episode_0051

“Is it okay?”

As he hurriedly retreated from the battlefield, Do Hyeon-hak muttered like this. In the chaos of the city, his hollow and empty voice was scattered in vain.

There was a loud noise behind me and a gust of hot wind blew.

“What if it’s not okay? Even if we go, we can’t help you.”

Shin Il-ho, who managed to understand the words while the heavens and the earth were shaking, answered.

Although his answer was blunt and somewhat emotional, as if he was picking a fight, Do Hyeon-hak did not dislike him.

It was because I sensed fear, despair, and depression from helplessness in his tone, anger and guilt toward himself.

Shin Il-ho was blaming himself, and Do Hyeon-hak deeply sympathized with him.

The sense of accomplishment and elation they felt as they destroyed the gym and defeated the monsters was fleeting, but even when they faced the beast of destruction in the dead of night, and even when they looked at the dragon from afar as the morning dawn broke, they were too intimidated to do anything.

Like a baby antelope facing a lion, I was so gripped by fear that I couldn’t move properly and just wet the front of my pants.

Even if Song Chan-seop was like that, the youngest Eun-ha and her older sister also came forward, but they themselves were still running away without being able to do anything.

You said you were going to do something and die, what is this? What is this [Suicide Squad]?

But he didn’t have the courage to go back. … because he was scared. Do Hyeon-hak just clicked his tongue in pain.

“Can [Admiral Yi Sun-sin] defeat that guy…?”

“… Well.”

“Do you think the elder will lose?”

Hong Yun-ha, who was leading the way with the three heroes floating in the air, opened her mouth.

They hesitated and couldn’t even answer yes.

Honestly, it was like that. They were also awakened from the strategy series. The fame of [Chungmugong], who could be considered his senior, was heard until his ears were worn out. Each and every one of his achievements was unprecedented and worthy of being recorded in history.

No wonder everyone among the first generation awakeners gave him a thumbs up and said he was the best. And the real [Chungmugong] that we only heard about through words was indeed something to nod to.

But, but.

Half of the first generation Awakened people around the world were dead, the other half had retired, and only a handful were still active.

He is only active in name, but in reality, he is a veteran of the [Guild] and is just carrying the load. Even though he is [Chungmugong], he is an old man who is far past his prime.

And since he’s been retired for quite some time, can he beat that monster?

That red dragon?

Hong Yoon-ha nodded for a moment and then opened her mouth.

“I haven’t met him since he went into seclusion, and I’ve never seen him in real combat… But trust me. He’s a hero who’s never lost a single time.”

“But [Heenari]. Even if you are the strongest Awakener, you can’t fight against that… .”

“That’s right. You weren’t even wearing proper equipment in the first place. Not only didn’t you have a weapon, you weren’t even wearing armor under your outer clothes.”

“Believe me.”

“… … .”

“You are definitely not the type of person to move around without thinking.”

They couldn’t even open their mouths. It was a statement full of thick trust, leaving aside the possibility of calculating and predicting the outcome.

Kwaang, an explosion rang out near the battlefield.

A huge plume of smoke rose as if a petroleum refinery had exploded, and red smoke and dust rose up and fell like red rain.

Shin Il-ho felt a tingling sensation in his nose and quickly glanced at it with the back of his hand. There was sticky blood flowing down.

It was clearly a long way off. And yet, the extradimensional particles were reaching here, powerful enough to irradiate even the most seasoned Awakened.

What kind of battle is taking place beyond the red body of the dragon?

What was certain was that if they went there now, they would collapse from radiation exposure without being able to move even five steps near the dragon.

“So what we have to do is trust Him and get out of here.”

Hong Yoon-ha affectionately stroked Song Chan-seop’s cheek as he was being carried. He was covered in wounds, as if rags had been sewn onto his frame.

How much must they have suffered? How much must it have hurt? They, he did his best.

Now all that remained was to trust the elder.

“Let’s hurry. The damage may reach here soon.”

The equipment must mean something. He must be fully prepared.

Hong Yoon-ha believed.

The heroic story she would hear from her stepmother every night before going to bed when she was little.

The strongest hero who appeared in the story.

And the hero did not betray her trust.

This was the best time for the old man, the prime of his life beyond his years.

As for equipment, [Chungmugong] was already armed with the best equipment when he arrived.

-.-.-

The red dragon extinguished the contemptuous light it held in its seven snouts and took back the breath it was emitting.

This was enough. It was a breath that turned Jeju Island into hell in an instant with just one attack. From its destructive power to the laser bombardment that polluted the world and colored it with its own colors, no enemy had survived until now.

The dragon was confident that this time he had finally erased something smaller than his own claws.

“Hey, your breath really stinks.”

Until I saw an old man walking leisurely from afar, shaking off his clothes.

[Admiral Yi Sun-sin], who was frowning because of the foul sulfurous smell that seemed like thousands of rotting eggs, looked fine except that the hem of his coat was slightly scorched rather than erased.

Was it a lucky escape? But luck only lasted so long. The red-tinted pollution of destruction, which had covered every building, animal, and plant, slowly began to turn red from the places it touched.

Soon the old man collapses, vomiting blood, and the contamination begins-

“It’s a new outfit after all. Wouldn’t it be a big deal if it starts to smell?”

It was not. The trench coat that [Admiral Yi Sun-sin] was wearing was neither a pure and bright white nor a dirty and dark black, but a colorless color that did not allow any red to invade.

