Chapter 270
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 270.
With the Naga's rescue operation finally over, the situation had more or less settled for now.
The surviving Black Shadow members were being watched over by the Lizardmen.
"Ugh, my back..."
Yoo Baek-jun walked toward the temple.
There, the Lizardmen's High Priest stood alone, gazing up at the temple.
His expression was complicated.
'Well, it’s understandable. The temple he’s guarded for so long has collapsed.'
The temple had fallen.
Completely, utterly reduced to rubble.
Noticing Yoo Baek-jun approaching, the High Priest spoke.
"The temple I’ve guarded for so long has collapsed. It feels strange."
"Bittersweet?"
"That’s part of it. But more than anything, it’s emptiness."
The High Priest’s lips twisted.
It seemed like a bitter smile.
"Since I was young, I was taught that I must protect this temple. That it belonged to the benefactor who liberated us in the distant past."
"You guarded it for a long time. The temple’s owner would be satisfied with that."
"I’d like to think so. More than anything, the temple’s treasure has found its rightful owner, so he must be even more satisfied."
The High Priest glanced at the Dragon Slayer’s Spear in Yoo Baek-jun’s hand.
He grimaced.
"Ugh! But that spear... it’s truly ominous. Just being near it makes me uneasy for no reason."
"Well, yeah..."
Yoo Baek-jun studied the High Priest.
Should Lizardmen be considered within the dragon category?
If so, it wasn’t strange for the High Priest to feel the spear’s ominous aura.
"......"
Yoo Baek-jun suddenly thrust the spear’s shaft toward the High Priest.
"Uwaaak!"
The High Priest flinched and stumbled back.
After Yoo Baek-jun repeated the prank a few times, he finally snapped.
"Stop that! It’s creeping me out."
"That bad?"
"I... don’t even know how to describe it. Instinctive revulsion? My body rejects that spear on a primal level."
"Effective, then."
The High Priest shuddered.
"That powerful dragonkin wasn’t killed for nothing. Just thinking about being stabbed by it makes my heart stop."
"She was a strong dragonkin."
"Indeed. When she first appeared in these swamps, I thought the dragons from legends had come to life."
Fellia’s appearance was closer to a dragon than a dragonkin.
Her power even matched it.
"Our kind used to be far more numerous. And other races lived here in harmony too."
"What happened to them?"
"They’re all dead. That dragonkin slaughtered them when she first appeared. Over a thousand lives, gone in an instant..."
The High Priest smiled bitterly.
"Strangely, she spared us. Maybe we had some use for her."
"Probably."
If Fellia had wanted them dead, she would have killed them long ago.
The fact that she didn’t meant she kept them alive for a purpose.
'She must have been breeding them.'
An evil dragon doesn’t dominate monsters across the land for no reason.
She used Black Shadow to create a 'breeding ground'—a place to produce the monsters she desired.
'The High Priest and the War Chief are the strongest among the Lizardmen.'
She was selectively breeding them to create even stronger Lizardmen.
In massive numbers.
'What a pain.'
Yoo Baek-jun sighed and spoke to the High Priest, who was still staring at the temple.
"What will you do now?"
"Hmm, I’d like to keep living in these swamps, but that doesn’t seem possible."
"Because of Black Shadow."
The High Priest nodded.
"The dragonkin is dead. Black Shadow, which guarded this place, has fallen. But that doesn’t mean they’ll give up."
"They’ll definitely attack again."
"Exactly. Considering that, leaving these swamps is the right choice."
This place was known to Black Shadow.
With Fellia, one of their executives, dead, they wouldn’t leave it alone.
They’d return eventually.
"But where would we go? In this unfamiliar world, to a place we don’t even know... It’s utterly daunting."
"How about my land?"
"Your land?"
The primary goal in coming here was to obtain the Dragon Slayer’s artifact.
The secondary goal was to recruit the Lizardmen and Naga.
Now was the perfect moment to achieve the second objective.
"I own an island where elves and dwarves live together. I’d like you to join them there."
"Us?" The High Priest hesitated. "Would that be alright?"
Lizardmen, strictly speaking, were classified more as monsters than demi-humans.
Bringing them to the floating island might cause complications.
But it didn’t matter.
"I’ve already got plenty of headaches..."
"Hmm?"
"Never mind. Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle any issues that come up."
Yoo Baek-jun patted the High Priest’s shoulder. The size difference made it look a bit comical.
"Well then..."
The High Priest pondered briefly.
"We’d be honored to accept."
But only for a moment—soon, he nodded with a bright expression.
* * *
The High Priest and the War Chief persuaded the Naga King, and in the end, they too joined the floating island.
"A melting pot of races, huh?"
Elves, dwarves, Lizardmen, Naga.
Lately, spirits were also gathering on the floating island because of the World Tree.
Yoo Baek-jun scratched his cheek.
'And if we include the Baim Kingdom event later, whew.'
Progressing through the Baim Kingdom event would unlock a route to rescue several demi-human races.
If that happens, even more demi-humans would join the floating island.
And the variety would increase.
"Not a bad thing."
Having forces other than the Sword Saint’s family wasn’t a bad idea.
They were useful races, after all.
—Awooo... Meow!
Yoo Baek-jun watched Seol-yeong, who had been staring at the swamp for a while.
It seemed to be trying to fish with its front paws, but it wasn’t going well.
