A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression

Chapter 32

‘Is that really Kysir?’

Zeke’s hand holding Bahamut still tingled from blocking the sudden attack.

As Zeke stood frozen, unable to gather himself, Kysir again charged forward, wielding his sword.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Without hesitation, Kysir swung his blade ‘lightly’ toward Zeke.

“Guh!”

Zeke hastily evaded Kysir’s attack using his Shadowless Footwork.

But there was no leniency or hesitancy in Kysir’s movements.

He simply pressed forward relentlessly, without any care.

“I don’t know if you’re the real deal, a ghost, or whatever. Fine, let’s give this a try.”

Wooong!

Aura covered Zeke’s sword, creating an aura blade.

Kysir glanced at Zeke’s sword and tilted his head slightly.

“Are you Shaton’s disciple?”

Without answering, Zeke surged forward with quick strides.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Zeke’s aura blade clashed with Kysir’s sword.

Kysir observed Zeke’s aura blade with interest as he swung his sword with practiced ease.

“That’s fascinating. It’s neither elemental power nor magic power, yet it maintains its form without dissipating.”

Kysir seemed utterly relaxed, but Zeke, who was facing him, felt like he was on the verge of collapse.

Every time his sword collided with Kysir’s, his entire body buzzed with pain.

Though Kysir appeared to swing his sword lightly, the strikes carried a formidable weight.

“This is fun. Let’s see what you can do.”

Suddenly, Kysir’s movements accelerated.

Whoosh!

His sword moved so quickly that it became almost invisible.

Zeke, relying on Phantom Footwork, struggled desperately to keep up with Kysir’s movements.

‘Guh!’

The strain of his forced movements caused every muscle in his body to scream in agony.

Amidst the chaos, Kysir’s sword came at him from a blind spot.

Crash!

Zeke barely managed to block the strike with Bahamut on time, but the impact sent his entire body skidding backward.

Defense itself felt impossible.

‘He’s not even using aura, so how in the world…?’

At that moment, a figure from Zeke’s memory surfaced.

Someone who didn’t use aura, yet displayed even greater strength.

‘Master?’

Not Duke Draker, but the mentor who had taught him Ether Hall activation and the Soul-Body Technique.

In Kysir, Zeke glimpsed traces of his former master.

“Huff…”

Zeke dispelled the aura blade.

Instead, he focused Ether into Bahamut, manifesting the Soul-Body Technique and imbuing the blade with his will.

Wooong!

Rather than an aura blade, the sword was now infused with Zeke’s intent through Ether.

Seeing this, Kysir was visibly surprised once again.

“Elemental power, too? Shaton’s techniques combined with elemental force… You’re an interesting one.”

Kysir raised his sword again.

Rumble!

An aura completely different from before began to emanate.

It was the same overwhelming force Zeke had seen in the recordings.

The pressure was immense, as if a colossal giant, akin to an entire mountain range, was bearing down on him.

“Cha-hat!”

Zeke lunged at Kysir first.

Soul-Body Technique
Will of Severance

Zeke’s blade, imbued with the intent to cut, slashed toward Kysir.

At the same time, a massive storm erupted from Kysir’s sword.

Elemental Sword
Field of Wind
Storm Sword

It was, quite literally, the power of a storm engulfing Zeke.

Swept up by the immense force, Zeke lost consciousness immediately.

* * *

“Ugh…”

Zeke finally regained his senses.

When he opened his eyes, a pure white space unfolded before him.

The memory of being struck by Kysir’s sword and blacking out came flooding back.

As he sat up and glanced around, he noticed Kysir floating mid-air with his legs crossed in an unusual pose, his eyes closed.

Noticing Zeke had regained consciousness, Kysir opened his eyes.

“You’ve finally woken up. Weakling.”

Kysir’s words were blunt and unrestrained.

Zeke spoke to him directly.

“Are you truly the Hero King, Kysir?”

Kysir tilted his chin arrogantly, a smug expression crossing his face as he replied.

“Does it matter whether I’m real or not?”

That attitude was infuriating.

Once again, Zeke realized how exaggerated the legends of the Hero King truly were.

At that moment, Kysir extended his hand.

Bahamut, lying next to Zeke, was drawn into Kysir’s grasp.

“What are you doing…!”

Zeke dashed forward, attempting to retrieve Bahamut, but Kysir snapped his fingers.

