Chapter 123: Dragon’s Labyrinth (3)
Dragon Heart.
As the name suggested, it was the heart of a dragon—an extremely difficult material to obtain.
And as rare as it was, it possessed tremendous efficacy.
Consuming it fresh granted an enormous amount of mana and strengthened the body.
There was even a legend that if an ordinary human consumed a hundred Dragon Hearts, they would become a Dragonian.
However, whether on Earth or in Renard, encountering a dragon was no easy task.
Although they appeared as boss monsters in dungeons, finding such dungeons in the first place was extremely difficult.
If dungeons with dragons as bosses were scattered everywhere, humanity’s destruction would have come much sooner.
In Renard as well, dragons were regarded as mysterious and sacred creatures, rarely revealing themselves before humans.
Of course, Jin-young had gone straight to their lairs and caused chaos.
Even so, he had only consumed a Dragon Heart once.
『Why did you only eat it once?』
‘It’s not that I couldn’t eat it—I chose not to. It interfered with my psionic energy training. Plus, I made a pact with the dragon elders.’
『A pact?』
‘I agreed not to touch the dragons in exchange for researching dimensional magic for them. Well, in the end it didn’t help much. I shouldn’t have trusted those useless bastards who only lived long and did nothing.’
Just thinking about the dragon elders still made Jin-young sigh.
The Ancient Dragons—high dragons that had lived since the very distant past.
Some among them were indeed powerful, but most were no different from oversized lizards who had simply wasted their years.
Of course, Jin-young was the only human in Renard who thought that way.
『Then even if we obtain the hearts of the dragons here, they won’t be useful to us, right?』
‘Why wouldn’t they be useful? We can just turn them all into Manastones.’
『Processing them seems like it would be much more difficult than with other monsters’ hearts.』
Since the hearts of the dragons they had hunted so far were already stored in subspace, the tentacle could analyze their structure.
‘Probably. As far as I know, there was no one who could properly process a Dragon Heart.’
Jin-young recalled his memories from before the regression, but no matter how much he thought, he had never heard of anyone who could.
Of course, it was possible to process a Dragon Heart into a Manastone.
The problem was that even a 1st-grade monster’s heart only yielded a Manastone around 3rd-grade level.
That was how notoriously difficult the processing was.
『Even that human can’t do it?』
‘Jeon Yu-hwan? Who knows. The past I knew has changed a lot, so it might be different now.’
The only Manastone craftsman Jin-young could trust was Jeon Yu-hwan.
Since he had achieved tremendous growth in a short time compared to the past, it was worth expecting.
Besides, even if he failed the processing once or twice, it didn’t matter.
The labyrinth was overflowing with dragons.
Just like right now.
Skwa-kwa-kwa—
“How many Dragon Hearts is that.”
Jin-young simultaneously snapped the wings of the dragons arrogantly flying in the sky.
Kwaaaang!
Dragons crashed to the ground after losing their wings.
But a single one endured Jin-young’s psychokinesis and remained floating in the air.
“What the. Looks like you’ve lived quite a while.”
“What is this…”
The red-scaled dragon let out a bewildered voice.
Jin-young’s eyes sparkled as he looked up at it.
Of course, he had only released a moderate amount of psionic energy and was dealing with multiple dragons at once, so it was understandable.
But the fact that it could endure meant it was no ordinary dragon.
It was on a similar level to the dragon elders who had strutted around in Renard.
Since older dragons had hearts of higher quality, this one’s heart should be excellent too.
The red dragon, seeing Jin-young’s reaction, revealed clear fear for the first time.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
Tskwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—
Jin-young released a massive amount of psionic energy, completely filling the vast Treasure Room.
“This energy… As I expected.”
The red dragon reacted instantly.
It seemed to know about psionic energy as well.
“Don’t worry. I’ll send you off quickly.”
With this wide space now completely under his control, the Treasure Room was no longer unfamiliar territory to Jin-young.
It had become his playground where he could unleash psychokinesis without a single gap.
The moment the wingless dragons that had crashed tried to cast magic,
Kuhwaaaa… Tztzt… Sssss…
The fireballs flying in from all directions turned to dust and vanished.
“Don’t be scared of their numbers and fight.”
“Alright, let’s take them down one by one!”
The Hunters, having personally confirmed with their own eyes that Jin-young controlled the space, now had renewed confidence after several battles.
Kyle, acting like a proper tanker, charged forward first.
