Dungeon Breaker

Chapter 25

—–CROW—– 

“Sorry for the late introduction, my name is Ellie. And my older sister’s name is Lena.”

As they started walking behind the black-haired elf, the green-haired elf sidled up to Cheon-ho and spoke.

It seemed she was as curious as her voice was cheerful.

“What’s your name?”

Her friendly demeanor was hard to believe, considering she had been pointing an arrow at him just moments ago.

So, Cheon-ho thought,

‘She must have been bored.’

He could see it at a glance.

Sisters serving the Forest Dragon.

Unlike her serious and stubborn older sister, the younger sister was curious and playful.

It was a pattern that had appeared several times in his father’s stories.

“I’m Park Cheon-ho.”

“Wow, are you from another world by any chance? I heard some of the heroes summoned to the Labyrinth World have unusual names.”

“Ellie, be quiet.”

The black-haired elf, Lena, who was leading the way, warned in a low voice as her younger sister, Ellie, continued to chatter.

The green-haired elf slightly lifted her mask and stuck out her tongue, but that was all.  She seemed to listen to her sister, as she didn’t speak to Cheon-ho any further.

“Hmm.”

As expected, clichés were clichés for a reason.

They seemed like a nice pair of sisters.

“[You, it seems your energy is surging strangely.]”

“Ahem.”

Cheon-ho coughed awkwardly and cleared his distracting thoughts.

And as if on cue, the black-haired elf – Lena – stopped walking.

“From here on, only those of noble blood may enter.”

He couldn’t see her eyes because of the mask, but it was obvious who she was talking to.

As Saschiel frowned, Cheon-ho quickly spoke,

“Saschiel, I’ll be back.”

He had come here to ask for the Forest Dragon’s help.

There was no point in causing trouble.

When Cheon-ho gestured with his eyes, Saschiel’s expression turned displeased, but he nodded and, glaring at Lena, said,

“Shout if anything happens. I’ll come running, no matter who stands in my way.”

It sounded like he was talking to Lena, not Cheon-ho.

Lena stared back at Saschiel in silence, and Ellie looked back and forth between them with amusement.

“I will.”

Once again, Cheon-ho had to mediate.

Ending the conversation with a short reply, Cheon-ho gestured to Lena, and she silently turned and started leading the way again.

He took one step, and fog spread.

He took two steps, and the surrounding trees disappeared.  When he took three steps, Ellie, who had been walking beside him, and Lena, who had been leading the way, vanished.

A black sky and a fog-covered ground.

And a presence before him.

Cheon-ho stopped walking.

He raised his head and looked up, meeting the gaze of the being looking down at him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The voice came from above.

A dark green dragon was looking down at him.

“Forest Dragon…”

Dark green scales and an incredibly long neck.

A relatively slender body and long wings covering the ground.

Despite being curled up on its stomach, it was a massive being, its head nearly seven meters high.

‘It’s real.’

That thought crossed his mind.

A dragon.

The common king of all land and air beasts.

The apex of the species.

Several dragons had appeared in his father’s stories.

But no imagination could compare to the real thing.

A massive creature, tens of meters long, was moving before his eyes. It was simply awe-inspiring.

Therefore, Cheon-ho didn’t notice it right away.

“[Indeed, so that’s why.  I understand why the Dragon Maidens refused entry and why they rejected the Forest Elves’ request.]”

Mitra suddenly spoke in a low voice.

Unlike Cheon-ho, Mitra had seen dragons several times before.

It could tell the Forest Dragon’s condition at a glance.

And the same was true for the Forest Dragon.

“Holy Sword Mitra? I’ve received two distinguished guests.”

The Forest Dragon also recognized Mitra.

It continued to look down at Cheon-ho as it spoke.

“One of noble blood, greetings.  My name is Aleister.  I am the Forest Dragon, guardian of the forest.”

“I am Park Cheon-ho.”

As Cheon-ho replied briefly, Mitra spoke again,

“[You, the dragon before you is nearing death. It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s a candle on the verge of being extinguished. It’s severely weakened.]”

It wasn’t poisoned or injured like Saschiel.

It was a much more natural consequence of aging.

‘So that’s why.’

The reason it had refused the Forest Elves’ plea.

The reason it remained silent even as the Plague God’s followers rampaged through the forest.

Certainly, the Forest Dragon – Aleister – before him was different from the dragons in his father’s stories.

He didn’t sense the overwhelming presence, the feeling of dominating the space itself. It was just a large creature.

“Just as you surmised, one of noble blood.”

Aleister spoke as if reading Cheon-ho’s mind.

After a moment of thought, Cheon-ho said,

“Aleister-nim, we need your help to save the Forest Elves and thwart the Plague God’s plot.”

Mitra had said it was like a candle on the verge of being extinguished, but he couldn’t just give up.

At Cheon-ho’s request, Aleister looked far into the distance and then smiled faintly.

“Perhaps it is fate that I meet you at this time.  I will do it, one of noble blood.  I will not spend the last of my life in false peace and tranquility.  As the guardian of the forest, I will meet an end befitting my title.”

Its voice was still low and gentle, but the strength behind its words was different.

Cheon-ho gasped involuntarily.

He drew up his internal energy to support himself.

And because of that, he could ask,

“Aleister-nim, I have one question.”

“What is it, one of noble blood?”

“Um… what exactly is this noble blood I’ve inherited?”

“[You, did you really not know?]”

Mitra asked in a slightly bewildered voice, and Cheon-ho tried to hide his awkward expression.

As he had said many times, he really didn’t know.

‘Asking about the secret of my birth is harder than I thought.’

As Cheon-ho gained a strange realization, Aleister shook its head.

