◈ Chapter 344. In the World Where I Am (3)──────[Emergency Update]
A new boss monster has been added. ‘Yunaxus, the Elder Dragon Who Swallowed the Fruit of Evil’ : Lv.2,500──────A gap of six whole days.
I had thought it wouldn’t be strange no matter what happened.
Yes, I had steeled myself to deserve even a scolding from that wretch.
But the moment I checked the update details, the back of my head began to prickle. I had absolutely not forgotten. I had been making my own efforts, too.
In order to heal the dragon who had swallowed the Fruit of Evil. ‘……
Damn it.’ As proof, the Healing School’s senior.
Bellier had devoted herself to research so intensely that the shadows beneath her eyes never faded.
If she stood side by side with Marcelo, they looked like siblings.
—“I have no face to show you, Chief Lee.”
But the Fruit of Evil was, in the end, something that originated from the Arcana Continent.
Finding a solution in reality, an entirely different world,
was no different from searching a desert for a needle whose very existence was uncertain.
That was why I had kept it in mind.
Though I hadn’t decided early on, I had wondered whether it was right to include Bellier among the twenty members of the advance party. And yet, of all times, it had to be now. ‘If only I hadn’t been away…….’ In a little over a week, perhaps we might have found a way to resolve the Fruit of Evil…… Such thoughts came to me.
But I could neither be certain nor turn back time. So I shook them off.
Because this was no time
to cling to regrets.
The sight unfolding before my eyes
was utterly horrific.
Everyone out of the tower.
The Crusade Alliance’s all-out offensive.
Not a cat, but a tiger—the Tower Master’s desperate struggle.
And at this very moment, even Harkon and the others clinging to the dragon.
Someone might say
that because of their efforts,
the damage had been minimized even while Yunaxus was rampaging.
They wouldn’t be wrong.
Which was why.
“I shall begin the evaluation.”
My ever-strict mouth gave a generous assessment, and without minding the blood and pus clinging to it, I willingly took off the Dawn Jacket for the Tower Master.
However, there was a separate, greater reason.
There was only one reason reality had remained safe until now.
The old dragon being swayed by the Fruit of Evil.
It was because Yunaxus had been desperately holding himself back.
Because he had been enduring.
“You remain unchanged even now, Yunaxus.”
It must have sounded strange.
After he had turned the Zero Mountains into a wasteland.
What exactly had he endured?
But I, who had fought the Ice Dragon Froznax, knew.
A dragon’s full power was not limited to something of this extent. If Yunaxus had truly wished to destroy reality, he would not have engaged in hand-to-hand combat from the start.
Above all, the reason I could be certain was because dragons were beings of [『Abnormality』].
Put another way, it also meant that unless one was a being of Abnormality, one could not inflict meaningful damage on a dragon.
“Mr. Hoyeol…… No, Commander-in-Chief……?”
The sword strikes of Nam Taemin, Harkon, Hisagi, and Leonie landing effective blows, and the senior mages’ joint attacks proving effective, were all because Yunaxus had wanted it that way.
It was thanks to him wanting to fall, wanting to stagger under magic, and wanting to be cut by sword energy.
Whether that was due to the last stalk of reason remaining even after he had become an evil dragon, or instinct, I could not know.
“There is no need to cry out so desperately.”
It will be all right from now on. [Skill, ‘Natural Enemy Relationship,’ has activated.]
Because I am here, Yunaxus. ‘……
To be honest, it’s not as if I’m overflowing with confidence either.’ [Natural Enemy Relationship] had activated thanks to Yunaxus swallowing the Fruit of Evil. But if Yunaxus began to rampage in earnest, even that might not be enough.
Still, I had something to rely on. [Exorcism Ritual].
Yunaxus’s condition was, in effect, no different from being possessed by the demon known as the Fruit of Evil.
For a moment, I thought that if I removed the cause through the Exorcism Ritual, Yunaxus might be able to return to normal.
But. ‘It isn’t possession.’ The moment I chose the offering, I could sense it instinctively.
