The war had ended in a single day. The coalition forces were victorious, and the ancient king had been defeated. It was a victory they could never have dreamed of achieving if not for Kang Yoon-Soo’s command and leadership.

“We’re victorious!”

“We protected the desert from the ancient king!”

The once-lifeless desert was filled with life as the coalition army roared and cheered. The trolls and the elves sat together, clinking their mugs and celebrating their victory. At some point, however, all of the coalition forces maintained a moment of silence to pay respect to those who were sacrificed in the war.

Most people were drunk and joyful, but one man solemnly walked across the desert, leaving behind all of the festivities.

‘It should be fine around here.’

Katz wiped the sweat off his brow and lowered the burden he had been carrying on his back. He had stopped in a beautiful place in the desert, filled with all sorts of flowers and plants. That was the place where all of the elves had worked, trying to revitalize the desert and return it to its former lush state.

“Hey, mister, who are you?” a voice called out.

“Ack!” Katz jumped back in surprise.

A young elf suddenly came out of nowhere, having snuck up behind Katz. She asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Umm… I’m giving fertilizer to the desert flowers,” Katz said awkwardly.

“Hm? You were going to take a dump?” the elf asked.

“No, no…” Katz said as he showed her a pot filled with bone dust. He continued, “I heard bone dust was good for plants.”

“Hmm… That’s fine. Try not to hurt the plants when you spread it,” the elf said before walking to another spot in the field.

Katz let out a sigh of relief. He did not dare imagine how the elf would have reacted if she found out the bone dust belonged to Kartheon.

“Do something good, at least,” he muttered as he spread the bone dust across the flower field, the flowers dancing in the wind. Katz did not have any specific reason to spread Kartheon’s remains, and yet he did so anyway.

“I never considered for a moment that we were friends or something, and you did try to kill me a few times as well,” Katz said, scratching his cheek. He continued, “But strangely enough… You were a pretty nice guy to me.”

Katz was aware that Kartheon was a villain, and that he had massacred numerous innocent victims. Regardless, he muttered, “You were the one who helped me when the dragon was about to step on me, right? I was alive after I blinked. You stopped time, didn’t you?”

Of course, that was nowhere near enough to justify all of the atrocities Kartheon had committed, and presenting a criminal as a saint would not absolve them for the crimes they had committed. However, Katz decided to remember Kartheon in a good light regardless.

“I’ll keep it to myself anyway; what’s the problem?” Katz remarked with a bitter smile. He was only going to get an extra ten years in prison if they ever found out about his involvement, since he was already wanted as a graverobber anyway.

Katz finished spreading the bone dust and said, “Hey, Kartheon. Wasn’t I a good companion to you, at least?”

There was no response.

Katz took out a plant seedling from his bag. It was a plant that was incredibly difficult to find in the desert. Then, he placed the rare seedling in the middle of the desert flowers to mark the ancient king’s resting place.

“Come to think of it… What was written on your tombstone…?” Katz wondered, scratching his head. He realized they had never gotten the chance to finish their conversation regarding what Kartheon would have wanted to be inscribed on his tombstone later on.

“I guess I just have to make it up,” Katz muttered as he took out his graverobbing equipment. He took out his lockpicking set, using the sharp edge of a lockpick to engrave words into the wood supporting the rare plant seedling as a makeshift tombstone for the ancient king.

[In remembrance of the king who stopped time for an insignificant graverobber.]

Who knew? Perhaps the ancient king’s burial site would one day transform the desert into a lush, green forest.

The desert flowers danced along with the wind that blew across the Desert of Death.

***

The Colossus’ corpse had turned to dust and disappeared without a trace. The Colossus had been sealed for too long, and its body crumbled into dust as soon as its lifeforce faded.

[You have completed the ‘Legendary Quest—Emperor of Time’.]

That message had popped up from Kang Yoon-Soo’s wrist device as soon as he killed Kartheon, and he had also been notified of his rewards for completing the legendary quest.

[Please choose between the Authority of Domination or the Authority of Time.]

Kang Yoon-Soo had already experienced obtaining each of the authorities through his multiple regressions. The Authority of Domination would give him the powers to command the mummies that followed Kartheon. It had been a very good reward, but the mummies this time around had been reduced from the original seven thousand to just a few hundred because of the war. He also knew from experience that the Authority of Time was the better reward.

