The Black Dragon's Roar and the Bandits' Desperate Charge
The massive black dragon let out a thunderous roar as it unleashed its breath attack.
A torrent of corrosive venom capable of melting everything in the world sprayed forth.
Witnessing the sight, Bbakbbaki gritted his teeth and unleashed his strongest defensive technique.
"Ink Dragon Divine Sea!"
The greatsword swung at incredible speed, forming a jet-black barrier of condensed energy.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The breath collided with the energy barrier, violently shoving Bbakbbaki backward.
“Ughhhhhh!”
The destructive, overwhelming force made his entire body tremble. Bbakbbaki groaned through clenched teeth.
Chiiiiiiiiiiik!
The energy barrier began melting away at a frightening rate.
“Now!”
At Bbakbbaki's shout, the fifty-odd bandits behind him split into two groups and charged straight at the dragon.
“Die, you oversized lizard bastard!”
“Haaaaat! Take this!”
“This time we’re definitely not dying for nothing!”
Auras blazed like wild flames, filled with desperate resolve.
Weapons wrapped in auras of every color were drawn back as far as possible before the bandits leaped into the air.
Please! Pleeeeease!
With teeth gritted, they swung their weapons down at the rapidly approaching dragon.
Then came a chilling sound that pierced their ears.
Whoooooooosh!
The giant dragon’s tail swept through the bandits at terrifying speed.
THUUUUUUUD!
There were no screams—only overwhelming force.
The bandits struck first by the tail simply exploded on impact. Those hit afterward were slammed into the ground and died instantly.
Kraaaaaaaaah!
As the black dragon roared in victory, Bbakbbaki suddenly leaped right in front of its face.
Pale yellow eyes mixed with ferocity and superiority.
Crack!
Enduring the suffocating presence that threatened to crush his lungs, Bbakbbaki swung his greatsword with all his might.
“Haaaaaaaaaap!”
A massive jet-black energy wave, fueled by every ounce of his inner power, flew straight toward the dragon’s eye.
At the same time, the dragon opened its maw as if roaring.
Ziiiiiiiiing!
The ominous sound had barely faded before a pitch-black breath erupted outward.
Chiiiiiiiiik!
The energy wave melted away in an instant.
Bbakbbaki desperately twisted his body, trying to dodge the breath.
But the breath was faster. It swallowed him whole in the blink of an eye.
Chiiiiiiiiik!
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
The horrific pain of his entire body melting made Bbakbbaki scream in agony.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
Bbakbbaki’s scream erupted from within a space enveloped in blue light.
Yet the bandits and their families simply walked on with familiar expressions.
Because the screams weren’t coming from just one place.
“Graaaaaaaaah!”
“Ughhhhhhh!”
“Hup-cha-cha-cha!”
“I-I can do itttttttt!”
Grotesque screams, pained groans, spirited shouts full of motivation, cries heavy with determination—every kind of sound echoed throughout the mountain fortress.
Listening to the cacophony bursting from every corner of the stronghold, Jin Chen nodded in satisfaction.
“Everyone’s rolling around nicely.”
“At this rate it looks less like rolling and more like they’re straight-up dying, doesn’t it?”
“You have to hit your limit before you can break through. Whether it’s your head or your body.”
“They really are suffering a lot.”
Illusion magic circles that felt indistinguishable from reality.
Gravity reinforcement circles that made everything five times heavier and more exhausting than usual.
Magic circles densely inscribed with curses like Confusion and Curse of Paralysis.
All sorts of magic formations had been installed throughout the fortress.
The one who set them up was, of course, Sybel.
I feel like I’m the one getting the short end of the stick here.
It wasn’t for nothing that he was called the strongest creature on the planet.
Sybel didn’t just learn one thing—he grasped ten.
Exactly one week.
That was how long it took him to master all the formations.
And he didn’t stop there. He compared the formations with magic circles, researched them, and recreated even stronger versions. Then he installed the completed arrays all over the fortress.
Jin Chen had wanted something powerful, and Sybel had been eager to test the effectiveness of his newly combined magic circles.
Thanks to that, only the bandits were the ones dying.
I taught him too quickly. Time, oh time. I should’ve dragged it out longer, worked him harder, and squeezed more out of him.
Jin Chen clicked his tongue in regret and looked at Jeombaki.
“By the way, why are you here?”
“Why am I here? Isn’t it only natural for the strategist to follow the boss around?”
“Strategist my ass. You’re just an accident waiting to happen.”
“If we’re talking about causing accidents, you’ve caused way more than I have, Fort—”
“Keep talking if you want to die.”
Jeombaki quickly shut his mouth. Jin Chen clicked his tongue again.
“How come the serious atmosphere never lasts longer than a week?”
“Someone forcibly shattered it, so my mind snapped back to reality. Should I say it’s because of the sense of crisis that if I stay like this I’ll really end up dying in a foreign land?”
“You’ll die inside the fortress anyway. What foreign land?”
“Isn’t this a different world? It’s not the Central Plains where my parents are, so of course it’s a foreign land.”
His mouth just wouldn’t stop flapping.
“I won’t break it by force, so can’t we go back to a week ago?”
“I respectfully decline. I struggled for a whole week and realized it’s not something I can do for long. Besides, things are so hectic these days that if I keep my mouth shut, the fortress won’t run at all.”
“Yeah, it has been pretty busy lately.”
“Not just busy—insanely busy. Merchant caravans have been pouring in every other day.”
