Hwaryongwang (3)

Boom! Whoosh—

"Shit. At this rate I'm gonna be barbecue."

Hwaryongwang hurled fire skills in every direction like a man who couldn't care less whether he lived or died. Flames erupted from all sides; there was no path to him at all.

Tch.

Thanks to my main water attribute I could hold out to a degree, but fighting like this was suicide.

We need to change the battlefield.

"Aquaril!"

"Yes, Master."

"We're falling back."

"What?"

"Keeping this fight going here is suicide! We're pulling out for now!"

"Understood, Master! Go on ahead! I'll be right behind you!"

"Okay!"

In Fairy Masters, skills had cooldowns. And that was true here as well.

"Now!"

The instant Hwaryongwang's assault paused, I bolted for the entrance. I went out first, and Aquaril came right after me.

"Don't you run! You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠servant of the Wandering King!"

Hwaryongwang's enraged voice roared from behind us.

What was he, a dictator? He'd turned the whole room into a sea of fire and now he was barking at us not to run? Give me a break.

More importantly — who the hell is the Wandering King?

I ran through every character from Fairy Masters in my head. Not a single one of them held the title of Wandering King.

Whoever he thinks I am...

Still, Hwaryongwang had gotten one thing right. I was a servant. Not of the Wandering King, maybe — but I was as good as a servant to the 10-Star monster Uroboros.

Fucking hell.

The thought of having to offer Uroboros three thousand gems in tribute every month soured my mood even further. Three thousand gems wasn't the name of somebody's dog. How the hell was I supposed to cough that up every single month?

But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd chosen this path. I'd just have to gut it out on spite and stubbornness.

"Hup!"

Crash!

Halfway down the stairs, Aquaril and I smashed a window and jumped. It was about four stories up, but I trusted my boosted stats and threw myself out.

Thud!

"Aaagh...!"

The impact of landing shot up through my legs like a jolt of electricity. My spine went ice-cold and every hair on my body stood on end. Like I said — spite and stubbornness!

"Are you all right, Master?"

Aquaril, by contrast, looked relatively fine. All those Lower Growth Stones I'd fed her had pushed her durability stat higher than mine. And unlike me, who'd just slammed into the ground, she'd rolled the instant her feet touched down, dispersing the impact.

If I'd known, I would've learned how to break a fall! People who never learned just eat it with their bodies. Goddammit!

"Yeah, I'm fine. Anyway..."

I wasn't fine at all, but I didn't want to look weak in front of my fairy, so I put on a brave face. A man's pride — no, a Master's pride!

I lifted my head and looked up at the palace.

Boom! Crash!

An explosion went off like a bomb, and the windows shattered, raining glass down below. People screamed and ran for their lives.

I couldn't tell whether he'd come down after us or just die in that burning room. He'd come to his senses, so he probably wouldn't just burn to death... but whether he'd chase us was another question.

KRA-BOOM!

"...Huh?"

Something enormous smashed through the wall and windows of the smoke-belching room and burst outside.

"Get clear!"

The massive thing was falling straight toward us. We scrambled out of the way.

THUD!

"Ugh!"

The enormous mass slammed down right where we'd been standing, kicking up a storm of sand. I spun away, shielding my face with my arms to keep the grit out of my eyes, nose, and mouth. When the dust settled, I turned back around.

"...What the hell is that?"

I stared at the massive thing on the ground, dumbfounded. It had to be a good five meters long, with two-meter wings on its back. Rough red hide like a crocodile's, a tail to match, a protruding snout, and pupils slit vertically like a reptile's — huge as a frog's — locked onto us.

"What is that? A giant lizard? No — a dragon?"

The creature, stitched together from every reptile feature you could name, looked a lot like the dragons you saw in fantasy.

"....!"

"That voice... Master!"

The little dragon spoke to us. The moment we heard that voice, Aquaril and I both felt our spines go cold. The little dragon was speaking in Hwaryongwang's voice.

Wait. Come to think of it, Hwaryongwang's last skill...

I recalled the status window I'd checked before fighting his fairies.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!"

The moment I confirmed the skill sitting in the fourth slot, I spat a curse. How the hell had I missed that earlier?

A Chapter 2 boss has a Special skill? Are you kidding me?!

If a mere Chapter 2 boss had a Special-grade skill, what the hell were the Chapter 3 and 4 bosses packing? And the other kings and queens?

It was a shitty thing to admit, but reality was harder and more hopeless than the game.

This was not part of the plan!

The dragon that had been Hwaryongwang roared at me.

For fuck's sake, who IS the Wandering King, you obsessed freak!

FWOOOOSH—

A massive wall of flame erupted around Aquaril, Hwaryongwang, and me.

"Ha..."

I let out a hollow laugh at the wall of fire surrounding us. No way out now. If I didn't want to die, I had to kill the dragon Hwaryongwang had become.

"Whatever."

I rolled my shoulders and tightened my grip on sword and shield.

"I wasn't planning to run anyway."

I needed to take Hwaryongwang down if I wanted those three thousand gems for tribute. And his fairy Ryona had damn near killed me.

"...Heh."

A laugh slipped out. The thought of killing Hwaryongwang in that little-dragon form sent a thrill through me all on its own.

