"I want four things from you."
Razeal's voice broke the heavy silence, calm and precise.
He lifted a single finger.
"First... a pocket secret realm, bound to this graveyard by a teleportation circle. I'll tell you how to customize it later."
Kaeryndor didn't even blink. He simply raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
A tiny orb, no larger than a marble but pulsing with ancient magic, materialized in his palm. A faint hum vibrated through the air around it a compressed realm, etched with dimensional runes and locked with teleportation coordinates.
He tossed it toward Razeal.
"Easy."
Razeal caught it without a word.
"Second," he continued, "a stone tablet. I'll give you the inscription later. You just need to create it."
Kaeryndor gave a slow nod. Still manageable. Still insignificant compared to what this boy claimed he'd bring.
"Third," Razeal said, narrowing his eyes, "teleport me to the northern region of this trial land."
At this, Kaeryndor's face darkened for the first time.
A low frown etched across his features.
His fingers twitched faintly a subtle expression of rising caution.
"No," he said flatly.
"You're pushing now."
The moment those words left Kaeryndor's mouth, the atmosphere sharpened like the sky holding its breath before a storm.
"I should've known," he muttered. "These requests were too easy. Too... meaningless. Almost like distractions."
His eyes turned to slits, emreld irises glowing faintly.
"You're trying to escape, aren't you?"
There was no rage in his voice only ancient disappointment.
"You know the rules. No one leaves this place alive after uncovering its secret. Not unless they're chosen. Are you trying to lie to me, boy?"
Razeal didn't flinch.
"I'm not running," he replied, his tone calm but firm. "I have to leave. To bring him here."
He took a step forward, even as his legs threatened to shake under the weight of Kaeryndor's aura.
"Give me just half an hour. That's all I ask. You want someone worthy, don't you? Then let me bring him."
Kaeryndor scoffed. "If I could leave, I'd have fetched them myself."
He crossed his arms, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Why should I trust you?"
"You don't have to."
Razeal's response was sharp. He held Kaeryndor's gaze without faltering.
Then, slowly, he raised his hand.
"Let's form a Blood Spirit Contract."
Kaeryndor's expression flickered, suspicion shifting into mild surprise.
"…You'd bind yourself to a soul contract? Just to prove this?"
"One hour," Razeal said, breath steady but low.
"If I don't return with the one I promised or if the Dragon Heart rejects him I'll forfeit my life."
Kaeryndor's eyes gleamed faintly, ancient knowledge calculating possibilities.
Razeal continued, "In exchange, you fulfill all four of my wishes. And during the contract's hour duration, neither of us may harm the other."
Even the wind dared not move.
[Host…] the system's voice echoed inside his mind, hesitant. [I don't even know what to say anymore. This is beyond insane.]
Kaeryndor remained still, the ancient wheels in his mind turning.
This child knew far too much. Too many buried truths. Yet… what if he was right?
What if the boy truly could bring the one he spoke of?
What if, after all these eons, the wait could finally end?
After a long pause, Kaeryndor exhaled slowly.
"…I'll allow the contract."
Razeal grinned, victory flashing in his eyes. He raised his hand, ready to draw blood
"Wait." Kaeryndor's voice stopped him cold.
"Tell me your fourth wish first. As for your third, I'll allow it once the contract is formed."
Razeal paused. Just for a moment. A flicker of something unreadable danced across his eyes.
Then he exhaled slowly.
"…The fourth wish."
His voice lowered, a glint of steel hiding behind calm words.
"I want the poison of the Fervine Serpent."
That… made Kaeryndor blink.
"…What?" he asked, his voice rising just slightly in surprise.
"You're asking for the poison of a sixth-rank, noble class beast?"
"No i mean Is that it all you want, kid?" Kaeryndor's voice was calm, but something in his tone suggested disbelief. Not irritation just quiet confusion.
For someone about to free him from an eternal duty from hundreds of years of silence, loneliness, and stone these wishes felt… trivial. A pocket realm, a stone tablet, a teleportation, and a vial of venom?
He tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing. "Surely that can't be everything."
Razeal didn't flinch.
"No. Let me finish the fourth wish," he replied evenly, hands clasped behind his back, as if he were discussing nothing more serious than the weather.
Kaeryndor smirked faintly. "Take your time. After all, it's your final wish."
He chuckled, the sound deep and ancient, almost like stone grinding against stone.
"I almost wonder if you knew those things were all in my treasury. You've practically asked for nothing which i couldn't provide. Everything so far is within my palm."
But then Razeal smiled.
That kind of smile.
The kind that looked harmless. Innocent. A smile that always came before a catastrophe.
"Then for my fourth wish," he said, "I want you to put the Fervine Serpent's poison... inside the Dragon Heart."
The air froze.
A strange silence fell over the space as if even time itself didn't want to witness what had just been said.
Kaeryndor blinked.
"...Sighh?"
His eyebrows twitched.
The tension in the air didn't explode it stalled. Like thunder building in a storm that refused to break.
"Say that again," he said finally, his voice steady not angry, not scolding. Just... stunned.
Razeal's expression didn't change. He simply smiled a little more, as if he had asked for candy instead of defiling a divine artifact.
"I want the Fervine Serpent's poison injected into the Dragon Heart," he repeated. Calm. Casual. Dead serious.
