The God of Controls' One-Coin Clear
The Endless Express (10)
“If everyone’s here, let’s move right away.”
“Agreed. The less time we leave the train empty, the better.”
The ‘Untara Subjugation Force,’ made up of two of the highest-ranking Guardian officers, three of the highest-ranking Engineer officers, and three players, stepped out of the train.
The journey was far more comfortable than Taeyang had expected.
He had assumed they would ride out in trucks or use the air-ejection devices provided by the Vanguard Defense Battalion to fly.
But this?
The movement was handled simply by Benjamin Acraptor’s spatial teleportation.
And not just anywhere—directly next to Untara’s lair.
Taeyang popped a cold-resistance pill from his medicine bottle and chewed it.
For this operation, each person had been issued one full bottle of cold-resistance pills.
He’d heard it was enough to last at least a month—prepared in case Benjamin couldn’t use spatial teleportation.
If Benjamin became combat-incapacitated, they’d have to run the rest of the way.
I’ll mark the train’s location on the map as we go.
He briefly considered taking an air-ejection device but ultimately decided against it.
It would be too cumbersome in combat.
Besides, if things got really bad, he had Ran.
Ran whispered quietly to Taeyang.
“This hunt is going to be complicated.”
“Complicated?”
“Yeah. Just keep that in mind. It’s hard to explain. My gut doesn’t feel bad, but it’s going to be messy. I don’t really get it either. The wind feels… really torn.”
“What the hell does that even…”
Taeyang didn’t understand the meaning, but he nodded anyway.
Ran’s wind readings were often vague, but their accuracy was still pretty high.
Well, if she said the hunt would go well, that was good enough.
The large woman in a purple uniform—the Repair Chief—checked the radar in her hand and reported periodically.
“The target still hasn’t moved.”
Salomon, who was puffing away on a cigarette even in this brutal cold, muttered.
“You’re sure, right? We already missed it once before. I’m still uneasy about that.”
“Positive. Last time there was no mana signature at all, but this time it’s crystal clear.”
“Then we should make contact in about twenty minutes.”
Estimated contact time: twenty minutes.
It sounded long, but it was really just the distance of crossing one mountain ridge on foot.
In other words, the White Dragon Untara’s lair was right on the other side of the mountain.
That was when Paka growled.
“Something’s coming.”
At the same time, Guhyul gripped the hilt of his sword.
“Everyone, prepare for battle.”
Ran unfurled her fan, and Salomon took a deep drag from his cigarette.
Paka and Taeyang lowered their stances. The Repair Chief readied her bazooka. Benjamin and the Battalion Commander activated magic circles and drew their blades.
The Repair Chief shouted.
“It’s here! It’s coming this way!”
“You said the signature hadn’t changed!”
“I’m sorry!”
Whoooosh.
An artistically elegant neckline. Scales that gleamed with a freezing white light.
It was him.
Kraaaaaaaaah!
Had he been waiting for them?
The moment the fight began, the dragon unleashed its breath.
Fwooooooooosh!
Guhyul charged straight into the breath.
Heavenly Mid-Draw.
Not the one he had given Taeyang—this was another Light Saber. It drank in mana and radiated photons.
Srrrng.
Every time the breath touched the blade, it lost form and scattered into the air.
Taeyang watched the Light Saber – Type B and muttered.
“If I had enough mana, could I do that too?”
“Who knows. It might just be the Commander’s swordsmanship that’s incredible. Try it yourself sometime.”
Tap.
Guhyul, having sliced apart the breath, landed on the ground.
“Stick to the plan!”
The plan.
Long-range dealers would focus entirely on damage. Guhyul would intercept all long-range attacks, including the breath.
Close-range dealers would wait for an opening and strike once the dragon came down to the ground.
In the event other monsters appeared, the close-range dealers would handle them.
They had drawn up quite a detailed plan considering various situations and variables, but that was the core of it.
Huuu.
Salomon exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke.
The smoke formed the shape of a massive magic circle.
Call: Lightning
Kwaaaaang!
A streak of lightning raced across Untara’s scales.
“You’re going easy on it, son.”
Benjamin held out his palm.
Above it, an identical magic circle glowed.
Call: Lightning — Multi-Shot
Crackle-crackle-crack!
Five or six bolts of lightning slammed into Untara’s scales at once.
The dragon, which hadn’t even flinched at Salomon’s magic, let out a furious roar.
Kraaaaaaaaah!
Salomon frowned.
“I didn’t live as long as you, Father. If I use it that recklessly, my heart will dry up. Or I’ll get lung cancer. Do you want to watch your son die?”
“Tsk. Always with the excuses.”
“I’m going in too!”
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
The Repair Chief’s bazooka spat fire.
“Oh.”
Taeyang let out a sound of admiration.
Because soot had appeared on Untara’s previously flawless, sparkling white scales.
He wasn’t sure whether it was because the Acraptor father-son duo’s lightning had lowered its physical resistance, or if the Repair Chief’s bazooka was just stupidly powerful.
