ALL NOVEL Chapter 31
Chapter 31
The unique authority, “Dragonkin Domination,” obtained by absorbing Bahamut’s heart, was activated.
[Would you like to subjugate the target Dragonkin?]
“I don’t know what it is, but let’s give it a try.”
However, a warning message soon appeared.
[Your authority is insufficient to subjugate this Dragonkin.]
[Failed to subjugate the Corrupted Dragonkin.]
It seemed that even with such authority, subjugation wasn’t guaranteed.
At that moment, the sound of heavy thuds echoed from outside the door, as if the Hydra had abandoned its severed heads and left.
Zeke, staring at the Hydra’s head left wedged in the door, pondered what to do before deciding to use the Gluttony skill.
Rumble!
Zeke’s shadow quivered and expanded, reaching toward the Hydra’s heads.
The three severed Hydra heads were slowly absorbed, sinking as if into a black swamp.
Absorbing all three Hydra heads took a considerable amount of time.
Once the absorption was complete, a message appeared.
[You have devoured the severed heads of the Corrupted Dragonkin tainted by polluted energy.]
[Consumed stamina, mental strength, and mana have been restored.]
[Your Gluttony skill rank has increased as a reward for devouring a designated extermination target.]
[You have imperfectly absorbed the bloodline ability of the devoured creature, acquiring the trait Immunity to All Poisons.]
After devouring the Hydra heads, Zeke’s expended energy was replenished.
He confirmed that a new trait, Immunity to All Poisons, had been added to the traits category.
Additionally, his Gluttony skill rank increased from Beginner to Skilled.
“A designated extermination target, huh. So eliminating Dragonkin beasts like the Hydra yields better rewards.”
Zeke closed the status window and confirmed that the door had fully shut before he finally proceeded further into the ruins.
The structure of the ruins resembled that of the Dragon’s Resting Place.
While the Dragon’s Resting Place was predominantly composed of gray materials, Kysir’s ruins had smooth, white surfaces.
According to legend, the Hero King Kysir was a half-human, half-fairy born from a wise sage and the Fairy King.
However, Kysir was separated from his parents and abandoned alone in the mountains due to the schemes of a wicked sorcerer.
A sacred wolf rescued the young, crying Kysir in the mountains, fed him its milk, and raised him, allowing him to grow safely into adulthood.
Kysir, wielding unparalleled strength, went on to save oppressed humans and established the human-only kingdom of Kronos in the central continent.
Of course, Kronos was a legendary kingdom, and it was uncertain whether it had truly existed.
The royal family of the Rom Empire had long claimed to be descendants of the Hero King Kysir.
The sacred wolf, the symbol of the Rom Empire, originated from this very legend.
Although the Hero King and the Kronos Kingdom had remained mere mythical entities, these ruins served as evidence proving that the Kronos Kingdom had once truly existed.
Zeke marveled at the solid structure, with its towering ceilings and immense scale.
The fact that a structure built over two millennia ago could remain so intact was astonishing in itself.
He opened the mini-map and ventured deeper into the ruins.
A long corridor stretched between massive columns that extended endlessly on either side.
Zeke cautiously walked down the corridor, keeping his guard up.
As he ventured further, a door appeared.
When Zeke reached out his hand toward the door, a message appeared.
[Opening the Resting Place of the Hero King Kysir.]
At the same time, the door opened.
The space beyond the door was unexpectedly small.
A circular chamber made entirely of white material stood before him, with what appeared to be an altar erected in the center.
The map indicated that the altar was the target destination.
Zeke, still on alert, crossed the chamber and ascended the stairs to the altar.
On the altar, he saw a pedestal in the center.
Floating above the pedestal was a large, resplendent gem, shimmering with the color of the sky.
“A gem? Not the Hero King’s Visionary Swordsmanship Manual?”
He needed to find the swordsmanship manual to complete the mission.
