Chapter 313
Chapter 313
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 313
Chapter Title: Dragon Hunt (2)
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‘Is this really a cave?’
It had the shape of a cave, but the size was on another level.
That made sense, since a dragon in its true form stood a staggering 100 meters tall.
For such a beast to come and go freely, the ceiling had to be even higher.
“Green Dragon, right?”
“Yeah. A tricky bastard.”
Before stepping into the depths of that entrance, Rokan double-checked the creature’s identity.
Green Dragon. Recalling how Green Dragons loved forests as much as elves did, Rokan immediately came up with a ploy.
“Then… we don’t even need to break through here, do we?”
“Huh?”
Gaokan tilted his head at Rokan’s baffling words.
No need to carve a path? Had he gotten cold feet on the way here? Or had he already achieved enough of his goal that he planned to back out on their deal?
Rokan provided the answer to those doubts.
“If it loves the forest as much as an elf, why not just set the whole thing on fire?”
If it cherished the forest so much, it wouldn’t just sit there suffocating while its beloved woods burned, would it?
“Hah, that’s not a bad idea.”
Gaokan broke into a broad grin at the suggestion.
But there was another reason they couldn’t just force it out of its lair, which was riddled with magic traps and swarming with guardians.
“Still, going inside gives us one advantage.”
“Hm?”
“Inside the cave, it can’t use its wings properly either.”
“Ah….”
Exactly. During the Black Dragon fight, Rokan and Kai had handled the flying, but facing ‘flying types’ was always a nightmare.
Especially when that flyer was a dragon.
Rokan realized his mistake and flashed an awkward smile, while Gaokan graciously laughed it off.
“Alright then. I’ll take point. No telling what’s ahead, but it’s probably the best move.”
With their plan set, Rokan stepped forward without hesitation.
He’d timed all his skills’ cooldowns perfectly for this moment.
Gaokan’s forces included skilled mages and treasure hunters, but if the lair was packed with traps and spells laid by the dragon itself, they’d waste too much time.
Better to charge ahead relying on his immortality, then let them handle the fallout and side effects.
“Unicorn, summon.”
For safer entry, he even summoned his Unicorn.
The Unicorn was powerful on its own, but its strong divinity granted all sorts of extra abilities.
Like automatic magic resistance or defensive spells.
“Gale Incarnation, Rider of Legends!”
From the entrance, Rokan unleashed Gale Incarnation, swelling in size alongside the Unicorn as he cleared the way.
[You are exposed to Nightmare Barrier.]
[Title: Unyielding Will negates all effects.]
[You have proven worthy to enter Green Dragon Samalian’s lair.]
[Nightmare Barrier destroyed.]
Creeeeak!
And sure enough, that choice paid off. The powerful mental barrier spanning the entrance shattered under Rokan’s assault.
It would’ve persisted if unbroken, but Rokan’s resistance rendered it useless, causing it to vanish.
Without him, they’d have suffered heavy losses here, or Gaokan would’ve had to intervene personally.
Even that would’ve drained massive mental energy. After all, it was a dragon’s barrier.
“Full-Body Charge!”
Bzzzzt! KABOOM!
They couldn’t let their guard down next either. Powerful magic traps buried like landmines reacted to Rokan and the Unicorn.
Some exploded, while others halted before detonation.
[The Unicorn’s divinity interferes with surrounding mana.]
“Quite the lavish welcome.”
A cataclysmic blast engulfed them, but Rokan and the Unicorn remained unfazed. The Unicorn shared in Rokan’s maxed-out resistance.
The explosion’s scale suggested devastation, but they took negligible damage.
“Great Heal!”
“Recovery!”
Even amid the blasts, healers’ skills poured into Rokan.
At this point, his life force barely budged, even without relying on immortality.
“Follow him carefully.”
His troops trailed behind.
Magic traps likely lingered where he hadn’t stepped, but with Gale Incarnation making him enormous, sticking to his path was easy.
-Intruder alert. Intruder alert.
-Exterminate the intruders.
Soon after, the promised guardians arrived.
Unlike the monsters that roamed and hunted outside in packs, true guardians were all magical constructs.
They couldn’t leave the cave, after all.
Dragons, known to sleep for decades or centuries at a time, needed guardians that didn’t eat, drink, or wear down mentally over those spans—far more convenient than stockpiling centuries of food.
“Golems?”
Thus, the most common guardians were golems.
Powered by nuclei of concentrated mana gathered by the dragon, they regenerated endlessly to annihilate intruders, charging at Rokan now.
[Samalian’s Guardian, Mithril Golem No.1][Lv 430]
“Whoa!”
A mere golem over level 400. Stronger than the ancient weapons from the dwarves’ race quest.
