The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 163
163fury.
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Approximately 30 minutes before Nidhogg, the Dragon of Death, spreads his wings in the shadow of Yggdrasil.…….
Hyunwook Lee and his group arrived near Lake Chad and were facing a huge barrier..
Hyunwook Lee put his hand into the translucent dome of water that completely covered the western dock of Lake Chad..
Wow——
I pushed my hand hard as the water flowed roughly along the surface of the dome from bottom to top..
“……Did Uncle Harris hit this? And there must be a spirit king in there too.?”
As Park Jun-mo said, it seemed like Donald Harris had set up a barrier to hide the existence of the Spirit King..
"Miss, I feel uneasy. I wonder if the whirlwind has subsided because one of the two died........"
Lee Hyun-wook shook his head at Kim Se-hee's concern..
"Probably not. The Spirit King and the manager of the World Tree, one side cannot lose that easily..”
If it was a fight that someone could win, the current cold war relationship wouldn't have continued..
Anyway, it seemed like the two giants were face to face in there, but the atmosphere couldn't have been good..
After a while, a small door opened on the surface of the water barrier, and the party entered it.…….
Wow——
“Ugh, it’s all water here.!”
For some reason, there was a sea of water everywhere, and Lake Chad overflowed and the water even reached the outside of Jaebang..
On one side, I saw Donald Harris sitting on the roots of Yggdrasil..
He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw a tower made of water on the edge of Lake Chad..
Above it, two figures were standing and talking. She probably seemed to be the father and daughter of the Spirit King..
And Friedwen had landed nearby, and Jack and Hannah were sitting on the ramp door..
Both looked mesmerized. The events that took place over the past half day were still absurd..
"At first glance, I heard you saved that girl... … Is that real??”
"Yes, the dark elves kidnapped the daughter to use the spirit king..”
At those words, Donald Harris held his forehead as if he was in pain..
"Ha, it's crazy, it's so absurd that they have already entered this city.……."
It was Donald Harris, who operated his own intelligence network and even predicted the invasion of the Dark Elf Legion. But he was caught off guard in all directions, as he could not possibly have gathered all the information without missing anything..
‘Since he was almost attacked in his own room, he will be in deep trouble..’
If it wasn't for Lee Hyun-wook, he would have suffered a big blow this time... … Because he knew that fact, the way he looked at Lee Hyun-wook softened even more subtly. There seemed to be a clear sense of trust now..
However, even so, Lee Hyun-wook's performance was unrealistic, so he asked.
"But how did you notice that and stop it like this??”
"this time… … I was lucky. I saw them by chance..”
Coincidentally, Donald Harris snorted at that nonsense. But there was no time to inquire again, because the water tower on which the Spirit King and Jane were riding was approaching this way..
"Hey, here comes the leader of the unlucky mana thieves..”
“……Mr. Harris, you haven't talked to the Spirit King yet.?”
The story Lee Hyun-wook told was about entrusting the defense of Yggdrasil to the Spirit King..
"Well, first of all, we just confirmed that we are not enemies, but we haven't talked about that yet.……."
It seemed like his pride was hurt to express his regrets directly to the Spirit King..
"Mr. Harris, then, may I speak to the Spirit King instead??”
"Yes, that's what I wanted too. I don't feel like talking to that guy yet.."
Lee Hyun-wook moved forward, the water tower completely disappeared, and the Spirit King walked on his own feet..
The first thing that caught my eye was long hair with a brilliant light, should I say platinum color..
At first glance, the King of Spirits, a handsome man with a different 'class' than a human, stands tall in front of Lee Hyun-wook..
“……I was too busy earlier to say hello, but thank you for saving me..”
First, Jane took a step forward and spoke, and then the Spirit King opened his mouth..
"Thank you for saving my daughter. And I definitely want to repay this favor.……."
Yes, the law of the game was to give a deserved reward for this level of favor..
Lee Hyun-wook nodded and planned to say what he wanted straight away without hesitation..
"As you know, the culprit behind this incident is a race called elves. They're getting ready to hit this place hard. They're probably planning to devour this entire sacred tree ecosystem... … The spirit world will also be included..”
