Chapter 147

Chapter 147

“Dragon Roar sure is thrilling, huh?”

– Kwahahaha. Now that I’ve manifested my true form, you’re finished!

Briasilius floated in midair, sharpening the claws on his short forelimbs.

Indeed, the majesty of a dragon whose body rivaled an entire building was formidable.

– Take this! A fireball unleashed with the power of my true form.

Whoosh-!

A massive ball of fire erupted in the sky.

The fireball, its flames so immense they seemed to warp space, was so enormous it made one question whether it was truly a fireball.

‘That’s a bit dangerous.’

Dojae began running the moment the fireball appeared.

Even if it was a low-level fireball spell, he couldn’t be certain his golem armor could withstand a direct hit from a dragon’s fireball.

Thud-thud-!

– Dodging around like that, you look just like a ring mouse!

“What’s that?”

– Yeah. It’s a mob that spawns in the beginner hunting grounds. Auto-hunting isn’t unlocked yet, so you have to manually control your character to kill it. But it’s faster than you’d think, so it’s hard to control.

“Is this a game…?”

Whoosh-!

Pwooahh-!

A fireball plunges toward Dojae.

In an instant, it turns the ground into a sea of flames.

“Is that really a fireball? Not hellfire?”

Dojae filled the melting golem armor with new stones as he escaped the flames.

He avoided the direct hit, but the attack’s wide range meant he couldn’t evade completely, grazing the edge. The intense heat made the stones of his golem armor glow red-hot and melt.

Thanks to this, Dojae was drenched in sweat inside the armor, but his resistance to heat increased slightly.

Resistance: Sonic Waves (50%) / Heavy Rain (30%) / High Heat (60%) / Lightning (20%) / Cold (35%) / Dryness (25%) / Poison (80%) / Paralysis (65%)

– How about it? Can’t do anything, huh? Surrender. Then this gracious Lord Briasilius will show you mercy.

“Pfft, surrendering to this measly heat? Next time I’ll take you to a sauna. You’ll learn what real heat is.”

– Hmph. Even so, you can’t do a thing. I’m up here in the sky. What can you do without wings? Ha!

Briasilius continued firing spells, taunting Dojae.

But Dojae dodged the spells diligently and asked.

As if he refused to lose even in a verbal battle.

“Do those wings even help you fly? Aren’t you floating by magic?

– You… T? That’s what I’m saying. Anyone can see these tiny wings couldn’t possibly lift a dragon’s body.

“Come down. A dragon floating in midair, scared of a mere human?

Dojae taunted Briasius.

He thought a proud dragon would take the bait.

But Briasilius saw through Dojae’s intent and remained suspended in the sky, looking down at him.

– Did you really think I’d fall for such a shallow provocation? Ha ha. Why would I? I’ll just keep spamming magic until you’re exhausted. The mana concentration inside the dungeon is thicker than outside, which suits me just fine.

Pitter-patter-!

A rain of fire fell from the sky.

It was the same spell used during the Busan campaign.

‘If this keeps up, it’ll never end. Looks like you’re completely ruling out physical attacks.’

If they just come down to the ground, I should be able to land a decent attack.

Just like back then, even dragon scales were sliced cleanly by Dojae’s black blades.

‘Shall I give it a try?’

Dojae tucked the black scales into his pocket dimension.

After all, the sword would be useless for what came next.

– Heh heh. Surrendering? Yeah, yeah, good thinking. Let’s wrap this up and grab some chicken and beer for dinner. I’ve got a place lined up that delivers draft beer with no delivery fee.

Briasilius slowly descended to the ground, preparing to polymorph back into human form.

But then, about 10 meters above the ground…

Briasilius hesitates.

Sensing something, he shot back up into the sky.

– What the hell… How big does it plan to get?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Boulders poured out from Dojae’s sub-space.

Not just ordinary gray or brown rocks, but multicolored ores flowed ceaselessly out of the sub-space.

The immense volume of rocks seemed to have extracted every last ore within the sub-space.

– Hey, hey, is this for real?

Dojae’s height surpassed 5 meters, then 7 meters, 8 meters, and soared well beyond 10 meters.

Whoosh.

Dojae finally stopped growing.

It had become enormous, standing a whopping 15 meters tall.

“I’ve never seen it grow this big before…”

Dojae swung his long arms, perfectly suited to his massive frame.

The completed form had proportions somewhat awkward for a human; it resembled a knight clad in heavy armor more than the physique of an ordinary person.

‘Is it because I recalled that image?’

Yes, that was it.

Dojae’s form resembled that colossus he had seen in the dungeon where he first obtained the golem’s heart.

Dojae had crafted the golem armor by imagining that colossus made of steel, which had boasted immense size and majesty.

‘Was this the effect of the golem’s skeleton?’

Even excluding the naturally moving arms and legs, Dojae felt no sense of alienation from his enlarged body.

When he became an ogre in America, he had felt unnatural in his physical adaptation.

But even after growing this large, Dojae could feel the same sensation in every part of his body, as if it were his original form.

Moreover, the effect was most vividly felt through his senses.

‘I can see all the way to the end.’

The open feeling, like standing on a building’s rooftop.

Certainly, Dojae’s face should have been buried within the golem armor, unable to see outside.

Yet the blue ore embedded in the helmet encasing his head glowed like Dojae’s own eyes, providing a wide-open field of vision.

– Holy shit. Hey… You’re not seriously planning to fight like that, are you?

Puhwaaah-!

Briasilius, his voice panicked, repeatedly fired fire magic at Dojae.

The larger the area, the more fireballs struck Dojae’s golem armor.

Clatter-clatter-.

