Chapter 1975 – 1975. God’S Atlantis
-The dragon is coming! The dragon is coming!
The rat kept squeaking.
There was awe in the rat’s voice. It was both fearing and admiring Fafnir.
“Hey, rat. How do you know the dragon is coming?”
The rat was startled by my question. It was so startled that it jumped about 30cm.
-A human is speaking my language!
“You’re speaking my language. How do you know the dragon is coming? Tell me that first.”
-Because I can feel it! The dragon is coming!
Is it really coming?
I couldn’t believe the rat’s words. I was suspicious of the rat, but I still sipped the wine from the golden chalice. I wasn’t drinking it to gain wisdom. I was just drinking it because it tasted good.
‘I see why the villagers are wary. It’s quite addictive.’
Even I, with my absolute mental fortitude, am like this, so it’s needless to say how others would be. Once you drink it, you’ll become addicted and seek it out.
‘I can’t even give this to Elena, who likes alcohol.’
Meanwhile, the atmosphere of the Omikos Mercenary Group was becoming increasingly vicious. Some were openly fiddling with their weapons.
“Captain! If we kill that guy, we can divide the gold among ourselves!”
“We’re not robbers, we’re mercenaries!”
“Just once is enough! He didn’t die because we killed him, but because of an accident! Just once, and we can live comfortably for the rest of our lives!”
“I’ve emphasized it so many times. Even if you’re a mercenary, you must have faith. Moreover, have you forgotten that he’s affiliated with the A-Plan Legion? There are no eternal secrets in this world. The A-Plan Legion will find out all the circumstances and retaliate against us. Before that, we’ll also be hunted by the Grim Reaper.”
“Captain! Are you going to be like this?! Can’t you see this hundreds of tons of gold! We can run away to a place where neither the Grim Reaper nor the Legion can reach us and live lavishly! With money, what’s impossible?!”
“No. Calm down. You’re all unusually excited right now!”
Omikos shouted as if rebuking them.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the mercenaries.
Omikos was right. Something was a bit off. At first, I thought they were simply revealing their true colors, but…
‘Looking at the eyes of some of the mercenaries, their focus is somewhat blurred. It’s not just greed for gold… Have they been subjected to mental interference?’
The mercenaries started acting like that right after seeing the gold piled up in the warehouse. There’s something in the gold or the warehouse.
‘Hmm. Maybe it’s because I drank Mimir’s wine, but my head feels so clear.’
I put a few more gold bars into my wine glass. There was so much gold in the warehouse that even putting in a few gold bars didn’t make a difference.
“Captain!!!”
Something happened. One of the mercenaries suddenly lunged forward and swung his sword.
Clang!
Omikos easily blocked his subordinate’s sword, but he looked extremely flustered.
I grinned.
“The contract is broken.”
I said as if declaring it. In fact, the contract had already been broken long before. From the moment they harbored murderous intent towards me. It was just that I, the contracting party, hadn’t acknowledged it and had been watching.
「The Grim Reaper confirms the contract.」
「As a result of the confirmation, the second party has violated the contract.」
「The curse of the Grim Reaper is placed upon the second party, the Omikos Mercenary Group.」
A dark aura rose from the void. The aura spread like waves and seeped into the mercenaries.
「The curse of the Grim Reaper is placed.」
“Ughhhhh…!”
“Ah, it hurts!”
“My head hurts!”
“Haa, haa!”
The mercenaries groaned and trembled. Only Omikos seemed to be fine.
‘Looking at him sweating, it doesn’t seem like he escaped the curse. Is he gritting his teeth and enduring it?’
「The Grim Reaper is tracking the contract violators. The Grim Reaper will soon take the lives of the violators.」
‘Heh heh. They’re screwed.’
Not me, but those guys.
‘No, am I screwed too?’
Those damn mercenaries betrayed me, and things went wrong. Originally, I was supposed to organize the gold in the warehouse and then gang up on the weakened Fafnir to kill him.
‘There’s no one to trust.’
I rack my brain.
After organizing all the gold here, can I face Fafnir alone?
‘It depends on how weak Fafnir becomes.’
The panicked mercenaries stopped fighting and looked around. It seems like they’re finally coming to their senses.
‘If Fafnir appears here at the right time, it might be surprisingly doable…’
Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The roar of a huge creature.
The aftershock of that sound alone made the ground tremble slightly. And the overwhelming presence that was felt. I could feel Fafnir’s anger.
-It’s the dragon! The dragon has come!
The rat squeaked and hid deep inside the warehouse.
The mercenaries’ faces turned pale.
“Already, Fafnir has already come? This is different from what we were told!”
“Damn it! This is a cave, so there’s no way to escape!”
“The gold! Get the gold!”
Omikos was standing guard at the entrance of the warehouse, so the mercenaries couldn’t easily enter.
“Calm down! I’ve told you countless times that panicking on the battlefield is suicidal! Calm down!!”
“Captain! The dragon! The dragon is coming! We need to get the gold out of that warehouse quickly! Move!”
