Leon nodded, "Alright."
After pausing for a moment, he asked again, "So when you just said there's been special progress, what exactly did you mean?"
Nacho didn't answer right away but instead brought Leon to the innermost cell.
Through the one-way magic barrier, they could clearly see the scene inside the cell.
On a pile of withered straw sat a decrepit old man.
His upper body was bare. Though his age showed, his frame was still well-proportioned. His whole body radiated decadence, but under that frail appearance there was still a faint, surging vitality he could not hide.
Leon immediately noticed the oddity of the old man.
At the same time, he recognized who he was.
"Voel Last, Dragon-Slaying Army's chief commander under the former king."
Nacho exhaled heavily, then slowly spoke, "Over twenty years ago, newspapers published the news of his death."
———
Over twenty years ago, Leon was still at the Casmodeous orphanage, playing dragon-slaying games with the other kids.
The ironic part was, little General Leon back then, because his physical ability was far above kids his age and he was taller too, often had to play the role of the dragon.
Who would've thought that when he grew up, he'd not only become a dragon-slayer but even marry a dragon wife.
Back to the point.
Even as a child Leon showed the traits and talent of a study genius. After finishing games with the other kids, he would go alone to the orphanage library to read.
And at that time, the library subscribed to the daily Empire newspapers.
He couldn't say he remembered every piece of news, but which big names had died, that he remembered with perfect clarity.
Just like the decrepit old man in front of him now, Voel Last, Leon remembered clearly that over twenty years ago, his death notice had already been published in the papers.
Not only that, the Empire had even held a large-scale memorial service for this supposedly illustrious minister.
Naturally Leon remembered it well.
But now, twenty years later, the old guy was still alive and well?
"We tried using memory-probing magic to see what was going on."
Nacho said, "But strangely, whenever we tried to probe him, some mysterious power inside his body would resist, and we never managed to get anything useful."
"Mysterious power? Like a consciousness barrier spell?"
When Old Con first won the resurrection match and attacked the Red Dragon Sanctuary, though he failed in the end and was taken by Iron-Wing Dragon King Fel, on the way back to the Empire, Fel had planted a consciousness barrier in Old Con's mind.
That way, when the Empire's sorcerers rebuilt Constantine's body the second time, their mind-control magic no longer worked.
That was the key method Old Con used to break free from the Empire.
Likewise, a consciousness barrier could also block memory-probing spells.
But Nacho shook his head, face serious.
"Not a consciousness barrier. The sensory sorcerers said it's a kind of magic they've never seen before. It doesn't seem like an active ability, more like... a passive one."
"Passive?"
"Mm. And this power doesn't just resist probing magic. Any magical energy entering Voel's body disappears."
Nacho went on, "The strangest thing is, Voel once practiced magic. But now his magic circuits are basically all dead, and he has no magic at all."
On Samael continent, to learn magic one had to first develop circuits within their body.
But magic circuits only died in two cases: Either from being blown apart by excess mana, or the opposite, from being drained empty.
But as far as Leon knew, Voel, as the Dragon-Slaying Army's chief commander, was just a civil official. He never had to fight, just sit in an office and give orders. He would never have been exposed to enemies.
So how were his circuits destroyed?
Piecing Nacho's information together, Leon frowned in thought, "Can resist probing magic... any magic energy entering his body disappears... and as a sorcerer, his circuits are all dead..."
"And, supposedly died twenty years ago, but still alive now," Leon clicked his tongue softly.
He had some ideas, but they were like a thin, hazy line. Visible to the eye, yet impossible to grasp.
After thinking a while, Leon said, "Let me speak to him myself. Maybe I'll find something new."
Nacho nodded, "Alright."
With that, Nacho took out a key and opened the cell door.
Leon stepped forward, then turned back to the others, "I'll go alone. You wait here."
"Yes, Captain."
After his instructions, Leon walked into the cell and shut the door behind him.
He wasn't worried that a man over a hundred years old would suddenly explode and attack.
And if he dared, General Leon didn't mind being accused of "beating up an old man."
Hearing footsteps, Voel slowly raised his head, looking at the newcomer.
