#280
Episode 280
Ring of the Nibelungen (3)
Click.
“Is it because an important guest has come? “The tea smells even better today.”
Merlin said this as he placed the teacup on the table. He clasped his hands together with an expression as if he had asked for an infinite number of cases. And she put her chin there and said to him.
“So, wasn’t it uncomfortable for the ‘Dragon Slayer Sword’ to stay?”
I flinch.
Slayer Dragon Sword.
It was a title so terrible that my muscles reflexively twitched every time I heard it. Jeongdo managed to keep his expression on his face and fought back with a smile.
“It’s inconvenient. It was very cozy. The ‘Observer of Time’ has too much humility.”
“… .”
This time, Merlin’s expression hardened, but he soon corrected his expression and forced a smile.
A few more words were exchanged in a medieval knightly literary tone, as if in a play. Of course, it wasn’t long. They both quickly realized how meaningless this was.
They glared at each other for a moment and then sighed at the same time.
“… Stop it. I guess I was wrong. Things like this will only hurt each other.”
“I strongly agree. “If possible, don’t do it until the end of your life.”
tired.
I didn’t even start the main topic, but I already felt exhausted.
In the first place, it was a mistake to think that no one would know in modern times no matter what was done in the past.
It’s a shame that no one knows.
If you’re a wizard who can manipulate time, you should have thought of being able to peek into time… … However, one good thing was that this dark history ended the moment we left Avalon.
“As you said, I have obtained dragon blood. “Please.”
“hmm. I’m sure I saw it too. “A promise is a promise, so I will do my best to help you.”
As the doctor lined up the bottles containing dragon’s blood on the table, Merlin began to look at them carefully.
Then, he took exactly half of what was placed in front of him and pushed the other half back to him.
“Half is enough. “It would be better for you to use the rest.”
“is it so? “I guess the more the better.”
“No, it’s true that the more the better. But I just don’t see any reason for it to get any better than it needs to be. It is natural for treasures to belong to those who can use them better. “I don’t know exactly, but I know you’re going to do great things.”
“… … Is that so.”
I didn’t really refute Merlin’s words and put Paprine’s blood back into my inventory. Merlin nodded his head once, as if satisfied, then raised his wand and swung it towards the remaining bottles.
Then bong! The caps of all the bottles opened at once with a sound.
“It won’t take that long. “Just wait a moment.”
Ugh.
The head of Merlin’s staff began to glow blue. It was exactly as Merlin said. The work didn’t take long.
The blood in the bottle began to float up and form a ball. It soon turned into a perfect spherical crimson mass, and the sphere slowly approached Merlin and was absorbed near his heart.
“after. ruler. “It’s over now.”
“Already? “It’s simpler than you think.”
“The only thing that was lacking was fuel. I got everything ready while you slayed the dragon. Well, anyway, now that I have my strength back, I’ll get started right away. hand.”
“Ah yes.”
When Jeong-Do held out his hand with Ixia in it, Merlin gently touched the large staff to Ixia. Then Ixia, with her blue glow, began to let out her strange screams.
<Oh! huh! Eh! Hook!>
“You still have such interesting reactions, young lady. “Okay, that’s it.”
<Yes? Already? Hey, if you could just do a little more… … Ah, ah!>
Ixia pleaded, but Merlin calmly withdrew his wand. Although it was a short period of time, he was breathing heavily as if the work had been extremely difficult. Instead of asking him, I asked Ixia.
“Ixia, how are you? Does it work?”
<Hmm. wait a minute… … oh! yes Now we can confirm the coordinate time!>
“Hehe, hehe. Sounds obvious. “Whose skill is this?”
<Please wait a moment. Let’s start analyzing! It won’t take that long!>
Ixia began the analysis with an excited voice. Jeongdo took out a bottle of cold water from her inventory and held it out to Merlin, who was breathing heavily.
“Are you okay?”
“after. It’s been a while since I used a lot of dragon mana, so I’m tired. are you okay. “If you rest a little, you will recover.”
“thank god. “Then is it okay if I ask you something?”
“If I know anything, I’ll answer.”
“Didn’t you say that no matter what you do in the past timeline, it will be difficult to change the future? Is that real? It seems like it can change very easily. “It seemed like someone other than me had already intervened.”
In fact, if he had not intervened, there was a high possibility that Siegfried would have been killed by Fafnir who went berserk. Then the past would have been completely changed.
However, at such a question, Merlin just chuckled.
“I said something… … Did you see the end? “The sight of Siegfried dying?”
“No, but he would have died if I hadn’t intervened.”
“Are you really that sure? “Isn’t there a possibility that a Valkyrie will fall from the sky right before Fafnir’s breath hits him and suddenly save him and defeat Fafnir?”
