Chapter 104 – Red Dragon’s Lair (10)

10 Seconds later Soldamyr finally opened his mouth after carefully thinking.

“If you think rationally, it’s impossible. But...”

‘Then just remain rational, you gloomy shut-in mage’

Besgoro yelled, but only Sungjin could hear.

“I think there is a chance. In ancient text of every country and every age, it is well known that a Dragon is powerful, but an arrogant creature. If you can find a way to use that to your advantage, you may be able to damage the clothes.”

Soldamyr gave a positive response for once.

“Hmm, really?”

Sungjin realized that he must have wished to fight her, seeing how happy he was to hear that there was a chance. Sungjin turned to look upon her. She had certainly been arrogant all this time.

‘Obviously, it would be impossible to defeat me with even a hundred more of you’

“Of course, if she decides to fight seriously, there is no chance of victory. But seeing her like that, she’s just searching for a source of entertainment.”

Soldamyr was right.

‘Ka ha ha ha! Really? How fun! And a hidden boss... what a pleasing name, Hidden Boss...’

She had been extremely pleased when she found out that the hunters might fight her. Soldamyr continued to explain

“To a powerful Dragon, especially an ancient dragon, their worst enemies are actually boredom and apathy. A Dragon who is thoroughly bored will amuse itself with crazed acts of violence until it is killed by comrades or heroes, and a dragon afflicted with apathy might sleep for tens of thousands of years until it dissolves into mana. If you really do begin to fight her, she will try to entertain herself with you. And perhaps, an opportunity will present itself.”

Sungjin resolved his will upon hearing Soldamyr’s words. The she-dragon had been the most irregular creature he had ever come across.

She grabbed the Hunter’s Cube with her hands. She had said the Hunters had a ‘pitiful fate’. She seemed like a being existing outside the boundary of the Raid, something out of its control.

Of all the NPCs and monsters Sungjin had ever met, she was unique in that she seemed to know something about the raids.

He didn’t know what reward she might give, but whatever it was could most definitely help in bringing the raids to an end.

‘If I die here... then that just means my potential only amounted to this much. I’ll just cheer on the others from the Purgatory.’

Sungjin steeled his resolve as he returned to the others. He told them

“Anyone coming with me?”

“You... you want to try?”

“Are you serious?”

Everyone was surprised at his words, but not one person stepped forward. Sungjin asked one more time.

“I have decided to challenge her. Will no one come with me?”

The hunters continued to look around, but no one responded. It was no surprise since he heard their inner voices earlier.

If everyone came along to take her on together, they might be able to graze against her clothes, but participating would increase the chance of getting themselves killed.

They will die if they are unlucky. This is weighing heavily on their minds.

‘I guess... I am stuck alone in the end...’

Sungjin left behind the others as he headed towards the dragon.

‘Hey, crazy guy’

Besgoro shouted, but Sungjin said to him

“I have already made up my mind, Besgoro”

‘Hey... you’re out of your mind’

“Why not help me, since I’ve already committed myself to it? If you distract me, you only increase the chances of me dying”

Besgoro tried to stop him, but there was nothing more he could do as a spirit. He just shut his mouth again.

“Moon Specter, I’ll rely on you too.”

‘Of course, Master. Please just say the word.’

Sungjin finally stood before the dragon. Standing so close, he felt intimidated. Sungjin closed his eyes.

‘If I die...’

First thing in his mind was Cain. He was not a man, but it was the closest creature he had bonded with since the restart.

Before he had flown past the Lava Fall, (Cain was too large to carry with the Carpet) Cain was returned to his wooden figurine form and sent back to the Ninety Nine Nights Inn. If Sungjin was unable to return to the market tonight, he would be saddened.

Next was people he had befriended through the Raids, such as Franz, Nada, Serin, Mahadas, and others.

‘Well, farewells are an integral part of this Raid anyhow.’

Sungjin opened his eyes while thinking so. Before him was a Dragon in a Human form. Sungjin prepared himself for the last time, using the Star of the Nameless.

“Rename. Master Hunter.”

He changed his title back to Master Hunter. It was the most powerful title he had in his repertoire. He sheathed Moon Specter once more. She would be called forth along with Ghastly Wail.

Instead, he held the Romance of the Three Kingdoms with his right hand. Blood Vengeance would have been better for damage, but damage didn’t matter; he only needed to land a single shot.

Instead, it would be a good idea to prepare one round of magic reflect. Sungjin felt the necklace around his neck, the Yanhurat.

‘I guess... the time to put my life on the line came earlier than I thought.’

An Item he had hardly ever used. An item he had only used in case of emergencies during combat. This time, it was unavoidable.

‘Kill, Kill’

The Necklace which was usually noisily shouting was strangely quiet.

‘What... does it differentiate between people? Like now?’

But it would activate once he gave the word. It was that kind of item. Sungjin finally said to his loyal comrade, Soldamyr.

“Soldamyr, I’ll need your help.”

“Yes, Master.”

“If I die, please tell Cain I’m sorry...”

