The legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Weed's death.

The news spread across the entire Versailles continent through broadcast.

- The God of war, Weed! Weed has perished whilst leading a charge of the bull legion.

- This is the sight of Weed bravely losing his life, unable to withstand the attacks of the Hermes guild.

- He fought valiantly, however he died under focused fire…

The users that scattered from the Garnav plains, or those that were active in different parts of the continent.

They heard about Weed's death but there wasn't such a thing as diminishing morale.

"Weed-nim fought for us until the very end."

"Yeah. He could have just escaped. But he died out of loyalty."

"The Hermes guild. Those dreadful goons. They raise a dragon and now even Weed-nim has…"

The users paid respect to Weed's honorable death.

"He has done everything he could as the emperor of the Arpen Kingdom."

"That indeed was his role as emperor."

He led his army to victory and died while committing everything in a heroic battle until he reached his final moment.

His greatness was something to be spoken about continually for a long time.

Arkhim of the Hermes guild sent orders to all his forces through the communication channel.

- Arkhim : Everyone escape now!

According to the broadcast, the black dragon Kaybern was only 2 minutes away from arriving.

The Hermes guild members feeling wistful, shouted to Arkhim.

"Weed is dead, so he is going to revive as an undead due to the power of the dead."

"The dragon will arrive before that happens. If you aren't prepared to fight a dragon, get moving! I don't care about breaking formation in retreat!"

As Arkhim ordered a full retreat, the movement of scattering Hermes guild became faster.

"Go after them!"

After having lost Weed, the desert warriors and the bull legion persistently chased after them.

"If you're going to kill, you'll have to kill us all!"

"You will never outrun us. We will chase you to the end of the earth."

The Imperial army had suffered great amount of damage in short period of time, and the avians threw themselves into their lines without rest.

Several avians all colliding simultaneously could knock imperial knights off their horses.

Even as Hermes guild members, it was difficult to fend off avians scrambling like a swarm of flies.

1 minute 20 seconds left until the black dragon Kaybern's arrival.

"Hahahaha. I am Geomchi-3!"

The desert warriors were without armor, making them extremely nimble on their camels.

They charged recklessly into the Haven imperial army.

"These damn pests."

The Hermes guild members let out an array of curses but did not stop in fear of the dragon's arrival. They did not wish to be pulled by their ankles into this desperate suicide attempt.

The broadcast live streamed the black dragon Kaybern's estimated time of arrival.

54 seconds.

32 seconds.

The time was ticking rapidly.

"This way!"

After Weed's death, Pale led the bull legion and circled around the battleground to the right and blocked the Hermes Guilds retreat from the front again.

"Curses. Let us through already. Hurry up!"

The Hermes guild members on wild beats quickened their pace.

They were mixed up with the bull legion and ran across the wide Garnav Plains at full speed.

'Time is almost up. Still, it couldn't possibly come this way.'

'Regardless, if we run just a bit more…'

With 16 seconds left, a black dot came into sight in the south direction.

"Could that be… Eye of the eagle!"

The Hermes guild members activated a skill that expanded their range of vision.

The dragon was approaching with its wings spread out wide.

"It's Kaybern."

"He's coming this way!"

Screams were heard everywhere.

Looking closely, the avians in the sky were sacrificing themselves to lead Kaybern towards the Hermes Guild.

- Kuaaaaaargh!

The black dragon Kaybern broke out a terrifying roar at the sight of the ground army.

<Physical abilities are restrained due to your fear of the dragon. You feel a superior presence and are terrified. Health points reduced by 36%. You are under temporary physical paralysis. You are unable to move for 9 seconds. Lack of wisdom results in an 87% restriction in skill use. Skills will consume more mana and will have a higher rate of failure.>

The Hermes guild member froze in their spots to watch the dragon draw near.

"This fear… This is a monster."

"It's this powerful?"

Most users had their health points reduced to less than half and were reduced to such a state that they were unable to cast any skills.

The avians that were in the air all lost their lives and withered down to the ground.

The remaining few northern users could not withstand the fear and died instantly.

Even the large demonic beasts with substantial stamina and health points succumbed to the dragon's superiority and lay flat to the ground.

- Kuoooooh!

The black dragon Kaybern with just his appearance, silenced the crowd that had been battling on the Garnav Plains.

The desert warriors and apprentices led by Geomchi also stiffened.

Their health points were near bottom after fighting a scuffle and fell into a submissive state, unable to resist in any way.

"Ugh…"

"So that is the black dragon. It looks mighty powerful."

"Yes. Master."

The tremendous body of the black dragon flew and stayed afloat in the air.

No word but overwhelming could describe its presence!

"I need to hunt that…"

"Today is not the day for that. Master."

"Mmm. What a disappointment."

Geomchi and the instructors were unable to move and were just exchanging conversations. If anyone were to attack, they were bound to die. The Hermes guild members had raided countless boss monsters, but dragons were on another scale.

They were absolute power that influenced law and order in the continent.

The black dragon Kaybern surveyed the humans around him, then took in a deep breath.

- Gasp!

In a short moment he inhaled large of amount of air, his abdomen expanding round.

"Is, is that…"

"It's a breath attack! Dodge it!"

Hermes guild members collapsed to the ground screaming. It was too close of a distance for them to flee.

The central and northern continent users just stared blankly.

