Dragonslayer’s Class Regression 249

Chapter 249

Hades raised his upper body and shouted.

“Damn It! Who Spread Such False Rumors?!”

“It’s not true?”

“Of course not! If I catch whoever spread such nonsense, I’ll rip their tongue out!”

Though Jamila had spoken so confidently that they thought it was true, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Zeke asked the fuming Hades.

“Then why exactly are you bound here?”

Hades finally calmed down and spoke.

“Though it wasn’t kinslaying… I did commit a crime.”

“Was it attempted kinslaying?”

“This Kid? Are you trying to make me out to be some kind of monster? It’s nothing like that!”

He sighed and said.

“Sigh, who else can I blame? It’s my fault for entering when I was told not to.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Hades raised his body as if standing straight and pointed at the ground.

“This place, right here.”

“This labyrinth?”

“Yes. This was originally one of the forbidden places no one should enter, but I came in and made a workshop as I pleased. The things here looked interesting, so I wanted to experiment with various things.”

Surprised by the unexpected answer, Zeke asked.

“So you were bound here for the crime of entering this forbidden place?”

Hades shook his head.

“Don’t think of dragons like humans. You think we impose sanctions on each other for breaking rules?”

He sighed and said.

“I’m bound here not because of sanctions, but because I accidentally touched the core of the forbidden place and my soul became bound to it.”

“Your soul was bound?”

“Yes. I became bound to this domain itself and couldn’t leave.”

“Good heavens. How powerful must the binding be to contain a dragon?”

At those words, Hades irritably said.

“That’s what I’m saying. Damn it. Even after trying everything for three thousand years, this binding won’t break.”

This meant Hades had been bound here even longer than Ishtar, who had been bound for two thousand years.

Yelin, who had been listening to Hades and Zeke’s conversation, was bewildered as the discussion took an unexpected turn.

“L-Lord Hades. Then you can’t break our family’s binding?”

At those words, Hades frowned irritably.

“Are you fanning the flames? I’ve been trapped for three thousand years, and you’re complaining about mere two thousand?”

Yelin immediately shut her mouth at Hades’ rebuke.

Zeke said to Hades.

“If I could break your binding, would you free the Ishtar family?”

At those words, Hades held his stomach laughing and said.

“You’ll break my binding? Oh my, if that were possible, of course I would! No, I’d even grant you a wish!”

Zeke jumped to his feet.

Then he said to Hades.

“Guide me to where the core of the forbidden place is.”

Hades flinched at Zeke’s confident attitude.

Then he clicked his tongue and said.

“What can a knight who’s not even a mage do? You’re ridiculous. Fine, kid. Whatever you’re trying to do, give it a shot.”

This time Hades snapped his fingers.

WHOOSH!

The scenery changed again.

WOONG!

In the middle of a huge cavern, a massive stone tablet engraved with countless characters was vibrating while emitting light.

Yelin gaped at the enormous stone tablet.

“Good heavens, Sir Zeke. I’ve never seen such a large stone tablet.”

Zeke asked the floating Hades.

“Lord Hades, what was this ruin’s original purpose?”

“I don’t know exactly either. I just know that tablet controlled the city that used to be here.”

“Do you mean the city from before the Hero King era?”

“Yes. A city built in the time called the Age of Constellations, before I was even born.”

It was fascinating that the core of a city older than dragons was still operating.

Zeke slowly approached the tablet.

Then a message appeared.

[Warning, do not approach as powerful karma distortion may occur.]

‘Karma distortion?’

Zeke realized this tablet was related to karma.

Following the system’s warning, he stepped back for now.

He thought he too might have his soul bound here like Hades if he approached carelessly.

Zeke asked Hades.

“Lord Hades, could you move Lady Yelin somewhere else?”

At those words, Hades glanced at Yelin.

Yelin exclaimed to Zeke in surprise.

“Sir Zeke! What do you mean..?.”

Before Yelin could finish speaking, Hades snapped his fingers and sent her elsewhere.

“I put her in the workshop from earlier. You don’t want to show all your abilities to that high elf child, right?”

“You noticed.”

“I’ve been giving you hints all along. Now that the high elf child is gone, speak freely.”

Zeke nodded and asked Hades.

“Do you know about karma?”

At those words, Hades looked at Zeke with a surprised expression.

“How do you know about that?”

“An Elder Dragon’s soul is imprinted on my soul. Thanks to that, I can use the administrator system even though I’m not a dragon’s contractor.”

At those words, Hades showed an even more surprised expression.

“Administrator system? Good gracious. Did Chronos really create that?”

“Do you know about the administrator system?”

“Know it? I’m the one who laid its framework.”

“What? Are you saying that Lord Hades created the system?”

“Rather than creating the system… I’ll just show you.”

Hades spread his palm and gently rubbed the air. Then unfamiliar characters appeared in the air.

Zeke felt those character arrangements seemed familiar.

“Isn’t this the administrator system?”

Hades shook his head.

“No, this is the system used in this ruin’s city. I researched these systems and created the framework for the administrator system and gave it to Chronos. He said he would try applying it to what you mentioned earlier – the inverted tower.”

“So you’re saying that system borrowed methods used in the ancient city?”

