Chapter 264 Prologue
One year has passed since Shiori\'s death and his meeting with Azalia. Ken continues to train to make himself stronger. Ken, Sakuya, and Kazuki are the three remaining heroes after Shiori dies. They vowed to become stronger so they would never again lose their friends.
Ken and the other heroes feel burdened when they are asked to fight by the emperor of the Adrienne Empire, Galia Adrienne. After Shiori\'s death, their burden had become heavier. Apart from protecting the Clorius continent and its inhabitants, they must also protect each other.
Right now, Ken and the other two heroes were on the outskirts of the Earth Dragon Desert area. They had come to that place because they had received information that one of the divine races that had wreaked havoc in the empire\'s territory was there.
"The weather in this area is scorching! Sakuya, can you use magic to cool the air around us?" Kazuki looked at Sakuya while wiping the sweat from his face. He kept complaining after they came to the place and had already said the sentence four times.
"I\'ve often told you that I\'m not proficient with elemental magic! If only Shiori were still here…" Sakuya quickly stopped her sentence after feeling Ken and Kazuki\'s atmosphere darkens. She realized that she had slipped her tongue.
"Okay. We don\'t need to remember that anymore. It\'s been a year since that incident, and I\'m sure Shiori doesn\'t want to see us continue to sink into sorrow." Ken tries to break the gloomy atmosphere between them. Even so, he couldn\'t lie about his feelings that his heart was still grieving at this point.
"Yes. We\'d better focus on finding people from the divine race. Maybe we can get a clue to return to Japan as Emperor Galia had said." Kazuki nodded in agreement and immediately removed the feeling of sadness that had enveloped him.
Emperor Galia had already explained that he could not return Ken and the others to their world. But he said that the people from the divine race might have a way to cross the world because Emperor Galia knew that the people from the divine race were not natives of the Clorius continent and came from an unknown world.
"Do you believe the Emperor\'s words?" Sayuki snorted coldly. She had learned many things since being summoned to that world.
At first, Sakuya believed the words of Emperor Galia. But over time, Sakuya felt a lot of strangeness in his explanation when they first met and began to suspect him.
Even though Sakuya didn\'t know why she felt that way, she was starting to be wary of Emperor Galia. But she couldn\'t say that to Ken or Kazuki. Besides, Sakuya still doubted her hunch because several Princes and Princesses of the Adrienne Empire were very kind to her.
It didn\'t take long for Ken and the other two heroes to enter the Earth Dragon Desert area. They could only stand still with their mouths wide open after seeing the scene in front of them.
"How do we find people from the Divine Race in this place?" Kazuki said in a hoarse voice.
"Hmm...maybe we should keep walking until we find him?" Ken answered with another question.
"Are you serious?" Kazuki turned towards Ken and asked in disbelief.
In front of them was a vast desert whose end was unknown. Ken and the other two heroes turn gloomy when they imagine having to walk through such a vast desert. They looked at each other and sighed. Ken, Kazuki and Sakuya could only complain in their hearts and started walking.
Ken walked far from Kazuki and Sakuya because he was reading a book with a shabby-looking cover. It was a book he got after fighting against a mysterious beauty.
(By the way, where is she now? I haven\'t seen her once in the past year. A girl as beautiful as her should be the center of attention wherever she is)
Ken suddenly thought of the mysterious girl. But then he shook his head and put the book into his space storage.
Ken, Kazuki, and Sakuya had only walked for a while but had already stopped several times to rest. The weather in the desert was sweltering, and the three of them were drenched in sweat. Sakuya felt uncomfortable because her wet clothes made her beautiful curves visible. It caught Kazuki\'s attention and made him keep glancing at her along the way.
"What are you looking at, pervert! Do you want me to gouge out those two eyes of yours!?" Sakuya shouted, covering her chest with both hands.
"Cough! What are you talking about? I accidentally looked at you. Why is your reaction so extreme!" Kazuki tried to deny the accusation and averted his eyes in embarrassment after being caught by Sakuya.
