Chapter 122
Chapter 122
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Where the Dragon Sleeps (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Ha.”
A dry laugh escaped Kang Chan-hyeok’s lips.
The corners of his eyes were turned up irritably.
He spun the dagger in his hand, a crooked smile on his face.
“Still spouting the same old bullshit, I see.”
“It’s pretty terrifying to hear that from the moron whose guild got wiped out by that same bullshit.”
I’m trembling in my boots.
“You son of a bitch…!”
*Grip.*
Kang Chan-hyeok’s expression twisted.
He switched his grip on the dagger to a reverse hold and kicked off the ground ferociously.
*Swoosh!*
For such a fierce kick, the ground didn't tremble, nor did it leave an indent.
It was as if he had jumped on a soft bed.
Kang Chan-hyeok soared silently and sprinted along the cave wall.
“Let’s see if you can keep up that arrogance after I put a hole in your neck!”
“Why is every one of you bastards so unoriginal?”
Does serving the Black Star make your vocabulary degenerate?
Every single one I meet says the same damn thing.
*Swoosh!*
I bent backward as if falling, dodging the dagger aimed at my neck.
Pivoting on my right foot, I spun around, grabbed the back of Kang Chan-hyeok’s head, and threw him toward the cave wall.
“Ugh!”
Kang Chan-hyeok hastily tumbled, narrowly avoiding a collision with the wall.
*Crackle!*
A torrent of blue lightning poured down on Kang Chan-hyeok as he barely dodged the attack.
“This pathetic…!”
Kang Chan-hyeok charged head-on into the cascade of blue lightning.
The currently registered Star-rank for Noerang, according to the Association, was 5-Stars.
There was a full 3-Star difference between him and Kang Chan-hyeok, an 8-Star Awakened.
With a 3-Star gap, he could easily withstand such a flimsy attack with his body—
*Kzzzzzzzt!*
“Agyagyagyagyak!”
A horrifying jolt of pain spread through him as the blue lightning shot from the crown of his head straight through his groin.
His entire body was momentarily paralyzed, and the strength drained from his legs.
*Crack!*
As Kang Chan-hyeok collapsed forward, I kicked his head like a soccer ball.
His body spun like a top before slamming into the cave wall.
“Keuk! Kgh! Cough!”
Kang Chan-hyeok coughed up blood, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Oh-jin.
“A-Are you insane? This is the power of a 5-Star?”
The force contained in the lightning that had just struck him was, at the very least, on par with an Awakened of his own rank—no, it was even higher.
‘Dealing with an 8-Star isn’t so hard anymore.’
Oh-jin watched Kang Chan-hyeok tremble in shock and smirked.
It might have been a different story against someone like Lee Woo-hyeok, who was at the top of the 8-Star Awakened.
But against Kang Chan-hyeok, whose skills were average at best, it wasn’t a difficult fight.
‘The problem is those guys.’
I shifted my gaze to the five Owls who were silently watching.
The elites of the Heukseonghoe, known as the Night Hunters.
If they were to join the fray, the outcome wouldn’t be so easy to predict.
“All the better.”
*Thump, thump.*
My heart pounded fiercely.
A thrilling shiver ran down my spine and spread throughout my body.
“You just going to stand there and watch?”
Oh-jin casually beckoned to the Owls.
“……”
“……”
The Owls, who had been silently observing the battle with their hoods pulled low, slowly began to move.
Their movements were precise, reminiscent of highly trained assassins.
*Sh-sh-sh-sh-shuk!*
Countless feathers rained down inside the cave like a black storm.
A powerful thermal blast erupted from the exploding feathers, engulfing Oh-jin.
*Tap!*
Oh-jin focused lightning into his legs and kicked off the ground.
“Hup!”
A long trail of lightning followed.
Dodging the incoming feathers, I fired my wire shooters at the Owls.
*Twang! Twang! Twang!*
Six wires shot out, targeting the Owls.
“…Kut!”
One Owl, unable to dodge in time, was caught by a wire.
“Poknoe.”
“Kaaaargh!”
*Kzzzzzzzt!*
A torrent of blue lightning flowed through the wire and into the Owl.
“Keoheok… Kgh! Gurgle.”
The Owl fainted, foaming at the mouth.
“Huh? He fainted in one hit?”
After all that posturing about being a Night Hunter, he went down in a single blow.
Oh-jin stared at the Owl, who was flopping around like a freshly caught fish, with a dumbfounded expression.
‘Were these guys always this weak?’
No.
Considering the aura they exuded, their agile movements, and the impact of the feather explosion, every one of these Night Hunters was stronger than Ashad Khan.
‘It’s not that the Night Hunters are weak.’
It was me.
I had become ridiculously strong.
“Guess all that running around like a madman paid off.”
*Grin.*
Oh-jin raised his spear, the corners of his mouth lifting.
