Chapter 384
Chapter 384
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 384
Chapter Title: White Dragon (2)
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[You have leveled up.]
Beyond his own rampage, Rokan quickly gained levels thanks to a share of the experience points from the lower-ranked mercenaries' hunts.
He achieved in an instant what would have taken days or even months of normal hunting, fighting so fiercely that his body was coated in blood while absorbing the monsters' blood and divinity.
And finally, upon reaching level 443, he got back on track toward the White Dragon's lair.
"Damn monsters."
"You idiots! Dying to trash like that and making a fuss."
Some of the mercenaries who had come along spat curses and phlegm.
They had steeled themselves from the start, but detours to hunt every monster around had inevitably led to casualties on the way to the lair.
Even mercenaries who lived on the edge couldn't just shrug off their comrades' deaths.
After unleashing a barrage of heartfelt curses for the fallen, he turned his attention forward again.
The path so far had been treacherous, but perhaps the real challenge started now.
"Ugh, it's cold."
They had to climb to the upper reaches of a mountain blanketed in eternal snow.
"I gave you mantles—quit whining and swap your gear now!"
Even a single step brought a chilling aura rising up.
This wasn't natural cold. The terrain itself had changed from the White Dragon's presence, the ruler of freezing power.
Until now, it had only been a bit chilly, so the mercenaries wearing gear with better options quickly swapped to cold-resistant equipment.
"Grrraaah!"
That wasn't all. Influenced by the dragon's mana, new lifeforms had been born.
Ice Golems. Magical constructs made of ice rose from the snow.
"Smash it!"
Boom!
The moment it stood, the Titan moved in.
Swinging a club-like blunt weapon, it crushed the rising Ice Golem flat and battered it to pieces.
Crack. Crash!
Ice shards flew as the Ice Golem's massive body shattered.
"Hmm."
The Titan's brute strength, unmatched by any race, had wrecked the Ice Golem miserably.
But Rokan's expression wasn't great. He had opened his status window the instant the Titan struck, checking the experience bar.
At first, it was to gauge how much experience these local monsters gave, but now it served a different purpose.
"It was real."
Crack.
He had confirmed it right away. That the Ice Golem wouldn't stay silent.
No core was visible inside the transparent body.
If it were just shaped from ice and mana like a gargoyle, destruction would end it, but ice mana surged toward it, starting regeneration.
"U... guh...! C-cold... ev-ery... where?"
That wasn't the only problem.
The moment it was destroyed, the Ice Golem spewed extreme cold, freezing everything around it. Even the Titan pounding it up close wasn't spared.
Despite wearing a mantle with cold resistance, the chill pierced straight to its core, wracking the Titan in pain.
It even slowed its speech and movements.
A freezing slowdown debuff.
Crack!
Then it restored itself to normal.
A foe it had toyed with was now threatening the Titan.
"Support it!"
Rokan immediately directed his forces to pull the golems away.
But hasty destruction was forbidden.
Worried about the area freezing again and cold seeping into their lungs, he prioritized knocking them down and rolling them down the mountain.
"As expected, not just one."
Knocking down one with numbers was easy, but more meant trouble.
As if it weren't the only one born from ice mana, countless Ice Golems began rising.
"Does it have a hobby in sculpting or something...?"
Rokan's face twisted as he eyed them.
The first was a classic 'golem' shape, but the rest had unique appearances and traits.
From human mages to orcs, gremlins, ogres, drakes—every kind of monster shape was there.
Boom!
"Grk! Sl-slow... again."
The cold seeped in every time they destroyed one.
Even with superior forces, crisis loomed.
Immortal beings that revived on kill left guaranteed damage each time, dragging things out only meant losses.
"Don't fight—break through! I'll clear the path!"
Rokan decided instantly.
He rallied the scattered forces hunting Ice Golems and led from the front.
His resistance was several times higher than what items provided, so even an Ice Golem exploding in his face did little.
He had tested it by risking a direct kill on one.
"Kai, cover me!"
Kyuu!
Some clung with sloppy ice magic, but Kai shook them off.
Kai's elemental resistance matched or exceeded Rokan's, so blocking freezing power was easy.
Meanwhile, Rokan and the mercenaries swiftly ascended.
The destination: the mountain peak.
