Chapter 611: Dragon Raid (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 611: Dragon Raid (9)
Everything was proceeding as smoothly as possible.
The humans who had willingly jumped into the trap he had set were moving exactly as he had predicted.
Except for that one time, when the wall he had erected to erase his presence was shattered.
It had been the youngest human in the group.
And yet, he gave off a sense of unease, something different from the other humans.
The man who drew the eye most among the five exceptional ones.
He had actually managed to shatter his magic.
‘How dare a mere human shatter a dragon’s magic…’
It was the ultimate humiliation.
To use a human analogy, it felt as if a mere insect had broken a door he had painstakingly built.
‘As expected of someone the Pope would trust and send.’
At the same time, he felt a sense of anticipation.
Trust meant the Pope cherished them that much.
He wondered what kind of grief-stricken expression the Pope would make when he presented the severed heads of those five before him.
Of course, it wouldn't compare to the despair he felt when he lost his own father.
Krrrrr…
Because a part of his overwhelming presence had been detected, his plan had to be moved up slightly, but it was fine.
‘It wasn't entirely unexpected.’
He just had to add another plan to account for the deviation.
There was no way a plan forged from decades of burning vengeance would consist of only one part.
And so, he relentlessly pushed the humans sent by the Pope into extreme situations.
He deceived their eyes with illusion magic and restricted their vision with a blizzard.
He created new terrain with the piling snow, burying the path they were on dozens of times.
He could see it.
How drastically they had changed from the first day.
‘It seems they’re finally starting to reach their limit.’
The triumphant expressions they wore when they first arrived were now tinged with dismay.
This was proof that they were growing weary of a challenge far greater than they had imagined.
The conversations between them dwindled, and even when they did speak, it was often with expressions of irritation.
‘That grating confidence of theirs has vanished.’
The young man leading the group was somehow managing to coax them forward, but he too was at his limit.
As the days passed, the distance they traveled grew shorter, until they finally came to a halt.
It was due to a clash of opinions.
“We’re all going to die if we keep going like this!”
“Then what do you suggest we do? The exit is already blocked.”
Voices rose, and they began pointing fingers at each other.
“You… this is all your fault! If we hadn’t fallen for your damn sweet talk, this wouldn’t have…!”
“Ha, you were all for it when you followed me at first, and now it’s all my fault?”
The humans glared at each other as if they would kill one another on the spot.
It was the image of humanity he knew so well.
‘Pathetically weak, yet endlessly selfish bugs.’
Desperate to evade responsibility, they would instantly brand a comrade they’d relied on just moments before as the culprit. Selfish actions, all driven by the thought, ‘As long as it’s not me.’
Watching this typical display of humanity from afar, he let out a low growl.
Krrr…
He could feel it.
A small but distinct crack forming between them, one that could no longer be mended.
Humans are weak.
What compensates for this is the variety of tools they create and their cooperation with their own kind.
Unity, one of their two powerful weapons, had vanished from their midst.
He was certain.
It would be impossible for them to fight while supporting each other as they once had.
Humans, torn apart by discord, could never be his match.
But he did not act rashly.
‘Not yet.’
Because the image was still vivid in his mind: his father, several times stronger than him, dying with his heart pierced by a mere human.
It was because of carelessness.
Carelessness toward humans, who were no better than prey, had created a small opening, and that had led directly to death.
Therefore, he never underestimated them.
On the contrary, he pushed them even more relentlessly.
Until they reached their absolute limit.
And finally, the end came.
“Die, you old geezer!”
“You’re ten years too early to kill me, you brat!”
“Ah, no!”
“These idiots…!”
It was a fight he hadn’t expected at all, one where they unleashed genuine killing intent at each other.
Red blood splattered across the pure white snow that served as his eyes.
The young man and the old man, who had been at odds as their composure vanished, had finally attacked each other.
It wasn't a simple outburst of anger.
“Keuk…!”
“Keoheok!”
For that to be the case, the damage they sustained in such a short time was too great.
A fist-sized hole was punched through the young man's side, and the old man's arm was severed.
Even so, the two did not stop.
They continued to attack relentlessly, as if they would never stop until the opponent before them was dead.
“Cough!”
“Keuk!”
Ignoring the fatal wounds accumulating on their own bodies.
They focused solely on inflicting wounds upon each other.
The conclusion awaiting them was painfully obvious.
It was none other than mutual destruction.
KWAAAAANG!
“Kuaaaack!”
Seogeok!
“Keoheok…!”
Having reached their end, the bodies of the two men collapsed almost simultaneously.
Thud!
The two men, collapsed on the white snow, twitched a few times before ceasing all movement.
The woman with healing abilities rushed over and tried to use her power, but nothing changed.
‘…They’re dead.’
Watching this, he felt a little empty.
Their deaths were what he had so desperately wished for.
But in the plan he had built over decades, such an ending did not exist.
