Chapter 196: The Fallen Kingdom of Metal (1)

Anyone who had the experience of visiting a buffet with a time limit would understand.

Fill up with one more plate of only the best food!

That was exactly how Kai felt now. He had a limited time of five minutes. During that time, he had to deal maximum damage to Sineras.

First, Sineras’s weak points are the places not covered by scales.

Sinera's weak spots that could be attacked directly included the bottoms of his paws and his eyes. Moreover, Sineras couldn’t even use any skills at the moment.

Knowing this better than anyone, Kai roughly yanked the sword lodged in Sineras’s eye.

Splurt!

Blood sprayed out like a fountain! No matter how virtual the game was, having dark red blood cover him was a disturbing experience.

But ignoring it, Kai shoved his left hand into the split in Sineras’s eye.

“Upgrade.”

Upgrade was a skill that could enhance other skills!

Using a Unique grade skill that others couldn’t even imagine, Kai said, without hesitation, “Blue Plague!”

The moment Kai activated the skill, an explosive sound burst from Sineras’s eye as if setting off fireworks. The enhanced Blue Plague skill had erupted fiercely from within its eye.

The plague’s energy was already maxed out at 100 since Kai killed enough monsters during the Invasion Event.

Sineras’s mouth gaped open, but no scream, word, or even a single syllable escaped. It felt an overwhelming pain that felt like every cell in its body was dying!

It was painful enough to have pepper or salt sprinkled into an eye, and it was no different when applied to a wound.

And if you add the Blue Plague into an injured eye...

The Blue Plague was a deadly toxin that made pepper or salt seem like child’s play.

“They say the optic nerve in a human eye connects to the brain and the entire body... I wonder how it works for a dragon?”

The Blue Plague exploding from Sineras’s eye soon shot down its optic nerve and blood vessels.

—

Kraaahhhhh!

An overwhelming scream erupted several seconds later!

Sineras shook his massive body in agony.

“Oops.” Kai quickly stepped back, landing on the ground as he observed Sineras.

—It hurts! It hurts! I’m in pain!

Aaagh

... It hurts so much!

Kraaaah!!

With tears of blood streaming down, Sineras collapsed to the ground. His body fell on the peaks, which were melted clean by his own Breath skill, and rolled on the ground in pain.

“I bet it hurts. Even just imagining it is painful, so actually going through it must be agony.” Kai shivered, despite having inflicted the pain himself. “Wow, its HP is draining very well.”

Sineras's health began to decrease at a very rapid pace. The combined damage from the Army of Light and the dullahans' explosions had only brought it down by about 2%, but Kai’s attack alone had already dealt over 15% damage.

On top of that, the status effects have really landed perfectly.

The Bleeding and Poison status effects, combined and produced a synergy effect!

“At this rate, it’ll just die if I leave it alone for five minutes.”

Sineras wasn’t able to use any skills until the five minutes were up anyway, which meant it couldn’t use any magic to cleanse the Blue Plague.

“For a hatchling, his name value was pretty low as a dragon.”

Confident of his victory, Kai watched Sineras’s final moments with a relaxed heart.

—Kraaah!

Fwoosh, fwoooosh!

As if in a last desperate struggle, Sineras’s chest puffed up, and let out his Breath attack.

Pointless. I don’t have the slightest intention of taking that hit.

Of course, this was limited to Kai’s perspective. With each desperate Breath attack from Sineras, two or three of the warriors of light were inevitably hit and vanished.

“It’s nice to see its health draining steadily. Now, shall we get started?”

The main character always showed up at the end! Waiting until Sineras’s health dropped to half, Kai decided not to just watch any longer.

Even if he's a hatchling, he's still a dragon. I’ll end it here to eliminate any further risks.

Fwoooosh!

“

Oof

.”

Kai quickly ducked to dodge the incoming Breath attack aimed at him. Unfortunately, a few of the warriors of light behind Kai melted away on the spot.

“A surprise attack,

huh?

Nice try, but it’s useless if it doesn’t hit.”

Giving a short evaluation of Sineras’s attempt, Kai heavily swung his sword. The first target Kai aimed for was none other than Sineras’s wings. His concern was that Sineras would fly away if he adapted to the pain.

Slash!

A pair of wings was easily cut off as if they were made of paper.

Kai was one to give his all, even against prey he already had cornered.

In an instant, Sineras, who had lost the will to fight, turned to a ragged state under Kai’s relentless attack.

“Any last words?”

Sineras blinked weakly with one eye.

Watching him silently, Kai’s gaze was as cold as ever. “So, you’re determined to keep your pride until the end,

huh?

”

In that case, Kai could only honor that resolve.

***

The Death Dragon Sineras reigned as the legendary dragon that instilled terror in the inhabitants of this world for hundreds of years.

Slash! Thud!

The thick neck of Sineras, burdened with the grudges of countless people, fell to the ground in vain.

“

Phew

...”

