Chapter 179:
“Maggie, Eli!”
Seo Jae-yi called out to them and quickly explained Hae-wi’s plan. They both looked at her incredulously.
“So you’re telling me to kill myself…”
Seo Jae-yi patted Elizer’s back at his weak protest.
“It’ll be over after this one attack. So buck up.”
“Yeah, go for it, Eli.”
Grayson, also recognizing the soundness of the plan, patted Elizer’s shoulder encouragingly.
Elizer covered his face with his hands.
“…I’m holding you two responsible if this fails.”
“Failure isn’t an option!”
“Don’t worry. It’ll work perfectly.”
They were an unreliable duo, but they were also the most reliable people she knew.
Elizer, caught in a dilemma, sighed and looked up at the sky.
He had only one thing to do.
“Open.”
He raised his hand towards the sky, and a purple sphere appeared, higher than the white dragon raining lightning down on them.
The sphere expanded rapidly, growing large enough to cover the sky.
The massive portal he created swallowed the dozens of incoming lightning bolts.
“Ugh!”
A powerful backlash surged through his body. He gritted his teeth, blood trickling down his chin. His stomach churned, and his arms trembled. He wasn’t sure if he could create another portal in this state.
‘Huh?’
And then, the life force he had felt earlier surged through him again, his rapidly rising overload level dropping by more than half. Elizer blinked, surprised.
What was this? What kind of power was this, this natural, almost primal energy?
But this wasn’t the time to ponder its source.
He shouted, his voice firm,
“Now!”
“Drop the barrier!”
The telekinetic Espers immediately lowered the barrier at Grayson’s command. The three Espers, completely exhausted, collapsed.
Seo Jae-yi was next. She launched the fiery Mireu into the air.
The white dragon, enraged by the neutralized lightning, unleashed its breath attack at the Mireu. If it was destroyed, Seo Jae-yi would bear the brunt of the attack.
But she hadn’t intended to use the Mireu for a direct attack.
It dodged the breath and soared higher into the sky. The breath attack, missing its target, struck the ground. Hae-wi intercepted it, acting as a shield.
“Ugh!”
Being struck by a dragon’s breath attack, infused with its full power, was different from simply being hit by lightning from the sky.
Hae-wi’s body, which had withstood the lightning with relative ease, stiffened. His beautiful, iridescent scales were scorched, and his golden fur blackened. Blood dripped from his mouth.
The scent of his lover’s blood filled the air, but Seo Jae-yi’s focus was solely on the fiery Mireu soaring through the sky.
She would channel her worry for Hae-wi into killing the white dragon.
“Maggie!”
Grayson was the last to move. He summoned the wind from all directions, and it swirled around the fiery Mireu, amplifying its power, its form growing even larger.
The Mireu looked down at the white dragon from above.
“Eli, release it!”
Another portal, smaller this time, just large enough to encompass the Mireu, appeared between the purple portal holding the lightning and the fiery Mireu.
The concentrated lightning, contained within Elizer’s portal, struck the Mireu.
“Ugh!”
Grayson, manipulating the wind, groaned.
But Seo Jae-yi was the one who truly suffered.
She wanted to scream, her entire body wracked with pain, but she gritted her teeth, focusing on controlling the Mireu, absorbing the lightning.
Her fingers, her arms, her entire body tingled, the pain shooting from her head to her toes. Her insides burned, and she tasted blood.
But she endured. Hae-wi’s regenerative power, flowing through her veins, kept her from collapsing.
She held on until the Mireu had absorbed all the lightning.
<I won’t be defeated!>
The white dragon, finally realizing their plan, roared and unleashed another breath attack at the Mireu, even more powerful than the previous one.
But Seo Jae-yi wasn’t fazed. Hae-wi, who had fallen to the ground, didn’t move to block the attack. Neither did Airok, who was supporting him.
They simply watched, their gazes fixed on the sky.
As if anticipating the end.
“Fall.”
Seo Jae-yi commanded, and the Mireu, now a swirling vortex of fire, wind, and lightning, plummeted towards the white dragon, colliding head-on with its breath attack.
KABOOM!
A deafening roar, and a blinding white light filled the sky. The Espers groaned and shielded their eyes.
But Seo Jae-yi and Hae-wi watched, unblinking, as the Mireu tore through the breath attack and hurtled towards the white dragon.
<…What?>
The white dragon, its breath attack completely neutralized, let out a stunned gasp.
But it had no allies left to defend it, no strength remaining to stop the Mireu.
The Mireu’s jaws opened wide, swallowing the white dragon whole. Fire, lightning, and wind tore through its body, incinerating it from the inside.
The combined attack, fueled by the power of three top-tier S-rank Espers and Hae-wi, was too much for even the white dragon to withstand.
A deafening scream, echoing through the dungeon, pierced the air. But there was no one left to help it; the white dragon succumbed to its wounds.
Thump!
Its massive body, engulfed in flames and lightning, crashed to the ground. The dust settled, revealing the gruesomely mangled corpse.
