5.
There was a thought Kim Buja always had whenever he saw dragons in novels.
’With inexhaustible mana, 10th-circle magic, overwhelming physical prowess, and intelligence superior to humans, plus lifespans of tens of thousands of years—why do dragons always die at the hands of humans? And always in the dumbest ways?’
If they fought at full strength, there was no reason for a dragon to lose. The heroes in all those dragon-slayer stories—Grand Sword Masters, 9th-circle archmages, prodigies who achieved their feats at the youngest ages—were still far below a dragon’s specs. Even if they were decked out in the best gear, could it really compare to the treasures in a dragon’s lair? Even if there were weapons that were poison to dragons, could they really match the priceless artifacts that dragons themselves possessed?
And yet, dragons always died.
Whether at the hands of a hero or in battle against invading demonkind, they always ended up sacrificing themselves so the hero could land the finishing blow. Based on their established power in those novels, that should never happen.
That was what Kim Buja had always thought.
So when he first ca to this continent, he had assud that if dragons existed, they wouldn’t be intelligent beings. Not the dragons from novels, but the giant beasts from movies—the kind that just flew around and breathed fire.
But after eting one in person, his thoughts had changed.
They’re a race that doesn’t feel much about dying.
Because they lived so long and possessed such intelligence, dragons could die. That intelligence was what allowed them to. Just like in the novels.
They followed rules whose origin no one knew. Even though the demonkind had already used every thod imaginable to cross over to the continent and plant the roots of darkness, those rules made the dragons sit back and wait for disaster, all while prattling on about those sa rules.
It was a combination of detachnt and arrogance. They had enough power to afford that level of arrogance, but because of it, the peace of the human world they claid to value so much was shattered.
So perhaps that was why they ended up dying to humans who barely lived a hundred years.
Of course, so things were different from what he had imagined. Dying to humans was actually incredibly difficult, harder even than dying of old age. Unless a dragon like Cassius deliberately allowed it at the mont of its death, humans would never be able to kill one.
That was how powerful they were.
Kim Buja had inherited that power.
Strictly speaking, he had stolen it.
Which was why he could say this with confidence and pride.
’If I can use a dragon’s power, and if I have enough Gold to fully exploit it...’
If he were given the power to fight the demonkind without caring about any rules, he would show them what a real fight looked like.
“I didn’t think they’d be able to block teor, though.”
His relaxed words didn’t match the situation for Kim Buja, who currently wore Cassius’s form. His trump card, teor, had been utterly nullified by the human mages, and countless troops were now charging toward Arhel. Summoning another teor would be too late; by the ti it fell, Arhel itself would be within the blast radius.
“I thought they’d at least take so damage.”
His very first plan had already gone awry.
Yet he still felt at ease.
’So this is how a dragon feels.’
Even when his move had been blocked by humans, he could still calmly assess the situation. With that kind of mindset, it was no wonder a dragon might occasionally allow so hero who had surpassed human limits to take its life.
However, Kim Buja was not a dragon.
He was Kim Buja wearing a dragon’s skin.
He might be relaxed, but he was never careless.
From the start, teor had only been a card to draw their attention.
RUMBLE... CRASH—!
The ground shook and twisted—the entire stretch of land the Allied Forces was standing on. It was not just a simple tremor. The earth heaved and surged like waves, making it impossible for anyone to stand as it swallowed them whole.
It was a literal wave of earth.
The raging wave crashed down and devoured the Allied Forces.
Thousands, tens of thousands of soldiers vanished in an instant.
It all happened in less than a minute.
Within a radius of several hundred ters around Arhel, the land once again beca a place where not even an ant could be seen.
A brief silence followed.
On the surface, it looked like both sides had landed a heavy blow.
But that was not the case.
“That is a dragon...”
The golden-scaled dragon still hovered in the sky, looking down on the humans. There was no sign of exhaustion; its lofty posture radiated the confidence that it could slaughter countless more at any mont.
Seeing that, Kael spoke up. “What’s going on? I thought dragons weren’t allowed to intervene.”
The succubus in the black robe chuckled as she answered, “That’s not a dragon.”
“What?”
“If there had been that much interference, the gates of the Demon Realm would already be open. But nothing has changed, which ans that thing isn’t a dragon.”
Kael fell silent.
It was clearly a dragon, yet she claid it was not.
’Then what is it?’
To his silent question, the succubus flashed a bright smile and shrugged. “I don’t know either. What I do know is that it’s definitely a dragon, but also not a dragon.”
What mattered was whether it was a dragon or not; the Allied Forces’ montum had been broken.
After a mont of thought, Cain summoned the mages again.
Then he made his declaration.
“We hunt the dragon.”
* * *
“This is doable.”
It hadn’t been dragon magic. To cast a spell of that scale over such a wide area would have required an absurd amount of mana and gold. He could have done it, but the efficiency would have been terrible.
So he had used the Gold Shop instead.
After his promotion to SVIP, the Gold Shop’s tier had risen as well, and it now offered a wider variety of better items, including sothing he could install for several million gold.
Of course, it was single-use.
He had spent two million gold in one go, but with over twenty million in his pocket, it didn’t feel like a waste.
He didn’t have ti to feel that it was a waste anyway.
