Some time ago.
Zero and Chu Tianjiao were speeding down an endless road in a Maybach. At last, after what felt like being trapped in a looping nightmare, they reached the end of the path.
At the end of the road… was the sea.
And beyond the sea… the enemy—
No, a towering white whale, as massive as a mountain!
The massive whale let out a deep, resonant cry. The calm ocean swelled and surged upward in the next instant, and a vast mass of seawater turned into a furious, snapping tidal wave. The shadow it cast was a solid wall of darkness—like a nightmare tsunami rushing toward them.
Caught off guard at first, both Zero and Chu Tianjiao quickly regained their composure. Neither of them were ordinary individuals.
As an S-Class operative of the Secret Party, Chu Tianjiao reacted instantly. The moment Zero shouted "Turn around!", he had already jerked the steering wheel hard, spinning the Maybach into a perfect 180-degree drift.
With the accelerator slammed to the floor, the engine roared like a beast. The wheels spun so fast they blurred into concentric circles, and the scenery along the road blurred as it flew past. But the only thing not receding was the wall of water closing in rapidly from behind.
The crashing wave blocked out all the light above them, casting a shadow as dark as midnight. Cold, damp pressure seemed to seep into the vehicle from every direction.
This sudden tidal wave was immense. If it caught them, the entire car would be tossed like laundry in a washing machine—twisting, flipping, and being relentlessly battered by the water's crushing force.
Chu Tianjiao knew that if he used his Kotodama—Zero Time—to accelerate, he could escape with Zero. But that would expose their fragile bodies to the chaos outside the car, and they'd be shredded by debris in the water.
Just then, Zero suddenly unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up in her seat.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Chu Tianjiao couldn't make sense of her actions.
"Hold the wheel steady. Don't swerve," Zero said curtly, wasting no words. In a moment like this, there was no time for pleasantries. She grabbed the long seatbelt and tied herself to the back of the chair while chanting in dragon tongue.
Chu Tianjiao finally understood her plan.
Land Without Dust (Mirror Eye Replica version) erupted around her, forming a transparent barrier that collided head-on with the incoming water. Waves slammed into the roof and sides of the car, but rebounded violently as if striking an impenetrable wall.
However, the barrier's range wasn't enough to cover the entire Maybach, which was over 5 meters long. The rear section remained unprotected.
So the back of the car took a direct hit from the monstrous wave, flinging it into the air like it had been struck by a furious beast.
Chu Tianjiao was immensely thankful he had prepared for impact. He braced himself with all his strength, while Zero remained secured to her seat. The wave's momentum pushed the car to its maximum speed, as if it were riding the crest of the onrushing tidal wave.
Several minutes later, the sea calmed. The Maybach, now flooded, stalled and died as seawater overwhelmed the exhaust system.
Zero and Chu Tianjiao had no choice but to disembark. Chu Tianjiao carried a standard Kassel Academy weapon case in one hand and two alchemical swords—"Muramasa" without guards—in the other.
Zero held the case containing the Black King's flesh from their earlier transaction.
Chu Tianjiao thought about checking the damage to the car, but Zero quickly informed him that the exhaust system had been completely crushed and twisted. Without tools or replacement parts in this Nibelungen, repairs were impossible.
"What the hell was that whale?" Chu Tianjiao asked, blades at the ready. The area had gone eerily quiet—so silent he could hear his own footsteps.
Zero shook her head. "It looked like a sperm whale… but far too large. Whatever it was, it's gone now."
"No. Moby Dick—that poor white whale—is still in these waters," came a sudden voice, "But its next opponent won't be a mad captain like Ahab. It's something much scarier."
The world suddenly froze.
The little devil, Lu Mingze, appeared beside Zero, describing the mountain-sized whale in the terms of Moby Dick.
Chu Tianjiao had vanished from sight, while Lu Mingze stared off into the distance, as though he could see through the sea and into the battle beyond the expressway.
Zero said nothing. She knew her boss wouldn't show up without reason—so she immediately offered him the box in her hands.
Lu Mingze took it casually, as if the box containing the Black King's flesh were trivial.
"The arrogant water dragon believes that by hiding his true body and using tricks, he can change the outcome. What he doesn't realize is that he's just a puppet dancing to a script—fated to be decapitated by destiny itself."
Lu Mingze spoke as if mocking all of creation. The next second, he vanished with the box.
Time resumed for Zero. Chu Tianjiao was still on alert, completely unaware that the box in Zero's hands had disappeared.
Soon after, a thunderous sound grabbed their attention.
"BOOM!"
Near the coast, an explosion sent plumes of white water skyward.
Seeing a fantasy collapse for the first time, Chu Tianjiao's eyes widened. "Was that… a missile strike?"
"It's him…"
Zero whispered. The familiar sound of that explosion stirred memories of the Chen estate battle. It was powerful… and strangely reassuring.
———
It's him…
Back in the present, Norton stared at the newly appeared Lu Mingze, recognition flashing through his mind. Their last encounter was at the Chen estate—where they had conspired to ruin Odin.
Norton had used alchemy to sabotage Odin's spatial expansion, but Lu Mingze had canceled Odin's Kotodama with just a word.
That power terrified Norton. This boy was clearly superior to Leviathan, Odin, even himself and Jormungandr.
But he couldn't be the White King.
"Who are you? As far as I know, only three beings in all ancient history could match your presence."
One of them was, of course, their "Father Emperor" Nidhogg. Could Lu Mingze be one of the other two?
Norton stared at him intensely. Though Lu Mingze had helped them before, without a blood pact, there was no guarantee they were still allies.
"..."
Lu Mingze glanced at Norton and Shami, both treating him like an imminent threat. He smirked slightly. "I think… it's better if you don't know who I am. It wouldn't help our… 'temporary alliance.'"
Shami's eyes twitched. She understood the subtext instantly.
If they knew who he really was, the alliance would crumble. Their cooperation was only possible so long as things stayed friendly. In other words, they had once been enemies.
Her eyes widened in disbelief. She was beginning to realize something.
In ancient times, the supreme Black King Nidhogg had been betrayed by one-third of the dragons under the White King, and later slain by dragon kings and humans.
But in between those events, there was a buried secret.
A being destined to inherit Nidhogg's throne had been born from the World Tree—just like the first Black King himself. That being… was Lu Mingze.
Back then, the dragon elders and nobility considered his birth an affront to the Black King's absolute authority. Even Nidhogg himself saw him as a threat.
So, under Nidhogg's orders, the dragon kings tortured Lu Mingze and nailed him to a white cross, killing him with the "Holy Spear Longinus."
As he lay dying, Lu Mingze declared: "When I return to this world… all traitors shall perish!"
That tale was buried in ancient dragon history, with only fragments surviving—later evolving into the human myth of "Jesus Christ."
So… he is the Holy Son…!
Shami's pupils trembled. She hadn't been part of the execution herself—Odin had proposed the use of the spear—but in Lu Mingze's eyes, all dragon elders (including next-gen princes and first-gen kings) were guilty.
Who knew if he considered her one of the traitors who deserved death?
Norton finally asked, "How can we trust you're not hostile?"
"Because I've brought a gift," Lu Mingze said, shaking the box in his hand. "Your Heroic Spirit system needs it."
As he unlocked it, an aura of supremacy radiated outward.
(End of Chapter)
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