Chapter 92: Death Dragon (3)

After investigating, I found out that Ttaengchilli had been active in its world as a hybrid new model, excelling in both combat and intelligence gathering.

She rooted out and wiped out resistance forces using those abilities.

Although she previously said she didn’t hunt humans, I wonder how many other beings on Earth could have fought against machines besides humans.

But since she insists she didn’t, I’ll just go along with it.

If she didn’t consider the resistance forces human, then that explains everything.

Hmm, sure, that works.

“Young girl specializes in map hacks, and this one does analysis. So, what’s the weak point?”

“There’s a strange magic circle inside its throat that releases that weird breath.”

One person is good with map hacks, and the other is a boss fight analyst. Both are useful assets.

“Alright, let’s drive my ultimate right into its throat.”

“Your ultimate, Battle mage?”

That light spear swing from earlier?

Unfortunately, calling that an ultimate is a bit questionable.

It’s powerful, but it’s weaker than my mace.

“Yeah, your wide-area attack seems to expose blind spots in the Death Dragon, but I’m different.”

“Yeah, exactly. My ultimate is a one-hit kill, so I can probably take it down in one shot.”

“If that was your ultimate, it didn’t seem very effective, right?”

Didn’t it just put a tiny crack in its head earlier?

I don’t think it will deal much damage even if you thrust it into the throat—not to be dismissive, but genuinely.

“Hey, maces are for smashing, and spears are for thrusting. You’re good at cracking heads, but I’m meant to stab throats with my spear, got it?”

“Right, that’s the point.”

“Aren’t we all doing the same thing, ending lives?”

Either way, whether it’s a monster or a person, they all can be killed.

Isn’t that basically the same?

“That’s not what I meant. Anyway, what I did earlier was a mobile ultimate. Normally, I… hmm, how should I explain it?”

“So, it’s like a turret-based ultimate that fires while stationary?”

That actually sounds interesting.

“That’s not a bad description, yeah. I usually attack while moving, but do you think that’s optimal?”

“What about you, Cheonma? Do you have something stronger?”

“For now, let’s let Battle mage handle it. When it comes to attacking the throat, a spear is definitely better than a sword.”

So, it’s been decided to go with Battle mage’s ultimate.

It’s a bit disappointing that I won’t get to see the head smashing finale, but now’s not the time to be picky.

For Battle mage’s ultimate to work, a team attack is needed.

“Alright, let’s go. Cheonma and I will clear the way.”

Battle mage will prepare her ultimate while we open the path.

“Kirrreeeeeek.”

“It’s coming again!”

The Death Dragon opened its mouth once more, spewing its enormous breath attack.

But unlike before, I now know I can clear the stench, so I pushed forward, batting away the noxious fumes with my mace.

“It seems like the Death Dragon has figured something out.”

“Yeah, it’s closed its mouth.”

It didn’t seem particularly intelligent, but with the magic circle inside its throat, maybe this creature is being controlled from elsewhere.

If that’s the case, then all of this makes sense.

Would a magic circle embedded in its throat exist without a caster controlling it?

Unlikely.

“There’s definitely someone behind all this.”

“Right? So, Saintess, let’s hurry and take it down, okay?”

The mermaid princess, pinching her nose with tissues, said this while carrying the siren on her back.

I feel the same.

Whoever is watching us might reveal themselves soon.

“That’s the only way this all makes sense.”

“If we take it down, will the one controlling it appear?”

That’s probably how it’ll go.

Usually, when the monsters a villain controls are killed, the sorcerer shows up to clean up the mess—that’s basic bad guy behavior.

“Anyway, the fact that it’s closed its mouth means the controller knows we’re targeting its weak spot.”

If there were no magic circle, we’d assume the Death Dragon is acting on its own.

But this feels off.

If Ttaengchilli’s right and there’s a magic circle inside, the talismans on its limbs also start to make sense.

The controller might be having trouble controlling the Death Dragon and used talismans to bind its limbs.

But instead of wasting the opportunity, they embedded the magic circle in its throat.

Or, maybe the plan is to unleash a rampaging Death Dragon on Seoul.

“If they lose control of the Death Dragon and it goes on a rampage outside, that’d be dangerous.”

“Exactly.”

The sorcerer seems to have hidden a malicious plan to unleash chaos on Seoul by making the Death Dragon go berserk.

Since this kind of power isn’t from Earth, it’s possible someone from another world, like a Demon Lord, is meddling with Earth.

“Who could it be?”

“We won’t know until we try.”

Although the breath attack is annoying, it’s not too hard to overcome.

We can just push forward with a Holy Crash.

The sorcerer will lose because they didn’t control the legs well.

“But its mouth is closed. What’s the plan?”

Succubus pointed out the now-closed maw.

At some point, the mouth had shut, stopping the breath attack.

“Succubus, are you really that clueless?”

“Can’t we just break it open?”

Cheonma and I snickered at Succubus’s comment.

Is this what it means to be dense?

It’s not hard to figure out.

I approached the tightly shut maw of the Death Dragon.

This dumb beast, its legs bound, couldn’t even lift its head.

Still, it stubbornly kept its mouth shut as if to mock us, challenging us to open it if we could.

Fine, I’ll break it open.

Whoever sent this dragon clearly doesn’t think much of us.

That’s crossing a line.

Underestimating people is one thing, but this is going too far.

Sure, Earth’s hunters are mostly reckless and incompetent, but I’m strong.

