The Dragon Lord and the Axe of Thunder
Jin Chen tumbled forward, and the face hidden behind the black robe was finally revealed.
It was a middle-aged man with golden hair, the very owner of the Free City of Cologne — Sybel.
He brushed the dust from his clothes, stood up, and shouted straight at Jin Chen.
“How dare you kick me with your foot!”
“It’s fine to cast magic without warning, right?”
“I did it to keep at least one of those monsters alive!”
“Just say it, not shout like that!”
“Do you think shouting like a madman would make me stop?”
“Yeah, hearing orders from someone weaker than me isn’t exactly pleasant.”
Sybel squeezed his eyes shut.
He barely managed to hold back the urge to breathe fire as he spoke.
“You shouldn’t kill all of them.”
“Why?”
“We have to study them. To prepare for what comes next!”
“You already caught all the black sorcerers, right?”
“Capturing them directly and extracting information from those monsters are two completely different things. They might know things we don’t even dream of.”
Sybel refused to look away from the last remaining Jiangshi.
The mere existence of such a Jiangshi — something he had never seen before — left him with far too many questions.
At the sight, Jin Chen curled one corner of his mouth into a smirk.
“You got something for me?”
“Give? What makes you say that?”
Sybel wore an expression of pure confusion.
Instead of answering, Jin Chen walked straight over to the Jiangshi that Sybel had been shielding with his body.
Then he kicked his leg straight out and smashed the side of its head.
“Oops, I almost made a mistake without realizing it, huh?”
“Guh! What else do you want now?! You already took every jewel from the lair!”
“Took? Who said you took them? I received them fairly as compensation for protecting the Dragon Mountain Range. Don’t like it? Then go ahead and submit right now. I’ll head to the lair and empty it myself.”
If Sybel submitted, he would still have time to loot the lair afterward.
Sybel took a deep breath, struggling to calm his fury.
“What do you want?”
“After we leave the village, I’ll tell you everything. Just carry this thing first. Oh, and don’t even think about running away with it. If you don’t want me to see Cologne turned into a giant crater.”
Jin Chen had naturally cornered the ruler of the Free City of Cologne, a gold dragon lord.
Sybel vowed to investigate the matter thoroughly.
Had there ever been a human who dared to threaten a dragon like this since the beginning of time?
Please, let there be. He didn’t want to be the first.
Despite his earnest plea, Sybel’s expression hardened into something cold.
“I am the lord of the gold dragon. Do not associate me with such vile acts.”
“Ah, no misunderstanding. I only said that because you were complaining about the jewels being taken. It was just a casual remark.”
“Grit.”
Jin Chen ignored Sybel’s grinding teeth lightly and turned to the bandits.
“How was it? What’s your impression of fighting a dragon?”
“He’s a dragon?”
“Yes. Right now he’s using magic to look human, but his true form is as huge as the cliff behind our village.”
The bandits swallowed hard.
Bbakbbaki asked, “Is there something stronger than the magic he used at the end?”
“Of course there is. Not only can he cast such magic without blinking, but he spits lightning from his mouth? If he had used it, you would all have turned into charcoal!”
“Including me?”
Jin Chen nodded at Bbakbbaki’s question.
“If you’re unlucky. And if you’re extremely lucky, you might only turn into a pile of dust somewhere.”
“Kill and lose? Or….”
“It’s better to think about whether you can even land one hit, right?”
“That’s insanely strong.”
“Well, you can’t keep up. I’ll make you strong. You too. And the village too.”
Bbakbbaki and the bandits clenched their fists and bowed deeply.
“Thank you, Chaeju!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t end up beaten up and humiliated anywhere you go.”
“We’ll believe it!”
“Alright, let’s go. As soon as we arrive, everyone will be dying of curiosity, so we better get moving.”
With those words, Jin Chen began to walk away.
The bandits followed, carrying the slumped figure.
One way or another, Sybel stared at the Jiangshi with cold eyes.
“Grrrr…”
Thud.
The Jiangshi struggled to stand up, exerting all his strength.
He had never seen such an undead before.
This one was clearly dead, yet it was on a completely different level from ordinary undead.
It wasn’t even a Death Knight that captured knights’ souls.
It was just a seemingly strong man, yet its power was close to that of a Death Knight.
He had never fought it directly, but seeing the Sword Masters and Expert-level bandits fail to defeat it, he could roughly guess its strength.
If such monsters started pouring out like summoned lower undead?
The entire continent would be swallowed by death and fear.
Sybel looked in the direction Jin Chen had disappeared with a grave expression.
They clearly knew about this Jiangshi monster. Was this really a coincidence?
After a moment of thought, Sybel floated the Jiangshi up with levitation magic and teleported to the village.
Whoosh!
The answer to his questions was there.
***
Center of the village.
All the villagers had gathered on the vast open ground, fully armored.
Jeombaki stepped forward, his own expression equally grave, scanning the bandits.
“Unreasonably rushing out isn’t safe. Geunyuk-i, lead one thousand; Gaeneom, lead two thousand. Search. The rest of you, please stay and protect the villagers.”
Geunyuk-i was a handsome man whose entire body was covered in hard muscles like armor.
Gaeneom had a surprisingly large head, an even taller stature, and a slender, thin build for a middle-aged man.
