Novel Bin
Chapter 167: Ghosts of the Past, Ties of the Present (6)
The human falling above and the glowing sword.
The dragon's reaction was instantaneous. It flapped its wings and swung its front paw at the same time.
Instead of dodging the front paw, Yeomyeong layered his sword energy over the blade.
The Comet Sword, the Broken Blade, and the sword energy stolen from the Player.
!
The three sword energies overlapped, slashing through the dragon’s claws without a sound. But it didn’t stop there— it stretched out toward its true target.
The dragon's heart.
Through the ribs of Kahal Magdu, Yeomyeong saw the glowing heart, like a blue gem.
Just as Yeomyeong’s sword energy was about to reach the heart.
-Hah!
The dragon let out a laugh that was a mix of rage and joy as it detonated the mana in its heart.
Was this the mana explosion that had repelled him earlier? No, the mana that burst out now was on an entirely different level.
Whhaaa—!
The dragon’s heart used itself as fuel, emitting eerie blue flames.
Instead of pushing Yeomyeong away, the fire burned with the intent to incinerate him.
In that moment, his vision melted away. The flames covered his face instantly.
-I’ll give you credit for novelty.
Kahal Magdu’s flames burned Yeomyeong. Any thoughts of the Death Knights or the firing code had long since disappeared.
Die, kill. That was all.
However, Yeomyeong was neither pushed away nor burned to death.
He gripped the heart with his telekinesis and, squeezing every bit of mana from his body, withstood the flames.
Even as his skin burned away and sensation was lost, and his eyes melted, leaving his vision in the dark, he cared not.
Amid the rising pain, only the dragon's heart remained clear in his mind.
Unconsciousness, certainty, and the sword.
Yeomyeong swung the hand gripping the sword. In response, the flames split apart, following his will...
And the sword pierced the heart.
!!!
There was no sound. No cheers, no screams.
One breath in, one breath out.
The fire from the dragon’s heart faded, and Yeomyeong was pushed out through the ribs, beginning to fall.
Through his regenerating eyes, he saw Kahal Magdu’s massive body falling to the ground.
‘I won...’
Just as he was sure of his victory, the red dragon's hand quickly reached out to catch him.
He wanted to say "Nice catch," but his burned mouth and tongue wouldn’t move. Yeomyeong simply leaned into the dragon’s hand, slowly descending to the ground.
Moments later.
Kuuuung...!
The sound of the Skeleton Dragon crashing into the ground reverberated through the heavens. It was the sound of victory.
In the shocking silence that followed, Orse Tabul lightly landed in the city.
He carefully set Yeomyeong down on the ground and spoke.
[This is our, no... Your victory, Thousand Bright.]
But Yeomyeong couldn’t rejoice fully. The city was still crawling with zombies.
‘I’ve already taken down the drunkard... but why?’
At that moment, as if answering his question, Kahal Magdu coughed.
-Ha, haha! I’ve lost. To an Earthling, I’ve lost.
The Skeleton Dragon burst out laughing and rose. His half-severed right hand barely kept him balanced as he touched the ground.
[Damned corpse.]
Orse Tabul bared his teeth and began weaving a spell, preparing for battle, but Yeomyeong simply furrowed his brow.
He had realized why the creature was still alive.
Kahal Magdu had reached inside his ribs and was holding his split heart.
It wasn’t first aid, nor anything of the sort. It was simply a stalling tactic to delay his death by just a little.
The creature looked up and stared directly at Yeomyeong.
“....”
Whether the Skeleton Dragon mocked him or not, Yeomyeong drew his sword and moved toward the creature.
Thud.
The sword energy gathered once more on his blade.
It wasn’t as powerful as the last, but it was more than enough to kill a dragon on the edge of death.
Seeing this, Kahal Magdu seemed to realize something, and burst out laughing.
“....”
As he spoke, small flames flickered between the dragon’s jaws, but Yeomyeong didn’t care.
He didn’t feel any hostility from the creature.
A moment later, Yeomyeong stood right in front of him, sword raised, ready to strike at both his heart and left hand...
But instead, Kahal Magdu pulled his left hand from his chest and held it out to Yeomyeong.
Eat it.
“...What?”
Kahal Magdu lowered his head and locked eyes with Yeomyeong.
