CHAPTER 122: WHERE THE DRAGON HAS FALLEN ASLEEP (5)

Kang Chan-Hyuk's eyes twitched as he let out a dry chuckle and spun the dagger in his hand. “You’re still spitting the same bullshit.”

“Oh, how terrifying, coming from the guy who lost his entire guild to that 'bullshit,'” Kwon Oh-Jin replied.

Kang Chan-Hyuk’s face twisted in fury. “You son of a...!”

Flipping his dagger into a reverse grip, he charged at Kwon Oh-Jin.

Whoosh!

Despite his bullish steps, the ground neither shook nor cracked. Instead, it bounced like a soft mattress.

He shot up to the side and sprinted along the cave walls. “Let’s see if you can still yap with a hole in your throat!”

“Man, you guys all sound the same.”

Does worshiping the Black Stars come with a mandatory drop in linguistic skills? Kwon Oh-Jin thought.

He leaned backward, dodging the dagger aimed at his neck. Pivoting on his right foot, he spun, grabbed the back of Kang Chan-Hyuk’s head, and threw him at the wall.

Kang Chan-Hyuk swiftly somersaulted to avoid a head-on collision. “Ugh!”

Crackle!

A storm of blue lightning rushed at him.

“Tsk, this crap isn't worthy...!”

According to the association’s official ranking, the Thunder Wolf was a five-star while he was an eight-star Awakener. Therefore, he charged straight into the oncoming lightning, figuring he could just tank the half-baked attack—until it landed.

Crackle!

“Aaagghhh!”

The lightning shot through him, sending horrific pain all the way from his skull down to his groin and paralyzing his muscles. As his legs gave out and he toppled forward, Kwon Oh-Jin kicked his head like it was a soccer ball.

Whack!

Kang Chan-Hyuk spun like a top before slamming into the wall.

“Keuhk! Kugh! Guhk!" He spat out blood and stared at Kwon Oh-Jin with wide eyes. "N-No way a five-star Awakener is this strong.”

The force behind that lightning strike was on par with Kang Chan-Hyuk's own star level—if not greater.

Kwon Oh-Jin smirked as he watched Kang Chan-Hyu trembling from the shock. So, eight-star opponents aren’t much of a challenge anymore, huh?

A top-tier eight-star Awakener like Lee Woo-Hyuk would have been a different story, but Kang Chan-Hyuk was an intermediate eight-star Awakener at best.

The real problem is those guys.

He shifted his gaze toward the five Owls silently watching him from the shadows—the Black Star Society’s elite Night Hunters. If they joined the fight, it wasn’t going to be easy.

“But it'll be even more fun.”

A tingling thrill coursed through him, and his heart pounded violently.

Thump, thump.

He casually flicked his fingers at the Night Hunters. “Are you guys just gonna stand there and watch?”

The hooded Owls paused for a moment before finally beginning to move with the precision and discipline of highly trained assassins.

Countless feathers filled the space above them and hailed down on Kwon Oh-Jin.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The feathers exploded as they neared him, unleashing a wave of searing heat.

He quickly channeled lightning into his legs and launched off the ground.

“Hup!”

A streak of blue lightning trailed behind him. Dodging the incoming feathers, he fired his wire shooter at the Owls.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Six wires shot forward, capturing one of the Owls who had failed to evade in time.

“Agh!”

“Explosive Lightning.”

Crackle!

Lightning flowed through the wire and into the Owl.

“Ahhhh! Kugh... guk!”

The man started foaming at the mouth and passed out on the ground.

“Huh?" Kwon Oh-Jin gaped at the twitching Owl. "That one strike knocked him out?”

The so-called Night Hunters had fainted from a single hit despite all their bravado.

Were these guys always this weak...? No. Their aura, swift movements, and explosive feathers are at a level beyond Ashad Khan.It’s not that they're weak... I've just gotten much stronger.

“Guess all that running around was worth it.” He smirked as he raised his spear.

The remaining Owls scattered in four directions in an attempt to surround him. Using the Stigma of Canes Venatici, he tracked their movements.

Two from behind, one above, and one straight ahead. He widened his grip on the spear. Let’s deal with the two behind first.

He swung his weapon in a wide arc.

Whoosh!

