Chapter 135
Chapter 135
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Hidden Unique City, Desertio
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ju Gonghyeok's hands tore into Desertio's jaw joint, forcibly prying it open to reveal the blood-red maw within.
The shattered front teeth and lolling tongue were on full display.
With wings spread like a savior descending from the heavens, Ju Gonghyeok beckoned to the refugees.
"Come on, everyone. If you want to live, get in here."
The people followed his pointing finger.
What he indicated was the beautifully gaping mouth of the desert dragon.
Desertio was still heaving ragged breaths, letting out agonized roars.
Each time, droplets of blood and saliva sprayed out, accompanied by the foul breath reeking of rotten monster remains.
The refugees desperately shook their heads.
- Looks like they really don't want to go in there.
"Hmm, it's more comfortable than it looks."
Ju Gonghyeok had dragged Desertio here for a reason—to house forty thousand refugees.
But the prospective tenants clearly weren't thrilled with their new digs.
Ju Gonghyeok looked down at the refugees, who were like tiny peas to him, and lowered his voice.
"No more warnings. If you want to live, get in here."
His terrifying threat turned their faces ghostly white and soaked the ground yellow.
- Hmm, that came out more like "if you want to die."
Ju Gonghyeok nodded at Nathaniel's interpretation.
"Yeah? Then I'll save you."
"Uwaaaaaah!"
He snatched up the dawdling refugees.
And tossed them straight into Desertio's mouth.
"Eeeek! Spare meee!"
"What a racket. Quiet down. I'll get you all out alive."
He grabbed handfuls of them and shoved them into the dragon's maw at the speed of light.
From the outside, he looked just like a zookeeper feeding an alligator.
In the corner of Gonghyeok's vision, the numbers kept updating.
[Refugees stored in Desert Dragon Desertio: 2,676.]
[Refugees stored: 2,990.]
[Refugees stored: 3,122...]
"Run awaaaay!"
"It's a monster!"
"I want to live!"
"With you!"
Gueeeeeek!
The more refugees it swallowed, the more pitifully Desertio wailed.
After devouring around ten thousand, blood-membraned wings burst through the dragon's back scales.
[Homeless Outlaws relocated to stomach: 10,000.]
[First condition of special quest 'Hidden Unique City, Desertio' fulfilled.]
[Part of Desert Dragon Desertio transforms into a 'Unique City.']
[Fulfill remaining quests to fully transform Desert Dragon Desertio into 'Winged Dragon City Desertio.']
A message window popped up before every hunter in the area.
Only then did the hunters who knew Ju Gonghyeok understand his actions.
He had brought a unique city capable of housing forty thousand from the start, and the condition for Desertio to become one was to store ten thousand living refugees in its belly.
Ju Gonghyeok released Desertio's transformed neck.
"See? Hurry up and come board."
"Um..."
One relief worker who had been hiding in a crevice stepped out.
"The quest isn't complete yet, so Desertio hasn't fully become a unique city, right?"
No one was about to walk into the monster's gaping jaws on their own, especially with it still panting roughly.
And after Ju Gonghyeok had maniacally stuffed people inside, everyone was too terrified to come out.
"You're right. Guess I'll keep going then."
Screams echoed as Ju Gonghyeok's hands moved even faster than before.
The guerrilla squad, breaking through the encirclement late, broke out in cold sweats at the sight.
"What the hell is that?"
"Looks like the kid followed through on protecting the refugees, just like he promised."
Christina wiped blood from her face and smiled languidly.
"All that hardship getting here was worth it."
"Ju Gonghyeok's a monster too, huh. I heard he took down the Death King, but I didn't realize he was this insane."
"Let's hurry inside! The Halloween army's chasing us from behind!"
The guerrilla squad rushed toward the dragon.
Gonghyeok spotted them.
"They're finally here."
He pulled the holy sword Lumen Doct (A+) from his inventory and jammed it into the dragon's lower jaw.
Krrruuuk!
"Nathaniel, enlarge and fix the sword in place."
= Enlarging it after letting go will cancel your own enlargement, you know?
"Doesn't matter."
Nathaniel gave a tiny nod, and Ju Gonghyeok released the sword.
[Sephirot Stage 1 Sandalphon's authority 'Enlargement' activated.]
[Transferred from target 'Ju Gonghyeok' to 'Holy Sword Lumen Doct (A+).' ]
[Remaining cast time: 31 minutes.]
Shrunk back to normal size, Ju Gonghyeok greeted the guerrilla squad.
Christina stepped forward first and bowed her head.
"Ju Gonghyeok of New Rom Orphanage. Thank you for your hard work."
"Spare me the pleasantries, Professor Chris."
