Chapter 257 – Dragon Knight (1)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
The Dragons that appeared in dungeons were largely divided into three classes.
The lowest ranked were the Hatchlings.
The Hatchlings, who could be called babies, were basically weak in all areas.
They didn’t have the chance to create many Guardians, and the Guardians they did create were usually not that strong.
More importantly, neither their bodies nor their Dragon Breaths were particularly strong either.
Of course, it was still strong enough to instantly kill many players who encountered it.
Once they got out of the Hatchling stage, they could then be called Dragons, and when that happened, their strength moved to a completely different level.
The Dragon Slayer had used one expression to describe it.
“Hunting a Dragon is like hitting a rock with an egg. It’s not impossible. But if you just do it without knowing how, you’ll never succeed.”
Hitting a rock with an egg.
“So you need to find a way. Freeze the egg to make it harder, or aim precisely for the rock’s weak point. The best thing to do is to replace your egg with a piece of metal. An even better method would be to prepare a missile. A player like me is that missile.”
It was not impossible as long as you had a method, but if there was no method, then the results could only be disastrous.
Above Dragons were none other than the Dragon Lords.
Of course, the existence of the Dragon Lords was only speculation at this point.
Nevertheless, Dragons were such terrifying monsters.
Even if their wings were torn off and they crashed to the ground, it wouldn’t be strange for them to kill all the players attacking them instantly.
Roooaaar!
But now, this state that this monster was in could only be described as miserable.
First of all, the condition of its wonderful red hide which had a similar color to rich red wine was terrible.
It was crushed and bursting in many places, as if it was pork that had been struck by a hammer.
The dents and craters on its body was enough to make any person watching this, hang their mouth open in disbelief.
Rooar!
Due to this, the Dragon’s roars, which could inflict Dragon Fear upon any creature who heard it, sounded more pitiful than domineering.
But no one around it cared about its cries despite the fact that not many people had ever seen a Red Dragon in such a disastrous state.
The reason was simple.
Boom!
Everyone’s attention was attracted to the Death Knight, who constantly let out the cries of thunder as continued to brutally attack the miserable Red Dragon.
‘Oh my God.’
‘Is this a Death Knight?’
All the players who were watching the Death Knight’s performance couldn’t help but feel a chill.
The prowess that the Death Knight displayed was even horrifying for these highly experienced veteran players who were used to having fierce, desperate battles on a daily basis.
Furthermore, the Death Knight didn’t stop there.
Neigh!
Even though the Red Dragon’s condition was so bad that even ordinary players would consider it excessive, the skeleton horse did not stop letting out its cries as it ran all over its body.
Boom!
And the Death Knight continued to pound the Red Dragon with the God of Thunder’s hammer, Mjolnir, in its hand.
It was like a machine.
A machine created with the sole purpose of killing the living.
Gulp!
And faced with such a scene, the living beings couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.
Suddenly.
[The Death Knight has disappeared.]
Just as the Death Knight was about to do the last bit of damage to end the Red Dragon’s life, it was covered in a cloud of darkness before disappearing.
At the same time, Kim Woo-jin received a notification that a new item had been added to his inventory.
[You have acquired the Death Knight’s bones.]
The Death Knight’s bones.
It was the item that would allow him to summon the Death Knight at any time.
Naturally, he wouldn’t have to pay any price for the summon.
This was another reason why the Death Knight was so fearsome.
It meant that once it was created, the summoner would be able to unleash this ridiculous horror whenever they wanted to.
‘Why?’
‘It suddenly disappeared?’
But the players who were watching couldn’t help but wonder why the Death Knight had suddenly disappeared.
Krr!
And they were nervous about the fact that the Red Dragon was still alive.
‘Should we finish it off?’
‘A Dragon is a Dragon. We can’t rush in.’
Even if it was in a near death state, a Dragon was still a Dragon.
It was not strange that the players who valued their lives were hesitant to approach this monster that could erase them in an instant.
Of course, there were still some players who moved despite this fact.
They were those who were already prepared for a situation where someone had to take the risk.
So they moved to play their part.
It was at that moment.
Tap, tap…
Kim Woo-jin began to walk towards the Red Dragon.
‘Isaac!’
‘Isaac Ivanov?’
Everyone’s tension had been at its peak and their attention was locked onto the Red Dragon, so when Kim Woo-jin appeared in front of it, their eyes naturally turned to him.
