Chapter 65
Expensive and Useless (3)
Zing!
The attack was prevented by a huge magic circle that suddenly appeared in front of the Dragon's chest.
Woong!
- What?!
As the speed was unexpected, the telepathy rang with mixed bafflement.
When conditions were ideal, the activated magic circle quickly sucked Mana from the Dragon's core and created defensive magic. As a result, an opaque energy barrier was created, blocking the sword right in front of the Dragon's chest. Substantially, the dragon was like a moving barrier and a breathing composite magic circle.
The Mana absorbed from the cores was enough. A great purple glow of power was concentrated on one point. With a boiling high-density pressure! Defensive magic and sword energy collided. There was a gruesome sound and sparks caused by friction. The contrast between the Dragon's black, giant body and solid shining lines were reminiscent of a flash of lightning in a dark thunderstorm.
Grrrrng!
The more Mana I injected, the stronger the sword's pressure. The surrounding air fluctuated, and a haze arose. The wall that protected the Dragon began to lean in like a bubble prodded by a finger.
-No.... Way!
And finally. Rumble! I broke the shield with a loud noise. But the moment my sword was about to pierce the Dragon's chest...
[Polymorph!]
The body of the massive dragon suddenly disappeared from the air.
As I'd seen in my past life, it was a magic that was activated instantly. Mana's movement was so fast that my speed of perception barely kept up. The thing that activated [Polymorph] reappeared as the image of an elf, floating in the air away from my sword.
Swoosh!
In that state, he made the distance in a flash and unbelievably returned to the Dragon's giant body as fast as lightening.
- You, bastaaaaard!
Angry telepathy shook our heads.
Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The Dragon opened its mouth. Mana's torrent flowed from the heart.
Boosh!
A torrent of blue light emitted from inside the Dragon's body, where the Mana was concentrated, and a scarlet river of fire crossed the sky. It was both intimidating and disturbing to my eyes.
Swoosh!
The fire that passed through where I stood evaporated the dark clouds that filled the dusty sky and distorted the air. I flew at almost the speed of teleportation towards the bottom of the Dragon! Hot steam flowed from the mouth where the breath stopped, but he failed to see me, mainly because of its physical size and shape. I swung the blade over my head again, which was wrapped in energy, and as if tearing the sky, I sliced at the dragon's gut, leaving a purple-colored slash on the Dragon's chest.
Whiz!
Booooom!
A roaring sound noised around us, and then a shockwave followed, as a result of the barrier blocking my sword. The Magic Circle sucked the Dragon's Mana frantically, and a blue beam rampage covered the entire Dragon's body. The stronger I applied force, the faster the Mana moved. But in the end, my strength went beyond the limits of the spell.
Shatter!
The Dragon avoided an attack to the heart, but instead, the shield was broken again. Every time a shield was shattered and recreated; it consumed a huge amount of Mana.
- It....!
Once again, the Dragon spread its wings and shot out its breath.
Boosh!
Heat and flame waves were intensely condensed as the murky sky turned red. I escaped with a shield around my body. The situation was dangerous even if I was not directly hit by the explosive attack. The heat storm along the dragon's breath's path was enough to burn me to ashes in a second.
I approached, taking advantage of an opportunity. I drew another stroke of the sword. After another blast of power, the shield broke.
This was the third time.
magic lines and Mana patterns surrounding his body were clear. The Dragon was now defenseless, as if it were stripped of all his armor. Shocked, the Dragon's lost balance, tilted, but alarmingly, pushed back.
Its telepathy revealed just how confused the creature was, as the Dragon's eyes flashed with a certain determination.
- Where did a bastard like you...!
Dragons had strong egos, and unlike other dungeon monsters, they did not rush into death. He had an instinct for self-preservation. Therefore, though exceedingly rare, these dragons ran away immediately if there was any indication that it might be in danger. This fact was unknown to humankind because there are only a few talented people who could realistically threaten a dragon.
