“You won’t use your Dragon Slaying Sword, Gram?” She asked, her voice tentative and cautious.
“Gram is still sealed at the mont.”
Still? His choice of words bothered her, but she could instinctively feel that she was not going to get any explanations out of the man, even if she tried. And she was not about to try
“What about your True Na?”
She briefly wondered what Siegfried's True Na was. There was too little information about his battle prowess at this point in ti. Even his Zone was no longer common knowledge to the world. His millennia of seclusion had washed him out of the world’s history.
The more she thought about it, the more shrouded in mystery her cowardly father seed to be.
“I promise to not even use my Zone.”
The serene smile, filled with surefire confidence in himself, pissed off Nidhogg even more but she did not ask him to revoke the handicap he offered like a fool. She was prideful like any other dragon, but she was not stupid like so many of her brethren.
“Then where should we fight, and what weapon will you use?” She looked at her surroundings. The forest had been healed thanks to Nefertiti’s ascensio,n and she would feel bad if she were to destroy it again.
“Dear daughter, let this unworthy father teach you one lesson…”
“Huh…?”
“The mont you accepted my challenge, the fight already started.”
Nidhogg’s eyes opened wide in alarm and vigilance. By the ti her ears finally registered his words and her brain understood what was happening, she found herself tumbling through the air. With his wide and powerful palm clutching her face like a vice, they were already tearing through the sky at supersonic speeds, the wind barrelling them both with its resistance.
What!?
She did not even have the ti to properly panic as she was launched like a rag doll from the air and crashed on the ground.
The shockwave made her grunt; her body was too strong to feel pain by sothing so trivial, but her instincts were screaming at her that this was only possible because Siegfried had perfectly controlled the strength of his throw.
Staggering with disorientation, she tried to stand up, only to wobble again before she could catch herself. All her senses had gone into a disoriented fit due to the series of events she had been too late to even process. She had once stolen so special drink from Hydra and knew that at this mont she was no different from soone drunk.
The earth and sky seed to spin, and it took her a few seconds to get back her bearings.
“Where… Where are we?” She asked as Siegfried landed not far from her.
“Where, hmm? I don’t really know; I simply propelled you sowhere toward the North and soon followed. I think we are around twenty-five kiloters away from Southern Pride. It should be far enough from Lady Kiyohi’s senses.” He muttered a little before shaking his head, “Speaking of, don’t you find it quite strange? Why is our country called Southern Pride when we are in the North?”
Nidhogg gathered her bearings as she observed the chuckling Siegfried. Of course, she completely ignored the stupid question he threw her way like a fool.
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She found the whole ordeal as bizarre as it could get. The usual languid aura surrounding him was gone, yet she did not feel threatened either. He showed no overwhelming aura, no crushing pressure, no imasurable power. S
All her instincts were indicating just one thing— that this man was the height of normalcy. That there could not be a man more normal than the one before her. There was really nothing to fear from him. That there was no need to even enter a combat stance to face off this man.
The contradiction between her instincts and what she was witnessing made her dizzy and sowhat frightful.
“Dragons rely too much on instincts, you know? I an, I understand the logic. Perhaps it’s because of Lady Tiamat? But a Dragon’s instincts are basically at the level of foresight. It’s so good that it’s basically cheating. But this is exactly why it’s so easy to trick you guys when you have it all figured out.”
Nidhogg spat out in disgust, “Is this your true nature? Have you been hiding your true self until now? Why? And more importantly… Why show this to right now?” She started spreading her poison in the surroundings. Green gas started flowing out of her, enveloping the surroundings like a giant monster ready to devour everything in its path. The flowers and tree around her wilted, but she had no ti to care about the effect her power would have on the environnt any longer.
Siegfried, though, seed unconcerned. In fact, he even breathed in the poison full,y and despite showing clear signs of intoxication, he only gave a satisfied smile. “Your poison is still not at the level of Hydra, but it’s definitely powerful. A normal King would have definitely been in trouble if enough of it was ingested into their system. I am proud of you. Sadly…”
All the traces of poisoning that were showing on his body started to vanish without a trace… like it was a lie… like it had been a hallucination for her. This was completely incomprehensible for Nidhogg.
Siegfried wasn’t just resisting the poison. It seed like the poison was one with him in the first place and was unable to harm him in the slightest.
