WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈
Chapter 103: Ancient Dragonkin (2)
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Clang! Screeech!
Blade and claws collided, sliding against each other with a harsh grinding sound. The dragonkin’s severed claws had already regenerated, and thick poison overflowed around it. The poison rapidly spread, covering a radius of about a hundred meters.
Melted City, it was probably that skill. It was an SS-Class poison skill, but perhaps because of its wide range, she was holding up well even with S-Class Poison Resistance. Noah’s support was a major factor too.
‘Riette really is incredible.’
She was clearly lacking in both strength and speed. And not by a small margin. Normally, it would have been impossible for her to hold back a dragonkin like that.
But Riette was tying down the enemy more perfectly than expected.
Crunch.
Her arm, unable to withstand the force of blade striking claw, let out a scream. Yet without a single wobble, Riette twisted her body and launched a kick containing Dazzling Aura, a close-combat attack skill. Noah’s healing skill came in without delay, healing her arm, and her blade rang out brightly once more.
Torn apart and healed, broken and healed. The cycle repeated over and over.
It might have looked like a reckless charge relying on healing skills. But in truth, her injuries were the result of calculations so coldly precise they were almost ruthless.
As long as she chose to block rather than evade, injury was unavoidable. But if the injury was not one that could be immediately healed, it would be impossible to keep stopping and holding back the dragonkin.
That was why Riette was obstructing the dragonkin just barely without overdoing it, while controlling her injuries so they remained treatable within a set amount of time through Noah’s healing skills. She was calculating the dragonkin’s power, her own strength and durability, and Noah’s healing ability, walking a tightrope with artistic precision.
My skills and Seong Hyeonje’s skills formed the foundation, but this would have been impossible without innate combat sense. She looked impressive enough to make me momentarily forget all the grievances I had against her.
“Noah should lend out his mana stat, right?”
Riette looked like she would get angry if we interrupted her, but there was nothing good about leaving her at it for too long. Even an S-Class had limits to their stamina. She had fought Seong Hyeonje once already, too.
“Let me borrow your watch. Does it have a stopwatch function?”
“Of course.”
I accepted the pocket watch, which probably cost an obscene amount, and wrapped its chain around my wrist so I would not drop it. I did not know the exact effective range of Shalos’s Bead, but my clothes and shoes had remained intact during the fight with Babar, so the watch in my hand should be fine too.
And then...
“You can use me as a shield.”
All damage was nullified. Was there a better shield than that? There had been no need for me to take attacks during the fight with Babar, so I had not thought of it then. But this time was different. It would be a serious waste to have such exceptional performance and merely carry me around.
At my words, Seong Hyeonje murmured, “That is true,” in a quietly impressed voice.
“The shared double attack-skill effect continues even if the point of contact changes. If you grab my right hand while holding my left, then let go of my left hand, it will still be fine. As long as we make sure we are never completely separated, it can be used in many ways.”
We had tested it together when checking the effects of the shared skill on Noah.
“Though if the enemy takes me, we’re screwed. It was the same with Babar, but the damage nullification seems to react only when the hit exceeds a certain threshold, so things like simply grabbing or pulling me are possible.”
If it were an item that blocked all external stimulation, I would not be able to hear, see, or feel anything. That would not be damage nullification. It would be an item that killed people. How could anyone stay sane if every sense vanished at once?
“The fortunate part is that those hands of its aren’t built to grab normally. If it tries to seize me with those sharp claws, it’ll count as an attack and be blocked. We should be fine if we’re just a little careful.”
If an ordinary hand pulled me, I would lose out in strength and get taken away. But that was impossible with the dragonkin’s hand structure. Seong Hyeonje, who had silently listened to my explanation, picked up my left wrist.
“Can you dance?”
“What kind of nonsense is that supposed to be all of a sudden?”
“There is nothing better for matching each other’s movements and breathing. Dance and martial arts also have much in common. There is capoeira, for example.”
Matching our rhythm, huh. Did he mean something like ballroom dancing?
“I haven’t lived such a relaxed, leisurely life as someone else.”
“Don’t worry. You can start learning now.”
Why would I be worried? I refused. Ignoring Seong Hyeonje’s nonsense, I called out to Noah, who was flying in dragon form.
“Noah! Please lend this man your mana stat!”
Noah turned in our direction, and Riette also loosened the tightly coordinated exchange with the dragonkin and stepped toward us. Noah’s eyes were damp when he came close overhead. There was no need to worry that much.
- Are you all right?
