37 Chapter 36: First Mission. (5)

Alseace was surprised when he saw the inside of the mountain had been carved and turned it into a giant castle. He looked at the man-made stairs all the way down to the base of the mountain, but it was impossible for a single person to do it on his own.

"Perhaps the dragon was the one who made all this?" Alseace asked as he walked down the stairs. "A dragon, this might be the first time for a divine creature to appear inside a vortex," Alseace looked at the castle and could sense the terrifying aura.

Alseace heard a tale about dragons from his world, and Aluca used to tell him a bedtime story about it. A dragon was a creature that ruled over the sky and land because of its unbelievable strength and magic. A creature that was feared by all living beings because they believed dragons and God came appeared at the same time. That was why they called them divine creatures.

"Now that I think about it, doesn't that mean whoever tames a dragon would be equal to God?" Alseace asked, but then he heard a deafening roar coming from the castle.

Alseace had to hold onto the wall so he wouldn't fall off the cliff. The roar was so loud that it was enough to give him a headache, and he believed if Renata and the others came with him, they would fall unconsciously from the roar alone. He then carefully walked down the stairs and held his head until his headache disappeared.

It took him an hour until he reached the base of the mountain and looked at how big the castle was. It was as tall as the mountain itself, and not to mention the castle was almost as wide as the mountain itself.

He stood in front of a giant closed door that led into the castle. He took a deep breath as he put his hands on the door, and then he pushed it with everything he got. It was heavy and he was barely pushing it open, but he didn't give up and kept pushing it until the gap was big enough for his body to get through.

As soon as he went inside the castle, he saw that the inside was hollow and there was nothing inside. The whole castle was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything but the presence of a divine creature in front of him.

Alseace used his staff and lit it with fire, but then the flame got extinguished by a strong wind. It was the breath of the dragon because of how hot the wind was, and how his magic could easily be dispersed.

When he was about to light his staff again, he felt a murderous intent right to his right. He immediately drew his sword and swung it to his right as he lit his staff with fire and something clashed with his sword.

The moment the fire lit Alseace's surroundings, he saw a man in black full plate armor with a giant sword in his hand. He then pushed the dragon raider away from him, and to his surprise, the dragon raider was weaker than him. Knowing that he immediately charged in and swung his sword at the knight's breastplate.

"How sturdy..." Alseace looked at the knight's armor that was unscathed from his attack.

"You, who are you? And what business do you have here?" The knight asked and he sounded old.

"You should know the answer," Alseace answered and cast Fireball at the knight and shot it right in the knight's face.

The explosion lit the castle, and for a few seconds, Alseace could see the black dragon that was 20 meters tall and 80 meters long being chained and shackled by gold chains. He was confused as to why the dragon was chained, and by whom, but he decided to think about it after he dealt with the knight.

"You think a fire is going to hurt me? I'm a dragon raider, and my armor is powerful enough to withstand the dragon's breath! My armor can also withstand the claws and fangs of a dragon!" The knight said as he came out of the smoke.

"Yeah? But you're fighting against me, and you're still an old man," Alseace said and cast Earth Spike right under the knight's feet.

The knight was launched up into the air and immediately cast Water Bullet right onto the knight's head. Alseace didn't give an opening or even an opportunity for the knight to breathe. He kept casting spells until the knight ran out of stamina and got internal wounds.

"You bastard..." The knight said as he staggered. "What a coward..." The knight continued.

Alseace was about to cast Fireball, but then suddenly he saw a bright red light from the corner of his eye. It was the dragon and it breathed fire toward him, and he immediately ran away to dodge the fire. But he didn't make it in time, and half of his body got exposed to fire. The heat was enough to burn his face, and if he reacted half a second late, his whole face would have been melted by it.

He thought he would be dead, but he was surprised that his body wasn't burned to a crisp. In fact, not even a scratch on his trousers or loafers. He was grateful to Sierra, and he would remember this moment and planned on thanking her later.

"I'm surprised that you survived that," The knight said as he walked on the melted ground.

