Chapter 84

Episode 84

Biyeon wanted Yoo-seong to get out of there.

Before she could call out, though, Yoo-seong had already leaped towards the Bi Xi.

Biyeon was an expert when it came to flames and heat; Yoo-seong, however great he was, still lacked experience. Given enough time and training, he had the qualities to control flame himself someday.

‘But the flame of this black lizard…’

Biyeon couldn’t help but feel small before its flames.

Yoo-seong would probably aim for its eye; the Twin Dragon blade would be able to withstand the heat. Yoo-seong’s body, however, wouldn’t. The only reason Yang Jeong-cheon could handle the heat contained in the blades was that the heat came from within him.

The moment the blade touched the dragon’s eye, the heat would flow into Yoo-seong’s body, causing irreparable damage to him. Biyeon could only watch in despair as Yoo-seong ran on air.

‘Like a moth to the flame,’ she thought. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Then…

Something flashed in her eyes, and she felt the world spin around her.

***

The beast was astonished.

It had lost its sense of sight in one eye. More than the pain of losing an eyeball, the Bi Xi felt a greater sense of loss from this.

The heat that had accumulated in its eye had completely disappeared, causing the beast to roar in agony. What it had suffered was not simply a loss. It was plunder. Its eyesight and power had been stolen, both by a teeny-tiny creature.

With its other eye, the Bi Xi tracked the man trying to cling to its empty eye socket. The armor he was wearing had been dark grey; now, it was closer to black, with a faint red sheen. It looked like a fire ant’s shell.

-Combination success-

The result flashed before Yoo-seong’s eyes. There was no reason to hesitate anymore.

Gooh-oh!

Aura gathered quickly on his legs.

Taang-!

Yoo-seong rushed toward the inside of the beast’s eye.

The dragon’s scales were too tough, even for Jinchung and Won Jeong-cheon combined. However, even for such an incredibly tough creature, an open eye socket remained a vulnerability.

Fuwoook-!

From a distance, it sounded like a finger piercing through tight bubble wrap. By now, Yoo-seong was no longer visible.

Then an earthquake started, stronger than the ones before.

The Bi Xi roared in pain, but no sound came from its throat, nor any flames from its mouth.

It had lost half its heat when Yoo-seong took its eyeball.

Now, it used all its remaining fire in an attempt to purge the creature inside its body, heating its insides to an extreme temperature, hotter than any furnace.

It should have been impossible for any creature to survive.

Not Yoo-seong, though. He was as comfortable as a fish in water.

As he moved around inside the monster’s body, he planted Parasitic Bees around himself. Then, as one, they activated.

The Bi Xi stiffened briefly. Then its huge frame began to fall, back into the endless abyss. A surreal silence filled the area.

Only the holes the Bi Xi’s thrashing had made in the ground remained to prove it had really existed.

Then, suddenly-

A hand grabbed the edge of the cliff.

Yoo-seong climbed out of the abyss.

***

The night before the Dive, Yoo-seong had continuously practiced the Combination button.

He had discovered that, on top of the five slots, he could also use the items in his hands. Being able to quickly combine items without having to put them in the slot would be a clear advantage.

There had been only one thing he wasn’t sure of.

Would he be able to use the suit as an item while he was still wearing it?

He didn’t find out until Auto-Hunt made him leap toward the Bi Xi’s eyes.

‘I’ll think about it later,’ Yoo-seong decided. ‘I need to check on Biyeon.’

“Congratulations,” he heard a familiar voice say.

It belonged to someone he didn’t want to face in this situation. Still, he turned his head toward the voice.

Ha Yuk-il and Lee Hwi-min were standing together, tens of meters away from him.

“No one will know about it, but it’s the first time anyone has caught a dragon.”

Even without Lee Hwi-min, Ha Yuk-il was a strong close-range fighter. With Lee Hwi-min ready to light amulets behind him at any time, it was a formidable combination.

However, they weren’t the only ones there.

A profanity spoken in Chinese rang out from Yoo-seong’s side.

Standing where he was, the figure who had spoken formed a perfect equilateral triangle with Lee Hwi-min and Yoo-seong. It was difficult to believe he was human: he had been completely burned, and his skin was black, with patches of raw-looking red.

Nevertheless, his grip on the bow still proved to be strong.

Won Jeon-cheon had survived the flames.

“Did you use me as bait?!” he snapped at Lee Hwi-min.

