Dragon Maken War

“.......”

<She didn’t want immortality for herself. She wanted immortality for others. It was a time when humans died easily..... It seemed she couldn’t stand it when the humans she treasured kept dying.>

Her Dragon weapon could exhibit incredible abilities, but she couldn’t achieve her wish.

<In the end, it was like a curse for her. Iksseru had become an immortal, yet she tried to make her loved ones into immortal. However, they didn’t become full immortals. On top of that, they weren’t the same beings that she had loved.>

“Did they become monsters?”

<That’s right. They became monsters that could extend their life span by eating their own species.>

What’s worse, the cursed beings started to spread like a plague. They were autonomous, and they were able to create beings just like them.

As a price for immortality, their humanity was destroyed. They also couldn’t procreate like humans. They could only eat and infect other humans. They were like a disease.

<These beings couldn’t exist without eating humans, and they couldn’t control their appetite. If left alone, these beings would have wiped out the human race.>

Moreover, they were fated to be wiped out after no humans were left on this world.

<This was why Atein sealed Iksseru in the Great Darkness, and the souls of the cursed beings were made part of the Great Darkness.>

“.......”

Azell was at a loss for words. She really was someone that threatened the existence of humanity.

<She was an ancient being, yet she was incredibly strong. We were barely to win out against her. Unlike Atein, we were able to kill her.>

“Didn’t you say she was immortal? How is that possible?”

<Unlike Atein from the Five Stars kingdom era, we had a solution. You came up with it. It was a technique you used to kill Atein..>

“Are you talking about Extreme Extermination?”

Azell brought up the word he hadn’t thought about for a long timed.

7

Extreme Extermination.

During the Dragon Demon war, it was the final domain reached by Azell.

He had an abundance of Dragon Demon magic, and he had connected his 13 Dragon weapons to maximize his power. The sword made out of light cut through the sky, and it produced a near infinite hail of swords..... If that power was focused in one place, it would create an extreme destructive phenomena that would destroy everything in this world.

That was the ]Extreme Extermination.

It was a phenomenon that could be raised using the light sword. Without it, he wouldn’t have been able to win against Atein.

“Were you able to replicate it?”

<It had several troublesome restrictions, but we were able to successfully replicate it. We used it to kill a being that was considered to be unkillable. That was why Atein had sealed her in the first place.>

“However, isn’t Atein is going to revived?”

<Atein isn’t an immortal existence. He left his essence within the Great Darkness. You really did kill him with your sword.>

Since his essence was within the Great Darkness, he just needed time to revive from his death. It didn’t matter if he was killed. If the Great Darkness existed, he would always revive someday. This was true for Atein and the Dragon Demon generals.

“I see.......”

Azell accepted his words.

In the final battle against Atein, the Extreme Extermination had a crucial role in defeating Atein. Atein’s defensive magic spells were sturdier than a castle, yet the Extreme Extermination had pierced through all of them. Azell was able to inflict a critical wound on Atein.

However, Atein wasn’t killed by the Extreme Extermination. He had fallen to Azell’s Sky Splitter. If Atein had been killed by the Extreme Extermination, he wouldn’t have been able to leave behind a curse or even a will.

Carlos continued to speak.

<Unlike him, Iksseru couldn’t be killed by any other method except the the Extreme Extermination. It was the result of her immortality.>

Before Azell discovered the Extreme Extermination phenomena, the beings sealed by Atein were immortals for all intents and purposes.

They became injured when they were stabbed, and they lost energy when they performed activities. However, their ability to heal was endless. It didn’t matter if their bodies were destroyed, or they exhausted their energy. They never died.

<Since we found a method called Extreme Extermination, they were no longer true immortals. Once they are killed, they cannot revive.>

“...does that mean it is also the answer to destroying the Great Darkness?”

<You are absolutely correct.>

Carlos clapped his hands.

Azell had picked up on one of the key points Carlos had been trying to convey.

They had to destroy the Great Darkness. If they don’t destroy the Great Darkness, Atein would continue being revived.

The problem had always been the fact that they didn’t have a realistic way to destroy the Great Darkness.

Each pillar holding up the Great Darkness were immortal beings. They had been sealed there, because Atein couldn’t destroy them.

Moreover, each being were powerful enough to threaten the existence of humanity. They were calamities. They were powerful evil from myths, and they were on par with the Dragon Demon war in terms of threat to humanity.

<However, things are different now. We have the Extreme Extermination technique, and we have you, who can carry out that method..... We can end it.>

“Can’t you do it too? You’ve recreated the Extreme Extermination already. I just have to teach you the secret.......”

<Didn’t I tell you that there were troublesome restrictions to me using it? Azell, do you know why you were the first one in history to reach the domain of Extreme Extermination?>

Extreme Extermination was a phenomena ‘discovered’ by Azell. Atein was the founder of magic. He was someone that could change the rules of the world, yet the Extreme Extermination had caused fear in such a being.

Azell thought for a brief moment before he answered Carlos.

“Is it the Sky Splitter?”

