Chapter 97 – Red Dragon’s Lair (3)

“Krragh!”

Flames were shot out from the hellhound’s maw . The hunters split up to get out of the way and regrouped once the flames had passed .

The Immortal standing in front attacked the beast’s head with his blunt weapon .

“Whine”

The hunters rushed forward to attack the hound as well, and it was soon defeated . The hunters readied themselves to continue to fight .

There were two additional hellhounds . But the hounds further ahead already had their heads separated from their bodies . Master Hunter Kei Sungjin swung his swords to remove the blood from the blades as he said

“I suppose there are no more enemies in this area . ”

The Immortal looked back to the others and asked

“Anyone in need of a break?”

No one spoke up .

“Let us continue then . ”

There was another fork in the road further ahead . The Barbarian stepped forward once more . The Operator’s cube indicated the left path . But, the blue color was much more intense than the first time .

“This time it is to the left . Since the color is becoming more intense, we must be getting close . ”

“I see . Let’s not get careless everyone . Ok, let’s go . ”

The Immortal once again rallied the party and led the way . Sungjin walked with the others, standing close to the center of the formation . The Hunters walked down the path until they reached an area where the lava fell like a waterfall and gathered into a pool .

It was like a hell’s version of an onsen, where finding a devil enjoying a lava bath wouldn’t feel out of place . And seeing this area triggered a faint memory .

‘I’ve seen this before… we must be close . ’

Then the Immortal suddenly stopped .

“A person?”

A silhouette of a person could be seen in the distance . While the hunters were hesitating, Sungjin remembered and shouted

“No! That’s…!”

But a spell came flying their way already .

“Eternal Flames of Hell! Inferno!”

The fire split into several strands and came flying towards the Hunters . The Hunters were able to get out of the way and dodge the spell due to having been fired from a distance, but this is what the enemy was hoping for . He then

“Burning flames, protect me! Fire Shield!”

He covered his entire body with fire and leapt up over 10 meters into the air while gripping his spear, towards the backline of the hunter’s formation .

While the hunters were staring up at him with open mouths, the enemy targetted the ‘Blue Magician’ standing in the back . Once the ‘Blue Magician’ realized that he was the target, he quickly chanted

“Ice Shield!”

He tried to protect himself with magic, but the Dragon Demihuman easily broke through the barrier with his spear and stabbed the mage through his shoulder .

“Ahh!”

“Bastard!”

The nearby hunters swung their weapon towards the enemy, but the spirit fires orbiting the Demihuman targeted the attackers .

“W…what?”

The hunters all backed off . Meanwhile, the Dragon Demihuman aimed for the Mage’s neck as he swung his weapon . The one to block the attack was none other than Sungjin . Before the demihuman could stab

“Pa!”

Sungjin fired the Blood Vengeance out of his hands and had it strike the tip of the spear . When his attack was interrupted, the ranged hunters fired arrows and bolts towards the enemy . The Demihuman jumped high into the air to dodge the attacks and chanted a spell .

“Incinerate everything in your path! Fireball!”

There was no way to dodge the Fireball’s explosion . Even if it doesn’t cause fatalities, it would delay the raid . Sungjin had Besgoro chant

“Spell-devouring magic field, Anti Magic Shield”

To protect the hunters as he

“Haa!”

Retrieved the Blood Vengeance .

‘Boom!’

The fireball landed on the magic shield . But there was no additional damage . Once Sungjin verified the situation, he readied his two swords and charged towards the Dragon Demihuman .

The Dragon Demihuman was a master of both spells and spears .

‘Clang clack!’

The enemy spun his spear rapidly to face off against Sungjin’s swords . But what he couldn’t predict was that neither of Sungjin’s swords was ordinary .

Sungjin’s swords were able to cut off the thick arm of the Magma Golem like a hot knife through butter . The spear was shortened with each touch of his blade .

The enemy panicked due to losing his ability to melee and prepared to run, but Sungjin was not someone who would him escape .

“Snake Eye”

The Basilisk’s eye on the necklace opened . The Dragon Demihuman briefly paused and Sungjin used the Moon Specter to behead him .

“Whoa…”

The hunters standing behind Sungjin stared at him . Most of them had their jaws hanging open . Few even gave an applause . Sungjin felt bashful with so much attention and gestured as he suggested

“Then let us continue . ”

The Immortal closed his mouth and nodded .

“S…sure . ”

The Hunters began to move once more . Meanwhile, the others kept on glancing towards Sungjin . He was the center of attention again .

The ‘Friar’ was also staring at him . Sungjin remembered about his earring ‘Trite’ and thought

‘The cooldown was 10 minutes, right? I think about 10 minutes have passed by now…’

Sungjin intentionally started a conversation with ‘Friar’ .

“Hey, hand me a cigarette . ”

“Ah, sure . ”

The Friar handed over a cigarette without complaint . Sungjin put it in his mouth and asked

“Lighter too . ”

The Friar lit a match and brought it to Sungjin’s cigarette as he asked

“Do you smoke as well?”

Sungjin touched his earring as he answered

“Yeah, well I quit though . ”

Sungjin pretended to smoke as he peeked into the other’s thoughts . He could hear the ‘Friar’s’ voice first .

