Chapter 253
Chapter 253
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 253
Chapter Title: Heavenly Curse Dragon (5)
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“You ready, Nunna?”
“Ah, yeah….”
Ha-eun nodded, a thoroughly reluctant expression on her face.
Oh-jin nodded back and took a few steps away.
He lifted a towel to cover his nose and shouted.
“Blow it!”
“Ugh….”
Ha-eun squeezed her eyes shut and threw the Dragon Orb in her hand deep into the manhole.
*Sizzzle!*
The red Dragon Orb melted through the ground, digging deep into the sewer.
The flames condensed within it spread in all directions as if unleashed.
*RUMMMMMBLE!*
The entire surrounding area shook as if an earthquake had struck.
“Wh-What?”
The explosion was far more powerful than she had anticipated.
Ha-eun urgently looked down at the black leather gloves on her hands.
Did the gloves amplify the power?
No, even so, the force was excessive.
“It’s because of the gas.”
“Gas?”
Oh-jin nodded and handed her a handkerchief.
The filth had been accumulating in the sealed sewer for six long years.
The methane gas emanating from it must have filled the entire system.
It was like a natural bomb that had been fermenting for six years.
And into that, Ha-eun had thrown the Dragon Orb, the most powerful technique in her arsenal in terms of sheer force. It was only natural that an earth-shattering explosion would occur.
Of course.
“Ugh!”
“Quick, cover your nose with this.”
The gas that erupted from the ground in the wake of the explosion also carried an apocalyptic stench.
[Ugh. M-My head is spinning.]
Vega wobbled through the air and landed on Oh-jin’s shoulder.
She clutched her nose, crying out in pain from the horrific smell that had spread throughout the street.
“Grrr, gack!”
Still, Vega had it easy.
“H-Hey, brat! D-Do something about this horrible stench, please!”
Lyra, whose sense of smell was dozens of times more sensitive than a human’s, cried out with a face so pale he looked ready to collapse at any moment.
“It’ll fade if you just bear with it for a bit.”
“Gah! How am I supposed to bear this horrific smell?”
“Didn’t you say warriors are all about grit?”
“This is beyond a matter of grit!”
Lyra writhed and groaned in agony.
Though not to the same extent as Lyra.
Isabella, Vega, and Ha-eun also had their noses covered, their brows furrowed as if they could barely stand it.
Oh-jin felt the need to offer them a word of encouragement.
“When it’s so agonizing you can’t stand it, just remember this.”
All eyes focused on him.
“No matter how hard it is for you… remember the fact that there’s one bastard out there having a much shittier time than you right now!”
Oh-jin grinned and looked down.
Only the fermented gas had shot up through the cracked ground.
As for where the remaining ‘solids’ had been dumped…
There was no need to even think about it.
“No matter how hard it is! No matter how painful! If you just imagine that bastard’s suffering, you’ll be able to endure it!”
“Nice words, you crazy bastard.”
Ha-eun let out a disbelieving laugh.
Well, it was a crazy thing to say, but…
“…But thinking about it that way does make it a bit more bearable.”
It wasn't as if seeing someone in boiling water made your own hot bath feel cold, but at least seeing someone else suffer more in the same situation brought a certain psychological satisfaction.
Especially if that someone was an enemy you’d gladly tear to shreds.
Wouldn’t the heat warming your body start to feel rather refreshing?
*Rumble!*
And just as expected.
A loud roar echoed as the ground began to tremble once more.
The explosion from the Dragon Orb wasn't still going.
The reason the ground was shaking now was that something was desperately clawing its way up from below.
“Kuaaaaaaaah!”
*CRASH!*
The ground split open, and a man covered in filth shot out like a mole.
“Wh-What is this! What is this, I say—Ugh!”
The man with dark purple hair thrashed about, desperately trying to shake off the filth clinging to his entire body.
“Hm?”
Oh-jin frowned at the appearance of a man he’d never seen before instead of the Heavenly Curse Dragon.
Just as the worry that Lee Shin-hyeok’s memory might have been wrong began to creep in.
[Worry not. That man is nothing more than a monster wearing a human guise.]
Vega glared at the man with sharp eyes.
[Can you not see the black horn on his forehead, the same one we saw before?]
“Ah, you’re right.”
Just as she said.
A black horn, just like the one in the photo, protruded from the forehead of the man with dark purple hair.
Of course, it was much smaller than when he was in his dragon form.
‘But what’s with that horn?’
Even in Lee Shin-hyeok’s memories, there was no black horn on the Heavenly Curse Dragon’s forehead.
“Gah! Was this your doing?”
Before his thoughts could continue.
The Heavenly Curse Dragon, having roughly shaken off the filth, glared at Oh-jin’s group.
“How were the dumplings?”
“…Dumplings?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Oh-jin chuckled, looking the Heavenly Curse Dragon up and down.
Despite his disgraceful, filth-covered state, he had the appearance of a rather handsome man.
“So you usually walk around in human form? After all that fuss about how pathetic a species we are.”
Oh-jin had never spoken directly to the Heavenly Curse Dragon six years ago.
But he clearly remembered the words he had spouted on broadcasts while massacring humans.
“Who… are you?”
The Heavenly Curse Dragon glared at Oh-jin with his sharp, slanted eyes.
