Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Dragons of the Lost World
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In Lost World, dragons were beings in a league of their own, far surpassing monstrosities or divine beasts—not to mention aberrations.
The most common dragon type was the "recluse," slumbering in its lair.
By lore, dragons were prime suspects in the destruction of ancient civilizations, and their lairs were invariably piled high with treasures of immense value.
Such lairs were sometimes discovered alongside ancient ruins, but more often they lay buried underground, making them hard to find.
These recluse dragons could remain undiscovered throughout the entire game, sleeping from start to finish.
Of course, as civilizations advanced, geological surveys or deep-sea explorations might uncover them, but most players saw no reason to wake them.
For the following reasons.
Some recluse dragons, disturbed by external interference or random encounters, would awaken and become "showoffs."
Showoff dragons brimmed with fury at being roused from sleep, contempt for mortals, and baseless malice toward the gods. Dialogue or persuasion was usually impossible.
They vented their emotions through raw action, becoming literal living disasters.
As civilizations grew, nations formed specialized departments to pinpoint dragon locations or predict the paths of awakened showoffs. "Disaster" was no mere metaphor.
There were also "growth-type" hatchlings and rare "atypical" variants with unusual behaviors, but generally, dragons excluding hatchlings ranged from level 70 to 80—far above typical player levels—and were exceedingly hard to kill.
Seong-un said,
"It's a showoff dragon. Some of you might have encountered one before, but rarely among showoffs, they don't step up personally. Instead, they use monstrosities or divine beasts as minions to play god."
Krampus said,
"I don't think I've seen one scheming over such a wide area, though..."
Seong-un said,
"This level of exception isn't that surprising, is it? There's even a plausible explanation. Right now, the only player visible on the Fourth Continent is Shacha. Normally, continents teem with players, so dragons attack on sight. But not this time. With it empty, the dragon's expanding territory like a player would. It's advantageous for dealing with future arrivals."
The players mostly nodded in agreement with Seong-un's explanation.
Krampus said,
"But can we take down a dragon?"
"Well... it'd be close. At least matchlock guns are developed, so it's not impossible."
"If we intervene directly?"
"We could definitely kill it. But..."
Lost World had a concept called causality.
Players—gods—existed "outside causality" within the Lost World.
To pierce that causality and intervene directly required expending the resource "Faith."
However, causality weakened at certain points.
Namely, during player-versus-player fights.
When two players clashed, the one acting first against "in-causality" natural elements suffered heavy Faith penalties.
But the second player, countering an already-intervened opponent, faced lighter penalties as a force opposing an "outside-causality" entity.
Thus, PvP often escalated into mythic battles beyond natural clashes, inflating power rapidly.
But if the opponent was mere in-causality nature, there was little reason to burn Faith under heavy penalties.
For instance, Seong-un had only intervened briefly at critical dramatic moments in such cases.
"Dragons are natural entities."
Aberrations were surprisingly treated as gods—outside causality—but even stronger dragons counted as in-causality. Direct player intervention would guzzle Faith resources.
Facing a dragon was thus more problematic than facing another player.
Jang Wan said,
"This time, though... the situation's a bit different, right?"
Seong-un nodded.
"We can use Gordius."
The Deceiver Gordius was classified as a "parasite" among creations.
Surprisingly, parasites made up a large share of creations. Jang Wan and Wisdom could attach them to boost apostle power or just gather intel. Parasitic creations had many uses in Lost World.
This Gordius, in particular, was versatile for various special purposes among parasites.
'Of course, it's expensive to make, and in normal cases, it's a gamble. The sacrificial Pangolian could have just been crushed between teeth like taffy.'
Seong-un said,
"No guarantees it'll work. Dragons are highly intelligent, and it won't blindly chomp prey like that black panther. Plus, high chance of magic, so we need countermeasures..."
"But if we can just seize control...?"
Seong-un shrugged.
"What more is there to say?"
After their defeat, the Rakshasas—contrary to Basen Rak Orazen's expectations—actively agreed to a prisoner exchange, freeing Pangolians enslaved in other regions.
But it seemed less about maintaining peace with the Pangolians and more about recovering warriors for the next battle.
The Rakshasas showed no intent to meet Pangolian demands.
"No helping it."
Even if Basen desired peaceful resolution, with no dialogue offered, he had no recourse.
