Chapter 84
Chapter 84
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Conviction
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The war against the dragonkin monster horde led by the Demonic Dragon Karas was finally drawing to a close.
'Before regression, this war dragged on for over half a year.'
This time, it seemed it would wrap up in just two days.
'But as expected, was it intentional?'
Fist Emperor Grand Duke Chartosha and Martial Sovereign Duke Zdoraf pretended to be outraged on the surface.
But they didn't look all that saddened.
'Still, this war is our victory.'
The forces defending the great city of Baran had marched out and were massacring the dragonkin monsters.
If things continued like this?
Every dragonkin monster except the Demonic Dragon Karas would be wiped out.
'But if the subjugation force dwindles further, it'll be dangerous.'
If that happened?
Hunting the Demonic Dragon Karas might become impossible.
'And if the subjugation force gets annihilated or Karas slips away?'
All the sacrifices so far could end up in vain.
Fist Emperor Grand Duke Chartosha and Martial Sovereign Duke Zdoraf, who led the subjugation force, must have sensed this as well.
They moved more aggressively.
The survivors of the subjugation force were highly skilled, boosting their mobility too.
-Kyaaaaang!
The Demonic Dragon Karas resisted fiercely.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
It spewed breath attacks.
Gwaaaang!
It wrapped its body in aura and launched direct physical assaults.
As the Demonic Dragon Karas grew more aggressive.
Kang Hyun-soo barely escaped death several times.
'Without my summons, I might have died.'
His summons, including the Blade King, were part of the subjugation force under the Dark Knight guild.
Thanks to the summons subtly acting as shields, Kang Hyun-soo had survived this long.
The battle raged intensely.
In the end, the dragonkin monsters were completely wiped out.
"It's over now, Demonic Dragon!"
The surviving subjugation force numbered around seventy.
But rankers who had stayed to defend Baran now joined them, tilting the battle in their favor.
Among those rankers were Song Hana and the Spear Emperor.
-Kuhuhuhu!
At that moment, a chuckle-like laugh escaped the Demonic Dragon Karas's maw.
"Over? Do you fools think you've won?"
Fist Emperor Grand Duke Chartosha and Martial Sovereign Duke Zdoraf's expressions hardened at the Demonic Dragon Karas's words.
'Something's fishy.'
'Is another dimensional gate opening?'
The two were unnerved by the Demonic Dragon's relaxed demeanor, even with death looming.
'Cut off its breath before it pulls any tricks.'
'Just kill it and be done.'
Tatak!
Fist Emperor Grand Duke Chartosha and Martial Sovereign Duke Zdoraf charged aggressively at the Demonic Dragon.
Behind them, Muran's Guardian Saint Duke Kalmus and the rest of the subjugation force unleashed a barrage on it.
Saaaaak!
At that instant.
From the spots where countless dragonkin monsters and players had died.
A ferocious storm of mana erupted.
'What is this?'
Kang Hyun-soo was quite startled by the sudden phenomenon.
Before regression, Kang Hyun-soo had no experience participating in the subjugation of the Demonic Dragon Karas and its dragonkin monster horde.
So he had gauged their strength based solely on external reports.
But.
'I never heard anything about the Demonic Dragon Karas using the dead for something.'
Wooduduk!
In the center of the mana storm, the Demonic Dragon Karas's form began to change.
The two horns on its forehead grew to four.
Its single pair of wings became two pairs.
Its size swelled to an enormous degree.
But the most terrifying part was.
'It wasn't just a superficial change.'
The Demonic Dragon Karas's mana reserves exploded upward.
-Kuhuhuhu! Plenty of strong fools died, giving me enough sacrifices to evolve. Thank you, humans.
'Evolve?'
Kang Hyun-soo's face stiffened.
Demons grew just like players.
But demon growth was never easy.
On the flip side, though.
'Once they grow, they become vastly stronger.'
Far beyond what a player could achieve by breaking through walls.
'Damn it.'
Kang Hyun-soo's face twisted.
Before regression, he'd heard the Demonic Dragon had eight horns and four pairs of wings.
Yet the one he encountered after regression had only two horns and one pair of wings.
So he'd dismissed it lightly as some transformation.
But.
'It really was evolving.'
The Demonic Dragon Karas had invaded the Atlantis dimension, racking up countless sacrifices to grow stronger continuously.
'No wonder it seemed too straightforward.'
This was the hidden variable.
'Before regression, it was even stronger.'
If it had been the pre-regression Demonic Dragon?
It wouldn't have tucked tail and fled from the combined assault of Muran's Guardian Saint Duke Kalmus and the players.
The Demonic Dragon Karas grew by absorbing the power of the dead.
Before regression, humanity suffered massive losses from the dragonkin monster horde it led.
A whopping 21 named players and over 300 rankers died.
The sacrifices among civilians and low-to-mid-level players?
They were too numerous to even tally.
But now?
Only about 200 named players and rankers combined had died.
No civilian casualties at all, and just tens of thousands of low-to-mid-level players.
'Still, we avoided the worst.'
If it had followed the pre-regression pattern?
The Demonic Dragon Karas would have evolved into something far stronger than now.
'It had eight horns and four pairs of wings back then.'
Meaning it had evolved at least twice more from its current state.
'I have to catch it, no matter what it takes.'
They needed to end the Demonic Dragon Karas right here.
If not?
'It'll just keep getting stronger.'
Truth be told, if Kang Hyun-soo only considered his own gains?
Letting the Demonic Dragon Karas go free right now would be better.
Humanity was strong.
Even the eight-horned, four-winged Demonic Dragon Karas ultimately fell to them.
