Chapter 56
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Can We Win?!
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"Appear."
With those curt words from Lee Seok-gyu, "she" began to slowly emerge from the widely spread shadow.
A being that would have been called the apex predator if it existed in the animal kingdom.
Even though it was a monster, some nations in the past had revered it as something sacred, fearing it to the point of worship.
The scales it was born with had repelled any human weaponry of old, and it was one of the creatures that once dominated Earth's skies before humanity even dreamed of conquering the air.
Humanity had given them one name, spoken in unison.
"A dragon...?!"
"Indeed! I am the great dragon clan's next leader. Lartania Amadeus Broton Hamania de Lidras Condre Kershini."
"That's a long-ass name...!"
The humanoid monster made a grand ta-da! appearance before Lee Seok-gyu.
Aside from the horns sprouting from her head, the lizard-like tail, and the two wings on her back, she looked every bit human.
But she was a noble dragon, after all.
"Humans! Bow to me! Obey, and I might just spare you."
She had once ruled the skies, issuing commands to the lowly creatures born on the ground.
"Eeeeek?! P-Please spare me...!"
She seemed satisfied watching Dorothy from the Freak Squad slam her head to the ground and beg for her life, laughing even more heartily.
"Kahahaha! Very well! I'll let you go!"
"Th-Thank you! Thank you!!"
"...Leader. Should I smack Dorothy?"
"Nah, just leave her. Dorothy's only got that info-extraction trick going for her—everything else is a bust."
"Oh, right..."
The Freak Squad could only sigh at Dorothy's antics.
Meanwhile, up ahead, the sighs were just as heavy.
Thwack!
"Yeow?!"
"Hey, you idiot. What do you think you're doing, letting her go on your own say-so? We need to restrain all of them."
"R-Really?! Then should I just kill them all?"
"...Not kill. Restrain. Re. Strain."
Facing this innocent dragon, Lee Seok-gyu couldn't help but worry once again.
Lartania Amadeus Broton Hamania de Lidras Condre Kershi—Kershi for short—was a monster ranked A+ danger level even by American standards, truly powerful.
The "dragon" species itself could all transform into humanoid forms, with bloodlines so potent their base danger level started at A-rank.
Lee Seok-gyu had been over the moon when he first learned he could tame her.
Dragon tamer? That was a title only the handful of legendary masters among Beast Hunters had ever claimed.
He'd swelled with pride at the thought that he was one now.
Yes, at first, he'd thought a bright future awaited him...
"You ate a whole year's supply of combat rations from the army base?!"
"Don't be so stingy~. You're just gonna toss 'em eventually anyway."
"Why are you chewing on artillery shells?!"
"Dragons love gunpowder!"
"...What now?"
"M-Master! Master! I'm in heat! Heat season! Let's do it~ Pretty please?"
"Haa..."
Was his dragon just fundamentally flawed?
After countless incidents, Lee Seok-gyu now only summoned Kershi when absolutely necessary.
And even then, with strict warnings—leading to the current situation.
"Listen up, Kershi. We capture them alive! Got it? A. Live. Capture! No killing. I'll take the woman up front. You handle the three in the back. Can you manage that much?"
"Uahahahaha! Just three? I could take all of them!"
If only she'd just follow orders.
Kershi flicked her emerald hair and grinned, showing her sharp fangs.
"Anyway, leave it to me!"
Her confidence only made Lee Seok-gyu more anxious.
He recalled the joint Korea-US training exercise where she'd mistaken US troops for enemies and dragged them in—pure PTSD.
"...Please, just this once, listen to me. I'll buy you all the premium hanwoo beef you want later."
"H-Hanwoo?! For real?! Then I'll do my best!"
"......Yeah."
With that, the two finished their prep.
The four Freak Squad members gulped in unison as the pair sharpened their gazes and leaped— one to the ground, one into the air.
Gulp gulp gulp gulp!
"......"
"......"
"Dorothy..."
"S-S-Scary! Are we gonna die?!"
Dorothy especially was swallowing so much she might drown in her own spit.
But even looking like a total "pathetic loser wimp," she was still Freak Squad!
"Dorothy!"
"Y-Yes, Leader!"
Katarina turned to the terrified Dorothy with a bright smile.