The crackling blue flames on its blade spread out in the shape of a fan.

The Owls hurriedly raised their weapons to block, but these "flames" were more lightning than fire.

“Kugk!”

“Urgh!”

The electric shock permeated through their weapons, forcing them to stagger back.

The Owl in front thrust an awl-shaped cluster of feathers at Kwon Oh-Jin. “Hup!”

Kwon Oh-Jin lifted his left arm, and the feathers clashed against his gauntlet.

Clang!

“Die!” the Owl shouted. His Stigma flared brightly, and the awl's tip ignited, ready to explode.

“The only thing dead here is your mom, dumbass.”

“What—?!”

The gauntlet absorbed the explosion, turning red-hot. Kwon Oh-Jin pushed his arm forward, and the absorbed energy shot back at the Owl.

Boom!

“Gahh!”

He was sent flying, blood gushing out of him.

Kwon Oh-Jin tilted his head up slightly. Last up is...

An Owl with black wings swooped down like a predator going in for its kill.

Dodging this will be tough, but that's fine. If I can't dodge... I just have to block it.

Woong!

His orange bracelet glowed vividly before forming a translucent barrier in front of him.

Clang! Crack!

The impact bounced the Owl back. “Kuhk! What the hell...?!”

The barrier only lasted for a second before shattering.

But one second's all I need. Kwon Oh-Jin spun his spear and drove it into the airborne Owl’s belly.

Gush!

“Agh!”

Blood poured down the spear, which had impaled the man like a skewered piece of chicken.

“Kugh...!" He clutched the spear with both hands and bellowed, "N-Now!”

“Hmm?” Kwon Oh-Jin quickly looked around to find Kang Chan-Hyuk lunging at him with his dagger, utilizing the brief opening created through the Owl's sacrifice.

“Hehe! Nice!”

He pressed his palm against the dagger’s hilt, curled his fingers inward, and raised his arms high like a scorpion poised to strike.

“Thousand Venom Stinger!” he shouted.

As his Stigma flared, a green glow enveloped the dagger’s tip, lacing it with a thousand deadly poisons before it shot toward Kwon Oh-Jin like a scorpion's tail.

Kwon Oh-Jin let go of his spear and dodged the attack. Thanks to his quick reflexes, he only suffered a shallow cut on his right arm.

Kang Chan-Hyuk was overjoyed. “Hahaha! It’s game over, you bastard!”

It might be a mere scratch, but the poison on the dagger is lethal! There's no surviving it—!

“You dumbass, you don’t even know what 'game over' means,” Kwon Oh-Jin uttered.

“What?”

Kwon Oh-Jin picked up his spear and, without any hesitation, cut off his grazed arm.

Slash!

Blood gushed from his armless shoulder.

Kang Chan-Hyuk's face turned deathly pale. “W-What kind of crazy bastard...?!

Kwon Oh-Jin grinned and raised his left arm. A wire shot out and wrapped tightly around Kang Chan-Hyuk’s neck.

“The right term was 'checkmate,' you dickhead.”

The wire rapidly tightened around Kang Chun-Hyuk's neck, yanking him forward.

Shhhhh!

“Ahhhh!”

Kwon Oh-Jin then condensed lightning on his forehead and slammed it down like a hammer, striking Kang Chan-Hyuk square in the philtrum.

A sickening crunch echoed as Kang Chan-Hyuk’s face caved in.

“Haa.” Kwon Oh-Jin turned his blood-soaked head toward the remaining two Owls who ambushed him from behind earlier.“What are you waiting for?”

He took slow, deliberate steps toward them while blood gushed out of his right shoulder.

“Ugh!” one of them groaned.

“R-Retreat! We’ll retreat!”

The Owls turned on their heels and bolted.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Kwon Oh-Jin grabbed his spear and aimed at the fleeing duo.

Lightning Charge, times three.

Crackle!

Condensed lightning ran through the spear before it was hurled at them.

Crackle!

“Aaaaagh!”

“Gahhhhh!”

An explosion of lightning detonated, engulfing the Owls and charring them black.

“Tsk.” Kwon Oh-Jin stretched his hand toward the six lifeless bodies on the ground. The Black Heaven's dark clouds seeped out, hungrily absorbing the mana from their Stigmas.

