Chapter 274
Chapter 274
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 274
Chapter Title: Large-Scale Raid (3)
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[Earth Guardian Dragon Briath stares at you.]
[You are exposed to Dragon Fear.]
[The probability of falling into the abnormal status ‘Fear’ increases.]
Earth Guardian Dragon.
A dragon that guards the land, huh?
- Rooooarrr!
Vinasa let out a mighty roar as it flew.
On top of its massive body.
“Huh.”
I let out a short sigh.
‘As expected.’
No matter how many times you see them, dragons are something you never get used to.
After dealing with the Giant Dragon and the Greed Dragon, I’d gained a bit of confidence.
‘But that thing...’
Up close, it felt like nightmares from the past were coming back to life.
“Truly a horrific creature. Just having its gaze land on you fills you with this much dread.”
The old man muttered in shock.
“They say in your world there’s a phrase about dragons and tigers clashing? From what I see, that’s utter nonsense. In this master’s eyes, a tiger wouldn’t stand a chance against a dragon.”
“I agree, elder.”
I nodded.
Not because I meant to—my neck muscles just moved on their own.
It was pure acknowledgment from the depths of my heart.
That dragons were the strongest creatures on earth.
‘But.’
What choice did I have?
Fighting was the only option left.
Whether I charged in recklessly now or moved with caution, the outcome would be the same either way.
Not to mention.
- Rooooarrr!
Seeing the Earth Guardian Dragon Briath roar at me and Vinasa, I couldn’t even stall for time anymore.
“Hey, any chance it’s you two?”
I muttered just in case.
“......”
No status windows popped up, so it was likely one of two things.
They’d judged this a trial I could handle on my own.
Or they figured they’d helped me too much lately.
Or whatever.
Maybe there was some other reason I didn’t know about.
“We’re jumping in right now! Vinasa, you fall back!”
Fwoosh!
Atop Vinasa, I conjured a crimson God-Slaying Spear.
At the same time, I stepped boldly into the empty air.
I put every ounce of strength into kicking off its back.
Swoooosh!
With no safety nets whatsoever, I cleaved through the air toward the dragon.
To anyone watching, it would’ve looked like utter recklessness bordering on insanity.
‘But I have to protect it.’
Destruction Dragon, Vinasa.
Its vitality had recovered somewhat, but it was still under 1,000.
After unleashing its breath, it hadn’t regained even 10% of its strength.
Plus, no matter how mighty the Destruction Dragon was supposed to be, right now it was just a hatchling.
Maybe because I’d hatched the egg myself.
Others might see it as ferocious, but to me, it looked like an adorable baby.
- Kyiiing...! Kyiing!
Vinasa wore a displeased expression but reluctantly turned back.
I’d already instructed it to head back to Korea—more precisely, to Muryeong Paradise.
It had resisted at first, of course.
But after I kept persuading it nonstop while crossing the Pacific, it was finally complying.
‘Good kid.’
I could feel it.
The way it didn’t want to go against my words...
Why?
Because even as it retreated, its eyes burned with fighting spirit.
It wanted to fight but was holding back.
Because I’d asked it to.
“Tsk tsk. It still listens to its mother, at least.”
‘Mother? Our Vinasa will be cute and sweet even later on, you know?’
The old man clicked his tongue at my retort.
“Tsk tsk. You know what they say? Every mother in the world starts out thinking that way. You don’t really know what a kid is until you raise it. You think that thing won’t hit puberty once it matures into an adult dragon?”
‘...Wow, elder. You had kids?’
“What kind of nonsense is that? I’m still a bachelor, you punk!”
Hmm.
What was I supposed to say to that...
‘......’
Brushing off the old man’s words, I channeled my vitality.
[Using skill, ‘Lord & King Summon’ (S-rank).]
[Vitality 10 used.]
[‘Sun Spear’ appears.]
[Using skill, ‘Lord & King Summon’ (S-rank).]
[Vitality 10 used.]
[‘Eldrin’ appears.]
......
In order.
Sun Spear, Eldrin, Kaden, Arin, Dana, Mugak.
Six absolute beings materialized in the air.
I didn’t summon Demir.
It wasn’t a combat class, after all.
Last time I’d summoned it on a whim, it caused delays in city construction, so I’d decided to leave it be.
It had to maintain the Muryeong Paradise portal anyway.
“My lord, another... dragon?”
Whoosh!
Sun Spear swung its spear through the air.
“Master, dragons are always my mortal enemies.”
Creak!
Eldrin nocked an arrow, its eyes blazing with fury.
“Master...”
Dana perched on Kaden’s shoulder.
“Graahaha! Fighting alongside my liege means I always get to face the strongest foes—love it!”
Mugak leaped in with booming laughter.
I grinned at them.
Not because it was funny.
I was forcing a smile to shake off the tension.
“Hey, you overgrown lizard!”
Whoosh!
I thrust my spear lightly.
Spear energy surged forth toward the dragon.
“Quit tormenting those rankers down there and fight me instead.”
* * *
Kaboom!
An immense intangible aura turned tangible and poured down on me.
Just the wind pressure from its presence alone.
It scraped my cheeks like blades.
And then.
Groooo...
The dragon’s body emerged dazzlingly from the rising dust.
- You.
In that instant.
A heavy voice echoed in my mind.
- You dare to tame a Destruction Dragon?
As I thought.
Had the Earth Guardian Dragon awakened purely because of our Vinasa?
