Chapter 96: The Trial Bestowed by the Holy Relic

It had been a while since I ordered pizza.

I ordered three different pizzas loaded with toppings and took a hot shower in the bathroom.

With Clean Magic, I didn’t really need water.

But sometimes, I just wanted to feel the water on my skin like this.

There’s something oddly pleasant about standing under hot water.

Sss.

Sssss.

The water started sputtering, then suddenly poured out cold.

“…It’s broken.”

Well, I am Dragon Lord’s Successor Candidate.

And my attribute resistance has gotten quite high.

I don’t really feel the cold much anymore.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t sense cold at all. I raised my hand against the chill of the cold water.

With a snap of my fingers, I cast a simple spell.

Using magic to warm the water, I temporarily made hot water come out of the broken shower.

“Nice.”

Closing my eyes, I quietly enjoyed the warmth pouring over me.

Ding-dong!

At the signal that the pizza had arrived, I turned off the water and left the bathroom.

With magic, I dried myself off and quickly slipped into some sweatpants.

I stepped into the living room and opened the door slightly—there was the pizza.

I gathered up the three boxes and the bag with the drinks, then turned back.

The small studio room filled my view.

‘It’s a bit small.’

Back when I worked as a porter, I couldn’t have asked for a better space. Now, it felt a little cramped.

It’s not like I don’t have money.

Maybe it’s time to clear this place out and move on. Then again, I wondered if I really needed to move.

I felt like attention was following me for no reason.

Even if I had a big house, I doubted I’d really use it.

Maybe it’d be better to build a real home inside the Dragon Lair.

‘There’s a Dwarf too.’

He’s skilled with his hands, so he could make anything I want.

I decided to think about it some more later and, for now, sat on the floor to focus on the pizza.

When I opened the box, hot steam and the savory smell of cheese filled the air.

I poured out the pickle juice and set up the dipping sauces.

Then I opened YouTube on my phone.

With a channel playing recent issues in the background, I took a bite of pizza.

“Mmm.”

The cheese stretched long.

So many toppings.

The dough soft and supporting it all.

Everything blended in my mouth and brought me joy.

-China has temporarily halted the Potion Business, and the world is worried about a potion shortage.

-There are still plenty of potions on the market, so things are fine for now, but in about three months, shortages are expected.

-Some Hunters say China should be given back the right to enter the labyrinth quickly so the Potion Business can return to normal.

They stopped other countries from monopolizing Dungeons.

But then China monopolized the Potion Business, which is ironic.

-Meanwhile, there is news that Korea is entering the Potion Business.

-The supplier is the Golden Tower, the only Magic Tower in Korea, run by Hunter Yoo Seolha, the daughter of Hunter Yoo Baekjun.

-They have begun supplying entry-level potions with S-grade efficacy. The price is cheaper than China’s, but the effect is several times better. Word is spreading fast.

The next issue was related to me, too.

-China and Japan have been linked to a special organization called the Apostle, according to an announcement by Dokkaebi.

-China and Japan have not responded to this at all.

-However, the president of the Korean Hunter Association has announced that the upcoming World Hunter Association meeting will discuss this in detail.

Except for China and Japan, who were directly tied to the Apostles, other countries knew nothing about them.

What kind of beings they were.

What powers they had.

Why China and Japan had joined hands.

And what they got in exchange.

They would try to find out through China and Japan, but those two would pretend not to know, no matter what.

‘Yeah. Let’s see how long you last.’

I made that bombshell statement to keep those two countries from moving carelessly.

It also made me angry that they were trying to bury me.

Besides, I needed time to get stronger.

But now, I was close to solving that problem.

“I’ll make sure to finish you both off.”

Since I got something from them, I’ll make sure to pay them back. After finishing the pizza, I cleaned up and headed for the Dragon Lair.

Of course, the chance is slim.

But if I fail the Retest, I didn’t want to bring the consequences to Korea.

When I got to the huge warehouse, there were two sealed Sacred Relic Boxes that had been sent automatically.

‘Guess I’ll open the less valuable one first?’

The box in my hand was of average value for a Sacred Relic.

I’d have to offer a sacrifice to take the Retest.

Thankfully, since it wasn’t an activated relic like the Eye of Bluecat, the required offering wasn’t much.

What I had stockpiled in the Dragon Lair was enough.

Things I’d received from the Lords while unifying the Forest.

I offered something appropriate as a sacrifice and awakened the sealed Sacred Relic Box.

[You may challenge the Sacred Relic.]

[Do you wish to challenge the trial bestowed by the Sacred Relic?]

Alright.

The moment I thought “accept,” a brilliant light streamed from the Sacred Relic Box and swallowed me.

Flash!

When the light faded, a new space appeared.

In the middle of a forest of grass and trees, there was the entrance to a cave.

It was an unfamiliar place, but not entirely strange.

There was a sense of familiarity, as if I’d seen it somewhere before. As I stared at the cave entrance, a message appeared.

[Reach the place where the Sacred Relic resides.]

The message vanished, and I immediately moved toward the cave.

Before entering, I used the Golden Dragon Eye on the cave.

