------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
Chapter 88: Swearing by Dragon Words
"You're going to let me ride you?"
My gaze naturally turned to Drakina, who was looking at me confidently.
"Yeah. I'll acknowledge you as a Dragon Rider and let you ride me."
"A Dragon Rider? But you're not even a dragon right now. Aren't you just a draconian?"
Are you trying to scam me or something?
Hearing that, Drakina slightly turned her head, avoiding my gaze.
"Ugh. That's why I need a Dragon Heart. If I get a piece of it, I can quickly become a hatchling."
"You're nowhere near the right level for that."
Trying to scam me at level 67?
"If I have a Dragon Heart, I can evolve quickly!"
"Even if you consume one, it only boosts your abilities; it doesn’t level you up."
"Our dragon race evolves through mana. We're different from humans."
"Really? So you can level up without hunting?"
"Yeah! As long as we circulate and accumulate magic, our level increases naturally. That’s why I need a Dragon Heart! For us dragons, time and mana are essential. Sure, hunting monsters gives us experience too, but the most important thing is mana."
Hmm, interesting.
Since dragons are a special class, it doesn’t seem too strange for them to have abilities like this.
As I nodded in understanding, Drakina's expression brightened.
"Then will you give it to me?"
"No. I just said I understand. Giving it to you is a whole different matter."
"Ugh... Then what do you need?"
"Even if you acknowledge me as a Dragon Rider and let me ride you, is that really beneficial for me? Honestly, I could just ride a phoenix or my flame chariot instead..."
Riding a dragon would be exciting, but I already have other flying mounts.
Do I really need a dragon?
"Maybe I should just give this Dragon Heart piece to another apostle…"
"No! If I acknowledge you as a Dragon Rider, you'll be recognized by a dragon and be able to use a portion of a dragon’s power! We strengthen each other!"
"Really? I already have a Dragon Heart, so I can use dragon powers anyway."
"That makes it even better! With a Dragon Heart, your power will increase significantly. As partners, we can share our energy and amplify each other’s abilities!"
So being a Dragon Rider…
I guess it’s not just about riding on a dragon’s back.
"Then does that mean I can get the power boost even without riding you?"
"Yeah! Since I’ll be acknowledging you!"
"Hmm…"
I was thinking of giving the Dragon Heart to Diana, but now I’m having second thoughts.
A Dragon Rider…
Drakia, do you know anything about this?
But even when I asked, the Dragon God remained silent, likely too focused on recovering.
I guess I have to decide on my own.
"From what you've told me, being a Dragon Rider sounds great. But what if I give you the Dragon Heart, and you just take off?"
"I will swear on the name of dragons. I will acknowledge you as a Dragon Rider."
"Hmm… But is there a time limit?"
"A time limit? The Dragon Rider bond is a ritual where a dragon acknowledges a non-dragon as a partner. There’s no set duration."
"So it's a permanent bond? Humans can get divorced and even best friends can break up, you know."
At that, Drakina averted her gaze again, this time hesitating as she spoke.
"That's… not exactly true. A Dragon Rider bond can be revoked. It just rarely happens."
"But in a situation like ours, where we've just met, the chance of that happening is pretty high, right?"
"Ugh… Just trust me."
"I've been betrayed by gods too many times to trust anyone easily."
I stared at her quietly as I spoke.
Even though she’s only a level 67 C-rank draconian, Drakina's stats are quite impressive for a dragon.
If I give her a Dragon Heart and let her accumulate magic, she’ll reach B-rank quickly.
And a B-rank dragon would be on a completely different level from a B-rank human.
If she’s that strong, she could easily clear B-rank dungeons.
Back when the world was collapsing, dungeon portals were appearing too fast for me to handle alone.
If I use her well, I could leave the B-rank dungeons to her.
"Are you stuck in draconian form? Can’t you use polymorph?"
"At my current level, it’s impossible… I can't even use dragon words in this form. I need to become a hatchling first."
