Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 091
Chapter Title: Yor Divided into N Parts #2
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【I'll show you the way to the Serpent's Temple.】
【Come with me to the Jungle of Hatred.】
Stone Dragon Isidore bellowed with a deafening roar.
Hammer tapped my side.
“Yor! Tell him we're going! If that thing starts rampaging, we're defenseless!”
Stone Dragon Isidore's level was probably over 20.
No choice but to tread carefully.
I glanced up at the sky.
The pitch-black heavens sparkled with stars and the moon.
‘Around midnight now?’
Not the best time to head out.
‘Harvesting rule number one: Health comes first, no exceptions.’
In my past life, I got hooked on devouring items without sleeping and dropped dead from something like acute heart failure.
Died without even spending the cash I'd grinded up.
So in this life, sleep was priority number one.
“It's late today—can we talk tomorrow?”
I asked cautiously.
Everyone gasped and held their breath.
They figured you don't piss off a dragon.
【.......】
Srrrk.
Stone Dragon Isidore's slender eyes cracked open.
He spread his wings and soared toward the moon with a whoosh.
Only then could I finally exhale.
Everyone else was the same—pure pandemonium.
“First living dragon I've ever seen.”
“All we ever spot are those dumb drakes.”
DS and Sir Saxon's words perked up my ears.
—Drakes?
Fuck, drakes were my favorite field mob in the game!
Trash mobs that dropped pricey items like clockwork.
On days when I'd blown through all my boss raid tickets, I'd farm them just for the ether.
“Sir Saxon! Where do I go to find drakes? The dinosaur-looking ones, right!?”
I pictured those cool, dino-like beasts.
Hammer cleared his throat with a hem-hem and warned me.
“Yor, you don't just ask about someone's honeyhole hunting spot.”
That so?
In a world where info could mean life or death, prime hunting ground intel must be gold.
‘But... am I forgetting something?’
Oh, Nimbel!
He'd said to meet at the training grounds at midnight for Night Flower info!
I bolted to the training grounds.
Straw dummies and battered training weapons gleamed under the cold moonlight.
Late hour meant it was deserted.
“Nimbel!”
I shouted just in case.
No reply, naturally.
‘Did I beat him here?’
I waited.
But even after roughly an hour, no Nimbel.
‘Feels like I missed something huge!’
Why'd the stone dragon have to show up today of all days?
Annoying and disappointing, but what could I do.
Morning. I skewered some mozzarella on a stick and roasted it over the campfire.
Squeeeze.
The hot, stretchy cheese was savory and salty—delicious.
“Heh heh heh, tasty!”
Eating like this every morning? Life was good.
I patted my happy belly when Yona scolded me.
“You didn't just feed Vain fake roots—you freed a dragon locked underground and trashed most of its palace?”
“...Yessir! That's how it went down...”
“Sticking it to that guy felt good, but he'll figure out it was you eventually. Narrow-minded bastard like him? He'll come for revenge.”
Vain's payback was already on my mind.
Guy popped out of shadows like a con artist.
Yona sighed.
“I'll make some talismans to ward him off. Carry them everywhere.”
“Ooh! Long live Yona!”
Yona engraved phrases praising light and sun onto horn-like beast bones.
“Take these.”
He handed them out to our party members, and instructed hiding extras around the wall.
These horn talismans blocked shadow-emerging Vain.
Gotta keep 'em on me from now on!
“But Hermit, where's Nimbel?”
I scanned around and asked her.
Hermit clicked her tongue.
“That girl was bitching about lizard stink last night and vanished.”
Lizard stink?
Maybe Stone Dragon Isidore's scent.
‘Nimbel hates dragon smell?’
Might explain skipping the training grounds—fled when the dragon showed.
“More importantly, partner, check this!”
Flutter.
Hermit flipped open a book and showed me.
Looked like a cabbage drawing.
“Some cabbage?”
“Not cabbage—Night Flower! Legendary crop that grows only in pitch darkness without moonlight. Cures any disease.”
“Legendary—!?”
“Legendary crop! If I ate it, wouldn't it fix my constitution?”
Hermit yearning for Night Flower to cure her tragic affliction.
‘But what about Sabrannik?’
‘What do I give Isidore?’
One flower, multiple claimants.
What a pickle.
Thus, come lunchtime.
Flutter. A dragon descended with massive wings.
Guards who'd fled in terror last night were less panicked today.
“Whoa, a real dragon.”
“Never thought I'd see one this close up close.”
【Where is Kobolos?】
“Right here, sir!”
I dashed to the ramparts to greet Isidore.
He descended slowly onto the wall and extended a wing to me.
