Talion Fortress Siege (5)
“The humans are coming this way.”
In front of Rekras, whose crimson scales burned like flames, a Dragonian knelt on one knee and spoke in a stiff voice.
The Dragonians gathered in the plaza of the fortress city Talion were covered in thick dust.
“How many are there?”
“About twenty. Not a large number, but they all seem to be summoners with considerable mana.”
“Hmm. I see.”
Rekras nodded and glanced around. It was a smaller force than expected.
Behind him lay five Dragonians sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath. They were the ones who had used their breath attacks to crumble Talion's walls.
“If a strategy that demands such humiliation doesn't yield results like this, it'd be a problem.”
Rekras brushed the dust off his shoulder and spoke. The method the Dragonians had used to infiltrate Talion was ridiculously simple. Using their powerful bodies inherited from dragons, they had dug a long tunnel straight into the city like brutes.
It was crude, but that's precisely why they had slipped past the summoners undetected.
Had they used magic or approached in visible areas, they would have been spotted by the summoners prepared for ambushes.
But for nearly thirty Dragonians to burrow through the earth like moles to reach their drop point was an utterly humiliating ordeal for them.
Dragonians were a proud race with dragon blood, one that crushed enemies with sheer force. Naturally, crawling through dirt to prepare a surprise attack left them seething with shame.
“Everyone, prepare for battle. The enemies aren't numerous.”
At Rekras's command, the twenty or so Dragonians bowed deeply.
Rekras licked his lips with his long tongue, waiting for the summoners to appear.
It didn't take long before the strike team revealed themselves before him. Leading them, Kang Ha-rin drew her enormous longsword—long enough to make one doubt if a human could even wield it—and her eyes gleamed sharply.
“So you're the lizard leading this raid.”
“……Insolent human wench.”
Rekras narrowed his eyes at Kang Ha-rin for daring to liken him to a mere 'lizard.' A scorching blaze began to ripple from his body.
Kang Ha-rin's expression hardened as she saw the flames surging from Rekras's form. Gripping her white-bladed longsword tightly, she spoke in a low voice.
“Sang-jun oppa, take the other summoners and handle the Dragonians.”
The bandaged freak, Park Sang-jun, nodded silently in response. Black mana began to gather in his wrapped arms.
“Tae-hwang, you and I are taking on that lizard bastard.”
“Yes.”
Cheon Tae-hwang nodded without hesitation before Rekras, whose mere presence made one's body tingle. There was no fear in his eyes—only the joy of facing a foe beyond his current strength.
“Flying Sword.”
A low skill name escaped Cheon Tae-hwang's lips. Four out of the five swords at his waist floated into the air.
The unique skill of his hidden class, Sword Lord, had activated.
The Flying Sword skill wasn't some wuxia trope that sliced through anything with sword qi at light speed.
It simply allowed him to levitate and freely control swords in the air.
For a typical warrior, it was more curse than blessing. Mastering even one sword took a lifetime—handling multiple simultaneously was practically impossible.
But Cheon Tae-hwang was no ordinary warrior. He was a prodigious genius who wielded five swords as if they were extensions of his body.
Not just swinging five blades at once. He exploited the skill's greatest advantage, unleashing impossible angles and timings no human could achieve.
The Flying Sword's biggest edge: the swords could 'fly through the air.'
Attacks from bizarre angles impossible for a person wielding a sword by hand became feasible.
“Interesting toys.”
Rekras grinned, eyeing the four floating swords. Cheon Tae-hwang's face twisted slightly.
No enemy he'd faced before had called his Flying Sword 'toys.'
“Impressive technique, but……”
The flames around Rekras intensified. An oppressive heat, suffocating in its intensity, radiated from him.
“Pathetic.”
Cheon Tae-hwang unwittingly stepped back from the ferocious blaze. His expression stiffened.
Overwhelming power. As Rekras said, it made his four swords seem like mere playthings.
“Say that after you try it yourself!”
Kang Ha-rin kicked off the ground, gripping her longsword. Her body shot forward like a streak of light, her white blade swinging for Rekras's neck.
“Excellent!”
Rekras exclaimed in delight at the dizzying strike. This foe before him thrilled him far more than the human male juggling five swords.
Whoosh!
Rekras raised his right arm to block Kang Ha-rin's sword. Flames coalesced on his arm, roaring as if to devour her blade.
