The Drake-Riding Magician
As expected of a monster, the drake was tough and powerful while also possessing strong magic resistance.
That was why it took coordinated preparation between knights and mages to bring one down.
Yet a mage was facing one alone—and already bitten, no less.
It was as good as a death sentence.
Boom!
Flames detonated in a roaring explosion.
“Graaaah!”
The Extreme Martial Cult member who had been bitten somehow focused through the pain and counterattacked, but the drake ignored magic of that caliber without so much as blinking.
It kept chewing down with methodical force. The agony was so overwhelming that the cultist’s mind went pure white.
Am I… really going to die like this?
That was the moment.
“Dreck. Those aren’t for eating. Heel. Bring them here alive.”
Lim Dojun’s loud voice rang out from beyond the window.
Even as pain sent his consciousness flickering, the Extreme Martial Cult member couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.
Telling a drake to drop prey it had already caught? As if it would listen.
“…Grrrr.”
Yet astonishingly, the drake looked reluctant but still carried the cultist over to Lim Dojun.
“??”
The cultist was stunned by the unbelievable sight. The shock was enough to momentarily eclipse the pain.
Drakes were creatures that would attack far stronger magical beasts the moment prey was involved. To see one obediently hand its catch over was unthinkable.
But from the drake’s perspective, it was perfectly natural.
“Grrrr!”
“There, there. Good boy. I’ll give you something even tastier next time.”
To the drake, Lim Dojun—who carried a dragon’s will within him—appeared as a lesser dragon.
Since this was the master it must obey and follow, yielding its food was only right.
Two cultists had broken in. Lim Dojun spent some private time with them inside his room.
Crack.
“This should be enough to stabilize the wounds for now.”
“…….”
“…….”
When Lim Dojun spoke while freezing the bite wounds, the cult members ground their teeth together.
The freezing cold that seeped into their injuries was painful enough, but there was no way such severe wounds could be treated by simply freezing them over. If they didn’t receive proper care soon, their lives would be at risk.
“Right. So why did you come after me?”
“…….”
“Not in the mood to talk? Fine by me.”
Lim Dojun crossed his arms as if the matter held no interest for him whatsoever.
He had encountered criminals more than once or twice during operations in his military days. Such people naturally had plenty of spirit and tried to hide what they knew. Yelling at them only produced the opposite effect.
Besides, fanatics like these are even harder to break with brute force.
Showing disinterest worked far better. When it looked like he truly didn’t care whether they lived or died, the pressure shifted to their side.
That attitude planted real fear in the Extreme Martial Cult members.
If they stayed silent, they would die here.
They lived to pursue strength and gladly welcomed death in battle against the strong, but they had no desire to perish from festering wounds after being chewed on by a drake’s fangs.
“…Please spare us.”
“Hmm. Why should I? I’m not exactly known for showing mercy to nighttime attackers.”
“…What do you want?”
“That’s my line. Let’s start with why you came looking for me.”
“You were carrying a soul stone made from the Soul-Breaking Sword. We only wanted to confirm whether you had any connection to our cult.”
“Ah. This?”
Lim Dojun produced the soul stone.
“…It really is a soul stone crafted from the Soul-Breaking Sword. And to make one using such an ordinary pebble… the creator must have been quite skilled.”
“You seem to know quite a bit about it.”
“I may be your prisoner, but I am still a mage of the Extreme Martial Cult.”
Lim Dojun had to fight to keep a straight face.
Perfect. I chose well.
Since the man knew about soul stones, he could likely help extract and manipulate the soul inside as well.
All that remained was to gently coax him into doing exactly what was needed.
“There. If you want to live, make yourself interesting to me. Anything you know, anything you can do. It doesn’t matter. You’d better speak before those wounds fester and kill you.”
Lim Dojun smiled faintly.
The night was long, and time was on his side.
At the western edge of the continent.
Even in Monster Land—where powerful monsters ran rampant—the deepest region housed the headquarters of the Extreme Martial Cult.
A place that worshipped nothing but strength, where higher positions naturally belonged to the stronger. In the center of the headquarters stood a massive audience hall where the ruler of this land sat upon an enormous throne.
Her snow-white hair cascaded like silk. Her features were so perfectly beautiful it seemed a god had personally sculpted them, and her proportions were so flawless one could hardly believe a human body could achieve such harmony.
Her dress clung so tightly that every curve of her body was visible, with daring slits running from her thighs, yet none of the many people prostrating in the hall dared lift their eyes to look at her.
“Cult Leader. I bring interesting news today.”
“Speak.”
