Chapter 252
Chapter 252
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 252
Chapter Title: Heavenly Dragon (4)
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“Ta-da! It’s finished!”
A week later.
Ha-eun and Oh-jin, summoned by a call from Kim Si-hoo, were presented with a luxurious silver case.
Ha-eun gulped and carefully opened the case.
Inside was a pair of simply designed black leather gloves.
Near the knuckles, small, fingernail-sized red Sacred Stones were embedded like studs.
*Fwoosh!*
As Ha-eun, now wearing the gloves, lightly channeled her mana, the red Sacred Stones embedded in them began to hum and vibrate as if resonating with each other, growing intensely hot.
“Whoa.”
An exclamation of awe escaped her lips.
She could clearly feel that the heat was much stronger than when she usually created flames with her bare hands.
“So this is the relic… you got by selling your body, Oh-jinnie.”
“That’s a very unpleasant way to put it.”
Oh-jin, standing behind her and watching, frowned.
Seeing Ha-eun's amazed reaction, Kim Si-hoo grinned in satisfaction.
“I took your specific traits into account and made a relic that only amplifies the ‘Yang’ energy within your Stigma's mana! The effect would be drastically reduced for anyone else, but for you, a Draco Awakened, there’s no better relic!”
“You made this in just a week?”
“The crafting process itself isn't that difficult. Relics with mana amplification effects are expensive simply because the amount of Sacred Stones required is absurd.”
Even so, to be able to create a relic of this caliber in the short span of a week was surely a testament to Kim Si-hoo’s genius.
“Thank you. I’ll put it to good use.”
“Just don’t break it whenever you get bored and come back like a certain someone. If this thing breaks, the repair costs alone will be in the billions, for real.”
“I’ll put it in a display case and never touch it!”
*What’s the point of spending 30 billion on a relic then?*
“Well, come see me again if you need anything! Ah, you can come even if you don’t!”
“Hehe. I’ll treat you to something delicious next time.”
“Okay!”
Ha-eun patted Kim Si-hoo on the head, as if proud of him.
Kim Si-hoo smiled bashfully, looking pleased.
“Alright, I’m heading out~!”
Leaving the workshop behind, Oh-jin and Ha-eun headed straight home.
A week had passed while they waited for the relic to be completed, so there was no more time to waste.
*Thud-thud-thud-thud!*
On the helipad built on the apartment roof, a helicopter prepared by the Colagrande family was already waiting.
“Did you receive the relic?”
Isabella, dressed in practical clothes easy to move in rather than her usual dresses, approached Oh-jin and Ha-eun.
“Yup. I tested it out, and the performance is killer.”
Ha-eun grinned and held up the black leather gloves on her hands.
“That’s a relief. Oh, right. Please take one of these, everyone.”
Isabella held out palm-sized lucky pouches to Ha-eun and Oh-jin.
Looking inside the pouches, they saw several overlapping talismans inscribed with complex patterns.
“Is this the relic that’s effective against curses?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
They hadn't just been idly waiting for Ha-eun's equipment to be finished over the past week.
The Heavenly Dragon’s greatest weapon was its curses.
To obtain relics effective against curses, Isabella had been busy traveling all over the world.
“I’ve prepared some for Riak and Lady Vega as well.”
“Give them to them when they arrive later.”
He planned to summon Vega and Riak once they were near the lair to minimize the restrictions of the Law.
Oh-jin tucked the lucky pouch inside his clothes and looked at Isabella.
“Thanks for handling such an unreasonable request.”
From Ha-eun's equipment to the talismans said to be effective against curses.
Though she didn't say it, an astronomical amount of money must have been spent.
No matter how wealthy the Colagrande family was, tens of billions was not an amount that could be spent lightly.
“Hehe. For you, Oh-jin, I’d be willing to spend even more.”
Isabella smiled sweetly, acting as if it were nothing.
*Rich, kind, a good cook, and even devoted.*
‘Did I destroy the world in a past life or something?’
Oh-jin let out a wry laugh at Isabella's overwhelming kindness.
“If we manage to kill the Heavenly Dragon this time, I’ll leave the Sacred Stone and the carcass to the Colagrande family.”
For a monster of the Heavenly Dragon's caliber, selling off its Sacred Stone and carcass would easily net a profit of at least ten billion.
Of course, even that combined wouldn't amount to half of what Isabella had spent.
*Still, he couldn't just keep receiving things from her.*
“Hmm. I’d rather have a date with you, Oh-jin.”
Isabella smiled alluringly, her light pink tongue darting out to lick her lips.
Her expression was like someone who had a delicious feast set before them.
“Well, about that…”
Oh-jin swallowed a groan and avoided her gaze.
“Stop flirting right next to his girlfriend.”
Ha-eun, who had been smoking a cigarette with a sullen expression, started walking toward the helicopter.
“It’s about time we get going.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
Oh-jin, Ha-eun, and Isabella boarded the helicopter.
“Alright, then.”
Ha-eun, after stubbing out her cigarette in a portable ashtray, pointed a hand forcefully to the north.
“Let’s go!”
To the Northlands!
* * *
“Drop us off around here.”
The place they arrived at by helicopter was Pyongyang.
The city where the Heavenly Dragon, Barbatos, had been sighted.
“Ugh… No matter how many times I see this place, I can’t get used to it.”
Stepping out of the helicopter, Ha-eun clicked her tongue as she gazed at the ruined cityscape.
Pyongyang, once the capital of North Korea, had been destroyed six years ago by the Heavenly Dragon and its horde of monsters. It had since become a ghost town where not a single person lived.
If it hadn't been for the sacrifices of Ha-eun and many other Awakened back then, Seoul would likely be in a similar state right now.
“Vega.”
