The Wyvern Lord beneath Sa-yoon’s hands began to convulse. It let out a choked, agonized sound—Kieek, kiiiik—trembling as it fought against the crushing pressure. Sa-yoon ignored the vibration, so intense it felt like it was making his own hair stand on end, and climbed directly onto the Wyvern’s head.
His feet found purchase on the beast’s crested forehead, and his hand moved to its snout. He activated the skill again. The Wyvern Lord, now thoroughly enraged, began to rotate violently in place, a desperate, thrashing spin meant to throw him off. It was a movement reminiscent of an alligator’s death roll. Sa-yoon merely clung to the creature’s neck, spinning with it, relentlessly applying his will.
The other Noble Blue Wyverns scythed through the air toward him, their teeth bared, trying to tear him away. But neither their sharp talons nor their vicious fangs could find purchase; Sa-yoon was a blur, moving in perfect, violent synchrony with the Lord’s rotation.
—KIEEEEK!
Realizing its tactic was failing, the Lord abruptly stopped spinning, flared its wings, and shrieked. It must have issued a silent command, because all the Blue Wyverns simultaneously shot upward, moving to save their leader.
—KIIIAAAAK!
The monsters’ cries tore the sky. But the more desperate their screams became, the deeper the curve of Sa-yoon’s smile grew. He was faster than a demigod’s attack, and thanks to his regenerative abilities, it hardly mattered when the Wyverns dived at him like eagles, their claws raking his body and their teeth tearing at his flesh. His body was tanking the damage on its own. All he had to do was focus on his skill.
Before one notification window could even fade, he was casting the skill again, and again, pushing the Lord to its limit. The Wyvern Lord, in its desperation, began to fly erratically, trying to shake him off through sheer, brutal speed.
“What in the world is he…”
The Association hunters, witnessing this completely nonsensical act in the middle of a battlefield, were aghast. The Night Rats guild members just laughed.
“It wouldn’t be our Hyung-nim if it wasn’t at least this insane.”
They all wore expressions of bizarre pride, boasting of their leader’s madness. Sa-yoon, as a grand finale to that madness, drew Dawn of Spring.
With the final cast, he raised the hand gripping the sword high.
Clang!
Dawn of Spring punched through the tough, sharp scales and tore through the leathery hide beneath. The moment the tip of the blade met the muscle, Sa-yoon channeled his power directly along the grain of the tissue. The Lord’s body went rigid, convulsing in mid-air.
—KIIIAAAK!
A final, tearing shriek ripped from its throat. A moment later, its body went limp, and it began to plummet.
“Fainting on me now would be inconvenient.”
Sa-yoon whispered, and without removing the blade, he poured a potion directly onto the wound. The Wyvern Lord’s body, jolted by the forced recovery, snapped back to consciousness. It had tried to escape into the dark, but the reality that slammed back into it was unavoidable.
Done.
Having finally obtained what he wanted, Sa-yoon stroked the forehead of the thoroughly traumatized Wyvern Lord. At the slow, possessive touch, the creature flared its great wings, arresting its headlong dive and soaring back up toward the sky.
—KIEEEEK!
It blasted a Fear attack at the heavens.
—KIIIAAK!
In perfect unison, the other Blue Wyverns responded to their Lord’s cry and turned, diving straight for the Black Wyverns.
RUMBLE!
The two swarms of monsters collided. The Noble Blue Wyverns, now allies, ambushed the Noble Black Wyverns that the Night Rats executives had been fighting, dive-bombing them from above. In an instant, the sky was a chaotic tangle of black and blue, a civil war raging among the Wyverns. The Association hunters’ jaws went slack, staring at the scene that had unfolded in the scant moments since Sa-yoon tamed the Blue Lord.
“Is that… even possible?”
“Theoretically, I guess, if you have a taming skill, but…”
“Didn’t they say Kwon Sa-yoon has no taming ability?”
“Who even knows at this point. It’s Sa-yoon. He could have just… gotten one.”
“…True.”
It was a rare and precious sight: hunters looking on with a perfect synthesis of shock and acknowledgment.