【Climb on. I'll take you to the Serpent's Temple.】
【Zark! Swift as the wind!】
“Huh? You're giving us a ride?”
Caught me off guard.
Even Yona, who'd fought a dragon lord, was impressed.
“A high dragon giving humans a lift? Unheard of.”
Dragons' pride kept them from carrying lesser beings.
That's how bad Isidore wanted the Night Flower.
【A few little mice won't weigh me down.】
【Hop on already.】
He even meant to carry Hammer and Felix.
We climbed aboard his vast back.
“Man, ever since Yor joined, it's been one wild ride after another!”
“Empire legends mention dragon-taming knights...”
Hammer and Felix subtly excited.
Only Hermit trembled.
“W-We won't fall, right?!”
Her fear made sense.
Isidore's back was ship-deck wide, but nothing to grab.
I reached out and gripped a protruding scale—perfect handhold.
【Shiknar! What do you think you're grabbing?!】
Isidore thundered.
“...Aaah! Sorry!”
I yanked my hand back in a panic, and he roared with laughter.
【Just kidding.】
【Grab anywhere.】
【Unless you wanna splat like fallen fruit.】
This fucking dragon...
One more joke and I'd have a heart attack.
Anyway, Isidore flapped and rocketed skyward.
The wall shrank to a dot; clouds loomed larger.
“Jungle of Hatred, right?”
Hermit unfurled the empire map despite the gale winds.
She pointed to the southern “Kanduras Jungle” label.
“Too far for wall-based scouting.”
That was the end of her explanation.
Whoooosh.
Isidore's speed was insane—lose your grip, and you'd sail off the back.
“Hammer, wouldn't a saddle be nice?”
“Don't say that to the stone dragon. He'll eat you.”
Lost in thought, a dense jungle appeared below.
Lucky—the Night Land had daylight.
“It's all trees!”
A green ocean.
Swoooosh.
A thick river snaked through it.
How massive was that thing?
The sheer scale was intimidating.
But soon, rivers seemed trivial.
Something far grander left my jaw on the floor.
“...What the hell is that!!!?”
Ruuuuumble.
A colossal serpent skeleton.
No joke—like a towering mountain, coiled in eternal crouch, majestic beyond words.
Even truck-sized Isidore looked flea-like beside it.
“So that's the serpent dragon's corpse that fought His Imperial Majesty!”
Hammer gawked.
Felix, airsick the whole flight, twitched his brows in shock.
“...Scale aside, that's a whole other level! Urp—.”
Seasick Felix finally puked on the dragon's back.
You mad bastard!
If Isidore noticed, it'd be chaos—I cleaned it quick.
【Something noisy up there?】
“Heh heh, nothing!”
【I'll drop you nearby.】
【Can't get closer.】
【Sentries will spot us.】
Flutter.
Isidore set us down in the jungle.
He yawned wide and handed us a horn pipe.
【Blow this when you're done.】
【Zark! I'll come faster than the wind.】
Ziiiing!
He vanished like a shot arrow.
Hammer muttered watching him go.
“Surprisingly affectionate brute.”
Anyway.
Jungle dark as night despite the sun.
—Zzzzt...
—Shaaa!
Palm-sized spiders swarmed our feet; unseen bees and mantises mobbed my thigh. Primeval hell.
“Bugs are fucking gross!”
Green hell.
Hermit reached toward a mantis, awed.
“The Jungle of Hatred! Ecosystem twisted by the serpent dragon's death-hatred and rotting guts!? No clue what beasts lurk here!”
“Sabrannik, which way now?”
I asked him.
This was like his tomb.
He'd know best?
He'd been the first to request the Night Flower.
But recovering Sabrannik stayed silent.
“At least my map works!”
Hammer laughed heartily.
His magic map meant we'd never get lost.
—Drr rumble...
—Drr...
Rustle!
Vines parted as drooling beasts emerged.
Thud. Thud thud thud.
Bipedal dino-shapes shaking the earth.
House-sized!
Scaly, spiky hides—my hair stood on end, blood boiling!
“This fucker—drakes!!!!!”
「Lv.17 Drake」
「Lv.16 Mongrel Drake」
Why could I see their levels?
Anyway, I hurled a throwing knife.
Blazing fast!
Shwick, crunch!
It sank into a neck—blood sprayed.
Clink—ether and item dropped.
「+5,500 Ether」
「Black Greave: Leg guard forged from rare ore. Tough as steel, light as a feather.」
“Aaah!”
Over 5k ether per kill!
Plus a drop item?
“This place!!! Is my paradise!!!!”
“Eek! Felix, grab Yor! He's lost it!”
“You ether-crazed monkey! They're coming 'cause of your yelling!”
“Screw it, whatever! <Lightning Strike>!”