The Hero Returns

After waking up from his hibernation period, Blanc searched for the red dragons. Because the first person he could think of that their race could rely on in this world devastated by the war was none other than Ellid himself.

But…

"The red dragons have abandoned us."

The words spoken by the returning Karne were more than enough to drive a cold dagger into Blanc's heart and twist it ruthlessly.

"They are no longer our kin. No, they're just traitors, that's all."

Karne's rage against the red dragons exceeded everyone's imagination.

His animosity towards the red dragons was stronger than any of his kin's, and he even forced this view onto the newer generations of dragons.

He said that the red dragons were traitors that had abandoned their race.

Of course, some dragons didn't believe him. They were the ones that remembered the red dragons and Ellid. Just like Blanc, they truly believed the red dragons had not forsaken them. But, over the centuries, it became hard to not doubt.

This was where their differing beliefs had led them.

"Explain yourself, Karne." Blanc's heavy, low voice growled like a wild beast's.

None of his kin present failed to understand where his emotions and rage came from. Those who knew how long Blanc had waited for the red dragons' return easily understood his feelings.

To make matters worse, Blanc had believed that Ellid and the other red dragons were still alive somewhere—that there was a reason why they had to run, that they could not have abandoned them without a solid reason.

That's what he believed and told the others.

The red dragons had a reason to leave. That was true. There were waiting somewhere and maybe, just maybe, they would come back one day.

That was as wrong as Karne saying the red dragons were traitors.

They hadn't run away.

Because they were all dead.

"I said, explain yourself. Now!!"

Blanc's naked killing intent spread out everywhere. But it wasn't just him alone—the same could be said of his kin that had believed Karne's version until now.

The sense of betrayal.

Karne's brows shot up as he received the brunt of the overwhelming emotions of hundreds of his kin.

"Hold on, everyone. You're all too agitated right now."

"Without a doubt, there must've been some kind of misunderstanding. You know that Sir Karne isn't that type of person, don't you?"

As was the case with everything, blind loyalty and faith always persisted. But that extended only up to a point. And it'd take only a single moment to betray such loyalty.

"Everyone, just calm down and let's hear from…."

Kyah-aaaah-!

A loud dragon's roar resounded over the crowd.

Seizing the opening created by the commotion, Karne instantly leaped up into the air. At the same time, his body ballooned and his previously human-like appearance transformed into that of a dragon sporting the 'orange' color that was far closer to gold in hue.

"S-sir?!"

"Sir, my a**! Catch him!!"

Blanc roared at the top of his voice.

Learning more about what happened in detail was nice and all that, but right now, apprehending the escaping Karne took priority.

Unfortunately, no one was capable of catching up to Karne once he was deadly serious about running away. He must've planned his escape from the get-go, because he even activated short-distance teleportation magic several times in a row to fly far away.

"That son of a…!!"

Blanc urgently transformed. The same thing happened to the other dragons, as well. Their human-like appearances couldn't produce the kind of speed necessary to pursue Karne.

<< We must hunt him down. >>

As he transformed back into a massive blue dragon, Blanc continued to grit his teeth.

And so, many, many dragons began their heated pursuit of the escaping Karne.

…All the while completely forgetting about the existence of a lone human who had vanished from the spot earlier.

Act 7

Flap-

Swiiiiiish-

A massive figure quickly scythed through the air, his huge wings beating away.

The dragon with the near-golden hue, Karne, issued an enraged roar, his sharply curved fangs on full display.

-Dammit, dammit!

Karne's roars continued for a while.

He thought his heart would explode from the indignation. One measly human he didn't even pay much attention to ended up pouring ash all over his well-prepared feast.

"Man, I finally caught up with you."

-…?

Karne was stunned silly by a soft voice coming from above his head, and hurriedly looked up. But, at that exact moment…

Craaaack-!

Stagger-

The powerful force emanating from his head caused Karne's flying body to shake greatly.

-It can't be…

"Where are you in such a hurry to get to, I wonder?"

Craaaack-!

Fists laden with magical energy slammed down on Karne's head once more.

"Before you leave…." Su-hyeun, straddling the top of the fleeing dragon's head, mercilessly pounded down on the dragon with his fists held high. "You should've apologized to Miru first."

