Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Even I Can’t Do That

The instant he stepped back inside his residence, Minjun, utterly spent and pushed past his endurance, collapsed atop his mattress. Grime and dried crimson smudged his skin and clothes, making him entirely unfit to rest on clean sheets, yet he possessed neither the willpower nor the energy to dwell on such trivialities.

He had put on a brave face to avoid alarming Sia and Rokan, but Minjun was genuinely in a miserable state. Every ounce of vigor had abandoned his limbs, a dizzying fog clouded his thoughts, and intense aches flared across his flesh in multiple spots.

The reality that he remained so terribly battered even after consuming an Elixir—a curative draught celebrated above all others for its peerless restorative powers—only underscored how perilously close to the brink he had truly hovered.

“Is Sia doing all right, I wonder…”

Just as she fretted over him, Minjun could not push his worries for her out of his thoughts. He had never received a complete breakdown of her frenzied episodes, but he knew the agonizing toll lingered long after the madness subsided.

An urge prompted him to reach out via phone, yet if she had drifted off to sleep, an incoming call would only disrupt her desperately needed recovery. Consequently, Minjun chose patience. Rokan understood her state far better than anyone else alive, and Minjun resolved to hold off until the elder reached out on his own.

Even so, a lingering realization persisted in his mind.

‘I succeeded in channeling Dragon Tongue once more.’

He had broken free from a fatal predicament through a sequence nearly identical to his very first awakening of the Dragon Tongue, under comparably dire pressure. Was that mere happenstance, or did it represent an inevitable breakthrough born of the pure conviction that anchored the essence of Dragon Tongue?

Countless questions circled his thoughts, but Minjun surrendered to slumber instead. His frame and spirit were far too depleted to ponder anything further.

Roughly three hours into his slumber, Minjun detected a nearby aura and drifted awake.

“…Rokan?”

“Indeed. Has some of your vitality returned?”

Rokan addressed him quietly. His presence suggested that Sia had weathered the most hazardous phase of her ordeal.

“A bit more rest ought to set me straight.”

“Forgive the intrusion. I only wished to verify your health, but it seems I disturbed your sleep needlessly.”

“Please, don’t apologize. I appreciate you coming by to check. More importantly, how is Sia doing?”

The abrupt awakening had already banished any drowsiness, prompting Minjun to switch on the lamp to speak properly with his visitor. Rokan settled onto the floorboards and responded in an unhurried tone.

“Her condition is noticeably improved compared to earlier. The worst of the agony has subsided, and provided she rests quietly for roughly seven days, I foresee no lasting complications.”

“…I am truly glad to hear that. When her rampage first erupted—”

Minjun trailed off, his gaze dropping to the floor, clearly reluctant to revisit the horror of those moments.

“It pains me to force you to revisit such harrowing memories, yet would you be willing to recount precisely what unfolded? Should it prove too distressing, we can leave it for another time.”

Rokan spoke with quiet care, ensuring he applied no undue coercion.

“It is fine. I will tell you now.”

Downing a glass of fresh water to steady himself, Minjun recounted the sequence of events to Rokan. While Rokan had already deduced the general outline, hearing the exact particulars made him realize that Minjun surviving such an apocalyptic ordeal was nothing short of a wonder.

Minjun was fundamentally an ordinary mortal who had barely attained B-rank Hunter status. Notwithstanding that, he had not merely endured a berserk state that challenged even ancient dragons to suppress, but had brought the entire frenzy to a halt with his own hands.

How had a frail human wrought such a miracle when demise should have been the only logical conclusion?

“My guess is that Sia fought it off with sheer mental fortitude. She must have been fighting tooth and nail to keep from harming me, whatever the cost.”

“That undoubtedly played a significant role. Even taking that into account, emerging alive remains an extraordinary feat. Once again, I offer my profound thanks, Minjun. Thank you for making it back in one piece, and for relieving Shasha of her agony.”

Rokan, an elder entity who virtually never inclined his head toward anyone, offered a respectful, grateful bow to Minjun, a youth so vastly junior to him in years.

