gather mana in unison.

Tsu tsu tsu---.

The mana, instantly drawn into their Dragon Hearts, was then released outward, transforming into its purest and most destructive form:

The dragons’ ultimate technique, Dragon Breath.

The problem, however, was that this phenomenon was occurring in every dragon except Louis and the Eleven Elders.

Shu shu shu---.

Particles of attribute power gathered before the mouths of 141 dragons.

Under Odilia’s command, all the dragons held their breaths as long as possible.

From a distance, the light emanating from the dragons encircling the Black Ice wall might have resembled stars in the night sky.

As their breaths gradually reached their limit, the mana around the ice wall began to dry up.

And then, finally…

Tsu tsu tsu tsu-.

The dragons’ breaths reached their peak.

The Breath of Destruction, held at its peak, erupted simultaneously.

Skyward.

One hundred and forty-one streams of breath surged upward along the ice wall.

Immediately afterward, Odilia issued her next command:

This time, the ones who moved were the Eleven Elders, including Odilia herself.

From their positions at the upper reaches of the barrier, the Primordial Force stirred within them. Eleven-hued auras shimmered like mirages, intertwining like threads of silk.

The intertwined Primordial Energy surged upward, extending beyond the circular barrier to form a colossal magic circle.

As if anticipating this moment, 141 Breaths arced inward, drawn into the magic circle.

Tsu tsu tsu-.

The magic circle endlessly absorbed the relentless stream of Breaths.

Within the Elder-created magic circle, the 141 Breaths began to fuse together.

“Cr…!”

The wings of the Elders maintaining the magic circle trembled violently.

Tsu tsu-.

How long had passed?

The magic circle had absorbed every last Breath, now brimming with stored energy.

Rumble—

The power contained within was so immense that rainbow-colored lightning crackled beyond the magic circle, shaking the very fabric of space with each pulse.

Louis clicked his tongue in astonishment.

He was certain that there was no force in the world as simple, brute, and… utterly destructive as this.

The raw, primordial, and ultimate destructive power of pure mana.

The name of this plan, decided by the Council of Elders, slipped from Louis’s lips:

“Heavenly Punishment.”

As if that whisper were a signal…

Tsu tsu tsu—

A bizarre sound echoed through the air.

Wooooosh—

The collective breath of 141 dragons coalesced into a single Heavenly Punishment.

KWA--------------AAAANG!

It plunged down onto the upper edge of the Black Ice wall.