Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Dragon Lord's Quest
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A faint echo of Charlson's shout seemed to reach him.
But with a muffled sensation like drowning in water, the cry gradually faded away.
As his body crumbled, Woojin's consciousness plunged into a deep abyss like falling off a sheer cliff.
Tzzzziiing……
Woojin grimaced at the piercing tinnitus and opened his eyes.
“Where... is this?”
In the silent darkness, he slowly moved his body.
At that moment, a biting chill washed over him.
“...Snow?”
Woojin looked up.
With snowflakes falling one by one, his darkened vision brightened in an instant.
“What are you doing? Come on up.”
It was then.
A man calling out to him from atop the snow-covered mountain range.
The moment Woojin saw him, an inexplicable surge of emotion made him bite his lip.
“...Raoul?”
But he looked a bit different from what he remembered.
The wrinkles and white hair etched by the passage of time were gone.
His face radiated strength, not the brink of death.
It was Raoul in his younger days.
“Time to hunt.”
Woojin grabbed the outstretched hand.
“Just a bit more effort. Climb this, and we're done.”
He watched Raoul's back as he strode through the snow.
The way he treated Woojin felt perfectly natural, like they'd known each other for ages.
'Is this like a past memory playback...?'
Sometimes, certain items would replay memories stored within them by the gods for players.
But he hadn't expected to experience the memories firsthand like this, not just watch a video.
Gulp.
Woojin stared ahead with a tense expression.
Ice Dragon Bellian.
The third dragon Raoul had hunted.
He recalled the memory.
Raoul had created the Dragon Heaven swordsmanship after slaying Bellian.
-Back again, have you?
Bellian spoke to the intruder in his lair as if it were familiar.
-How many times is this? You keep coming without tiring.
“Because you couldn't kill me.”
Bellian's lips twitched at Raoul's words.
Dragon faces were hard to read.
Whether it was a smile or a sneer, there was no malice in the eyes fixed on Raoul.
-Couldn't kill you... Have you ever thought I simply didn't?
“Don't get sentimental. I'm going to kill you. The Light Dragon Damune looked at me the same way, and in the end, all three pairs of its wings were torn off.”
-Damune... She's too soft. One of the few dragons who loved humans.
A chill ran down his spine.
The surrounding cold suddenly pierced his skin like thorns.
-But I'm different.
The ice dragon spread its wings.
A razor-sharp storm engulfed the two.
“Urk?!”
Woojin raised his arms to shield his face, turning away from the fierce gale that kept his eyes shut.
“It's coming.”
Raoul stepped in front of him, his voice oddly excited.
“One, two, three, four...”
He began counting as if anticipating something.
Matching the numbers, magic circles multiplied above Bellian's head.
When they completed, Woojin was speechless.
'Fifteen overlapping magic circles?!'
Even the Crimson Witch, called an archmage, could manage only two alone. Ten-plus mages maxed at triple overlap.
Kwaaaang!!!
As the circles glowed, the dragon's breath poured toward Raoul.
“...!!”
Raoul yanked Woojin back by the collar.
Kwagagagagak!!!
A deafening roar shattered eardrums as the entire mountain outside the nest vaporized in the breath.
“Let's go.”
Raoul spoke to Woojin, frozen in shock at the absurd power.
Paat!
Raoul pushed off the ground.
Stepping into the air, wind swirled beneath his feet, propelling him straight at Bellian.
His body glided like flowing wind, closing the gap with the ice dragon.
They were nearly upon it.
Woojin leaped off the dragon's foot, twisting midair.
For a split second, wings seemed to sprout from his back.
Not angelic and iridescent, but dark and rugged like an eagle's.
-Druid spellcraft?
Bellian remarked on the sight.
“Yeah, took some effort to learn.”
Kwazuzuzuk!!!
Zigzagging through the air to evade the ice dragon's gaze, Raoul thrust his sword.
'Got it.'
The moment he aimed for the reverse scale.
-Foolish thing to learn.
“...?!?”
His balance shattered.
His right leg, the pivot for the thrust, was gone.
Blood sprayed from midthigh down, and momentum sent him tumbling forward.
“Gah!”
His body bounced and rolled several meters.
“Raoul...!!!”
Woojin ran toward him, calling his name.
“Stay back!!!”
Raoul shouted.
His eyes conveyed a message.
Woojin wouldn't have understood at first.
But time spent with him in the otherworld let him read it.
“Hraaaah!!!”
Woojin pivoted and swung his sword.
Kaang!
But it clashed against the ice dragon's wing.
-You think that puny blade can touch me?
Bellian glared coldly.
“...Damn it.”
Forgetting it was a game, Woojin trembled in genuine terror.