The remaining Owls scattered in four directions, closing in on him.
‘Two from behind, one from above, one from the front.’
Using the Stigma of Canes Venatici to track their movements, Oh-jin widened his grip on the spear shaft and spun around.
‘First, the two from behind!’
*Swish!*
He swung the spear in a wide semi-circle.
The Noeyeom flickering along the spearhead spread out in a fan shape.
“Ugh!”
“Kuk!”
The Owls hastily raised their weapons to block the attack, but the attribute of Noeyeom was lightning, not fire.
The electric shock flowed through their weapons, causing them to grunt in pain and stagger back.
“Haap!”
The Owl rushing from the front thrust a spike formed from tightly packed feathers.
Oh-jin raised his left arm to block the feather spike.
*Clang!*
The spike collided with the gauntlet on his left arm.
“Die—!”
The Owl’s Stigma flared brightly, and a powerful explosion erupted from the tip of the spike.
“Your mom’s the one who’s dead, buddy.”
“What—!”
The gauntlet glowed red as it began to absorb the explosion.
Oh-jin thrust his gauntleted left arm forward.
*KABOOOOM!*
The explosion that had been absorbed by the gauntlet was unleashed directly onto the Owl.
“Keoheok!”
The Owl was sent flying, spewing blood.
‘Last one.’
Oh-jin tilted his head up slightly.
The Owl who had taken flight with wings made of black feathers was now diving fiercely, like a predator snatching its prey.
‘This one will be hard to dodge.’
It didn't matter.
If he couldn't dodge it, he just had to block it.
*Vwoom!*
“Ugh! What is this…!”
The orange bracelet emitted a light, creating a translucent barrier in front of Oh-jin.
*Cl-cl-cl-clang! Crack!*
Of course, the barrier shattered in less than a second.
‘A second is all I need.’
Oh-jin twirled his spear and stabbed the airborne Owl in the stomach.
*Shunk!*
“Keoheok!”
Blood poured down the spearhead.
“Kaaargh! N-Now!”
“Hm?”
The Owl, impaled and dangling like a chicken on a skewer, gripped the spearhead with both hands.
“Hehe! Well done!”
The brief opening created by the Owl’s sacrifice.
Kang Chan-hyeok rushed toward Oh-jin, dagger in hand.
He placed the palm of his hand on the pommel of the dagger and curled his fingers.
As he raised his arm high, his posture resembled a scorpion raising its tail.
“《Cheondokgek》!”
His Stigma blazed to life, and a green aura formed at the tip of the dagger.
A dagger imbued with a thousand deadly poisons.
The scorpion’s tail, capable of bringing death with a single graze, shot toward Oh-jin.
*T-zzzt!*
Oh-jin abandoned his spear and dodged the attack.
Thanks to his quick reaction, he managed to avoid the attack with only a slight cut on his right arm.
“Hahahat! It’s endgame, you bastard!”
A burst of laughter erupted from Kang Chan-hyeok.
It was just a shallow cut on the skin.
But the deadly poison on the dagger was more than enough to drive his opponent to death.
However.
“This idiot doesn’t know what endgame means.”
“What?”
Oh-jin picked up the spear he had thrown to the ground and, without hesitation, sliced off his own right arm.
*Swish!*
Blood gushed from his right arm, severed at the shoulder.
“W-What kind of crazy bastard….”
Kang Chan-hyeok’s face turned deathly pale.
Oh-jin smiled brightly and raised his left arm.
*Twang!*
A wire wrapped around Kang Chan-hyeok’s neck.
“This isn’t ‘endgame,’ you moron. It’s ‘checkmate.’”
*Vzzzzzzzzing!*
The wire around Kang Chan-hyeok’s neck rapidly contracted, pulling his body forward.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Focusing lightning in his head, he slammed his forehead into Kang Chan-hyeok’s philtrum as if swinging a hammer.
*Crack!*
With a sickening crunch of bone, Kang Chan-hyeok’s face caved in.
“Haa.”
Oh-jin let out a short breath and turned his head.
Two Owls remained.
The same two who had attacked him from behind initially.
His blood-soaked gaze turned to them.
“What are you doing? Not coming?”
Even as blood poured from his severed right arm.
Oh-jin walked leisurely toward the two remaining Owls.
“K-Kuh!”
“Re-Retreat. Retreat!”
The two Owls turned and fled.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
He picked up his spear and aimed it at the fleeing pair.
‘Charge, 3 stacks.’
*Kzzzzzzzt!*
He hurled the spear, condensed with lightning, at the two retreating Owls.
*K-zzzzzzzzap!*
“Aaaaargh!”
“Gyaaaaargh!”
Engulfed by the lightning that erupted from the spear, the Owls collapsed, charred black.
“Tsk.”
He extended a hand toward the six corpses scattered on the ground.