—Mew.
Waggle, waggle, its butt swayed.
—Grrr...
Seol-yeong leaped a few times but ultimately caught nothing.
"Such a carefree creature..."
—Mrrow?
Yoo Baek-jun had left Seol-yeong in the Lizardmen’s cave.
He couldn’t take it into a major battle.
'And here it is, playing around without a care.'
When Yoo Baek-jun returned, he found Seol-yeong sprawled out asleep.
He tucked it into the Black Ghost robe, where it poked only its face out.
"Before heading back to the floating island..."
Yoo Baek-jun went to where the dragonkin Fellia’s corpse lay.
Many Lizardmen and Naga stood guard around it.
Including the War Chief.
"You’re here?"
He greeted Yoo Baek-jun, who silently stood beside him.
"What will you do with the corpse? We’ve preserved it for now."
"Good. For now..."
Yoo Baek-jun nodded and revealed the necklace around his neck.
An artifact obtained alongside the Dragon Slayer’s Spear.
[Dragon Slayer’s Destiny (Artifact)]
An artifact the Dragon Slayer has possessed since birth for unknown reasons.
Initially weak, it grew stronger as he fulfilled his destined battles against dragons.
—Options: Absorption, The Defiant
*Absorption: Can absorb the corpses of those within the dragon category to accumulate power.
*The Defiant: Overcomes negative effects caused by dragons. This effect can be shared with others.
Yoo Baek-jun held out the necklace.
The bone-woven necklace emitted an ominous glow as it began absorbing something from Fellia’s corpse.
'A bit lacking?'
When enough power accumulates, the artifact unlocks new functions.
He’d hoped it would unlock everything at once, but it seemed slightly insufficient.
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"...What did you just do?"
"It’s something like this. Keep the corpse safe for now. We’ll take it with us."
"Hmm, take it with us?"
Yoo Baek-jun nodded.
"There’s a way to extract memories from a corpse. I want to see if there’s any useful information."
"Not a bad idea."
"Plus, since this dragonkin was close to a dragon, her corpse..."
Yoo Baek-jun patted the massive dragonkin corpse.
"...is perfect for making undead."
He recalled the undead dragon he’d summoned during the Busan incident.
It had been quite useful.
With the necromancers’ help, this corpse could be turned into a decent undead, even if it wouldn’t match the undead dragon.
"A fitting end for this dragonkin. Then we’ll handle the transportation."
"Good."
Yoo Baek-jun watched the Lizardmen moving supplies from the cave.
If only he could bring the floating island here, transportation would be easy.
"...Guess we have no choice but to deal with the hassle."
They’d have to travel to the floating island’s location, even if it took time.
Yoo Baek-jun summoned the Thunderbird and assisted with the Lizardmen’s relocation.
* * *
Exactly two days later.
The relocation of the Lizardmen and Naga to the floating island was complete.
—Kaaaaw!
"Good work."
Yoo Baek-jun stroked the Thunderbird’s wing. Thanks to its efforts, the task was finished quickly.
"So this is the floating island..."
"A mystical place. I sense countless souls from that tree."
The Lizardmen marveled at the floating island, and the Naga weren’t much different.
"......"
"......"
Since Naga can communicate telepathically, it was hard to be sure.
"There’s a lake over there, so stay there temporarily. We’ll build proper housing in the meantime."
"Understood."
The Lizardmen and Naga settled near the lake on the floating island.
Meanwhile, Yoo Baek-jun called the World Tree’s fairy and Baimar.
—What? Why’d you call me?
"Human, I’m busy."
The fairy tilted her head, while Baimar answered bluntly.
"As you know, new friends have joined the floating island."
"I noticed. Is that really okay? The floating island doesn’t have habitats for Lizardmen or Naga. Right?"
"You know me well. You understand my concerns."
Yoo Baek-jun nodded.
"So what’s the plan? Let them live by the lake forever? That’ll cause problems."
"What else can we do?"
Baimar tilted his head.
Yoo Baek-jun raised a finger, pointing directly at him.
"You’ll have to build it."
"...Huh?"
Baimar’s jaw dropped.
"Wh-what?"
"What do you mean 'what'? You’ll create habitats for both races."
"...Who will?"
"You will."
Yoo Baek-jun pointed at Baimar, then at the fairy behind him, who looked equally unenthused.
—Huh?! Me too?!
"You’re the lord of this land. Aren’t you going to step up?"
—Only when it’s convenient for you?!
Baimar shook his head.
"Why are you shaking your head? The spirits are here too. Work with the World Tree and make it happen."
"D-do you have any idea how much labor and time that would take...?"
"Human, I’m back."
Just then, Delowin arrived.
"I asked the Lizardmen and Naga. They said they don’t necessarily need swamps or lakes."
"Really? Then we can just make another lake. And some caves."
Yoo Baek-jun smiled at Baimar.
"That makes things easier, right?"
"Th-this is..."
"What? Baimar, is something wrong?"
Delowin knelt and looked at Baimar with concern.
He let out a sigh.
"N-no. It’s nothing..."
Baimar exhaled deeply.
"I was planning to catch up on my manga backlog... What is this…?"
"......"
It was an absurd complaint.
"No other elf has adapted to modern culture as fast as you."
He’d heard Baimar was obsessed with manga, but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
Yoo Baek-jun shook his head.