"So you’ll be able to do it at B-rank?"
"Yeah. By then, I’ll be a hatchling."
"Alright, then. If you want this Dragon Heart, you’ll have to be my subordinate for 100 years."
"What? 100 years?"
"Yeah. The thing is…"
I briefly explained to Drakina what had happened to me so far.
I told her how I had fought to stop B-rank and A-rank dungeons from overflowing, but eventually failed to prevent the world's collapse because there were too many portals.
I emphasized how the gods had rewound time, giving me a second chance.
Drakina’s eyes sparkled with interest.
"So, did everyone return to the past?"
"Yeah. But no matter how hard I try alone, I can’t stop everything. If I give you this Dragon Heart piece, you’ll have to help clear dungeons for the next 100 years."
"Hmm… Alright."
To my surprise, Drakina agreed without any hesitation.
I expected her to argue that 100 years was too long, but she accepted it with ease.
"You agreed just like that?"
"100 years isn’t that long. I’ll just think of it as visiting another dimension’s human world for a while. Besides, isn’t it because of your gods that the Dragon God is in trouble? I’ll investigate that as well."
"Alright, then swear on it using dragon words."
"I can’t use dragon words at my current level…"
Drakina lowered her head, biting her lip.
Oh right, she’s still a C-rank, so she doesn’t have that ability yet.
"I can use dragon words. Should I do it?"
"Yeah. Start with, ‘By the power of dragon words, I, Kim Jiho, swear an oath with the Red Dragon Drakina.’"
"By the power of dragon words, I, Kim Jiho, swear an oath with the Red Dragon Drakina."
As I spoke, a system window appeared, activating the "Oath of Dragon Tongue" spell.
A crimson thread of magical power connected Drakina and me.
"I, Drakina, in exchange for receiving a piece of the Dragon Heart from Kim Jiho, recognize Kim Jiho as my Dragon Rider and pledge my loyalty to him as his subordinate for 100 years. If I violate this, I shall be cursed with eternal mana damnation."
[Do you agree to the terms spoken by the Red Dragon, Drakina?]
As soon as I pressed "Yes," the crimson thread linking us thickened before gradually being absorbed into both our bodies.
The red thread, absorbed from the ends, vanished completely.
[The Oath of Dragon Tongue has been fulfilled. If the oath is broken, the curse of mana shall befall you.]
No sooner had the message appeared than Drakina stretched out her hand toward me.
"Alright, that’s done, right? Now, hand it over."
"Here."
"Yes!"
As soon as I retrieved the Dragon Heart from my inventory, Drakina swiftly snatched it up.
Her face lit up in sheer ecstasy as she gazed at the glowing fragment of the Dragon Heart.
After turning the Dragon Heart over in her hands, Drakina glanced behind her.
Was she looking for a portal?
But the portal had already disappeared.
She looked at me pleadingly.
"Can you send me back to the Apostle’s Garden?"
Well, keeping her here wouldn't be of much use right now.
Besides, in Asgard, people would just look at her strangely and wonder, "What is that?"
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
I should hurry and get her back to B-rank, polymorph her, and make use of her as a subordinate.
So, I guess I should send her back...
"Apostle’s Garden."
When I activated the Apostle’s Garden skill, the [Summon] tab changed to [Return].
Pressing it caused a portal gate to materialize behind her once again.
"Thanks! I’ll quickly recover to my hatchling form. Call me when I reach B-rank, and we’ll finalize the Dragon Rider contract!"
She waved at me before leaping straight into the dimensional gate.
The moment she disappeared, all the tension drained from my body.
So many things had happened after getting involved with dragons in Kalvine.
Well, at least I got my hands on a Dragon Heart, so it was a gain for me.
But with the Dragon God involved and Thor interfering, the already broken world—Kalvine—felt like it had turned into a complete mess.
"...But what about the Dragon God's Awakening quest?"
Since I was the only challenger on the planet Kalvine, would the progress percentage not increase now that I was gone?