"Do you think I\'m blind and stupid!?" Sakuya snorted. She walked faster and left Ken and Kazuki behind.
"Haa...you shouldn\'t look at girls like that." Ken smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I can\'t do anything about it, Ken. When I am confronted with something beautiful, my eyes automatically see it." Kazuki shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
Ken was amazed at Kazuki\'s level of shamelessness. He shook his head and left Kazuki alone.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Kazuki ran after them.
After their long walk, Ken and the other two heroes still couldn\'t find a clue about the person from the divine race they were looking for.
"Can\'t we find someone to show us the way? If it continues like this, we might get lost!" Kazuki complained, and his face looked drained.
"If that was possible, I already asked someone to point the way in this desert for us! But according to the information I read, this place is a barren area, and hardly anyone passes through it. Besides, this area is dangerous because it is the habitat of magical beasts, especially the dragon species." Sakuya explained with a pale face and weak voice. She was also as tired as Kazuki.
"Ah, I read it too. According to reports from adventurers who had passed through this desert, they saw a giant dragon. They guessed that the monster was the earth dragon emperor." Ken added.
"Are you serious?" Kazuki was surprised after hearing that. Before they departed, he had not read the information Emperor Galia had given them. Kazuki thought that Ken and Sakuya had read it and would ask them if there was anything he didn\'t know.
Ken and Sayuki looked at each other and sighed. Just as they intended to continue their search, a sandstorm suddenly broke out and obscured their view.
"What is going on!? Why is there a storm all of a sudden!?" Kazuki narrowed his eyes towards the center of the storm.
"This storm doesn\'t happen naturally! Look!" Ken pointed at a giant creature that appeared from under the desert. Not one but dozens of them arose and caused a sandstorm.
Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!
"That is…" Kazuki\'s face sank after seeing a horde of gigantic creatures appear in front of them.
"Is that the magical beast that lives in this desert? From their shape, they should be the dragon species mentioned in the information we read." Sakuya observed the creature in the sandstorm and gave her guess.
Ken was silent and watched the dragons. His eyes stared intently in one direction, and his face changed drastically.
"Watch out!" Ken suddenly kicked Kazuki and pushed Sakuya with him.
Slash!
The gigantic aura blade passed over where they had been standing before. Sayuki wanted to complain to Ken for pushing her all of a sudden. But her words got stuck in her throat after she felt invisible blades of aura rushing towards where they were before. Sakuya immediately understood what had happened.
"Thank you, Ken." Sakuya broke out in cold sweat from her forehead. They\'d probably be dead if Ken hadn\'t noticed the attack.
"Ken! What are you…" Kazuki shouted angrily at Ken. But his body trembled when he saw the deep scar engraved above the desert they had stood before. He realized that Ken\'s previous actions were to save them. Kazuki felt a chill run down his spine after imagining the power and speed of that slash.
"Who is there!? Show yourself! Do you only dare to attack sneakily like a coward!?" Kazuki stood up and looked in the direction the slash came from.
"Hahaha… I didn\'t think anyone would be able to notice my invisible slash! As expected of a hero!" a white-haired middle-aged man with a black sword in his hand came out from the center of the sandstorm.
"You are..." Ken narrowed his eyes and guessed the identity of the person who suddenly appeared. But his words were cut off by the man.
"I am Gilmat, the divine race you are looking for." Gilmat smirked and continued walking toward Ken and the others.
"How did you know we were looking for you?" Sakuya was surprised after hearing Gilmat\'s words. They had come to this place because of reports from imperial intelligence about the appearance of people from the divine race around the Earth Dragon Desert.
"Hmm? Haven\'t you realized it yet? I was the one who deliberately showed my existence to lure you to come here. I am lord Azael\'s sword, and I won\'t let those of you who endanger his existence continue to grow stronger. So, I have to end you guys here." The atmosphere around Gilmat changed. His current figure was like a sword drawn out from the sheath.
"Be careful. He is very dangerous!" Ken reminded Sakuya and Kazuki. They nodded at his words.
Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!
