Chapter 367 – When Night Comes (5)

The Dragon half-blood.

'How many Dragon hearts did that bastard say that he ate?'

His reddish brown eyes sunk down as he looked somewhere.
However, Cale's mind was going through his sea of records more than ever before.

Cale finally found the record he was looking for.
It was something that the Dragon half-blood had said about himself.

'However, reaching the second growth phase in 900 years was my limit because I was a created being. I ate a total of four Dragon hearts until I reached my second growth phase. If you count the original Dragon's heart within my heart, I was made with the lives of five Dragons.'

The lives of five Dragons and their hearts.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Cale lowered his head. He could feel a heart beating louder than usual.
It was not his heart but Raon's.
Cale could tell that Raon was anxious and flustered based on how his heart was beating.

That was what helped him return to his senses.

Pat. Pat.

Cale patted Raon's back.

He continued to hear the white Dragon's voice as he did that.

"There were two children."

One black egg. And one red egg.

"One was very big and gave off a strong presence. He was so strong that he could affect all of the mana around him even while in his egg."

The white Dragon made eye contact with Cale.

"It was as if he was born with both of the Dragons' presences in one."

A faint smile appeared on the white Dragon's face.

"And the other child was small. The size of his egg was smaller than normal too. That egg was very weak."

The white Dragon's short front paws gathered together. It was as if she had something precious on top of her two paws.

"I could feel just how small and weak the child inside the egg was."

The atmosphere around the white Dragon who was looking down at her empty paws instantly changed.

Squeeze.

Choi Han subconsciously placed his hand on his scabbard. The cold presence was giving him a sense of danger.
However, the white Dragon continued on as if she did not notice.

"I realized something at that moment."

Pat. Pat.

Raon was listening carefully as Cale continued to pat his back.
What did the white Dragon, what did this illusion figure out?

"Because one child was too weak and one child was too strong… I realized that it would take them both a long time to break out of their eggs and come out into the world."

One child was too weak to be called a Dragon.
The other child was even stronger than the Lord when she was young.

Regardless of the reason, the only thing she could tell was that both of them would take a very long time to hatch.

"I only had about two hundred years left of my lifespan at that point."

Flinch.

Raon's body started to shake.
Raon clenched his eyes closed even though his face was already buried up against Cale.

The white Dragon watched Raon's back with a sad expression on his face.
She had to say as much as she could because she did not have much time left.

"It would be great if they would be born within 200 years, but I had to prepare for their futures just in case they didn't."

The white Dragon's wings started to move.
She flew toward Cale.

"Until the child could break out of the egg and hatch. I needed a strong spell that would be able to stand a long period of time."

The white Dragon put her front paw on top of Raon's back.
She then started to whisper.

"I needed to make it so that the children could live happily without lacking anything whenever they hatched."

Raon opened his eyes.
He then turned his head.

The white Dragon looked young, but her eyes seemed to show traces of her long life. The white Dragon started to smile brightly once she made eye contact with Raon.
The white Dragon continued to speak.

"That weak and small child is in front of me now."

The black egg.
The child who was born extremely weak in comparison to the red egg.

The small child she had been worried would disappear without even being able to hatch.

Although she was just an illusion, the white Dragon who held all of her memories could not help but smile.
It was because she could not cry.

She felt it as soon as she saw him.

'This is my child.'

That was an emotion that even a Dragon could not explain, however, she was certain about it.

The white Dragon continued to smile brightly toward the clear dark blue eyes that were looking at her.

Raon turned his head back into Cale's chest.

Cale could feel his chest starting to get wet. He heard a calm and low voice ask a question.

"…How did your castle end up like this, ma'am?"

It was Eruhaben.
Cale had never heard Eruhaben speaking respectfully to anyone before.

Although he was being respectful, he was still going to ask what was on his mind.

The destroyed castle interior.
However, the real meaning behind the question was not about the destroyed castle.

'How did you lose Raon and the red egg?'

The white Dragon who realized the hidden meaning had a peculiar smile on her face.

"It was because I trusted too much."

The white Dragon had been close friends or practically family with every generation of the Dragon Slayers.
This was a relationship that started with the first Dragon Slayer and continued with the second, fourth, tenth… And the generations after that.

"I asked my close friend, the Dragon Slayer of that generation, for a favor before I died. I asked if they could protect this castle generation after generation."

The white Dragon had left this castle in the protection of that generation's Dragon Slayer before she died.
Of course, she didn't mean physically protecting it. Her powers were enough to protect it from external enemies.
What the white Dragon needed them to do was maintain the items in the castle just in case the preservation spells did not work properly.

