Death’s Door - Chapter 196

Dragons were by far one of the most amazing species in existence.

Before the age of gods, they were said to have been the true rulers of this world. Compared to the Dragon Kings of old, the dragons of now were not very impressive.

The older and wiser they grow, the more experience they acc.u.mulate, and the more power and abilities they unlock.

Of all species, dragons have the most fascinating eyes.

Just by gazing at a person, they are able to see right into the person’s soul, with the amount of information that the dragon eyes could discern varying by experience.

Experts in using dragon eyes could tell everything about the person with a single glance.

DL: <Your dragon eyes are truly impressive, able to see my true nature at first glance>

Had he been a hero, the dragon would have seen some form of righteousness or pureness within him. Since he was a villain, he could guess that what she saw was the exact opposite.

It was not mind reading, but soul reading.

In a sense, it allows the user to gain a lot of information, though it was not exactly same as being able to read the target’s current thoughts.

DL: ‘However, you are not the only one with special eyes’

Compared to his right demon eye, his left eye might seem useless at first glance, yet it was anything but that. For one, it allowed him to understand and communicate in the language of dragons. If anything, it made him curious what else it could do.

DL: ‘You were expecting a hero, but met me instead’

A hero brings hopes and dreams… then all he had to do was to turn those hopes into despair….and dreams into nightmares.

Dragon: ‘His aura, it is so dark….overflowing with malice’

Her power was not perfect, but she could still tell enough.

‘Break’

‘Squash’

‘Extinguish’

‘Annihilate’

‘Destroy’

He was a being of pure evil.

Dragon: ‘I can’t let such evil keep existing. He must be destroyed’

With a motion that was too fast for human eyes to perceive, she stabbed her hand through her opponent’s body.

DL: <Not bad. The move itself was superbly executed, though it was tad bit too predictable>

Dragon: ‘!’

He was behind her. He must have used some form of teleportation right before the moment of impact, leaving an afterimage behind.

In response, she slashed at him with her tail.

He dodged one strike before grabbing her tail and using it like a whip, making her crash on the floor. Since she was very light, it was rather simple endeavor.

Unfortunately, in a hand to hand combat, the one with better control over the strength is usually the winner.

She was at least ten times stronger than him, yet here she was, on the floor, with his foot upon her back, pinning her down while she could do nothing to resist. Her overreliance on raw strength over technique proved to be her undoing.

It all happened in an instant.

He delivered several well placed stabs to her vitals with metal needles before striking a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e spot behind her left ear.

After reaching a certain level of proficiency, demon eye gains the ability to see energy, magic, and with enough strain, could even see through objects. Using his right demon eye, targeting the dragon’s vitals was an easy task.

DL: ‘Demon eyes are not as powerful as dragon eyes, but they are a weapon all the same, and in skilled hands, quite deadly’

Suddenly, her entire body became limp and she fell face-first on the ground.

The needles were a simple weapon called senbon, extremely useful for acupuncture or sealing energy lines within the body. Dark Lord had asked Luka to make these senbon out of adamantite so that they would be able to pierce into dragon flesh. Anything less than that would not have worked.

Dragon: <What was that?>

DL: <Dragons are not exactly invincible you know, though it takes knowing one to find out the weak spots. No matter how powerful you are, if you have no control over it, it is futile>

He spoke to her in the same tongue she used, which alone was infuriating coming from a lowly human.

Dragon: <Grrrrr>

DL: <Do not worry; the paralysis will wear off in five minutes or so after the needles are removed>

Dragon: <I hate you!>

DL: <Hate is such a strong word, my lady. Do not waste it on someone like me>

Dragon: <I will get you back for this!>

DL: <How would you do that exactly, my foolish young dragon? Attacking an opponent you have just met based on a first impression, with an injured body to boot?>

Dragon: <?>

DL: <I noticed right away from the way you were limping>

Her wounds were still fresh.

