I got into school for nothing-350
I got into school for nothing (350)
Lesson 68. Those Who Desire the Revival of the True Dragon - 6
“Yuwon!”
“Master!”
Once the battle was over and Ban Yuwon returned, his companions, led by Yumina and Rucell, rushed over to him.
Some worried that one of the Ten Great Families might challenge him again, but that was an absurd misconception.
The Fides Family and Amore Family, who had vehemently opposed Ban Yuwon’s presence until the very end, had vanished, taking their warships with them, no one knew when.
He felt he had applied enough pressure, but what would happen next? Of course, if they truly became hostile, he had no intention of showing them any mercy.
“Now, shall we, the remaining people, make a simple agreement?”
The Prominence Family, led by his sister, was a given. As for Juventa, the sole survivor was Aurora, meaning Yumina.
Melodia had turned into an enemy in the worst possible way, and the Clarent Family, including the Sword King and all survivors, had no choice but to obey Ban Yuwon’s command.
To summarize, [Melodia] was a definite enemy, and [Fides] and [Amore] were potential enemies with no chance of becoming allies.
[Prominence] was a definite ally, and Yumina, the survivor of [Juventa], as well as [Ortima], to whom he had entrusted the successor, could also be considered allies for now.
[Clarent] was to be subjugated next, so they could be counted as allies.
Discussions were still needed with the traitorous [Hecate], and the complacent [Selene] and [Fridwen].
“An agreement? Are you perhaps speaking of a contract?”
The acting head of the Ortima Family, the most arrogant of those remaining, smoothed back his hair as he spoke.
True to his nature, he hadn’t shed a drop of blood or sweat during the battle, yet his track record of significant contributions, almost on par with Yumina’s, prevented his arrogance from seeming like mere bluster.
“You may think so, but—to be precise, it’s the formation of a light alliance for the preservation of peace.”
“Ha!”
He laughed with amusement but did not further object to Ban Yuwon’s words.
It wasn't as if he had merely run wild, brandishing his Authority.
He had witnessed Ban Yuwon’s casually uttered Codeword spread its influence far and wide, and each time an Authority that seemed to amplify Ortima’s own adorned the sky, a shock capable of overturning heaven and earth erupted, ultimately shattering a Dragonoid shrouded in countless shields and protective barriers with ease.
And what of the sight of him eventually calming Aire, who had transformed into a perfect True Dragon, and climbing onto her back?
‘Perfect... if an heir of Ortima were to inherit that power directly.’
Moreover, Ortima’s Authority was already quite similar to that man’s.
If their two bloodlines were to merge, would not a masterpiece of unimaginable proportions be born?
Imagining the brilliant future that would then await Ortima, humoring that young upstart for a few years was no problem at all.
He was already half-Ortima’s man, so to speak.
While the acting head of the Ortima Family imagined a rather plausible future with satisfaction, Ban Yuwon continued speaking, unconcerned.
“As I said before, I have no intention of dragging the karma of the past all the way here. I have no interest in power that wasn’t originally mine. However, if there are those who insist on dredging up the past and tormenting me, then I shall grant them their wish. To make that clear, and to have you all here lend your strength to my words, I propose this agreement.”
“Fides... and Amore. Are you wary of those two?”
Ban Yuwon responded indifferently to the Hecate Family head’s question.
Among the Ten Great Families, Fides and Amore, along with Ortima and Clarent, were considered powerful factions, and their scale, naturally, surpassed imagination.
Yet, not everything in this world is resolved by the sheer amount of power.
Each family’s head-level existence was a singular asymmetrical force, capable of scoffing at tactical nuclear weapons, and Ban Yuwon had already far surpassed that level. Even if he were to face the vast armies of the Ten Great Families, he was confident he would not retreat.
The problem was that if 'nuclear weapons' started going off everywhere, it wouldn't end with just one or two people dying.
“It’s best to suppress war if possible. If we form an agreement among ourselves, wouldn’t they, out of consideration, be forced to attack me covertly and on a small scale, even if they wanted to?”