She also asked the Dragon Slayer to be close friends with her children, showing them the joy of living together with others.

"That Dragon Slayer swore an oath that they would keep that promise generation after generation."

That generation's Dragon Slayer had accepted the request happily without any hesitation.
The white Dragon's front paw pointed toward the white crown in Cale's hand.

"That crown was an item that belonged to the Dragon Slayers. The door to this castle would open if someone had that crown and a different power."

Only someone with both the crown and a different power could come into the castle.

"And they kept that promise until 1,000 years ago."

The ancient Dragon, Choi Han, and Ron started to frown.

1,000 years ago.

That was right around when the White Star was first born.

"The Dragon Slayer from 1,000 years ago broke that oath and the castle ended up like this."

That Dragon Slayer would be the White Star.
Someone started to speak at that moment.

"Why-"

It was Choi Han.

Choi Han looked toward Raon in Cale's arms before asking the White Dragon the rest of the question with a stiff expression.

"Why did you let the White Star, that Dragon Slayer, do this?"

Choi Han looked toward the White Dragon with a gaze full of sorrow. He was thinking more about the fact that white Dragon might have just sat by and watched the White Star than the fact that she was the Dragon Lord.

"You were strong. You were strong enough, so why-"

However, he was cut off.
The white Dragon's voice echoed in the room.

"I, I was a sealed existence until I met my children."

Choi Han could not say anything.
The white Dragon started to frown.

Choi Han had a thought as he looked at that expression.
The white Dragon looked to be the same age as Raon. Seeing that white Dragon's frowning face made him think that Raon would also look like this when he was extremely sad, angry, or full of despair.
This was the first time Choi Han had thought that it was good that Raon's face was in Cale's chest.

The white Dragon's voice was calm and cautious unlike her expression.

"This illusion is an existence that grows along with the children's growth speed."

It was created so that the children would not be lonely and have a chance to learn.
That was because this illusion had no need to worry about any external dangers. The 'protection' of the Lord was that strong.

"And only this castle is my territory. I cannot do anything if I leave the castle."

Her eyes and ears were open even though she was sealed.
That was how she had seen everything.

However, the white Dragon did not tell them what had happened 1,000 years ago. It was because, although she could only see his back, she could tell that the black Dragon was crying.

The white Dragon felt as if her heart that had been ripped apart once was ripping apart once again.
However, she calmly continued to speak.

"My seal was removed once this child appeared in front of the castle."

Raon was the reason the white Dragon could appear in the world in this half-transparent state.

"Because I wanted this to be the children's hometown. That was why I wanted to create a space they could always return to rest even if they left."

The thing that the white Dragon wanted even more than to return to nature with a beautiful death was to let her children know that they had a family and a home to return to whenever they wanted.

"That was why the castle gate opened and I appeared now that my child had returned."

The white Dragon then raised her paws that were as small as Raon's and patted Raon's back. Although Raon probably could not feel it properly because she was half-transparent, the white Dragon continued to pat and caress Raon's back.

Choi Han just watched as he did not know what to say.

Ron was frowning. He was the only one here who had raised a child. That was why he could tell the meaning behind the white Dragon's expression as she caressed Raon's back.

Nobody could easily break this silence.

On and Hong looked up at Raon from next to Cale's feet while Eruhaben and Bud seemed lost in thought. The others were just choosing to be silent.

It was at that moment.
The silence was broken.

"…Even if you trusted someone, how could you allow free entry into the castle when you didn't know how the future generations would be-"

It was Bud.

Mercenary King Bud was quietly mumbling with a frustrated expression. He had subconsciously said it because he could not hold back his frustration anymore.
He seemed to be blaming the white Dragon, but nobody could blame him for doing that. It was because he looked extremely sad.

Someone else chimed in at that moment.

"You said that the Dragon Slayer swore an oath."

It was Cale.

Raon flinched at his statement and raised his buried head. The others looked toward Cale as well.

However, Cale was only looking at the white Dragon.
The white Dragon had indeed said that.

'I asked my close friend, the Dragon Slayer of that generation, for a favor before I died. I asked if they could protect this castle generation after generation.'
'That Dragon Slayer swore an oath that they would keep that promise generation after generation.'

She had asked the Dragon Slayer who swore an oath to the white Dragon to do so.
At first glance, it seemed like a promise between two people based on their trust.

But would it really be like that?

