WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 118: The Rift of Time (8)

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Dragons. Living beings chosen by mana, creatures closest to the gods.

Ever since Kyle had fallen into this isekai world, he had often heard stories about Dragons. The guardian deity of the Imperial Family, publicly known to all, was Progenitor Dragon Prisia. Wyverns, remnants of the extinct Dragon race, had been the greatest contributors to Elandor becoming an Empire.

There were many other myths and legends involving Dragons. Naturally, Kyle had learned a great deal about them while living in this world. A single Dragon could destroy a small kingdom, they said. Dragons wielded Authority on an entirely different level from magic, they said. Whenever he heard such stories, Kyle dismissed them as exaggerations. It had already been a thousand years since Prisia, the last Dragon, had died.

But what about the Dragon before his very eyes?

"......."

Kyle silently watched the sky-blue Dragon through the white breath rising from his mouth. Unlike the vermilion Dragon that had passed them a few days ago, this one felt entirely different when viewed from the front.

It was overwhelming.

That was the first thought that came to him. Everything about it was. Its size alone was on a completely different level from an ordinary Wyvern. Even from this distance, he could feel a cold that seemed to cut into his bones.

"Ice Dragon Aiser. That is what the people around here call it."

Alfred spoke. Kyle narrowed his eyes before asking, "It should have noticed us by now, but it is not reacting at all. Is it asleep?"

"Something like that. More precisely, it would be better to say it is suffering from the aftermath of battle. Even if one Dragon is more vicious and aggressive, a fight between Dragons of similar strength forces both sides to risk their lives. Dragons are living beings too. They need rest, do they not?"

The old mage smiled.

The three of them stood on a slightly elevated stretch of hills surrounding the enormous lake. At Elysia's gentle tap on his shoulder, Kyle carefully lowered her to the ground. Unlike before, the area around the lake was utterly quiet, without even a snowstorm.

"A tree made of frost..."

Elysia muttered softly, white breath leaving her lips. A single transparent, glowing tree stood at the center of the small island where the Dragon lay curled up. Each time Elysia inhaled and exhaled air cold enough to hurt her lungs, glittering particles slowly fell from the frost-covered tree onto the Ice Dragon below.

It was beautiful, but the truth behind it was not.

"Just by existing, Dragons affect their surroundings. That tree used to be an ancient tree that had survived for hundreds of years on that island, but it became like that overnight. Even if we kill the Ice Dragon, it will slowly rot away. Its roots have frozen. It is a pity."

Alfred waved his hand through the air. In an instant, a wooden staff as tall as he was appeared in his wrinkled hand. Spatial Magic, as natural and fluid as running water. A large yellow Magic Stone was set into the end of the staff.

"That is not all. Because of that thing, many villages nearby have been badly damaged. Quite a few people have died as well."

"You said yesterday that we had a chance if we fought that Ice Dragon. Do you have a good plan?"

Kyle asked as he checked his equipment one last time. The old mage, dressed in a red robe and holding a large wooden staff, grinned at him.

"Of course I do. What do you take me for?"

"What is it?"

"Can you see that Dragon's wings over there?"

At Elysia's questioning voice, Alfred raised his staff and pointed toward the Dragon's back.

"Look closely. Do you see the wound?"

"...I do."

"This is only my guess, but it probably cannot fly. Even when it found me, it only sent magic at me from a distance and could not follow. Even if that is not the case, there is definitely some restriction on its movement. The vermilion Dragon that went south was gentle by nature, but it was not inferior to this Ice Dragon."

A Dragon that could not fly. That was an enormous advantage for those fighting it. Some Dragons lacked wings and walked the ground, but those creatures were usually larger and sturdier to compensate. This Ice Dragon was different. It had wings and froze its surroundings simply by existing.

"You said it could not compare to Prisia even at full strength. Then how strong is it now?"

Even so, Kyle did not let his guard down. He understood that it was injured and that something was wrong with its wings. But that did not guarantee victory, especially when the opponent was a Dragon.

