“Damn it, what the hell is the Evil Dragon of the message talking about?!”
“Is that really a power that one human can hold?!”
“Jo Gi-man of the White Knight Guild… is the one watching his back an Evil God?”
The Beastmen were not just astonished by the name of the skill. To their highly sensitive instincts, the aura emanating from Jo Gi-man contained darkness and chaos they had never experienced before, hence their reaction.
The Evil Dragon’s influence was like a blessing from the Seven-headed Dragon bestowed upon its creations.
“The Paladins of the Arena Guild come to mind. They’re no different from zombies.”
The fortunate thing was that the clones far away from Sang-gun were not affected.
“I need to push forward again.”
There are limits, even for Jo Gi-man and anyone else.
I charged at the enemies again, followed by the Beastmen. But it didn’t take long for us to realize that their regeneration power and invisible barrier far surpassed our attack strength.
– Kreeee!!
– Just wait a little! I’ll kill them all!
– Those bastards are ambushing us? How dare they?!
Seeing the clones blabbering away indicated they had clearly escaped the brink of death. Not long after, those who had regained their form appeared as distinctly different life forms on the left and right.
Half-human, half-dragon.
One wing was sticking out awkwardly.
As they finished transforming into their Dragonkin form, they even wore leisurely smiles.
However, to me, they resembled hollow wafers.
“Still, they’ve drained a lot of power.”
Their bodies had recovered, but their once-bursting magic power had dwindled significantly.
Like a car low on fuel.
No matter how formidable they were, they had to sustain damage from the overwhelming Flame Shot and Beastmen’s attacks, aided by the Seven-headed Dragon.
– Hehehe… This space. It’s a world rich in mana. Ugh, my skin is itching too much. Who the hell attacked before even saying hello?
With wide-open eyes, Jo Gi-man’s clone scanned the surroundings.
– What was that weird skill I got hit by? Almost died there.
– That guy over there attacked with Sang-gun together.
– Wearing full-body armor… what the hell is that?
– Oh? I’ve never seen such an aura before. A being that isn’t human but carries the scent of humanity?
– Huh? Wait a minute. I feel like I’ve seen that guy somewhere…
The first clone that I had clashed with once scrutinized me with suspicious eyes. Strangely, it didn’t react much to me, which was a relief.
Not long after, as other clones turned the topic of conversation, its gaze shifted back to other matters.
– This is an intriguing world. Look at that. The mana in the air has such a density that it feels jelly-like! What if we make this our new vacation spot?
– Sounds good. A mountain of corpses, while we enjoy the finest lunch boxes on top.
– First, let’s take care of that girl named Ryun. It would be nice to taste her while she remains in human form.
– No, everyone stop rambling. We’ve drained too much energy. With our current strength, it won’t even be easy to defeat those smelly Beastmen. Won’t someone transform to Stage 3? It feels like we could sweep everything away if just one of us evolved into a final form.
– You do it, you idiot. If you transform into a Dual-headed Dragon, you won’t be able to come out for a while. You want to go through that hell again?
– So someone just do it!
– Selfish bastards. But hey, how about we burn down all those trees and see if that Ryun girl crawls out?
They seemed completely unconcerned that two of the clones were getting pounded to jelly by Sang-gun as if it had nothing to do with them.
Some even grinned playfully, mocking the clone getting pummelled by Sang-gun.
Is this a competition of sorts between clones? But it didn’t seem to reach the level of actual animosity.
What was evident… was that they appeared to have no fear of death.
They probably had a strong backing, right?
A clone… If even the one I first saw ended up recovering, it’s likely they can be revived after some time.
– Aaaah!! You damn bastards!
Unlike the clones happily chatting as if on a picnic, the main body, Jo Gi-man, still couldn’t get in.
It seemed that Irmana and another divine being were together somehow holding the line, but messages indicating she was already weakened appeared repeatedly.
“What’s wrong with the main body? Can’t get in?”
With Jo Gi-man blocked by a wall, the clones felt puzzled.
“Hey, Master. What’s wrong?”
“Stop joking around and get out!”
With a bemused tilt of their heads, the clones questioned Jo Gi-man, who yelled in frustration.
“Do I need to peel the skin off those bastards for them to shut their mouths?! Let’s open up the rupture wider! At least pull your weight for the Creator!!”
Jo Gi-man was angrier than ever.
Recognizing this, the clones hurriedly ripped through the ruptures.
Being focused on tearing the rupture, the barrier that had been protecting them weakened.
This allowed the Beastmen’s attacks to threaten them once more, so Jo Gi-man turned in the space he was trapped and once again focused on thickening the barrier.
– Try to get out!
These bastards were so ungrateful that they wouldn’t even recognize their own master.
Thinking of the loyalty of the subordinates I controlled made this scene hard to believe.
“By the way, what are those guys? What are they after?”
As I used the Flame Shot and cooled down, I concentrated my senses to recover my magic power.
There must be something around here that he desperately desires.
In all my past memories, Jo Gi-man had never sent clones outside.
Considering the current situation and the circumstances at present, it still seemed he was wary of sending out clones.
For someone like him to deploy all his clones to attack this place…
“It seems there’s something beneath the tree.”
[Lightning Step]
Crackle—
First, I needed to finish off the enemies I could kill.
While Sang-gun was formidable, having already made mincemeat of two clones, he hadn’t landed a finishing blow yet. I planned to help out.
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
“Eh?!”
“At times like this, a long great sword is needed rather than a short one!”
As I pulled out my great sword, Sang-gun embraced the torsos of the two clones with his arms, leaning his head back dramatically.