A glimpse of anger flashed through the Spirit King's eyes as he listened to Lee Hyun-wook's words. Those who threatened their land and mocked them are coming again. In other words, there was no need to negotiate at the moment..
"I think so too. And that fight, we'd be happy if we could help.”
Like this, without any special request, perhaps thanks to the villains, the alliance with the Spirit King was formed naturally..
"I would really appreciate it if you could do so. But you shouldn't just be defensive. The scale of the enemy is bigger than you think, and they won't give up after just one or two attacks, and will attack you more and more viciously..”
Hyunwook Lee turned his head and looked at Donald Harris..
"So what we thought was… … We'll hit their base first..”
"hmm… … If it is the headquarters of the Dark Elves, it is the huge forest on the northern continent.?”
Lee Hyun-wook nodded at those words and took a step closer to him..
"Yes, a 'great flood' that can wipe out the area in one go... … I'd like to lend it to you..”
There was silence for a moment at Lee Hyun-wook’s words. The only sound that rang out was the sound of waves..
The person who broke the silence was Donald Harris, who was watching from a distance..
"Um, Daehong, what? what does that mean?”
As an S-class elementalist, I can't help but wonder since information about a spirit that I don't know has come out........
On the other hand, the Spirit King and Jane, who knew what it was, could not hide their somewhat surprised expressions..
"Great Flood, lend me the best and worst skills the water spirit can use..”
Flood, literally a cataclysmic technology using a huge amount of water, was the ultimate in water elemental art that could only be created when the Water Spirit King led multiple water spirits and joined forces..
‘In one fell swoop, the defense line built by the human alliance was completely destroyed, and the war was lost..’
In a previous life, the Black Elementalists took over Chadho's spirit world and forced him to use that technology. The goal was the entire cordon of the human coalition forces established in Israel and Palestine. Lee Hyun-wook witnessed the mountain-like waves originating from the Mediterranean Sea while escaping from the battlefield in Jerusalem..
'……It was the moment when Inferno won, burning the green wave of Flos Louver..’
The flames of the inferno, which silenced the endlessly regenerating green waves, were immediately swallowed up by the real waves..
In that single blow, the majority of the humanity's allied forces were buried, and humanity's last barrier was broken through..
‘This time, we're going to bring that huge disaster back to them..’
However, after Lee Hyun-wook mentioned the 'Great Flood', I felt the Spirit King's expression harden..
"hmm… … I wonder how on earth you know it exists.……."
Although they had a common enemy, their vigilance had not yet eased..
‘But now that they mention their secret weapon, it must feel awkward.…….'
In this case, the most suitable excuse as a plausible excuse was, of course, the transcendental object, Laputa..
Rather than using some mean means to investigate, he appeals that he has some absolute power..
“Laputa, I have the gnome heritage and there are various sources of information in it..”
This is a metaphor that you are not an antagonist and can be a powerful helper..
“Well, gnomes are indeed an annoying and cunning race, but I never thought they would have that kind of power.……."
I don't know how the settings of these worthy monsters are all intertwined, but for now, it worked..
"but… … There are conditions to use it... … I have to say it's a bit difficult right now.."
However, King Jeongryeong immediately expressed his disapproval. This wasn't a rejection; it really seemed like there was a big problem... … Lee Hyun-wook nodded his head with a smile, as if he already knew..
"Um, could it be that the Spirit King…? … Is there a problem with mana management??"
The King of Spirits' expression couldn't help but harden even more at Lee Hyun-wook's question..
If the information about the preceding ‘Great Flood’ was merely a leak of national military secrets,,
This ‘mana management problem’ was similar to a serious health problem of the head of state..
“……Surely such information can be obtained from Laputa??”
"If that's true, I might be able to help with that too..”
Like the Dragon King in the rabbit war and fable, the setting was that the Spirit King was suffering from some incurable disease..
And finding the elixir to cure the illness was the core scenario of the ‘Spirit King Quest’..
"But this problem... … Even if you boil the whole sacred tree and eat it, it will be difficult to solve the problem..”
Donald Harris' eyebrows couldn't help but twitch at those words..
"what? What are you boiling and eating now??”
"Hmm, this was just a joke……."