Even the soot marks soon disappeared without a trace.

Krrr! The dragon, who had been growling in annoyance, raised its front paw again and struck him down with all its might.

Unlike before when he had swung his sword as a check, [Admiral Yi Sun-sin] gave up on trying to receive the blow from the front and instead deflected it away.

The mountain-shattering blow shattered the surface of the earth, leaving behind a crater more than half the size of the 8,004-square-meter Halla Gymnasium. The old man managed to escape this time as well, but the dragon’s attack did not end there.

A dozen or so disgusting, unclean tentacles grew from the dragon’s feet, leaving a crater with a loud noise.

It was the horn of destruction used by the beast that brought destruction that Song Chan-seop, the universe, and the galaxy had defeated, and it was of different lengths and thicknesses.

The tentacles swarmed and trampled the entire land. This time, they struck and destroyed the area as if they were pounding it so that it would never be able to escape.

[Admiral Yi Sun-shin]’s response to this was perfect and elegant.

[Tough Skin], [Steel Mantle]. Using only two defensive skills, the old man struck back at the tentacles flying towards him with his fist, deflected them with his palm, received them with his shoulder, and deflected them with his elbow.

It was the pinnacle of defensive techniques that could not be implemented even with [Skill], created through experience and knowledge. [Chungmugong] was not allowing any of the tentacles’ attacks to be focused and was countering them all.

He was personally demonstrating why he was called [the greatest shield] in a distant foreign land.

Was it my imagination? The color of the coat he was wearing seemed to be getting darker. From the time he barely avoided the breath attack earlier, to now when he was blocking the tentacles’ attacks!

It would be a bit misleading to say that the achromatic color has become darker, so it might be more correct to say that it has become shiny.

No, even that statement is misleading. Just as darkness cannot become bright white, light cannot be completely black. Gray, which is neither here nor there, could not shine. That was the natural concept, the natural order.

Sure enough, strangely enough, the coat was radiating a strong gray glow that should not exist in reality.

As if the red dragon were painting this world with its own colors at will.

Only then did the dragon realize the identity of the strange sensation he had felt when he first saw the old man. The reason why he had been so wary.

He was so gray.

The old man looked like a character straight out of a silent film, as if he were in another world. His gray clothes made him seem isolated from all the influences around him.

Even in the dragon’s breath,

Even in the shadow of a building or a tentacle,

Even as the sun rises and turns red!

The dragon stopped moving for a moment at that awkwardness. It was a very small gap, like blinking an eye, but the old man did not miss it.

The bear-like giant escaped the tentacles’ reach in an instant and was struck by a fist in a front paw the size of a high-rise apartment building.

Considering the difference in their sizes, it was no different from an ant biting, but for the first time, a scream of pain rather than a roar burst out of the dragon’s mouth at the impact.

-Kuaaaak!

For the first time, a scream of pain, not a roar, burst from the dragon’s mouth. The intense pain, as if his little toe had hit a piece of furniture, caused fire to flash before the dragon’s eyes.

The dragon, which had instinctively wagged its tail to make [Admiral Yi] retreat far away, examined its front paws.

The thick scales were bursting and the flesh inside was hollow, blood gushing out.

-How dare you, on the subject of mortals!

“Oh, you could even speak?”

[Admiral Yi Sun-sin] wiped the blood from his mouth with his gloved thumb and answered the question in a sarcastic tone.

-Trash! Are you hurting me, someone who can’t even overcome the flow of time?

“If you could talk, you would have responded by now. Have you been letting me talk to myself like an old man with dementia?”

-Shut up, you piece of shit!

Among the seven necks of the dragon, the head in the middle raised its head. An unclean crown appeared on its head, and the dragon wearing the blasphemous crown roared loudly.

-I am a destroyer born with the power to destroy the world! I am something that a guy like you can’t do anything about-!!

With that shout, the fire and brimstone of hell appeared and burned the ground.

The red earth burned even redder, and with a huge explosion, red smoke and dust stained the sky and fell as rain.

In the midst of that scorching hell, the ‘gray’ that had become even more distinct was still moving.

“If you are the destroyer of worlds.”

He jumped up and rode the red dragon’s body again. [Admiral Yi Sun-sin] was already within striking distance of the dragon’s head.

“I am just a human.”

-Nonsense!

One of those heads opened its mouth wide and lunged at the old man, trying to devour him.

Sharp, razor-sharp teeth flash and a sulfur-smelling tongue spurts poison.

And even as he was entering that mouth that made his son-in-law blush, [Admiral Yi Sun-sin] straightened his fist without any fear.

Dragon, [Admiral Yi Sun-shin]

A conflict that is ridiculous to even compare, where calculating profit and loss is meaningless, and where the outcome is clear.

Eggs hitting a rock.

A grasshopper pounces on a cartwheel.

A puppy that doesn’t know how to be afraid of a tiger.

A human jumping into a nuclear explosion.

In a reversal of the expected outcome, one of the dragon’s heads burst open, leaving only its jaw behind, spraying blood and flesh in all directions.

Egg? Wart? One-day puppy?

The first battle between the Red Dragon of the Apocalypse and [Chungmugong] was [Chungmugong]’s, no.

“I just swore to protect everyone.”

It returned to the triumph of humanity with noble beliefs.