Chapter 96

“It’s impossible to fight a monster like that.”

Though he never wanted to admit it, the moment he saw the dragon, Roland became inwardly certain of that.

Anyone would have thought the same.

…Just look at this scene.

As if mocking Roland’s thoughts, three beings were fighting the dragon. A sight hard to believe with one’s own eyes. Yet it was truly happening.

Kagagak—!

The dragon’s claws raked across the dirt as they swept toward Woojin. An attack that seemed to scour the ground in broad arcs. It looked impossible to evade.

In response, Woojin instead hurled himself toward the oncoming claws. An act no different from a suicide attempt. A moment later, the dragon’s claws slashed once through the spot where Woojin had been standing.

And yet, strangely enough, Woojin rose again without any major wounds. Roland, who had been watching the situation closely, realized why.

Did he slip through the gaps between the claws…?

It was like an acrobat passing through a ring of fire. An evasion that could only be called insane. But Woojin had been warding off the dragon’s attacks in this manner every single time.

How could anyone perform something so dangerous without the slightest hesitation?

“…Yurgis.”

The name suddenly came to mind.

Centuries ago, the hero who hunted the Old One that threatened the Wall. Yurgis must have fought the monsters of the demonic realm in just such a way.

In other words…

The scene unfolding before his eyes was the rebirth of the ancient myth Roland had admired in his childhood.

“I can’t hold back.”

As if possessed, Roland took out his violin. The surrounding paladins tried desperately to stop him, flustered, but it was a meaningless attempt.

He could not abandon this melody.

“O Goddess… I offer you this piece.”

After speaking toward the heavens, Roland tucked the violin beneath his chin. The paladin, lost in a trance, began a solo performance. A passionate melody pierced through the chaos of the battlefield.

Woojin glanced sideways at him.

“…He’s pulling that stunt here too.”

That man wasn’t sane either.

Realizing that anew, Woojin refocused on the enemy before him. Frankly, letting his attention wander in this situation was even crazier than playing a violin solo.

The dragon opened its massive jaws.

Fwoooosh—!

From its throat, venomous liquid poured out like a flood. Acidic breath.

The three beings each responded differently.

Thud!

Krnartash used Blink to widen the distance, then leapt backward with all her strength.

Veskhan retreated as well. The naga king slithered back as if gliding, so fast his body appeared blurred.

Instant Acceleration.

A technique that multiplies one’s speed severalfold in a single instant. Using it, the naga king evaded the breath.

Watching him, Woojin felt envious.

He’s got a lot of good tricks…

For reference, Woojin had no such ability.

So he had to rely on his own legs. He sprinted desperately to avoid the surging venom. There was a time when he had possessed such skills too.

“…That damned Firestorm.”

After taking the dragon’s inner core and inheriting Firestorm, Woojin had lost most of the abilities he once possessed.

The dragon’s power devoured nearly all of his former skills, and in return granted him immense physical strength, Firestorm, and dragon scales.

Tak, tak!

Like a triple jumper, Woojin kicked off the ground repeatedly, circling around the dragon.

The dragon spewed venom again and again. Acidic breath poured down as though chasing his tail. Each time it nearly caught him, he forced himself to accelerate further.

While Woojin drew the dragon’s attention, the gnoll queen and the naga king drew upon their power.

Crack, crkrrrk!

Krnartash’s muscles swelled dramatically. Her nails lengthened, as did her fangs. A red glow flickered ominously in her eye sockets.

Berserk.

A technique only elite gnoll warriors could master. As if unwilling to fall behind, the naga king unleashed the power he had been conserving.

Shaa—

Pale frost coiled around the king’s body. Clumps of ice and spikes formed across Veskhan’s form, as if he had donned armor sculpted from glacier ice.

Glacial Armor.

A technique that wraps the body in ice serving as a reinforced exoskeleton. It enhanced not only strength and endurance but also enabled more unconventional attacks.

Having fully drawn out their abilities, the gnoll queen and the naga king charged at the dragon’s flank.

Krnartash kicked off the ground and leapt. Clinging to the dragon’s side, she alternated her foreclaws in a frenzy.

Shraak, shraak!

Clear claw marks carved into the dragon’s body. As they overlapped again and again, the scales finally tore apart, exposing the sticky flesh hidden beneath.

The gnoll queen dug into the dragon’s flank as if tunneling. On the opposite side, the naga king stabbed repeatedly at the dragon’s ankle with his trident.

A wound created earlier in cooperation with Woojin—Veskhan drove the spearhead into it again and again, seemingly intent on severing the tendons of the dragon’s ankle.

Good judgment.

The larger the body, the greater the burden placed upon the legs. To topple a massive enemy, one must deal with its legs first.

But the dragon abomination did not remain idle.

With a powerful sweep of its foreleg, it struck its own flank to shake Krnartash off. Then it lifted its leg high, attempting to crush Veskhan beneath it.

In response, Veskhan drove his trident forcefully into the ground, leaving the spearhead pointed upward. Then he accelerated away.

The dragon’s foot came crashing down upon the blade.

Puuuk!!

The spearhead pierced straight through the dragon’s foot. The trident jutted out from the top of its foot. The pain must have been immense, for the dragon abomination shrieked wildly.

“Grrraaaagh!!”

