Return of the Frozen Player - Chapter 29
Return of the Frozen Player 029
The Dragon Without a Name (4)
âHuff, huff!â Vincent dashed through the forest as fast as he could, his face white. The thought of an invisible enemy chasing him made his hairs stand on end.
âThat bastard. Heâs good at running away.â Seo Jun-ho stepped quietly. He didnât plan to attack him.
Iâve confirmed that theyâre fiends, so itâs a bit of a waste to kill them right now. It would be better for Seo Jun-ho if he used them to kill the Nameless Dragon first. Theyâll be the hunting dogs. Of course, heâd put them down once they served their purpose. Thatâs why he hadnât shown Vincent his true strength and just scared him a bit.
âItâll be troublesome if heâs already scared.â As he watched the hunting dogs come together, he also started to prepare for the hunt.
* * *
âWow, he mustâve been feisty.â The Nameless Dragon had flown up to the clouds after fighting for a bit. Edvar looked to his brother. He wasnât saying anything. For some reason, he was covered from head to toe in dirt and weeds, and his face had turned white. âYou took care of him, right?â
âN-no⊠I couldnâtâŠâ Hearing his brotherâs half-hearted answer, Edvar yelled.
âWhat? What do you mean?!â
âThereâs something weird about him! He knew that we were fiends and hid his true strength! I used all my Demonic energy but couldnât even sense him, let alone find him!â
Vincent had suspected that Seo Jun-ho was hiding his true strength. But as he hadnât experienced it himself, he was cold.
âHow are you alive, then?â
ââŠWhat?â
âIf he was truly hiding his strength, why did he let you go?â
ââŠâŠâ
Vincent wracked his brain. His brother was right. If Seo Jun-ho had the strength to kill him, he would have done so while he was separated from his brother. But he had let Vincent go and hadnât attacked him once.
I only got dirty because I fell while runningâŠÂ Vincentâs face twisted as he realized. âSo I fell for his bluffs?â
âHe wouldnât have let you go so easily. Of course heâd try to take us out one by one.â He gritted his teeth and turned back to the forest. âThat sly bastard! How dare he trick me. Iâll go back right this instantâŠâ
âNo, nowâs not the time for that.â Edvar shook his head, looking up to the sky. âItâs actually a good thing that you came. I canât defeat the Nameless Dragon alone.â
ââŠItâs that strong?â
âNot just that, itâs annoying to deal with. Itâs hard to land attacks because itâs flying.â
âThen we should try to ride it.â
âYeah. But itâs been focused on me, so I couldnât do it.â
ââŠSo you want me to help?â Vincent understood immediately.
âAttacks from the ground donât work. We have to go for its reverse scale.â
All dragons* had a reverse scale as a weak point. Their enormous bodies had a single scale that faced the opposite of the rest.
(TN: Both European and Asian dragons.)
âThen what about Seo Jun-ho?â
âWeâll corner him with a pincer attack after we kill the Nameless Dragon.â
ââŠAlright. Then, you get the dragonâs attention when it comes down. Iâll use Shadow Movement to get on its back.â
âIâm counting on you.â As they finalized their plan, the Nameless Dragon pierced through the clouds and appeared in their field of vision. Its mouth was opened wide, revealing a concentrated black energy. When Edvar saw this, his face fell.
âGoddammit! It was gathering its breath above the clouds!â
â âGuooohhhh!â
The beam in its maw shot at Edvar.
âGah!â He barely managed to dodge with Shadow Movement, but his remaining Shadow Soldiers were all destroyed. Edvar coughed up blood.
âHyung!â
âDonât worry about me⊠Focus!â
The long shadows on the ground formed into a spear. Edvar gripped it in his hand and got into a javelin-throwing position.
The eye! I have to hit the eye.Â
The Nameless Dragon was protecting its reverse scale with its entire body. Even if he could attack it, he wouldnât be able to land a scratch on its natural defense.
Wooshhh! As Edvar summoned all his Demonic energy, his eyes turned redder. Heâd land this attack no matter what it took and make the Nameless Dragon come lower so that Vincent could ride on top of it.
âHup!â He accelerated forward on his feet. As he reached the peak of his speed, the spear left his hand.
The spear flew straight like a comet, only to pivot off its path, hitting the Nameless Dragon in the face.
Clang!Â
âAh!â Edvar cursed. Heâd missed by an inch. But since the scales on its face were less resilient, the spear had broken skin.
â âGuoooohhhhh!â
The Nameless Dragon lashed in pain. It wriggled like an eel on a cutting board, descending lower and lower. It fell from 500 meters in the air to 200.