Those clouded eyes narrowed, warily studying Leon.
He hissed lowly, as if that rusty brain was struggling to recall who this man was.
Before long, a faint cold smile crept across Voel's wrinkled face.
"Casmodeous... so it's you."
"When you 'died' back then, I was three or four. A three- or four-year-old shouldn't be someone an Empire minister of your renown would remember, right?", As he spoke, Leon crouched down to meet the old man eye to eye. His voice was low, his tone cold, carrying an almost aggressive force.
"So that means, you didn't just crawl out of the grave. You've been hiding somewhere these past twenty years, watching everything, haven't you."
Voel met those black eyes, steady and sharp.
That gaze... different from all the others who'd interrogated him lately.
Black pupils as calm as still water. Yet beneath the surface lurked a frightening undercurrent.
Voel had once been someone who'd seen storms and waves. Naturally he didn't show weakness in interrogations.
But before this man, even the old fox of over a century felt fear.
"So what if I did."
Though shaken inside, Voel kept up a mask of calm.
He wouldn't lose the very first exchange.
"I won't tell you anything, Casmodeous."
Voel said, "I was once the great commander of the Dragon-Slaying Army, your superior, my power above yours. If you'd been born in my time, just a flick of my pen and you'd be sent to logistics, feeding horses for life."
His tone forced pride, tottering and hollow.
Leon of course heard the weakness beneath it.
But he didn't rush to tear it down.
"Feeding horses sounds good too. No need to risk your life slaying dragons, and still get a wage easily."
After a pause, Leon added, "But if I could choose, I wouldn't want to feed horses."
Voel sneered, "So you're not really that carefree after all. In the end, you don't want to be a horse keeper."
"No no no, what I mean is, not horses. Could it be donkeys instead?"
"..."
Voel froze for two seconds, then blew up, beard bristling, eyes glaring, shouting, "You damned idiot! How dare you mock me! Come on, kill me right now if you dare, I won't say a word anyway!"
"I'll tell you clearly. If I still had the position and power I once did, you wouldn't even be qualified to speak to me, you hear?"
"You dragon-slayers, all brainless expendables, forever beneath me!"
"Bastard!"
"..."
The old man's trademark high attack, low defense was exposed. Two sentences from General Leon and he was raging red.
Cursing nonstop, but the gist was, "I was great, and when I was great you were still a little nobody."
And when people are angry, they always show cracks.
From these rants, Leon became even more certain: this guy valued power and status above all else.
If so, then it would be easy.
"Besides killing me, what else can you do to me? Hahaha—"
After a long silence, Leon finally spoke slowly, "Nothing else."
"Because you're a useless old man. Even if you lived fifty more years, you'd never pose a threat to me."
"What's the point of living this long? All those riches and glory lasted only a few years."
"You thought you could live in peace by hiding your name, but in the end you were caught and locked here."
"Tsk tsk tsk. Looks like time really does erode everything. Including..."
"Your power, and your once lofty status."
Hearing this, Voel's already fragile pride and dignity shattered even more.
"Bullshit! I... I've got plenty of life left in me!"
The old man, blinded by fury, rambled incoherently.
"Wh-what fifty more years... I'll tell you, even if you're dust, I'll still live for hundreds more!"
Leon raised a brow. He seemed to have caught hold of that faint thread at last.
"Oh... so you really have lived quite long. Almost like... a Dragon King."
When he heard the words "Dragon King," Voel clearly froze.
He immediately lowered his head, not daring to meet Leon's gaze.
And precisely because of this guilty reaction, Leon's suspicion solidified.
Magic flowing into his body vanished;
His magic circuits were dead and withered;
And this reaction upon hearing "Dragon King".
Leon's lips curled in a faint smirk, a cold snort escaping, "I've always wondered why the Empire was collecting Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales. Could it really have just been to create fusion beasts like Constantine?"
"Obviously not."
"In the Empire's long schemes, fusion beasts were just one step, never the true purpose of gathering dragon scales."
"So, taking into account that you've lived for over a hundred years, here's a bold guess:"
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