Record of a Thousand Lives-Chapter 84

Anyonewho hadstood in front of a dragonwould losetheir right to laugh at anyonewho hadpissed their pants in fear.There were two reasons for that. First, the presence of a dragon was more than enough to make one feel insignificant. Second,a dragon would haveno qualms stepping on a creature in front of them, as they thought ofother creaturesas nothing more than ants in their way. Unfortunately, the latter was the more commonoutcomewhen any creature faced a dragon.

Any hints of complaint or grumbling were bound to disappear in the presence of a more powerful being. The crowd thathad beenrowdymere seconds beforesuddenlyfell silentat the appearance of the dragon. The silence was so deafening that they could hearan ant’s breath.

“I said, where is the bastardwhostole my child, who has noteven hatched from the egg yet?!” Ignus shouted in a loud, terrifying roar.

The elveswhowere directly in front of the dragon had blood coming out of their ears, and some started to slowly walk backward as if they were ready to make a run for itat any moment.

“I will burneveryone and everything in this place if anyone dares to run without providing an answer!” Ignus roared once again. Afrightening amount of fire started gathering in the dragon’s mouth. It was obvious thatsomeonewould lose at least an arm if the dragon’s breath as much as grazed pastthem.

Who in their right mind would steal a dragon’s egg?

A man suddenly spoke, breakingthe dead silence.

“I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

All eyes were on Kang Yoon-SooasIgnusaskedfiercely, “Tell me, where is the bastardwhostole my child?!”

“The thief is in this place,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.The crowd started to murmurnoisily.

Ignusfiercely blew fire out ofhernostrils and asked, “Who is that arrogant bastard?!”

Kang Yoon-Soo confidently stood on the altar and said, “I’m the one who stole your egg.”

“I see!”Ignusexclaimed, andfire spilled out ofhermouth.

Most of thosein the crowd suddenly had their life flash before their eyes. They recalled their wills, their childhood friends, and thingsthey still hadn’t experienced.

It was a momentin whicheverything could go up in flames in a matterofseconds.

“You’ll neverbe able to see your childagainif you kill menow,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Ignusstopped gatheringherfire, and the crowd let out a sigh of relief. Nobody had paid attention to Kang Yoon-Soopreviously,but his presencehadnow been recognized by every single one of the five thousand troops.

“Tell me, you insignificant speck of dust! Where is my child?!” Ignus roared so loudly that the atmosphere shook.Some of the elves in front of the dragonwere blown away by herfierce roar.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head andreplied, “I can’ttell you that.”

“Die!” the dragon roared. Alarge amount of flame once again gathered inhermouth.

The crowd closed their eyes as they braced, waitingfor the dragon’s flame to disintegrate themat any moment. They thought,‘We’re all going to die!’

“Oh, Ignus Dragon, whydo you thinkI stole your child?” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Ignusswallowed herfireupon hearingKang Yoon-Soo’s words. Afew in the crowd passed out as nerves flared in the tense situation. The dragonasked,“What do you mean?”

“Hasn’tyour egg not hatchedfordecades? It’s difficult to call it a ‘child’ anymore,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

The dragon was silent for a moment,but she thenasked the human, “How do you know about that?”

“Do you still believe the egg will hatch?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked in return.

The dragon suddenlyroared angrily, “How dare you ask me that back?!”

Henrick, on the other hand, grumbled andwhispered,“Eh? If ithasn’t hatched for decades…Isn’t this just a rotten egg?”

“Shh! The dragon might hear you!” Shaneth retorted, also in a whisper.

The dragon slammed its large clawstowardthealtar.

Baaam!

The large altar was instantlytorn apart, but Kang Yoon-Soo safely managed to landatopthe dragon’s claw without sustaining anydamage. He said, “Your egg won’t and can’thatch.”

“How can you be so sure? Who knows if my child will suddenly break the shell and sticktheirhead out one day?!” the dragon roared,anger evident inhervoice.

Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and said, “That’sjust you stupidlyholding out hopeas a mother.”

Baaam!Kwachiiiik!

The altar was almostcompletely destroyed, and the crowd scrambled as they tried to avoid the debris falling fromit.

Henrick scoffed at the destruction in front of him and said, “That punk is trying to get all of us killed.”

