Chapter 159: The Hollow Crown [12]

Klein stepped forward through the ring of spears.

He raised his scythe and placed the curved blade lightly against the soft scales at the base of the dragon’s neck, right where a single clean motion would end it.

Klein spoke in the same language "Bold of you to ask me for help... after you just tried to kill me."

For a moment, there was silence.

Then the dragon’s eye shifted and the vertical slit focused on him more clearly now, as if struggling to fully see him through whatever haze had consumed it before.

"...Not... will..."

The response came slower this time, "...bound..."

A faint tremor ran through its body "...hurts..."

Klein’s eyes sharpened slightly.

"Bound," he repeated quietly under his breath in the same dragon language. "By the chains?"

The dragon’s eye flickered with a slow, pained blink.

"...mind... broken..."

Klein exhaled softly letting the scythe’s edge press just a little deeper "So when I stepped in, you weren’t choosing to kill me."

The dragon’s breathing hitched slightly "...kill... everything..."

"...cannot... stop..."

His grip on the scythe shifted slightly "What if I let you live? You will stay in the tower anyway and suffer under that madness..."

"If someone new came here, you would try to kill them too."

"So, isn’t it better if I just kill you and end your suffering?"

For a few seconds, the dragon did not respond as it thought about it.

Its massive chest rose and fell unevenly, because it knows that even the act of existing had become a burden under whatever force still lingered inside it.

Then it spoke again "...better...for... you..."

"...kill...me."

Klein’s gaze condensed slightly hearing the pain in its voice ’...Damn it. Have I gone too soft?’

The dragon’s body trembled faintly again in strain.

Its remaining limbs pressed weakly against the ground, claws digging into the dead soil of the domain as.

"...cannot... hold...long..."

Klein’s eyes narrowed slightly watching the faint distortions in the flow of energy around its body.

The madness was suppressed, forced down by the pressure of the domain and the dominance he held here.

Klein exhaled slowly, "If I leave you like this, you’ll just keep killing anything that comes up here. You won’t even remember doing it."

The dragon didn’t deny it.

"...end... it..."

Klein’s grip tightened slightly around the scythe.

That would be the cleanest solution.

End the suffering and clear the floor.

Move on.

Simple.

His eyes lowered again, meeting the dragon’s gaze directly.

"...Serve under me and I will release you out of this hell."

The dragon’s vertical pupil narrowed, then slowly widened again as it realized what he is offering.

"...serve..."

It stared at him for a long moment as the intelligence behind the crimson eye struggled to separate the present from the long haze of forced madness.

"...bound... already..."

Klein shook his head "Not the same. That was forced."

He took one slow step closer and uttered "What I’m offering is a contract."

The dragon’s pupil narrowed faintly.

"...difference...?"

Klein exhaled softly and tilted the scythe slightly against its neck "With chains, you lose yourself... your will, your mind, everything gets twisted until all that’s left is a weapon."

His eyes locked onto the dragon’s "With me... you keep it."

The dragon’s claws dug slightly deeper into the dead soil beneath it in thought, processing his words.

"...why... help..."

He huffed a quiet breath, and a dry smile touched his lips "Because you’re useful,"

The dragon stared at him "...not... lie..."

Klein shrugged slightly. "I don’t need to. A True Dragon under contract is more valuable alive and lucid than dead on a Tower floor."

"I gain a powerful ally. You gain freedom from this place and the chance to keep your own mind."

But then the dragon turned it’s head "...risk..."

Klein nodded "Yeah. A big one. For both of us. If the madness returns the moment you’re free, I will end you without hesitation. I’m not interested in keeping a time bomb."

He lifted the scythe slightly, resting it against his shoulder "So, make the decision."

The dragon’s body trembled again, and the madness surged faintly beneath its surface, trying to reclaim control.

But it pushed it down and muttered "...contract..."

"Say it clearly," Klein replied.

The dragon’s gaze steadied, "...I... accept... your... contract..."

With a satisfied nod, he lowered the scythe completely "...Good choice,"

Klein dismissed the domain.

The vast forest of dead trees, the black sky, and the enormous dark moon all dissolved at once.

The crushing pressure of the Eternal Night Scythe faded like mist under sunlight.

The elegant black scythe in his hands shifted and reformed until the familiar Epic-grade spear Erica gave him rested in his grip once more.

Klein rolled his shoulders, feeling the four mana cores gradually cycle down from their overloaded state.

He looked around the cavern in silence for a moment, taking in the sheer scale of the floor.

Then his gaze returned to the True Dragon who is still half-collapsed on the platform, dark blood pooling beneath its massive body.

"The only way to fully release you from this Tower," Klein said in the old dragon language.

"...would be destroying the Tower itself. As long as the structure stands, its rules will keep trying to reclaim you."

