Elemental Detonation

Outpost County was a melting pot of forces: the Church District representing the Holy See, the Auction House run by merchant groups from the major human kingdoms, the General Affairs Hall established here by the Royal City, and the Mercenary Association formed by various races.

Every faction competed and cooperated. They might shake hands and make peace today, then slaughter your entire family tomorrow.

They loved and killed one another, staging all manner of dramas in tiny Outpost County every day. Beneath its seemingly calm surface lay countless sordid dealings and unknown crimes.

Yet amid all that chaos, there was an incomprehensible order.

The General Affairs Hall, headed by clerk Yorkshire, handled the county's daily administration and served as its public authority.

The Church District, led by Wood, was responsible for spreading religious faith. Nearly a hundred Church Knights in the district served as the county's most formidable Armed Forces, deterring all who showed disrespect toward the Supreme God.

The merchant Auction House monopolized trade routes with the Behemoth Orcs, secretly smuggling the kingdom's finest weapons and slaves of other races.

The Mercenary Association operated openly in the daylight. Countless mercenaries drawn by its reputation left this place as immensely wealthy men, while countless others accepted missions here that led them down roads of no return.

Yet no matter who they were, everyone tacitly obeyed one unwritten rule: never enter that old Old Castle, and never disturb its master.

Because the father of that trash master was a Grand Duke of the kingdom, and that Grand Duke was one of the highest-ranking nobles of a powerful human nation.

More importantly, many people who refused to believe in such nonsense had explored the Old Castle at night, and no one in Outpost County ever saw them again.

Many loose-tongued commoners had once sworn in public that they had seen a burly maid digging many deep pits in the back garden outside the Old Castle.

But no one heard those rumors again afterward, because Lord Yorkshire the clerk had ordered his constables to tie up all those loose-tongued commoners and take them away. Then he had many deep pits dug behind the General Affairs Hall as well.

As for Baron Allen, the master of the Old Castle, he had been sensible ever since arriving in Outpost County. Though he was the nominal Lord, he never interfered in any county affairs, staying in the Old Castle and only pressing for tax collection every month.

But that seemingly peaceful balance was shattered by this Lord in name only.

The merchant group had crossed mountains and rivers, losing countless men to transport the Evil Dragon Egg from the Behemoth Kingdom to the Church District of Outpost County. Throughout the journey, the Mercenary Association had repeatedly interfered and tried to seize it.

Nearly every notable faction in Outpost County had joined the struggle over the dragon egg. After countless bloody lives were lost, the dragon egg at the center of the storm—the source of it all—was publicly eaten by the master of the Old Castle, whom everyone had ignored until then.

The merchant Auction House was dumbfounded. They had crossed mountains and rivers, traversing the Savage Ancient Plains to obtain that dragon egg.

The Mercenary Association was dumbfounded. They had completely torn off all pretenses with the Church and the Auction House for the first time, all to seize that dragon egg.

The Church District was dumbfounded. They had merely wanted to shift the disaster elsewhere and bind the Grand Duke to the Holy See's war chariot. In the end, they not only lost the dragon egg and abolished the Commoner Tax Law, but also thoroughly offended the Grand Duke.

Everyone was dumbfounded, because the dragon egg had been eaten—pan-fried in public in the name of purification, then sent into the belly of Outpost County's Lord.

Could the merchant Auction House blame Allen? No, because the dragon egg had been entrusted to him by Wood, bishop of Outpost County, for safekeeping and purification. Though no one truly understood what "purification" meant.

Could the Mercenary Association blame Allen? No, because they had failed to seize the dragon egg in time, and they could only operate in dark corners.

Could the Church District blame Allen? They could, but Wood had no time to trouble the Lord now. How to endure the fury of the Holy See's upper ranks was the issue he needed to consider.

No matter what the major factions thought of Lord Allen, they could not go to the Old Castle to cause trouble now. At most, they would occasionally mutter, "This Trash Baron really does live up to all those absurd nicknames."

Meanwhile, Baron Allen, the one who had brought everything to an end by finishing off the dragon egg, lay unconscious on the curtained bed in the Old Castle's bedroom.

Yorkshire had already left. He needed to return to the General Affairs Hall and write reports to the Royal City and the Grand Duke about everything that had happened here.

Dina stood beside the bed with the butler, wiping away tears with her head lowered, utterly heartbroken.

Old Butler Leisi frowned, muttering the names of a great many gods under his breath.

Allen lay on the bed, breathing heavily as his body trembled faintly. His resolute face had lost its usual vigor, leaving only pain and struggle.

"Uncle Leisi, please think of something." Dina pleaded, "Second Young Master was perfectly fine before. Why did he fall unconscious after eating that egg?"

"Nonsense!" Leisi slammed his cane heavily against the polished floor and said with a grim face, "Second Young Master was unaffected by the dragon egg before because he had accumulated immense magic power through meditation since childhood. The magic within him was abundant and unconsciously resisted it. But now that he has eaten the dragon egg, that magic power was bound to dissipate sooner or later. I just never expected it to happen so quickly."

Seeing the Old Butler lose his temper, Dina opened her mouth but said nothing.

Before this, Allen had never explained how he intended to "purify" the Evil Dragon Egg, and no one had expected him to be so outrageously bold.

But recalling the things her Second Young Master had done in the Royal City, Dina accepted it rather quickly.