“Authority of Time,” he muttered.

[You may obtain one of the skills used by Kartheon to control time.]

Three skills popped up.

[Time Regression]

[Time Resurrection]

[Time Freeze]

‘Time Regression’ was a skill that meant exactly what its name said, allowing the user to control and turn back time. However, Kang Yoon-Soo was someone who would be driven berserk just by the mention of the word ‘regress’. Besides, he had once attempted to fight against the Demon Lord with the ‘Time Regression’ skill, but all it had done was mentally scar him.

‘Time Freeze’ was a skill anyone would dream of getting, but the cost of stopping time was too high. Stopping time for even just a second was enough to leave one bedridden for a whole week.

Kang Yoon-Soo ended up choosing ‘Time Resurrection’.

[Time Resurrection (MASTER)]

Skill Level: 15 (100.00%)

Temporal Power Consumed: 50,000

Allows the user to reverse time for a corpse and bring it back to life. The user may even resurrect a historical figure or a hideous monster only spoken of in mythology.

*The casting time will increase the more powerful the target is and the longer the target has been dead.

[You have obtained the temporal power left unused by Kartheon.]

[You have obtained 50,017 units of temporal power.]

Time Resurrection was a very useful skill. It would even give Kang Yoon-Soo the option to resurrect an Archmage from the past or a famous knight to add to his party. However, the skill did not allow him to resurrect himself, and it consumed a whopping 50,000 units of temporal power to use.

‘I can’t collect temporal power like Kartheon did.’

To put it simply, it was a one-off skill. The temporal power transferred to Kang Yoon-Soo was worth approximately 50,000 units. He would never be able to use the skill again after using it once.

‘But I have to use it now.’

Ignus glared at Kang Yoon-Soo with an impatient, longing gaze. She roared, “You! Be careful! Be extra careful not to hurt my child!”

“Shut up,” Kang Yoon-Soo retorted.

“I’m just worried, that’s all!” Ignus said with tears in her eyes.

Kang Yoon-Soo extended his right hand toward the dead egg and muttered, “Time Resurrection.”

The cold, lifeless egg was enveloped in bright light, quickly recovering its warmth as time turned back for it.

Ignus asked impatiently, “Did it work? Will my child be able to live?”

“Wait,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied curtly.

The large, round egg slowly started to tremble. The eggshell started to crack, bursting with fluid as a small red baby dragon peeked its head out of the egg. The baby dragon cried, “Kwak!”

“My child!” Ignus cried, licking the baby dragon intensely.

Shaneth sniffled as she said, “This is so touching…”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Then at least let it show on your face…?” Shaneth replied as she stared at Kang Yoon-Soo.

“I. Just. Can’t,” Kang Yoon-Soo responded.

Shaneth playfully displayed her fist as she remarked, “Do you want me to make you cry?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo responded curtly, seemingly showing disdain for the touching scene.

Henrick, on the other hand, lamented while hanging onto the dragon’s back, “Please! Stop moving! You’re making it difficult for me to stitch you up!”

Henrick was dangling in midair while trying to attach the dragon’s wing to her body, with the Body Crafting Kit attached to a spear. The spear was connected to his mana threads, and he was trying to stitch the wing back onto Ignus with it.

“Hey! You punks down there! Hold the wing properly, will you?!” Henrick shouted.

“We’re trying our best!” Yanak retorted angrily.The Fire Trolls were holding up the dragon’s wing while Henrick was trying to stitch it back on.

Iris looked on with a worried expression, shouting, “Henrick! Hurry up! There is no time!”

“What? What are you talking about?” Henrick asked in surprise.

Iris shouted back sincerely, “There are only ten minutes left before the feast begins!”

“Hey! You punk! Do you think work on this scale is easy?!” Henrick retorted angrily.

The sun started to set. The elves had prepared a feast that was an uncommon sight in the desert, and the Fire Trolls devoured the food with an intensity that matched their fighting during the war.

Kang Yoon-Soo said, “Give me alcohol.”