Worthy of the title ‘dragon’s guardians’—and there were five of them.
“Alright, let’s play!”
But Rokan wasn’t one to flinch. He’d crushed plenty at level 400 already.
Tough, sure—but he threw his full power at them.
“Lion Flame Slash!”
Imitating the skill’s master felt a tad embarrassing, but now wasn’t the time for qualms. Rokan spat blazing sword ki to test the waters.
Swoosh.
‘Fast.’
Yet the golem belied its massive frame, moving with incredible speed.
Dodging the distant ki blast with agile steps, it barreled toward Rokan.
“Droowa!”
Rokan didn’t dodge either.
A head-on clash.
He gauged its power through raw force colliding.
“Strike of Ruin!”
BOOM!
“Urk.”
Fist met fist. The shockwave was no joke.
The chain-wrapped punch went numb from the impact surging into Rokan, while the golem’s fist didn’t even chip.
Insane durability aside, they were evenly matched in strength.
“Not gonna be easy, huh?”
Heh.
Rokan grinned fiercely at it. Battles with the strong always thrilled.
“Back Grab.”
Whoosh!
Ignoring the stun, he circled behind in an instant.
Ultra-high-speed movement too fast to track.
But the golem anticipated it, whipping its upper body around like a top to smash him.
“Damn, it really is a robot.”
A feat no living thing could match.
Unclear if skill or something else, but damn tricky.
“Lightning Burst!”
Bzzzzt!
Pushed back slightly, Rokan fired lightning. Everyone knew it wrecked metal foes.
He unleashed a scorching bolt to fry its insides—only for his face to twist.
“No dice.”
It didn’t work. No visible health drop, and it charged undeterred.
“Mithril, figures….”
Mithril, the ultimate magic metal. A body forged entirely from it naturally resisted spells fiercely.
Strength, durability, resistance—an all-around monster.
No strategy came to mind against it, so Rokan unleashed his madness once more.
“Heh heh heh, let’s see what you’ve got!”
If it didn’t work, make it work.
Rokan, brimming with frenzy and malice, slammed into it. Sticking to its unscratched, rippling form, he swung his battle axe.
Clang!
Sparks flew as axe met body.
Mithril or not, his weapon was forged from some nameless heavenly metal.
Unsure if the blade nicked, but a faint scratch marred the golem—and Rokan saw hope.
“Let’s see if this works too? Armor Break!”
Boom!
The golem’s body was armor incarnate. Could Armor Break, which shattered plating, dent it? The hypothesis yielded solid results.
The mithril that withstood a direct axe hit caved in.
“Heh heh heh, now we’re cooking!”
Rokan didn’t stop. Confirmed effective, he wove in Frenzy Strike.
Over a dozen slashes buried into it in a blink.
-Warning: Critical damage. Initiating self-repair.
Creeeeak.
The issue: it shoved Rokan off, repaired, and reverted good as new. But hope was hope—Rokan kept charging.
-Worthy foe. Requesting support.
Problem two: sensing crisis, it summoned its kin.
To aid No.1, Nos. 2 through 5—all identical mithril golems—joined the fray.
“Support Rokan.”
Gaokan, who’d watched silently, stepped up. He ordered his level 400 elites to block the other four.
They’d have done it anyway without Rokan—no complaints.
‘No choice.’
Rokan felt the same. He wasn’t some fool blind to pride, arrogance, or recklessness.
‘But I’ll finish first.’
He just aimed to slay his mithril golem fastest.
“Armor Break, Light Annihilation, Lion Frenzy!”
Ignoring defense, he hammered the mithril golem relentlessly.
“Urgh.”
It didn’t just take it lying down. Like a slugfest, it pummeled Rokan, carving chunks from his health.
Exactly what he wanted.
He took every blow except the brain-busting ones.
Deliberately dropping his health.
[Title: Unyielding Will activates. All stats +100%.]
To trigger the title!
Empowered further, Rokan’s strikes began dismantling the mithril golem.
‘Got it!’
Moments later, the thickly armored body shattered. Mithril shards flew, exposing the pulsing power core within.
“Huh?”
Rokan’s expression turned odd upon spotting it.
Usually a ‘core’—mana stone or orb—but this was anything but ordinary.
It was gear. An item serving as its nucleus.
No wonder he froze.
Destroying items meant depleting durability.
And this one looked insanely tough at a glance. Even with Armor Break, could he smash it quickly?
He’d yanked it from the body and hesitated, checking his dwindling Gale Incarnation timer.
‘Time Reversal? Or just smash it?’
Even then, mithril chunks drawn by the item’s mana flew at him—but he dodged nimbly.
Then, a thought flashed through Rokan’s mind.
“Wait, it’s an ‘item’?”
His familiarly open inventory swallowed it whole.