The Resonating Dungeon Core
I instinctively slowed down. Looking up, I saw two shadows with folded wings descending from above.
“…Griffins.”
There were two of them. The first one dove without hesitation. I threw myself to the side, focusing my psychokinesis. My gaze naturally shifted to the wing joint—the point where its movement would be most disrupted. I poured power into that spot. The moment my psychokinesis twisted the wing, I felt the bone shift beneath my fingertips. A griffin’s shriek tore through the air, and the creature plummeted, losing balance, straight into the grassland below.
“Arin, Elly. Finish it off. Oh, and Arin—don’t damage the body too much. I’m keeping the corpse.”
Before I even finished speaking, the two spirits shot toward the griffin embedded in the ground.
“Hmph! I’ll try!”
Arin landed first and thrust out her hand. A compressed fireball streaked forward and punched straight through the griffin’s body. The flames didn’t spread; they concentrated on a single point, burning only the inside. At the same time, Elly extended her hand, and water poured from her fingertips, wrapping around the griffin’s body and completely restricting its movements. The griffin struggled, but its limbs wouldn’t respond properly. The water covering its limbs also sealed the area around Arin’s attack, preventing the flames from spreading.
When Arin clenched her fist again, fire erupted from within. The griffin’s body convulsed violently before going limp.
“…Looks like Arin’s still pretty mad.”
“I am not!”
Arin snapped back immediately. Elly didn’t reply, quietly withdrawing her water instead. Meanwhile, the second griffin was already plummeting from the sky, wings folded, dropping straight down and shedding altitude in an instant.
The moment my calculations finished, I used Blink to relocate. The next instant, my view opened from a higher vantage point—above the creature. The griffin below was spreading its wings again, trying to ascend. I pulled up my psychokinesis and pressed my body downward. Adjusting my posture as if stepping on air, I aligned my trajectory behind it. The distance closed in an instant.
I dove onto the griffin’s back, driving my sword deep between its scales to anchor myself. The creature twisted, but its balance was already gone. I yanked the sword free and swung my arm in a wide arc. The blade sliced through the air, leaving a red line along the griffin’s neck. Its scream was short. The body shuddered once in midair, then its wings went slack and it began to fall.
I used the recoil to launch myself off its back, floating in the air with psychokinesis before descending. When the ground drew near, I landed lightly, dispersing the impact.
Thud.
A cloud of dust rose behind me as the massive griffin’s body came to rest on the grassland. I took only what I needed from the two griffins and stored the corpses in my subspace. Arin still looked slightly sulky, while Elly watched her in silence.
“…Still not over it, huh?”
Arin turned her head instead of answering. Elly gave a short laugh at the sight, then turned back toward the grassland as if nothing had happened. In the distance, the grassland was giving way to a cliff region.
That was when I felt a faint vibration in my chest—the familiar sensation of a Dungeon Core reacting. I looked up. In that instant, the upper part of my vision darkened, and a massive shadow swept across the grassland. Wings cleaved the air, sending a powerful gust of wind howling past.
It was an enormous flying monster. Its low-altitude flight across the grassland was clearly different in both speed and size from anything we’d encountered so far.
“…That thing.”
The moment I watched its retreating back, the reaction in my chest grew sharper. The Dungeon Core’s resonance was definitely pointing in that direction.
“If I’m feeling the Dungeon Core reaction too, then it must be the boss monster.”
I immediately called the spirits.
“Arin, track it.”
“Elly, come with me.”
“Okay.”
“Got it.”
Arin shot into the sky first, and Elly naturally followed behind me. I began running in that direction. The wind over the grassland was still flowing toward where the creature had passed.
After running for a while, the landscape began to change. The grass grew sparse, and small rocks and bedrock appeared beneath my feet. I maintained my speed, staying alert as I advanced. Then, suddenly, my view was blocked. A massive cliff rose before me. The near-vertical rock face cut off the path, making it impossible to continue straight.
I had just stopped to consider a new direction when Arin descended from above.
“Jihoon.”
“Did you find where the boss monster went?”
Arin nodded and pointed toward the top of the cliff.
“There’s a huge cave up there. That boss monster just went inside.”
I stepped back and looked up at the cliff. Sure enough, near the upper edge, I spotted an entrance where the rock had been deeply hollowed out.
“So that’s it.”
“Yeah. That’s the one.”
“Alright. Let’s go. I’ll Blink up. You two fly.”
Arin crossed her arms.
“Fine. Just don’t mess up and smash into the cliff.”
“Kekeke, listen to Arin. She’s still mad, totally mad.”
“I am not! I’m not that petty of a spirit! Hmph!”
“Oh dear, Arin. Sounds like you’re praying for him to fail. Don’t be like that—calm down. I’ll buy you chicken and beer when we get back.”
Arin narrowed her eyes for a moment, then turned away.
“Hmph! Fine! It’s not because of the chicken and beer. I’m forgiving you because you want it so badly.”
“Hohoho… It’s definitely because of the chicken and beer.”
“Hmph! Elly, shut up and follow me!”
“Hohoho, yes~ yes~”
I watched the spirits ascend toward the nest above the cliff for a moment, then gathered my mana. I finished the spatial calculations quickly. The more I used Blink, the more familiar it became—I no longer needed the complicated calculations from before.
Blink.