‘This guy… He’s too strong! He even has ‘Anti magic Shield’… even though the enemy’s fireball was incredibly large… I don’t think my spells would work on him…’

He could hear other people’s thoughts as well .

‘Master Hunter Kei… the rumors were true . ’

‘Hiro was right… he’s twice… no even stronger than that . That man is incredibly powerful . ’

But the most important thoughts to hear was that of the ‘Friar’ . Sungjin focused his attention on the roughest voice .

‘I don’t think it’s possible to pull off any stunts as long as he lives . Or… maybe if he was to troll… yeah, how else would he have gotten that strong? Should I quietly propose an alliance?’

Sungjin discarded his cigarette as he listened to the voice .

‘Alliance… I could use that . ’

The path suddenly grew spacious . It was originally too narrow for more than 3 or 4 hunters to walk side by side, but now it was wide enough for 7 hunters to walk together .

In other words, they were almost at the cavity the Dragon lived in . Soon the width of the path increased once more . Sungjin suddenly recalled .

‘That’s right… to the left here…’

The Immortal who was walking ahead turned left and

“Gasp!”

He made a sound and stopped .

‘What is it?’

The hunters stepped forward out of curiosity and froze up likewise . Sungjin leaned over to peek at the boss like the others .

‘Just as I remembered… gigantic . ’

There was a colossal cavity ahead . And within slept the coiled Red Dragon . The head itself was double the height of two adult men . The body was roughly the size of a 5~6 floor tall building .

The claws on its hands were longer than most swords, and the fangs were longer than most spears . Its tail was easily over 10 meters long .

It was the second time, but the dragon was an intimidating enemy to face . The Hunters all froze in place like dolls .

Even they who had overcome trials and tribulations would feel a primal fear against such a creature . The Immortal who acted as the party leader said to the hunters

“W…well then . Let’s prepare for the battle first . ”

He said and walked back towards the team . The hunters restocked the potions on their belts and checked their mana levels as they made their final preparations against the boss . The preparation was completed in a sincere atmosphere .

Seeing the dragon had forced them to think ‘this might be my last fight’ . Sungjin was also preparing himself; how should he fight the boss .

‘What should I use?’

There were many things at Sungjin’s disposal, but considering the cooldown times, the ones he could use only once per raid were as follows: Romance of the Three Kingdom’s Seance, Soldamyr and upgraded Cain’s summon .

‘I should try to save them for later but…’

The problem was the hidden boss . He didn’t know if there was a hidden boss on the map, but the thought that there was a hidden boss stronger than the Red Dragon made it necessary for Sungjin to hold onto his best tools .

It was difficult to imagine just how much stronger the hidden boss could possibly be if the raid boss was already at the level of an adult Red Dragon . But if he went too far in trying to preserve his strength, it could make it difficult to defeat the Red Dragon as well .

His actions could potentially bring harm to others . If so, it would make facing the hidden boss even more difficult . If the number of hunters left alive drops below 10, it could even lead to several hunters refusing to participate in taking on the hidden boss .

It was true in the past, when even one person was lost in 5 man teams the party would completely give up attempting the hidden bosses, since it was highly probable that the party would get wiped out .

‘Avoid using it as much as possible… but do not hesitate if I think the hunters are about to die . I don’t think there is a problem with completion itself… but if even one person were to die, I probably won’t even be able to propose taking on the Hidden boss .

Sungjin placed Soldamyr’s lamp, Gourmet’s monocle, and Cain’s Figurine on his belt .

And finally, he took off the Basilisk’s eye and hung the ‘Yanhurat’ around his neck .

‘… I really don’t think this guy is something I should be using but…’

He couldn’t be too careful . Of course, being forced to use it would indicate that the party had been effectively wiped out . Sungjin looked down at his belt and thought

‘If need be, I’ll use one or two… no, even if I have to use all three, I’ll keep all the hunters alive . Only then will I be able to propose fighting the hidden boss . ’

He put away the Blood Vengeance and equipped the Artemio instead . The Dragon used powerful spells . Once he was done preparing, Sungjin glanced at the ‘Friar’ . He was busily smoking away looking grim .

‘I guess the backstabber is feeling nervous . ’

Even for a healer who was protected by the rest of the team, it wasn’t like a Dragon’s breath had eyes and was aimed towards a specific person . He would have to give it his best this time around .

Anyone could tell that the Red Dragon was not an opponent they could hope to defeat by doing ‘the bare minimum’ . And the Friar was afraid of Sungjin . As long as Sungjin breathed, he would be afraid to commit to troll activities .

‘I’ll just assume he’s with us for now . ’

Sungjin finished getting ready . The Immortal asked with a shaken voice

“Everyone ready?”

They all gave a stiff nod . He led the way, and the hunters followed behind . A sudden turn to the left .

The hunters stiffened up at the sight of the great Red Dragon, but they couldn’t back out now . Turning around would only lower morale . The Immortal said

“Let’s do it . ”

The hunters had grim expressions on their faces as they began to charge towards the dragon . The sleeping dragon’s nose twitched, and the Red Dragon muttered

“Hmm… smell of meat…”

His eyes opened up suddenly .

“Human Meat… How appetizing!”

The Operator gave an announcement .

[Warning! Boss Monster]
[Red Dragon Khal Gal has appeared!]