Chapter 263: Zero (5)

Having lived his entire life for a single purpose, Elvis felt as though his very existence had been denied.

The purpose: to slay the Mad Dragon.

Elvis chuckled bitterly at the thought.

“Well… in my current state, I wouldn’t stand a chance against him anyway.”

He had only just reached the early stages of Tier 3.

Many would be astonished to learn that he had attained this level in just over four years, starting from absolutely nothing.

But who was Elvis?

The Sage of Light, a powerhouse who had once aspired to Zero’s Domain.

From his past perspective, Tier 3 was barely more than an amateur’s level…

Now… I’m the amateur.

What good is enlightenment, no matter how profound?

He couldn’t advance to the next stage because his attribute power was insufficient.

Accumulating attribute power was simply a matter of time.

Things would be different if he could obtain a medicinal herb.

But how can I worry about medicinal herbs when I’m struggling to make ends meet?

There were also a handful of exceptional geniuses who could reach realms beyond their inherent attribute power.

Unfortunately, Elvis wasn’t one of them.

”…If it were Kendrick, things might be different.”

Among all the people Elvis had encountered, none possessed greater talent than Kendrick.

As if to prove it, Kendrick had reached Zero’s Domain in an astonishingly short time, becoming the Mad Dragon’s arch-rival.

Despite having Kendrick, Elvis became the leader because he was the unifying force that brought his comrades together.

Should I try to find the others?

But what difference would it make?

And what reason could I give them to join me?

By invoking a Mad Dragon that doesn’t even exist?

By claiming the world is about to end?

I’d be lucky if they didn’t think I was crazy.

“Haa… Let’s just go home for now.”

Even though our family had become simple farmers, there was one thing I still looked forward to: seeing my family again, whom I thought I’d lost forever.

”…If all else fails, I guess I’ll have to become a farmer too.”

Of course, I’d have to pay the price for running away from home first.

The Summer Continent was just a few days away.

Elvis already had a headache trying to figure out how to explain his latest runaway to his family.

“Haa…”

He sighed heavily and straightened up.

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh!

A sudden gust of wind filled the passenger ship’s sails, causing them to billow dramatically.

The ship lurched violently in response, nearly capsizing.

“Ugh!”

“What was that?!”

The sudden movement threw the passengers into a panic, and they cried out in alarm.

Elvis was no exception.

“Ugh!”

He stumbled, nearly falling into the sea. Shaking his head, he scrambled to his feet.

And then…

“Huh…?”

He saw it.

“Huh?”

Above the passenger ship, twilight painted the world in soft darkness, gently illuminated by the moon.

Within the white clouds that veiled the sky, a colossal shadow stirred. Its immense size defied comprehension at a single glance.

Soon, a black monstrosity emerged from the clouds.

“W-what is that?!”

“A bird? Is it a bird?”

“Where would you ever see a bird like that?!”

“M-monster!”

The sudden appearance of this unknown entity threw the crowd into chaos.

But one man remained frozen in shock.

”…?!”

Confusion clouded Elvis’s eyes.

“T-that… how…?”

How could he not recognize it?

This was no mere monster.

How dare they even compare a monster to such a being?

That being reigned supreme over all life on Earth, a creature spoken of only in legends.

”…A dragon?”

Elvis’s instincts screamed at him. This was no ordinary dragon. The palpable killing intent radiating from it sent shivers down his spine, a familiar aura he had encountered countless times over the decades. He was certain.

“Gene… Rocker?”

The Mad Dragon Genelocer.

Something felt different, but the raw, savage energy emanating from it was unmistakably that of the Mad Dragon.

As Elvis stood frozen in shock, the Mad Dragon roared and plummeted toward the ground.

“Aaaaaah!”

“R-run!”

Passengers on the cruise ship screamed and scattered in terror.

But where could they go, trapped on a passenger ship in the vast ocean?

As the passengers scrambled in panic, the Mad Dragon closed in on the ship with terrifying speed.

What followed was utter destruction.

Crack!

No special techniques or fiery breath were needed. With sheer physical power alone, the Mad Dragon completely shattered the massive passenger ship.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Save us!”

Those caught in the Mad Dragon’s rampage fell like dominoes.

In just over ten seconds, all that remained where the ship had been were fragments of what was once its hull.

Crraaaah!

Roaring once more, the Mad Dragon soared into the sky.

Then…

“Puhah!”

Elvis, who had been submerged in the water, surfaced, gasping for air.

That’s when it happened.

His eyes met the Mad Dragon’s gaze.

”…?!”

In that instant, Elvis sensed a flicker of curiosity in the Mad Dragon’s eyes.

But it was fleeting.

Flap.

The Mad Dragon broke eye contact, violently flapped its wings, and vanished into the sky.

Elvis floated on the sea, staring blankly at the retreating Mad Dragon.

Despite being stranded alone in the vast ocean in a life-or-death situation, Elvis suddenly burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Hahahahaha!”

His manic laughter mingled with the frantic screams of the other survivors struggling in the water.

“Hwahahahaha!”

Elvis laughed with unrestrained relief.

It was a pure, liberating sound, completely devoid of the doubts and frustrations that had plagued him for so long.

“It’s real… it really exists! The Mad Dragon is real!”

As he muttered like a madman, a single emotion surged within him:

Willpower.

