Kim Seon-Hyeok bit on his lips, hard.

  “I hope you will return as soon as the mission is over this time.”
Like an auditory hallucination, Ophelia’s plea rang through his head. In addition, the faces of countless people he had to protect flashed in front of his eyes.

  But what was even clearer than their faces was the identity of the enemy off in the distance.

  [The Fragment of Chaos has already lost half of its body. It would not dare to be so recklessly active when the realm of the Dragon Lord is within reach.]

  Besides the Fragments of Chaos, the only beings powerful enough to wage a fight against the powerful nomads led by a Transcendental Being was another Transcendental.

  “So one of the damn Transcendentals came forward?”
[Which of them would dare appear alone before me?]

  Kim Seon-Hyeok nodded at Edda’s words. The Fragments of Chaos weren’t the only ones to fear Edda; the Transcendental beings did too.

  “So then it won’t be one, but many.”
[If they appeared with me in mind, then there must be at least ten Transcendentals out there.]

  It wasn’t just one dragon the Transcendentals had to deal with. The Transcendentals’ enemies were the most powerful Dragon Lord, the Gold Dragon and the Blue Dragon who had completely restored their former glory, and the cornered Wolf.

  “A trap…”
There was no way they wouldn’t have prepared properly when they were fighting against the Dragon clan. Seeing how they had been maneuvering in the turbid Western region so that their opponents could not sense them, it was clear how thoroughly the Transcendentals had prepared.

  [The Blue Wolf is never weak. However, there are too many people to protect. Even her Companion who should be lending her strength has not yet fully recovered from her serious injuries, so that must also be a factor holding the Blue Wolf back.]

  The moment he heard that, Kim Seon-Hyeok’s hesitation completely disappeared.

  “If something happens to the Wolf and the nomads, I will also be responsible for it.”
[As you seem to be looking for an excuse to get rid of your hesitation, I merely gave you the justification.]

  Kim Seon-Hyeok smiled bitterly at the Dragon’s clever reply.

  “I’m so thankful I’m almost in tears.”
[So your decision is…]

  He didn’t debate it further.

  “Let’s go.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Edda spread her wings wide.

  The moment he entered the polluted land, he felt cloying thick demonic energy. But Kim Seon-Hyeok couldn’t feel even that properly. 

  Inside the Imperial borders, the Western region was simply a black land that was quiet and he felt nothing from it, but when he actually went into it, there was no chaos like it.

  A powerful energy blew from afar. The ferocious wildness of the Blue Wolf, which he had experienced several times, and an unfamiliar fighting spirit were constantly colliding with each other. 

  He could feel his skin tingling from the forceful shockwave.

  “So it really were the Transcendentals.”
It was different from the Fragments of Chaos and it was different from the Blue Wolf. However, the Transcendentals’ aura that seemed to defy the laws of the world was something that humans of this world could not handle.

  [Three. I do not feel the energy of others.]

  “Are those three the decoys?”
Thanks to the three unidentified Transcendentals and the Blue Wolf running amok, it was impossible for him to read the surroundings. It was obvious that the Transcendentals who were wildly running rampant right now were intending to cover up the hidden energy of the Transcendentals.

  If their goal wasn’t to hide the energy of the others, there was no way that the beings with such great power would have kept the Blue Wolf alive for so long while working together. 

  “Whoo.”
Kim Seon-Hyeok took a deep breath as he felt the collision of such powerful energy. 

  Bang. Bang. 

  His heart beat wildly. The tension he thought he would never feel again awakened and wrapped around him. 

  Fear of the unknown enemy awaiting beyond, concern for the brothers of the north, and guilt for not keeping his promise to Ophelia - his mind was a tangled mess of rushing emotions.

  “I think I must’ve gone crazy.”
However, despite all his negative emotions, the one emotion that dominated his entire body at this moment was ‘expectation.’
His whole body heated up as if he had swallowed a flame. It felt like if he didn’t spit out, he would burn himself before he even ran into the enemy.

  [Be patient. It is not yet time.]

  He had unwittingly been about to spit out the fire, but at Edda’s request, Kim Seon-Hyeok shut his mouth.

  [The moment you should explode is when you meet the enemy.]

  The moment he heard those words, his chaotic mind became surprisingly clear.

  There was only one thing for him to do on this battlefield where monsters known as the Transcendental Beings were running rampant. It was an all too familiar action to him. 

  The raging fire that had been burning hot cooled down. However, even though it cooled down, the flame was still burning. It was the moment where cold reason and hot will were in perfect harmony.

  [Good.]

  Even Edda, who was usually stingy with praise, smiled contentedly when she saw him.

  Following the non-stop explosions and waves, Kim Seon-Hyeok finally reached the battlefield.