“… … “What kind of nonsense is that?”
“That’s nonsense. But cosmic deterrence makes such nonsense happen. If you don’t believe me, can you check? “You certainly gave him Fafnir’s blood.”
“ah. “It was like that.”
In actual history, Siegfried was betrayed by a man named Hagen and was stabbed in the back. For a great hero, it was an extremely meaningless end.
Jeong-do was also infected with it, so he gave his blood… no way?
“Check for yourself.”
Merlin said that and waved his wand, and a large mirror appeared.
And soon the mirror began to ripple and Siegfried’s life began to pass by. I fell into the mirror as if I was watching a movie… … .
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How much time has passed?
“her. “You can’t believe they used Fafnir’s blood there.”
I looked at the mirror as if this was absurd. There, the life of Siegfried, who was betrayed and killed by Hagen, was vividly depicted.
“I never thought I would strengthen Balmung without erasing his weaknesses.”
He used Fafnir’s blood to smelt Balmung again. As a result, Balmung became even stronger and he was able to defeat powerful enemies more easily… … History did not change because of that.
I asked Merlin with an expression that seemed meaningless.
“Is this a cosmic deterrent?”
“Yes, history that has already been fixed does not change easily. You really need an element strong enough to overturn causality. “Just a bottle of dragon’s blood or causing a dragon to go berserk doesn’t change anything.”
“Now that I think about it, whose work was it that caused Fafnir to go on a rampage?”
“Given the circumstances, it’s probably not related to the guy who invaded Avalon. Because he also used the magic that caused Fafnir to go berserk. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out its identity. “His whole body was wrapped tightly.”
“hmm. “It’s a pain in the ass.”
Is it karma? Or someone else?
Whatever it was, it was a pain in the ass. I can’t believe they’re trying to pull off a trick by going to the past. What on earth is their purpose?
<Analysis is complete. master. With this, you can now open the gate by specifying the exact time and location! However, there is a limit to the number of people at this gate.>
“Limited number of people? “How many people?”
<There are two people, including Jeongdo.>
“hmm. Yes, you had a hard time.”
Two people.
There was no reason to think deeply. Whether you look at it in terms of ability or synergy with yourself, it seems like the partner has already been decided.
Jeongdo turned around and bowed his head slightly to Merlin.
“Thank you for your help. I’d like to stay longer, but I’m a little busy… … .”
“Where are you going? I understand that you feel impatient, but there is no need to rush like that. Anyway, the flow of time is different here than outside. “No matter how long you stay here, not even a minute will have passed outside.”
“… … is that so?”
“Okay, so you should rest well and take what you deserve.”
“What are you going to get?”
“What, have you already forgotten? I said I would do the best I could, so I must keep my promise. That’s good. “You now have the body of a dragon.”
“Do you know that too?”
Jeongdo burst out laughing. It was just as Merlin said. Naturally, during the 72 hours spent in Siegfried’s world, King Arthur’s load was lifted and Jeong-do was able to receive his reward. It was also a format where you could choose what you wanted, not roulette.
Of course, the level of choice is <Hemolytic Retardation-lv.3>. Jeong Do acquired another body-related talent following <Cheonmujiche>.
Merlin grinned at that level and continued.
“I’ll show you the best research I’ve done, forgetting about time. “I couldn’t go out into the world because there was no one who could handle the dragon’s mana, but now I’ve finally met my master.”
At Merlin’s sweet words, Do-do’s heart began to beat violently.
* * * * * *
Again.
“… … Ugh.”
In a dark space.
Hae-joon opened his eyes to the cold touch hitting his cheek. And I moaned from the excruciating pain that struck my solar plexus.
‘… … okay. I was defeated in one hit.’
It was a confusing situation, but ironically, the extreme pain brought calmness to Hae-joon. Apparently, I entered the gate with Ellie, and there I was attacked by a strange man… … Wait, Ellie?
“Ellie! Ugh!”
Hae-joon tried to stand up from his seat, but he couldn’t. Because his limbs were bound with thick restraints. As Hae-joon moved his body, the ‘clunk’ sound of the chain echoed in the dark space.
Hae-joon raised Mana and tried to break the chains.
‘… … Mana doesn’t move. shit. Is it an artifact?’
Mana, which should move like limbs, did not budge at all. No, to be precise, the moment Mana tried to move, an unknown force flowed into her body from the binding sphere that bound her limbs, blocking the movement of her Mana. The force was so powerful that she couldn’t see any way to do it with her current strength.
“… … L!”
Out of urgency, Hae-joon tried to call out to her, but he barely managed to hold back.
It wasn’t a very wise decision to shout in a situation where I had no idea where this place was or where the stranger was. Instead, Hae-joon closed and opened his eyes to adjust them to the darkness as much as possible.