[You use the Golden Dragon Eye.]

[Dragon Lord’s Lair (Replica)]

-The Lair once inhabited by the Dragon Lord.

-Recreated by the Sacred Relic with the Dragon Lord’s mana, it is guarded by high-level Dragon Guardians.

Oh?

Traces of the Dragon Lord.

That means the Guardians here must be the ones the Dragon Lord kept.

“Interesting.”

Both the Sacred Relic here, and the Guardians.

As I walked in, I sent out a flow of mana to gather information about the cave’s interior.

My mana spread inside.

But in an instant, it vanished. It happened in the briefest moment.

‘Hmm.’

Frowning, I tried again, focusing more on the mana.

Just like before, it disappeared the instant it spread out.

‘Did it get neutralized?’

The mana inside the cave dispersed my own. That meant the internal mana density was extremely high.

That made it likely I wouldn’t be able to use the magic I wanted.

“Nothing comes easy, huh.”

I could understand why all the Sacred Relics were sealed.

But I wasn’t planning on giving up.

This kind of obstacle was something I could easily overcome.

I walked further in, using Dark Eye to light my vision and Absolute Barrier to protect my body.

A bit deeper in from the entrance,

I could clearly feel the dense mana, and my magic began to feel interference.

This reaction was more interesting than expected.

Every time I adjusted my magic to keep it active through the interference, I gained a kind of small enlightenment.

[With Blessing of Magic, you understand Mana Press (S).]

A way to increase the surrounding mana density to neutralize the opponent’s magic.

If Dispel Magic completely cancels magic,

This forced magic to self-destruct.

Now that I fully understood, I knew exactly how to operate my magic here.

I adjusted Dark Eye and Absolute Barrier and continued forward.

Once I’d covered a certain distance, enemies appeared.

“Grrrr.”

“Grrk.”

They were wolves with the four major attributes.

Their manes showed off their respective attributes impressively.

[You use the Golden Dragon Eye.]

[Fire Attribute Dragon Fang Soldier (S)]

-A Dragon Fang Soldier made from a dragon’s tooth.

-Overall Stats: S

-Potential: S

-Held Items: None.

-Skills: Blessing of Fire (S), Breath of Flame (S)… Magic Resistance (S), Physical Resistance (S), Mana’s Blessing (S).

Four Dragon Fang Soldiers, each blessed with a different attribute.

Their stats were equal to S-grade Hunters.

‘Tough to take down alone, even for an S-grade.’

With Mana Press making it hard to use mana properly and S-grade monsters appearing, these guys wouldn’t be easy to deal with.

Even someone of the Twelve Constellations would struggle to take this trial on alone.

I could see why only China and the United States of America each owned a Sacred Relic.

A country would need at least two of the Twelve Constellations.

That’s why it was possible.

‘I see why they don’t retry either.’

Thanks to the Dragon’s blessing, my trial’s difficulty hadn’t increased, but for others, it did.

If even stronger monsters than this were released into the world—

It would cause devastating damage.

“Grrrrk!”

“Keek!”

Maybe they could communicate; the four Dragon Fang Soldiers exchanged signals and charged at me.

Fire, water, wind, and earth magic flew my way.

Watching each spell, I countered with opposing attribute magic.

KWAANG!

KWAANG!

Hit by my counter-magic, the Dragon Fang Soldiers collapsed. With their disappearance, the Mana Press phenomenon faded.

“So, this is just the beginning.”

Cracking my neck, I walked deeper into the cave. Before long, a wide passage appeared.

There were dozens of branching paths along the passage.

And from those paths, I felt a horde of something approaching.

A bit weaker than the Dragon Fang Soldiers.

But too many to count.

Dudududu!

The sound of the ground rumbling reached my ears just as the monsters revealed themselves.

Golems.

Golems about the size of Orcs appeared from between the branching paths. Just the ones in sight were over three hundred.

And many more were blocked by the jammed paths, unable to move forward.

“Uoooooh!”

The Golems let out roars like Orcs and charged.

I didn’t even need to use the Golden Dragon Eye on these. They weren’t as strong as the Dragon Fang Soldiers I’d fought before.

I clenched my fist and gathered mana.

Blue flames flickered on my knuckles as I concentrated mana, then threw a punch at the charging Golems.

“Burning Impact.”

KWAANG!

A tremendous explosion swallowed the area, blue flames swept everywhere, consuming the Golems.

Every Golem in sight turned to dust and disappeared.

And their place was filled by more Golems from the other paths.

“This is really just a numbers game.”

I must have taken down a few thousand.

The ground was covered in traces of Golems turned to dust. I waved my hand to stir the air, cleared a path, and walked forward.

As I moved, I checked my physical condition.

‘Mana’s still plentiful.’

Using highly efficient magic that created strong firepower with little mana, I handled my enemies well.

It’s not like there was no consumption at all.

But this much, I could recover just fine.

Following the main path ahead, I reached a massive cavern.

A perfect place for a boss monster.

As expected, at the center stood the Dragon Guardian—the final boss of this trial.

[You use the Golden Dragon Eye.]