Chapter 110…
Flash—!
The moment those bloodshot eyes glared red, the creature’s massive form was revealed in full.
What crawled out of the darkness was a sight far more grotesque than anything imaginable.
“This… is supposed to be an Yinglong?”
It had wings, but they could no longer fly.
The membranes were shredded and hanging limp, and that enormous body dragged itself along the ground.
The most shocking part was the blood.
Its entire body was soaked—drenched—in blood.
The once beautiful scales of the Yinglong were now stained dark red.
‘It’s been corrupted… defiled by someone else’s blood.’
The sticky blood coating its body clearly wasn’t its own.
It was the blood of someone—no, of many someones.
And those eyes.
Blood-red, deranged, completely consumed by madness.
‘Judging from that state, there’s no way to talk to it.’
Originally, Yinglong were one of the few demonic beasts that possessed enough intellect to communicate.
But now it only shook the ground with its ragged, beast-like breathing.
A nauseating stench rode the wind.
“Ugh… the smell of blood…”
Several guild members were visibly struggling not to vomit.
Joo Gun-ryul and the entire Cheonsun Guild were struck silent in shock.
— KRRROAAAAAAAH!!
The blood-soaked Yinglong threw its head back and unleashed a deafening roar.
Rumble—!
Nearby ruins collapsed under the force of the sound.
The ground shook, and several guild members staggered.
Next to me, Nam Woojin gritted his teeth, lightning crackling around him.
“Hyung… that thing is seriously out of its mind.”
“Stay sharp. It’s coming.”
No sooner did I speak than the blood-soaked Yinglong charged.
Its massive claws slammed into the ground as it barreled toward us.
BOOM—! BOOM—!
Each impact cracked the earth and sent rocks flying.
“Hold formation! Don’t scatter!”
Joo Gun-ryul stepped to the front, twin shields raised to receive the impact head-on.
As expected of a Guardian—his tanking was flawless.
Immediately, I activated Beast Resonance.
[User activates skill: ‘Beast Resonance Lv.9 (B–)’.]
[Synchronization with ‘Kakan’ successful!]
[User’s stats increase by: Strength +72, Agility +89, Stamina +121]
Power surged into my body—strength, speed, endurance—all skyrocketing.
Just then, Joo Gun-ryul and the corrupted Yinglong collided head-on.
“Ghh…!”
KRAAASH—!!
A thunderous impact rippled the air.
Joo Gun-ryul crossed his shields and blocked the charging headbutt, but the sheer force drove him dozens of meters back, burying his feet into the ground.
“Guildmaster!”
Jegal Sang shouted in alarm.
But Joo Gun-ryul was already steadying himself, preparing for the next charge.
‘Monster, indeed.’
I couldn’t help admiring him.
To take an impact like that and stay unharmed—it proved how absurd his physical capabilities were.
‘Even with my current stats, taking that head-on would snap something.’
As expected of a descendant of Bango.
Everything I experienced in the Chamber of Records made sense now.
— KWAARAAAH!!
But the real problem was the corrupted Yinglong.
A normal Yinglong would’ve taken to the sky by now, unleashing storms of rain, wind, and lightning.
But this corrupted one was completely different.
It smashed surrounding buildings with a swing of its tail and suddenly opened its mouth.
“That’s… dangerous!”
SZZT—
I sprinted forward as a deep crimson glow lit up the inside of its throat.
Red Lightning.
Not blue lightning—this was destructive, blood-red lightning.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!
‘Sung-sik… I’m counting on you.’
Sung-sik allowed me to borrow his ability.
[User activates skill: 【Transform — Adamantium】 Lv.8 (S)]
[Your body transforms into a substance harder than any material.]
CRRRK—
My right arm turned jet black in an instant.
A color like condensed darkness, swallowing all light.
The red lightning shot forward, but I caught it with my Adamantium arm.
“You crazy—!”
Even with its immense force, I twisted my arm to divert its trajectory.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!!
But several guild members on the outskirts couldn’t dodge in time.
“ARGH!!”
“Kuh…!”
“Healers! Clerics! Over here, now!”
Those struck by the Red Lightning collapsed with severe burns.
Its power was incomparable to normal lightning.
The Yinglong then leapt high and crashed into the middle of the raid formation.
“Scatter! Switch to independent formation!”
Jegal Sang commanded swiftly.
Guild members dispersed in perfect coordination, surrounding the corrupted Yinglong.
“You damned snake! Die!”
“You killed my friend—!”
STAB—CLANG! BOOM—!!
Attacks rained onto the creature.
Wounds accumulated, but it still showed no sign of falling.
— KRRRRROOOOH!!
Instead, it became even more frenzied.
It rampaged unpredictably—charging, slashing with talons, whipping its tail, firing red lightning in all directions.
“Shields… shields are breaking!”
“That lightning again! Scatter!”
“It’s too fast—!”
Gradually, the raid began losing ground.
The issue wasn’t just the Yinglong’s natural strength.
‘Their raid composition is all wrong for this enemy.’
Cheonsun Guild had prepared for a normal, flying Yinglong.
But this corrupted one was far stronger—and deranged.
If anything, the only thing saving us was its broken sanity.
If it had been in its right mind, this would’ve been far worse.
I refrained from joining the fight immediately and instead studied the corrupted Yinglong carefully.
