Chapter 16: The Lowest-Ranked Apostle of the Thunder Dragon God

From the moment I entered the dungeon, I never let my guard down for even a second.

And when I stepped into the Boss Room.

As I checked the Rock Giant’s information with the Golden Dragon Eye, I realized what kind of plan Park Chanseong had drawn up.

‘He’s planning to kill everyone, not just me.’

I had no intention of letting things go the way Park Chanseong wanted.

So, I used magic.

Just before Kim Jin-sol was struck by the Rock Giant’s fist, I used Absolute Barrier to soften the blow.

Just enough so she wouldn’t die.

Normally, such delicate control would have been impossible, but as the grade of my Dragon Heart increased, my magic efficiency improved.

I’d been practicing steadily in the Dragon Lair.

Thanks to that, I could now use Absolute Barrier exactly as I wished.

‘My training paid off.’

It was the same for Park Chan-mi—I only let her take enough shock to make her faint.

After all, we have Potions.

I didn’t have to worry about Kim Jin-sol and Park Chan-mi dying. I’ll handle Park Chanseong and the Apostle.

“So why are you acting so cocky, you bastard? The reason you died is because you didn’t know your place and acted up. Got it?”

Seeing Park Chanseong so excited made me angry.

“Oh, really?”

“…Don’t talk shit.”

“You started this first.”

“Kill that bastard! Kill him now!”

As Park Chanseong shouted and pointed, I tried to appoint the Rock Giant as a Guardian.

[There is someone’s energy lingering here. Cannot appoint as Guardian.]

So I used magic to deal with the Rock Giant.

The Ice Spear I learned from Park Chan-mi.

Since I understood the principles and rules of magic, I could add some variation.

‘If it’s resistant to ice, just overwhelm it with even greater cold.’

I froze the Rock Giant with an Ice Spear reinforced with ice properties, then finished it off with Gravity Hand.

And to deal with Park Chanseong, I summoned an Orc.

An Orc was perfect for him.

“Crush him.”

“Uoooooooh!”

Watching the Orc charge forward, Park Chanseong ground his teeth. Just when it seemed he’d be paralyzed by fear—

Lightning surged through Park Chanseong’s body.

Crackle!

At the same time, a twisted grin appeared on Park Chanseong’s lips as he clenched his fist.

“Come at me, you green pig bastard.”

“Uoooooh!”

Park Chanseong boldly threw a punch at the Orc. His fist shot out with lightning speed and struck the Orc.

Thud!

His lightning-charged fist landed, but—

The Orc didn’t budge and simply looked down at Park Chanseong.

Then, with a sneer, the Orc threw a punch.

Bang!

The Orc’s fist smashed into Park Chanseong’s face. With a powerful impact, Park Chanseong flew backward and crashed into the wall.

‘That’s not the same Orc as before.’

Sure, its base stats had gone up, but—

[The Orc’s rank temporarily increases with the Dragon’s Blessing.]

Thanks to the fourth Dragon Heart Fragment, I learned Dragon’s Blessing.

Now, I could use magic to temporarily boost a Guardian’s overall stats.

The duration was short.

But right now, that was enough.

“…Damn it, damn it, damn it! I’ll kill every last one of you bastards!”

With bloodshot eyes, Park Chanseong screamed as the Orc charged at him.

Even faster than before.

Park Chanseong moved at high speed, lightning crackling around him, but the Orc read his movements and reached out.

The Orc’s hand grabbed Park Chanseong’s neck.

“Guh!”

The Orc slammed Park Chanseong into the ground, then, following my command, clenched his right fist to finish him off.

Crack!

A thick fist came crashing down toward Park Chanseong.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

“Ku… huk…!”

“…Spare… me…”

“…I was wrong…”

……

The Orc, having completely knocked out and battered Park Chanseong, lifted him up.

[Kill him?]

“Leave it.”

