Chapter 312
Chapter 312
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 312
Chapter Title: Dragon Hunt (1)
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Rokan and Droxhi first sought refuge in none other than the Lion King’s territory.
Under the protection of Gaokan—one of the most powerful beings even in the neutral zone—neither the Celestials nor the Demons would dare act recklessly.
They weren’t afraid of them, but if every place they went ended up as destroyed as a border village, problems would arise.
Unlike the absolute rule of Heaven or the Demon Realm, punishments for destroying villages were weak here. If they braced for sufficient compensation, similar incidents could happen anytime.
“Heh heh heh, you’ve stirred up quite the amusing mess? It’s like looking at my old self!”
Fortunately, Gaokan wasn’t the type to fear anyone. He welcomed them with open arms and took great delight in what Rokan had done, showing immense interest.
“Have you ever crossed the Celestials before too, Lord Gaokan?”
“When I first arrived in the Heavens, yeah. They eventually gave up and backed off, but I was already a Grand Master by then, and the Heavenly God mediated. But you pulled this off without any of that? What’s your plan from here?”
“Well, it’ll probably turn out similar for me. Once I reach Grand Master... we’ll have a proper throwdown. I’ve always been confident facing crowds solo.”
“That tracks. It shows in how you operate. Hmm, so how do you plan to climb to Grand Master? The quest sounds pretty elaborate.”
“That too... I’ve got something in mind. With all these folks gunning for me, it’ll fill up fast. So, mind giving me a hand?”
“Help out? Now that sounds entertaining. What exactly do you need?”
The simplest method would be partying up with Gaokan for some hunts.
As lord of a neutral-zone territory, jumping into Celestial or Demon fights might be a stretch for him, but if he tagged along to help Rokan hunt, slaying monsters alone would easily knock out the quest conditions.
But Rokan knew full well he wouldn’t go for that.
Gaokan was stepping up so readily precisely because he knew Rokan wouldn’t try to borrow his brute force for anything.
Which meant Rokan’s request had to be something else entirely.
“Let me tag along on your dragon hunt.”
“What?”
Surprise flashed across Gaokan’s face for a split second.
But it faded quickly as he grasped the intent behind Rokan’s words.
“I see! That’s a solid idea.”
He accepted without hesitation. Rokan already knew Gaokan had been prepping for a dragon hunt for ages—and that he was in the final stretch.
All that remained was Gaokan’s go-ahead. The preparations were essentially complete.
That was exactly why Rokan had made the offer.
“I can trust you with this.”
Conquering the mountain range was a mandatory step before any dragon hunt.
Clearing the monster hordes and guardians clustered around the dragon’s lair was arguably trickier than facing the dragon itself.
Expending too much energy there could leave you short against the dragon proper, while dragging it out guerrilla-style risked the dragon relocating or reinforcing its forces in the meantime.
Dragons were exactly the type to pull that off.
So Gaokan didn’t interpret Rokan’s proposal as a full-on “dragon hunt” like the black dragon fiasco. It was about Rokan lightening his load on the monster hordes and guardians.
For Rokan, it was all about hitting quest completion anyway.
*The Dragon Mountains should be plenty.*
A perfect alignment of interests.
Gaokan let out a hearty laugh as he accepted, though he did voice one small concern.
“Even at top speed, it’ll take a solid two weeks at least. You good with that?”
“Of course. I could use the time anyway.”
A slight delay was no issue. Rokan had come here specifically to buy time from Celestial and Demon pursuits.
It was the perfect window to neutralize two risks at once while advancing his quest—just needing one to two weeks minimum.
“Then I’ll get prepping.”
With their not-quite-alliance sealed, Gaokan dragged Droxhi off instead of Rokan.
Hunting dragons that dwelled in the Heavens demanded preparations on a whole different level from some black dragon.
Karphago had been a decrepit old thing, but the dragons here were still in their prime.
In that sense, the emergence of a Grand Master craftsman was a massive boon for Gaokan.
It was a chance to elevate his gear quality and boost his overall forces.
While Droxhi reverted to production slave status, Rokan slipped quietly out of Gaokan’s territory.
“Polymorph.”
He shifted into Demon guise and headed to the Demon Realm, where Gmolthan was rampaging in a frenzy to hunt him down.
“Spread the word?”
“Yeah.”
“Most Demons already know about this by now. Plenty haven’t heard the Celestial angle, though... Got it. You’ve got some angle on this. Easy gig—not hard difficulty—so five million coin.”
All to circulate some rumors. Sure, you could buy intel from info brokers, but they could spread custom ones too.
The rumor Rokan shelled out five million coins to disseminate was deceptively straightforward.
The Celestials were pursuing Rokan like a blood feud.