Yunaxus was not being swayed by the Fruit of Evil.
He had truly become a demon, an evil dragon, itself.
As if to prove that, a message appeared. [Yunaxus, the Elder Dragon Who Swallowed the Fruit of Evil, refuses ‘Calm.’]
The Dark Dragon.
And as the head of Claudi, I held command authority over Yunaxus. It was not merely a setting or words, but something officially acknowledged by the system, which did not lie.
That command of mine was being denied.
“Kroarrrrrrrr—!”
Yunaxus’s roar as he bellowed savagely at me was brimming with killing intent.
I desperately turned my thoughts.
To grasp the changes in the prey from a hunter’s perspective.
And then I realized.
“Primordial evil. As expected, you are nothing if not hideous.”
The Fruit of Evil (惡果).
So that damned fruit of the World Tree did not simply possess its target……? It was a fruit with the vicious effect of breaking the balance between good and evil (善惡) within, and completely changing the target’s very essence into evil.
Only then did I begin to understand. ‘And dragons are direct descendants of the World Tree, at that.’ The evil inherent within them was bound to be vast as well.
Yunaxus must have recognized his own condition better than anyone.
That was why he was rampaging.
That was why he wanted to die.
Because he knew he had crossed a river from which he could not return.
Gooooooo— Yunaxus fired his breath toward me.
Breath that could not be offset unless by the same Abnormality.
Without hesitation, I drew Gwicheol from my waist.
—The situation does not seem favorable, Master.
Srrrng—!
I added sword aura to Gwicheol, wrapped mana around it as well, and received the pouring breath head-on. With a light swing of Gwicheol, the breath split in half and scattered.
A voice reached me.
“If this is the case, then I may not need to step in……!”
Skal, mounted on a wyvern, was shouting.
I could guess what he was planning.
Even if he had never ridden a dragon yet, he was a dragon knight.
Skal must have come here with a sense of responsibility, too.
If not that,
perhaps he had truly, purely, wanted to climb onto Yunaxus’s back.
Whatever else might be true, Skal was sincere when it came to dragons.
In any case, it was likewise regrettable.
Because it seemed there would be no such opportunity.
“Yunaxus.”
I knew.
That all demons had no choice but to fall into hell. The laws of hell were so strict that they made no allowances, whether that demon had once been a Sword Saint, or a demon hunter.
Yunaxus would not be able to avoid the laws of hell either.
I did not know of any way to return Yunaxus, who was being stained with evil from within rather than possessed, to his original state.
I was a demon hunter who hunted demons, not some holy son who even showed compassion to demons.
Moreover. 『Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo’s pride, paradoxically, rises highest before demons.』 If the opponent was a demon, he showed no mercy.
Grandfell’s temperament could not be overlooked either.
However, I did not speak coldly.
“I understand your will.”
Even if he had fallen into a demon. Because I knew that Yunaxus had desperately endured. Because I knew that, realizing he could not return, he was rampaging while wishing for death.
I could not treat Yunaxus the same as other demons.
Nor could I heartlessly cast him into the fires of hell.
Having sorted out my emotions, I recited.
“I shall send you off more grandly than anyone.”
Therefore, this was the best I could do.
In the world where I am, Yunaxus would not die recorded as an evil dragon. Nor would he be recorded as an old dragon whose wings were torn, who rolled wretchedly through the mountains, and met a miserable end.
Because when I say something, I make certain it becomes reality.
“From now on, you may rampage as befits the king of all creation, Yunaxus. You shall be recorded as a formidable foe greater than any demon, demon king, or great evil I have ever faced.”
I recited.
“That is the final disposition I grant you.”
I gripped Gwicheol properly.
“I shall bear everything that you are.”
Did he understand my intent?
“Kr……!!”
Yunaxus’s aura transformed.
Yunaxus began to unleash the full power he had been desperately suppressing.
Chijijijik!
His massive body heated up, spewing steam.
The heat forced Harkon and the others, who had been launching a pincer attack, away.
“……
What the hell, what is this all of a sudden?”
“It is far too hot.”
