Chapter 35 - Battlefield Chaos 1 (1/2)

Due to Isaac and Colton’s death, their faction had now been considerably weakened. Things might spiral out of his control if he didn’t quickly restore the balance between the two opposing sides.

‘It’s finally time.’

This was the true battlefield, not the hunting grounds that served more the role of appetizers.

A fierce battle would soon erupt. For that reason, he had to hunt the first Fossil Dragon and keep their faction’s advantage.

‘There are also other things to take care of.’

In order to later hunt the Griffons that inhabited the Mountain ranges, it was necessary to first create an army of undead Gargoyles.

Other than the monsters found in the Twilight Tower, the Griffons were basically the most powerful monsters in this stage. Dealing with them while also having to traverse the mountainous terrain was simply too demanding.

As the sand was blown by the shifting winds, Woohyuk stared at the scene of the valley from up high.

A desolate area, not one where you’d want to stay too long.

“Lord, I can’t see anything.”

Leifina said as she looked around. She was still wearing the Banshee’s Cloak, since Woohyuk always prioritized her safety.

“We will need to look elsewhere.”

It was a large area since it connected to the three paths on either side. Also, the Fossil Dragon didn’t stay in a fixed location, so it wasn’t easy to find right away.

Whiriic!

The Vampiric dagger sunk into a Desert Eagle that had flown a bit too close. Turning into an undead, he then had it fly low near the canyon cliffs in order to activate the sleeping Gargoyles.

“Krrrk!”

Those ugly looking Gargoyles quickly gave chase, flapping their dark stone wings in an attempt to catch the eagle.

Although they used their petrification magic, it wasn’t that effective because Undead were innately resistant to Curse magic.

Using the Desert Eagle as bait, Woohyuk hunted the Gargoyles down one by one.

Swooosh!

The stone creature was cut cleanly in two, as Grandia had just ranked up in Grade.

Its attack power and sharpness had increased noticeably, and there was now a faint light aura covering the sword.

A weapon that was especially powerful against creatures of Darkness.

Considering the many battles to come against the Demons, it was a weapon worth nurturing until the very end.

Landing safely back on the ground with the use of his Airwalker Boots, Woohyuk stood among a pile of rubble consisting of broken Gargoyles.

Leifina, who had been watching from the side asked curiously.

“Is it still possible to raise them as undead?”

“That depends on the Necromancer’s ability.”

If only he could combine the parts of different monsters to create a Frankenstein-like being.

“Although it is a powerful ability, I worry that the Lord’s reputation will suffer as a result of it.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Either way the Eeth continent had long been engulfed in chaos. A place where people would sell their souls to the Demon Kings, and your fellow man couldn’t be trusted.

In such a situation, a thing like reputation was basically worthless. The only exception were certain classes such as a Saint.

After reverse summoning the Desert Eagle that had begun to turn to stone, Woohyuk kept advancing.

* * *

[Chun Woohyuk from the Red Faction has killed the Fossil Dragon.]

[10 Copper coins are awarded to every player in your Faction]

[Health and Mana Regeneration is increased by 15% for the next 24 hours.]

The death of a Fossil Dragon would result in a stage wide system message.

The sandstorm that had previously been raging, also calmed down. Looking down at the three gold coins that had appeared in his right hand, Woohyuk finally exhaled.

‘It wasn’t at all easy.’

Normally you would have to gather a team of 300 just to hunt such an Epic Monster.

It could summon the sand soldiers wielding spears, as well as its Dragon’s Breath which was very deadly.

His secret behind this success was the Ancient Ring he had acquired from the Naga’s Chief. It gave him the ability to teleport 100m in any direction, ignoring all obstacles in his path.

It was absolutely necessary in order to dodge the Dragon’s flame breath which had the added ability to stun him, after which he would suffer at the hands of its Sand Spearmen.

Still, because he had relied on it so heavily, his Mana was now extremely low. Because he had only recently switched to the Necromancer Class, his Stats weren’t ideally distributed and he didn’t have enough Mana to fully utilize all his items.

‘I need to rest.’

There was an Oasis located not too far from him. As Woohyuk began walking towards it, a small creature popped its head up from a whole in the sand.

It was a young Desert Fox pup.

“Lord, that’s…”

“Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous.”

Desert Foxes were very timid creatures, and would rarely attack unless provoked.

As Woohyuk blew his Golden Goat’s Horn, the young Desert Fox cautiously approached, its long ears twitching.

The magical sound which worked to attract the Golden Goats, also seemed to interest it.

Leifina’s eyes sparkled seeing its cute appearance.

“Are you going to tame it?”

“Yeah”

Desert Foxes would fetch a pretty penny on the Eeth Continent. They were the pet of choice among aristocratic women, so it was definitely worth capturing.

“You seem to have a way with animals.”

“I just practiced a bit.”

While having heavily researched everything there was to know about taming Dragons, he had naturally picked up some taming skills.

The most important thing was to build a relationship with it..

The taming would easily fail if he tried to command it without first trying to understand it.

Woohyuk thought back to the past as he leisurely stroked the fox’s fur.

‘There was that woman that put her life on the line when it came to taming.’

[Monster Trainer, Choi Kayoon]

She had accidently picked up a Jabber Wok’s within the Primordial Forest, and had received the Monster Trainer class upon arriving at the Eeth continent.

Later, as she tried to tame countless kinds of monsters, she even managed to promote her class to the second tier.

Although it was a Unique class, it wasn’t one that Woohyuk was interested in. It was simply absurd to think that he could challenge the Gods by relying on monsters he had tamed.

Not to mention that now that he was a Necromancer, it would be very difficult to become a Monster Trainer unless he put countless hours into it.

The requirements for obtaining a secondary class were far more demanding than the first.

It was much more difficult than simply completing an easy quest or speaking to an instructor.

“Can I hug it?”

“Sure”

Leifina carefully placed her arms around the young fox. A look of maternal love filled her face.

“Don’t get too attached to it since we will be selling it eventually.”

“Don’t we still need to give it a name though?”

She indeed had a point that naming it would be useful when he had to order it around. Thinking about it for a moment, Woohyuk finally decided.

“Let’s call it Ahri.”

“Ahri?”

“In my country that is what we call the Nine Tailed Fox.”

He vaguely remembered it being from some kind of game he had played. As he made his way to the Oasis, Woohyuk thought back to those college student days all those years ago.

* * *

“Shit…”

Sitting on the rubble remains of a Bronze Golem, Na Sangyun let out a sigh.

Nothing had gone well since Lee Shinwoo’s disappearance.

‘If only he hadn’t sent him….’

Considering how long it had been, he was surely dead by now.

He didn’t know who Chun Woohyuk was, but his name had resounded time and time again.