Valatia, the Fire Dragon.
He had been different from birth.
He hatched from his egg hundreds of years later than the other Hatchlings born at the same time. While others formed a Dragon Heart within one year, it took him decades to create his.
‘Useless fellow.’
‘A disgrace to the dragons.’
‘How was someone like him even born?’
He was the dunce of the Fire Nest.
Valatia was ignored by his entire clan.
As a thousand years passed, the other dragons born at the same time reached the Saint Dragon Level.
They all became High Apostles and received the grace of the Red Dragon God.
But not Valatia.
Because he was a dunce who grew so slowly, he couldn’t even dream of becoming a High Apostle; he had to start as a Lower Apostle.
A Lower Apostle was a servant picked up from other dimensions — a starting point used to determine whether one had talent or not.
For a member of the dragon race, who were superior to any other race in all dimensions, this was a profound humiliation.
Even the other Lower Apostles looked down on him.
‘A dragon is a Lower Apostle? What, he’s no different from us.’
‘Hey, hey, I’m moving up to Intermediate Apostle first.’
‘You deserve to be ignored.’
He could not stand being looked down upon by such lowly races. Valatia killed everyone who dared to mock him.
And then, he realized his talent.
It was a power that grew stronger the more he killed. The more brilliant the opponent’s talent, the greater the increase in his own strength.
‘I can get stronger too.’
Now that he had found a way to grow, Valatia focused solely on gaining power. That was why he applied for a selection position.
It was a role where he traveled through various dimensions, took up residence in SS-class Red Dungeons, and selected talented individuals to become apostles.
Normally, this would have been impossible for someone of his status.
However, no matter how much he was mistreated, Valatia was still a member of the great dragon race.
‘Fine. Do your best.’
‘Thank you.’
Valatia was dispatched as an examiner to various dimensions and met Apostle Candidates.
It was the best place to find talented sprouts.
No matter what happened inside the dungeon, the outside world didn’t care.
‘I just need to raise the talented ones.’
If he ate those with true talent, he would grow rapidly.
However, if he devoured them all, he would likely be labeled as incompetent.
Then, an investigation would surely follow to find out why.
If those above him discovered his ability, they would undoubtedly become envious and jealous.
‘I’ll show those who ignored me.’
Valatia fulfilled his duties while building his strength over a long period. Hundreds, thousands — he had killed so many races that he couldn’t even remember them properly.
Through those kills, he rose to the position of Intermediate Apostle.
Then, he happened to kill a Successor of the Lord.
‘It’s… crazy.’
The power he gained from killing a Successor of the Lord was incomparable to everything he had killed until then combined. He became greedy.
So, he applied for the position of a hunter who hunted the Successors of the Dragon Lord. He even had an excellent track record.
He had gained many insights while killing various races across dimensions.
He knew what kind of thoughts certain races had, what their limits were, and what habits they possessed.
Thanks to this know-how, hunting successors was very easy. That was how he gained recognition from the Red Dragon God.
‘Hunt the mutants.’
‘Yes.’
The “mutants” were those born with exceptional talent, even among the Successors of the Dragon Lord. Valatia took on the role of nipping them in the bud so they couldn’t fully bloom.
He performed the role that others couldn’t handle properly, earning the title of Mutant Hunter.
‘There is no successor who can stop me. They are all my prey.’
That was how it had been until now, and he thought it would continue to be that way.
However, that thought was shattered.
KABOOM!
A massive shockwave slammed into his face.
His neck snapped back against his will. He couldn’t understand what was happening.
But before he could process it, something else flew toward him. Another shockwave struck his face, rattling his consciousness.
Beyond mere absurdity, a surge of rage boiled up.
“How dare you!”
Valatia released the fire Mana stored in his Dragon Heart. His scales reacted to the intense heat, glowing a fiery red.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted in all directions, incinerating everything in the vicinity. Everything became scorching hot — to the point where an ordinary human wouldn’t even be able to breathe.
Yet, that guy was looking at him with a smile on his face.
A tiny human, no bigger than a fingernail.
A half-baked successor created by the followers of the fallen Gold Dragon, draped in pathetic scales and sporting pathetic wings and a tail in a poor imitation of a dragon.
Such a creature had laid a hand on his face. And twice, at that.
“…I will kill you. I will make sure to kill you with my own hands!”
Valatia let out a roar and unleashed the swirling heat surrounding him.
Dragon Fear.
The authority possessed by the great race. He shoved the concentrated terror he had accumulated from slaughtering countless races into the successor.
“Is this all you’ve got?”
However, the successor simply laughed it off and unleashed his own Dragon Fear in return. His eyes were cold.
Terror radiated from his small body. He even taunted Valatia by beckoning with his finger.
“If you’re not coming, then I am.”
“Shut up!”
Dragon Fear that wasn’t inferior to his own at all — Valatia couldn’t believe this situation. No, he didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t accept that he was on equal footing with a mere human.
‘I’ll be ignored again.’
Memories of the past resurfaced. Times when he was mocked and mistreated for having no talent.
To prevent that from happening again, he had no choice but to kill this guy and prove himself.
“I am a member of the great dragon race.”
As if reminding himself, he declared his identity aloud. With pride, he used the Mana in his Dragon Heart to target the successor.
KABOOM!
BANG!
Flames erupted, causing explosions. He created explosions everywhere the successor moved. There was nowhere to hide.
His only option was to endure.
Crack!
Cr-crack!
Pure white frost flowed out, blocking the explosions. Dozens of circular barriers of frost formed around the successor. After blocking the attack, a counterattack followed.