The guild needed to buy time.
I needed to do my job.
‘Where is it… Where’s your weakness?’
All beasts have a weakness.
Even the mighty dragon race.
Their fatal flaw—the reverse scale, the yeongrin.
A single scale that grows backward.
Folk tales say it’s under the jaw… but reality is different.
When you keep getting stabbed in the same place for decades, even insects learn.
Dragons? They’re no fools.
Each individual has their reverse scale in a different spot.
I just need to find—there!
No wonder it was hard to see.
Its reverse scale was on the center of its abdomen.
“Guildmaster!”
“I see it!”
Joo Gun-ryul immediately leapt toward the creature’s face to block its vision.
CRRRK—
My right arm transformed again into black metal.
A shield that blocks everything… can also break everything.
Adamantium could tank any hit—and strike with devastating force.
‘…Now!’
WHOOSH.
Using Step Arts, I slipped under the beast.
Its massive claws grazed my shoulder, but Adamantium deflected them without a spark.
I reached its blind spot.
‘Alright, get ready to scream.’
The reverse scale—dragons’ one and only critical weak point.
I clenched my Adamantium fist and drove it into the scale with full power.
BOOOOM—!!
— KYWAAAAAARGH!!
With a horrifying scream, the reverse scale shattered.
Blood—this time its own, not others’—burst upward like a fountain.
But then—
“…What the hell?”
Inside the broken reverse scale was… something.
A small rune.
Intricate and ancient.
‘As expected… Merlin’s ancient magic.’
My theory had been right—Gobert Merlin’s disciple had cursed this Yinglong.
They corrupted it with blood to weaken its magic resistance, then engraved runes to drive it mad and amplify its strength.
The Yinglong staggered heavily.
With the reverse scale destroyed, it lost balance.
Even the red lightning flickering from its mouth scattered.
“Now!”
“On it!”
Joo Gun-ryul charged.
He swung his shield like a hammer and brought it down onto its skull.
THUD! CRACK—!!
The huge head smashed into the ground.
Its skull collapsed, and brain matter burst outward.
At last, the corrupted Yinglong went limp.
Ding!
[You have slain: Corrupted Yinglong Lv.152]
[Title effect ‘Gate Pioneer’: EXP gained +50%]
[Level up! +3]
‘As expected of a dragon race—the EXP is insane.’
Monsters weren’t just about level.
Individual value mattered too.
Higher gate ranks meant exponentially higher difficulty.
“Huff… huff…”
Joo Gun-ryul’s forehead dripped with sweat.
The guild let out sighs of relief.
Only after seeing the corpse fall did tension leave their shoulders.
“How many more of these things do we have to kill…?”
“And what was with that appearance? Yinglong aren’t supposed to look like that.”
“No wonder we almost died. Damn it…”
Everyone had something to say.
They were shaken, confused—and relieved.
But I couldn’t relax.
‘This is only the beginning. Once we go deeper…’
Even before regression, this Red Gate housed multiple Yinglong.
If they were all cursed like this…
The thought alone was horrifying.
And then—
— KRRRROOOOHH…!
“…!?”
“No way…”
Another roar echoed from afar.
The same deep, mournful sound.
Guild members instantly tensed.
Several pairs of glowing red eyes flashed in the darkness.
“Damn…”
Jegal Sang cursed under his breath.
One by one, massive shapes crawled out from the darkness.
One… two… three… four.
All identical to the one we’d just slain.
Bodies drenched in blood, torn wings, maddened crimson eyes.
“…Hyung, I think we’re screwed.”
Nam Woojin’s voice trembled.
Four blood-soaked Yinglong surrounded us.
Red eyes glared at us from every direction.
“Close the formation! If they break through, we’re done!”
Joo Gun-ryul shouted.
The raid tightened dramatically.
Everyone’s faces were pale with tension.
One was bad enough.
Four at once?
KRAAAAA—! KRAAAAA—! KRAAAAA—!
Their simultaneous roars shook the entire erosion zone.
Ruins collapsed; some covered their ears in pain.
Then the charge began—
Four corrupted Yinglong rushing in from all directions.
‘Fighting as before won’t work.’
One was barely manageable.
And I couldn’t bring out the kids yet—they needed to be fully rested before meeting him.
The master of this place: the Red Gate boss.
Joo Gun-ryul also seemed to be holding back intentionally.
Meaning…
We had to deal with this using just the raid members here.
Which meant…
I needed to use one of my cards.
From within the raid’s formation, I shouted:
“Guildmaster! Buy me some time!”
“Do you have a plan?!”
“Just buy it!”
“…Alright!”
Joo Gun-ryul deflected a bolt of red lightning upward.
BOOM—!
Slamming his shield into the ground, he drew the attention of three corrupted Yinglong.
The essence of a tank—aggro control.
‘Now.’
Breathing room opened.
I focused.
Ding…!
[Attempting ‘Limit Break’!]
[Sungsik’s latent ability ‘Flame of Calamity’ resonates!]
[Your talent ‘Body of Extinction’ evolves into a new talent!]
[New talent acquired: ‘Body of Annihilating Flame’ — Duration: 30 seconds]
Heat exploded from my body.
The Body of Annihilating Flame—
The same devastating power I’d used against Sibel.
A force that burns away all corruption, all evil.
My entire body felt like it was igniting—
