Hwagmu fell into confusion upon seeing his destructive breath suddenly be blocked by an unknown figure.
"What's going on…"
Paaf—!
The five monsters, including Spectre, leaped onto the ice and targeted Hwagmu.
"How dare you!"
WHOOM—!
However, their attack was montarily halted as lightning struck around him.
At the very least, Hwagmu had bought himself ti to recover from having spewed his breath.
'This can't be… This can't be happening. Even if things have gone awry, I'm a Dragon.'
Hwagmu was an evil Dragon—a legend of the East, who had existed long before the creatures before him could even breathe.
'So why…'
Crack…
His body began to swell. If ti continued to pass like this, he could return to his true form as a Dragon, albeit sowhat unstable.
The first problem was whether he would be given that ti, and the second was whether he could subdue them even if he regained his Dragon form.
"Where are you looking?"
Thud…
The red knight's sword pierced his thigh. She was the hardest opponent to read.
"Ugh…"
Whoosh—!
"Huh?"
BOOM—!
A tail that had sprouted from his body sent her plumting downward.
Paaf—!
However, soone quickly grabbed that tail.
"Co down and talk."
Whoosh!
BOOM—!
This ti, it was Hwagmu who fell.
Jamad grabbed his tail and threw him to the ground.
His fall was hideously unsightly.
"How…"
"Hwagmu… Like this…?"
"He's a Dragon… A legend…"
Hwagmu burned with rage upon seeing them witness his unsightly appearance.
'Don't look at like that…!'
He wanted people to look at him with fear.
After all, fear was only a step away from reverence.
After having seized the East once, he had never envisioned such a downfall.
"I'm going to kill you… I'm going to kill you all!"
Crack…
The shape of wings coming out of Hwagmu beca clearer. Although he couldn't freely fly due to the barrier, they would probably still be useful.
WHOOM—!
[Hwagmu used Power: Intended Sky.]
[Hwagmu manipulates the weather.]
[The current weather is Storm.]
[The storm is a domain. Hwagmu can exert his strongest power within the storm.]
[Those who go against the storm's flow will suffer continuous damage the mont they enter.]
[The storm will gradually expand, swallowing all enemies within it.]
BOOM…
The red rain stopped, and the Blood-pus Puppets lted away and were absorbed back into the ground.
Instead, a massive storm began forming around Hwagmu.
Whoosh… Whoosh…
"RUUN—!"
As soone shouted, a massive storm ford in the middle of the Dragon Palace.
"Die, epheral creatures."
BOOM—!
"NO!"
Soldiers were torn apart as they were swept into the storm.
Even the fragnts of the Large Soldiers were utterly shredded.
BOOM—!
Spectre rolled up her sleeves and clapped.
CLAP—!
[Spectre used Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.]
[All kinds of ghosts rise and cause chaos.]
…
Whir…
Hihihi…
A ghostly energy enveloped the storm.
Kiiaakk—!
Uooo…
"Tsk. It's useless. The storm will only grow larger. Hwagmu has made up his mind."
Seol asked Spectre.
"What is he trying to do?"
"Mutual destruction. He hasn't regained his true form yet. However, he's still decided to use such imnse power. He will most likely lose his sanity."
"…"
"It's a fifty-fifty chance. Either he manages to control the storm to the end, kills everyone here, and revives as a Dragon… Or he fails to control it, loses his sanity, and cannot revive. The problem is that the storm will leave an enormous scar no matter what happens."
Ur walked up to Seol from behind.
"I'll buy you so ti."
"What…?"
"There's a way to stop it."
Spectre's eyes widened at Ur's words. She had lived for an imnse amount of ti.
"That's impossible! The opponent is a Dragon! A legend of the East, Hwagmu! The embodint of evil that has been hiding for hundreds of years to achieve his goals!"
It was impossible for a re summon to know sothing that she didn't. Yet, there was sothing she didn't know—Ur had been bound to Alcatron for an amount of ti that could make hundreds of years insignificant.
"We can stop the storm from expanding if we cool the domain itself. For a storm of this magnitude, a huge amount of mana will be necessary. So everyone will have to be retrieved."
"…"
"The rest is up to you."
Ur looked at Jamad, Karen, and Karuna.
"Noisy ones. It's ti to work. Help with my task."
Karen, who usually ignored Ur's words, naturally refused.
