Chapter 74

“Daddy...!”

An elated expression clear on her face, Rena ran speedily towards Jae, who gazed dazedly at the people behind her.

When she approached, Jae shifted his attention to her. Rena jumped into his open arms, upon which he held her and attentively asked of her condition.

“Rena, are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Giving a quick, icy glance to the bound-by-chains Sal squirming on the ground, she smiled happily at Jae.

“Nope! I only refused to have anyone except Daddy teach me magic and he got angry. You stopped him before he did anything!”

After that, she hugged him tightly. Stroking her head with his free hand, she seemed more than just a bit glad at his sudden arrival. Jae, too, was just as relieved that she was unharmed.

He apologised.

“...I’m sorry I took so long.”

“It’s okay. I knew Daddy would save us.”

Seeing her bright smile, it was evident how much trust she placed in him. For Jae, it was something he was unsure what to respond with.

She’s really that confident in me, huh...

Not knowing how to reply, Jae simply laughed. Still holding Rena in his arms, he then turned his attention back to who spoke before.

His eyes shook when he first saw her, but he quickly calmed down and talked.

“...Amelia. Hey. It’s been a while. Everyone else, too.”

“Ah... Ah--ye-yeah...”

She merely stuttered a vague response, seemingly spaced out for some reason. Thinking about it, the reason was self-evident. Jae’s face darkened for a moment.

At least... The information was right.

Ryan, Nicholas, Kaitlyn... and Amelia. From what he saw of their equipment and Soul States, Jae could immediately tell the information he read before about their party was most likely correct.

They’re far stronger than those guys who stayed at the palace... What have they been doing this entire time? Since when, and for how long...?

Excluding Amelia, the other three were the only classmates he never saw again when he returned to Seronia. Or at least, they were the only ones he remembered not seeing.

Although I knew they were here in advance, it’s more awkward than I thought... Well, it can’t be just me who doesn’t know how to progress the conversation. They must be much more confused than I am, so I guess I’ll take the lead for now.

“How did you all end up here, then? This shouldn’t be an easy place to enter, you know?”

Needless to say, Jae already knew that they entered through the same entrance he did. He only asked to erase the awkwardness and start a conversation, no matter how meaningless it may be.

He was also desperate to find out how on Earth Amelia ended up here when she was never summoned along with them. Though, for some reason, he felt reluctant to ask upfront.

“That portal on top’a the mountain. You should know. By the way, how long’ve we been missin’ for?”

Ryan took it upon himself to be the one to talk on behalf of the team; both because everyone else currently wasn’t in the right state of mind to do so, and because he was the leader of the party. Jae knew what information he was aiming for and so gave it to him honestly.

“If it’s about the time difference, one second out there is twenty seconds here.”

And that means it’s been what... about 26 years since I left this place? Something like that.

“Twenty to one, eh... Longer than I thought.”

“Right. Well... Before we all catch up, allow me to deal with this guy.”

“Hah. Go ahead. That bastard was suspicious the moment he showed his face.”

Pressing down on Sal’s face with his foot, Jae was still holding Rena in his arms, making for quite an odd sight. Everyone else simply stood back and watched his actions, still caught up in the tense atmosphere.

Having witnessed Jae suddenly appear and utterly dominate Sal within mere seconds, who they thought was the strongest person they had ever met, no one knew what was going on anymore. Not only that, but he also turned out to be Rena’s father―something arguably even more shocking.

Even if he was someone they thought they knew relatively well, it’s obvious they would be quiet under these tense circumstances.

Either way, Ryan was probably the most surprised out of the lot. And that was because of what「Great Sage’s Eyes」told him.

Target's level is too high. Skill failed

Somehow, it was the second time in a row this had happened. Recalling the last time they met―before Jae had escaped the palace―his Status was completely average other than Magic. As well as that, instead of being [Blessed], he had the Title「Cursed by a God」.

Ryan had already done the research and knew that「Great Sage’s Eyes」could view the Status of anything less than 200 Levels above him.

As he was currently Level 71 and still couldn’t view the Status, it meant that Jae was at least Level 272 or even higher.

How the hell did he come so far since then that his Level is so high? No, his limit not bein’ 100 in the first place is weird...

Ryan knew the Level Limit for the vast majority of humans was Level 100. The limit also varies depending on the Race of the individual as well as any Unique Skills or Titles they may have.

