Chapter 95
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 095
Chapter Title: Fallen Dragon (2)
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The dragon they met again looked... vastly different from what Woojin remembered.
Its silver scales, once gleaming like steel armor, had lost all their shine. They were patchy, as if clumsily patched together, with clumps of sticky mucus filling the gaps.
Its six pairs of wings hung in tatters like ragged cloth, dragging limply across the dirt.
The fallen dragon had forgotten how to fly.
It crawled across the ground like a beast, hungering endlessly for prey.
'No trace of its former majesty.'
It looked like a sports car forcibly dragged from a dumpster and jury-rigged to run.
......But it was still a threat.
The dragon abomination had brought its own army. Countless abominations—trolls and nagas, plus what seemed to be twisted dark cultists.
Beings that had once been allies in the allied forces.
The dragon halted, growling deeply. As if on command, the abominations surged forward. An undead horde that never stopped.
The naga warriors facing them shrank back visibly. The mood plummeted.
"......This is the warriors' time!!"
A hearty bellow suddenly rang out. It was Knartash, the troll queen.
Dong, dong-dong. Dong, dong—
Troll riders on war rhinos beat their war drums with fervor. In harmony, Braknak at the queen's side blew his horn.
Bwooooooo—!
The horn blared like a ship's foghorn. Then the war rhinos charged ahead.
It was a prearranged signal, so the naga vanguard hurriedly parted left and right. Get caught in that blind rush, and you'd be trampled. The army split like the Red Sea.
The war rhinos carrying troll warriors plowed straight into the enemy lines.
Kwaang, kwakwakwak!!
The rhinos thrashed their heads wildly, sweeping the surroundings. They bulldozed forward, crushing foes underfoot. The troll warriors broke through the abomination horde.
Their target: the dragon abomination lurking in the rear, watching the battle unfold.
"Time for us to move out."
"Right."
Woojin and Rolang followed behind.
Thud, thud, thud!
The drake carrying the two of them and the holy knights charged forward without hesitation. Not to be outdone, the drake bearing Naga King Beskan surged alongside.
Running neck and neck at the same speed. Suddenly, Beskan glanced sideways.
"......What's that mounted on the drake's back?"
The naga king asked. Woojin gave the same reply as last time.
"You'll see with your own eyes."
He answered in human tongue, so Beskan probably wouldn't understand—but no need to bother with sign language translation.
Right on cue, the warm-up ended.
......Keeiiiing!
A screech like an eagle's cry. With it, the large crystals embedded in the ballistas began to glow.
Two heavy ballistas.
Before leaving troll territory, he'd had artisans and laborers bolt two of them securely to the drake's saddle.
Click.
Woojin and Rolang pulled the triggers in unison. The heavy ballistas activated.
Thututututung!!
Both ballistas unleashed a barrage of arrows. Silver beams streaked across the battlefield, raking the enemy lines.
"Grah, geeeerrk—!"
Agonized screams erupted. The divinity-infused silver arrows were lethal to abominations. Wherever the silver trails passed, the abominations melted away one after another.
Seeing this, Beskan muttered.
"......Impressive."
With drakes and ballistas, they had both mobility and firepower.
Advancing along the path cleared by the war rhinos, Woojin and Rolang focused their silver arrows on the toughest-looking abominations.
Thanks to them, the troll warriors carved through more easily. The abominations, desperate to eliminate the annoying weapons, thrashed wildly.
Swaaaaah—!
A vicious wind howled. Woojin ducked on reflex. A bone spear whistled past his hair from somewhere.
Naga abominations hurling scavenged javelins. Most missed, but a few flew straight at Woojin and Rolang.
"Damn it, can't catch a break!"
Rolang swore, raising his shield. He had to block any stray javelins from wrecking the ballistas.
Dodge incoming attacks, block them, aim the ballistas—it was a tough, dangerous job, so Woojin and Rolang, the best in the group, manned the guns.
......Then.
Click, click-click—
Suddenly, the ballistas stopped firing. Empty clicks echoed repeatedly.
'Already out of ammo?'
The ballistas' arrows were spent. To reload, Woojin pulled out the long wooden magazine from his ballista.
He tossed the empty one back, and a waiting holy knight handed over a fresh one loaded with silver arrows like a rifle clip.
As he slotted it back in. A bad feeling hit him.
"......Watch out!"
Woojin whipped around and shouted.
Kaaang!!
A hurtling javelin slammed into the holy knight's side. The knight staggered. He tumbled off the drake.
But Woojin had lunged first, grabbing his wrist. The holy knight dangled precariously. Woojin hauled him back up.
Luckily, no major injury. The armor was dented but not pierced.
No time for chit-chat.
Woojin dropped back to the ballista and unleashed another volley.
'Resistance is ramping up.'
Only natural.
The allied forces were using rhinos and drakes to punch deep into enemy lines—like a wedge driving in.
The deeper they went, the stronger the abominations blocking their path.
Kwak!!