The dragon glared around with savage eyes. From its body, multiple elongated bone shards began to grow. The next moment, they shot toward its enemies in succession.

Bone fragments surged forward like thrown javelins.

Veskhan crossed his arms to shield his upper body. Pale ice rapidly condensed, forming into a large shield.

Crack, crash—!

With a sound like ice shattering, bone shards embedded themselves into the frozen shield one after another.

Thud!

Krnartash used Blink to appear behind Veskhan’s back. Using the naga king as a shield, the gnoll queen caught her breath.

Krnartash frowned. Lowering her head slightly, she noticed a bone shard lodged in her flank.

Pshk!

She yanked it out. Veskhan remarked, almost teasingly,

“Surely you weren’t struck by such a blind attack?”

“…It’s nothing more than a minor scratch.”

The gnoll queen snapped back sharply as she rose to her feet, clearly offended at having allowed herself to be hit.

Before long, the barrage of bone shards ceased.

The two beings prepared to rejoin the battle. Having left his trident behind earlier, Veskhan formed long blades of ice along the backs of his hands. Krnartash licked her wounded flank, smearing it with saliva.

Just as they were about to charge again… Krnartash suddenly tilted her head.

“…Where did the Guardian go?”

Woojin had been out of sight for a while now. At her question, Veskhan answered readily.

“He retreated to a safe location before the attack even began. His judgment is exceptionally quick.”

When the dragon abomination had prepared its attack, Woojin sensed it and withdrew to safety a beat ahead of time, avoiding the bone shards.

The naga king had belatedly drawn out a technique to block the attack, while the gnoll queen had failed to react in time and was injured.

Naturally, a hierarchy among the three became clear.

“…I need to try harder.”

With a low growl, Krnartash charged toward the enemy. Watching her back, Veskhan allowed himself a faint smile.

Once again, the king and queen clashed with the dragon.

Woojin had stepped back from the fray for a moment.

It’s almost finished.

Roland’s violin solo was reaching its final movement. Woojin stood beside him, listening to the melody. Soon, Roland concluded the performance and lowered his violin.

Bathed in golden radiance, Roland was emanating a divinity deeper than ever before.

“…I would like to join the fight as well… but my skill is still lacking to enter that battlefield.”

He would only become a burden.

Saying so, Roland extended his right arm and placed his hand upon one of Woojin’s shoulders.

The other paladins did the same. Forming a circle around him, they laid their hands upon Woojin’s body. The divine power they held seeped into him.

“Well… can you feel it?”

Roland asked.

Woojin answered by raising his thumb.

Vitality surged through him.

Time to put this power to use.

Woojin leapt back into the fray. While he had been absent, Krnartash and Veskhan had been steadily whittling the dragon down.

Without a sound, he approached from behind.

Woojin slipped onto the dragon’s back and sprinted forward along its spine.

Soon, the dragon’s head came into view.

I’ll take its head like this.

It wouldn’t be especially difficult.

The slash he had carved into the dragon’s nape in the past remained clearly visible. Though reborn as an abomination and roughly healed, that area appeared far weaker than the rest of its body.

A line of severance had already been drawn—he only needed to follow it. Standing upon the dragon’s nape, Woojin raised his machete high like an executioner.

…But he could not bring it down.

As if sensing something ominous, the dragon suddenly jerked its head violently. Woojin lost his balance and staggered. At this rate, he would fall.

I have to hold on.

Thunk!

With no time to spare, he stabbed the machete into the dragon’s nape to anchor himself.

Perhaps the pain triggered something.

The dragon startled and snapped its neck upright. A sudden steep incline formed. To avoid falling, Woojin grabbed the machete’s handle with both hands.

Fwoosh, fwoosh—

What’s that sound?

Woojin turned his head.

What he saw were three pairs of wings. The dragon’s wings, which had been hanging limply, were now beating.

“…No way.”

An ominous chill ran along its spine.

…

The dragon, reduced to an abomination, had forgotten how to fly. But instinct does not rely on memory.

The dragon thought:

If my neck is severed like this, I will die again.

I must escape.

Fwooom!!

The dragon flapped its wings.

Seeing this, curses slipped from Woojin’s mouth.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

He had to stop it.

Beheading it would be ideal, but—

With the dragon holding its neck rigidly upright and shaking its head violently, getting close was difficult. The incline was nearly vertical; he couldn’t climb up.

Like someone clinging to a branch jutting from a cliff, Woojin could only hang on desperately to the machete he had embedded earlier.

In a moment like this, there was only one thing he could do.

Bzzzt!!

He channeled Firestorm into the machete. The dragon convulsed as lightning scorched its body. But it seemed to endure the shock.

“…Lightning won’t stop it.”

The power of Firestorm had originally come from this dragon. Naturally, it possessed resistance to lightning—just as Woojin had earlier endured the dragon’s poison without much difficulty.

The dragon’s wingbeats grew faster.

Then came a strange sensation of weightlessness.

People below panicked.

“Get down here at once!”
“W-what—?!”

Shouts rang out.

Krnartash’s roar, Roland’s curses, Veskhan barking orders—

But their voices quickly faded into the distance.

All that remained was the howl of violent wind.

“…This is just great.”

He was flying through the sky—together with the dragon.