Chapter 341
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Chapter 341: The Path of Vengeance (2)
“Uh, uh…”
Jeonggu stared blankly at the sky.
He, too, realized something had arrived over Seoul but hadn’t seen it directly yet, so he held off making any conclusions.
In contrast, Jiseon spoke the moment the anti-aircraft guns fired.
—Hey, Jeonggu. Go get Yeongwoo.
“…What?”
—Bring our son. We need to deal with that thing!
As Jiseon scolded Jeonggu, a series of blue explosions erupted in the sky.
BOOM! BOOM!
The shells streaking across Seoul’s skyline had indeed collided with something.
“What the…?”
The sky glowed blue, reflecting in Jeonggu’s widened pupils. At that moment, the mysterious flying object cloaked in shadows revealed itself.
ROAAAAAR!
A sound like a beast howling from beyond a tunnel reverberated across Seoul.
“What is that thing?”
Jeonggu’s pupils dilated further as he muttered to himself.
What was blocking Seoul’s skies wasn’t a machine but a living creature—an enormous, jet-black monster resembling a giant stingray.
“A… a dragon?”
As Jeonggu uttered the words unconsciously, Jiseon, who was also staring at the sky, kicked him in the shin.
Thud!
“Ow!”
—Does that look like a dragon to you? Stop babbling and get moving!
She pointed toward a station for the high-speed transit system.
—Hurry and tell Yeongwoo to come back to Seoul. Tell him that if we delay, we might lose the city!
“Yes, understood… Wait, what?”
Jeonggu nodded instinctively but froze as the meaning of her words sunk in.
“What do you mean, lose Seoul?”
Losing Seoul meant Jiseon might not win this fight.
In other words, even she wasn’t confident of victory.
“But, Jiseon, you’re a dragon! Nothing could happen to you, right?”
Jeonggu asked anxiously, but Jiseon only pointed her sword toward the tower in response.
—No time for explanations. Move!
And then—
ROAAAAAR!
The monster in the sky let out another distinctive howl and shook its massive body. From it, countless jet-black eggs rained down.
It was deploying reinforcements.
—This…!
Realizing this was an all-out war, Jiseon reverted to her dragon form, and the anti-aircraft guns resumed firing in sync.
BANG! BANG!
This time, they targeted the mysterious eggs instead of the flying object.
Seeing this, Jiseon opened her massive jaws and unleashed her breath attack.
It seemed the anti-aircraft guns’ judgment was better than her own—likely because they, too, were from outer space and thus knew how to handle extraterrestrial threats.
The eggs were more dangerous than they appeared.
Although the barrage from the anti-aircraft guns and Jiseon destroyed many, some eggs slipped through the defenses and landed in Samseong-dong. The moment they hit the ground, they exploded violently.
Screeeeech!
The eggs erupted into thick, dark dust, obliterating everything within a 20-meter radius.
From the impact zones, enormous tentacles emerged.
SCREEEEEE!
The eerie cries confirmed these were also living creatures.
—What the… now this?
Jiseon crushed one tentacle under her claw, killing it instantly, but the problem wasn’t over.
ROAAAAAR!
The monster in the sky shook its body again, releasing even more eggs than before.
—What is this ‘Mara’ thing, exactly?
Jiseon growled as she blasted another breath attack toward the sky.
Despite her efforts, several eggs broke through Seoul’s metal defenses.
Those surviving eggs—
Screech! Screeeech!
—landed across Samseong-dong, as well as on Jiseon’s enormous back.
Screeeech!
—Argh, damn it!
Jiseon let out a scream as she struggled to shake off the tentacles.
Meanwhile, Jeonggu, running toward the tower as instructed, turned back at her cry.
“Jiseon!”
What filled his vision was the sight of Jiseon twisting her gigantic body to fend off the tentacles.
And above her head—
WHIRRRR!
An ominous energy began to gather.
“What the…?”
The creature dominating Seoul’s skies was preparing some sort of ultimate attack.
Having learned there was a guardian dragon in Metal Seoul, it decided to eliminate her first.
“Jiseon, watch out!”
Jeonggu shouted urgently, pointing above her head.
Surprisingly, instead of looking up, Jiseon shrank her body using a polymorph spell.
Swoooosh!
Jeonggu’s slip of calling her "Jiseon" instead of "honey" betrayed the severity of the situation, but Jiseon judged there was no time to even glance upward.
And her judgment was spot on.
The moment she transformed back into her armored warrior form, an ashen laser shot down from the sky.
SIZZLE!
With a sound like boiling water, the laser struck the spot where the guardian dragon had stood moments earlier.
BOOOOOM!
—You bastards…
The laser would have sliced her in half if her transformation had been a second slower.
Jiseon inwardly marveled at the sheer firepower of the Mara faction, far beyond her expectations.
And to think these creatures were mere business competitors of her son…
Well, if you’re going to compete, might as well aim for the big leagues.
—But seriously, if creatures like these win the planetary development rights, what’ll happen to Earth…?
Jiseon muttered as she slashed another tentacle rooted in the ground.
Unexpectedly, a response came from the sky.
〔Calamity will strike.〕
—What?
The voice was undeniably human.
Yet, the source of this voice was unmistakably inside the strange lifeform in the sky.
