[Translator: Dawn]
[Proofreader: Karane]
My eyes met with the eyes of that thing.
Those red eyes that revealed overwhelming majesty were looking straight at me.
Gray smoke was rising from the cavernous nostrils under the nose bridge, which looked like a steep spire.
Gwoooh-!
Soon, Garnas raised its head in a large motion. With that recoil alone, the wind around me swept through my body.
And the moment its raised head was about to drop down,
"Hey, you idiot! What are you doing just standing still?!"
An approaching voice from afar struck me in my eardrums in an instant.
The person who jumped over a distance which seemed like dozens of meters in an instant was!
No other than the Triple Crown ranked mercenary, Arora. And I could feel the red sinister vigor approaching us behind Arora's sizable body.
What happened just now happened in a blink of an eye.
The moment I saw the eye of the living disaster my body froze up.
The inferno, so hot that it would melt the snow from the distant mountain peaks, rushed in, aiming for Arora.
However, just before that extreme temperature of flame struck Arora, he raised his right arm and placed it in front of his own torso.
I don't know what was happening in front of him, but at least this one thing was clear to me.
The words floating above Arora's head changed.
Proving that the level one can see on an NPC does not tell everything about them, just like the time when monsters, such as Gilutin, had an overwhelming increase in their level the moment they grabbed their weapon in their hand,
Arora pulled out his weapon.
And the text that caught my sight at that moment,
< Achievement Unlocked! >
< You have met 'Arora' of the Strong Magic Wall. >
< The one who has faced the Strong Magic Wall >
< You have earned 2 points in STR stats from unlocking the achievement. >
I have unlocked an achievement only by looking at him just like back when I first met Gohn.
The reason why I was able to unlock the achievement right away through Caloir's introduction, without having to witness Gohn unleashing his true power was because I was a Sworder, and I have already heard the characteristics of other Swordmasters from my Master.
However, I was able to unlock the achievement of meeting the man who had the title of Triple Crown, which I had never known, let alone heard of, that only six of the strongest mercenaries could earn, after finally witnessing his true power.
Arora received the inferno with his whole body, the flame that split into two beside him was thick and so red that it was almost pure.
And that flame burned everything on both of my sides to the brim.
And in front of me, there stood Arora who looked down at me with a golden shield suddenly equipped on his right hand without me noticing.
There was not a single soot to be found, let alone any traces of the flames ever touching his body.
The whole place turned to ashes, but to my surprise, not only I, who was behind Arora, but the space behind us seemed completely untouched, without even a single snow crystal melting.
"Hurry up and get to the backline!"
Arora, who withstood the flame shouted at me. And as soon as I got back to my senses, I moved my body swiftly to the right, which Caloir was at.
Caloir's entire body was frozen just like mine.
As soon as Caloir saw me run towards him, he came back to his senses and quickly detoured, shoulder to shoulder.
"Are you okay, Mose!"
Caloir shouted.
"Yes I am! Sharma!"
I answered immediately and summoned my blade. Soon the smoke that started from my right arm took the form of a blade, and I skillfully caught it in the air.
And so,
Gwaaah-!
Garnas started to roar.
The roar emanating from its gigantic body was so intense that the space around its terrifying snout could be seen by the naked eye.
And Arora who was standing right in front of it with a shield by himself stiffened his posture.
"Your flame, right back at ya!"
Arora shouted as if he was taunting, and a bright light started to emanate around him.
The light started to gather towards his shield, and soon it started to emit a laser beam out of it as one would see in an SF movie.
The beam started to change its form soon after it was fired, and in the end, it turned into the same stream of flames that Garnas spitted out before.
Garnas stared down at Arora without moving an inch and with a growl, even though it took the stream of flames directly with its whole body.
"Goddamn! You're a tough one, aren't ya!?"
Arora smiled with the corners of his lips raised even after seeing Garnas with such a terrifying vigor.
And that marked the end of my spectation.
I wanted to keep watching Arora's amazing skills, but I also had a role that I must carry on. So I moved with my shaky legs.
"Mose, this way! We must start attacking the moment we get a chance!"
"Understood!"
Caloir who had pulled out a longsword from his back, and I who gripped Sharma with both of my hands. Caloir was the one who marked the start with his jump.
And I followed after him, pushing my heel against the ground.
And soon, as I floated into the air, I was finally able to confirm the gigantic body of Garnas.
Its body was so huge that it seemed as if the endless northern snow wall of Langnas was covered with a large gray blanket, from its head to the tip of its tail, even from the height I jumped to, it was impossible to see it all in one sight.
I could also see Arora who was defending us from the flame of Garnas at one sight.
However, that didn't last long. Garnas started to swing its sky-covering wings, as soon as it sensed Caloir and my presence.
The clouds in the sky started to gather towards the wings of Garnas as if they were magnets and the stems of red lightning exposed their fangs between the clouds that were attracted, roaring through the earth.
Caloir and I were directly struck by the air pressure of its wings and fell down to the ground.
"Damn it! Mose, are you okay?"
"Yes!"
Just as I hurriedly adjusted my body and raised my head to jump again with Caloir, there was a person who passed through Caloir and I.
***
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Dawn]
[Proofreader – Karane]
Join our Discord for updates on releases! https://discord.gg/reapercomics
***
"Our Sworders, you seem too frightened! There's nothing to be scared of, this is nothing compared to the hardships that are about to come."
It was the Swordmaster Gohn. He stood in front of us with an ungainly gait.
"It is the Sworder's duty to avoid the expedient such as seeking stronger power by increasing the speed of leaping, and to purely develop one's swordsmanship.
And from his waist,
A 'double-edged scimitar' with a pure white blade was pulled out from its sheath.