Whooooooooooh!
In its vast heart, Mana took shape and flowed. I knew the spell it was making.
[Teleport]
It was attempting to flee, but before the Mana was concentrated, and the Dragon's spell completed, I also fired a spell.
[Counter Spell!]
A cloud of light flashed, surrounding the Dragon's tail, and disappeared in an instant. Now, the Dragon's eyes flashed a look of horror. Clearly, it was baffled.
- This is··· No way····!
Teleportation was the least efficient SS-Rank magic that consumed 30,000 Mana for one activation. Even Hibiki wouldn't use the skill since she said it was a waste of a skill slot, requiring one to have a dragon-sized Mana capacity.
- You saw through this?
To invalidate a spell, [Counter Spell] of the same or higher rank was required. But more Mana was consumed than the Mana used by the subject.
The Dragon shouted with a furious mind wave.
- You! You're not human!
It was common knowledge that the Mana capacity of the human species would not be as big as the dragon believed.
'No, I'm a human. The one prepared to end you.'
Right now, I'd absorbed a vast amount of Mana core. Instead of wasting the cores collected in the U.S. on the output test, I'd absorbed them all at once after the promotion review.
As a result,
- Active Mana: 63,900 (+28,000)/35,900
- Potential Mana: 102,300
Even though I had just consumed a large amount of Mana, it was still over 60,000.
I looked at its core with [The Successor's Eyes].
'Every time the shield is broken, the Mana was wasted, so the available mana was only 40,000.'
It had enough Mana to use Teleport once more.
'But considering the thinking process of the self-preserving Dragon Race···.'
It didn't know how much of my Mana was left. Once it had realized that I had surpassed ordinary humans' limitations, it was impossible to gauge how many times I could use [Counter Spell] to thwart its plans.
"Kaaaaaargh!"
Suddenly it howled, shaking the mountain.
"Squeallll!"
The cry of a creature, other than a dragon, responded. Along with the tremor, a flock of Orcs began to form and poured down like waves from the mountain's highlands. A roar and a murderous shout resonated, and the echo shook the very ground. They fell into a state of rampage due to the Dragon's influence [Dragon Fear]. The Orcs, which were blind with wrath, stepped on the backs of those that had fallen. A few seconds later, the Orc that fell to the ground became a clod of blood. Some were even killed instantly by hitting their heads on trees and rocks because they couldn't orient themselves properly. It was chaos at its best. The number was so large that they looked like muddy water sweeping down a ridge during the rainy season. I didn't care how fiercely the Orcs attacked me since I stayed afloat.
However, my gaze turned towards Nate and Hibiki, who were left on the ground.
Swish!
A rough wind blew.
"Oh, that bastard...."
I saw the Dragon's tail as it ran across the horizon, drawing a black line. Nate shouted from the ground.
"It's running away!"
I gestured to Nate. He understood the meaning. Nate's optimistic voice was heard from below.
"Come on, Hibiki? Should we move in for now?"
She stammered, unlikely of her, "Oh, Nate. W-wait a minute!"
Swoosh!
His shadow shook.
There were two zombies, whose skin was melting. One grabbed Nate's ankle, and the other completely escaped from the shadows and walked towards Hibiki.
"W-wait! Hold on! Wait a minute! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!"
Hibiki screamed and shouted in Japanese, revealing her panic. The zombies quickly grabbed Hibiki's wrist.
Swish!
The two zombies disappeared into Nate's shadow. The place where the two were standing left only the shadow of Nate standing on the ground. It was a technique using the sub-skill [Shadow Grave].
The flock of Orcs gathered from the mountain, maintained their craze even if the object disappeared, and ran down the mountain with a roar, past where Nate was.
I glared in the direction in which the Dragon flew away. If it crossed the boundaries of the dungeon, I would miss out on catching him. Monsters could come and go at will, but hunters couldn't cross the line.
