Leveling Up Alone

contemporary romance

Chapter 380 – Decisive Battle (2)

Chapter 380 – Decisive Battle (2)

Boom!

Mavros dove straight down toward Craspio like a bolt of lightning.

“Kieeeeng!”

Craspio seemed to have come to the conclusion that it was not going to lose as it decided to face Han-Yeol’s attack. It opened its jaws in an attempt to devour Han-Yeol and Mavros whole at the expense of suffering some damage from the attack.

The colossal monster narrowed down and focused its vibration abilities to exponentially increase its destructiveness.

Whiiiiing!

‘This will decide the outcome of this battle, Craspio!’

“Kieeeeeng!”

“Haaaaaap!”

It took them less than ten seconds to collide.

Boom!

Was this what the detonation of a nuclear bomb was like? A powerful shock wave spread out throughout the surroundings with Craspio as the epicenter, and the blast was so powerful it felt as if the end of times had come for the world.

It was so powerful that even the Bastro Warriors were unable to withstand the force and were flung back by it.

[Hold on tight!]

[Aaaaah!]

Mariam was protected by her Queen’s Guards and Barshell.

[Are you alright?]

[Y-Yes, I am...]

The vibe between the two was so good that Han-Yeol was starting to get worried about them.

‘Hey, what about Mujahid?’

Whooosh!

The wind blew fiercer, and all eyes focused on where Han-Yeol and Craspio clashed just a few seconds ago, covered by a thick cloud of smoke.

‘What happened?’

‘Where’s Han-Yeol-nim?’

‘Is Craspio dead?’

The smoke finally dissipated, and Craspio’s colossal body was still standing.

[N-No way!]

[H-He failed...?!]

[That can’t be...]

The Bastro Warriors knew that the skill Han-Yeol had just used was far from the skills he had employed until now, such as Mana Explosion, Explosion, or Head Cutter. The skill he had used just now combined the mana of both him and Mavros, dealing immense damage to their target.

The destructiveness of the skill was powerful enough to remind the Bastro Warriors of Harkan, whom they so dearly missed. But the colossal monster was able to withstand that skill?

[W-What kind of craziness is this?!]

[Impossible!]

The Bastro Warriors screamed and despaired as they were forced to admit it by now. This monster that appeared in the first dimension was far stronger than the strongest among them, and the only thing awaiting them was defeat at the hands of this mighty creature called Craspio.

Now that their final hope, Han-Yeol, failed to defeat it, the dreams of these warriors to reclaim their motherland were going to end here, against this monster, before they even had the chance to properly fight against the hyenas.

Whiiiiing...!

[W-What?]

[L-Look at that!]

Some of the Bastro Warriors, who refused to take their eyes off Craspio, noticed something. They pointed at the sky after the smoke cleared a bit, and...

[What are you pointing at?]

Everyone squinted their eyes and looked in the direction one of the warriors was pointing.

[Huh?]

[H-Han-Yeol-nim?!]

Chwak! Chwak! Chwak!

Mavros was flapping his wings while hovering in mid-air, and on his back was Han-Yeol, who looked calm while holding his sword.

[H-He’s safe!]

[As expected!]

[I knew it!]

[Hey! I heard you crying that we lost a while ago!]

[When did I?!]

[HAHAHA!]

The mood instantly changed as if they had never despaired to begin with.

Han-Yeol’s combined attack with Mavros was so powerful that the Bastro Warriors were certain it would manage to defeat the colossal monster. However, the fact that Craspio withstood the attack head-on proved it was an insurmountable enemy. Still, the fact that Han-Yeol was still alive meant that hope still remained for the world.

To everyone’s surprise, Han-Yeol and Craspio did not attack each other, nor did they express hostility toward one another.

[What’s going on now?]

[Did something happen?]

[Maybe something did...?]

[...]

It was understandable why they would be perplexed as Han-Yeol and Mavros hovered barely five meters away from Craspio. However, the colossal monster did not attack them, and neither did it show any signs of using its mana. What was going on right now?

Chwak! Chwak! Chwak!

Mavros flapped his wings and continued to hover in the air.

‘Craspio...’ Han-Yeol thought with sadness in his eyes.

[Thank you... human. You have freed my soul from the darkness trapping it for so long and allowed me to see the light again.]

Han-Yeol was prepared to fight to the death, but all of this changed the moment he heard Craspio’s warm, gentle voice. The monster’s voice was so gentle and warm that it was hard to believe it was the same boss monster who rampaged and tried to kill every living thing in sight for the last couple of days.

‘What happened to you... No, what is happening to you?’ Han-Yeol asked, not understanding what was going on.

As absurd as everything that happened to him so far was, Han-Yeol accepted all of it without a shred of doubt. The Bastro Dimension, Dragon of Destruction, Hyena Sorcerers, evolution of dimensions, and so on, all somewhat made sense in the grand scheme of things as they were all interconnected and related to each other.

However, he could not help but ask questions now. What was happening to this world? What did the Transdimensional Space Association really want? And where were they right now?

[Who knows...? Even I, a being that lived for more than one hundred thousand years, am clueless about the secrets behind all of these...]

‘O-One hundred thousand years...?!’

Han-Yeol’s jaw dropped at those words.

Humans who awakened into Hunters were able to live much longer than average humans, but that was only up to a maximum of two or three hundred years. In fact, even the fabled elves of Europe, who were just works of fiction, lived a maximum of one thousand years.

But one hundred thousand years...? This was already far beyond the bounds of what Han-Yeol could comprehend.

