[ Ancient Dragonkin (2) ]
Clang! Screeeeech!
The sound of metal and claws grinding against each other echoed sharply, with sparks flying between them. The claws that the dragonkin had lost regenerated quickly, and a thick venom oozed from all around it. The poison spread rapidly, already covering a radius of at least a hundred meters.
“Melted City”—that must be the skill. It’s an SS-rank poison skill, but thanks to its wide range, even Noah’s S-rank poison resistance was holding up well. Noah’s support was helping tremendously.
‘Liette is really impressive.’
She was clearly lacking in both strength and speed. The gap wasn’t small either—under normal circumstances, it would’ve been impossible for her to hold the dragonkin in place like this.
But Liette was going above and beyond, skillfully restraining the dragonkin.
Crunch.
Her arms trembled under the force of the clash between her sword and the dragonkin’s claws, but without faltering, Liette twisted her body and delivered a powerful kick charged with her skill, “Radiant Aura.” As soon as the impact landed, Noah’s healing skill immediately restored her arm, allowing her to raise her sword again, the blade singing through the air with renewed energy.
Slash, heal, break, heal—this cycle kept repeating.
It might seem like a reckless charge, relying solely on healing skills. But in reality, every injury was calculated with cold precision.
There was no avoiding injuries when blocking the dragonkin head-on. However, if the wounds were too severe to heal immediately, Liette wouldn’t have been able to keep holding the dragonkin at bay.
That’s why she was deliberately controlling the damage, staying just barely within Noah’s healing capabilities. She was managing the dragonkin’s strength, her own durability, and Noah’s healing power with pinpoint accuracy, balancing everything as if walking a tightrope. It was an artful display of combat mastery.
Even though Seong Hyunjae and I were providing the foundation with our skills, none of this would be possible without Liette’s innate combat sense. Watching her fight like this was almost enough to make me forget the grudge I had against her.
“Noah’s stat lending would be best used for magic, right?”
Even though Liette seemed to be enjoying herself so much she might get angry if I interrupted, it wasn’t a good idea to leave things like this for too long. Even an S-rank had limits, especially after just having a fight with Seong Hyunjae.
“Mind lending me your watch? Does it have a stopwatch function?”
“Of course.”
He handed me an expensive-looking pocket watch, which I wrapped securely around my wrist with the chain to make sure I wouldn’t drop it. I didn’t know exactly how far the Shard of Sharlos’s range extended, but my clothes and shoes had been fine during the Babar hunt, so the watch should be safe as well.
And…
“You’ll be able to use me as a shield.”
It nullifies all damage. Could there be a better shield than this? During the Babar fight, I hadn’t thought about it because I wasn’t directly under attack, but this was different. Just standing here with such a powerful item and not using it would be a huge waste.
Seong Hyunjae let out a small murmur of agreement at my words.
“When sharing the effect of the skill, as long as the points of contact are maintained, the effect continues. For instance, if you hold my left hand, then switch to my right, the effect will still be applied, as long as we don’t completely lose contact. You can get creative with it, just don’t let go entirely.”
I’d tested this out with Noah when checking the shared skill effects.
“Of course, if the enemy grabs me, we’re screwed. Like with Babar, the damage nullification seems to only activate when a significant amount of damage is incoming, so simply pulling or grabbing it won’t trigger anything.”
If it were an item that blocked all external stimuli, I wouldn’t be able to hear, see, or feel anything. That’s not damage nullification—that’s an item that could drive someone mad. Imagine losing all your senses at once—how could anyone stay sane?
“The good news is that his hands don’t look like they could hold anything normally. If he tries to grab me with those sharp claws, it’ll count as an attack, and the nullification will kick in. As long as we’re careful, we should be fine.”
If the dragonkin had regular hands, it might overpower me and snatch it away, but with claws like those, it seemed unlikely. Seong Hyunjae, who had been silently listening to my explanation, grabbed my left wrist.
“Do you know how to dance?”
“What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?”
“There’s nothing better for synchronizing movements and breaths with a partner than dancing. Dance and martial arts have many similarities, you know. Ever heard of Capoeira?”
So he’s talking about partner dancing, like ballroom dancing or something?
“I’ve never had the leisure to learn, unlike someone with your cushy life, Mister.”
“Don’t worry. You can start learning now.”
Like hell I will. Ignoring Seong Hyunjae’s nonsense, I called out to Noah, who was flying overhead in his dragon form.
“Noah! Please lend your magic stat to this guy!”
Noah adjusted his direction toward us, and Liette loosened her relentless assault just enough to step back and head our way as well. I noticed Noah’s eyes were a bit teary as he flew closer. He didn’t need to worry so much.
