Chapter 225

Thud!

Ten minutes earlier.

In the river, with the water swallowing his entire body, Javier was dying.

‘…’

He barely managed to open his eyes.

His vision was blurred.

He couldn’t see anything clearly.

Even the sensation against his skin felt unfamiliar—cold, damp, and dull, with bubbles crawling over him.

‘The river…’

Javier murmured.

His awareness returned in fragments.

‘I… fell into the Magena River?’

Then he’d been blown hundreds of meters from where he’d been fighting.

‘The tail… it moved.’

It was definitely the Bone Dragon’s tail—the tail he had cut off.

He thought he’d almost caught it.

He thought this was his chance, with the monster unable to move.

If he shattered its skull now, he could subdue it.

He was sure of it.

‘I was careless.’

He was foolish.

He had believed victory—something he hadn’t even secured yet—was already in his grasp.

That was his mistake.

No, he never imagined the severed tail would move on its own.

He truly didn’t expect it to lunge at him like that.

So… no.

Even this was an excuse.

He had to face reality.

‘I have to go back.’

Desperation seized him.

He couldn’t stay here like this.

He had to go back and stop the Bone Dragon.

But… he couldn’t muster strength anywhere in his body.

No—he couldn’t even move a finger.

“Cough!”

Glug-glug!

A ragged cough.

The last air left in his chest burst out as rough bubbles and rose to the surface.

Instead, Javier’s body sank.

Deeper into the river.

Deeper still.

Toward an abyss-like riverbed.

‘…’

He couldn’t breathe.

The consciousness he’d barely clung to drifted away.

In that fading haze, a name surfaced.

‘…My lord. Lloyd.’

The one he had vowed to protect.

No matter what adversity stood in his way.

Even if death tried to take him.

He had vowed—quietly, stubbornly—to protect him until his last breath.

But he could feel that vow slipping beyond his reach.

‘I’m sorry.’

A self-deprecating laugh escaped him without meaning to.

His vow had been grand, but look at him now.

In the end, he was going to drown pathetically on a riverbed.

It was pathetic.

And he hated it.

He hated that this was how it ended.

That Lloyd would be left behind in danger.

So he wanted to protect him.

Was it because Lloyd was the lord’s son?

Because he was the heir to the estate?

‘No.’

That wasn’t it.

He used to think so, but—

Now he understood there was another reason.

It wasn’t grand.

He just didn’t want Lloyd to die or get hurt.

Like the wish Lloyd sometimes revealed.

That he could live leisurely, enjoying the sweet life, and grow old.

Javier wanted to remain a knight at his side until then.

That was all.

‘So…’

Move.

Please.

Javier begged himself.

He strained his entire body, desperate.

Move—broken arms and legs, the whole ruined body.

Now was the time to get out of here.

He had to go back and fight.

He pushed.

He urged.

He drove himself.

And after a while—

His heart stopped.

‘No…’

That was the end.

His consciousness snapped.

His body went slack.

On the cold, dark bed of the Magena River, he sank—eyes still open—and drifted with the current.

That was how he met certain death.

As his heart stopped, the blood flow in his body ceased.

The flow through the carotid arteries feeding the brain stopped as well.

Brain cells, deprived of oxygen, screamed.

Every cell in his body gasped.

Nerves and fascia.

Muscles and bone marrow.

They begged for oxygen.

We can still move.

We can’t end here.

They struggled desperately against inescapable death.

It was a pathetic struggle.

A gluttonous pleading.

To preserve life.

His entire body reacted in that ugly, desperate way.

And when oxygen could not be obtained, it seized other resources instead.

There was one suitable resource close at hand.

Mana.

…Riiing.

Even as he died, a vast amount of Mana remained in his heart.

The Mana Heart of a Swordmaster.

The three Circles surrounding it.

The remnants of powerful Mana that had circulated remained—like a vivid history.

History recalled memory.

Those remnants reversed circulation.

Mana pounded through the body.

…Riiing.

The three halted Circles began to move.

Slowly.

Responding to organs that screamed for the remaining Mana.

They moved instinctively.

They supplied Mana to the extremities.

Slowly filled ruptured vessels.

Gradually stimulated the dying body.

Riiiiiing!

The rotation of the three Circles accelerated.

To escape the approaching death.

They drew out every last drop of Mana from the Mana Heart.

Amplified it.