The successor approached rapidly and swung a fist filled with immense strength. The ice Mana contained in the punch seeped between Valatia’s scales.
“As if!”
Valatia rotated his body quickly and whipped the successor with his long tail.
THUD!
The successor couldn’t withstand the impact and was sent flying. Valatia flew after him immediately, opened his maw, and unleashed a breath.
FROOOOOSH!
Flames covered the sky. But soon, the fire split apart.
A whirlwind combined with pure white frost flew toward him, swallowing the heat of the flames. Something slammed deep into his mouth.
“Gah!”
“Did you know? Just as you’ve killed many successors, the successors on this side have killed many dragons, too.”
“What use is knowing that? It takes an enormous amount of Dimensional Power to transmit such information. It’s not at a level that fakes like you can handle.”
The successor’s eyes flashed as he smiled. It was the first time Valatia had felt the emotion of fear while looking at an inferior race.
“Well, I managed to do that difficult thing.”
“That’s impossible…!”
Frost began to flow from his mouth. It was something that should never happen to a Fire Dragon.
Cr-crack!
Belatedly, he heard the sound of something freezing. Only then did he realize he had no sensation from the neck down.
“What… what did you do?”
“I made a piece of equipment to kill Fire Dragons. Using Ten-Thousand-Year Glacial Stone. I heard that’s your weakness.”
It was just as the successor said. Ten-Thousand-Year Glacial Stone was a special mineral that could take down a Saint Dragon Level Fire Dragon. However, it was absolutely not something that could be obtained easily.
“How… could you get that…?”
“Oh, well. I looked around and found some.”
Speaking as if it were nothing, the successor curled his lip and snapped his fingers.
Crack!
The coldness in Valatia’s mouth intensified.
His lost senses returned, only for him to feel the frost surging through his entire body. It was cold. So cold.
A terror of the cold, which he had never felt in his entire life, was etched into his soul.
“…No.”
“Farewell.”
His death sentence was pronounced.
The massive dragon fell to the ground and crumbled into dust, disappearing.
While Ten-Thousand-Year Glacial Stone could kill a dragon, the downside was that the valuable and useful dragon corpse could not be harvested.
‘Surviving was the priority.’
Just as the dragon had said, I was using the power of a dragon within a human body, so I would inevitably be at a disadvantage in an all-out war against a real dragon.
“Whew.”
As the tension eased, Transcendence and Dragon Transformation were deactivated simultaneously. Feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion, I took out a potion and drank it.
Then, I picked up the reward that had fallen to the ground.
It was the Dragon Heart that the Fire Dragon had possessed. Influenced by the weapon made of Ten-Thousand-Year Glacial Stone, it was losing its heat. Before its grade could drop further, I put it directly into my mouth and swallowed it.
[You have consumed a Fire Dragon Heart (SS-).]
[A massive amount of Mana is flowing into your Dragon Heart.]
[Your Dragon Heart accepts all of it.]
[The efficiency of Transcendence increases.]
[The duration of Dragon Transformation increases.]
[The efficiency of the Dragon God’s Body increases significantly. Your physical stats increase significantly.]
The rewards for completing the quests also arrived.
[You have completed Side Quest 1.]
[Acquiring rewards.]
– Dimensional Tavern Pass x5, Arena Ticket x10, Special Guardian Growth Ticket (SS) x2.
[You have completed Side Quest 2.]
[Acquiring rewards.]
– Dimensional Tavern Pass x10, Arena Ticket x20, Special Guardian Growth Ticket (SS) x3.
The rewards I hadn’t received until now poured in all at once. Just looking at them made me feel satisfied. I couldn’t even imagine how strong I would become once I used all of these.
Ding!
[Side Quest 3 has arrived.]
– Dispose of the sixth Lower Apostle.
– Rewards: Dimensional Tavern Pass x20, Arena Ticket x40, Special Guardian Growth Ticket (SSS) x2.
There were now two apostles left who were targeting me. The apostles of the Black Dragon God and the White Dragon God remained.
The one coming next was a High Apostle.
According to Rose, I had about a month of breathing room.
During that time, I had to use the rewards and the Dragon Lair to become as strong as possible, as quickly as possible.
‘Maybe I’ll just rest today.’
I wanted to rest, as I had been moving non-stop to prepare for this battle.
“Hey, Dokkaebi. It’s all over, so you should explain what this is all about, right?”
At the familiar voice, I turned my head. I saw the Twelve Constellations and the Guardians all tangled together.
“Good job, everyone. For now, head back.”
After sending the Guardians back first, I gave a brief explanation to the Twelve Constellations.
“Well, in about a month, someone ten times stronger than that guy will probably show up.”
“Whaaat?”
“Someone stronger than him?”
“Are you telling us to just die? How are we supposed to face that?”
This time, I would need their help.
From the High Apostle onwards, the battle dynamics would change once again.
That was also why I had shown them the battle with the dragon, unlike with other ordinary Hunters.
Of course, I had to visit Rose to hear exactly what kind of help I would need.
“I’ll explain what needs to be done later. For now, let’s go back. I’m exhausted.”
Upon returning to reality, I saw reporters and crowds of people who had come to watch.
I left everything to the Twelve Constellations and moved to the Dragon Lair.
For a week, I rested, eating the food Balak made, sleeping, and just lounging around.
Even then, only a tiny fraction of time would have passed in reality.
“…Time to start moving again.”
First, I needed to meet Rose and come up with a plan.
[Moving to the Dimensional Tavern.]
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