---
Chapter 150: Dragon's Land
The land changed before the sky did.
Stone darkened. The wind carried heat even at dawn. Every step forward pressed against the senses, as if the ground itself remembered blood.
"This is Dragon's Land," Lare said quietly.
"A graveyard that forgot how to rest."
The air was heavy with curse residue—old, layered, stubborn.
The knights slowed.
Even Shen opened his eyes fully.
They advanced.
Charred bones lay half-buried beneath blackened soil. Scales—some larger than wagons—were embedded in the rock like fossils of a war too vast to comprehend.
A low sound rolled across the plains.
Not a roar.
A warning.
From the cracked earth, cursed evils emerged—twisted forms born from dragon hatred and lingering death. Their bodies warped, leaking dark aura that poisoned the ground beneath them.
One knight tightened his grip.
"These aren't beasts."
"No," Sael said calmly.
"They're aftermath."
The evils rushed forward.
Shen did not move.
Sael stepped ahead.
"Leave this to me."
He inhaled.
The Pure Eye opened fully.
The world sharpened.
Curses unraveled before his gaze, revealing broken cores and distorted flows. Sael raised his hand and traced a symbol in the air.
Light descended—not violently, but decisively.
The first wave dissolved, their curses stripped away and scattered like ash.
More surged forward.
Sael advanced.
Each step cleansed the ground beneath him. His strikes were precise, removing corruption rather than destroying flesh. Where he passed, the land softened, black soil turning dull gray.
One knight whispered, stunned.
"He's not fighting…"
"He's correcting," Lare replied.
A greater presence stirred.
From beneath a fractured ridge, a massive cursed form rose—dragon-shaped, incomplete, roaring with accumulated resentment.
Sael paused.
Sweat ran down his temple.
Shen spoke once.
"Focus on the core."
Sael nodded.
He stepped into the creature's shadow.
The Pure Eye flared.
The curse screamed—then collapsed inward, compressed, purified, and erased.
Silence followed.
The land exhaled.
The oppressive pressure lifted, leaving behind quiet heat and scorched stone.
Sael lowered his hand slowly.
"…It's done."
Shen nodded.
But his gaze remained distant.
Lare turned toward him.
"You feel it too."
Shen answered quietly.
"This land is only the gate."
The wind shifted.
Far ahead, jagged peaks rose like broken blades.
Death Mountain waited.
---