[Hahaha! Your reaction is very innocent for a human who defeated me.] Craspio laughed as if finding Han-Yeol’s reaction amusing.

Surprisingly, the colossal monster’s warm, gentle voice sounded very feminine.

It was then that her body slowly started to crumble. Craspio used up all of her mana after receiving Han-Yeol’s ultimate skill, which resulted in her being freed from the darkness corrupting her.

Han-Yeol was able to briefly speak to Craspio thanks to his mana that enveloped her body.

‘Ugh... Please don’t tease me...’

[Hohoho~ You are quite the cute one. Again, I wish to express my gratitude to you, human. I would have killed every single living thing in this dimension if you did not stop me. I would have killed even the monsters in this dimension and lived all alone surrounded by darkness for eternity. A life without meaning, soul, or value... for eternity...]

‘Who did this to you...?’

[Haa... I will say this again, but even I have no idea. All I know is that one of our species called the Dragon of Destruction is moving about seeking to destroy every single dimension in existence.]

‘What?! Y-You were a dragon?!’

[Hmm? Couldn’t you tell at a single glance? This majestic body of mine exudes the superiority only a dragon would possess!]

‘T-That is...’

Han-Yeol was about to say Craspio looked more like a lizard than a dragon, but he swallowed those words and shut his mouth. He had a feeling the ‘dragon’ was going to rampage once again if he said something like that.

[Oh, this is not the time for me to joke around with you.]

Han-Yeol tilted his head in confusion and asked, ‘Huh? Is there something else?’

He thought Craspio just wanted to chat before she died as she claimed to not know about anything and her body was starting to crumble bit by bit.

[Hoho! We, dragons, repay those who have wronged us by a hundred times and those who showed us favor by ten times. I am almost dying so I might not be able to repay you ten times for saving me from my eternal prison, but I have to at least reward you with something to face my ancestors, no?]

‘R-Reward?!’

Gulp!

Han-Yeol excitedly gulped as his eyes shined brightly at the words of the dragon. He did not expect this at all, and this made him, who was quite materialistic and greedy in a sense, all the more excited.

Of course, he was not greedy for money as it was useless to him. He already amassed quite a fortune, and there was nothing he could not do or buy on Earth. Why would he do something as pointless as increasing the zeroes on his bank account when he already had more than enough? Nothing could be more futile than this!

Han-Yeol was the kind of person who was greedy for things that made sense and gave him satisfaction. A good example of this was contracting a new demon, getting a powerful monster pet, becoming stronger, and so on. Of course, obtaining a powerful item was another thing he wanted.

‘A dragon is definitely going to give you something money can’t buy!’

Badump! Badump! Badump!

His heart started thumping wildly in expectation of the reward.

[Hoho! Seeing you happy makes me happy. I will be able to peacefully cross to the afterlife with this. Now, here is my gift to you.]

Woooong!

Craspio shot a beam of energy at Han-Yeol. This energy was nowhere close to mana and was entirely foreign to him.

[Han-Yeol-nim!]

His comrades on the ground screamed, thinking Craspio attacked him, but Han-Yeol raised his hand at them to show he was fine. There was the possibility Craspio was simply acting to make Han-Yeol drop his guard, but Han-Yeol could feel it.

‘There’s not a hint of killing intent in this.’

He could not feel anything threatening from the foreign energy she shot at him.

Shwooook...!

Then, the foreign energy circled around his body before forcing itself into him.

‘Huh? This feeling is...!’

Ding!

[You have received Dragon’s Blessing.]

‘Dragon’s Blessing?’

The name alone already made it sound extraordinary.

Ding!

[The dragon who lived for more than one hundred thousand years, ‘Katarina Casio Peresirius de Atarina,’ resided deep underground. She possessed the ability to control vibrations and triggered earthquakes from time to time to bring order and balance to the world she looked after.]

[However, a mysterious force cast a curse on her and thoroughly corrupted her. The curse slowly weakened her until it corrupted her mind, filling it with immense hatred for the living, and it was after she was consumed by the hatred that she was teleported to another dimension.]

[Curse and overcome by hatred, she sought to destroy every single living creature in the foreign dimension she was sent to, and nothing was going to stop the might of a rampaging dragon. She might have been greatly weakened by the curse, but the dragons were a blessed race who wielded near-absolute power.]

[Fortunately, salvation was granted to her. Although the salvation came in the form of her dying, she much preferred this than to live for eternity as a mindless creature consumed by hatred.]

[Thus, this is her final present to the creature that granted her salvation and eternal rest.]

Ding!

[A new skill has been created – Shockwave Attribute (F)]

[A new skill has been created – Vibration (F)]

[A new skill has been created – Earthquake (F)]

[A new skill has been created – Shockwave Slash (F)]

[A new skill has been created – Shockwave (F)]

‘T-This is?!’

[Hoho! What do you think of my gift? Do you like it?]

‘It is so good I have no words to describe how good it is...’

[Hohoho!]

Han-Yeol experienced firsthand how powerful Craspio, no, Katarina’s powers were, and he felt annoyed and jealous by how powerful her skills were during the entire time they were fighting. He had no choice but to admit her skills were excellent for defending and extremely overpowered when attacking.

But he was granted her powers?

He might not be able to use it as perfectly as she did, but this gift was definitely on par with a miracle. Not only that, it was not mentioned in the message that popped up in front of him, but any blessing received from a dragon provided thirty percent resistance against everything.

‘So this was the reason she was so tough...’ Han-Yeol shook his head after realizing the secret behind her toughness.

done.co