Chapter 241
Chapter 242
“The Kraken is dead! The fight is over!”
As much as I’d like to say that, just because the Kraken is dead doesn’t mean the cursed Bone Dragon will fall asleep or ascend once more.
Yeon-woo’s body had become completely immobile due to the backlash from attempting to cross a line, leaving the rest to face the Bone Dragon on their own…
‘Is it going to be okay…?’
The Bone Dragon seemed somewhat weakened from the fight with the Kraken, but the Dragon Knight was the real issue.
Although the Dragon Knight had delivered a powerful blow to the Kraken, it was ultimately their own mana that had been consumed. From now on, the fight would rely on the Demon King’s curse as fuel.
More than anything, there was uncertainty about whether Edward, who was resting on deck, would actively engage in the battle against the Bone Dragon.
He would join in, but now that things had come to this, he might take an opportunity to attack the Bone Dragon’s Wish Orb from behind.
‘But where did he leave the Wish Orb, anyway?’
Still, that guy wouldn’t give up easily. He’d believe he had hidden it somewhere, and there was no way he’d just shrug off the opportunity to break through the Master’s wall right in front of him.
“My head hurts…”
“Your head hurts?! What should we do, Captain?! Is there no headache medicine here?!”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry, Nea.”
“Waaah, don’t die, Dad…”
“I’m sorry, I’m not dying, I messed it all up…”
This was why one had to be careful with every word. Yeon-woo, having vividly learned the truth that one should think before speaking, lay still like a corpse.
He had attempted to move his body absentmindedly, only to find it completely unresponsive…
At least he could move his mouth. Thank goodness for that; what would he have done if he couldn’t even manage to open it?
However, it was a truly bizarre sense of powerlessness. It didn’t feel like he couldn’t move because of pain; rather, it felt as if the very strength that should have been there had simply evaporated.
It felt as if he had truly become a corpse. His body, his muscles… no, it was like his cells themselves were meeting with death.
“I’ll never do this again.”
“Good thought, but honestly, I don’t think you’ll keep that promise.”
“Unbelievable, a father who isn’t trusted.”
Nea chuckled and gently patted Yeon-woo’s forehead. Her cold hand felt nice. Although the rain had stopped, the dark clouds were still visible through her pale fingers.
“I wonder if it’ll be okay.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean what? That dragon. I’m worried about how it’ll turn out with the remaining strength.”
“Are you worried?”
“Of course. The dragon might be running out of steam, but the Dragon Knight isn’t. It’s going to start rampaging soon….”
Seeing Yeon-woo mumble with concern, Nea smiled softly. Really, there was no helping it. Just witnessing him worry about others at a time like this was enough to tug at her heartstrings.
“Well, there’s no choice. I have to remove the worries for my worry-prone lover.”
“Uh, that wasn’t my intention.”
“Don’t worry, just wait. Now, shall I put your head down?”
“Guhuk.”
Nea carefully lowered Yeon-woo’s head from her lap to the floor.
In the process, there was a little accident where the back of Yeon-woo’s head met the deck with a thud, but it passed with a light yelp.
“Shar, Tae-oh, can you take care of Yeon-woo for a bit?”
“Got it!”
“Communication is good.”
Tae-oh used some kind of military term. Leaving those three behind, Nea headed toward the bow of the ship.
At the bow, Kim Hang-po was retrieving a harpoon and turned around.
“Sorry, could you move aside?”
“…Uh, sure.”
Kim Hang-po was taken aback by the casual interruption from a woman who looked to be around twenty, but he stepped aside.
There are many unique individuals among the new-generation hunters, so he just assumed it was an extension of that. Kim Hang-po’s broad-mindedness was evident.
“──Can you hear me?”
*
It was good that he had stepped forward to show a cool side to his junior, but as a result, his body was no longer under his control.
‘Did I act too hastily?’
Thinking back, if he turned against them because of that blow, it would be even more troublesome. But it had seemed urgent. Shouldn’t he have helped…?
In the endless dark, the Dragon Knight was having such thoughts. An infinite darkness. The abyss was gnawing at her body. In times past, she could have flipped the situation; however, the current Dragon Knight lacked the strength to do so.
If only it would help. I hope you remember my existence.
After all, she was at the end of her life. It wasn’t that she didn’t have a desire to live, but she didn’t want to live to the point of devouring another’s life.
Quietly ending her life like this, she thought that when suddenly, one side of the Dragon Knight’s vision began to distort. Like a pair of scissors cutting through, cracks started appearing in a zigzag pattern.
“What the hell.”
Startled, the Dragon Knight adjusted her posture in the air. She didn’t know what was happening, but if the Demon King had come to take her soul, she had to stop that at all costs.
However, what emerged from the crack was a dinky little snake. No, it was more like a dragon…!
“Greetings, contractor.”
“…What was your name again? You, the dragon I contracted with?”
