Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Aranvalon vs Giant Dragon (4)
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Splash splash splash!
I gripped the spear tightly with both hands to steady myself.
Poison fog was pouring from my body like a waterfall.
- Can't you worthless pests just scram? I could grind you into paste and drink it down! Just hold on a bit longer! Once I obliterate this damned bastard, I'll make you pay in full! Raaargh!
The Giant Dragon thrashed and roared.
But we ignored it.
We brushed it off and kept doing our jobs.
'Anyway.'
That thing can't afford to focus on us.
The moment it does, it'll go through the same grueling ordeal that Aranvalon had endured before.
It'll show an opening and let us land a combo.
"Hun!"
Olena approached beside me and extended her palm.
Plop plop!
Water droplets formed from her hand and seeped into the Giant Dragon's wound.
"This will act like a catalyst of sorts!"
She looked at me.
"Liquid works better than gas since it enters through the skin. The poison fog you've drawn out gets carried into the bloodstream."
"Oh, really? Thanks."
I nodded.
If a mage says so, then it must be true.
It made a certain amount of sense too.
"No problem."
Just then, as Olena winked, someone else approached from behind her.
"Team Leader!"
The approaching man was the middle-aged German swordsman.
His name was Maximilian, right?
"Yes, Max? What is it?"
"By any chance, could I borrow that gaping dragon wound for a moment?"
"This spot?"
I glanced around.
Clang! Clang!
Come to think of it.
Shim Pan-chang, Sun-yi, and Eldrin.
They were all hammering away at the Giant Dragon furiously.
But no one had pierced its tough hide.
Indeed.
Even injured, this was dragon skin for you?
Only divine slayer-grade weapons could slice through it easily.
"Just trust me once, Team Leader."
He stepped forward and gripped his sword in a reverse hold.
Then.
Squelch!
He jammed the blade into the side of the wound I'd opened.
He drove it in all the way, like threading a needle into flesh.
"Watch closely. I'm nothing special compared to the others on the team, but my one unique ability—even rankers have envied it."
The middle-aged man closed his eyes.
At the same time, he chanted the incantation.
Supreme Aspiring Sword.
Five Intents.
Fourth Sword.
Qi-Controlled Swordsmanship.
He let go of the sword's hilt, still embedded.
And then.
Krakrakra!
An explosion erupted from inside the dragon's hide.
The sword, freed from his hand, was clearly slashing and tearing at the inner flesh on its own.
Rumble!
Just seeing the poison fog flow more smoothly confirmed it.
"Wow, real Qi-Controlled Swordsmanship? Impressive!"
I asked in admiration.
I'd heard from Lee Seon-ah before that even Heavenly Demon Ha Sera-jo, world rank 3, had only recently mastered it—a pinnacle skill.
"No way. It's a fake. A fake."
The middle-aged man smiled bitterly, still concentrating.
"...A fake?"
No way.
There were fake versions of Qi-Controlled Swordsmanship?
"Well, technically, yeah. Look at the skill name. Supreme Aspiring Sword. It means a sword aspiring to supremacy, but to me, it's just a malformed imitation of the real thing. Know why?"
"Why?"
"It's got only five techniques. The Five Intents. No basic skills at all. And if those intents were ordinary, you'd have a point, but they're Sword Qi Hardening, Sword Beam Crush, Divine Sword Unity, Qi-Controlled Swordsmanship, Mind Sword..."
"Insane."
Just hearing the names was terrifying.
"And the power's impressive too, or so you'd think. Look. The qi flow's already broken."
The middle-aged man smiled bitterly.
Sure enough, the sound of flesh being sliced had stopped.
Had it even been 30 seconds?
He'd lost his sword after just one use of the skill.
'But.'
It was plenty helpful.
With Max widening the wound and Olena's magic added in.
The poison fog could now penetrate more easily and deeply.
- You filthy flies!
The Giant Dragon suddenly shuddered violently.
In that instant, the energy shifted.
The dragon's momentum, aimed at Aranvalon, now poured toward us.
- Looks like I can't just leave you be!
Dangerous.
"Hngh!"
My breath caught, and alarms blared wildly in my brain.
I reflexively gripped the divine slayer spear with all my strength.
- Even if I take hits, I'll turn you into mush!
The next moment.
The Giant Dragon snorted, and its yellow eyes flashed.
- Die!
At the same time, a black magic circle etched itself in the sky.
The gravity magic circle it had used against Aranvalon.
- Be crushed by the weight and burst!
In that instant.
Groooan!
Immense pressure bore down from all sides.
"Urk!"
"C-Can't... breathe!"
"Grk?"
The others felt it too.
Olena collapsed to the ground, clutching the scales, and even balance expert Eldrin halted his movements.
"Hup!"
I dropped to one knee under the suffocating pressure.
Weeeeng!
Tinnitus rang endlessly in my ears.
"Get it together, you fool!"
Amid the head-splitting pain, the old man bellowed.
"That fly you ignored is now shifting targets—that's a good sign! It means your poison is working that well. You can trust it! That poison fog of yours is the real nightmare! Just endure, and victory's yours!"