’If I die, it’s all pointless.’
He had to treat this as his last stand. He had to win, even if it ant spending every last coin.
“They should be taking the bait right about now.”
The brief lull only heightened the tension.
’What’s their next move? What will they aim for?’
He had to think, to figure it out.
’What would I do in their place?’
He didn’t even have ti to think.
No, he didn’t need it.
KRA-BOOM!
Countless spells began to fly from the Allied Forces’ side. It was a clear signal, showing exactly what move they had chosen to win this war.
Now it was Kim Buja’s turn.
How would he respond?
Would he dodge? Would he stand and fight?
He gladly gave his answer.
“ROOOOAAAR!”
"This is a once-in-a-lifeti chance to blow money like crazy. Why the hell would I dodge?"
A rain of fire poured down from the sky.
6.
Anyone could see that the difference in numbers was overwhelming. Yet the way the war unfolded was the complete opposite, and the sight was spectacular.
Tens and hundreds of thousands of troops were being toyed with and annihilated by a single dragon.
The regular soldiers didn’t even step forward. They had no chance to. There was nothing an ordinary soldier could do against a dragon that had left Arhel’s skies and was now boldly fighting in the middle of the enemy camp.
Despite the countless knights and mages charging in, there was no progress. On the contrary, they were being blown away by powerful spells. The knights tried to draw its attention while the mages hurled their magic, but they couldn’t leave so much as a scratch on its golden scales.
“ROOOOAAAR!”
At the sa ti, the dragon descended to the ground and unleashed a roar.
“It’s a breath attack! Scatter!”
And then ca the golden wave.
Spinning in a full circle with a speed that seed impossible for such a massive body, the dragon unleashed its breath in all directions, and they were helpless before it. No matter how powerful the knight, no matter how high the mage’s circle, they could not withstand it.
’So this is a dragon.’
The specter of defeat slowly seeped into the Allied Forces. Even though they still had plenty of troops left, despair and hopelessness took hold at the thought that unless they brought down this one dragon, they would never set foot inside Arhel, which lay right before their eyes.
Was this the dragon of legend?
Generals who had seed capable of winning against thousands of enemies had already fallen to the dragon in droves. The thousands of mages were struggling just to defend against its spells, their mana long since depleted, while the knights, outpaced by its movents, had no chance to display their swordsmanship before their armor shattered and their bones broke.
Even so, there was no rcy.
The dragon endlessly hunted for more wealth.
After a re ten minutes, this was the situation created in the short ti since the dragon had descended.
A decision was needed.
The Allied Forces chose not retreat, but advance.
CLANG!
For the first ti, the golden tail struck sothing and stopped.
A sudden hush fell over the battlefield.
Once they realized what had happened, the Allied Forces erupted in cheers. The roar of triumph was so intense that it shook the battlefield, showing just how much it boosted their morale to block even a single attack.
And it had not been blocked by luck.
Nor by a wall of hundreds of corpses.
A massive greatsword—a jet-black greatsword—had blocked it completely.
The dragon, Kim Buja, turned his head to look.
He locked eyes with Kael, whose body was brimming with the power of darkness.
’Oh?’
There was no way Kim Buja could detect dark power. Even so, he sensed it instinctively.
“So it is you,” the dragon’s voice bood across the battlefield. “You reek of demonkind.”
Kael didn’t bother to answer. He simply curled his lips into a twisted grin. The black mana swirling around him, making no attempt to deny the accusation, answered in his stead as he swung his sword.
BOOM!
He wasn’t pushed back.
This was the power of a Grand Sword Master—a power that could dare to stand against even a dragon.
Kim Buja couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. Even if that power had been gained by forming a contract with demons, it was impressive that it could rival a dragon in Soul Unleashed, not to ntion one augnted by countless buffs bought with mountains of gold. A rough estimate told him that Kael’s strength was in no way lacking compared to a dragon’s innate physical abilities.
“But it’s still pathetic.”
Normally, Kim Buja would have just grumbled about it and left it at that.
This ti was different.
He had staked everything on this war, on this single battle. He had no intention of losing, and he had anticipated at least this much from the start.
“Soul Release, Stage Seven.”
In this mont, he was stronger than any dragon.
BOOM!
The tail ca crashing down on Kael once more.
The result was not the sa.
“Ugh!”
Kael dropped to one knee.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
His greatsword still managed to block the attacks, but it was gradually being driven back. Cracks began to spread across the blade that had seed unbreakable.
BOOM!
Fortunately, the greatsword didn’t shatter. That was only because Kael let go of it an instant before it did, paying the price with his body instead. He took Kim Buja’s attack head-on.
Countless knights rushed in to help him, but it was pointless. Whether it was one, ten, a hundred, or a thousand, it made no difference. Kim Buja was in Soul Unleashed, Stage Seven, his power endlessly fueled by gold.
’All right. Co out.’
He waited.
And just as Kael was about to collapse, the mont he had been waiting for arrived.
Snap.
Wings. Horns. And a massive scythe.
“And who might you be?” the succubus asked in a seductive voice.
Kim Buja laughed. “A real demon, huh?”
In that instant, the dragon vanished. Kim Buja, back in his true form, charged straight at her.
* * *
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