“As you can see, I’m fine.”
Other than not being able to use painkillers, it was nothing new. I let Noah continue holding Shalos’s Bead for now. It would be a problem if something happened to the healer who could share my senses and use healing skills with perfect timing.
Noah lent out his mana stat, and I also shared the doubled attack-skill effect with Seong Hyeonje. Meanwhile, Riette and the dragonkin were gradually drawing closer. Even though she could not know much about my skills or items, she moved as if it had all been planned in advance.
The golden dragon opened up a safe distance again. At the same time, I pressed the stopwatch and activated Shalos’s Bead. Ten minutes from now, and then seven.
The Seeker’s Chain rippled as it gathered more powerful lightning energy. Seong Hyeonje stepped toward the dragonkin, which was only a few meters away, close enough to cross in an instant.
Just before entering the battlefield, he curled up the corner of his mouth at me.
“Shall we dance?”
...Why did I regress only to end up doing this? Instead of answering that he should shut up,
Rumble!!
Light raced across the ground with a heavy roar. Unlike Riette, who had known in advance and quickly moved out of the way, the dragonkin took the lightning strike head-on, crackling currents wrapping around its entire body.
“□□□□!”
Even with the skill effect doubled, it did not seem to have taken much damage. Shouting something, the creature charged forward while scattering poisonous energy from its entire body.
Seong Hyeonje did not evade the blade-like claws that would have ripped Riette apart without healing skills. He met them head-on. Supporting my body with one arm while gripping my wrist with the other did look somewhat like a dance pose, just as he had said. Damn it.
“Wow, what is that, babe?!”
Riette, who had moved out of the way, approached again and shouted in surprise. Perhaps the dragonkin was flustered too, because it did not continue attacking. In that moment, Seong Hyeonje took a long golden needle from his inventory.
- Grrr!
Furious that its attack had failed, the dragonkin swelled the muscles across its body. Claws, talons, horns, and tail. Its vicious form, whose hard scales and spikes jutting out here and there made its entire body a weapon, gave off an even fiercer momentum.
In contrast, Seong Hyeonje took elegant steps as though he were really dancing.
“Electric current spreads outward if used normally, resulting in considerable loss.”
Thud!
As he pulled, my back was yanked away, and the end of the spiked tail struck down. Then my body spun, and our clasped hands blocked claws filled with terrifying poisonous energy. The instant the dragonkin revealed an opening after the consecutive attacks were nullified,
Thunk!
The golden needle pierced through a gap in its scales. The sound of blades colliding, the scrape of chains. Riette and Seong Hyeonje drove the dragonkin back at the same time, not giving it a chance to remove the needle.
“Thanks to that, preparing is necessary if I want to concentrate my attack power.”
“What an annoying, ugh, attribute.”
I was dizzy. My feet touched the ground for a moment, but before I could properly stand, I was pulled sharply sideways again and spun around. What good was knowing in advance how that bastard would move? My body could not keep up.
- Graaah!
The dragonkin let out a roar and charged like a rhinoceros. With a simple step, the ground tore and cracked as though an earthquake had struck. Rumble! Heaven and earth shook with every motion. But all of it was useless. Its broad attacks only exposed more openings, and three more needles were embedded in its spiked back.
“But if it can be concentrated...”
Then, above it,
Chrrr...
The chain extended, and lightning with minimized loss raced forward, pouring through the needles embedded throughout the dragonkin’s body and into its interior.
- Kyaaak!
The flash visible outside was far more modest than the initial lightning strike. It was no more than a little current scattering. Yet unlike before, the dragonkin twisted its body and vomited blood.
Knowing that sensation, I reflexively shrank back. The pain itself was not transmitted, but I could feel my vision flashing white and blade-like currents darting through my body. My mouth went completely dry.
“It possesses greater destructive power than any other attribute.”
Seong Hyeonje spoke softly, yet confidently. It really was incredible. An SS-Class cursed poison dragon species. Not only was its species formidable, but judging by its skills, it was a top-tier individual above even Babar. Even if the lightning had pierced its scales and struck directly inside, incapacitating such a terrifying opponent in one blow was astounding.
But it was not dead yet. It had weakened for a moment under the attack that tore through it like thick poison, but its powerful recovery ability, or perhaps a skill, reared its head.
Above the dragonkin’s head as it staggered in agony but ultimately did not fall,
Craaaash!!