Its once pristine white scales were melted and blackened, the wounds on its chest and arm, which had barely healed, were torn open again, gushing blood, and its wings were shredded, rendering it flightless.
Its ragged breaths signaled its imminent demise.
“Hah… It’s finally over…”
The Espers and Guides, one by one, sank to the ground, exhausted.
It had been the most harrowing dungeon they had ever subjugated.
Hae-wi, leaving behind the others, who were sighing in relief, simply grateful to be alive, approached the dying white dragon.
Its fading golden eyes looked up at him.
<…You have won.>
<I knew I would from the start, so it’s not that surprising.>
The white dragon chuckled weakly at Hae-wi’s confident reply, blood trickling from its mouth.
<But… do you really think the humans will welcome you?>
<Welcome me?>
<Just because you killed me doesn’t mean they will stop fearing you. On the contrary, they will see you as a threat.>
Hae-wi glanced back at the others.
Indeed, even among those celebrating their victory, there were some exchanging uneasy glances, their gazes fixed on Hae-wi and Airok with suspicion and fear.
<Even among our kind, trust is a rare commodity. Do you really think humans are any different? You will be betrayed.>
<I know. I don’t trust humans either.>
But Hae-wi’s response was indifferent.
The white dragon’s eyes widened in surprise. It had expected him to deny it, to declare humans his allies.
<You sided with them, and yet…?>
<I’ll say it again. I’m not on the humans’ side; I’m on Seo Jae-yi’s side. Do you think I, who don’t even trust my own kind, would trust humans?>
But he trusted Seo Jae-yi.
Hae-wi glanced at her. She was watching them, her gaze fixed on him and the white dragon as they conversed in a language she couldn’t understand.
While others were celebrating, she remained alert, as if ready to defend him if the white dragon attacked.
Yes, who could he trust if not her?
<I don’t care what they think of me. I’ll erase their doubts.>
<…What? How…?>
<There’s no need to explain to someone who’s about to die. So just… die.>
Hae-wi opened his jaws. The white dragon, staring at his approaching fangs, closed its eyes.
To be hunted by humans and then killed by one of its own kind… It wasn’t such a bad end.
Crunch!
A short, sharp sound from its neck, and then… darkness.
The Rank 1 dungeon boss monster was dead.
“It’s finally over…”
Grayson, who, like Seo Jae-yi, had been watching the white dragon intently, finally exhaled, a long, slow breath.
But his mind was troubled.
He had known about Airok, but he didn’t know the identity of this Mireu. He seemed to be acquainted with Seo Jae-yi…
‘This is problematic.’
He could probably explain away one dragon. But two? They might demand that both be eliminated.
“…”
Hae-wi, having swallowed the boss monster’s blood, sensed Grayson’s apprehension.
He glanced at Airok, who nodded, having already been briefed.
‘Seo Jae-yi.’
It was time to set things right.
Hae-wi called her name telepathically, and she answered immediately,
‘Yes?’
‘I told you there was a way to conceal my identity, didn’t I?’
Seo Jae-yi nodded. Hae-wi had indeed said there was a way for him and Airok to reveal their true forms without causing any major problems.
A way to silence any objections to their existence.
He hadn’t told her what that method was.
‘Are you going to tell me now?’
Hae-wi nodded and then said, after a moment’s hesitation,
‘You’re going to kill me here. Both Airok and me.’
Seo Jae-yi thought she had misheard him.
Kill? What? Who? Hae-wi? Logi? …Kill both of them, her precious companions?
“What nonsense…?”
She was so stunned that the words escaped her lips. Her face hardened.
Hae-wi quickly added,
‘Calm down. I’m not asking you to actually kill me. Do you think I’m crazy? I can’t stay by your side if I’m dead. Do you think I would leave you alone?’
Seo Jae-yi closed her mouth, his words making a strange kind of sense.
He wouldn’t willingly die and leave her. He would rather they died together.
‘Then what is it? Explain properly.’
‘You can feel the changes in your body, right? You’ve become my power, my very essence. So even if you attack me, I won’t die. It’s my power, after all.’
What was he talking about? Power? She had become his power?
‘You can cut off my head or rip out my heart, and I won’t die. Blowing up my head… I’ll have to think about that one. But anything else is fine.’
So he was planning to play dead, transform back into his human form, and then rejoin them discreetly.
The other humans, unaware of the truth, would naturally assume he was dead and wouldn’t question Seo Jae-yi’s control over the dragon any further.
‘Cut off my head to make it convincing. Just scorch Airok with a fireball or something. He’ll shrink and hide.’
‘Unlike you, Logi won’t be hurt, right?’
‘He’ll be hurt. I’ll give him some of my power to speed up his recovery. I’ve already discussed it with him, so don’t worry.’
Seo Jae-yi chuckled dryly at his nonchalant response.
He probably wouldn’t die, even if she cut off his head. His regenerative abilities were that strong.
It was the perfect solution… and yet, she was hesitant.
She had to cut off his head, not just inflict a small wound.