So, What's Its Name?
The final battlefield of the Great War, Guryongneung.
This place, where nine dragons—the worst monsters imaginable—had gathered, was called hell, just like Sicily Island with the metal giant Talos, or Australia's coastal waters where Leviathan had devoured an entire continent, erasing Sydney forever.
Modern hunter historians and the world's top raid tacticians rated the success of the Guryongneung raid as little short of a miracle.
"There are several reasons the Guryongneung raid succeeded, but the most important ones boil down to three."
Kang Moo-hyuk held up one finger.
"First, dragons don't help each other."
It seemed counterintuitive yet utterly obvious.
Though called "dragonkin" and lumped into one race, each dragon was its own independent species. The category was just a human convenience.
In fact, dragons devoured each other's bones, flesh, hearts, and blood to inherit power, making them natural predators of one another.
Indeed, there had never been another case like Guryongneung, where nine dragons clustered together—not in the early Great War, nor after.
"Second, the Dragon Harpoon."
The Dragon Slayers Guild's treasure, the unique artifact Dragon Harpoon.
It vanished after the Guryongneung raid, but its power was enough to drag even sky-flying dragons crashing to earth.
No wonder the current Dragon Slayers Guild couldn't let go and had developed a downgraded version.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the Dragon Harpoon made the Guryongneung raid possible.
"Third, the allied forces of top hunters from every nation."
Though Korean hunters were betrayed at the raid's end, eight of the dragons—excluding the first and last, Tiamat—fell to the elite hunters of Korea, China, Japan, Russia, North America, and Europe, backed by thousands of veterans.
"None of which we can use now."
Seong Seon-je frowned.
Despite advanced tactics, refined gear and formations, and more powerful, diverse skills than during the Great War, the dragon in Khabarovsk looked impossible to take down.
Hunters might be strong, but they were still human. Monsters were monsters. To fight them, humans had to band together tightly.
But as power grew, so did hunters' arrogance and greed, loosening alliances.
In a way, it was regression.
"No Dragon Harpoon anyway, and with just one dragon, we don't need to lure it away from interfering kin like at Guryongneung. But we absolutely need that last factor to even dream of pulling off a raid."
"You're worried about the dragon's mana, right, Commander Kang?"
"Yes. Give it time, and monsters drawn by its mana will turn into guardians defending its nest."
Dragon mana was special. It bewitched most monsters effortlessly.
The problem was Khabarovsk's ruins bordering the Makyung. Beasts that tasted dragon mana would swarm in.
Then Khabarovsk would become a dragon's lair, and the polluted mana from clustered monsters would expand the Makyung further.
"If a dragon's lair forms, every city and village within 100 km will need to evacuate far away."
"Monsters will fill the voids, the Makyung spreads more, defense lines stretch thin, hunter density drops, and some point gets breached. Vicious cycle."
Seong Seon-je murmured the worst-case scenario, echoing Kang Moo-hyuk.
This came from a week of grueling simulations by their brains trust, the worst outcome of their planning.
Joo Se-ah, beside them, sighed at the screen showing 179 simulation results.
Successes: 3
Win Rate: 1.67%
"Even those three successes came at the cost of 90% of our hunter forces—forced fits. No words for it."
Even with an S-rank like herself deployed, victory eluded them.
Joo Se-ah regretted her lack of dedicated gear. She had weapons left at Slayer Guild, but only one usable unique-grade sword.
Pathetic compared to foreign S-ranks draped in uniques.
'Never lacked for gear before.'
She was a hunter whose body was armor, fists her weapons.
But against dragons, high-grade equipment came to mind.
Shaking off regrets for what she didn't have, she said,
"Fair enough. Guryongneung mobilized way more S-ranks. Me alone won't change shit. Unless other S-ranks pitch in."
"That's even less likely, Guild Master."
An S-rank all-star team?
Kang Moo-hyuk was skeptical.
'We're struggling just to form a multinational dragon raid org. Gathering S-ranks? Dream on.'
The situation was dire.
Russia and China had been bleeding over Makyung gates until yesterday.
Japan, salivating over Makyung entry, had briefly sided with Korea but fumed after Kang Moo-hyuk deliberately excluded them post-Kamenisky's intervention.
Plus Japan's past betrayal and history of harassing Korean hunters made trust impossible.