Or maybe, since the Hunter Association had dispatched an investigation team, time might still be moving forward thanks to them.
I needed to check.
"Quest window."
I saw that the progress had not changed when I opened the quest window to check the Dragon God's Awakening page.
It looked like I didn’t need to return immediately.
I decided to take the rest of the day off and turned on the TV.
The news was airing.
[Top-ranked hunters affiliated with the Daehyun Guild are leaving one after another. The departure of foreign hunters is particularly noticeable, putting Daehyun Guild in a state of emergency.]
The Daehyun Guild, which Kang Shia was a part of.
In the version of the world where I no longer existed, it was said to be South Korea’s top guild...
But now, it seemed like managing it wasn’t so easy.
There were several other negative news reports about the Daehyun Guild.
They were struggling with cash flow, and there were internal conflicts within the Daehyun family over the guild master's position.
Even though it was South Korea’s top guild, it was being bombarded with bad news in just a few days.
Hmm.
In the original timeline, they had me as an ally, which allowed them to dominate domestically.
But now, they had risen to the top without any real foundation.
Checking HunterNet, I saw discussions about how major nations were offering ridiculous sums of money to recruit Daehyun Guild's hunters.
[The amount of money the U.S. government is offering is on another level. Their financial support is insane.]
[Honestly, wasn’t Daehyun Guild always a bit overhyped? Their guild master is just a figurehead, and while Kang Shia is strong, she’s only a high-level C-rank hunter, not top-tier.]
[┕222. Now that I think about it, it’s surprising they became South Korea’s representative guild during the apocalypse.]
[I was planning to buy Daehyun Guild’s stocks when the market reopened, but now I’m having second thoughts.]
Even on HunterNet, these kinds of comments were piling up.
Honestly, they weren’t wrong.
Daehyun Guild never had the money of a country like the U.S., nor did it have ultra-high-level leadership.
Without my influence, they never would have made it this far.
Now, they were simply finding their rightful place.
As I scrolled through my phone, a message popped up.
[From Daehyun Guild HR Department: Hunter Kim Jiho, we would like to…]
It was a long message, essentially trying to persuade me to return to Daehyun Guild.
Their situation must be pretty desperate if they were even reaching out to me.
Since I had no intention of rejoining, I didn’t bother replying.
I spent the rest of the day relaxing, ordering food, and browsing the internet.
Before I knew it, the sun had set, and night had arrived.
I decided to sleep at home for the night.
Lying in bed out of habit, I opened the quest window to check the Dragon God's Awakening percentage.
14%.
Seeing it, I jolted upright.
Huh?
It dropped by 1%?
It was 15% earlier, but now it had decreased by 1%...
That meant time was progressing.
I had planned to rest for a day before returning to Kalvine, but now I had changed my mind.
With the 10:1 time ratio, I had no idea how things in Kalvine were shifting.
I had to go back.
"Guess I can’t rest at home for too long..."
After changing clothes, I headed to the association again.
And there, I received unexpected news.
"Kalvine is temporarily off-limits?"
"Yes... Lord Thor, who oversees Kalvine, has issued the order. He stated that unforeseen issues have arisen on the planet, and he is in the process of 'correcting' them. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience."
Aria bowed her head in apology.
"Then... is time still passing in Kalvine? I have an active quest there."
"Yes… The world has not been frozen in place."
So, it wasn’t just the investigation team advancing time—Thor was making a full-scale effort to capture the Dragon God.
"Hmm... How long will this take?"
"We estimate around three days."
Three days, huh...
I was worried about Dragon God Drakia and the Dragon God's Awakening quest.
If the quest got ruined because of this, that would be a huge loss.
Just then, I suddenly heard Drakia's voice.
[Hmph. I was going to tell you not to enter, but this works even better.]
Not to enter?
[Yes. That world is already doomed, isn’t it? Then I’ll make sure it becomes truly ruined by my own hands.]
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