Under this attention, Kim Woo-jin looked at the Red Dragon for a moment before turning his back to it.
This monster that defied common sense, this monster the players had steadied their determination to approach despite the fact that they might lose their lives, had become a simple background.
It was an unbelievable sight.
Wearing Isaac Ivanov’s mask, Kim Woo-jin addressed the players.
“You can take a break now to prepare for our entry into the seventh floor.”
Prepare for the next floor.
In other words, they no longer needed to hunt on the sixth floor.
Only then did they remember.
‘Ah.’
‘That…’
The silver scale that Isaac Ivanov had displayed before.
Only then could the players understand why Isaac Ivanov dared to say those words in front of a Red Dragon that was still breathing.
‘How terrifying.’
And the moment they understood, a cold shiver went down their spines.
How many players in the world could make such a mess out of a Dragon?
The Dragon Slayer?
They could bet that after clearing this dungeon, the Dragon Slayer would not dare to use such a nickname in front of Isaac Ivanov.
This meant that there was only one.
Lee Se-jun!
The saviour of the Messiah Guild and the one who always conquered what no one could before.
The one who others didn’t dare to compare themselves to!
‘Lee Se-jun wouldn’t be able to do this on his own.’
‘No matter how amazing Lee Se-jun is, if he were to hunt a Dragon by himself… he would be able to kill it, but he wouldn’t be able to put it in such a state.’
But they all knew that it wouldn’t be easy for Lee Se-jun to mistreat a Dragon in such a way on his own.
‘He might be stronger than Lee Se-jun…’
‘If you look at the individual players and not the guilds, Isaac Ivanov might be better than Lee Se-jun…’
This meant that Isaac Ivanov’s power was at least on the same level as Lee Se-jun’s.
When their thoughts reached that point, the players didn’t dare to think any further.
It wasn’t something that they could easily conclude with just their imaginations.
“As Isaac Ivanov said, we will rest and prepare for the seventh floor.”
“Everyone get some rest and prepare for the seventh floor!”
Therefore, in order to stop thinking about it, the group leaders began to give their players orders.
“The last attack is coming up soon!”
“Everyone, maintain your focus!”
Furthermore, they had to remain focused on the task they were about to face.
And that was the right answer.
There was only one floor left.
It was a floor where they would have to face more hardships than any they’d encountered so far.
Most of the players there had never even been on the seventh floor before.
Everyone took the chance to rest properly.
While looking at them, Kim Woo-jin also prepared for the seventh floor of the dungeon.
‘If their luck isn’t bad, only half of them will die.’
A few hours later.
[Anubis is descending.]
A notification to indicate the end of the attack on the sixth floor was heard.
…
How did players feel when they climbed to a floor they had never reached before?
Most would say that there were two answers to that question.
Either they would be terrified when stepping onto the new floor, or they would be excited that they would be able to go back into the real world after overcoming this new challenge.
But if you were to ask that question to the top players, the answer you’d receive would be different.
“To be honest, it’s best to just feel calm. Because useless feelings would just get in the way.”
It was best to not feel any emotion at all.
[Defeat the ruler of the Land of Dragons.]
So that was the emotional state of the 461 players entering the seventh floor of the dungeon, most of which for the first time.
‘Just do it like we normally do.’
They weren’t excited or afraid, instead maintaining a calm, numb expression.
‘I just have to perform the role given to me like I usually do.’
The time they were given before entering the seventh floor made this mental preparation possible.
This was exactly the reason why Kim Woo-jin had willingly given them a break.
[The Black Dragon’s poison spread.]
It was also the reason why they weren’t too shocked when they received a notification that wasn’t too good immediately after entering the floor.
‘We also kept the possibility of encountering a Black Dragon in mind.’
‘This is still within the range of our estimations!’
Black Dragon!
Even though the poison left by this powerful and incredibly venomous creature began to gnaw at their health, the players quickly took action to fight against it.
“Change the setting.”
Most of the players began to change to their items settings that were prepared for Black Dragons.
They increased their poison resistances, and each began to use various skills to combat the poison.
Of course, there were also players who didn’t need it.
[The power of Apophis protects you from the Black Dragon’s poison.]
[Your blood poison grows a bit stronger.]
Kim Woo-jin even took it a step further as the poison in their surroundings made his poison stronger.
Knowing this fact, Lee Jin-ah laughed inwardly.
