Chapter: 618
Crack.
I glanced around my body.
After repeating the movement several times, I checked.
I felt nothing unusual with my left arm. My internal injuries felt the same.
‘How can it be this clean?’
I was pondering how to deal with this situation.
The regeneration was completely finished.
‘What on earth happened here?’
Even if things went south, it should have taken three months.
It was an internal injury that would have required at least half a year.
Even the gods would have had no choice but to give it half a year of treatment.
And yet, it gets healed all at once?
‘Even….’
I looked at my left arm.
It was the arm that had been ripped apart by that bastard.
But now?
‘It’s perfectly fine.’
It was as if it had never been torn at all.
There wasn’t even a hint of discomfort.
How could this be?
‘The place I was just at was the same.’
I looked around.
There was definitely a lot of snow, but at a glance, it had seemed like a garden.
Now it was just a field of snow.
Could it be that I was moved from the original location?
‘That could be the case, but….’
It didn’t seem like that was the whole story.
I thought the previous space was a complete fabrication.
The reason wasn’t anything complicated.
‘That feeling.’
The feeling of a collapsing space.
And the atmosphere that space had possessed.
It was definitely a sensation I’d felt before.
It didn’t take long to recall.
It was a sensation deeply etched in my memory.
‘The realm of the Dark King.’
The void that the Dark King had spread out.
The place where I had died hundreds, even thousands of times.
That place felt just like this.
‘Was it called power?’
The authority available to a dragon.
The Dark King had claimed that power for himself.
Memories of continually coming back to life even after dying countless times there.
It was oddly similar to my current situation.
‘So, was that previous power something like authority?’
This somewhat explained why my arm returned to its original state.
I still had no idea why my internal injuries healed, though.
“Phew….”
I checked my body and sighed.
Whatever it was, the important thing was.
‘That I survived.’
The crux was that I was alive.
Neither my arm was torn off, nor did I lose my life.
Thinking back on it, a cold sweat trickled down my back.
How long has it been?
A situation where my life was threatened to such an extent.
Moreover, it was a circumstance where I survived due to the mercy of another.
“Are you pure-blooded?”
That question the other person left lingers in my mind.
‘Pure-blooded….’
What on earth did he mean by that?
He was a dragon too.
All phenomena were pointing in that direction.
‘What is pure-blood? Does that mean he’s not pure-blooded?’
Pure-blood.
What the term contained was questionable.
After all, I had essentially broken the mold and shed my shell.
It was ambiguous to call it pure-blooded.
He looked at me and referred to me as pure-blooded.
‘To be exact….’
The moment I unconsciously used a dragon verb.
He called me pure-blooded after hearing it.
What made the difference?
‘Can that guy not use dragon verbs?’
I thought simply that the concept of dragon verbs was my power.
His reaction to seeing the verb was troublesome.
It felt like there was something contained within that verb.
And.
The moment I thought I was pure-blooded, that was the reaction he had.
‘As if he found a target.’
Is being pure-blooded truly so significant?
Questions started piling up.
The most important takeaway from all this was.
‘In the end, there must be other dragons besides me.’
That was what really mattered.
Not beings like the Dark King or Princess, but creatures I could recognize as dragons.
The crucial point was that, aside from the blood horse, another being had appeared.
That is.
Talking about a creature like me that had transformed into a dragon through shedding.
No.
‘Isn’t it true that dragons aren’t born but evolve?’
That thought flickered through my mind.
With those thoughts swirling.
Bam.
I seized the chains before me and crushed them.
Crack-!!
With a bit of force, the chains shattered effortlessly.
I didn’t feel any other issues despite forcibly breaking them.
‘They say there’s a suppression effect on energy,’ I thought.
Yet it didn’t feel any different.
I brushed the remnants aside.
“… Oh….”
He displayed a strange reaction as he looked at the broken chains.
It was Namgung Bi-ah.
He seemed quite surprised.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing… it wasn’t broken before…?”
From his expression, it seemed he had been trying to break it repeatedly.
From his response, it appeared it was effective.
“…”
Namgung Bi-ah’s wrists, which were bound, were red.
Seeing that, I gently grasped his wrist.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“I know.”
I just wanted to say that.
At the same time, I inspected Namgung Bi-ah’s upper body and waist.
I could see the bandages tied through the uniform’s gaps.
It was different from the usual compression bandages she wore.
“… How’s your body?”
“I’m okay.”
I spoke because it didn’t look okay at all.
“Hah….”
I rubbed my forehead with a sigh.
Fortunately, I encountered the ‘alive’ Namgung Bi-ah.
Considering how anxious I was that something terrible might happen, it wasn’t the worst outcome.
But it wasn’t purely good news left either.
Holding Namgung Bi-ah’s wrist, I questioned, “… What were you doing to end up like this?”
“…”
I felt a tremor in the wrist I held.
“I told you to be careful. I’m sure we made a promise!”
Don’t do anything unnecessary.
When something goes wrong, leave everyone behind and run away as quickly as possible.
Also, don’t get hurt.
Eat well and go out.
These were all promises I made to Namgung Bi-ah when she insisted on going to the North Sea.