Even if I was going to deal with him, it was better to do it outside. Killing him in here would only make things more troublesome.

“Why don’t you come out now? I know you’re all here.”

Crackle!

A bolt of lightning crashed down in the empty cave. The moment something moved, the Orc’s body was flung through the air and slammed into the wall.

“You idiot.”

A man with yellow-dyed, cropped hair.

His eyes slanted upward slightly as he lightly swung his spear.

Squelch!

The spear pierced Park Chanseong’s chest.

At the same time, something floated up.

“What a waste of Thunder. What a waste. It’s my fault for choosing trash like you.”

The man with the cropped hair licked his lips and ran a hand through his hair.

“You know who I am, don’t you?”

“The lowest-ranked Apostle of the Lightning God.”

“Hahahahaha… Well, I’ve been hit with a big surprise. You knew everything and came looking for me, huh?”

As I watched his intrigued expression, I used the Golden Dragon Eye.

[??? (??)]

• Lowest-ranked Apostle of the Lightning God
• ???
• Level: ?
• Overall Stats: ??
• Potential: ???
• Possessed Items: ????
• Possessed Skills: ???

Everything except “Apostle of the Lightning God” was marked with question marks.

But that didn’t mean I knew nothing.

I knew the exact specs of the lowest-ranked Apostle from the game.

Overall stats: C-.

Possessed item: Lightning God’s Spear (Replica).

Possessed skills: Lightning Step, Blessing of Lightning, Lightning God’s Blessing.

Of course, what I knew was from the game. There was no way to know if a real lowest-ranked Apostle had the same specs.

‘If the Golden Dragon Eye doesn’t work, there’s nothing I can do.’

I used Absolute Barrier to protect my whole body and pulled out Burukan’s Axe from the Dragon Lair.

Bang!

The Orc burst from the wall, gripping Burukan’s Axe, and launched a heavy blow at the lowest-ranked Apostle.

Clang!

Sparks flew as spear and axe clashed.

The lowest-ranked Apostle deflected the axe with his spear, then vanished in a flash.

He reappeared in front of me, stabbing his spear deep.

Absolute Barrier blocked the attack.

But he didn’t stop there. Evading the Orc coming at his back, he floated in the air and conjured lightning on his spear.

He hurled the crackling spear at me with all his might.

Kwagagagagang!

The lightning surging from the spearhead gnawed at Absolute Barrier. But I poured in enough mana to maintain the barrier.

A flawless shield without a single crack.

For a moment, the lowest-ranked Apostle’s expression twisted.

“Who… What are you?”

“And you? Why were you waiting for us here?”

“You don’t know our objective, but you know who we are…?”

The lowest-ranked Apostle smiled strangely.

“…You. You’re the Successor of the Lord, aren’t you?”

“Successor of the Lord?”

“Well, well, I thought I’d stepped in shit, but turns out I caught a big one. Hahahahaha.”

The Apostle laughed aloud, licked his lips, and stretched out his hand. The spear on the ground flew into his hand.

He threw the spear again.

Kagagagagang!

Absolute Barrier blocked the spear.

There are only two kinds of beings who can block this attack. High Circle Archmage. And the Lightning God’s

“Dragon.”

“There are no archmages in this world, so you’re not an archmage. And you don’t feel like an Apostle of another Dragon God.”

Tap!

The Apostle pointed the tip of his spear at me.

“You must be the Successor left behind by the Dragon Lord.”

I silently listened to him.

To draw out a bit more information.

But maybe he realized that, because he smiled and cut off the conversation.

“Kill him. I can’t beat you anyway.”

There was nothing more to learn, so there was no need to drag things out.

“Kill him.”

The Orc raised his axe behind the lowest-ranked Apostle. The Apostle’s eyes flashed as he grinned widely.

“Wait for it, Successor of the Lord. The real Apostles, stronger than me, will descend upon this place to find you.”

Ssshh!