Fed it.

Meanwhile, the Mana Heart emptied.

Even then, the Circles did not stop.

They extracted more.

To the very bottom.

Leaving nothing behind.

Until, finally, even the Mana Heart itself—

Riiiiiing—!

The Circles’ rotation, driven past its limit, melted the Mana Heart.

Javier’s Mana Heart began to vanish.

Like cotton candy dissolving in spring rain.

Like ink spilling through water.

Like a raging typhoon.

It melted.

It soaked in.

It swept through the entire body.

Engraving itself into every cell.

Mana Hearts were created in every cell.

If the former Mana Heart had been a single large mass in the heart—

Now it was different.

Sixty trillion somatic cells.

Sixty trillion Mana Hearts.

Resonance—sixty trillion times sixty trillion.

All of it formed a network along the body’s blood vessels—one hundred thousand kilometers of pathways.

Unstoppable.

Spreading.

Transmitting.

Amplifying.

Finally—

Exploding.

…!

There was no sound.

No time to realize it.

He didn’t know when he opened his eyes.

How he got out of the river.

How he ran all the way here.

He had no way of knowing.

‘…’

Javier became aware of his surroundings only then.

When he came to his senses, he was out of the river and back on the battlefield.

Before he knew it, Lloyd and Her Majesty the Queen were behind him.

In front, the Bone Dragon rushed toward him.

He lifted his gaze to it.

Then he saw it.

‘I can feel it all.’

The wind passing by.

The subtle differences in air density.

The stream of Mana permeating it.

The faint boundaries whispered by Mana itself.

The path his sword should take was engraved in his mind.

He saw the place where he wanted to pour everything.

So he did.

He raised his sword.

And swung it sideways—ordinarily.

Without forcing anything special into it.

He simply swung, as his heart desired.

Toward the place he wanted.

He opened all the Mana Hearts.

Every somatic cell in his body reacted.

Mana Hearts, as countless as his cells, ignited.

Resonance of immeasurable magnitude erupted.

That resonance was amplified by the three Circles.

And with it, he cut a piece of the world.

…!

Again, there was no sound.

The swordlight flashed in a blink.

But it was enough.

Slice.

A line appeared across the Bone Dragon’s entire body.

One, two, three, five, ten, a hundred.

And one thousand nine hundred and sixty-two.

Shrrrrk!

1,962 strands of Aura split through space—brilliantly carving it apart.

The Bone Dragon’s body was no exception.

…!

The giant skeleton was diced into thousands of pieces.

It scattered powerlessly in every direction.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

Smoothly cut bone fragments, like dice, hammered the ground.

But Javier no longer cared about that.

He sheathed his sword in its ordinary scabbard.

Then he turned.

First, he checked the safety of those he had protected.

“Your Majesty, are you unharmed?”

“…Y-yes. As you can see.”

Queen Alicia replied, dazed.

She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed.

What kind of spectacle she had seen.

Even after seeing it with her own eyes, it didn’t feel real.

‘What was that just now?’

No matter how she turned it over in her mind, she couldn’t understand.

It was too shocking to grasp quickly.

But she remembered there was something more important than that.

“Ah—more importantly, here.”

She quickly lowered Lloyd, whom she had been carrying on her back, and stepped aside.

Javier approached Lloyd.

“Lloyd. Are you conscious?”

“…Uh.”

“Are you alright?”

“Do I… look alright… to you?”

A faint, bitter smile tugged at Lloyd’s lips.

He wasn’t alright at all.

His whole body ached.

He was sure at least a few places were broken.

And the nausea—probably a concussion—was driving him insane.

Honestly, it was a miracle he hadn’t passed out on the spot.

But even through the pain, Lloyd could smile.

‘This guy… he’s incredible.’

Seeing Javier standing there, alive, a smile rose naturally.

He wasn’t dead.

He was safe.

No—he looked completely fine.

And the way he dealt with the Bone Dragon just now—

‘He did it. Grand Master.’

Lloyd sensed it instinctively.

The thousands of strands of Aura splitting space.

The Bone Dragon diced cleanly in an instant.

That sight wasn’t unfamiliar.

Because he had read Iron Blooded Knight.

Because it was a scene he had admired countless times.

Thanks to that, Lloyd could finally relax.

‘Thank goodness.’

In truth, he’d been worried Javier’s growth might stagnate.