To think they would kill each other out of accumulated discord before even reaching him.
‘I knew humans were selfish, but I never thought they’d be this selfish.’
The dragon shook its massive head.
Perhaps his fear of the humans who killed his father had led him to overestimate the race as a whole.
‘How anticlimactic.’
He had a bad taste in his mouth.
He never imagined that the revenge he had honed for decades would be thwarted in such a way.
It was, quite literally, just a bit anticlimactic.
His revenge was only just beginning.
The real part would start when he took their heads and arrived before the Pope.
He watched their situation a little longer.
“Aah, no, Do-jin, sob…!”
The black-haired woman, crying as she hugged the young man's corpse.
“…It’s over.”
The white-haired woman, murmuring in a resigned voice, as if she had given up on life.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…!”
Thump!
Thump!
The red-haired woman, venting her anger by smashing the surrounding trees with the shield in her hand.
It was truly the worst possible situation.
‘Is it finally my time to act?’
Convinced that his moment had finally come, he unfurled his coiled body.
He emerged from the cave with massive strides, spread his wings, and took flight.
The blizzard intensified with every beat of his wings.
He soared across the sky like a ship cutting through violent waves.
The distance closed in an instant.
Arriving above the two corpses and three women, he roared.
KRRRRAAAAAA-!
The three women reacted in their own ways to the massive roar that pierced through the sound of the fierce wind.
“A-a dragon!”
“Of all times…!”
“Don’t tell me it was watching the whole time.”
Panic, fear, anger.
The emotions, as varied as their appearances, excited him.
“First, I shall express my gratitude to you.”
“……?”
As they looked on with confusion, he continued.
“Thanks to the disgraceful spectacle you’ve shown me these past few days, I was quite entertained, and I also learned something.”
Just how insignificant and selfish humans are.
Leeches that do nothing but indulge their greed, eating away at this world.
Therefore.
“I have once again realized that you are a species that must be driven to extinction.”
For decades, he had lived for revenge.
To do so, he had to understand humans.
After all, how could he exact a fitting revenge without knowing what kind of beings they were?
Thus, he observed and studied humans in his spare time.
In the process, a new seed sprouted within his burning vengeance, bestowing upon him a mission.
‘Humans are harmful.’
They exploit resources for their own convenience and kill others through blame for their own gain.
Could there be any existence more harmful in this world?
And so, he vowed.
He would kill every last human and revive this land that was slowly sickening.
He would shatter the civilization they had so proudly built and return the world to its primordial state.
His murderous gaze turned to the three women.
The three of them froze under his reptilian eyes.
“Consider it an honor. You are the first step on the long path I shall walk.”
As he finished speaking and began to gather energy in his mouth, something absurd happened.
The red-haired woman, who had been staring up at him with a stiff face, suddenly burst out laughing.
“Pfft… Puhahaha!”
That wasn't all.
Wiping away a tear that had squeezed from the corner of her eye, she spoke in a cheerful tone.
“Wow… it actually worked.”
At that, the expressions of the other women began to change as well.
“I know, right? I really didn’t think it would work.”
“Really? That’s surprising. I thought it was definitely possible.”
“Well… you’d have to be pretty amazing not to fall for that.”
“Mmm, yeah. Even I would’ve been fooled.”
The three women suddenly started chattering amongst themselves.
Seeing this, the dragon's eyes narrowed.
He couldn't understand it at all.
Just moments ago they were trembling in fear, so why the sudden change?
‘Could it be that fear has driven them mad?’
No. They weren't mad.
The relaxed smiles blooming on their lips were proof of that.
The moment he saw it, an ominous thought flashed through his mind.
Could it be that he was the one who had been deceived?
It was at that very moment.
The red-haired woman, Angela, asked the white-haired woman, Irina.
“Isn’t it about time to bring them out?”
“Ah, right.”
Realizing what she had to do, she drew the sword from her waist and plunged it into the snow.
Puk!
The blade sank in without resistance.
At the same time, the ground around them began to shake violently.
Kwarururu!
Snow erupted upwards.
And with it, two figures shot up from beneath the ground.
“Puha!”
“Cough, cough!”
The two figures gasped for air as they slowly crawled onto the snow-covered ground.
The dragon's eyes flew wide open at the sight.
And for good reason—the two who had just emerged from the ground were the very same ones who had attacked each other to the death and ended in mutual destruction.
“Y-you! How are you…!”
As the shocked dragon asked, Kim Do-jin answered, his mouth stiff from the cold.
“Y-y-you’re here? Sh-should’ve come a l-little later. W-we would’ve actually frozen to death.”
“What is that supposed to…?”
“Wh-what do you think it means, you bastard.”
As he expressed his confusion at the incomprehensible words, Merlin spoke up in his stead.
“I-it means y-you took the b-bait.”
W-wuhehehet!
Keuheung, klklkl!
Mocking laughter erupted madly from the two men's chattering mouths.