Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Ruined World (5)
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Kwa-ga-gang!
Every time the deafening roar echoed, dust clouds billowed up, turning the view hazy. The earth dragon leaped into the air like it was dancing to the rhythm of Sa-yoon's swinging sword, then bared its massive jaws and charged.
Under the ash-gray sky, hundreds of teeth gleamed like daggers embedded in its maw. Coated in acidic bodily fluids, they looked so vicious that even a mere graze could tear flesh without mercy.
Those teeth, which must have swallowed hundreds—if not thousands—of lives every time the Ruined World activated, now lunged solely at Sa-yoon.
Dodging the arm wielding the sword, it planted a leg in midair and snapped its jaws at his ankle to crush it. Sa-yoon's foot slipped precisely into the beast's pitch-black, blood-red cavern.
Realizing it had locked onto its target, the dragon's eyes narrowed. It tugged at the corners of its eyes as if grinning mockingly, then clamped its mouth shut with a crunch.
Kkaduduk!
Whoosh—a fierce gust whipped up, accompanied by the grinding scrape of teeth on teeth. The razor-sharp, eerie fangs, for all their keenness, chewed through nothing. The dragon's eyes widened. Just a split second before the bite could connect, Sa-yoon yanked his foot up, twisted his body free, and drove his heel straight down onto the dragon's head.
Kwang!
The beast that had erupted from the ground was smashed back into it, its S-rank status looking laughable. In a way, it was a fitting姿势 for something called an earth dragon.
―Grraaaargh!
The earth dragon's wail sent dirt and rocks flying in all directions. The sandstorm kicked up by its crash kept shrouding the surroundings intermittently.
Sa-yoon waved a hand dismissively, as if annoyed, and the raging sandstorm died down.
―Groooaaah…
The fallen earth dragon groaned. Sa-yoon—one hand gripping his sword, the other cradling Geon-ju—glanced at it and narrowed his eyes.
"This feels really uncomfortable."
His shoulders were starting to ache, bit by bit. Even for him, this was a proper fight after a seriously long time.
But he couldn't unleash his full strength, and that made his body feel off. His gut wasn't satisfied—that was the more accurate way to put it.
For a rare proper scrap, having to lug Geon-ju around meant fighting one-armed, which felt restrictive and frustrating. Just like the earth dragon, Sa-yoon let out a grunt of annoyance as he pondered, then looked at the man practically draped over his back with a weary expression.
Geon-ju, slung over Sa-yoon's shoulder like baggage with his gut pressed against it, sensed the gaze and turned his head.
"What."
A voice laced with peculiar dissatisfaction and poutiness. Sa-yoon smirked at the face that looked like its pride had been thoroughly bruised—not just for being dragged into an S-rank gate without warning, but for being treated like dead weight and carried around like luggage.
"Pretty boy."
"…"
Geon-ju's eyes narrowed at the crisp tone. Below, the groaning earth dragon surged back up. Straight into the sky, coiling like an imugi ascending to the heavens, before ramming its head toward Sa-yoon.
Sa-yoon knew the attack was coming and took it head-on anyway.
Whoosh!
Sa-yoon and Geon-ju's bodies shot upward together. Having rocketed into the sky, all that was left was the fall. As Geon-ju instinctively bit his lip, Sa-yoon casually scanned the surroundings, spotted a good spot, and grabbed Geon-ju by the collar.
The man, suddenly seized by the collar in midair, whipped around to look at Sa-yoon. At that instant, the corners of Sa-yoon's eyes curved up.
"Pretty boy."
"No way…"
"You're B-rank, right? Dying from a fall would be kinda embarrassing, don't you think?"
"What the hell are you―!"
"Enjoy the VIP seats!"
With that shout, Sa-yoon hurled Geon-ju toward a massive dune. Geon-ju flailed in surprise, trying to escape, but Sa-yoon had already let go.
What could a B-rank do against an S-rank toss?
Nothing but fly where he was thrown.
Still, to keep him from getting hurt, Sa-yoon had aimed for the sand pile. Confirming Geon-ju crash-landing safely amid his midair protests of "Why the hell now?!", Sa-yoon felt both hands free and spun around.
Dusting off his hands and rolling his ankle once, Sa-yoon charged straight for the earth dragon's face.
A human looked tiny before a monster the size of an apartment building. Yet the aura radiating from Sa-yoon was anything but weak. It was ferociously savage, as if ready to devour the earth dragon whole, overwhelmingly crushing the dragon's own presence.
The earth dragon, charging in with gusto, faltered before that aura. Using sky-walking, Sa-yoon positioned himself right in front of it while glancing at Geon-ju, who was hauling himself up from the sand dune.
Coughing and spitting out sand—probably in his mouth and eyes—he rubbed the dirt from his eyes, his face twisted in rare disgust as he glared at Sa-yoon. His eyes were red-rimmed; quite a bit must have gotten in.
He might actually cry.
And sure enough, Geon-ju did tear up. With a handful of sand shoved into his eyes, it was physiologically impossible not to.
Spotting Sa-yoon's smile from afar, Geon-ju's eyes blazed. His face screamed, "You threw me and you're grinning about it?!" But Sa-yoon was just enjoying himself.
