Chapter 175.
Dozens of fist-sized fireballs materialized around the dragon, smaller than the ones it had used against Elizer, but far more numerous.
Hundreds, perhaps even close to a thousand, fireballs rained down.
Seo Jae-yi, unfazed, countered with her own fireballs, intercepting them.
And she added another attack.
She took out the thorny whip she had used against the red dragon and swung it, the barbed tip wrapping around the sunset dragon’s unhealed wound, tearing it open further.
<Persistent little… !>
The dragon, anticipating a tug-of-war, pulled back, but Seo Jae-yi didn’t react as expected.
<What?!>
Why would she engage in a pointless struggle of strength against a dragon?
Seo Jae-yi, holding the whip firmly, leaped onto the dragon’s back.
“You’re making this too easy, letting me on your back like this, even with your size.”
She taunted the dragon, who was struggling to even see her, and then yanked on the whip, tightening it around its neck.
The dragon choked, a pained groan escaping its throat.
The thorny whip was digging into its flesh and muscle. Its neck might even break.
The dragon roared and soared into the sky.
Seo Jae-yi’s hair whipped wildly around her, her body buffeted by the wind as the dragon’s wings beat the air behind her.
She held on tight to the whip, the sound of tearing flesh echoing in her ears.
And as they reached a significant height, she heard a whooshing sound, something cutting through the air. She couldn’t see it, but she felt a prickle of danger, a warning screaming in her mind.
Instinctively, she released the whip and jumped.
It was an excellent decision.
“Ugh!”
Something thick and heavy slammed into her right arm, the pain excruciating. It wasn’t broken, but it was definitely fractured.
Seo Jae-yi clutched her arm with her left hand and glared at the dragon as she fell.
It had been its tail.
A direct hit would have shattered her ribs and ruptured her organs.
She wasn’t sure if even Baek Joo-won’s regenerative abilities, now a part of her, could heal such extensive damage, so she was relieved it was only a fracture.
Seo Jae-yi, sighing, twisted her body in midair. She wasn’t afraid, despite the rapid descent.
She knew a purple portal would appear.
And it did.
She landed smoothly on the ground as soon as she passed through the portal. A cloud of dust rose around her.
“Ow, my legs.”
A jolt of pain shot through her legs. She brushed herself off and waved at Elizer, who was in the distance.
And then, it happened.
A low rumble echoed through the air.
Seo Jae-yi froze, her body stiffening. A sense of danger, far more intense than when the dragon’s tail had struck her, washed over her, every cell screaming in alarm.
Run! Move! Get out of here!
But her legs, still throbbing from the impact, wouldn’t move as fast as she needed them to.
Even if she could move, it wouldn’t have mattered.
“…Damn it.”
She had felt this before. Recently. Just a month ago.
Seo Jae-yi grinned, a fierce, almost feral expression on her face.
And then, the world turned white. Everything was swallowed by a blinding light, and a deafening roar echoed through the air.
Lightning.
A massive bolt of lightning struck her.
“Ugh!”
Her body convulsed, stiff and unresponsive. Even her combat uniform couldn’t absorb the full impact. Her clothes tore, and her skin blackened, scorched by the electricity.
“Cough! Hack!”
Black smoke rose from her mouth as she coughed, blood splattering her lips.
Her right knee buckled, and she collapsed.
But the attack wasn’t over. The sunset dragon, still in the air, unleashed its breath attack.
“Master!”
Airok screamed. He tried to fly towards her, but he was stopped.
A dark blue dragon landed before him, blocking his path.
<I can’t let you go. I’ve been waiting for this moment.>
Airok gritted his teeth.
‘It’s strong!’
It was far more powerful than the two dragons he had killed. It was probably the second strongest dragon in this dungeon, after the boss monster.
He couldn’t kill it quickly enough to reach Seo Jae-yi.
He looked at her, his face etched with worry.
Thankfully, Elizer, using his portals, redirected the breath attack back towards the sunset dragon. But the sunset dragon, having learned its lesson, easily dodged it.
Boom!
Another bolt of lightning struck from the sky, hitting Elizer’s portal.
“Ugh!”
Elizer coughed up blood and collapsed, his attack neutralized.
Airok froze.
Something was descending from the sky, from the dark, rumbling sky.
A dragon, pure white, unlike Airok, who was tinged with blue. It was so bright that it looked like it was made of pure light.
A white dragon, wielding the power of lightning.
The moment it appeared, everyone knew.
This was the dungeon boss.
<We’ve finally stopped her.>
The white dragon landed before Seo Jae-yi.
She glared at it, her body still trembling from the lightning strike.
‘What a terrifying presence…’
She had been struck by lightning once before, a month ago, during her fight with the Rank 2 boss monster in Gapyeong.