—Are you okay?
“As you can see, I’m fine.”
I mean, aside from the fact that I couldn’t take any painkillers, this wasn’t anything I hadn’t dealt with before. I left the Shard of Sharlos with Noah for now—if something happened to our healer, who was perfectly timing his healing skills through shared senses, we’d be in serious trouble.
Noah lent him his stats, and the shared skill effect for double attack power was also applied. Meanwhile, Liette was steadily drawing the dragonkin closer to us. She couldn’t have known the specifics of my skills or items, yet she was moving as if it had all been part of the plan.
The golden dragon retreated to a safe distance, and as soon as I pressed the stopwatch, I activated the Shard of Sharlos. From now on, we had ten minutes—no, seven minutes.
Seong Hyunjae’s chains crackled with electricity, charged with even more power than before. He stepped forward, heading straight for the dragonkin that was now only a few meters away.
Just before we reached the battlefield, Seong Hyunjae smiled at me.
“Shall we dance?”
…I’m seriously starting to question why I even bothered regressing. Could you stop with the one-liners already?
Instead of answering, I watched as—
Boom!!
With a deafening roar, a flash of lightning surged across the ground. Liette had dodged out of the way, anticipating the attack, but the dragonkin was struck directly, its entire body crackling with electricity.
“□□□□!”
Even with the doubled skill effect, it didn’t seem to do much damage. The dragonkin roared something unintelligible, poison spilling from its body as it charged forward.
If it weren’t for Noah’s healing, Liette’s body would have been torn apart by those blade-like claws. But Seong Hyunjae didn’t dodge—he met the attack head-on, using my arm. Supporting me with one arm, he held my wrist with his other hand, his movements resembling those of a dance. Damn it.
“Wow, what the hell, darling?!”
Liette, who had just dodged and was now approaching again, shouted in shock. The dragonkin seemed just as confused, momentarily halting its assault. In that instant, Seong Hyunjae pulled out a long, golden needle from his inventory.
—Krrrrk!
Frustrated by its failed attack, the dragonkin’s muscles bulged. Its claws, fangs, horns, and tail—all of its weapons—bristled as it unleashed an even more menacing aura.
Meanwhile, Seong Hyunjae’s movements remained graceful, almost as if he were dancing.
“Raw electricity disperses easily, losing much of its power.”
Thud! The dragonkin’s tail, bristling with spikes, slammed down where I had been, but Seong Hyunjae effortlessly pulled me out of the way, spinning me around to meet the dragonkin’s next poisonous claw strike with my hand. I hate to admit it, but his timing was perfect.
As the dragonkin faltered from yet another failed attack, Seong Hyunjae drove the golden needle into a gap between its scales.
The clash of swords, the scrape of chains—Liette and Seong Hyunjae pressed the dragonkin relentlessly, not giving it a moment to remove the needle.
“When you want to concentrate the power, you need a little more preparation.”
“It’s a really… frustrating… attribute.”
I was starting to feel dizzy. Every time my foot touched the ground, I was yanked to the side before I could even stabilize myself. Damn it, what good is knowing his next move if my body can’t keep up?
—Kaaaah!
The dragonkin let out a roar and charged at us like a rhinoceros. The ground cracked and split beneath its feet, quaking with each step. But none of that mattered. The bigger its movements, the more openings it created, and soon, three more needles were embedded in its spiked back.
“But once you manage to concentrate it…”
Then, with a flick of Seong Hyunjae’s wrist, the chains crackled, directing their power through the needles embedded in the dragonkin’s body, minimizing energy loss.
—Kyaaaah!
The flash of light wasn’t as spectacular as the initial lightning strike—just a few sparks. But unlike before, the dragonkin convulsed, vomiting blood.
Even I, who could feel the sensation through the Teacher skill, reflexively winced. Though I didn’t share the pain, the blinding light and the sensation of razor-sharp electricity tearing through my body were enough to make my mouth go dry.
“No other element has such destructive power.”
Seong Hyunjae said quietly, full of confidence. It was impressive. This was an SS-rank Venom and Curse Dragonkin—just from its species and skillset, it was clearly stronger than Babar, a top-tier monster. Even after piercing its scales and directly attacking its insides, to be able to subdue such a formidable opponent in one shot…
But it wasn’t dead yet. Weakened by the venomous assault that had ravaged its body, the dragonkin still possessed incredible regenerative abilities—or perhaps it had a healing skill of its own. Though staggering in pain, it managed to stay upright.
Then—
Boom!!
