“…I don’t know what you’re suddenly talking about. Did you ever say you needed me?”
Marius blinked, stunned.
He even tilted his head as if he truly didn’t understand what this was about, to the point that it almost seemed like he believed he’d been misunderstood.
However, no matter how well he controlled his expression, he couldn’t hide the slight tremble at the edge of his brow.
“Still, don’t be so harsh. Do I seem that suspicious to you? I may not look like it, but I’m someone who wants things to go well for you.”
“I suppose you found it amusing—some kid who knows no world outside the Empire. No matter how capable he is, he hasn’t even lived twenty years, so his experience with the unexpected must be limited.”
Lucian didn’t respond to Marius’s words and murmured as if speaking to himself.
“You thought that, if you left me isolated and unsupported in foreign lands, I’d end up obeying your will, whether I wanted to or not. Because army or not, first you have to survive.”
“Hey!”
“But you know it now too. From the moment I arrived here, I haven’t needed to depend on you.”
Marius’s face twisted, as if Lucian had struck a nerve. Only then did Lucian look him directly in the eye and continue.
“You already made a prophecy about me. If you go back on it now, your authority crumbles. Whatever I do, you have no choice but to keep supporting me.”
“…!”
“Meanwhile, I have no reason to beg you for anything. All I need to do is pass the trials on my own, and protecting my life isn’t hard. No—in fact, you’re the one who’ll need to worry about keeping me alive.”
Because if I disappear, there’ll be no one left to fulfill your obsession.
At those words, Marius couldn’t refute anything and clenched his fist tightly. There wasn’t a single lie in what Lucian had said.
‘I was a fool.’
No matter how much of a hero’s star he was, he was still just a boy who hadn’t even turned twenty.
He thought that if he positioned himself at Lucian’s side, like a wise man next to a young sapling, it would be enough to manipulate him.
Especially here, in a foreign land far from the Empire, where Lucian would have no choice but to rely on him to survive.
But once he peeled back the surface, what lay underneath wasn’t a budding hero—it was already a fully grown tree.
There wasn’t even space to meddle in; if anything, Marius would have to beg to be allowed to rest in its shade.
‘But there was never another way from the start.’
Unlike Marius, who could die of old age at any moment, Lucian’s future was bright.
Even if Marius made a scene to rebuild the magic tower, he wouldn’t get the slightest bit of help.
For Lucian, even if it took a longer path, it was better to build a solid foundation of people loyal to him.
He had no reason to hastily rebuild the magic tower just to fulfill the dying wish of an old mage he had no special ties to.
‘So this is my last chance.’
Even if it meant turning Lucian against him, he had to obtain a card strong enough to move him.
If he didn’t, he would never live to see the magic tower rebuilt.
He knew he was being a burden to future generations, but obsession wasn’t something that could be controlled by reason.
Marius steeled himself and looked at Lucian.
“Fine, you’re right. I’m no longer necessary to conquer the tundra. But just once—on the next trial—you will need me.”
“The next trial? Are you saying you know what it is?”
“Of course I know. At this point, there’s only one thing Ivar could propose.”
Marius smiled coldly as he held Lucian’s curious gaze.
“He’s going to try to tear you apart with the Heart of the Dragon.”
***
Ainar, the chief’s eldest son, respected his father Ivar.
It was true that Ivar was far from a perfect warrior—he was obsessed with power, couldn’t tolerate challenges, and was so stubborn that he never took back his words.
However, despite all those flaws, Ivar was the strongest warrior in the tundra and the most trusted chief.
‘There was a time when I believed my father was the strongest man in the world.’
Ainar gave a bitter smile as he recalled the duel that had taken place that very day. It was a fight that completely shattered the image he had held of the “strongest warrior.”
From the fact that the warrior had been a woman, to the realization that a human being could reach such a level—
Everything had been a new shock, and naturally, his father had fallen beneath her.
Even so, the respect Ainar felt for his father hadn’t diminished. Since childhood, he had watched him reign from the top of the mountain.
That there might be someone even higher among the clouds wasn’t a reason to lose respect already given, but simply to admire someone else.
However, even Ainar’s respect began to waver.
“What did you just say?”
“Didn’t you hear? I said I’ll give you fragments of the dragon’s heart.”
“Fragments…?”
Ainar stared at his father, unable to go on.
Only the chief could approach the dragon’s heart.
No one else was allowed to enter the sanctuary.
And yet, Ivar was about to break that tribal law with alarming ease.
“Tomorrow I plan to let them into the sanctuary, under the pretense of checking whether the dragon’s heart accepts their presence or not. You’ll enter the sanctuary and absorb the power contained in one of the dragon’s fragments.”
“Wait a moment, hold on. What do you mean? Absorb?”
“There is still dragon power left in the heart of the dragon. It’s so massive that absorbing it entirely is impossible, but you can take a very small portion.”
