Dragon Raja 2; Chapter 196: Deadly Sword for Every Dragon King (8)

Dragon Raja 2

He looked down at the sword box, “Wrath” was still stuck in there, as if it had been forged within. This was the last possibility: a weapon forged by Dragon King Norton. To kill a king, only another king would do.

He had to draw “Wrath” and become the new king.

He spread his arms as if standing on a mountaintop, ready to leap. In his mind, the inky black sea began to swell, slowly submerging his consciousness. He could no longer remember who he was, his chest filled with immense joy, as though he was falling asleep, or about to begin dancing.

A third blood burst, the ultimate nightmare, and the killing dance submerged in the dream. This time, he wouldn’t wake up from the black dream. He would become a Death Servitor, and his former friends would take pride in killing him. The remaining human willpower was only enough for this dragonized body to fight until the Dragon King was dead, or until he himself was killed by the Dragon King.

“Blood Burst” was essentially an exchange—a human heart for a heart of slaughter. It was like how Odin, in mythology, hung from the tree for nine days and nights, battered by wind and rain, to gain the power of the Runes, sacrificing to the gods, which meant sacrificing to himself, and paying the steep price of one of his eyes.

To gain power, one must sacrifice oneself.

He opened the cage, releasing… the heart of a Dragon King.

In the pitch-black dream, the last shred of human consciousness struggled. Warmth flooded his entire body, as though someone behind him wrapped powerful arms around him. They were much taller and stronger than him. Leaning against that person, he felt like a child again.

“Dad,” he said softly.

Lu Mingfei opened his arms, catching the figure that was thrown out of the domain as if tossing away a ragdoll. It was a massive figure, halfway between human and reptilian beast, light as a dried leaf caught in the tide, spattering black blood.

He held Chu Zihang, feeling as if he’d been hit by a fast-moving train, unable to remain standing. He and Chu Zihang crashed into the rock wall behind them.

“Lu Mingze!” he roared.

“Yes, Sir!” The little devil suddenly appeared in the void behind him, also hugging Lu Mingfei. But they still couldn’t stay on their feet—all three of them stacked together, crashing hard into the rock wall. Lu Mingfei screamed hoarsely, while Lu Mingze, who took the brunt of the impact, just smiled silently. Six swords were stabbed around them, and the sword box fell to the ground—“Wrath” was still inside.

“Chu Zihang! Chu Zihang! Wake up!” Lu Mingfei weakly called out the name of the person in his arms. Chu Zihang’s entire body seemed to have no unbroken bones left. The dragonization phenomenon had rapidly receded as his blood burned out, and every wound on his body was bleeding.

“Lu Mingfei?” Chu Zihang slowly opened his eyes, frowning slightly. “Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” Lu Mingfei said softly. He knew that his senior brother couldn’t see anymore—the once proud golden eyes were now nothing but two black-red blood holes, burnt out.

“Did I do it?” Chu Zihang asked.

“You did it. Mission accomplished. I’ll write the mission report, don’t worry,” Lu Mingfei said, looking off into the distance. The electric light turned the whole space white and purple; the Dragon King spun in the magnesium light like an unparalleled dancer. It had reached the climax before the end—his dance was so majestic it made one lose focus.

“Good,” Chu Zihang clenched a fist to his chest. Lu Mingfei didn’t know what this meant—it looked like some kind of Communist Youth League pledge.

“Do you want to sleep for a bit? I’ll call an ambulance for you,” Lu Mingfei said, starting to cry uncontrollably. Damn it, fools really do make their lives tragic. Why did it have to be like this? But seeing him like this, Lu Mingfei couldn’t help feeling sad.

“No need, I’m about to die,” Chu Zihang said softly. “Are you curious why I care about your affairs?”

“Of course I am, my curiosity is killing me.”

“Because you can’t see it yourself. When I saw you at Sofrad Pizza, you looked sad and angry… And then, when you found out Nono was going to get engaged to Caesar, you came to see me in the hospital, said a bunch of nonsense, analyzed horoscopes with me—you pretended not to care, but you couldn’t see your own face, so lonely and unwilling. At the hearing in Valhalla, Caesar and Nono embraced; everyone was cheering, except you, standing outside it all, hunched over… Finger called that ‘ultimate stupidity,’ knowing something was impossible but still holding onto hope. Clearly willing to bet everything for someone, yet having no reason to make that bet.”

“Come on, don’t be so sentimental, okay? You think this is some melodrama? And, senior brother, you don’t look anything like Erkang.” Lu Mingfei smiled bitterly, tears streaming down.

“I just can’t stand to see someone being completely foolish. I don’t like it when there’s no chance at all, because like that…” Chu Zihang whispered, “you’d die with regrets.”

“I’m sorry,” he said after a while.

“What are you apologizing for?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“For saying harsh things to you. I wasn’t saying you were useless—it’s just that you lack experience. When there are people like me and Caesar, there are many things that don’t require your involvement. But you’re Cassell College’s only S-rank, you’ll be better than us—the future is yours, all of it.” On his shattered face, an extremely ugly smile appeared. “All the junior girls will be yours too…”

“Well said,” Lu Mingfei whispered, clutching his abdomen.

Chu Zihang didn’t answer anymore.

“He’s going to die. And so are you,” Lu Mingze said.

“I know. It hurts less than I imagined.” Lu Mingfei looked down at his abdomen. A sharp piece of steel rebar had impaled him. The thing was pinned into the rock wall. When they collided, it had gone through him and Lu Mingze from back to front.

“But I can feel your sadness,” Lu Mingze whispered. “How about a deal?”

“Deal.”

Lu Mingze smiled, “You should’ve said so earlier. If you did, I would’ve fixed everything by now. Watching you panting while running all the way here—so pathetic.”

“I don’t want to exchange with you.”