WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 120: The Rift of Time (10)

──────

The pure white blade raced across the enormous Ice Dragon's neck. Its hard sky-blue scales could not stop Kyle's sword form.

The clear sensation traveled through his fingertips.

Kyle drove the embedded sword in deeper. The Ice Dragon that wielded ice magic was on an entirely different scale from an ordinary Wyvern. It was too large to sever its neck with a single sword form. Its head alone was nearly as tall as Kyle.

Even if it suffered a serious injury, it would be almost impossible for an ordinary knight to kill it. They would not even be allowed to approach. This time was different, though. There was the brief opening created after it used its Authority and breath attack in succession. There was the Spatial Magic cast with the support of Alfred, the greatest archmage of the Empire in his age, and Elysia, the genius mage of the Arven Mage Tower. And there was the strongest sword form Kyle could use.

I will kill it.

Kyaaaaaah!

The Ice Dragon thrashed madly from the pain of having half its neck severed. The wound on its back and wings, which it had temporarily frozen shut, tore open even wider. Blood poured down like a waterfall.

I don't care.

Kyle tightened his grip on the hilt. Even now, he suppressed the Ice Dragon's cold, which had penetrated deep into his bones, with mana and forcibly twisted his stiffened waist. When the white blade finally emerged from the far side of the massive Ice Dragon's neck, Kyle was floating high in the sky.

The bloodied Ice Dragon lay beneath his feet.

[Prisia...]

Kyle forcefully kicked off the Ice Dragon with the tip of his foot. Letting out a resentful final cry, it fell helplessly toward the lake below.

Ah.

Kyle gave a quiet sigh as he watched the Ice Dragon grow distant. He remained suspended in the air for only a moment before gravity began pulling him down. The sensation of his insides floating rose through his entire body.

I need to use magic...

Kyle felt the strength leave the hand gripping his sword. He had been struck directly by the Ice Dragon's Authority twice, then forcibly circulated mana and used his strongest sword form at point-blank range. The backlash from overexerting himself was inevitable. Once the tension left him, his limbs went limp. His vision flickered along with a dizzying weakness. Vertigo rushed over him.

Damn it.

Kwang!

The Ice Dragon's heavy body crashed onto a small island in the center of the lake. Branches of the frozen giant tree broke apart under the impact.

A moment later, Kyle fell from above. His black cloak flapped wildly against the vivid blue sky. Multicolored light flashed from the ring on his left hand for an instant. A small gust of wind blew over the lake just ahead of the island where the Ice Dragon had fallen, where cracked ice exposed the water beneath.

Kyle's body helplessly plunged into it.

Splash!

The nearby sheets of ice trembled violently from the impact. Between the broken ice, a great column of water shot upward.

"Kyle!"

Elysia cried out instinctively. Her face had gone pale after drawing out mana to its limit.

"That damned lizard. It could've just died quietly..."

Clicking his tongue, Alfred forced his creaking legs upright. Though both of them were breathing heavily, they crossed the broken ice and approached the small island at the center of the lake, where the Ice Dragon had fallen.

"Faster... faster..."

"You fool, slow down! He's not someone who'll die that easily. You'll fall at this rate."

Alfred stopped Elysia in an informal tone. Even in her exhausted state, she was using Wind Magic to quickly leap across the slippery ice.

"What if you really fall in..."

"Cough! Cough, cough..."

Alfred muttered worriedly. Just then, Kyle, who had fallen into the lake, was climbing up onto the edge of the central island.

"Kyle!"

Elysia kicked off the ice and leaped forward. Landing urgently at the island's edge, she supported Kyle as he barely pulled himself up.

"Get a hold of yourself. Don't tell me you're dead?"

"No... I'm not dead..."

Kyle barely replied after repeatedly coughing up water that had gone down his throat. Alfred landed near Kyle and Elysia a moment later, letting out a dismayed sigh. Kyle looked like a drowned rat. Perhaps they should at least praise him for not letting go of his sword.

"We all look like a mess."

Alfred lightly waved the staff in his hand. A warm breeze enveloped the three of them. Kyle's soaked body slowly dried.

"Feeling any better?"

"Yes. No, not really..."

Kyle, who had just been trying to push himself up from the ground, shook his head with difficulty. His wet clothes had dried completely, but for some reason, he still could not put strength into his limbs. As if that were not enough, his body shivered, and chills ran through him.

"You really took a beating."

"..."

"You were struck directly by a Dragon's Authority twice, so it's no surprise. If you were another knight, the breath attack alone would've killed you four times over. Do you have any potions left?"

Alfred glanced at the Dragon Heart hanging outside Kyle's collar and asked. The answer came from Elysia instead of Kyle.

"I do."

"Oh, do you?"