“You can’t even remember my name? What a sad thing it is.”
With its tiny hands, the Dragon Protector, who pushed through the crack and entered, jokingly remarked that it didn’t matter because, after all, it wasn’t even its name to begin with.
Was it really something that looked like this? The bone structure looked quite menacing.
While the Dragon Knight was lost in thought, she shook her head. No, what was she thinking in this situation?
“How did you get in here? We’re both trapped here.”
“I received help from outside. In fact, unlike you, I was feigning cooperation. Isn’t the one called the Demon King a bit naive?”
“…Huh? Wait, so all this time I was acting crazy due to the curse, and you were just pretending to be insane?”
“I was bound to win the Best Actor award. Well, thanks to that, a way out has now opened, so it’s not a bad outcome.”
The Dragon Knight scoffed at the dragon, who casually stroked its beard while saying that. It spoke so nonchalantly, but the Dragon Knight understood the implications of those words.
“Are you really okay? I may not know much about dragons, but that sounds….”
“If I thought it was a bad idea, would I have made this choice?”
The Dragon, adorned with a pleasant smile at that, left the Dragon Knight in a daze, unable to look away. The idea that it had cooperated with the Demon King and pretended to do so was far from simple.
Especially with someone like the Demon King, who mastered… necromancy.
Dragons and Wyverns are different. A Wyvern is referred to as such from the time it hatches, while the corporeal form of a Dragon is called an Imugi rather than a dragon.
This is because the species known as a dragon can only reach that noble realm after a long period of training as an Imugi.
While a dragon governs nature with absolute power, a Wyvern is the ultimate natural being through transcendent spirit.
“…You’ve truly stopped being a dragon. Are you really okay?”
“Haha.”
In response to the Dragon Knight’s words, the dragon laughed, finding something deeply amusing, a laugh that bubbled up from deep within.
It was utterly incomprehensible. While she was desperately trying to protect even this tiny soul, that snake had thoughtlessly discarded its pure soul and willingly corrupted it.
“I thought I was the most pitiful in the world, but it seems there’s another poor soul out there.”
In a playful manner, the dragon stroked its beard and spoke in a serious voice. The Dragon Knight couldn’t understand that remark. Another pitiful person? What the heck was that supposed to mean?
“Unlike me, who received a name from another, you, a wanderer of the other world, never received any name at all. I feel sorry for you.”
“…What are you suddenly talking about? What do you even get from pitying me?”
The Dragon Knight frowned. She felt disgusted. How could it feel pity? What was it, after all?
She was a hero. Called the Dragon Knight, was the hope of a world. If she were to show sympathy for this world, that was one thing; she wasn’t in a position to receive sympathy.
“That’s precisely why. They say a hero saves a world, but after dedicating your life to saving the world, you’re reborn by some impertinent fool. It’s only right to feel sympathy.”
As the dragon said that, a smile flickered in its eyes. A purple aura swirling around its chest felt ominous.
It would prove to be an incredible pain. But still, the dragon was smiling. It was as if it were consoling a lost child.
“If a hero saves the world, then someone must save the hero. If the hero provides sympathy for the world, then someone must provide sympathy for the hero. Therefore, I shall dedicate everything I have to saving you.”
The dragon’s belly swelled up. It spat out something round and radiant, which slowly floated above the Dragon Knight’s head.
“It’s okay not to give anything back. Just live as your heart desires.”
The Wish Orb. The crystallization of all the training and time it took to become a dragon melted into the Dragon Knight’s body.
*
A brilliant light erupted. The luminous source was the body of the Dragon Knight, who had collapsed beneath the dragon.
Muscles began to grow over the bones. Flesh began to sprout. Fur, nails, the elements comprising a human enveloped the bones.
Edward, who stood blankly by, let out a scream.
“…Oh no. No, no, that’s mine…!!”
He had to interrupt that process. Although puzzled by the sudden turn of events, Edward realized that it was the power of the Wish Orb.
A miracle that reverses life and death. There couldn’t be any other artifact capable of causing such a phenomenon besides the Wish Orb present here.
Hastily, Edward’s body, wrapped in wind, tried to move, but it wouldn’t obey. He swayed and tilted. The control over his mana was failing him.
Edward’s burning gaze pointed in one direction. There was no way he could be failing in mana control. Therefore, the answer was simple.
“Don’t interfere, neither human nor beast…!!”
“Hahaha, isn’t this a delightful scene, old man? Don’t interfere, please.”
Divine Dragon Wind Manipulator.
The technique said to have been used by the Master of the Dragon at the Battle of Red Cliffs, a manipulation of the flow of wind in a physical sense.
The rightful successor to the Master of the Dragon was grinning behind the old man, waving his fan with a smile. The displeasure hidden behind that smile was a shade too sharp to be believed as the always gentle Seong-ryong.
(To be continued in the next episode)