Eun Ji-eun supported with freezing, while Michelle summoned a rain of blades for long-range attacks.
The finishing blow came from Hannah’s mental connection and Mind Control.
While the others handled the remaining dragons, Jin-young focused on the red dragon that appeared to be their leader.
“My name is Zetakrax. I am the guardian dragon of the Treasure Room.”
The red dragon Zetakrax suddenly began introducing himself.
“Chae Jin-young.”
Jin-young answered without ignoring him.
At the same time, his psychokinesis pressed down on Zetakrax’s body as if giving a meridian massage.
Crack— Kwa-gagak!
But Zetakrax did not yield and continued casting magic.
As expected of an old dragon, his response was fast.
Sssss…
He instantly regenerated his broken scales while covering his entire body with a magic barrier.
It was a dragon-like move—the grand mage and origin of blue mana.
The unique mana that Earth’s Hunters mainly handled was also of the same lineage as blue mana.
That was why Hunters with weaker mana than dragons couldn’t do anything against them.
Of course, the Hunters participating in this raid were able to perform well thanks to Jin-young’s support.
Crack— Crash!
After easily shattering the magic barrier with psychokinesis and trying to squeeze the body once more,
『Grahaak.』
A mysterious voice flowed from Zetakrax.
Pazizizizik—
Blue mana collided head-on with Jin-young’s psionic energy.
“High-level Dragon Tongue.”
The corners of Jin-young’s mouth rose into a grin.
It had been a long time since he had seen a dragon use high-level Dragon Tongue, so it felt refreshing.
Dragons could use Dragon Tongue from the moment they were born, but only a few could wield the powerful high-level Dragon Tongue.
It wasn’t easy to change the weather or take a life with nothing but words.
Zetakrax was a dragon capable of that level.
The mana continuously flowing from his body gradually began pushing back Jin-young’s psionic energy.
『Mah Serikto.』
Piyuuung— Crrrrrack!
The blue mana, which had momentarily shrunk as if distorting space, erupted in all directions with spring-like repulsive force.
The psionic energy that had filled the room seemed to be torn apart by the dragon’s mana.
Katzztztztzt—
But the Cyclic energy already flowing from Jin-young’s body instantly amplified the psionic energy.
Kwa-jijijik— Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaak!
It rapidly devoured Zetakrax’s dense mana and pressed him again.
“Damn it… You’re no ordinary human.”
The dragon gritted his sharp teeth and spat out a curse.
“You definitely didn’t waste your years. That last one was praiseworthy.”
Jin-young sincerely complimented Zetakrax.
Unlike the dragon elders who had lounged around in Renard, this one still had sharp combat senses.
Of course, not all ancient dragons were weak.
If Zetakrax were placed among them, he would easily rank second in hierarchy.
『Egni…』
Zetakrax tried to find another opening while Jin-young was praising him.
But Jin-young’s psychokinesis was one step faster than the dragon’s tongue.
On top of that, he used Sensory Manipulation to raise the dragon’s pain sensitivity to the maximum.
Kwaduk!
“……!”
Zetakrax felt as if his entire body was being crushed between giant rocks.
The sensation of pain he had long forgotten forced his eyes wide open.
He even forgot to complete his Dragon Tongue.
Puk— Pukwa-kwa-kwa-kwaak!
Along with his scales, the dragon’s tough skeleton began to shatter and his whole body started to compress.
From the outside it looked slow, but at some point the red dragon had curled up into a ball.
Jin-young didn’t stop and continued compressing the body smaller and smaller.
Any other monster would have already died, but this was a dragon.
If given even the slightest gap, it could return to its original state and counterattack.
It was the kind of monster Hunters feared the most.
While most monsters had weak or no ego, dragons had overwhelmingly strong egos.
They were also more cunning than humans, so traps never worked on them.
Above all, there were the diverse spells they cast with their vast mana.
That was why they were even more troublesome than cunning demons with strong egos.
Crack— Pukwaak!
In the end, both bones and flesh of the red dragon Zetakrax were completely pulverized.
Only a single part slowly descended from the air toward Jin-young.
The Dragon Heart.
The brilliantly glowing red heart, containing tremendous blue mana, landed in Jin-young’s hand.
While the brain of normal monsters could also be used as Manastone material, a dragon’s brain could not.
The moment a dragon died, its brain lost all power and hardened.
Not even a trace of power remained to turn it into a Manastone.
