Chapter 37
Chapter 37 . Hunting of the Peac.o.c.k Dragon .
Srrrrrrr!
A green monster softly landed from the sky .
Measuring about 11m from head to toe, this was a unique monster species, displaying features of a dragon and a peac.o.c.k .
It was beautiful .
As all peac.o.c.ks are, the Peac.o.c.k Dragon’s figure was elaborate and had unmatched beauty . It was appropriate that it ranked at the top among the dragon species with respect to aesthetics .
‘Male . ’
Kang Chul-In has determined the gender of the Peac.o.c.k Dragon after observing a half moon shaped feather around its waist (In fact the feather is also on the peac.o.c.k’s waist) . The females of the Peac.o.c.k Dragons did not have the half moon shaped feather that symbolized peac.o.c.k dragons .
‘A female would have been easier . ’
Kang Chul-In smacked his lips .
The fighting power between the male and female was like night and day .
If the fighting power of the male was more or less like 4, 5 fully grown Ogres, that of the female was far short of that .
‘No, perhaps, it is better . ’
However, as the heart of a male dragon is more precious, Kang Chul-In switched the disappointment with a thought of antic.i.p.atory rewards .
– Podorski, you, you are first .
Kang Chul-In sent a hand signal to Podorski .
– Just leave it to me, my lord .
Podorski nodded his head .
The best, first step in battling a Peac.o.c.k Dragon, or any other winged monsters, was to take away its mobility . It required breaking its wings or shackling up its ankles . That was the reason for engaging Podorski, the master of shackles .
– Wait, wait .
Kang Chul-In waited for the most opportune time without taking his eyes off of the Peac.o.c.k Dragon . Hunting demands patience .
It has been about 30 minutes .
The Peac.o.c.k Dragon finally came to a rest in the middle of the basin after moving around the area for a while . Then twisting its body, it buried its beak into the left wing .
‘Sleeping, this is the chance . ’
It was the best opportunity for Kang Chul-In and the adventurers as the Peac.o.c.k Dragon prepared to sleep .
– I, will lure its attention from the front .
Kang Chul-In sent a hand signal .
– In that time, tie it up, failure, will not be, tolerated .
Podorski’s eyes looked suddenly piercing as it was the first strict order that he had received since he had come to Laputa territory .
As failure will not be tolerated meant strict accountability will follow, for Podorski, he had to ensure that his duty was carried out with all his might .
– Lucia, Let’s, synchronize .
– Anytime, I’m always waiting, my lord .
After giving strict commands to Podorski, Kang Chul-In turned to Lucia and requested the same performance that he had shown during the battle with the Ogre .
– On three, we shall attack .
After the final hand signal to the adventurers, Kang Chul-In tightened up his entire body muscles .
‘Inhaling, exhaling . Inhaling, exhaling . ’
Kang Chul-In observed the sleeping Peac.o.c.k Dragon’s body as he waited for the right timing .
This was utilization of the feature that Dorian had discovered in the past, where the time that it took a peac.o.c.k dragon from inhaling to exhaling takes a long time and that it becomes quite sensitive while inhaling .
However, during exhaling, the peac.o.c.k dragon becomes completely defenseless, and this could afford about 10 seconds .
If the attack was made right at that moment, it was possible to gain the advantage when engaging in a battle .
‘Inhaling, exhaling . Inhaling, exhaling… Inhaling… Now!’
Finally, Kang Chul-In stood up after finding the right time to attack . After him, Lucia, the adventurers with Blood swords followed .
Yeah-!!
The front line of the Slayers led by Kang Chul-In began rus.h.i.+ng towards the Peac.o.c.k Dragon .
‘Lucia, Hold!’
Kang Chul-In stretched his hand toward Lucia .
Tuck!
As soon as their hands met, Lucia turned her body, using her right leg as the axis, and threw Kang Chul-In with all her might . It was an incredible power similar to a war catapult .
Taat!
Springing forward in an instant, Kang Chul-In reached next to the sleeping peac.o.c.k dragon in a blink of an eye .
Flas.h.!.+
Having transitioned from exhaling to inhaling, the Peac.o.c.k Dragon felt someone and opened wide its unique emerald eyes and leered at Kang Chul-In . Then, spreading its wings, it prepared to punish the human that dared to attack it .
However, as Kang Chul-In had come as close to the tip of its nose, there was no way that it can dodge his blow .
Prrrrr…!
Kang Chul-In’s Blood sword dipped in mana fire, flared up as struck the peac.o.c.k dragon .
Chi-chung-!
The beak of the peac.o.c.k dragon and the Blood sword met, causing a clas.h.i.+ng sound as if metal and metal have collided .