  The battlefield he arrived at was hell itself. 

  The cries of mothers who lost their children, and the cries of children who lost their parents; the swears and shouts of men who had succumbed to evil; the death rattle of the men who couldn’t bear it any longer - the whole area was filled with screams and cries.

  The black earth was already stained red by the blood shed by the dead.

  It hadn’t been that long since the first roar had been heard. However, the damage suffered by the nomads in that short period of time was too great.

  Kim Seon-Hyeok’s gaze quickly took in his surroundings.

  The situation was far worse than he had expected. Because they had to protect the long procession, the tough cavalry of the north could not utilize their greatest strength and the ancient monsters surrounding them persistently targeted the children and women in the middle of the procession.

  It was a fight between the ones protecting and the ones who wanted to talk. In the end, the ones who died the most were the ones protecting.

  “Edda!”
At her companion’s call, the Dragon took a long breath.

  Ahhhhhhhhhh.

  It was a clear roar that brought the whole world to its knees, and the monsters who were rushing like evil spirits all fell to their knees as they prostrated and trembled violently.

  “Seon-Hyeok is here!”
“It’s the Dragon and Seon-Hyeok!”
Finally able to breathe easily again, the nomads looked up at the sky and cheered.

  Everyone was rejoicing at the appearance of their most reliable ally.

  However, Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t hear any cheering.

  “I, I’m alive…”
“What a relief…”
Forget cheering, all he heard from all directions were countless people dying without even being able to finish the words they were saying. 

  Death that was beyond reckoning weighed on his shoulders again.

  It felt as if his entire body was getting heavy. The momentary hesitation he had felt before reaching this place pulled him down like a bog. 

  “Whooo.”
But he was no longer a kid struggling at the weight of death. He carried the lives of those who survived because of the weight of death upon his shoulders.

  And he roared for them.

  “Gaaaaaaaaaah!”
Although it was not as majestic as that of the Dragon Lord, the roar of the more vicious and ferocious War Dragon resounded throughout the battlefield.

  When he finished roaring, he was already moving.

  The completed Wind woke up and howled. A thunderous wind blew out like a spear and pierced his foe. The monsters who had been prostrating and trembling at the majesty of the Dragon Lord were torn apart countless times.

  Bang.

  Explosion. That wasn’t the end. The Wind Spear that smashed into the earth and exploded became thousands of fragments that fell on the battlefield.

  Monsters fell everywhere. Pierced and torn, the monsters’ flesh scattered all over the place. 

  But Kim Seon-Hyeok’s attack wasn’t over yet. No, his goal was never the monsters from the beginning, he had been aiming for the foreign entity hiding among the crouched monsters.

  A chill was added to the wind that had been blowing irregularly, and in an instant, the wind became a frigid storm that froze everything.

  All the monsters within range of the storm froze before they could even scream. In the end, there was only one living behind.

  “You found me sooner than I thought.”
As if he was a child playing hide-and-seek and was caught by the seeker, he playfully grumbled and pouted. 

  “Well, since it’s like this, why don’t I introduce myself. I’m Kang Tae-Jin.

  Even in the middle of a cold storm, he calmly introduced himself with intense eyes.

  Kwaaaaaaa.

  Who knows when he had gotten closer, but Kim Seon-Hyeok, in the form of the War Dragon, stretched his fist out towards Kang Tae-Jin.

  “W, wait!”
It was an urgent shout, but of course, Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t stop his fist, and Kang Tae-Jin was struck by the War Dragon’s powerful fist.

  “Guk.”
In the face of such an overwhelming physique, Kang Tae-Jin flew back.

  ***

  Voltecino let out a low growl as she breathed in. Her beautiful blue hair had long become a mess as it was stained by the blood from her body. The image of the ruler looking down on the plains was gone.

  Right now, Voltecino was just a wounded beast.

  “Are you okay, Cino?”
[Nothing you need to worry about.]

  The giant wolf never showed weakness. It was because she knew better than anyone else that if showed a weak side, she would be instantly eaten by the beings in front of her. 

  It was a difficult truth to accept, but Ko Eun-Bi stood firm and stared straight ahead.

  But the enemies weren’t looking at Voltecino or her. They just watched the hostile confrontation between the man and woman in front of them with a relaxed expression as if they were on a picnic. 

  “He’s not even a proxy, but this guy is strong.”
“That\\\'s a compliment that doesn’t fit a little brat like you that can’t even face me.”
The woman’s bloody scythe reached out as the man growled at her words.

  “You’re strong, but I’m stronger.”
The man frowned at the dispassionate response.

  Although he didn’t want to acknowledge it, the words she spoke were the truth. He could no longer afford to fight. His left arm had been cut from the bottom of his forearm, and his perfectly fine right hand was having a difficult time grasping his sword.