Swiiiiish-

Crack, boooom-!

That terrifying punch finally forced Karne's body out of the sky.

Kyah-aaaaah-!

-Just when…!

"It was really hard catching up to you. When I saw you looking so shifty-eyed, I wondered if you really were planning to run, but, man, I was so right."

-Dammit!

As he fell to the ground below, Karne angrily shook his head. At the same time, his entire body began glowing red-hot.

[Armor of Conflagration.]

A heat that would make even boiling lava feel lukewarm caused Su-hyeun to hurriedly leap away from the dragon's body. If he insisted on staying there, then his butt resting on the dragon's head might have gotten royally roasted.

CRASH-!

Right after that, Karne's body crashed on the ground. Su-hyeun put some distance between himself and the stifling heat he felt from the fallen dragon's figure, then landed safely back on solid ground.

"Whoo, whoo."

He urgently blew at his hands after feeling the heat still lingering there. But, when he thought about it for a second, the heat wasn't the real issue here.

<< That's some amazing toughness. >>

The orange-colored dragon. Just one grade below the red dragons. But Karne was also the oldest of all orange-colored dragons, too.

After the war, most of the old dragons died out, and only those youngsters who were in their hibernation periods at the time survived to this day. Still, there was little doubt that Karne's scales were incredibly tough.

Even if he used a sword and not his bare fists, penetrating Karne's scales would still be a challenge.

Grrrr…..

Karne pushed his crash-landed body back up and glared at Su-hyeun. Now that they were face-to-face like this, the latter couldn't help but see the former in a new light.

<< He's definitely a world apart from that green dragon. >>

A size that easily rivaled the average skyscraper. The thick, heavy concentration of magical energy emanated from his skin and scales.

Orange color, and the oldest of the lot—that was Karne.

<< The defensive capability of his scales is incredible, and there's no need to even mention the sheer variety of magic spells he must've mastered by now, too. >>

This was a fight against a real dragon, in other words.

Sha-shing-

Su-hyeun unsheathed his sword. And then…

"Come out."

Riiiip-

The moment he called out, Miru tore through space and emerged beside Su-hyeun.

Gya-ong-!

…With its mouth still biting into the Cintamani.

Miru's sudden entrance shocked Karne slightly. But then he began glaring murderously at the Cintamani in the young red dragon's maw.

-It's all because of you two.

Grrrrr…

An enraged roar exploded out from Karne's maw.

-You ruined everything!

Ruuuumble-

An incredible wave of killing intent enveloped everything along with the dragon's roar.

The scorching heatwave flooded the surroundings. Su-hyeun hurriedly raised his hand and shielded his face from the heat.

"Hey, this isn't even a case of anger management issues, so what gives? What are you suddenly getting angry at us for?"

Of course, it wasn't as if he didn't understand Karne's motivations. Well, Karne did lose everything he had built up for centuries because of their actions, after all. But the matter being understandable didn't automatically make it justified, either. Also, there was no real reason to understand it, either.

"You know the saying, you reap what you sow? That's exactly what's happening here."

Slash-

Clang-!

Su-hyeun swung his sword downward, but the sword energy stretching out was blocked by the several layers of barriers protecting the area around Karne's body.

"Hey, Miru."

Gya-ong-

"Fly up and keep your distance, okay? Don't stick too close but still support me from the rear with your Breath and buffs. You get it, right?"

Gya-ong-!

"Alright. Well, then…." Su-hyeun said, his eyes locked on Karne, currently amassing an incredible amount of magical energy inside his mouth. "Let's go."

Paht, flap-

Su-hyeun and Miru moved simultaneously. At the same time, a massive Breath attack shot out of Karne's mouth.

Ruuuumble-!

For a moment, the whole world was dyed a golden color.

Su-hyeun leaped up high in the air and observed the ground below. A small hill near his original position was vaporized in an instant. As far as destructive power was concerned, that Breath was the real deal.

<< Even so… so slow. >>

Gu-woooo-

But the attack didn't end there. Su-hyeun's flying figure was suddenly suppressed by an oppressive feeling. He began tottering while raising his arms and lost his balance. In the meantime, Karne unfurled his wings and was about to fly up again.