I could sense it in those pale yellow eyes.
It saw the Destruction Dragon as its top priority target.
- Never mind how a fool like you managed to tame that monstrosity. Do you even grasp how terrifying it is? If it weren’t just a hatchling, the moment it matured, this world couldn’t withstand it—do you truly not know that?!
Fwoom!
The dragon beat its wings, lifting its massive bulk into the sky.
The sight of it filling my vision...
To be honest, it was beautiful.
But.
Zzzzzing! Zwing!
Currents of energy gathered around its body, forming countless energy orbs!
“Professor!”
Arin shouted from beside me.
“Those are High-End Magic Missiles! They’re regular Magic Missiles with mana compressed a hundredfold, and they’re homing too! Better to block them than dodge!”
Is that so?
So that terrifying thing...
Hundreds—no, thousands of them were floating there right now?
“Hmm.”
First, I halted my charge and held position.
Woooong!
Kaden had wrapped us in ‘Unyielding Shield’ (Lv. 5).
Swoosh.
Not entirely reassured, the guy stepped up beside me and held his massive shield in front of me.
All us absolutes were floating in the air thanks to Arin’s magic.
- Heh heh heh. Choose.
That was when Briath whispered in a sinister voice.
- This world bestowed upon me the epithet of Earth Guardian Dragon. A dragon that protects this world, exactly as the name implies. I have no intention of exterminating your race. I merely seek to eliminate the threat.
No intention of exterminating our race?
What a joke.
More like it didn’t care.
Humanity could perish for all it mattered.
Like how I, living in Gangnam, wouldn’t lose sleep over whether some rare ‘Hartmann’s mountain zebra’ in an African restricted zone went extinct.
- Ah, no need to choose—it’s already decided?
Briath, gauging the mood for a moment, furrowed its brow.
It had spotted Vinasa flying far off beyond the Pacific.
- A fleeing Destruction Dragon and the bug guarding its path. How touching.
Fwoom!
It swept its wings wide and folded them.
At the same time.
Boom-kaboom!
The hovering Magic Missiles streaked through the air, mercilessly bombarding the entire space.
Toward me and my subordinates.
And the rankers below.
- Good! Foolish races, feel the extermination brought upon you by one selfish being’s stubbornness!
“What...”
I scowled.
I knew why the dragon was saying that.
The Giant Dragon had been the same, and dragons in general?
Masters of political maneuvering, somehow.
“......”
“......”
Sure enough.
The rankers below, who’d been holding their breath listening to the dragon, started murmuring.
“Destruction Dragon? What’s that...?”
“So that dragon wasn’t planning to attack us originally?”
“Joo Dong-hoon got some dangerous Destruction Dragon, and it showed up to stop it—is that the gist?”
“...What the hell, then.”
Humans were like that.
The more hopeless the situation, the quicker they latched onto easy scapegoats. Someone to blame.
“It was because of Joo Dong-hoon?”
“...That bastard...! Then all those civilians dying here are because of him too!”
For that, humans could turn yesterday’s independence fighter into today’s traitor.
- Heh heh heh.
Briath chuckled as if amused.
- Yes, now you’re coming to your senses. Face reality. Do you think your power could subdue me? It’s the instinct of all life to bow to the strong... how dare you defy the laws of nature?!
Kaboom!
The enhanced Magic Missiles slammed into the ground, exploding viciously.
Stone shards flew, rankers’ shields shattered.
“Gahk!”
Blood sprayed from the Magic Tower Lord’s mouth.
“Grahahaha!”
A charging berserker took a dozen missiles and went tumbling backward.
I bit my lip hard.
Dragons were smart.
And perverts.
The kind that could crush everything with raw power but toyed with weak humans’ emotions instead.
The Giant Dragon had played with the forest and rock tribes.
The Greed Dragon had built its own castle to lure humans into trials.
‘Earth Guardian Dragon?’
Screw you.
Dragons were all like that.
Useless pests to humanity, at best.
Except for our Vinasa, of course.
Fwoosh! I switched my spear back to a staff and summoned the rest of my subordinates.
Creeeak!
Swordsman skeleton Bone Il-i and spirit summoner skeleton Bone Gu appeared after a long while.
To be precise, it wasn’t their abilities I needed.
It was their skill, ‘Skeleton Summon’ (Lv. Max).
Each was S-rank.
They could summon 10 A-rank, 100 B-rank, and 1,000 C-rank skeletons.
Thousands of Magic Missiles?
Fine. I’d block them.
I had thousands of meat shields too.
Made of dragon bone, no less.
Pabababat!
As my subordinates channeled vitality to summon skeletons, countless bones filled the air.
A wall of 8,888 bones.
The summoned skeletons hurled themselves at the Magic Missiles like a single shield.
It didn’t matter if they shattered or exploded.
They could revive with minimal vitality anyway.
‘On top of that.’
[Using skill, ‘Wail of the Dead’ (A-rank).]
[Vitality 50 used.]
Skeletons!
Grow even a little stronger!
Become even sturdier shields!
Kiyaaaaah!
A wail like tormented souls echoed everywhere.
At the same time, the skeletons sped up.
- Impressive.
The Earth Guardian Dragon sounded impressed.
- Skeletons made of dragon bone, no less? I thought you were just some clueless country bumpkin, but you’ve got your toys after all.
But.
So what if you block them?
Briath surveyed the battlefield leisurely.
The dragon knew.
Soon.
The seeds of division rising among the races below would sprout.