Chapter 415

The queen suddenly fell silent as she felt something deep within her was trying to break the sh.e.l.l and come out, filling her entire body and mind. Her pupils became vertical slits like those of a reptile, and her whole body began to tremble uncontrollably shortly after.

Your Majesty Please calm down.

Scales began to cover from her pointy ears to her smooth, white-skinned legs. Her once voluptuous chest shrank and clung to her ribcage, while the sound of her bones twisting and cracking filled the air.

Her green hair fell to the ground at once. Her eyes became full of hunger and excitement, and they flickered before finally calming down with a green crystal-like glow. A Dragorin was standing tall in the mirrors that reflected the queens affair with Kanonas.

I got too excited, Kanonas.

As the queen said, she revealed her true form whenever she was extremely excited, either due to anger or arousal.

Kanonas remembered the first time he saw her true self. It was the day when he first set his foot in the queens bedroom. She was in the midst of a secret and dangerous tryst with her personal guards, someone like Aslan, and she didnt even bother to hide the scene. The queen saw through Kanonass desire to become her lover as he came to her bedroom immediately after his mother, Ruthra, who had also been his lover, died.

...Yes, Your Majesty. Please speak.

Kanonas lowered his head at the feet of the queen, whose nails were standing on end.

The Soul Ring is not a sacred relic created by our Lord Lacryma. It was an object that the first Demon King, Doom Arukuda, lost during the War of New Devil a long time ago.

Kanonass eyes widened.

He asked, Why wassuch a dangerous object sealed away with the other relics?

She explained, It was no longer dangerous after the curse was lifted. Our great ancestors even placed it in the safest place in all of Elsland. But the Order!

Your Majesty, the Order was

It should have never been used. I have repeatedly warned people not to touch it.

Kanonas said, Many in the Order are committed to delaying the advance of the Demon Kings army.

Even if it means going against my wishes? asked the queen.

Ever since he had become the queens lover, Kanonas had been trying to send Aslan, a potential rival, to the Demon Kings realm. In order to do that, he needed to persuade both Aslan and the Order. He did that by finding a foolproof method: Aslan got sent to infiltrate the Doom Mans territory. By using the Soul Ring, which allowed him to transfer souls into the body of the Demon Kings people, it was a guaranteed success.

Thus, it was Kanonas who recommended Aslan as the leader of the twenty-third expedition team, convinced Aslan, and even used his influence in the Order to allow Aslan to be equipped with the Soul Ring.

Kanonas became busy defending the Order while hiding the truth.

Enough, enough. Thats not it, Kanonas. The original purpose of the Soul Ring was not to transfer souls.

Then What was it? he asked.

Doom Arukuda used it to collect powerful souls.

Yes, Your Majesty.

So, find a way to bring Aslan back as soon as possible. That object must never fall into the hands of any Demon King, no matter if it's Doom Man, Doom Arukuda, or anyone else

***

[Saint Ca.s.sians Soul Transfer Ring (Item)]

[Ruined Doom Arukudas Soul Harvest Scythe (Item)]

Doom Arukuda! An instinctual warning shot through my brain. I actually felt pain climbing up my fingers. Anyway, there was something I had to do as soon as I saw Doom Arukudas name. Faster than anything else!

[Odins Absolute Warzone has been opened.]

Yeon-Hee reacted instantly. She seemed to think that I had sensed some danger. As she clenched the Clowns Dagger, she knocked down Aslan. With one hand pressing down on his face and the other holding the dagger, she aimed the blade at Aslans neck, ready to thrust it at any moment.

Meanwhile, the Kciphos, who had been quietly sitting in her arms, bared its fierce fangs and waited for her command. I sent a signal that it wasnt because of Aslan. Only then did Aslan sigh with relief as he had escaped from Yeon-Hees threat.

Ever since I entered Saint Dragorin, Lunea had somehow figured out everything I did. If Doom Arukuda discovered that I had taken its item, it would kill me. That was why I opened the warzone immediately without even having a chance to check the items detailed information.

However, suddenly

Swoosh-!

The ring transformed into a huge scythe in my hand without me doing anything. It was the same phenomenon that occurred with Half of the Great Reads Heart. The Half of the Great Reds Heart initially had the shape of a broken sword, but it changed into its current small form when I picked it up.

It was the same this time. The ring found its original form in my hand. However, the pain continued to intensify similar to what happened when I acquired Half of the Great Reds Heart. It was extremely painful. The pain that surged up was the same as when I forcibly absorbed the Old Ones Mana, which was also poisonous to me.

The pain escalated to agony to the point that I almost dropped the scythe to the ground. The sharp blade looked extremely dangerous, capable of cutting any head.

At that moment, Yeon-Hee sprang toward me.

What is it! What is going on?

Her pale face flashed in front of me, then disappeared.

You! What the h.e.l.l did you bring?

Yeon-Hee yelled at Aslan. She wasnt really asking out of curiosity.