Iristrembled uncontrollablyas she clungtoShaneth and said, “Iam scared. A dragon is really scary…”

“It’s okay, unni,” Shaneth said, trying to calmIris down.Shedid not feel any fear toward the dragon for some reason, andremainedable to stand steadfast inIgnus’ presence.

“Shaneth?” Iris called out worriedlyas she saw Shaneth walk toward the dragon.

Ignusroared once again at Kang Yoon-Soo, “You dare mock my child?!”

An invisible aura of bloodlust filled the air. The dragon’s hostility alonewas more than enough to create fissures in theceiling. The crowd’s fearonly grew as they feltthe dragon’s breath was about to descendtoward themlike a storm.

“You shouldn’t kill me,” Kang Yoon-Soosaidconfidently, not budgingan inchdespitethe pressure exerted by the dragon. In fact, he was standing face to face against the dragon.

“How dare an insignificant creature like you stand in front of me?!”thedragon roared once more, blowingKang Yoon-Soo’s hair backward.

Kang Yoon-Soo said without any hesitation, “It’s because I’m not scared of you.”

“You arrogant little—!” the dragon roared,now severely enraged.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo ignored thedragon’s rantingandasked, “Why do you think your egg isn’t hatching?”

“Grwaaaaaah!”Ignusroared and gathered a ball of flame inhermouth. The dragon launched her breathtoward Kang Yoon-Soo.

“Aaaaaah!”The crowd screamed in fear ofthe intense dragon’sbreath.By the time the thick black smoke subsided,they allexpected the brave human to have been burned and melted without leaving a single bone behind.

“Oh,Ignus Dragon-nim. Please calm down,” Shanethpleaded, standingin front of Kang Yoon-Soo with both of her armsspread wide.She was completely unscathed even after being hit with the full force of thedragon's breath.

The dragon stared at Shaneth for a moment and muttered, “I see. You are the onewhoinherited my powers.”

“That’s right,” Shaneth replied.She hadobtained a fragment ofIgnus’spowers from the Orb of the Covenant. Perhapsthat was whyshe was not afraid of the dragon at all.

“Why are you protecting thatman?! Stand aside at once! Donot worry;I willonly burn him to within an inch of his life,” the dragonreplied.

“No, I can’tdothat,” Shaneth replied.

Ignusstared down at Shaneth, who was smaller thanone of her claws. She asked,“Why is that?”

“This person is precious to me. That’swhy I can’t let you kill him,” Shaneth replied.

“Then are you asking a mother who had her child stolen from her to just let itgo?!” the dragon retorted.

Shaneth was speechless. She could not deny that Kang Yoon-Soohad donea bad thing, and there was no way to justify what hehad doneno matter how precious he was to her. She turned around and askedhim,“W-what should I say?”

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo walked forward and said, “Please withdraw your anger for a moment.”

“What an arrogant request. You would be burnt to a crisp if that bitchwhoinherited my powerhad notprotected you,” the dragongrowled, scoffing at him.

“I’lljustask you one thing. Why didn’t youbreak the egg that hasn’t hatched for decades,instead choosingto keep it in your lair?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“Are you suggestingyou would kick a child who could not walkout of your house?” Ignusreplied.

“Wouldyou kill the only doctorwho couldmake your child walk?” Kang Yoon-Soo retorted.

The dragon scoffedand replied, “Are you claimingyou know a way to make my egg hatch?”

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied with a nod.

Ignuswas silent for a moment beforesaying, “Impossible.”

“No, I can make your child hatch out of the egg,” Kang Yoon-Soo said with full confidence.

Ignuslowered her head for a moment before saying, “I admit it. My child in the egg is already dead.”

Shaneth gasped in surprise.

Ignuslamentedangrily, “You asked me why I was keeping the egg in my lair?Because it is my child! Why am I angry even though I know itis a dead egg?Because it is my child!”

The dragon’s roars were so loud thatthe crowd feltas iftheir eardrumswereabout to explode. It was a roarfilled bothwith anger and the sadness of a mother losing her child.

“Not a day has passedthatIdo not remembermy childwhodied because of my mistake! Iam sure the egg has rotted as time passed, but I cannot accept that my poor child died without even having the chance to be born!”Ignuslamentedfurther.

“Oh, Ignus Dragon, I understand the foolish hopeyou’re holding on to,” Kang Yoon-Soo saidto thedragon.

