I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1214: The Ruler

Erend, Eccar, and Aesa exchanged glances almost at the same time. Confusion and surprise filled their faces.

Erend had warned them long ago about what awaited deeper inside the Dungeon. Entities called the Boss enemies existed within certain levels, entities designed to have strength far above everything else they had faced.

He and Eccar had already fought one before, and Erend himself had encountered several more since he was the first to enter this Dungeon World.

Those battles had carved a clear truth into him. A Boss enemy was something else entirely. Far stronger than ordinary enemies. Stronger even than what the three of them could unleash together while using their full Dragon Transformation.

Because of that, the Dragonborn sitting calmly in front of them fit too well.

This was the first time they had encountered a Dragonborn as a possible Boss.

The thought sat heavily in the air between them. None of them said it but they all felt the same unease.

However, the previous levels had not made them fight. Instead, the Dungeon had made them search, observe, and piece together a forgotten history. So they hoped that this level followed the same pattern.

Fighting a Dragonborn like this would not just be troublesome. It could be catastrophic.

Erend slowly inclined his head toward Aesa and Eccar, a subtle motion that carried a clear message, as if saying let’s listen first.

Eccar caught it immediately and gave a small nod. Aesa followed a moment later, her grip loosening slightly around her mug.

The Dragonborn noticed the exchange but did not comment on it. He simply rested his hands together and spoke.

"My name is Khepra-Ankh," he said. The name carried an ancient weight, rolling smoothly from his tongue. "Long ago, I was known as the Eternal Scale of the Dawn."

He paused, letting the title fade into the quiet room.

"I was not born here," Khepra-Ankh continued. "I wandered the world long before this city existed. I traveled from land to land, watching civilizations rise, fall, and vanish into dust. I had no intention of ruling anything."

His gaze drifted toward the doorway, as if seeing something far beyond the ruined streets outside.

"Then I found them," he said. "A people standing on the edge of annihilation. Their city was young, their walls were thin, and their armies were weak and broken. A monster had come from the depths beneath their land. It devoured their fields, shattered stone, and fed on their fear. They were days away from being completely erased."

His fingers tightened slightly.

"I killed that monster."

The words were simple, spoken without pride.

"I tore the creature apart and burned what remained so it could never return. When the dust settled, the people knelt. They called me savior. Protector, and god."

A faint smile touched his lips, but it did not reach his eyes.

"I did not ask to rule them," Khepra-Ankh said. "They begged me to stay. They said without me, another monster would come. And another after that. So I stayed."

He looked back at them.

"I became their ruler not through conquest, but through fear of the world without me."

Khepra-Ankh leaned back slightly, his fingers loosening as if the memory itself was heavy.

"Turns out, it did not end with that one monster," he said. "This land was cursed long before I arrived. Beneath the city, far below the stone and soil, existed a gate. A wound in the world that never fully closed. From it, monsters emerged again and again."

Erend, Eccar, and Aesa narrowed their eyes.

"They built their city directly above it," Khepra-Ankh continued. "Not by choice. They did not know it existed when they settled here. By the time they realized, it was too late. Every few years, something crawled out with different shapes and different instincts. Some of them hunted for food. Some just wanted to destroy things. Some learned from them. I still have no idea where those knowledge would be used."

He lifted his hand slightly.

"I drove them all back," he said. "Every creature that surfaced, I hunted it down. I sealed the tunnels, scorched passages, and collapsed caverns. When brute force was not enough, I learned the patterns of the gate itself." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Aesa’s breath slowed. "You didn’t just protect them. You stabilized their entire existence."

Khepra-Ankh inclined his head.

"Yeah. I also taught them," he said. "I shared knowledge they could never have discovered in time like architecture that could withstand tremors, governance that reduced conflict, agriculture that thrived even when the land was poisoned by monster blood. I helped them grow beyond survival."

Erend exchanged a glance with Eccar. The pieces they had uncovered earlier aligned too well with this explanation.

"They didn’t just endure," Eccar said. "They advanced."

"Yes," Khepra-Ankh replied. "For generations, they prospered."

A brief silence followed.

Aesa frowned slightly.

"Then why?" she asked. "Everything you’ve said so far was incredible. You saved them, protected them, and helped them become more than they were. Why would they drive you away?"

Erend nodded. "Nothing you did sounds like tyranny."

Khepra-Ankh smiled.

It was a bitter smile, thin and heavy with exhaustion.

"Because I stayed," he said.

The room felt colder.

"They stopped seeing the monsters," he continued. "Stopped fearing the gate. Generations were born who never witnessed the destruction I had prevented. To them, safety was normal. Stability was expected."

His eyes darkened slightly.

"And when safety becomes normal," he said, "people begin to ask why it exists."

Eccar understood first. His jaw tightened.

"They questioned you," he said.

"They resented me," Khepra-Ankh corrected gently. "My presence defined their limits. As long as I ruled, they believed their achievements were not truly theirs. Their leaders feared that history would remember me, not them."

Aesa’s fingers curled around her mug. "So they wanted control."

"They wanted independence," Khepra-Ankh said. "But they mistook independence for separation."

He let out a long sigh.

"They convinced themselves that the gate no longer mattered and the monsters had stopped because they had grown strong. That I was no longer a protector, but a reminder that they once needed something like me to protect them."

Erend felt something heavy settle in his chest.

"So they turned on you," he said.

"Yes," Khepra-Ankh replied. "Not with blades, or rebellion. But with decisions. Laws. Symbols carved to erase me. They had councils that spoke of balance while quietly stripping my authority."

His gaze lowered.

"In the end, they did not exile me in chains," he said. "They asked me to leave. Calmly, and politely. They said the city needed to stand on its own."

Silence filled the room.

"And the gate?" Aesa asked.

Khepra-Ankh closed his eyes for a moment.

"It is still there," he said. "Waiting."

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