"Shit, even if it's just a joke, right now in front of someone”
Hyunwook Lee interrupted Donald Harris and suggested a completely different alternative..
"Well then, how about ‘Dragon Heart’??”
The person who was most surprised by those words was Jane, who made a gasping sound and grabbed her father's sleeve..
"omg! Father, if it's Dragon Heart... … In my father's core……."
Jane was surprised and spoke unconsciously, then covered her mouth..
But Lee Hyun-wook knew what to say next..
'The elixir that will cure the spirit king's illness, one of the ingredients is dragon heart..’
The sacred tree indeed contained powerful mana, but the target of the mana it produced was the environment. Most of the mana is consumed to maintain the mana ecosystem by granting 'blessings' to the area and a wide area..
On the contrary, Dragon Heart is a kind of 'engine' that grants powerful mana to a single body..
"Really, can you offer me a dragon heart??”
"It has to be that way. Because I am the dragon slayer..”
The Spirit King's eyes widened, and Jane tugged on her father's sleeve..
"Father, please… … You can't miss this opportunity.”
Now that I think about it, there was a theory that one of the reasons the Spirit King's daughter went to the human world was to find a way to cure her father's illness. If this wasn't accurate, it seemed to be somewhat correct..
And it was an offer the Spirit King could never refuse. He closed his eyes and nodded his head..
"Okay, good. Provide me with the great source of mana, and I will raise waves..”
But just then, Donald Harris came striding, rather aggressively..
"Damn... I'm sorry, while the conversation was going well, a big problem arose..”
He frowned and lifted the barrier that covered this place..
"While I was paying attention to this mess, I didn't know that another thief would come into the house.!”
He glared angrily at the east, toward the city center of Yggdrasil..
“……yes? What was stolen??”
In response to Lee Hyun-wook's question, Donald Harris looked up at the eastern sky and muttered softly..
"I was out of my mind and only realized it now... … Soon, the dragon will break out of its root prison.……."
At that moment, an explosion sounded from one side of the city and a tall building was split in two and scattered..
Qua—de—de—de one.!
Everyone had no choice but to stand back with their mouths wide open at the magnificent sight..
The huge membrane wings blocked the light emitted by Yggdrasil's leaves and cast a shadow..
“Wow 1"
"Well, that is........"
It was a black dragon, with a familiar appearance covered in black scales..
However, it is a being of a higher rank than the 'Aji Dahaka' that was hunted earlier... … . The name ‘Nidhogg’ looked down at Yggdrasil and smiled strangely..
It was a sight that would make everyone in this city feel frustrated..
Even the manager of the World Tree and the Spirit King were drooling..
It was a being with a powerful 'power' that even they could not dare to deal with..
"Damn, I'm completely screwed.……."
In the midst of such frustration, only one person, Lee Hyun-wook, had a smile of conversion..
"Spirit King, if this happens,……."
He looked at the Spirit King and said.
"I think I can procure that dragon heart from the place where it was produced.."
***
Lee Hyun-wook immediately took out a large number of weapons and flew into the sky, surrounding them in all directions..
Soon, Nidhogg seemed to sense the power of the 'Dragon Slayer' that he possessed, and glared at this place..
"Now, when I give the signal, you two, tie its wings. I just ask you to be sure about that..”
Hyunwook Lee spoke to the Spirit King and Donald Harris below through Mana Messenger..
"And Team Leader Kim, please contact me as soon as you contact the saint.."
- But Stillane, no matter how you think about it, this is not a good thing.…….
The voice was Donald Harris, and he sounded uncharacteristically despondent..
- Even if I joined forces with this guy, I would only be able to tie him up for about thirty seconds at most... … Even if you catch him like that, there won't be an answer once the area becomes a 'unique territory' in Phase 2.?
The people of the world couldn't even imagine that Donald Harris was weak, but the reason he left Yggdrasil and came all the way to Ganghwa Island in the first place was that guy, Nidhogg..
- ……The reason I asked to attack that bastard together was because that bastard couldn't use his power as long as he was in the root prison. If it can fly around like that, I can't deal with it. So I tried to deal with it somehow before it grew stronger and broke through the root prison, but I failed..