With a sound like a massive hammer striking down, Liette’s blade, infused with her skill, came crashing down, not thin like a needle, but heavy and solid, like a giant’s hammer. The sword pierced the weakened dragon scales, driving into the dragonkin’s skull, splitting its nape wide open and shattering its spine.
As she released the handle of her sword, Liette flipped backward, shouting triumphantly.
“Burn the sword along with it!”
Metal, especially high-quality weaponry, made an excellent conduit for skills. In response to her shout, the chains danced, the lightning surging again.
The light flared once more, wild and ferocious, crackling as it ripped through the dragonkin’s body, devouring its prey.
—Krrrrrk.
A weak, almost lifeless groan escaped the dragonkin. Without an Elixir, it was over. As the light in its eyes began to fade, I met its dull, lifeless gaze. Its lips moved, forming silent words.
‘Is there no way to understand it?’
There might be a clue about its master. I focused the Teacher skill on the dragonkin, trying to dig deeper, beyond just its surface sensations. There was no resistance from the dying creature, and with the skill’s doubled effect, I might be able to…
Suddenly.
[Thank you for being so eager to come.]
A voice echoed in my head. And just like that, everything went black.
For a brief moment.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in an unfamiliar place.
‘What is this?’
Seong Hyunjae, Noah, and Liette were gone. The pocket watch I had been holding had disappeared as well. My translation necklace and the Shard of Sharlos were gone too, along with all my other items. The only thing left was my clothes, which hadn’t been repaired, but my pants, which should have been torn, were now intact.
I looked around in confusion. In the distance, I saw someone standing there. A man, or at least something that looked like a man, with curved horns protruding from his head and inhuman eyes. He wore something resembling a strange uniform, with long scars running down his neck and wrists.
I activated the Promising Talent skill. Like at Myungwoo’s forge, the information didn’t appear on a status screen but directly in my mind.
‘Venom and Curse Dragonkin. Stronger than the one we just fought… SSS-rank, maybe? I can’t get much else.’
This one didn’t seem powerful enough to be the master of the Venom and Curse Dragon King. Maybe the third pet?
Where the hell was I? It didn’t seem like my body had been transported somewhere. My items were gone, my clothes were fine. Was this some sort of mental skill? Skills that manipulate the mind are hard to use, even at a high rank.
‘Was it because I tried to dig deeper?’
The dragonkin started walking toward me. Its golden eyes, similar to Liette’s, watched me carefully as if studying me.
“You’ve interfered with my plans again. The damage you’ve caused me isn’t small. Because I was forced to send Vikus, my rank temporarily dropped.”
He spoke. Vikus—that must have been the name of the dragonkin we had just killed. And rank decrease?
Before I could think it over, I grabbed him by the collar. Of course, it didn’t budge. Damn it.
“Was it you? Did you send the Lautitars into the dungeon I was in?”
“That incident was truly unexpected. I never thought Han Yuhyun would die so easily.”
He spoke in a leisurely tone.
“At that time, Han Yuhyun was close to SS-rank. Even in front of the Venom and Curse Dragon, his life was never truly at risk. I even deliberately sent a low-level Lautitar. The only one who was supposed to die was you, Han Yujin.”
“What are you talking about? If you wanted to kill me, you could’ve just sent an A-rank, or even a B-rank monster after the gate closed.”
“Do you think the dungeon gate was still open at that time?”
His words sent a shiver down my spine. How much time had passed after I entered the dungeon before the gate closed? It hadn’t been that long, but an hour is shorter than you think. And…
Yuhyun had entered alone. Despite being a Guild Leader with plenty of healers, support, and hunters at his command, he had come in alone. That made it impossible for him to protect both an F-rank hunter and himself at the same time.
“I made a new contract with Han Yuhyun. The condition was that he’d be allowed into the closed dungeon to save his brother. But Han Yujin, as long as you lived, Han Yuhyun would never fully cooperate with us. That’s why I sent monsters he couldn’t handle, to ensure he’d fail to protect you. Han Yuhyun never knew it was us who sent the monsters—he would believe it was a dungeon anomaly that led to your death. He had no one to blame but himself for his powerlessness. And, as is typical for S-rank hunters, that powerlessness drove him to crave more strength, making him much easier to manipulate. But.”
He sighed before continuing.
“No one could’ve predicted that, no matter how precious his brother was to him, Han Yuhyun would give his life so willingly.”
So, they hadn’t intended to kill Yuhyun. Even so, it doesn’t change anything. The only thing that’s become clearer is how much more I want to destroy this bastard.
–TL Notes–
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