“Rokan, please, there is no need for such formalities…”

“There is. When one is granted salvation, offering sincere gratitude is merely the proper course.”

Though Minjun felt deeply bashful at receiving such reverence from Rokan, he ultimately bowed his head in quiet acceptance.

Then, Rokan pressed further. “Tell me, Minjun—by what specific means did you suppress Shasha’s frenzy?”

“Pardon?”

Minjun tilted his head in mild bewilderment. Had he not just finished explaining that he relied on Dragon Tongue to pacify her?

“Couldn’t anyone simply… soothe it using Dragon Tongue?”

Because Sia had never offered an exhaustive explanation of her episodes, Minjun had assumed that quelling such an outbreak was hardly impossible for a true dragon. He had even assumed that had Rokan arrived on the scene, the elder would have subdued her in mere moments.

“No. Even I lack the capability to halt Shasha’s frenzy.”

“…What did you say?”

Minjun’s voice leaped an octave before he could catch himself.

“…Then how on earth did you manage her previous episodes?”

“We could never halt them. Our sole recourse was to endure until the storm ran its course. At absolute most, we could dispel stray incantations that slipped past her control… or erect vast warding barriers to ensure her wild power did not spill beyond the perimeter.”

A profound sorrow shaded Rokan’s voice as past memories resurfaced, leaving behind a bitter sigh. Minjun, meanwhile, stared in mute shock at a revelation he had never anticipated.

If none of the other dragons possessed the power to stop Sia’s suffering whenever it erupted, it meant she had thrash in that excruciating torment for a full twenty-four hours every single time.

“…Just how much agony did my Sia have to endure…?”

Moisture gathered along Minjun’s lashes, and tears threatened to spill over. While he could never directly experience the seasonal torment she had weathered like a recurring curse, the sheer horror of her enduring such untamed, ceaseless torture for so many hours broke his heart.

“That is the very reason I inquired. You stand as the sole being to ever arrest Shasha’s rampage, leading me to hope we might uncover an answer. Perhaps there exists a path not merely to calm it on occasion, but to eradicate the cause entirely.”

“I want nothing more than to save her from this, but… I genuinely do not comprehend how it worked.”

Much like his very first activation of Dragon Tongue, he had merely poured every fiber of his desperate devotion into the attempt, and reality had shifted. Nothing more complicated than that.

Rokan offered a steady nod, as though he had already anticipated such a response.

“Should any subtle recollection return to you later, do not hesitate to share it.”

With that, Rokan made ready to take his leave. Minjun displayed no signs of critical peril, and Rokan had gathered every detail he sought regarding the confrontation.

“Rokan.”

“Yes?”

“I intend to do whatever it takes to guarantee a day like today never repeats itself.”

Enduring that nightmarish trial and conversing with Rokan made Minjun grasp that his expression of Dragon Tongue differed fundamentally from that of genuine dragons. Though the exact distinction eluded him, a difference undeniably existed; otherwise, he could never have halted an affliction that confounded their entire kind.

He possessed no immediate strategy for cultivating that divergence nor an obvious path toward mastering it, yet one fact stood crystalline. If the hour ever arrived where he could command Dragon Tongue at will, he might successfully avert another catastrophic nightmare before it could ever take root.

“I shall also investigate the matter thoroughly. I will explore every avenue to accelerate your mastery toward that summit, Minjun.”

—

Concealed deep in the crags of an isolated mountain range lay a hidden draconic sanctuary. Two figures leisurely savored warm tea while engaged in conversation.

“The sensation from that gathering still lingers sharply in my senses. It stirred a rush more potent than any casual journey to the mortal world I have ever undertaken.”

“Quite so. At long last, I grasp why mortals remain hopelessly hooked on those absurd theatrical dramas.”

The striking gentleman with silver-white hair casually lifting his teacup was Evan, a White Dragon who had vehemently denounced Sia’s choices during the previous council of dragons dwelling on modern Earth.

Opposite him sat Yuria, possessing sun-kissed dusk skin, midnight locks, and gleaming golden pupils. She belonged to the Black Dragon lineage. Having crossed over together from their native dimension to present-day Earth, the pair was currently reviewing the dramatic fallout of the recent gathering.