I think I've developed a mental illness.

When I felt the fear of death, every kind of negative thought flooded in. And the moment I had to kill an enemy, my body burned with the urge to do it fast — to see the red blood, to hear them scream.

If that wasn't a mental illness, what was?

"Aquaril. You know the drill?"

"Yes, Master."

Aquaril, sword in hand, fell back behind me. Same as always: I'd tank, she'd deal the damage.

"Hup!"

I sucked in a deep breath and charged Hwaryongwang.

Fwoosh—

Four orbs of flame materialized around him. Hwaryongwang's second skill: Fireball (Normal / Lv.3(+1)). The four fireballs came at me one after another, starting from the left.

Remember.

I thought back to how I'd beaten Hwaryongwang in Fairy Masters, in my previous life. Memories that should have faded long ago surfaced as vividly as if I'd lived them yesterday.

This Hwaryongwang had a Special skill the game never gave him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— but the attack patterns were the same.

First one comes head-on.

I rolled right and dodged the fireball. The grass caught fire and sparks flew, but I gritted my teeth and held on.

This one's left.

I didn't even have time to get up — I just threw myself left. Boom! I slipped past the fireball by a hair.

Head-on. This one I can't dodge.

Still crouched, I thrust my shield forward. The shield was going to break. In the game, if you tried to block a fireball with a 1-Star shield, the shield shattered. And in Fairy Masters, destroyed gear couldn't be repaired. What a piece of shit game.

KRA-BOOM!

"Kh!"

The fireball hit the shield and detonated. Naturally the shield couldn't take it — it shattered. A four-hundred-thousand-gold shield, gone in an instant.

Still, I could tank it! The power was way lower than I'd expected.

"Master!"

"Keep going!"

"...Yes!"

Aquaril, coming up behind me, hesitated at the sight — then clenched her jaw at my shout and charged Hwaryongwang.

"Aquaril! Why do you call that man Master?! I am your Master!"

"Shut up! You are not my Master, Hwaryongwang! My Master is Lord Alan Han, and no one else!"

"Y-you traitorous bitch! You've been corrupted!"

How did he know?

I was pushing myself up when Hwaryongwang's shout made me freeze. When I'd taken ownership of Aquaril, a window had appeared showing Corruption Progress.

"I have no need of a fairy who cannot recognize her own master! Die here, Aquaril!"

Fwoosh—

Hwaryongwang hurled the last fireball not at me, but at Aquaril.

Not happening!

All four fireballs had to come to me. That was how you opened the path to Hwaryongwang.

Temptation!

I shoved myself to my feet, charged Hwaryongwang again, and activated Temptation at the same time.

"What?!"

The fireball streaking toward Aquaril veered off at the last instant, barely missing her. I slid forward and dodged the last fireball myself.

"Die!"

In that opening, Aquaril closed on Hwaryongwang and swung her sword. The man-turned-dragon swept a massive foreleg up and caught her blade.

CLANG!

"GRAAAAAAH!"

He'd blocked the sword with his claws — but Hwaryongwang screamed. Those claws were still part of his body. Same as a broken fingernail, a shattered claw hurt like hell.

"You corrupted fairy!"

Hwaryongwang swept his foreleg and drove Aquaril back.

"Die!"

This time he conjured ten flame arrows. His first skill: Flame Arrow (Normal / Lv.4(+1)).

Temptation!

Not a single one of the ten flame arrows flew at Aquaril. Temptation bent them all toward me, same as the fireballs.

Left! Right! Left! Right! Jump! Right again!

I stopped my charge and moved, following the flame-arrow pattern from memory. Not one of the ten arrows found me.

SLASH!

"GRAAAAAAH!"

In that window, Aquaril got behind Hwaryongwang and severed his tail. He screamed, and the severed tail flopped and thrashed on the ground like a lizard's.

Just as I thought — he can't move properly!

At a glance, Flame Dragon (Special / Lv.1) — the skill that let you become a fire-wielding dragon — looked incredible.

But think about it. A perfectly ordinary man had become a quadrupedal dragon. On top of that, he'd grown wings and a tail he'd never had. A guy who'd walked on two legs his whole life now had to move on four, with wings and a tail attached. You think that's easy? Just controlling a body full of unfamiliar sensations would be hard enough.

I'd counted on that, and I'd been right. Aquaril had gone right around behind him, and Hwaryongwang couldn't even turn.

"Y-you bitch...!"

"Hey there."

"What?!"

I waved at him from right in front of his face, and Hwaryongwang recoiled in shock. Maybe because the original hadn't been much to look at — as a dragon, Hwaryongwang was ugly as hell.

"Eat this!"

Before he could do anything, I threw a punch. The massive dragon head snapped sideways.

"GRAAAAAAH!"

"Huh?"

He screamed like he was about to die. Wait, it was just a punch — why did that hurt so much...? Ah.

No way.

My Mythic trait flashed through my mind: Avatar ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the Serpent of Greed.

A broken effect that boosted damage against reptile-types and slashed incoming damage from them. Apparently it applied to Hwaryongwang in Flame Dragon form too.

"So this counts as reptile-type too."

I let out a dry laugh and raised my sword.

That changed everything.