“The fact that you don’t know the source of your blood means that the source didn’t want you to know. Then I will also keep the secret.”

In short, it meant it wouldn’t tell him.

“Hmm.”

Considering the flow of events, he had thought it would be something simple(?) like dragon blood, but the reaction was more than he had imagined.

‘As expected of my great father.’

He still didn’t know his mother’s true identity – her species – but she was likely more than just an ordinary dragon.

To have married such a being, his father was truly amazing.

“[You have the face of someone following a strange line of logic.]”

It was a surprisingly sharp analysis from Mitra.

Cheon-ho cleared his throat to compose himself and said to Aleister,

“I understand. I will find out on my own.”

“You will naturally learn when the time comes.”

Saying this, Aleister lowered its head a little more.

“You must have also asked the Treant tribe for help.  If I join, they will surely follow.  So, one of noble blood, how do you plan to fight?”

They didn’t have much time.

Considering the time it would take to join up with the Treant tribe, they only had about a day.

This fight was different from the one on the first floor.

The scale was much larger, and there were hostages to rescue.

How would he fight?

Before answering, Cheon-ho took in Aleister’s entire form.  He met Aleister’s gaze again and said,

“I have a plan.”

“I will listen, one of noble blood.”

This would be the Forest Dragon Aleister’s last battle.

Cheon-ho began to explain.

The next morning, as Cheon-ho retraced his steps, a very welcome face appeared before him.

“Hero!”

Luciel smiled brightly and waved.  Aris, the Forest Elf Village Chief, was sitting on her shoulder, and behind her stood a giant tree-man, resembling the Demonic Tree Casablond, but almost twice as large.

“Luciel.”

As expected, Luciel was truly angelic, unlike anyone else.  Just seeing her smiling face made something inside him melt.

And Ellie, watching their greeting, chuckled from behind her mask.

“Hi, I’m Ellie, a Dragon Maiden.”

Ellie said, wrapping her arm around Cheon-ho’s.

The sudden and rather intimate physical contact was disconcerting, but Cheon-ho reacted as he always did.

“Hmm.”

He simply remained silent.

It wasn’t because he enjoyed the feeling of her arm against his.  Not at all.

[Perverted Lv3 experience points increased.]

[Poker Face Lv2 experience points increased.]

“[The system is honest.]”

As Mitra muttered, Luciel blinked.

She pursed her lips involuntarily and then spoke in a slightly subdued, cautious voice,

“I am… Luciel, an angel serving the Five Goddesses.”

Satisfied with the reaction, Ellie giggled softly behind her mask.

And at that moment, Lena, sighing behind her mask, grabbed Ellie by the scruff of her neck and pulled her away from Cheon-ho, then introduced herself.

“I am Lena, a Dragon Maiden serving Aleister-nim.”

It was a standard greeting, but Luciel liked Lena very much.

Smiling gently, she introduced Aris and the Treant behind her.

“This is Aris-nim, the Village Chief of the Forest Elf village, and Tall Big Branch-nim, the chief of the Treant tribe.”

Aris stood up from Luciel’s shoulder and bowed, and the Treant behind her also nodded slowly and said,

“I- am- Tall Big- Branch.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Park Cheon-ho.  This is Saschiel-nim, the Battle Angel.”

As Cheon-ho bowed and introduced himself, Tall Big Branch spoke again.

“I am Tall- Big- Branch.”

“[Treants don’t have a large vocabulary. You have to grasp their meaning from the nuance.]”

“Hmm.”

It seemed like a setting he had heard somewhere before.

Lena stepped forward and said,

“Tall Big Branch-nim, Aleister-nim has decided to fight against the Plague God’s followers. Please lend us your strength.”

“I- am Tall- Big- Branch.”

“Thank you for readily accepting.”

“Hmm.”

The last one was Cheon-ho.

It seemed Lena could understand the Treants’ language.

“[You can do it too, if you practice.]”

He wasn’t sure if he needed to practice, but come to think of it, it would be necessary.

He had the Demonic Tree Seed.

‘Is this what it becomes if I raise it well?’

Tall Big Branch looked even stronger than Casablond, perhaps because of its larger size.

“I think the introductions are over. We don’t have much time.  We need to prepare for battle quickly.”

It was Saschiel.

He was right. They didn’t have much time. Considering the travel time to the capital and the rendezvous with Aleister, they had to save time.

“Tall Big Branch-nim, please listen to me.”

“I am Tall Big Branch.”

“Thank you.”

He hoped that wasn’t a refusal.

Glancing at Lena, Cheon-ho explained his plan.

Scabrond, the Apostle of the Plague God, was by no means a fool.

The Rat Men who attacked the Forest Elf village had been annihilated.

He could easily guess who the culprit was.

The one who destroyed the altar on the first floor.

The apostle of the God of Healing, who deserved to be torn to shreds.

Scabrond believed that he wouldn’t just run away. He would definitely appear to interfere with the ritual.

Scabrond looked into the distance.

A giant statue of the Plague God stood atop the high altar.

Before the statue, enveloped in a dark green aura, stood a sacrificial altar, and upon it lay bound Forest Elves.

Scabrond looked up at the sky again.

Night was approaching.

The time for the moon fragment to rise was near.

Therefore, Scabrond’s senses grew sharper.  He stared in the direction of the Forest Elf village with heightened vigilance.

And at some point…

“Squeak! Squeal!”

Giant Rats started shrieking in the distance.

A faint tremor, a shock that would surely shake the earth far away, was transmitted through the ground.

They were coming.

Scabrond roared.  He shouted sharply at the Rat Men under his command, and hundreds of them began to move at once.

Night approached.

With the end of twilight, the battle began.

—–CROW—–