Having arrived at their destination, Oh-jin channeled mana into the pendant around his neck and called for Vega.
The silver pendant glowed, and Vega and Riak were summoned.
[Is this the location of that Heavenly Dragon monster’s nest?]
“Yeah.”
“Grrr. I don’t smell anything yet… Where is this nest supposed to be?”
Riak sniffed the air and looked around.
On the streets filled only with dilapidated buildings riddled with holes, there was no obvious place for a dragon to hide.
“Down here.”
Oh-jin pointed to the concrete ground, which was cracked all over as if it had been shelled.
“Underground… The subway?”
“That’s right.”
According to Lee Shin-hyeok's memories, the Heavenly Dragon's lair was located in the subway system deep beneath Pyongyang.
“The Pyongyang subway was built to a depth of 100 meters so it could be used as a bomb shelter during wartime.”
It was large enough to hide its massive body, and since it was designed as a bomb shelter, it was built to be extremely sturdy.
It would be hard to find a more optimal location for a lair.
“It’s a good spot for a lair… but it’s so obvious. How did the Valhalla Guild not find it?”
The Valhalla Guild, which had been searching for the lair's location to subjugate the Heavenly Dragon, couldn't possibly have overlooked the subway.
Given the tendency of draconic monsters to build nests in caves or steep canyons, the subway system would have been the first place to suspect.
“They might have thought of the subway, but it would have been difficult to pinpoint the exact station.”
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and continued.
“Because the Heavenly Dragon's lair is in an ‘unlisted station’.”
Due to its long history of dictatorship, North Korea had stations that were completely inaccessible to the general public.
The place the Heavenly Dragon settled in was one of those secretly hidden stations, one that didn't even have a name.
It's not like the Valhalla Guild members used to work for the National Intelligence Service; finding a station that didn't even appear on the official map would have been extremely difficult.
‘Even Lee Shin-hyeok only managed to find it after personally exploring every single railway line.’
The Heavenly Dragon's lair was located in a place that was simply inaccessible through normal means.
“So, should we head down into the station first?”
“No.”
Oh-jin slowly shook his head.
“There’s no reason to fight it on its home turf.”
As its name implied, the Heavenly Dragon was a beast that wielded nearly a thousand curses.
Its lair is probably saturated with an enormous amount of those curses.
Looking back at Lee Shin-hyeok's memories, he knew that penetrating the Heavenly Dragon's lair had been an immense struggle.
“Luring the enemy to a battlefield of your own choosing, is it… Indeed, a fine idea for a youngster.”
[But how do you intend to draw the Heavenly Dragon out?]
Vega fluttered through the air and settled on Oh-jin's head as she asked.
It wouldn't be easy to drag out a beast that was hiding itself away deep underground in what was essentially a bomb shelter.
“That’s…”
“Ah! I know!”
Before Oh-jin could answer, Ha-eun clapped her hands and grinned.
“Can’t I just set the whole place on fire?”
*When trying to draw out an enemy holed up in a castle, there’s nothing better than a fire attack.*
“That won’t be enough.”
“Not enough?”
“Fire, by its nature, tends to travel up rather than down.”
It wasn't a suitable method for forcing out a creature nestled deep underground.
“Then what if I go down there myself and set it on fire…”
“The moment you step down into the station, the Heavenly Dragon will detect you.”
This wasn't a monster that moved on primal instinct alone.
As a monster that had been given a ‘name’, the Heavenly Dragon possessed intelligence equal to, or even greater than, a human's.
If it made its lair underground, it would have surely prepared for such a possibility.
“Then what’s the plan?”
“If fire won’t work, we’ll use water.”
“Water?”
Ha-eun tilted her head.
“There are sewers running under here, not just the subway.”
To find the Heavenly Dragon’s lair, Lee Shin-hyeok had thoroughly investigated the entirety of Pyongyang.
And those memories had been completely transferred into Oh-jin’s mind through ‘Déjà Vu’.
Right now, Oh-jin knew not only the structure of the Pyongyang subway but also the exact layout and flow of the sewer system.
“If we burst the sewers and flood the entire subway system with water, it’ll have no choice but to come out.”
“…Is that even possible?”
Ha-eun asked, narrowing her eyes.
Certainly, the plan to burst the sewers and submerge the lair seemed nonsensical from a practical standpoint.
“Hmm. I’m a bit skeptical as well.”
Isabella also frowned and shook her head.
“Even if we burst the sewers, we won't be able to submerge the entire station.”
At most, the water would probably rise to ankle-deep.
Flooding the entire subway system would be impossible unless it rained enough to make a river overflow.
“Huh? I never said anything about submerging the station.”
“Pardon?”
“I told you. We just need to make the water ‘flow’ toward the lair.”
“But then… would there be any reason for it to come out?”
Isabella tilted her head in confusion.
If the water wasn't pouring in enough to submerge its lair, there was no reason for the Heavenly Dragon to rush outside.
While ankle-deep water might be inconvenient for a person, for a creature the size of a dragon, it would be no more than a puddle spilled on the floor.
“No, it’ll come out.”
Oh-jin said with a confident voice, a smirk playing on his lips.
If the Heavenly Dragon possesses human-like ‘intelligence’.
It won’t be able to stand staying inside its lair.
“How long do you think the sewage treatment facilities here have been out of commission?”
“What?”
“The Heavenly Dragon destroyed this city… let’s see, about six years ago.”
What's currently stagnant in the sewers isn't just ‘water’.
“It’s water mixed with filth that’s been sitting there for six years.”
“……”
Ha-eun and Isabella’s expressions stiffened.
“So you’re saying…”
Ha-eun put a hand to her forehead, looking dumbfounded.
“You want to pour six-year-old shit-water into that bastard’s lair?”