Eight consecutive thuds were heard as soon as the decapitated heads of Yamata no Orochi touched the ground. Tinuviel, Aegnor, and Cyane stared at the scene silently, too gobsmacked to say anything.

Cyane, who had expected a big fight, was as disappointed as he was excited. He had heard how good of a fighter Basil was; and after seeing Basil's display, he was sure Basil wasn't just good but extremely good.

'Still... I haven't even taken Joyeuse out yet!' Nonetheless, he felt slightly empty at the fact that he couldn't show off much.

On the other hand, Tinuviel and Aegnor had a dark expression. They would be lying if they said the fight had been easy, but recalling the fact that many of their Warriors had died because of the Mythical Beast that Basil had easily killed was frustrating.

'Either Master Basil is too strong or our Warriors are too incompetent ... Hopefully, it is the former—no, it should be the former!' they thought. They didn't think they would be able to cope with the fact that their Warriors were incompetent.

Clank! Clank!

Burst!

Boom! Boom!

Hearing the rowdiness of the battle their soldiers had with the Magic Beasts that had been commanded by Yamata no Orochi, the three people were reminded of the fact that the battle hadn't ended yet.

'There is still a chance for us to show off!' They didn't know why, but they felt the need to prove themselves to Basil, so he knew they were strong too.

"Master Basil, I think it is better to..."

Tinuviel, who was about to tell Basil that they should help their army fight the Magic Beasts, turned silent as soon as she saw Basil staring at the cave ahead of him solemnly.

He just stood there silently with his hands behind his back, looking like a sage waiting for the predicament that he had foreseen to come. Deacon was standing beside him, emanating a fierce aura that they hadn't felt when Yamata no Orochi showed up.

"What is happening?" Cyane muttered.

Aegnor and Tinuviel turned their eyes to the lifeless body of Yamata no Orochi at Cyane's muttering. They saw it drying up because all of its blood was flowing out of its body.

Curious, they inspected where the blood was flowing to. When they found it flowing to the cave that Basil was looking at, their expression immediately darkened.historical

The cave was on a higher ground—scientifically speaking, the blood shouldn't flow there. One might argue it was caused by a Magical phenomenon—yes, it was, and that was the reason why it was even more frightening.

Something was absorbing the blood of Yamata no Orochi inside the cave. Something was using Yamata no Orochi as a sacrifice to awaken and they dreaded what kind of powerful creature it was.

"If you worry about your power just because I did the job by myself, I will tell you this. You are not weak," Basil said calmly, waking the people from their thought. "I know that Beast well, which is the reason why I could defeat it easily."

Basil extended his left hand to his side; a sword immediately flew at him from the direction of Yamata no Orochi's fourth tail. It floated right beside him as soon as it reached him.

"Look at the shape of this sword that I extracted from the tail of Yamata no Orochi. This is Kusanagi—the reason behind the mysterious death of the Warriors from Skudera Tribe."

The Kusanagi Basil was controlling with [Master of Weapons] looked very similar to the one he had wielded a few years ago. There were only two differences between this one and the one he had wielded: the size and the colour.

The previous Kusanagi was just 102 centimetres long, whereas the current one was 172 centimetres long. The previous Kusanagi had a green hilt and a silver coloured blade, whereas the current Kusanagi had a milky white hilt and blade.

Shape wise, it was the same. It still had the shape of a calamus leaf, but sharper than the previous one.

"That is... The pattern matches."

"That means... For all this time..."

"The Beast was the one that had killed the Dark Elves!"

Being given the chance to finish their act, Tinuviel and Aegnor didn't think twice. They immediately seized the chance and tried their best to look enlightened.

Luckily for them, Cyane was immediately convinced—he didn't suspect anything. Although none of his subordinates had heard it, they were sure his subordinates would just follow his opinion later since he was their superior.

"Now, it is time to face on the real challenge," Basil said as Kusanagi flew above his head and pointed to the cave. "There, lies the reason why Yamata no Orochi was here."

Gulp!

The people instinctively entered battle mode at Basil's words. Their hearts pounded loudly; their vision was solely focused on the cave.

A breeze passed by, carrying a terrifying aura with it. An overwhelmingly terrifying pressure could be felt afterwards, shocking the three people and silencing the whole battlefield.

No one moved—no one dared to. They all stared nervously at the cave ahead of them—even the Magic Beasts did too.

Rawr!