This was something regarding the children she cherished more than her life and having a beautiful death.
Would it just have been a loose promise like that?
Especially one that involved future generations as well?

Cale continued to speak.

"What was the oath?"

The white Dragon had a sad smile as she responded back.

"An oath of death."

It was an extremely strong oath the white Dragon asked the God of Death to make.

"The oath was made with the title of Dragon Slayer."

It was a strong and cruel oath that could be continued on to future generations of Dragon Slayers.
She then explained the contents.

"Do not harm this castle nor anything inside it. Do not get in their way. Do not negatively influence them. Most importantly, do not harm my children in any way. However, you may fight with them if they show you ill will."

The Dragon Slayer who had been the white Dragon's close friend had accepted the conditions of this oath.
The white Dragon had been extremely helpful to him and his village. It was also an oath that was not harmful as long as they did not go against it.

Cale observed the white Dragon's eyes.

"…What would happen if they went against the oath?"

The white Dragon calmly answered back.
Her low voice reached everyone's ears.

"The moment a Dragon Slayer who breaks this vow appears…"

An oath of death.
The punishment for going against this strong oath.
What kind of punishment would the White Star have received?

"Your family, tribe, and anyone precious to you will die."

Cale's shoulders slightly flinched.
Everyone was looking at the white Dragon now.
The white Dragon just calmly continued on.

Their family and anyone precious to them would die.

"Only you will be left alone in a world without anyone precious to you, in a world where you cannot cherish anything ever again."

Left alone in the world where they lost everyone. They would live forever without being able to cherish anything ever again.
Anyone or anything. Nothing could be cherished ever again.

"You will never be able to experience the peace that eternal death has to offer, you will face the most painful death over and over and feel the pain of living over and over again without being able to rest."
"Ah."

Cale let out a gasp.
He felt as if all of his strength was leaving his body.

He finally felt like he got it.

The White Star, a reincarnator.

He understood how the White Star ended up being able to reincarnate over and over.

At the same time, a question filled his mind.
It was a question that came up because he clearly remembered everything that happened with the Dragon half-blood.

It was the conversation he had with the Super Rock while walking down the temple corridor on Wind Island to find the top's whip.

'The White Star was destroyed on the day I died.'

10,000 years ago.
The end of ancient times.

The Super Rock had said that he had fought against the White Star with other ancient power wielders.

That was 10,000 years ago.

However, the White Star had only been reincarnating for 1,000 years. He had said so himself, and it was accurate based on the current situation.

In that case, who was the 'White Star' that the Super Rock fought against?
The Super Rock had said the following about that person.

'At that time, that person had all five natural attributes along with the sky attribute.'

However, the White Star did not have an earth-attribute ancient power right now.
He heard the Super Rock's voice in his mind at that moment.

– Cale.

Cale started to frown after hearing what the Super Rock said next.

– The 'White Star' of ancient times is a different being than the current White Star. Even though their names are the same.

'…Their names are the same, but they are different people?'

– The White Star of ancient times had his soul destroyed. The ancient powers in his possession were scattered in the world. I'm certain of it.

The White Star of ancient times is different than the current White Star.

'So then how is it that the two of them are acting so similar?'

– Cale, I think that the current White Star is mimicking the ancient White Star.

Those words hit Cale hard.
He then heard the white Dragon's voice.

"The last Dragon Slayer. The one you call the White Star destroyed this castle and stole the eggs."

The white Dragon continued to speak.
Cale felt chills throughout his body but could not look away from the white Dragon.

The white Dragon held back the full details for Raon, but shared a portion of what happened 1,000 years ago.

The bastard who destroyed the inside of the castle and stole the eggs.

"The oath of death struck down on that bastard."

The white Dragon could not forget that moment.

The bastard who would lose everything he cherished…
The bastard who would never be able to cherish anything ever again…
The bastard who would never be able to experience the peace and rest that death has to offer…
The bastard who would continue to face the cruelest of deaths and pain while repeating his sad and tiring life…

"He was smiling."

That bastard had been smiling.

"He said that he was waiting for this. He smiled while saying that he was waiting for this oath."

He had smiled extremely brightly after destroying the castle and holding the two eggs in his arms.

"He said this would let him become a stronger existence than the Dragons and rule the world."

He then laughed out loud.
The corners of the white Dragon's lips were slightly shaking.

"I could only watch all of that in my sealed form."

Cale could see the white Dragon who was frowning without laughing nor crying.
And once their eyes met…

"…That bastard, he is alive, right?"

Cale could feel the intense anger buried deep inside the white Dragon's eyes.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]