章節 306: Chapter 306: A Shattered Zenith, and the Possibility of Resurrection
That day, the Dragon King Mountain Range was anything but peaceful. The numerous flying dragons that should have been resting on the snow-covered peaks suddenly fled from the mountain range in a mass exodus, heading toward the surrounding kingdoms.
Even the most ordinary of flying dragons could rival high-level human warriors, and the dragon leaders were said to possess power equivalent to "Saint-level" warriors among humans.
Because of its proximity to the Dragon King Mountain Range, the Kingdom of Xilon's borders were also subject to attacks from the dragon horde.
Having successfully reached the capital of the Kingdom of Xilon, Zenith and Paul had finally found Lilia and negotiated with the kingdom. However, just as they were preparing to return, the dragon horde launched an unexpected assault on the capital, preventing their timely return.
Paul, being a high-level swordsman, and Zenith, a Saint-level magician, were both hired by the royal family of Xilon as S-rank adventurers to help defend against the flying dragons.
During the defense against the dragons, Zenith suddenly experienced a wave of dizziness and nearly got bitten by one of the dragons. Thankfully, Paul's quick reflexes saved her from the beast's maw.
"Zenith, don't let your guard down! Even though you're a Saint-level magician now, these are flying dragons we're dealing with!" Paul warned his wife, slashing deep into a passing dragon with a single strike, leaving a wound so deep the bone was visible.
"I wasn't being careless, but for some reason, I just had a bad feeling. Do you think something might have happened to the kids?" Zenith said, her voice filled with worry.
Zenith rarely had such ominous feelings, and as a devout follower of the Milis Church, she held great faith in her intuition.
"You're probably overthinking it. Aisha and Norn are safe with the Latreia family in the Holy Kingdom of Milis. Even if the flying dragons attacked there, Milis is far stronger than Xilon. They should be able to handle it."
"As for Wood and Rudeus, I honestly don't think we need to worry about them. Those two boys are more than capable of handling themselves. In fact, I'd say our situation here might be more of a headache than what they're dealing with."
Aisha and Norn were under the protection of the Latreia family, so there was no way anything could happen to them. As for his sons, Wood and Rudeus, Paul couldn't muster up any concern for them.
Rudeus was one thing, but Paul had heard during their last visit to Milis that Wood had already reached the level of a Sword King and had even mastered Saint-level magic.
Paul's own former glory now paled in comparison to his monstrous sons. Even his precious daughters, who used to dote on him, now looked up to their brother Wood with admiration, leaving little room for their father in their hearts.
With one son at the level of Sword King and another at Water King-level magic, Paul couldn't understand what Zenith was still so worried about.
However, seeing the upset look on his wife's face, Paul quickly backed down and promised that as soon as they dealt with the flying dragons, they'd return home as quickly as possible.
Paul, once the "head of the family," had never had much authority over Zenith. Now that she was a "Saint-level" magician and they were living with her family, his standing as her husband had diminished even further...
On the snow-covered Dragon King Mountain, the Dragon God Orsted stood over the lifeless body of the young man, looking down with a deep sense of reflection.
The place where they now stood had once been a towering snow-capped mountain. But in their final battle, the entire landscape had been transformed into a basin.
Orsted had ultimately agreed to Wood's request, allowing him to die like a warrior. He had unleashed his full power for their final fight.
In that last strike, Wood had poured everything he had into a single blow, reaching the level of a true "Sword God."
But even so, Orsted's full power was stronger still.
Their final clash had caused the mountain to collapse, transforming the surrounding area into the basin it now was.
Wood's heart had been pierced by Orsted's magic sword, Jisei, but in return, Wood had left a deep scar on Orsted's face.
The final slash Wood had poured his soul into was so powerful that even Orsted's Dragon Clan secret arts couldn't erase the scar.
"What an incredible person. Even at the end, he managed to push beyond his limits again…"
For an ordinary human to step into the "god-level" domain was something that hadn't happened in centuries.
Yet in that final moment, Wood's swordsmanship far surpassed the current "Sword God" among the Seven Great Powers, making him one of the strongest humans Orsted had ever encountered.
"Do you regret it? If you hadn't attacked him from the start, he might have become one of your strongest allies in defeating the Human God, right?" Shizuka Nanahoshi, standing beside the silent Orsted, mused aloud. Witnessing the cruelty of this world once again strengthened her resolve to find a way home.
"Regret? From his sword, I could sense that even if I hadn't attacked him, he wasn't the type to submit to anyone."
"What I feel now is anger. That's one more reason to kill the Human God. No one uses me, Orsted. Not even him!"
Orsted's fury was palpable. The Human God had once again toyed with him, manipulating him like a puppet on strings. The god seemed to be mocking him, suggesting that just as the first Dragon God had fallen into his trap, Orsted would suffer the same fate.
In the original script, Orsted's killing of Wood would turn Rudeus into his sworn enemy.
This was exactly what the Human God had planned. To him, both Wood and Rudeus were uncontrollable elements. If he couldn't manipulate them, he would at least make sure they wouldn't join forces with Orsted.
Whether they lived or died after encountering Orsted was irrelevant to the Human God. What mattered was that if they survived, they would surely view Orsted as their mortal enemy.
Normally, Orsted's pride would have prevented him from explaining himself to anyone, but after listening to Shizuka, he realized that his pride meant little if it allowed the Human God to gloat in victory.
Thus, after collecting Wood's body and his weapons, Orsted and Shizuka disappeared into the mountains once more.
