Dragonslayer’s Class Regression 248

Chapter 248

‘Huh?’

The voice was audible in his head, but he couldn’t understand it since it was a language he’d never heard before.

Zeke spoke to the system.

‘’System, why aren’t you auto-translating?’’

Then text appeared before his eyes.

[Translation is impossible as this language is a dead language erased from records.]

He never expected there would be a language the system couldn’t translate.

『?????????????????????!!!』

The dragon continued shouting something at Zeke and Yelin.

“S-Sir Zeke…”

Looking to the side, Yelin was pale and trembling.

While Zeke was free from the dragon’s pressure thanks to his dragon divine body, Yelin, being a High Elf, seemed to be more sensitive to its killing intent.

Indeed, encountering a living dragon face-to-face was no ordinary matter.

‘Even I was shaking when I first saw one in a video.’

Zeke held Yelin’s hand and used Indomitable Will.

A gentle power seeped through Yelin’s entire body. Only then did some color return to her face as her trembling subsided slightly.

Zeke raised his head and sent telepathy toward the dragon.

―O Hermit of the Black River. We cannot understand anything you are saying.

When Zeke conveyed his thoughts via telepathy, the dragon’s purple eyes moved toward him.

KRRRRRR!

The massive dragon’s face drew closer while glaring at Zeke.

Then a different language echoed in Zeke’s mind.

『You damn bastard! You dare think you can walk away alive after wrecking my precious Black Boy No. 1 like that!』

He could understand it now that it was speaking in Ancient Eastern language, but the content was completely different from what he’d expected.

‘Black Boy? Is it talking about that Black Knight?’

The dragon ground its teeth while looking at the Black Knight still floating in the air.

『Oh my, do you know how hard I worked to make this? That damned bastard completely wrecked it. Completely wrecked it!』

―Are you saying that you, Great One, created that Black Knight?

At Zeke’s words, the dragon turned its head again and shouted while glaring at him.

『Of course I made it! Who else could make such a work of art! The intricate magic activation formulas carved into the armor, the smooth joints, the natural movements! And you ruined this masterpiece like this!』

Zeke didn’t quite understand why it was angry at him when he had merely defended himself.

‘This is different from what I expected.’

He’d thought it would be extremely violent like Bahamut used to be, since it was a dragon imprisoned by Elder Dragons for killing its own kind, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

But looking to the side, though better than before, Yelin was still trembling.

Zeke spoke to the dragon again.

―Great One, I have something to say.

『Shut up! Don’t speak until I allow it!』

But Zeke wasn’t one to listen to such commands.

Without paying much attention, Zeke took out Anexi’s dagger from his inventory.

―I am one who brings the Seal of the Black River. To break the shackles of the covenant binding the House of Ishtar.

The dragon was shocked when Zeke spoke again.

『You, you? How did you speak when I forbade it in dragon language?』

―I just spoke, what’s wrong with that?

Zeke asked back, not understanding. Unlike before, the dragon now looked at Zeke with curiosity.

After a moment, the dragon spoke again.

『Are you one of those dragon kin or whatever?』

―I’m not a dragon kin, but I can use dragon power.

Suddenly the dragon started sniffing Zeke’s scent. Then it jumped back in shock.

『Ba-Bahamut! This is Bahamut’s scent!』

It seemed to have sensed Bahamut’s power dwelling in Zeke’s body through his scent.

Zeke spoke while looking at it.

―You know Bahamut?

KRRRRRR―

Even stronger killing intent flowed from it than before.

『Bahamut! That damn thing always sneaking into my lair stealing treasures! Breaking all my guardians that I worked so hard to make! Argh! This is infuriating!』

The entire lair shook from its cry, such was the depth of its anger.

Not knowing what was going on, Yelin was terrified by the dragon’s rage, her face pale.

“S-Sir Zeke! W-why is the Great One acting like this?”

Zeke was at a loss for how to explain.

