A Dragonslayer's Peerless Regression

[Translator - Peptobismal]

[Proofreader - Max]

Chapter 41

Zeke's request flustered Cliff.

"Employment...? You mean working for our company?"

He told Cliff,

"If you've dealt with the First Princess, you must have at least a branch in the Southern Continent. I need a cover identity to travel there."

Cliff, always meticulous, pondered whether Zeke's request violated the terms of their agreement.

"So you just need us to create a cover identity?"

"I'd like you to provide information on regular transport to the South, and arrange a safe house that can be used on-site, like this place. Preferably with a large warehouse to store goods."

It wasn't a simple request, but it wasn't beyond the capabilities of the Reinhardt Company.

Cliff nodded.

"Alright."

"Good. I'll let you know about the other two requests later. There's no time limit on asking for favors."

With that, Zeke picked up one of the papers Cliff had brought and scribbled something on it.

Then he handed it over to Cliff.

"If you make this medicine and take it for about two months, you'll recover soon. The princess is young, so she might recover even faster."

Cliff reached for the document with trembling hands.

Just then, Zeke held onto the document.

"As stated in the contract, remember that this treatment can only be used for Princess Melissa. If you hand this over to anyone else, I won't let it slide."

Cliff nodded.

"Understood."

Only then did Zeke hand over the document to Cliff.

He rose from his seat in a hurry.

"I truly apologize for today's incident. I'll formally invite you and apologize soon."

"Forget about that and just take care of what I asked for. And provide me with a horse to get back."

Cliff nodded and left first.

After he left, Zeke looked at the Gorka Ranger who was guarding him.

He spoke to him in Gorkali.

"You have good skills. How long is your contract with Cliff? If it's not much longer, I'd like to make a contract with you too."

The Ranger was surprised that Zeke spoke Gorkali.

"Where did you learn Gorkali?"

"I learned it over someone's shoulder a while back."

"I guess Draker teaches these things too."

"Not really... Let's just say it's a hobby."

Having traveled all over the continent in his past life, Zeke had acquired various languages, even though he hadn't intended to.

Just then, another Gorka Ranger entered and gestured to Zeke.

Zeke followed the Rangers out of the warehouse.

A Ranger handed Zeke a horse.

"Take this and go."

Zeke leaped onto the horse.

Then he looked at the Rangers and said,

"Hey!"

From atop the horse, Zeke tossed something towards the Rangers.

"This is a reward for kidnapping me."

The Rangers, startled, instinctively caught it. When they checked what it was, they realized Zeke had snatched their Kukri knives and thrown them back.

The Kukri knife was a symbol as important as life to a Gorka Ranger.

The fact that it was taken from them without them realizing it meant that Zeke could have overpowered them at any time.

Seeing the bewildered Rangers, Zeke grinned and said,

"What I said earlier, I meant it. Contact me anytime. Giddy up!"

Zeke spurred the horse and left the warehouse, returning to the mansion.

***

After meeting with Cliff, Zeke quietly spent time adjusting to life in Valhalla.

Unlike the academy, Valhalla allowed students to attend the classes they needed at their preferred times.

Once they completed the required basic courses, the rest was left to the students' discretion.

More interested in gathering talented individuals in Valhalla than the classes themselves, Zeke sought out classes where the Five Star Knights, excluding Diego, were likely to be.

However, the timing wasn't right.

Jeffric Solma, the Knight of War Dance, was in his final year and currently on a field training mission, and Bishop Caustic, the Knight of Silence, had already graduated and joined the Thebea Kingdom Knights.

Only Aster Eldolf, the Knight of Illusion, was a current student, but for some reason, he hadn't shown up despite registering for classes.

Zeke had no choice but to start by recruiting Diego Villa, the Knight of Rhythm, whom he was somewhat acquainted with.

"Yo! Bro. Welcome to our club."

That's why Zeke was visiting the Southern Fusion New Age Music Research Club, where Diego Villa was the president.