“Ha.”
The Fridwen Family head suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
Noticing the gazes fixed on him, he shrugged and spoke.
“It’s frightening, you see. Those words sound like you genuinely mean them...”
“I do mean them.”
“Yes, but the head of the Clarent Family, who dared to provoke you, died without uttering a single cry.”
The members of the Clarent Family, the only ones present who remained bowed, flinched at his words.
“Moreover, you just said you’re going to deal with Clarent next. It’s simply... amazing that you can speak so calmly of such actions, as if you dislike conflict but will carry them out because you have to.”
“I can’t just stand here and take a beating because I don’t want to fight, can I? Well, this gathering was convened for that very reason. So, may I take it that the Fridwen Family Head agrees to this promise?”
“I have a proposal to make, even more than that.”
The Fridwen Family head said, pulling out his family’s divine artifact, a shield crafted from the bone of a pristine white True Dragon, which he had personally used in battle.
“At your single word, the power of my family’s elite forces, including myself, soared. It’s a power too valuable to let slip. Therefore, I wish to forge a more intimate contractual relationship—a practical alliance, not mere pretense. If you wish, I could even lend you my shield for a while.”
It seemed he remembered Ban Yuwon touching and awakening the Clarent Family’s divine sword earlier.
Ban Yuwon grinned and nodded at the Fridwen Family head’s reaction, which was far more favorable than he had anticipated.
“If it’s something like that, then by all means.”
With two families already showing friendly responses, discussions with the others proceeded smoothly.
The Hecate Family, perhaps impressed by Clio’s declaration of freedom, or perhaps desiring to grow closer to her again, followed his proposal relatively meekly.
The Selene Family, known as the most docile among the Ten Great Families and one that rarely interfered outside their dominion, harbored considerable feelings of indebtedness towards Yumina, and seemed poised to offer even more than Fridwen if she desired it.
No, they actually did.
“I hope you will accept it.”
The Selene Family head extended a small lantern to Ban Yuwon, within which a pure white light glowed.
Ban Yuwon felt a jolt, wondering if his thought of the man as a 'lantern fish' had been exposed, when Stella, who had been quiet behind him, suddenly poked her head over his shoulder and exclaimed.
“Ah—this, it contains Starlight! And it’s immense, a pattern I’ve never seen before, wow...!”
“You know it well...”
“Ahem.”
As the Selene Family head trailed off with a wry expression, the Hecate Family head let out an uncomfortable cough.
Just from that, Ban Yuwon felt he understood the circumstances surrounding this lantern.
“Is that perhaps the blade that pierced the Tower Lord?”
“You recognize it. That’s right, it was power wrested from the True Dragons at that time. However, those who gained the strength to betray the Tower Lord with it, ironically, believed that keeping this power would bring calamity upon themselves. They all pretended not to know and, to my shame, came to me, who had only hidden, to ask me to seal it.”
A wise decision.
At that time, the heads of the Ten Great Families would certainly not have been able to properly wield Starlight, and it was natural for them to suspect that the True Dragons had tampered with it... Wait a minute.
“‘To you?’”
“Indeed.”
The old man nodded to Ban Yuwon, who had questioned him with an incredulous tone.
As everyone remaining in the room realized the meaning and gasped in astonishment, the old man—
the Selene Family Head, a retainer personally created by the Ancestor—slowly bowed to Ban Yuwon and spoke.
“You truly resemble him. It was terrifying to face him like this, which is why I hid for so long, but now, due to ancient sins, I am forced to face you. How ironic is this?”
The heavily wrinkled old man glanced at Yumina for a moment, then bowed slightly.
“But now, having stepped out from behind the veil, I see that everything was, in the end, following its natural course. I regret the years I lived as a coward. Still, to personally see that child’s daughter, and to confess my shameful past to the master of this new order....”
“Ah...”
The old man placed the lantern directly into Ban Yuwon’s hand.
The Selene Family was renowned for its magic, but its fundamental strength lay in its power to interfere with light.
