Swordsman's Regression: Reawakened as a Necromancer-Chapter 102: Scale that Shields Your Will

First, Percival claimed the pile of loot from Mercius.

⸢Gold ore (x10)⸥

⸢Iron ore (x20)⸥

⸢Magic Herbs (x10)⸥

⸢Dragon Scale Plates (x50)⸥

⸢Swamp God Eyes (x7)⸥

⸢Dragon Fangs (x8)⸥

⸢Defense Buff Amulet (C-Grade)⸥

⸢Attack Buff Amulet (C-Grade)⸥

⸢Dragon Scaled Sword Hilt (B-Grade)⸥ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

⸢Health Buff Amulet (B-Grade)⸥

⸢Elixirs (x10)⸥

⸢15000 Mana Coins⸥

⸢10 Health Potions⸥

Percival went through all of them. It was a lot of loot. Killing Dragon beasts always rewarded lots of loot—a mechanism created to fit the lore of dragons and the hoards.

Percival noticed, however, that one thing was missing.

He looked up at Mercius. "You didn’t retrieve the Beast Core."

The Soul Soldier stayed quiet, his blue eyes gazing into Percival’s. Percival gazed back. It was like an unspoken and unseen information passed between them at that moment.

Percival nodded. "You think almost like me now," he remarked.

He added the loot to his nearly full inventory, then headed quietly, purposefully, to the dead Dragon.

Percival gazed at it for a while, then outstretched his hand and spoke. "⸢Awake⸥"

As the words left his lips, blue flames erupted from his palm, sweeping across the damp floor of the Oubliette and swallowing the colossal form of the Swamp God Dragon in a silent, spectral inferno.

The humid air, the green glow, and the spongy fungal floor all dissolved into a wash of grave, dark blue.

Percival stood once again in the azure expanse of the void. Beneath his boots, the invisible ground rippled like a disturbed lake. Ribbons of light blue smoke twisted through the air, drifting from the distant, eternal flames.

Then, the smoke began to coil into a massive, serpentine shape.

The soul of the Swamp God Dragon (Lvl 110) manifested.

It was no longer a rotting beast of the mire; it was a magnificent creature of translucent blue light.

The wounded eye was whole again; all four pairs of eyes glowed with ancient, solemn clarity. It loomed over Percival, its presence filling the infinite void with the weight of an era.

"SO... YOU ARE THE MASTER OF THE DEAD," the Dragon’s voice boomed, vibrating through Percival’s very soul. "A LORD WHO RULES OVER THE ETERNITY. A LORD WHO NOW RULES OVER ME."

Percival stayed locked with the dragon’s gaze. "Since I know everything about you, Swamp Dragon. Why don’t you tell me your desire? What is the business that keeps your spirit tethered to this world?"

The blue smoke around the Dragon began to swirl, forming the image of a hidden geothermal nest, far removed from the violence of the Gate World.

"I HAVE SURVIVED THE AGES, YET MY CLUTCH IS EMPTY," the Dragon whispered, the smoke forming the silhouette of a single, unhatched egg.

"WE ADAPT. WE OUTLAST EVERYTHING. BUT WHAT TRULY IS THE POINT? MUST WE CONTINUE TO ADAPT? WHY CAN’T WE LIVE IN COMFORT? WHY IS SUFFERING THE WAY OF THE LIZARD?"

The Dragon lowered its massive, crested head. "I DO NOT CRAVE REVENGE. I CRAVE REST. IF NOT FOR ME, THEN FOR MY YOUNGLING."

Percival’s eyes narrowed. ’It... she... was pregnant?’

"BENEATH MY BELLY, HIDDEN IN THE LEATHER OF MY FLESH, IS AN EGG. THE LAST GOD-SCALE."

The amber eyes grew intense. "MY DESIRE IS FOR YOU TO TAKE IT. FIND AN OWNER WHO WILL NOT TREAT IT AS A TOOL OR A TROPHY. FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL ENSURE IT SURVIVES AS A DRAGON—AS A LIZARD. A PLACE WHERE IT CAN THRIVE, NOT JUST PERISH IN A CAGE."

Percival stared at the massive spirit. A King of the Swamp, asking for a guardian. "I agree. I will find a place for the last of your kind."

"THEN MY SOUL IS YOURS TO COMMAND," the Dragon intoned, bowing its head. "I AM THE SCALE THAT SHIELDS YOUR WILL."

The azure void shattered.

Percival gasped slightly as the humid, heavy air of the Oubliette rushed back into his lungs. Before him lay the cooling, massive corpse of the Dragon.

He turned to Mercius.

"Mercius, look beneath the Dragon’s belly. There is an egg pouch. Bring me the egg."

The Knight obliged.

He walked toward the beast’s underbelly. Placing one leg on the stomach, he reached into the iridescent, moss-covered scales, searching until his fingers found a hidden, warm pouch of leathery skin.

Mercius reached inside and pulled it out.

The egg was torched with patterns of obsidian and emerald. It had a somber pulse to it, faint with an internal heat that even Mercius’s cold hands could feel.

He handed the egg to his Master.

Percival held the Swamp God Dragon egg against his chest, feeling the life within.

⸢Contract Quest: Find the Baby Dragon a home⸥

⸢Reward: Contract your first Soul Beast: Swamp God Dragon⸥

Percival sighed. ’Swordsman, Necromancer... Eggsitter.’

He turned to Mercius who now held the Basilisk Blade in front of him, offering it to him like the greatest treasure after a long war.

Maybe it was.

Percival slowly outstretched his hand to claim the weapon: the main reward of this Gate World.

Once his fingers wrapped around the snake hilt, he lifted up the blade, inspecting it with his cold blue eyes.

He saw a weapon of utter blackness. The metal... it seemed like it was swallowing light, like reflection had been stripped from it at birth.

Faint, scale-like patterns ran along the blade’s length, shifting subtly when it moved, giving the unsettling sense that something alive lay dormant within the steel.

It had a slightly curved edge, and the hilt took the form of a coiled serpent while the snake’s head formed the guard—jaws parted, fangs bared, emerald-glass eyes fixed in a watchful, unblinking stare.

He inspected the properties.

⸢Weapon: Basilisk Blade (A-Grade)⸥

⸢Attack: +85⸥

⸢Strength: +12⸥

⸢Constitution: +8⸥

⸢Aspect: Basilisk’s Malediction — Wounds inflicted by the Basilisk Blade resist natural and magical healing, extending recovery time significantly. A portion of damage received by the wielder is stored as volatile force, which can be unleashed as devastating explosive attacks. Stored damage scales with severity and resets upon release⸥

’Incredible,’ he thought.

He had seen hundreds of swords in his two lives, even those much more powerful than this. Still, he couldn’t help but be fascinated each time he encountered one.

It was expected, Swordsman were geeks in their own way for those special blades.

However, it was finally over. All the rewards had been claimed. It was time to leave.

Phew.

Percival felt an air of relief and victory wash over him. Not even the pungent smell of the Oubliette could ruin this for him.

He had solo-cleared an A-Ranked Gate World.

One day, he would do the same for an S-Rank.

One day... but certainly not today, or anytime soon.

Now, he needed sleep.

"Return, Mercius."

The Soul Soldier obliged and blazed away into his Summon Space.

The final notification came.

⸢You are now recognized as Master of this Gate World by Soul Contract⸥

⸢A return portal has been created⸥

Percival stepped through the red swirling portal the moment it appeared.