"No! You're trying to show off again, aren't you? It's obvious."
"I'm only doing this because of Seol. I'm forcing myself to step forward in a body I'm not yet accustod to."
At the ntion of Seol, Karen sighed.
"Well, I guess I have no choice. Okay!"
Without needing lengthy explanations, they scattered around the storm.
Whoosh…
"Let's start."
Crack…
Craacckk…
A pure white energy began to form around the storm.
Seol watched and waited for the right mont.
"Are you going…?"
Seol Hong, who had approached, asked.
"Are you going inside that storm? Are you… once again, going to put yourself in danger?"
"…"
Seol briefly thought about his answer.
No matter what reason he gave, Seol Hong wouldn't let him go.
Her disheveled crown and torn Dragon Robe showed the suffering she had endured to reach this point.
And that there was no glory at the end of that hardship.
"It's sothing only I can do."
"I know I can't stop you. Then…"
Swoosh…
Seol Hong handed sothing to Seol.
"This…"
"If it's mother, she's going to protect you."
It was her hand mirror—an object she had cherished since she was a young girl until she beca a fully grown-up woman.
"Please…"
Seol Hong swallowed her words.
Nothing could be guaranteed.
WHOOM—!
Seol stood before the storm created by the Dragon.
Crack…
The storm was blocked by ice, halting its expansion.
"NOW!"
As Ur shouted, Seol walked toward the storm.
Crack…
As he reached his hand into the storm, it shook as if it would tear him apart.
But the rotation couldn't stop Seol from walking forward.
WHOOM—!
He walked into the storm, which swallowed everything.
* * *
Soone stood in the middle of the storm.
Like a ray of sunlight peering through a forest's canopy, a man holding a giant spear greeted him.
"So it's you… I've been waiting."
It was Hwagmu in the form of Hong Cheon. The Dragon had once again taken a human form.
"Are you Hong Cheon or Hwagmu?"
"Haha… Hahaha…"
It seed that sothing was wrong with him.
Hwagmu had stayed hidden in Hong Cheon's body for 300 years, corrupting him.
"I don't know anymore…"
He couldn't tell if he was Hong Cheon, who had beco Hwagmu, or if he had beco Hong Cheon from Hwagmu.
Where had things gone wrong? Where had it got twisted?
Swoosh…
The one holding the giant spear was both Hwagmu and Hong Cheon, who had defeated him.
"Co, dark one. Face ."
Whoosh—!
The giant spear swung.
"Be buried by the legend!"
BZZ…
A huge amount of lightning was imbued in the giant spear.
WHOOM—!
The ground shattered and was swept away by the storm.
BOOM—!
Creak… Creak…
While maintaining the Yaksha state, Seol blocked the spear.
- Ugh… It's heavy.
The attack was so powerful that even Shin Yu groaned.
However…
Bzz…
Hwagmu wasn't the only one chosen by the storm.
BOOM—!
The sword repelled the spear.
"YOU BASTARD!"
BOOM—!
The two collided and pushed each other back. If they hadn't absorbed so of the shock, the storm might have torn them apart.
Crack…
'Hmm…?'
The sound of sothing shattering echoed from Seol's chest.
It was the mirror Seol Hong had given him.
"That… mirror…"
As if he had rembered sothing upon seeing the broken mirror, Hwagmu paused for a mont and then clutched his head.
"AGH!"
He scread while attacking.
WHOOM!
The one wielding the storm, Hwagmu…
He once rose to the sky effortlessly, commanding the weather, bringing rain to those suffering from drought and clear skies to those trapped in storms.
But now, he had forgotten those days.
Now, he was just an evil dragon.
"AAHH—!"
"HAAA!"
BOOM—!
BOOOOM—!
Each ti their weapons clashed, an imnse shockwave shook the storm's core.
Those outside the storm might have prayed for it to stop, just as people had once prayed to Hwagmu in the past.
BOOM—!
Creak…
Seol didn't retreat an inch.
One was the evil dragon Hwagmu, who had once dyed the East in blood, and the other was Seol, who was opening a new era.
Their clash was like the tolling of a bell.
BOOM—!
Whir…
A faint green light enveloped Seol's body.
- …child.
A gentle voice reached the two who were clashing within the storm.
- My child…
BOOM—!
