Night of the Prophets (6)

…That crazy bastard.

Kim Dokja stared ahead as if she had just witnessed something utterly impossible, her pupils trembling violently, unable to look away.

"Hahahaha! So even a dragon hurts when you jam a blade up its nostril, huh?! Come on, scream louder!"

Kyaaaaaaak!!

Park Jinwoo let out a maniacal laugh, a grin of pure madness splitting his face, and began twisting the sword he had driven into Ignir's nostril in every direction he could manage.

"Uwaaah…!"

"M-my ears…!"

Ignir shrieked in agony. The roar was so deafening that the Prophets surrounding the dragon clapped both hands over their ears, writhing in pain.

Even as it screamed, Ignir glared down at Park Jinwoo.

The Lesser Dragon should have emerged from the Disaster meteor as Ignir's Hatchling. Unfortunately, it had hatched from the meteor earlier than expected, and so it had been born as the full Lesser Dragon Ignir instead.

It had hatched as a Lesser Dragon — a degraded version of Ignir's Hatchling — but it was still a predator. Its purpose was to devour, trample, and toy with the prey (humans) that fled from it.

The world had defined it that way, and its race — the dragons — existed as such beings.

Grrrk…!

But the prey (human) standing before it was different.

It felt no fear at the sight of him. Instead, it glared back with open provocation.

The prey that should have been crushed beneath its feet was crushing it instead.

The creature that should have died being toyed with was toying with it.

Kwoooooooar—!!

Ignir seethed with rage and shame. The predator was being mocked by its prey, and the sheer humiliation of that reality filled it with fury.

It had only just hatched from the meteor (egg), so it was smaller and weaker than a fully grown Lesser Dragon. But it was still a dragon.

Whoosh!

Ignir swung a foreleg at Park Jinwoo.

The massive limb that had been propping up its bulk against the platform floor came whipping toward him at a speed so catastrophic that the Prophets at Anguk Station couldn't even react — aimed solely at Park Jinwoo.

"Lesser, huh? A degraded version, sure — but a dragon's still a dragon, I guess."

Park Jinwoo watched the incoming foreleg with a calm, easy smile.

A single swing was enough to crack the platform floor, and from those cracks spiderweb fractures raced outward in every direction.

He wore that carefree smile, but he was not letting his guard down. He knew better than anyone just how powerful the Lesser Dragon in front of him truly was.

Clink-clink-clink!

The metallic rings of Gleipnir, slung at Park Jinwoo's waist, scraped together and rang out across Anguk Station. The instant that sound reached the air, his body snapped backward at blistering speed, barely slipping past Ignir's foreleg.

"Whew…! Close one~ Were you a little scared, Kid?"

Grrrk…!

Ignir showed not a flicker of panic at the missed attack. If anything, it only glared at Park Jinwoo harder.

Fwoooosh!

"……!?"

For the first time, Park Jinwoo's expression twisted. Flames were surging up from the corners of Ignir's maw.

"A breath attack?!"

It wasn't the dragon's area-of-effect skill, Flames of Destruction. No Hidden Scenario had appeared, and no system message had popped up. That meant this was an ordinary breath.

Once he confirmed that, Park Jinwoo smoothed the grimace from his face and smiled even wider, thinking:

A normal breath only travels in a straight line. Compared to the fan-shaped Flames of Destruction, both its range and destructive power are weaker. Which means… this is my chance.

Click.

"A brat that just crawled out of its egg (meteor) thinks it can spit fire at an adult? You cocky little shit!"

Despite the grin on his lips, Park Jinwoo's eyes were cold and focused as he locked onto Ignir. At the same time, he raised his HK416 and aimed it straight at the dragon's jaws.

The two of them stared each other down, gathering power.

Great flames churned at Ignir's mouth. A freezing chill gathered around Park Jinwoo's rifle.

And then, in that instant, something unexpected happened.

Crackle! Snap-crackle!

Bright yellow sparks burst open in midair. Both Ignir and Park Jinwoo broke off their mutual stare-down and turned toward the source of the sparks.

From the crackling sparks, an Intermediate Dokkaebi in a neat formal suit stepped out into the open.

The Intermediate Dokkaebi's voice rolled through Anguk Station. At the same time, the Lesser Dragon's movements gradually slowed — then locked completely still.

Park Jinwoo looked completely uninterested in anything the Intermediate Dokkaebi had to say. His eyes stayed fixed on the frozen Lesser Dragon in front of him.