Kaeryndor dragged a hand across his face, sighing as his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose.
This kid. Again.
He didn't even feel mad he was just... exhausted by the audacity.
It was like watching someone carefully climb to the top of a mountain only to jump off it laughing.
"I know," he muttered, not looking up. "I know you're going to explain it. Again."
He exhaled slowly, giving Razeal a tired, sideways glance. "You pull stunts like this and somehow make it sound reasonable. I don't know why, but I already know you'll say something that makes me hesitate before I crush your skull."
Razeal just shrugged lightly. "Well, I thought I should mention… the person I'm bringing here? He's my eternal enemy so i..."
Kaeryndor blinked. "…Huh?"
For a long second, his ancient mind just… froze.
Enemy?
Enemy.
You're gifting the Dragon Heart... to your enemy?
That single thought echoed inside Kaeryndor's mind, bouncing between his instincts, his dignity, and the crumbling wall of logic.
He stared at Razeal, searching for sarcasm, jest, madness something.
But all he saw… was sincerity.
Not warm sincerity. Not noble sincerity.
The cold, calculated kind. The type only people like him could understand.
"You do realize," Kaeryndor said slowly, "that what you're doing is… something even family would kill for. Even blood brothers wouldn't share something like this. And here you are…"
He waved a hand vaguely, as if trying to physically catch the absurdity from the air.
"Giving it to your enemy?"
His spiritual form flickered with rising confusion, wings twitching in disbelief.
"Is your brain broken, child? You just spent your life bluffing for this opportunity, and now what? You want to poison the heart and give it away?"
He stared again.
"Are you trying to die? Again?"
He was so close so close to killing Razeal on principle alone.
And yet…
He didn't move.
Because, in truth, it wasn't his concern.
The Dragon Heart would choose its bearer. Worthy or not, friend or foe it didn't matter to Kaeryndor.
His duty was only to safeguard. To test. And to pass the flame when it was finally deserved.
He looked at Razeal in silence, the boy standing there like a noble schemer hiding poison in honey.
After a pause, Kaeryndor spoke again, his voice quieter this time.
"…You don't hate this person that much, do you?"
His eyes narrowed.
"You do know the Fervine Serpent's venom won't actually damage the heart itself. Even in the blood circulation chamber, it can't do more than a few months' harm. At most temporary mana blockage, dull heart pain, blood flow disruption. Three, four months maybe. Then the heart nullifies it."
He studied Razeal's expression, trying to read deeper.
Maybe he doeat hate that person. Maybe… he actually like them."
He smirked in his thoughts. Maybe he is just too proud to admit it. Typical children. Say 'enemy' when they mean 'I care.'"
Had Razeal known what Kaeryndor was thinking, he might've vomited.
Out of sheer disgust.
Like them? I'd rather kiss a flaming goblin…
But Kaeryndor didn't say anything else. He simply watched.
He still didn't understand the boy's game. But one thing was certain.
Whatever happened next... would be unforgettable.
"I allow it," Kaeryndor said at last, the weight of the words carrying centuries of duty behind them.
He exhaled, shoulders relaxing ever so slightly like a man who had stood guard for too long and was finally allowed to blink.
"I mean…" he muttered under his breath, "I've protected the Dragon Heart for eons. It can forgive me a little for that blasphemy, right?"
The thought echoed quietly within him, not truly convincing but enough to let the moment slide.
It's just a temporary inconvenience, he reasoned. The poison won't truly damage the Dragon Heart. Just a minor disruption. Nothing lasting.
He turned toward Razeal with a tired smile, masking the subtle anxiety still churning beneath the surface.
"Alright then," he said, voice steady.
"So... what do you want me to write on the stone tablet? And how do you want the pocket realm customized?" His tone shifted practical now, like a craftsman discussing orders, not a guardian of one of the world's rarest legacies.
But Kaeryndor paused mid-thought.
Because he was suddenly staring at something that deeply unsettled him.
Razeal was smiling.
Not a smirk. Not a grin of triumph.
No it was the kind of smile a man wore when he found the woman he was ready to propose to.
"...What?" Kaeryndor blinked.
The smile on that human's face was far too dazzling, far too pleased.
A cold chill ran up the back of the ancient warden's spiritual spine.
"This human hasn't lost his mind… right?"
He stared at the boy.
"Right?"
Razeal looked like he'd just received the greatest blessing of his life.
A long, awkward silence filled the air, until
"Cough. Cough." Razeal finally snapped out of it, clearing his throat and adjusting his collar with practiced grace.
His grin, however, refused to fade, stretching across his face with smug satisfaction.
Kaeryndor narrowed his eyes. Something was definitely off. But he didn't press.
Meanwhile, deep in Razeal's mind
[Host, I beg you…]
The system's voice trembled in his thoughts, sounding both terrified and utterly exhausted.
[Please. Please tell me you're not planning to gift the Dragon Heart to the protagonist. I can't ah i my circuits ooh host I..]
Razeal's eyes twinkled dangerously as he replied within his mind, tone as casual as a nobleman sipping tea.
"Don't worry, System." His smirk widened.
"I'm about to show you how to ruin someone so perfectly… they'll thank you while bleeding."
---