I focused plenty of Mana in my [Stardust Wing]. It was the largest Mana used on it since the day it was first acquired.
Shhhhhhh!
The landscape instantly changed. My body flew freely from gravity and resistance. Rather than recognize myself as moving, I slipped through the air smoothly. I approached below the Dragon's giant body as it was flying away, but it sensed a sudden change in the atmosphere and became conscious of my presence.
- What...!
The distinctive pointed eyes of the Dragon chased after me. It sensed the danger, and it contracted. As if it would not be fooled twice, the Dragon immediately stopped flying and prepared the spell. Its gaze and mine looked at each other obliquely.
But it was already too late.
[Neutralizing Chains!]
The magic skill of S-rank was unexpectedly cast. A web-like chain was summoned around the Dragon's body as kit flew and wrapped around it. But I could not hold the Dragon's giant body for long.
Buzz!
When the chain, which was made of substances that do not belong to this world, was exposed to the [Counter Spell] of the Dragon, it broke into pieces and seeped into the air. Magic could not completely stop its flight, but it succeeded in delaying the movement for a short time.
That was enough.
Gooong!
I drew the sword path in my head with my eyes wide open. I saw it. I threw a wave of sword energy over my head, aiming for a window of opportunity. This time there was no defense circle to protect it. An unprotected chest was revealed.
[Artha's Sword Dance!]
A blow from the bottom to the top, and the sword, this time, pierced the Dragon's heart without resistance! With a scream that shook the atmosphere, the Dragon breathed out a dry cough. The next inhaling breath did not follow.
*
Whoong!
I used my psychokinesis to keep the dead Dragon from falling. In that state, I absorbed its Mana Core first.
[Mana Drain!]
In terms of the Dragon Race, it was clear that it was a young one. As I had noticed, there was more potential Mana than active Mana. And this time, if I was lucky, the potential Mana absorption rate, which was up to 10%, was triggered to the limit.
- Active Mana: 67,100 (+31,000)/36,100
- Implied Mana: 139,200
Its potential Mana exceeded 300,000. My potential Mana also increased by more than 30,000, thanks to the absorption of 10 percent. No matter how much I continued to activate, there was no window for the potential Mana to decrease.
Originally, it was normal for potential Mana to decrease and activated Mana to increase as I grew. But [Mana Drain] was stopping both from growing. Rather, it made me think that the speed of converting potential Mana into active Mana was slower, which was different than the beginning.
'Hunting and core absorption is good, but I'll have to focus more on activation.'
I flew back to the place where my two companions were, dragging the Dragon's corpse using psychokinesis.
'If I had brought the sword, I would have finished it faster and consumed less Mana.'
From the day I returned from the Siheung 8 Dungeon, the devil's sword changed its strategy and tormented me with telepathy, using curses and profanities. It intended to make me give it up. It was brainwashing anyway, but the telepathy, which was constantly talking nonsense, was irritating.
Thanks to the Senator's timely delivery of the statue I ordered, the devil's sword, to be precise, the 'cognitive being' contained in the sword was now in 'mental education.'
"Oh, Jin-Wook!"
Nate waved at me. His eyes, which had just witnessed the battle, were sparkling. I also saw Hibiki sitting next to him, her face extremely pale. Come to think of it; I'd never been in that shadow. It would have been nice if I had been hiding in that when I was climbing the tower in my previous life, when I had no power. Still, it was impossible for me because if someone other than the subordinate entered the shadow, the Mana of the person would be consumed, too.
I slowly laid the body of a giant dragon on the ground. There was only one reason why I hadn't totally destroyed the dragon, but neatly penetrated the heart to kill it. I asked while looking at Nate, "What do you think? Is it possible?"
He understood what I meant right away. A big smile spread over his face. Nate looked first at the Dragon's body, then to me, and exclaimed clearly and firmly.
"Yes! Totally possible!"