“I just let you do what you pleased,” Lee Hwi-min shrugged. “I don’t have a Kumiho, but I know you have it.”

Lee Hwi-min wanted to hunt Yoo-seong without being disturbed by Won Jeong-cheon. It would be easier to follow Jinchung and Won Jeong-cheon later than to find Yoo-seong in the vast alien world.

Won Jeong-cheon grunted. He could deal with Lee Hwi-min later. Right now, there was another problem at hand.

He turned to Yoo-seong and then pointed at Biyeon, who was lying helplessly at his feet. As if to show off, he filled his foot with Aura. Biyeon was conscious, but she was unable to move her body. Yoo-seong speculated that she was being controlled by Lee Hwi-min’s Sensory Disturbance tech.

Won Jeong-cheon’s meaning was interpreted by Lee Hwi-min.

“The rules are simple,” he said. “If you try to get close, I will crush her.”

A cruel smile crept onto Won Jeong-cheon’s lips. Meanwhile, Lee Hwi-min spoke in a soft voice to Yoo-seong.

“You know, you can’t close the gap before he crushes her, Spider Walk or not.”

Lee Hwi-min was right. Yoo-seong’s Spider Walk and Steel Steps were supreme in terms of flexibility. What he needed right now, though, was acceleration.

“I offer you a deal,” Lee Hwi-min added. “That suit you’re wearing… and the dragon’s eye that I believe you took.”

Yoo-seong stayed silent.

“If you give me those, well… I can’t guarantee anything much, but I will release Yang Biyeon from my Tech.”

Paang-!

Lee Hwi-min’s words were drowned out by the sound of Won Jeong-cheon’s arrow.

“Dance!” Won Jeong-cheon yelled. His whole body was damaged, and his CE was almost depleted. However, each arrow still contained considerable power.

Whing-!

Yoo-seong dodged it. Then, he began dancing in the air as he avoided a deluge of arrows flying toward him.

‘This was going according to plan,’ Lee Hwi-min thought with a smile. He was confident of victory.

The reason he had left everything to Won Jeong-cheon was because of his previous encounter with Yoo-seong, who had overcome the Sensory Disturbance and almost caused Won Jeong-cheon great damage.

He did not want to put himself at risk again.

Even while avoiding arrows, Yoo-seong was keeping his distance, as Won Jeong-cheon had instructed him. He was exhausted from the battle against the Bi Xi.

‘His limit will come soon,’ Lee Hwi-min analyzed. He was madly curious because of the incredible dragon hunt he had just witnessed.

‘What happened to the dragon’s eye?’

‘How did Yoo-seong survive the heat within the dragon?’

He would get the answers soon. Once Yoo-seong was finished, he would take his body and use it for his experiments.

His scholarly curiosity would be satisfied.

“Hahahahahaha!” Won Jeong-cheon’s maniacal laughter echoed through the wilderness, the speed of his arrows increasing as time passed.

‘It will end soon,’ Lee Hwi-min thought.

Suddenly-

Yoo-seong blinked.

A new function had become available in his options.

‘Yang Woo-jin,’ thought Yoo-seong.

An unfortunate genius born in the Red Dragon.

He had simply wanted to build a tool that could withstand heat.

However, there was another characteristic in the Bi Xi’s eye.

-Select Properties-

-Attribute: Flame – applied.-

Won Jeong-cheon would never have imagined this.

The temperature around Yoo-seong rose. Then, Yoo-seong stepped into the air once more.

It was different from the Steel Steps.

Pa-A-A-Ah!!!!

Yoo-seong burst forward like a meteor.

“What?!” Won Jeong-cheon’s eyes widened.

Even Ha Yuk-il and Lee Hwi-min were stunned at what they saw. The movement was so incredibly fast that it was hard for the eye to follow.

From Yoo-seong’s feet burned the best Tech in Shanghai.

Explosive Acceleration.

The Twin Dragon blade appeared in Yoo-seong’s hand faster than Won Jeong-cheon could load his bow.

“Motherfucker!” Won Jeong-cheon screamed in panic.

However, Yoo-seong was gone in an instant. Won Jeong-cheon felt himself falling.

As he fell, he looked down to see why he had lost his balance.

One of his legs had been cut off.

“How dare you…” the low voice of Yoo-seong penetrated Won Jeong-cheon’s ears. It was as if Yoo-seong’s anger was burning his eardrums.

“…step on someone…?”

It wasn’t an illusion.

Won Jeong-cheon had seen a flaming fist closing in.