“Kyahahaha!”

For a long time afterward, Elvis continued to gaze in the direction the Mad Dragon had disappeared, laughing away his past anxieties and concerns.

Mad Dragon Genelocer’s technology, Absolute Darkness.

The darkness that devoured existence itself was undeniably an astonishing technique.

However, it was still confined within the realm of “space.”

Having grasped the origin of space and learned to manipulate its laws, Louis effortlessly dismantled the fake Mad Dragon’s technique.

He simply restructured the Dark Space itself, space by space.

Rip!

With a bizarre tearing sound, the darkness shattered, revealing three dragons.

The silver dragons staggered wildly in mid-air before plummeting straight toward the sea.

“Khan! Kani!” Louis shouted their names in alarm.

As he did, the twins’ bodies floated gently upward. Louis rushed to their side.

“Ugh…”

“I… I… I thought I was going to die.”

“Mom, Dad… I’m sorry…”

“I’ll be good from now on…”

Louis chuckled as he watched the twins mumble incoherently, their pupils slightly unfocused.

Thank goodness.

He’d feared he was too late, that the twins might have already been erased from existence. But they’d endured far better than he’d expected. In fact, they seemed almost completely unaffected by the darkness.

…Could it be because they’re just naturally simple-minded and clueless?

As relief washed over him, Louis’s thoughts drifted to his own condition. A hollow laugh escaped his lips.

“Ha, ha, ha ha.”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

As a child, his father had led him to Silver Flower Castle for the attribute assessment, claiming it was a dragon tradition. But it was no mere custom.

It was nothing short of elite education.

Giving a Seed of Origin to a dragon just beginning to cultivate attribute power… Honestly, these dragons’ way of thinking is completely insane.

The Origin of Attributes was directly connected to the fundamental laws of the world.

Though merely a tiny speck, dragons who carried this Origin for extended periods would naturally nurture it as they aged.

In due time, the Origin would spontaneously sprout, allowing them to easily reach the High Dragon Rank and effortlessly attain Zero’s Domain.

The dragon race had repeated this process for countless generations.

Only dragons possessed Zero Rank power in their respective attributes.

And only dragons, with their Dragon Hearts—the ultimate permanent organ capable of housing an Origin—could employ this method.

No wonder no other race, no matter how clever or ambitious, can ever surpass dragons.

Louis couldn’t help but marvel at the Mad Dragon’s crude yet astonishingly effective method of nurturing its offspring.

“Hahaha! I’m so damn happy I was born a dragon! Hahahaha!”

Louis burst into a triumphant, cathartic laughter.

Startled by the sound, the Twins looked at him with pitying eyes.

“Louis must have had it rough…”

“Snap out of it, Louis…”

Under their sympathetic gaze, Louis glanced around.

Still nothing?

The moment he emerged from the darkness, he had immediately sensed for the Mad Dragon’s presence, but found no trace of its aura anywhere. Even with his senses heightened upon reaching Zero’s Domain, he couldn’t detect the creature’s energy.

“He bolted.”

Since darkness was its domain, it must have sensed the changes that had occurred within him.

Which only deepened his confusion.

Why didn’t it press its attack?

Before I reached Zero’s Domain, if it had truly wanted to finish off me and the Twins, we would have been utterly helpless.

But it just stood there, watching, and then fled?

If that was the case, there could only be one explanation.

It wasn’t entirely sane either.

Even divine beings, even Authors who could influence their own creations, clearly had their limits.

That’s fortunate for me.

Though I had now reached Zero’s Domain, I still had much to learn.

I had barely scratched the surface of understanding Origin.

Figuring out how to refine this raw material of Origin and what kind of flavor to extract would require careful consideration and experimentation.

In the end, it all comes down to time…

Developing a deeper understanding of Origin was something only time could provide.

The problem was that Chulsoo 88 knew Louis had reached Zero’s Domain.

This incident would likely drive him to devise an even more foolproof plan to kill Louis upon his return.

Louis couldn’t afford to sit idly by, regardless of when that might be.

Chulsoo 88 and I cannot coexist.

He would stop at nothing to eliminate Louis.

To survive in this world, Louis had to either destroy Chulsoo 88 or prevent him from interfering in it.

Either Louis would die, or Chulsoo 88 would.

Those were the only two options before him, and Louis would never choose his own demise.

I won’t be the one to die.

Now, to ensure his survival, he had much to do.

First, I need to strengthen myself.

Louis and the Twins alone might not be strong enough to face the Mad Dragon when it returned, stronger than before.

Louis needed comrades to fight alongside him, just in case.

It would be ideal to get help from an Ancient Dragon-class dragon instead of just the Twins, but…

Even in the original story, when the Mad Dragon rampaged wildly, no other dragons appeared, despite the land being destroyed.

Something’s definitely wrong…

If the other dragons were unable to intervene in the human realm for some reason, Louis would have to find other allies.

And around him were the main characters of the former Dragon Slayer Party—individuals he had been carefully nurturing for a long time.

The problem was…

”…How do I explain this to the kids?”

He was worried about how to smooth things over after his true identity had been so blatantly exposed, before even recruiting the former Dragon Slayer Party to help hunt the Mad Dragon.

“Hmm…”

In this awkward situation, Louis scratched his cheek.