“That’s right. Never thought I’d live to see the day I’d benefit from a plague.”
The two kingdoms positioned on either side of the sixth vertebra of the Dragon Mountain Range.
Karis Kingdom and Dian Kingdom.
A plague had broken out in the territories facing each other across their shared border.
The nobles had hurriedly fled to the capital, while the merchants banded together and crossed the Dragon Mountain Range. Since both kingdoms had begun imposing strict controls to prevent the plague from spreading, they had no choice but to take the mountain path.
Thanks to that, Jinryong Chae had reaped quite a harvest in just one week.
The merchants had brought every valuable they owned in their desperate flight.
Really, whether it’s the old world or this one…
The silver lining was that this world had magic.
“You made sure the kids and the goods were properly and safely handled, right?”
“Every time Gak-oh finished his work, he cast purification magic two or three times over.”
“Don’t get complacent. Tell him to set up a purification magic circle over the entire fortress.”
“Gak-oh is going to be dying for a while again.”
“If he starts whining, tell him this. If even one member of the family catches the plague… I’ll beat the shit out of him first.”
The way Jin Chen spoke made his feelings toward the family members crystal clear.
Jeombaki bit back a small smile and said,
“If Gak-oh hears that, he might feel a bit hurt. He’s been proudly telling everyone he’s a proper bandit of Jinryong Chae.”
“Hurt? What’s there to be hurt about? They’re family, so beating them is the end of it.”
“Ah! I see. Haha.”
“Stop laughing. If you don’t want to get beaten too, go train.”
“Ah, the frustration of still not being able to learn magic is still deeply engraved in my heart, so I can’t possibly train right n—”
Watching Jeombaki play the victim, Jin Chen nodded.
“That’s why I already called someone.”
“Who?”
“Fortress Master Hyuuuuuuung!”
Geunyuk-i came running from afar, carrying a massive wooden log on his shoulder.
Jin Chen smiled and said,
“Go get him good. If you can’t take it, just pass out comfortably. The guys around will pull you out.”
“I-I’ll go on my own two feet.”
“Too late, kid.”
Grab!
Geunyuk-i, who had closed the distance in an instant, reached out and snatched Jeombaki by the back of his neck.
“F-Fortress Master!”
“Fortress Master Hyung, I’m going!”
“Yeah. Tie him up nice and tight before you throw him in so he can’t run.”
“Okay! Got it!”
“Fortress Maaaaaaaaster!”
As Jeombaki screamed while being carried away, Jin Chen waved goodbye.
That was when a small vibration came from the bracelet on his wrist.
This is Crow No. 4. Guests spotted. They have passed the second rest area and are heading toward the first rest area.
Jin Chen’s eyes gleamed at the report.
From the second rest area to the first?
That meant they were heading from the entrance near the Free City of Cologne toward Karis Kingdom.
While everyone else was busy avoiding the plague, these guys were deliberately heading straight into the infected zone.
Jin Chen curled one corner of his mouth upward.
Guess I should check what kind of bastards they are.
Having organized his thoughts, he started walking toward the main gate.
“Guests are coming! Anyone still breathing, grab your weapons and get over here!”
The moment the words left his mouth, twenty-odd bandits burst out from all directions, weapons in hand.
“Let’s go greet the guests!”
“Fortress Master Hyung! I wanna go too!”
Among them were Geunyuk-i, who had just tossed Jeombaki into the magic circle, along with Claw—the subordinate Jin Chen had forcibly renamed—and his men.
Thududududu!
Over a dozen carriages raced recklessly along the mountain path.
Around them, roughly two hundred mercenaries and twenty figures in gray robes rode warily, scanning every direction.
The group that had blown straight past even the second rest area didn’t slow down in the slightest.
With hardened expressions, they simply drove the horses and carriages while staying on high alert.
After racing like that for some time, the middle-aged man at the front suddenly yanked his horse to a halt.
With a chillingly cold expression, he spoke in a low voice.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
At his command, the mercenaries drew their weapons in perfect unison.
They quickly formed a defensive perimeter, surrounding the carriages two and three layers deep.
Their movements were far too disciplined to belong to ordinary mercenaries.
Not a single one doubted the middle-aged man’s words.
Every face was tense as they stared at their assigned sectors.
The moment everyone stopped, the surroundings fell into complete silence.
Only the occasional whinny and snort of horses could be heard. The middle-aged man slowly scanned the area and shouted,
“Come out!”
His heavy cry, filled with powerful energy, spread in all directions.
While everyone swallowed dryly with nervous expressions, voices suddenly rang out from beyond the trees lining the path.
“Hey, Claw.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Didn’t you train properly? We got caught because of you guys!”
“Sorry!”
“How is your skill still the same after all this time?”
“I’ll work even harder!”
“Forget it. Since we’ve been spotted, let’s just head out.”
Swish!
Twenty-odd afterimages shot out from behind the trees and landed in front of the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man and the mercenaries widened their eyes in shock.
“What the hell is that!”
“Impossible!”
As the mercenaries cried out in astonishment, a voice pierced their ears.
“Welcome to the territory of our Jinryong Chae.”
Jin Chen stepped forward and continued.
“Whatever you are, first hand over everything you’ve got.”
Kraaaaaaaaang!
Baek-i roared as if demanding they hurry up and cough it over.
Behind Jin Chen, who rode atop the massive white tiger, the saber tigers carrying the twenty bandits all roared in unison.
Kraaaaaaaaang!