While Yuria had not raised her voice in fierce opposition quite like Evan, she likewise harbored disdain toward Sia’s fixation on establishing an Eternal Covenant alongside a mortal.

“Even granting that she was human in a past lifetime, that hardly excuses binding herself through an Eternal Covenant to one.”

“What transpired in a past life belongs to the past, and this current existence belongs to the now. I find it utterly incomprehensible to cling to a bygone mortal attachment to such an obsessive degree.”

“Unless she fabricated the whole tale. It is entirely possible she claimed prior mortality simply to manipulate the sentiments of the clan.”

“Should that prove true, her foolishness renders her a disgrace to all draconic bloodlines.”

Their disdainful chuckles punctuated the insult against Sia, though their expressions soon settled into grim sobriety.

“We cannot passively permit one of our kin to wander into such a ruinous pit. You share my view, do you not, Yuria?”

“If there exists a viable measure to prevent such a catastrophe from crystallizing, then naturally I will lend my full cooperation.”

“The complication lies in determining the method.”

“It is hardly as though we can casually slaughter the mortal.”

Had executing Minjun offered a clean, uncomplicated resolution, they would have disposed of him long ago. To creatures of their stature, eliminating a fledgling Hunter who had barely scraped into B-rank would require negligible effort.

The true dilemma lay in the catastrophic aftermath. Striking him down would ignite direct hostility with multiple dragons aligned with the opposing faction, not to mention the unrestrained fury Rokan and Sia would unleash upon them in vengeance. Neither Evan nor Yuria wished to provoke such disastrous retaliation.

“…Even setting outright murder aside… would there be any harm in toying with the boy just a bit?”

Yuria flashed a calculating smirk, prompting Evan to raise an eyebrow.

“What sort of scheme are you concocting now?”

“Suppose I sever the connection tying that clueless mortal to a foolish dragon blinded by her unnatural desires, thereby preserving order and propriety across draconic hierarchy?”

“A gratifying thought, certainly, yet remaining passive strikes me as the wiser path for now.”

Evan favored slowly swaying common sentiment among the clans to sever the relationship naturally. Yuria, however, harbored a vastly different approach.

“All it requires is stirring the waters discreetly, without leaving behind any traceable tracks, does it not?”

“Yuria, what precisely do you intend to do?”

“Well. Perhaps I shall charm that young mortal into my grasp.”

“I have suspected it for ages, but your sanity is thoroughly questionable.”

“Am I truly more disordered than a scion of the Red Clan who threw her heart at a fragile mortal?”

Evan let out a dry, disbelieving laugh as Yuria ran her tongue across her lips, resembling a predator sizing up an enticing target.

“I must ask merely to be certain, Yuria. You hold no risk of developing genuine affection for this human yourself, do you?”

“Do not insult me. I have simply identified a diversion far more entertaining than my usual amusements.”

Judged by mortal measures, she commanded flawless grace, absolute power, and immense wealth. The vast majority of mortal men would readily surrender body and soul if she set her sights on bewitching them.

Thus, Yuria’s design was straightforward. She would entice Minjun until his resolve crumbled and affection blossomed, maneuvering him into an undeniable betrayal. Once he broke faith with Sia, Yuria would secure irrefutable proof and discreetly arrange for Sia to discover the ugly truth.

Through that scheme, she could indulge her own amusement while permanently shattering the bond of an insolent mortal and a dragon audacious enough to cross forbidden boundaries together.

“Mind that the senior elders do not catch wind of your interference.”

“Banish your worries. Does there not exist an absolute decree that none may meddle in another’s mortal excursions so long as clan affairs remain untouched?”

She would drive an irreversible wedge between Minjun and Sia without providing the broader draconic community any legitimate justification to reprimand her actions.

What sort of devastated expression would that Red Dragon wear upon witnessing her mortal beloved wholly claimed by another woman? Savoring the cruel imagery in her mind, the Black Dragon Yuria let a cold, venomous grin spread across her lips.