Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Hellfire and Resolve
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Kuuuooooo-!
A colossal cry reverberated across the land.
The Dragon's Roar, a sound that stirred a primal fear beyond reason, froze the Awakened in their tracks.
A few of the Awakened who managed to cling to their sanity screamed.
"Get back!"
"Everyone, run!"
An overwhelming energy began to gather around the dragon hovering high in the sky.
A low rumble echoed.
An immense amount of mana condensed in its wide-open maw.
It gathered until space itself seemed to distort, and then a blindingly bright stream of mana shot down toward the ground.
Fwoooosh-!
"Kuaaaargh!"
"Haaargh!"
The dragon's breath became a hellfire that struck the hunters directly.
Those on the outskirts of the inferno screamed in agony as their skin melted or they were engulfed in flames, but those caught in the center were erased from existence, not even leaving bones behind.
This was the dragon's signature ability.
Dragon's Breath.
And this was the Fire Breath of a Red Dragon, said to incinerate any substance.
"All Suppression Corps members below officer rank, fall back!"
"Hunters C-rank and below, get out of here now!"
The captains of each Suppression Corps unit and the raid captains of the guilds ordered the retreat of any Awakened who couldn't protect themselves.
"Hey, you son of a bitch, move!"
"Get the fuck out of my way!"
The nearby survivors, terrified, scrambled over one another as they began to run in the opposite direction.
Nearly two thousand people moving chaotically to survive created a scene of pure pandemonium.
People were injured being trampled by others, and some even ran into monsters and were killed.
In the chaos, no one had the luxury of tending to the dead or wounded.
Sizzle-!
The ground melted and the hellfire flickered, reminiscent of the deepest pits of hell.
And there was a woman watching this pandemonium unfold.
"Ah... Aaaargh!"
A short distance from where the Dragon's Breath had struck.
Song Ji-yoon shrieked, her eyes bloodshot.
"No, Ji-yoon!"
"Ji-yoon! Stop!"
Ji-yoon, having lost all reason, ran toward the flames, but Eun-hee and Young-jin quickly caught up and grabbed her.
"Let go!"
Ji-yoon struggled violently.
The more she fought, the tighter Eun-hee and Young-jin held on, and Ji-yoon couldn't break their grip.
"Uwaaah...! In there...!"
Ji-yoon glared at the dragon and screamed.
The dragon's maw opened wide again, as if to unleash another breath.
"Ji-yoon...! There's nothing you can do if you go now!"
"That's right! It's suicide!"
Eun-hee and Young-jin said, pulling her back.
The reason for Ji-yoon's fury.
The Chilgok Unit had been hunting monsters in the area swept by the Dragon's Breath.
"Khhhk.... The guys.... The team...."
Ji-yoon gave up resisting, her body went limp, and she began to cry.
She knew, too, that there was nothing she could do.
Even so, the faces of her comrades—with whom she had shared life and death, enduring all hardships together—flashed before her eyes.
Seeing her, Young-jin's eyes also reddened as he spoke in a gruff voice.
"It's not certain yet. They could all be alive. No! They have to be. We'll see them smiling when this suppression is over!"
"Young-jin, Ji-yoon. We need to get out of here first. If the dragon comes this way, we'll be in danger too."
Eun-hee said, pulling Ji-yoon and Young-jin along.
With the abilities of the Guardian Guild members, they couldn't even reach the dragon's feet.
In fact, their bodies would freeze solid from the Dragon's Roar before they even got close.
The best course of action was to follow the other fleeing guilds and escape.
"If you don't want to die a dog's death, hurry up and run!"
Jeong Hoon-hyeon called out in an urgent voice.
Up ahead, the Mint Ball Trio was already running.
"Ah... I understand...."
Ji-yoon finally started walking on her own.
She gradually picked up speed and began to run toward the other side, and Eun-hee let go of her arm.
Then, she slowly decelerated, eventually coming to a stop.