Knocking its head back, the peac.o.c.k dragon stumbled . It ill.u.s.trated the destructive power that Kang Chul-In’s attack carried .
The chance was then .
Kang Chul-In’s strike partially stunned the peac.o.c.k dragon’s brain and prevented it from taking flight, even buying time for the adventurers to approach .
“Let’s go!”
“Die!”
The leading adventurers attacked like a colony of bees as they swung the Blood swords at the peac.o.c.k dragon .
Snap, snap!
The adventurers with Pavise s.h.i.+elds and the adventurers with Black Thorn spears a.s.sembled, following right behind .
“Podorski, hurry!”
Kang Chul-In did not look towards the adventurers . He kept his eyes on only Podorski, who was holding the iron shackles, Billy the adventurer, and the 2 other adventurers . The most important issue was to succeed in tying up the peac.o.c.k dragon to the ground .
Thuddudduk!
Aiming the left leg of the peac.o.c.k dragon, Podorski has launched the iron chain .
Click, click, snap!
The iron chain has successfully wrapped around the left leg of the peac.o.c.k dragon .
‘Done!’
Upon seeing what Podorski has done, Kang Chul-In believed that bringing him was a G.o.d sent move . As a master of the shackles, he was certainly a useful talent .
“Everyone, attack!”
Kang Chul-In suddenly shouted and led the adventurers .
Having been ambushed suddenly and left leg tied up tightly, the peac.o.c.k dragon did not even have a chance to fly, but was getting indiscriminately pummeled by more than 40 or so humans . All the while, Podorski tied up the iron shackles around a number of Cyprus trees in order to strengthen the hold .
However…, even with the successful ambus.h.i.+ng and shackling, the peac.o.c.k dragon was not an easy opponent .
– Kooooo!!!
The dragon blood wasn’t flowing inside the peac.o.c.k dragon for nothing as its large body ma.s.s alone was sufficient to overcome the Team Slayers’ attack .
On top of that, as if the shackled left leg was maddening, it crazily shook its body .
As a result of that shaking, the first casualty occurred .
Puck!
An adventurer snapped his neck after receiving a direct head shot by the wildly wielded tail (feathers are on its back) then fell and rolled to the ground . Anyone could tell that it was an instant death by the broken neck .
“……!”
With the first casualty, some adventurers showed shock in their eyes . They could not have imagined that someone would meet instant death, right in front of them . That was the discrepancy between having confidence and realty .
“Focus!”
Helping them overcome that discrepancy was Kang Chul-In’s role .
“All will die if you retreat! Killing it is the only way to live!”
It only takes a matter of seconds for a team to disintegrate before a colleague’s death . Well aware of this, Kang Chul-In saw a need to severely push the adventurers, so that they do not break .
Nonetheless, there was nothing that Kang Chul-In could do as the number of casualties rose one by one . As his level was also low at the moment, it was impossible for him to save every adventurer .
With a sheeek sound, one adventurer, with a Blood sword, fell as he was sliced in half from the top of his head . Another adventurer was killed by getting his upper body pierced with the peac.o.c.k dragon’s beak .
The movements of crazed peac.o.c.k dragon produced immense power .
‘Just to here, losing more will mean no future . ’
When the number of casualties rose to seven, Kang Chul-In felt a crisis . If the casualty count kept rose like this, there was a very high chance that the adventurers would collapse . Something had to be done before reaching that point .
“Lucia, let’s go!”
“Yes, my lord!”
Ultimately, leaving the large formation that he had formed with the adventurers, Kang Chul-In joined Lucia, rus.h.i.+ng towards the peac.o.c.k dragon for a full frontal a.s.sault .
It was a highly risky maneuver, but someone had to carry the torch . As it is also a life form, the peac.o.c.k dragon will eventually become exhausted, hence the real key to victory is who lands the fatal blow .
The duo of Kang Chul-In and Lucia faced the peac.o.c.k dragon . As a result, the peac.o.c.k dragon’s attention was focused on the two, providing the adventurers with some breathing room . As defending against the peac.o.c.k dragon’s attacks fell almost entirely on Kang Chul-In and Lucia, they felt like it would be the death of them .
Kang Chul-In was nearly burnt out, but he did his best to sustain himself . As long as he was able to sustain himself, the adventurers’ attacks would become more active .
‘d.a.m.n it!’
While he was holding himself up, his inside was filling up with the inferno of wrath .
He felt suffocated .
Since he was engaged in a battle with an opponent that in his usual self, would have been cut in to two pieces with effortless wielding of his great sword, Fragarach, he realized how powerless he was at the moment .