A mighty roar resounded throughout the mountain.

Boom!

At the same time, a soul crushing pressure descended upon the place.

This time, no one but Basil could keep standing straight. Iliana, Ione, Tinuviel, Aegnor, and Cyane immediately kneeled in terror, meanwhile the others fell flat to the ground.

The Magic Beasts were too scared to stay, so they scurried away without minding the people who had disturbed their peace. They knew what was going to come out; it wouldn't be wise to be anywhere near it.

"Movest thou not, it is alright, my Beast," Basil said softly as he caressed Deacon's fur. "Help thy master with what thou dost best that is launching those wind spheres. This Beast standeth on a higher ground."

In the middle of Basil's forehead, his Pacifer Seal was shining brightly in gold. His golden eyes stared at the cave that was emanating the overwhelming pressure calmly—one couldn't find fear in them.

Boom!

After killing Yamata no Orochi, Basil inherited the Curse that it had—the one that had suppressed the Yang Energy of said Mythical Beast with Yin Energy, preventing it from being able to recreate its Core.

The Dragon Curse that Basil had gotten from Charles made the Yang Energy in his body overflow. It made his Qi getting harder to control, which made it easy for him to go on a rampage.

'The reason why Yamata no Orochi could stay alive so long is that it had used the Yin Energy the Curse produced to make a clone. I, on the other hand, use the Yin Energy to suppress the Yang Energy in my body.'

To prevent the Yin Energy from ruining its body, Yamata no Orochi had shed its skin and condensed the overflowing Yin Energy. It then used the condensed Yin Energy to turn its skin into an alive creature, which uncannily resembled it.

That was the reason why there were two Yamata no Orochi. The other one was just a mere vessel that real one could use to dump its overflowing Yin Energy.

Boom!

In Basil's case, he used the Yin Energy to suppress his overflowing Yang Energy that messed with his Qi Core. When the Yang Energy was suppressed, he could break through the boundary between the Early Stage and the Middle Stage of Violet Core.

It was, of course, still his limit. He couldn't advance anymore than that, lest he destroyed his Core and killed himself.

Screech!

As soon as Basil finished advancing, which was essentially just him lessening the suppression he put on his Core, something came out of the cave and soared to the sky.

It had a body that was completely covered in pointy scales; some of them were big and some of them were small. Including its tail, it was 25 metres long, which made it the biggest Beast Basil had encountered in this life.

It possessed a pair of wings that spanned over 15 metres each. Despite its big body, it could still fly through the air swiftly.

"No... way... That is... no way," Tinuviel muttered to herself as she tried hard to look up. "A Dragon... A Dragon in this day and age!"

Many thought Dragons had extinct, so the people shared the same sentiment as Tinuviel. Although only a handful of them could see the Dragon with their own eyes, the others who heard what she said was equally bewildered.

None of the records that they had read ever mentioned that Dragons could be easily defeated or there was an easy way to deal with Dragons. Given that fact, worrying that they might die soon was normal.

Thud!

When the Dragon landed, they felt like the judge of death had finally slammed his gavel on the table. 'We are going to die,' they all thought frantically.

"What a very young Dragon thou art."

Upon hearing the voice, the people couldn't help widening their eyes in shock. They could barely stay conscious, but there was someone who could speak casually to the Dragon—it was mind-boggling.

"H-How?" Cyane muttered painfully in shock as he looked at Basil.

It was hard for him to digest how Basil's soul could easily withstand the pressure the Dragon was putting on it. Basil could even stare at the Dragon right in its face, which made the it even more bewildering.

"Hu...man, what ... Is ... Your ... Purpose?"

"I am unable to speak Dragon Language; however, we can speak in another language if you find it hard to communicate in Exon."

"I ... Am fi...ne. I just ... Woke up, so ... I can't speak well."

"Splendid! Thou art getting better." After saying this, Basil deactivated his Pacifer Seal. "I am sure reading the Mana in your surroundings have some merit."

"Human ... You are we...ird."

Basil couldn't help humming to himself in wonder as he looked into the Dragon's curious eyes. So far, he couldn't sense any malice from it, indicating that it didn't have any intention to harm him.

As good as it was to hear, however, it wasn't a good news. The First Fragment, which he had thought was sealed in the cave, was sealed in its body, replacing the Heart that had been crippled.

Said Dragon, definitely, would not just hand him over the Fragment. The only way to extract it was by killing it and he had to risk his life for that.