"Eun-hee! What are you doing!"
"Eun-hee!"
When Eun-hee stopped, Young-jin and Ji-yoon also stopped and shouted.
But Eun-hee remained still, meeting Young-jin's eyes and nodding. Quick-witted, Young-jin suddenly hoisted Ji-yoon over his shoulder and started running.
"Eun-hee!"
Young-jin and Ji-yoon grew distant.
Eun-hee left them behind and ran toward the spot where the Dragon's Breath had struck—no, toward the dragon itself.
***
"Director!"
Arriving before the dragon, avoiding the fleeing crowds.
Eun-hee approached Song Jeong-eun, who was receiving treatment from a healer.
"Eun-hee, what are you doing here!"
Song Jeong-eun scolded her.
She felt pity for Eun-hee, who had willingly walked into the jaws of death.
"I'll fight with you!"
"No.... The situation is too dire...."
Song Jeong-eun looked at the dragon.
Less than five minutes had passed since the dragon appeared.
But the result was utterly devastating.
Fallen people were everywhere, and piles of corpses were mangled beyond recognition.
The magic-type Awakened were barely managing to hold the dragon in place. The physical-type Awakened were trying to land attacks however they could, but the situation was far from optimistic.
Whud-dud-dud-!
Fwoooosh-!
With every swing of the dragon's tail, dozens of Awakened were sent flying, and fireballs rained down from the sky.
Only Kwon Ran-hee, the S-rank hunter and commander of the coalition, was managing to land any meaningful attacks, riding a flying monster with the help of 1st Corps Commander Park Gil-young.
"I'm fine! As long as no blood splatters on me... I can fight!"
Eun-hee surveyed the battlefield, then prepared to step into the inferno.
But then, something came flying from behind.
"Eun-hee, the Association President left this for you."
It was a small pouch thrown by Song Jeong-eun.
An inventory.
"My father?"
"Yes. He told me to give it to you if you had some kind of change of heart.... I think now is that time."
Eun-hee slowly opened the inventory.
Thud.
An elegant sword in a scabbard engraved with traditional patterns fell out.
The treasured sword, the Black-Lacquered Hwandudaedo of Ten Thousand Li.
Her beloved sword, which she had left behind in the Association President's office as if abandoning it, had returned to her.
"Association President, thank you!"
"Thank your father, not me! I'll join you as soon as I'm healed!"
"Yes!"
Eun-hee drew the familiar Black-Lacquered Hwandudaedo of Ten Thousand Li and began to run.
***
"Kuuooo!"
The dragon began to rampage.
Unable to withstand the Dragon's Roar any longer, one of the magic-type hunters collapsed.
The dragon had been precariously bound by Binding magic.
But when one of the tethers vanished, the balance crumbled.
Snap.
Snap-snap.
The spells of the magic-type hunters, who were already holding on past their limits, began to break in a chain reaction, and the dragon thrashed even more violently.
Shwoook-!
A woman ran toward the rampaging dragon.
"Isn't that Jeong Eun-hee?"
"Looks like it. But what the hell can she do here?"
B-rank hunters from the guild Eun-hee once belonged to encountered her as they fled.
They cursed at her as she passed, but Eun-hee said nothing.
It wasn't that their insults offended her; it was that she could read the sheer terror in their eyes.
Having once fled the battlefield herself out of fear, she understood how they felt. Besides, there was nothing she could say.
Kuuuooooo-!
Along with the Dragon's Roar, dark clouds gathered in the sky.
Soon, a flame shot up from the clouds. It quickly grew into a massive blaze, turning them into a cloud of fire.
Thwip.
Thwip-thwip.
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip-!
Rain began to fall from the clouds.
The rain fell in long streaks like iron bars, descending upon the people like a shower of flaming spears.
Kaboom-!
The rain of fire then struck the ground, causing massive explosions and secondary damage.