  “What on earth is this? At one point in time, he was the best in the North, but now, he keeps getting beaten up by women.”
Men. Darun let out a sigh at their words.

  “Gender discrimination isn’t nice. Since it’s a fight between me and you, a fight between warriors.”
“Wow, you make me speechless.”
There was no sign of malice in the woman’s words. But that just made Darun more terrified. 

  The woman covered in the blood of his clansmen was artless, but she was also cruel. She had already torn apart dozens of warriors of his clan with her hands. And if she wanted to, she would do the same to him.

  He was only alive for the dark-haired demons’ entertainment. It was nothing more, nothing less.

  “Han Jin-Hee, let’s finish up, yeah? It’s about time for that Dragon Lord or whatever to come. Not to mention, we have to finish the other side too soon. We don’t have time to play with the small fries forever.”
“That’s just what I was about to do.”
At the words of one of the foreigners, Han Jin-Hee turned to ask Darun.

  “Do you have any dying wishes? I’ll listen. You deserve it.”
“How nice of you.”[1]

  “You’re welcome.”
Darun frowned as he watched her innocently smiling at his words even though it had been full of hostility.

  “Men do not have dying wishes or a will. The way he has lived is his will and his proof.”
“That’s admirable. But that’s all?”
Han Jin-Hee raised her scythe again as she slightly admired him.

  “Then did you think I’d beg you to let me live?”
“If you say that you’ll follow me, I can let you live.”
“Not interested. I am Darun, a man’s man. While I may have become a bit twisted in my later years, I have still lived a pretty good life. So, I am not afraid to die.”
At her words, he grabbed his curved sword with his one remaining arm. Separate from accepting death, he still planned to make one last attempt. 

  Watching her running towards him with her scythe raised like a death god, Darun prepared for her final blow.

  But at that moment, a miracle happened. 

  Ahhhhhhhh

  There was an overwhelming roar from something and just by hearing it, it brought them to their knees. It was the roar of the Dragon of the brother who they had separated from half a day before.

  “Seon-Hyeok!”
Happiness and sadness intertwined.

  “It’s the Dragon Lord!”
The dark-haired demons had been calm and relaxed as if they were on a picnic, but for the first time, they stiffened.

  Seeing that, Darun thought that maybe he could survive. But it was too early.

  Unlike the other foreigners, Han Jin-Hee’s expression didn’t change even in the face of a formidable enemy. She stretched out with her scythe as if to rip him apart.

  “Ack!”
Darun poured all the power he had saved up for a counterattack to evade. As a result, instead of halving his body, he was able to dodge the attack with just one more deep wound on his chest.

  “I thought you weren’t afraid to die.”
When Han Jin-Hee frowned as she spoke, Darun let out a cough mixed with blood.

  “When I think about it, I think it’s better to live if I can.”
“So you’re just an insignificant bastard no different from the others.”
As if disappointed, she raised her scythe once more with a cold expression on her face.

  “Kahhhhh.”
At that moment, another powerful roar sounded. It was a more violent and aggressive roar than the first one had been. And before the long roar ended, explosions were heard in succession.

  “Huh? It’s getting closer?”
While the foreigners paused for a moment, something fell from the sky.

  Bang!

  “Kah!”
Something smashed into the ground with a deafening roar. It was one of the dark-haired devils that had vanished from the rear of the procession shortly before. The devil had disappeared only a short time ago, but its appearance was completely messed up.

  “Mon, monster…”
Crawling out of the massive pit, the man moaned that single word before vomiting.

  “Guh!”
As the man vomited red dirt, a golden object fell like a thunderbolt and struck the man’s head.

  “Kang Tae-Jin!”
“Tae-Jin!”
While the dark-haired devils screamed for him, the golden object that had pressed the man down slowly stood up.

  “Is it you guys?”
The giant who had trampled on the man called Kang Tae-Jin was Kim Seon-Hyeok wearing the War Dragon’s form. 

  “Are you the damn Transcendental bastards?”
When the War Dragon spat those anger-filled words out, the foreigners also shouted back at him.

  “So you’re the Dragon’s Companion!”
“Why is Tae-Jin like that?”
“Where the hell is your match or whatever?!”
Some of the agitated ones shouted and Kim Seon-Hyeok pointed to the sky.

  “Match? Are you looking for that?”
Who knows when she appeared, but a platinum dragon was looking down on the ground, However, something massive was dangling from her jaws as if it was a dead body. 

  1. The raw had it as 그것 참 고마운 말이네, which is directly translated as ‘what kind words,’ but contextually, I felt ‘How nice of you,’ fit the English translation better/smoother.