Chapter 153: The Forgotten Dragon Knight’s Pride (1)
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I couldn’t hide my bewildered feeling.
The ruler of gravity, Cha Soo-yeon.
She is the branch manager who oversees the academy at the <Villain> clan, and a core clan member who is a member of the upper class.
The starting point of the incidents that have occurred at the academy so far.
It all started from Cha Soo-yeon’s hands.
The appearance of a monster inside the academy, Kim Chae-eun almost dying from Ha Do-kwon’s blind axe, the danger Moon Ga-eun and I faced due to Kim Do-yoon’s attack…
Most of them were either directly planned by her or approved by her.
‘…The skill is top notch.’
As befits her title of branch manager, her skills were also overwhelming.
She was the strongest with a long career within the academy branch, and even throughout the <Villain> clan, there weren’t many clan members who could catch up to her.
At best, maybe a master or submaster?
Ji Yoon-jae, my peer, who infiltrated as a spy.
Although he was also an A-grade Holder, it was embarrassing to compare him to Cha Soo-yeon.
The skill at the top even among A-grade Holders.
That was Cha Soo-yeon’s power.
‘What the hell is going on.’
Originally, Cha Soo-yeon’s appearance was supposed to be next year.
The academy raid incident.
The moment when the <Villain> clan officially raided the academy and fought fiercely with key figures.
It was when Cha Soo-yeon first revealed herself to the outside world, and at the academy she fought Kang Juyeon, who rose as an A-grade Holder at that time.
But recently, the situation has changed.
Since S-grade Holder Yoo Eun-seol took over the academy, and the <Villain> clan’s plans went awry…
Out of nowhere, Cha Soo-yeon also took office as an ‘academy teacher’.
Infiltrating as spies within the academy along with Ji Yoon-jae and starting direct activities.
It was a drastic move that was clearly different from the original work, and this was also why I created the <Anti-Villain> circle.
‘…Then why is she here?’
Cha Soo-yeon is a branch manager level figure in the <Villain> clan.
Naturally, she was one of the wanted criminals who the Korean Holders Association was desperately looking for, and she had come this far going through countless aliases and disguises.
Therefore, her sphere of activity could only be limited.
The higher the office, the more burdensome it was to come to the fore.
That was why I was surprised when she was appointed as an academy teacher out of the blue.
But now, rather than coming to the forefront, she has completely revealed herself before us.
Kim Seong-cheol, stabbed by the attacking sword.
Ji Yoon-jae who appeared with her and numerous other clan members.
And the aggressive words and encirclement.
Anyone could see that this was an assault on us.
“Hmm hmm – You all have very bewildered faces?”
As Cha Soo-yeon looked at me and smiled deeply again.
It seemed like she was mocking me for trying to grasp the situation in that short time.
“Kuh, huk?!”
“Holder Kim Seong-cheol!”
And as the stabbed sword was pulled out, Kim Seong-cheol crashed to the floor.
Akiba, who was next to him, hurriedly propped him up, and we at the front rushed over to them.
Tap tap –
Whoosh – whoosh –
Surrounding them as if to surround the rear personnel.
Hurriedly healing Kim Seong-cheol and taking formation to protect those personnel.
All the front line personnel drew their weapons and took combat stances.
Without any mind and not knowing exactly what the situation was…
The fact that those in front of us were ‘enemies’.
Not just me, but our party members also recognized that.
“It’s nice to see Judgment of Fire and the academy members gathered interesting people. And… There are also quite pleasantly familiar faces?”
As Cha Soo-yeon snapped her fingers and spoke, her gaze turned to one of the party members.
I also glanced briefly to see who it was.
It was Lee Soo-mi, who was treating Kim Seong-cheol on one side.
Although she was completely focused on the treatment…
Strangely, only her face was covered with a fearful expression.
‘…What is it?’
An expression I had never seen before while doing operations with Lee Soo-mi until now.
And Cha Soo-yeon’s meaningful words.
There seems to be a connection between the two that I don’t know about.
It was an unexpected connection.
“Hello, Do Jae-hyun. Do you recognize me?”
Cha Soo-yeon’s gaze turns to me again.
Although her voice was disgusting, I made every effort not to show it.
After all, our current party was in crisis.
After pouring all our power into hunting two bosses, our bodies were exhausted and our magic was depleted.
If we fight <Villain> right away, we have no power to confront them.
Presumably, it would clearly be a total annihilation.
In this situation, rather than provoking the opponent, we had to somehow buy time and find a solution.
Besides, Cha Soo-yeon called out to me instead of Kwon Oh-jun or Kang Juyeon.
As I felt before, this clearly meant that I was currently being checked by the <Villain> clan.
“Cha… Soo-yeon.”
