EFME 38

The dungeon raid proceeded without a hitch, just as initially planned. On the third day, they discovered four statues and successfully hunted down a group of Kandiva without letting any escape. And safely, with only the last statue remaining, they rested there, anticipating the next day.

Having gone to sleep late at night, they woke up a little later in the morning. After everyone was thoroughly prepared, they finished getting ready to destroy the last statue.

“When you break the statue, the boss monster will use Dragon Fear. That Dragon Fear has a negative effect on people with low awakening grades, so keep this in your mouth.”

Muyoung said, holding out something that looked like a small candy. As Sunyul took it and put it in his mouth, an incredibly bitter taste spread.

“I’m ready.”

“Then I will break it.”

Yoonjae stepped forward. Immediately, with a small bang, the statue crumbled.

And then.

—Screeeeeeeech…….

A horrifying, scraping sound echoed.

‘I will annihilate the invaders.’

That’s what the dragon was saying. Sunyul listened to the sound quietly. Muyoung had said it would have a negative effect, but Sunyul felt completely fine.

At that moment, a strong force suddenly pulled Sunyul. Muyoung had pulled Sunyul into an embrace. Sunyul was a little flustered and tried to lift his head, but Muyoung’s hand gently pressed his head down.

“What, is he okay?”

“I think he was more shaken than I expected.”

Muyoung replied to Jaehoon’s question. Sunyul stopped trying to get away and held onto Muyoung tightly, thinking that even though he wasn’t shaken at all, Muyoung must have his reasons for saying so.

Muyoung continued to hold Sunyul a little longer, even after Yoonjae looked away from them.

Dragon Fear affects Awakeners of A-grade or lower. In fact, a low-grade collector was in the middle of retching, despite having experienced Dragon Fear several times.

There was no good to come from the fact that Sunyul, known to have no power, was standing there, unaffected by the Dragon Fear. If the Ability Management Office discovered Sunyul’s peculiarity, they would definitely show interest.

Muyoung only let go of Sunyul after the low-grade collector had recovered.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

Muyoung gently stroked the head of Sunyul, who had understood his intentions well. And just like that, as if nothing had happened, the preparations were complete.

Traveling to the mountain where the dragon’s lair was located by sleigh was instantaneous.

They couldn’t climb the dizzyingly steep mountain on the sleigh. Ilhyun, who was full of mana after a good rest, stepped up again. The party flew up the rugged mountain aboard [Cumulus Cloud].

The flight along the sheer cliffs was more chilling than the flight over the snowfields.

A somewhat frightened Sunyul clung to Muyoung like a lifeline. Kwon Muyoung accepting this was quite awkward in everyone’s eyes, but… after three nights and four days, they had gotten somewhat used to it, and it was possible to more or less ignore it.

The raid team formed up into their predetermined formation. Sunyul was scheduled to wait in the rear with Song Jihyun, Park Ilhyun, and the collector.

Ilhyun was B-grade and had used up most of his mana on the way up, and while Jihyun was A-grade, his combat abilities weren’t particularly strong. The two of them were originally tasked with protecting the collector in the rear during battles, so it was a very familiar arrangement.

With Muyoung taking the lead at the very front, they entered the lair situated at the mountain’s peak. At the edge of a flat space that looked intentionally carved out, several-meter-long chunks of rock were jutting out jaggedly.

A giant silver dragon opened its mouth wide, as if it had been waiting. It was a breath attack.

They might have panicked at the sudden attack, but it was a pattern they had become accustomed to through several hunts. Thanks to that, everyone managed to dodge it without much difficulty. The ground where the breath had landed was shattered. Its power was incredible.

Sunyul, in the rear, grew tense just from the loud noise. Jihyun used a skill to project the raid team’s image onto a mirror-like object floating in the air.

“Now, you have to focus on this. If the dragon comes this way, we have to run away quickly.”

“Yes, I’ll focus.”

“It’s just in case. They’ll stop it before it gets here, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

Jihyun said so, but the strength in Sunyul’s fists did not loosen. He was worried about himself, but also about Muyoung who had gone in there.

Dragons were beings that could freely use various kinds of magic, and they could use up to three different spells simultaneously.

A fierce blizzard began to rage. It was a snow that drained stamina and mana the moment it touched you. The offering made to the God of Winter was ineffective against a blizzard summoned directly by the dragon.

For that reason, the goal for the Sunyudo Dungeon’s boss fight was to end it as quickly as possible. The longer the battle dragged on, the more disadvantageous it became for their side, which was being drained of stamina and mana.

Muyoung habitually checked his own status.

[The ‘Ever-Victorious’ trait is active.]

[Attack power is greatly increased due to the ‘Ever-Victorious’ trait. (Time remaining: 11 hours 24 minutes)]

[The ‘Dungeon Adventurer’ trait is active.]

