Immediately after witnessing the event, Se-woon spread his wings and flew toward the scene.
Mafi could also fly, but she was still too slow, so Se-woon held her as he flew.
“Papa, Papa!”
Flap flap-
Whether she was impatient or just wanted to help, she kept flapping her small wings, even though Se-woon told her it was okay.
‘That magic from earlier was at least 7th Circle.’
Se-woon had reached the 8th Circle in a short amount of time, but 7th Circle was by no means a small feat.
Generally, a 7th Circle mage in this dimension was equivalent to the head of a magic tower.
However, to hunt a dragon, it was normal to gather not only the heads of magic towers but also hidden masters, so it was impossible to properly gauge the opponent’s level yet.
‘Looking closely, the valley is a complete mess.’
The valley, which had seemed beautiful upon arrival, was in a truly miserable state when viewed from the air.
The ground was cracked, water flowed in multiple streams, and the mountain was broken, creating waterfalls that hadn’t existed before.
Broken and uprooted trees were scattered everywhere, leaving traces of battle all around.
“Papa!”
“Marphia…….”
“Papa, are you okay? What should I do? I haven’t learned healing magic yet. Papa, I…….”
Fortunately, the destination wasn’t too far, so they arrived quickly.
Mafi ran toward the injured dragon as soon as they landed.
Already so badly wounded that it couldn’t heal itself, Se-woon approached and poured a potion on it.
“You are…….”
“Excuse me for a moment.”
The recovery was slow even after pouring the potion.
Se-woon immediately used 8th Circle healing magic to restore the dragon’s body.
Fortunately, the dragon’s body healed quickly as soon as the healing started.
Indeed, a dragon, also known as the progenitor of mana.
As it was healing using mana, its efficiency was much greater than when used on humans.
“Human. You are…….”
The dragon, who had regained consciousness, was wary of Se-woon.
It was inevitable. The ones who had put his body in this state were humans like Se-woon.
However, he soon relaxed and released his hostility toward Se-woon.
“You are not from this place. Moreover, that power… the Dragon Lord’s… no, a much stronger power than that. Perhaps, a power that crossed over from another dimension.”
“Can you feel it?”
“That reverse scale [a dragon’s scale that grows in the opposite direction, often a source of great power] contains more power and knowledge than you think. Your arrival means… Mafi.”
“Yes! I brought him!”
“I see. So that’s what you did.”
The dragon looked down at Mafi with a pitiful expression.
A look of gratitude and apology.
Se-woon soon understood the reason.
“What price did you pay?”
“He said age!”
“I see. Stagnation of growth… the price was time. To take away the most precious and valuable thing from a young one…….”
“I’m okay! I’m so happy as long as I have Papa and Mama!”
“Thank you. And I’m sorry. Really…….”
“I’m really okay! Hehe.”
The dragon stroked Mafi’s head.
Se-woon, who had inadvertently heard the price Mafi had paid, could only smile wryly.
‘To take time as a price from a dragon who will live tens of times longer than he has lived.’
Perhaps the price for opening the golden door varies depending on who opens it.
For Mafi, it took time as a price, but for an old man with little time left, the value of time would be even lower.
For someone who has accumulated wealth throughout their life, it would be gold and silver treasures, and for a martial artist who has devoted their life to training, it would be their strength.
Paying the value that is precious to each individual is the price for opening the golden door.
“Then… you. Human. Can you help us?”
“That’s why I came.”
“I ask you. Please protect the Dragon Valley.”
“I will.”
Taat!
There was no more explanation to hear.
Se-woon immediately kicked off the ground and flew to the battlefield.
Beyond the mountains that had been blocking his view, he soon saw dozens of dragons.
“Human!”
“How from behind!”
Was it because they were in battle? Unlike Mafi’s father dragon, they didn’t recognize the power of Se-woon’s reverse scale.
Naturally, they judged Se-woon as an enemy and were about to deal with him immediately.
“Kuaooo!!”
A dragon’s roar was heard from below.
Mafi’s father dragon. It was the roar he had let out.
“Marphigel?”
“Indeed, Mafi…….”
“Certainly. I can feel the dragon’s power.”
The dragon’s roar was filled with mana.
And the arrangement of that mana conveyed its meaning to the dragons, just like Morse code used by humans.
The dragons quickly understood the meaning and immediately acknowledged Se-woon, clearing the way.
Even though they were allies, they were bound to be wary of the same race as the humans attacking them, but perhaps the power of the reverse scale was that great, or perhaps these dragons were more open-minded.
“What’s the situation?”
“It’s a truce. They must be trying to reorganize in the meantime, now that Marphigel has been defeated.”
“What’s the enemy’s number?”
“Approximately… five hundred.”
Five hundred humans.
Originally, it was rare to have a chance to catch a dragon even with a large army, but a mere five hundred humans were fighting against dozens of dragons.
‘The dragons are weak, but…….’
Even just the dragons visible to the eye were embarrassingly weak compared to the dragons seen in Kaier.
Not only their physical abilities but also their ability to handle mana was lacking.
Honestly, it was hard to call them the progenitors of mana at this level.
At best, most of them were probably around 7th Circle, lower than Se-woon.
‘Still, it’s not to the point where they fall short of human standards. Are humans stronger than I thought?’
Either the dragons were weak, or the humans were strong, but perhaps both were true.
To send just one player to such a battlefield.
It was a trial of a difficulty that could not be compared to any golden door Se-woon had experienced.
“I’ll go check it out.”
