Chapter 68 – Chapter 10: Breakthrough #6
It was a familiar colour.
A cog wheel turned in In-gong’s head as he saw the purple evil influence. Many things came into his mind at this time.
The monsters from the north that had appeared on Enger Plains.
The group of people who killed General Kashubal and devised some type of ploy regarding Thunderdoom Fortress.
They were connected. The thing they had in common was the purple energy.
Were they also from the north? Or maybe they had contact with the north.
At the same time, one more thing came up. There was no evidence, but it didn’t disappear from his head.
The Red Lightning tribe.
How did they control Enkidu’s swamp mammoths? Someone must have given them the method. And what was the reason for telling them?
The small temple.
It was the place where Green Wind had stayed and contained the magic that maintained the green plains.
How did the monsters of the north discover the secret of the small temple that even the centaurs, who had lived on Enger Plains for thousands of years, didn’t know?
Both of these had one thing in common:
An elder dragon.
The chimera belonging to Enkidu…
Green Wind that had come from the magic of a fragment of Ainkel…
He got this far, but there was still something essential missing.
It was added here. He needed to put everything together!
‘Master! Look ahead!’
Green Wind’s cry interrupted In-gong’s thoughts. A roaring zombie dragon had appeared and a purple light could be seen from the holes where its eyes should be. It was like facing Balkarova at the Northern Limit Line.
He was hostile toward In-gong. The shadow puppets, the 3rd party which had committed suicide, had long been swallowed.
Black Dragon Partizan, a wicked dragon who had died from the spear, Ascalon, just before tasting the sweet fruit of victory.
Due to the grudge, the purple evil influence around the dragon was truly enormous. It was enough to make him dizzy.
With a roar that shook the whole fortress, the zombie dragon Partizan launched into movements. The rotten bones dragged against the ground while the corrupted wings spread out and covered the ceiling of the central plaza.
Felicia made a sound. As White Eagle flew hastily toward Felicia, In-gong saw something moving when everyone else was stunned.
Kwang kwang kwang kwang!
The highest ranked guardian was running.
The last remaining of the five top ranked guardians in Thunderdoom Fortress hadn’t forgotten its enemy. The zombie dragon’s defeat was much more important than the shadow puppets.
The other dungeon guardians also responded to the zombie dragon. They abandoned the shadow puppets they had been fighting so far and rushed behind the highest ranked guardian. The main location of the battlefield changed in an instant.
Felicia focused. Turning her gaze toward In-gong, she saw the shadow puppets. They had gained a new power, the zombie dragon, and didn’t cling to the dungeon guardians. Some of them started running in the direction of In-gong’s party.
“Fire!”
Felicia created a fire barrier to block their path. At that moment, the roar of the zombie dragon and the sound of thunder shook the fortress. The zombie dragon and highest ranked guardian were colliding.
“Karaha!”
Carack shouted, shaking his axe. The purple energy around the zombie dragon spread to the bodies of the shadow puppets. Just like the casios, they forgot about the horrors of death and jumped through the fire barrier. Despite their burning bodies, they kept running toward Felicia. Some wanted to use the fire on their bodies as a means of attack.
Carack and Karma protected Felicia, who then increased the power of the fire barrier as In-gong crossed it on White Eagle.
He crashed into the back of a shadow puppet trying to reach Carack and exchanged glances with Felicia. They didn’t talk, but the two people instinctively sensed that they were thinking the same thing.
They had to take down the zombie dragon. If the dungeon guardians were defeated, he would go after In-gong’s party next.
‘He isn’t secure yet. I can feel it. The more time passes, the more disadvantageous it will be for us. You should hurry.’
Green Wind said. Felicia made a similar remark just as he finished listening to Green Wind’s words.
“The dragon is still shaky. The ceremony was done in a rush. I can feel an uneasy flow of mana. If we happen to destroy the core of the magic power…”
It was up to there. Not only Felicia but In-gong, Carack and Karma all looked at the same place. Felicia lowered the top of the fire barrier in order to see.
The colossal power was being concentrated. Even Carack and Karma. who were ignorant about mana. couldn’t help feeling it.
In-gong sensed it intuitively.
This was the power of a dragon.
Even though it had lost its reason and become a monster, it still had its strength. That was the only evidence that the presence in front of him was a dragon.
Dragon breath.
A purple pillar emerged from his mouth. Balkarova’s dragon breath was of no comparison as this pillar not only swallowed the left shoulder of the highest ranked guardian but also stretched on for hundreds of meters. The shadow puppets in its path were literally obliterated.
A huge hole was drilled. A new hole was drilled in the front passage of the central plaza, causing the area to start collapsing. A huge shaking affected the whole fortress.
Time stopped at the spectacular sight. At least, everyone who gathered in the central plaza thought so.
