No Way, That Guy?
That instant, the three of them simultaneously doubted their own ears. No, this wasn't the kind of voice that reached them through their ears—it felt like words were speaking directly into their minds. It was telepathy magic, common in the era of magic, but they had no way of knowing that.
'A monster talking?'
Professor Park Cheol-gyu scowled deeply at this phenomenon he'd never encountered in his long career as a hunter. At a glance, the dragon's eyes held not a monster's madness, but the profound sagacity found only in the truly wise.
He glanced back and forth between me and Kang Mir, let out a light sigh, and stepped forward. No matter how cynical he was about everything, he couldn't just stand there arms crossed in a place like this.
"What does it mean that the worlds are connected?"
At his words, the dragon's massive head lowered until it nearly touched the ground. Its enormous eyes fixed on Professor Park Cheol-gyu.
It's exactly as it sounds. Human hero. If the world hasn't met its end, it's only natural for them to connect.
"If that's the case, our world hasn't ended yet."
Professor Park Cheol-gyu shot back in his signature gruff tone at the dragon's words, which carried a strangely poignant air.
Is that so?
With that, the dragon closed its eyes and fell silent. Professor Park Cheol-gyu shrugged at Kang Mir, who was looking to him for what to do. There was no way he could attack it, and the atmosphere just didn't feel right.
And I had no chance to open my mouth, too busy trying to calm the Dragon Heart that was pounding like mad.
I sense traces of the world I dwelled in from you all. It must be because your world is connected through this place where time has been artificially frozen.
"···"
"···"
"···"
The dragon's words left the three of us speechless for a moment. Our minds raced furiously to grasp the bombshell he'd dropped, but we weren't ready to respond just yet.
At least for me, it meshed with thoughts I'd been mulling over ever since my talk with Professor Kim Tae-min, letting me seize a thread of understanding.
If the world the dragon came from was the original home of whoever these skills we possess belonged to...
For some reason, after that world was destroyed, some process linked it to our world through these dungeons.
And he called this dungeon a place where time had stopped. Maybe a fragment of that already perished world had been forcibly sealed inside this dungeon's boundaries?
"How did the world you dwelled in meet its end?"
While the other two were deep in thought, I stepped forward and directed my question at the dragon.
Whoosh~
As the dragon turned its head toward me, a blast of hot breath rushed right at me.
You seem qualified to hear the answer to that.
At that moment, the dragon's eyes glowed golden.
'Huh?'
And from it extended dragon mana that softly enveloped my body.
Do not resist. Accept it. I wish to show you the cause directly.
I suppressed my instinct to repel the mana and accepted the dragon's power willingly.
That instant.
A world utterly different from the present unfolded before my eyes.
Looking around, Professor Park Cheol-gyu and Kang Mir, who had stood beside me moments ago, were nowhere to be seen. This wasn't even the dungeon's interior.
"Where is this?"
"The Intermediate Realm. The world I protected as its guardian for thousands of years."
I cocked my head at the black-haired beauty who appeared abruptly beside me.
"No way, you?"
"Indeed. I am Brunhilde, the Dragon Lord once called the Demon Dragon."
"···"
His features were vividly drawn, eyes gleaming like obsidian, skin softer and more delicate than any woman's. The figure before me was the most beautiful, most captivating being in existence.
Brunhilde smirked as I stared blankly, entranced by his form.
"The appearance is mere illusion, after all. What you must see is over there."
"Huh?"
I turned absently in the direction he indicated and gaped at the sight of the blue sky splitting vertically.
That colossal rift looked anything but ordinary.
Rumble!!
Tremendous winds howled, and darkness slowly engulfed the surroundings.
"Kekekekekeke!!"
"Kahahahaha!"
"Kihehehek! Kihek!"
Bizarre shrieks that instinctively made one clap hands over their ears echoed as gigantic demons poured from the fissure.
Flutter~! Whoosh!