A barely squeezed out response.
At that, Cha Soo-yeon’s pupils grew larger.
“Oh? Did you really know?”
“…Yeah. Ji Yoon-jae next to you too.”
Ji Yoon-jae, standing proudly next to Cha Soo-yeon.
As usual, he was looking at me without any expression.
Although his emotions had slipped out to me a few times before, his usual self was so curt.
‘And that guy is….’
There was one more familiar face behind them.
Koo Myeong-hoon.
The 2nd year who joined the <Anti-Villain> circle and on the first day of the meeting made a fuss about changing the president.
Who then lost his soul after sparring with Park Jin-woo and was a zealous follower of Yoon Ji-ah.
I don’t know what the hell he was doing there, but with no focus in his eyes and barely holding a sinister looking sword…
Even at a glance, he was clearly not normal.
‘There are too many of them.’
While vaguely responding to Cha Soo-yeon’s words, I quickly checked the opponent’s forces.
There were a total of 10 people in the group.
Including Cha Soo-yeon, Ji Yoon-jae, and Koo Myeong-hoon.
The remaining 7 also seemed to be clan members of <Villain>.
Normally it would be plenty to take on, but our current party was too exhausted.
Forget 10, even 5 would have been difficult to deal with.
“Haha. How does betrayal from your friend feel?”
“Friend? Who? That bastard? Do you still consider someone who hangs out with bastards as a friend these days?”
“…….”
“What? Puh, hahaha.”
At my reply, Cha Soo-yeon burst out laughing, and Ji Yoon-jae’s expression, which had been curt, finally crumbled for the first time in a long while.
And his hands pulled out the daggers at his waist.
The four daggers that poured out in a flash were a skill I knew very well, [Quarter Knife].
Swish – Rustle rustle –
‘Crazy… She declared an all out war!’
Due to the sudden attack, I hurriedly used the derived skill [Declaration of Domination] from [Master of Martial Arts].
Not because I couldn’t avoid that attack.
Because that bastard’s daggers were aimed not at me, but…
At Kang Juyeon who was inside.
I provoked them expecting an ambush, but I never imagined they would target another comrade at that moment.
Thump – Thud thud –
A bogus skill that can nullify ranged physical attacks within a certain area.
Ji Yoon-jae’s daggers limply fell under [Declaration of Domination].
Seeing that amazing sight, Cha Soo-yeon’s eyes widened slightly.
“You’ve got an interesting skill. What’s that?”
“Sorry, but I don’t have skills to tell Villain bastards about.”
“Hmm – You noticed?”
“It would be more stupid not to.”
While replying properly, I glanced at Kwon Oh-jun.
But he closed his eyes heavily at my gaze.
A gesture that he couldn’t see any solution at all.
And that was the case for the other party members as well.
No matter how much they racked their brains, there was no prospect of winning.
Despair.
A Desperate situation was laid out before us.
Having just finished the boss raid, facing the core clan members of <Villain>…
Was close to impossible.
“Haha. No matter how much you look around, no solution comes out. You’ve rolled right into the trap neatly laid out, is there a solution now?”
At Cha Soo-yeon’s ridicule, I kept silent.
‘The Smuggling Cave’ turned out to be a trap set up by the <Villain> clan.
They lured us in using their main source of income, ‘illegal items,’ and the ‘unauthorized warp gate’ as bait. As we had just finished conquering the dungeon, we were completely cornered.
‘……’
But I still don’t really understand.
The act that they used the clan’s income source as bait, the fact that executive-level figures like Cha Soo-yeon and Ji Yoon-jae revealed their identities to participate in the operation, the fact that if we get annihilated here, <Judgment of Fire> clan will have to wage an all-out war…
The trap the <Villain> clan has set now had far too much risk, even if the result ended in success.
That’s probably why I didn’t expect them to show up even more.
“You’ve been too annoying, Do Jae-hyun. You can think that the death of your companions today is all your fault.”
“Cut the bullshit. If you were only going to kill me, there were so many better opportunities. Why? Do you think me dying with guilt will help your pleasure even a little bit?”
“…….”
Cha Soo-yeon’s expression, which had been leisurely until now, froze in an instant.
It was a face that seemed to have hit the nail on the head.
Then in no time.
Regaining her smile, she spoke to Ji Yoon-jae.
“Hmm- This perceptive guy is no fun. I should start wrapping this up now. Yoon-jae.”
“Yes, branch manager.”
“Get ready.”
“Yes.”
And with those words.
The atmosphere of the space changed.
An intense, disgusting aura flooded the boss room.
Ji Yoon-jae took out two short swords and prepared for battle, and Koo Myeong-hoon approached us with his oversized sword.