They were the two strongest in the village, alongside Bbakbbaki.
“Got it.”
Geunyuk-i, who looked a bit dim-witted.
“……”
Instead of answering, Gaeneom only gave a tiny nod.
The bandits nodded without complaint.
“Alright! Then let’s get started!”
With Jeombaki’s words, Geunyuk-i and Gaeneom began to move.
The bandits followed them closely.
One thousand and two thousand.
The elite of the village were about to leave its gates.
Whoosh!
A streak of light flashed before Jeombaki and vanished.
At the same time, Sybel appeared before them.
The bandits quickly surrounded him, weapons raised.
“Who are you!”
“Reveal your identity!”
The interpreter bracelets on the bandits’ arms.
Through the interpreter bracelets made by melting iron and mithril, the bandits’ words were conveyed intact.
Sybel narrowed his eyes.
Daring to point weapons at me.
Just as his displeasure was fully exposed, the human mage who had come to Cologne with Jin Chen ran over.
Gaeneom, running breathlessly, bowed deeply and shouted.
“Ga, Gaeneom greets Lord Sybel.”
“Tsk, guide me to a safe place.”
“Yes, yes! Understood. Follow me.”
Gaeneom kept bowing as he spoke.
Jeombaki approached with a stern expression.
“Who is this man that made you act like this, Gaeneom?”
No one in the village had ever met Sybel in person.
Because Jin Chen had used instant teleportation on him and left the village immediately after.
“W-well, it’s there. In front of Chaeju, there are dragon teeth and claws.”
“They belong to a dragon?”
“Hup!”
Gaeneom jumped in shock and tried to cover Jeombaki’s mouth.
But the words had already been swallowed whole by Sybel’s ears.
He hadn’t even had time to settle his anger because of Jin Chen, and now his subordinates were stirring it up more.
“Grind…”
“Yeah. I am that dragon.”
Fizzzzz!
Yellow lightning crackled across Sybel’s body, and the entire village began to shake as if there had been an earthquake.
Gaeneom shouted in terror, “P-please calm down, Lord Sybel!”
“I’ve been holding it in for a long time. Today, I….”
“What today?”
The voice of a deadly enemy suddenly rang out from behind.
Sybel’s body trembled slightly.
The thick killing intent in that voice felt like it was gripping his dragon heart tightly.
“Continue. This time, I really will kill you.”
Jin Chen’s voice continued to ring out.
The mana in the surroundings trembled violently as if struggling in fear and settled heavily.
Every time he looked, it was shocking.
How could a human’s will be stronger than a dragon’s own?
Kuuuung…
The overwhelming pressure made Sybel hurriedly withdraw his energy.
“I only meant to tell your subordinates my true identity myself so that no more misunderstandings occur.”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
“I am the lord of the gold dragon. Dragons do not lie.”
“That’s too bad. I was going to finish you off for good this time if I had fought a bit longer.”
Jin Chen slowly walked over and faced Sybel.
Then he looked calmly at his dragon heart.
“One of those could raise our kids to the Hwa-gyeong realm.”
He didn’t need to ask what it was.
It was the medium that allowed a dragon to use their language once they became a sage dragon — the dragon heart, the symbol of dragons.
Sybel swallowed hard and subtly twisted his body.
To avoid Jin Chen’s gaze stuck in his own dragon heart at all costs.
“Hmm, you came faster than I thought.”
“Some idiot revealed their energy first, so I got here before the others.”
“I keep saying it’s a misunderstanding.”
“Then so be it. As long as you don’t die.”
Jin Chen turned his body and scanned the bandits.
“How have you all been?”
“We greet Chaeju.”
“The greetings are fine.”
Jin Chen casually accepted the bandits’ greetings and looked at Jeombaki.
“Where is it?”
“It’s been completed long ago.”
“Bring it right now. It’s fine to let a single stray enter the village this one time.”
“Yes! I’ll bring it immediately!”
Jeombaki and a few bandits ran off somewhere.
Jin Chen scanned the bandits again and clicked his tongue.
“You guys, it’s been over a month, and you haven’t improved even a speck? You all slacked off since I was gone, didn’t you?”
“No, we trained hard!”
“Vice-leader-nim would never let us just play!”
“We trained even during the time we were building the village.”
“We thought we were going to die from how hard it was.”
Jin Chen chuckled at the complaining bandits.
“You guys, you finally understand? That I’m better than Bbakbbaki.”
The bandits instantly shut their mouths.
Isn’t that true?
When Jin Chen’s face twisted at the expression and gaze, Jeombaki came running from afar.
And behind him, bandits carrying a massive something.
“Huff, huff, we’ve brought it.”
Jin Chen nodded and snatched the massive object from his subordinates.
“Everyone, step back.”
“Yes, Chaeju!”
The bandits quickly backed away.
Sybel stood there blankly.
Jin Chen looked at him and said, “You too, step back. Don’t get swept up for no reason.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if you want to experience it directly, then do it.”
Jin Chen set up the massive iron rod covered in mysterious patterns he was holding.
What is that?
Sybel’s expression turned to one of confusion.
Then Jin Chen kicked the ground and leaped up.
And a short while later,
Kwaaaaang!
A massive explosion accompanied the iron rod that struck the ground, and it disappeared into the earth.