Kai won by sheer luck. If the creature had been an adult dragon rather than a hatchling, he would have already died a hundred times over. Moreover, channeling the Blue Plague through Sineras’s entire body was the key to his victory.

As Kai had a tired expression, countless notification windows appeared before him.

[You defeated the Nightmare of Snowy Mountains, Death Dragon Sineras.]

[You successfully completed the quest: The Siblings of the Snowy Mountains.]

[Special title acquired: Hatchling Slayer.]

[Special title acquired: First Dragonslayer.]

[Level increased!]

[Level increased!]

[Level increased!]

[Level increased!]

.

.

.

He leveled up—a lot.

Kai stared at the notification windows with an exhausted look, then collapsed to the ground.

“

Whew

. If hitting it from behind with my doppelganger had failed...”

If Sineras had been a bit more cautious, it might have been Kai lying dead instead.

Closing his eyes, he quickly reviewed the battle.

I’m still far from being strong.

It had been a clumsy battle, one that clearly revealed his shortcomings.

I’ve been reliant on Holy Chains against large monsters...

A monster with intelligence like Sineras would naturally try to remove Holy Chains.

Realizing the bitter truth that his combat approach was not perfect, Kai stood up.

“Well... as unsettling as it is, I might as well enjoy the victory for now.”

There was still a long list of system logs he hadn’t yet read.

[By defeating Death Dragon Sineras, you have gained ownership of the dungeon - Nest of the Death Dragon.]

[Sineras was an outcast, even among dragons. However, other dragons feel extreme resentment toward you for hunting a member of their kind.]

[Affinity with the dragon clan has significantly decreased.]

[The Curse of the Death Dragon has been lifted.]

[The 129 humans who bore the mark of the curse have begun to praise you.]

[Sometimes, good deeds are done openly, but other times they are done in secret without the recipient’s knowledge. Helik sheds tears as she sees the people of this world you’ve saved.]

[+50 Benevolence stats.]

[With the effect of Witness of the Sun, you have gained an additional +5 Benevolence.]

“

Phew

...”

Kai felt a wave of exhaustion, but he immediately checked the effects of the special titles.

[

Hatchling Slayer

]

Rank: Special

Description: A title given to those who have slain a hatchling.

Effect: +30% additional damage when attacking dragons. (This effect remains even when title is unequipped.)

[

First Dragonslayer

]

Rank: Special

Description: A title given to the first person to slay a member of the dragon clan.

Effect: +30 to all stats, user always emits Dragon Fear. (This effect remains even when title is unequipped.)

“

Hm

. Not bad.”

If he had taken down an adult dragon, he would have received the Dragon Slayer title rather than Hatchling Slayer.

Then the effects of the special title would have probably been even better.

Though Kai felt a bit of regret, it was only that—a small regret.

“Well, it’s better than nothing.”

Moreover, the First Dragonslayer title looked good even at a glance.

+30 to all stats, and Dragon Fear, huh.

Dragon Fear was an ability that made opponents stiff and reduced their stats... At least, that was what he understood.

Though, thanks to my Mythic grade class, I was immune to Dragon Fear...

This meant other adventurers would never be free from it!

Kai quickly opened his status window to distribute his points.

[Kai]

Class: Solaris Cleric

Level: 343

Title: Envoy of God

HP: 67,400

Holy Power: 137,400

Stats

Strength: 1396 Stamina: 674

Intelligence: 551 Agility: 554

Holiness: 1374 Dignity: 501

Benevolence: 338

Remaining Stat Points: 115

Poison Resistance +30

Magic Resistance +40%

Nature Affinity +200

Damage dealt to demons/undead +50%

“...

Wow

.”

He hadn’t known how many times he had leveled up from defeating Sineras, but seeing the status window made it clear.

Up by twenty-three levels?

He felt a bit of disbelief at first. Sineras had been relatively easy to defeat for his level. In terms of difficulty, his fight with Aosa had far more complex patterns and required much more attention.

Though, most of that was because Sineras was so steeped in dragon superiority that he severely underestimated me.

And when he thought about it carefully a level 320 player had taken down a level 550 raid monster alone, yet he’d only gained twenty-three levels.

“Looks like leveling up is really getting tough now.”

It was clear that the leveling speed of the celestial rankers chasing after him had significantly slowed down recently. But of course, the gap had widened considerably with his own massive level gain this time.

I have a feeling I could probably take a break from hunting for a good two months and still keep my top rank.

Kai invested all the stat points he had gained from leveling up into Stamina.

"The monsters I'm up against now are much higher level, and their attack power has become too strong, so boosting my Stamina isn’t a bad idea."

After distributing his stat points, Kai led the few remaining warriors of light over to Sineras’s corpse.

“Even if it was just a hatchling, he was still a dragon, so he shouldn’t be broke, right?”

High expectations often lead to disappointment, but this time, Kai couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

“Loot items.”

Fwoosh!

As he said those words, a long loot list so extensive he couldn’t even take it all in at a glance appeared in front of him.