Swordmeister of Rome

"Nng…"

Sian moaned as the mysterious energy pressed down on him as he entered the mountain. He had known about it beforehand, but it was more than he imagined. The energy wasn't enough to kill him, but it still worked against him even though he was an Alpha. He felt his body constantly changing and felt his power waning.

He understood how the Lukras had managed to survive against the Drakuns and Harijans. If they had ways to keep themselves at their full power on the mountain, it would surely have given them the upper hand.

Even now, Sian's power had waned. He knew that his power would be lessened as he got closer to the peak so it was obvious that the Drakuns and Harijans would not approach. However, it also meant that the Lukras could not leave this place.

"What should I do now?"

The best choice was to secretly pass through this place and find Lagaope to send him back to Ra-Sian and train there. The monsters would think that Sian had escaped into this mountain, so they would not search for him in Ra-Sian.

However, the problem was that these Lukras would not let him pass.

'I'll see how it goes.'

Powerful energies were descending from the peak. It seemed that they were coming down because of the clash between the Seven-Horned Harijans. Sian had to give up on solving it by force, as he felt their energy. The three of them were as strong as Dragona or just slightly less. There was no chance for Sian to defeat them.

'We are allies… what will they do?'

Sian waited for them. When they arrived, one of them who was in grand-looking clothing sent a telepathic message directly into Sian's mind.

<You look exactly like what we saw in Lagaope's memory. Good to see you. You are a very brave man! It was good that we trusted you humans and your Broxian ancestry.>

"…?"

Sian narrowed his eyes as he couldn't understand what the Lukra was saying.

<You bravely sought to break through those monsters that even we find hard to fight against without resorting to the easier route! It is certain that you have the blood of Broxian and ours!>

"What do you mean by easier route?"

Sian asked aloud in confusion and the Lukras also became confused. One of them then placed his hand on Sian's head.

<Please tell us again. We could not understand your language.>

'Oh, I see.'

It seemed that they did not speak at all, as they all communicated using telepathic messages. Sian then thought up his words again.

<What do you mean by easy route?>

The Lukra was surprised.

<Did Lagaope not send you the message?>

<A message?>

The Lukra was confused.

<We told him to send you to us so that we can discuss the duties of an ally.>

<…>

<Lagaope confirmed that he would deliver the message to you. We assumed you were here because you received the message.>

<…>

<We assumed that you would come by that teleportation… thing. It's not good to take an easy route, but we thought you should enjoy the luxury since you have a lot of fights waiting for you.>

<…>

<And here you are! Coming straight through the danger! We were worried when we heard about you from Lagaope, but he must have been mistaken! You are definitely a warrior!>

'…'

Sian could not even think about what had gone wrong.

'Lagaope… Kukutaran… Dragona… Liona… Chrona.. Lukra… ugh.'

Sian then realized the duties and quickly asked,

<Wait! Tell me about my duties. I did not meet Lagaope.>

The Lukras were surprised.

<Then you ran into their territory without any reason to come?>

<Huh? No- I mean…>

It seemed that the Lukras were dumbfounded by Sian's foolish action.

<It doesn't matter anymore. What's important is that you are here. You have proven that you can survive through them.>

<…>

<Let's move in. Those monsters are almost done.>

The destruction was now slowing down. It didn't seem that they were going to fight until one of them died so they looked like they were going to back away. Or it was maybe because they had become wary of the Lukras watching them.

The peak had enormous pressure compared to the foot of the mountain. It wasn't enough to threaten Sian, but it did take away a lot of his power. The top had a huge crater and within lay a golden crystal that was slightly bigger than a human. Sian became curious and asked,

<What is that?>

Lukra laughed.

<It's our holy artifact. It's very precious. It doesn't work now but its existence is what matters.>

<Hmph.>

Sian nodded as it didn't seem odd that they had holy artifacts when they had priests and all that.

<We'll start from the start. How much do you know? I can read your memory if you don't want to talk.>

<No, it's okay.>

Sian refused and began explaining what he had heard from Lagaope. The Lukras nodded.

<You know most of the details then. We'll tell you the recent updates. I will introduce myself first. I am the priest of the Lukras.>

<Good to see you.>

Sian had already guessed it so he just nodded.

<We had first planned to leave you alone until you become strong enough to fight against the Drakuns and Harijans with us.>

<…>

<You were not going to be of much help in your current state.>

<But why…>

<The situation has changed. As you know, the reason we hold on against those monsters and Drakuns is because of this holy land. It limits us to some extent, but we have the upper hand here.>

Sian nodded as he also speculated as such. But the priest became frowned and continued,

<But the power of holy land is getting weaker. No, it is being pushed back.>

<Huh? Why is that?>

Lukra then pointed to the sky outside of the mountain.

<It's because of that barrier.>

Sian became confused and asked,

<Barrier? You mean the one made from the Ciculus Tree?>

The priest shook his head.

<No… not that crude barrier. It's the barrier that Aksarai created by using <Unkara> himself.>

The priest then pointed at the many clouds up in the sky.

<…>

Sian seemed confused and so the priest began to explain in detail,

<This is what we found by reading the Drakun we captured.>

Thousands of years ago, when the Lukras and Drakuns were fighting at the peak.

Aksarai was annoyed. The Lukras ran back to their holy land the moment it became dangerous for them. The Drakuns could fly around, but that did not help much. Even when they held the upper hand during a battle, those Lukras would run back to the mountain and attack from there. That was when Aksarai thought he should do the same for his people.

<We shall make our own home.>

However, he had no plans to start from scratch. Aksarai was powerful, but so was Gran-Ra. He would surely come out of his slumber and destroy what Aksarai was working on before returning to sleep.

Aksarai then noticed the clouds as he flew around the sky and thought up an idea.

It was the thick cloud made from the monsters <Unkaras> that lived under Cloud Mountain.

Those monsters consumed the lava under the mountain and created a special cloud-like smog that reacted well with magic. The smog was then mixed together with the clouds and floated around the continent. It was already being utilized by the Drakuns to cast their magic with ease.

The place where the Unkaras lived was far from the Lukras so it was safe from being disturbed. Aksarai began using his full power to create the barrier.

It was the creation of the barrier to fight against the Lukras.

This was the cloud-barrier <Akun-Kal>.