Then his expression soured with clear irritation.

The Intermediate Dokkaebi continued, a note of discomfort in its voice.

The Intermediate Dokkaebi's gaze flicked briefly across Park Jinwoo and Kim Dokja.

"But this isn't right! We still haven't even finished the Fourth Main—"

Bang!

"Guh…?!"

One of the Prophets, face drained of color, had been shouting at the Intermediate Dokkaebi in protest — only to take something square and crumple to the ground mid-sentence.

"You're being loud."

The one who had shot the Prophet was Park Jinwoo.

He looked down at the fallen man with an indifferent face.

"W-what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

A Prophet standing near the collapsed man rounded on Park Jinwoo, furious. But Jinwoo, uncharacteristically serious, locked eyes with him and said:

"Shut your mouth, vermin."

"Wh-what…!?"

Park Jinwoo ignored the sputtering, enraged Prophet and looked up at the Intermediate Dokkaebi.

"Hey. You — the Dokkaebi in the suit."

"You know me?"

The Intermediate Dokkaebi looked down at him with open interest.

The Intermediate Dokkaebi extended a hand toward him.

Point.

Park Jinwoo slowly indicated the Lesser Dragon Ignir.

"I'd like you to unfreeze that thing."

The Intermediate Dokkaebi's face said it was fairly certain it had misheard.

"Yeah."

The Intermediate Dokkaebi regarded Park Jinwoo with renewed interest. At that, the Prophets who had been listening went pale and started shouting at him.

"H-hey! What the hell are you spouting right now?!"

"He's right! Just shut up and stay quiet!"

"Are you trying to get us all killed?! Somebody gag that crazy bastard!"

"The outfield's getting noisy."

Click.

Without a second of hesitation, Park Jinwoo opened fire on the vermin who only knew how to scream from the sidelines.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Kyaaaaah!"

"Uwaaaagh!"

"Guh…!?"

In the blink of an eye, small wind-holes punched through the bodies of no fewer than seven Prophets. They toppled slowly backward, and the mouths of every other Prophet who had been about to protest snapped shut on their own.

A deep silence settled over Anguk Station. Park Jinwoo nodded into it and said:

"Now we can actually have a conversation. May I continue?"

Pleased by Park Jinwoo's manners, the Intermediate Dokkaebi nodded with a satisfied smile.

"I'll be honest. Getting interrupted mid-fight with that thing has put me in a pretty foul mood."

Indeed, his face was twisted with unmistakable displeasure.

"But like you said, that thing was never supposed to show up while the Fourth Main Scenario is still running. So."

"Either send everyone behind me — my party and those vermin — outside this barrier, or at least give them some space to dodge Ignir's attacks, or a related Hidden Piece. How about it?"

"Jinwoo! What on earth are you—!"

Jung Heewon cried out in shock. The Intermediate Dokkaebi stroked its chin with one hand, considering.

The Intermediate Dokkaebi nodded.

Snap!

With the Intermediate Dokkaebi's finger-snap, a system message appeared before their eyes. Immediately after, a Hidden Scenario was generated.

Ding!

While everyone at Anguk Station was reading the Hidden Scenario that had appeared before them, the Intermediate Dokkaebi spoke again.

"Hm?"

Hearing his name, Park Jinwoo pulled his eyes off the Hidden Scenario and looked up at the Intermediate Dokkaebi.

The Dokkaebi casually pushed up its glasses.

This development… don't tell me…?

Park Jinwoo shot the Intermediate Dokkaebi a look of mild irritation — and his suspicion immediately became reality.

Snap!

The Intermediate Dokkaebi smirked and snapped its fingers.

……At least it's only entry into the room that's blocked. I can still store and retrieve items, right?

Park Jinwoo decided to count it as a silver lining.

His companions, however, did not share that view. They glared at the Intermediate Dokkaebi with open fury.

"Is this guy insane…? No, does this even make sense? Jinwoo's the one getting the penalty…?"

"Jinwoo…."

Kim Dokja glanced at the enraged Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung, then thought:

It's true that Jinwoo's My Room would be ridiculously broken in this Hidden Scenario. But still — slapping a penalty on the Incarnation who's supposed to face a Sub-Disaster….

She looked at Park Jinwoo with worried eyes. In that moment, a group chat message from him arrived for the party.

Ding!

Faced with Park Jinwoo's hard facts, Jung Heewon had nothing to say.

At his message, the party all turned their eyes toward Ignir.

Grrrrr…….

