Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: Crow and Dragon (2)
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There are a few ranks above S-class for monsters.
The most notable is Disaster-class.
When one appears, every S-class player in the vicinity rushes to stop it, an existence capable of causing a nation-level catastrophe.
But there was a stage even beyond that.
Transcendence-class.
Literally, something that transcends reason.
An entity with power so immense it's hard to comprehend how it can even exist.
The strongest of creatures, mighty enough to destroy a world single-handedly.
The Dragon of the End belonged to that class.
Even if it was the weakest of its kind, would an A-rank memory manipulation—nothing more than a temporary trick—work forever?
Of course not.
That was why I left the moment I determined the primeval monster would die.
‘It seemed to be trying to hide in the forest. There's a forest to the north as big as a city. Probably the Gate's influence. I felt the presence of all sorts of monsters, so I gave up on pursuing it any further and came back.’
Just as Choi Yeon-soo had said, the forest was practically a habitat for monsters.
But the monsters all seemed terrified of something.
Even when they saw me, they moved to get away rather than attack.
That's why tracking the Dragon of the End was easy.
The direction the monsters were fleeing from was the direction where the Dragon of the End would be.
“Come no closer.”
A wave of mana violently struck my body.
Simply imbuing its words with mana was enough to make a B-class player bleed from every orifice and die.
If I hadn't prepared, I would have taken significant damage as well.
I stopped advancing and spoke.
“My body suddenly recovering… that was you, wasn't it?”
The Dragon of the End remained silent.
When the leader of Salvatio tried to attack me.
I had felt my strength suddenly recover, as if drawing upon some stored power.
I was certain the Dragon of the End was responsible.
“Why did you do it? The memory manipulation should have worn off by now, right?”
“…Grrgh.”
The Dragon of the End groaned in pain, curling up.
So the memory manipulation hasn't completely worn off.
That reaction is a backlash from the mental shock of trying to force the memory manipulation away.
It'll be difficult for it to stay sane for a while.
That's why it came deep into this forest to recuperate.
If I'm going to move, it's now.
I cautiously took a step forward.
“I told you not to come any closer!!”
Kwwaaaa!!
With a single thunderous roar, trees fell in a concentric circle as if a bomb had gone off.
That's a bluff.
In reality, it doesn't have the strength to fight me.
More importantly, if the memory manipulation isn't fully gone, it would subconsciously be reluctant to attack me.
“Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you.”
“Don't be ridiculous. You say that, knowing what I am? I am the End. The herald of the world's end… I told you not to come any closer! This is your last warning!!”
Whatever.
Ignoring it, I approached and sprinkled a potion before the Dragon of the End could act.
Shaaaa…
The wounds from its battle with the primeval monster began to heal slowly.
The primeval monster has a debuff that prevents natural regeneration of wounds.
If it only focused on recovering its mental strength from the memory manipulation wearing off, there was no telling how the wounds might fester.
The Dragon of the End stared at me with confused eyes.
“What are you scheming? Why on earth…”
“Why don't you just trust me? You can tell whether I have hostile intent or not, can't you?”
If even an E-class monster can sense it, why wouldn't a Transcendence-class monster?
I took out another potion and sprinkled it on the remaining wounds.
The Dragon of the End watched my actions in silence.
Swoosh.
Suddenly, it shrank to the size of a puppy and passed out.
‘It used up all the power it needed for growth, so I guess this is to be expected.’
This was the Dragon of the End that had fought so fiercely against the primeval monster.
There was no way it could have fully recovered its strength just by eating me.
And yet, it had poured all its strength into the fight because of the delusion that I was its parents' killer.
Now that the tension was gone, it let go of all the power it had been forcing itself to maintain.
[The ‘Agent of Light Who Condemns Evil’ urges you to punish evil at once.]
If you're drawing a line between good and evil, it is indeed evil.
However, I had no intention of killing the Dragon of the End.
[The ‘Devil Who Mocks the Heavens’ finds your decision interesting.]
[You're really not going to kill it?]
Besial narrowed one eye.
[That thing is really dangerous. It's an existence even we can't handle. If it regains its full power and goes on a rampage, there will be nothing anyone can do. It's better to kill it now and eliminate the future threat.]
I know that.
That was my original plan.
But all I could do was smile bitterly.
[…You saw something when it ate you, didn't you?]
Sharp as always.
I lifted the soundly sleeping Dragon of the End and held it in my arms.
“It'll work out somehow.”
[I can't do anything about your decision, but that high-ranking devil is definitely going to make an issue of it.]
“No way. He can't.”
[Hey, human.]
Speak of the devil.
I turned my head toward the voice.
[What are you going to do with that? Surely you're not thinking of taking it with you?]
The high-ranking devil glared sharply at me.
Through his glasses, I could see his eyes, which gave off a rather unpleasant impression.
Besial already fled, I see.
Then again, he wasn't physically present to begin with.
“I'm taking it with me.”
[No. Either kill it or release it. Choose one. This is an order. If you disobey, you will face a significant penalty.]
An order, huh.
A chuckle escaped my lips.
The high-ranking devil's eyebrow twitched and arched upward.
[Human. Did you just laugh?]
“Of course I'm laughing. You're making an empty threat.”
[An empty threat? I am a high-ranking devil. The high-ranking devil in charge of all of North America. The very idea of a mere human defying my command is absurd!]
