Overgeared

"Let's go back."

Biban stared blankly at the flashing dragon radar before rising from his seat. Every time he breathed, he scattered transparent waves in the shape of a blade. Thousands of intangible swords emerged involuntarily. Even now, he was about to express misunderstandings.

"This isn't bragging. In fact, I know Braham. He will remember my face clearly."

"I know it well, even if you didn't confess. Why do you think you are monopolizing the cleaning duty?"

"…Braham might've vaguely noticed the existence of the tower. It is just that he is clever and closed-mouthed, so he didn't say it."

"Braham isn't a man of virtue."

"Certainly. A magician of that level will be close to a madman."

"It is ominous just from his origin. He is a vampire. The vampires have a drastic shift in tendency due to Grid, but what about their shady nature?"

"……"

The emergence of four dragons—due to the urgency, the atmosphere of the tower was very tumultuous. They felt lighter than the heart of a bachelor who was excited in spring and almost floated recklessly. Biban's words were constantly interrupted and he frowned as he felt the limits of his patience.

"Trust me once. No, trust Grid. Even if Braham sees us and is certain of our existence, Grid will firmly control him."

"There is no reason to do this."

Radwolf simply ignored Biban's confident words.

"It isn't a matter where we can take risks."

Jessica added some basis to his words.

"The first problem is that we can't rescue Xenon even if we go all out."

Three dragons had entered the scene. By now, they would've surrounded Xenon perfectly. There wasn't a single top dragon, but there was enough power to kill Xenon, who met the Blood Queen and lost both wings in vain. Xenon was going to be eaten even before the tower members could do anything.

"It will be the site of the birth of a new top dragon. There is no way the other dragons will stand by."

"By now, a lot of eyes will be paying attention to the scene. They know we have the technology to detect them and are hiding their signs."

Additional remarks were added. The contribution of the tower members to make Biban understand was huge. It was a waste of time, but it was a necessary process considering Biban's wisdom.

"It isn't just three? Is that possible? Can so many dragons move all at once? They are grouping up when they should be most vigilant of each other?"

"The threshold of the place and the stimulus is the problem."

The explanation was longer than the tower members expected.

"Reidan is the area where Beriache settled in the past. The vampire cities are still underground. It has great geographical value and there is a high probability that it is actually in touch with many voids."

Voids—it was a slang term often used by the tower members to refer to an 'unidentifiable place' or a dragon lair.

"Besides, the Blood Queen made a brief but intense impression. It might be a lower ranked dragon, but she overpowered him with just a few minutes. It is a sensational event."

It took just over three minutes for Marie Rose to grab and tear at both of Xenon's wings. This meant that her strength clearly transcended the traces and speculations that remained in history. They felt that the curse she carried was balancing the world.

"There's more attention on Reidan right now than we think."

"It is a feast for dragons. If we go there, we will just be delicacies prepared on our own. The tower, which has worked hard for a thousand years, will immediately collapse."

"This damn thing. Why are you saying that now? If I had known, I would've brought Xenon with me before."

Xenon was a lower ranked dragon. Furthermore, he was greatly weakened due to the continuous use of Dragon Words and the loss of his wings. It was possible for the tower members to grab his lifeline and move as they wanted. If they had succeeded in securing Xenon, he would've been useful in many ways. However, it was bitter because they failed.

"So are we going to just watch?"

Ken, who was watching quietly with his arms crossed, intervened. His abilities were within the top three of the tower. In particular, he was the master of penetration, so he could ignore a dragon's absolute defense and thick scales, easily spreading the shock inside the dragon. If his fists and angle of attack struck the dragon's heart, then a top dragon would also falter for a while. He wasn't happy that he had to stand by and watch the situation without using the strength he was confident in.

Hayate calmed the atmosphere. "There is still a chance."

Biban and Ken listened carefully.

On the other hand, the expressions of the other tower members weren't very comfortable. They knew what opportunity Hayate was talking about.

***

"I fell into a trap," Braham was stiff for a while before belatedly opening his mouth. The irritation on his beautiful face sharpened the impression he gave off, but it suited him very well. Originally, it was a strange thing.

"I can't believe she made a dragon into a half-god to lure this body… as expected, Marie Rose… I don't know about anything else, but I have to acknowledge the skills she inherited from Mother."

Kurarararara!

The cries were echoing. He magically tracked it and the sound was coming from the end of the stratosphere. It meant the power in the voice was close to a miracle. He realized how ignorantly strong the dragons were. It made Marie Rose's wicked and mysterious strategy of using dragons to create the trap even greater.

[I thought you had a high consciousness. It turns out that you are also Beriache's child.]

Xenon talked in a nonchalant manner. He was desperate. It was because the mana, which was carried by the voice of the same kind, was transformed into a technique that sealed off the space. There was even a double and then triple layer. There wasn't enough time to escape. Now he could only wait for death. Which of these three would eat him? For Xenon, this was the only curiosity he had left.

"Don't put my mother's name in your lowly mouth."

[Are you provoking me in order to die less painfully? Forget it. I'm not going to hurt you. The last joy of my life will be to appreciate the end of your life as you eventually cry after suffering from fear of the inevitable death approaching you.]

Braham was more famous than he thought. Most dragons knew him. The one who found Fire Dragon Trauka's lair and stole a treasure from it. Detecting Trauka's lair, hiding in the lair, and stealing treasure—all of these actions were madness. Based on the way he survived robbing Trauka's lair, Xenon thought that he might be the next strongest after Marie Rose, but he was in a class where he couldn't be classified, regardless of his skill level.

