Chapter 34
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Murim Dragon (Revised Edition)
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“What brings you here, Lady Eirana?”
Leria, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, asked with a puzzled expression.
“It's a long story.”
Puuk!
“Gurk!”
Eirana gave a curt reply as she drove her blade precisely into the throat of a Gold Sky Merchant Group guard charging toward her.
“To put it simply, we're on the same side.”
Watching Eirana like that, Leria felt an unsettling chill.
From the moment they'd first met, Leria had found Eirana intimidating.
It wasn't just because she was a dragon.
High Elves possessed immense magical power that even dragons couldn't handle lightly.
Leria and the culprit behind this commotion, Kirea—who was currently captured by humans—were still young, their magic weak, but elderly High Elves wielded power comparable to ancient dragons.
The reason a High Elf like Leria felt burdened by Eirana was the unique murderous aura emanating from her.
Just moments ago, she'd killed a man with such familiar ease.
“Don't attack anyone else wearing a hood like me. They're on our side.”
Leria nodded at those words and used magic to relay the situation to the other elves.
Having heard from Leria, the elf Roa—who was facing off against Calvin atop the tower—spoke up.
“You have a magic item that lets you contact the others, right? Could you let them know we're not the enemy?”
With that, Roa drew her bowstring.
The arrow that left her bow struck a guard's throat dead-on.
It was archery of a miraculous caliber.
'A dragon, huh. I wonder what type she is.'
Roa muttered inwardly as she supported her allies.
There was no one inside Gold Sky who could stop Eirana, now allied with the elves.
Just as Eirana finished clearing the surroundings and moved to enter the warehouse, Calvin's voice reached her.
"What the hell is the deal with these people?"
They had appeared out of nowhere and sided with them.
Moreover, each one was an extraordinary expert.
Naturally, Calvin was curious about their identities.
“Elves.”
Calvin responded to Eirana's answer with a voice full of shock.
"Elves?"
“Yeah. There was an elf captured in the warehouse earlier. These are the ones who came to rescue her.”
It made sense—if elves had strong kinship bonds, they'd send a rescue team for a captured kin.
Their skills fit if they were elves.
"Good thing it didn't turn into a bigger mess."
“They seem reasonable enough.”
They were acquaintances, but Eirana played it cool.
In any case, with the elves joining them, the situation was tilting in their favor.
As Eirana reached the warehouse entrance while communicating with Calvin, all sorts of shouts and screams reached her ears.
There were various noises, but boiled down, it was all “Do you know who I am to dare treat me this way?!”
This was hardly the kind of talk you'd expect at the scene of defying a royal decree in this kingdom.
Eirana let out an irritated sigh and suddenly halted her steps.
Not just Eirana—Rocana did the same.
“Lady Rocana?”
Leria, who had been following Rocana closely, called out in confusion.
As if reacting to Leria's words, both Eirana and Rocana simultaneously turned their gazes to the open plaza in front of the warehouse.
At the center of the plaza, black smoke billowed thickly.
Chilgak. Chilgak.
The sound of metal scraping against metal rang out.
Emerging from the black smoke was a giant clad in pitch-black plate armor.
The single-edged broadsword in its hand looked so brutal it seemed designed not to slice, but to tear flesh apart.
Eirana narrowed her eyes at the appearance of this unknown entity.
'Summoning magic?'
It was clearly magic, but even as a dragon, Eirana had never seen anything like it.
Eirana casually pointed at the armored giant with her finger and asked.
“Do you happen to know what that is?”
“Not in detail, but it's definitely something from the demon realm.”
Eirana let out a soft “hmm” at Rocana's answer and said.
“You go check on that dimwit over there.”
“What about you, Lady Eirana?”
As Leria's eyes widened in question, Eirana jerked her chin toward the armored giant.
“I've got to deal with that thing.”
Only Eirana and Rocana here could handle a monster like that.
At Eirana's words, Leria anxiously glanced back and forth between the armored giant and Eirana.
Eirana was an adult dragon, so she had the power to match.
But even so, against a demon realm monster, anything could happen.
Leria couldn't help but worry about Eirana, whom she'd known for centuries.
Rocana silently watched Eirana's back as she approached the armored giant.
The Eirana in her eyes was different from ordinary adult dragons.
To put it simply, she possessed far greater strength than her age suggested.
She also had a “unique constitution.”
Eirana would have no trouble with a monster like that.
Even so, just in case, Rocana said to Leria.
“You stay here and help her if needed.”
“Yes.”
Krrrar...
Eirana arrived before the armored giant and furrowed her brow slightly at the beastly growl it emitted.
The demon realm.