But that had been a single bolt of lightning, a desperate attack from a monster with “electrical” abilities.
It was nothing compared to this white dragon, which wielded the pure power of “lightning.”
An oppressive weight, like a mountain, pressed down on her from the moment it appeared.
She couldn’t defeat it alone. She had been confident she could kill the Rank 2 boss monster, even if it meant risking her life, but she felt no such confidence now.
Even if she risked her life, she would only die. She wouldn’t even be able to scratch it.
“Ugh!”
But even knowing that, Seo Jae-yi struggled to her feet, her arms and legs trembling.
She couldn’t win, even if she risked her life?
‘So what?’
She had only one thing to do.
Endure until Baek Joo-won arrived.
She wouldn’t just lie down and die.
<…She’s still standing… Truly a formidable human. Using our own kind as bait was worth it.>
The white dragon was impressed that she was still on her feet after being struck by such a powerful lightning bolt. But his eyes were filled with a wary suspicion.
A suspicion that had begun when the five scouts near the gate had been killed.
‘There’s something strange about her.’
Not only did she radiate an impossibly strong aura for a human, but she also possessed an energy that was clearly not human.
‘Another dragon?’
The white dragon glanced at Airok, who was being held back by the dark blue dragon.
No, it wasn’t his energy. It was a different dragon’s energy.
But he couldn’t determine the source, so he had waited and observed, along with the other two, using his brethren as bait.
And he had discovered her secret.
‘Her Guide isn’t here.’
It was common sense to eliminate an Esper’s Guide first.
He still didn’t understand how a human could possess a dragon’s energy, but the person he suspected to be her Guide wasn’t here.
An Esper’s attachment to their Guide was absolute; she should have reacted when they were attacked, but her reaction had been… muted, merely protecting her allies.
He had revealed himself only after confirming that. They could kill her now, a wounded Esper without her Guide, even if she possessed a dragon’s energy.
<You’ve been too reckless.>
The white dragon clicked his tongue, looking down at Seo Jae-yi.
She was standing, her body tense with effort, but that was all.
An Esper who had killed two dragons without a Guide had only one fate awaiting her: death.
<Die, and blame your own foolishness.>
The white dragon opened its jaws, a power far surpassing any other dragon’s gathering within its mouth.
The white dragon’s lightning breath.
Even Seo Jae-yi wouldn’t survive a direct hit.
“…Ugh.”
But Seo Jae-yi, seeing it, smiled. She smiled, despite the oppressive weight pressing down on her, heavier than before.
‘A mountain… a mountain, huh.’
Yes, its aura was heavy, crushing. Her legs, already trembling, threatened to give way.
But she had already brought down a mountain once.
“My specialty is turning a Bean Mountain into a Bald Mountain.”
So why would she be afraid of a mere mountain?
Seo Jae-yi glared at the white dragon, her eyes filled with defiance.
【Overload Progress — 0%】
Her condition was perfect, despite the grueling battles, thanks to whatever Baek Joo-won’s power was doing within her body.
Her fractured bone had already healed, and the burns from the lightning strike were also fading.
So Seo Jae-yi straightened her back, her fear replaced by a steely resolve.
‘I won’t die, even if I’m hit.’
She was certain.
Just once.
She could withstand a lightning breath, at least once, in her current state.
But simply enduring it wouldn’t be worthy of her title as the Reckless Firestarter.
Thump!
Her heart pounded as she gathered her power. Her body temperature rose rapidly, hot breath escaping her parted lips.
Boom!
Something within her seemed to burst, and her body was engulfed in flames.
They were red at first, but the color shifted as the temperature rose.
Until they turned a brilliant, pure white, rivaling the white dragon before her.
“Seo Jae-yi!”
Elizer, who had been recovering, cried out.
White flames.
A color that appeared only when the flames were at least twice as hot as ordinary red flames.
Even Espers couldn’t withstand that temperature. No Fire Esper would ever dare to create white flames.
Seo Jae-yi was risking her life.
“Heh.”
Seo Jae-yi, engulfed in white flames, chuckled.
Her body burned, the world around her ablaze.
And yet, she felt a thrill of exhilaration.
She wasn’t pushing herself, wasn’t unleashing these flames with the intention of self-destruction.
On the contrary, she felt lighter than ever.
‘Finally.’
Yes, finally.
She could finally unleash her full power, without worrying about her overload level, without worrying about harming others with her flames.
This was her true power, the power of Seo Jae-yi unbound.
KABOOM!
The white dragon unleashed its breath attack. The lightning-infused breath tore through the air, shattering the earth.
At the same time, Seo Jae-yi unleashed her white flames.
A deafening roar echoed through the air as the two forces collided.
The world turned white.