Chapter 664

Chapter 664

Lake Kingdom's only connecting passage between Zone 9 and Zone 10, Grand Bridge.

Long and massive, the bridge stretched over a chasm so deep that its bottom was lost to sight, an ancient bridge.

Having occupied Zone 9, we set up camp at the front of the bridge and waited for the Black Dragon. It was necessary for him to pass this way in order to march towards the humans.

How long we had waited in preparation for the battle.

Thump... Thump... Thump...

At lastthe Black Dragon appeared.

From the opposite side of the Grand Bridge, out of the deep darkness of Zone 10, thump-thump, its heavy footsteps heralded its arrival.

Whoosh...

The lights that lined the massive bridge flickered in unison and then, the next moment, went out completely.

In the oppressive darkness that hung thickly around, the monster moved as smoothly as a whale swimming in the deep sea.

Its body was larger than any dragon species we had ever faced.

Enveloped in darkness, its black body was so massive that it was difficult to tell where it began and where it ended.

Its huge scales wrapped around its body, stretching upwards as if soaring towards the sky.

Beneath the two massive wings on its back, countless smaller wings sprouted.

Above its proudly raised long neck, its main head flashed a golden gaze.

And at the junction of its neck and body, six dead heads were lined up like a necklace.

Our heroes collectively swallowed their saliva.

Nightmare Legion's top commander.

Black Dragon Lord. True Black Dragon.

Owner of the Midnight. The first of Midnight.

Darker than the deepest night. The one who brings down the sun. The one who swallows the moon. The World Closer

"Night Bringer..."

Click-!

As I spat out the words, my subordinates simultaneously aimed their weapons at him,

"..."

Night Bringer, observing us slowly, scrutinized us.

"To call this the final desperate squad of humans..."

Then, in his characteristic weary and blunt voice, he said,

"Too puny."

The next moment.

Zzzing!

Like the power of a drone turning on, the six dead heads hanging around his neck like a necklace simultaneously opened their eyesflashing golden gazes.

The six heads spun in a circle and floated in the air, scattering their malicious light around the center head.

Controlling the six heads at will, Night Bringer stared at me.

"As my last amusement, you seem woefully insufficient."

"Drop the needless concern."

Feigning composure, to ease the tension among my subordinates... I blurted out my usual nonsense.

"Just try catching us, and you'll burst with satisfaction...!"

"Ha ha."

Then Night Bringer opened his huge mouth and laughed.

"Watching your futile bravado is amusing, but truly, the sight of you losing everything and crying is what I'm most looking forward to."

"Please take care of your perverted desires on your own. This isn't that kind of place."

"Lets see how long you can keep spouting that idle talk..."

The next moment, the Black Dragon closed his eyes.

The six heads circling his central head also simultaneously closed their eyes.

As his golden eyes shut together, darkness instantly enveloped around his heads.

The next moment,

Flash-!

Seven pairs of eyes opened simultaneously and stared at us.

Starting with your strongest pattern?

I gritted my teeth. This wretched creature starts with the most malicious of intents!

Fourteen [Dark Evil Eyes] concentrated their output, and an invisible force... no, night swept over us.

It was the same blow that had instantly annihilated King of Flies-White Night before.

He refined the overlapping darkness with his own hatred, or malice, to destroy his opponent.

Im not sure how he used this attack in his human form back then, but thats not what's important!

I know this is your strongest attack!

It was a pattern he had used even in the game.

And the fact that it was a pattern used in the game meant that there was a way to counter it!

"Prepare to activate [Shining Dark]! And!"

After commanding the activation of an artifact made from the magic core in my eye, I called for a defender to specifically handle this attack.

"Scalian! Its your turn!"

As I called his name, Scalian burst forth from subspace. This guy too had already transformed into his original forma massive Eastern-style dragon.

It had been a punitive operation carried out by the best heroes on the human side. The floor was soaked with the blood he had spilled.

However, his tremendous vitality had not run out.

Still arrogantly holding his high neck, he looked down on us with a haughty gaze as if to say, show me if you have anything left.

I hated to admit it, but this was reality.

'This punitive expedition has failed.'

If this were an MMORPG, we could quickly retry after a total annihilation.

But this is reality. So.

"...We retreat."

We must preserve what forces we can and flee.

That way, there remains a chance for the next opportunity. A chance to attempt the raid again.

"Everyone, prepare to retreat...! We're returning to the surface!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Lucas nodded heavily.

This guy, who had fought the hardest at the forefront, had a severely burned left arm but showed no signs of pain.

Fumbling with his right hand in his pouch as his left arm was immobile, Lucas asked.

"Should we use the dungeon escape teleport scroll?"

The teleport scroll was a means of escape provided to each party leader when the Black Dragon Legion punitive operation began.

Lucas evidently assumed that it would be used for the escape.

However, I shook my head slightly.

"No... that won't work."

"What?"

In the game, Night Bringer was a monster that belonged to the final boss line along with the 'Sleepless Lake Princess.'

In simple specs, he was even overwhelmingly powerful.

In this hell, he's an endgame-level monster. There's no way such a being would let us escape so easily.

"In his territory, using teleportation for escape is impossible. He will forcibly dispel it."

In the game, this was a gimmick that made players who thought they could easily raid and escape using teleport scrolls vomit blood.

The same goes for the 'Sleepless Lake Princess'... When fighting final boss-level monsters, you must fight thinking there's no second chance.

Lucas's face turned pale.

"How, how do we retreat then..."

"..."

Lucas, more than anyone, even more than me, was able to assess the situation coldly.

He must have thought retreating was the rational decision as our chances of winning were dwindling.

But he likely didn't expect that the teleport scroll would be useless.

Creeeak-

Night Bringer opened his massive mouth. And among his six heads, two whose jaws were not crushed also opened their mouths.

Soon a pitch-black darkness began swirling inside his gaping mouth, heated with energy. Without a doubt, it was a breath pattern.

His breath, if faced head-on, meant certain death, ninety-nine out of a hundred times. However, since its trajectory was always straight, we had managed to dodge it by moving sideways.

This time too, the heroes prepared to dodge, taking heavy breaths, but I knew.

Half of the heroes had lost their ability to dodge.

When that breath came, half would die. Our precarious stand would crumble like a sandcastle and we would be annihilated.

This was our offensive endpoint, our limit, and then-

"Night Bringer!"

It was the last moment I could pull this card.

I staggered forward, calling his name. I too was hobbling with various minor injuries.

The heroes who seemed prepared to take the breath with their bodies if necessary turned around, puzzled by my action.

I patted the shoulders of such heroes and stepped forward.

"...Ash."

The [Lord of the High Tower], turned into a shield form, and Dusk Bringar shook her head at the forefront.

"Please, no..."

After giving her a faint smile,

"Black Dragon!"

I called the monster's name once more and stood at the forefront.

To the mightiest and most terrible dragon looking down at me as if asking why, I brought up the main point.

Boss stage special gimmick.

Success rate 100 percent.

A 30-minute non-aggression pact between commander characters-

"As king to king, I propose a parley to you!"

A one-on-one conversation with him.

It was a request for a 'Commander's Parley.'

--TL Notes--

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at /MattReading