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Chapter 28 : The Holy Dragon King of Silver
Kuroki descended from Glorious, entering the cave on the side of the mountain, the nest of the Holy Dragon King of Silver. The nest was enormous, so big that even Glorious, with his huge frame, could go inside and the cave would still feel spacious.
Currently, Kuroki was donned in his Dark Knight attire, armed to a T. It was his anticipation for the battle that might unfold. To be fair, if he had to battle the dragon, he would make his escape immediately. He already was against forcibly snatching the horn from this great dragon. All he wanted was to peacefully negotiate with the Dragon King and then peacefully take the horn.
Taking a deep breath, Kuroki advanced in the huge, deep, and dark cave, Glorious in tow. After walking for a while, he found himself in an expansive space that was as bright as the outside he had just left, even though it was devoid of any access to natural sunlight.
Numerous crystals were scattered along the walls of the cave, surrounding the space with hundreds and thousands of glittering lights. They all shone brightly towards the middle of the space where lay a figure of a dragon.
When Kuroki’s eyes rested on the slumbering dragon, he knew right away that this was the Holy Dragon King; no other dragon he had seen could compare to his massive and intimidating size as well as his splendour and beauty, not even Glorious.
Different from other dragons, the Holy Dragon King’s scales were covered by silvery smooth locks of hair, every single strand shining brightly. It was no wonder people called the dragon the Holy Dragon King of Silver, it was really as if someone had plated the beast’s whole body with real ores of silver.
Kuroki found himself rooted on the spot, the scene in front of him was the most mesmerizing thing he’d ever seen, it didn’t help that the glorious beast’s silver body reflected every spec of light the crystals emitted—it was simply too fantastic.
Noticing his ardent gaze, the Holy Dragon King turned his head towards Kuroki, laying his sapphire blue eyes on his black clad figure.
Kuroki didn’t feel hostile intent from the Dragon King, rather the dragon gave him an appreciating and gentle look.
「I’ve been waiting, Dark Knight. I was told you’d arrive some time ago.」
The Holy Dragon King greeted Kuroki as if he already knew about his arrival for a while.
Was he expecting my arrival? How? Does he have some sort of precognitive power.
Kuroki tilted his head, puzzled by the situation.
「Modes had already told me you’d come.」
An unexpected remark came out of the Holy Dragon King.
「You’re in contact with Modes?」
「Yes, we’ve known each other for a while now. Anyway, this horn has grown too long and is rather troublesome. Since it’s you, I can expect that you’ll trim it beautifully, no?」
「Y-Yesh
」
Kuroki heaved a sigh upon hearing the Holy Dragon King’s remark. Even though he came armed for a battle, the reality was rather anticlimactic. However, he was still really glad since this situation was the best outcome for him.
Come to think of it, Modes did tell me to come and cut the horn, he never said to cut the dragon.
It was simply a misunderstanding on Kuroki’s part.
In short, it was just another simple mission.
After apologizing to Modes in his heart for expecting the worst from him, Kuroki looked at the Holy Dragon King’s head. His horn was a splendid and beautiful one, transparent like the crystals in the cave. However, due to his giant frame, the breathtaking horn ended up colliding against the ceiling. Seeing that, Kuroki couldn’t help but agree with the Holy Dragon King—that horn was really troublesome right now.
「If possible, please cut it with a single stroke from the inner side to the outer side. And, since it’ll reach the same length around 5,000 years later, I’ll be asking for your help when the time comes.」
Though Kuroki had no idea whether it was possible for him to do that 5,000 years later, he still agreed to help the Holy Dragon King again.
「I understand. Leave it to me.」
A few minutes later.
After Kuroki trimmed the Holy Dragon King’s horn, he strapped the horn on Glorious’ back with a rope. Glorious’ body lightly trembled at the sheer weight it was now carrying.
「Sorry, Glorious. Please bear with it for a while.」
Kuroki felt sorry for placing such a heavy burden on Glorious’ back. The horn was so huge that it couldn’t be sent to Nargol with a transfer magic circle. But, it wasn’t too oversized to the point that Glorious couldn’t have it on his back along with Kuroki. That’s why Kuroki had no choice but to bring it back to Nargol on his dragon.
「Yup, That feels better.」
The Holy Dragon King thanked Kuroki.
「It’s me who should say thank you. Thank you very much, Holy Dragon King of Silver.」
Kuroki bowed his head again to the Holy Dragon King.
「Uuhm
」
The Holy Dragon King stared silently at the bowing Kuroki.
「Is there
 something on my face?」
「As I thought, I can feel the power of a dragon in you. I can smell a really nice scent from you.」
The Holy Dragon King brought his nose closer to Kuroki.
Kuroki got slightly bewildered, yet happy, when the Dragon King’s nose caressed him. Seeing that, Glorious also came closer to him to do the same.
The Holy Dragon King smiled upon witnessing that.