[All stats are increased due to the ‘Dungeon Adventurer’ trait.]

A simple but effective combination. After confirming that his traits were active without any issues, Muyoung immediately began to use his skills.

[Using the skill ‘Call of the Abyss’.]

Starting with Muyoung’s wide-range attack skill, a concentrated barrage of skills poured down on the dragon. Since ordinary skills couldn’t pierce the dragon’s hide, everyone unleashed the strongest skills they could use.

The dragon didn’t just stand there and take it. A barrier with a pale blue light enveloped the dragon’s body, completely blocking the attacks.

The dragon also knew well that the longer the fight went on, the more it was to its advantage. That’s why it focused more on defense than offense.

Of course, focusing on defense didn’t mean it stayed completely still. The dragon unleashed all sorts of magic. Lightning struck from the sky, and ice spikes shot up from the ground.

One by one, people started getting injured, unable to block all of the consecutive, rapid attacks.

Watching the injured fall back, Sunyul searched for Muyoung, who had momentarily disappeared from view. Not long after, an unharmed Muyoung came into sight.

‘Thank goodness.’

Compared to the others who were moving busily, Muyoung’s movements seemed leisurely. That was because when dodging was difficult, Muyoung was simply erasing the attacks themselves with his [Erase] skill.

Muyoung’s [Erase] and [Shadow Needles] repeatedly struck the barrier. Yoonjae’s [Explosion] and Jaehoon’s [Pouring Spears] also fiercely battered the barrier.

No matter how much mana was poured into it to strengthen it, a barrier has its limits. Under the continuous, fierce attacks, the dragon’s barrier finally broke. In the end, the dragon tried to fly up to avoid the attacks.

However, at that moment, something entangled and crushed the dragon’s body, slamming it to the ground. It was the result of Muyoung’s [Abyssal Touch] and Jaehoon’s [Gravity] being used together.

Muyoung immediately used his [Erase] skill. [Erase] worked instantly on opponents weaker than Muyoung, but the stronger the opponent, the less effective it was.

Against an S-grade like the dragon, it should be considered impossible to completely erase it with [Erase]. However, that didn’t mean the skill had no effect at all. The aggressive mana vibrated, and the dragon took a powerful hit.

—Kraaaaaaaahk!

[Using the skill ‘Mark of Ruin’.]

Taking advantage of the dragon’s weakened state, Muyoung used his skill. The dragon suddenly staggered as if drunk. Then, the blizzard abruptly stopped.

“It’s Confusion!”

Jaehoon shouted in excitement.

Muyoung’s [Mark of Ruin] inflicts one of four status effects: Poison, Darkness, Bleed, or Confusion, with a certain probability. Among them, Confusion had the lowest probability but was the most effective status effect.

An opponent afflicted with Confusion finds it difficult to make rational judgments. The Confusion had worked perfectly on the dragon, getting rid of the tiresome blizzard.

Unaware of its own abnormal state, the dragon began to randomly fire off skills. The blizzard had cleared, but since it could now use one more attack skill, defending became a bit more tricky. Though thanks to the confusion, quite a few of the attacks flew off to strange places.

After some time, the dragon fully recovered from the confused state. The blizzard started pouring down again, but it was the raid team that already had the upper hand.

The [Mark of Ruin] Muyoung used once more inflicted Poison on the dragon, and the movements of the dragon, whose health was already at rock bottom, began to slow down noticeably.

Yoonjae swung his red-hot sword at the dragon’s neck. The sword pierced through the severely weakened scales and hide, tearing the flesh. Then, onto the exposed, tender flesh, several [Shadow Needles] plunged in. Thwack, thwack.

—Guhhhhhhh…….

The dragon let out a low groan and collapsed.

Thump.

The raid was a success.

S-Grade Dungeon raid completed.

The shortest dungeon clear time record has been broken.

Rewards will be distributed according to contribution.

There is currently an error with the inventory function.
Rewards will be distributed to a temporary inventory.

A small box appeared in front of Sunyul. Sunyul reached out and grabbed the box.

“Is this the temporary inventory?”

Normally, dungeon raid rewards are automatically placed in one’s inventory. However, if a non-Awakener enters a dungeon and contributes to the raid, the rewards are placed in a box called a temporary inventory.

The box Sunyul was holding was precisely the temporary inventory for the reward.

“That’s right. Don’t open it here, let’s go up and open it all together.”

At Jihyun’s words, they went straight up to the lair. As soon as they got there, the collector scurried over to the dragon and began to dismantle it. As Sunyul watched, Muyoung and Yoonjae approached him.

“Is that the reward?”

“Yes. I just received it.”

“Let’s open it. See what it is.”

At Yoonjae’s words, Sunyul looked at Muyoung. Seeing Muyoung nod, Sunyul opened the box with great anticipation.

Inside was a red-colored potion in a bottle.