Junhyuk had done everything he could. After the civilians were rescued, it was time to evacuate them, so he returned to Guardians HQ with the rest of the powered people.
Junhyuk wanted to be briefed on what had happened, so he went straight to the meeting room. After the monster areas were destroyed, the countriesâ delegates all returned to their own countries. He entered the meeting room with Sarang and Lucy. Eunseo and Brigadier Johnson were already there.
Eunseo spoke up first.
âYouâve done well.â
âI just did my job.â
âThe government will compensate you for your work.â
Junhyuk wasnât interested in that. He was worried about more dragons showing up. Looking at Lucy, he asked, âWhat about the casualties?â
Lucy sighed and answered, âOne expert activated a new power. Seven novices became experts. Eight experts and thirty-seven novices died.â
Kalgroan hadnât targeted the novices and experts, but they were rather weak in comparison. All powered people were wearing armor made out of monster materials, but novices and experts had rather low health.
Their forces had been hit hard. Thirty percent of them had died. Even so, Junhyuk had a new champion and seven more experts to train.
Sighing heavily, he said, âWe should compensate the families of the dead ones. We hadnât really trained much when the S-ranked monster showed up.â
Johnson said, âThe new dimensional tear brought a dragon, a monster more powerful than any weâve faced before. So, my country is sending the U.S. Navyâs Seventh Fleet to be stationed in South Korea.â
The American military was equipped with monster decomposition liquid, and that might help, but that was only in theory.
A-ranked monsters couldnât be killed with decomposition liquid, and dragons were S-ranked existences. In essence, the American fleet wouldnât be much help, but the Americans could help with rescue and evacuation procedures, so they would make a difference.
With that covered, Junhyuk would be able to fight without worrying about the civilians around him.
Sighing, he said, âIâm not sure if South Korea will be the only place with dragons.â
The managers could send dragons to any country in the world. Johnson grimaced at the statement.
âWeâll develop dragon-hunting weapons from the resources we gathered today.â
Junhyuk replied, âIâll help with anything you need.â
âThanks for the offer.â
Junhyuk turned to Eunseo and said, âIâll go meet the new champion and experts.â
âSure. Iâll take care of the aftermath.â
After Junhyuk walked out with Lucy and Sarang, he got a call through his communication orb.
âAre you still alive? Have you killed the dragon?â
Looking at Gongon, Junhyuk nodded heavily.
âWe did.â
âYouâve officially killed a warm-blooded dragon,â Gongon said astonished, but Junhyuk shook his head.
âI donât want to talk about it. I almost died.â
âBut you killed the dragon?â
âI did.â
âWhat was the dragonâs name?â
âKalgroan. He said heâd been imprisoned by the managers for hundreds of years.â
âKalgroan? The title of Kal means that he was a powerful dragon. He was imprisoned by the managers?â
âRight. He said he was hunted down.â
âHunted?!â
Gongon looked both worried and furious, and Junhyuk said, âKalgroan wasnât a hero, so I donât know anything else about him aside from him saying that he was imprisoned for hundreds of years.â
âYeah? I can look into his past.â
âIf possible, find out how many dragons have been imprisoned by the managers. I want to know that.â
âSure. Iâll find out.â
Junhyuk smiled and asked, âDo you know of anything that can pierce dragon scales?â
Gongon shook his head and answered, âOther dragons can do it, but the dragon attacking has to do so at great speed.â
âReally?â
Humans would use the dead dragonâs body to craft weapons that would be able to kill dragons, and Elise would also come up with something to increase speed.
Junhyuk disconnected with Gongon and headed to the training facility. The newly powered-up people were already there.
Kushuma, from India, had become a champion. Junhyuk looked at the experts. There were six of them standing in front of him.
