He himself could take it down in a single blow. The problem was that Ye Yahyeon had struggled against it.
That meant if creatures like this poured into the Central Plains, things would become troublesome.
He could not protect all of the Central Plains by himself.
Then he had to find a way to prepare for enemies like this when they appeared.
Of course, if he asked Ye Yahyeon, he could obtain a certain amount of information.
But hearing about it and experiencing it directly were worlds apart.
First, its strength was clearly different from a human’s.
The flow of its energy seemed to work by absorbing energy through its scales and attacking with that.
Despite its massive build, it was extremely fast, and it even used martial arts like someone from the martial world.
As for durability?
Jeok Wigang lightly avoided the Chief Eunuch’s attack and tapped him in the abdomen with his fist.
WHUMP—!
“Urgh!”
The Chief Eunuch’s body lurched, and a moment later he twisted in pain.
Even so, seeing him endure it and stay standing, his durability was strong as well.
If it had been Ye Yahyeon, he would have been groaning and rolling around on the ground.
“Urgh! You bastard... Was that sorcery too?”
“No. I just hit you with my fist.”
“Im-impossible. There is no way I would feel pain like this from a mere punch! You used sorcery and now you lie, pretending you did not!”
“Why would I lie to you?”
The Chief Eunuch’s face contorted with rage as he endured the pain and said,
“Because of that last move, I will no longer show you so much as a moment of carelessness.”
He talked a lot.
Still, perhaps his pride had been wounded, because he charged in with even stronger force than before.
“Blood Dragon....”
Just as he was about to gather an enormous surge of energy and attack—
FWHOOOOOSH—.
The punch Jeok Wigang threw blew away part of the Chief Eunuch’s right side.
At that, Jeok Wigang muttered with an expression that said, Oops.
“Ah. I used strength without thinking.”
Cough—
Red blood burst from the Chief Eunuch’s mouth.
“H-how...... such power.......”
THUD—.
He collapsed to the ground, twitched for a moment, then stopped moving entirely.
Ye Yahyeon watched with an expression that said he had known this would happen.
What the hell. He really was just playing with him. Terrifying bastard.
Jeok Wigang muttered with an empty look.
“I had so much to ask him....... Should I heal him?”
As Jeok Wigang considered it, Ye Yahyeon said,
“From what I saw earlier, he regenerated severed arms and things like that. Wouldn’t this regenerate too?”
“He regenerates?”
“Yes.”
“He looks unconscious. If we leave him like this, won’t he die?”
“Aren’t you curious? Whether he can regenerate even that?”
“Hmm.......”
“If we watch him, and he really seems like he is about to stop breathing, it should not be too late to heal him then.”
“Good. Let’s wait.”
The two of them stared at the unconscious Chief Eunuch with sparkling eyes, then soon left their positions.
*****
The place was silent in every direction.
Only the corpse of the Chief Eunuch, who had been of the Dragon-Scale race, lay there alone.
Then, just as a crow flew down and was about to tear into his flesh—
PA-PAT—.
Caw—!
CRRRK—.
The crow caught in the Chief Eunuch’s suddenly moving left hand became a handful of bloody pulp.
“Urgh!”
Groaning in pain, the Chief Eunuch slowly rose.
“Was I unconscious?”
He stood dazed for a moment, then, as if something had occurred to him, quickly looked around.
“No one. Whew. Damn it. I really nearly died.”
Muttering, he examined his wound.
“It’s worse than I thought. It will take quite some time to restore it perfectly.”
After muttering that, he closed his eyes and focused.
Then the area that had been blown away began to writhe, and something red swelled up like foam.
The foam soon hardened and turned into muscle. In an instant, the body that had been blown away was restored.
Once the muscle regenerated, skin regenerated over it, and then even the scales grew back.
Perhaps because it had not been restored perfectly, a boundary remained drawn between the unharmed part and the part that had been blown away.
“Whew.”
The Chief Eunuch exhaled and rose to his feet.