"Let me see..."

Kyle and Elysia turned toward Alfred. The old mage was observing the distant Dragon with narrowed eyes.

"At full strength, it was around the same level as the vermilion Dragon that left. A little stronger than average."

Alfred paused before adding, "Not now. It is badly injured. More importantly, its wings have been damaged. Its movement is restricted, and its actual combat strength is probably less than half of what it was when it was uninjured. I can say that with certainty because I have traded magic with it myself. Otherwise, would I have come back alive after standing before an uninjured Dragon?"

Alfred casually waved his left arm. Thanks to the potion Kyle had given him, he had recovered to the condition he had been in when they first met after only a few days.

"On top of that, we have the initiative. It is in a deep sleep while healing its wounds. Throwing magic at the head of a sleeping Dragon... who in the world would ever get to do that? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

He chuckled and raised the staff in his right hand.

"Your hibernation is over, you damned lizard."

The golden gem at the end of his staff shone brightly. The surrounding mana was drawn into Alfred's body all at once, then concentrated at a single point.

Crackle, crackle.

Bright yellow sparks ran across Alfred's body. The hem of his red robe fluttered as though caught in a storm. The clear sky, as sharp as the freezing air, rippled unnaturally overhead. Kyle and Elysia, who had intended to prepare magic in advance to support him, waited quietly so they would not interfere with the flow of mana. With magic on this scale, even a minor variable could have a major effect.

"Lightning that splits the sky..."

Alfred spoke in a low voice.

The intermittent flashes ceased.

"Fall, Heavenly Thunder."

Rumble!

With a deafening roar, bright yellow lightning crashed down from the clear sky. For an instant, a fierce light filled their vision.

Kyaaaaaah!

A horrible scream rang out a beat later. It was nothing like a human cry, so loud that the very air trembled. Kyle and Elysia instinctively knew Alfred's magic had struck true.

And that this was their chance.

As their vision returned to normal.

"Now!"

Alfred shouted. Kyle exchanged a glance with Elysia and kicked off the ground without another word. His black cloak fluttered as he ran down the gentle slope. The surface of the frozen lake spread out below him.

Crack.

Kyle stepped hard onto the slippery ice. Fragments of clear ice flew up from the tip of his foot, wrapped in Wind Magic.

[How dare you! Who dares wake me from my sleep!]

The Ice Dragon, roaring in the distance, rose as its massive body trembled with rage. Kyle sprinted across the ice, smashing through it as though stomping it apart with Wind Magic. As his speed increased, the frigid air dug deep into his lungs and stole his breath. Every gust that tore across his face felt like a blade.

Can we win?

The thought came to him suddenly, but it did not last long.

He could feel the flow of mana behind him again. One belonged to the archmage who had just summoned lightning. The other was Elysia's mana, which had become so familiar to him.

Kyle unconsciously smiled and reminded himself.

Do not look back.

Just trust them and run.

The Ice Dragon's white eyes, which had been wildly lashing out in every direction, turned toward Kyle. This time, it was not simply the air. A thick, invisible killing intent washed over him.

Kyle faltered for a moment, but he did not stop. He charged straight at the Dragon. The sky-blue body that had looked enormous from afar was rising directly before him. A huge claw came down from above.

Without hesitation, Kyle drew the sword at his waist. Pure white flames rose from the blade, which shone like starlight.

* * *

After Alfred's lightning struck the Ice Dragon, Kyle ran down the hill outside the lake and drew the injured Dragon's attention by himself.

Pure white light flashed over the frozen lake. It was Kyle's Sword Aura. Contrary to their concerns, the white blade smoothly cut through the Ice Dragon's sky-blue scales. The wounds were not fatal because the Dragon was so enormous, but even small injuries were unbearably irritating to an already wounded Ice Dragon.

[You lowly creature...!]

Kyle never overextended himself. He focused on evasion and only provoked the Dragon. He narrowly avoided another descending claw, lowered his body, and ran along the Dragon's side.