In the mortal world, its image was danger incarnate.
Even to dragons, it was an unsettling existence.
Eirana drew Silver Fang as she approached the armored giant, which radiated hostile killing intent toward her.
Sring.
She let the sword hang low and trudged toward the giant.
In the giant's hand was a massive single-edged blade.
Its crude design, with the blade wrapping around even the front of the hilt, resembled an axe at first glance—brutishly powerful.
In contrast, Eirana's Silver Fang asserted its presence like a beautiful work of art.
The armored giant, glaring at Eirana with red eyes glowing silently from within its helmet, raised its sword high the moment she entered its attack range and brought it down toward her crown.
Kwagang! Jjeojeok!
The ground split with a roar, dust billowing thickly.
A strike of tremendous might that shook the earth itself.
The giant's sword sank deep into the ground.
The armored giant that unleashed such a fearsome blow suddenly shuddered.
Its arm trembled violently.
A gust of wind blew the dust away.
Standing right beside the spot where the giant's strike had landed, Eirana was pressing down on the single-edged blade with Silver Fang.
The force kept the giant from lifting its sword.
Kraaaah!
Roaring furiously, the armored giant gripped its weapon with both hands and strained to wrench it free.
No matter how much she pressed with her inner energy, there was the difference in their sizes.
She couldn't keep suppressing that savage strength forever.
Having reclaimed its sword, the armored giant bellowed and swung it from right to left with both hands.
Kwagagagak!
The blade gouged the earth, carving out a massive trench.
The stone-paved path before the warehouse shattered under the blow, sending shards of rock flying everywhere.
But Eirana was no longer where the giant had swung.
She was at the tip of the giant's blade.
Having leaped onto it, Eirana stood Silver Fang upright and ran straight along the sword.
She dashed across the five-meter blade in an instant, then plunged Silver Fang into the giant's right shoulder joint.
Puuk!
Kraaaah!
The screaming armored giant swung its free hand to swat her, but Eirana was already well out of its reach.
The giant charged at Eirana and swung its massive single-edged blade down toward her head once more.
Jeeng! Jjeojeojeok!
In that instant, Eirana whipped Silver Fang upward from below.
The descending greatsword clashed with Silver Fang, producing a heavy metallic clang.
The impact's rebound cracked the ground beneath Eirana's feet.
But she stood firm, unflinching.
In stark contrast, the giant—whose greatsword was deflected—threw its upper body wide open, as if striking a triumphant pose.
Eirana slashed across the now-defenseless giant's torso from left to right.
Puhwaak!
Kraaaah!
The massive plate armor tore like paper, black blood spraying everywhere.
Eirana's eyes twitched at the sight of the blood, and she immediately put distance between them.
Chiiik—
Blood spilled onto the ground, the stone sizzling and melting with smoke.
'Blood poison.'
Its fumes alone could suffocate and kill an ordinary person—a potent toxin.
In the murim world, it was something seen only in jiangshi.
Feeling anew how different this land was from the Central Plains, Eirana gripped her sword tighter.
Pushiiiik!
“...?”
A strange sound came from the giant's upper body.
The bleeding stopped, and even the split armor regenerated.
'It's healing?'
An astonishing recovery.
Among the demons she'd seen since childhood, some had unnatural healing, but nothing like this—first for Eirana.
With its wounds healed, the armored giant flew into another rage, wildly swinging its greatsword.
Eirana methodically dodged the strikes, then channeled her inner energy and leaped high into the air.
The giant's gaze followed her.
The moment Eirana swung her sword down toward its head, the giant slashed at the empty air where she was.
Kugeong—!
Another heavy metallic ring echoed, sending Eirana flying upward like she'd been repelled.
“Annoying.”
Spinning several times in midair, Eirana steadied herself and clicked her tongue.
The giant's power was immense; her light body soared high enough to make the earthbound folk look small.
She gripped Silver Fang in her left hand in a peculiar manner.
Left hand on the hilt's end, right hand against the left.
Like a drawing stance, but both hands on the hilt.
The blade pressed flush against her right elbow.
From afar, it might look like she was about to draw.
Gravity pulled Eirana earthward.
She rotated her body counterclockwise as she fell.
Spinning vertically toward the giant.
The giant assumed a stance to swat her with its sword.
Eirana focused her entire inner energy into the blade.
Watching her descent, the giant roared and swung.
In response, Eirana unleashed the energy she'd gathered.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art: Heaven-Spinning Blood Sword
Puuk!
The sound of flesh parting rang out.
Eirana landed lightly, shook the blood from Silver Fang, and walked casually toward Leria.
The armored giant, which had been radiating killing intent at her, stood frozen in place.