He shuddered.
“Terrifying bastard. I need to revise the information. There is an incredible human in the Central Plains. Why has no information like this come up until now?”
He had nearly caused a major disruption to the great plan.
Had they not come to the Central Plains in the first place to eliminate elements that might interfere with that great plan?
The reason he had pretended to be dead was because of the chilling energy that had blown away his body at the end.
It felt like, how should he put it?
Like fighting the Heaven Lord?
He had realized it instinctively.
That he was not this man’s opponent.
That was why he had pretended to be dead.
If he could not win anyway, why would he risk danger by fighting?
The only race that did something that foolish was humans.
The Chief Eunuch looked toward the imperial palace.
He could no longer return.
As long as Jeok Wigang was at the Emperor’s side, he could never return.
It seemed he would have to revise the plan to spark a war between the imperial palace and the martial world.
It would be faster to go to the martial world instead and have them attack the authorities.
First, he had to leave this cursed place.
Just as he thought that and tried to turn away—
“Wow. It’s true?”
A chill ran down his spine.
A voice he never wanted to hear again came from behind him.
Was he hearing things after coming back from the dead?
He slowly turned his head, and there stood a face he never wanted to see again.
“Fascinating. How exactly did you regenerate?”
The Dragon-Scale man unconsciously backed away at the sight of Jeok Wigang slowly approaching him.
“H-how?”
“That is what I want to ask. How exactly can you regenerate your body like that?”
“Do you think I would tell you that?”
“Can other parts regenerate too?”
As Jeok Wigang approached, the Dragon-Scale man retreated even farther.
He had been watching.
If the Chief Eunuch had known that, he would have run with all his might the instant he woke up.
“If your leg is cut off, does that regenerate too? I’m curious.”
The Dragon-Scale man got goosebumps when he saw Jeok Wigang’s eyes.
He had the feeling that if he did not answer here, Jeok Wigang really would cut off his leg to test it.
“It, it regenerates.”
“Really? Show me.”
“What?”
This lunatic.
“You don’t want to? Let’s try it.”
“N-no! Stay away!”
“You said it regenerates. Come here.”
Jeok Wigang running at him with a smile was fear itself.
No. He was a demon.
Why was a being who would suit White Horse Heaven far better wearing a human shell?
“R-right now, I cannot. Regeneration is not something I can do endlessly.... I can only do it when I have energy.”
“I’ll fill that energy for you. Let’s try it.”
There was no reasoning with him.
How was he going to fill his energy?
Then Jeok Wigang held something out.
“Eat this. It is called an Overlord Hero Pill, and it will completely replenish your depleted energy.”
Was he serious?
Was he seriously trying to cut off his leg?
He had gotten caught by the wrong person. Terribly wrong.
“You’re not eating? I said try it.”
BAM—.
“Gah!”
Before he knew it, Jeok Wigang had come right up to his face, forced his mouth open, and shoved the elixir in.
He tried to resist, but Jeok Wigang was so strong that he could not.
The elixir that entered his mouth melted in an instant and slid down his throat. Soon, along with a hot heat spreading through his whole body, he felt the energy that had hit rock bottom rapidly fill back up.
This quickly?
It was an incredible spirit medicine.
He was using something like this just to look at the Chief Eunuch’s severed leg?
This human was not sane.
Strength overflowed through his whole body.
The Dragon-Scale man watched Jeok Wigang’s expression.
He was looking for an opening to flee.
He only needed one brief gap.
The moment it came—
The moment Jeok Wigang turned his back to call Ye Yahyeon—
He mobilized every bit of energy he could use and shot his body into the air.
BAM—!
Something unfolded from the Dragon-Scale man’s back as he rose high into the air.
Wings.
WHOOOOM— WHOOOOM—.
He beat his wings powerfully and burst into loud laughter.
“Khahahaha! You fool! Thank you! Thanks to the elixir you gave me, I recovered my energy.”
Now he was fine.
