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Dragon.

Heukgu saw something strange.

Something soared into the sky, and it turned out to be a dragon.

The dragon, supposedly obsessed with treasure, was flying towards our group, which was loaded with gold.

Ah, this is a bit…

Jeong Gyeoul’s bizarre journey to the Demon Realm seemed about to end like this.

Not “everyone lived happily ever after,” but more like “everyone got neatly devoured.”

The dragon’s body looked tough at a glance.

No matter how many swords or spears you stabbed into it, it would probably feel like a tiny thorn stuck in its skin.

I could understand the Awakened Ones, Heroes, Monsters, and Villains from novels and comics.

I even laughed off the sound of Demon Realm and Demon Race heads getting smashed.

But… that thing over there can’t be real.

If gods really exist, I want to stab them in the butt.

Even so, I can’t just stand there and die.

Just in case, I shot a weapon with telekinesis.

“Boss! That’s my sword!”

“I know, man.”

The dragon’s size made it seem close, but it was still quite far away.

Firing something that far is almost a one-time deal, so I didn’t want to waste treasure and threw Heukgu’s sword instead.

*Clang—*

Heukgu’s sword hit the dragon’s scales and then fell limply to the ground.

Not even a scratch? That’s just unfair.

Though there was no scratch, the dragon seemed angry at being hit by a sword.

It flew much faster than before.

“…Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

“Go! I said go! Run! If we get caught, we’re dead!”

“Let’s go! Everyone, full speed to Shaitaan!”

An unexpected chase began.

If caught, it’s not just about losing a name tag.

Our heads would be ripped off.

Our bodies would be separated.

Maybe Heukgu’s sword was just cheap.

If we throw the treasures we brought this time, it might be different.

Or maybe it has strong defense against slashing attacks.

If I use the Demon King Punch, maybe its insides would turn into a martial arts novel.

Or maybe it’s resistant to physical attacks.

If we keep pouring magic, we might eventually kill it…

But.

All those methods would just make it angrier.

And if it gets angrier, it’ll get faster and more violent.

What if it hits me with that power?

I’d become Jeong Gyeoul ver. 1/2.

If we reach Shaitaan, the capital of Satan’s territory, the almighty Satan will do something about it.

I decided to run with that belief.

But…

“Boss! It’s coming at an incredible speed!”

“…I’ll try to buy some time, so just keep running and don’t stop.”

“Boss! What are you going to do?”

If I’m this close to becoming a half-Jeong Gyeoul with my head and body separated, it’s a different story.

I gave the order not to stop the carriage and jumped onto the roof.

It seemed like less than a minute before that flying dragon would meet me.

I took out some weapons from the cargo cart and floated them behind me, waiting for the dragon.

“Kwaaaaaaah!”

Whether it was angry because a human threw a sword at it or because something blocked its path…

Anyway, it seemed really pissed.

The dragon didn’t slow down, trying to hit me at full speed.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

I gained altitude to take the high ground above the dragon.

Isn’t it common sense that higher altitude is advantageous in aerial combat?

*Clang—*

Weapons plunged down from above, applying the principle of propulsion.

*Clang clang clang—*

More than ten weapons were fired in sequence.

It felt like watching missiles being launched from an Apache or Cobra.

“Krrrrrrrrrrr!”

Even though it’s not the strongest dragon, the Transparent Dragon, its roar was a bit peculiar.

Anyway, the dragon, emitting a fierce aura, opened its mouth.

“…?”

Is it going to breathe fire?

If its breath can melt gold, we’re in big trouble.

I looked at its mouth with worried eyes…

*Crunch—*

“…!”

This crazy guy was catching the weapons I threw with its mouth and chewing them.

Of course, since more than ten weapons were fired at once, it couldn’t eat all of them.

It ate about three.

The rest ended up like Heukgu’s sword.

They hit the scales but didn’t leave any meaningful damage.

Though they were definitely better swords than Heukgu’s, as the scales were slightly dented.

It ate some and just tanked the rest.

At least, it seemed like we’d need to stab all the weapons from the treasure vault to even see the dragon’s blood.

“…What a rip-off.”

But there’s still hope.

The dragon stopped moving during that process.

“Dragon! That was me who threw those! Annoyed? Want to rip me apart? Catch me if you can!”

“Kwaaaaaaah!”

After taunting the dragon, I flew in the opposite direction of the carriage.

The dragon, roaring with an incredible noise…

Completely ignored me.

“…?”

The dragon, not even pretending to follow, flew towards the carriage.

“That lizard bastard!”

I quickly turned in mid-air and started chasing the dragon.

The chase resumed with the roles reversed.

“Stop right there, dragon!”

*Clang— Clang clang—*

I kept throwing weapons and casting all sorts of magic, but nothing worked.

“This is cheating!”

If a top predator that no attack works on comes for my treasures, what do I do?

1. Give the treasure.

2. Give the treasure.

3. Give the treasure.

“Absolutely not, I can’t give it, 4. Buy time and hand it over to the Lords.”

Since the Lord’s Meeting wasn’t completely over, they should still be in Shaitaan.

If we can just make it to Shaitaan, we can get help from the Lords.

In exchange for a few treasures, maybe.

No, wait.

I should be the one receiving rewards for the glory and honor of hunting a dragon.

I came up with a devilish idea, like a demon crying over losing its job or asking me to teach them a trick to kill the dragon.

Wah, I’m baby Jeong Gyeoul.

The dragon is scary.

‘If you can’t handle it, then don’t.’