『What a strange race. To deliberately disable their own brain the moment they die.』
‘It might be a survival rule created to protect their species. So that if something like this happens, their power isn’t stolen by someone else.’
『They really are cunning compared to other creatures.』
The tentacle also seemed interested in the dragon race.
The moment Jin-young put the Dragon Heart into subspace,
“Lord Zetakrax!”
“That human killed our captain…!”
The dragons who witnessed Zetakrax’s death cried out in rage.
They had been completely restrained by Jin-young’s psychokinesis that dominated the room and couldn’t do anything,
But now,
『Anaphylakto…!』
Ten dragons simultaneously began chanting Dragon Tongue.
It wasn’t high-level Dragon Tongue like Zetakrax’s, but their numbers made up for the lack of power.
As the Dragon Tongue spread like sound waves,
Kwarurung— Crrrrrack!
Dozens of blue lightning bolts shot toward Jin-young.
Right before they pierced his body,
Kwatzztztzt—
The dozens of blue lightning bolts suddenly changed direction, swirling around Jin-young’s body.
Tskwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Infused with Cyclic energy, they transformed into a powerful lightning storm and shot back toward the dragons.
“Gahhh…!”
The lightning storm tore through the dragons’ tough scales.
Jin-young used the psionic energy he had spread throughout the room to rapidly crush the dragons’ bones and flesh, making them follow the same fate as Zetakrax.
In an instant, Jin-young farmed ten more Dragon Hearts.
Craaaack— Pukwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Meanwhile, the other Hunters were engaged in a fierce battle against the remaining dragons.
They had only just defeated three and were now starting on the fourth.
“At this slow pace, how do you plan to win the war against GODS?”
The Hunters flinched at Jin-young’s words.
They squeezed out every last drop of strength and began defeating the dragons faster.
It was a level so high that other Earth Hunters would be shocked if they saw it.
Unless they were as strong as Liu Qinglong or Yoon Soo-ho, they wouldn’t even dare to try imitating it.
The psionic energy dominating the room not only hindered the dragons’ movements,
But also served to awaken the Hunters’ combat senses.
The experience they gained here today would become a great foundation for their future growth.
『Ramagasto.』
When a dragon chanted Dragon Tongue, Kyle tried to punch its maw shut,
But,
Kuhwaaaaak!
He was sent flying, engulfed in bright red flames.
“Dragon Tongue doesn’t come only from the mouth. It comes from every pore in the body that releases mana.”
Jin-young even gave coaching in between while guiding them.
“If you don’t have the power to stop the Dragon Tongue, just dodge. That’s what you should do.”
Shuu— Kwa-kwa-kwaang!
The Hunters continued fighting without giving up, sometimes engulfed in flames, sometimes struck by lightning, sometimes blown away by strong winds.
Whenever they looked like they were about to collapse from exhaustion, Jin-young threw them elixirs to recover.
If not for that, they might have already been wiped out by the dragons.
“Huff… huff…”
“Finally…”
Thud!
The Hunters finally brought down the last dragon.
At the same time, Kyle collapsed spread-eagle on the floor.
He had taken the most hits at the front and moved the most.
Of course, the rest of the Hunters had also experienced multiple mana depletions, so their physical and mental fatigue was considerable.
[Survived the Dragon Assault]
[Hidden Objective Achieved]
[Additional clear rewards will be granted]
The System Board soon appeared before their eyes.
They had achieved the hellish hidden objective, but they no longer had the strength left to rejoice.
“Wow…”
“What kind of additional reward will it be? Maybe it’ll give us everything in this room.”
Eun Ji-eun said as she plopped down in front of a pile of gold bars.
At that moment,
Shwaaaaaak—
The pile of gold bars in front of her flew to one spot in an instant.
Not only that—all the treasures in the entire room were sucked into a black portal.
Straight into Jin-young’s subspace.
It was a feat so astonishing that even the exhausted Hunters turned their heads.
Looking at the Hunters staring at him, Jin-young said a little awkwardly,
“I’ll share some, so don’t worry.”
“…….”
They hadn’t particularly wanted gold bars, but if he was offering, none of them would refuse.
At that moment, the tentacle spoke.
『There’s something interesting mixed in with the treasures.』
‘What is it?’
『See for yourself.』
The tentacle spat out one of the treasures again.
Jin-young tilted his head when he saw it.
“What? There’s another Holy Grail.”
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