SWNOVELXO Chapter 142. Kagoshima Dragon Raid (5)
No one could have imagined this.
Legendary items didn’t just appear because the dungeon was hard; they randomly emerged by breaking extreme odds.
One in America, one in Korea.
That was the entirety of the Legendary items that existed in the world, and their performance was as extraordinary as their rarity.
For instance, the [Book of Extermination] held by America could obliterate monsters within a 1 km radius in an instant…
Of course, Legendary items weren’t without their drawbacks.
For example, emotional skills didn’t work on them at all, so some, like Jeong Ha-seong’s [Sword of Sunset], had no apparent use.
Yet even considering that, it was undoubtedly a treasure that would dramatically elevate someone’s status.
Finally, the once dismissed Fire Mage had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I expected epic-grade items from an S-Class Gate, but something like this pops up?!”
However…
Sadly, the members of the Imabari guild had made a certain contract before arriving here.
—————=
Contract Details
1. Upon completing the攻略, Kim Gi-ryeo will select one item dropped by the monsters of the so-called [Kagoshima Gate] and receive it.
—————=
At that time, I thought I’d at most get the Dragon’s Eye.
Reality was even worse. A legendary weapon that didn’t drop during the Nuckelavee appeared here. What on earth do I do about this?
“I have to pass on the Legendary I got…? Just because I see it with my own eyes, I have to let it slip through my fingers?”
Ito thought, his hands trembling.
The Knight’s Pact was indeed a solemn agreement, but there was one way to break it.
The death of the other party!
This was the most common reason for the mid-term termination of a Knight’s Pact.
The members of the Imabari guild, upon discovering what seemed like the legendary weapon they thought only existed in fantasies, immediately changed their expressions.
Joy, anxiety, greed.
Moreover, when the realization hit that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could turn into nothing at any moment, thoughts they would never entertain under normal circumstances surged without hesitation.
The Japanese hunters transformed.
Soon after, Ito slowly moved the hand wearing the red ring forward. By this point, Gi-ryeo must have sensed something was wrong as he awkwardly spoke up.
“Ito?”
But there was no answer.
After a few seconds of contemplation, Ito ultimately decided to raise his magic and launched an attack.
“……!”
As befitting an S-Class Hunter, the completion of the spell didn’t take long. Then, the spot where Gi-ryeo stood was engulfed in intense flames.
Boom! An unexpected explosion erupted into the air. Along with it came the fierce heat rising from the ground.
‘He dodged.’
But Ito’s initial ambush failed.
Due to his quick reflexes, Kang Chang-ho, also an S-Class, rescued Gi-ryeo from the attack range.
“What are you doing?!”
Regaining his composure, Gi-ryeo exclaimed in shock, and Ito replied with difficulty.
“I realize this is wrong. But, but…! Don’t you think it’s unreasonable to take a Legendary without spilling a drop of blood?”
“A Legendary?”
“This Gate was resolved through Japan’s sacrifices. Look! Look at the damage our guild suffered from the dragons…!”
Hearing this, Gi-ryeo belatedly examined the great sword they had acquired.
“No, wait. I get what you’re saying. But I’m not going to choose that!”
Anyway, he had no interest in the Dragon’s Lung. Naturally, if it was something he had to risk his life to obtain, he would decline.
So, Gi-ryeo hastily said,
“Let’s not do this…”
But at that moment.
Swish, a red flame swiftly brushed past his side.
Boom! A loud noise echoed just after a sudden explosion. It seemed the wall behind hadn’t been destroyed to stop him from fleeing.
“Don’t let him leave the dungeon. We’ll bury everything here!”
“Ito Hunter!”
“Everyone, what are you doing? At this rate, we could lose the Legendary due to that guy’s single word…!”
Moritake Ito issued a fierce command, and the remaining hunters drew on their magic with anxious expressions.
There were four S-Class hunters over there; how could they possibly win this?