“That's what you think.”
After subjugating Besial, I learned more detailed information about the administrators.
It was so I could deal with the situation in case Besial was dismissed as an administrator or other devils interfered.
“You didn't intervene at all because it looked 'interesting.' Naturally, you have no just cause to interfere in any of the problems that arose from it. If you try to do anything here, it'll be an immediate abuse of your administrative authority.”
A hint of panic was visible on the high-ranking devil's face.
Ignorance gets you played.
That was true in my original world, even when dealing with humans instead of devils.
“And second, you have no authority to give me a penalty. I didn't move here of my own volition; I followed the flow of the main quest, which means extraterritoriality applies. Even a mere player like me knows this, so you can't possibly be ignorant of it, can you?”
[A mere human…!]
The high-ranking devil, who looked ready to explode with anger, suddenly changed his expression.
[…Hoo. No. Getting angry when he's right isn't professional. Calm down. Losing your temper at a human only lowers your own standing. Be smart. Smart.]
This time, it was my turn to be surprised.
“I thought you'd start cursing and charge at me.”
[Human. It is a fact that you are infuriating, but it is also a fact that you have spoken only the truth. Getting angry at someone for speaking the truth is a foolish act that only reveals one's own pettiness. I am a smart devil. I do not engage in such acts. Well, I did consider playing a little prank, but I just checked and for some reason, it's impossible. So I gave up.]
“A prank? What were you going to do?”
[I was going to mess with the Warp Gate's operation to send you somewhere random, but I couldn't touch it. You must have taken precautions, huh? Tsk. Anyway, what happens to that dragon now depends on you. Just know that if you mismanage it and it becomes a great disaster, the system will probably classify you, the creator of a transcendent disaster, as a disaster yourself.]
The high-ranking devil adjusted his glasses and vanished.
Even an administrator cannot tamper with a Warp Gate.
This was one of the rules I had discovered.
That angels and devils know nothing about Dimension Stones and cannot interfere with them.
‘I'll give you the Warp Gate as a gift. And as you may have noticed, it was opened using a Dimension Stone. It's a different type from the Warp Gates that will be supplied later. I trust you know how to use it.’
The words the leader of Salvatio had said just before leaving.
Thinking back, it occurred to me that he might have predicted I would do this with the Dragon of the End.
‘I'll be classified as a disaster, too…’
I looked down at the Dragon of the End cradled in my arms.
…Well, I guess it'll be fine if I raise it well.
***
“Ah, speak of the devil and he… is… here…”
Jun Bo-ra froze like a statue when she saw me.
Her eyes fixed on what I was holding in my arms, Jun Bo-ra's lips twitched.
“Hey, Kim Se-hyeon. No way. There's no way, right? Tell me it's not true.”
“Well, it's always the 'no way' that gets you.”
“You really brought that thing here!?”
“It's fine. Just trust me one more time.”
“I can't believe you.”
Jun Bo-ra pressed a hand to her forehead and tilted her head back.
“Is this tiny thing really that giant dragon from before?”
“It's so cute…”
The twins scurried over and started poking it with their fingers.
It was so soundly asleep that it didn't wake up.
In a way, it was amazing that they were willing to touch it, knowing its true form.
You'd think they would keep their distance, just in case it woke up.
I guess that's how much they trust me.
“Can you explain?”
Hwang Chan-jin said, gesturing toward the Dragon of the End with his chin.
“If I'm not convinced, I cannot agree.”
“Well, that's…”
“Hoh. So this is one of those two sources of mana. Fascinating. How did it get so small?”
The Crow suddenly poked his head in.
“Ah, my apologies. Did I startle you?”
“It's fine.”
Right, the Crow was here too.
The primeval monster and the Dragon of the End.
I figured he'd show up since both had awakened.
I couldn't tell if his appearance now, when it's almost over, was a good thing or a bad thing.
I found myself scratching the Dragon of the End's head.
Its face scrunched up slightly, but it let out a faint purring sound.
…The twins' sparkling eyes were glued to it.
“Raven…?”
Simila was here, too.
Behind her, I could see the members of the Onyx Griffon guild, who weren't in the best shape.
“Oh my god! Is that really Raven?”
“Raven? The legendary player?”
“Oh my gosh!”
Even Reynald and Dread.
Seeing that none of the people I'd gotten to know in America had died, I felt a little relieved.
It's one thing if a complete stranger dies, but finding out someone you know has died is unsettling.
“Ah. He's only called 'Crow' in our country; everywhere else he's known as 'Raven'. He's really popular abroad, too.”
“Is he that famous?”
“He's one of the very first people to become a player. If you're talking about the strongest player in Korea, it's him, without a doubt. Most importantly, he was the first to create the 'M' rank.”
Cha Eun-ha's eyes widened slightly, as if this was the first time she'd heard this.
“Wasn't S the highest? I've never heard of M.”
“It's sort of an honorary rank. He was too strong to be put on the same level as other S-ranks, so it was created to elevate him a bit. People don't actually call it M-rank.”
The twins stared at the Crow in fascination.
If S stands for Special, then M stands for Mystery.
Literally, a rank filled with the awe of 'not being able to understand how he's so strong'.
Well, shall I take a look myself?
[Using skill, ‘Extreme Eye’.]