-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Jasmine's not-so-large cabin, in the living room,
There was a large dining table.
'I thought the table was unusually large for the size of the house even back then.'
Jasmine came out with bowls full of soup, one by one.
"Here, there's plenty, so if anyone wants more, feel free to ask."
The men each threw in a word.
"Jasmine's meat soup is the best in our village."
"Why don't you open a restaurant?"
"Hey, Paul. If you open a restaurant in this small village, who's going to come and buy it?"
"We'll buy it every day. Hahaha."
Davian looked at the bowl of soup in front of him.
As the men said, it was really delicious soup.
And.
Poisoned soup.
'Me, Mons, and Latia are immune to all poisons because we took the Green Dragon's elixir from Glacie. Insaneness… surely he won't be affected by the poison?'
Davian started eating the soup deliciously.
"By the way, where are you travelers headed?"
Davian, who had emptied about half of his soup, replied.
"The Marino Empire's spies kidnapped my father. I'm going to save him."
Keheop!
Mons was so surprised that he almost spat out the soup he was eating.
How could he say such a thing so casually?
This was something that should be approached secretly, if at all.
Especially since the family head's life was at stake.
"Young Master?"
Davian looked at Mons.
Mons put his index finger to his lips and whispered.
"If you say everything like that...!"
"What's wrong? These people all know."
"Huh?"
Davian turned his head and looked around at the people eating with them.
"Wait a minute… Were you guys Base X-11 or X-12?"
He learned about the numbering of the bases this time.
Thanks to the map given to him by the faceless assassin Nox Louis.
Instantly.
The friendly atmosphere in the living room turned icy.
The villagers exchanged hurried glances with each other.
Jasmine shouted.
"Attack!"
Seureung.
They were the ones who shouted to attack first.
But Mons was the one who drew his sword the fastest.
Impressive reaction speed.
"Young Master! Behind me!"
"Oh, okay. Mons. Thanks."
Davian got up and slowly walked behind Mons.
Meanwhile, the men took out various weapons they had been hiding.
Latia asked.
"Davian, what's going on?"
"What's going on? The rescue plan I mentioned has begun."
"The rescue plan has begun?"
"Oh, I didn't tell you. The concept for this rescue plan is to destroy everything."
"Are those people all spies?"
"Yeah. They probably put a lot of poison in the soup we ate."
Hwareuk.
Flames erupted on Latia's hands.
Latia turned her head and glared at the villagers.
"Cowardly bastards!"
In the meantime, the battle between Mons and the village men, or rather, the spies, had begun.
"Mons, Latia. Please take care of this."
"Young Master, where are you going?"
"Outside."
Kwaang!
Davian, who was standing behind Mons, turned around and kicked the wall of the cabin.
With a loud noise, the entire wall was torn off.
Insaneness followed Davian.
"Interesting, interesting. You're a really unique human."
"What do you mean?"
"You're angry, but your energy is calm. Humans are creatures who are honest with their emotions. How can you do that?"
"It's just… I've been through a lot of things."
"Davian, you're quite young for a human, aren't you? You said you've only lived for 18 years."
18 years.
For a dragon who lives for thousands of years.
It's just a fleeting moment.
"There's a saying that age is just a number."
That's not what it's used for in this case.
It's usually used to hide the regret of being old.
Davian just said something random in response to Insaneness's question.
Insaneness slowly nodded.
"I see. It's not important how long we've lived or how much time we have left. It's more important how meaningful each step we take is than how long or short our journey has been, Davian Naone."
What are you talking about?
"The same will be true of the life ahead. It's more important how meaningfully I walk than how long or short the path I have left to walk is."
Whatever.
Davian unknowingly gave the dragon a small realization.
"What's your plan now? Killing intent is rising from all over the village."
"All the people in this village are spies."
"I suppose so. So, what's the plan?"
"I'm thinking of burning this whole place down."
Insaneness's eyes sparkled.
"With that flame magic you used on me? Yes. Show it to me. That humans can create such flames."
He must be talking about the flames that melted his scales and burned more than half of his bones.
It's a shame, but.
There's no need to use the Fire Wave skill here.
9-star intermediate mana is more than enough to deal with these guys.
Insaneness nodded as if to say he understood.
"I see. That's a shame. I'll see it someday."
Davian looked around the village streets.
"Is everyone out?"
People who felt the commotion were popping out of the huts here and there, looking at Davian and Insaneness.
They were holding various weapons in their hands.
Among them were wizards and those with unique auras.
Davian's palms faced the sky.
Hwareuk, hwareuk, hwareuk.
Around Davian.
Continuously, blazing red flames were being created.
"Attack, attack!"
All the special mission forces of Base X-11 began to rush towards Davian.
But.
Dozens of fireballs were already completed around Davian.
Davian lightly snapped his fingers.
Hwoong, hwoong.
Dozens of fireballs shot forward at the same time.
Pung! Puh-oong!
They hit the torsos of the people running ahead and exploded.
