Tomb of the Berserk Dragons. This was the site of the final battle between Sung Jinwoo, the Shadow Monarch, the King of the Dead, and Antares, the Monarch of Destruction, the King of Dragons. The war between these two powerful forces was truly fierce and relentless, and in the end, it was Sung Jinwoo's Shadow Legion that emerged victorious. As a result, since that day, the bodies of countless Dragons, turned to ashes, have been scattered across this land like snow in a blizzard.
Cha Hae-in and Sirka had ventured into this desolate and barren land to restore the strength of the Shadow Wyvern, Kaisel. Who, weakened from protecting Cha Hae-in, had fallen into a deep sleep in her arms as soon as they arrived. It was a kind of hibernation. On the surface, it looked like he was merely asleep, but in reality, Kaisel was absorbing the faint remnants of the dragons' power that lingered in the gray ashes. While the Shadow Wyvern recovered his strength, Cha Hae-in and Sirka had only one thing to do: wander aimlessly through this wasteland.
At first, they tried to find a suitable place to stay and wait for Kaisel to recover. But soon after, Kaisel woke up with a long yawn. What Kaisel wanted was clear. Keep moving. The amount of power he could absorb in one place was limited. In a way, it was natural. The energy remaining in the corpses of the Berserk Dragons was faint to begin with. For the depleted Kaisel to fully recover, they might have to travel all over this dimension. Understanding this, Cha Hae-in and Sirka began to wander the land, searching for new places to aid Kaisel's recovery. And after a long while...
"...!" A truly massive and magnificent silhouette appeared before them.
"Cha-cha! I'll cover you!" Under Sirka's protection, Cha Hae-in drew her sword and slowly approached it. As they made their way through the gray blizzard... Finally, its true form was revealed before them.
"Oh my god." They couldn't help but be shocked.
"...Not all of them turned to ash." Surprisingly, right before their eyes were the remains of giant Berserk Dragons that had not yet turned to ash, their bones piled high.
"It's like we're in some kind of dinosaur museum." Cha Hae-in was a little overwhelmed by the grandeur of the giant dragon bones.
[Growl...] At that moment, Kaisel, who seemed to have woken up, looked around with sleepy eyes. Cha Hae-in stroked his back and asked.
"How do you feel? Does it seem like your strength is recovering faster here?"
[Growl...] Kaisel closed his eyes contentedly at Cha Hae-in's touch. Sirka, who saw his expression from the side, said happily.
"That's great. It's only natural that the recovery rate would be much higher around corpses with bones remaining than those turned to ash. Dragon corpses are a tremendous treasure in themselves." Cha Hae-in nodded at Sirka's words. Even recalling her memories from her past life, dragon bones were indeed an incredible resource. They boasted tremendous strength and durability, enough to support the weight of a massive dragon, and their mana responsiveness was naturally top-notch.
"This is great. If we take these bones back to Earth and make weapons, it will be a huge help to Suho."
"Yeah. They're weathered and worn from being here so long, but if we look carefully, there are probably still plenty of intact bone fragments..." Just as Cha Hae-in reached for her necklace to open her inventory...
A chill ran down her spine.
"Watch out!"
"...!" Cha Hae-in and Sirka scattered in opposite directions as if on cue, sensing the sudden killing intent.
Boom! A massive explosion erupted where they had been standing. The shockwave from the explosion caused nearby dragon bones to collapse. Cha Hae-in and Sirka hurriedly dodged the debris and assumed combat stances.
"I'll cover you!" Sirka quickly retreated and drew her bowstring, while Cha Hae-in immediately charged forward with her sword. Then, the identities of those who caused the explosion were finally revealed.
"Kirraka!"
"Kirukadra!"
"...!" Cha Hae-in's eyes widened in surprise. They were warriors and mages made of bones. But they weren't in the form of ordinary human-like skeletons.
Sirka, who was covering Cha Hae-in from behind with arrows, recognized their identity and shouted in surprise. "They're Dragon Tooth Warriors!"
"Dragon Tooth Warriors?" They were also known as Spartoi (Σπαρτοί) in Greek, meaning 'the sown ones,' they were legendary warriors, as their name suggested, born from dragon teeth sown into the ground.
"It seems the dragon teeth that didn't turn to ash were reborn as monsters!" Sirka recalled. Antares, the King of Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction, also known as the Dragon Emperor, was the most powerful of all the monarchs. He was the strongest dragon, and he led an invincible army with immense power and magic. During the long years their corpses remained in this land without turning to ash... The power dwelling within their bones must have created these Dragon Tooth Warriors. But... Something didn't add up.
"Dragon Tooth Warriors born without a master! Is that even possible?!"
"What do you mean?" Surprised by Sirka's reaction, Cha Hae-in shouted towards her in between the swings of her sword.
There were as many Dragon Tooth Warriors as corpses of dragons in this land, and they continued to crawl out of the ground, surrounding Cha Hae-in and Sirka. But...
"Storm of White Flames!"
Rumble!
As Cha Hae-in raised the Demon King's longsword high, hundreds of Berserkning bolts began to strike from the sky.
