Ch-196. **Treasure Vault of the Primordial Dragon God**
—
Basara slowly shook her head.
“You haven’t grown at all, have you, little brother.”
He had become stronger outwardly, yet his awareness remained unchanged.
There was no difference from the time just before Wilhelm killed him.
She still acknowledged his willingness to use any means necessary,
but to think that the Blade Dragon God’s weakness would be his *Legion* itself…
There are limits even to stupidity.
He was a brother related by blood, yet the disappointment was suffocating.
*He died because he was weak. Nothing more.*
Basara brushed away even the tiniest spec of sentiment.
The weak die.
It is natural.
Even if that weakling happens to be one’s blood.
Issera was a fool, and he died only because he made the wrong choices.
There was no sadness or regret.
If anything, she was disappointed.
She thought he might have matured at least a little.
Yet he remained hopelessly foolish.
At this rate, he would have died eventually regardless of when.
*… Well then.*
With a relaxed expression, Basara walked down the street.
Issera failed, yes.
But *she* had achieved her intended goal.
“Did you see? They’re calling him the God of the Black Egg!”
“You mean the one from the ‘Jeju Island Destruction Event’?”
“I heard the people who experienced it treat the God of the Black Egg like a real god!”
Whispering voices of the people all around.
Everyone was talking about the same thing—
the so-called *God of the Black Egg* who subdued the rampaging Dragon God in a single instant.
*God of the Black Egg. So that was Wilhelm’s true body.*
Though the crowd didn’t know the truth, Basara had seen through the shadow perfectly.
The being that entered and exited the dragon vein—
that was most certainly Randolph.
She had no doubt that it was Wilhelm’s true body.
*Creating Dragon Gods… and controlling them. A thought no one would ever dare conceive.*
And the way he handled Issera this time—utterly beyond imagination.
To create a Dragon God and subdue the invincible Issera with another invincible Dragon God!
He had figured out Issera’s weakness beforehand,
and guided Issera into discovering the Blade Dragon God’s weakness in response.
A complete reversal of thought.
Even Basara had never imagined such a method.
Ah…
A shiver ran down her body.
*Wilhelm… you are unchanged.*
She never knew which direction he would strike from.
He always achieved results far beyond all expectations.
Still lovable.
An impossible man not to love.
Once more, Basara longed—truly longed—for the day he would kill her.
Of course, *after* their next meeting.
*Still… Issera’s heart carries venom even you will find impossible to control.*
The reason the Blade Dragon God’s frenzy worsened over time was due to the venom embedded within Issera’s heart.
It was a poison that killed even gods—
a monstrous force absolutely impossible to restrain.
The Blade Dragon God had taken Issera’s heart.
There was no returning from that river.
She would remain in madness forever.
*He’ll have to give up and kill him.*
Issera’s venom would eventually consume the Blade Dragon God completely and drag everything around into ruin.
Even if she were sealed inside a dragon vein, she would break out sooner or later.
There was no other way but to kill him before it was too late.
But the opponent was Wilhelm.
*My beloved… in what new ridiculous way will you astonish me this time?*
Would he be able to resolve even this impossible crisis with yet another absurd method?
Just picturing his face brought a smile to her lips.
Though his appearance now was different from before—
of course he had transformed himself with the *Golden Scale*.
She already had a good idea of the rest.
Randolph was surely a man residing in Korea, and he must have a close connection to Park Tae-woo, who summoned the Dragon God Lucaria.
Which meant…
“What business brings you here?”
Basara stepped inside a particular building and smiled sweetly at the receptionist.
“I would like to join the Hero Alliance.”
“A… are you a warrior?”
“Yes.”
“A-alright, please wait just a moment.”
The receptionist looked flustered as Basara nodded politely.
A warrior applying to join the Alliance *right after* the war ended—
it was natural to be shocked.
But the Alliance, suffering from a lack of manpower, would have no choice but to accept her.
Too many warriors had died in the war.
*I suppose I’ll stay in this world a bit longer.*
If she stayed near Park Tae-woo, she would naturally come into contact with “Randolph.”
And besides… this world had far more amusing things than she expected.
—
—
Drip. Drip.
Sweat poured endlessly from my entire body.
I had never been more cautious in my life.
《You are in a critical condition.》
《If untreated, permanent HP loss may occur.》
Separating the heart of a Dragon God was difficult even at full health.
Yet I was accomplishing it while maintaining a *near-death* state.
If the near-death state ended, Hana would regain consciousness and immediately unleash the *The Dreadful Omen’s Eye*.
*Rip out the mana circuits.*
I wasn’t physically tearing the heart.
I was tearing apart the countless *circuits* etched into the heart.
Lines that had never been visible before were now clear.
Only by unraveling every single one of these mana threads could the heart be separated.
Slowly. Delicately.
As though playing an instrument.
《You are in a critical condition.》
《Senses reduced by 30%.》
《Permanent HP -1.》
Haa… haa…
My breathing grew ragged.
But I had no room to even acknowledge that sound—my concentration could not break.
The mana circuits were unbearably sharp and sensitive.
A single mistake meant starting over from the beginning.