Kwaang! Kwang!
They scattered and exploded the village buildings.
"Ugh! Dodge, dodge!"
"What! He's much stronger than we were told!"
"He's not someone we can handle!"
The village was instantly turned into a sea of fire.
After unleashing just one attack.
Not a single building in the village was left intact.
The special mission forces were already either dead or running around in a daze with flames on their bodies.
They desperately rolled on the ground to try to put out the fire.
But.
It's no use.
The fire element magic of a 9-star intermediate wizard.
It's not a flame that can be extinguished in that way.
A wizard in the back tried to put out the fire on his comrade's body by spewing water element magic.
Likewise.
It's no use.
It's not a flame that can be extinguished with the water element magic of a second-rate wizard.
"It's not as strong as the flame that covered my body, but it's amazing. Davian Naone. You're incredibly skilled for a human."
In the meantime.
Mons and Latia finished cleaning up the cabin and came out.
Latia's mouth dropped open as she came out of the building.
"Wh-what is all this?"
The whole village is on fire.
Latia Meridiem, who has a high mana affinity, could faintly feel even the mana contained within the flames.
"Davian Naone…"
8-star...?
No.
More than that.
'How...'
How could he possibly spread this fire element magic with such mana.
And in such a short amount of time.
She saw the opposing wizard spewing water to try to put out the fire on his comrade's body.
He was so flustered and focused on pouring mana into the water element magic.
He hadn't even noticed the fireball flying towards him yet.
Puh-oong!
"Kuaaagh!"
Hwareureuk!
The fireball that collided with the wizard's body exploded greatly, engulfing the area in flames.
While Latia was admiring Davian's formidable mana.
Insaneness nudged Davian.
"Davian."
"Yes?"
"Have humans become stronger during the six hundred years I was sealed? How many more humans are as strong as you?"
"I don't know. The world is wide."
That means he doesn't know.
But Insaneness, just like before.
He interpreted Davian's words as he pleased.
"You mean there are none in the world you know, at least. No humans stronger than you."
But this time.
It's not wrong.
Davian lightly shrugged his shoulders.
Insaneness, who saw that, muttered to himself.
"I'll have to go and talk to Ignis soon. To tell him that there's a very interesting human."
Davian asked.
"Ignis?"
"Ah. A Red Dragon who lives on the Osid Continent."
Davian had a feeling that very.
Very annoying things were about to happen.
Mons approached and shouted.
"Young Master! You've gotten stronger in the meantime! Amazing!"
"What."
"But now that we've caused such a ruckus here, news might reach the enemies' ears. I'll go and chase down and deal with any stragglers who might have escaped."
Davian shook his head.
"It's okay."
"Yes? What if the surviving stragglers go back to the main base and report?"
"There aren't any."
"Yes?"
"There aren't any. Like surviving stragglers."
"Ah..."
Mons turned his head back to look at the burning village.
"You didn't just burn the village... You burned every last one of them."
"Yeah."
Mons patted Davian's shoulder.
"As expected of you, Young Master. You show no mercy to those who dare to kidnap the family head. That just shows how great your love for your father is."
No.
Of course, he has no memories of his childhood.
And his father is someone he's only met twice in the last run.
It's just.
He's annoyed with the repeating quest.
'What? Stats reset if failed?'
There was definitely no such penalty last run.
=====
[Quest: Rescue Count Edward Naone]
―The head of the Naone family has been kidnapped.
―Rescue him safely.
―Reward: 25K Mana Points (x2)
―Failure: Stats reset
=====
'The reward is only 25K, but the penalty for failure is so severe.'
The crazy system.
It's deliberately tormenting Davian.
That's why he's very annoyed.
Through minor achievement events.
Davian's current achievements are.
Charm 95, Leadership 68, Dignity 59, Luck 61.
It's not as direct as Mana Points or Skills.
But stats are also quite important.
Especially, the higher your Leadership or Dignity, the easier it is to lead and persuade others.
'Surely it doesn't mean he's going to make them all 0.'
If he's not going to make them all 0.
That means he's going back to the stat values he roughly distributed when he created the game character.
Back when Leadership was 50 and Dignity was 20.
'He thinks I'll let that happen.'
He was annoyed inside.
But Davian didn't outwardly show that expression.
Instead.
Davian's eyes shone sharply.
Insaneness looked at Davian.
'That look...'
It's a complete.
The look of a predator.
Predator.
The being at the top of the food chain.
'The human who melted my scales and tried to burn away the Dragon Heart. Davian Naone. So this guy is the one. The guy at the top of the human food chain.'
Davian waved his hand once.
The flames parted to the sides.
And a path was created through the burning village.
"Let's go. To the next place."
"Yes? Yes. Young Master."
"Davian, what on earth happened to you? What is that fire element magic?"
Mons and Latia followed Davian.
Insaneness, who was looking at the three people's backs, moved his feet and muttered.
"It's going to be a very fun and meaningful game."
Comments
Post a Comment