Ch.141141. Dragon’s Fury

Cho Sung-hee finished her phone call with Park Tae-sang before entering.

“It’s just you and me going into the enemy’s den. Can you handle it?”

“Sister, this is Park Tae-sang. I can take down those bastards easily. But what matters more is you. Can you rescue them? This is a battle where rescue, not fighting, is the main objective.”

“For now, we’ll move with the Poseidon Guild. It goes against the treaty, but if we rescue them before anyone finds out, it’ll be fine.”

“If it’s you, it’s possible. I believe in your abilities.”

“Thanks. You’ve been through a lot because of these dog-shit orders.”

She trusted her comrade and brother-in-arms who had fought alongside her through countless dangers. Cho Sung-hee contacted the two sisters from the Poseidon Guild.

“I need your help. You know sea battles better than I do, right? Buy me some time.”

The hostages’ location had been pinpointed by military satellites.

They were literally in the middle of the ocean, in a bathtub-like boat with three people aboard, guarded by monsters.

“That’s going to be really difficult to rescue.”

“We’ll need to approach the hostages while we distract the monsters.”

The Im sisters, Na-yeon and Su-yeon, were skilled enough to create an opening for Cho Sung-hee to rescue the hostages.

This had been true in the past as well.

The only problem was that a powerful monster called Mega Turtle could watch over everything from the air.

“If only we could do something about this Mega Turtle.”

If the Mega Turtle spotted them from the air, the hostages would be killed without hesitation.

“Missiles would only take a moment…”

She had considered requesting air force support, but it wouldn’t be effective against an opponent with heavy armor like the Mega Turtle.

‘If it were just a low-level reconnaissance type, I could kill it.’

However, both the Korean and Japanese navies were monitoring the situation and could fire at any time, so the extraction itself would be smooth if they got the chance.

‘The problem is the actual rescue.’

The bathtub was a grotesque means of transport and extremely unstable, liable to flip over at any moment.

If the monsters just twisted their bodies slightly, the three would fall into the sea, which was entirely the monsters’ domain.

The Im sisters could buy time, but they couldn’t win against those monsters composed of SS-class and S-class beings.

So they needed to rescue them in one go with spatial movement, without any mistakes.

“I can’t use spatial movement consecutively. One second is enough, but I need a stable gap of at least two seconds.”

The key was for the Im sisters to attack the monsters and divert their attention, and in that exact moment, Cho Sung-hee would use her spatial manipulation ability to instantly reach the bathtub.

“Seok-chan. Your summoned spirit has the property of blending into its surroundings, right?”

“Yes!”

“There might be humanoid monsters too, not just beast-like ones.”

She assigned that task to the new recruit. But the government kept trying to contact her.

“I already said I’m going, so why do you keep calling? Yes, since I refuse to die pointlessly, I’m going with the Im sisters from the Poseidon Guild.”

[What are you talking about! You need to go alone!]

“I’m trying to fulfill your unreasonable request as best I can. Let’s end this call.”

Cho Sung-hee now headed toward the battlefield.

The plan was to receive support from patrol ships and then cooperate with the Poseidon Guild when they arrived.

But something unexpected happened.

While monitoring with reconnaissance drones and satellite information, an anomaly occurred in the sea.

The submarine reported the appearance of a new monster, and soon the battle scene was being relayed.

“If it’s a whale…”

It was the same whale that the Poseidon Guild had first reported and that So Ji-hyun of the Cheonji Guild had told her about.

At the same time, the Mega Turtle submerged—an incredible stroke of luck. Cho Sung-hee’s instincts were screaming.

“What should we do, Ms. Cho?”

“This is our chance.”

“What?”

“Tell the Im sisters I’m going to rescue them now, so be ready to receive them.”

Cho Sung-hee disappeared quickly, leaving behind the confused team.

And just like that, she stood in front of the bathtub that was about to capsize in the rough waves.

“Hello?”

“Uh… uh…”

They couldn’t close their mouths at the sight of the woman in a trench coat who had suddenly appeared.

But at that moment, a massive impact shook the bathtub.

Cho Sung-hee forcibly opened the space around them to maintain balance.

Originally, they should have escaped right away.

‘All the monsters are focused on one side? On that whale?’

Cho Sung-hee saw the Mega Dunkleosteus showing its back slightly above the water surface.

After making some fierce attack, a powerful aftershock was about to hit the bathtub.

“I need to help.”

Cho Sung-hee released her magical power.

An oval-shaped circle formed in front of her, extending to the sea.

The moment magical power filled the circle that penetrated the Mega Dunkleosteus’s body, the giant fish sank instantly.

She returned to the bathtub and was about to move it when:

[Debuff]

The Mega Turtle was creating intense water vortices all at once.

In that moment, her ability collided with these water vortices.

Other monsters began gathering one by one toward the bathtub.

“W-what are you going to do?”

Lee Ji-hyun shouted from beside her.

“Why did you do something unnecessary? We were here first! What is this all about because of that damn monster!”

“Stop whining!”

“What? Stop whining? Who do you think you’re—”

But soon Lee Ji-hyun was slapped by Cho Sung-hee.

“Don’t speak so rudely. There are people risking their lives fighting because of you.”

“!”

Ji-hyun was shocked but kept her mouth shut under Cho Sung-hee’s fierce gaze.

Cho Sung-hee reached the Poseidon Guild via satellite phone.

They too were on their way, supported by a high-speed boat.

“When people do good deeds, rewards come.”

Suddenly, the water vortices disappeared in an instant. The violently churning sea was becoming calm.