‘4:2. No, if we count only those with combat power, it’s practically 4:1.’
However, at that moment.
Kang Chang-ho, who had been observing from behind, finally shouted at the Japanese hunters.
“Wait, looking at the situation, it seems you’re all trying to break the Knight’s Pact.”
Raising his hands as if to surrender, Kang Chang-ho said.
“I’ll help kill Kim Gi-ryeo, so let me go.”
To clarify, this was precisely about a 5:1 fight.
*
Calm down.
Wait, am I really calming down?
‘Damn that Kang Chang-ho.’
I came here to help with the攻略 and suddenly found myself facing death, all because an extraordinarily good reward appeared unexpectedly.
I never thought a Legendary item would drop, so I was at a loss with the sudden situation.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a rough sound of wind whipped past me.
“Is everyone crazy? How could you say you’re going to kill that hunter? Kim Gi-ryeo helped us!”
It seemed there were conflicting opinions even within the Japanese攻略 team about this.
Especially one of the S-Class hunters, Iori, was throwing a fit, calling everyone ungrateful.
“Ugh!”
But it didn’t take long for Iori to be taken down by a comrade.
Japan had a bizarre structure with four S-Class hunters in one guild.
However, there were clear internal divisions among them.
“Moritake!”
The guild master of Imabari took down the internal dissenter directly.
Trapping his comrade in a whirlpool of flame, he induced unconsciousness due to lack of oxygen.
As Ito activated his skill, he broke into a cold sweat and contorted his face.
“I’m sorry, Iori… But this is a matter of not just our guild but national interests! Considering the value of the Legendary, we truly had no choice…”
Is there a law that says one must be a patriot to use fire magic?
I had no idea how to calm him down.
“Thanks to you, I’m having quite the interesting experience.”
By the way, Kang Chang-ho next to me had just been exposed during negotiations.
If he kept blabbering outside, it would be serious, as the Japanese hunters wanted to deal with the remaining Korean too.
“Ugh.”
“Ugh…”
“Why is this happening?”
Thankfully, it seemed they had never actually killed anyone in the past, as they were still hesitating.
But that hesitation wouldn’t last long.
The dazzling majesty of the Legendary item was more than enough to blind humans.
‘Well, there were rumors that if the Legendary had appeared a little earlier, the Hawaii Dungeon Break would have been resolved smoothly.’
I busily pondered how to survive in this Gate.
And then, at that moment, a voice echoed faintly in my mind.
– You know, fights among hunters are like this. Unlike monsters, people often hide their abilities.
– This Awakened person seems to be hiding something… As long as the opponent thinks that way, friction won’t easily arise.
Right…
It was as Yun Seung said: Showing off power is quite a good strategy on Earth.
Since magic was just born, it’s hard to predict what spells the opponent might weave.
In the midst of it all, if the enemy acts like they have some trump card, most would instinctively back off.
‘Showing off.’
I began to think of a way to create a show of strength.
And at that moment, what caught my eye were the Infinite Power Cores buried in the ground.
I had consumed most of the energy when subduing the boss, but a slight amount of mana still lingered there.
Specifically, enough to revive the binding spell laid in this room!
“Ugh!”
“Cough!”
I didn’t hesitate for long. The moment I noticed the magic tool still had some energy left, I reactivated [Binding].
Mouth, nose, neck, chest.
Those primitive guys would face significant difficulty casting spells just from being choked.
“Gah!”
“Ugh!”
“Ugh.”
Fortunately, I was in the spot where I had just fought the boss.
If I inscribed the spell on the core, I couldn’t use it for anything else, so if I hadn’t been in this place, I wouldn’t have been able to attempt the binding.
‘Damn it.’
But what could I do?
The remaining magic energy in the core was minimal. In other words, this binding would last about 60 seconds.
So.
“……these people.”
At this point, I had no choice but to start making noise!
“Did you really think you could kill me if you all teamed up?”