In an instant, Zeke’s body became unbearably heavy, preventing him from moving.

“Urgh…”

While holding Bahamut in mid-air, Kysir examined it closely.

“I can sense Bahamut’s faint energy, but it’s weak. What’s the story behind this?”

Grinding his teeth, Zeke glared at Kysir.

“What does it matter to you?”

Zeke threw Kysir’s words back at him.

Kysir smirked and snapped his fingers again.

The oppressive force weighing down Zeke vanished.

Despite being freed, Zeke continued to glare at Kysir with eyes filled with malice.

Finding an opening, Zeke unleashed the Draconian Skill, Dragon’s Claw, at Kysir.

Screeeech!

An invisible force, summoned from nowhere, shredded through the space where Kysir stood.

“Huh?”

Kysir raised his hand in mild surprise, and a translucent barrier appeared in response.

Dragon’s Claw failed to penetrate the barrier and dissipated entirely.

Though it could easily tear through steel plates, it was useless against Kysir.

Kysir approached Zeke and spoke.

“You’re quite the curious one. You wield Shaton’s techniques, use elemental power, and draw upon draconic strength despite not being a Dragonkin.”

As he extended his hand, Zeke was lifted into the air.

A powerful force wrapped tightly around his entire body.

“Urgh…”

Kysir placed his palm over Zeke’s chest, and strange markings emerged on the fabric of Zeke’s clothes.

They were the patterns engraved when Zeke absorbed Bahamut’s heart.

Upon seeing the markings, Kysir examined them with a look of intrigue.

“A human who has crossed the boundary of death countless times, with a fragment of their soul overlapping the Spirit Realm. That explains your ability to use elemental power. Who would’ve thought a human body could use a dragon’s heart like this?”

He lowered his hand, and Zeke collapsed onto the ground.

Kysir, his face alight with amusement, handed Bahamut back to Zeke.

“Well, I’ve seen something fascinating for the first time in ages, so I’m in a generous mood. I’ll teach you how to use the Elemental Sword.”

As always, Kysir acted entirely on his whims, without regard for context.

“Take up your sword and stand.”

Zeke staggered to his feet, gripping Bahamut. Kysir addressed him.

“Unleash your elemental power.”

“You’ve been going on about elemental power, but what even is that?”

“You’ve been using it and don’t even know what it is?”

“Are you talking about Ether?”

“Ether? What’s that?”

It seemed their terms differed due to being from entirely different eras.

Zeke focused Ether throughout his body.

Kysir nodded as if understanding.

“Ah, so that’s what you call Ether. I never gave it a name. Fine, then—convert that Ether into elemental power.”

Zeke tried to decipher Kysir’s peculiar phrasing and focused his Ether into his blade using the Soul-Body Technique.

Out of nowhere, Kysir stepped forward and struck Zeke on the head with his scabbard.

Thud!

“What was that for!”

“I told you to use elemental power, not mimic some fraudulent incantation technique!”

“That’s how I was taught to do it in the first place!”

“Tsk, tsk. Forget all of that. Humans cannot use incantation arts. Your soul’s vessel is entirely different. Even I, who inherited the Fairy King’s blood, cannot use incantation arts because I’m half-human.”

Kysir’s words reminded Zeke of the side effects he’d experienced in his past life whenever he used the Soul-Body Technique.

Simultaneously, he recalled the draconic skill “Incantation” that had appeared after he absorbed Bahamut’s heart.

‘If I can fully utilize that skill, I might finally achieve a perfected Soul-Body Technique.’

At that moment, Kysir spoke to Zeke.

“Elemental power refers to the pure force that forms all things. The most efficient method is to draw on the four basic elements: fire, water, earth, and wind. Watch closely.”

Wooong!

Ether gathered in Kysir’s sword, transforming into a storm.

It was the same force that had struck Zeke and knocked him unconscious earlier.

Zeke quickly recognized the nature of the power concentrated in Kysir’s blade.

“The power of wind?”

In an instant, the wind’s energy dissipated, replaced by a new force radiating outward.

The burning energy of fire, the gentle flow of water, and the heavy strength of earth—all the forces of the four basic elements were imbued into the sword.

‘This feels more like magic than swordsmanship.’

That was Zeke’s first thought after witnessing Kysir’s abilities.

