Chapter 76 – Conclusion (4)

Conclusion

Something cold and hard was felt over his skin. Sliding his feet, a clanking sound was heard. Next, he clenched and unclenched his fingers. Beyond the padded leather, a firm grip was felt.

How many things had he gone through by wearing this and wielding that? Well, most of it was just used to block or break something… Veloc pointlessly swung the sword in his hand back and forth. The weapon, which had now become like his own alter ego that he was familiar with, made a rough wind-splitting sound.

“No matter how I look at it, you don’t belong in this place. Well, the same goes for you too, though.”

Veloc tilted his head a few times and then raised his gaze. A massive shadow fell over his head. Soon, a wind sound loud enough to tear the ears was heard, and the ground rumbled. ‘Bitch. This is your true form. Is that it? And you act like that in such an outfit?’ Over the sidewalk blocks which, beyond cracking, had deep furrows carved into them, two massive pillars were visible. They were pillars covered in dark black scales. It spoke.

“I ask you once again. Who on earth are you? I have lived for hundreds of years, but I have never seen or heard of such a world. And what I saw is…”

Does the tone of voice change when transforming? It seems to have gotten a bit rougher. Veloc replied shortly.

“The person who will cut off your neck.”

The growling breath grew even louder. It was loud enough to easily drown out the screams of people or the sound of sirens.

“Do not be insolent. No matter how much of an outlier you are, that will not protect your life. I am one of the five thrones of the absolute bottom of the underworld. I am an existence that shakes the destiny decided by the celestial insects!”

Her vertically slit yellow eyes shined viciously. Her tightly closed saw-like teeth also ground, preparing to chew the prey. However, Veloc thought that she was scared. Her growling voice was trembling, if only slightly, and beyond her glowing pupils, a lingering anxiety she could not shake off was visible.

She seemed to behave more threateningly and exaggeratingly for no reason other than to hide her own fear. ‘Are you scared? Why? Because you realized you’re just a piece of data inside a monitor? Or because you can’t breathe thanks to the smog and fine dust filling the city?’

Veloc could have opened his mouth to mock the monster to his heart’s content. Or, he could have questioned the monster who had lived for hundreds of years about some unknown secret art or the information she possessed. For example, about this space. However, he did not do so. Because there was something more important than that right now. ‘How much time is left?’ Veloc gripped the sword in his hand tightly and activated his skill.

Crackkkle.

The rune on the greatsword flashed brightly. Soon, a bright yellow lightning flowed down the blade. The meaning was clear. As Veloc charged recklessly, Astaroth spread her wings and stepped back.

Perhaps due to her building-like size, the distance between the two widened in an instant. ‘This bastard.’ A few apartments struck by the dragon’s massive body collapsed with a rumble. She shook her wings and spoke.

“So you insist on seeing blood. Yes, fine. When a knight and a dragon meet, that is the only thing they do. However, I am different from other dragons. I am not one of those fools packed with nobility and pride. I will not fight you fair and square. I shall toy with you to my heart’s content and then burn you!”

Astaroth folded her membrane wings and then extended them strongly once more. A sound like thunder clapped, and the dragon vanished in an instant. Veloc’s eyes moved. It was upward. His pupils captured the figure of the dragon, which had become a small dot and was now gradually growing larger. Along with the flames erupting from her long, drawn-out snout. ‘I’m screwed. How do I catch this?’ Veloc quickly kicked off the ground.

Under the rushing wave of flames, the place where he had been standing just a moment ago became a wasteland. However, he had to keep running. Because Astaroth kept breathing fire while flying over his head.

The sidewalk blocks and asphalt sizzled and melted. The citizens who were peeking at the two while hiding inside their homes also turned into a handful of ashes. ‘Damn it. What should I really do?’ Beyond feeling warm, his back felt hot from the pouring heat. If this continued, he would be swept away by those flames. At that moment, a massive building caught Veloc’s eye. It was an apartment building left behind after the dragon destroyed it earlier. Since a few buildings looked intact, he quickly hid inside. He had a good idea.

“Running away like a mole. How pathetic. Perhaps the sights I saw were merely an illusion. Because spells are a vast and mysterious power whose limits are unknown.”