Then, unless it’s an「World Traveller」effect I dunno about, it means he has some kind of Title or Skill to bypass the limit?

With his『Insight』, Ryan could see the effects of Titles, and as such, knew that all「World Traveller」did was make it easier to gain skills and level up. There was nothing related to increasing the Level Limit. In that case, the latter was much more likely.

In any case, about the experience required, the most likely answer would probably be because of this Dungeon.

Time flowed twenty times slower here than in the outside world, and the monsters were outrageously strong. If Jae spent a while here, then it was no wonder he was at such a high level.

But still, something seemed off.

He was absurdly weak at the time, and there were no Skills or Titles outta the ordinary; it would’a been impossible to survive in this shitty place with a trash Status like that. Then, how would he come here anyway? Are there multiple entrances?

...No, there was one. When he thought back to that first time he glanced upon Jae’s Status, he recalled one thing in particular that seemed out of place.

「Cursed by a God」

Ryan didn’t have access to『Insight』at the time so he couldn’t have checked, but that was certainly the only odd Title Jae owned. Other than that, Ryan was just puzzled as to why Jae was [Cursed] and not [Blessed] like everyone else who was summoned.

In addition, why was he the only one to get those funny things called ‘Distributable Points’? Could they be related? Ryan had no information about any of this as of now, so he stayed quiet. No matter which way he thought of it, he couldn’t come to a clear answer.

When they begin to properly exchange information later, there will always be time to ask.

All he could guess was that Jae spent a long time in this place―both because of his Level and older appearance, clearly in his early twenties. What was even more unbelievable, though, was the relationship between him and the girl in his arms.

Father and Daughter? Hah...

Ryan saw it as ridiculous. Having a child in this kind of world? He honestly didn’t know what to think, but for some reason, it was amusing.

“―So, what was this about a ‘Tyrant’?”

Casting a shadow over Sal’s struggling body, Jae forcefully trampled down on his back and interrogated the Dragon.

“Ugh! Do not... Don’t feign ignorance, you leeching bastard! I know she sent you--GAAH!”

All that came back were curses, so more force was applied.

“I told you before, I don’t know what you’re talking about. For starters, who is this Tyrant?”

“Guh...! T-Tyrant of the Snow! Aphyllanthes... You've been her disciple for thirty years, right? I remember your face, asshole! How the hell did you get so strong in a mere thirty years as a human?!”

“Now, doesn’t it go against practice to pry into trade secrets? And what, thirty years isn’t a short period of time, y’know? Oh, well, for you Dragons I guess it would be.”

My face, hm...? Ah, this red hair and scales... Haha.

“You... You’re that one Fire Dragon from way back, huh?”

Suddenly, a condescending smirk showed itself on Jae’s face.

Wow. I didn’t think I’d meet this fucker again.

“Aha. Your name was Salamander, right? I thought you were the strongest Fire Dragon there was, so how come you’re this easy to subdue? Come on, why don’t you resist a bit more?”

For reference, when Jae and Aphy were still making their way through the Outer Layer and being occasionally harassed by certain monsters foolish enough to ignore her warnings, there were a few Dragons who didn’t seem to get the memo, and as such, were brutally punished by Aphy.

Jae recalled there being a certain Fire Dragon among them, and this was it.

But wow, “Tyrant of the Snow”, huh? I was never told about that title. Was she too embarrassed to talk about it or something? Though, it makes sense―she’s pure white and likes using Ice Magic, especially against Dragons, hence the ‘of the snow’. I guess they call her a Tyrant because she doesn’t allow them to leave the Outer Layer? How petty. Well...

“...Well, you are beings with a great amount of pride, after all, so it’s quite understandable that you’d get pissed at being ruled over.”

“You understand, right!? So, you’ll let me go--cough?!”

Splattering blood, Sal was interrupted with a violent kick to the chest. Then, he gently placed Rena back on the ground and crouched down, whispering to the Dragon.

“Woah, woah, where’d that idea come from? Let you go? Oh, no―it’s too late for that. It was too late when you dared to raise your hand against my daughter. Ah, by the way, the chains won’t disappear until you die whether I want them to or not, so this is where you die regardless of anyone’s will, even mine.”

Sal, after coughing up more blood, grit his teeth and growled.

“Kaghk...! Grr...!! Fucker! I’ll rip you to shreds...!!”