Cho Sung-hee smiled.

“Looks like I was a big help.”

A huge wave rippled before her eyes, and within it, under the night sky, appeared a massive form unlike anything she had seen before.

Cho Sung-hee deliberately waited until it revealed itself.

And soon it did.

Thick.

An enormous body was endlessly rising from between the waves.

The sight was breathtakingly beautiful. Scales shimmering like jewels.

A water spout. Right before Cho Sung-hee’s eyes, a gigantic dragon was ascending.

The difference was that its tail was covered with glowing machinery and its eyes glowed with a red light.

A golden horn protruded near its nose.

Suddenly, a stream of water began to rise upward.

A roar was heard above the powerful water stream.

And then from within that surging water, the monster appeared. Except for the mechanical parts on its tail, its sleek body was gracefully revealed, beautiful enough to be mesmerizing.

An Oriental dragon.

This massive sea dragon coiled around the Mega Turtle’s hard shell like a constrictor.

With a crushing sound, the Mega Turtle was easily captured, making everything seem futile.

Breaking the Mega Turtle’s shell just by constricting, without even using magical power?

“That was quite a sight. Shall we go now?”

Cho Sung-hee smiled at the scene and instantly moved toward the Poseidon Guild.

Then she gave orders to the Magician Guild and government forces.

“We’ve rescued the hostages, so finish them all off!”

The tide of battle was turning.

*

[Main Card]

-Species: Marine Reptile Name: Half-Fish Half-Water Dragon Sura, Growth Form: Evolved Form

Traits: Apex Predator (Applies debuffs to enemies encountered in water and increases own stats by 2 ranks), Water Conductor (1 rank up in water, can control water flow), Special Muscles (Decreases enemy defense by 2 ranks. Increases body durability and stamina rank), Mammalian Endurance (Increases sub-card duration, shortens enemy debuff duration, increases resistance and magic resistance), Mechanical Genetics (When equipped with mechanical attributes, all stats except strength and agility increase by 1 rank, skill power increases)

Strength: SS(4)

Agility: SS(6)

Resistance: SS(7)

Magic Resistance: SS(7)

Stamina: SS(7)

Magical Power: SS(9)

Skills: Propulsion, Constriction, Waterfall Climbing, Gliding, Intimidation, Detection, Energy Focus, Barrier, Fang Strike

Evolution: Mechanical, Insect

Sub Cards: Ultra Vibration Wave (Can emit powerful vibration waves in addition to controlling water flow), Lightning (Can adjust weather to strike lightning), Dragon’s Breath (Can shoot a controllable beam at will)

I’ve finally evolved. Among the numerous silhouettes, what I chose was a snake-like long body with versatile abilities.

And a being capable of flexible movement.

That was this dragon form. It somewhat inherited the specialties from my whale days and improved upon them.

The muscles throughout my body are moving.

Now my body is heading downward, but I can cover that sufficiently with skills.

[Skill]

-Gliding (Can fly briefly in the air)

I fly. This body is over 30 meters long, but it feels as familiar as if I’d had it all along.

A humanoid monster was falling before my eyes, screaming.

[I… like this…]

[Monster Defeated!]

-Monster Points: 4 acquired!

-DNA Points: 4,200 acquired!

After taking this one down, what I need to do is clear.

Deal with the remaining monsters.

[Skill]

-Detection

Waves begin to flow down to the sea below.

Detection was capturing the movements of those creatures in the sea.

At this moment, I utilized the Water Conductor trait.

I create water barriers around them. An action only I, as an evolved form, can perform. A massive whirlpool barrier forms in the water, trapping the monsters.

[Sub Card]

-Ultra Vibration Wave

I activated another skill, Ultra Vibration Wave. Interestingly, organs in my body were emitting these vibration waves.

The vibrations travel through the water. Like lightning striking in an instant, the vibrations spread instantly and begin bombarding the monsters.

In a flash, the monsters are crushed and disappear before me.

After the shockwave passes, only the Giga Crab managed to withstand it.

But as its entire body rattled and was about to break, I rushed forward and used the skill Fang Strike.

[Trait Applied]

-Stat Increase

-Defense Decrease

The Giga Crab’s body was pierced by my teeth.

I crushed it with a crunch, gained DNA points, and then went back above water.

From here, the scene of destruction left by the advancing monsters.

Here, I used a sub card.

[Dragon’s Breath]

I can control it at will? Well, I have an excellent test subject right here.

“Let’s go.”

At this moment, I felt magical power gathering in my horn.

What am I aiming at?

The monsters visible right now.

The moment I fired the Dragon’s Breath sub card, a streak of light flashed.

The blue light split into dozens of beams at a certain point and began piercing through the monsters with pinpoint accuracy.

Points accumulate. Nearly 20,000 points from this one attack?

While I was happy with the flood of points, bombardment suddenly came.

It flew past me toward the area swarming with monsters.

My job is done now. I should go back, but there was one thing I feared. What if I can’t move after this?

What if I have to lie immobile for three days?

I prepared energy bars, of course, but that wouldn’t be enough.

[Absorption]

I switched sub cards to Absorption and absorbed as many remaining monsters as possible.

I need to make it until the 31st somehow.

I went into the water to find a safe place to surface.

Not around here, but somewhere close to water like last time.

[Transformation Release]

I check my surroundings near the beach. As I was about to run in a situation where no one was around, my vision lowered.

“Huh?”

My knees buckled.

I can’t put strength into them?

No. I need to go! I need to go now! If I fall asleep now…

But my body wouldn’t listen. Consciousness was fading away.