Gmolthan had slapped a bounty on him, but they were even more enraged—hell-bent on catching, killing, imprisoning him, anything to shut him down for good.
It was the sort of news anyone attentive could uncover, but Rokan greased the wheels himself for faster spread. All the way to Gmolthan’s ears.
*Perfect.*
After seeding the rumor, he plunged even deeper into the regions where Gmolthan’s forces were combing every inch for him.
“The Celestials want to team up with Lord Gmolthan?”
“Ridiculous! Whatever those maggots say, they’ve got an ulterior motive!”
He even whispered a little rumor among the underling demonic beasts.
Right now, it’d get brushed off as nonsense, but if it kept circulating and got layered with others, it could reach Gmolthan eventually.
“Hey, if you won’t buy it, can’t help you. A Demon buddy of mine picked it up in the neutral zone. Word is, the Heavenly God’s army got wrecked just recently trying to nab the guy.”
Rumors blending truth and lies. He tossed them out judiciously, then sought out Turubi—his old Demon Realm territory.
*Total wreck.*
He’d half-expected Gmolthan to claim it, but it remained a ruined husk. No repairs underway, and Gmolthan clearly hadn’t allowed any.
Demonic beasts were garrisoned there instead, rooting out any remnants.
Rokan had no real ties left anyway, so no remnants on his end—but word was Sharac and Kirito were still at large.
The captured werewolves and vampires served as both prisoners and hostages, with executions happening daily.
Sharac the vampire might stay hidden, but werewolves had strong pack loyalty—Kirito could show.
*Feeling a tad guilty?*
It had all stemmed from him, stirring a flicker of remorse in Rokan. But that was it. They’d been using each other, after all.
With Demon Realm business wrapped, Rokan returned to the Lion King’s domain.
No more EXP gains possible, but he trolled the adjacent hunting grounds as busywork, casually ticking off quest progress.
“Polymorph.”
Three days later, cooldown refreshed. This time he shifted to Celestial form and crossed into Heaven, seeding intel there too.
“Beast Tamer Gmolthan’s after him?”
“That cheapskate’s dangling a bounty? Guy must’ve really pissed him off.”
“But that mean he’d actually ally with *us*?”
“Hmm. Worth reporting up the chain. Not a full united front, but maybe limited coop just on this guy.”
“He mocked the Heavenly God and his priests—we’ve gotta take him down, even if it means borrowing filthy hands!”
Demon Realm chatter again.
High Demon and Heaven celeb Beast Tamer Gmolthan had a bounty out for Rokan.
And wanted to link up with the Heavens.
Pure fiction, but not impossible.
Like how the earth factions allied over the ancient emperor and his fall—if a must-kill common foe loomed, shared interests could align hands.
*It’ll probably happen.*
Rokan was convinced the joint front would materialize.
They hated each other’s guts, sure—but this wasn’t some grand racial harmony. Just a temp pact to squash him.
So why orchestrate this? If they actually merged forces, it’d be a juggernaut pressuring even the Lion King—putting him in graver danger.
Only Rokan knew the truth.
“Ready?”
Oblivious, Gaokan poured everything into prep and wrapped up in just ten days—shy of the forecasted two weeks.
He marched his full forces into dragon turf.
Lead position: Rokan, naturally.
Gaokan’s handpicked troops bristled with menace up front too, but Rokan stole the show.
“Storm Incarnation, Perfect Body Invincibility, Martial Soul Awakening!”
Right out the gate, Rokan unleashed everything. He’d volunteered for point specifically to grind quest conditions.
He solo-wiped the great tribe of hero orcs dwelling at the Samalihon Dragon Mountains’ gateway, vindicating Gaokan’s choice.
“Oh ho, looks like you’ve bulked up even more already?”
Gaokan took it in with leisure.
He usually charged ahead in scraps like this, but the foe demanded power conservation.
As commander, he had to scan surroundings and brace for threats.
*As expected, staying away.*
The dreaded Celestial or Demon raid never came—not even as a long shot.
Not while he toppled the hero orc great tribe, then the vampire troll horde and mad ogre clan. Not a single scout showed.
Show up here, disrupt the Lion King’s parade? Instant enmity.
No way they missed his massive force movement. Smarter to wait till after, then squeeze him into coughing up Rokan.
By then, Lion King’s forces would be depleted, momentum shot.
*Max out the count here first.*
That let Rokan laser-focus on foes as battles piled up.
Most monsters were manageable even post-Storm Incarnation cooldown, through the backlash. Numbers climbed sharply.
Endless spawns meant he could fill most of it—not all, but plenty.
Rokan swung his battle axe gleefully till he was bone-tired.
After days of berserk fighting, they’d climbed to a certain point in the Dragon Mountains.
The dragon lair.
The massive, intimidating cave loomed ahead.