The dragon let out a growling sigh as if relieved. Then, after shaking her head once, she opened her mouth again. The hellfire of the underworld erupted once more. She intended to burn down the entire building.

The flames erupted endlessly and with ferocious momentum, eventually causing the concrete building to collapse completely.

Astaroth spat out flames a few more times as if to make sure of the kill, and then began to trample the ruins of the building with her giant feet. It was a sight that would make a building owner cough up blood. Debris scattered in all directions, and dust fluttered. The dragon trampled the ground as if venting her anger, and then looked around.

The gray city, which was the mental world of the knight named Veloc and looked like a stone tomb, was currently devastated and burning. It was all her handiwork. However, this powerful creature felt an inexplicable fear.

-It’s a monster! No, I mean! It’s a real monster! Currently, it’s impossible for us to suppress it! We need the military!

-Everyone this way! Please follow our instructions and evacuate calmly!

-Crazy. What did I just see… Isn’t that… a dragon? It seems we’d have to fire at least a missile for it to work.

Humans pointing small pieces of metal at her while standing behind dark barricades. Coffins moving while emitting smoke, and even strange objects flying in the sky while buzzing insect-like wings.

Even to her, a long-lived monster, things of unknown identity were scattered everywhere. Even though she was the one who cast the spell and entered this place, there were too many things she didn’t know.

What on earth was this world? A game, a monitor, chess pieces… She could grasp the core elements, but everything else was impossible to understand. The dragon muttered to herself.

“I would like to inflict endless torture on you and make you a slave just like your companions… but there is something strange about this place. I must get out quickly.”

Astaroth closed her eyes slightly. Then, her lips parted as she began to chant a spell. It was to escape the mental world she had torn into and return to the original world where she had been. After a moment, the dragon’s eyes snapped open. Soon, she spoke in a flustered tone.

“What…? Why isn’t the spell working?”

She closed her eyes again and chanted a spell. This time, it was magic to manipulate and recreate this strange world to her liking. It was useless. This place remained a gray stone tomb, a space overflowing with smog and toxic gas.

“Fuck! What is this!”

Spells and secret arts accumulated over a long time. The abilities that could be called her everything did not work in this space. Moreover, upon realizing that even her soul was bound, the fallen dragon was terrified. She turned her head this way and that, stomping her feet.

“I must find that human bastard again! Since his soul won’t be completely torn apart yet…”

At that moment, from a burning sensation, the dragon startled and raised her forefoot. A dark black sword had pierced through her scales and lodged in her body. Beneath it, a warrior clad in armor of the same color was shining his eyes. Astaroth growled.

“You…!”

“I’m glad the basement here has good seismic design. It doesn’t seem to be shoddy construction.”

He muttered incomprehensible words and applied even more force to the sword he was holding. Scales and flesh split open, leaving an even deeper wound.

Aaaaargh!

The dragon quickly moved her legs to crush Veloc. However, as the lightning running along the blade dug into the wound, she could only react a step late. Veloc did not miss that gap. While she was stomping thin air, he had already left the spot and was climbing the mound. If he missed this opportunity, she would escape into the sky again. Feeling a chilling sensation passing from the tail to the back, Astaroth screamed.

“Get off! I said get off!”

She tilted her body backward. She intended to crush him to mush with her back. Sensing this, Veloc held his sword in a reverse grip. Then, stabbing it repeatedly into her body, he changed his position as if scaling a cliff face. The greatsword flew like a dagger, and lightning flashed in its wake. The experienced hunter cleverly hung from parts that the dragon’s hands couldn’t reach. It wasn’t that he acted with prior knowledge. It was the result of a warrior’s instinct, honed by crossing between life and death.

The scales that had wrapped tightly around her body fell off hideously. Between them, dark blood flowed in torrents. It was like looking at a bleeding mountain. The dragon shrieked. Soon, her lips muttered again as she chanted a spell. However, as if blocked by something, the spell did not come out.

It was as if a massive will was blocking her power and forcing her to die. ‘Don’t make me laugh… How did I survive at the absolute bottom? Deprived of fertile land, sky, rivers, and seas, I had to rot away in that cave!’ The demon dragon gritted her teeth. Then, she spread her membrane wings wide.