With the sensation of space folding, my view shifted. The next moment, I was standing in midair at the top of the cliff, right in front of the cave entrance. I immediately spread my psychokinesis to support my body, slowly lowering my altitude until my feet touched the cave floor. Elly and Arin followed right after.
At that moment, a rough breathing sound echoed from deep inside the cave—low and heavy. The inhales and exhales were irregular, and the sound resonated directly from within the rock. I paused at the entrance, then carefully stepped inside.
As I followed the cave path, the space gradually widened until a large open area appeared. In the center stood the creature, its body turned toward the entrance. Even with its wings folded, its sheer size was obvious. A massive torso, a long neck, and a sleek head with sharp teeth bared. It stood nearly as tall as a three-story apartment building, and its length rivaled three large trucks lined up end to end. Dark gray scales covered its entire body. Its legs were thick and sturdy, while its arms were relatively short and slender.
It was a drake. I’d only ever read about them in books, but the pressure radiating from it was indescribable. It felt as if the very space around us was being compressed, pressing down on my skin. I exhaled deeply and looked back at the spirits. Elly and Arin met my gaze, silently lowering their bodies. Even amid the tension, their expressions were filled with clear fighting spirit.
I took a steadying breath and drew my sword from my waist. As I coated the blade with mana, a sharp blue glow took shape, solidifying into a mana sword. At the same time, I raised my left hand. Compressing mana in my palm, a small sphere quickly formed—a mana bullet.
Seeing this, Elly’s eyes widened.
“Jihoon… You’re using both a mana sword and a mana bullet at the same time?”
“It just worked out while I was practicing. Still not perfect, but it’s usable.”
The sensation of maintaining both abilities simultaneously felt far more stable than before. My body reacted on its own without needing to consciously focus on activating the skills. I turned my head slightly toward the spirits.
“That’s enough chatting. Let’s focus.”
I looked at Arin first.
“Arin, don’t take its attacks head-on. Dodge and circle around, then strike from its blind spots with strong flames.”
Then I shifted my gaze to Elly.
“Elly, focus on disrupting its vision and restricting its movements. If an opening appears, mix in strong attacks too.”
Finally, I looked back at the drake.
“I’ll draw its attention and hold out. The moment I attack, hit it with everything at once. Everyone, prepare your strongest attacks. First strike wins.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the drake’s gaze slowly fixed on me. I hurled the mana bullet I’d been compressing straight at its torso. The moment it struck the scales, I forced it deeper with a strong spin, then triggered an internal explosion. Before the shock could fully spread, I charged forward. The drake’s body jolted violently in response to the pain. Seizing the opening, I closed in and slashed down at its thick hind leg. The scales tore apart, and the weight behind the strike sent the creature lurching heavily to one side.
As it reflexively tried to regain balance, its massive wings spread wide. That was the moment I’d been waiting for. I leaped high and precisely severed the joint of the spread wing. The blade sank deep, and a scream erupted as one enormous wing dropped limply to the ground.
Arin’s flames immediately followed, slamming into its torso, while Elly’s attack struck its face head-on. The successive impacts made the drake’s massive body sway violently. I had already taken position behind it and didn’t stop swinging my sword. I slashed, stabbed, and struck, carving into its back and flanks without mercy. I clung to its center of mass, using the wounds I’d opened as footholds to climb upward.
The drake twisted its body, but it was too late. Its remaining wing came into view at the edge of my sight. I twisted my body and poured all my strength into the strike. The moment my blade sank into the wing joint, the drake completely lost its balance and thrashed violently. I didn’t push my luck. Using the recoil from the cut, I launched myself away, falling to the ground and creating distance the moment I landed.
From behind came the sound of the wingless drake’s massive body collapsing, losing its balance. With a thunderous roar, the drake lowered its head and charged. The ground trembled with its momentum. I twisted aside at the last moment, grazing past its jaw and leaving a deep gash near its eye with my sword. Blood sprayed as Arin’s flames, waiting in the air, slammed down onto its back. As its body shook from the impact, Elly’s power seized its legs, restricting its movement. The unbalanced drake crashed forward heavily.
Without hesitation, I dove toward its legs. I carved into the already torn area again, forcing the wound wider. But the creature didn’t stop. The drake twisted its body, forcibly tearing free of Elly’s power. Elly was thrown back by the recoil, crying out in pain. Even Arin’s flames were deflected off its head, and the impact caused part of the cavern wall behind it to collapse.
I immediately created distance. At that moment, the drake lifted its head and opened its jaws wide. Energy began rapidly gathering inside its mouth. A suffocating pressure spread, and the air itself felt noticeably different.
“…Breath.”
I compressed another mana bullet in my hand and approached in a zigzag pattern. I could see the mana inside its mouth reaching its limit. The drake’s head tilted back. The next instant, the compressed power erupted, and its breath blasted straight forward. I threw myself aside to dodge the trajectory while simultaneously thrusting the mana bullet upward from below. Collision. The mana bullet twisted the breath’s flow head-on. I leaped beneath it and swung my sword in one swift motion. Following the blade’s path, the drake’s neck split deeply, and blood gushed out all at once.
Seizing the moment its body twisted in agony, Arin’s flames poured directly into the open wound. I compressed one final mana bullet, spun it forcefully, and drove it into the wound before immediately retreating. The next moment, an explosion erupted from within the drake. Half its neck was blown away, and its massive body convulsed violently before finally collapsing to the ground, its balance completely lost. Even after the dust settled, the creature didn’t move again.
There was still work left to do.