A sword wrapped in skill energy came down, carrying the sound not of a thin blade but of a massive giant’s hammer crashing down. The sword drove through the weakened dragon scales, pierced its crown, split open the back of its neck, shattered its spine, and plunged in deep!
Letting go of the hilt, Riette’s body flipped backward through the air. At the same time, she shouted cheerfully.
“Fry the sword too!”
Metal. A top-grade weapon that was particularly receptive to skills. The dance of chains answered her unreserved cry.
Light raced forward again. Perhaps because of the brutality of the sword, its new medium, the lightning snarled more savagely as it swallowed its prey’s entire body.
- Grrrk.
A weak sound came out, neither a scream nor a groan. Unless someone poured elixirs over it, it was certainly finished. Just as I thought that, I met the clouded eyes of the dragonkin as their light faded. Its lips moved as it mouthed something.
‘Is there any way to understand it?’
It might give me a clue about its master. I focused the teacher skill more deeply on the dragonkin. Could I delve further within, rather than merely sharing its senses? It was dying, so there was no resistance. And the effect was doubled, so perhaps it would work. Then,
[Thank you for coming to me so eagerly.]
Someone’s voice rang inside my head. The instant I thought, Huh?, everything before me went dark.
Only for a moment.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing somewhere unfamiliar.
‘What is this?’
Seong Hyeonje, Noah, and Riette were gone. The pocket watch I had held was gone as well. The translation necklace, the necklace with Shalos’s Bead, and all my other items had vanished. At least my clothes remained. No, the pants that should have been torn were intact.
I looked around in confusion. Someone stood in the distance ahead. He looked close to a human man, but curved horns protruded from his head. Even his eyes were not human. He wore something resembling an unfamiliar uniform, and long, split scars marked his neck and exposed wrists.
When I used Sprout, information appeared in my mind rather than a status window, just as it had in Myeongu’s forge.
‘An ancient dragonkin of poison and curses. Stronger than the one from before... Around SSS-Class? As for the rest of the information... I don’t know.’
He seemed a little weak to be the Cursed Poison Dragon King’s master. Maybe he was the third pet.
More importantly, where the hell was this? It did not seem like my body itself had been transported somewhere. My items had disappeared, and my clothes were intact. Had I been caught in a mental-type skill? Even at a high rank, that was a type of skill difficult to use without preparation.
‘Is it because I tried to delve in first?’
The dragonkin approached me in the meantime. Metallic golden eyes, like Riette’s, looked down at me as though examining me.
“You have interfered in my work again. Thanks to you, my losses have been considerable. I had to send Vicus out, and it temporarily lowered my grade.”
He spoke. Vicus was the name of the dragonkin we had just killed. And his grade had dropped. Before I could organize my thoughts, I grabbed him by the collar. Of course, he did not budge. Damn it.
“Were you the one who sent Raucitas into the dungeon I entered?”
“That truly was unexpected. To think Han Yoohyun would die so pointlessly.”
The leisurely voice continued.
“At the time, Han Yoohyun was nearly SS-Class. Even before the Cursed Poison Dragon King, his life would never have been in danger. I had deliberately sent Raucitas at an appropriate level. So only you, Han Yujin, were supposed to die.”
“What bullshit. If you wanted to kill me, you could have just sent A-Class, no, B-Class monsters after the Gate closed.”
“Do you think the dungeon Gate would still have been open then?”
The back of my neck prickled at those words. Before my regression, how much time had passed after I entered the dungeon? It had not been very long, but an hour was shorter than one might think. And...
Yoohyun had entered alone. No healer, no support, no other Hunters, despite being a guildmaster who commanded countless people. Because he entered alone, it became all the more impossible for him to protect both an F-Class Hunter and his own life at the same time.
“I made a new contract with Han Yoohyun. The condition was that I would send him into the closed dungeon where his older brother was in danger. But as long as you, Han Yujin, remained alive, there was little chance Han Yoohyun would cooperate actively. So I sent a monster he could not defeat while protecting his brother. Han Yoohyun could not possibly have imagined that we had sent it. I made it seem as though Han Yujin had died in an accident caused by a dungeon error. There would be no one to resent, and the reason he had failed to protect you would be his own powerlessness. Given the nature of an S-Class Hunter, he would have come to crave power and become very easy to handle. But then.”
His words continued with a sigh.
“No matter how precious a blood relative might be, I truly did not expect an innate S-Class to give up his own life.”
He had not meant to kill Yoohyun? Even so, nothing changed. The only issue engraved more clearly in my mind was how to beat this bastard to a pulp.
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