Kang Ha-rin's face contorted.
“Haat!”
With nimble footwork, she retracted the sword aimed at his neck. Her eyes sharpened.
“One Flash!”
White light enveloped her blade, blocked momentarily by Rekras's arm. Unbelievable speed for a two-meter longsword—it slashed as a single streak of white light, carving into Rekras's side.
Slash!
“Grrgh!”
A groan escaped Rekras. Dragonian scales were tough enough to shrug off most strikes, but they were paper against Kang Ha-rin's sword.
“Strong wench!”
Boom!
Rekras's eyes sparkled with uncontainable glee as he stomped the ground viciously. The earth around him shattered, and monstrous flames erupted from below.
“Tch!”
Kang Ha-rin urgently leaped back to escape the blaze. But the massive inferno spread relentlessly, threatening to engulf her.
“Strike of Severe Cold!”
One of Cheon Tae-hwang's four swords, its blue-glowing blade, intercepted the flames before they reached her. White frost formed on it, cleaving the fire.
“Thanks, Tae-hwang!”
Kang Ha-rin pulled back fully in the brief gap. The sword that had blocked Rekras's flames was consumed.
“Ho.”
Rekras's eyes gleamed with admiration at Cheon Tae-hwang for halting his attack, however briefly. The young man's power paled against the woman's, but his skillful timing drew involuntary praise.
“Hup!”
Down one sword, Cheon Tae-hwang charged Rekras, swinging low at his legs.
“Where?!”
Rekras countered by raising his knee. But one of the three airborne swords shot for his nape.
He tilted his head left without halting.
“Hm?!”
As if anticipating it, another sword aimed for his forehead.
Rekras ducked. Then Cheon Tae-hwang's grounded sword, skimming low, surged for his throat.
“You dare!”
Rekras thrust his left arm toward the blade. A massive wall of flame materialized.
“Strike of the Storm.”
As if foreseen, Cheon Tae-hwang slid behind Rekras, slashing his back.
Clang!
“Kgh.”
Unlike Kang Ha-rin's cut, Cheon Tae-hwang's strike couldn't pierce the scales fully and bounced off. He swallowed a grunt and retreated.
“……Not some novice, eh.”
Rekras's face hardened, glaring at Cheon Tae-hwang for the cunning chain that toyed with him.
If that human had power like the woman……
Rekras frowned. It would have inflicted serious damage.
“I need to kill you somehow.”
He growled lowly at the terrifying battle sense.
“Hah, our Tae-hwang isn't some guy who'd lose to a lizard like you!”
Kang Ha-rin swung at Rekras with boastful words. He dodged and fell back.
“Heh, hyped as an S-rank boss, but you're nothing special.”
She smirked at his retreat. His flames were powerful, but manageable.
“Might wrap this up before Sia-unnie even arrives?”
Confidence swelled as she grinned. She momentarily underestimated Rekras's latent power.
Watching her, Rekras clamped his mouth shut. He raked his chest with sharp claws.
Dark red blood trickled along the scratches.
“Offspring inheriting Lord Kargas's might, Rekras beseeches the great one's power.”
Eyes closed, he intoned reverently.
“Avatar of Flame.”
The dark blood flowing over him turned to flames infused with horrific mana, enveloping his body. The curtain of fire swept outward.
Roarrrrr!
“Back—get back, Tae-hwang!”
“Ha-rin-ssi!”
Kang Ha-rin grabbed Cheon Tae-hwang's collar and hurled him away, her face desperate. He flew back, urgently calling her name.
The mana-charged flame curtain, spine-chilling in potency, bore down on her.
“Ngh……! D-Damn it!”
Too late to fully evade after throwing him, she couldn't escape the blaze. Her face paled.
The massive wave of fire engulfed her.
“Ha-rin-ssi!”
Cheon Tae-hwang's frantic cry echoed in her ears. She thrust her longsword forward and curled into a ball desperately.
Then—
Boom!
Two beams of light from the sky cleaved the flame curtain. One blindingly white, the other abyss-dark.
“Wh-What……?”
Kang Ha-rin stared in bewilderment at the two figures who parted the inferno. One was a beautiful brown-haired woman, the other……
“A suit?”
She gaped incredulously at the mechanical suit straight out of some famous hero movie.