It was also thanks to this power that they had been able to seal the True Dragon’s Starlight for so long.
And thinking about it, Yumina’s ability to possess the aptitude for Starlight and successfully contract with Stella made sense, considering the Selene Family’s blood flowed within her.
“It will be helpful. It likely contains much information about the True Dragons... I hope you won’t have to oppose the True Dragons themselves, but you’ll probably have to fight the Dragon Fang Soldiers, who are influenced by them, until you’re sick of it.”
“...I’ll accept it gratefully.”
Ban Yuwon deliberately ignored Stella’s fervent gaze fixed on him and absorbed the light contained within the lantern.
In an instant, the Starlight he possessed surged as if running wild, reaching a depth of 1,000.
Considering that the depth of his Starlight Magic had previously been 300—
—and that alone had allowed him to accomplish astonishing feats, it was clear just how absurd this growth truly was.
Just as a concept’s depth held significance in increments of 10, 1,000 was also very special, for it corresponded to Level 100 when converted by the system’s standards.
[The depth of Charm has reached 2,000, Elemental Magic 2,500, Photon Magic 2,000, and Curses 3,000.]
[The depth of Domination has reached 1,200.]
Furthermore, it profoundly affected all of his magical and mystical concepts in various ways... As the Selene Family head had said, this was because his fundamental understanding of True Dragons had deepened.
When Ban Yuwon, exhaling deeply, faced the Selene Family head, the man appeared to have aged, his wrinkles deepened compared to moments before.
It made sense; he must have been suppressing the ravages of time with the Starlight he held in his hand until now.
“Thank you. In so many ways... I can only offer my gratitude.”
“Ah, well, um...”
Yumina hesitated, then spoke.
However, the Selene Family head waved his hand as if to say it was fine, and entrusting himself to the approaching retainers, he offered her a single remark.
“If you would forgive this coward... would you visit Selene later? There is much for you in our world as well.”
It wasn't that the Selene Family hadn't sought Yumina, but that they hadn't been able to find her.
They had considered themselves the gravest traitors for merely sealing the Starlight that had been used to stab their master, and indeed, the Chancellor would not have forgiven them either.
While other traitors had forgotten the past with the passage of time and brazenly frequented Union, only the Selene Family, grasping the Chancellor’s inverse scale, remained unconnected to Union—silently confined, unable to venture outside.
And only now, with Yumina having gained her freedom and emerged, had they finally managed to find her and make their way to this gathering.
Without her, the Selene Family would have remained silently confined within their dimension until this moment, and Ban Yuwon would never have acquired the True Dragon’s Starlight.
“Master of the new order, as I said before, we intend to cooperate with you. This old body is too frail to move, but anyone bearing our family’s name will gladly lend their strength to you and the daughter of Juventa.”
“I will gratefully accept your support.”
Ban Yuwon, too, bowed respectfully to the pitiful recluse who had been forced to hide for so long, suffering for the sins of others’ rampages.
With that, all the ‘agreements’ were concluded.
Perhaps the only thing that had changed was the acting head of the Ortima Family’s sentiment.
He had been startled by the attitudes of the other Ten Great Families toward Ban Yuwon, leading him to think that, regardless of Ban Yuwon’s intentions, he might become the master of a colossal force combining several families.
If this were the case, merely obtaining his genes would not suffice.
He had to be brought into Ortima itself.
‘Luisha, I trust you.’
Luisha, feeling the acting head’s gaze laden with intense determination, candidly thought her rivals were excessively fierce. Yet, not wanting Ortima to fall out with Ban Yuwon and become his enemy, she forced herself to adopt a relaxed demeanor and nodded.
‘Just trust me, Uncle. I’ll make him fall head over heels for me!’
In truth, she was on the verge of falling head over heels for Ban Yuwon herself, but such a minor difference hardly mattered.
As an aside, Lusein, observing the two exchanging gazes filled with countless meanings, displayed his unease with trembling eyes, but no one met his gaze.
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