“What are you trying to say?!”Ignusroared.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at Shaneth for a moment beforesaying,“I’m living off of a foolish hope as well, just like you are.”He continued, “I understand the pain of not being able to see your child as well.”

Kang Yoon-Soo was the same asIgnus. He had also lost his child,whomhe wouldnever be able to see again.

“What is yourpoint, youinsignificant creature?!”Ignusgrowled.

Kang Yoon-Soo got straight to the point.“I’ll makeit soyou can hatch your egg if you participate in the war.”

Ignusclosed her mouth andfellsilent for a moment. The dragon was seriously considering the offer.She thenstared down at Kang Yoon-Soo and asked, “Is something like that even possible?”

Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “There is a man whocan turnback time and return from the dead. The right to resurrect a life will be grantedif we manage to kill him.”

The Ignus Dragon started to listenintentlyto the words of the human, and Kang Yoon-Soo started to convinceherin front of the five thousand troops.

***

Several stone golems fought againstKartheon’s invading army amidthe vast,rocky desert.

.

“Who are you?” asked a golem.

“The onewhowill kill you all,” Kartheon replied.Histhousands of mummies crushed the stone golems, andheslowly accrued experience points and temporal poweras thegolems fell one by one.

“W-why did we come here?” Katz asked, gulpingdryly.

There were a lot of dangerous monsters in the rocky desert, but Kartheon calmly replied, “Follow me quietly, Katz—if you donot want to wake thatbeingup.”

“Who are you talking about,YourMajesty?” Katz asked; his voice wasfilled with anxiety and fear.

Kartheon laughed at the human andreplied, “Thereis nothing to be scared of. Thatbeingis going to be one of us soon.”

Kartheon and his army reached the center of the rocky desert. What they found at the center was a complicated set of inscriptions and an octagonal seal.

“Thebeingtrapped in this place since ancient times is still stuck here,” Kartheon said with a smile.The ancient king bit his finger andreleaseda drop of his bloodintothe center of theoctagon.

Rumble…!

The ground they were standingonstarted to tremble, and it feltas ifsomething humongous weremoving in the vast rocky desert.

“W-what the hell is that?!” Katz screamed, fallingon hisrear.

A gigantic creature, with tattoos all over its large body and skin as hard as steel, stood up from the sand. The gianthad a jewel embedded in the center of its head.

“Are you surprised?” Kartheon asked with a laugh.

Katz replied while trembling, “I’m more than surprised!I almost fainted! What is that giant?!”

Themassivegiant made the Fire Giants they had killed look like children.Kartheon looked at the gigantic creature that was so tallhecould barely see its head and said, “That is a Colossus.”

A Colossus was a creature multiple times bigger thana giant; Colossi were alsoknown as the gods of the giants. They were creatures thatwere supposed to haveonly existed in mythology,unlike dragons or golden goblins,whichexisted but wereextremely rare.

“A C-Colossus? Why did it show up all of a sudden…?!” Katz asked in surprise.

A Colossus wassaidto be able torip amountainout ofthe ground with one hand, and was supposed to be strong enough to overpower a dragon by its strength alone.

“This was where my kingdom,Sharshyanon, existedin the past, and that Colossus used to hold the ground of the capital together,” Kartheon explained.

The words spoken by the ancient king sounded like something that would only be passed down asmyth or folklore.Katz could not help but lookat Kartheonin disbelief.

“Thereis nothing to be sosurprised about. A magic tower where the Colossi gather andlivetogether existsonthe continent. Thatbeingwas the weakest one among them and was banished from the tower,” Kartheon explained.

“B-banished? It looksas ifit would be bigger than a dragon, just judging from its size…?” Katzexclaimed.

“Do you not think we willat least needsomeonelike this to destroy the continent?” Kartheonreplied with a smile.The ancient king moved his left hand, and the Colossus responded tohis command and moved its gigantic body.

‘999th regression?’Kartheon thought as hisgazeturned sharp.

If there really was a manwho was living his 1,000th life, that was something interesting in itself. There was no better place than the Desert of Death to face such an opponent. The ancient king planned to use both his power to control time and the Colossus to thoroughly step on the self-proclaimed regressor.

‘I will kill all lifeon thiscontinent, and I will regress back in time.’