*Gurgle.*
The dark clouds of Heukcheon emerged and absorbed the stigma’s mana dwelling within the corpses.
He had managed to deal with the six of them faster than he’d expected.
“Though I didn’t expect to lose my right arm.”
Even if he lost an arm, he could regenerate it quickly with his Hydro-affinity skill, provided there was enough water.
But in a dreary cave filled with rocks, there was no way there would be enough water to regenerate an entire arm.
‘First, let’s get rid of the poison.’
He placed a hand on his severed right arm, which had turned purple, likely due to Kang Chan-hyeok’s poison.
‘Stigma of Scorpio.’
Possessing the Stigma of Scorpio didn’t grant immunity to poison, but given enough time, detoxifying it wasn’t difficult.
The purplish arm returned to its original color.
“Hup.”
He took a short breath.
He picked up his severed right arm and held it to the stump.
Taking an emergency potion from his sling bag, he poured it over the wound.
It was a potion he had personally crafted using the Stigma of Aquarius, boasting performance on par with most high-grade potions.
“Ugh!”
*Sizzle!*
A sharp pain shot through him as his right arm was crudely reattached.
‘It doesn’t move properly, though.’
Even with a high-grade potion, it wasn’t an elixir. It couldn’t perfectly heal a severed arm in such a short time.
‘The fact that the Night Hunters are here means there’s a high chance Cheon Do-yoon came with them.’
Seeing as the dungeon clear message hadn’t appeared yet, it seemed Cheon Do-yoon hadn't found the Dragon's Heart either.
But if he continued forward, there was a risk of encountering him.
‘But it’s not like I can turn back.’
He turned his head and looked behind him.
The passage was completely blocked by rocks that had fallen from the collapsed ceiling.
Even if he went looking for another entrance, the risk of running into Cheon Do-yoon would be the same.
‘If I risk running into Cheon Do-yoon no matter what I choose.’
Before Cheon Do-yoon finds the Dragon’s Heart.
I’ll find it first and get the hell out.
“Alright.”
Of course.
He had a plan to at least save his own life in the worst-case scenario of running into Cheon Do-yoon.
‘Still, the best option is to find the Dragon’s Heart before he does.’
Oh-jin’s eyes gleamed as he walked deeper into the cave.
Activating the Stigma of Canes Venatici, he sensed the flow of the ‘Dragon Vein.’
Amidst the raging torrent of mana.
A place where mana had gathered, like a river pooling to form a great lake.
‘There.’
Oh-jin ran toward the place where the mana felt the densest.
He navigated through the maze-like passages.
*Fwoooosh!*
A massive cavern, filled with a blinding light as if the sun had risen in the dark cave, came into view.
A place where the entire space, from the walls to the ceiling hundreds of meters high, was made of blue crystal.
And there—
“Ho ho ho. Well now, it seems an uninvited guest has stumbled in.”
An old man in a black martial arts uniform was smiling unpleasantly.
‘Am I too late?’
The King of Owls, Cheon Do-yoon.
The old man stood leisurely in the center of the cavern with his arms clasped behind his back, as if he were out for a stroll in a nearby park. He stared at Oh-jin with narrowed eyes.
“You’re called Noerang, was it? I’m certain I placed my hunters all around… How did you make it this far?”
“I just killed them all and came.”
I answered with a shrug.
“Ho ho ho! So you did!”
Cheon Do-yoon stroked his beard with one hand and laughed heartily.
At a glance, he looked like a sage who had dedicated his life to spiritual training.
But he couldn't hide the twisted desire and madness in his eyes.
“But it seems your luck has run out at the very end.”
He licked his lips and slowly extended a hand toward Oh-jin.
A terrifying.
A dizzying amount of mana gathered in Cheon Do-yoon’s hand.
“Die, wolf of Vega.”
Leisurely, and calmly.
As if he were a student standing up in class to dispassionately read a passage from a textbook.
He declared Oh-jin’s death as if it were the most ‘natural’ thing in the world.
“The moment you kill me, you won’t be leaving this place alive either.”
“Hm?”
Cheon Do-yoon’s eyebrow twitched upward.
He burst into laughter, as if finding the notion absurd.
“Ho ho ho! You say that as if you have some hidden trick up your sleeve.”
“I do.”
“I understand you want to live, but if you think such a bluff will work on me…”
“The moment you kill me, the information will be sent directly to my darling. This location, and who laid a hand on me—everything.”
“…Your darling?”
Cheon Do-yoon looked at Oh-jin, his expression asking what he was talking about.
Oh-jin looked back at him and chuckled.
“Can’t you guess who? You must have heard of her.”
“…Don’t tell me.”
“The Leech Queen.”
“……!!!”
“I am Isabella Colagrande’s husband.”
Cheon Do-yoon’s leisurely expression contorted in shock.