What're you gonna do if you're pissed?
If you're that mad, just hit S-rank already. Then at least you wouldn't go flying helplessly when I toss you.
So, what did it take to reach S-rank?
Simple. Roll around in this place until it felt like home, adapting until it was comfortable.
In this spot swarming with all sorts of S-rank monsters.
Talent?
Supreme Under Heaven?
Pfft, big deal.
Put anyone through the wringer, and they were all the same. Roll them hard enough to die, and they'd puke, cry, beg for death—human as anyone.
Sa-yoon, who had proven that fact countless times in this gate, tightened his grip on his sword. The earth dragon and Sa-yoon faced off. Having hesitated at his aura, it seemed to steel itself and charged again, spewing breath.
Its triangular head cleaved through the air. Sa-yoon slapped the oncoming face aside with the flat of his blade amid the howling winds.
Thwack!
Hit with a sword, yet it rang out like a hammer blow, dull and heavy. Crack. The earth dragon's head snapped sideways forcibly.
He could sense Geon-ju's pretty shocked expression without looking.
Sa-yoon didn't stop there, spinning the sword in a horizontal slash.
Slash!
A long gash appeared across its face, blood gushing out immediately. The torrent from the massive dragon head soaked the ground like rain.
Kroooar!
The enraged earth dragon bellowed. It gaped wide, gathering energy. Seeing brown mana pooling deep in its maw, Sa-yoon infused frost into his sword and swung.
Kwaaaang!
"An S-rank monster like you, why keep popping your jaw out since earlier?"
Other monsters would weep at those words. If even peak S-rankers couldn't do it, who could?
Sa-yoon, able to fight without hesitation or restraint, wasn't right in the head. He gripped his sword tighter, and blue energy enveloped his body.
Whiiiiiing!
A blizzard-like gale of freezing wind roared in, as if winter had begun. Strong enough to flash-freeze even an S-rank monster's hide.
Clad in the wind like armor, Sa-yoon leaped into the air.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Each swing brought a chilling slice through the air. Frost trailed the blade's path, freezing the wounds as blood welled.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
Flesh chunks tore free—one, two, three.
With every attack, more glittering blue patches spread across the earth dragon's body. Ice skin Sa-yoon had personally crafted.
―Kraaaagh!
The earth dragon's screams continued. It thrashed its tail as if surrendering, but Sa-yoon—who'd fallen for that trick before—didn't let up. Blue mingled with red energy. His sword, sheathed in deep crimson-tinged frost, carved relentlessly.
Slash!
Finally, the earth dragon's arm severed.
Kwaaaang!
Breath clashed with sword aura in an explosion.
Kagagagak!
Fangs met blade, nullifying the earth dragon's desperate assaults.
Sa-yoon stuck to sky-walking, frost, and sword aura—no other skills.
No Murder Game. No Berserk Transformation.
Even at less than half his usual power, he toyed with the S-rank earth dragon. Literally played with it.
Like a game of freeze tag—blasting it with energy to flash-freeze its body, then thawing weakened flesh to stab deep.
In that satanically brutal fight, the earth dragon shrieked nonstop. It burst from the ground everywhere, twisting to evade Sa-yoon's sword, then lunging at openings. Sa-yoon dodged by a hair each time, countering savagely.
The fight dragged on, and the winner was obvious.
Kuuuung!
The earth dragon finally collapsed. The S-rank that had stubbornly blocked his sword, charged even when frozen, head held high—finally broke.
A heavy thud echoed, but Sa-yoon had no time to rest. The battle's ferocity had drawn other monsters with the noise.
A massive mantis-like insect descended from the sky, charging at Sa-yoon.
An A-rank monster.
Then a creature with a snake upper body and horse lower body galloped in, and the ground split as maggots erupted.
Dozens of lifeforms swarmed at once to kill the gate intruders. Sa-yoon swung his frost-wreathed sword, scattering the horde, and grinned ear to ear.
He'd solo-cleared uncharted gates before. A standard S-rank gate wasn't much of a threat.
Just give him room to rampage solo, like with the earth dragon, and he could handle an S-rank monster with ease.
Yet the reason Sa-yoon stayed vigilant in this field—and warned his guildmates and Geon-ju about it repeatedly—was simple.
The moment you entered, it was like standing in the heart of hell, where natural disasters struck without warning.
Let your guard down for a second, allow them to close in, and dozens of monsters piled on. From E-rank to S-rank, no holds barred.
Fighting them off wore down even the strongest. Then the field would drop a tornado on the exhausted fighter amid the swarm.
Lightning struck. Typhoons raged.
Survive that, and the earth cracked open with S-rank horrors like flame snakes baring fangs from infernal depths.
Die thirty times and crawl back—only for the thirty-first death to loom.
That was the field.
And that's why Sa-yoon loved it.
Even if his grave had multiplied a hundred times here, even if his remains—unviewable now—were discarded somewhere when the gate deactivated, Sa-yoon loved the field.
Because it was a place where he could fight like a madman, without a single thought.
Sa-yoon's lips curled up in a thick, satisfied grin as he swung his sword like a lunatic.