It was the final showdown.
Inhale, after a short deep breath, I began to struggle. To avoid revealing my fear, I adopted an overly oppressive tone.
“Don’t you know that the binding’s hold correlates to the user’s Awakening Level?”
“…!”
“The core is merely an item that helps an already activated skill persist. I thought you all would know that.”
For the record, that was a straight-out lie.
This only applied to Earthlings, and I knew the structure of the magic formula itself, enabling me to manipulate the activation conditions at will.
“Ito Hunter, let’s see how this adds up. I’m the Awakened who has made the boss of this dungeon immobile…”
However, I didn’t bother revealing the secrets of the magic this time. Instead, I actively capitalized on their ignorance.
“Do you think my Awakening Level is really lower than yours?”
“Ugh!”
Good. I got a reaction. The faces of the S-Class, entangled in the threads of light, steadily turned pale.
“How many seconds do you think it’ll take for me to smash your skulls?”
I intimidated them, saying I could kill everyone here at a moment’s notice.
For someone with no exceptional abilities, acting tough was like a yellow mushroom.
Without poison and merely decorated like a poisonous mushroom, that was the reality.
“Gah! Ugh…!”
The time left for the magic was 24 seconds.
But now, reflecting on it, would a mere 60 seconds deterrent truly change their attitude?
Drip, drip.
Cold sweat was pouring down my back like crazy. For a moment, I thought it was a good plan, but as the duration of the magic dwindled, anxiety escalated.
If I failed to use intimidation to evade a fight, I would be finished.
‘How did I land in such a situation?’
As I approached an extreme situation, my mind naturally flooded with escapist thoughts.
Just like when surrounded by reporters in a stone wall. I started to trace back my past.
‘Is this the price of daring to challenge a dragon? No, more importantly, if an F-Class didn’t bring a contract to assert certainty…’
But in that moment, a word got stuck in my mind.
‘Wait, the contract?’
Why were the Japanese hunters acting like that?
Because of the conditions of the [Knight’s Pact], they feared losing ownership of the Legendary.
But we had no interest in that big sword at all.
After all, with F-Class strength, I couldn’t even lift it, so why would I risk my jealousy to touch that thing in this situation?
‘Ah!’
Until now, I had been too flustered by Ito’s ambush to think properly, but as I calmed down, a very simple solution emerged for this conflict.
‘Right. That would do; what have I been fumbling around for this whole time?’
Thump, thump.
I approached the lying hunters with big strides.
Seeing this, Ito visibly tensed up, but I sidestepped past him and paused at another spot.
Then, I turned to the Imabari guild members and spoke dryly.
“Ito, then it’s fine for me to take the longsword that’s lying here, right?”
This was the fastest way to nullify the effects of the contract.
“What I wanted wasn’t your great sword, but the reward Iori Hunter acquired.”
With the condition of the pact fulfilled, it was void!
Ito’s eyes widened in disbelief, as though he hadn’t expected this.
However, they were so obsessed with the Legendary that they didn’t realize my chosen item was also quite rare.
‘[Epic] grade.’
Aside from Ito’s great sword, this was probably the best reward.
I picked up Iori’s sword that was rolling on the floor, and by obtaining this item, our contract was dissolved.
Snap!
The binding that had held the hunters was shattered into pieces.
“Cough, cough!”
“Ugh.”
I expected they would no longer attack since the deal was concluded, but for some reason, everyone still seemed tensed.
After all, they had just tried to commit murder, so this situation must be quite awkward for them.
So I had to nail it down now.
“If it were up to me, I’d want to kill you all…”
Underestimating them here could lead them to rush and cover up their attempted murder again.
I finished my calculations and did my best to maintain a show of confidence.
“I’ll let it slide just this once. Japan still needs to keep personnel to manage the Gate.”
Damn it~
As it is, my magical power doesn’t increase, but my acting skills just keep getting better.