Whoosh!

At the same time, fireballs as large as houses flew in from the hill behind him. Mixed with Wind Magic, they were fast and fierce. There were not one or two, but more than a dozen. Most were blocked by the cold and melted into the air, but several surviving fireballs burrowed into the Ice Dragon's scales. The Ice Dragon thrashed beneath the terrible heat.

[It is that human from before! Do you think anything will change just because you have formed a group!]

Its vertically slit pupils and white eyes glared toward the hill. An old man and a young woman stood there, firing magic without pause.

"Ha ha. We will see. You are hopping around so vigorously. You look very fresh, you rotten ice lizard."

The Ice Dragon changed targets.

At that very moment, a great deal of bright red blood burst from its side. Its vertically slit pupils turned toward its rear too late. Kyle's sword was cutting through scales as hard as ice.

Kyaaaaaah!

The enraged Ice Dragon went wild. Kyle used broken ice fragments as footholds and dodged every attack.

That boy fights far better than I expected.

Alfred inwardly marveled as he supported Kyle with magic. Kyle understood his role perfectly.

Alfred's magic possessed greater raw power. Rather than forcing attacks through, Kyle thoroughly kept the Dragon's attention on himself. Just as Alfred had expected, the Ice Dragon could not fly. Unable to make use of flight, one of a Dragon's greatest strengths, it had to fight on the ground. And on the ground, Kyle's advantages as a knight stood out.

Above all, there was the ring on his left hand.

Alfred, who had not stopped swinging his staff, looked at Kyle's left hand as he wielded his sword in the distance. As the Empire's greatest mage, he could clearly see the source of Kyle's mana.

Is that how he compensates for a body unable to accept mana because of Izra's Thorn? Whatever the result, a ring capable of freely absorbing and releasing that much mana was an incredible treasure. Alfred had been concerned at first, but it seemed there was no need now. Kyle was making up for his limited mana output with exceptional swordsmanship and astonishing mana control.

So he truly is the Commander of the Knights of Ash.

Alfred glanced to his side. Elysia, dressed in a white robe, had been actively supporting him ever since the battle began.

"At this rate, we might really win..."

Elysia muttered to herself. Sweat poured down her face, but she did not stop casting magic.

So it really was badly injured? If that is true...

"Do not let your guard down. It is not over yet."

The thought that it was weaker than expected had only just formed when Alfred's calm voice brought her back to her senses.

"That is not the end of a Dragon's power."

As soon as Alfred finished speaking, Kyle, who had focused on evasion, shifted to the offensive. The pure white Sword Path that had gracefully streaked through the air began cutting wildly through the sky-blue scales.

More blood sprayed out every time the Ice Dragon screamed and thrashed. Even minor wounds became major injuries when they piled up, all the more so when it was already resting after suffering grave wounds.

I can do this.

If I drive my sword deeper here...

Boom!

As mana stretched Kyle's sense of time, the Ice Dragon finally snapped and slammed hard against the lake's surface. Cracks raced across the frozen water. Amid the flying shards of ice, Kyle's balance shifted slightly.

"Kyle!"

In the slowed world, Kyle heard Elysia call his name. Then the enormous sky-blue tail swung like a whip in an instant.

This time, he could not evade.

Clang!

When Kyle's sword struck the tail covered in sky-blue scales, a sharp metallic crash rang out. Pain so intense it felt as though his grip would tear apart surged through his hand. His body was helplessly flung backward by the violence of that enormous weight. Elysia's face went pale as she watched from the hill.

[I will kill every one of you!]

"Get out of the way!"

The Ice Dragon's vicious voice overlapped with Alfred's urgent shout. At the same time, its wings, which had been folded all this time, spread wide, and a sound like tearing eardrums rang out.

─────!

There was no warning. It did not take the form of human language. He could not sense any flow of mana either. It simply spread in every direction like a wave.

Crack, crack, crack!