"Kirakrak!"
The Demon King's longsword contained the power of Baran, the Monarch of White Flames, the King of Demons. And that sword had the power to create a storm where Berserkning endlessly raged. In the face of this overwhelming calamity, the Dragon Tooth Warriors should only be able to scream while turning into ash. However...
"Kaaaaaaaah!"
"They're withstanding this?!" Cha Hae-in's eyes widened in disbelief. The Dragon Tooth Warriors were getting back up even amidst the Storm of White Flames, which had inflicted significant damage even on the Apostles of Itarim.
"Cha-cha! I heard Dragon Tooth Warriors have high defense because they're born from dragon teeth!"
"It certainly seems that way." Cha Hae-in gripped her sword more firmly.
[Growl.]
"Don't worry, Kaisel. You can keep sleeping." Sensing the commotion, Kaisel opened his eyes with a worried expression, but Cha Hae-in reassured him with a chuckle.
"They're definitely taking damage, though." As she said, the Dragon Tooth Warriors directly hit by the Berserkning had become noticeably slower.
'If they kept taking them down one by one, wouldn't they all eventually fall?' Cha Hae-in swung her sword, slicing the waist of the Dragon Tooth Warrior in front of her, and then looked back at her companion.
"Sirka! So what were you about to say earlier? What's strange?"
"Ah...!" Sirka shot an arrow at the Dragon Tooth Warrior mage the furthest from her and replied.
"I don't know much about dragons, but I do know one thing for sure! Dragon Tooth Warriors can't exist without a master!"
"They need a master?"
"Yes! I heard dragons originally pull out their own teeth to create Dragon Tooth Warriors! Their purpose is obviously to protect themselves! More precisely..." Sirka's gaze turned to Kaisel, who was sleeping on Cha Hae-in's shoulder.
"To protect the dragon while it's hibernating! That's the true purpose of the Dragon Tooth Warriors!"
"What?" Hearing Sirka's words, Cha Hae-in realized something was amiss and looked around.
"But there are no living dragons here?"
"That's why it's strange! Dragon Tooth Warriors without a master turn back into teeth!"
"Then what are these guys...?" It was certainly strange. For so many Dragon Tooth Warriors to exist, there should be a corresponding number of living dragons here. But no matter where they looked, they couldn't even find a single one. That meant the seeds for these Dragon Tooth Warriors must have been the teeth from these corpses.
"...Could it be that they have a new master?"
"Or someone who can create Dragon Tooth Warriors even with other dragons' teeth has appeared."
"It all leads to a similar conclusion. And it doesn't seem like they'll answer if we ask." Thanks to Cha Hae-in's translation necklace, she was able to understand the words coming from the Dragon Tooth Warriors' mouths.
"Kirrakara (Kill the intruders)!"
"...Intruders."
'That means we've intruded somewhere, or they don't want us around here. Where could that place be?'
Cha Hae-in calmly looked around and cut down another Dragon Tooth Warrior, then shouted. "Sirka! I'll hold them off for a bit, so you send a 'prayer' to the Monarch of Frost!"
As a descendant of the Frost Monarch, Sirka could communicate her thoughts to Him… While Suho, as the 'High Priest,' could awaken the slumbering spirit of the Monarch. Sirka could only send a one-way message through 'prayer.' And that message would be delivered to the High Priest, through the Monarch of Frost.
"...This isn't exactly what prayers are usually used for." Sirka started praying to the Monarch of Frost, Sillad, with a sBerserkly embarrassed expression.
"So, what message should I ask him to deliver?"
* * *
Meanwhile, Suho and Lim Dogyoon had arrived in Busan. Their purpose, of course, was dungeon raiding. But this raid was going to be a bit special.
"Are you the guild master of Woojin Guild?"
"No, I'm the vice guild master, Lim Dogyoon. Our guild master is this way..."
"Oh, I apologize!" At Lim Dogyoon's words, the female hunter who had come to greet Woojin Guild blushed and quickly apologized. Then, with an awkward expression, she approached Suho and greeted him with a bright smile.
"Hello! I'm Lee Juhee, a healer from the Knights Guild! Welcome to Busan!"
"Hello, thank you… I'm Sung Suho, the guild master."
"..."
"...?" But for some reason, as soon as Lee Juhee greeted Suho and made eye contact, she stared at his face with a strange expression. Suho asked with a puzzled look.
"Is something wrong?"
"Oh, no! I'm sorry. Your face looked familiar for some reason. I guess it was just my imagination." Lee Juhee apologized to Suho belatedly with an embarrassed expression.
'I'm being so silly today. How could I possibly know this young man? When I lived in Seoul, he probably wasn't even born yet.' Berating herself for her frequent mistakes today, Lee Juhee quickly got to the point.
"Ahem. Anyway, Guild Master Sung Suho, thank you so much for coming to help our Knights Guild. Hunter Lim Tae-gyu has already arrived at the guild office and is waiting for you. I'll show you the way."
Lim Dogyoon gulped nervously at the mention of his father waiting for them…