It was a gravity-type magic. He must've been planning to restrict Su-hyeun's movements first and then fire another round of Breath.

<< Even then, if it's only this much…. >>

[Leap.]

Su-hyeun stepped on the air once more. His body felt several times heavier, but that didn't really matter to him.

<< I can still move. >>

Ruuuumble-

The Breath soared by in front of him.

<< Dragging this fight on won't do me any good. >>

Karne was a completely different type of opponent than the Titan Turtle.

When you fought a Titan Turtle, you had to fight for a long time, gradually shaving down its ridiculous defenses. Karne was the type of opponent armed to the teeth with hundreds, if not thousands, of different magic spells as well as a powerful weapon called Breath.

Even if Su-hyeun's magic resistance was on the high side, he didn't know how well that would stack up against an opponent of Karne's caliber.

More importantly, if the fight was taken to the air, Su-hyeun would suffer from an overwhelming disadvantage. He made up his mind quickly, having already witnessed the power behind Karne's Breath.

<< I'll break through it. >>

Giiii-iiiing-

Magical energy began gathering on his sword.

[Explosion Style.]

The magical power coalescing in one point began expanding, as if to shatter the blade at any second.

[Indomitable Body.]

[Armor of the Mage.]

[Sky King's Feather.]

Su-hyeun even enveloped his body with specialized anti-magic skills, as well. Although these skills didn't see much use when battling against monsters, they sure came in handy when he was fighting against a dragon.

Skills that weren't very effective against physical attacks were now just about perfect for the situation.

Not only that…

[Dragon God's Protection.]

[Reflect.]

Miru's skills were overlaid on top of his.

<< This is more than enough. >>

There was no more need to hesitate. Su-hyeun dashed straight into the Breath fired by Karne.

Kwa-aaaaaaht-!

The huge Breath swallowed Su-hyeun up. Karne, firing the attack with everything he had, looked flustered.

<< Is he trying to kill himself?? >>

For a moment there, he even thought something preposterous, too.

But, soon enough…

Split-!

He realized how utterly wrong his thoughts were.

Kyah-aaaaaah-!

Because, Su-hyeun broke past the Breath, penetrated the barriers protecting Karne's body to dig deep into the dragon's front. And, while in that position, he swung the sword in a big arc, slicing up Karne's scales from his shoulder down to his belly.

"Miru!!"

Su-hyeun didn't skip a beat and shouted. Miru, preparing for this moment when he had entered Karne's barriers, finally released its own version of Breath.

Ruuuumble-

[High Breath.]

Miru's Breath definitely didn't lose out to Karne's. Such a powerful attack rained down on the orange dragon staggering from Su-hyeun's sword strike.

Kiiiaaaaaaah-!

Karne writhed violently from the pain before he curled up into a ball. He urgently spread out protective barriers around his body, but they were just not enough. Miru's Breath melted the barriers down, pushed past the scales and began scorching the flesh underneath.

It was hard to believe that a Breath of this magnitude came out of such a small body. The attack's power managed to exceed Su-hyeun's expectations once more.

But he thought he knew why Miru's Breath had suddenly gained a power-up like this.

<< Could it be because of the Cintamani? >>

The Cintamani was supposed to strengthen the power of the dragon race. And only the red dragons, the descendants of the dragon king, could control the mysterious red marble.

Miru getting stronger after gaining the Cintamani made perfect sense, in a way.

<< Well, we still won't see the end with just this much, so… >>

No matter how powerful Miru's Breath had gotten, in the end it was still a power based on magical properties. Meaning Karne, boasting an excellent resistance against magic, wouldn't lose his combat capabilities from Miru's Breath alone.

<< As I thought, this is the best one-shot kill method. >>

Su-hyeun grabbed the spears tied to his back.

Jiiii-iiiing-

The moment he gripped the tightly-fastened spear, the weapon suddenly let out a keen, angry howl.

[Dragon Slaying Spear.]

The weapon passed down from ancient times, designed and crafted solely for the purpose of killing dragons. Three such throwing spears Su-hyeun used often in his previous life were now held firmly in his hand.