“This is a mixture of desert dew and cactus,” Heron said with a smile as he poured Kang Yoon-Soo a cup.

Henrick finally finished reattaching the dragon’s wing. He climbed from the dragon’s back and remarked, “It’s been a while I worked on something so major; the last time was when I sculpted a statue of the Third Emperor.”

As Henrick stretched his tired shoulders, a beautiful red-haired woman with a shiny amulet stuck between her voluptuous breasts walked up to his side and poured him a drink. She said, “I am sincerely grateful to you, Henrick.”

“I’m the one who should be thankful since you’re pouring me a drink, but how did you hurt your beautiful face, milady?” Henrick asked, before suddenly realizing that everyone else in the crowd except for Kang Yoon-Soo had their mouths wide open in shock. He realized something was off, and he turned around to see that Ignus had disappeared.

“Milady… D-don’t tell me…?” Henrick stuttered.

“It is more efficient to transform into a smaller creature when I have to recover,” Ignus replied.

“…To think I would live to drink booze poured by a dragon. Nothing can surprise me from here onward,” Henrick said with an awkward smile before downing the drink in one go.

Ignus, now in her human form, hugged the baby dragon. “Kiyuuuk!” the baby dragon cried.

“How lovely you are,” Ignus said, looking at the baby dragon with eyes filled with affection and motherly love.

The onlookers were surprised to witness the sudden change by the dragon who had displayed unmatched ferocity in the war, but her gentleness made the coalition army relax and fully enjoy the feast.

Yanak filled Kang Yoon-Soo’s cup to the brim and expressed his gratitude, “Thank you! Groom of the goddess! We would all have been massacred if it weren’t for you!”

Kang Yoon-Soo, who had led the coalition army to victory against the ancient king, was the center of attention of the feast; that was why people were lining up to take turns pouring him a drink.

Shaneth looked on, seemingly unhappy with what was going on. As always, she nagged, “Don’t drink too much.”

“They’re the ones pouring it,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied to justify(?) his drinking.

Henrick smirked, his nose red from intoxication, and exclaimed, “That guy’s on cloud nine!” He turned to Ignus and added, “Ah, right… Is your wing alright? I can’t see it because you’re in your human form right now.”

Ignus nodded and replied, “It did not fall off because you did a great job putting it back together. You are quite skilled, Henrick.”

“Well, I’ll gladly accept your praise, but we aren’t kids like the rest, right? I was hoping a more tangible form of gratitude could be expressed…” Henrick began, before Shaneth elbowed him hard in the ribs.

Pukeok!

“Heup!” Henrick exclaimed.

“Oh look, you seem to be very drunk, Mister Henrick,” Shaneth said with an innocent expression.

“You punk! I won’t have any ribs left because of you!” Henrick cried angrily while moaning in pain.

Ignus rubbed her lips as she muttered, “A tangible reward…”  She then looked at the child she was embracing and asked, “My child, do you not think you need a new daddy?”

“Kiyuk?” the baby dragon replied, tilting its head.

The feast quieted down all of a sudden. The onlookers, wide-eyed with shock, all focused on Ignus and Henrick.

Henrick immediately sobered up upon hearing the dragon’s remark, stuttering, “W-What did you just say…?”

“I was kidding. It is fun to mingle with other races from time to time,” the Ignus Dragon replied with a laugh.

Henrick whispered to Shaneth, “What do you think would happen if I were the first man in history to have sex with a dragon?”

“Dream on,” Shaneth replied sharply.

“I was just kidding, you punk. Why are you looking at me like that?” Henrick asked with a frown.

“I think half of it was sincere,” Shaneth replied.

“Well… Maybe thirty percent…?” Henrick said seriously.

Pukeok!

“Heup!” Henrick moaned in pain.

Kang Yoon-Soo kept drinking while staring intently at Ignus. Suddenly, he said, “I plan to go to the lair of the Dragon of Destruction.”

“The Dragon of Destruction?” Ignus repeated with a scoff. She continued, “That fellow is considered a disaster even among us dragons.”

“I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Even a dragon would not survive a trip to that guy’s lair,” Ignus said.

“I said I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo repeated.

Ignus raised a brow before asking, “You know about it, and yet you are still planning to go there?”