Having said its piece, the Intermediate Dokkaebi melted away into thin air. Ignir watched the empty space where it had vanished for a moment, then turned its gaze back to Park Jinwoo and locked on.

Ignir glared at Park Jinwoo and began gathering searing red flames at the corners of its mouth. Watching that, Jinwoo glanced back just long enough to confirm his party's position — then sprinted in the opposite direction.

"Just like Jinwoo said — survival is all that matters right now! Everyone, run clockwise!"

As Park Jinwoo tore off the other way for their sake, Kim Dokja clenched her teeth, a pained expression crossing her face.

Then she steeled herself, issued orders to the party, and took the lead at a run. Everyone near her fell in behind without hesitation.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA——!!

At last, a massive torrent of flame erupted from Ignir's jaws.

"…………."

"Sh-shit…! That bastard's coming this way!"

"Stop talking and run, you idiot!"

Park Jinwoo said nothing as he sprinted ahead of Ignir's cascading breath. The Prophets unlucky enough to be standing in the direction he was running went white with terror, screaming as they fled the opposite way.

Shiiing.

Jinwoo regarded those Prophets with a blank expression, drew Barisada, and charged straight at them.

Slash!

"Gyaaaaah!"

"One."

Slash!

"Guh…!"

"Two."

Park Jinwoo's blade carved deep into legs and backs. The Prophets' bodies parted as easily as soft tofu under his cuts.

Thud-crash!

"Urgh…. M-my legs…!"

"Hah… hah…!"

The two Prophets tumbled across the floor in a noisy heap.

Their legs and backs had been slashed open, but they were not dead — Park Jinwoo had deliberately left them alive. And for the Prophets he had cut, that turned out to be the worst possible outcome.

"Gyaaaaaaah!"

"Hwaaaaah! P-please, save me…!!"

Ignir's flames crept toward them. Slowly swallowed by the fire, the two Prophets screamed in overwhelming terror — and vanished without so much as ash left behind.

Even a normal breath packs ridiculous destructive power.

Park Jinwoo watched the Prophets get engulfed and incinerated with complete indifference, thinking:

With my fire resistance and a Stamina stat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of 40, I won't burn to death in one hit the way those two did — but if that fire touches me, I'm still taking serious burns.

Kwooooooooar—!

Having incinerated the two Prophets in an instant, Ignir roared. It locked eyes with Park Jinwoo and slowly put power into its legs.

Then it charged.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK! BOOOOM!

As Ignir barreled toward him, the platform floor in its wake was pulverized under the sheer bulk and overwhelming force of its body.

"Guh…!?"

"G-get out of the way!!"

Chunks of the platform shattered in every direction. Debris and dust exploded into the air and scattered outward.

A few Prophets were unfortunate enough to fail to dodge the flying rubble and take serious hits — but that was none of Park Jinwoo's or Ignir's concern.

"Ha…! The way you run, you look just like a Komodo dragon! Fine then — come at me!!"

Park Jinwoo grinned with mad delight at the sight of Ignir charging him in a straight line, and charged right back.

Dragon and human, hurtling mindlessly toward each other. The distance between ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them shrank by the second, but neither lost track of the other's movements for even a moment.

At the end of that brutal headlong rush, Park Jinwoo smiled, clenched his right fist tight, and swung it at Ignir's head. The dragon, refusing to yield an inch, drove its skull straight into the incoming punch.

BOOOOM——!!

Fist and dragon skull collided with a thunderous detonation.

CRASH—!

The tempered glass of a nearby screen door spiderwebbed with cracks, and the electronic display boards hanging from Anguk Station's ceiling shattered into pieces.

"Hahaha—! You really are a thick-skulled bastard, aren't you!? What a real man! I like you!"

Grrrk…!

Park Jinwoo raised his right hand — the skin torn open and dripping blood from a single punch — and grinned.

Ignir wasn't unscathed either. Cracks spidered out through the scales where Jinwoo's fist had landed.

But the dragon treated a wound of that level as nothing worth noting, and simply glared at him.

"………!?"

The system message appeared right in front of his nose — and with it, flames of an entirely different caliber from the ones that had been flickering at Ignir's jaws a moment ago. Park Jinwoo's face went taut with alarm.

"So it's finally starting?!"

Along with the system message announcing that Ignir was preparing Flames of Destruction, the messages for the Hidden Piece concealed within the Hidden Scenario appeared — and from every corner of Anguk Station, the screams of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people rang out.