'Same with Korea and China. Sinuiju, Tumen River collapse, Shenyang gate seizure, Sim Wol assassination. Bad blood solidified. Cooperation's dead.'
China started it, but Korea's retaliation crippled them.
They'd be lucky not to spit curses over a joint front. Gather them, and knives would fly.
Indeed, China's hunter authorities overreacted to Korea's Guild Cooperation Office feelers, refusing talk.
"So this raid's fucked."
"For now, the dragon's static in Khabarovsk—breathing room. But we need countermeasures. Russia, China, Japan are all plotting solo."
Seong Seon-je inwardly clicked his tongue at Kang Moo-hyuk's words, recalling today's intel.
'Khabarovsk is Russian soil. After losing a city, they're blocking anyone from poking the dragon—not even recon for now.'
The situation had shifted from the dragon's emergence a week ago.
Russia, panicked by the city's erasure, reversed info-sharing to total blackout.
Simple reason: Don't wake the sleeping dragon.
Post-destruction, the dragon went dormant. Dragons burned massive energy with their size and power, sleeping deeply after big efforts.
Don't poke the bear—or dragon.
No raid prep? Don't provoke till ready, they warned.
"Nations won't unite, raid's off. Dragon's lair inevitable. The four Far East powers live with a ticking bomb in the Makyung."
As Seong Seon-je said, the dragon was a live bomb.
He ended the meeting here. TF team done.
Reports would share, but poor results meant reference only.
Now, plan for worst-case.
To lighten the mood, Seong Seon-je shifted topics.
"Oh, right—in today's Russian announcement, they gave the Khabarovsk dragon a codename."
"Busy naming the beast that trashed their city. A week for one name? You'd think they consulted a naming oracle."
"Your sarcasm's sharp as ever, Slayer Guild Master. Go easy on the gut-shot guys. Some folks care about that shit."
"So, what's its name?"
Joo Se-ah grumbled. Seong Seon-je read from the copied Russian statement.
"Zmey Gorynych."
"Zmey Gorynych... Heh, humans are hilarious."
"What's so funny?"
Do Dae-cheol cautiously asked, irked by Baek Gwi's sneer.
"Think about it. Monsters are otherworldly. Yet codenames always pull from local myths or culture. Funny attaching familiar names to alien horrors we ain't bonding with."
True enough. Famous bosses often got names from feature-inspired myths.
Talos, Leviathan right off the bat.
Plagiarizing Greek myths or Old Testament? Admitting humanity's imagination drought.
"Pure comedy."
Zmey Gorynych was a Slavic myth dragon with a headcount in multiples of three.
Spit fire, wielded mighty powers, kept water nearby to cool its scorching body.
'Fits too perfectly—spot-on name.'
The Khabarovsk dragon matched: fire-breather, three heads, dragon skills galore, coiled in the Amur River.
What better codename?
"Name's whatever—the dragon's turned toward Russia. Korea's lucky, we're screwed. No excuse to pull back now."
"True. Off original plan. Second best?"
"Other options?"
"People or orgs link when needs align. Original plan: gate boss ravages northern Korea, we hero-return helping."
"So, what 'help' now...?"
"No brawn needed—time for words."
"Contact Korean gov?"
"Those idiots don't listen. Better someone with open ears."
"Who...?"
"Heard Kang Moo-hyuk gets it. Send word there."
"What message?"
Do Dae-cheol puzzled—they had no cards he saw.
Baek Gwi grinned.
"Yeokcheon Guild. Tell 'em we spill Huanglong Guild's dirt and broker a deal."
"Who? Do Dae-cheol? Never heard the name..."
Kang Moo-hyuk never forgot a face, recalled every voice. Unknown meant no meeting, low-profile hunter.
Yi Suk-young added on the guild contact.
"Used North Korean dialect."
"Sinuiju line?"
"Yeokcheon Guild. Says they got proof of Huanglong Guild's Makyung shit—wanna meet soon, passed to Commander."
Kang Moo-hyuk pulled Yeokcheon intel instantly.
'Beef with Huanglong? Founded fighting them, so holding dirt ain't weird...'
One snag.
Yeokcheon dipped into Sinuiju too.
Rival guilds collabbed sometimes, but China's hunter opacity raised flags.
'Enemy or ally—who cares. Meet 'em. Tie off Huanglong loose ends, path clears.'