CHAPTER 228

Zipfel's first tower of magic.

Often called the 'tower of discussion', Kelliark resided on the highest floor.

"Murakan, you say… We searched for Misha, but found something more problematic."

Kelliark muttered while tapping at his crystal orb. 

Kadun, in human form, buried his face in his hands.

"And, god damn it, what the hell did you do?! We lost an opportunity that fell right into our lap! Something like that will never happen twice!"

"You look especially disappointed today."

"Disappointed? I will never forgive myself for such a loss. If we'd caught Murakan, we could have easily lured his contractor."

Solderet's contractor. The most important ingredient for the Demon God's Orb.

Kelliark and the highest level of Zipfel's intelligence knew that Solderet's contractor had been active since 1795.

Right before the meeting of Jin and Andrei.

At that point, Kadun heard that Labus and Untiel met Murakan.

Despite this, Kelliark ignored Kadun's intel and assumed that Misha killed Andrei and Vyureta. He knew that Murakan could not utilize his full power after his slumber.

"Well, that's true. That basically proves that Vermont's earth dragons didn't lie to us, so let's just try to make ourselves an opportunity. Either way, he's not as strong as before."

Kelliark never experienced Murakan's full strength. Only through rumors could he extrapolate how strong the dragon was.

However, Kadun knew well.

"We don't know. He might recover."

"Reviving a dragon's heart is possible? Without the orb?"

"I haven't seen anything like that, but black dragons are a different breed. He might've been near Santel to find his strength again."

Kelliark sat up straight. He seemed a little more interested. 

He didn't care whether a dragon's heart could be revived or not. However, he found Kadun's reaction to be intriguing. 

"Now that you say that, I want to fight him in his prime. It wouldn't be bad at all if he regains his power."

"Don't even think about it."

"Anyway, I'm a little concerned about the holy king. He called over the Protectors of the Doctrine, and we already know what's going to happen now… He's a very stress-inducing man, and he hates me a little too much. What shall we do…?"

Kelliark gripped his forehead and shuddered.

He expressed his concern in exaggerated movements before revealing a smirk.

"Shall we get rid of him? That friend, he's lived a long and prosperous life. We'd be doing him a favor by sending him to heaven."

Kadun shook his head.

"You psycho."

"Haha, was that too much?"

* * *

With Rani's assistance, they could escape Santel fairly quickly. 

Although they fought a few paladins and had a short chase.

They successfully made it to the Shol Empire's transfer gate. The crew didn't immediately transfer to Tikan in order to throw off the pursuers. Once they returned, they would be done with their mission.

But they didn't look too happy.

"Meow…"

Murakan let out a weak cry in Jin's arms.

His tiny body felt hot to the touch. Even in his miniature form, Kadun's fire still burned him.

Murakan hadn't transformed willfully. Due to the inflicted damage, he subconsciously took this form to prolong his survival.

"Thank goodness he still has these instincts."

Escaping the grasp of Kadun and surviving the onslaught was definitely great.

"…This is definitely a problem. Jin, get him some water. The heat seems to be slowly dying."

Many weaknesses existed for dragons that transformed into something other than a human. 

If he lost the opportunity to 'transform back', he'd lose his control over the ability.

Basically losing the identity of a dragon.

"Meooow…"

Jin got some water in his cupped hands, and Murakan began to drink.

There was no way to immediately turn him back.

Black Dragons were unique. If they got stuck in some physical form, they needed to get a dragon from the same type to regain control of transformations. 

Since only two black dragons were active, they only had one option. To find Misha.

"I never thought I'd find myself hating the fact that he's a black dragon. Let's check his trail again and start our own search."

"Milord, please do not worry. Since he is alive, we will definitely find a way."

"Just as Kuzan said, we know a way to turn him back. Let's return first."

They went from one transfer gate to another for a full day before finally arriving in Tikan.

Although they wanted to return earlier, the risk of getting their tails caught would be infinitely worse.

Thankfully, Murakan's fever significantly dropped. However, he still wailed powerlessly.

"Welcome back, Milord! Santel's monster was Sir Murakan as expected. Huh, it seems he's not doing so hot. Did he succumb to the fire dragon?!"

"I need everyone in the meeting room. Gather all of the vets in the area as well."

"Vets?"

"Quickly."

"Understood. I will gather them all! But, Milord, the meeting room might be challenging. Instead, I think you should go to the emergency room."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Jet nodded then quickly looked around to see if anyone was listening before whispering.

"So, uhhhh… Sir Murakan's sister? Miss Misha…"

"You have news about Misha?"

"What about her?!"

Jin and Quikantel crowded around Jet, making him almost tumble onto his rear.

"Oh, boy, do I have a lot to say! She's such a violent woman. Certainly Sir Murakan's sister! She arrived five minutes ago, and she started throwing fists…!"

"What…?"

Jin and Quikantel looked at each other.

"It seems Beris saw her first. Apparently, she just appeared in the middle of the emergency room. So, Beris asked if she was some thief, and…"

"What happened to Beris?"

Kuzan joined the crowd around Jet.

"What the hell! I almost pissed myself. So, ahem. Listen carefully… Beris's chin got a little misshapen from the punch. The healers can easily fix that, so…"

Kuzan dashed away.

"Welp. It seems his chin will face the same fate."

Jin and Quikantel woke from their stupor and chased after him.

"Ohhhh, Milord. Please wait for me, you will need to be careful!"

'Why is Misha here, and how did she find us? And the violence, too. Does she have something against us?'

'Will she help Murakan? What if she can't, or refuses to?'

All kinds of questions raced through his mind.

And as they neared their destination, they saw Kuzan on the floor, unconscious.

Behind him was a strange sight.

After beating up Kuzan, she sat at a table. A sharp-looking woman with black hair.

Misha.

"Jin!"

"Welcome back, Milord. Haha."

Euria sat in Misha's lap, and there was Lathry serving cookies and tea. 

Shudder shudder, clink clink. 

Lathry's hands were trembling.

Kashimir and Julien, Enya, and Gilly sat around the same table. 

Kashimir had his corporate smile, and Julien trembled in fear as well.

Enya looked a little better, but she just saw two people get knocked out, so she didn't look too happy. Gilly looked calm as she passed cookies to Misha.

Jin and Quikantel looked confused.

'What in the… Wait. This is Misha?'

He had seen her before. Right after overcoming the Great Mythra Desert's third mirage, Temar.

Although he couldn't understand why she made such a mess, he didn't want to make a scene.

"I thought this would be the first, but it seems we have met before. O great black dragon, Miss Misha. I am Jin Runcandel."

Misha nodded.

"Indeed. Since we hadn't interacted in the desert, this is our first official meeting. Nice to meet you, thousand-year contractor. Is that my younger sibling in your arms?"

"Indeed. Coincidentally, we were planning to look for you to help Murakan. As you can see…"

"I don't even want to see this pitiful sight, so toss that somewhere and sit over here. I don't want to waste your time."

Jet quickly took Murakan to the healers.

"Quikantel, how've you been?"

"I've been doing well, Miss Misha. You should've sent a message about your arrival."

"You've gotten prettier since I last saw you. You're clearly out of his league, so please move on."

Quikantel cleared her throat.

"Anyway, putting that matter aside… Miss Misha, his condition is dire."

"I know. He lost to Kadun. I'll fix him later, so tell me what's been going on. I want to catch up on many things."