Not A Regressor-Chapter 311: Faded Promise (3)

The moment Kwon Oh-Jin looked down at the ruined royal capital, a wave of nausea welled up within him. Smoke still faintly rose from between the collapsed, ash-covered buildings. The lingering heat could be felt even from a distance. Clearly, the Dragonian Kingdom had fallen not too long ago.

Did they send an army after hearing about the beastkin kingdom?

The demonkin kingdom, Niflheim, was much closer to the Dragonian Kingdom than the beastkin kingdom, which was blocked by the Sky Mountains. For that very reason, Kwon Oh-Jin’s group had taken the gamble of crossing the mountains to reach the dragonkin kingdom faster.

Kwon Oh-Jin landed after Lightning Steps reached its limit.

Song Ha-Eun approached him and asked, “What’s going on in there?”

He deeply sighed and recalled what he had just seen. “We’re too late.”

“Too late?”

“The demonkin and demonic beasts have already completely taken over the kingdom.”

Only the demonkin and various demonic beasts roamed inside the ruined city. He didn’t see any signs of the dragonkin anywhere.

“Are you saying the demonkin moved faster than us?” Isabella asked.

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded grimly. “Seems like it.”

Even though they had crossed the Sky Mountains to save time, it still hadn’t been enough.

“No matter how strong the demonkin are, how could they have moved this fast...?” Isabella trailed off, confused.

It had taken Kwon Oh-Jin’s group ten days to cross the mountains that normally required over a month to travel around. They had shortened the time by a third and yet, within that short window, the entire Dragonian Kingdom had fallen?

“There must be a reason. Either the demonkin is that strong, or the dragonkin is extremely weak.”

“So, what do we do now?” Isabella asked.

Originally, they had planned to root out the hidden demonkin and ally with the dragonkin just like they did in the Khan Kingdom. However, that plan was now in shambles since the demonkin had already made their move.

“I’ll go back up and take one more look.”

There was still a chance that some dragonkin survived.

Kwon Oh-Jin activated Lightning Steps again and soared into the sky. Beyond the towering fortress walls lay a city carved directly into a massive mountainside. The city of dragons, once a glorious civilization, had been reduced to ashes and trampled by the demonkin.

Vega’s Hunting Dog.

Invisible blue lightning crackled faintly and widely spread out. A flood of information surged into Kwon Oh-Jin. Along with it came a splitting headache, but there was no skill better than this for quickly gathering information.

“Agh.”

Images of the kingdom’s interior formed in his mind.

Compared to the Khan Kingdom, the number of demonkin and demonic beasts roaming around was on another level. Many of them appeared to be searching and hunting down any surviving dragonkin. Some of the demonkin even held up glasses as if toasting their victory.

Just then, something pinged Kwon Oh-Jin’s radar.

That’s...

At the center of the city stood a massive colosseum-like structure. It contained thousands of bound and restrained dragonkin inside.

So, they’ve captured them all and gathered them in one place...

He felt relieved that the dragonkin hadn’t been outright slaughtered.

Kwon Oh-Jin, staring silently at the bound dragonkin, descended back to where Song Ha-Eun and Isabella waited.

“I found where the dragonkin are being held.”

Isabella narrowed her eyes at the high fortress walls. “At least it seems like they weren’t killed. Are you thinking of rescuing them?”

“I want to if I can, but...” He trailed off and folded his arms, lost in thought. After a moment, he slowly shook his head. “I don’t think it’s possible.”

This situation was different from the Khan Kingdom. Back then, there had only been five demonkins and no large army of demonic beasts. Now, even at a glance, over a hundred demonkin and thousands of demonic beasts guarded the circular prison holding the dragonkin.

No matter how powerful Kwon Oh-Jin’s group was, charging straight in to rescue the dragonkin wouldn’t be easy.

Song Ha-Eun frowned in frustration. “So, what? We’re just going to leave them there and walk away?”

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded heavily. Unless they had more allies, the three of them couldn’t do much.

“Ugh. I don’t feel good just leaving like this.”

They had never even spoken with the dragonkin. Perhaps because of how close they had grown with the beastkin, who had been in the same situation, it didn’t sit right with Song Ha-Eun to just walk away. Her chest grew heavy as if a massive stone had been placed on it.

Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t want to retreat like this either. “First, let’s look around and see if there are any dragonkin who have managed to escape.”

“Okay,” Song Ha-Eun said.

“Yes, let’s search the area for now,” Isabella replied.

The group began circling the outskirts of the Dragonian Kingdom, searching for any dragonkin that had escaped.