It was like untangling an impossible knot of thread—
but if I made even one wrong pull, it randomized itself completely.
And there were thousands of knots to untangle.
《Vision blurring.》
《Senses reduced by 50%.》
《You are afflicted with ‘frostbite’.》
My senses dulled.
My hands and feet felt cold as ice.
Cold sweat streamed down unceasingly.
The urge to let go—to simply surrender—was overwhelming.
*Just a little more…*
It wasn’t time to give up.
This was the one and only chance to fix the mistake.
There would be no second opportunity.
《Vision blurring.》
《Senses reduced by 70%.》
《Warning! Risk of death without treatment!》
—
—
It felt like waking from a long dream.
Hana slowly opened her eyes.
*This place is…*
The dragon vein.
Her home.
But something was strange.
After losing all her children, Hana had entered madness.
It was a curse-like state that would never end unless she died.
*My body feels… lighter?*
No—she felt *far* lighter than before.
The tangled mana within her felt organized.
It was no illusion—she soon confirmed it.
<Status Window>
Name: Hana
Class: Blade Queen of the Blood Demons
Class: Dragon God (Follower)
<Stats>
Level: 14
Strength: 148
Stamina: 148
Agility: 148
Intelligence: 148
Divine Power: 148
<Additional Stats>
Natural Regeneration: 2,710%
Total Penetration: 14.8%
<Notices>
1: The Frenzy State has been lifted.
2: Mana circuits have been stabilized; all stats +8.
A window suddenly appeared before her eyes.
Hana stared in pure bewilderment at her increased stats.
How had her frenzy state been lifted?
What did mana circuit stabilization even mean?
“… You two?”
She couldn’t continue thinking.
Two unusual beings were kneeling before her.
“Greetings to the Queen.”
“Greetings to the Queen.”
Two blood-demon children—
draped in the scales of dragons.
Blood demons, yet humanoid in form like herself.
One was a deeply masculine figure with red skin.
The other was a cute girl with snow-white skin.
Both were powerful enough to make Hana’s instincts tense.
But the moment she saw them, she knew—
why her frenzy had been undone.
“You are… my children.”
They were born in her spawning nest.
Yet in frenzy, everything should have been frozen.
Nothing should have been born.
“Yes. By the grace of the Queen and of our Divine Lord Randolph, I am the Overlord, Issera.”
“…And I am Lucaria.”
The names felt familiar.
But questions needed answering first.
“How were you born?”
“Our Divine Lord fed the heart of a Dragon God to the spawning nest. To prevent the Queen from ever grieving again, the stalled nest created us—transcendent beings.”
Because of the Dragon God’s heart, the nest produced an extraordinary existence.
*Overlords.*
Lifeforms that transcended race.
“Why do you use those names?”
“Because I possess Issera’s memories. If you dislike it, I will change it.”
“…Me as well.”
Simple and concise.
So Hana asked again.
“Did the Divine Lord grant permission?”
“Yes.”
“Then it is settled.”
If the Divine Lord Randolph permitted it, her opinion was unnecessary.
In any case, the frenzy had been undone thanks to these transcendent children.
The frenzy of the Blade Queen activated only when *all* blood-demon children were lost.
If even one remained, it would not trigger.
The two Dragon God hearts forced the spawning nest back into motion and created the Overlords—undoing her frenzy.
*My consciousness has been reconnected.*
Not only that—
she felt her mental bond with the Divine Lord Randolph restored.
Stronger, deeper, more unbreakable than ever before.
Hana slowly began to walk.
And soon enough, she found *him.*
Her Divine Lord—Randolph.
“Ah…”
A faint sigh escaped her lips.
He had collapsed, his face pale.
Too exhausted, half-unconscious.
What should she do?
After a moment of anxious hesitation, Hana slowly approached him.
She knelt, and with trembling hands gently touched his cheek.
Ordinarily, touching the Divine Lord was sacrilege.
Unthinkable. Forbidden.
Yet Hana softly stroked his cheek and leaned her body over his.
Because he looked so very cold.
Then, gazing at his sleeping face, she smiled faintly and whispered:
“Please… have a pleasant dream.”
—
—
After resolving the frenzy problem—
I headed to receive my reward.
《You are transported to the “Treasure Vault of the Primordial Dragon God.”》
The Treasure Vault of the Primordial Dragon God.
The moment I stepped into the golden warp, I could not help but gasp.
*…Holy.*
Countless treasures gleamed before my eyes.
The problem was their *rank.*
*What the… How many Unique-grade items are there?!*
It felt like a completely different world.
Unique-grade equipment was scattered across the floor—so abundant I could literally kick them aside.
Primordial Dragon God.
I had never heard the name before.
But the treasure vault of a dragon reflected its absolute might.
And if it possessed such overwhelming splendor…
I couldn’t even imagine how great that being must have been.
《You may choose only one reward.》
《The Soul of the Primordial Dragon God watches you with great interest.》
The Dragon God’s gaze didn’t matter.
All of my focus was fixed solely on the treasures before me.
*What’s that?*
Among the mountains of treasure, I spotted something and tilted my head.
*…Primordial Rank?*
It was a piece of equipment in a rank I had **never seen before**.
—