Later that night, Ruijerd and the Demon Wolf King had escaped the Dragon King Mountain Range at breakneck speed and arrived at the borders of the Kingdom of Xilon.
Upon hearing from Ruijerd that Wood had stayed behind willingly to buy them time to escape, Rudeus and Eris fell into a deep depression. They didn't eat or speak for the entire day.
After waking, Rudeus and Eris wanted to return to the Dragon King Mountain to search for Wood, but the Demon Wolf King, who had gone ahead, informed them that the entire mountain had been flattened. Wood's presence was no more.
Rudeus and Eris couldn't accept it. Rudeus wandered around like a soulless doll, and Eris became obsessed with training, vowing to tear Orsted to pieces the next time they met to avenge Wood.
Seeing their condition, Ruijerd decided to stay put for a while, allowing them time to recover before moving on.
But that day, in the quiet courtyard where they were staying, the person Rudeus and Eris hated the most appeared before them once again!
Before Orsted could even open his mouth, Rudeus had already fired off a Water King-level spell at him. At the same time, Eris drew her short sword and prepared to attack.
Orsted effortlessly blocked Rudeus' spell with one hand and immobilized Eris with a single glance. With a calm, emotionless expression, he spoke.
"I'm not here to kill you this time. I've come to make a deal. Based on what happened before, I think you've realized by now that we've all been manipulated by the Human God."
"If you've been used by him, that makes you his enemy. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I don't think we should be enemies."
Orsted wasn't interested in following the Human God's script. After their previous battle, he had also realized that while Rudeus wasn't as strong as Wood, he still had potential.
"What did you do to my brother, Wood?"
Hearing Orsted's words, Rudeus felt a flicker of hope. If Orsted was here to negotiate, maybe Wood wasn't dead yet!
But that hope was shattered in the next moment.
With a wave of his hand, Orsted opened a storage space. Wood's broken body and his two swords appeared on the ground, utterly devoid of life.
The air in the courtyard plummeted to freezing in an instant. Seeing his brother's corpse, Rudeus' eyes turned bloodshot as several magic circles formed in front of him, unleashing three different spells at Orsted in a coordinated assault.
"AAAAAHHHH! I'm going to kill you!"
Eris, on the other hand, broke down into a frenzy upon seeing Wood's remains. Though Orsted's earlier intimidation had frozen her in place, she forced her body to move again through sheer willpower, even resorting to self-harm to regain control of her limbs.
Fueled by rage, they attacked with everything they had. But no matter how much fury added to their power, it couldn't change who their opponent was.
Orsted, calm and collected, casually opened a barrier with one hand, easily deflecting their combined assault.
As he felt the intense hatred from Rudeus and Eris, Orsted prepared to speak again. However, before he could, he sensed more malicious attacks closing in from behind.
The Demon Wolf King had planned to search the Dragon King Mountain Range for any trace of Wood, but on the way back, he had unexpectedly crossed paths with Zenith and the others.
When Zenith learned that Rudeus and Eris were also in the Kingdom of Xilon, she was overjoyed and asked the Demon Wolf King about their journey.
The Demon Wolf King hesitated, unsure of how to explain everything, until they arrived at Rudeus' rented house and overheard the conversation between Rudeus and Orsted.
The moment Zenith saw Wood's weapons and his broken body on the ground, the normally gentle and devout mother blacked out in fury!
Ruijerd, Rudeus, Eris, the Demon Wolf King, Paul, Lilia, and Zenith—all of Wood's friends and family—stood there, their eyes filled with seething hatred as they glared at Orsted.
Zenith's eyes were particularly bloodshot, and in her blind rage, she was prepared to charge in and fight Orsted hand-to-hand.
"I told you, didn't I? If we were going to negotiate, I should have done the talking. With your personality, this was bound to happen. Now look, you've maxed out their hatred," Shizuka sighed, feeling her scalp tingle as she sensed the rising hostility.
Though she had great faith in Orsted's abilities, she feared that if she didn't step in soon, they would all be torn apart by sheer fury.
"Everyone, please calm down. We didn't come here to provoke you. In addition to clearing up some misunderstandings, we also have some important news: Wood Greyrat still has a chance to be resurrected."
At the sight of the enraged Greyrat family, Shizuka wisely chose not to mince words. She cut straight to what they cared about most.
"Resurrection might sound far-fetched, but I assure you it's possible. As you already know, the man standing before you is the Dragon God Orsted."
"It's not exactly resurrection, but Orsted possesses powerful Dragon Clan secret arts that can preserve memories and send someone back to a previous point in time."
"In other words, while Wood Greyrat from this timeline is dead, Orsted can take us back to a time before the battle ever took place."
Orsted's power was less about resurrection and more about resetting the timeline. However, Orsted himself would retain all his memories, similar to the power of a certain battle-scarred male protagonist blessed by a witch.
"Time loops? But if Wood returns to that time, will he still be the same Wood?" Rudeus asked, his voice trembling with hope and fear.
"If I use my Dragon Clan secret technique to reset the timeline, none of you will remember Wood's death, nor will you recall ever meeting me."
Orsted himself wasn't entirely sure of his own words as he spoke them.
Logically, his time-looping ability should only affect the timeline itself, not the entire world. In other words, it couldn't alter parallel worlds.
Yet in all his hundreds of loops, Orsted had never encountered individuals like Wood, Rudeus, or Shizuka Nanahoshi...
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 400+ at p@treon.com/Betek (@->a)
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