“Hmm~ Will you, now? I don’t think you can, though. Feel free to try? Be warned: it’ll only increase your suffering.”

Smiling menacingly, Jae roughly grabbed Sal by the neck and lifted him into the air. Lightly restricting airflow such to the point that he wouldn’t dare to make another sound, he then spoke patronisingly to the pitiful Dragon.

“Let me give you a piece of advice if you’ve got nothing useful to say. Don’t bother.”

“Grr, you--...!”

“--If I ever imagined a possible outcome where you lived, I never would have used these chains, to begin with. Because there was never a time where I considered the possibility of sparing you.”

“...!!”

“Other than what’s already been said, there are a multitude of reasons for you to die here. For starters, you’re outside the Outer Layer. This is an obvious ‘no’. The goal was to exit the Dungeon, wasn’t it? That’s not allowed; not under my watch, nor under Aphy’s rule. Adding everything up, I wonder―just what should I do with you, then, as punishment? Hm?”

An Ancient Dragon though he was, the old and (not-so-)wise Salamander had never once encountered a situation like this in all his life. Thus, he found it impossible to respond to what Jae was saying.

“Because of how your species operates, I know you’re working alone. No one is going to come and help you, so give up any remaining hope and tell me. Where’s Aphy? As the ruler of this place, her general location should be fairly known, right?”

No. It was inconceivable that such words would be spoken to a Dragon in the first place.

Arrogance like this is unheard of towards an inherently superior being, after all.

“...This fucking rat...”

“Rat...? Who, me? No? In this situation, aren’t you the rat? I’ve caught you in my cage filled with rat poison and now you’ll die. That’s all there is to it.”

Jae, with a voice more chilling than the evening Antarctic air, blankly warned the lizard who seemingly refused to talk.

“...Hey. I don’t know how much HP and MP you have, but I can guarantee you it won’t last long if you keep silent. If I were you, I’d cooperate. That is, for a quick and painless death.”

Loosening his grip, Jae let the guy collapse helplessly on the floor. As his limbs were bound, he couldn’t push himself up, and perhaps couldn’t be bothered as he simply lay there.

As time went on, Sal appeared to have taken Jae’s advice and recognised any further resistance as a futile effort.

“Tch! ...I can’t believe this...”

The old Dragon, who had experienced immeasurable frustration, humiliation, and regret―all at the hands of this one, foul-smelling human, the Disciple of the Snow-white Tyrant.

“I.... shall tell you--Kuhaghk...! T-Tell you... where the Tyrant lives...”

For the first time in his millennia-long lifetime, he surrendered.

Huh? That was quick. What a feeble Dragon...

Witnessing his earlier ferociousness first-hand, Jae expected Sal to last wailing in resistance much longer, but what was that? He didn’t even go a full ten minutes before surrendering.

Perhaps, is the pain caused by「Mark of Death」that awful? Or, could it be the newly-acquired「Belladonna」? Well, either way, it’s not something to complain about, I guess.

After obtaining the desired information from Sal, Jae then left him alone on the ground. Of course, he was still bound by unbreakable chains and unable to use magic, so he wouldn’t be going anywhere.

A Dragon’s HP was, as one might expect, simply unreasonably high. Thus, it’s likely that「Mark of Death」would take a while to kill him. Jae could speed up the process whenever he wanted, though.

In any case, with that out of the way, he moved the focus of his attention back to Ryan and his party. His former classmates.

“How is your level of supplies?”

Jae got straight to the point. Ryan followed and informed him of exactly what they needed―fresh clothes, potion restocks, and weapon repairs if it was possible. Fortunately, all of this could be provided.

Swiftly and smoothly, all the necessary items were pulled out from the Inventory. As if it was a strict business transaction, things proceeded quickly and efficiently between the two, making it hard for everyone else to follow along. On top of this, not a single wisp of what just occurred between Jae and Sal was mentioned, probably because it was scary and unnecessary.

As this was going on, a young voice could be heard drawing closer in the not-so-far-away distance.

“Is that... a kid...?”, someone asked in confusion.

“Masteeeerrr...!!”

Once Bailey arrived, he immediately took a few moments to breathe. Then, after ensuring Rena’s safety and greeting her for the first time in a long while, he properly introduced himself to the members of her party.

“Hello. My name is Bailey. I’m Master’s disciple.”