All he had to do was escape.
Just as he thought that—
He felt some enormous pressure from behind him.
The moment he turned his head—
KWAAAAAA—.
He felt a tremendous energy rushing toward him at frightening speed.
“Eek!”
Startled, he urgently twisted his body to avoid it, but—
CRUNCH—.
“Urgh!”
Part of his wing was annihilated by the tremendous energy, and because of that, his balance collapsed and he plummeted rapidly toward the ground.
THUD—.
The Dragon-Scale man fell to the ground and slowly rose with a pained groan.
Then he looked in the direction of Jeok Wigang with trembling pupils.
A monster.
If that energy had hit him head-on just now?
He would have disappeared, just like the annihilated wing.
Tremble, tremble—
His body began to shake.
He saw Jeok Wigang slowly approaching.
Should he run again?
His feet would not move.
If he ran and that attack came again?
Could he dodge it?
While countless thoughts ran through his mind, Jeok Wigang had already arrived before him.
He quickly widened the distance and gathered every bit of energy he possessed.
Grrrrk—.
The earth rumbled, and the air trembled.
He clasped both hands together, made the shape of a dragon’s face, and aimed at Jeok Wigang.
VMMMM—.
A tremendous mass of compressed energy began forming in front of the dragon-face shape.
“Blazing-Sun Roaring Cannon!”
BWOOOOOO—!
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG—.
The final blow shot terrifyingly toward Jeok Wigang, transforming the surrounding terrain as it went.
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG—.
The Dragon-Scale man saw it.
A monster slowly walking forward without the slightest concern while taking the Blazing-Sun Roaring Cannon head-on.
“Im-impossible.......”
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAANG—.
The Blazing-Sun Roaring Cannon split into two streams, devastating the surroundings and changing the terrain itself.
But one person had not changed.
Jeok Wigang stood there.
GULP—.
He swallowed dryly without meaning to.
This was a being who could kill him whenever he wished, and yet he had not made any serious move.
“Was that last attack the strongest attack you can use?”
The Dragon-Scale man nodded without realizing it.
“You did not use up all your energy using that, did you?”
Seeing the silent Dragon-Scale man, Jeok Wigang shook his head.
“Looks like you used it all up.”
Then he took another elixir from his robe.
Surely not again?
“Eat.”
“J-just kill me instead.”
“Why would I kill you? A fascinating life-form like you?”
Those eyes.
“I absolutely will not kill you. No, I can’t kill you.”
There was only one way to escape that demon.
Damn it....... I wanted to see my homeland before I died....
The Dragon-Scale man closed his eyes, letting go of everything.
SKRRRRT—.
At the same time, black-red blood flowed from his mouth, and he collapsed to the ground where he sat.
“Suicide. That will not do.”
Jeok Wigang immediately recited the Revival Mantra.
“Heaven and earth, restore. Soul and flesh, return to origin. Qi vessels, return to order. All wounds, recover.”
Silver radiance covered the Dragon-Scale man’s body, and a moment later—
The Dragon-Scale man opened his eyes.
“Huh?”
He had definitely killed himself.
Why was he alive?
“Who gave you permission to commit suicide? You startled me.”
Surely?
“Try dying a hundred times. Do you think I will let you die?”
That monstrous bastard....
He checked his body and found that his energy had also returned to normal.
“First, regenerate your wing.”
That monster’s attention was focused entirely on his regenerative ability.
“If I show you...... will you kill me?”
“No. I said I won’t kill you.”
“Then...... will you let me go?”
“No. If I let you go, who knows what you will do?”
“Then what do you intend to do with me?”
“I’ll take you around with me. For life.”
He wanted to cry.
He had to stay with this insane monster for the rest of his life?
If he had known this would happen, he would not have regenerated.
Why had he volunteered to kill the Commander?
He should have just ordered his subordinates to do it.
All sorts of regret surged over him like a flood.
“What are you doing? I told you to regenerate your wing.”