Chapter 35

[35] Is There Something You’re Hiding?

What if I could use complete Dragon Tongue, like the dragons, instead of this half-baked version?

No one else here had understood the emperor’s words in the recording magic. I alone had heard them clearly.

The others watched the images without understanding what was being said, as if they were enjoying a silent play.

But I was different.

“Dragon Tongue?”

The day I first met Rokan, he’d told me that for there to be no restrictions on my meeting with Sia, I would have to fully master the dragon’s power—and that the first step was “perfectly speaking Dragon Tongue.”

And yet...

The man in the recording magic had been muttering to himself that he couldn’t use Dragon Tongue perfectly.

The dragon’s power, as I’d just seen in the recording, was so terrifying that it could turn a bastard son—one who couldn’t even wield a sword properly and was mocked by his brothers—into an emperor who unified the continent.

I’d naturally assumed that he’d mastered the dragon’s power in his sword and used it to unify the continent...

But that wasn’t the case.

The moment I realized that, goosebumps rose all over my body.

I thought back to what I knew about Dragon Tongue.

Rokan had told me that teaching Dragon Tongue to a human was a first for him, and that it would be extremely difficult.

But that was all he’d said.

How many people throughout human history had even managed to imitate Dragon Tongue?

He conquered the continent without being able to use Dragon Tongue perfectly...

What if I could use it perfectly?

No, that’s still a long way off.

No use counting my chickens before they hatch.

Anyway.

Whether it was fortunate or astonishing, after that scene, I somehow found that I could understand every language stored in the recording magic.

But whether or not I was confused, the recording magic kept playing.

The history of a continent I knew nothing about and accounts of the emperor’s achievements—which might not have meant much to an outsider—flashed by quickly.

As my interest began to wane and the recording neared its end—

“If you’re watching this, you must know how to use the dragon’s power, too.”

The emperor lay in bed, muttering as if speaking to someone.

He was weak and mumbling, but I heard him clearly.

His words were as if—

He had predicted all of this.

Even the fact that I would be watching the recording he had left behind.

“Let’s see how you and I are different.”

With those words, the recording magic ended.

Rumble—

What would you even call that color?

It was as if someone had haphazardly mixed brilliant rainbow hues with the gloomy black the sword spirits had given off earlier...

“Everyone, be careful. We don’t know what’s about to happen.”

Tae-seong shouted.

The stone wall bearing the writing began to move, revealing a passage hidden behind it.

And, naturally, monsters came with it.

“Monsters!”

“Skeletons?”

“No, they’re different!”

At first glance, they looked like the D-rank skeletons commonly found in dungeons like this.

But it didn’t take long to see that they weren’t ordinary skeletons.

Unlike normal skeletons, their bodies glowed with a strange light.

It was always a challenge to deal with an enemy we knew nothing about.

To make matters worse, the original purpose of this dungeon expedition had been to train low-rank Hunters, so most of our party consisted of relatively inexperienced Hunters.

We really couldn’t catch a break.

At least the monsters weren’t coming from every direction. They were pouring out from only one side.

Kieeeeeee—

With a horrible shriek that seemed to tear our ears, the skeletons’ eyes flashed as they charged toward us.

By conventional wisdom, they should have been easier to fight than the ghost-type monsters we’d faced before, like the sword spirits.

As long as they weren’t ghost-type monsters, physical attacks—whether with a blade or a blunt weapon—should work on them.

But this place might not follow even the most basic rules.

This was an EX-rank dungeon, after all.

So—

I’d set aside the strategies I thought were tried and true.

Just as I had when fighting the sword spirits, I altered the mana structure within my sword and charged forward.

Their colors and forms were different from the sword spirits, but there had to be some connection between the aura surrounding the skeletons and the aura that had surrounded the sword spirits.

So it was probably best to start with a similar strategy.

Without hesitation, I took the front line and began swinging my sword at the skeletons.

I’d wondered what I would do if I struggled, but—

My sword was cutting them down faster than ever.

I’d changed the mana structure in my sword from emitting to absorbing, and the aura surrounding the skeletons began to get sucked into the blade.

I worried that the sword might break free of my control and fly off again like before...

Thankfully, nothing had gone wrong so far.

At least, not for me.

“Argh!”

But when I looked around at the rest of the battlefield—

It was pure chaos.

While I was dispatching the skeletons as easily as if they were monsters of my own rank, the other Hunters were facing hell on earth.

“Heal! Someone, heal me!”

“How are these things so strong?”

“Somebody help me!”

“There’s a wounded Hunter here!”

For all their title as Hunters, they could barely fight back against the skeletons.

Most of them were D-rank or higher, so under normal circumstances, they should have been able to deal with the monsters without much trouble.

And yet—

Their strongest attacks didn’t even faze the skeletons, while every blow from the skeletons struck the Hunters with devastating force.

Why?

I did have a special power and great potential, but that was all it was—potential.

Even if you added everything together, I couldn’t say I was the strongest person here at the moment.

Tae-seong, their leader, was already a seasoned B-rank Hunter.

So why—

“Why is Minjun the only one over there who’s fine?”

“Minjun!”

“Minjun! Please, help us!”

Before I could think it through, cries for help began ringing out from all around me.

They’d figured it out, too.

For some reason, only my attacks were working against these skeletons.

Their desperate cries gave me an inkling of what was happening.

I was going to have to fight all these skeletons practically on my own.

But...

I can handle this.

I twisted around and brought my sword down hard on the skeletons behind me.

Until now, I’d only had to worry about the skeletons in front. From here on, I’d have to fight those in front and behind me at the same time.