Elysia took a small bottle from inside her clothes. It contained a liquid as clear as water.

"That is..."

Alfred's eyes widened at the immense holy power he could feel even through the glass. After the battle with the Wyvern Knight, Kyle had drunk one of the two remaining holy potions, and though Elysia had taken a sip from the one he had given her, there was still plenty left inside.

"...No."

Kyle barely got to his feet and spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"That potion..."

"I know. I know how precious a top-grade holy potion is. I know you saved it for me."

"Then use another potion..."

"Can you guarantee that will solve this?"

Kyle stopped while rummaging through his Inventory Pouch.

"This isn't ordinary magic. It's a Dragon's Authority. An ordinary potion won't be enough."

"..."

"You know better than anyone what condition your body is in right now. Are you still going to be stubborn about this?"

Kyle stared blankly at Elysia with his mouth slightly open. Holding out the potion of clear liquid, she wore a more resolute expression than ever.

"I..."

Kyle's lips moved, but he could not continue.

In truth, he knew. He knew his condition was terrible.

If it had been ordinary magic, he would not have been injured this badly. Manipulating mana was as familiar to Kyle as breathing. But a Dragon's Authority was different. It was power that twisted nature itself, not mana. If he drank an ordinary potion, there was no telling what aftereffects it would leave. This was the first time anyone here had fought a Dragon.

"I suppose there's no choice..."

Kyle opened the stopper of the holy potion Elysia handed him and drank a mouthful without touching the bottle to his lips. The bone-deep cold vanished in an instant. Strength returned to his limbs, which had gone slack from weakness.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm all right. I wouldn't say I'm back to full strength, but I'm much better than before."

"Huh. It really is remarkable. Even when I was head of the family, top-grade holy potions were difficult to obtain. Hm?"

Alfred frowned in confusion. Kyle was holding out the bottle of potion he had drunk from.

"What is this?"

"Drink it."

"You mean me?"

"Yes. It would be better if the three of us share it. As Elysia said, a Dragon's Authority is completely different from magic. If we don't use holy potion, we might suffer for the rest of our lives."

Alfred and Elysia looked at each other.

Then they nodded at the same time.

"Such a precious thing. I will gladly accept it."

Alfred did not refuse the offer. Like Kyle, he drank the potion without touching the bottle to his lips. His wrinkled Adam's apple bobbed once, and the old mage's face became noticeably more comfortable.

"It works well."

Elysia was next. She poured the remaining contents into her mouth in one gulp and swallowed. Once the bottle was completely empty, all three of them had returned to the condition they had been in before being affected by the Authority.

"What remains is..."

Kyle turned his gaze behind him. In the middle of the small island at the center of the lake lay the Ice Dragon's corpse.

"It looks even more impressive up close. In our original world, it would've gone down in history."

Alfred spoke with innocent admiration. Once her body had recovered, Elysia's eyes also shone with interest. The Ice Dragon's wings alone were nearly fifty meters long. It was so large that, since it had not curled its body up, its tail and head stretched all the way to the ice beyond the island. Seeing it lying dead on its side, it was hard to believe it was the same vicious Dragon from earlier.

"More importantly, half the tree is gone."

Kyle muttered as he looked at the giant tree, whose branches had all broken away and left only the trunk.

"Don't worry about it. The moment the Ice Dragon made this place its home, it was already doomed."

"..."

"Let us do what we came here to do instead."

"Will it work as planned?"

"I cannot be certain, but the odds are good. Especially since Prisia's Dragon Heart seems to retain its will. Didn't Prisia protect you once again this time?"

Alfred gave a small smile and approached the Dragon's underside. Elysia, who had been examining the location of its heart beforehand, narrowed her eyes.

"How is it?"

"I don't think my magic will work. Is there another way?"

"If even your Wind Magic cannot do it, I do not have any particular method either. It isn't impossible to pierce its scales, but a method more efficient than my magic would be..."

As though they had agreed beforehand, Elysia and Alfred turned around.

Kyle was approaching them.

He stirred the mana in his ring. Pure white Sword Aura rose from the blade in his hand. When he drove it between the scales, the sword smoothly cut its way inside. Kyle paid no attention to the blood spraying over him. Before long, a bright red heart appeared beyond the split flesh.

"You found it well. I was wondering whether I should explain it."

Alfred, who had been about to offer advice from the side, spoke. Kyle was unusually sensitive to mana. Finding the location of a Dragon's heart was not particularly difficult for him.

"What do we do now?"

"We can have Prisia's Dragon Heart absorb it. Or we can neutralize the Ice Dragon's heart and use it directly."

The three of them looked in one direction. The Ice Dragon's heart had stopped beating and was slowly crystallizing into a sky-blue Magic Stone. Its size was rather excessive, though. The heart alone was larger than Kyle.