<You are correct. That weapon had started out as a beam of light, but it evolved to being able to control all forms of light. It is also possible to materialize light..... It can shift between the material and immaterial world. Your Dragon weapon transcends the common sense of this world.>

During the Dragon Demon war, Azell had been full of Dragon Demon magic. He had eight Rings of Life, and he possessed 13 Dragon weapons. For a short amount of time, he could generate power that rivaled Atein.

However, the Extreme Extermination couldn’t be reached just because one could generate massive amounts of power.

One couldn’t reach it even if one was able to concentrate the power into a single point.

These two prerequisites had to be activated at the same time. On top of that, a high-dimensional power that transcended the common sense of the world had to be applied.

The Sky Splitter was a Dragon weapon that had reached this domain.

The Dance of Shadows allowed Azell to be in multiple places, and his Sky Splitter could be used anywhere light could be reached. When he held his sword, he reached a domain that transcended time and space. No one except Azell could have defeated Atein in an one on one battle.

<No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t copy the Sky Splitter’s ability. On the other hand, the abilities your other Dragon Weapons could be copied over time through time and effort.>

This was why Carlos had chosen to store the Sky Splitter with Azell. He determined the the Sky Splitter was something that was too important to be lost.

<Since I didn’t have the Sky Splitter, I needed a sacrifice to create the Extreme Extermination phenomena.>

“What sacrifice?”

<I had to use a Dragon weapon as a sacrifice.>

“.......”

Azell swallowed his breath.

The meaning behind Carlos’ words were clear.

<At the very least, I have to sacrifice a Dragon weapon to create the Extreme Extermination phenomena. Moreover, it can’t be a Dragon weapon that hasn’t yet reached its stable form. I needed a Dragon weapon of a caliber that could generate a certain scale of destructive power.>

“Did you perhaps.......”

<Yes, I used my Dragon weapon.>

A Dragon weapons wasn’t a simple tool. It was a clone of one’s soul. Carlos had developed his Dragon weapon over a long period of time, and it had been his companion through many life and death situations.

What emotions would he have felt when he had to sacrifice his Dragon weapon for a single use of a technique? Azell was having a hard time imagining the sense of loss that would have been felt by Carlos.

Carlos spoke.

<The second calamity was dismal.>

When he faced the second calamity, Carlos felt despair.

In the first calamity, he had face the Dragon Demon Iksseru, who had created the first Dragon weapon. His side had taken massive loss in the fight against her. This was why Carlos hadn’t been confident that he could avert the second calamity.

<My personal power had suffered, and I had lost most of my comrades. Moreover, the number of people that were willing to follow me was much smaller.>

Even during the fight against Iksseru, most of the veteran heroes of the Dragon Demon war were old or dead. The ones that were still alive had lost most of their battle capabilities they had possessed during their prime. Moreover, many of the survivors from the Dragon Demon war died in the fight against Iksseru.

<As time passed, our closest friends started to pass onto the next life one by one.>

Of course, the new generation produced many that possessed excellent talent.

However.....

Was it because there was a lack of urgency compared to era of the Dragon Demon war?

Only a very small number of the new generation were helpful.

<The fight against Iksseru was the impetus for me to start researching the Great Darkness. It allowed me to predict the time and location of the second calamity.>

“That calamity was Belrun?”

<Yes.>

The second calamity was the king of Death Belrun.

He was the first to transcend life and death. He had denied death through his own power to become the first immortal.

<Thankfully, I had plenty of time to prepare. I gathered companions, who were willing to fight with me. Moreover, I prepared an ace in the hole.>

At the time, he had no idea how strong Belrun was. Since he was a magician from ancient times, he might be unexpectedly weak. On the other hand, he might be strong like Iksseru.

The only thing certain was the fact that they couldn’t give Belrun the time to recuperate. They had to stop him before he could gather information on this era. If he gained knowledge of the current era’s magic, it was all over.

This was why Carlos had led his comrade to the faraway mountain range of Atisan.

Carlos had known when and where the fight would start. Belrun still didn’t possess any information of the current era, so Carlos decided to use his final move from the start.

<I started the fight off with the Extreme Extermination. I’m sorry. I used your Dragon weapon as sacrifice.>

“I see.......”

Carlos was able to get a direct hit in against Belrun. Thanks to the attack, they were able to gain a complete advantage over Belrun.

However, the Dragon weapon wasn’t the only cost of using the Extreme Extermination. A significant backlash prevented Carlos from using the move again in the battle.

He hadn’t been able to end everything with the surprise attack. That was his mistake.

Since events had turned out like that, it was impossible to kill Belrun..

What was his options? Should he have tried to seal Belrun like Atein had done?

Even that was impossible.

<There was a reason why I couldn’t do it.>

Atein had the Great Darkness. Carlos didn’t have anything. It was impossible to seal a being like Belrun with a simple Seal spell.

<In the end, I made a choice.>

“.......”

Carlos didn’t explain any further. Azell’s face became distorted. He could guess what method was used to seal Belrun.

“You became the vessel that sealed Belrun?”

<That is correct.>

The sound of laughter flowed out from Carlos’ face, which was shrouded with darkness. It was a sad and empty sounding laughter.