But he replied with

“I am connected to you with a contract. If you die, I cannot maintain my form.”

“Really?”

Soldamyr replied stoically.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s fight for our lives.”

“Yes, Master.”

Sungjin finally stepped up before the Dragon. She looked at him and asked

“So, are you prepared to fight me?”

Sungjin answered her.

“Yes.”

She glanced at the hunters behind Sungjin.

“So? How many of you will fight me at the same time?”

Sungjin gave her an answer.

“Just I”

She was shocked to hear his answer.

“What?”

Sungjin repeated himself assertively.

“I am going to challenge you alone.”

She narrowed her eyes into slits when she heard him.

“Ohh really? Challenging me alone without any assistance from your comrades. I can’t even tell if you’re brave or foolish... what a puzzling human...”

Her voice trailed off as she spoke, but soon continued

“But no matter. Having the courage to overcome the fear of death is the noblest state for a living being.”

She faced the hunters behind Sungjin and said to them

“Stay out of our fight.”

At her words, the nine hunters disappeared suddenly.

‘You could die just because she said so’

While thinking that Besgoro was probably right, she interrupted his thoughts with a question.

“But will you be okay? You’re almost completely out of mana”

Sungjin was shocked when he heard her.

‘That’s right!’

He was busy preparing his equipment and had forgotten to think about his mana. He had spent nearly all of it at the entrance of the Lava Fall earlier.

‘Low Mana’

He had heard the Operator warn him, but he had let it slip out of his mind because he was too busy searching for Hidden Pieces.

“Ah... please give me a second. I’ll go refill my mana...”

But she gestured.

“No, I’ll do it.”

And with just her utterance, Sungjin’s body gave off a blue burst of light. He felt his energy being replenished. Sungjin asked the Operator,

“Operator, my Mana?”

[At Maximum]

Filling up the Mana of an enemy. She was entirely disinterested in winning or losing. She was only looking forward to how Sungjin might amuse her.

‘But thanks to that... I have a chance.’

She extended her hands out of her robes and said

“Come, mortal.”

At the same time, the Operator gave an announcement.

[Warning! Hidden Boss]

[‘Khal Gal’s Mother’ Ariane has appeared!]

Sungjin immediately shouted

“Substitute reading”

Gourmet’s monocle sparkled once and flew into the air along with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, beginning to read it automatically out loud.

“Cao Cao’s great army pursued deep into the night and reached the fields of Changban.”

It was a familiar passage. It was the same passage as his first Seance, Zhang Fei Yide. Romance of the Three Kingdoms always selected the best passage for the situation.

‘With this... I will be able to seal all her spells for a short duration of time.’

But she was already firing spells his way.

“Eternal Flames of Hell! Inferno.”

The size of her inferno was colossal. It was strong enough to potentially cover the entire cavern in flames. Soldamyr quickly cast a shield using a spell.

“Anti Magic Shield”

But Soldamyr’s spell broke the moment the flames reached it. Seeing that, Besgoro and Sungjin both cast two additional Shields at the same time.

“Anti-Magic Shield”

“Anti-Magic Shield”

But her flames burst through those as well and continued to fly towards Sungjin. Sungjin watched the flames carefully and dodged by tumbling away. Despite flying past three layers of Anti-Magic shield, her inferno was still massive. Sungjin turned to look at the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

‘Hurry...’

But Gourmet’s Monocle was still reading the book.

“But he stared down at the army while blocking the bridge...”

Meanwhile, she flew up into the air and fired another spell.

“Incinerate everything in your path. Fireball.”

It was a Fireball in name only. From Sungjin’s perspective seeing from below, it looked more like a meteor. Soldamyr yelled

“Master!”

For him to yell, he must have judged that there was nothing he could do. It was something he could not manage with only his magic. Sungjin activated Artemio here.

“Reflect Magic”

Artemio began to glow with a purple light. But Sungjin couldn’t help but feel skeptical.

‘Can... something like that be reflected?’

It was under 7th class. It met the requirement for the ability to work, but Sungjin was still unsure if it would work properly. But he didn’t have any room to ponder on the subject. Being hit by that head on would mean instant death.

Sungjin used Artemio to strike against the fireball. Luckily, the meteor-like ball of fire flew backwards, back towards the Dragon.

“Oooh, you survived two of my spells... how fun.”

But she put her hand forth and absorbed the enormous ball of fire. It looked like just about anything was possible for an ancient dragon. There was no damage, but he had earned plenty of time.

“I am Zhang Yide!”

Gourmet’s Monocle successfully completed the Substitute Reading.

[Seance of Zhang Fei Yide activated!]

[Passive skill – Enhance Attack(III), Swift(III) applied.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

New powers flowed into Sungjin’s body. Sungjin immediately ran towards the dragon. But she was more interested in the book than him.

“Oooh that... is that the power of an ancient omnibus which survived the ages? How interesting, how fun”

She laughed as if she was truly enjoying herself. Sungjin on the other hand grit his teeth as he charged forward.