「I’ve always been keeping an eye on you ever since you came to this land you know.」
Kuroki was really surprised upon hearing the Holy Dragon King’s remark because it would be really conspicuous if such a giant dragon appeared in the vicinity of Rox Kingdom.
「I have a clairvoyant eye, you see. I can see far away places with that power. Naturally, you won’t be able to notice my surveillance on you since I’m not hostile to you.」
The Holy Dragon King, who saw through Kuroki’s thoughts, stated.
「Aside from you, I’ve also been observing the Hero and his companions. As expected, the short-haired girl noticed my eyes right away.」
「I-Is that so?」
Kuroki was really surprised since he never expected the Holy Dragon King to go this far. He then realized that the short-haired girl the Dragon King mentioned was none other than Todoroki Naomi.
It seems her perception power was far higher than Kuroki.
「That’s why I saw what happened to that kingdom too. Zarxis’s thread can even bind Gods. That’s why I couldn’t help the kingdom back then.」
「Do you know Zarxis?」
「Naturally. Well, I guess it’s better for you to ask Modes if you want to know more about him. They’re former comrades after all.」
「Former
 comrades?!」
Upon hearing the Holy Dragon King’s remark, Kuroki recalled the moment when Zarxis called Modes a traitor.
「In addition, I also want to express my gratitude to you in regards to that event in Rox Kingdom. You’re the one who repelled Zarxis and foiled his plan, right? Sorry, I couldn’t see the situation over there due to Zarxis’ barrier. That kingdom has a history with me you see. Thank you very much for protecting it, Dark Knight.」
「No, I was just protecting
 someone important to me.」
Kuroki couldn’t help but blush upon receiving such praise and words of gratitude from the Holy Dragon King.
「I never expected you to help the Hero when facing a common enemy, are you going to do the same in the future too?」
「No, working together with him is a bit
」
Kuroki denied the Holy Dragon King. The matter of him resolving Rox Kingdom’s crisis was only a coincidence, he had no intention of working with Reiji and co.
「Well the choice is yours I guess, it won’t change the relationship between Modes and Rena anyway. Good job on keeping your neutral standing.」
Kuroki heard about this matter before from Modes. The dragon race apparently kept their neutrality in the conflict between Modes and Rena.
「Moreover, I can feel the existence of a dragon’s soul in you. Maybe you also released the dragon soul Zarxis had caught.」
「Amazing. You actually recognized the dragon’s soul
」
「Dark Knight, you should know that although my horn had already grown too long, at first, I had hesitated to give you my horn. But after observing you for the last few days, my hesitation vanished, I now know that you are the right person to receive my horn.」
「I see
」
「That horn will make a fine Goddess. It seems you’re similar to Modes in terms of not being blessed with a female companion.」
Kuroki almost retorted that it was none of his concern, but held back in the last second along with his tears.
But with this, I can make a Goddess for myself. I guess I should thank the Holy Dragon King in that regard.
Kuroki caressed the horn. The horn’s shine was far more beautiful than the crystals in this room.
「Thank you very much, Holy Dragon King. I’ll come again for a visit with my Goddess once she’s born.」
「Yeah, I’ll be waiting for you, O young man with dragon power.」
「Yes. Let’s go, Glorious.」
After bowing to the Holy Dragon King, Kuroki and Glorious walked back towards the entrance of the cave.
Things were going to get really busy once he returned to Nargol.
Kuroki walked while pondering about what to do. Suddenly, upon arriving at the entrance, he felt a tremendous magical power along with several hostile eyes.
「This is
. FU*CK!!!」
Kuroki signalled Glorious to stop as he invoked his magic.
Black Hole magic.
It was a spell that created a hole in the space around him, swallowing the enemies attacks.
Kuroki loaded a tremendous amount of mana into this magic, creating a giant black hole in the space in front of him.
The moment his magic was complete, a torrent of light made a beeline towards him. He was only faster by a hairbreadth.
The torrent of light got swallowed by the black hole and vanished. Kuroki remembered this peculiar magic. It was the light magic Reiji had used last night.
He would’ve been annihilated in an instant had he chosen to use normal defence magic. Kuroki only managed to deal with it since he saw that magic before.
「Glorious. Wait right there.」
Kuroki ordered Glorious to wait for him near the entrance and left the cave by himself.
And as he expected, the one waiting for him a little bit away from the cave entrance was none other than Reiji and the others.
There were seven of them. All of them had come to face him except for Reiji’s little sister Kyouka.
Naturally, Shirone was also there amongst them.
Kuroki had no idea why they were in this place.
That’s why he was completely taken by surprise.
「Dark Knight!」
The black-haired girl, Mizuouji Chiyuki shouted his name.
「I have to say that you’re strong. None of us should be able to beat you in a one on one fight. But, I wonder what would happen if all of us attacked together?」
After Mizuouji Chiyuki said so, Reiji and co readied their weapons.
WHAT THE HELL―――!!
Kuroki screamed inside, his head couldn’t catch up with the situation.