Chapter 51: Who are You?

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Who are You?

The four headless bodies stood frozen for a fraction of a second. Then, they collapsed simultaneously, their heavy armor clattering violently against the cold stone floor.

Fountains of blood dyed the ground bloody red

​Inside the rusted cage, the silver haired woman stopped breathing.

​Her bruised, delicate hands gripped the iron bars tightly. For weeks, she had endured absolute hell. She had prepared her mind to be completely broken. She had fully intended to bite her own tongue and bleed to death tonight just to escape the vile, disgusting fate these reptilian monsters had planned for her. Humans were nothing but fragile livestock in this ruined world. They were cattle meant to be slaughtered, eaten, or bred for entertainment.

​But the entity standing before her was not cattle.

​"What exactly is he? He looks exactly like a human man. His skin is pale. He has no scales, no horns, no tail. Yet the air around him feels impossibly heavy. It is like staring directly into the open jaws of an ancient leviathan."

​She watched closely as Krono slowly manifested from thin air, stepping casually over the twitching, headless corpses.

He did not look at the screaming crowd. His eyes were fixed entirely on the fat auctioneer.

​"Those are not the eyes of a mortal.There is absolutely no warmth in them. There is no heroic righteousness. There is only absolute, bottomless hunger. Did he come here to save me? Or does he simply want to consume me himself?"

"RUN! HE IS GOING TO KILL US ALL!"

​The underground market erupted into complete chaos.

The wealthy dragonoots who had been laughing just seconds ago were now trampling over each other, desperately clawing at the stone walls to escape the cavernous plaza.

​The fat Slave Master fell backward onto the wooden platform.

​"Monster! Stay away from me! Do you know who I am? I am under the direct protection of the Draxen Emperor himself!" the lizardman screamed in desperation.

​Krono just raised his right index finger and simply pointed it at the fat lizardman.

​"Sit down," Krono commanded domineeringly.

Buzz!

Slave Master’s shoulders were hit with the weight of a falling mountain as pitch black Miasma shot forward from Krono’s finger.

​Crack!

​The fat lizardman screamed in excruciating agony as both of his kneecaps instantly shattered under the invisible pressure.

Bam!

He was forcefully pinned flat against the bloody wooden boards, totally unable to lift even a single finger.

The entire wooden platform groaned loudly under the sudden increased gravity.

​Krono then walked up the wooden stairs at a leisurely pace.

He stopped right in front of the rusted iron cage.

​The silver haired woman looked up at him.

Up close, his physical perfection was even more breathtaking. But the suffocating pressure radiating from his pale skin made her instinctually press her back against the cold iron bars. She had been a powerful mage before she was captured, yet her magical core trembled uncontrollably just being in his presence.

​Krono did not say a word to her. He simply reached out with both of his bare hands and grabbed the thick skysteel bars of her magical prison.

​Mad of dragonsteel, these bars were explicitly forged to withstand the raw physical strength of a mature dragon. ℴ

​But for Krono, they were paper toys.

He pulled his hands apart effortlessly, and thr indestructible dragonsteel groaned in protest before snapping in half like dry wooden twigs.

He peeled the heavy cage open, tearing the enchanted metal completely off its hinges and tossing it carelessly into the screaming crowd.

"Don’t do this, you demon. You are going against the Draxen Empire!"

​Hearing the threat, Krono looked down at the fat Slave Master, who was lying pathetically in a puddle of his own blood.

​"I said the woman belongs to me. I do not remember asking for anyone’s permission."

In the next moment, the fat Slave Master was devoured in single gulp.

His eyes turned to the silver haired woman, extending his hand he said, "Come with me. In this rotting world, I am your only Salvation."

---

The massive iron gates of the upper district were completely wide open.

The elite Draxen guards stationed at the city walls were kneeling in the dirt, their weapons cast aside. They kept their reptilian heads bowed deeply to the ground, trembling violently as the pale human walked casually through the exit.

Krono did not even spare them a single glance. He stepped smoothly onto the ash covered wasteland outside the city limits, his bare feet leaving light imprints in the grey dust.

​The silver haired woman followed closely behind him. She dared not fall behind the terrifying entity who had just slaughtered an entire noble bloodline.

​The sky above the wasteland was choked with thick, toxic smog. Jagged, obsidian mountains loomed in the far distance, looking exactly like the teeth of a dead titan.

The world outside the city was a merciless, rotting hellscape filled with mutant beasts. Yet, walking exactly two paces behind the crimsom eyed devil, she felt an absurd sense of absolute safety.

No wild predator in this wasteland could possibly match the apocalyptic monster currently leading her through the darkness.

​They walked in complete silence for several miles. The vision of the Rodrag city slowly faded away behind the dense, rotting trees.

​Krono finally stopped. He stood at the edge of a deep, rushing black river and turned to face her.

​"You have been staring at the back of my head for an hour. What is your name?"

​In response to his question, she just wrapped her bleeding arms tightly around her torn white garments.

She thrn looked at his flawless, aristocratic face.

​"I will tell you my name. But you must answer me first. What exactly are you? You look entirely human. You have no scales, no fangs, and no tail. But human beings do not shatter dragon-steel with their bare hands. Human beings do not eat dragon lords alive. Are you an ancient demon taking a human shell?"