Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: Giant vs. Dragon
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"A Dragon Roar is definitely exhilarating, huh?"
- Khahahaha. Now that I've manifested in my true form, it's over for you!
Briareus, floating in the air, sharpened the claws on his short forelegs.
The majesty of the dragon, with a body rivaling the size of a building, was indeed formidable.
- Take this! A fireball backed by the power of my true form.
Fwoosh-!
A colossal fireball materialized in the sky.
The fireball, flickering with flames so intense they seemed to warp space itself, was so immense it was hard to believe it was just a fireball.
‘That looks a little dangerous.’
The moment the fireball appeared, Do-jae started running.
Even if it was the basic spell Fireball, he couldn't guarantee the Golem Armor would withstand a direct hit from a dragon's version.
Thump, thump-!
- You're dodging around like a Ring Mouse!
"What's that?"
- It's a thing. A trash mob from the beginner's hunting grounds that you have to kill with manual controls before auto-hunt is unlocked. They're surprisingly fast, so they're a pain to control.
"Is this a game to you...?"
Fwhoosh-!
Kaboom-!
The fireball slammed down toward Do-jae.
In an instant, it turned the ground into a sea of fire.
"Are you sure that was a fireball? Not hellfire?"
Do-jae emerged from the flames, replacing the melting parts of his Golem Armor with new stone.
He had avoided a direct hit, but the attack's range was so wide that he couldn't evade it completely and was grazed by the edge. The heat made the stones of his Golem Armor glow red-hot and melt.
Thanks to that, Do-jae was sweating profusely inside his armor, but his resistance to heat had increased slightly.
Resistance: Sonic (50%) / Downpour (30%) / High Heat (60%) / Electric Shock (20%) / Cold Wave (35%) / Dryness (25%) / Poison (80%) / Paralysis (65%)
- How about that? Can't do a thing, can you? Surrender. Then the generous Lord Briareus will show you mercy.
"Come on, surrender over a little heat like this? I'll take you to a sauna next time. Then you'll know what real heat is."
- Hmph. Still, there's nothing you can do. I'm up here in the sky. What's a wingless guy like you going to do? Pfft.
Briareus continued to fire off spells, mocking Do-jae.
But Do-jae, diligently dodging the spells, retorted.
As if determined not to lose even a war of words.
"Do those wings even help you fly? Aren't you just floating with magic?"
- You... are you always this literal? It's just an expression. Anyone can see these tiny wings can't lift a dragon's body.
"Come on down. A dragon, scared of a mere human, just floating around in the air."
Do-jae provoked Briareus.
He thought a prideful dragon would fall for it.
However, Briareus saw through Do-jae's intentions and remained in the sky, looking down at him.
- Did you think I'd fall for such a cheap provocation? Pfft. Why would I? I'll just keep spamming magic until you're exhausted. The mana concentration inside a dungeon is much denser than outside, you know.
Thud-thud-thud-!
A rain of fire fell from the sky.
It was the same spell he had used during the Busan Suppression Operation.
‘At this rate, this will never end. It seems he plans to completely avoid physical attacks.’
If he would just come down to the ground, I could land a decent hit.
Just like last time, even a dragon's scales would be sliced to pieces before Do-jae's Black Scale.
‘Should I try that?’
Do-jae put the Black Scale into his subspace.
A sword would be useless for what he was about to do.
- Khuhu. Giving up? Good, good, smart thinking. Let's wrap this up and grab some chicken and beer tonight. I even found a place that delivers draft beer with no delivery fee.
Briareus slowly descended, preparing to polymorph back into a human.
Then, when he was about ten meters in the air...
Briareus froze.
Sensing something, he shot back up into the sky.
- What the... How big are you trying to get?
Grrrr-umble-.
Chunks of stone poured out of Do-jae's subspace.
Not just ordinary gray and brown stones, but also colorful ores flowed endlessly out of the subspace.
The sheer volume of stone made it seem as if he had emptied every single ore from his subspace.
- Hey, hey, is this for real?
Do-jae's height surpassed five meters, then seven, eight, and soon soared past ten meters.
Thrummm-.
Do-jae finally stopped growing.
He had become a giant, a staggering fifteen meters tall.
"This is the first time I've gotten this big..."
Do-jae swung his long arms, which befitted his massive frame.
The finished form was somewhat awkwardly proportioned for a human; it resembled not a normal person's body but that of a knight clad in heavy armor.
‘Is it because I pictured that form?’
That was it.
Do-jae's form resembled the titan he had seen in the dungeon where he first obtained the Heart of the Golem.
Do-jae had created the Golem Armor by imagining the steel titan that had boasted such majestic size.
‘So this was the effect of the Skeleton of the Golem.’
Aside from his arms and legs moving naturally, Do-jae felt no sense of disharmony from his enlarged body.
When he had become an ogre in America, he had felt an unnatural sensation while adapting to the body.
But even after growing this large, Do-jae could feel the same sensations in every part of his body, as if it were his own.
Furthermore, the effect was most clearly felt in his senses.
‘I can see all the way to the end.’
It was an open feeling, like looking out from the roof of a building.
Do-jae's face should have been buried inside the Golem Armor, unable to see outside.
But the blue ore embedded in the helmet covering his head glittered like his own eyes, providing him with a wide, clear field of vision.
- Crazy. Hey... surely you're not planning to fight in that state?
Fwoooosh-!
In a flustered voice, Briareus repeatedly fired flame magic at Do-jae.
With his increased size and surface area, the chunks of flame struck Do-jae's Golem Armor.
