Chapter 159
Chapter 159 – Great Plains of Barrastan (10)
Once Sungjin shouted, Besgoro immediately activated Frenzy. At the same time, Yanhurat’s voice began to urge Sungjin.
‘Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!’
Sungjin’s blood boiled uncontrollably as he swung his sword at the dragon at the speed of light. But still, the Dragon was able to display his fearsome dodging abilities that came about from his experience and instincts. However, even that was not enough.
‘Kill! Kill! Kill! Killllll!’
Sungjin, who grew more and more crazed by Yanhurat’s shouts, wielded his swords even faster and struck the Dragon’s arms and legs. As he did so, he used the synergy of Besgoro’s Frenzy to make his swords move even more rapidly.
It was the combination he had used to lay many foes to rest beginning with the genius swordsman Calian. Amidst this, the Dragon attempted to withstand the pain and chant a spell, but Sungjin’s furious blades did not allow him.
*
When Sungjin regained consciousness, a warning came out from the Cube.
[Danger. HP below 10%.]
Sungjin caught his breath as he took off Yanhurat that he had worn around his neck.
“Huk… huk…”
When he turned around, there was an unidentifiable corpse.
‘Incredible! Kei!’
Besgoro’s congratulations were followed by Moon Specter’s compliments.
‘Good work, Master.’
However, even then, Sungjin could not put his mind to rest.
“Huk… huk…”
As Sungjin caught his breath, he looked at the slab of meat for a few seconds, then finally relaxed.
“Huk… Kuuh… Hem.”
He had used all of his active skills, and his HP, MP, and stamina were all exhausted. He had truly used everything. If the Dragon got up again now, then Sungjin would not be able to deal with it.
“Whew…”
Sungjin let out a sigh as he collapsed on the spot. He couldn’t help but grin. He tried his best to hide it from the ghost to keep up their morale, but earlier when they were exchanging spells and blows, he kept thinking to himself that it was impossible and it could not be done. But in the end, he had done it.
“I did it.”
Sungjin clasped his hands together and shook them once. However, it was at that moment that a bright light suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. A dark blue, almost navy, light.
‘Chiiiiiiiing~’
Sungjin was startled as he looked at that light. When he looked closely, he found that the light appeared from the corpse that he had previously cut up.
The light became brighter and brighter, and then seemed to become a sphere. Sungjin turned his head and gazed at the Operator’s Cube. The Cube which had previously warned him of his low health was silent. It did not announce the customary
‘Hidden Boss Clear!’
“No way…”
As Sungjin trailed off, the sphere finally began to steadily grow bigger. The sphere slowly changed into a spherical figure. A gigantic lizard with wings. That is to say, the figure of a dragon. Even Besgoro, who was always in high spirits was at a loss for words.
‘By God…’
Moon Specter, who always had positive things to say, could not hide her thoughts.
‘How in the world…’
Of course, the most surprised was Sungjin. He had poured out everything and won – no, he had thought that he had won, but everything was for naught. Sungjin wanted to deny what was happening.
However, a dragon of incredible size, one with blue scales, soon appeared in front of Sungjin. Even by roughly estimating the size, he was at least twice as big as Khal Gal. Sungjin looked up at the Dragon. Then, he used Moon Specter to help himself up and said,
“Thank you, Besgoro and Moon specter.”
The two had nothing to say in reply to Sungjin’s words. It seemed that even those two had realized that now there was no chance for victory. The Dragon’s immense eyes flickered downwards and gazed at Sungjin. Sungjin muttered to himself,
“Then, the last fight.”
He said this to the two phantoms as well as to himself. Sungjin held up his two swords. Even if he was to die, he would put up a final resistance. However, at that moment the Dragon said,
“Polymorph, Self.”
Soon, that gigantic body began to coalesce into a single light. Sungjin glared at that light as he continued to hold onto his swords. It was during this that the Operator’s voice suddenly rang out.
[Congratulations! Hidden Boss]
[Magic Researcher ‘Archae’ard’ cleared!]
Sungjin blankly looked at the cube. Then he looked back towards that light. The coalescing light had returned into the form of a human; to the form right before they had started their duel. He picked up his staff that had fallen to the ground, and said,
“Return.”
The staff soon disappeared. Then, the Dragon made its way towards Sungjin. Although he had heard the clear notification, Sungjin was still nervous as he watched the Dragon. The figure approached close, then suddenly began to applaud.
‘Clap clap clap’
The sound of his applause spread throughout the vast plains. Sungjin looked at the Dragon up and down. Besgoro muttered,
‘Is he no longer going to attack?’
At that time, the Dragon spoke,
“Amazing. Very Impressive. You’re the first human to forcefully undo my Polymorph. What is your name?”
The Dragon raised his hand and held it out towards Sungjin. Instantly, Sungjin lurched, as if he was about to cut that hand. The Dragon then said,
“Ahh… The fight is over. Human, I no longer have any intention of fighting.”
However, Sungjin did not let down his guard. The Dragon looked at his own hand, then took it back as he said,
“But… It seems you also have no intention to shake hands with me.”
Sungjin did not say anything. The sound of clearing did come out from the Cube, but he could not move rashly in front of the opponent that he had attempted to kill until just a moment ago. They did not make a promise from the very beginning like he had done with Ariane. The Dragon continued to babble on in front of Sungjin.
“Incredible. Exceptional sword technique and borrowing the power of a legendary omnibus, well… Those were indeed impressive, but… More than anything… Your tenacity was amazing. That glint in your eyes that you shot at me, who had returned to my original form. If it was a normal human, then he would have fallen into despair… To think that you thought of fighting me even then. I had been curious why Ariane had given you something like that… But it seemed like that there was reason to do so.”