Zeke searched every corner of the pedestal but couldn’t find any sign of the manual.
As his hand moved toward the gem, a message appeared.
[You have discovered the Permanent Record left behind by the Hero King Kysir.]
[Transferring and saving the Permanent Record to the system.]
Zeke stared at the gem atop the pedestal as the system’s message appeared.
[The message left by the Hero King Kysir is now playing automatically.]
At that moment, a video materialized before Zeke’s eyes.
A young man with snow-white hair and eyebrows appeared on the screen. His delicate features were striking, and his clear, sky-blue eyes gleamed beautifully.
He had an appearance that evoked the image of a legendary fairy.
The young man in the video began to speak.
However, Zeke couldn’t understand a single word he was saying. Frustration crept onto his face, but then another message appeared.
[The ancient Kronos language has been detected. Automatically translating into the common language of the central continent.]
Immediately, the young man’s speech was translated into the common language, and Zeke could finally understand what he was saying.
Apologies for the oversight! I’ll revise and ensure that all brackets and punctuation match the original text correctly. Here’s the corrected translation:
「So, here’s the thing. I climbed up the mountain and said to him, ‘Hey, are you the Giant King?’ And then, he immediately started acting up with me. Back in the day, I would’ve just grabbed him by the neck and—crack!—smashed his head. But at that time, I had people depending on me and was trying to maintain some dignity. So, I asked him calmly, ‘Why do you keep crossing into our territory?’ Then, he rolled his eyes and threw a fit. So I… Hey, hey, hold it steady. The screen’s shaking. Shaton, you idiot! Are you going to keep messing around? Where was I? Ah, damn it, I forgot because of you!」
Zeke blinked.
He was confused about what he had just heard.
From the context, the foul-mouthed man on the screen seemed to be the Hero King, Kysir, but something was off.
“The face recorded in history is completely different from Kysir’s. On top of that, Shaton is supposed to be one of the Clocktower Knights, Kysir’s most loyal knight, and a symbol of nobility.”
For about thirty minutes, Kysir rambled on with a mix of colorful curses, self-praise, and unfiltered criticisms of Shaton.
[You have completed viewing Episode 1 out of 546 episodes of the Chronicles of the Hero King Kysir. Would you like to continue watching?]
When the video finally ended and the message popped up, Zeke was horrified to realize that there were over five hundred episodes like this.
Moreover, Kysir was so different from what Zeke had imagined that he couldn’t think straight.
Regardless of the situation, what mattered most was Kysir’s secret swordsmanship.
Zeke clutched his throbbing head and spoke to the system.
“Search for the parts in Kysir’s chronicles that deal with his secret swordsmanship.”
By now, Zeke had become somewhat adept at using the system.
Soon, a message appeared.
[Searching for videos related to secret swordsmanship from the 546 episodes of the chronicle.]
[12 videos have been found.]
Zeke was shocked at the search results.
“What? Out of over five hundred videos, only twelve are about the secret swordsmanship?”
His headache grew worse.
Still, it seemed necessary to watch all twelve, so he began playing them.
Soon, Kysir appeared on the screen again.
This time, he was holding a sword.
He stared at the camera and raised the blade.
「What is a sword? A sword is just a sword. What else would it be? It’s because those old-fashioned geezers who don’t even know how to swing a blade keep spouting nonsense that people get confused. A sword just needs to stab and cut well. There’s no need to overthink it, that’s all. Hey, that was good. Shaton, jot that down for the records later. What? The records aren’t an autobiography? Just do it if I tell you to. Why do you talk so much? If I say do it, then do it, you idiot!」
Kysir, after ranting at Shaton for quite some time, eventually seemed to have said all he wanted to. At some point, he grabbed his sword and stood once more.
「So, that’s basically what a sword is. Then, how do you use it well? Just swing it diligently and frequently. There’s nothing else to it. You just swing. Like this!」
Suddenly, Kysir raised his sword and assumed a stance.