The dragon’s crimson eye was fixed on him "...Possible... because... this specific Tower... man-made..."

He turned his head and spoke more flatly "Change into a human form. I can’t bear listening to that rough voice any longer."

The True Dragon stared at him for a short moment.

Then the air around its enormous body shimmered, and its black scales dissolved into streams of dark energy.

The massive body compressed and reshaped with surprising speed.

Within a few seconds the towering beast was gone.

In its place... a beautiful woman was standing.

She was tall and striking, with long black hair that fell past her waist.

Slightly pointed ears peeked through the dark strands with crown like horns on her head.

She was wearing a simple black robe that clung loosely to a curvaceous figure, and her bare feet rested against the cracked stone of the platform as she stared athim.

Klein was dumbfounded to see the beautiful woman ’Fuck... it’s a woman?’

’I couldn’t tell earlier because the voice was rough.’

-_- ’Now I am gonna get more allegations that I am collecting women.’

’How am I going to explain this to Arwen and Cyn?’

He pushed the thought aside for later and looked at her directly "What is your name?"

"...Artoria Syrenyx Duskwing"

Klein shook his head "I didn’t ask for an alias. Your real name. Your true dragon name."

H-Huh? Artoria’s eyes shrank in horror hearing his words "H-How..."

Klein saw her shocked expression, and his gaze narrowed slightly "You didn’t expect me to blindly take you in, did you?"

Artoria’s gaze stayed locked on him ’...How does he even know that?’

She forced her breathing to steady. The residual pain from her severed limb and the deep wounds across her body was still present, but it was secondary to whathe was asking.

"...Do you understand the scale of what you are asking?"

"A True Dragon’s true name is not a random title. It is the core of what we are. To speak it aloud to another is to place the entirety of our existence in their hands."

"It is the highest form of submission our kind can offer..."

Nodding his head, Klein repliead "I am well aware of that, and that’s why I am asking your dragon name."

"I want you under complete submission..."

"You are a stranger to me, so don’t expect me to take you in without any precaution."

"If you don’t agree to that condition, it’s alright. I will let you rot here, and in spite of it, I won’t even kill you to end your misery... so you will stay in this tower for eternity."

Artoria frowned slightly hearing his straight forward answer "...Do you have any women?"

Eh? Klein was confused by her sudden weird question "I do. In fact, I have 2 wives and three girlfriends. All of that in just 158 Chapters."

"Why do you ask?"

She glanced away as an exasperated look crossed her elegant features "I am surprised women are even fond of you when you have a mouth like that."

-_- He gave her a flat look ’This woman...’

"You said that this tower is man-made, right?"

"Then whoever put you here didn’t do it randomly. A True Dragon doesn’t just end up chained inside something like this unless someone has a reason."

"You were arrogant... didn’t you?"

A flash of anger passed through Artoria’s eyes "..."

Seeing her silence, Klein smiled "I thought so. Dragons and demons have too much pride and consider themselves the superior species."

"Strong, long-lived, born above most things... so you start believing you’re above everything."

"Eventually you say the wrong thing, challenge the wrong person, or step on someone who doesn’t tolerate it."

"Then you end up somewhere like this."

Artoria’s eyes sharpened further at that, and for the first time since she transformed, a nerve popped in her head.

"...You presume much for someone who has never seen a true dragon before."

"You look barely twenty-two... twenty-three at most. How much of the world have you even seen to speak like that?"

With a shake of his head, he replied "I have seen a lot of dragons in my life. Heck, I have killed thousands of your kind."

"I even had a spear back then," he muttered, lifting his hand slightly. "Specially made for hunting dragons like you."

A nostalgic smile touched his lips "Haa... those golden days of slaying dragons with Ria."

Artoria stared at him as if he is just muttering some bullshit, "...You are just blabbering nonsense now."

Klein shrugged lightly. "It doesn’t have to make sense for you. Anyway, story time is over.

"Back to the discussion... what is your name?"

Artoria was silent for a moment, and her gaze lowered slightly as she thought about the consequences of accepting the offer.

"...Very well," she said at last. "If that is the price of freedom from this place, then I will pay it."

She straightened fully, her long black hair falling down her back, letting her slightly pointed ears be visible through the dark strands.

"My true name is..."

The words that followed were spoken so softly that only he could hear them.

As she muttered her real name, which is only reserved for Klein’s ears, an irreversible bond formed between them.

Artoria’s shoulders lowered slightly "It is done. You alone hold it now. Use it as you will... Master."

A faint smile appeared on his lips "From this point on, you serve under me."

Artoria inclined her head in formal acknowledgment "Then I am yours to command."

Klein rested the spear against his shoulder and glanced once more around the ruined 40th floor.

"Good. First of all... as your master, I will help you leave this tower."