“…Let’s say it’s painful memories of having precious things taken away?”

Yelin looked strangely at Zeke who was saying incomprehensible things in front of an enraged dragon.

‘But it’s true though.’

As Zeke grumbled quietly to himself, the dragon finally calmed its anger and spoke while breathing heavily.

『Human, you! What’s your relationship with Bahamut?!』

Zeke pondered before slowly opening his mouth.

―No relationship at all.

Though he had absorbed Bahamut’s heart, Zeke played innocent.

Moreover, even without the heart, he was technically a distant descendant of Claudia Lubern, Bahamut’s human polymorph form, but he just said there was no relationship.

The dragon glared at Zeke with suspicious eyes.

Then it spoke again.

『You’re an extremely suspicious fellow. But more importantly, what did you say earlier? Seal of the Black River?』

Zeke held up Anexi’s dagger toward the dragon.

The dragon lowered its eyes to examine the dagger and grumbled.

『Ugh, how annoying. Wait.』

In that moment, light emanated from the dragon’s body and it gradually became smaller.

Then, in place of the dragon appeared a young elf boy with black hair.

Though his appearance was that of a twelve-year-old, the pressure emanating from his purple eyes clearly revealed that he was a dragon.

The polymorphed Black Dragon floated over towards where Zeke was.

Landing at a certain distance, he flicked his finger.

Instantly, Anexi’s dagger that was held in Zeke’s hand floated up and flew towards the Black Dragon.

The Black Dragon examined Anexi’s dagger closely.

Then he glanced at Zeke with sharp eyes and said.

“Human. Where did you find this?”

After considering the question, Zeke responded via telepathy.

―I found it in the Inverted Tower created by the Elder Dragon.

The Black Dragon flinched at the mention of Elder Dragon.

“You mean the place that Chronos fellow was building.”

“You know of that place?”

The Black Dragon smirked and replied.

“Of course I know it, I did the design for that place.”

Zeke was shocked by the Black Dragon’s words.

“Are you saying that you, Great One, designed that place?”

The Black Dragon frowned at Zeke’s words and said.

“That’s grating on my ears, just use my name.”

“Hermit of the Black Riv-”

“Not those weird titles, I mean my name! My name!”

As if trying to placate the dragon throwing a tantrum, Zeke asked.

“What is your name?”

“What? You dare not know my name?”

He shouted while trembling.

“It’s Hades!”

Black Dragon Hades glared at the two while breathing heavily.

Zeke spoke to him.

“Lord Hades. With this dagger, would we be able to break the shackles of the covenant?”

In response to his words, Hades unleashed terrifying killing intent toward Zeke.

“Insolent fool. How dare mere microbes like you decide to break a covenant with a great being like me!”

He was completely full of himself.

Zeke sighed inwardly and spoke on behalf of House Ishtar.

“The House of Ishtar, who inherited the covenant of the Black River tribe, has been bound here for two thousand years, unable to go elsewhere. Please release the shackles of the covenant now.”

Hearing those words, Hades floated up into the air.

In an instant, he stood right in front of Zeke and Yelin and glared at Zeke while speaking.

“Human. Are you not afraid?”

Few humans could remain standing when directly facing a dragon’s killing intent.

But Zeke was someone who could say what needed to be said regardless of such pressure.

Zeke looked at Hades and spoke.

“I am afraid. However, I speak because I believe that you, being of a great race, will make a rational choice.”

Hades’ expression changed at Zeke’s words.

“A rational choice?”

“Because there’s no benefit to you in keeping House Ishtar bound here.”

“That’s not for you to judge. Insolent fool.”

“Then please tell me. If there is a reason why House Ishtar must remain bound here.”

Hades pondered at Zeke’s words. Then suddenly coming to his senses, he ground his teeth and spoke.

“You damn human, trying to manipulate me with that silver tongue. Why should I explain my reasons to you?”