‘We’re definitely gonna win this time too.’
The Black Dragon was definitely a scary monster.
In particular, its most powerful ability, Poison Breath, completely defied common sense.
A Black Dragon’s Poison Breath was comparable to a biological or chemical weapon.
A weapon that one couldn’t escape from just by running away.
However, it was not a problem for Kim Woo-jin, who wasn’t affected by poison at all.
Furthermore, this also applied to the skeleton army that Kim Woo-jin was most proud of.
And now, they even had the Death Knight, which was known for its ridiculous combat capabilities to add to his power.
‘I just need to cut off its wings.’
So as long as Lee Jin-ah was able to bring the Black Dragon down, the battle would practically be over.
It was natural for him to make an expression of ‘easy victory’ because of this.
In fact, it wasn’t just Lee Jin-ah. Most of the players there also had the same thought.
‘The Black Dragon is harder to hunt than the Red Dragon, but it shouldn’t be too much of a difference for Isaac Ivanov.’
Thinking about Isaac Ivanov, everyone thought the same thing.
It wouldn’t be easy, but there wasn’t any reason why they wouldn’t be able to hunt it.
So if they could survive until Isaac Ivanov killed the Black Dragon, they would be able to leave the dungeon.
‘Huh?’
However, a question mark appeared in Lee Jin-ah’s mind when he turned to look at Kim Woo-jin.
This was because he could see how serious Kim Woo-jin’s eyes were.
Of course, Kim Woo-jin was always serious.
He was the type of player who would always give his best performance without relaxing.
‘What is it?’
However, Kim Woo-jin was also never a wasteful player.
He wasn’t a player who would pull out his sword to hunt a cow.
Nevertheless, this Kim Woo-jin was showing a sharper focus than ever before.
Then something happened which immediately erased the complacency that had built up after hunting the Red Dragon so easily.
It was none other than the fact that Kim Woo-jin had taken an item from his inventory.
Aegis Shield!
‘He took a shield and not a weapon?’
This caused Lee Jin-ah to be filled with an unknown sense of crisis as he was filled with countless doubts and suspicions.
“It’s a Guardian!”
From the fog of poison released by the Black Dragon, a Guardian appeared to deal with the intruders.
After confirming this, several players moved before receiving any specific orders.
‘Isaac will handle the main task, so we’ll take care of the rest.’
They moved with the desire to clean up the surroundings for Isaac Ivanov, who was going to hunt the Black Dragon. Some of them didn’t just move, but also acted.
Several hunters pulled their bowstrings back and aimed at the Guardian.
Then they noticed something strange.
‘Why is there just one of them?’
The fact that only one Guardian had appeared before them.
The scariest thing about the guardians was the fact that they were perfectly controlled to carry out one task, regardless of their race.
In other words, a lone Guardian would never be able to showcase the truly terrifying ability of the Guardians, and as a result they never moved around on their own.
Furthermore, Guardians weren’t known to cause damage to their surroundings just by moving like this Guardian, which had appeared, did.
‘Is it an Orc?’
The exact identity of the Guardian was unknown as it was wearing heavy armor, but its size seemed to be similar to that of an Orc.
It was strange in many ways, and the players couldn’t help but wonder.
Of course, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t still release their arrows without hesitation.
Twang!
One player released his bowstring, sending an arrow towards the lone enemy.
The arrow flew quickly before hitting the armor of the Guardian.
Ting!
Then it bounced off a shield that appeared around the Guardian.
‘It has a defensive barrier.
This action helped them confirm that the Guardian who’d appeared had a special ability.
Suddenly.
The player who released the arrow received a notification.
[Excalibur’s wielder has confirmed your hostility.]
[Excalibur’s wielder has started a fight with you.]
[All stats reduced by 25%.]
‘What?’
The player who received these notifications then shouted in surprise.
“I-, it has Excalibur!”
At the same time, the Guardian, who had been about 300 meters away from the player who shot the arrow, closed the distance between them in an instant.
It happened in a flash.
As if it had teleported, the Guardian appeared before the player and immediately swung the sword in its hand.
It was Isaac Ivanov who came to the rescue of the player who couldn’t escape or defend himself.
Clang!
There was a loud clash as the sword struck the Aegis Shield which had appeared in front of the player.
Then Isaac Ivanov shouted.
“Kill the Dragon!” (TL: in English)
It was the moment when two simultaneous battles began.
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