Alseace put his hand on his right cheek and used Healing Magic to reduce the pain. His Healing Magic level was so too low and he couldn't do anything else but relieve the pain. He then held his sword with both hands and looked for an opening in the knight's armor, but there wasn't a single opening.

"(If it's like this, I don't think I can win)" Alseace said as he sighed and sheathed his sword.

"Giving up already?" The knight asked.

Alseace clenched his fists and dashed forward which startled the knight. He got close to the knight and ducked his head when the sword was about to cut his neck. He grabbed the knight's right hand and dislocated the knight's right elbow. He then slammed the knight down to the ground and dislocated the knight's left shoulder.

"Your armor might be strong, but not your bones," Alseace said as he put his right hand on the knight's chin from behind. "What are you without your armor? An old man," Alseace snapped the knight's head.

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[You have achieved the objective of [King of the Sky], and prevented the Dragon Raider from becoming a Calamitu]

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[Choose your reward]

[1. Random Legendary Weapon Box (1)]

[2. +25 Extra Status Point (Everyone)]

[3. Random Legendary skill scroll (1)]

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[You have 6 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds to leave the area]

[Leave before time runs out!]

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"Human," A deep voice could be heard around Alseace.

Alseace looked around and didn't know where the voice was coming from.

"Come here and show yourself before me," The voice said.

Alseace realized that it was the dragon who spoke to him, and the voice was inside his head. He then looked at the dragon's glowing eyes that were pointing at him. It was enough to give him a chill down his spine, but he didn't fear the dragon and approached it.

"How interesting. I have seen that face before," The dragon said as he lowered his head to look at Alseace's face.

"What do you mean by that?" Alseace asked with his eyebrows furrowed.

The dragon suddenly roared and startled Alseace, and it was so loud that it made Alseace faint. He couldn't even resist the overwhelming power of a dragon's roar and collapsed to the ground. The dragon then looked at Alseace and breathed a chill wind onto his face that was enough to wake him up.

"That must have startled you," The dragon said as he looked at Alseace who was slowly getting up. "Let's cut to the chase, human. I need you to do me a favor," The dragon continued.

"A favor?" Alseace asked as he looked at the dragon.

"Do you look at these shackles on my body?" The dragon asked as he wiggled his neck, tail, legs, and wings, where all of them were shackled with gold chains and shackles.

"You want me to remove them?" Alseace asked back.

"Do you think you can cut them with that sword of yours? Maybe in a thousand year, you would be able to cut one of them," The dragon replied as he chuckled.

Alseace knew that already, and that was why he asked that question. But he wondered who put those shackles on the dragon's body, and how the dragon was in that state. He then asked, "What do you want me to do with them then?"

"Kill me," The dragon answered with its eyes closed.

"Before I do so, can I ask who put them onto your body?" Alseace asked.

"Do you think a mere mortal could put me in this state? The answer to that question is behind that question that I asked," The dragon answered as he put his head on the ground.

"I don't understand. Why did God put you in this state?" Alseace asked.

"If you're asking that question, that means you know nothing about this world yet. I can't tell you much because-" Before the dragon could finish his sentence, Alseace interrupted.

"Because God will punish you for talking bad about them, right?" Alseace asked as he looked at the dragon.

The dragon opened his eyes to look at Alseace and said, "Looks like you know how the world works. But the reason that I can tell you is that I don't want to be a puppet. Anyway, since you know about it, perhaps you wont to accept my request?"

"Don't worry," Alseace said as he walked away to grab the knight's sword. "We are on the same page. We both hate them, so I'll fulfill your request," Alseace grabbed the sword and looked at the dragon with a smile.

"What an interesting kid. You're the same as your sister..." The dragon mumbled to himself.

Alseace stood in front of the dragon and looked at how thick the dragon's scales were. He knew even if he used the knight's sword, it wouldn't be able to penetrate them.

"I know what you're thinking, but that shouldn't be a problem if you stab my heart from the inside," The dragon said as he opened his mouth, big enough to let Alseace enter his mouth. "You can take the core of my power and make it yours," The dragon continued.

"I understand," Alseace said as he walked into the dragon's mouth.