Chapter 1916 – 1916. Dark Moon
“You crazy son of a bitch!!! Are you really out of your mind, you magic freak!!!”
Jin shouts at the top of his lungs. I looked down at him from the air, a smirk playing on my lips.
“Do you have the luxury to worry about me?”
Shouting in anger was a stupid move. It might have made him feel better, but it also drew the attention of the Red Dragon.
‘Dragons are fundamentally not friendly to humans.’
Moreover, that Red Dragon was a guardian prepared by a great mage with a bad temper. There was no way it would just ignore a human right in front of it.
The Red Dragon, with its mouth wide open, charged towards Jin. The Red Dragon’s legs were surprisingly fast despite their shortness.
“Damn lizard bastard!”
He swung his greatsword at the dragon’s head.
Clang!
The greatsword was deflected. The dragon twisted its head, using the black horn on its head to block the sword. Jin continued to swing his sword. With mana infused into the blade, its power increased, enough to pierce the Red Dragon’s scales and inflict wounds.
‘It’s only because it’s a hatchling that he can even fight it. If it were a fully grown dragon, he would have been finished without a doubt.’
Dragons are highly intelligent. They even use magic. But the dragon in front of me was fighting like a mindless monster. That was why Jin could hold his own against the dragon.
“Magic freak!! Are you just going to watch until the end?!”
“You’re a shameless one. You tried to kill me, and now you’re asking for help? You’ve got a face as thick as a steel plate.”
“Shut up! If I die to this thing! Do you think it’ll thank you? Absolutely not! Look at its ferocity! This thing will kill every human here! That’s why it appeared!”
“Ah, yes. You’re right. I don’t want to die, so I’ll help you. Lightning.”
I extended my hand forward, deploying a spell. A circular magic circle appeared below my palm and then vanished.
Zzzzzzzap!
The static electricity in the air reacted, turning into lightning that struck down. The target of the attack included not only the dragon but also Jin. Jin was startled by the lightning falling from above and rolled to the side.
“Rolling on the ground like a soccer ball. Were you a soccer ball in your past life?”
“You son of a bitch, seriously!!”
Jin roared.
His eyes flashed red. His presence became more intense.
‘Solid, huh.’
In the original story, it was an awakening skill commonly used by physical classes. It temporarily increased all stats and granted a chosen attribute.
Now that the game had become reality, it was an awakening ability that partially unlocked potential and possibilities.
Solid varied greatly from person to person, so no two abilities were the same.
‘It’s also a kind of trump card, so it’s not something you can see easily.’
Using Solid was like showing everything about yourself.
Jin’s body changed. His skin turned pitch black, and bright red light leaked from his eyes.
‘Negative mana, dark mana, I can feel it.’
The foundation of Solid was potential. In other words, Jin had an aptitude for dark magic. That must have been why he could modify his body with dark magic.
“I’ll kill this damn lizard, and then I’ll kill you too.”
“Oh, okay. Lightning.”
Zzzzzzzap!
Lightning struck the ground. Jin gritted his teeth and deflected the lightning. Then, he turned and swung his greatsword at the dragon.
Perhaps sensing danger, the dragon spread its wings and flew upwards, dodging the greatsword. It then opened its mouth, took a deep breath, and exhaled.
The most famous thing about dragons was their breath. The Red Dragon’s breath turned into flames that swept across the ground.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Jin screamed. Even with dark mana surrounding his body, he couldn’t remain unscathed by the Red Dragon’s flames. The dragon’s fire breath was known to melt and burn everything.
‘And yet he’s still holding on.’
It wasn’t like Jin was particularly outstanding. That was because the Red Dragon was fake.
“Do you think, do you think I’ll die like this!!”
Jin surged towards the fire-breathing Red Dragon. He tried to strike the Red Dragon’s head, but the Red Dragon suddenly lunged forward and bit down on Jin’s torso.
Crunch!
The dragon’s teeth sank into his body, and he writhed in pain.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
‘It’s over.’
Jin’s Solid was deactivated. His muscles shrank. Blood and guts flowed from his body. His life force was visibly fading in real-time.
The Red Dragon’s eyes turned towards me. The dragon chewed on Jin while circling in the air, then spat out his corpse. It then opened its mouth wide at me. It was about to use its breath. I used the magic I had prepared.
[Ice Fog]
I scattered cold air in all directions. Everything that touched the cold air instantly became frigid. Waterfalls froze, and groundwater turned into ice. The Red Dragon, which had been inhaling air, coughed and sputtered. The Red Dragon, a symbol of heat, was ironically weak against cold.
At least, it wouldn’t be able to use its fire breath in this cold-filled place. Now, the dragon had only one option left: melee combat.