“I am not a chess piece! I am not a doll that has to conform to the destiny you bastards decided on your own!”

Shouting in desperation, the dragon kicked the ground hard. Along with the sound of a thunderclap, the demon and the human soared into the sky. Veloc couldn’t even clutch his deafened ears and held on tightly to his sword.

The dark surroundings zipped past, and cold, dry air struck his face. It was perfect winter weather. Exhaling a sigh, white breath puffed out along with a coldness that seemed to freeze his lungs. Ironically, he enjoyed this unfamiliar sensation for a moment.

Because it was a completely different feeling from floating in the sky inside a device enclosed by iron plates. Because it was a view too mysterious and terrifying for an ordinary young man in his twenties to experience. However, he did not forget his primary duty, swept away by sentimentality. It was to kill this demon. He fell into a brief contemplation.

If he were the real Veloc, he would have killed this bastard to clear the dark clouds hanging over the kingdom and to elevate his honor as a knight. But he was not the real Veloc. If so, for what reason was he trying to kill this creature?

Was it because of the Goddess’s revelation? Because she said she would give him a clue to return home if he killed the archdemon? The young man in his twenties, thinking deeply, also shook his head. Yes, he had certainly thought so when he first fell here. Because it was a shitty world. Because he wanted to go back. But not now. I…

I was standing here to save my companions.

The black-haired paladin who had a rough mouth but was sincere in caring for me, the red-haired mage who willingly followed me to keep her promise and faith, and… even the blonde elf who was slightly mentally unstable. The fake knight closed and opened his eyes.

Under the clouds passing quickly, an endless night view was fully spread out. Splendidly shining neon signs flashed without rest, and lines like highlighters zipped past on the asphalt road. Along with a long bridge crossing over it and the light sources reflected on the water surface. Sights of home that he had missed and wanted to return to, which were now familiar yet unfamiliar. But it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

Stabbing the sword in my hands repeatedly, I climbed higher and higher. The blood that gushed out painted the sky like paint. The demon dragon occasionally tilted her wings to drop me or shook her head. It was useless.

Holding my breath tightly and befriending the sword in my hands, I continued to crawl. Passing her broad back and even the thumping sound of her heartbeat, a pillar that was thin compared to other things appeared. ‘Right, no matter how much of a monster it is, it will die if I cut this.’

I applied strength to the sword in my hands. Then, the blade trembled, and the lightning running along the edge began to grow stronger. I fixed my body by roughly tearing her skin with my fingernails. My remaining hand was raised high in the sky. A voice came from below.

“Stop, stop, stooop! No matter if this is your mental world, if it receives a huge impact, you won’t be safe either! Even your soul will be torn to shreds, and you won’t be able to return to your original body!”

I hesitated for a moment. It was partly because the term ‘mental world’ caught my interest, but also because a sound was heard. It was getting closer and closer. ‘Damn. What is this?’ Interpreting this differently, Astaroth spoke urgently.

“Veloc! Save me! If you let me go here, I swear on my name! I will save your companions, of course, and give you treasures, rare treasures of the underworld! Of course, I will never covet this world again! How about it!”

The sword in my hands still did not move a bit. It merely stood its ground firmly. I did not hesitate.

“Are those your last words?”

Just muttering a single sentence, I struck down with the sword. A thunderclap rumbled. Sparks flew violently, and everything flashed noisily. The moment the decapitated dragon let out her death throes, two rapid lines were rushing toward this direction.

The jet thrusters attached to their tails and the smoke spreading out loudly decorated the night sky beautifully. I opened my eyes wide. Didn’t you say this is my mental world? If so, shouldn’t there be no damage coming to me? What happens to me if I get hit by that? ‘Holy shit.’ The moment I cursed inwardly, the missiles exploded.

[Knight Veloc defeated the fallen demon dragon, Astaroth.]

[Experience has increased by 100,500.]

[Level increased.]

[Emergency Quest: Duke Georg’s betrayal begins.]

The screen inside the monitor in the dark room flashed wildly. Before it, only the leftover chicken was growing cold.