Just a bit moreâŠÂ Edvar hoped, but the Nameless Dragon quickly returned to its senses. After receiving a life-threatening attack, it started to go up again.
âDammit, Vincent! Now!â
Edvar knew instinctively. If it went back up into the sky, it wouldnât come down again. Vincent realized this as well.
âHelp me!â He shouted. Edvar lightly stepped with his right foot.
Boom! He picked up pieces of shadow and threw them toward the dragon and Vincent. They had a limit of 30 meters, the same as Shadow Movement.
Woosh! Wooosh!Â
Vincent used his brotherâs shadows to make his way to the Nameless Dragon.
(TN: So he throws one shard 30 meters out, and uses one shadow to transport the rest 30 meters more.)
â âGuooohhhhh!â
As it sensed its enemy approaching, the Nameless Dragon tried to climb higher in the sky, but Vincent was one step ahead.
âAhhhhhh!â He grabbed onto the scales on the Nameless Dragonâs tail. He then yelled down to his brother. âI did it!â
âThe reverse scale⊠Itâs near the backâŠ!â Edvarâs voice grew fainter by the second.
âKuh!â Vincent held onto the scales with his two hands and gripped his knees around its tail. With the way the dragonâs body squirmed and moved, he felt like he would fall at any moment.
Dammit, Iâd rather ride a rollercoaster without a seatbelt.Â
Realizing that a human was clinging onto its tail, the Nameless Dragon glanced at its back and started to move its body even faster.
âHuff, huffâŠâ As Vincent covered his mouth and clung onto its tail, he glanced down. Urp!Â
He never experienced motion sickness on planes or boats, but he suddenly felt nauseous. The island heâd been standing on had become as small as an ant. All he was surrounded by was a sea of clouds.
âŠIâm confident that Iâll live, but itâs still scary. He gulped and barely kept himself together as he slowly started to move. As he crawled on top of its body, he arrived at its back.
âFound it!â His eyes sparkled as he found his target. There was a white scale that stood out among the black ones, facing the other direction.
The reverse scale. The weak point of dragons. Vincent ripped it off without hesitation.
â ââŠâŠ!â
Crackle.Â
The Nameless Dragon felt a spark of electricity course through its body.
âI did it! I ripped off the reverse scale, soâŠâ He looked up, eyes bright.
Woosh!
A long, black spear tore through his shoulder.
âGuhâŠ?â
Even a seasoned player wouldâve lost their head. But Vincent was a fiend who had some immunity to pain. He quickly gripped the spear and checked the bleeding.
Who? Is it Seo Jun-hoâŠ? He quickly shook his head. It was impossible. Even if heâd hidden his true strength, they were 5,000 meters up in the air. No attack from the ground would be able to hit him. If itâs not Seo Jun-ho, thenâŠ
Vincent looked at the Nameless Dragon, trembling.
â âGuoooohhhh!â
Eyes shining red, dozens of black spears had formed near its head.
Iâm fucked. Vincent turned white and jumped off its back without a second thought.
Wooooshh!
He heard the sound of the spears behind him. Vincent summoned the last of his Demonic energy.
Shadow Return!Â
The world around him spun, and he rolled onto the ground.
âCough! Cough!â He vomited blood, and Edvar ran over.
âDid you doâŠ? Wait, whatâs with that injury?â Edvar dropped to the ground next to him, and Vincent gripped his arm.
âHyung, weâŠÂ Urk, weâre fucked!â
âWhat are you talking about?â
âYou have to runââ
Before he could finish his sentence, the Nameless Dragon ripped through the clouds.
â âKuroouhhhhhhhh!â
The black spears shot toward them.
Seo Jun-ho watched the Nameless Dragon rage at the Shadow Brothers from a distance.
âYou can use textbooks to study for college exams, but not for hunting⊠I always say this, but itâs a famous saying.â Heâd expected this to happen. âOf course it would react like that if you went for its reverse scale.â
âIf you attack the reverse scale, itâs easy to defeat a dragon.â Thatâs what rookies whoâd never fought a dragon thought.
Of course, the reverse scale was the weak spot. But just because you found it didnât mean you could easily kill the dragon.
If you bother the area where the reverse scale is, the dragon senses danger and becomes much more vicious.Â
But that wasnât a well-known fact. Players that couldnât take on its rage would be better off not touching the reverse scale at all.
To be honest, I donât think I could take on a rampaging dragon in my current state.Â
But it was a different story if he had âbaitâ that would receive the brunt of its wrath.
âDonât die. Keep running until I kill the guy,â Seo Jun-ho muttered as he pulled back the Tempestâs bowstring.