As the three prepared to face Gilmat, a dragon suddenly roared and shot toward them.
"What!?" The three of them let their guard down because they thought their enemy was only Gilmat. But Sakuya quickly put up a barrier in front of the dragon.
Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Another dragon roared and joined the attack. The behavior of the dragons confused Ken and the others because the monsters didn\'t attack Gilmat.
"What is going on!? Why are those dragons only targeting us!?" Sakuya said frantically.
"Hahaha… I purposely lured you to this place because I controlled the dragons before you came here!" Gilmat took out a round metal like an eyeball from his space storage.
"You!" Kazuki was angry after discovering they had fallen into Gilmat\'s trap.
"Kazuki, Sakuya. I will face that person alone and leave the dragons to you." Ken took out a pair of swords from his space storage. He charged forward towards Gilmat without waiting for a reply from the two.
"Wait..." Sakuya intended to stop Ken because it was dangerous. But Ken had gone far away from her, and Sakuya could only grit her teeth.
"Kazuki! Let\'s defeat all those dragons and help Ken!" Sakuya is not a combat-oriented hero. Because of that, she could only rely on Kazuki.
"I understand!" Kazuki wore gauntlets in both hands and punched one of the nearby dragons.
Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
A fierce battle began between Kazuki and Sakuya against dozens of dragons.
On the other hand, Ken confronts Gilmat. They clashed their swords against each other, but Gilmat seemed calmer and his breathing steady. Meanwhile, Ken is overwhelmed with Gilmat\'s swordsmanship. He wasn\'t called the sword-bearing master of the divine race for no reason.
(What the hell is this guy\'s swordsmanship! His abilities are in a different dimension!)
If Ken had not combined his swordsmanship with his magic, he might have died not long after his first clash. His body was covered in slashes from Gilmat\'s sharp and deadly attacks.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Ken and Gilmat clashed fiercely with swords. Initially, Gilmat pressured Ken into the fight. But over time, Ken\'s swordsmanship became more honed and sharp. His movements also became smoother, and this made Gilmat\'s face serious.
"You! Did you steal my swordsmanship!?" Gilmat was shocked to the core. He was called a genius swordsman of the divine race who only appeared once a hundred years.
Gilmat had studied swordsmanship very hard since the age of five and eventually became the strongest swordsman in the divine race. Because of that, he became Azael\'s right-hand man. His current strength he earned with great difficulty and bloody hard work.
But Ziel learned his swordsmanship quickly, which destroyed his pride. He felt his years of hard work were useless.
It didn\'t take long for the battle situation to turn upside down. The longer they fight, the more overwhelmed Gilmat will be against Ken. Gilmat knew he couldn\'t go on like this. He increased his strength and speed. His attacks became even more fierce and terrifying than before.
Ken and Gilmat\'s fight destroys the surroundings. The impact of their attacks created large craters in the desert and flattened the hills. Their fight began to reach its climax.
Before long, Gilmat was exhausted, and so was Ken. They looked very pale from bleeding too much. Sakuya didn\'t have time to cast healing magic on Ken because she was busy supporting Kazuki in fighting the dragons. However, Ken won the fight after stabbing his swords into Gilmat\'s chest.
"Ugh! I didn\'t expect to lose to a human and die in this world. Even so, I will take one of you with me!" Gilmat took out an iron ball in the shape of an eyeball and squeezed it into pieces. After that, Gilmar\'s consciousness disappeared utterly.
"No! Sakuya! Kazuki! Be careful!" Ken had a bad feeling from Gilmat\'s words and shouted warning his two friends. But his action was too late. The dragons suddenly surrounded them, and the monsters\' bodies inflated like balloons and exploded.
Booooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Ken ran with all his might in his weak body from exhaustion and injuries. He drew closer to where Sakuya and Kazuki were. After Ken managed to get close to their location, Ken\'s body trembled violently when he saw Kazuki was hugging Sakuya to protect her. His body was charred, but he smiled with his eyes closed. Ken\'s tears fell after feeling that there was no more sign of life on Kazuki.