“Out of all those, which did you keep?”
“… The food… was good….”
“Don’t joke around. It’s obvious you’ve lost weight.”
You look thinner than when I last saw you; it’s clear you haven’t been eating properly.
“If you’re not going to follow my words, why even come here?”
Seriously, you kept none of the promises.
It was ridiculous.
“I said if something happened, to just run without looking back. But you almost got yourself killed because you went out on your own.”
“…”
“And what’s the excuse for escorting a princess? What on earth are you doing? If I knew this was going to happen, I would have told you not to go…”
I kept trying to speak but eventually fell silent.
Namgung Bi-ah grabbed my arm with her hand.
“… I’m sorry… Please don’t scold me.”
I had so much to say. Really, I had a lot on my mind.
But this simple act silenced me.
“… Phew….”
It was what happened.
I tried hard to think that way.
‘As long as I’m alive, that’s what matters.’
As long as you’re alive, that’s enough.
As long as it’s not death, anything else is negligible.
But.
“… Okay, let’s talk about the rest later.”
However, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t talk about it.
Now just wasn’t the time.
“…”
Namgung Bi-ah, upon hearing that, faintly turned her head away.
Seeing that, I slowly got up.
Because the situation wasn’t suited for mere chit-chat.
“First… let’s wake that guy up.”
I took a small step aside.
Over there, Yuri lay unconscious.
Calmly approaching her, I placed my hand on her forehead.
Huumm—!
I released some energy.
And then.
“Huh…!”
Yuri, who had been unconscious, immediately came to her senses and sat up.
Suddenly sitting up, she looked around with wide eyes.
“Where…?”
“Are you awake?”
“Young Master Gu…?”
Yuri’s gaze shifted to me.
Not long after, she tightly grabbed my sleeve.
“What about Biwoo? What happened to that friend… what happened to that friend?”
As soon as she woke up, she immediately asked about Woohyuk.
I had to bite my lip at her reaction.
That’s because the image of Woohyuk being captured by that guy was fresh in my mind.
“I lost him.”
“… You lost him…?”
“What happened to you? Why did you suddenly show up like this?”
“You got captured?”
Yuri looked puzzled at my question.
From her expression, it seemed she didn’t even realize she was captured.
‘She didn’t notice it coming since she wasn’t aware.’
Even though I was injured, I managed to notice something coming closer.
I didn’t know if it’s because she was just on a whole other level, or maybe some other method was at play.
In any case, it was still unacceptable to miss that.
“… Your relatives got involved. They knocked you out too.”
“Yes…?”
“It was a man, right? Must be either the First Young Master or the Second Young Master.”
This was exactly what Yuri had expected.
That white-haired young man who resembled a dragon.
I lost to that guy.
It was just like having Woohyuk taken away without even being able to put up a decent fight.
“That’s ludicrous!”
The words he spat echoed in my ears.
I thought I had long tossed aside my pride.
But being trampled like this left a very sour taste in my mouth.
Overwhelming defeat.
And then.
“It seems you’ve still not made up your mind.”
“I see. So…”
It felt like it had a lot to do with the unresolved issue I still carried within myself.
Which only made me angrier.
‘What is he aware of?’
What was Woohyuk taken for?
What did he plan to do with him?
And.
How did the Ice Palace’s bloodline turn into dragons?
‘What are his goals?’
What exactly did he figure out by looking at me?
Those thoughts wouldn’t leave my mind.
The gaze that had oppressed me. The look that had mocked me.
And the instinct to kill him that still lingered, making my head spin.
Swish.
I felt a touch in my hand.
Upon checking, it was Namgung Bi-ah’s hand.
“Calm down….”
“…”
My gaze shifted to Namgung Bi-ah’s waist.
That was where she was injured.
Seeing this made my head cool down.
I realized it wasn’t the time for this kind of contemplation.
“… First, we need to go back.”
For no other reason than to take care of Namgung Bi-ah’s condition.
I also had questions to pose to the Princess.
Thinking of this, I attempted to rise.
“Hold on…”
Yuri stopped me with her words.
I let out a shallow sigh while looking at her.
It seemed the problem was that we lost Woohyuk.
“Finding him right now is impossible. For the time being…”
“No, who is that lady…?”
“Huh?”
At that, I wondered what she meant, but Yuri was pointing at Namgung Bi-ah.
What on Earth did that mean?
“What do you mean, who? You mentioned she was your bodyguard. What’s going on?”
Evidently, Yuri said that Namgung Bi-ah had served as her escort earlier.
And now? She couldn’t even recognize Namgung Bi-ah?
I questioned her, full of confusion.
“Bodyguard? What’s that…?”
Yuri continued to wear a puzzled expression.
“Your Highness.”
“Huh?”
My eyes widened at Namgung Bi-ah’s words.
“This voice… huh…? No way.”
She suddenly stood up, as if she had realized she had forgotten she was unconscious.
“White fox…? Is it really a white fox?”
“Yes.”
Namgung Bi-ah nodded at Yuri’s words.
Yuri, upon hearing that, covered her mouth with her hand.
“What…?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Why, why? Is she pretty?”
…What?
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