Sa-yoon, still perched on the Blue Wyvern Lord’s head, surveyed the battlefield. His executives, having had their prey stolen, had regrouped on Jongsik to overwhelm the Black Wyvern Lord.
“If you’re going to use me for combat, you’d better raise my salary!” a murderous, money-obsessed voice shrieked from the fray. Gyeongjin, grinding his teeth, was using his skills to lock the Black Wyvern Lord in place, while Yen and Jongsik rampaged within his established domain. The Black Wyvern Lord, its name now a mockery, was being beaten absolutely senseless by the two S-Ranks.
It’s only a ‘battle’ if the fighters are evenly matched. A Wyvern Lord was something a single S-Rank could typically handle. Having two of them pound on it was just a pitiful, one-sided assault.
Sa-yoon, feeling much more relaxed, sat down on the Lord’s head. The Black Wyverns were inherently stronger, but since his side now controlled the Blue Lord, their forces were roughly even.
“Hyung-nim! The Wyverns are stealing all our kills!”
“Who cares! Just focus on taking down the black ones!”
No, wait. The other Night Rats guild members were also joining the fight against the Black Wyverns. His side was now overwhelmingly superior.
At the sight—the first in history—of humans and Wyverns cooperating in a hunt, the Association hunters could only blink in dumb confusion. Sa-yoon glanced over at their side, where thirty of them were struggling desperately against the remaining three hundred Red Wyverns, and then lay back flat on his Wyvern Lord’s back.
“Hey! If you need help, wave a white flag or something!”
The crime of being infuriating was, in Sa-yoon’s book, the most heinous of all. He had no intention of helping the Association out of the goodness of his heart, not until they begged. Lee Han’s and Kang Han-seok’s faces crumpled in frustration. Min-cheol, however, merely looked as if he’d expected this, panting as he grimly clashed with his own Noble Wyvern. Sa-yoon, watching the spectacle from his perch, was inwardly impressed.
That old man’s skills haven’t rusted one bit.
Since becoming Association President, Min-cheol had rarely entered Gates. And yet, he was even stronger now than the last time they’d clashed. It was genuinely creepy. It was just like Min-cheol to be a tiger with its fangs pulled, one who still looked ready to rip your throat out at any moment.
RUMBLE!
At that moment, the Black Wyvern Lord finally fell from Gyeongjin’s domain, crashing to the ground, dead.
“Got the big one!”
The executives, now fully warmed up, dove into the chaotic dogfight. The tide of the battle turned decisively. The remaining Black Wyverns were slaughtered, and the Blue Wyverns, with about half their numbers still intact, turned their attention to the Red Wyverns.
Given the elemental mismatch, the victor was obvious. Soon, the Red Wyvern flock was also nearing total annihilation.
“Is it… finally over?” Min-cheol asked, trying to catch his breath. He had managed to take down his Noble Wyvern alone and was wiping the blood from his face.
“It’s just getting started.”
Sa-yoon, who had been calculating the total damage, stroked the neck of the Blue Wyvern Lord, which had served as his excellent mount. He gave it a final command: a peaceful suicide. The Wyvern Lord’s heart stopped. Sa-yoon leapt from the creature’s back, hovering in the air as it fell.
With that, all three Wyvern Lords were dead. Their corpses slammed into the sand and immediately began to melt, soaking the ground.
Sss…
A black water began to form, rapidly spreading and covering the desert landscape.
“What, what is this?”
“Lee Han-nim! The water, it’s rising!”
The hunters, seeing the water rise to their ankles in seconds, scrambled back in panic. The Gate was splitting into two zones: the area covered in black water, and the area not yet submerged. Knowing the latter would be consumed soon, Sa-yoon ordered his guild members to stay airborne and fixed his gaze on the spot where the three Lords had fallen.
Boogle-boogle.
The water in that spot began to boil, like lava.
“It’s coming.”
It was time for the true master of this battlefield to appear.