“How is this even possible?”
“Nidhogg, have you ever wondered why Fafnir insisted so much for to have a child with his daughter? Do you truly think it would be just because I proved my strength?”
He could only show her a bitter smile as erald scales started covering his body. “My dear daughter, do you even understand… why I was called the Dragon Slayer?”
Curved horns ford atop his head, and a huge tail sprang out from behind him, swishing like it had a will of its own.
This form was undoubtedly…
“War form… You… Are you a dragon?” She asked, but then she shook her head. The royal family of Southern Pride definitely had dragon blood. But the blood was so thin it barely had any effect on them. Even transforming into a giant dragon was impossible for them, much less wielding the legendary War Form that only a handful of dragons could use even in the long history of their existence...
Siegfried's smile only grew wider, “Even in such a bewildering situatio,n your brain is still working properly. I am truly impressed. I wish I could have helped in raising you. But I can only admit that your mother and Hydra did a fine job.”
Nidhogg hated how those simple words made her feel slightly happy. But she did not pay that any heed, more curious about what was happening in front of her.
Siegfried had been hiding sothing big. Too big, in fact, but he had no reason to reveal this to her now.
Unless… she was not the person he wanted to show this to.
Shhhh!
The mont realization struck her, and she was about to speak out, but she stopped as she watched Siegfried place a playful finger on his lips.
“What is about to follow is nothing but a friendly talk between a useless father and his estranged daughter.” Siegfried talked nonchalantly before revealing a huge bomb.
“Ladon was my friend.”
“Huh?” Nidhogg gasped in shock. This was a new piece of information for her. Ladon was the na of the Dragon who made a contract with Jupiter a thousand years ago and went mad after the death of his master.
Siegfried did not look at Nidhogg as he continued to speak. His gaze was sowhat empty as he gazed at the stars in the sky as if he were searching for soone.
“Did you know? The first contract between a human and a magical being is extrely precious. So much so that when one side dies, the other side would go insane due to losing their partner. But don’t you find it intriguing?” He chuckled, “9 out of 10, humans would never live more than a hundred years. Why would anyone sign a contract if madness is assured to follow?”
Nidhogg did not know. She had never been that interested in humans after all. Much less their power system.
“The reality is that, while the chances of madness do exist, they are extrely low and mostly occur in those with a very fragile soul. Ergo, those below the Duke Realm who have yet to find their Truth and open their Gate…L adon was a King Realm Dragon.”
Could this an…
“!!!!”
Siegfried walked past Nidhogg and patted her on the shoulder.
“Before dying, Ladon left four short sentences. I am sure he intended well. He wanted to protect . Sadly, it only had the opposite effect. Like a curse, those words crushed my heart and made agonize greatly.”
“The first sentence as I pierced his heart was— Thank you.” Siegfried scoffed.
“His second sentence as his warm blood covered my body was— Do not avenge .”
“His third sentence as his body slumped on the ground was— Beware of the Old Father’s Cult.”
“As for the last words he uttered as life left his eyes were— Conquering the world might be impossible after all.”
Siegfried continued, “For years, I have been agonizing. What could this an? What was the Cult of the Old Father? But then, nearly two decades ago, the three people closest to conquering the Mortal Realm unexpectedly died without rhy or reason. Two Demigods and one King. Haha, do you even know how hard it is to kill a Demigod or a King-ranked Dragon?”
He could only let out a harsh laugh. One filled with a certain obsession and madness. “My dear daughter. You asked why I decided to reveal myself now, right? It’s simple. Because it’s ti.”
“What do you an?”
“Once is happenstance. After all, perhaps Ladon was really mad. Perhaps his words were nothing but the raving of a lunatic. Twice is a coincidence. Indeed. It might really just be a coincidence. Perhaps it’s just confirmation bias. But… three tis is enemy action and behold… We have soone who might just conquer the world very soon. I wonder what will happen then?”
Nidhogg opened her mouth with difficulty. The current killing intent that Siegfried was radiating was not directed at her, and yet she felt suffocated.
“What will you do… If Ladon's words were true?”
“Then… Gram will drink blood after being sharpened for a thousand years.” Nidhogg never thought soone’s smile could be so frightening.
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