The Dragon's Breath
The space was enclosed by pure white walls.
This was the stage for the Diamond promotion match.
Flash! Flash!
Light flared, and other players began to appear one by one.
One East Asian, two from South America, and one from Africa.
“Isn’t that Yu Jinho?”
“The guy who supposedly broke France’s Shield!”
“Shield? He’s a traitor to humanity.”
“Whoa! I’m a fan! Can you sign my armor, please?!”
The players who had joined the match were making a fuss.
Why are you attempting the promotion match alone?
“This promotion match allows a maximum of five participants.”
There were six guild members who hadn’t reached Diamond rank yet, including me.
Depending on which dimension we faced in the promotion match, the difficulty could vary wildly.
Since the matching was completely random, there was no way to know in advance.
“It’s better for me to push the rest of them through and handle this one solo.”
Are you worried about your subordinates?
“Worried? It’s just probability management.”
Nyx let out a small snort of laughter.
What’s with this woman, laughing out of nowhere?
Several Constellations have expressed interest in your trial.
The Constellations wish to expend their divinity to interfere with the promotion match.
The contract between Player Yu Jinho and the Seeker of Wisdom has been confirmed. You cannot refuse the Constellations’ interference.
“C-Constellation intervention?”
“Yu Jinho’s matches really are on a different scale.”
“But if the difficulty goes up, what happens to us?”
The players who had been placed on the same team stared wide-eyed as they read the messages.
Now that I thought about it, it had been a while.
After suffering repeated defeats on the 50th floor and above, the Constellations had grown reluctant to get involved.
“For some of us, a long road of suffering is about to unfold.”
Damn it.
I had no comeback for the heavy truth Nyx had just dropped.
“It’d be nice to take the easy route. Just once.”
The opponent for the Diamond promotion match has been decided.
Earth vs Draken Island
A 5 vs 5 battle will commence. The team with the last surviving member wins.
Tsk.
So much for taking it easy.
“It’s a world the dragons named after their own race.”
“Pretty much. You can compare them yourself.”
A spark of interest lit up in Nyx’s eyes.
A short while later, the waiting time ended, and bright pillars of light erupted in succession from the opposite side.
* * *
Red Dragon Calnius.
A dragon who had just passed the hatchling stage and become a mature dragon scanned the enemies with vertically slit pupils.
“Kahhh. So those are the mortals the Constellations spoke of.”
Standing fifteen meters tall.
His red scales glistened, coated in powerful mana.
Two sharp horns rose from his forehead.
Four wings covered in membranous skin spread behind him, radiating presence.
“One breath should be enough to wipe them all out.”
“The beings who carved their names upon the stars have issued a grave warning. Do not let your guard down.”
Black Dragon Jeramis cut in.
Like Calnius, he had only recently become a mature dragon.
One could only enter the Tower after leaving the hatchling stage, so all the dragons participating in this promotion match were roughly the same age.
Red, Black, White, Blue, and Green.
The dragons who had appeared in flashes of light glared at their opponents with ferocious eyes.
The Guardian of the Holy Spring issues a stern warning.
📍 Message: If you let your guard down, you will make a disgraceful spectacle of yourselves. He repeats this emphatically.
📍 Message: Many stars are watching this battle. Keep that in mind.
Dracon Ismenios.
Son of Ares, dragon god of Olympus, and master of the dragon soldiers—he had warned the mature dragons.
The Constellation who had invested the most in this mission was Zeus.
Having been forced to swallow bitter defeat every time he watched Jinho’s exploits, he had chosen the strongest race from a dimension connected to the Tower through Ismenios as their trial opponent.
Humanity, which had recorded poor results in the 60th-floor missions.
Matching them against dragons had required an enormous expenditure of divinity.
“Hmph. To think so many great Constellations would pay such attention to a single mortal.”
Red Dragon Calnius muttered in a voice thick with frustration.
Countless gazes from Constellations poured down upon this place.
It was obvious even without Ismenios’s warning.
Dozens of Constellations at the God-King level and S-rank alone.
And below them, so many more that counting was impossible—all of them watching Jinho.
The dragon race, born with divine power flowing through their veins.
Even they had never received this much attention from the Constellations.
“Let’s crush them.”
“Death to that arrogant mortal!”
“The Constellations will finally turn their eyes to us.”
The dragons radiated killing intent.
Rumble!
The very space trembled from their bloodlust alone.
In terms of martial arts, it was similar to the realm of the Mind Sword, where killing intent alone could harm an opponent.
A race that could spread a will stronger than that of a supreme master using their innate divine power.
That was what a dragon was.
“I’ll go first.”
Red Dragon Calnius stepped forward with heavy strides.
The human who emerged from the opposite side was a South American player.
His entire body was already shaking violently even though the fight hadn’t started yet.
Round 1 begins.
The moment the green barrier separating the two races vanished—
“Mortal. Die where you stand.”