After a few minutes, my eyes fully adjusted and I began to see my surroundings.
‘prison.’
The first thing I saw was the front, blocked by thick iron bars. If restraints were added to this, it was impossible to imagine any place other than prison.
When I looked to the left, a rough wall caught my eye. Judging by the appearance and the feel of the floor, it seemed like it was inside a cave.
And when I finally looked to my right.
“after.”
Hae-joon breathed a sigh of relief. Not far from him, Ellie was also tied up in a restraint. However, she was still unconscious, so she fell limp. As she concentrated on her hearing as much as possible, she could hear her breathing softly.
‘The worst has been avoided.’
Of course it was the monster who locked them up like this. It was a bad situation, but it wasn’t the worst.
Because keeping it alive meant there was something you wanted. I didn’t know how to overcome the current situation if I focused on that part. Hae-joon took a deep breath and cooled his head.
Step by step.
It was then.
Footsteps were heard from afar. Hae-joon looked at his iron bars with his body extremely tense.
“Are you awake?”
Squeak.
The stranger I saw when I first entered the dungeon said so, opened the iron bars, and came inside. He walked up to Hae-joon and threw something. The fragrant smell that was gently wafting out seemed to be food.
“Eat. When that woman wakes up, I’ll bring her some water. Other than that, I will try to accommodate other conveniences as much as possible. Of course, keep in mind that nonsense like asking them to get you out of here will only hasten your death.”
“… … “What do you want?”
“I have no intention of asking anything from you or that woman. “The moment you are here, I can say that my purpose has been achieved.”
Hae-joon’s face hardened at the gunman’s answer.
There is nothing to demand from them. Because that word could only mean one thing.
“You’re a hostage. Are you targeting the people who will come here to save us?”
“people’? You have to speak straight. How many people do you know who would be here? “There must be only one?”
“… … “Is that the purpose?”
Hae-jun sighed. Yes, as far as he knew, the only person worthy of coming here was Jeong Jeong-do.
I was angry.
The reality is that even though it may not be of help to him, he becomes a hostage that holds him back.
The relationship between this strange man and Jin Jeong-do was unknown, but it was probably not a good one. Rather than endanger him, it would be better to just kill himself… … .
However, Hae-joon’s thoughts did not last until the end. The stranger’s next remarks were completely different from Hae-joon’s expectations.
“You’re calling him here? I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding. Why should we bring up such unmanageable risk factors? listen carefully.”
The stranger walked up to Hae-joon and whispered softly.
“My goal is to be strong. It was you from the beginning. Other than that, everything else is secondary. “I drew your attention to draw you in and it was a trap just for you.”
“… … what?”
“So I don’t want anything more. Now all we have to do is wait for that day to come. If you ever think he’s coming, I’d tell you to give up. “No matter how much he does, it won’t be easy to find this place.”
Jump up.
After saying that, the gunman stood up and headed towards the iron bars again. Hae-joon’s mind became complicated.
The purpose is me?
Why on earth? What value is it to me? Could it be that he covets my abilities? So does that mean he has the ability to extort skills and talents?
If that was his goal, why did he keep Ellie alive?
Many questions followed like chain lightning. This won’t work. There is too little information. I had to somehow get additional information out of that monster.
However, the gunman was walking without hesitation as if he had nothing more to see.
Damn it, think about it. How can I get his attention… … okay!
Hae-joon, having a flash of thought for a moment, spoke in a low voice, but with clear pronunciation.
“Calm down.”
Pop.
His steps stopped.
“No, should I say it is the future calm island? “What do you plan on doing to me?”
“… … “That’s a funny thing to say.”
The gunman started walking towards Hae-joon again, and Hae-joon took a deep breath.
The guarantee that he is the future Jindo… … Of course there wasn’t. Because it was just a random thing to say. However, it is important that you reacted. At least it won’t be unrelated.
“I heard that from someone… … Ah, I see. Is she she?”
The gunman glanced at Ellie. Her tone was that it was completely understandable.
In the past, Ellie was trapped in a laboratory in the United States and lived as an experiment.
The person who saved him was a person with the face of Jin-jeong-do, but who was not Jin-jeong-do.
Hae-joon was convinced that there was a high probability that he was this strange man, and that was why he said those words.
but.
“You’re only half right.”
“what?”
“Exactly half of what you said. “You were only half right.”
Half? What on earth does that mean… .
“It’s a little early, but… … It’ll be okay. “This is the story.”
The gunman got close to Hae-joon’s nose and pulled back the hood of the robe he was wearing.
“… … what?! “Big, big!”
Hae-joon is about to express his shock when he sees the face of the gunman. A strong pain exploded in my solar plexus.
dump.
Hae-joon lost his mind once again.