“And how do you know that, Father?”
“Because I also took power from the dragon’s heart in the past.”
“…!”
Ainar felt as if he’d been struck on the head with a hammer.
Wasn’t the heart of the dragon just a sacred relic guarded to honor the ancestors?
“Don’t get the wrong idea. The dragon’s heart only became usable in my generation. The previous ancestors didn’t even know how to use it.”
“‘How to use it’…? What happens when you take a fragment of the dragon?”
“You gain unmatched power. You become more resilient, faster, and stronger than anyone else. Of course, only if you take the right amount. If you get too greedy, the body can’t handle it and shatters.”
After saying that, Ivar fell silent for a moment with a complicated expression and muttered,
“Come to think of it, I misspoke. It would be more accurate to say you become stronger than anyone—except for a handful of monsters.”
Ainar understood that Ivar was thinking of Felicia, just as he was.
Thinking he was the strongest warrior after even gaining a fragment of the dragon, and now surpassed by a woman younger than his own son—he seemed to find that bitter.
But Ainar didn’t feel the slightest sympathy for his father.
If it were power gained through one’s own efforts, maybe. But what bitterness could there be for someone who had stolen power from a dragon’s remains?
“Father.”
“Don’t say anything.”
Ivar cut him off in a sharp voice.
“You’ve always been a rigid man. Too obsessed with the rules. Obviously, my proposal doesn’t sit well with you either.”
“Even knowing that, you came to me.”
“I am the chief of the tribe. Using all possible means for the safety of these lands is my duty. I can’t hand this territory over to a foreigner just to protect your pride.”
“That…!”
“I’ve already told Brunda.”
Ainar froze.
Brunda, though better than Gormsen, wasn’t particularly attached to honor either; he tended to prioritize practical benefit.
If Ivar had spoken to him about gaining power from the dragon’s fragment, he would accept without hesitation.
No matter how much Ainar tried to protect honor alone, it would be meaningless.
“If you don’t want to listen to me, do as you please. But in that case, don’t you dare touch the dragon’s heart. The moment you mishandle it, that overwhelming power will tear your body to pieces.”
“Huff…”
A short sigh escaped Ainar’s lips.
It wasn’t hard to get drunk on the illusion of having protected honor alone. But if he did that, the position of chief would undoubtedly fall to Brunda.
And what future awaited the tribe if Brunda, who would accept this proposal without a second thought, ended up ruling?
‘Do I really have no choice but to swallow this humiliation for the tribe’s sake…?’
Ainar gave a bitter smile as he reflected on his own thoughts.
Even he didn’t know if that was sincerity or just an excuse.
After making a decision, he looked Ivar in the eyes.
“Tell me the method.”
At his eldest son’s satisfactory answer, Ivar smiled with smug satisfaction.
“First…”
***
“Manipulate the artifact in a specific way to regulate the mana being released, and then absorb it, huh…?”
Back at Gunstein’s house, Lucian repeated in a low voice the method Marius had explained to him.
According to Marius, if the mana was regulated that way, you could absorb just the right amount and gain benefits without risk.
He had also insisted that if the artifact wasn’t handled properly, the mana would go out of control and the body would explode, so adjusting it was essential.
— What Ivar took was, at most, the residual mana on the surface of the dragon’s heart. But with this method, you can store a huge amount of mana inside your body and use it whenever you want. To put it simply, it’s like keeping a gigantic spiritual pill inside you.
If everything went as Marius claimed, Lucian would become several times stronger than he was now.
The problem was how much he could trust Marius.
“Hugo, Felicia. What do you two think about what that old man said?”
“He’s not someone to be trusted.”
“He’s suspicious.”
Both responded almost at the same time and then explained their reasons one after another.
“If he’d said we should use the same method as the tribal chief, I might’ve believed it. But suggesting a different method and claiming it’s better—doesn’t that seem strange?”
“If Your Majesty follows the advice of a mage and side effects appear, he’ll have to depend on that mage even to recover. Maybe that’s what he’s after.”
Upon hearing them speak ill of their master, Helen and Colin’s faces flushed, but they couldn’t refute anything.
Even the disciples no longer knew what their master was really thinking.
Lucian let out a soft chuckle and nodded at their observations.
“You’re right. It seems he tried to stir up my greed in his own way, but he made too many mistakes in how he spoke. All he managed to do was make me feel even more uneasy.”
To condense inside the body an energy capable of making a person explode—
There was no guarantee such a massive mass of mana would remain stable indefinitely.
If it burst all at once, the body would explode; and even if it was released gradually, the pain of torn mana channels would make anyone writhe in agony.
A normal person didn’t have channels wide or strong enough to withstand such power.
But Lucian was far from normal.
“Raymond, what do you think?”
At Lucian’s question, Raymond, who had remained silent until then, burst out laughing.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty. You’ve finally found something to replace the nectar that was lost back then.”
____
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