I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space

Chapter 24 - Reasoning To ʼVictoryʼ

”Do not misunderstand me, Kaeryndor.”

Razealʼs voice was no longer mocking. It wasnʼt arrogant or proud it was measured, intentional. There was even a touch of respect in its tone.

”I never meant to insult the Dragon Heart, nor the dignity of your duty.”

Kaeryndorʼs brow twitched, eyes narrowing slightly. He said nothing but he listened.

”I simply accepted a truth. Something many would refuse to admit even to themselves.”

His eyes, tired yet defiant, held the gaze of the towering dragon warden.

”I canʼt have it. Iʼm not worthy of it. And because of that... for me, it has no use.”

He let that truth settle, heavy and raw. Then, he continued.

”You see, I donʼt waste time chasing what isnʼt mine to hold. Thatʼs not arrogance itʼs self-awareness.”

The flames in Kaeryndorʼs eyes dimmed slightly, shifting from wrath to contemplation.

”And you should understand this, more than anyone,” Razeal added.

”Because no matter how precious something might be in the eyes of the world... to you, the Dragon Heart will always be above all. Even above the Holy Grail, should it stand before you.”

Kaeryndor stiffened offended, perhaps but unable to deny the truth in the boyʼs words.

This wasnʼt blasphemy.

It was... a reflection of his own nature.

The boy was not challenging the value of the Dragon Heart. He was acknowledging that it transcended him.

A long, dense silence filled the Space.

Kaeryndor stared at the boy for several seconds expression unreadable. His body remained still, but something in his aura... shifted. Quieted.

Then his voice came low, calm yet undeniably curious:

”Then tell me, human... if not for the Dragon Heart, what did you come here for?”

Razeal raised his eyes, confidence flickering in their depths.

”A deal.”

His voice rang out clearly now, echoing in the death-still chamber.

”I want to make a deal with you, Warden.”

Inside his head, the Systemʼs voice exploded in utter chaos.

[Host, what the actual fuck are you trying to do?] the system blurted into Razealʼs head, disbelief dripping from its synthetic tone. [Thereʼs a 70% chance youʼre already dead and donʼt know it yet!]

Razeal ignored system.

Kaeryndorʼs brows furrowed. A deal? What kind of mortal tried to bargain when they were already a breath away from death? It didnʼt make sense. The boy didnʼt even want the Dragon Heart what was he playing at?

”You do realize,” Kaeryndor said coldly, ”No one who knows of this place is allowed to leave alive. That is the law. Even you.”

Razeal shrugged, the smirk back on his face but now tempered with purpose. ”I know. But what if your duty to find someone worthy gets fulfilled? What if the Dragon Heart finally finds its destined owner? Youʼd have no reason to keep me here or fear of secret being revealed.”

Kaeryndorʼs emerald eyes fixed on him, unblinking. There was a long, tense pause, the Warden weighing his words.

Was this mortal mocking him? Just moments ago heʼd admitted he wasnʼt worthy. How could someone unworthy bring forth the rightful heir?

But Razeal seemed to read his thoughts.

”I know someone worthy,” he said, quickly. ”Iʼll bring them here. Let them take the trial. If they succeed, they get the heart. I leave unharmed. Simple.”

[Host... no. No no no... Donʼt tell me youʼre thinking of that. Youʼre insane. Youʼre actually insane!] The systemʼs voice rang again in his mind, borderline panicked. But Razeal ignored it.

Instead, he stepped forward with complete composure. ”Think about it, Kaeryndor. Youʼve been bound to this duty for thousands maybe hundreds of thousands of years. Alone. Watching. Waiting.”

His voice softened. ”I can end it. I can help you fulfill that oath. You get to pass the Dragon Heart on. And youʼre finally free.”

Kaeryndor stood still, as if carved from obsidian.

Not because he rejected the offer but because, for the first time in eons, he was tempted to believe it.

Kaeryndorʼs expression didnʼt shift. Not even a flicker.

He simply shook his head, tone heavy with weary conviction.

”Do you really think finding someone worthy is so easy?”

His voice was calm too calm. The calm of someone who had waited for an eternity.

”Iʼve been here longer than time remembers. Not one soul has passed the trial.”

But before he could continue, Razeal cut him off.

”Heʼs from the Drakenvyr bloodline.”

The words hung heavy in the air. But this time... Kaeryndor didnʼt rebuke the interruption.

His gaze drifted across the graveyard over the fields of jagged, blackened stones that surrounded them like silent sentinels.

”Do you see these stones?” he asked quietly.

”Do you know what they are?”

Razealʼs voice followed calmly, without pause.

”I do.”

”Each one... was a person.”

His eyes swept over the cursed field.

”Challengers who tried to force the heart to obey them. Who sought to become dragons... but failed. The dragon heart rejected them, and in that rejection it crystallized them. Made them eternal tombstones in your garden of ambition.”

Kaeryndorʼs brows twitched the first visible crack in his composure.

He turned back sharply, eyes narrowing.

How does this boy know that?

That knowledge wasnʼt just hidden it was buried. Forbidden.

He studied the boy more closely now. The human no longer looked like a fool trespassing.

He looked like something else entirely.

”If you know this much,” Kaeryndor rumbled, ”then you must also know... that some of these stones once belonged to the Drakenvyr descendants.”

His voice grew colder.

”Even they those with bloodline ties to the royal dragons were not enough. Their lineage, no matter how pure, has thinned through generations. Their strength diluted. Even the direct descendants tried... and still...”

His hand motioned to the stones, his voice hardening.

”They ended as monuments. Ashen trophies in a graveyard of failure.”

Then he looked at Razeal again this time, not with suspicion...

But pity.

For the first time, he saw not arrogance in the boy but perhaps... naivety.

Had this boy really come all this way, gambling his life, Thinking that he can make whatever deal with his based on this assumption?.

But Razeal noticed the change in Kaeryndorʼs eyes. That flicker of doubt.

And he chuckled low and slow.

Then, without breaking eye contact, he dropped the real spark:

”What if that person... also carries the bloodline of the Sun God?”

Time. Stopped.

Kaeryndor, who had already begun to prepare himself to end this foolishness, froze mid-thought.

His eyes widened for the first time in centuries.

Even in spirit form, goosebumps raced across his incorporeal body. The very concept clawed at his ancient mind like a forbidden echo.

”What... did you say?” His voice was no longer calm. It trembled.

Razeal didnʼt answer right away.

Instead, he stepped forward slowly, his hands behind his back like a noble addressing a general.

”I came to make a deal, Kaeryndor.”

His words now carried an air of absolute control.

”Iʼll bring the one who holds both lineages.”

Kaeryndor stared at the boy, eyes sharp, scanning his face like trying to see through flesh into soul.

Was he lying? Was this some mad bluff from a dying fool?

Or...

Could it be true?

Could this boy actually hold the key to ending his eternal suffering this unending guardianship that had turned centuries into torture?

Kaeryndor remained still for several seconds. The silence between them was dense, heavy with unspoken weight. Then finally, he spoke.

”...What do you want?” His voice was no longer cold. It was quiet. Serious.

At those words, Razealʼs smirk returned not smug, not mocking. But victorious.

He didnʼt speak his answer aloud.

”Victory,” he whispered in his mind.

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