If it evolved further before dying?
The Demonic Dragon Karas that became Kang Hyun-soo's summon would be even stronger.
Plus, all the powerhouses dying in the fight against it could become his summons too.
But.
'That would cost tens of millions of lives.'
Kang Hyun-soo's goals were.
First, delivering iron-fisted retribution to the betrayers.
Second, repelling the Demon King's invasion and returning to Earth.
And finally, third.
'Saving more people than before regression.'
Before regression, civil war and the Demon King's forces wiped out 99% of humanity in Atlantis.
Humanity was essentially extinct.
'I am human.'
He was no monster stripped of his humanity.
That's why he wanted Muran's Guardian Saint Duke Kalmus to survive.
But Kalmus had chosen death to block the Demonic Dragon Karas.
'And if he dies, I'll make him a summon.'
Still, he didn't wish for it.
He could be more ruthless than any demon to betrayers and enemies.
But not to others.
'I can't become a demon.'
He wouldn't abandon his humanity and turn into a monster.
That was Kang Hyun-soo's conviction, upheld even before regression.
And that conviction.
Remained unshaken even now.
"We have to kill it as fast as possible!"
At Fist Emperor Grand Duke Chartosha's shout, the subjugation force charged at the Demonic Dragon Karas with everything they had.
They sensed it too.
If they didn't kill the Demonic Dragon here.
A greater catastrophe would follow.
The tanks poured all their effort into sealing the Demonic Dragon Karas's movements.
Tanks and dealers with flight items or skills swarmed like bees, tearing at its wings.
Even as their bodies were ripped by claws or crushed underfoot, they refused to yield.
Rear healers showered heals on any tank that hadn't died instantly, desperate to save even one more life.
Meanwhile, ranged dealers unleashed a volley.
Shushushushuk!
Every kind of ranged attack skill filled the sky, raining down on the Demonic Dragon Karas.
Gwaaaang!
A massive explosion rang out.
Kuuuung!
The Demonic Dragon Karas crashed to the ground.
-Krurrrr!
But its body was intact, only its wings mangled.
"Kill it!"
"Waaaaah!"
Melee dealers roared with fervor, ready to stake their lives, closing in to stab with their weapons.
Wounds large and small appeared on the Demonic Dragon Karas's body, only to heal instantly.
It was the dragonkin trait of self-regeneration, bolstered by heal skills.
Despite everyone's best efforts.
They couldn't inflict more than preventing its wings from regenerating.
-Kuhuhuhu! Pathetic human insects!
Kung! Kung! Kung!
The Demonic Dragon Karas broke through the tanks' encirclement and charged the healers.
Tank, dealer, healer.
This synergy was tricky.
But eliminate the healers first?
It could slaughter all the tanks binding its movements.
Without healers and tanks?
It could sweep away the slow ranged dealers and slippery melee ones in seconds.
Puk!
Then, Kang Hyun-soo's sword, the Gluttonous Sword wrapped in vampiric aura, sliced into the Demonic Dragon Karas's wing.
It wasn't a huge wound.
But.
"The wing wound isn't healing!"
"That's the weak point!"
The Gluttonous Sword's anti-heal effect kicked in perfectly.
Its opponent was the Demonic Dragon Karas.
Normally, the anti-heal wouldn't last long.
But if other players attacked before it healed?
The wound would only widen.
Then Kang Hyun-soo struck again?
The enlarged wound wouldn't heal due to the anti-heal.
"A wound there too!"
"Focus fire!"
The players excitedly gouged the Demonic Dragon Karas's injured wing.
And finally.
Zuak!
They severed one of its two pairs of wings completely.
-Kyaaaaak!
The wingless Demonic Dragon Karas let out a scream of agony.
It quickly pinpointed the cause of its unhealing wounds.
"It's you!"
Whenever Kang Hyun-soo poked the wounds, self-regeneration vanished and heals became useless.
Even an idiot would figure it out.
"Die, human!"
The Demonic Dragon Karas switched its primary target from healers to Kang Hyun-soo.
To the self-preserving Demonic Dragon Karas.
Kang Hyun-soo, wielding anti-heal, was more dangerous than any healer.
"Protect that young man!"
Muran's Guardian Saint Duke Kalmus grasped the situation and issued orders swiftly.
"Kuh!"
He blocked the Demonic Dragon Karas's attack with his own body.
"Protect the young man!"
"We can only win if he survives."
Fist Emperor Grand Duke Chartosha and Martial Sovereign Duke Zdoraf, having caught on, also stepped up to shield Kang Hyun-soo.
They didn't know what skill it was.
But they realized Kang Hyun-soo's attacks prevented the Demonic Dragon's wounds from healing.
Thanks to the others' desperate protection.
Zuak! Seok! Puk!
Kang Hyun-soo gleefully slashed at the Demonic Dragon Karas's body.
-Kraaaang!
The enraged Demonic Dragon Karas tried to crush him.
But Kang Hyun-soo nimbly dodged every time.
"Focus fire!"
Wherever Kang Hyun-soo triggered anti-heal, the subjugation force poured in attacks.
The Demonic Dragon Karas's body turned bloody in an instant.
"Not much longer!"
"End the Demonic Dragon!"
With victory in sight.
The subjugation force's morale soared.
-Krurrrng!
Conversely, the Demonic Dragon Karas felt acute crisis.
So.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Kwajik!
It began prioritizing the subjugation members blocking Kang Hyun-soo.
As the battle dragged on, the Demonic Dragon Karas's body grew more and more ragged.
The subjugation force's numbers dwindled rapidly, shrinking to just 23.