“Disciple, eh... You’re strong for an ordinary kid.”

Taking a look at Bailey’s Status with「Great Sage’s Eyes」, Ryan was more than impressed. He was surprised at Jae’s ability to nurture young children into such powerful warriors― unless it was just these two that were exceptional.

Bailey, a Level 59 Magic Swordsman, was almost at the point of being unmatched by any human foe despite still being a child. The sole exceptions would be irregulars like Reon Midas, as well as Otherworlders. Rena was in a similar state.

In any case, with their arrival, not only was the party feeling relieved with the fresh supplies and the sense of security knowing that their safety would be ensured, but they had also completed one of their original main objectives―meeting Jae.

Addressing his old classmates, he briefly spoke.

“Sorry, but please wait for a few minutes. I’ll finish this, then we can all catch up over dinner. It won’t take long.”

They were a bit confused at his words, but accepted them without issue.

“Dinner? As if that’s a thing in this place.”

“Breakfast, lunch, dinner; does it really matter? Don’t mind the details. When we get to it, you’ll agree that it’s more like dinner anyway.”

“Hah.”

...Well, it’s fine if you don’t believe me.

Ignoring Ryan’s cynical laugh, Jae turned back to the tied-up Sal.

“Hey, you got any more useful information you wanna spit out? If not, I’ll just kill you now.”

“Bah! Little shithead, you think I’m intimidated by the likes of you? I gave in before only because it involved the Tyrant. Some human whelp like you can’t torture a great Dragon like me!”

“Hmm~ I see. Then...”

“Guh! Oi, punk, what’re you doing to me--!?”

Covering Sal’s face with his palm, Jae uttered his final words to the pitiful Dragon.

“--Say goodbye.”

*splatter*

Level limit reached. Excess experience stockpiled until the limit is increased Target eliminated Targets remaining - 0 / 6 Skill「Mark of Death」cannot be used for 48 hours

Along with the Dragon’s internally ruptured head, a notification indicating the end of a life had appeared. And that wasn’t all.

Title「Dragon Killer」has been acquired Title「Legendary」has been acquired Title「Man of Many Names」has been acquired

Three new Titles from one kill. If you include「Predator」and「Unique」, then that’s 5 new Titles gained in a matter of hours―a very impressive feat, even without the fact that they are all absurdly difficult Titles to acquire.

First off, it’s evident enough where「Dragon Killer」came from, so what’s left are the other two. The「Legendary」Title is acquired from accomplishing a legendary feat, and「Man of Many Names」is for having a total number of Titles that exceed 100.

That’s right―with「Legendary」, the number of Titles Jae owns has finally reached and exceeded 100.

An ordinary person may only acquire up to about ten Titles in their lifetime, and a truly outstanding person may find it possible to reach 20 or 30. 100, on the other hand, was on another level entirely.

It was possible only because of the「World Traveller」Title which made Titles and Skills easier to acquire and level up. What made it even more rewarding, though, wasn’t merely the difficulty of obtaining the Title, but the Title’s effect itself.

【Man of Many Names - All Stats +100】

Strength, Agility, Endurance, Dexterity, Wisdom, Magic. Plus six for each Title he had acquired thus far. A total of +600 in Stats.

Of course, Jae couldn’t really see the Title’s description, but he noticed such a rise in Stats after acquiring it as well as the other Titles. You see, although every Title has some kind of an effect, most of them are minimal or not worth mentioning.

It’s only the truly exceptional Titles that come with great benefits.

【Predator - ‘Fear’ Status Effect applied to lower-level enemies. Lower-level enemies have all damage, health regeneration, and movement abilities reduced by 35%】

【Unique - All Stats +30】

【Legendary - All Stats +80】

【Dragon Killer - Max HP +30%. Damage towards Dragons increased by 10%】

These 5 Titles alone gave a huge boost to even the current Jae’s Status; especially the latter two.

Although, he felt a bit conflicted about「Dragon Killer」. He had always thought this, but was there even a point to having a high HP? Like it did for Sal, it would extend the duration for which you could last versus life-draining effects, but wasn’t that all?

What’s a high HP going to do when a sword slices off your neck? No matter how high your HP is, everyone’s fate is the same when you don’t have a head. It won’t stop the blade―that’s the job of Endurance, defensive skills and Resistances. The only thing a high HP is good for is surviving more non-lethal injuries and persisting through a long fight of attrition.