Because Lloyd had helped him complete the Asrahan Heart Technique.

Because he had even taught him Detonation.

Was Lloyd stealing his chance to grow on his own?

Was that becoming poison that hindered Javier’s growth?

It had bothered him quietly.

But seeing Javier today, that worry vanished at once.

‘He overcame the crisis, too.’

Lloyd drew a deep breath, relief spreading through him.

Meanwhile, Javier placed both hands on Lloyd’s shoulders.

Riiiiiing……

A powerful current of Mana flowed in through Lloyd’s shoulders.

It resonated with Lloyd’s Mana Circle.

It rotated with meticulous control.

A comfortable warmth spread as Mana circulated through his body.

‘Nnngh…’

Like sinking into a top-tier full-body massage chair after a brutal day, downing hot soup, then finishing a sauna.

Lloyd nearly let out an uncle-like groan without realizing it.

After a while, the first aid ended.

“…Hoo-ah.”

Lloyd opened his eyes wide.

He raised his upper body smoothly.

It didn’t hurt.

The spots he’d thought were broken or cracked—

He realized they had been completely healed.

He looked at Javier.

“Hey, you.”

“Yes.”

“You’re not expecting me to thank you for that, are you?”

“Of course not.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Because Lloyd is originally that kind of person.”

“You know me well. You were going to say I’m petty and stingy, right?”

“You know me well.”

“Yeah. I know you well. And I know what you’ve accomplished.”

“…Have you already noticed?”

“How could I not notice?”

Lloyd jerked his chin toward the Bone Dragon’s remains, scattered like diced chunks.

“It’s not just bones—you turned dragon bones into this mess with one swing. How could I not notice?”

“…….”

“Anyway, congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you even know what I’m congratulating you for?”

“Well, of course. I’m Grand—”

“Grand what.”

“…….”

“I don’t care if you’re Grand or whatever. I just saw you slice those pieces cleaner than before.”

“Yes?”

“Dicing. That.”

Lloyd chuckled and gestured toward the Bone Dragon fragments.

“The sizes are consistent. The surfaces are smooth. Impressive. Now, if I hand you a granite block, you can cut out thousands of paving stones and tiles in an instant, right?”

“…….”

“This is mass production. Standardization. Spec. Flawless quality assurance. So keep slicing like that. I’ll sell them. Profit split is nine to one. I’m nine, you’re one. Got it?”

“…….”

“You’re going to be rich now, you idiot.”

“……Ha.”

Javier couldn’t help laughing.

Lloyd, laughing and patting his shoulder.

The young master spouting nonsense that barely qualified as a joke.

But Javier could see it in Lloyd’s eyes.

He was happy.

That Javier had reached a new realm.

No—before that, that Javier was alive.

And Javier felt the same way.

‘I’m glad you’re safe, Lloyd.’

There was no need to say it.

It didn’t matter if Lloyd only spoke nonsense out loud.

Javier’s desire to protect him.

Lloyd’s heart that cherished and worried about him.

That was enough.

Even if they still hurled insults at each other.

“Then I also congratulate you.”

“Congratulate me? For what?”

“Since you survived this time, you’ll be able to be teased by me as much as you want early next year.”

“Ha. You’re going to tease me just because I’m turning thirty? You think that’ll work?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Thirty-year-old virgin—”

“Don’t.”

“Solo—”

“Ah, I said don’t.”

Lloyd laughed as he spoke.

With Javier’s support, he stood up.

Only then did reality settle in.

‘I survived.’

Javier’s steady arm holding him up.

The Bone Dragon fragments scattered everywhere.

Seeing it, he finally accepted that today’s chaos had been real.

Only then did the tension ease.

And then—

A message appeared before Lloyd’s eyes.

Ding-dong.

[The Undead Domination skill you possess has detected a new target that can be dominated.]

[Target: Bone Dragon]

[State: Moribund]

[The Bone Dragon, originally a powerful being, is struggling in an unexpected moribund state. Therefore, the Bone Dragon’s possessed Mana is almost depleted. As a result, the conditions for domination with your rudimentary Undead Domination skill have been temporarily met. Also, once domination is successful, the target will not be able to escape domination without your permission.]

[Would you like to dominate the Bone Dragon detected as a target?]

[YES / NO]

‘…’

What a windfall.

Lloyd’s eyes widened as he finished reading the message.