"Han-seok! Look out!"
Shuk-!
A streak of flaming rain fell toward Oh Han-seok's head.
But Oh Han-seok, directly exposed to the Dragon's Roar, was frozen in place, having wet himself in terror.
Swish-!
"Snap out of it!"
KABOOM-!
Eun-hee shoved Oh Han-seok out of the way, barely escaping the blast radius.
Thanks to her, Oh Han-seok came to his senses and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Th... Thank you...."
Oh Han-seok offered his thanks and ran toward his comrades, oblivious to his damp pants.
Kuuuooooo.
The dragon was now completely free of the Binding magic, moving without restraint.
Eun-hee's hands and feet trembled uncontrollably, yet she pressed forward, one step at a time.
Step.
Despite knowing the terror of the dragon, many hunters remained to fight it.
What was especially surprising was the large number of C-rank and lower Awakened among them.
Most of them were middle-aged or older.
Judging by their regional accents, they were clearly local hunters and members of the Suppression Corps.
Of course, there was little they could do.
Nevertheless, they sacrificed themselves, burning their own lives away to protect their families, lovers, friends, and neighbors.
As if their only goal was to halt the dragon's advance by even a single centimeter.
Swoosh.
KABOOM-!
Eun-hee steeled her resolve.
She was here, and she could fight.
She didn't want to run away anymore.
Slashing through another downpour of flaming rain with her Black-Lacquered Hwandudaedo, Eun-hee soon reached the dragon.
"Kyaaaak!"
"Kiiiiek!"
Two wyverns were flying around the dragon's head, spitting fire.
Their firepower was insignificant compared to the Dragon's Breath, but they were doing a fine job of annoying the dragon.
Crack-!
A ten-meter-wide chunk of earth shot into the air.
It then fell on the head of the dragon, whose vision was obstructed.
THUD-!
Thanks to Kwon Ran-hee's skill, the dragon crashed to the ground.
Unfortunately, two members of the Suppression Corps were crushed to death underneath it.
But Kwon Ran-hee, seemingly unfazed, lifted another chunk of earth high into the sky.
Crack- Craaack-!
This time, however, the dragon struck first.
The chunk of earth floating high in the sky shattered, raining down on the surrounding hunters.
"Keuk!"
"Kuaargh!"
The less skilled Awakened were struck by the rock fragments and collapsed.
Eun-hee stabbed her sword into a falling rock, shattering it, then swiftly leaped onto the dragon's leg.
With an elegant somersault, she reached its back.
Ting-!
The Black-Lacquered Hwandudaedo bounced off.
Even one of Korea's ten treasured swords couldn't pierce the dragon's scales.
Eun-hee channeled as much mana as she could and stabbed again.
Shunk-!
It barely managed to sink in about thirty centimeters.
Just then, the dragon flapped its wings.
A tremendous gust of wind, like a typhoon, swept over her, and Eun-hee clung to her sword to hold on.
In an instant, the dragon shot nearly fifty meters straight up.
It looked ready to unleash its breath again.
Tat-tat-tat-!
Eun-hee ran across its back, past its wings, and toward its head.
If she couldn't damage its tough scales, she would stab its eyes instead.
No matter how strong the dragon's defenses were, its eyes couldn't possibly be as hard.
Woooong.
Wooooong-!
Unfortunately, Eun-hee couldn't even make the attempt.
An immense wave of mana surged across the dragon's body. The vibration caused her to slip, lose her balance, and fall from its back.
The dragon hadn't flown up because it was unaware of Eun-hee on its back.
It was trying to shake off a bothersome human and let her fall to her death.
Eun-hee began to plummet from the sky at a terrifying speed.
Flash-!
Suddenly, something shot out of the sinkhole and soared into the sky.
Snatch.
And that something easily snatched Eun-hee out of the air.
Eun-hee slowly opened her eyes.
And saw the man's face.
"Mr. Do-jae?"