Taeyang, this isn’t the time to be watching that.
“Huh?”
Kiiiiiiieeeeeeek!
Kwoooooooooh!
Before they knew it, white wyrms had appeared and surrounded them.
They seemed to have been drawn by Untara’s roar.
Wave Wind.
Whoooosh.
Ran used wind magic to shove away a White Wyvern diving at them.
Taeyang clicked his tongue.
“Damn, I wanted to save the main course for later.”
Unfortunately, the response to this kind of situation had already been decided.
When non-Untara dragon-types appeared, the three players and the Battalion Commander were to handle them.
Ran would use wind magic to aggressively seize air superiority and push back aerial approaches, while the three close-range dealers—who had limited opportunities to deal damage—would break formation to deal with the remaining monsters.
That would leave the main force with only the three long-range dealers and the Commander, but their plan was to maintain formation even at minimal strength while engaging Untara.
Kwoooooooooh!
A White Drake the size of a house charged forward.
The Battalion Commander shouted.
“Form up and take them down one by one, make it clean—”
“I’ll take it.”
Thud.
Paka ignored the Commander and shot forward first.
“Seriously, talking like he’s gonna do everything himself. There’s a mountain of monsters left behind us.”
Taeyang snorted and leaped out next.
The Battalion Commander shook his head as he watched them go.
“If they were my soldiers, I’d have beaten them half to death by now.”
“You should consider yourself lucky. If those two were soldiers, would the unit even still exist?”
Ran swung her fan and soared into the air.
“…This won’t be easy.”
Thud.
The Battalion Commander drew his sword and belatedly charged after them.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the main force fighting Untara.
Kraaaaaaaaah!
Untara’s massive foreleg came crashing down toward Salomon’s head.
“Dodge!”
Benjamin swung his arm.
Whoosh.
A wall of mana shoved Salomon’s body aside.
Kwaaaaang!
The spot where Salomon had been standing was gouged out as if a meteor had struck it.
Salomon spat on the ground.
“Fucking fast. Seriously.”
The White Dragon was already flying back into the air.
In the early stages of the fight, the dense trees had provided some interference, but the current battlefield had become practically a clearing.
Whoosh.
Guhyul leaped skyward like he was flying and swung his sword.
The Light Saber wasn’t lit.
He had already used it twice, and his stamina could no longer support another activation.
Thwack!
The blade sank into the scales.
Untara shook its wing in annoyance, flinging Guhyul away.
Guhyul gritted his teeth.
“Time really is cruel.”
If he were just three years younger, he could have torn the scales off with raw strength.
Or at least wedged his blade between them and held on.
But time had stolen his muscle and cartilage.
The Guhyul who once shattered enemy blades with destructive swordsmanship had become a swordsman who relied on mana and technique.
“You’re sounding weak, Guhyul.”
Benjamin clicked his tongue.
“You’re no different.”
“What are you talking about? I’m still spry.”
“With those matchstick legs?”
Benjamin had once been revered as the very model of a battle mage.
Even he had grown old; without magical assistance, he could no longer dodge Untara’s attacks.
Sizzle.
Salomon lit another cigarette and shouted.
“Enough pointless chatter! Focus on the fight!”
“You idiot. You smoke that much and you still can’t even dodge a lizard’s front leg properly. When your father was young…”
“I could dodge! You pushed me out of the way first!”
Salomon held the smoke in his mouth and formed hand seals.
Smoke Pistol
Thud.
The smoke became bullets and shot into Untara’s scales.
Kraaaaaaaaah!
Having felt the sting once, Untara now dodged the remaining smoke bullets with graceful aerial maneuvers.
Salomon felt genuinely wronged at how such a massive body could move with such agility.
“Goddamn it. My mana’s almost gone.”
Still, damage was clearly accumulating on Untara.
More than half of the once-flawless, pure-white scales were cracked or shattered. On its back, where Guhyul had landed blows with the activated Light Saber, bright red blood flowed freely.
The White Dragon soaring through the sky climbed higher, then folded its wings.
Guhyul shouted.
“It’s coming again!”
“Repair Chief! Are the bombs loaded yet?!”
“They’re ready!”
“Prepare to move!”
Untara, having minimized air resistance, plummeted at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.
Guhyul, who had predicted its trajectory, launched himself forward.
“It’s to the left!”
Salomon threw himself toward the right side of the clearing.
Benjamin used short-range spatial teleportation to escape, and Guhyul had already moved aside long ago.
The three who had repositioned prepared their strongest attacks at once.
No matter how tough the dragon’s body was, after a dive like that it couldn’t maneuver properly for about thirty seconds.
This was the moment to inflict maximum damage.
“Repair Chief!”
Click. Click.
The Repair Chief, who hadn’t been able to escape to the left side of the clearing, grimaced.
The air-ejection device on her back was spewing black smoke.