A massive troll abomination seized a rhino's horn. The rhino shoved forward with all its might... but the abomination only staggered back two steps before halting.
The huge troll abomination slammed the rhino's head into the ground with crushing force.
Bam! Kwaang!!
Deafening booms rang out. The war rhino shrieked and thrashed. Each smash pulped its skull further.
Troll and naga warriors rushed to stop it. But the troll abomination swung its forepaw hard.
The swipe missed everyone. Just a claw slash through empty air.
Shwaaaak—!
Yet the charging nagas and trolls were sliced open. The claw's path defied perspective. Warriors retreated, gushing blood.
Braknak bared his fangs at the sight. He'd seen that trick before.
"......Blade Wind Zagnor."
Once a great warrior of the troll clan.
Long ago, Zagnor had sacrificed himself to protect the tribe. His death created a vacancy in the ranks, letting Braknak become great warrior.
Not something Braknak had wanted.
"I've always wanted to take you down."
Braknak had trained relentlessly to defeat this foe and claim the title properly.
Kuduk, kududuk—!
Braknak's muscles bulged massively. Veins writhed like worms. Gripping his bone maul, the troll great warrior leaped at the enemy.
Kwaaaang!!
The maul cratered the ground in a thunderous blast. Zagnor recoiled hastily. Its claws flashed repeatedly.
Blade-like winds surged in. Braknak countered, sweeping his deeply planted maul upward like scooping from the earth.
Puuuung!!
A boom erupted, hurling dirt and gravel forward like a wave. The debris clashed chaotically with the slashing winds.
While the two warriors clashed, the allied forces of three races pressed their breakthrough.
Woojin scanned the battlefield.
'......Almost there.'
Lost in the frenzy, but the gap to the dragon abomination had narrowed sharply. A bit further, and they'd reach it.
But the losses weren't light.
Psst—
Ashen smoke rose from the heavy ballista. Time to swap mana stones.
Woojin ignored it, knowing full well.
'No time to change mana stones.'
Reloading arrows mid-enemy lines was hard enough; swapping mana stones was far more time-consuming and finicky.
They'd gotten their money's worth.
Judging that, Woojin ditched the ballista without regret and pulled back. Rolang soon released his trigger too.
"Hey, Jin! What's the plan now?!"
Rolang yelled, batting away a hail of javelins. As Woojin opened his mouth to reply, the dragon abomination rose and locked eyes on them.
......Their gazes met.
'Imagination?'
The doubt lasted a split second before the dragon abomination charged straight at them. It strode forward with massive steps, closing the distance in blinks.
A gloomy shadow fell. The bipedal dragon abomination cracked its jaws wide.
"......Jump!!"
Shouting that, Woojin leaped from the drake. Rolang and the holy knights followed, cursing as they bailed.
Kwaduk!!
The dragon abomination bit into the drake's neck. The drake convulsed wildly. Ignoring the thrashing, the dragon kept devouring.
Woojin and the holy knights hit the ground.
Even as it chewed, the dragon glared piercingly. Green eyes blazed like sulfur flames.
'......Does it remember me?'
The dragon abomination seemed to retain memories from its living days. No other way to explain that gaze.
A sigh escaped him.
'How do I kill this damned thing?'
As he pondered, reinforcements arrived after mopping up the surroundings, taking position at his flanks.
Naga King Beskan.
Troll Queen Knartash.
The three faced the dragon head-on. Rolang joked to the holy knights nearby.
"Looks like we can just sit back and watch."
Shing!
Words aside, Rolang and the holy knights drew swords in unison. Taking that as the signal, the allied leaders charged the dragon.
Knartash led.
The troll queen kicked off repeatedly, barreling straight at the dragon. No feints—just a bold, linear rush.
Fast, but predictable. The dragon spat venom at her, as if spitting on a bug.
Acid rained on Knartash.
Tong!
An odd sound. The air warped like a heat haze, and the troll queen vanished without a trace.
She reappeared instantly—seven steps closer.
'Blink.'
Short-range teleport.
Using it, Knartash closed in a flash. The dragon lifted one foot, as if to squash the pest.
Kwaaaang!!
The dragon stomped hard. But Knartash had blinked away again. Naga King Beskan surged into the gap.
Puk!
Beskan stabbed his trident deep into the dragon's opposite ankle. The massive body twitched. Not a huge blow.
But Woojin arrived right after. He clenched his right fist tight.
'Weight Amplification.'
His weight-amplified fist slammed the end of the trident shaft—like hammering a nail in a wall.
Twaaaang!!
A deafening clang. The shaft drove deeper. The dragon abomination bellowed in agony, unleashing attacks wildly.
Spitting acid nonstop, slamming forepaws, sweeping its tail across the ground. Hell-bent on demolishing everything nearby.
The three dodged the onslaught with uncanny agility and nerve.
Rolang blinked in awe.
"......How the hell do we even help with that?"
He hadn't really planned to just watch...
But as the saying went, bystanders get crushed in whale fights. Poke their head in, and they'd lose even what they had.