That wasn’t the end.
“Huh?!”
“Ugh, ugghh…!!”
An intense magical power manifests and strikes the party.
The tanks who were gripping their weapons with tense faces collapsed.
Kwon Oh-jun was blankly standing there, but Shin Yu-na and Park Jin-woo couldn’t endure it and fell to their knees, and I also felt the intense pressure’s pain.
‘It’s gravity.’
Cha Soo-yeon’s specialty, gravity magic.
I had only encountered it in text so far and had never experienced its actual power before, but the gravity I directly faced was tremendous.
The pressure of the magic power spread over the whole area pressed down on my whole body as if crushing me, and its intensity was painfully hard to endure, making it hard to even breathe.
With the support of huge gravity magic…
And the approaching <Villain> clan members.
If this continued, our party would be annihilated.
‘I need a method.’
I needed a breakthrough.
In the pain of being suffocated, I recalled everything I had.
Magic runes?
I couldn’t use them.
All magic was already depleted, and the opponent wouldn’t wait for me to accumulate manifestation time.
Curses or divine runes?
Similarly difficult.
To immediately use divine arts, I had to concentrate, but because of Cha Soo-yeon’s gravity magic, full utilization was cumbersome.
Ultimate skills?
I hadn’t used [Water Sword Dance] yet, but that wasn’t the solution to resolve this situation.
Defensive skills couldn’t be the breakthrough.
I needed a more effective and efficient method.
‘Declaration of Domination!’
I got it.
[Oppression]’s [Declaration of Domination].
Now at level 4, with quite some proficiency added, a status condition series skill.
I didn’t know how high the enemies’ mental stats were, but I had to try first anyway.
WooWoong-
“Huh…?”
“My strength….”
In an instant, a huge resonance occurs, and the struggling party members regain their vigor.
It worked.
The ‘fear’ of [Declaration of Domination] took effect on the enemies.
Especially Cha Soo-yeon, who had been using gravity magic, flinched and the pressure of magic power applied to the party all disappeared.
I didn’t stop there.
The duration of fear was barely 3 seconds at most.
[Declaration of Domination] could only buy time, it couldn’t be a fundamental solution.
‘The magic stones…!’
My next action was taking out special items from my magic bag.
[The Forgotten Stone of a Dragon].
It was a legendary-grade item that had long been put away in my bag.
Clearly, I currently didn’t have the power to resolve this situation and defeat <Villain>.
All magic was depleted, and I had limited runes and skills I could use.
But…
If I could obtain and advance some power I hadn’t gotten yet.
If I could somehow do that, then perhaps a path I couldn’t see before might open up.
‘Flame Hydra’s magic stone.’
Two boss monsters.
I fill up the Flame Hydra’s magic stone among them.
There was no special reason.
It was simply because I didn’t have Yamata no Orochi’s magic stone.
While mining the Flame Hydra’s magic stone and organizing the boss room, I encountered <Villain>, so there was no time to extract Yamata no Orochi’s magic stone as well.
And…
‘Ah…!’
And the result was lucky.
A success, huge success.
The Flame Hydra was the ‘one dragon’ the [Forgotten Stone of a Dragon] required.
As I filled the Flame Hydra’s magic stone in the tablet which had an empty slot left, it soon began shining intensely.
Like when [Rune Hunter] had advanced before…
It was dazzling golden light.
“Hmm-?”
“That is…?”
The <Villain> side, momentarily flustered from the fear status, became flustered a second time from the sudden occurrence.
And as if sensing something strange…
Ji Yoon-jae moved immediately.
The moment he escaped the status condition, he started charging at me at fast speed.
But it was already too late.
[The Forgotten Stone of a Dragon’s magic stone has been filled. The tablet is wrapped in a mysterious aura.]
[All magic stones in the tablet have been filled. The seal will be released.]
…
…
[The vast sky, immense pride, oath of conviction. The pact humans and dragons made very long ago arrives at the land where heroes slumber, overcoming eras. A mystical, sacred power nestles in every spot you inhabit.]
…
…
[You obtained the new rune ‘Forgotten Dragon’s Knight Pride’.]
Radiant light poured out.
It flowed along the tablet and my hand, soon decorating my whole body.
Too short a time to comprehend and accept something new.
But I fully knew what I could do…
And what I had to do.
“…….”
I slowly opened my eyes.
Cha Soo-yeon preparing magic again and Ji Yoon-jae charging at me.
And countless enemies holding weapons, pouring towards me.
That dark scene seemed to move…
In slow motion.
Malice and bloodlust.
Anger and obsession.
As all sorts of negative auras covered the space.
I drew my sword.
And I chanted.
“Rush.”
At last.
I could bear the fruit of my long journey.
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