"It is too much of a dream for a lowly being like you to have."

Braham's reaction was truly bizarre. He seemed to value his life very much. It was hard to understand his attitude of despising a creature so much superior to him. It was to the extent that it was difficult to define as simply 'not knowing the subject.'

'Let's stop talking to him.'

Xenon decided to let Braham's complaining enter one ear and out the other. Yes, complaining. No matter what Braham said, it only sounded like complaining to Xenon. It was natural.

Braham jumped into this battlefield on his own. He was possessed by something and ended up targeted by at least three dragons. It was like winning the chance of being hit by lightning hundreds of times in a row despite the clear sky. What could an unlucky man do other than complain?

'Green, blue, and gray…'

Xenon ignored the muttering Braham and weighed the identity of the incoming pursuers. The hierarchy was like the power system itself.

The children of the top dragons—two of them had just become adults, while the remaining one seemed to have lived for around 3,000 years. The fact that the oldest and most crafty one was a gray made him unable to hold even a speck of hope.

Gray—they were a hybrid produced when dragons of different types interbreed. Like Xenon, they weren't comparable to other pure dragons. The power of their Breath was particularly reduced due to a lack of specialized attributes. They were careful to know this themselves.

A gray dragon that survived for around 3,000 years? It meant he had developed all types of wisdom and overcame many fights, or he fortunately ate his parents. It was right to say that this was the stage before becoming a top dragon and there was a high probability of blossoming a new attribute. In the future, he could be the second stone dragon.

'He will never let down his guard.'

As if to prove Xenon's idea right—

Flash!

A huge star shone at the end of the sky. It fell like a meteor. It gradually approached with a roar and its identity was a gray ray of light. It was the Breath of the gray dragon. He was aiming for a quick fight. He knew that a lot of attention would be paid to this place. The other two seemed to have noticed it a step late. The two Breaths fell behind it.

'The pain will only grow if I resist here.'

Xenon was in a desperate situation from the beginning. He didn't resist it. He closed his eyes and accepted death.

Just then, a voice was heard. "Are you praying?"

Braham's voice that entered one ear contained no fear. Rather, it was full of certainty.

[……!!]

Xenon opened his eyes and they widened. It was because he witnessed the collapse of parts of the three-layered barrier. It was far from destruction. It was closer to the feeling of grasping and dismantling the structure of the barrier in detail. It wasn't impossible. If Xenon hadn't given up on life and if he had enough time, Xenon would've disassembled this triple barrier as well. It was possible for dragons because they were a magic species.

The noteworthy thing here was speed. Braham was a vampire, not a dragon, yet he neutralized the barrier twice as fast as Xenon's calculations.

[The knowledge that Marie Rose inherited… was it just a remnant?]

The 3 evils of the beginning—they were born only one step later than the gods of the beginning and the old dragons, so their knowledge was deeper and wider than the sea. Fully utilizing it was a separate matter, but it meant he transcended a large number of dragons in terms of intellectual potential. It was happening right in front of him.

Xenon's expression changed as he looked at Braham. The disbelief was gradually erased and it changed to expectations.

The three Breaths smashed the half-broken barrier and turned the area into ashes.

Braham and Xenon appeared in a place that was far away. There was no time to open a portal, but there was plenty of time to use short-range teleportation. Nevertheless, they couldn't completely avoid the aftermath of the explosion. They just narrowly avoided a serious injury.

"Give it to me." Braham redid the shattered mana shield and reached out to Xenon. The bloodline couldn't be fooled. The hand was beautiful even when bloody. "Your heart."

Braham noticed that Xenon's magic activation speed was slower than his own. He was convinced that Xenon was deeply injured beyond simply losing his wings.

"I will use it better than you."

From the beginning, Braham wasn't Xenon's ally.

"Wouldn't it be better to drag the enemy who drove you to this state as a companion in your afterlife than to die in vain?"

Braham didn't take into account Xenon's mood and fate. It was just about efficiency.

[Your arrogance is piercing the sky. Do you think it is possible to fight against dragons just by acquiring his heart?]

The three dragons snorted as they arrived at the scene. They were competitors who were wary and hostile to each other, but at this moment, they had a common sentiment toward Braham.

Braham cocked his head. "I never said I would fight against you."

[……?]

Xenon was the most flustered. The man who just persuaded him that there was a chance to die with his enemies changed his words straight away. The change in attitude was faster than flipping a palm.

Braham added an explanation. "I am going to grab Marie Rose's head. Isn't she the one who made the situation like this?"

[……]

The words were correct, but Xenon felt somewhat frustrated and bitter. The uncomfortable feeling he felt from the time he saw the tower members running away after extending their hands first now became even more twisted. The awkward atmosphere lasted for only a moment. Putting aside Xenon's worries, the dragons didn't give them any time. They attacked Xenon to achieve their goal. Braham was completely ignored. He was almost treated as a bug.

'As expected, it didn't work.'

There was no room for intervention.

Braham clicked his tongue in regret and opened a portal to leave the scene. At this moment—

[There is no being who can leave here.]

This sentence—even without evidence, it established a strong law. Braham's portal was forcibly closed.

"……"

Braham shut his mouth. A chill went down his spine as he recalled a nightmare he had forgotten.

Fire Dragon Trauka—it reminded him of the overwhelming power of that bastard who made all common sense and knowledge useless. He must be lurking somewhere near here. It was a memory that forced him to recall the being his senses couldn't feel at all.

'I will die.'

Everyone here, including himself, would soon disappear.