"Wow, it's really Zeke Draker."

"Awesome!"

Rumors about Zeke had already spread throughout Valhalla, so the club members looked at him with curiosity.

After calming the members down, Diego said he would play music composed by the club especially for Zeke.

Although Zeke had no appreciation for music, he patiently listened to the performance by Diego and the club members.

'What is this?'

As a former hitman in the South, Zeke had to listen to Southern music every day, whether he liked it or not, because of Don Juan, the boss of McCain.

Thanks to that, he knew a lot about Southern music, even though he hadn't wanted to.

Zeke, whose ears were trained on traditional Southern music, didn't find the rhythm Diego was playing very pleasing.

"Tsk!"

After finishing the performance, Diego approached Zeke with a smile.

"Hey, bro. How was our performance?"

Zeke looked at Diego and clicked his tongue.

"Diego. Have you ever actually listened to Southern music properly?"

"What? Hey, bro. I'm from the South. I'm full of South soul!"

"South soul, my foot. Southern rhythm is basically... Ugh, move aside."

Shaking his head, Zeke jumped up from his seat.

Then he sat down in front of the Southern instrument where Diego had been sitting.

He picked up the stick placed next to it and started beating the drum.

Dumdumdumdum!

With the drumstick in his hand, Zeke created a simple but passionate rhythm.

Dum! Dumdumdum! Dumdum!

"Wow! What a great rhythm!"

Following Zeke's Southern rhythm, other members started to add melodies with their respective instruments.

With the rhythm that made them move their bodies instinctively, Diego improvised lyrics and added vocals.

"Yo! I'm a Southern swordsman! You guys are Central fools! Northerners are just idiots!"

Before they knew it, a fusion music was completed, based on the Southern rhythm with a Central Continent melody added.

Dumdumdum!

Zeke finished the rhythm.

The other members were immersed in the rhythm Zeke had created and their own melodies.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Diego was moved by the sensation he felt for the first time.

"What the...! Zeke, bro! You're a genius not only with the sword but also with music, yo!"

The other club members also looked at Zeke with admiration.

"He's the god of rhythm."

"This is going to be a hit. Definitely a hit."

Zeke was embarrassed by this reaction, as he had just played a simple rhythm from his memory because Diego's rhythm was so terrible.

'I think I did something unnecessary.'

Feeling like he might get caught up in something troublesome if he stayed any longer, Zeke hurriedly got up from his seat.

Then Diego grabbed Zeke's leg and clung to him.

"No, bro! It's a disaster for the continent for a talent like you not to pursue music! You have to do music!"

"Diego. Why on earth did you come to Valhalla?"

"Bro, I came to spread South soul to this desolate Valhalla!"

"..."

After shaking off Diego and the fusion music club members who were desperately trying to hold onto him, Zeke returned to the mansion.

"Whew, I almost got caught up in something strange."

Being multi-talented was also a problem.

Zeke chuckled at the absurd situation where he almost got caught up while trying to recruit Diego, then pulled himself together and decided to focus on his personal training.

He opened Terakan's secure archive, opened the True Dragon Sword Skill's verses, and read them.

"Hmm... No matter how many times I read it, it's really difficult."

Elemental Sword was also difficult, but Kaisir had explained it to him step by step, so there weren't any parts he couldn't understand for long.

However, there were too many parts in the True Dragon Sword Skill where the expressions themselves were incomprehensible.

"Circulate Aura through the body to open up the blood vessels, and proceed from the microcosmic circulation to the macrocosmic circulation... What on earth does this mean?"

Although he was reading it translated from ancient Chronos language to the Central common language with the system's help, the expressions themselves were not used in this era, making it very difficult to understand.

Zeke decided to put aside what he didn't understand for now and try to learn the sword forms first.

In the first place, Terakan Draker had created the Dragon Slayer technique based on the True Dragon Sword Skill's forms, so the basic roots were the same.

"The True Dragon Sword Skill has many more forms and is more complex. It must have been tough to organize it into the Dragon Slayer technique."