Nidhogg, who was released from the root prison and regained his full strength, was an overwhelming force..
- Nidhogg, Master of Death (LV)：227)
……227The level was a whopping 28 levels higher than Aji Dahaka, who was level 199..
However, Lee Hyun-wook also became stronger than when he faced Aji Dahaka..
‘And I now have 3 dragon slayers.’
First, Hyunwook Lee, who achieved the Dragon Slayer ‘achievement’, said that his body was,
Second, Mogley appeared from another dimension, captured Azi Dahaka, and became 'second level'.,
Thirdly, there is also ‘Balmung’ obtained from the hidden stage of the Dragon Labyrinth.…….
'With these three things, most dragons can feel the momentum and curl their tails..’
The lofty arrogance of dragons, that absolute race, comes from their overwhelming power. However, the effect called 'Dragon Slayer' applied to Lee Hyun-wook's body can 'neutralize' the dragon's power..
In the distant future, Edward Woods said that if you accumulate enough dragon slayers and face a dragon, a 'negotiation event' or 'obedience event' may occur and you can 'subjugate' the dragon..
'……However, Nidhogg has some trust, so rather than negotiate, he will attack head-on..’
And Lee Hyun-wook knew very well what that guy believed in, and he was planning to target that..
「You bastard, you are blasphemous.——!」
Even though it was a good 2km away, Nidhogg's voice felt like it was penetrating into my ears..
「How can it be that such a lowly human possesses such presumptuous power??」
At that voice, ordinary people in downtown Yggdrasil would be dying like ants..
But Lee Hyun-wook didn’t mind. Because the dragon slayer was all over his body..
「I will purify this den of blasphemous men with death.——!」
At that moment, its mouth opened wide and a black ray of light flashed from its throat..
Qua—ah—ah—ah—ah——!
Breath like a pillar of black fire, its target was the center of Yggdrasil city center..
Qua—de—de—de—de——!
With a single breath, more than a dozen buildings collapsed and hundreds of meters of land melted..
'……Such damage is unfortunate but cannot be prevented..’
Unusual black smoke began to rise from the point of attack and fill the city..
A black dragon with the power of death, its breath was both 'acidic' and 'death' attribute..
Soon, the screams of those who could not escape the smoke began to echo throughout the city..
Wow——
But at some point, the screams began to degenerate into a vague, dark roar.…….
Woooooo——
Lee Hyun-wook flew Hugin and looked around the city center. As expected, the undead were rampant everywhere..
Little by little, little by little
And among them were not only humans, but also monsters such as orcs and trolls..
After attacking the gate that occurred nearby, it appeared to be a body disintegrating in the city center..
「My servants have arisen from the land I have purified, and they will plunder your comfort zone.」
Hung——
With a single flap of the wing, hundreds of meters are narrowed, and the massive object quickly becomes larger and clearer..
An overwhelming feeling of intimidation, as if standing on a railroad track and facing a huge locomotive.…….
However, Lee Hyun-wook did not dodge, but rather flew straight toward the guy as if he were being shot..
‘Currently, there are a total of 3 Dragon Slayers that I apply overlappingly..’
2+1+1It couldn't always be 4, but it would be at least 2..
T-billion——
The snout of the one approaching close by opened, and its black throat filled Lee Hyun-wook's field of vision..
‘Even if it is a dragon, as long as you don't feel intimidated and just focus... … avoidable.’
Hyunwook Lee closed his eyes and performed aerobatics using the heightened senses provided by Hugin to the maximum extent possible..
I narrowly avoided its huge paws and teeth and swung the huge sword towards the guy's neck..
yes—
Just as the key called Dragon Slayer unlocks the lock called Dragon Power, the dark barrier is ignored..
therefore…….
quaddd——!
The tip of the giant sword cut through the silky smooth scales, leaving long scars on that beautiful body..
「Wow! Go, dare—into my body——」
The guy started twisting his body and firing all kinds of magic, and dozens of magic circles appeared and rotated around Lee Hyun-wook, and all kinds of indistinguishable magic poured out from there..
Bub-bub-bub-bub-bung——!
"Pfft!"