I couldn't help but frown the moment I saw the dazzling and shining blade, brighter than the snow crystals soaked in sunlight, or the snows of the mountains of the snow wall, as it came out of its sheath.
"And this is the 'swordsmanship you must reach'."
Gohn let out a huge breath as he said that, and he shortly swung his scimitar from top to bottom.
But I couldn't spot the scimitar that was swung.
The moment his shoulders twitched, the body of his blade and his arms disappeared as they slowly got blurry, so one couldn't even see the afterimage, and he wouldn't have finished blinking his eyes, but his sword was already swung and held in his hand.
And the level of Gohn in that state showed,
He has turned into a superhuman who has surpassed even the level of Garnas.
A series of attacks that erupted from the tip of his blade raised the snow on the floor and hit Garnas' back faster than the wind, and the shock wave was scattered in all directions.
Garnas' huge body had to take the strike with his entire body, and he had to collapse to the ground from his belly first.
But soon, he got up vigorously and started to flap his wings.
Garnas' feet started to get further and further away from the ground.
And at that moment, Yvonne's sharp voice resonated from the back.
"Get him, White Rose!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a small rose stalk spewed out from the tip of the rod studded with colorful gems in her hand like a string of whips.
Soon the rose rooted itself to the ground very quickly, and more stalks were coming out from the rod.
And a moment later, the stalk protruding from the ground under Garnas' feet,
It appeared in a form that was different from the stalk that came out of her rod and wrapped around Garnas' legs and body with strange movements as if it were alive.
Yvonne too. Every time someone pulls out their weapon an 'alias' was added in their names that are related to the powers they possess.
Those were their true forms.
There is a common saying, 'hyper geared'.
It is a word that is mixed with jealousy and envy towards users who wield powerful items that are on a different level from other users.
But they are different.
How many people among the NPCs that live in the world of virtual reality could have accumulated such an amazing amount of level?
Unlike us, their existence is erased from the world if they were ever to face death.
They were able to stand here and now wield those weapons because they prevailed from adversities and hardships that they had to face during their adventures.
They were true veterans. The word 'hyper geared' could not be applied.
Because they deserved those weapons they earned through numerous life or death situations.
"The stalks cannot withstand for long, because that thing is too strong!"
I grabbed onto my Sharma tightly once again, as I was awoken from the appreciation by Yvonne's voice.
I as of now, was no more than just a 'hyper geared' player.
And thanks to my godlike luck, I was able to become a Sworder too.
Although, the guts I showed during the process of becoming one deserved a self compliment.
It was true that I owned better items compared to other players, but from now on I have made a determination to become something more than that.
I am no longer myself I once was, chasing after the luck experienced by very few people and screaming in hope of acquiring just one magic item.
Of course, I would love to make a lot of money, but.
I knew that the money would follow naturally after I have achieved the 'power' making the abilities and strength of my items
I knew that money will naturally follow, If items with such strong abilities can be a 'befitting power' for me, and if I can reach that state.
"Now~ Sworders, soon that thing will collapse to the ground. And as soon as it touches the ground, make sure to take each of its hind legs! We will break down its balance one more time!"
Gohn shouted at me and Caloir as he passed by.
I took a deep breath in, and followed after his voice.
Garnas fell to the ground at the moment when the stalks were about to fall apart. At that moment he was exhausted by the weeds, Gohn led the way, and Caloir and I dug in behind him.
I could hear Arora's valiant battle cry from where Garnas' head was at.
"Wrrrryaaah-!"
I swung Sharma which I was holding in my hand with all my might, as soon as I reached Garnas' gigantic hind leg.
The fragments from the scales that were harder than steel splattered all over my body as I struck them.
Clank! Clank!
My steel plates started to fall apart like paper from the scale particles. They continued to damage me.
It felt as if the scale of Garnas were alive creatures who were striking back at me the moment it got struck.
However, even with all the damage, my health seemed like it was not going down at all because of Polorun's Star and the buffs from the world's best supporter.
I slammed down on the scales over and over again as I clenched my teeth in determination as if I were about to break them. And finally, an entire part of the scale was completely ripped off.
Its gray-colored skin was revealed between its scales.
Stab!
I shoved my sword in there.
The dragon soon started to writhe and howl in pain.
Arora's shield struck its face at a perfect timing during its struggle.
Bam!
Blood started to spew out from Garnas' back from Gohn's merciless slashes.
And suddenly Hier appeared from the sky.
"Forgive me, the creature of the ancient times. This is a mere act to put you to a stop from reaping countless innocent lives!"
Immediately after the paladin held his hands together and prayed, a huge sword-shaped lightning bolt that appeared above his head pierced through the clouds and fell literally like lightning.
The living disaster that I have faced for the first time in my life, the life of that overwhelming entity has been put to an end in vain like this.
The power of the ones who were called the strongest in the continent could put an end to such a terrifying being's life in an instant.
The only thing that I, who would've died dozens of times without the numerous buffs cast on me, did was cut off one of its tendons to make it lose balance.
This meant that even if I got stronger dozens of times from where I am now, I would be barely strong enough to cut off just one of Garnas' tendons.
Garnas' movement stopped completely.
And at the same moment, I saw the black smoke coming out from the body of Garnas.
And the ground started to tremble in an instant.
The smoke gathered into one spot as it compressed itself,
And finally, it has shown itself in the form of the black sphere.
It was a core.
For me, Garnas was not an elder dragon, nor a catastrophe, but a monster. So the core of the monster has shown itself before my eyes.
The core, which was darker than the silence of the deep sea, had a size bigger than my body.
And as I was endlessly staring into the core, lights began to wrap around my body.
< Your level has been increased by one! >
< Your level has been increased by one! >
< Your level has been increased by one! >
< Your level has been increased by one! >
< Your level has been increased by one! >
…
…
…
< Your level has been increased by one! >
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