I had to stay several times more alert.

Once my party members realized I was the only one who could resolve this situation, they began pouring every kind of buff they had into me.

In a way, everyone’s fate rested on me.

So I couldn’t let anyone die because of me. No matter what.

First, the ones behind me.

Given my position, it would’ve been safer to deal with the skeletons in front first.

The skeletons behind me were focused on the other Hunters, while the ones in front weren’t. Turning around meant exposing my back to the enemy in front of me.

But—

The other Hunters might die any moment. Shouldn’t I put out the most urgent fire first?

Besides, I had the fearsome artifacts Sia had given me.

With their power, even if a skeleton hit me, it shouldn’t be enough to inflict a fatal wound.

I ran toward the Hunters behind me, swinging my sword like a madman.

Maybe my sword had picked up speed, or maybe it was the buffs.

Just as when I’d fought the sword spirits, I could see the skeletons falling noticeably faster.

Thankfully, the number of skeletons emerging from between the walls gradually began to dwindle, too.

And finally—

The battle, which had seemed like it would never end, came to a grueling close.

“Whew.”

Maybe the tension had finally left my body. My legs gave out, and I sank to the ground.

While the injured Hunters received treatment from the healers and downed potions, some people began gathering the piles of skeleton bones.

As they did, I went over the battle in my mind.

Why had only my attacks worked properly against these skeletons?

The other Hunters’ attacks had worked against the sword spirits.

But here, no one but me had been able to fight at full strength.

Is it because of the dragon’s power inside this sword?

Maybe it was the emperor’s will—perhaps he wouldn’t allow anyone into this tomb unless they wielded a Dragon Sword like he did.

While I was lost in thought, Tae-seong came over to me.

“The more I think about it, the stranger it gets. Don’t you feel that way too, Minjun?”

Ever since my sword had flown into the statue, everything had started to take a strange turn.

And I’d been at the center of it all. There was no way the others hadn’t noticed.

“Minjun, what exactly is your connection to this dungeon?”

“My connection? I only came here for the first time today. What connection could I have...?”

“Man, I can’t make sense of any of this. Minjun, is there something you’re hiding from us?”

Hiding something?

A chill ran down my spine.

How could I explain this?

I couldn’t exactly tell them the whole truth—that my girlfriend had been reincarnated as a dragon, that the sword in my hand was a Dragon Bone Sword just like the one wielded by the emperor buried in this tomb, and that I, too, had the dragon’s power inside me.

Even if I told them, they wouldn’t believe me. And if they did, that would be a problem in its own right...

I did my best to act as if I knew nothing.

“I’m just as confused as you are. This whole situation is overwhelming.”

“...I suppose you’re just as bewildered as we are. Once we get out of the gate, let’s look into what happened together. For now, though...”

Tae-seong took my hand.

“We need your strength.”

“...I’ll do my best.”

Thankfully, Tae-seong didn’t press me any further.

The other Hunters didn’t bring it up again, either.

Anyway, after resting enough to recover—

With me at the front, we set off once more toward the lowest level of the tomb.

A dungeon was always a place where anything could happen, but this one was especially dangerous. No one let their guard down.

And sure enough—

With every step we took, skeletons and various other undead monsters attacked us.

They were surrounded by that same strange glow, as if rainbow light had been mixed with black energy.

Just like before, the other Hunters couldn’t do any meaningful damage to them. They focused all their support on me, and I fought the monsters alone.

We broke through one area after another and continued toward the dungeon’s lowest level.

At last—

The stairs, which had seemed to go on forever, came to an end, and a space that we guessed was the lowest level opened up before us.

Until now, we’d been moving through one passage or staircase after another. This place, however, felt like one enormous chamber.

Its walls were decorated with various patterns that seemed to come from that era. Apart from those, though, there was strangely nothing at all.

“It’s creepier because there’s nothing here.”

“Still, it’s better than having monsters.”

“True, but... what was this place used for?”

There was nothing in sight at the moment, but we had no idea when or where monsters might attack.

So I stayed at the front, keeping watch as we moved forward.

Then, at some point—

Thud!

A loud impact sounded behind me.

I turned around and saw that all the Hunters following me had stopped at a certain distance from me.

What’s going on...?

I looked at them, wondering what had happened, but they looked just as confused.

Then—

“What’s wrong?”

“Minjun.”

Tae-seong called my name, then knocked on the air as if he were rapping on a door.

A hollow thump, thump sounded, like he was knocking on a wall.

“How did you get in there?”

“Pardon?”

“There’s a magical barrier blocking this area.”

Juwon, who was standing right beside Tae-seong, lightly kicked the space in front of him.

His foot made a thud, as if it had hit an invisible wall.

Apparently, everyone except me was unable to pass through that invisible barrier.

“Why is Minjun the only one who can get through...?”

At that moment—

I felt a strange sense of unease.

Could it be...?

This time, I headed toward where the others were standing.

I tried to pass through the wall I’d just crossed without realizing it and return to them.

But—

Thud!

This time, the wall stopped me.

“Huh...?”

Before I could even figure out what was going on—

The magical barrier, which had been completely transparent until then, gradually turned opaque. The ground inside it began to tremble faintly.

Then I felt the shaking ground start to sink lower and lower.

The other Hunters seemed unaffected by the tremors outside the barrier; they were slowly fading from my sight.

“Minjun!”

Tae-seong shouted my name in alarm.

But no matter what I tried, I couldn’t break through the barrier.

Meanwhile, the floor beneath me kept sinking.

What’s going to happen to me now...?