Leaning against her throne with her chin resting on her hand, the Cult Leader gave a lazy flick of her finger.
Though her subordinate had called it interesting, she already knew it probably wouldn’t amuse her.
She and the countless cultists under her all wanted the same thing.
To become stronger.
And the Cult Leader had been trapped against a wall for a very long time.
She was the strongest on the continent, confident that no human could possibly defeat her, yet she personally desired to go even further.
“A magician who rides a drake has appeared in Milberg, the city directly in front of the western mountain range.”
“A fraud?”
“It does not appear so. Upon closer investigation, he belongs to the Blue Magic Tower, and the tower elders are apparently giving him special treatment.”
“Oh?”
Only then did genuine interest flicker through the Cult Leader’s eyes for the first time.
“He tamed a young dragon? Even our own mages all failed at that.”
Dragons were one of the few subjects that truly captured the Cult Leader’s attention.
According to ancient oral legends, the dragons of myth could tear open the sky and advance beyond it.
They were beings that had surpassed the limits of mortals.
That was why she took great interest in any legend connected to dragons, and naturally grew curious about a mage who had tamed a young one.
“Left Guardian.”
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
“Do you think that magician could be of use to me?”
She meant whether he could help her reach the same realm the dragons had attained.
She wasn’t expecting much—just the smallest clue would be welcome.
“That… I am sorry, but I do not know.”
The man known as the Left Guardian squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head.
It pained him to say such words, but someone as far beneath her as he was could not possibly fathom the concerns of a heaven-like Cult Leader.
“Never mind. I didn’t expect an answer.”
The Cult Leader leaned her chin on her hand again, looking bored.
She wasn’t simply chasing after the legendary creature known as the dragon.
There had once been someone who performed a similar miracle.
The first Cult Leader, who was said to have torn through the heavens and descended upon this land long ago.
The being who displayed world-shaking power and founded the Extreme Martial Cult was said to have been like a living god.
Though the story may have been distorted over time, the Cult Leader believed the records claiming the first Cult Leader had overcome the wall with human strength alone.
If someone else had done it, then she could as well.
She murmured lightly.
“I suppose I would like to see him once.”
At those casually spoken words, the atmosphere inside the great hall completely changed.
Madness flickered in the eyes of the many prostrating cult members. They bowed their heads even deeper.
“We will bring him before you at once.”
The Rodonos House and their secret trading partners worked through the night to solidify their growing power.
“We don’t know when the Extreme Martial Cult will strike again. Before that happens, we must grow so large they can’t even touch us!”
At Vex’s words, the other retainers nodded in agreement.
Of course, even the Rodonos House at its peak would struggle if the Extreme Martial Cult decided to use its full strength. But the cultists operating across the continent were scattered, and they only attached themselves to easy targets.
They would bet on that fact and prepare for any future visit.
That had been their mindset only moments ago.
“…Just where in the world did you capture these people?”
Vex asked, unable to believe his eyes.
Olivia standing beside him wore an almost identical expression.
The two of them were meeting Lim Dojun, who had arrived early that morning with the unconscious Extreme Martial Cult members loaded onto Dreck’s back.
“I got lucky. I was simply resting when they came looking for me on their own.”
“…….”
Isn’t that the opposite of luck?
Having Extreme Martial Cult members break in during the middle of the night was closer to a nightmare.
Still, the end result was fortunate.
Rushing anything was never good, and now the Rodonos House could build their foundation step by step.
“…Thank you. Truly. Meeting you that day at the auction house must have been the greatest stroke of luck in my life.”
Vex spoke with deep gratitude.
At the time, he had been devastated that such a monster had disrupted their event. Looking back now, it had become an enormous blessing.
“It was nothing. I felt uneasy that I couldn’t fully keep my promise last time, but now everything feels clean.”
Lim Dojun smiled with satisfaction.
He had extracted plenty of information from the cultists throughout the night and had even succeeded in learning how to freely extract the soul from the soul stone.
Once he had used them for everything they were worth, he healed their wounds with appropriate potions, knocked them unconscious, and brought them to the Rodonos House.
It was the perfect two-birds-one-stone solution—honoring his promise to treat them while neatly resolving the Rodonos House’s worries.
And that was when it happened.
The fame of the ‘Drake-Riding Magician’ has spread far and wide.
You have received 3 Achievement Points.
Oh! Three points?!
It might have been pure coincidence, but the timing of the point increase appearing right before his eyes made Lim Dojun incredibly happy.
Most events only granted a single point. To see such a sharp increase was delightful.
He had earned the points by diligently riding Dreck around, but he couldn’t help feeling as though doing a good deed had brought him good fortune.