Everything in every direction froze white. Kyle barely landed on the icy ground while still suspended in the air and instinctively drew the mana from his ring to its limit. Even so, he could not escape the cold. In an instant, his body stiffened as though frozen solid, and Kyle gritted his teeth.

Magic?

No, it is different.

This is...

"It is Authority! Not magic!"

Alfred's voice rang out from behind him, as though answering his question. Kyle could not turn his head because it was fixed in place, but he could imagine Alfred's expression.

"It cannot use it many times! It is proof that it has been driven into a corner! We only need to endure this once!"

But the Ice Dragon opened its mouth before Alfred could finish. The enormous Dragon stared directly at Kyle with its white eyes. A vivid blue cold gathered beyond its gaping jaws.

A Dragon's breath attack.

Kyle forcibly drove mana through every blood vessel in his body. His frozen limbs gradually loosened, and his senses began returning one by one. But he was too slow to evade the Dragon's breath attack. The Ice Dragon seemed to know it as well. Unlike before, it did not thrash around. It stood still and condensed the breath attack in its throat.

"Sir!"

At Elysia's desperate cry, Alfred, who had been looking down at Kyle from the hill, tightly gripped his staff. The two of them could not move properly due to the aftereffects of the Authority either.

Still, they were better off than Kyle. They had been some distance away. If a mage had taken that Authority head-on at close range, they would have been as good as dead. An ordinary mage's nerves would have frozen instantly, killing them on the spot. Even a knight would not have fared much better.

Unless they were someone like Kyle.

"There will not be a second chance. We have to end it in one strike. With the fastest magic."

Alfred spoke quietly. Elysia nodded without a word. There was no need to say anything more.

Only one option remained.

Redirect the breath attack.

Visible electric currents leaked from their bodies. Alfred forced the staff in his right hand toward the Dragon. Elysia pushed mana through her veins and barely turned her frozen arm toward the Ice Dragon. Shortened incantations flowed from their mouths.

"Pierce through, Spear of Lightning."

"Penetrate, Spear of Lightning Radiance."

Flash!

Light flickered. A pair of golden lightning bolts shot forward side by side in a straight line. The Ice Dragon did not turn its head. The lightning struck directly into its right eye.

"It did not dodge?"

Alfred stared in shock at the Ice Dragon, which had swallowed even its scream. Cold continued gathering in its throat. One of its eyes had burned away completely, and lingering electric currents crackled wildly across its neck, yet it did not move an inch. It stared only at the enemy before it, as though it would never let Kyle go.

Is it trying to take him down with it?

"Do not meet it head-on! Evade!"

Alfred shouted at the top of his lungs. Elysia prepared another Spear of Lightning. The old mage belatedly gathered mana for Spatial Magic. His mind blurred for an instant, and he felt a great mass of mana being sucked away.

No. It is too late.

Kwoooooong!

The blue breath attack erupted with a thunderous roar. The cold compressed to its limit erased everything in its path. Kyle's sense of time stretched endlessly. By the time his frozen body could barely move, the breath attack was already right before him.

I cannot evade it.

Then can I block it?

In that fleeting instant, countless thoughts stormed through his mind. The slightest possibility of avoiding it. What would happen if he did. Even his chances if he chose to face it without evading.

If I cut it apart instead.

Within the slowly flowing time, Kyle moved his left foot forward. Then he stepped out with his right. If he could not avoid the breath attack, he only needed to cut it apart with a sword technique. Kyle had only one technique powerful enough to rely on here. His personal magic was an illusion that confused the five senses, not something with physical substance.

Hummmm!

The blade wrapped in white Sword Aura was about to move against the breath attack.

Then, without warning, a pure white jewel flew out from inside Kyle's clothes.

The Dragon Heart?

The pendant around his neck rose into the air. Prisia's mana churned within it and shone brilliantly. Before he knew it, even the light of the breath attack and Kyle's Sword Aura were being swallowed by Prisia's radiance. Everything turned colorless, as though the world itself had become monochrome.

Footnotes:

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