TLWD 41

Chapter : 41. Dragon’s Wrath

Kai’s deep blue eyes—

They tracked the fleeing monsters.

The monsters trembled in terror, their steps clumsy and uncoordinated.
Kai did not slow down; instead, he chased after them with even greater speed.

Because he could not let them escape.

They could return at any time, bringing danger to the count’s territory again.

Of course, half of them had already been annihilated thanks to Adrian’s unbelievable feat.

An achievement too great to be believed from a single person’s strength.

But that only meant that the other half still remained.

Normally, monsters do not form legions.
They might form packs for survival, but never legions.

This was an anomaly Kai had never experienced before, not in the Whitewolf County, nor even on the entire continent.

He didn’t know how it was possible.

But—

“Someone is controlling these monsters.”

They were being led with clear intent and precision.

Creatures that should be fighting each other in the wild were moving as if under a hive mind.

That meant their reproduction would be incredibly fast.
With someone commanding them to breed, it could happen in an instant.

You could tell just by looking at the current state of the monster legion.

The snowy mountains couldn’t possibly contain this many monsters naturally.

Predators and prey regulate the population through nature’s balance.

In short, this was the result of forced breeding.

Which meant that any monster spared today would multiply rapidly, and it was only a matter of time before another legion would strike again.

They could not be allowed to live.

They must be exterminated.

Those monsters fleeing now—give them just a few months, and they’ll multiply into a force capable of trampling the entire county.

Kai’s blade, brimming with a blue aura, sliced into the back of a fleeing Dermexus.

SPLASH—!

Dermexus screamed in agony and fell. Kai didn’t stop. He plunged toward the next monster, slashing without hesitation.

There was no mercy in his grip. No hesitation.

The more the monsters tried to flee, the more savagely Kai tore through them.

Some monsters lunged at him with claws and fangs, but Kai twisted his body to dodge and drove his sword into their hearts and skulls.

His silver armor was streaked with blood, then swept clean by the falling snow—only to be stained again.

A chaotic noise rang in his ears.

Adrian’s power had been overwhelming, but even he had only managed to wipe out half the monster army.

No one, no matter how powerful, could face an entire legion alone.

There was only one person who could do something so impossible—

Serapia.

At least among those Kai knew, only Serapia had the power.

Because within her body lay the power of extreme cold—both a curse and an ability.

But a curse is still a curse. It must not be used.

It’s not that she can’t use it. She mustn’t use it.

This time, thanks to Adrian, they barely got through it.

But next time might not be the same.

So—

“They all must die here.”

Kai’s sword grew rougher and faster as it pierced another monster’s heart.

It was at that very moment—

A sudden, strange thought crossed his mind.

…Something’s wrong.

CLUNK.

His body suddenly stopped obeying him.

It was as if he had turned to stone—his limbs hardened, unmoving.

The aura flowing through him was blocked all at once. He couldn’t move.

And he wasn’t the only one.

All the fleeing monsters had frozen solid, as if turned to ice statues.

It was then that Kai realized—

This is…

Dragon Fear.

The same as when they faced Gelu Drake…

No. Not the same.

This felt like—

As if he was facing the true form of a dragon, a being that reigned above all.

He had never met a real dragon, but he felt the pressure—clear and terrifying.

Of course, there was no dragon here.

Gelu Drake wasn’t here either.

Kai slowly turned his head.

And there stood—

Adrian.

Adrian stood exactly where he had before, unchanged.

But for some reason, Kai could no longer see him as human.

Though his appearance was human, Kai saw a dragon in him.

And not just any dragon—a wild, raging dragon held barely in check.

And now—

That terrifying power was being unleashed.

“No—wait—!”

Kai shouted in alarm, but—

KWA-AAAAAAAANG!!!

An enormous blaze erupted from Adrian’s body.

The freezing cold flared into heat. The air that had once sliced into skin with its chill now burned.
Heat rushed into Kai’s lungs, threatening to incinerate him from the inside.

Kai quickly summoned his aura, erecting a barrier even stronger than the one used to stop the avalanche.

He squinted into the heat-haze—

And saw it.

KRRRROOOOAAARRRR—!!

The erupting wrath of a dragon.

From Adrian’s outstretched arms, a massive and ferocious dragon burst forth.

It rose with a roar, sweeping everything before it.

Its massive jaws opened wide, devouring all life in its path—

First—

Sound was consumed.

Then the snow and ice of the county melted in an instant, turning into vapor under the dragon’s heat.

Steam shrouded everything.

Melted water evaporated into the air almost instantly.

The snowy field, robbed of moisture, cracked like a parched field in drought, spiderweb fractures spreading everywhere.

The entire landscape of the mountains seemed to collapse.

An inferno of ages.

A burning scene of frozen death.

…Power beyond humanity.