I planned to pass it to the Lords and just watch.

To protect my treasures until then, I need to buy time.

To do that, I shouldn’t be making weak attacks from behind that don’t even deal damage.

Using the propulsion principle on my feet, I shot forward at incredible speed.

In an instant, I overtook the dragon and caught up to the carriage, landing on its roof.

“Boss! What’s going on?”

“I tried to stop it, but I almost got eaten.”

“Whaaaaaat?!”

“The boss lost?!”

Heukgu and Heukrang were shocked to hear that I had been beaten.

“Yeah, not even a scratch. I can’t think of a way to win.”

“…Then what do we do now?”

“Are we going to die leaving these treasures behind…?”

It’s like winning the lottery after a lifetime of hardship, then dying in a car accident on the way to claim the prize.

That’s exactly the expression they had.

“There’s only one way to buy time until we reach Shaitaan.”

“If we head to the capital, they’ll solve it somehow! Whatever it is, let’s do it!”

“Right, boss! If it means saving our lives and those treasures, anything…”

“We might not even keep those treasures.”

“…Huh?”

“Watch this.”

My carriage is as big as a few cargo carts combined.

Of course, except for the space where I sit, it’s filled with treasures.

I took out something bulky.

“Huh? What are you going to do with that?”

“Ah, are you using it as a shield? The boss’s noble sacrifice! I won’t forget… Aaaah! Why are you throwing it!”

“Shut up and watch.”

The dragon caught the gold ingot I threw.

As expected, the dragon loves gold.

As food.

What kind of ridiculous fuel efficiency is that? But that’s not my problem.

I wondered if there was a more efficient way and took out another gold ingot.

*Clang— Kwaaaaaah—*

I threw the gold ingot like a weapon.

Not at the dragon, but at the ground near it.

As expected, the dragon turned to catch the gold ingot, not wanting to miss it.

It swallowed it in one gulp and started chasing the carriage again.

When an ordinary person encounters a bear, the way to survive isn’t playing dead, climbing a tree, or pretending to be bigger than the bear.

‘Run faster than the person next to you.’

In other words, if there’s enough food, the chances of survival are higher.

“Heukgu, Heukrang. Did you see that?”

“…What did we see? You throwing away our treasures?”

“…We saw the treasures decreasing in real-time.”

Maybe because I kept throwing gold ingots, their voices sounded weak. They seemed to be blaming me.

I’m doing all this to save you guys, you idiots.

Frankly, I could just grab a few treasures and run.

I’m faster than the dragon.

But I’m going through all this trouble, and these guys don’t appreciate it.

“If you don’t open your eyes, I’ll leave you behind?”

“Boss! Just say the word!”

“What is it! What do you want us to do!”

I quickly revived their spirits and continued.

“…I’m not asking you to do anything. Just don’t cry.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“From now on, it’s a war of attrition.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I grabbed a treasure and threw it.

“W-wait! Are you going to throw all of them?”

“Wait, boss! At this rate, there won’t be any treasures left by the time we reach Shaitaan!”

That’s true.

At this rate of treasure depletion… we won’t last an hour.

“So I have to suffer a bit.”

If I throw them in a way that’s hard to catch, it should work.

***

The ongoing commotion made the Lords in the conference tower start to feel something was off.

“…What’s going on outside? It’s too noisy, it’s disturbing my sleep.”

“All seven Lords are here, so it can’t be a war. Is it a natural disaster?”

“I’d like to help, but if it’s too much trouble, I’ll stay here. I’ll go check it out first.”

Since it was his territory, Satan went out to investigate the cause of the commotion.

“Well, go ahead. I’ll just sleep here… What’s this now?”

“Last time I missed it, but this time I’ll catch it even if it costs twenty times as much.”

“At this point, I should go check it out, whatever it is.”

Jeong Gyeoul’s magical energy hit the conference tower.

Because the guards didn’t open the gates, he had to use all his power to stop the dragon.

Even if something happened, since it wasn’t their territory, they didn’t want to bother.

But sensing Jeong Gyeoul’s energy, the Lords followed Satan out.

As soon as they left the conference room, what the Lords saw was…

“…A dragon? There are still dragons in the Demon Realm?”

“Wow, he’s holding off a dragon alone? Should I call thirty times the usual… I’ll go bankrupt paying salaries.”

“After all, it’s just an inferior species that went extinct. I could easily stop that too.”

“Go try it.”

The Lords were more excited watching Jeong Gyeoul fight the dragon than they were during the battle with Asmodeus.

“Kwaaaaaaah—”

“Ho, so attacks like that don’t even leave a scratch?”

“It’s tougher than I thought. It’ll sell for a fortune.”

“If I were standing there, I would’ve broken a few scales with that attack. Too bad.”

“…I said go try it.”

Lucifer was desperately ignoring Leviathan’s words, and Mammon was calculating the value of the dragon’s corpse.

Then.

*Clang— Clang—*

Jeong Gyeoul started throwing gold towards where the Lords were gathered.

“What’s that human doing now?”

“…Gold ingots?”

“There are rings and necklaces too.”

They flew at incredible speed, but there was no way the Lords would be hurt by that. They casually caught what Jeong Gyeoul threw.

“Is this the price of admission?”

“His actions are incomprehensible.”

Just as they were baffled by Jeong Gyeoul’s antics…

“Kwaaaaaaah!”

The dragon fighting Jeong Gyeoul flew towards the seven Lords.

“…Why is it coming this way?”

“……”

Even the Lords couldn’t help but be stunned.

 

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