Chapter 424 - Dragon Temple (11) (2/2)
2. Additional rewards based on contribution]
[Penalties if the quest is not completed:
1. Destruction of 50th floor
2. Prohibition on moving to another floor
3. Death of all participating players]
“A ‘great disaster’. What a crazy problem.” With his subordinates, the Head Bishop landed far away at the ends of the stage. He clucked his tongue. A great disaster was a term used to indicate a quest that was nearly impossible to complete. He’d been on the verge of reconnecting to the Seven Demon Kings only to have his Channels blocked again.
With both escape and a request for aid blocked, how were they supposed to hunt the dragon? “I suppose many will die.” It seemed like thirty percent of the players had already perished, and the Head Bishop’s eyes darkened.
In the distance, Kalatus had unfurled his wings and was soaring up to the sky. The large-scale raid began.
* * *
Yeon-woo quietly landed at a precipice at the edge of the stage. He clenched his teeth. ‘I… didn’t think the real Kalatus would appear instead of his vestige.’ The Summon of the Dead had failed. He’d been hoping to meet Kalatus’ vestige, which knew his secrets, and not the true body which had already been consumed by the Crawling Chaos.
「How pathetic. That’s the king that once led a mighty species?」 The Summer Queen appeared next to Yeon-woo with a smirk, her long black hair flowing. She had still been young when the Second Dragon Massacre began and only remembered him as a noble king. The Kalatus she saw now was a disgrace.
It was already bad that he hadn’t kept his dignity as a dragon, and to think he’d bound himself to a being that didn’t even have a proper identity and was now in that state. She had children—nine of them, in fact—but she couldn’t understand his motivations, nor did she want to.
“You can’t compare children born out of love with children born out of necessity.” Yeon-woo looked at the Summer Queen with still eyes.
The Summer Queen snorted with her arms crossed. 「Looking into a lady’s head? You’re a bum with no class.」
Even though their connection wasn’t as strong as the one he had with Shanon and the others, Yeon-woo and Summer Queen could still share thoughts. Besides, the Summer Queen wasn’t reluctant to reveal her mind, almost as if she were daring him to peek into her thoughts. Considering her lofty and arrogant personality, this attitude was understandable.
However, Yeon-woo just turned back to Kalatus, as if the Summer Queen wasn’t worth thinking about any more. He remembered his mother’s last words to look for his little brother and slowly widened his eyes.
[Draconic Eyes]
His eyes instantly connected to Fiery Golden Eyes and Philosopher’s Eyes and various colors appeared in his vision. Kalatus had soared up high and was spewing black Breath filled with poison, acid, and curses to the ground. Players ran towards him, Effects bursting from their different skills.
The smarter ones had already realized that the “additional rewards” were the legacies of the Draconic species, and they hoped that even with all the debuffs, the combined efforts of the large clans, rankers, and semi-rankers would prevail.
However, in Yeon-woo’s eyes, they just seemed like foolish soldiers. Although the others couldn’t see it, his eyes showed him the black tentacles dangling from the sky around Kalatus’ body. It meant the Crawling Chaos had borrowed Kalatus’ body to interfere in the Tower.
‘The reason why we only have seventy-two hours is likely because that’s the maximum amount of time that the dragon territory can take over the stage. After that…Allforone and the Bureau will have to get involved.’
Allforone wouldn’t leave Kalatus alone now that he was a servant of the Crawling Chaos. ‘But it’ll be the end of everything if that happens.’ Unlike the other players, who just had to kill Kalatus, Yeon-woo had to find a way to take the dragon away from the Crawling Chaos.
「Should I help you?」 Just then, the Summer Queen asked with a smirk, reading Yeon-woo’s thoughts. She sneered, 「I was once called the last dragon. I know many secrets that I could never teach to other species.」
It was tempting, but Yeon-woo couldn’t force the Summer Queen to help him like he could with Shanon and the others. If she offered herself, it would be another matter, but…“Stop bothering me and go away.”
「Hahaha! You’re definitely an amusing human. If you had asked me to help, you would’ve died right then and there.」 The Summer Queen was about to lick her red lips when Boo suddenly appeared in front of Yeon-woo with a growl.
「Do you…want to…die...」
「Don’t stick your nose into this conversation. Go kill yourself, you lowly being. How dare a servant step forward?」
“Both of you stop.” Yeon-woo ignored the battle of words between Boo and the Summer Queen and slowly stood up. If the others knew he was planning to take Kalatus from the Crawling Chaos, they’d think he was insane. ‘But it’s not impossible.’ Yeon-woo rubbed his left hand, which contained Bathory’s Vampiric Sword, and turned to another direction.
“A dragon, a real dragon! Hahahaha! Meat! Give me meat!” The Gluttony Emperor had stopped fighting the leaders of Green Dragon and Black Dragon and ran to Kalatus. He was half-crazed, saliva drooling out of his mouth. The Stone of Gula shook inside his stomach. It seemed like the Dragon’s Curse that bound it had been loosened.
‘If I use that…’ Yeon-woo’s eyes darkened as he thought it through. Then, he called the small fairy, Ubala. “Uballa.”
The fairy nodded. 『Do as you wish. You are already the new master of the labyrinth and Laftel.』
“Thanks.” He stretched his hand down towards the cliff, activating all the systems related to Laftel through Uballa. The labyrinth exploded, and the pieces of Kalatus’ tooth scattered throughout it floated up in the air. They whirled around Ubala, who stood in the center and quietly closed his eyes. Clack.
[You have successfully completed the hidden quest (Curse Immunity I).]
[You have been rewarded ‘Dragon’s Blessing’.]
[You have completed the related quest (Curse Immunity II) and quest (Curse Immunity III) in that order.]
[You have made an achievement that is not easily accomplished. Additional karma will be provided.]
[You have acquired 100,000 karma.]
[You have acquired an additional 200,000 karma.]
[‘Dragon’s Blessing’ has been strengthened.]
[You have additionally been rewarded…]
[The artifact ‘Dragon Root’ has been completed.]
A square chip fell in Yeon-woo’s hand. It was the main processor of the labyrinth, Uballa. The true process of the quests was to be acknowledged and learn about the system. Yeon-woo pushed the Dragon Root into the back of his right hand, tearing his skin slightly. The Dragon Root smoothly settled into the Atman System and began to support his path of thinking and circulation.
The great minds of the dragons were too much for Yeon-woo to handle, and so Kalatus had created the Dragon Root with this in mind.
[The related quest (Curse Immunity IV) has successfully been completed.]
[‘Dragon’s Blessing’ has been strengthened to release you from ‘Dragon’s Curse’.]
[All Channels have been restored.]
…
[All abilities have been restored.]
[All immunities have been restored.]
[All powers have been restored.]
Yeon-woo was the only one on the stage to be freed from Kalatus’ curse.
[5th-Step Dragon Body Awakening]
[Full Power Release]
He opened his Channels and spread his Sky Wings more powerfully than ever. ‘There are five of the Nine Kings here: Waltz, Tom, Magnus, the Head Bishop, and the Gluttony Emperor. Today, at least two of them will die.’ His black and red wings spread like fire and darkened the sky.
He extended his hand forward.
[The hidden true name of ‘Vigrid-???’ Arondight has been released.]
[Folklore: Decapitation of dragons]
Yeon-woo slashed Vigrid down, and a column of fire bristling with hundreds of lightning bolts descended from the sky.