Zeke practiced the True Dragon Sword Skill's forms one by one, referring to the Dragon Slayer technique.

Although the Dragon Slayer technique had large movements, it was designed for combat against humans, so it could be used in actual battles.

However, with the True Dragon Sword Skill, he could clearly feel that it was a sword skill created to fight dragons.

He had to put all his strength into each strike to be able to cut down a giant dragon.

Whoosh!

Zeke quickly grasped the sword forms of the True Dragon Sword Skill, which even Terakan Draker had given up on because it was too difficult, and practiced them with his sword, internalizing them.

"Here... so, move like this. Turn and strike. Jump and... strike again."

Zeke practiced the sword forms, even generating an Aura Blade.

There was one fact that Zeke had overlooked.

The actual True Dragon Sword Skill was a sword technique designed to generate Aura from the ether hall, open up all the meridians in the body, strengthen the entire body, and unleash a powerful force in one burst.

However, Zeke didn't have a lower dantian, so he used the power of mana generated from his ether hall with Bahamut's heart, converting it into Aura to use in the sword technique.

Since Zeke didn't generate Aura from his lower dantian and meridians in the first place, the verses of the True Dragon Sword Skill were essentially unnecessary for him.

Woooong!

The heightened senses of the Divine Body instinctively guided the flow of the sword, even just from the forms.

Before he knew it, Zeke had not only grasped the sword forms of the True Dragon Sword Skill but also its application.

Whee!

The more he repeated the forms, the sharper his swordsmanship became.

As Zeke mastered the True Dragon Sword Skill, he felt a wall, seemingly within reach yet intangible.

'Could it be that I'm already sensing the wall of the Black Knight? This is too early.'

He thought it was absurd that he had grown enough to sense the wall of the Black Knight so soon after overcoming the wall of the Red Knight.

Zeke calmly continued swinging his sword.

The mana flowing from his ether hall became even more focused on Bahamut.

Thump!

At the same time, the heart of Bahamut, sealed within Zeke's ether hall, started to resonate.

Then, Bahamut's heart began to beat in sync with Zeke's True Dragon Sword Skill.

'What's this?'

The more he swung his sword, the stranger he felt.

His solar plexus throbbed, and a part of his brain tingled.

Nevertheless, he didn't stop, swinging his sword again and again.

He felt like he couldn't miss this sensation.

Thump-thump-thump!

Bahamut's heart beat more intensely.

And at some point, light emanated from the mark engraved on Zeke's solar plexus.

"Wh-what's this?"

Suddenly, Zeke's vision went completely black.

He had experienced this before.

A situation where a vivid reality unfolded, even though it clearly wasn't happening in the real world.

Zeke's perspective changed.

He was curled up in a vast cavern, slumbering in the abyss.

Then he felt someone approaching him.

Zeke slowly rose from the depths of the abyss and opened his eyes.

A human, appearing as small as an ant.

A man with his face hidden under a deeply pulled hood looked at Zeke and said,

"Ruler of the Sunset. Bahamut."

Zeke then realized that he had become a dragon, not a human.

And as a dragon, he opened his mouth to speak to the human.

"Saturn Draker. How dare you. What brings you here?"

Surprisingly, the human before him was Saturn Draker, the King of Chronos and known as the Sword Saint. He said to Bahamut,

"Ruler of the Sunset. I have a request for you."

Bahamut lowered his head towards Saturn.

The dragon's majesty and an incomparably dense and powerful killing intent poured out towards Saturn.

"You dare to make a request of me? You wretched human. If it weren't for Chronos, I would have wiped you all out right now."

Saturn said to Bahamut,

"Ruler of the Sunset. I understand your anger. That's why I want to ask you this favor."

Saturn took something out from his pocket.

"The Dragon Slayer technique I created, the True Dragon Sword Skill. I want you to take charge of it."

[Translator - Peptobismal]

[Proofreader - Max]