“Shit. It’s not like the bleeding burst open either……?”
Skal’s broadcast could be heard.
“Th-the dragon’s co-color is changing!!”
I was not surprised.
Because I had expected it.
Once, I had asked Yunaxus about it.
—“The Ice Dragon, Froznax. The Earth Dragon, Kudhanax. The Thunder Dragon, Zeudenax…… That is correct. Even this old dragon once had a past epithet (異名) by which I was called, just like them.”
I had wondered if there was any particular reason only Yunaxus was called the old dragon. At that time, Yunaxus had told me his epithet with embarrassment.
—“The Extreme Flame Dragon (極炎龍). That was my epithet.”
Extreme heat.
The dragon’s hide grew hot beyond red, turning black.
Even the dragon scales began to sublimate into flame.
Yunaxus’s full power began to reach my skin first.
Watching that sight, I was reminded of Karimjeva, who had called himself a fire dragon (火龍). Indeed, as befitted a demon worshipper, he seemed to have possessed not the slightest ability to know his place. ‘There’s no comparison whatsoever.’ Once again, I was struck by it anew.
Your self-control really is something, Yunaxus. How did you suppress this kind of power even after becoming a demon? And just how did I end up facing you……!
Of course, even amid this, my manner of speaking remained utterly calm.
“Only now do you truly seem like the king of all creation, Yunaxus.”
Someone might ask.
In vulgar terms, wasn’t I completely fucked?
That was true. Whether judging by level, which could stand in for weight class, or by the realm of Abnormality, there was not a single area where I could say I was definitively ahead of Yunaxus.
But there was a reason
I said “was” instead of “is.”
Because I had just found one way to survive.
Our dear Grandfell, who values the flow of time by comparing it to afternoon teatime. The fact that he had wasted a full six days and yet felt no regret
meant there was a reason worthy of it.
Looking at Yunaxus, I continued.
“If that is so, then I, too, shall face you with my ‘full power.’”
...
Whoosh— Mary flew through the Zero Mountains on her broom.
Jessie seemed to need time to collect herself. Mary was not too worried. While teaching her, she had learned that Jessie had not been chosen as the vessel of an archmage for nothing. ‘Actually, right now, more than Jessie…….’ She was worried about Claudi, about Hoyeol.
“!”
At last, the battlefield came into view.
Mary recognized Yunaxus at once.
He was a dragon she had encountered in the past on the Arcana Continent.
Yunaxus.
The band of elves led by Argentress.
The Seven Deadly Sins’ Gluttony.
The Transcendent Urs.
It had been Mary, the Witch of the Southern Sea, who had resolved that hair-trigger situation in the name of Claudi. Thus, Mary understood the severity of the situation at once.
“……
This isn’t the time to be doing nothing.”
Mary deliberately thought.
Lord Claudi cannot handle that dragon alone.
In the past, she would have blamed herself.
To harbor doubt toward the abilities of Claudi, the great house. She knew well that there was no concern in the world more meaningless than that. But not now.
Because there was an unresolved question.
Why is Lord Claudi being called an adventurer?
The head of Claudi, Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.
The adventurer, Lee Hoyeol.
There was no contradiction as great as the existence of those two.
Even if they were entirely different worlds,
the two could not coexist on the same timeline.
But Mary did not voice the question aloud.
From the moment her clan had been saved by Hoyeol,
any further questions would only be irreverent.
She was merely worried.
She did not know by what circumstances he had become entangled in what kind of contradiction…… But she knew that Lord Claudi was unable to exhibit his past skill.
She knew well that, in his current state, it would be impossible for him to face an Elder Dragon alone. And so Mary urgently accelerated her broom.
But.
“……!”
It had been needless worry. ……
Just what kind of change had occurred in the past six days?
That era.
The Claudi of his prime was before her eyes.
Holding the unconscious Tower Master in his arms,
Jessie, who had belatedly followed Mary, arrived.
Jessie quietly wiped the corners of her eyes and spoke.
It was a slightly different sort of question.
“Um…… Can hair grow that much in just one week?”