Carack could barely breathe. At the same time, the sight was so absurd that they couldn’t help laughing.
“This is when it is still not secure?”
This? That monster?!
‘It isn’t secure! His breath weapon is limited!’
Green Wind’s shout was like a thunderbolt. In-gong agreed. Even normal dragons were limited in the number of breath weapons they could use in a day. A resurrected zombie dragon should only be able to use it two or three times.
The highest ranked guardian knew this as well. Therefore, it grabbed a giant hammer with its one remaining arm and rushed forward. It trampled on the shadow puppets and tried to hit the zombie dragon.
In-gong couldn’t just watch the guardian fight. He took Ascalon out of the inventory. Ascalon emitted a golden aura as if it sensed the existence of the zombie dragon and changed its form to a more militant shape.
It was now in the form of a lance suitable for a human. Ascalon, a weapon created by a dwarf magic engineer, knew the most appropriate form for its new master. The handle disappeared and a part designed to be gripped by fists was created instead. The part of the guard originally designed to protect the hand was raised further and several jets sprang up between the cracks. The length, which had been two meters long, was shortened to 1.5 meters.
It was a stabbing type weapon. Lightning poured from the lance and charged the air.
In-gong held Ascalon with Earth Quaker. It seemed the combination was uncomfortable as Earth Quaker gave a low growl, but now wasn’t the time for that.
In-gong climbed aboard White Eagle again. Felicia once against raised the fire barrier and the highest ranked guardian’s hammer launched thunderbolts.
Kwakang!
White Eagle took off. As a thunderbolt struck the zombie dragon’s chest, he screamed and raised two of his legs. Even as the thunderbolt dug into his chest, he pushed the highest ranked guardian to the ground.
The sound of the screaming and the earth collapsing caused terrible confusion. In-gong concentrated aura on his right fist as White Eagle moved closer. The zombie dragon’s purple aura reached out to capture In-gong.
It was like a tsunami.
The zombie dragon’s evil will covered In-gong. Thanks to the Tears of a Dark Elf, his mind wasn’t disturbed, but his body was momentarily affected.
The zombie dragon didn’t miss this opening. He grabbed the highest ranked guardian and rotated, causing the tail that was approximately 10 meters long to flash through the air. In-gong felt like he was rushing into a wall.
Both In-gong and Green Wind couldn’t respond quickly enough to the surprise attack as the tail was moving at a terrifying pace.
“Shutra!”
Felicia shrieked. In-gong’s body was exposed to a brutal force and fell to the ground.
‘Master! Master!’
Green Wind’s cries poured out from White Eagle next to him, but In-gong couldn’t reply. He couldn’t breathe properly. His body felt such tremendous pain that it reached the point where the pain was forgotten.
Carack sped toward In-gong. Felicia opened the fire barrier that was blocking the shadow puppets and Karma escorted her over.
Once again, there was the sound of thunder.
“Shutra! Shutra!”
Felicia fell next to In-gong and hurriedly cast recovery magic. She didn’t stop there and ordered Karma to feed In-gong recovery potions.
“Blessing! Can’t you use the gandharva’s blessing?”
Carack shouted while wielding his axe at the shadow puppets.
His stamina recovered as an effect of leveling up.
However, that couldn’t happen. The number of defeated enemies was too small after he caught Balkarova to level up.
Felicia continued casting recovery magic. After In-gong roared from the use of an awakening potion, Karma poured a new potion into his mouth.
“Cough!”
In-gong’s breath was unclogged. At that moment, the second breath weapon that Green Wind was concerned about crossed the central plaza once again. He didn’t know what was going on, but there was a great roar in the distance and a crashing sound.
In-gong looked at the mini-map. The shadow puppets were overwhelming the dungeon guardians. It was clear that the zombie dragon was smashing the highest ranked guardian.
There was no time. He had to end the zombie dragon while the highest ranked guardian was still standing.
‘Master.’
In-gong raised his upper body slowly. He wanted to collapse and fall asleep but he persisted. He took out various recovery potions from his inventory and drank them like they were water.
“Please draw its attention.”
In-gong said and Felicia smiled with a worried face.
“Shouldn’t this be the time when we start running away?”
“Sorry.”
“I understand. It is also unlike a dark elf to run away. Instead, I can’t do it twice.”
In-gong nodded. After the awakening potion, he was somehow able to forget the pain.
“Once will be enough.”
It was pointless to exchange blows with a huge monster. He had to stop its breath with one blow like Tiny Spark had done in the past.
‘Master.’
Green Wind’s magic wound around In-gong. It was the magic that she had used previously on Enger Plains. It seemed like he could feel Green Wind.
In-gong watched the front instead of flying. He collected aura like he was going to use Gigantic Piston.
“Let’s begin.”
Felicia declared as thunder rang out once again.