Allen, lying on the bed, had a dream. He dreamed that he had returned to that familiar world, floating alone in midair. Beneath him, traffic flowed endlessly. Pedestrians walked with their heads lowered like walking corpses, hurrying along amid the passing cars.

He desperately wanted to descend to the ground, but no matter how he struggled, he remained suspended in the air, as though an invisible shackle bound him tightly.

It was as though the world had been waved over by a magical conductor's baton. The next instant, the pedestrians vanished, replaced by armored knights charging on horseback while shouting battle cries.

The passing cars turned into Beastmen of Behemoth, each one raising weapons high as they roared toward the sky and called out the name of the War God.

Dozens of giants came running from afar, smashing countless buildings apart.

Countless Druids appeared out of thin air, transforming into giant eagles and soaring straight into the heavens.

Beautiful elves rode unicorns, drawing their exquisite longbows into full moons.

When the blazing sun in the sky turned into a blood-red moon, more than a dozen races—both familiar and unfamiliar—charged into battle. Blades met blades, and the sound of weapons hacking into bone rang without end.

For the first time, Allen experienced such a massive battle of Cold Weaponry. Across the battlefield, bodies carpeted the ground. The sounds of slaughter, wailing, and clashing weapons were deafening.

Beautiful elves unleashed sweeping volleys of arrows, dwarves burned with fury like raging flames, and giants roared loud enough to shake the heavens.

Humans and Beastmen of Behemoth met in battle, while Druids descended from the sky and transformed into massive beasts.

Countless figures raced across the battlefield. Blood flowed into rivers, and corpses piled into mountains.

The battle ended quickly. Not a single person remained standing on the battlefield. Fire Rain began to fall from the sky, as though seeking to burn away every sin that had occurred there.

The cruel scene of blood and fire seemed frozen in place, and Allen's entire body turned cold as ice.

The blood-red moon transformed once more into a blinding sun. Dozens of black dragons flew in from the distant sky and arrived in an instant. Their enormous fleshy wings whipped up violent winds, while their emotionless black eyes stared fixedly at Allen in midair.

The dragons roared. Dozens of balls of black Dragon Flame flew toward him amid dragon cries that echoed through the sky.

Wrapped in Dragon Flame, Allen felt pain that pierced into his bones, as though his very soul were being seared.

The unbearable pain jolted him awake from the dream. The first thing he saw was Dina's anxious, broad face.

"Second Young Master, you're awake!" Dina cried with joy, clutching the Old Butler's frail shoulders tightly.

For once, Old Leisi's vulgar old face revealed a kindly expression.

Allen wiped the cold sweat from his face and struggled into a sitting position. He felt as though he had been violently struck by a speeding iron carriage. Every bone in his body ached terribly.

At the instant he awoke, a golden dragon appeared in his mind. Unlike the vicious dragons described in the books of the Saint Cassis Continent, it was an Eastern totem—a massive dragon several kilometers long, soaring through the sky.

The golden dragon flew toward the blazing sun, its body covered in countless wounds of every size. Below it, dozens of black dragons wailed ceaselessly, staring in despair as the golden dragon departed.

"How long was I out?" Allen asked weakly, patting his head twice as if trying to drive away the dream that had felt so real.

"Three days. Second Young Master, you scared Nana to death." Dina began crying again, her trembling shoulders showing just how helpless she had felt moments ago.

Allen shook his head helplessly. Looking at Dina, whose tears would not stop, he felt an inexplicable warmth rise in his heart.

Old Leisi comforted Dina for a few words, then looked at Allen and asked, "Do you feel anything unusual in your body?"

"Pain. Every nerve and every bone hurts." Allen rubbed his face hard. "And I'm terribly hungry."

Dina noticed many tiny wounds on Allen's bare arms and legs, but she suppressed the doubts in her heart and hurried out to prepare food for her Second Young Master.

After Dina left, the Old Butler whispered, "Endure it. Don't move."

Before the bewildered Allen could ask what he meant, the Old Butler silently recited an incantation. A ball of azure light appeared in his hand out of thin air and slowly approached Allen's head.

Allen was about to ask a question when the water ball suddenly burst. Then the entire room seemed to be swept by a storm as countless invisible magical elements began exploding one after another, the blasts sounding without end.

It was as though countless firecrackers had been lit inside the room. Silver ornaments, solid wooden furniture, the soft bed draped in curtains—everything in the room exploded apart.

Old Leisi sat on the ground, filthy and terrified. He could not sense even a trace of magical elements in the air. Staring at Allen's face covered in bloody scratches, he was speechless for a long time.

"Y-you old bastard, what the hell did you do?" Allen blankly wiped the blood from his face, struggled out of a pile of wood chips, and pulled several thin splinters from his arm.

"I knew it!" Old Leisi raised a withered arm and pointed at Allen, muttering, "You disaster abandoned by the gods, you've hated the sight of me for a long time, haven't you? You've wanted to kill me all along, haven't you?"

Dina ran back after hearing the explosion. Seeing the wreckage in the room and the two soot-covered men, she hurriedly asked what had happened.

"Elemental Detonation!" the Old Butler said through gritted teeth, shooting Allen a resentful glare.

Dina looked at Allen, who was equally ragged from head to toe, and said disdainfully, "Uncle Leisi, stop fooling around. How could Second Young Master know a spell that only a Magus can use?"

Old Leisi suddenly froze. Allen froze as well.

Then Old Leisi's face changed as though he had transformed into another person. His blank expression suddenly became wild with joy.

Allen still looked dazed, completely unable to make sense of the situation.