“Krrrrraaaaaaa!”
The dragon, with its mouth covered in blood and flesh, flew towards me.
I recently learned something while practicing alchemy.
My abilities weren’t just lightning, instant movement, and heightened sensitivity.
‘Meteor Sword.’
A sword materialized in the air and fell towards the dragon.
‘Attribute infusion, cold.’
The Meteor Sword froze. It emitted a constant stream of blue cold air. It was so cold that it felt like your body would freeze just by looking at it.
Sensing danger, the dragon sharply changed direction. Its movements were incredibly agile.
I used telekinesis to control the Meteor Sword. The Meteor Sword followed the dragon according to my will. The Meteor Sword was so large that maintaining telekinesis was not easy. My mental strength was fine, but mana was being consumed at a rapid pace.
‘Should I try that?’
The day I awakened the Meteor Sword ability, I awakened a new ability. Or rather, it was a bit ambiguous whether it was an ability. It was also a kind of martial art.
I instinctively recalled its name.
‘Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流).’
The Thunder Heaven Style was a martial art and a form of Qi cultivation. I felt like I could use Qi cultivation somehow, but the martial art was a no-go. I had absolutely no talent for moving my body. And the Thunder Heaven Style was a martial art that used swords.
‘I was flustered at first. Even though I knew the Thunder Heaven Style, it was a no-go when I tried to use it directly.’
It felt like my body couldn’t keep up with the techniques in my head. It was like the software was the latest version, but the hardware was 30 years old, so it wasn’t compatible.
‘It’s a different story if I use telekinesis instead of my body.’
Using telekinesis, I could control the sword as I pleased.
‘It’s more like manipulating it.’
The moment the Meteor Sword reached the dragon, I swung it using telekinesis.
Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流) Thunder Flash (雷光).
The blade flashed like lightning, but I couldn’t cut the dragon in half…
‘Hmm.’
The Thunder Heaven Style was a martial art based on the body. Even if I controlled it with telekinesis, I couldn’t perfectly control it. I couldn’t 100% reproduce the power that came from the subtle movements and postures of the muscles with telekinesis.
‘I thought I could do it, but I failed. I guess it’s due to lack of practice.’
It wasn’t urgent, so it didn’t matter.
Having dodged the attack, the dragon flew straight towards me, full of confidence. The Thunder Heaven Style included not only swordsmanship but also Qi cultivation.
Using telekinesis, I drew flowers in the air with lightning. A total of 12 flower buds rotated and bloomed.
Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流) Myriad Thunder Blossoms (卍雷開花).
Lightning flowers bloomed in all directions. Lightning filled the space and entangled the dragon’s body. With a light wave of my hand, the lightning flowers exploded.
The dragon, which had to endure 12 shockwaves, couldn’t withstand it and fell to the ground with a thud.
“Krrr…”
The wounded dragon couldn’t get up right away. The conclusion was reached. I leisurely prepared my magic.
[Thunder Bolt]
Like a guillotine falling, a massive bolt of lightning struck the dragon.
I descended in front of the dragon’s corpse. Looking at it up close, I was impressed. Indeed, a dragon. It looked magnificent.
“You did well, Eugene Meyer.”
Professor Harrington said to me from behind.
“I thought you were swept away and died, but you were alive?”
“I had prepared a few things.”
She extended her palm towards me. A bizarre pattern was drawn on her palm.
“I see you’re curious about this. This is something I obtained from an ancient ruin three years ago.”
“The Devil’s Hand. To be precise, a hand imbued with the power of the devil. It’s disposable, but if used for attack, it can show power comparable to a 6th-grade attack spell.”
“…You’ve shortened the time for explanations. If you don’t want to die, get out of the way.”
“You’re saying the opposite. You want me to move because you need to kill me. Because the dragon’s corpse shouldn’t be damaged.”
“You’re quick-witted for a mage. I’m starting to regret it now. I should have killed you first.”
“It’s no use regretting it now.”
“That’s true. Hurry and move. Otherwise, I’ll have to kill you while taking a loss. Ah, are you buying time to use a barrier spell? I want to tell you it’s useless. This Devil’s Hand has the power to ignore magic!”
“Professor. Since you don’t seem to know until the end, I’ll teach you. This isn’t a dragon.”
“What?”
I placed my hand on the dragon’s head.
“It’s something a bad-tempered mage set up to prank grave robbers.”
I forcibly deactivated the spell and mana flow running through its body. The dragon’s heavy body disappeared like smoke, and in my hand was a luxurious black-blue cape coat.
“Could that be… ?!”
“Merlin’s Numbers Artifact. This is the sixth one.”
No.6 Phantasm.
One of the artifacts of the legendary great mage Merlin.