Dragon: <If you know, then just do it. Finish the job>

DL: <You seem to be under a misunderstanding. I am not here to kill you>

Dragon: <What?>

DL: <I am here to offer you a deal, with the lives of the demi-humans you protect at stake, of course>

Dragon: <You bastard! You leave them alone!>

DL: <That depends on your decision>

She started sobbing.

Dragon: <I thought someone truly good had finally decided to extend a merciful hand to them…but to think it was by someone as vile as you….>

DL: <It’s true. I am no good guy; in fact, you will find it difficult to find someone more evil than me>

Dragon: <What do you want?!>

DL: <Right to the main topic, huh? I like that>

DL: <I consider myself a collector of all that’s rare or valuable. When such a fine specimen such as you walks in through my doors, I can’t help myself. In other words, I want you>

Dragon: <What?>

DL: <I have encountered all kinds of species on my journey, but I can’t help but be fascinated by you, dragons. Even children like you are so vastly powerful, it is beyond belief>

Dragon: <A child?! I am over 400 years old!>

DL: <By dragon standards, you are still a child. And from the looks of it, an amateur>

Dragon: <How do you know so much about dragons?>

DL: <I had a strange luck of knowing one, never thought that would come in handy. Life truly is stranger than fiction>

Dragon: <I will destroy you, you evil wretch!>

DL: <And how are you going to do that, young dragon? You are young, inexperienced, and have yet to reach a level of self-regeneration, and frankly, your power is very fragile and weak for a dragon. Might as well give up>

Dragon: <I will never surrender myself to you, you are evil!>

DL: <Indeed I am, but in your current situation, beggars can’t be choosers>

DL: <Think about it. All of them are in no shape to fight and neither are you, in fact. With just a snap of my fingers, my servants will start cutting them down, man, women, children…they all will end up in the same place anyways, I am just speeding up the process>

Dragon: <Stop! Stop! Please, don’t do it!>

DL: <Isn’t this hilarious, a dragon who values demi-human lives more than her own>

Dragon: <They are not your playthings!>

DL: <Actually, they are, everyone is. In this grand game, everyone is a pawn, my toy, until the very end. And I am about to acquire a rather nice piece even now, so what if I need to sacrifice some duds, they have no value to me. But they do have value to you, don’t they?>

Dragon: <Grrrrr>

DL: <I believe we can strike a deal. Work for me and those demi-humans will live; I can even give them a safe haven in my territory. Refuse, then you can witness me execute them, one by one>

His aura was dark and dense, it was almost suffocating.

He may have the shape of a human, but without a shred of a doubt, he was a monster, and not just a monster, but a monster among monsters.

What he said was no idle threat. If she refused, she could tell, he would deliver on his word.

Their hands shook.

Dragon: <I will be watching you. If you harm them in any way, I will….>

DL: <I wouldn’t have it any other way. Welcome to my world, Azure>

Dragon: “How do you…”

DL: “So you do use human language, huh? Good to know”

Azure could not hide her embarrassment. She was not sure how he found out her name; none of the demi-humans knew it, so he couldn’t have used them. And he used that knowledge to trick her into slipping up and using human tongue.

This man…just how much of manipulative of a bastard was he?

* * *

The more his journey continued the more and more pieces Dark Lord collected in his puzzle. But he was missing a rather large chunk of it. He still had no idea who the grand mastermind was.

Dark Lord: “I don’t know who you are, the artist of my tale”

It was true.

Aside from Mrakus who most likely is just a mouth-piece, Dark Lord had no idea who was the mastermind behind everything.

To have manipulated the events to such an extent….even making Chronos think her actions were of her own will….such a mastermind could not be taken lightly.

But above all else, Dark Lord felt fascination with this certain someone. His plans were complicated, but compared to this mastermind, they were nothing.

More than frustration, more than rage, more than revenge, Dark Lord found himself driven nothing short of pure curiosity.

Dark Lord could only hope that he could meet this mastermind along the way.

Dark Lord: “I have a feeling this is just the beginning of my journey. By the end of it, I will find out who you are…”