Magicians create mana in their hearts through the formation of circles.

Unlike dragons, who naturally generate mana in their hearts, humans cannot create mana without first forming these circles.

The more circles formed in the heart, the more powerful the mana a magician can wield, granting them recognition as high-ranking magicians.

Once mana is produced in a circle, it combines with magical circuits and formulas to complete a spell.

To Zeke, Kysir’s Elemental Sword seemed closer to magic than swordsmanship.

“Well, you’ve seen it. Now give it a try. If you fail, I won’t teach you anything else.”

“What do you mean by ‘give it a try’? You barely explained anything.”

“Hah, I’ve already shown you enough. What more do you need?”

“You skipped over the crucial explanation of how to convert Ether into elemental power.”

Hearing Zeke’s pointed response, Kysir made a face as if he was already exasperated.

“Ah, damn it. The way you nitpick reminds me of that bastard Shaton. It’s annoying.”

He gripped his sword and repeatedly cycled through creating wind, fire, and water. Then, for a brief moment, a confused expression crossed his face.

“This is… it just happens naturally. How am I supposed to explain it?”

Zeke, looking unimpressed, finally asked.

“Out of curiosity—has anyone ever successfully learned this technique from you?”

At that, Kysir responded with a proud expression.

“Of course not! How could anyone else master the Elemental Sword, created by me, the greatest genius and the first Grandmaster?”

“And what about Shaton, the Knight of Nobility? According to legend, you passed the kingdom and everything else down to him.”

According to legend, after founding the Kingdom of Chronos, Kysir had abdicated the throne to Shaton, the Knight of Nobility, before returning to the land of the fairies.

“Shaton? I gave him the throne, that’s all. Even if I tried teaching humans the Elemental Sword, they wouldn’t be able to learn it. Maybe an elf could.”

“Elves? Do elves even use swords?”

“Why wouldn’t elves use swords?”

“Most books say they mainly use bows. I’ve never seen an elf myself, so I wouldn’t know.”

“What do you mean you’ve never seen an elf? They’re everywhere if you just go outside.”

“When are you talking about? Elves vanished from the world hundreds of years ago.”

“What? What kind of nonsense is that? What year is it right now?”

“It’s the 1038th year of the Liberation Calendar.”

“What the hell is the Liberation Calendar? Use Chronos years instead.”

“To us, Chronos is a kingdom of legend. Nobody calculates years using that system anymore.”

“This is insane.”

At that moment, Zeke seemed to have a thought and asked the system a question.

‘System, what year is it in Chronos years?’

A message appeared before him.

[It is the year 2120 in Chronos years.]

Zeke relayed the information to Kysir.

“It seems to be the year 2120 in Chronos years.”

“What? So, you’re telling me it’s been 2000 years since I left the kingdom?”

Kysir’s face was one of utter shock.

“This is crazy! Even if I’ve been in a Heroic Spirit state, how could 2000 years pass without a single worthy successor to carry on my legacy?”

“You just said earlier that humans can’t learn the Elemental Sword. So how could anyone possibly continue your legacy?”

“Shaton should’ve figured something out!”

“Honestly, you’re just being unreasonable.”

Ignoring Zeke’s comment, Kysir gritted his teeth and stomped his feet in frustration.

“Damn that Shaton! He must have been so caught up developing his own swordsmanship that he didn’t care at all about finding my successor. Damn it, what was that technique again… Oh, right. Aura or whatever it was. I shouldn’t have helped him with that!”

Zeke was startled by what he just heard.

“Did you just say aura?”

Kysir nodded.

“Yeah. Shaton couldn’t learn my Elemental Sword, so he worked tirelessly to develop an alternative technique. Thanks to that, he managed to become a Sword Master, but it’s all just second-rate tricks.”

Zeke drew his sword and created an aura blade.

Kysir nodded at the sight.

“That’s the one. But yours seems a bit different. Shaton mentioned drawing energy from something called the Lower Dantian or whatever.”

“That’s how it’s normally done. I’m just an unusual case.”

Kysir gritted his teeth as he glared at Zeke’s aura blade.

“Damn that Shaton! He passed his technique down to future generations while completely ignoring mine!”

Then Kysir’s next words left Zeke more shocked than anything else he had heard since meeting him.

“Shaton Draker, you bastard! If I catch you, you’re dead!”