The fading blue flames and golden eyes met. The loser and the victor, pleasure and confusion.
“....”
Before Yeomyeong could respond, Kahal Magdu squeezed his left hand.
The heart he held compressed, and the last mana sustaining Kahal Magdu disappeared into it.
It was unclear whether it was a final word or a laugh, but the blue flame in the dragon’s eye socket faded.
Boom!
With that, the dragon’s bones lost their soul, and the jewel in its hand rolled to the ground.
The heart of the dragon, larger than the body of an adult, was small in comparison to the blue jewel, no bigger than a baseball.
Yeomyeong picked up the jewel that had rolled to his feet and turned his head.
Orse Tabul’s conflicted eyes, the frozen zombies, and the crow beastman limping toward him from between the alleys.
“...Corpus.”
Corpus had been in a fierce battle with the Death Knights, her body riddled with injuries.
Her left leg was completely twisted, dangling loosely, which was why she was using her magic staff as a real walking stick.
In any case, she found Yeomyeong standing before the Skeleton Dragon, and she snapped her beak shut.
“Good job. My bad disciple. I wanted to hit you on the beak when you disappeared without a word... but... well, you’re alive, so that’s fine.”
“...I’m glad to see you’re still alive, Corpus.”
With a wry smile, Corpus took a step back, and Yeomyeong placed the dragon’s heart into his arms.
Then, he turned his head in the direction where the Saint had disappeared.
Specifically, to where Seti was fighting.
“Orse, there are still a few left... can you help me finish this off?”
[If that is what you wish.]
****
“Stop just running away and fight already.”
Seti ignored Yekaterina’s voice coming from behind her as she rolled on the ground. And then...
Kwaaaang!!!
The spot where she had been standing exploded. A blast more powerful than an anti-tank rocket.
The debris ripped her clothes and pierced her skin, but she narrowly escaped the explosion’s range.
As Seti raised her head after rolling on the ground, she saw Namgung Jeongbaek scowling at her, aiming a golden staff.
“Tch, what the hell is this about, chasing a little girl around...”
He seemed displeased by the entire fight.
Indeed, it wasn’t an honorable thing for two superhumans to lead hundreds of zombies while hunting down a young girl.
Of course, honor was one thing, and work was another.
Needing to extract the firing code, Namgung Jeongbaek cast another spell.
“Hilaria’s heat—!”
The explosion magic repeated.
Seti spat out blood and used teleportation magic to escape.
As if waiting for this moment, zombies charged toward her landing spot.
‘Damn.’
Seeing this, Seti raised her hammer in mid-air and swung it at the empty air.
Bang! Lightning erupted from the hammer’s head, causing her body to shift direction in mid-air.
Mana churned and her internal organs twisted, but thanks to that, Seti managed to land on the roof of a building instead of the alley.
“Wow, running away is truly an art. But... how about we stop and finish this?”
At Yekaterina’s taunting request, Seti raised her hand in response.
The Earth’s gestures, famous even beyond the Dimensional Gates.
Regardless of how much Namgung Jeongbaek’s expression twisted, Yekaterina chuckled.
“I told you to take it easy, didn’t I? All this time-wasting is meaningless.”
“...”
“You don’t really think your lover can defeat Kahal Magdu, do you? Do you think this fight will change just because you’ve caught a dragon?”
As she said, in the sky above the city, the Skeleton Dragon and the Red Dragon were /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ clashing.
A magnificent spectacle of magic and dragon breath colliding.
At the same time, it was obvious that the tide of the battle was turning in favor of Kahal Magdu.
Seti wasn’t flustered, nor was she frightened. She believed in Yeomyeong’s victory more than anyone else.
That’s why she coldly measured the remaining grenades and mana, and checked the escape route.
‘If I flee now, I can buy another ten minutes... no, five minutes more.’
And then, five minutes later? She would have to fight, relying on her short-term combat skills, no matter whether it meant life or death.
If, by some chance, she were captured as a hostage...
‘...One of my limbs will be offered as a sacrifice.’
Having made her decision, she immediately leaped into action. No, she was about to.
But just as she lifted her foot from the roof.
A bullet flew from the opposite side of the city, blasting through Yekaterina’s head.
Boom!
The bullet made its mark, and only then did the sound of the shot ring out. A high-caliber bullet faster than the speed of sound.
“Sniper?! Who is it?!”