Unclear if the lair entrance was there, but highest odds.
"Cave over there!"
"Break through!"
Sure enough, nearing the summit revealed a massive cave.
A White Dragon could sleep buried in snow and trigger an avalanche rising, but dragons loved hoarding—prediction of a dug-out cave for hibernation hit the mark.
Rumble.
The closer to the cave, the faster and more Ice Golems appeared—proof it was the dragon's lair.
Rokan cleared faster, entering first. He confirmed all surviving mercenaries inside, then cast an unfitting spell.
"Fire Wall!"
Roar!
Red flames blocked the entrance.
It wouldn't last, and magic damage was poor, but the point wasn't harm. Stimulate instincts to stall Ice Golem approach.
"Push straight in."
If Ice Golems couldn't enter the lair, great—but if they could, disaster.
Instead of waiting to check, Rokan chose distance.
Whatever waited inside beat a no-win fight.
"Ugh, warmer in here."
"Don't drop the mantles. Opponent's a White Dragon."
They entered warily for traps, but the White Dragon's lair interior stayed quiet for a while.
Seemed almost like those eternal-snow Ice Golems were the only guardians—peaceful.
Rokan felt uneasy.
"Summon Bell of Truth."
He summoned the Bell of Truth subtly, ahead of the mercenaries, and asked.
"Any traps ahead before meeting the White Dragon?"
[False]
"Huh?"
No traps? He hadn't expected much from the casual question, so his face turned odd.
The regenerating Ice Golems were tough, but if that was really it? Could they enter the lair? Chase them soon?
A jumble of thoughts made him sigh deeply, but he acted at once.
No time or reason to hesitate, whatever the scheme.
"Full speed ahead!"
Rokan ordered all mercenaries.
Full speed.
They had feigned ease but tensed at "dragon lair"—they questioned briefly, but followed when he ran ahead.
Some recalled Ice Golem pursuit, others guessed he knew something, but trust in Rokan held.
He was the Dragon Slayer.
In this situation, who else but the one who'd slain a dragon before?
No turning back now, so they clung desperately to his heels.
Whoosh.
"......!"
"Argh!"
"F-freezing...!"
Then, a fierce wind blasted.
Even Rokan felt the chill—intense cold-laden gale.
Frontliners exposed froze solid; those using frozen comrades as shields barely endured and retreated.
'No traps?'
Did the Bell of Truth lie?
Confused, but Rokan realized soon.
This wasn't a trap.
His question: 'Any traps before meeting the White Dragon?'
If the Bell wasn't glitched, two hypotheses.
'This isn't a trap.'
Or.
'We met the White Dragon?'
Rokan gritted his teeth, pushing harder.
He pierced the raging cold wind, advancing.
"All hold! I'll go first...!"
But then, the wind stopped.
The body-pushing gale halted instantly.
Felt like a typhoon's eye, but Rokan snapped out of the whimsy.
[Title Dragon Slayer effect activates.]
[Relation with Dragon race fixed to hostility.]
"You bastard...!"
The source of extreme cold: a black cave.
Pitch-black, ominous, repulsive aura.
Rokan realized late they called it the 'nostril.'
Rumble. Whooo!
The chill that froze a Grand Master instantly? The White Dragon's snoring breath.
Low-resistance beings turned to ice chunks from its sleeping exhales.
Majesty Master or not, unbelievable—but real.
Only a White Dragon, freezing incarnate, could do this sans divinity.
Shuddered at the effortless aura, but fleeing wasn't an option.
If asleep, now was the chance.
Rokan launched himself. Power surged for a lethal strike at the reverse scale.
"Storm Incarnation, Blood Awakening, Martial Soul Awakening!"
Dragon Slayer's brilliant buffs amplified not several-fold, but dozens.
Aura overwhelming a Majesty Master rose.
"Ultra Apex!"
Why hold back?
Rokan unleashed his max attack from the start.
Skills leaving him empty after, but near-death blow meant no need for more.
Omnicidal power hurtled at the reverse scale.
"Where dares this intruder rampage!"
Then, the White Dragon woke. Instinctual enmity blasted at Rokan.
Reverse scale now one step away.
"Freeze, all of you!"
Crack. Craaaack!
Then, potent divinity erupted from the White Dragon, freezing the world.