Wooong!
Something resembling a shimmering haze emanated from his body.
The haze enveloped not only Kysir but also his sword.
In that state, he swung the sword.
Swish!
Zeke felt, for an instant, as if his own neck had been severed by the blade in the video.
“Gasp!”
Without realizing it, Zeke stepped back using Shadowless Footwork.
That was how overwhelming the momentum behind Kysir’s strike had been.
Zeke paused the video.
“What… what was that? That didn’t seem like aura.”
He rewound the video to watch Kysir’s strike again.
Even on a second viewing, the movement was chilling.
At that moment, a system message appeared.
―Emergency Linked Mission―
[Learn the secret swordsmanship left by Hero King Kysir. No time limit.]
[Emergency Mission Reward: Tear of the Fairy King.]
[Warning: You cannot leave Kysir’s Resting Place until you complete this task.]
“What is this?”
Zeke stared in disbelief at the sudden mission that had appeared.
The condition stated that he couldn’t leave the area until he mastered Kysir’s secret swordsmanship.
“This is insane! How am I supposed to learn Kysir’s secret swordsmanship just by watching that video?!”
Even though no one was there to hear him, Zeke shouted in frustration.
He decided to turn off the video and attempted to manipulate the system to open the door.
[Mission in progress. You cannot open the door until the mission is completed.]
“This is driving me crazy.”
Despite the dire situation, Zeke knew he couldn’t stay paralyzed by despair forever.
He decided to step down from the platform and explore the space to get his bearings.
The circular room had three doors along its walls, and as Zeke approached them, they opened automatically.
The first room seemed to be a food storage area. Thousands of preservation boxes filled with various types of food were neatly stored.
The second room was a living space equipped for sleeping and bathing.
The final room housed a collection of weapons, armor, and books from the Chronos era.
Each item bore Kysir’s name, suggesting they were all things he had personally used or read.
The books were written in ancient Chronos script, but thankfully, the system’s adjustments automatically translated them, making them readable.
It felt as if this place had been deliberately prepared for him to undergo secluded training.
In the end, Zeke had no choice but to stay here and train.
He let out a deep sigh and resumed the video.
With his sword in hand, Zeke carefully omitted the unnecessary curses from the footage and focused on replicating Kysir’s movements one by one.
Thanks to his Divine Body, Zeke was able to accomplish such a feat.
After watching all twelve videos and grasping the basic forms of the swordsmanship, Zeke practiced the motions from start to finish as he had learned them.
However, no matter how much he swung the sword, he couldn’t replicate the feeling he had seen in Kysir’s movements.
At that moment, another message appeared.
[You have acquired the basic form of the Elemental Sword left by Hero King Kysir.]
[Basic stage complete. Proceeding to practical stage.]
[Summoning the spirit of the Hero King.]
Rumble!
Suddenly, the altar at the center of the room began to descend into the ground.
When the altar was fully lowered, the only thing remaining in the center was a pedestal with a sky-blue gem floating above it.
The gem began to glow, and something began to form in front of it.
“What… what is this?”
Within the light, a humanoid figure gradually materialized.
To Zeke’s shock, it was none other than Kysir, the very man from the video.
Zeke’s jaw dropped, and he stared at the Kysir standing before him in disbelief.
“Is… is that really Kysir?”
Kysir furrowed his finely shaped brow, then immediately drew his sword from its sheath and swung it at Zeke.
Whoosh!
Zeke hastily raised Bahamut to block Kysir’s strike.
Clang!
The force behind Kysir’s sword was so immense that Zeke was sent flying into the wall.
Crash!
With his sword casually resting on his shoulder, Kysir looked down at the fallen Zeke and spoke.
“Get up. Now.”
His stern reprimand struck Zeke like a hammer.
“With that pathetic skill, you think you can master my swordsmanship? If the knights of old saw this, they’d weep and gnash their teeth in despair.”