She smiled at the old title.
"Look at you, all grown up already. Can't even call you 'kid' anymore. You did great, Gonghyeok."
"What can I say? I said I'd take responsibility, so I did. More importantly..."
Ju Gonghyeok's gaze shifted behind the guerrilla squad.
Skeletor's shouts were already close by.
"You there! You won't get past us!"
Ingus's hidden troops emerged from crevices throughout the canyon, swelling their ranks to over thirty thousand.
The guerrilla squad opposing them numbered barely a few hundred.
But Skeletor cautiously formed up his lines.
'No matter how much hunters' stats have risen lately, transcendent monsters aren't easy.'
The Ghost Knight Order's Cross Star defeating four cities was ancient history, and Reaper Urben had been exorcised long ago—but a transcendent was still a transcendent.
Even from afar, Ju Gonghyeok's aura as he pinned down Desertio was unnerving.
"I'll take the front."
The battered Soma Sangai stepped forward resolutely.
But Gonghyeok's arm blocked his path.
"Get inside."
"But..."
"I said get inside. You know how this goes."
Soma saw a familiar glint in Ju Gonghyeok's eyes.
The signal that the play was about to begin.
Screeeeech—
A black eagle sliced sharply across the sky.
Having crossed hundreds of kilometers in an instant, it plummeted straight toward Ju Gonghyeok.
Ju Gonghyeok drew the demon-sealing hammer Hontar and smashed the eagle's head.
Kwaaaang!
The impact cratered the ground where the hammer met the eagle.
The canyon, already on the brink of collapse, crumbled as the black eagle shattered, shadows splashing outward.
Something wriggled from the darkness Ju Gonghyeok had pulverized and asked.
= Ah, this is the one you're using now, right?
[Progenitor's third ability 'Drakenstein's Night' is released.]
[Recreating the bizarre dimension Drakenstein's Night here.]
Fragments from the black eagle poured out darkness like a waterfall.
The darkness flooded the canyon like an overflowing river and blanketed the sky.
"W-What is this?!"
"I-I've seen it before!"
A hunter who had once applied to Company cried out in shock.
The forbidden technique glimpsed when Reaper Urben fell.
"It's the Death King's avatar, Oumer Ashk!"
With a chilling wind, wraiths and specters wailed from all directions as hundreds of vampires under the Death King's command perched on withered trees, cackling mockingly.
A masked man lightly descended into the heart of the darkness.
"Ju Gonghyeok—you're mine."
The Death King's declaration.
Skeletor gulped.
From the uninhabited island on the 3rd floor, the Death King incident on the 5th, to the crimson palace on the 10th—Ju Gonghyeok and the Death King's infamous grudge was legendary.
'Against a monster like that, only the Death King or Imir could hold him off for a while.'
As Skeletor sized it up, Ju Gonghyeok raised the demon-breaking hammer, Hontar.
In response, the Death King drew his trademark twin Gauss pistols.
Scorching flashes eroded the darkness, unfolding a decisive battle that would later echo through history before the two forces.
"Damn it, take cover!"
"The guerrilla bastards are heading into the dragon's mouth! Follow them!"
"But it's too dangerous!"
"It's fine! The Death King will hold off Ju Gonghyeok!"
Amid the chaos, both the guerrilla squad and Halloween forces poured into the dragon's belly.
Skeletor thought as he entered.
"The era of those two is about to unfold."
Zigmund watched them with a sense of unease.
"Their minds feel like mirrors reflecting the same roots."
Soma didn't look back at their fight.
"Another sin repeats itself."
With no one left watching, the flashes and darkness faded.
"Shall we call it?"
"Good work."
One clone dissolved into smoke in midair.
Only a single Ju Gonghyeok remained.
He eyed the pitch-black dragon's maw.
They'd fallen for it again.
The people and situation were a bit different, but...
History repeated itself, as it had so many times before.
Everything was going according to plan.
They would face trials inside there.
But before entering...
Ju Gonghyeok spotted Halloween forces marching boldly toward Desertio.
"Hurry up front! Let's get in too!"
The Pumpkin Queen shouted in her childish voice.
While Skeletor led the army out, she had rallied the battered Halloween remnants.
She planned to cram every last one inside before Desertio took flight.
"Not on my watch."
Ju Gonghyeok picked up a nearby chunk of white bedrock.
A shard of Desertio's tooth—a two-meter human hefting something the size of a villa looked utterly bizarre.
[Adjust angle 15 degrees, two steps right, lower body center 5cm.]
[Target: City organs and armory.]
"Okay."
He aimed precisely as the GM instructed and hurled it with all his might.
Kuaaaang—!