At his cold warning, the Night Rats guild members, who vividly remembered Abaddon’s appearance, tensed and watched the boiling water. Steam rose from the black surface. Chiiik! A sound like searing flesh hissed through the air as the dark water churned.
Dung. Dung. Dung.
A heavy, drum-like vibration echoed from deep below. Just as every hunter’s gaze locked onto the epicenter of the sound, a black presence surged from the water.
Pale gray bones. A dreadful, deathly energy (Sagi) pouring from between them. The overwhelming, suffocating pressure of a true ruler.
The Bone Dragon.
The very same monster that had plunged all the hunters at the Festival of Harmony into terror had now returned, rearing its head as a Watchman of the End.
Chwaaaak!
It burst free from the black water, soaring toward the sky. At that exact same instant, Han Geon-joo, who had been conserving every last drop of his power, kicked off the air and shot upward to meet it.
—Krrrrrrk!
At the call of the Dragon, a being of a higher order, the dead Wyverns rose from the sand, their bones snapping back together.
“Kuaaak!” “Keoheok!” “This is… fucking…!”
The dead Wyverns, now clad in the energy of death and far more powerful than they had been in life, dove at the hunters. The Night Rats guild members, still in the air, were also swarmed.
“Ah, shit! We just finished killing them all!” The guild members, looking utterly disgusted, quickly chugged recovery potions.
Round 2 had begun. Sa-yoon’s eyes remained fixed on the Bone Dragon.
—KWRARARARARA!
The fully awakened beast let out a deafening roar, blasting a Fear attack at the sky.
Kugugugu.
The bright, artificial sun in the sky extinguished, plunging the world into darkness.
…
…
…
Tiring, tiring, tiring.
With every alert that slammed into their ears, the hunters’ faces visibly rotted with despair. A few with weaker minds had already broken, their weapons falling from limp hands. Sa-yoon, hearing a notification that his Shingi was nullifying the curse, immediately checked on his executives. Any hunter without a Divine Artifact would be completely crippled by this.
This was no longer just a simple stat reduction. The enemies were stronger, and his side was weaker. They were in real danger of losing someone.
KEONG! Dadadat!
Just then, Fenrir (Rai) bounded across the battlefield, barking bravely, and planted himself directly beneath the executives, who had been the focus of Sa-yoon’s worry. The great wolf bared his fangs at the approaching undead Wyverns, his fur bristling with divine hostility.
AWOOOOOO!
Rai threw his head back, and a true wolf’s howl tore through the air.
A pillar of white light shot up from around Rai. The moment it washed over the executives, their pained, terrified expressions eased.
“You magnificent bastard.”
Sa-yoon grinned at Rai, who was now wagging his tail at him, and kicked off the ground, moving to the wolf’s side.
Rai’s Sacred Zone was powerful, but its range was pitifully small, less than five meters in radius. Sa-yoon downed a potion and stroked Rai’s thick fur.
“Gotta borrow your skill.”
He said it to both the white summon and its master.
Keong! Rai barked his assent. Lee Jae-hee nodded.
Sa-yoon activated his Share skill, and Rai’s divine senses flooded him. His vision blazed with light, and a vast, sacred power surged into his heart.
“Hoo…”
He exhaled that power, unleashing a skill of his own. His frosty aura, which he let flow from his body, was instantly consumed by the white sacred power, transforming into holy energy.
The frost, now sanctified, scattered into the air. It carried Sa-yoon’s will, branching out in all directions, illuminating the darkened sky.
“Ah…”
Gasps of awe rose from below. In the sunless Gate, a new, small sun, created from holy power, shone down on the hunters.
The black water began to evaporate. Sa-yoon, confirming that most of the hunters were now within his protective domain, swallowed a surge of blood that rose in his throat and turned.
He had expanded it as wide as he possibly could, but there was still one person, flying too high and too far, who remained outside his protection.
RUMBLE!
Far above, the sound of Han Geon-joo colliding with the Bone Dragon echoed across the sky.
His work on the ground was done. The Association and Night Rats could handle the Wyvern legion.
Now, it was Han Geon-joo’s time to shine.