Hwagmu flinched as if he were having a seizure and swung his hand.
"STOP! STOOP! GET OUT OF MY DREAM!"
At that mont, upon seeing Hwagmu's reaction, Seol realized sothing.
'Could it be…'
[’s inheritance is starting.]
…
Yu Hwa's inheritance suddenly started.
The broken hand mirror was the catalyst.
However, the green particles that triggered the legacy's mories also enveloped Hwagmu.
Without dropping their weapons, they returned to the mories of that day.
* * *
…
Oof… Oof…
He ran while dragging his aged body.
Thud…
Because he hadn't brought a servant, only Bang Hyu supported him.
It was Hwagmu—no, Hong Cheon.
Ah…
Slash…
He stumbled and fell to the ground.
But got up without showing pain and ran, forgetting dignity and status.
Oof… Oof…
Creak…
Buaa!
Buaaa!
Buaaaaaa!
A child's cry.
The birth of a new life.
Hong Cheon lifted the precious child.
"Yu Hwa…?"
BOOM—!
The midwife stuck her head to the ground and wept.
"Please… kill …"
Hong Cheon's pupils turned gray. He frantically searched for the mother.
Oof…
Oof…
The woman breathed heavily.
She had already lost too much blood and was nearing death.
"Why… did you co…"
"Yu Hwa… Swordsdancer… Death…? How could this…"
"Please, listen to …"
Yu Hwa spoke with trembling lips.
"Seol Hong."
"…"
"The child's na. The Dragon's child, Seol Hong…"
The woman he had deliberately kept at a distance…
The human who had nearly made him lose his purpose with her intense allure…
The woman whom the era's hero, Hong Cheon, and…
The evil dragon Hwagmu, who was awaiting resurrection, loved the most.
"My child… My child…"
Thud…
As Yu Hwa stopped breathing.
WHOOM—!
Swoosh…
Rain began pouring down from the sky.
* * *
[You have inherited Yu Hwa's unfulfilled desire.]
[A skill has been inherited from the deceased.]
[You have inherited Sword's Song.]
[Due to Crow's class effect, the ability’s effect has been enhanced.]
[Ghost Hand's characteristic enhances the ability.]
…
BOOM—!
Within the storm’s cross-section.
BOOM—!
The one clashing weapons with Hwagmu was Seol.
BZZT—!
BOOM—!
However, as their weapons clashed again, the figure beca Yu Hwa.
Hwagmu struggled to raise his strength.
"HAAAAA!"
WHOOM—!
His final strength.
The final move of the one who wielded the storm.
And Seol's sword, charging toward the storm.
WHOOM…
With a flash, the two lines crossed.
BOOM—!
The storm exploded.
In an instant, the eyes of countless people caught within the storm turned to one place.
And simultaneously, the calm after the storm arrived.
Cough…
Hwagmu spat blood from his mouth.
The sky had beco clear.
It seed as if the sunlight washed away all the misfortunes Khan had endured so far.
And among those watching the scene, the words Jin Ryeo had said to Seol Hong ca to mind.
- The Dragon Emperor Hong Cheon used to be a salmon. However, due to being unable to bear the tyranny of Hwagmu, he swam upstream to beco a Dragon. Isn't it funny? How can a salmon beco a Dragon?
A long ti ago, a salmon that swam against the current beca a dragon but lost itself.
- Perhaps… just perhaps…
The legend of an era, the Dragon Emperor Hong Cheon, spoke with his blood-stained lips.
"Yu Hwa…"
There was a man standing before him.
Clank…
The man sheathed his sword.
- Maybe Seol is a salmon.
Hwagmu laughed bitterly.
"…so you're still dancing."
BOOM…
Hwagmu, who was Hong Cheon…
Hong Cheon, who was Hwagmu…
The dragon's breath ceased.
"Hwagmu has…"
"No way…"
After the storm was over, another salmon swam upstream…
"Aah… Khan!"
And finally, beca a new Dragon.
[You have stopped the Evil Dragon Hwagmu from resurrecting!]
[The Great Journey: Dragon War has been recorded under a new na.]
[It has been recorded in history as The Great Journey: Salmon and Dragon.]
[It has been recorded as part of the Twilight Era's Chronicles.]
[The tale of the man who ca on an old ship spreads.]
[Secret Society: Veil has revealed its hidden form to the world!]
…
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