“Yes, the ancient cities seem to have achieved an unimaginably advanced civilization by today’s standards. What made them remarkable was that they researched how to efficiently use the powers of this world.”

“So that’s what the system is.”

“I knew I shouldn’t enter this place, but I’ve been interested in those ancient civilizations since I was a hatchling. Black dragons tend to dig deep once they get fixated on something. That’s what happened to me.”

“So that’s why you kept researching this core?”

“Yes, as I kept digging into the system, what you called ‘karma’ kept appearing repeatedly. That was the core of the ancient civilization.”

Zeke recalled the hermit of the story dealing with karma.

‘So those who lived in the ultra-ancient civilization had figured out how to handle this karma.’

If one could handle karma, they could exert power that transcends the laws of the phenomenal world.

Zeke was well aware of its power since he too had keenly felt the power karma possessed while using the system.

‘The power to control karma…’

If you try to forcefully control too much power, you could end up being consumed by that power instead.

The end of black magicians who gained great power by summoning demonic power only to have their souls devoured was utterly miserable.

Perhaps the reason these ancient civilizations disappeared leaving only traces was because they abused the enormous power of karma until it consumed them.

Looking at the still-glowing stone tablet, Zeke decided to first try accessing it through the system.

‘System. Can you access that control system?’

Soon a message appeared.

[Attempting to access advanced administrator system.]

[Access impossible due to different recognition code.]

Zeke shook his head and said,

“The system access isn’t working because the recognition code is different.”

Then Hades looked at Zeke and said,

“Recognition code? I know that.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah. You think I just played around for three thousand years? I went through all sorts of trouble interpreting the system trying to break free from the binding. Wait a moment.”

Hades projected something in the air and waved his hand toward Zeke.

Following his gesture, messages appeared before Zeke’s eyes.

[Administrator system requests permission for new system access.]

Zeke granted Hades’ access.

[Access granted.]

[Updating new information.]

[New recognition code being input to Kabbalah system.]

[Undecipherable areas of Sephirot dimension server opened through corresponding code.]

[Reattempting connection to suspended administrator system.]

[Connection successful.]

Thanks to the recognition code Hades sent, Zeke was able to access the control system.

[Welcome Administrator. Welcome to the golden city ‘Blanca’ beloved by the constellation ‘Ideal of the Stained Breath’. How may I help you?]

“Golden city Blanca?”

It was a name he’d never heard before.

Zeke asked the connected Blanca system.

‘How do I free the being bound to this city?’

After saying it would find an answer to Zeke’s question, the Blanca system soon displayed a message.

[Currently 1 adult dragon species is registered and being managed in the city.]

‘Managed entity?’

Zeke felt something strange about the system’s phrasing.

‘Is it possible for a city to manage dragon species?’

Another message appeared in response to that question.

[The golden city Blanca is a premium city with the latest facilities capable of registering up to five adult dragon species. Registered entities protect citizens’ safety from external threats and provide pleasant entertainment through a thorough management system.]

Zeke was shocked by the system message.

‘You mean the city subjugated dragons and used them as they pleased?’

It was unbelievable, but given the circumstances, that seemed to be the case.

Zeke continued asking the system.

‘What needs to be done to unregister the registered dragon species?’

Then a message appeared from the system.

[Currently registered dragon species cannot be unregistered due to system error.]

‘System error? What does that mean?’

[The dragon heart of the corresponding dragon species is combined with the karma control device, making it currently impossible to break that bond.]

Zeke understood the situation after hearing the system’s explanation.

‘The dragon heart has completely fused with this control device.’

Something seemed to have gone wrong when Hades touched the control device where karma distortion was occurring.

Zeke asked the system again.

‘Find a way to separate the dragon heart and control device.’

Then Blanca’s system displayed a message.

[I apologize Administrator. Unable to find a method to separate the corresponding dragon species and dragon heart.]

At this rate, Hades would have to remain trapped here forever.

That’s when it happened.

A message appeared from the original Kabbalah system, not the Blanca system.

[Searching for solution to this problem in Sephirot dimension server.]

[Search scope too broad, narrowing range.]

[Searching for feasible method by combining Administrator’s skill information and inventory information.]

[Search complete. One solution found.]

‘What? There’s a solution?’

Zeke urgently checked the solution.

[Confirm control connection line between subordinate dragon species and city using advanced administrator’s special skill Blood Eye.]

[Temporarily block connection between corresponding dragon species and control system using ‘Sea God’s Body’ owned by advanced administrator.]

[Must sever connection between dragon heart and control system using special skill ‘Soul Core Technique’.]

The method was quite detailed. Zeke calmly read it and took out the body received from the sea god from his inventory.

Then he looked at Hades.

“Lord Hades.”

“What? As expected it won’t work. I knew it…”

“I think I found a way.”

“What?”

Hades stumbled over his words at Zeke’s unexpected response.

“Wh-what do you… di-did you really find a way?”

“Yes. But… the method might be a bit rough.”

“Wh-who cares if the method is rough? Really, really, will it work? How do we do it?”

Zeke suddenly drew out the Bahamut he was wearing.

“I’m sorry, Lord Hades. But I’ll need you to hand over your dragon heart.”

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