He didn't know who Oh-jin was, but from the circumstances, it was clear as day that he was the culprit who had flooded his lair with filth.
A thick killing intent formed in his vertically slitted, amber eyes.
“How dare you defile the lair of the great Barbatos with filth…!”
“Wow, you refer to yourself in the third person?”
You sound like the prettiest girl in the prefecture.
“Silence!”
*CRASH!*
Barbatos roared, stomping his foot violently.
His mind seemed to have cleared a little, as his gaze shifted to the people around Oh-jin.
“Hm?”
His hostile gaze swept over Vega, Lyra, and Isabella before it stopped on Ha-eun.
“You….”
Barbatos’s eyes narrowed.
Then, the corners of his lips curled into a smirk.
“You’re the fiery wench who attacked me back then.”
His gaze was predatory, like a snake’s tongue.
Ha-eun’s expression hardened.
“Hmm. How did you break the curse of blindness?”
Barbatos tilted his head, slowly looking Ha-eun up and down.
The Dragon’s Curse he had placed on her back then wasn't some flimsy curse that would naturally lift with time.
“I had hoped you would struggle painfully in the darkness, bereft of light, until I came for you again.”
“……”
Barbatos muttered as if disappointed, his lips twisting.
Six years ago.
He recalled the memory of leading his army to invade the human city.
At that time, he had been pushed back by humans who had received Stigmas from the Constellations, suffering a humiliating defeat.
He had fought against dozens, hundreds of humans.
But among them, the memory of that red-haired woman was still vividly etched in his mind, even after six years.
—Die, you lizard bastard!
The woman who had charged at him, unyielding, no matter how many curses he threw at her.
He remembered her eyes, sparkling with a fighting spirit that burned like fire.
He remembered the scorching flames.
“Khuhuhu. Are you afraid of me?”
Barbatos stuck out his long tongue as he looked at the tense Ha-eun.
Her eyes no longer held the same fighting spirit as before.
It was undeniable proof that she felt ‘fear’ toward him.
And he didn't even need to think about where that fear originated from.
“It seems your time without light was quite agonizing.”
“…Shut up.”
Ha-eun glared fiercely at Barbatos.
He wore a human guise, but she could feel it vividly.
The memory of that time.
The nightmare of that day.
The despair of being trapped in pitch-black darkness without a single ray of light.
“Hahaha! Did you come all this way to get your revenge?”
Barbatos burst out laughing as if he had grasped the situation.
An eerie light flashed in his slitted, amber eyes.
“I’ll acknowledge your boldness… but you’ve picked the wrong opponent.”
*Vwoooooom!*
A purple light flickered around his body as dense demonic energy poured out.
“I, Barbatos, shall cast you—once again—into an endless darkness.”
His sinister laughter echoed ominously.
His purple hair fluttered as if caught in a gust of wind.
Oh-jin watched Barbatos, who was fiercely radiating demonic energy, and spoke quietly.
“Hey, your breath stinks of shit.”
“……”
*Twitch.*
A thick vein bulged on Barbatos’s forehead.
He bared his teeth fiercely, glaring at Oh-jin, who showed no sign of fear even when facing a dragon.
“You insolent human…!”
The Heavenly Curse Dragon.
His lofty pride—he who wielded a thousand curses at will and held a high position within the Demon Realm, even earning the ‘King’s’ trust—cracked.
No matter what, the fact that he had been covered in filth and had to flee his lair in a hurry was undeniable.
“Still, thanks for remembering my Nunna.”
Oh-jin grabbed the shoulder of the slightly trembling Ha-eun, pulled her back, and stood in front of her protectively.
“If you had forgotten… it wouldn’t even be revenge.”
His eyes were deep and sunken.
A blue will-o’-the-wisp ignited in his narrowed eyes.
“Hmph. What kind of revenge do you plan to get with a measly three humans, one beast, and one fly?”
[…Did you just call me a fly?]
Vega’s expression twisted fiercely as she asked.
Blue lightning began to crackle around her body.
[How dare a lowly lizard speak to me—!]
“Hold on a sec, Vega.”
Oh-jin stopped Vega, who was about to charge in, and observed Barbatos.
First, he needed to gauge just how powerful Barbatos was.
‘He’s weak in close combat, was it?’
If so, the most efficient strategy would be to lead the fight into close quarters, his weakness.
Among them, the most skilled at close combat were Oh-jin and one other.
A smirk spread across Oh-jin’s lips as he turned his gaze to Lyra.
“One beast, you ready?”
“Aye. I can tear that insolent lizard’s snout off at any moment.”
Lyra transformed into his werewolf form, his eyes glinting ferociously.
“Alright, we go in together on the count of three.”
Oh-jin lowered his stance.
Lyra’s leg muscles bulged, and blue lightning flashed through his silver mane.
“Khuhuhu! Come at me whenever you’re ready!”
Barbatos spread his arms wide with an arrogant smile.
A purple light flared, and clusters of light containing powerful curses began to form around his body.
Oh-jin clenched his fists and shouted.
“Let’s go, Lyra!”
“I’m ready, brat!”
He exchanged a look with Lyra and nodded.
“One!!!”
*BOOM!*
Using Exceed, Oh-jin’s body shot forward like a streak of blue lightning.
*CRACK!*
A fist wreathed in lightning slammed violently into the philtrum of Barbatos, who was in the middle of creating his curses.