Like a small bird flying in the night sky with firecrackers exploding one after another, Lee Hyun-wook twisted his body frantically..
‘As expected, this overwhelming firepower must be suppressed somehow..’
After dodging the magic barrage, he hit one of the unfinished magic circles with Mogley..
Then the magic circle began to blur, and the development of the magic was canceled.?
‘As expected, it is neutralized!’
In this way, the power of the Dragon Slayer lies in ‘neutralizing’ the dragon’s power itself..
Lee Hyun-wook controlled ‘Balmung’ and pierced the magic circles that bloomed in the area..
Then, the number of spells that Nidhogg successfully cast fell to less than half..
「It is outrageous for a mere human to touch the noble magic of a dragon.—!」
Lee Hyun-wook soared into the air, went up to the sky farther than Nidhogg, and threw Moghlay..
The goal was Nidhogg's Wings, the most essential way to catch flying monsters..
「Where, how dare you——!」
Nidhogg descended vertically and turned his body upside down to avoid the Mowglai's pursuit..
Next, he folded his wings, faced the Mogley head-on, and cast a spell to intercept him..
'……It's an unstable posture solely to defend the wings..’
And he was only wary of the ‘Dragon Slayer’. In other words, the gap was clear..
"一Now!”
At that moment, two whirlwinds were created in the sky and struck Nidhogg. Just like S-class wind controller Kodo Koshiro did, the dragon was brought down to the ground by the wind..
Kwa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
「Wow, did you think you could put your burden on the ground like this??」
However, the power of the whirlwind was stronger than that of Kodo Kosi, and Nidhogg was stronger than Aji Dahaka..
"So, I prepared one more thing.”
At that moment, the ground in downtown Yggdrasil shook, collapsed in various places, and water burst out. The power of the Spirit King, he brought up the entire underground water and shot up a column of water to tie the guy's wings..
Kwaang——!
Thus, the first step in conquering the dragon, bringing it down to the ground, was successful..
- done! Stillane, it's only about thirty seconds! Hurry and kill this guy!
however…….
「Hahaha, yes, I praise you for taking this body down! So can you kill me??」
But strangely, even though Nidhogg was pinned to the ground, he seemed so calm..
「Come here, you mere mortal, bathed in great blood, can you harm this body??」
Rather, isn't it a provocation with unknown intentions that seems to be trying to draw them in??
Even if it is a dragon, it is not wary of the dragon slayer in its fallen state.?
'The reason is because the dragon that controls death is confident that it will never die..’
- Stillane, what are you doing? Don't you know that now is your only golden opportunity??
I can hear Donald Harris' mournful voice in my ears..
However, Lee Hyun-wook did not intend to seize this golden opportunity..
At that time, Kim Se-hee's voice sounded in his ears, a signal of a real opportunity..
- Chik 1, boss, I'm going with the saint.!
The moment Lee Hyun-wook heard that voice, he turned around and started flying somewhere..
「......huh?」
Even Nidhogg couldn't hide his surprise at that scene. Then he chuckled..
「He was a smarter guy than I thought. I can't believe he chose to run away now. Hahaha.!」
"Yes, I'll try my best to run away, so try to catch me somewhere..”
Lee Hyun-wook muttered that and entered the lamp door of Fridwen flying in front..
Inside were Kim Se-hee, Park Jun-mo, Emilia Müller, and Peter Clarke..
“……The Lich's Life Vessel needs to be purified? That's real?”
Emilia Müller came closer and asked with an incomprehensible expression..
Lich means a wizard who deals with death. And one of the special characteristics of that race was that they could only die if they destroyed their 'Life Vessel', a vessel containing their life force..
"yes, that's right.”
“……Where is Richie??”
"There it is.”
What Hyunwook Lee pointed to was none other than the black dragon, Nidhogg..
Come to think of it, that being had a strong odor of death..
"ah… … Then what about Life Vessel??”
"I'm going to find it now. Now, Maru, get ready to slowly close the hole.!”
「Yeah, I'm waiting!」
"Right now, go to the hole in the ground it came out of, into the root prison.!”
The moment Prydwen entered the hole in the ground, Nidhogg flew up in a huff..
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