No matter how hard the shield, I’ve got a mace tough enough to break it.

I swung my mace hard.

Crack! Teeth shattered and fell, and Chunma cleanly finished off the remaining teeth.

Is this what they call knocking someone’s teeth out?

Battle mage is now gathering energy for his ultimate.

That soul-crushing strike will be the final blow of this raid.

“This is surprisingly inconvenient, though.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure why I picked this strategy.”

“Are all Battle mages like this?”

I don’t think so.

From what I know, Battle Mages are agile spellcasters skilled in melee combat.

Our party mage is an Elemental Master, but I’ve seen Battle mages before.

They usually excel in close combat with speed and precision.

“No, it’s just me. My party members don’t have strong single-hit skills, so I had to take on that role.”

Ah, I understand that feeling all too well.

“I get it. That’s why I became a damage dealer too.”

If those so-called heroes hadn’t been so incompetent, maybe I could have stayed true to my role as a Holy Maiden.

But no, they were always going on about justice and duty, blah blah.

I mean, I get it, but it was so frustrating that I became a damage dealer myself.

“Kraaaaaaaah!”

The beast, whose teeth had been shattered, howled fiercely.

Its head shook wildly, making it look pitiful.

“Our poor little lizard, now what are you going to do without your teeth, huh?”

“Roooooaaaar!”

“Damn it, if that Breath explodes while you’re breaking it!”

Oh, the Succubus actually thought that far ahead.

Well, yeah, I suppose if the closed mouth is broken, it could lead to the Breath bursting out.

“As long as we don’t die, it’s fine.”

“Hey! I’m in trouble here!”

The Succubus was engulfed in the Breath.

But she’s not going to die, right?

“Everything gets purified with Holy Crash, so what’s the issue? And besides…”

Holy Crash!

I’m blessed by the Goddess after all.

“No, damn it! The problem is the stench! The stench!”

“That’s because you don’t wash, Succubus.”

To be fair, the smell is indeed unbearable.

“Grrr… grrr…”

“Wow, this guy’s breath is something else.”

Maybe this dragon was part of the “rotting” species, even when it was alive.

Perhaps it was always the type to spew out a foul stench.

“Should we handle this?”

“Let’s deal with it before the Breath comes out.”

Since the Breath keeps seeping out of its mouth, the cooldown for the rotten-breath attack seems to be just a few seconds.

“There’s a magic circle in its mouth!”

“At that level, wouldn’t my fist do the job?”

Ttaengchilli raised her fist.

Punching the magic circle to destroy it, along with the skull, wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“Well… I wouldn’t recommend that. Using fists might not be the best way.”

“You’re right. If the Saintess is correct, and there’s someone controlling this skeleton from behind, that metal fist might not work at all.”

If someone has enough power to control this dragon, it stands to reason that such an attack wouldn’t be effective.

The attack from a 24th-century android likely won’t make a difference.

If we’re aiming for a critical hit, it’s better to rely on Battle mage’s attack.

Besides, Battle mage isn’t the only dealer here.

I, along with Cheonma, could easily break through that head.

“Yeah, makes sense. Wait, hold on! Did Cheonma just call my fist ‘metal junk’?”

“No, I meant it in a friendly way. Don’t people on Earth call androids ‘junk’ affectionately these days? I meant it like that.”

The more I see of Cheonma, the more I like her.

She has a way with words.

“That’s right. Magic circles are often dangerous. If we mess around with weak attacks and things go wrong, we might all get screwed when the Breath explodes.”

We’d all be marinated in Breath.

Of course, I won’t let that happen, but still, the thought of it doesn’t sit well.

“Screwed by the Breath? Are we gambling with our lives here?”

“Well, we could just aim for the head directly, but then we’ll all get screwed by the Breath.”

If we’re going to get screwed either way, might as well aim for the least painful option, right?

Like the guild members who try to avoid being complete idiots.

“Could you please stop saying ‘screwed’ so much?”

“I can say it because I don’t have one. And look, Succubus’s loving it.”

Just look at her laughing at the dirty joke.

You can’t hide your true nature, can you?

“When did I say I was enjoying it?”

“You’re grinning ear to ear.”

Even though she’s a Succubus, she’s still trying to maintain her composure.

But deep down, she can’t escape her nature.

Rumble. Crack. Rumble.

The dragon’s mouth began to tremble. It shook all over, making it hard to keep steady.

“Looks like it’s starting to throw another fit.”

“This time it’s the Breath… Wait a second. Succubus, the fish, and Young girl should get outside.”

I had a good idea.

At this point, we need everyone’s cooperation.

This can’t be done with just the dealers.

We don’t even have a buffer, so the sub-characters will have to pull their weight.

“What are we supposed to do when the Breath comes out?”

“Don’t worry. Since we’re inside the mouth, we can just purify the Breath as it comes.”

“What exactly do we need to do?”

“Distract it. Even if there’s someone controlling it, judging by the way it’s been growling, it still has some sense of awareness. Succubus, you need to seduce it vigorously.”

We’ve been underestimating the Succubus, but don’t forget, she’s the greatest Succubus to have ever swept across a world.

Throughout Korean history, even the most beautiful women who could bring down kingdoms couldn’t compare to her.

Surely, she can seduce a dead beast like this.

“But I’m supposed to seduce men, not…”

“Who knows? This dragon might be male.”

Even if it’s female, you should be able to seduce it.