“Well done.”
Then, Raoul's voice came from behind Bellian, who'd been focused on Woojin.
The moment he whipped around,
Puk!
Raoul's sword sliced through the reverse scale.
-Kraaaahhh!!!
The ice dragon thrashed in agony.
Atop the rampaging beast, Raoul swung relentlessly.
Shimmering blue scales rained down like snowballs.
“...H-How?”
Woojin stared at Raoul's regenerated leg in disbelief.
-You bastard... You've even mastered magic!
'Magic?'
Woojin looked up at Raoul following Bellian's words.
“Yeah. Reward for devouring your hearts.”
Reattaching a severed leg.
Impossible without high-tier magic.
'Not just druid spells, but magic too...? Could Raoul do that?'
A revelation.
But not entirely implausible.
Woojin had wielded magic in the otherworld by absorbing Ratan's mana.
Dragon hearts, the source of mana.
Eating them raw granting mana made sense.
-A dragon's mana will devour you.
“Doesn't matter. I'll kill you all first.”
Reverse scale severed, Bellian gazed at Raoul pitifully.
-You've eaten three dragon hearts already. Mine makes four. You'll surely die. Knowing that, will you still do it?
“I will. If it's the path to strength.”
-Why this obsession with power?
“To conquer the Labyrinth Tower.”
Throb.
Woojin's cheek twitched.
'Raoul... tried to conquer the Labyrinth Tower too.'
Woojin grew curious at Bellian's words.
Thinking back, he'd only heard Raoul was a hidden class Dragon Hunter, never why he hunted dragons.
-Hunting dragons... for the Labyrinth Tower?
“Yes. You're bystanders. With that power, you ignored the tower. If you're not using it...”
Puk.
Raoul drove his sword into Bellian's belly.
“I'll take it.”
-Kekeke... Ruthless beyond admirable.
Resigned, Bellian closed its eyes as if accepting.
-Pity. There must have been another way...
“Another way? There isn't.”
Chwaaaak!!!
Raoul coldly replied to the dying words, slashing open the belly to extract the dragon heart.
“Just one left now...”
He muttered low, like a vow to himself.
“Khan. Thanks to you. You drew its attention, let me kill it.”
He handed the ice dragon heart to Woojin.
“Your share.”
Woojin stared at the gleaming blue gemstone with a stiff face.
“Dragon mana isn't ordinary mana. It's the foundation of all. Look at me—magic, spirit arts, even swordsmanship. It transcends human limits.”
“Why... give this to me?”
Raoul laughed at the question.
“Why? Giving you a chance.”
“A chance?”
“Hunt dragons with me?”
“...!!”
Ding.
A window appeared before Woojin's eyes.
Woojin's eyes widened.
'Unique class...'
Twelve hidden classes in Evil Tail.
The dream of every player.
Woojin gazed at the system window with trembling eyes.
Young Raoul was this strong.
The elderly Raoul he'd met in the otherworld was mighty, but this version was incomparable.
'Choose this, and I can be that strong too.'
Woojin's ultimate goal: conquer the Labyrinth Tower's final floor in the otherworld.
Then use the power to return to reality.
It was then.
'But... is this really okay?'
Even this mighty Raoul failed to conquer it.
The Labyrinth Tower's top floor.
Reach floor 99, the tower crumbles, final floor floats in the sky.
'Humanity had no way to reach the floating final floor.'
Sky teeming with monsters, even greatest mages slaughtered before floor 100.
“I gave in to foolish desire for more strength and did what I shouldn't.”
Woojin recalled Raoul's words.
-Pity. There must have been another way...
His finger hovered over [Accept], trembling.
Another way.
Bellian said it at death.
'...No way?'
Deep in thought, Woojin bit his lip resolutely.
“Raoul. I won't become a Dragon Hunter.”
Was it the right choice?
Turning down a unique class...
Even closing the window, his heart raced wildly.
“...Why? You could become so strong.”
Young Raoul looked puzzled.
“Conquering the Labyrinth Tower doesn't require dragon-slaying power.”
“I see. Dragon power is immense. But they're bystanders. Humanity begged, they ignored us.”
Raoul gripped the dragon heart tightly.
“If you plan to become their knight, forget it. Think they'll help if we serve?”
Anger edged his voice.
“I won't beg or serve. Nor steal by killing them.”
“...Then?”
“I'll command them.”
“...What?”
Raoul's face showed bewilderment.
“I'll rule over them.”
Ding.
[Discovered quest.]
[Quest Name: Dragon Lord]
▶ Selecting starts Legend class quest ‘Dragon Lord’.
A crimson window flickered before Woojin.