It was impossible to call that human.

It didn’t just melt the snow; it burned away winter itself.

One could only call that thing a dragon.

KWA-AAAAAHHHHHHH—!!!

All Kai could do was be swallowed by that savage wrath alongside the monster legion.

* * *

The ancient inferno that had scorched the frozen land—

It died down, revealing massive, burning scars.

The snowy plains were now ashes.

The frozen gorge had melted, steam still rising into the air.

The melted snow had flowed like lava, leaving scorched trails behind.

The fleeing monsters were incinerated, reduced to blackened dust on the wind.

The land, cracked like a dry desert, still glowed faintly with residual heat.

The air that once froze lungs now burned them.

The steam clouded vision and made breathing difficult.

“!!!!!”

“!!!!!”

“!!!!!”

Gasps of horror erupted across the entire county.

Soldiers descending the walls, knights commanding troops, gatekeepers—all froze in disbelief.

A burnt wasteland that rejected all life.

“What… what did I just see…?”

“Oh my god…!”

Everyone who witnessed the dragon’s wrath stood paralyzed.

It was as if time itself had burned away.

And then—

“Cough!…!!”

A groan of pain rang out suddenly.

There stood Kai—the Golden Wolf who had chased the monsters.

He knelt on one knee, his sword driven into the ground.

“Khaaaak…!”

Blood gushed from his mouth like a fountain.

His sun-kissed golden hair was now scorched black.

His once-silver armor was charred.

“Guhh…!”

Kai’s condition was obviously dire.

Of course it was—he had taken the dragon’s wrath head-on.

That made the soldiers’ shock even worse.

“H-he’s alive…!”

“He took that attack full force and lived?!”

Kai had faced the dragon’s wrath and survived.

Barely—but he survived with only internal injuries and blood loss.

Which meant—

There was one more person alive in the scorched wasteland.

The Black Wolf among the sheep.

The one who had turned the snowy mountain into a barren wasteland.

Adrian.

Adrian was still standing at first, but he was in even worse shape than Kai.

His entire body was wrecked—and both arms were gone.

Thud.

He collapsed, unmoving.

Serapia came to her senses at that moment.

“Brother!!!”

She sprinted toward Adrian, her face growing paler with each step.

Adrian was burned black like charcoal.

Worse, his arms were missing—gone up to the shoulders, creating a grotesque scene.

He didn’t even look alive.

Serapia’s red eyes widened in shock.

Her lips trembled.

She wanted to say something—anything—but no words came out.

“A-aah…!”

Her throat clenched. Her heart felt like it had been torn apart.

She couldn’t breathe from the pain.

Adrian had sacrificed himself to save the people of the county.

If she’d known it would come to this, she wouldn’t have hesitated to use her own powers.

She would have rather sacrificed herself.

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.

Her shoulders shook violently—she could no longer hold back.

Thick tears fell—

And then.

“Hey…”

A faint voice.

Serapia’s head snapped up.

Tear-stained, she looked toward the voice—

And saw.

“Shove some monster meat in my mouth, will you?”

…The corpse spoke.

A corpse with no arms, squirming on the ground.

How horrifying.

Thud.

Serapia fainted on the spot.

* * *

…It was stronger than I expected.

I did extract the dragon’s genes to manifest the dragon’s authority, but I didn’t think it would be this extreme.

“Totally insane.”

No wonder it was called an Authority.

Of course, it was only an extracted version—not the real Dragon Breath.

But compared to Gelu Drake’s Ice Breath?

My Dragon’s Wrath [E] was far superior.

And the recoil was brutal.

My arms, which had unleashed Dragon’s Wrath, were completely destroyed.

Every internal organ had burst.

Thankfully, the flames cauterized the wounds, so I wasn’t bleeding.

My [B+] grade Regeneration would fix this—
As long as my heart and brain were intact, I could recover.

But I had to regenerate quickly.

Except…

I’m out of calories.
My arms are gone.
My inventory is empty.

“Hey… shove some monster meat in my mouth.”

I couldn’t do anything on my own.

Luckily, my vocal cords hadn’t burned, so I could still speak.
But I didn’t have time to just lie here.

I had to find the commander of the monster legion.

It might even be—

“The Lord of Beasts.”

And just now, I confirmed two things:

“The quest hasn’t cleared.”

The emergency quest wasn’t complete.

That meant more monsters remained.

This was just wave one—and proof that something or someone was leading the legion.

Maybe even the Lord of Beasts.

And secondly, I realized that with combo skills, I could face the Lord of Beasts.

No matter how powerful the opponent—

If I used Dragon’s Wrath [E], it would be enough.

So I had to regenerate quickly and track him down.

Luckily, Serapia came running.

But then—

Thud.

She collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut…
And showed no signs of getting back up.