“They are not opponents that can be resolved through dialogue. We have tried to make contact several times for dialogue. However, what they want is not dialogue.”
“Then what are they hoping for by attacking?”
“Honor. And our bodies.”
“……You’re talking about dragon materials.”
“Even though time has passed and the dragon’s power has weakened, dragon bones and scales are still considered the best materials for humans.”
The trial wasn’t taking the dragon’s side for no reason.
The dragons didn’t invade humans first, causing them to retaliate out of revenge. They were simply attacking those who were hiding in Dragon Valley out of greed.
‘Well, I’m not in a position to criticize either.’
Even though it was a trial, Se-woon had been defeating monsters as he saw them.
The monsters had openly revealed their murderous intent and attacked, but Se-woon had also gone out of his way to find and defeat them.
“If dialogue doesn’t work, we can solve it with force.”
“It’s dangerous. I don’t know what it was like in your world, but the humans here are strong. It would be better to join us in attacking…….”
“If it looks dangerous, you can step in to support me then.”
“……Are you really okay?”
“Of course.”
Anyway, to pass the trial, the first thing to do is to check the opponent’s level.
He was confident that he could leave the spot immediately if it was dangerous, so Se-woon flew straight toward the human formation.
Step, step.
Immediately, movements arose from the human formation.
He wondered if they would think of Se-woon as a polymorphed dragon and attack him first, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Well, still.
“He’s not a dragon. What is he?”
Chaeang!
It was inevitable that spears and swords were pointed at him from all directions as soon as Se-woon arrived.
“You could say I’m a spokesperson for the dragons.”
“Ha, siding with the dragons. You’re a foolish one. Don’t you know the current situation?”
“Situation?”
“Dragon Valley is truly a treasure trove of the continent. It’s a golden land where all sorts of treasures are buried. And even dragon materials… Not only our empire but all empires are aiming for the valley.”
“I see. So this isn’t everything.”
“They are already tightening the noose around the valley from all sides. So, how about coming this way? You seem to be quite skilled.”
At first glance, Se-woon’s power seemed unusual.
Perhaps that’s why the leader of the human side immediately began to try to win him over.
“Our Quan Empire is truly a land of opportunity. Especially now that we are attacking the valley, even a vagrant like you can rise as high as you want depending on your skills.”
It’s no use.
Even if they were to serve him as the emperor of the empire, Se-woon had no intention of stopping here.
“I refuse.”
“Then…….”
The man raised his hand high.
Immediately, the soldiers surrounding Se-woon took an offensive stance.
“Die.”
At the same time as the man swung his hand toward the ground, sharp spears and swords stabbed toward Se-woon from all directions.
At that moment, Se-woon’s sword swept around like a flash of light.
Seogeogeog-
“Heok!”
“H, how. The Quan’s elite weapons.”
The soldiers’ weapons were cut off as lightly as if it were a lie.
Before the soldiers could panic, Se-woon continued his attack.
“From now on, it’s self-defense, right?”
– According to the mysteries of the Black Tower, the power of ‘Despair of Wind’ is enhanced.
Se-woon used the magic he had prepared in advance.
The despairing wind blew out in all directions, starting to wither the soldiers.
“Mages, what are you doing! Stop the magic right now!”
“Ah, I can’t.”
“What nonsense are you talking about! Hurry…….”
“It’s 8th Circle magic!”
“……8th Circle?”
The one who answered was the human side’s mage.
There didn’t seem to be a concept of tower masters here, but the mages here were 7th Circle mages.
Even then, there were only about 20 7th Circle mages, and the rest were 6th Circle mages.
There was no one who could stop the 8th Circle magic, Despair of Wind.
All they could do was combine all their strength to prevent the despairing wind from spreading further.
“Dailo, sortie!”
At the same time as the man’s cry, 50 knights rushed out from behind.
The aura covering their sword blades proved that they had reached the realm of Sword Masters.
“It’s powerful magic, but it’s still just a mage!”
“I’ll cut you down in one strike!”
Comparing the level of a Sword Master to a player in the tower, it’s roughly similar to a combat player who has just entered the 80th floor.
There were as many as 50 such opponents.
It wasn’t for nothing that they were pressuring the dragons.
With this level of skill, Se-woon would have certainly had a hard time as well.
Yes, if it had been Se-woon before reaching Plaka, he might have even had to use the authority of Sloth.
But.
‘Not anymore.’
The Demon God’s blood he had soaked in at Plaka. Moreover, the enormous divinity he had obtained while facing Outer, etc.
It may only be a few stages, but with that, Se-woon had become surprisingly much stronger than before reaching Plaka.
– Through internal energy, the first form of the Breaking Darkness Sword, Shattering the Sky, is enhanced.
Kwang!
In the end, about half of the knights who had charged straight ahead toward Se-woon were knocked out in just one attack.
Still, there were many knights left.
The knights wielded their swords, using their overwhelming numbers as weapons, and from behind, the mages who had barely managed to block the magic of despair prepared to counterattack.
And then.
“Amazing.”
“Indeed, this is the contract with the tower that has been passed down by word of mouth. The power of the savior.”
Kwaaaat!
From above, a dragon’s breath swept down, blocking the knights who were attacking Se-woon.
Se-woon raised his head, made eye contact with the dragons approaching from high above to join the battle, and nodded.
“Words may not work, but the language of the body seems to work well.”
At Se-woon’s simple joke, a very small smile appeared on the faces of the dragons, which had been covered with worries and concerns for years.
Chapter 595