Sungjin did not feel particularly happy despite receiving this Dragon’s praise. While Sungjin kept glaring at him, the Dragon suddenly asked.
“By the way… How did you use Time Reversal?”
Sungjin was startled by the Dragon’s question. In Time Reversal, the time flowed backwards only from the user’s perspective. Because of this, others would not be able to remember anything. However, the Dragon knew that Sungjin had used Time Reversal. At this time, the Dragon spoke up, as if he had read Sungjin’s mind.
“You do not have to be so surprised since I am someone born with the blue scales. Furthermore, for the past thousand years, studying magic has been my main diversion.”
The Dragon did not explain in detail, but it was enough to understand a little. According to Soldamyr, originally magic had belonged to Dragons.
Blue, Red, Green, White, Black. He had said that the five colors of magic had originated from the color of the scales of Dragons. As such, if it was this Dragon, who was a Blue Dragon, then it was natural that he would know some parts of the greatest Blue Magic, Time Reversal. Furthermore, the Operator had said that the Dragon was a ‘Magic Researcher’.
“As expected, was it because of that ring? The ring that Ariane gave you?”
Sungjin did not say anything, but the Dragon was able to ask and answer his own questions rather easily.
“As expected. That ring was not a ring that simply increased your Magic Power. What effects does it have?”
Sungjin simply blinked as he stood there, this time as well. The Dragon did not ask again. He simply held his hand out towards Sungjin and muttered something. Once more, Sungjin staggered. No, he did not stagger, but it felt as if he had staggered.
“Oh, oh…. That’s how it is.”
Sungjin had felt this before as well. Though he did not know how, it seemed that the Dragon was able to use the palm of his hand to read Sungjin’s memories.
“I see. Incredible. To be the item of the Great Sage, Anatol… It truly is… An envious item…”
The Dragon’s eyes shone as he looked at the Ring of the Great Sage that Sungjin wore. Despite his handsome appearance, at this moment his expression transformed into an epitome of greed and avarice.
Upon seeing this face, Sungjin, who had just let go of his anxiety, became incredibly tense once more. Though in truth he did not have any chance of winning if they fought for real, but he couldn’t just hand it over without trying. However, the Dragon soon gave up on the ring.
“However, as promised before. I will leave that to continue shining on your finger. As Ariane had said, that… is an item that is directly connected to your fate. In truth, to me, it is simply an antique and does not have much use.”
The Dragon who was enthusiastically carrying on the conversation alone in front of Sungjin suddenly decided to leave.
“Then, farewell. Undergoing Time Reversal, was a rather refreshing experience for me. Though I did not particularly desire for it, but thanks to you, I was able to study something good.”
‘Snap’
The Dragon snapped his thumb and middle finger.
Then suddenly, a long elliptical portal appeared. A portal that looked as if someone had attached a zipper to the air and then opened it. The Dragon extended a leg into the portal. Sungjin kept looking until the end to see if he would leave or not. However, Besgoro then spoke up.
‘What, is this guy leaving without giving anything?’
Now that he had thought about it, this Dragon had not given anything like Ariane had. However, even so, grabbing the Dragon, who was entering the portal, was a laughable thought. Sungjin stood there, torn in hesitation, when the Dragon suddenly said,
“Ah, right. Before when I read your memories, there was something that I was also curious about.”
The figure stood there with one foot in the portal. Sungjin tilted his head as the Dragon continued,
“Why did Edward, at that time, shoot spells at his allies?”
Sungjin unknowingly opened his mouth. Did this Dragon truly look at his entire life in that instant? The Dragon brought back the foot that had crossed into the portal, and once again rambled on.
“There is a topic that I was thinking about recently… If you can know the past in its entirety, then could you not also predict the future in its entirety? Something like that. With that in mind… I’ll give you this.”
He held his hand in the air, and said,
“Come.”
Soon, above the Dragon’s hand, a pair of sunglasses that seemed to have slightly thick lenses appeared. The Dragon tossed it towards Sungjin. With both of his hands still holding his swords, Sungjin unexpectedly had to hug it.
“And… Perhaps… You will also need this. Come.”
This time, the staff that the Dragon had used earlier appeared. He tossed that to Sungjin as well. Sungjin briefly put down Blood Vengeance as he received the staff in his hand. Having given Sungjin two presents, the Dragon vaguely said,
“If it’s these two, then it should be enough for you to overcome your fate. That is, according to that past of yours that I read.”
Sungjin lowered his vigilance towards the Dragon after having received two presents. He looked at the staff that the Dragon had tossed, more specifically the blue gem embedded in the staff, as he asked,
“You… Didn’t you need this gem?”
“Ahh… I do indeed need it. But I don’t particularly need to obtain it here and now. Those… I’ll need them about three hundred years later. And there will always be wars. Those gems will go around and around and then return to me. Even if you put that in the Cube and take it to ‘Ninety Nine Nights’.”
It seemed that the Dragon even knew about his circumstances in other dimensions. It briefly looked at the Cube.
“That, truly is a foul thing, isn’t it?”
Sungjin, of course, looked at the Cube as well. It was possible that this Cube and the Operator that could be heard from inside it was his ‘tragic fate’.
“However, that definitely… A type of… Then…”
The Dragon muttered to himself as he stood there, and then said,
“Come.”
As expected, something appeared in the air. And, after seeing it, Sungjin was incredibly surprised.