103. Purple Inner Core Drops [Isekai Survival Gallery]
Bwoooooooong—!!!!!!!!
The Giant Skull Rock Lizard let out a roar.
Its massive body was stripped of flesh, leaving only bones, but paradoxically, it had grown even larger, and its thunderous cry vibrated the air itself.
"No vocal cords, so how the hell is it making that sound...!!!"
"You gonna worry about that while you're flying?!! If we fall from this height, we're all toast, aren't we?!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Hwaaaaaaaaak—!!!!!"
Dozens of Jeonbung-i's at the front lines were sent flying back by the shockwave from the Skull Rock Lizard's first bellow.
I could only tear at my hair facing that scene.
Dungeon variables were always a thing, but when shit hit the fan this publicly, cleanup was a headache.
"Of all times... during a raid experience broadcast!!!"
The emergence of the Giant Skull Rock Lizard.
This was probably inevitable ever since Kkomangi had been obsessively fondling the dragon bone. For days, it chewed and sucked on that bone like it was addicted, glued to the dragon bone all day long.
Thinking back on that unnatural obsession...
Yeah... sudden as it was, this was bound to happen eventually.
No matter how much control I had over the dungeon, sharing power with Kkomangi meant variables were gonna pop up.
Even as its owner, I couldn't stop my pet dog's bathroom urges. In a way, this was just Kkomangi's digestion at work.
Come to think of it, when Kkomangi first ingested the dragon bone, a dragon had been added to the dungeon monster list.
But the cost was beyond what my dungeon could handle, so even if placed, it wouldn't respawn. I figured no dragon-related issues in my dungeons—big mistake.
'Ha... didn't expect it'd evolve existing monsters...'
That Giant Skull Rock Lizard had clearly absorbed dragon factors.
Those black beams earlier... if I wasn't seeing things, that was a dragon rune. The rune that dark-evolved the writhing Rock Lizard in agony.
To make dragon power dungeon-friendly, Kkomangi had cleverly fractionated and compressed it into that dragon rune.
As far as I could sense, the lizard had absorbed a minuscule amount of dragon factors.
But even that tiny bit had skyrocketed the Rock Lizard's specs to near top-layer dungeon monster levels.
Excluding the deepest core, it was practically top-tier.
'...And it's mimicking dragonkin racial trait, Dragon Speech, to some degree.'
...Dragon Speech felt weirdly familiar, but that's probably my imagination influencing it....
How'd a trace amount turn it into that monster? 'Cause that dragon bone wasn't ordinary.
I learned its details from Sticky Thing Lover after getting it.
That ancient Empire dungeon expedition reached depths incomparable to current shelter levels, so monster materials from there explained the explosive stat boost.
Anyway... time to clean up this mess.
Up front, Jeonbung-i's were scattering like autumn leaves under the Skull Rock Lizard's attacks.
"Kraaaak—!!!"
"Fuck, Dungeon Master, this ain't rightttt!!!!!"
"Please let me live to get home!!!!!!!"
Lucky in a way? The front-liners were mostly mid-to-mid-upper layer vets in at least partial Red Giant Sets, so no one-shot deaths.
But if this kept up, casualties were coming.
Even the veteran Padak safety officers knew this was anomalous.
They'd assessed the Giant Rock Lizard themselves.
So why weren't they moving?
I glanced back.
...They were all arms crossed, just spectating for some reason.
The veteran Padaks vanished in a flash.
"Hm... I'll move the injured then."
Nearby, Jeonbung-i's hit by Dragon Speech were twitching face-down on the ground. Better get them to the priests.
Risk of worsening wounds during transport, but this was a battlefield with holy magic available. Rear ASAP.
Ughhh—
Kuhuk—
As I stepped toward their pained groans.
"Hey, stick right by my side. I'll protect you."
Elise grabbed my hand tight.
"......"
*
Bwoooo— Shwooooooooaaaaaaaaat—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Giant Skull Rock Lizard bellowed again, sending front-line Jeonbung-i's flying.
Rear mages kept firing, but the Skull Rock Lizard's bones had freakishly high magic resistance, barely scratched.
Goseongji, now fully in broadcast mode:
"Ah!! Jeonbung-i's flying again, looks like Dragon Speech cooldown is about 5 minutes!"
Inside the Skull Rock Lizard's ribs floated a massive purple orb—obvious weak point.
But that core's defenses belied its exposed look.
The intangible barrier from that power source blocked all ranged attacks aimed at it.
"...Yeah, this ain't comp or formation issue. Just pure spec mismatch."
And finally, the veteran Padaks joined the fray.
Dragon Mask with sword, Tiger Mask with gauntlets, Bear Mask with spear—all charged the Skull Rock Lizard.
Unlike mid-to-mid-upper Jeonbung-i's, their auras were terrifyingly compressed.
Deep enlightenment tech: Aura Blade, Sword Beam.
Evolved or not, base Rock Lizard? Bones sliced clean by Aura Blades.
Dragon Mask, severing ankle bone in one stroke, said boredly.
Slash—
"Hm...! Magic resistance top-tier, but body durability's nothing special."
Lizard's balance crumbled without ankle.
Tiger Mask leaped high, caving skull with palm strike.
Boom—!
"Right? With this physical durability, melee classes should've shone. Dragon Speech the issue?"
Bear Mask hurled spear sky-piercing toward caved skull's core—but blocked by layered magic barriers.
Clang—! Claaang—! Kwa-ching—!!
"Not bone strength? Even light toss blocked... core's barrier too thick. Even they'd struggle. Core intact, smashing bones pointless."
As he analyzed, starlight beams hammered the core from afar.
Bang—!! Bang—!! Bang—!!
Like that bunker buster, hitting same spot repeatedly.
Elise's support fire.
Tiger Mask muttered watching.
"Hoo... that guy's definitely top-layer caliber."
Dragon Mask leaped.
"Then this seat finishes it."
Repeated hits shattered the weakened barrier; Dragon Mask cleaved core in half with one slash.
Rumble—
Powerless Skull Rock Lizard collapsed.
Four top-layer-to-deepest explorers ended it in seconds.
Surviving Jeonbung-i's wailed from bone rubble.
"Fuck finally over!!! I lived!!!"
"Uahahaahaha!! Me too!!!"
Post-battle, party members approached Skull Rock Lizard.
Checking rewards—instinct.
Padaks involved, loot iffy, but explorer habit.
But at the core, they froze.
"Huh?"
Split core held golden inner core with Golden Ticket... and a new color inner core.
"...This?"
"Uh... purple inner core?"
A new reward had appeared in the Raid Dungeon.