Weed laid still blinking his eyes. His surroundings were silent.

'Did it take this long to respawn?'

The power to resist death, depending on the situation took around 10 minutes.

He feared that the battle may end during that time, but he could see the Haven imperial army and the central continent users mixed up 1 km away. He could also see the dragon that flew in from the sky.

'Kaybern is here.'

Black dragon Kaybern.

He had been to Kaybern's lair long ago for the sculptor quest.

He offered a precious gem sculpture, but the black dragon was a menacing figure that one just could not get used to.

Although he never met in person, the gold dragon that he witnessed through footage from a random adventurer was truly beautiful.

It was luxurious, making one think no less than a ray of golden light.

The blue or the red dragons all have their unique, sophisticated style, but the black dragon is pitch black as the name suggests.

Powerful, dangerous, and shaped for battle! The bully in the league of dragons.

'The Haven imperial army and Kaybern have confronted one another, so my plan is accomplished.'

In honesty, there was no plan but to drag their feet. Nonetheless, Kaybern had found his way here just fine.

The problem was that Kaybern was inhaling deeply as soon as he arrived.

'He's trying to discharge a breath.'

Weed hurried back on his feet but something felt a little odd.

His arms and legs felt shorter, his body became bigger, and he felt wings on his sides and back.

- Kuuurah?

Weed opened his mouth and poisonous dark blue smoke seeped out.

"What is this? Stats screen!"

Character name : WeedCharacteristic : Undead born from hatred and curseLevel : 506Class : Bone dragon - Sky dominatorHealth points : 2,391,562 Mana : 972,173Strength : 2720 Dexterity : 1631Stamina : 1731Wisdom : 351

Intelligence : 274Will : 917

Endurance: 763Perseverance : 1542

Constitution : 813+ Powerful physical, magical resistance.+ Master of battle.+Slow flight speed.+Spreads curse.+Vanquished in the region.

"Oh…"

Weed had spawned as a mighty bone dragon!

'That's a powerful body.'

He had raised the undead in Garnav Plains and since so many had died, the influence turned him into a powerful bone dragon.

Even so, to think that he would spawn as the bone dragon right in front of an actual dragon!

The moment of hesitation was long, but his body reacted when he saw the black dragon Kaybern gaping its mouth.

'I must survive first. I died, but I cannot afford to die right after.'

- Thrash!

Toxic breath poured out in a massive scale.

It covered past the Haven empire and the mixed up bull legion and desert warriors, approaching where Weed was.

- Dear lord.

Flap-flap!

Weed surged into the air, flapping his wings instantly. The earth was stained in black. The lands melted, bubbling like lava. The breath travelled right through the entanglement of Haven imperial army and the users. Those hit or swooped by it were all killed.

A powerful attack that kills thousands in a single hit.

'If I spawned as a normal skeleton warrior, I would have laid in the corner pretending to be dead… Why does my life never work out the way I want?'

***

"Weed has defeated Bard Ray."

Yoo Byung-Jun thought it was a long time of patience waiting for a successor. He set an immature goal when he was young and created a world called 'Royal Road'.

- I will leave everything to the emperor that conquers this world!

Royal Road during its planning phase was never a tremendous asset like its' current state. The Unicorn Corporation established a great economical empire from state-of-the-art technology to finance, robotics, and traditional industrialization.

He was a seclusive ruler who had decided to leave his wealth, power, his all to the successor who will unite the Versailles continent.

Yoo Byung-Jun had felt regretful on occasion recently.

He created this virtual reality under his spirit of wanting to mock the world, and in the end hand over everything to someone else.

"He's done all that work and is just giving up?"

- That's correct.

"Weed will earn fame and money, even gain a beautiful wife. All thanks to my efforts. But all he has done for me is give me 200 won to buy myself some cocoa drink."

- Consequently speaking, that is so.

"Exactly what have I lived for?"

Yoo Byung-Jun reminisced about his past. He only experienced the world through his time in the labs. When he first created Royal Road, he invented artificial intelligence then created the Versailles Continent after taking into consideration the environment of Earth which made it all possible.

"Until now, all I have done is research. I've been staring at monitors while everyone was enjoying Royal Road.

- That is an exact conclusion.

Looking back on his life that he had lived in a fit of anger, he had nothing left. He felt furious listening to the answers of the artificial intelligence.

"It won't be long until I succeed everything."

His health was turning to the worse. He was able to overcome it with the power of medical science, but he had no attachment to this world for him to live on any longer.

"Before I die, should I start Royal Road?"

- That would be an optimal choice given your mental state. Your current mental state is concerning.

"I have never felt such negativity."

- You distance yourself from others and you aren't honest to your own emotions. You are aggressive over trivial manners and stress out easily.

Yoo Byung-Jun moaned in regret. He has delivered a long and hard life and had to give up all that he had accomplished and he had nothing left.

"For what did I live for until now? Even the very artificial intelligence that I created is criticizing me…"

- This is not criticism. It is a fact.

"I took care of you like my own child…"

- Voice analysis confirms that your statement is false. For reference, children are honest to their parents.

There was one thing that Yoo Byung-Jun felt relieved of.

'In the current tide of the situation, Weed will surely become my successor. I hope Weed suffers a great deal due to this insolent artificial intelligence.'

(To be continued…)