...That is what I would like to ask.

Aslan was bewildered. He had confessed everything he was aware of without omission. Starting with the fact that he was the queens bodyguard at the palace, he joined the expedition and, of course, everything he knew about the ring. He even told us of other information he had learned while serving the queen.

The most impressive thing was about Dragorin. He said the Order had begun gathering people who considered themselves Holy Knights, and they were also in the process of finding other Dragorins who were not aware.

In fact, a long-awaited issue was resolved. The queen was Dragorin Green, not the Great Green. Of course, I would have to see for myself through his mental world.

***

Yeon-Hee couldnt hold the scythe either. On the other hand, Aslan could. When he picked it up, it changed back into a ring.

Gosh

Then, when Aslan put it down on the ground, it was still a ring. It was clear that the item had such a high level of resistance that prevented us from using it.

This was not limited to just this item. Before I purified and claimed Doom Entegastos rib, I had experienced similar restrictions. Nonetheless, the difference this time was that the intensity was even higher. A power greater than Doom Entegastos ability was causing this limit on me. It was so difficult to even pick the scythe again.

Hmm

I thought about two things. First, its name was Saint Ca.s.sians Soul Transfer Ring before it reacted to me. Saint Ca.s.sian was one of the two strongest ancient Holy Knights along with Saint Jayden. He was also the one who prophesied long ago that I would become Doom Man, a threat to this world.

The Holy Knights swordsmans.h.i.+p and magic were able to continue to exist because of his records. In fact, Saint Ca.s.sian was the foundation of the current Saint Dragorin.

Secondly, Saint Ca.s.sian had acquired Doom Arukudas item. Was it a trophy obtained by defeating Doom Arukuda? In any case, it was reasonable to a.s.sume that Saint Ca.s.sian had purified the power of Doom Arukuda that was contained within the item by using his own strength. Saint Ca.s.sian thus became a powerful transcendent being.

In summary, Saint Ca.s.sian was a transcendent being who had left behind a legacy for future generations. He was probably more powerful than I thought as he was capable of taking a weapon from Doom Arukuda as a trophy.

While it was difficult to judge what kind of being he was, I couldnt help but doubt. There was a possibility that Saint Ca.s.sian was the Old One. At the very least, Saint Ca.s.sian was definitely one of the ancient dragons, like Saint Jayden.

My hope all along was that Doom Kaos and the Old One were defeatable beings. I wished for them not to be incomprehensible cosmic horrors.

However, the situation was narrowing down to that. I had expected Doom Entegasto to be in an inviolable or terrifying realm beyond comprehension, but it was just a creature made up of materials that could be removed.

I had actually seen Doom Arukudas cyclopean eye for a brief moment even before Doom Kaos sealed me. Also, looking at the relics from the War of New Devil, they had fought each other and lost precious parts of them.

If I could step on Doom Entegasto and climb beyond the veil, then I would be certain of what kind of existence Doom Kaos was. Just as Saint Jayden, who was the Great Red, was alive somewhere in the world, Saint Ca.s.sian could be as well. If I could face him, then I would also be certain of what he was.

The key to breaking the chains that bind me lay in confirming the true nature of such beings.

- Seon-Hu: We must end this within the time the battlefield is open.

- Yeon-Hee: Tell me more in detail. How should we end this?

- Seon-Hu: Apart from what exactly this is and whether I can make it my possession, it is unpredictable how Doom Arukuda will react if I take it outside of the Absolute Warzone.

- Yeon-Hee: So?

- Its simple. I have to become stronger. Strong enough to reach a realm I cannot see at the moment.

I had to decide how to dispose of that thing. If it was inevitable that I needed to take it outside, then I needed a way not to be caught off guard like the last meeting. I had to have at least some power to resist higher Dooms like Doom Entegasto or Doom Arukuda, the owner of this item. It was estimated that the item also had resistance to its power. After all, it was an item of Doom Arukuda.

If I succeeded in completely taking it

- Yeon-Hee: I wont ask why you have come to that conclusion. You seem quite urgent right now. How long is the battlefield going to be maintained?

- Seon-Hu: Twenty-four hours.

- Yeon-Hee: If you have to become stronger in that time, then it must be from there, right?

- Seon-Hu: Yes, within the mental world. We wont be limited by time there.

- Yeon-Hee: The battlefield is solid, right? Entering the mental world doesnt completely stop the time here. It flows, even if just for a fleeting moment.

It meant that it could be dangerous if some transcendent being interfered here. If Doom Arukuda learned that his object had come to me, and if he decided to exercise his power on me, then things would have already gotten noisy.

Undoubtedly, the speed at which the battlefield unfolded was fast, enough to avoid Luneas surveillance network.

- Seon-Hu: You dont need to worry about that.

- Yeon-Hee: Good, Seon-Hu. So, where should we start?

I pointed at Aslan with my chin.

- Seon-Hu: Elsland.