"...I... know... that. Urgh!"
"It can't focus on you lot for long anyway!"
Right then!
Boom!
An explosion rocked us, and my body floated up—boing!
- Raaargh!
With the Giant Dragon's scream-roar, it seemed Aranvalon had landed a hit.
"Urgh!"
Even so, we were still in agony.
Grip!
I tightened my hold on the embedded weapon.
- Raaargh, you coward!
- Still clinging to that double-standard mindset? What you do is justified, but others are cowards?
- Shut up!
For a moment, the Giant Dragon that had us in crisis turned back to clash with Aranvalon.
'Shrimp.'
Why did shrimp come to mind?
The pitiful shrimp whose back bursts when two whales collide.
"You fool! Daydreaming in this situation?"
The old man scolded.
Damn.
How'd he know I was distracted?
Is he a ghost or something?
"Focus. Looks like going inside is the way."
"Huh?"
I blinked in confusion, eyes wide.
"Inside where?"
"Where else? Into that dragon bastard's gut through the wound."
"...?"
As I stood there blankly, not getting it, the old man continued.
"That dragon's energy is gathered in its heart. If all you can do is hunker down behind its back anyway, wouldn't stabbing it dead from the inside be easier?"
No.
That sounds harder.
"Once you're inside, you'll take less shock from the impacts! Normally, getting close would be impossible, but now—with that breath or whatever—you can make a go of it!"
"Hmm."
I grimaced but tensed my legs anyway.
Truth be told, the old man's idea bordered on impossible.
Enter the massive dragon's body and stab its heart?
Easy to say.
How to pierce the sturdy skeleton? What about the sticky clinging blood?
Plus, no light inside.
Pitch black—you wouldn't see a thing.
And that's not all?
No oxygen.
Can't breathe.
It's like telling someone to dive into the deep sea without gear and poke out a kraken's eyeball.
'But.'
It was funny.
Splash!
Funny that I was pulling out my spear after hearing that.
Funny that the idea suddenly felt right.
'Actually.'
The old man had never steered me wrong before.
"Vladimir!"
With the spear out, I called for Rodigin.
"Y-Yeah, you called, Team Leader?"
He'd heard me and was swinging his staff, screaming from afar.
I shouted back.
"Any chance you can teleport me straight to the dragon's heart?"
Even as I yelled it, it sounded ridiculous.
"..."
Vladimir paused, processing it.
"What? Die with the dragon? Might as well suicide together?!"
"No, I'm serious!"
"You nuts, Team Leader?"
"I told you—I've been nuts from the start!"
"Son of a—!"
He cursed as he approached.
The other team members, overhearing, stared at me in horror.
Vladimir said,
"You're not seriously saying you'll teleport to the center and hit the heart or some vital spot, right? That's insane talk."
"Oh, spot on. No need to explain—saves time."
"You...!"
"Thanks for the compliment."
In that moment, I got a glimpse of Berserker Jang Dae-woong's vibe.
Big bro Dae-woong.
So this is what it feels like!
When a madman takes praise as incoming!
Plop plop plop!
Right then.
A cool stream of water enveloped my body.
Olena's water-attribute magic.
"It's a barrier! It'll block the blood and supply oxygen! Decompose H2O and you get O2!"
As expected of Olena.
Only she believed in me.
Seeing it, Vladimir's jaw dropped.
"Damn, everyone's lost it for real?"
"Is this the first time Hun's pulled something like this? I was already done when he said he was here to hunt the dragon. What can you do? Humans adapt, so adapt."
"W-Well, yeah, but..."
Vladimir let out a faint sigh.
Then he nodded.
"Fine, whatever."
He stared toward the dragon's core.
"Space magic isn't some perfect ideal tech like people think. If there's an object or solid matter at the destination, you could fuse with it or get sliced up. In this case, dragon bones."
"I can handle that."
Kapu, who'd been watching, stepped up.
"My Clairvoyance ignores obstacles. According to my skill, there's an empty space exactly 10 meters in diameter, bottom-left of the center."
Ooh.
Guide Kapu!
So damn cool.
Reliable as hell, always coming through when it counts.
"R-Really?"
Vladimir blinked.
Unexpected info for him too.
"Guess the dragon's so huge. More empty spaces in the nooks than it looks."
"Hah, damn it. Fine."
Finally, Vladimir threw up his hands.
"Let's do it, fuck it! Send you now?"
"Yes, ready. Worst case, we die—what else?"
I nodded with resolute eyes.
The old man grinned beside me.
"Good comrades. It's not kind ones that are best—useful ones make the best comrades."
Agreed.
They're good comrades.
Good colleagues.
Mumble mumble.
Vladimir spread his staff and began chanting the spell.
I gripped my weapon and swallowed hard.
Boom! Kaboom!
The two dragons were still wildly trading blows.
The black magic circle overhead kept pressing down on us.
And then.
"Hey, Team Leader."
Vladimir opened his eyes.
"Yeah, ready?"
"Make sure you come back alive."
Whoosh!
He swung his staff.
An mystical power wrapped around me.
In that instant.
Flash!