“Spiritual Strength—”
Swiish—
“Keheh!”
“Gah!”
It was no challenge for me to behead the clone that had already lost all its health due to Sang-gun’s bombardment.
– Defeated a mutated creature of the Evil God Seven-headed Dragon!
– Defeated a mutated creature of the Evil God Seven-headed Dragon!
“What?! How did you do that?!”
Sang-gun looked quite surprised at my instant dispatch of the clone.
The line he had boasted about, powered by his tiger aura, had been easily severed by my single slash.
“Haha…”
Is it synergy?
While I could never win against Sang-gun, there was such a thing as relative strength.
Fire possesses the power to burn away corrupt energies, thus my spatial slicing can exert even greater power against these monsters.
Conversely, there are still weaknesses against traditional fighters who put physical prowess first.
Like the Sang-gun standing next to me.
– Experience points have significantly increased!
– Level has risen!
– Gained a large amount of mana stones!
– Gained a large amount of runes!
– Trait [Obsession] hastily awakens!
Immediately after dispatching the clone, the components that constituted its body scattered away like dust.
– Aaaaargh!! What the hell are these damn bastards doing?!
From afar, Jo Gi-man’s scream sounded as sweet as a bard’s tune.
With two clones taken down, he must be fuming, anger building up quite a bit.
“Haha, suffering, huh? Just wait; I’m only getting started with torturing you.”
With a clone defeated and intriguing messages popping up, I quickly activated my skill.
[Revenant’s Brew]
The crushed clone of Jo Gi-man stood up with a clatter.
“Of course, this works!”
The substance that composed Jo Gi-man’s clone was unmistakably that of a living being, as I had confirmed when I absorbed part of a clone with [Blood Craft].
So, I thought for sure I could summon it using this skill, and it worked.
Clatter-clatter—
The entities that were formerly Jo Gi-man’s responded to my call and knelt.
They were holding their skulls, now emptying out brains with their cores resting on top, looking up at me.
[Master…]
[My Master…]
“Pfft, hilarious. Jo Gi-man’s clone is now my subordinate. But, what should I call these guys? Jo Gi-man Skeleton? Trash 1 and 2? Nah, that’s a bit harsh.”
I could see Jo Gi-man’s eyes rapidly reddening as he helplessly watched his clones turned minions.
It seemed like the blood vessels were bursting from rage.
As I looked at him, I waved my hand.
– …!!
He cursed me with words unfit for his mouth.
Whether he liked it or not, I shrugged my shoulders and raised my leg to place it on the kneecap of the clone, now my minion.
– …!!!
Jo Gi-man was banging on the barrier in a fit.
Judging by the sparks he was throwing out by activating [Lightning Strike], he seemed genuinely mad.
The elongated pupils, which had stretched vertically as he briefly summoned the energy of the Seven-headed Dragon, had reverted to their original state.
Thank goodness. If the Seven-headed Dragon manifested like last time, there would be no solution.
Despite having these risks looming over, I was in an exceedingly happy situation now.
How long had I wished to get back at that guy?
But I didn’t have time to just enjoy myself.
– Kyaaaahhh!!
One of the remaining clones had split into two heads, quickly growing in size to that of a Sword Dragon.
In the face of overwhelming odds, it had finally evolved into its most hated final form.
– Kill them all!! Transform the remaining ones into Dual-headed Dragons!
Jo Gi-man, still banging at the rupture blocking his way, commanded his clones to transform into dragon forms.
“Ah, shit. I don’t want to.”
“Tch, no choice.”
The clones didn’t seem particularly eager, but they had no choice but to obey the command.
Then, the Beastmen launched a full-on attack as they saw clones starting to transform into Dual-headed Dragons.
As a hunter, timing an attack during a monster’s transformation is basic knowledge.
But the tremendous flow of magic entering through the intangible connection to Jo Gi-man prevented the Beastmen’s attacks from landing properly.
– Damn it! The knife feels dull piercing through! If only my body were intact!
– My magic is running out again. Damn it!
The Beastmen were in despair over their incomplete condition, yet they continued to hammer away at the Dual-headed Dragon wrapped in a thick barrier of magic.
Of course, it wasn’t a completely meaningless endeavor.
The rate of their transformation had noticeably slowed, and even when Sang-gun joined in, a clone returned to its Dragonkin form, leaping outside towards Sang-gun.
“This is?!”
“Come play with me, you old tiger pretending to be strong!”
It was the first clone I faced.
The super-powerful being that had reappeared in front of me, having been able to hold its own against Sang-gun alone.
“Trash should play with trash!”
It charged towards Sang-gun, muttering obscenities as it scattered hundreds of egg-sized projects into the air.
[Blink]
The moment I saw the eggs floating in the air, my gut told me something was off, so I teleported and unleashed a breath attack, obliterating over 70% of them in an instant.
– Experience points have slightly increased!
Though [Thievery] didn’t activate, seeing the experience points rise made it clear these little eggs shouldn’t be ignored.
“Damn! That bastard!”
The first clone shot me a deadly glare after I burst the eggs, but it couldn’t take action as it was already engaged with Sang-gun.
Twitch—
The dozens of eggs I hadn’t taken care of hit the ground and cracked open, revealing something with four legs bursting forth from the shells.
Should I call them traces of the clone?
No matter what you call them, they exuded a considerable amount of power.
Kiiiirii’krikrriik—
They let out unpleasant cries as they charged at the Beastmen one by one.
Surprisingly, the Beastmen they rushed at began to get pushed back.
‘What? How can such little creatures be so strong?’
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