“Yujin will do it. Yujin has Arta’s Elixir! He can turn all the gold in the warehouse into other metals in an instant! Trust Yujin and form the formation we prepared! We’ve already fought a dragon before, haven’t we!”
“Compared to Fafnir, that was just a big lizard!”
“Don’t be afraid! We can do it! Just like we always have!”
Omikos calmed the mercenaries well. Maybe it’s because he’s popular, but the mercenaries are quickly calming down. A trustworthy leader must be someone like Omikos.
But that was only for a moment.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Fafnir entered the cave with angry steps. A huge, pitch-black dragon. Its eyes were filled with anger at the intruders who dared to enter its treasure vault.
-These vermin dare…!
Fafnir vents its anger. The mana in the air moved restlessly. It was as if all the mana in the air was in sync with Fafnir’s emotions. Mana was on the dragon’s side.
‘It’s strange that it came so quickly. Did they install an alarm in the warehouse? I don’t see anything like that.’
Thanks to Mimir’s wine, my head was clear.
‘One of the villagers betrayed me. The first place Fafnir would have gone to is the second village…’
The village where I got the Valkyrie’s wings. It was also the village where I got information about Andvari’s warehouse.
‘If Fafnir flies, it’s within a 10-minute distance.’
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Fafnir approaches the mercenaries. Every time it exhales from its snout, a dark curse writhes.
I was still sipping the wine from the golden chalice. When the wine ran out, I put the gold bars nearby into the golden chalice. This time, I didn’t drink it, but kept putting gold into the cup. Mimir’s wine began to concentrate.
To weaken Fafnir, I had to get rid of as much gold as possible in this warehouse.
‘Gold can be piled up again. There are villages that mine gold.’
It’s not like I need gold that much. If I’m in a hurry, I can go to another amusement world and bring gold.
“You bastard!!! Leave my gold alone!! All that gold is mine!!!”
Seeing me quickly putting gold into the wine glass, Fafnir, with its eyes wide open, opened its mouth and spewed out its breath. A breath of black flames and curses. If you get hit by that breath, your whole body will burn and rot.
Omikos stepped forward.
“Everyone, get behind me!”
He stretched out both hands and used a skill. A bright light spread from his body, forming a barrier. The barrier, which glowed softly in orange like a mood light, surprisingly blocked Fafnir’s breath.
‘It’s a barrier with the properties of the sun. It’s not enough output to block Fafnir’s breath. It’s overcoming it with the power of compatibility. Is it a skill he received from a god? The god is… hmm. Mitra?’
Everything came into view. I could tell just by looking.
‘He can hold out quite well even without my help. He’s as capable as his reputation suggests.’
I kept putting gold into the golden chalice and muttered softly.
“System. The Hatel village betrayed me. Isn’t that a breach of contract?”
「As a result of the confirmation, the Hatel village did not violate the contract.」
“They kept their loyalty? Fafnir returned so quickly?”
「The Hatel village did not violate the contract.」
The system said so. Ah, okay! I wasn’t going to just let it go.
The system is not omnipotent. It can’t read my thoughts right now. It seems like it’s not that it can’t, but that it doesn’t. That’s where the loophole lies.
‘If you have the intention to betray, you can screw them over as much as you want. While talking to Fafnir, you can naturally guide Fafnir’s thoughts in a certain direction.’
First of all, Hatel would have said that they didn’t have any gold. Because I took it all. They wouldn’t have stopped there, they would have said this and that. Even if they pretended to keep their loyalty and just kept their mouths shut, Fafnir would have felt something was strange.
‘They’re better than those mercenary bastards who were just afraid of the system.’
But the fact that they were despicable was still despicable.
“Kuaaaaaaack!”
A mercenary’s scream rang out. He was hit by Fafnir’s tail whip and flew away, rolling on the floor. It looked like his spine was broken, but he was still alive. He’d die in a few minutes though.
“Yujin! Use Arta’s Elixir!”
“Just a little more.”
I continued to put gold into the golden chalice. At the same time, I used my Heavenly Eye to watch Fafnir’s movements. I watched from various directions, observing its habits and physical abilities.
‘It’s certain that it can’t use its breath continuously. Looking at the flow of mana, it can’t use it for at least 3 minutes. Still, its tail and claws are threatening. Its physical abilities are extraordinary. Most sword techniques are deflected by its scales. It doesn’t use its snout for attacks. Is it some kind of pride? Well, is it?’
The mercenaries were dying. Magic was less effective against Fafnir than normal attacks. Maybe it’s because it’s a dragon, but its magic resistance was enormous.
‘Just getting close is enough to get cursed. The types of curses are random. Sometimes your body weakens, and sometimes your mind goes crazy…’
“Sung Yujin!!!”
Omikos shouted my name. After dozens of mercenaries died, he was also in a hurry.
“It’s done.”
I looked inside the golden chalice. The wine containing 100 tons of gold was very radiant.
‘The wisdom of 100 tons of gold. I’m looking forward to it.’
I put the cup to my lips and drank the wine.
The taste was amazing.