‘Be patient . Impetuousness is poison . I will strong after this hunt . What I need right now is patience, not wrath . ’
He grew angry, but did not lose control . He focused on battling the peac.o.c.k dragon, suppressing the sense of suffocation . He knew that by overcoming the current situation, he will obtain a dragon heart that will become the platform for recapturing his old power .
That patience has finally opened a door .
The peac.o.c.k dragon, having shed so much blood after being stabbed countless times with the Black Thorn spears, has become very weak and the tail that was being swung wildly became useless by the Pavise s.h.i.+elds . Along with that, with the advanced coordinated attacks by the adventurers, Kang Chul-In and Lucia have caused the hard exterior leathery scales to begin to show cracks as it became brittle .
“Abdomen, lower abdomen!”
Kang Chul-In shouted . He couldn’t lose this great chance .
“Let’s go!”
“Stab-!!!”
“Die, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!”
Filled with rage, the adventurers wildly stabbed the lower abdomen of the peac.o.c.k dragon as they shouted . Designed just for the purpose of stabbing, the sharpness of the 24 Black Thorn spears was beyond imagination .
Shook,
Shooook,
Shook-shook!!!
Blood began to pour out of the lower abdomen of the peac.o.c.k dragon . Some areas showed scarlet skin through torn leathery scale .
It was then .
Feeling threatened for its life, the peac.o.c.k dragon roared and took out its secret weapon .
Whirrrrl!
The feathers on the back of the peac.o.c.k dragon opened wide and formed into a fan shape . The peac.o.c.k dragon has initiated ‘psychedelic silk’, known as its lethal weapon .
The peac.o.c.k dragon’s fan shaped feather, the psychedelic silk, was a technique that causes one to suffer intense hallucination upon looking at them . Once falling into it, one enters near unconscious state for about 5 minutes, during which time the peac.o.c.k dragon could devour them as they fell victim to the technique’s crowd control mechanism .
Srrrr… . Srrr . Srrrr .
The peac.o.c.k dragon’s feather swayed as if to be dancing as it cast its psychedelic spell . Without a counter, everyone was in danger of falling into the hallucination spell .
-Krrrrr?
The peac.o.c.k dragon tilted its head .
Something was strange .
None of the adventurers that were in the peac.o.c.k dragon’s spell showed any swaying at all .
It was so even after using the psychedelic silk used to cause complacency . It must have looked impossible for the peac.o.c.k dragon .
“Hugh . ”
Kang Chul-In let out a long exhale as he raised mana level .
He gave a fishy smile . It was as if he was saying, I knew it all along, it is a futile effort . Having drunk a focus potion in advance, he and the adventurers were free from the effects of the psychedelic silk .
Thuup!
Raising the Blood sword, Kang Chul-In became one with the flash of silver as he stormed towards the peac.o.c.k dragon .
Shooook!
The Blood sword penetrated the peac.o.c.k dragon in between the crack of its leathery skin . The target was lower abdomen, a single penetration, moving from bottom to top .
– Krrrrr!!!
The peac.o.c.k dragon tried to shake, letting out a cry filled with pain .
‘That’s the end . ’
However, Kang Chul-In had no interest in leaving the peac.o.c.k dragon alone .
Scheek, scheeeek!
The Blood sword produced sparks .
‘Mana fire,’
Kang Chul-In devised a way to neutralize his opponent even with a low sorcery power as he gathered up all his mana . It was explosion, great explosion that he visualized .
‘Intraburst . ’
Kang Chul-In’s mana transformed into an explosive and it flowed down the Blood sword into the peac.o.c.k dragon’s body .
The target was the head of the peac.o.c.k dragon .
It took less than 1 second for Kang Chul-In’s mana to travel from the lower abdomen, through the neck, into the brain .
Kw.a.n.g!
With the sound of explosion,
Whirrrl!
…The skull and its contents of the peac.o.c.k dragon broke into million pieces and fell to the ground .
[Level has been raised! Level 26 reached!]
[Level has been raised! Level 27 reached!]
2 levels have been raised instantly, and
[Secret Quest: ‘Ambush of the peac.o.c.k dragon’ Cleared!]
[Award for completing the Quest: Experience +1200/Gold +300/Buff: Dragon Species Prohibited/‘One who bends air’ t.i.tle attained!]
[Buff: With the effect of initiating dragon species prohibition, the monarch’s region will be free of any presence of dragon species for 6 months!]
[Level has been raised! Level 28 reached!]
Additional 1 level has been raised .
That’s how the peac.o.c.k dragon hunt has ended .
However .
As it appeared to have reached the finale, an uninvited guest appeared and threw cold water on the Team Slayers, who were about to pop fire crackers in order to celebrate .
“Lord, my lord!”
Lucia ran towards Kang Chul-In like a madwoman .
Edited by Userunfriendly