The Apostle crumbled into dust and vanished. At the same time, something dropped to the floor. I stepped over and picked it up.

A small diamond-shaped crystal.

A lightning pattern was etched into its center.

[Using Golden Dragon Eye.]

[Lightning God’s Fragment (?)]

• Contains the Lightning God’s authority.

What is this used for?

[Main Quest 10 completed.]

[Dragon Lair rank increases.]

[Maximum number of Guardians you can appoint increases.]

[You can use the Shard of Divinity to build and upgrade facilities in the Dragon Lair.]

Ah.

So this is that thing?

I didn’t recognize it right away because it had a different name in the game.

‘Should I build that first, then?’

As I briefly wondered how to use the Shard of Divinity, a new message appeared.

[Main Quest received.]

[Main Quest 11]

• Possess three D-rank Guardians.
• Reward: Aptitude Stone.

This shouldn’t take too long.

The moment I get the money from the Association, everything will be solved.

I just need to raise the Goblin’s rank.

‘But the problem is here.’

Park Chan-mi and Kim Jin-sol were lying collapsed in the wrecked Boss Room, and Park Chanseong was dead at the hands of the Apostle.

How should I deal with this situation?

Honestly, I hadn’t thought up a solution before acting, so no easy answer came to mind.

“Should I just feed them Potions first?”

I took Potions out of my bag and gave them to Kim Jin-sol and Park Chan-mi, then walked over to where the Rock Giant had fallen.

I did the hard work, after all.

So I should take the reward.

The Core of the Rock Giant lay on the ground.

As I looked at the magic circle inscribed on the core, new knowledge flowed into my mind.

[With Blessing of Magic (F), you understand the principles and structure of Golem Creation magic.]

[Your understanding of magic is high.]

[Your understanding of Golem Creation is low.]

[You have acquired Golem Creation (E).]

It was a shame I couldn’t appoint the Rock Giant as a Guardian. But this way, I could just make one myself, so it was a gain.

I could appoint one more Guardian.

“…Spare… me…”

At the faint sound, I turned to see Park Chanseong trembling violently.

He’s not dead?

“I… don’t… want… to die…”

I squatted in front of Park Chanseong.

“You tried to kill me, but now you’re begging for your life?”

“I’m sorry… I was wrong… Just spare me… I’ll do anything.”

“What could you possibly do?”

“Anything… except die… anything.”

I thought it over.

Should I make him a Guardian?

If he became a Guardian, he’d be absolutely obedient, so he wouldn’t be a threat anymore.

More importantly.

This was the cleanest way to resolve the situation.

• Even if he looks like that—

He’s a promising member of the Kim & Choi Guild.

If I took the other two out while leaving him dead here, it was obvious I’d get dragged into all sorts of investigations and headaches.

‘Besides, I could use an errand boy.’

The Guardians I had were only Orc, Goblin, and Dryad.

I needed at least one human Guardian to act as the Hidden Piece Finder’s Agent in the real world.

That would also make it easier to negotiate with the Director.

‘I still don’t know much about Guardians.’

What happens if someone dies in the world where the Dragon Lair exists?

What happens if they die multiple times in reality?

What happens if I dismiss a Guardian?

And so on.

‘I’ll just use him as needed and toss him aside.’

Decision made, I looked at him.

I met his eyes and appointed him as a Guardian.

“Kneel.”

With a strange sensation and a faint tremor spreading through my body, a message window appeared.

[Would you like to appoint Park Chanseong as a Guardian?]

Yes.

[Appointing Park Chanseong as a Guardian.]

Then Park Chanseong managed to speak with difficulty.

“I… will be… loyal…”

“Here.”

I poured Potion over Park Chanseong’s wounds, and the rest I made him drink.

Handle things on your own and make sure I don’t get bothered. If this

“gets even a little troublesome, be prepared.”

“Yes.”

Guess it’s time to head back.

As soon as I get home, I need to go to the Dragon Lair and start building.