"Can we transport that?"

Kyle asked as he looked at Alfred. Elysia was also watching him.

"Once the Magic Stone crystallization is complete, it will shrink to half its size."

"How long will that take?"

"Well. A day or two, perhaps? This is my first time dealing with something like this, so I cannot say for certain."

He answered Elysia's question vaguely.

"The best option would be absorption..."

Just as Alfred trailed off, the Dragon Heart hanging around Kyle's neck suddenly rose into the air. At the same time, the Ice Dragon's heart turned into particles of light.

Soon, every particle was drawn into the white jewel.

"Huh..."

The enormous heart vanished in an instant. As Prisia's Dragon Heart slowly descended, Alfred let out an incredulous laugh.

"It has changed. It is more stable than before."

Elysia stared at the white jewel resting against Kyle's chest. Kyle carefully took Prisia's Dragon Heart into his hand. Prisia's heart, faintly glowing in his palm, had changed greatly, just as Alfred said.

It had definitely changed.

Kyle thought that stronger mana than before was raging within it. Yet rather than becoming unstable, it was stable. Considering this was only a fragment of Prisia's heart, he could not even imagine how powerful the Progenitor Dragon had been at the height of its strength.

And what the First Emperor, who had used Prisia, truly was.

If I feed it the hearts of other Dragons too...

"We should get going."

Alfred's voice brought Kyle back to his senses. Kyle asked,

"What about the corpse?"

"Leave it. Dragon scales and teeth are extremely expensive materials, but we do not have time to collect them one by one. Other people will take care of it anyway. Is there not something more urgent?"

Alfred was right. They had already achieved their goal. With no way of knowing when the rift in the cave would disappear, every day was too precious to spend gathering a Dragon's corpse. If they could not return to their original world, none of it would matter.

"Let us rest before going to the cave. I am a little tired after using my strength for the first time in so long. You two are as well, are you not?"

* * *

After killing the Ice Dragon, the three left the lake without collecting the Dragon's corpse. The journey back was much easier than before.

The biggest difference was the weather. Once the Ice Dragon died, the bone-chilling cold vanished. It was still winter, so the snow had not melted, but simply losing the blizzard that had made them feel as though they would freeze to death was like reaching heaven. It was also enough for the people near the lake to notice that something unusual had happened.

In the early evening, as the sun began to set.

"Are you saying that demonic Ice Dragon is dead?"

"That is right. We have just returned from subjugating it."

Alfred nodded as he answered. The middle-aged village chief, who looked to be around fifty, did not drive away the three foreigners who had appeared so suddenly. He treated them warmly. It was because Alfred had regularly visited nearby villages and done good deeds.

"That cannot be..."

"If you truly find it difficult to believe, go to the lake yourself tomorrow. The corpse is still there, so feel free to collect the materials if you want."

"Really?"

"You can take most of it. Bring a few teeth or scales to my house. I think they will be useful for research."

The middle-aged village chief repeatedly bowed. An unmistakable look of delight filled his face.

Dragons might be creatures close to gods, but they were not immortal. On rare occasions, they died in battles with other Dragons or after reaching the end of their lifespan. Whenever that happened, Dragon materials sold for prices beyond imagination. From the village chief's perspective, it was as if vast amounts of ownerless gold and treasure had fallen from the sky.

"To handle the Ice Dragon's corpse this way..."

"Well, is it not fine? It saves time. We get help. We do them a favor. I am not particularly greedy for wealth, after all."

Alfred grinned at Elysia's quiet remark.

"This village is quite large, though."

"The surrounding villages were all swept away by the Ice Dragon, so people gathered here, the only place left. It was already a major base for outsiders, so there were many people passing through. These days, it is overflowing."

As Alfred said, the village surrounded by sturdy wooden palisades was close to the size of a small city. There were also an enormous number of people, likely refugees. The chief of a place like this was no different from a local power.

The three followed the village chief, who had gone in first, into a neat house. When Alfred said they needed somewhere suitable to stay for the night, the chief generously offered them a room on the second floor of his home.

The interior was larger than expected. There were no beds, but it was still better than camping outside during a cold winter night.

"Dinner..."

"Do not worry about it. We have already eaten. Please tell the lady of the house that as well."

The quick-witted village chief recognized that they wanted to be left alone and quietly withdrew. Once he left, Alfred waved his staff and created a soundproof barrier using Wind Magic. The surrounding commotion died down in an instant. A deep sunset glow poured in through the window.

"All right, then..."

Alfred watched the scenery outside for a moment before turning his gaze between Kyle and Elysia.

"We should deal with what we have put off."

He wore the same innocent smile as a young boy from before.

"First, let us lift your curse. You need to be able to handle the Dragon Heart, even a little, if we are going to return to our original world."

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried