TRPM 14

CHAPTER 14

As soon as I entered the dungeon, just like before, I used Eojichungso to soar into the sky until I reached the same height as the Wyvern leader, then rushed toward it using Heogongdappo.

The Wyvern leader shrieked in alarm and immediately began to flee from me.

“…What…?”

It suddenly ran away…?
I could hardly believe this was the same creature that had just roared so ferociously at me.

No, it wasn’t incomprehensible—perhaps it sensed the difference in our strength. Still…

With that thought, I gave chase.

After several dozen seconds of pursuit, I came to realize a few things.

‘As expected, it’s no ordinary creature…!’

It wasn’t called the leader for nothing. Unlike the other wyverns I had slain earlier, this one was on an entirely different level.

‘First of all—its speed.’

It was slightly faster than me, even as I used Heogongdappo. The only reason the distance hadn’t widened was because I minimized my movement path as much as possible. But if I only chased it around like this, it would never end.

‘And it’s smart.’

It wasn’t simply fleeing—it was watching me even as it flew, almost as if it wanted me to continue chasing.

“……”

At that realization, I slowed down.

The Wyvern leader also slowed down, keeping its eyes fixed on me.

‘Hah… so it can even adjust its distance from me?’

That meant it wasn’t fleeing just out of fear of death, but had some other purpose—trying to lure me somewhere.
Which meant there was a high probability of a trap waiting.

On top of that, it was keeping the distance between us carefully maintained, never allowing me to get within a certain range.

It had roughly gauged my attack reach.

Of course, the “range” it calculated was only because I had temporarily sealed everything except martial arts, even going so far as to restrict long-range attacks like projecting sword energy, all for the sake of tempering my footwork.

‘…Interesting.’

A monster laying traps, huh.

This wasn’t a goblin or orc, infamous for using tools, but a wyvern—creatures known to act purely on instinct.

The idea of such a beast laying a trap intrigued me. So, I decided to play along for now.

“…Kroaaah!”

When I accelerated again, the Wyvern leader hastily flapped harder, as though terrified of being caught.

Pretending to chase it just as it wanted, I soon realized the truth of why it had brought me here.

…Contrary to my expectations, it hadn’t prepared a trap.

It had simply led me back to its nest.

And in that nest—

“Kyaaak!”
“Kieeeeh!”

—were far more wyverns than the number I had already slain.

Well, that was to be expected.

‘After all, the area where I slaughtered the wyverns was practically the dungeon entrance.’

Compared to the entrance, the dungeon’s heart—the leader’s nest—was bound to be teeming with wyverns.

“Kroaaah!”

The leader that had led me here turned around and roared, as if saying, Bet you didn’t expect this many allies, did you?

Of course, it wasn’t like I could really read a wyvern’s expression.

“…Haaah….”
“…Kruruk?”

Still, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“Did you seriously think you could beat me just by calling in a bunch of friends…?”

I asked, though of course it couldn’t understand.

“Krurur…”

I looked around at the swarm of wyverns surrounding me from every direction.

‘…Fighting all these head-on would be a real hassle.’

Not that I couldn’t win. It was just that there were so many of them, cutting them all down one by one would waste too much time.

“…Well, I’ve already trained my footwork enough chasing the leader.”

Maybe it was time to unseal my other techniques.

Muttering to myself, I released the sword I had been holding.

But though it left my hand, it didn’t fall to the ground.

Instead, it began moving as though I were still wielding it.

‘Sword Manipulation Art (Ogeom Sul).’

A technique that infuses a sword with qi to control it freely.

It resembled telekinesis, but was distinct—in this state, the sword could still unleash sword-qi or sword-gang as though I held it directly.

Of course, I didn’t plan to go that far against these wyverns.

Even so, the moment my blade left my hand, it shot forward under my will—

Shlak!

—piercing straight through the Wyvern leader’s skull.

“Kyak…?”
“Kruruk…?”

The leader, its head obliterated in an instant, plummeted.

The wyverns encircling me froze, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

That brief moment of shock was all I needed.

Shlak!
Shlak!
Shlak!

My sword, still flying, skewered wyvern after wyvern.

Some of the surviving ones tried to flee, but unlike earlier, I had no reason to let them escape now.

“Stop.”

I uttered a spell of word-magic.

Instantly, the wyverns froze midair, their wings halted.

And without their wings moving, they fell.

“…Ah.”

That wasn’t what I’d intended.

Still, the result was satisfactory.

Among the mountain of wyvern corpses, I stored only a portion inside my subspace artifact and headed for the nearest marketplace.

After all, even a subspace artifact wasn’t infinite.

As for the rest—I burned them all with Samme Jinhwa.

Wyverns, though technically a subspecies, were still part of the dragon family. Their bodies were extremely valuable.

Their scales and fangs made excellent armor and weapon materials, while their flesh and blood were bought at high prices by magic companies.

But there was no way I would just hand them over to freeloaders who had done nothing.

‘Ah, before going into the market, I’d better cover my face.’

So, before leaving the dungeon, I put on a mask.

Not one I had prepared in advance, but an artifact reward from clearing this dungeon.

As long as I wore it, no one would be able to recognize my face.

Most awakened ones wouldn’t even notice that my puppet body was wearing a mask.

Of course, a high-level mage or psychic might detect the mask’s presence, but that was fine.

‘Originally, I was planning to use Face-Changing Art instead. But this is more convenient.’

That technique worked by forcibly twisting the bones, muscles, and skin of the face. Overuse was bad for the body.

Even if my current form was a puppet of steel bones and World Tree flesh, a substitute artifact was preferable.

With that in mind, I entered a shop in the market.

“Welcome. Buying or selling?”
“Selling.”

I pulled a few wyvern fangs out of my subspace.

Not all of them—just a sample.

This market was a cluster of civilian and awakened-run shops.

And its patrons were often those too lazy to visit the Association’s official market—or those who couldn’t.

‘In other words, even criminals designated as villains by the Association use this place.’

Naturally, the quality here wasn’t reliable.

I’d need to shop around and compare offers.

‘Besides, I don’t even know the current market rates… and more importantly…’

The amount of wyvern byproducts I had was too large to sell all at once to a single shop anyway.

If I had sold through the Association, they would have processed it immediately. But my puppet, without identity papers, couldn’t exactly walk into the Association.

“Hm, hm… nice quality fangs. Orc necklace trophies, perhaps?”

“……”

I sighed inwardly and snatched the fang back from the shopkeeper’s magnifying glass.

If they couldn’t even recognize dragon-kin remains, there was no point dealing with them.

“W-wait, what are you—”

Ignoring his protests, I walked off to the next shop.

Fortunately, it seemed only the first shop had been incompetent. The others recognized the fangs for what they were—or at the very least, identified them as belonging to a dragon species.

I eventually sold off portions of the byproducts at decent prices, making sure to distribute the sales across multiple shops.

“…Phew. Haven’t bargained like that in a while—it’s tiring.”

Pocketing the earnings, I strolled through the market, browsing for anything worth buying.

But then…

“……”

I noticed shadows tailing me.

Were they simple pickpockets? Or thugs looking to mug me?

Whatever the reason, it wasn’t friendly.

Not that anyone tailing me could possibly have good intentions.

So, I gradually steered my path toward a deserted area, where no one had reason to pass by.

Once I was there, the pursuers emerged and surrounded me.

“…Heh…heheh…”
“Thanks for coming somewhere quiet on your own.”

Hm.
Mere small-time thugs.

As I’d thought—the market attracted criminals too.

But even criminals usually didn’t cause trouble inside the market.

If they did, the shopkeepers would refuse to deal with them afterward, and that would be a huge problem.

It was an unspoken rule.

‘So if these idiots are ignoring that… they must not even have a proper backer.’

Which meant I didn’t have to worry about consequences for cleaning them up here and now.

I drew my sword from the subspace.

“What, you wanna fight? Look, we don’t wanna make this messy. Just hand over some pocket money and we’ll let it go.”
“Yeah, seriously. You think you can take all of us down with that oversized dull blade?”

Some of them sneered.

But then—

“…That sword… No way… Are you the Artist?”

One of them recognized my weapon.

“Artist? What’s that?”
“…Wait. Don’t tell me—you mean the one from Yeouido…?”

Thanks to him, the others began to panic as well.

I addressed them calmly.

“I’ll count to three. Everyone, lie flat.”

If even one didn’t—then all of them would face the consequences.