“Of all times…”
She had overused it. The engine had died.
Unable to flee, the Repair Chief gritted her teeth and raised her weapon toward the White Dragon.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
A massive explosion rang out, and a cloud of dust billowed up.
Guhyul charged into the dust cloud.
Crunch.
The veins on the back of Guhyul’s hand, now gripping the sheathed sword, stood out blue.
“Body, hold on for me.”
Guhyul’s eyes burned with determination.
The last of his remaining mana flowed into the Light Saber.
Vrrrrrm.
The blade of the Light Saber transformed into a pure, snow-white light.
“I won’t let your life go to waste.”
Whoosh.
As he broke through the fog, he saw the White Dragon chewing on the Repair Chief from the upper body down.
Its maw was scorched bright red from taking the bazooka round head-on.
Heavenly Mid-Draw.
Thud.
Guhyul swung his sword at the White Dragon’s neck.
Thuuuuuud.
Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
* * *
Taeyang tossed a cold-resistance pill into his mouth.
“Ugh. Ew, it’s bitter. Is this the last one?”
The last remaining White Drake lifted its head and roared.
Kwooooooooooh!
Paka answered.
“Doesn’t look like there are any more.”
“What about the wyverns?”
Ran answered while swinging her fan.
“That was the last one!”
The Battalion Commander flicked the blood off his blade and said,
“I’ll finish that one. You three go help the Commander first.”
“Oh? Since when are you so altruistic and reasonable?”
“You were going to go first anyway.”
Taeyang chuckled.
“You know us well.”
Paka had already launched himself forward.
He hadn’t said it out loud, but it seemed Paka also wanted to experience firsthand just how powerful a dragon—the apex of all monsters—really was.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
By the time Paka and Taeyang arrived at the battlefield, a massive dust cloud already covered the entire area.
Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
“Cough!”
Soon after, the Commander—Guhyul—came flying out of the dust cloud covered in blood.
The Repair Chief was nowhere to be seen. Salomon Acraptor was also covered in injuries all over his body.
Benjamin Acraptor had no visible wounds, but his face was deathly pale.
“No, it’s actually good.”
Taeyang judged the situation coldly.
Benjamin Acraptor had already memorized a return spell in advance.
The same kind of teleportation magic that had brought them here in one go.
Despite having that option, Benjamin hadn’t returned.
That meant he judged they could still win.
This is actually my chance to land the final blow.
The dust cloud soon cleared, and Taeyang clenched his fist tightly.
Just as he expected.
Untara’s right wing had been completely torn off.
On top of that, it was drenched in blood. The once-pure white scales were so stained they no longer looked holy.
The situation isn’t bad! But just in case, watch out for the breath!
Hyeonhye shouted.
Stormbringer: Storm Summon
The Wind Spirit Lord Arasil descends upon player Yoon Taeyang’s body. (Duration: 60 seconds)
Whooooooosh!
The storm descended upon Taeyang’s body.
“Kwaaaaaaaaah!”
Paka charged toward Untara.
“Not so fast!”
Taeyang chased after him.
Speed was everything now.
The Dragon Slayer achievement was only granted to the single player who took the monster’s life.
“…Perfect timing.”
Salomon Acraptor, watching the scene, pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
His fingertips trembled from mana exhaustion.
The two players looked completely fresh, probably because they had conserved strength while dealing with the wyrms.
“Damn white lizard. This time we can actually kill it.”
“…They’re more capable than I thought. Those ‘rats.’”
“I’ll take one drag and go help. Shhhhp. Ah, I feel alive again.”
The secret art passed down in the Acraptor family—Smoke Magic—was a special type of magic that created mana from smoke and caused miracles.
Smoking was their method of mana recovery.
Salomon blew smoke toward his father Benjamin.
“Father, you should rest.”
“Tsk. Treating your own father like some old man in the back room.”
“That’s not it. You were tired today, weren’t you? I’m just being considerate so you can rest a little.”
Benjamin reached out to his son Salomon.
“Give me one.”
“Weren’t you trying to quit? You don’t have to push yourself. If you smoke any more you’ll get lung cancer…”
“Shut up and give it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sizzle.
Salomon placed a cigarette in his father’s mouth and lit it.
“Shhhhp. Haaa.”
Smoke flowed from Benjamin’s mouth.
“It’s warm.”
At that moment, the Commander—Guhyul—twitched beside them.
“Cough.”
After checking Guhyul’s condition, Benjamin exhaled a cloud of smoke.
The commander’s entire upper body was covered in burns.
“As I’ve grown old, it seems I’ve developed useless greed. I didn’t have any other intentions toward you.”
“Father?”
Call: Lightning
Kwaaaaang!
Lightning struck Guhyul’s body like a whip.
Salomon screamed in panic.
“Father! What the hell are you doing?!”
Huuu.
The smoke Benjamin exhaled formed the shape of a massive magic circle.
Benjamin looked at his son Salomon.
“Let’s go back, Salomon.”