He turned to Lucy and asked, âWhereâs the seventh expert?â
Lucy cocked her head and said, âIâm the seventh.â
âYou?!â
Junhyuk was a little surprised by the turn of events, and Lucy continued, âMy new power can help us.â
âWhat is it?â
âI can debuff and nullify an enemyâs power.â
âDebuff a power?â
âI can make it weaker. Itâs the only reason I survived back there.â
Lucy had almost been killed. She had risked her life in that battle, which had enabled her to acquire a new power, a power that was very useful.
Junhyuk said, âThe number of casualties was high, but we have a new group of higher-tier powered. Weâll do better next time.â Turning to Lucy, he added, âGather all the data from the battle and come up with a new strategy.â
âYes, sir!â
âAnd please, work harder, everyone.â
People who had trained with him that morning had died, so everyone was tense. He bid them goodbye and went to see Elise. The dragonâs corpse was resting on her yard.
Elise walked toward him. An iron soldier was working as her assistant. It was holding a scale.
âHowâs the body?â
âIâve just started examining it.â
She would dissect the corpse and research it. It was a huge task.
âI canât do this by myself, so I called for your underlings at GST.â
âHow about calling people from Guardians?â
âIâve done that already. Weâll all work together on it.â
âRight.â
Junhyuk told her about his conversation with Gongon.
âDragon scales can be pierced by dragon claws.â
âYeah?â
Elise called Gongon herself, and they talked using heavy technical jargon.
âWhat are they talking about?â he asked Sarang.
âThey are using magitek words.â
âThatâs not Korean, right?â
âThereâs no Korean equivalent, no.â
Junhyuk sighed and shook his head. Elise kept talking to Gongon for a long while, pacing constantly. Suddenly, she beckoned him over.
Everyone followed Elise to her lab. She was still talking to Gongon when she turned to Junhyuk.
âYou should listen to Gongon.â
Gongon appeared on a monitor. He looked incredibly frustrated.
âI didnât want to do this, but I must tell you how to kill a dragon. Elise can use magitek to kill dragons.â
âHow?â
âBy crafting weapons from the dragonâs bones. Thatâs your best bet. It only requires a few crafting techniques, so itâs the simplest way.â Gongon wrote a rune formation across the air and continued, âCraft weapons out of the bones with a sharpness spell. That way, youâll be able to pierce the scales. But, youâll need to figure out how to nullify the dragonâs force field on your own.â
After some thought, Junhyuk said, âWe got a new expert, and her power debuffs and nullifies an an enemyâs power. Would she be able to dispel a dragonâs force field?â
âI have to see the power first, but in theory, itâs possible.â
Junhyuk nodded, and Gongon thought of something else then, âDo you have a lot of powered people?â
âNot many, but we have some.â
âResearch their powers first. They might hold more than they know.â
âYou mean that they might have dormant powers?â
âIn the same way that dragons can cast magic with scrolls.â
It would be revolutionary if humans had dormant powers. Ensnaring and debuff powers could be extremely useful.
Junhyuk turned to Elise, and she shook her head.
âI am not capable of figuring that out right now. Weâll probably have to use the dimensional merchant for that.â
Junhyuk agreed, âMaybe we can find powers that can only be used on Earth.â
There was a strength difference between dimensional powers and powers that would work only on Earth. He didnât have the gold for the merchant now, but he was willing to invest on anything that helped them fight S-ranked monsters.
He smiled at Gongon and said, âThanks. I think weâll be able to handle dragons now.â
Gongon was very happy to hear that from him.
âDonât expect too much. Youâll get another dragon sooner than you expect.â
âYou shouldnât talk that way.â
Gongon covered his mouth with his claw and said, âSorry. The things we say become reality. Youâre right.â
Junhyuk sighed.
âWeâll do our best in our preparations. We know managers can hunt them, so weâll face more dragons.â
There would still be collateral damage from the battles, but Junhyuk was thinking he could kill them once they showed up.
Gongon said, âItâs a problem that the managers have hunted dragons. Weâll run our own investigation into the matter.â
The dragons would file an official complaint against the managers, which would help.
âThanks.â