Chapter 980

The dragonkin rushed Izario completely furious after getting taunted. Well, they seemed really quick to anger even beforehand.

Though they behaved like typical small fry, their combat ability was no joke. All ten dragonkin were on the level of Rank C adventurers. The leader and the one next to him seemed even stronger.

With such abilities, they could easily be a first-rate adventurer party.

Except their equipment wasn’t up to par. Dragonkin tended to dislike heavy armor due to pride in their durable scales. Even so, the dragonkin in front of us clearly had gear unbefitting veteran warriors.

All of their armor was the stuff you would see worn by Rank D, or high Rank E adventurers. The same could be said of the weapons in their hands.

They acted like your average thug with similar crappy equipment. And yet, their stats were very high.

That seemed really peculiar to me.

But whoever they were, they were no match for Izario. I couldn’t imagine Izario losing, even if he’s slightly fatigued.

Fran wasn’t worried about winning or losing, but rather afraid that Izario would exhaust himself further.

「Urooooh!」

「Die!」

「Hahaha, that’s not enough to kill me.」

「Fuck!」

「Doryah!」

「Such obvious moves. You’re making me yawn.」

Izario repeatedly taunted the dragonkin as he continued dodging their attacks. The dragonkin were already right where he wanted them.

They were so preoccupied with Izario that they failed to realize what he was doing. Meanwhile, we saw the ambient temperature rising little by little.

By the time they felt something out of place, it’s already too late.

Sure enough, the dragonkin started falling to the ground, unable to move after about five minutes.

But that’s when something strange happened.

The dragonkin were clearly at their limits, but they continued struggling. The leader of the group in particular. He kept on fighting despite barely managing to keep his balance.

「Gubu…… Ugh…… Ugah!」

「Hey, hey, don’t push yourself man.」

「Gaaah!」

Despite vomiting up gastric juices, he refused to stop. His eyes clearly showed a hint of insanity.

This was something we’ve seen before.

The dragonkin we captured in Sendia’s underground room. Right as we were about to destroy the evil crystals, they went into a strange frenzy. These dragonkin seemed to be in a similar state.

Perhaps they’ve been brainwashed by the Dragon King’s “Dragon Domination” skill.

Izario must have intended to capture and interrogate the dragonkin. However, none of the dragonkin stopped their rampage even after we restrained them.

Their mana and life force continued depleting rapidly, until eventually all of them took their last breath. It seems they had been ordered to continue rampaging until their own deaths.

「Dang, sorry. I was hoping to get some info out of them.」

Izario spoke apologetically, but the result would have been the same for anyone else.

「No, I don’t believe you are to blame. This was out of our control. Those dragonkin must have been manipulated somehow.」

「You think so too? Dragonkin generally looked down on other races, but those guys were terrible. First time hearing them call us “foolish inferior beings”.」

「And they didn’t seem to recognize you, Crimson Blade-dono.」

「Yeah, I guess I am kinda a celebrity around here.」

Izario also found the behavior of the dragonkin unusual. Well, they were pretty terrible even from our point of view.

Frederick looked over the corpses of the dragonkin and went deep into thought.

「What’s on your mind, dragon dude?」

「I’ve seen these people before. I believe they were novice warriors from the northern reservation.」

「……Novice warriors? You sure about that?」

「I am certain.」

Izario looked very surprised. He had been trying to provoke them, but he didn’t think they were really such small fry.

I have to say I’m surprised too. Novice warriors with that strength? Despite being on the level of stronger adventurers? I guess the equipment and behavior was something I would expect from that level though.

That’s when Frederick called over Fran, Izario, and Shikimi. Apparently, he knew something that he didn’t want anyone else to hear.

「……They may have ingested the Sacrament of the Dragon God.」

「Sacrament of the Dragon God?」

「Yes, a magic potion Trismegistus was said to have developed a long time ago, which dramatically increases the abilities of any dragonkin. It’s thanks to that potion that I’ve obtained my newfound powers as well.」

「I thought you said it’s your abilities as a half-evil dragonkin.」

「That’s only part of the truth. To be more precise, I drank the Sacrament of the Dragon God, which also boosted my innate abilities. That allowed me to take in much more evil energy.」

「I see. This potion sounds very troublesome.」

「It also has nasty side effects.」

This is apparently a forbidden potion only known to a select few of the dragonkin race. Knowledge of the production method is limited to the priestesses, and there are strict rules over who is allowed to possess it.

The potion stimulates the dragon factor in the blood of dragonkin, which amplifies their abilities. This is no temporary boost, but a permanent power up.

Of course, that makes it incredibly valuable to any dragonkin. They can gain additional power without the effort of leveling up.

However, the side effects carry an equal amount of danger.

First, the physical transformation causes a terrible reaction in the body, so great that half of the patients die immediately after taking the potion. That alone is horrifying enough, but another half die within a few days after their bodies are transfigured irreversibly.

In other words, 75% of those who take the potion die. It’s truly a miracle that Frederick was still standing next to us right now.

「This information cannot be revealed to the public, so avoid spreading it around if possible.」

「Okay.」

「Sure. These guys were low-ranking warriors to begin with, right? Could they even handle the side effects?」

「Actually, there’s a way to reduce the side effects.」

「Oh? Then shouldn’t it be pretty easy to use?」

「Not quite, the method greatly reduces your lifespan.」

The Sacrament of the Dragon God is a liquid about the volume of a sake glass. Drinking all of it activates the enhancement.

Then, what happens if you drink only a few drops? You will be strengthened only half as much, but the side effects aren’t enough to kill you instantly.

Just hearing that, it sounds perfect.

However, there’s a trap hidden in this method. By only partially enhancing your body, the burden on the unenhanced parts increases several times over, resulting in a dramatically shortened lifespan. The dragonkin who fought Izario would probably have lost their lives within ten days at the most.

They died much earlier as a result of continuously overexerting themselves while ignoring the burden.

So the Dragon King brainwashed his men and forced them to fight after giving them a lethal enhancement drug. What a truly disgusting bastard!

「The Dragon King, huh…… Seems like he really needs to go down.」

Izario’s mutter was filled with killing intent, something we’ve never seen from him before.