Caught off guard by the sudden ambush, Namgung Jeongbaek activated a shield and retreated.
And after her head exploded, Yekaterina fell like a broken doll, but suddenly regained her posture and started looking around with her headless body.
‘...She’s not dead even after her head exploded?’
What in the world is this? Seti swallowed a bitter laugh and checked the direction the sniper’s shot came from.
Since nothing was detected, it seemed like the shot came from at least several hundred meters away...
An enemy? Or was it an ally?
It didn’t matter. If the opportunity presented itself, she would use it.
Seti immediately turned and jumped toward Namgung Jeongbaek, now left alone.
Hongdan Byeolryeok. The ultimate strike of the Taebun Byeolryeok, a martial art from Korea designed to maximize only the offensive power.
‘I’ll take down Namgung Jeongbaek while I have the chance.’
With the hammer’s head crackling— the mana shone brilliantly like lightning splitting the rainbow.
“Damn!”
As Namgung Jeongbaek stepped back in surprise, another gunshot rang out from the distance.
Boom!
This time, the target was Namgung Jeongbaek’s shield.
The shield that blocked the sniper’s shot shattered into dust. Was that a single blow that broke a shield capable of blocking anti-tank rockets? Could it be...
“...Weapon enhancement blessing? Why the hell would a priest be—?!”
Namgung Jeongbaek hurriedly prepared the next shield, but Seti’s hammer was already casting its shadow above his head.
The next moment—
Kwaaaang - !
The hammer struck living bone and flesh.
Not Namgung Jeongbaek, but the bone and flesh of Yekaterina, whose head had been blown off.
Just before Namgung Jeongbaek’s body was about to shatter, Yekaterina threw herself into the path of the hammer, blocking it.
In return, her body was reduced to a pile of blood, but Namgung Jeongbaek narrowly saved his life.
****
Namgung Jeongbaek was a seasoned mage. Even while rolling on the floor, drenched in blood, he was still capable of chanting spells.
“Damn it, Light of Naras!”
Flash!
A blinding light spell that could obscure the vision of both the sniper and Seti.
Namgung Jeongbaek didn’t look back as he dashed toward the zombie horde.
He didn’t have the authority to command the zombies, but at least they wouldn’t attack him.
As he used the zombies as a shield and dashed forward for a while...
Suddenly, light burst from the sky.
A tiny beam of light from a human’s sword, so small that it couldn’t even be seen from this distance.
That light severed the Skeleton Dragon’s arm and fell between the dragon’s ribs, soon causing a massive explosion from within.
A brief silence.
Just as the silence was about to stretch, Kahal Magdu began falling to the ground.
It was an unbelievable sight. The undead dragon was defeated? The nightmare of South America, just here?
“H-how is this happening...?”
As Namgung Jeongbaek lost his words while watching the falling dragon, the zombie beside him opened its mouth wide and vomited blood.
In a panic, Namgung Jeongbaek stared at the sudden vomiting, but regardless of his shock, the blood began to settle in mid-air.
The blood clumped together like clay, quickly forming the familiar shape of a human.
“...Yekaterina?”
A magic that creates flesh from blood? What kind of magic was that? As Namgung Jeongbaek pondered the question, Yekaterina, having gained a new body, got up from her sprawled position.
“Ah, this hurts like hell.”
She rummaged through the zombies’ clothes, quickly dressed, and then looked in the direction where Kahal Magdu had fallen.
“Huh? The undead dragon is dead? This wasn’t our fate...”
“What... What are you talking about?”
“Tch, what do you mean, ‘we lost’? Let’s just retreat.”
“What? No! I’ve already paid the price to your old masters. I can’t retreat now!”
Shivering, Namgung Jeongbaek spoke, but Yekaterina didn’t even flinch.
“The moment Kahal Magdu died, the battle was lost. Let’s just save our lives.”
“No, not yet! The firing code... With the firing code, we can still turn this around...!”
The firing code?
Yekaterina thought for a moment as she looked at the trembling Namgung Jeongbaek and then smirked.
“Ah, right... his fate is still in play.”
“That person? Who? Who else is there?”
Namgung Jeongbaek asked with a hopeful voice, but the answer that followed disappointed him.
“Dong Jeongbaek, Vikoff Zhukashvili.”
What do you think?
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