The fight had ended sooner than he expected.

“I didn’t think I’d lose an arm in the process, though.”

He could regenerate it quickly using Water Affinity, but there wasn't nearly enough water in this barren, rocky cave.

Guess I should start by neutralizing the poison.

He placed his hand on his detached arm, now an eerie shade of purple from Kang Chan-Hyuk’s poison, and activated the Stigma of Scorpio.

Having that Stigma didn’t make him immune to poison, but as long as he had enough time, he could neutralize it from his system. Gradually, the purple hue faded, and his arm returned to its normal color.

Taking a short breath, he pressed the arm against the stump on his shoulder. Then, he pulled an emergency potion from his bag and poured it directly onto the wound. He'd crafted the potion himself using the Stigma of Aquarius, making it nearly as effective as most high-grade potions.

With a stinging pain, his right arm was crudely reattached.

“Kugh!”

It won’t move properly.

Even a high-grade potion couldn't perfectly heal a severed arm quickly, unless he had an elixir instead.

But if the Night Hunters are here, there’s a high chance Cheon Do-Yoon is, too.

Since the dungeon clear message hadn’t appeared yet, it seemed the King of Owls hadn’t found the dragon’s heart either. Kwon Oh-Jin risked running into him if he moved forward.

But it’s not like I can turn back either.

He turned his head to glance behind at the passage, which was entirely sealed off by boulders from the collapsed ceiling. He could try to find another entrance, but he could still run into Cheon Do-Yoon in the process.

If there’s a risk of meeting him either way... I have to find the dragon's heart first and get out of here.

“Alright.”

Of course, in the worst-case scenario, he had also thought of a way to come out of their encounter alive.

Still, the best option is to find the heart before he does.

His eyes gleamed as he walked deeper into the cave, activating the Stigma of Canes Venatici to sense the flow of the Dragon Vein. Amidst the raging torrents of mana, there was a place where mana had thickly pooled together like rivers coalescing into a massive lake.

There.

He raced through the maze-like tunnels, weaving his way forward.

Then, as if the sun had suddenly risen within the pitch-black cave, a breathtaking cavern came into view. The vast chamber, stretching hundreds of meters across, shimmered from wall to ceiling. Every surface was made of radiant blue crystal.

Suddenly, an ominous voice could be heard.

“Hahaha. Looks like we have an uninvited guest.”

A black-robed old man stood leisurely at the cavern's center with an unpleasant smile. His arms were casually folded behind his back as if he was taking a stroll through some park.

Am I too late?

The King of Owls, Cheon Do-Yoon, looked at Kwon Oh-Jin with narrowed eyes. “You’re the Thunder Wolf, right? I had my Hunters stationed all around... How did you make it here?”

“I killed them all, obviously.” Kwon Oh-Jin shrugged.

Cheon Do-Yoon stroked his beard while laughing heartily. “Hahaha! I see!”

At a glance, he looked like a sage who had spent years cultivating inner peace, but he couldn't hide the twisted desire and madness in his eyes.

Licking his lips, he slowly reached out toward Kwon Oh-Jin.

“But it seems your luck has run out at the very end.”

A terrifying amount of mana condensed in his hand.

“Die, Wolf of the Weaver,” Cheon Do-Yoon said in a relaxed, serene voice as if he was simply reading a passage in class instead of declaring Kwon Oh-Jin’s death.

“The moment you kill me, you'll be deciding your fate too,” Kwon Oh-Jin declared.

“Hm?” Cheon Do-Yoon’s eyebrow rose slightly. Then, he let out an amused chuckle. “You speak as if you have some sort of trump card.”

“I do.”

“I can understand your desperation to live, but if you really think such empty bravado will work—”

“The moment you kill me, my dear wife will immediately receive all the information. The location of this place and exactly who laid a hand on me.”

Cheon Do-Yoon stared at him dumbfoundedly as if wondering if he'd lost his mind. “Wife?”

Kwon Oh-Jin laughed. “You seriously don’t have a clue? I know you’ve heard of her.”

“No way...”

“She's the Leech Queen. That's right. I’m Isabella Colgrande’s husband.”

Cheon Do-Yoon’s calm expression contorted into one of utter shock.