In other words, a high HP, when by itself, is trash―That is Jae’s opinion.

As long as you have good defences, you don’t need a high HP. Sure, it could make things a little easier and more forgiving, but at the end of the day, other Stats would be more useful. Anyway, forget that... Shall I get cooking?

Sal’s corpse remained in its human form despite dying. Originally, this would have been impossible, but since he was a Dragon, mana remains in his body even after he dies, maintaining the magic post-mortem.

Jae didn’t want to cut up and eat something that looked human, even if it was a Dragon, so he forced the Polymorph to end by firmly placing a hand on the body and manipulating the mana circulating within.

“Hooo...”

Breathing deeply, he concentrated until eventually, the magic was undone. Thereupon, Sal’s dead body began to glow and swell up, just as Jae had done when using「Perfect Imitation」to copy Aphy’s appearance. Watching the transformation, he knelt down and sighed.

Phew... It was easier than I thought, but it still takes quite a lot of energy. Is that why they tend to either just maintain it most of the time or keep it off in favour of switching back and forth? Other than that, though, it was basically just like using「Dragon Body」, so it wasn’t that hard.

Waiting for the transformation to finish, he didn’t turn to look behind him, but Jae knew that everyone was speechless.

A Dragon was big, after all, and a mature one like Sal would easily grow to be bigger than most mountains. The only reason they can support bodies of such tremendous scale is because they live off mana instead of food and calories.

How big was he back then...? Hm, about a third of Aphy, right? So, I’d say about 400~500 metres?

Jae’s estimation was correct.

From end to end, head to tail, the length of Sal’s body was a whopping 461 metres, or 1512 feet(more or less), across.

The head alone was so huge that a house could fit inside its mouth, and each of the many sharp, white teeth filling that deadly maw and crimson, impenetrable scales that covered its slender body were as large as a car.

―A big, red Dragon indeed.

This monstrosity of a being rendered everyone unable to even comment. It was that kind of thing, after all; such a shockingly large animal would be hard to comprehend, seeing it for the first time.

And yet, Aphy was three times bigger, countless times stronger.

After laying eyes upon a creature like that and witnessing the raw power it can output with little-to-no effort at the Seronia Incident, it was no wonder people began to revere her as a God.

Thinking about it seriously, then, how long would Jae have had to wait to recover if Reius didn’t heal him at that time...?

Approaching the carcass, Jae had an idea.

I can improve my sword with this, can’t I? No, not just that, I can make a whole arsenal of new items if this is what I’ve got to work with...

The thought alone was extremely appealing, and when he imagined what kind of equipment he could craft with a Dragon as the base material, Jae almost salivated.

So, he forcefully opened the dead monster’s mouth and ripped out some teeth. Then, he took some empty potion vials from the Inventory and bottled some Dragon saliva.

This would probably count as a legendary-grade material for alchemy or enchanting, right? Even if I can’t use it, I could always sell it for an unimaginable price if I’m in desperation.

After acquiring some additional materials like scales, blood, horns, tongue, eyes and claws, and storing them all in the Inventory, Jae used one of the teeth to cut a large amount of flesh―down to the bone. He gathered that very bone and stored it as well.

Hehehe~ What a fruitful encounter, huh~

After happily harvesting all kinds of things from the body, Jae returned to the group and took out some cooking equipment. Finally, he did something strange.

Gathering a ball of condensed Dark Magic in his hand, Jae fired it into the bright sky like a black firework. After travelling a considerable distance, it exploded.

*vrhoom!*

With an odd noise not at all like a real firework, a massive barrier was instantly erected around them. As it was a Dark Magic barrier, it was black―as a result, the never-setting, blinding suns were miraculously hidden from view.

However, like this, it was now too dark and nothing was visible. Of course, Jae wasn’t finished.

Using a mixture of Light and Fire Magic, a vast number of small, twinkling spots gradually appeared and shimmered in the barrier’s edge, perfectly emulating the night sky.

“Amazing...”

“So pretty...”

“Wow~, Daddy made it nighttime...!”

“Huh...?”

“What?”

“...The fuck?”

Each person had their own reaction, but Jae, feeling relaxed, had only one response―

“How about it? Doesn’t this kind of scene fit dinner?”

―An entertained grin.