“I have business over there,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

In truth, even Kang Yoon-Soo had wanted to avoid the lair of the Dragon of Destruction. It was the only place on the continent that was as dangerous as the magic tower where the Colossi resided. He had gone to the lair a few times in his previous lives, but he had always avoided going there if he had the option not to because of how dangerous it was.

‘I don’t have a choice in this life.’

It was true that it would be very dangerous and that he could be killed by the dragon, but that also meant the rewards were going to be as great as the risks.

‘Also, Kartheon’s final words were concerning.’

Would the Demon Lord appear much earlier? Why would that happen all of a sudden?

Kang Yoon-Soo gripped his cup and thought, ‘Things are getting much more complicated.’

He had thought that all he had to do was put in his best effort to grow as strong as possible until the Demon Lord appeared twenty years later, but what if the Demon Lord did appear earlier as Kartheon had said? If what the ancient king had said was true, he had to kick it up a notch from now on.

‘The problem is… I don’t know when he’ll appear…’

It would not be strange if the Demon Lord appeared the next day all of a sudden, if what Kartheon had said was true.

“When are you planning to go to the lair of the Dragon of Destruction?” Ignus asked.

“I’ll go after visiting a few other places,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“The Dragon of Destruction is still hibernating. Do not do anything foolish and wake him up from his slumber,” Ignus warned him.

“That’s why I need your scale, you who gave birth to the Dragon of Destruction’s child,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“…How did you know about that?” Ignus seemed stunned by Kang Yoon-Soo’s words. Kang Yoon-Soo just quietly sipped from his cup. Ignus shook her head, seemingly having given up as she remarked, “You are quite the mysterious one…”

“This will be more effective than my scales,” Ignus eventually said, tossing the shiny amulet she was wearing toward Kang Yoon-Soo. He easily caught it out of the air.

The feast continued until after the sun had set, only ending after most of the attendees were too intoxicated to even stay awake.

Ignus reverted to her original form before saying, “Thank you, Kang Yoon-Soo.” The mighty dragon bowed her head toward the human.

Then, Shaneth heard a voice whisper in her mind, ‘It is an unwritten rule that dragons do not get involved in the battles of other races.’ Ignus was directly communicating in her mind; that was only possible because Shaneth had absorbed the dragon’s power fragment.

‘But you broke that rule?’ Shaneth replied in her mind.

‘That guy was quite convincing,’ Ignus replied.

‘That’s the way he is,’ Shaneth said.

‘I cooperated because the enemy this time was someone who controlled time, and it was necessary to fight to be able to bring my child back to life. Do not expect any miracles to help you out in the future,’ Ignus said.

‘Of course,’ Shaneth replied firmly.

‘You have inherited a fragment of my powers. Continue following that man in his travels, and you will one day be stronger than I am,’ Ignus said.

‘Huh? Do you mean me? I’ll be stronger than you?’ Shaneth exclaimed in surprise.

‘Believe in your own powers,’ Ignus said. She then hugged her child tight and flew off into the sky.

Yanak, Heron, and the rest of the coalition forces bowed their heads multiple times toward Kang Yoon-Soo, repeatedly expressing their gratitude.

Kang Yoon-Soo said, “We’ll be leaving the desert now.”

Henrick replied, stretching his tired and drunken body, “Is it finally over?”

“It’s finally over,” Shaneth said.

“That is a relief, but I had hoped we could stay a bit longer,” Iris said.

The Desert of Death was a barren and tough environment, but it had gifted them with unbelievable memories they would never be able to forget.

Henrick suddenly asked, “Ah, didn’t you say we would fight with the Ignus Dragon before we came to this desert?”

“We fought together, didn’t we?” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“…You meant we would fight on the same side?” Henrick asked, looking stunned.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied nonchalantly.

Henrick quietly took out his sculpting knife, and even the kind and innocent Iris did not try to stop him this time. Suddenly, Shaneth grabbed Henrick’s shoulder and said, “Kill him.”

However, Kang Yoon-Soo was already miles ahead of them. Henrick ran furiously toward him as he screamed, “I’ll kill you today no matter what it takes!”

“I don’t want to die,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, and the two played cat and mouse under the desert moonlight.