After wandering for a while, Song Ha-Eun suddenly stopped in her tracks and pointed to a spot. “Oh-Jin, look over there.”

Once again, only she could see the faint blue light.

“That light is here too. The ones we saw near the kingdom,” she said.

Although she saw fewer lights here, they had finally found a lead.

“Let’s go this way.” Taking the lead, Song Ha-Eun guided the group down a narrow path that twisted and turned through a canyon like a maze.

The group proceeded along the narrow trail barely ten meters wide.

“Grrrr,” Boppy growled in annoyance, clearly uncomfortable on the cramped path.

They made it halfway through the canyon when arrows rained down from above with a whistling sound.

Woong!

These blue arrows weren’t made out of wood or metal, but formed entirely of mana. They streaked through the night sky like a meteor shower.

Despite the sudden ambush, Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t panic and swiftly took out Dantalian from his waist.

“Everyone, get behind me!” Transforming it into a spear, he swung it like a windmill.

Blue lightning gathered at the spearhead and spread wide like an umbrella.

Boom! Boom!

The arrows exploded on contact with the lightning, shaking the ground and causing the canyon walls to crumble.

“Ugh!”

Massive boulders, each weighing hundreds of tons, began to fall like rain.

Lightning Charge.

Channeling his Stigma’s mana, Kwon Oh-Jin condensed lightning at the tip of his spear. Just as the boulders crashed down, he raised his spear into the air with a heavy stomp.

Crackle!

The lightning burst forth like a wild beast breaking free from its cage. With an ear-splitting roar, the massive boulders shattered into gravel and scattered everywhere.

His display a power went beyond human comprehension. In the blink of an eye, he had reduced hundreds of boulders into rubble. Without a trace of fatigue, Kwon Oh-Jin pointed his spear toward where the arrows came from.

He was about to launch his wire shooter to close the distance, but Isabella stepped forward. “I’ll handle this.”

“Don’t kill them.”

“Yes, I understand.”

They didn’t need to confirm it with their own eyes to know who was behind the ambush.

With a faint smile, Isabella drew her sharp nails across her palm. Blood from the wound fell to the ground.

Drip. Drip.

“Flow.” With a quiet incantation, the blood on the ground rapidly expanded.

Chains made of blood shot out from the ground, rushing toward where the mana arrows came from.

Screams rang out from afar.

“Kugh!”

“Kyaaa!”

Soon, the blood chains dragged out the attackers hiding on top of the canyon. As expected, the attackers were dragonkin. Like the beastkin, they didn’t look all that different from humans. The most noticeable differences were their vertically slit pupils reminiscent of reptiles, and the scales partially covering their necks and cheeks.

Rather than a dragon-human hybrid, they look more like a lizard crossed with humans.

Although Kwon Oh-Jin had seen the captured dragonkin from afar earlier, this was the first time he clearly saw them up close.

“K-Kill them!”

“Filthy demonkin scums...!”

The chains had captured a total of twenty dragonkins. Completely overpowered by Isabella’s fearsome ability, they glared at Kwon Oh-Jin’s group with hatred and fury.

Just as they looked ready to rip apart Kwon Oh-Jin’s group, the dragonkin suddenly realized something.

“Huh?”

“T-They’re not demonkin?”

Their eyes shifted to Boppy, who stood quietly behind Kwon Oh-Jin.

Did they mistake us for demonkin because of Boppy?

Aside from Cassia, only the demonkin could control such fearsome demonic beasts as subordinates. The mistake was understandable.

“Why are humans here...?”

The dragonkin looked at Kwon Oh-Jin’s group in confusion, unable to comprehend the situation.

Unlike the beastkin, who feared humans and called them demons beyond the rift, the dragonkin didn’t seem to harbor any hostility toward humans. In fact, they looked at Kwon Oh-Jin’s group with awe.

“Hehe, so these guys are dragonkin?” Song Ha-Eun approached the captured dragonkin.

Perhaps anticipating a fight, she had removed her eyepatch. As soon as the dragonkin saw her exposed left eye, their eyes widened in shock.

“T-The Draconic Eye...?”

“A woman with the Draconic Eye has appeared...”

“The prophecy! It’s just as Lord Caelus foretold!”

The dragonkin began exclaiming in astonishment and reverence. This unexpected reaction caught Kwon Oh-Jin’s group off guard.

One of the dragonkin cautiously asked Song Ha-Eun, “A-Are you... the Dragon’s Virgin Maiden?”

“Eh?” Song Ha-Eun frowned, clearly baffled. “I’m not a virgin, though?”

A heavy silence fell over the narrow canyon.