I whipped my head around at the fierce gale from behind and looked skyward.
"Kraaaaaargh!!"
Dozens of dragons, several times larger than the Demon Dragon I'd faced in the dungeon, soared toward the rent heavens.
Demons plummeting from the sky.
Flocks of dragons charging with vast wings unfurled.
It was like gazing upon a scene from myth.
"Those are the invaders of the world you guarded?"
"Yes. We resisted with everything we had, but in the end, we couldn't hold them off."
I watched as dozens of dragons unleashed a rainbow barrage of dragon breath at the falling demons and turned to him.
"Even with power like that, you couldn't stop them?"
He pointed ahead with a bitter smile at my question.
"Best to see it for yourself."
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of demons vanished in an instant amid the breath onslaught.
The dragons roared triumphantly at the sight.
And then the sky rift yawned wider, a colossal hand thrusting out to snatch the rightmost dragon.
"Krararara!!"
The dragon flailed desperately, unleashing dozens of high-tier spells in a blink—only to be rent apart by the giant hand.
It flung the corpse—once the Intermediate Realm's mightiest being—toward the demons like trash, and its owner emerged.
Thud.
A leg like a mountain slammed the earth, a torso scraping the clouds, and atop its head, a pair of titanic horns.
'A demon?'
It matched the archetypal demon form depicted in countless records and tomes.
That instant, I recalled the demon that had devoured Kang Mir right before my regression, then reached for me.
'No way? That one?'
The demon effortlessly seized and slaughtered dragons one after another.
Neither their mighty breaths nor spells scratched it.
Boom. Thud. Thump. Thump.
Dozens of dragons plummeted one by one, swarmed and shredded by demons.
At last, only two remained.
A jet-black behemoth dwarfing the rest and a golden dragon shining brilliantly barred the demon's path.
The golden one glanced at its massive companion and nodded faintly—like a final farewell.
Slurp.
Inexplicable tears streamed from my eyes.
The golden dragon beat its wings and hurtled at the titan.
Brilliant light welled from its body, erupting in a white-hot blaze too blinding to witness.
The shockwave dwarfed my Massive Explosion skill—like child's play. Demons swept up in the blast disintegrated mid-gorge.
'Did it... die?'
It was a sacrificial mutual kill, life bartered for destruction.
The moment I thought even that colossus would perish—
Thud.
The demon reappeared unscathed amid the quaking earth.
"Grrrrr!!!"
The massive dragon bellowed rage and charged.
"N-No!"
I cried out without thinking. That was suicide.
Tap.
A hand patted my shoulder lightly.
Turning, I met his eyes as he sadly shook his head.
"It's already happened. Nothing but an immutable memory of the past."
"B-But!"
Tears pouring uncontrollably, I watched the dragon's end as the demon's maw tore it asunder vertically.
That instant!
The demon's gaze that had pulverized the giant dragon locked onto me across the gulf.
'Urk!'
My vision flashed white, and consciousness fled.
The Dragon Heart desperately surged mana to steady my seizing heart.
"Th-This!"
Flustered Dragon Lord Brunhilde hurriedly dispelled the spell.
'Even mere memory remnants wield this power!'
Cursing his complacency, he reached for the collapsing figure.
As Brunhilde withdrew the magic, Kang Min-ho crumpled like a puppet with severed strings.
Thud!
Just before he hit the ground.
The jet-black-haired beauty caught him gently.
"Hm?"
"W-What?"
Professor Park Cheol-gyu and Kang Mir finally turned toward the scene.
In the span of a blink, Kang Min-ho lay unconscious with eyes rolled back, cradled protectively by a man they'd never seen.
'No way, that guy?'
Professor Park Cheol-gyu scowled at the familiar aura emanating from him.
"Huh? Huh??"
Kang Mir stared blankly as his Water Dragon abandoned his side, flying to circle the black-haired stranger.
An untimely silence settled over the heart of the battle-ravaged basin.