Calnius’s killing intent infused the words.
The mana and divine power stored in his Dragon Heart activated, turning that language into reality.
Power Word Kill.
A spell that surpassed 5-star rank.
An ultimate magic bordering on a ‘blessing’ bestowed by the Constellations.
The player clutched his chest.
His eyes bulged as his mouth opened and closed wordlessly, then his head drooped forward.
“Kahhhahaha. Is this all? How pathetically weak!”
The second opponent charged forward the instant the green barrier disappeared, closing the distance with Calnius.
A movement meant to deny him time to cast Power Word Kill.
Parallel Computation
Fireball x 32
A barrage of fireballs swallowed the charging player whole.
A series of explosions rang out.
When the black smoke cleared, the player’s charred corpse lay sprawled on the ground.
The third and fourth opponents were just as disappointing.
They had unleashed their trump cards from the start, yet they couldn’t even scratch Calnius’s scales.
“To think I was this nervous about facing such a pathetic race.”
Crunch!
His thick tail slammed into a player.
Aura swirled over his red scales.
When he swung it wrapped in aura, the human player died in a single blow.
“Only one remains.”
Grrrr.
Calnius growled lowly as he glared at his final opponent.
Jinho.
The player Ismenios had warned them about, and the super rookie receiving the attention of countless Constellations.
He had deliberately shown overwhelming force from the very beginning with this final opponent in mind.
“Yaaawn.”
Jinho stepped forward with his mouth wide open in a yawn.
Furious flames roared violently in Calnius’s eyes.
“Mortal. You will regret this.”
“You talk too much for someone who’s about to die.”
“You seem to be relying on that barrier of yours, but that ends now.”
Round 5 begins.
The moment the fight began, Calnius’s maw opened wide.
Flames flickered deep in his throat.
“Using his breath right away? That’s beneath his opponent’s level.”
“It might be better to end this quickly since it’s so boring.”
“Hmph. I had expectations because he’s the one receiving the Constellations’ attention, but…”
The other dragons immediately understood Calnius’s intention the moment they saw his posture.
Breath.
The strongest skill of the dragon race.
It converted the mana within their bodies into elemental power, mixed it with the surrounding air, and unleashed it all at once.
The output was enormous due to the massive amount of mana consumed.
And because it was a dragon’s mana, as familiar with the element as a spirit, the power carried in the breath was beyond description.
A breath of flame stronger than any fire-attribute magic wrapped around Jinho.
“It’s over, mortal.”
Calnius was certain of victory.
“Is it really?”
Swoosh!
Until an unknown power sliced his breath cleanly in two.
* * *
Drip. Drip.
Sweat that had formed on his forehead fell to the floor.
“Feels like I just stepped into a dry sauna.”
The air was scorching hot.
Taking a Red Dragon’s breath head-on had left his skin burning.
But that was all.
The True Dragon Armor had perfectly blocked the breath containing the essence of flame.
“Its effectiveness is halved against the dragon race.”
Wow.
If I hadn’t devoured the essence of that Lesser Drake, this might have been a bit annoying.
I hadn’t expected to be matched against dragons in a promotion match.
When I wrapped Dark Fighting Spirit over the True Dragon Armor, I could completely neutralize the destructive power of the breath, which had been suppressed by the concept of ‘same dragon race.’
The only downside was that the intense heat made me sweat.
Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts - 13th Form
Using Yellow Dragon Fang.
A single streak of light descended from above.
The Red Dragon’s full-powered breath was split in half.
A path leading straight to the beast opened up.
Another emotion rose in those eyes that had been gleaming with thick killing intent.
Bewilderment.
He had frozen, unable to process the sudden change in the situation.
“This is why you lizard bastards never learn.”
You never even consider the possibility that you might lose.
Letting your guard down and losing—it’s the same now as it’s always been.
I sprinted down the path carved open by Yellow Dragon Fang.
The dragon, realizing my approach a beat too late, swung a foreleg.
Aura clung to his claws.
The destructive power was enough to cleave a mountain, but it was meaningless if it didn’t hit.
He was only strong thanks to his overwhelming physical ability and mana reserves.
There was no martial learning, no enlightenment in the Red Dragon’s movements.
Nothing but an extension of raw violence.
I read the trajectory of power with Truth Eyes.
Using Winged Great Peng Strike, I deflected the Red Dragon’s hand.
His now completely exposed chest.
Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts - 18th Form
Using Girin Strike.
Both arms thrust forward.
Internal energy mixed with lightning wrapped around my arms, acting like the shaft of a spear.
The moment my fingertips struck the spot where the Red Dragon’s heart lay—
Kwaaaaaang!
The spear strike carrying the lightning of a girin pierced straight through his heart.
The dragon’s eyes widened.
First came doubt.
Then disbelief.
And finally, pure shock.
Thud. The Red Dragon, heart destroyed, could no longer move and collapsed to the floor.
“Next.”
I crooked my finger.