“Isn’t your reluctance to explain because there’s no real reason to keep them here?”

Hades flinched slightly at Zeke’s words.

It was because his words were accurate.

The reason he had originally made a covenant with the Black River tribe was because it benefited both parties.

The Black River tribe received protection from a powerful Black Dragon, and the Black Dragon gained Dark Elves as guardians.

Unlike now, back then there were many monsters around and frequent wars with other tribes, so making covenants with entire tribes, even if not one-on-one contracts, was quite common.

However, as time passed and the Black River dried up, this place became a land of death that no one visited.

Even for Hades, there was no particular need to keep a tribe bound here as guardians.

Zeke, who knew dragon habits well through the Kaisir’s Chronicles, had guessed this fact and pressed on Hades’ logic.

Left with nothing to say, Hades threw a tantrum.

“I don’t care! I won’t break the covenant! Go away!”

Then Zeke hesitated for a moment before speaking to Hades.

“If I may ask… aren’t you also bound here, Lord Hades?”

At Zeke’s words, Hades glared and shouted.

“You’re crossing the line! I was being nice since it’s been so long since any creatures came here! Want to taste dragon language?!”

At Hades’ reaction, Zeke quickly spoke via telepathy.

―Sea God Poseidon has been freed from his seal.

Hades was shocked at Zeke’s words.

He too responded to Zeke via telepathy.

―W-what? What do you mean L-Lord Poseidon has been freed from his seal?

―I removed the Divine Spear piercing his heart and broke the seal.

Hades’ mouth gaped open at Zeke’s words. He wore an expression of disbelief.

―H-how is that possible?

―I don’t know the exact details myself so it’s difficult to explain. But I thought that if you too were imprisoned here, I might be able to break that seal as well.

Hearing Zeke’s fluent words, Hades became intrigued.

After pondering something for a moment, he suddenly flipped his palm from up to down.

Instantly, the scenery around them changed.

Zeke and Yelin looked around in confusion.

“Where is this?”

It was a workshop that looked like a combination of a wizard’s laboratory and a smithy.

Black Knights and armor like the one they saw earlier were standing along the walls, and unfamiliar styles of weapons and armor were lined up.

Floating in the air, Hades spoke to Zeke and Yelin.

“Your words have piqued my interest a bit, human.”

With another gesture, a sofa appeared. Following his nod indicating them to sit, Zeke and Yelin sat on the sofa as Hades spoke while floating.

“Those High Elves. They begged me for a covenant back then, and now they’re singing a different tune.”

Surprised at those words, Yelin asked.

“What? Are you saying our ancestors requested the covenant first?”

Even while still afraid of Hades, Yelin managed to ask questions.

Lying sideways in the air, Hades said.

“Yes, at that time the High Elves were on the brink of extinction. They came to me seeking protection.”

Shocked by his words, Yelin muttered.

“We… we were told we inherited and maintained the covenant in place of the Black River tribe…”

“Well, that’s technically true too. When the Black River tribe left for war, my guardian position happened to be vacant. The High Elves living in the north were chased here by vampires and requested my protection.”

“V-vampires?”

“Huh? Don’t tell me you didn’t know? Back then, the north was dominated by vampires – even orcs couldn’t go there. From what I know, even that so-called Demon King’s Army fell because they couldn’t stop the joint attack of the northern vampires and allied forces.”

Even Zeke was hearing about the vampires for the first time.

‘I’d only heard that the Great Sage sealed away the Demon King, but this is the first time hearing about vampires.’

Then a thought occurred to Zeke and he asked Hades.

“By any chance, are you bound here by the power of the Elder Dragons?”

At Zeke’s words, Hades snorted and said.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

Zeke and Yellin looked at each other.

Zeke carefully opened his mouth again.

“According to the passed down stories, Lord Hades was imprisoned here for committing the first kinslaying…”

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Before Zeke could finish speaking, an tremendous killing intent erupted from Hades’ body.

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