King Mago, elevated by the Pangolians, gradually expanded their civilization around Siol.
Katyuru, once wounded, had recovered enough to treat the white spider Hilrob as a fellow guardian.
Thanks to this, worshippers of the All-Gods Temple's deities were slowly emerging.
Mago, mindful of Pangolian aversion to the unfamiliar, didn't actively promote it but accommodated temple followers generously. He even publicly invoked Yacheon's name.
Meanwhile, players used Basen and the exploration team to scout terrain and mobility routes.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—mobility seemed stationary at a considerable distance for now, giving ample time to await the second expedition from Heukrin.
But then, the All-Gods Temple's vast information network across the Fourth Continent detected something unprecedented.
It was the Orinerguri.
More precisely, a race clearly derived from the Orinerguri: the "Oguri."
These sapients, with thick gray fur and vivid yellow broad beaks, lacked wings like most races except Garuda.
Yet the Oguri were flying through the sky.
Seong-un summoned the All-Gods Temple players.
"Players, right? No whispers?"
Runda replied to Seong-un's question,
"No response."
"Where were they spotted?"
"East."
"We let our guard down, assuming no Rakshasa attacks across rivers and mountains."
"No one predicted they'd 'fly' in... But what do we even call those things?"
Seong-un probed lightly,
"Doesn't it look like something from a famous painter's sketch? Pretty similar."
"Hmm."
"Just a sketch."
"Leonardo da Vinci? Da Vinci's helicopter? Those are 'helicopters'?"
Seong-un instructed Wisdom to send a revelation to Siol's eastern outskirts, mustering troops, then magnified the Oguri vehicles.
The fuselage was a skeletal wooden frame to counter air resistance, carrying just two Oguri.
Above their heads whirled fierce spiral rotors, with small auxiliary wings on the sides for stability.
Seong-un affirmed,
"Helicopters... I guess that's the word."
Wisdom chuckled softly, but the tense players missed it.
Krampus said,
"What the hell? How'd helicopters show up already?"
Wisdom manipulated a system window calmly.
"Rubberpunk."
"Rubber?"
"Rubber bands, technically. Rubber-powered. But in Lost World, we usually slap 'punk' on civilizations like that..."
Wisdom snapped her fingers, creating a rubber band.
Godly power could easily craft natural-material crafts.
She placed a single-strand band on the ground, stepped on it, and twisted it one way with her hands.
"Rubber bands have strong elasticity, right? Twisting stores energy. Release it...?"
Letting go, the band unwound rapidly.
"That's the stored energy releasing. With mechanisms, and Lost World's superior-elasticity rubber trees absent on Earth, rubberpunk works."
Seong-un said,
"Explanations later. We're late spotting them. I think those are scouts, but they'll attack. Prepare defenses."
Wisdom replied,
"Preparations are... hmm, done."
Needless to say, Basen, Tione Itimo, and the Pangolians were far more shocked than the All-Gods Temple players.
As a dozen or so wooden helicopters approached Siol, Pangolian commanders swiftly formed dense formations.
Basen, especially, was stunned by the Oguri choppers.
'Flying through the sky?'
Strategic and tactical advantages of flying troops swirled dizzyingly in Basen's mind.
'Hitting flying birds is hard enough. Fighting aerial foes will be tough.'
Basen armed Pangolians with shields against aerial attacks and positioned them on high slopes for potential retreat.
Soon, the Oguri helicopter unit neared.
'Hm? Descending gradually... For attack?'
Basen thought high-altitude strikes safer but less accurate.
'But this puts them in the commanders' range...?'
As Basen pondered, the Oguri choppers opened fire.
Basen shouted,
"Shields up!"
-Clang!
-Thud.
-Ting!
As Pangolians raised iron shields, metallic percussion rang out.
Basen felt a heavy impact on his shield, then something fall away.
'Stones...? Pebbles?'
Fist-sized stones dropped from above would be lethal.
To the unprotected head.
But Pangolians had shields and helmets.
And the stones didn't fall long.
The hail stopped abruptly.
'What?'
Basen lowered his shield, gazing skyward.
The Oguri helicopters floundered, then retreated.
"Aim!"
Basen ordered, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Fire!"
-Boom!
Several rubber-powered helicopters lost control and plummeted helplessly into the forest.