"You think we're gonna lose?"
"...!"
"Tell me, Dorothy! Do you think your comrades are gonna lose?!"
Trying to rally her spirits.
"Honestly, we've got no chance so far!!"
...Dorothy had zero tact.
Her genuine, heartfelt gloom tanked everyone's morale.
"I-It's a dragon! And that national-power-level old guy's way stronger than he looks! W-We can't win! We're done for!"
"...Should we just knock her out, Leader?"
"......No, Paul. It's Dorothy. Let's cut her some slack."
"Haa..."
Dorothy wailed, begging for mercy.
Paul, Katarina, and Riverin could only sigh at the sight.
And then—
Whoosh!
Clang!
Katarina blocked Lee Seok-gyu's razor-sharp hand chop to her nape with her suicide dagger.
Paul matched the dragon's dive timing perfectly, drawing his black sword from his waist to counter.
But it was just a block, not a proper hit.
"Kahahaha! A dragon's scales are unbreakable!"
Despite being forged from fine steel,
even the surprise slash was caught in the dragon's forest-green palm, on the verge of snapping.
But in that instant—
"Paul! Hold her down!"
Riverin's shout urged them not to give up.
As she wove mana threads from her fingers and manipulated them like a keyboard.
Thud!
"Guh?!"
From the collapsed factory, something charged at terrifying speed and kicked Kershi in the side.
"Kershi!"
"I-I'm fine! ...No, honestly, that hurts! My scales! My scales are cracked!"
Kershi spat blood and turned to see who'd dared injure a dragon.
Her body trembled at the sight.
"...An angel?"
"Riverin! Can you control it?!"
"Hoo... Three minutes, tops!"
Riverin replied to her leader, fingers dancing like on a keyboard.
Under her control, the angel's severed lower half charged again, kicking Kershi.
"Ow?! Hurts! Damn... It hurts!"
Dragons were generally rigid.
Tough, resilient—that was their trait.
So dragon combat was brute force: overwhelming physicals, no finesse.
But against a national disaster-grade? Different story.
"F-First, retreat to the sky...!"
Kershi felt the threat from the angel's lower half shattering her scales like cookie crumbs and tried to take flight.
But the moment she leaped back—
"Hup!"
Paul was already above her, knees bent, waiting for this exact moment.
Clang!
"Eek?! You cheats! So sneaky!"
No pain, but slashed from behind, Kershi plummeted back to earth.
After that? Piece of cake.
Thud thud thud thud.
"Aaaagh?! Ow! Damn it! That hurts!"
"Riverin! Keep stomping!"
"Got it!"
"R-Riverin, I'll help too!"
The angel's lower half pinned Kershi down, relentlessly stomping, soon joined by Dorothy(?) in a brutal beatdown.
It was like a schoolyard bullying scene.
"D-Don't get up! Stay down! Stay down!"
"B-Blue human! Betraying me?! L-Liar! You said you'd stay put!"
"Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry-!!"
Kershi seemed winning at first but was getting overwhelmed.
Riverin sweated from controlling the disaster-grade for over two minutes; Dorothy couldn't stop kicking to save her life.
Paul scratched his head, unsure where to jump in. Katarina thought the situation was total chaos.
Lee Seok-gyu agreed.
"How long do we have to keep this up...?"
"Until I capture every last one of you."
"Old man, can't we just call it quits here?"
"If you surrender nicely, maybe."
Lee Seok-gyu was covered in minor cuts from Katarina's flashy dagger work—not lethal, but accumulating.
But next, he grabbed her thrusting blade and crushed it with grip strength alone, urging surrender.
"Give up."
"Tch! One dagger down—guess we'll try again next round...!"
Katarina moved to suicide over losing gear, but—
Boom!
"?!"
"Wh-What?! Whatwhatwhatwhat?!!"
"Something fell from the sky..."
It punched through the clouds, crashing before the fighters like a meteor.
The impact shook the flattened mountain.
The newcomer—a third force, neither Lee Seok-gyu's nor the Freak Squad's.
"Give me back my mom's body."
"...!"
"I need it so human mom will like me again!"
To appease furious Lee Jin-ah, this baby monster had gone "battle mode" without permission, blasting energy from the Hunter Association branch all the way here.
Eve was pissed.