―Are you Mara\'s agent? Are you even human?
Jiseon raised her sword towards the sky as she asked, and her opponent chuckled lowly.
〔Am I human? It\'s amusing to hear that question from a dragon.〕
Then, a grayish light shone from the flying creature in the sky, illuminating the space before Jiseon.
Whoosh!
―...!
Sensing something, she stepped back.
At the same time, a massive greatsword came hurtling down with incredible speed to the illuminated spot.
Wham! CRASH!
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―What the hell is this now?
But the real surprise came next.
Swish!
Near the fallen greatsword, a faint silhouette began to form, and soon, a man appeared in its place.
―...Teleportation?
Not even Yeongwoo could pull off a trick like that.
―Hey... you might want to head home before my son arrives. He can\'t stand seeing someone else with better toys.
Half-jokingly, Jiseon remarked, but the man sneered as he drew the sword from the ground.
Shing!
“Your son? And who might that be?”
The one speaking, Mara\'s agent, was none other than...
『Sword Master of London』
The Sword Master of London.
A middle-aged man with auburn hair from England.
Though he had a lean, wiry appearance, his towering 2-meter frame was packed with taut muscles, and every piece of his equipment looked far from ordinary.
While Yeongwoo was busy shaking down the Chinese and stationing his biological mother as the gatekeeper of Seoul, sword masters in the West were apparently engaging in tentacle play.
Watching all of this unfold from the entrance of the tower, Jeonggu murmured softly.
“…Sword Master?”
The remark, barely audible, was somehow caught by Mara\'s lackey, who turned his gaze towards Jeonggu.
Seizing the opportunity, Jiseon launched her preemptive strike.
Clank!
Gripping an icy greatsword with both hands, she swung it straight for her opponent\'s neck.
Whoosh!
The massive blade sliced through the air with a deafening roar, causing the Sword Master of London to widen his eyes.
“What the—?!”
Even before the blade connected, he could sense the overwhelming force behind it.
It made sense—this was Metal Seoul, the home turf of Song Jiseon, the guardian dragon.
In Seoul, where all of the guardian dragon\'s buffs were activated, Jiseon was virtually invincible.
Even her monstrous son, Yeongwoo, struggled against her.
BOOM!
When Jiseon’s and the Brit’s blades collided, the resulting shockwave blew dust outward in all directions.
Then—
“…Impressive. There really is something special in the East.”
The Englishman remained firmly planted in his spot, remarking with admiration, his eyes gleaming with a hint of madness.
―Damn it.
Realizing she\'d encountered a truly formidable opponent, Jiseon muttered a curse.
At that moment, the Englishman vanished again, leaving only his greatsword behind.
It was that teleportation trick again.
―You…!
Before Jiseon could react, he appeared behind her and delivered a heavy body blow.
THUD!
―Urgh!
A blue mist escaped from within her helmet as she exhaled in pain.
This was the first punch she\'d taken since arriving on Earth.
“This is why I chose Mara. Isn’t this power worth the calamities it brings?”
The man’s voice echoed from behind her.
Glancing toward the tower, Jiseon noticed Jeonggu had disappeared.
He had bolted, likely to call for her son after seeing her take a hit.
Feeling a strange energy rise from the soles of her feet despite the searing pain in her torso, Jiseon swung her sword once more.
Whoosh!
―You bastard! The real calamity is already here in Seoul!
But the space behind her was empty.
Instead, another flicker of movement appeared near the abandoned greatsword.
The Brit had teleported again.
―You pesky little fly—!
BAM!
A blindingly fast straight punch landed before she could finish her angry retort.
Jiseon spat blue blood from her helmet.
―Gah!
Inside the armor forged from ice dragon scales, her blood boiled with rage.
Her son, the calamity, would surely show up soon, but the humiliation of being beaten by a foreigner enraged her.
―You bastard, let’s fight fair and square without your cheap tricks!
As she shouted and prepared to unleash an icy storm from her sword, the “tower” began glowing white in the distance.
―Oh!
At last, the calamity known as her son had come to save his mother.
The Englishman, noticing Jiseon’s pleased expression, turned his gaze toward the tower.
“Is that the son you mentioned?”
Flash!
A silhouette appeared within the station as the lower wall opened.
Seeing this, Jiseon yelled loudly.
―That’s the one! The one you’ll have to face—!
There was no need to finish her sentence.
As expected, her son appeared holding a cursed sword, but, as always, he was stark naked.
Even the massive orc standing behind him was also naked, holding Yeongwoo’s left arm in its hands.
“...?”
The Englishman froze momentarily in confusion, while Yeongwoo blinked repeatedly at the scene before him.
Then—
“Master Bang, my arm, please.”
He took the arm from the orc behind him and reattached it to his shoulder.
Click!
Pointing the cursed sword at the Englishman, he shouted:
“You…! Let me ask you one thing!”
Even the Sword Master of London, a fundamentally human being, felt a twinge of guilt and opened his mouth to respond.
“What is it? If it’s about your mother, I’d like to apologize. But ultimately, everyone here will—”
As the Englishman clenched his left hand and wore a sinister expression, Yeongwoo irritably waved the cursed sword.
“Not that! Do you happen to have any money Mara promised you?”
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