Clatter-.
The outer layer hit by the magic fell away, chipping off bit by bit, but Do-jae quickly repaired it back to its original state.
‘The mana consumption is insane. I have to end this quickly.’
Due to its sheer size, it consumed far more mana than his usual Golem Armor.
And based on his calculations, he could move for a maximum of about ten minutes.
If he factored in the mana needed for repairs, that time could be cut in half.
‘First, I need to bring Briareus down.’
Do-jae looked up at Briareus, who was floating in the sky.
Briareus, who had seemed so high up when he was in his human-sized Golem Armor, now looked quite close from his titan form.
Close enough to snatch if he jumped with all his might.
Fwhoosh-!
Do-jae kicked off the ground with all his strength and jumped.
The force of his jump left a large crater in the ground, but from Do-jae's perspective, it was little more than a small dent.
- Ugh?!
Do-jae, who could leap up a five-story apartment building even in his human body.
Now, in the body of a titan, he shot up several times that height in a single bound.
Snatch-!
- Hey, hey!
He barely managed to grab Briareus's tail.
If Briareus had ascended just a little faster, he would have missed.
"Stop being a coward and fight me on the ground."
Do-jae yanked Briareus's tail.
With the added force and weight, the dragon's massive body began to fall toward the ground.
THUD-!
As if an earthquake had struck, a loud noise echoed and the ground shook as Do-jae's feet touched down.
Without pause, Do-jae pulled Briareus's tail with one hand while grabbing a wing with the other.
- Ugh! Hey, that hasn't fully healed yet!
Briareus twisted his body, as if his injured wing was in pain.
Seizing the opportunity, Do-jae climbed onto his back and wrapped both arms around his long neck.
- Gaaack...
Briareus struggled violently as he was choked.
But the grip on his neck showed no sign of loosening.
KABOOM-! KRA-KOOM-!
Spells rained down on Do-jae's back, the impact causing chunks of rock to break off.
But with each hit, Do-jae only tightened his arms with all his might.
"Are you going to surrender?"
- No! Like I'd ever surrender!
Whoosh-!
Briareus shot into the air and flipped over, trying to shake Do-jae off.
But Do-jae only clung tighter, wrapping his legs around Briareus's body and choking him more desperately.
- Gkkk...!
Magic continued to explode against Do-jae's Golem Armor.
Do-jae calculated his remaining mana.
Thirty seconds at most.
- I'm gonna die! I'm dying! Stop! I... I surrender!
***
Shwooo-. Rattle-rattle-.
Briareus and Do-jae shrank at the same time.
One was enveloped in light and gradually got smaller, while the other diminished as chunks of stone fell to the ground.
When they finally returned to their human forms, they were standing on a low hill of stone.
"When did you learn to do that?"
"Not long ago. It was my first time, so it was a close call."
"A close call? What was?"
"I was almost out of mana. If you'd held on for another ten seconds? No, five seconds, I would have been the one surrendering."
"Hey! Let's go again!"
Do-jae ignored Briareus and sat down on a round boulder.
Not only was his mana depleted, but the physical fatigue was also considerable.
He had acted fine in front of Briareus, but he had been moving with all his strength, and while it seemed he had dodged everything, some attacks had gotten through, leaving him with minor burns here and there.
But for a fight against a dragon, the strongest of all creatures, this level of damage was getting off easy.
"Hey. Were you holding back on me?"
"Of course! ...is what I'd like to say, but I was going all out too."
"Really? Is that so..."
Do-jae stroked his chin, recalling the Busan Suppression Operation.
Compared to then, the power of Briareus's attacks had dropped somewhat.
Back then, he had recklessly thrown around both physical and magical power, but just now, it felt like he was fighting more cautiously.
Of course, there was the blind hostility from Gellahan's control and the resulting instability of his mana, but even so, he felt Briareus's skill didn't live up to the name of a dragon.
Do-jae glanced sideways at Briareus, who was casually brushing back his red hair, and spoke.
"Be honest. You're hiding something, aren't you?"
"Hiding what? Don't kick a man when he's down. I'm already furious that I lost."
"You're not a man, so it's fine. Anyway, if that's your true strength, haven't you gotten a lot weaker?"
Tremble-.
Briareus placed his hands on his hips and glared.
His lips twitched, as if he was getting angry.
"Hmph... What's the point of getting angry at a mere human? To be honest, it's not exactly my true strength. I'm focusing my power on something else at the moment."
"What is it? What are you doing?"
"I'm not gonna tell you! If you're so curious, why don't we go another round?"
Briareus stuck his tongue out, teasing him.
It was quite unpleasant for Do-jae to see a face identical to his own making such an expression.
"Forget it. Then what's your real strength like? Based on before you were under Gellahan's control."
"I'm not telling you that either!"
"This information is necessary to fight Gellahan. What are you going to do if he controls another stupid dragon like you and sends it here?"
"Stupid?"
"Ah, my mistake. Not stupid, simple-minded. For a dragon, called the strongest creature on earth and an agent of the gods, to be played by someone like Gellahan, you'd have to be simple-minded, right?"
Veins bulge-.
Veins bulged on Briareus's forehead.
Only then did Do-jae smile with a look of satisfaction.
"You're pouring mana into the bracelet?"
"Ugh. Fine! I was wrong! It's all my fault for getting stuck with a guy like you."
"That's a good attitude. While you're at it, explain properly. About dragons."
"Fine. Listen carefully. I'm only saying this once."
"Okay. My memory's better than you think."
"Ugh, you're worse than a dragon..."