The outer shell, hit by the magic, peeled off and chipped away bit by bit, but Dojae swiftly repaired it, restoring it to its original state.

‘The mana consumption is enormous. I need to finish this quickly.’

The sheer size meant far more mana drained than his usual golem armor.

Calculating that amount, the maximum time he could move was about 10 minutes.

And if he factored in the mana needed for repairs, that could be cut in half.

‘First, take down Briasius.’

Dojae looked up at Briasius floating in the sky.

Briasilius, who had seemed so towering in his human-form golem armor, now appeared quite close when viewed in his giant form.

Close enough that if he leaped with all his strength, he could grab it.

Pshshsh-!

Dojae pushed off the ground with all his might and leaped.

The ground caved in, creating a large crater, but to Dojae, it was barely a dent.

– Whoa?

Even in his human form, Dojae could leap high enough to clear a five-story apartment building.

Now, with the body of a giant, he soared to heights several times that in a single bound.

Thud!

– Hey!

He barely managed to grab hold of Briasilius’s tail.

If Briasilius had risen just a bit faster into the air, he would have missed it.

“Stop being a coward and fight on the ground.”

Dojae yanked on Briasilius’s tail.

With added force and weight, the dragon’s massive body gradually plummeted toward the ground.

Thud!

As if an earthquake struck, the earth shook with a tremendous roar as Dojae’s feet touched the ground.

Without pausing, Dojae pulled on Briasilius’s tail with one hand while grabbing its wing with the other.

– Ugh! Hey, I’m not fully healed yet!

Briasilius twists his body, likely in pain from his injured wing.

Seeing his chance, Dojae leaps onto his back, wrapping both arms around his long neck.

– Grrrr…

Briasilius struggled violently, his throat constricted.

But once his neck was locked in place, there was no escaping.

Kwaaang-!

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-

Magic fell upon Dojae’s back, and the impact sent rocks flying.

Yet the harder it hit, the tighter Dojae squeezed his arms.

“Are you going to surrender?”

– No? Like I’d ever surrender!

Whoosh-!

Briasilius soared upward, tumbling backward as he struggled to shake Dojae off.

The harder he struggled, the tighter Dojae wrapped his legs around Briasius’s body, choking him even more desperately.

– Guhh…!

Magic continued to seethe against Dojae’s golem armor.

Dojae calculated his remaining mana.

At most, 30 seconds.

– I’m dying! I’m dying! Stop! Ha… I surrender!

***

Swoosh-.

Thud-thud-thud-.

Briasilius and Dojae simultaneously shrank in size.

One was enveloped in light, gradually shrinking, while the other was a rock that fell to the ground, steadily diminishing.

Finally, when both returned to human form, they found themselves standing atop a shallow stone hill.

“When did you learn that?”

“Not long ago. It was my first time too, so it was touch-and-go.”

“Nail-biting? What was?”

“My mana was almost depleted. Ten seconds? No, if I’d held out just five more seconds, I would’ve had to call it quits.”

“Hey! Do it again!”

Dojae ignored Briasilius and perched on a round boulder.

The mana drain was one thing, but the physical exhaustion was considerable too.

He’d pretended to be fine in front of Briasius, but Dojae had always fought at full strength. Though he seemed to have dodged everything, some attacks had landed, leaving him with shallow burns in several places.

But considering he’d fought the strongest lifeform, a dragon, this level of damage was a bargain.

“Hey, you. Did you go easy on me?”

“Of course! …I’d like to say that, but I was giving it my all too.”

“Oh? Is that so….”

Dojae stroked his chin, recalling the Busan campaign.

Compared to then, Briasilius’s attack power was somewhat diminished.

Whereas back then he’d unleashed both brute force and magic indiscriminately, this time it felt more calculated, like he was fighting with precision.

Of course, Gelahan’s domination had caused blind hostility and made his mana unstable, but even so, Dojae felt it wasn’t the skill befitting a dragon’s name.

Dojae glanced sideways at Briasilius, who was absentmindedly brushing back his red hair, and said.

“Be honest. You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

“What am I hiding? You’re not really going to kill me twice like that, are you? I’m already pissed enough about losing.”

“It’s fine since it’s not a person. Anyway, if that’s its true power, hasn’t it gotten way too weak?”

Trembling-.

Briasilius glared, hands on his hips.

His lips twitched slightly, as if anger was rising.

“Hmph… What’s the point of getting angry at a mere human? Actually, calling it my true strength is a bit much. I’m just putting in a little effort with something.”

“What is it? What are you doing?”

“I’m not telling you! If you’re curious, why don’t we have another round?”

Briasilius stuck out his tongue, taunting him.

Seeing that face, identical to his own, wearing such an expression, made Dojae feel quite unpleasant.

“Fine. So what’s your real skill level? Before you were under Gelahan’s control, I mean.”

“I’m not telling you that either!”

“This is essential info for fighting Gelahan. What if he enslaves another dumb dragon like you and sends it here?”

“Stupid?”

“Ah, my mistake. Not stupid, but simple. If the strongest creature on earth, called the agent of the gods, can be toyed with by a scum like Gelahan, isn’t that because you’re simple?”

Grr-.

Veins bulged on Briasilius’s forehead.

Only then did Dojae smile with a look of satisfaction.

“Blowing mana into a bracelet?”

“Ugh. Fine! It’s my fault! It’s all my fault for getting tangled up with a guy like you.”

“Nice attitude. Since we’re at it, explain properly. About dragons.”

“Alright. Listen carefully. I’m only going to say this once.”

“Yeah, my memory’s better than you’d think.”

“Ugh, you’re worse than a dragon…”