Chapter 237 – The Summer Queen (2)Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko
Chwak!
The Summer Queen lightly waved her hand at Aether and the others like they were in the way.
As she did, a storm of magic power began to swirl and cut down all the players in front.
They were people who had received elite educations and were renowned for their skills.
They were Aether’s precious subordinates who were helping him take revenge on the Elohim, but in front of the Summer Queen, they were just mayflies. It only took one second to get rid of them. Any more than that was a waste of time.
And the same went for Aether.
‘I, I have to run…..!’
The Summer Queen’s eyebrow twitched seeing Aether dare to avoid her Wind Whip. She immediately turned her hand in the other direction.
Swek!
The whips smacked Aether’s head.
Kwang!
“He ran away like a rat.”
There wasn’t anything left where the Wind Whip had just passed by. Aether was already gone.
<White Light>. He had broken light and succeeded in escaping.
But the Summer Queen didn’t chase after Aether.
She could, but she didn’t feel like doing it; it was only a nuisance.
She forgot about Aether and snapped her head back to Tom.
Tom kneeled and slammed his head onto the ground. His forehead bled.
“I apologize!”
The Summer Queen growled with her canines flashing.
“Do I have to come to this lowly place myself? I never imagined this would be so difficult!”
“Please forgive…..”
“Beginning. I’ll punish you for this later. However, before this ends, you should fight with the will to die at any moment.”
“Thank you for the chance, Mother!”
Tom hammered his head onto the ground over and over again. He could hear his skull cracking, but he didn’t have time to feel it.
If the Summer Queen was here, it meant that she was angry.
The Nine Dragon Sons’ reputation came from the amount of Dragon’s Blood they received, and the Summer Queen could adjust this amount as much as she wanted to. She could even take back the blood that was already given.
Then he wouldn’t be one of her soldiers anymore. With his powers gone, he wouldn’t even be in the 81 Eyes. He would instantly fall from a prince to a pauper right away.
The back of his head was hot.
He could feel the mocking gazes of his brothers. They thought he was already out of the running in the competition.
That was something Tom didn’t even want to think about. He had to somehow appease her in the time that was left.
However—
The Summer Queen didn’t even look at Tom. Her eyes were fixed on the canyons where the dust clouds were endlessly floating up.
The Philosopher’s Stone that she had been searching for would be there.
‘No matter what. No matter what…..!’
The Summer Queen grit her teeth and activated the magic that she had been holding back. A white light surrounded her. When the light faded away, a large dragon revealed itself.
She looked a lot different than in the war against the Cheonghwado.
Her ruby-like scales were black, and her fiery eyes were dull. There were even holes in her wings, making them look tattered.
A broken Dragon Heart and Devil Poison.
The Summer Queen had just used the very last of her magic power. This was the last transformation and attempt, risking her life. If she failed here, only death awaited her.
The Summer Queen felt even more rushed.
With the Devil Poison already in her marrow, there wasn’t anything else she could do.
As the last dragon, the last descendant of the Draconic Species, she couldn’t die in vain in a place like this. Never!
Kraaaaaa!
The Summer Queen cried at the sky. As she spread her wings apart, all kinds of magic was activated at the same time, and her large body shook.
Kwang—
When she bashed her tail, she was already flying high to where the Brocken Fortress was. She didn’t have any magic power left anymore.
She was now squeezing out power from her soul, her spiritual power, to forcefully use her magic power.
Using her spiritual power was dangerous because it could separate her soul from her body, but she didn’t have any time to worry about that.
The powers that were buried by the Devil Poison woke up one by one. The powers that made up a dragon woke up in order, and Dragon Fear emanated from her, filling the ownerless Outer Space.
In this moment, the Endless World of Night was no longer the territory of the witches but the Summer Queen’s territory.
* * *
‘The opening of Intrenian and Dragon’s Blood?’
Yeon-woo had a questioning gaze when he looked at the items that were given as rewards.
He wasn’t going to refuse them, but because he had connections to a few of the top 5 artisans, he didn’t have any particular interest in the artifacts that the Red Dragon had.
Maybe if it was a tool that gods or heroes used, but there was no way they would’ve put such objects in there. There were probably just A-Class weapons or a few jewels.
But the other reward was different.
Dragon’s Blood.
This was something that couldn’t be found anywhere.
[Red Dragon Species’ Blood Serum]
Category: Elixir
Rank: S+
Summary: The last dragon, the Summer Queen, Ismenios, refined her blood to make this serum. Just by drinking it, your stats will increase.
This was more than a simple S+ item.
Everyone knew how powerful the Nine Dragon Sons were.
Considering how strong they became just from blood transfusions, this was a reward that people would risk their lives to get.
‘Was she trying to make a new dragon soldier?’
It was possible.
From the Summer Queen’s Perspective, this was something the Walpurgisnacht needed to be taken care of quickly. If someone got rid of them and brought the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone, it was possible she wouldn’t stop just by making them a dragon soldier.
‘But the problem is that the Blood Serum came into my hands now.’
Yeon-woo wondered what he should do with the Blood Serum. It wasn’t a bad idea just to drink it then and there.
However, he already had perfectly fine Dragon’s Blood running through his veins, so it wouldn’t make much difference. Also, the ancient dragon wasn’t a Red Dragon like the Summer Queen. It wouldn’t be absorbed as well.
There was probably a good way to use this, but it was such a sudden reward that he couldn’t think of anything.
‘Or……’
Yeon-woo looked at Vigrid in his hand. Vroom, vroom—
Vigrid shook when Yeon-woo looked at it, as if it liked it.
Vigrid had gotten rid of almost all of the curse, but Yeon-woo couldn’t release the last seal.
It had stopped at 90%, and it wasn’t progressing further from there.
Holiness wouldn’t help anymore. What if he borrowed the strength of the Draconic species, who were equal to the gods?
‘I’ll have to look into it.’
Yeon-woo noted to discuss this with Brahm and opened Intrenian to put the Blood Serum inside.
Just when he was about to turn back—
Swoosh!
He suddenly stiffened his back from a hair-raising aura.
When he turned his head towards the direction of the aura, he saw a large dragon flying toward him at a beastly speed.
And faster than that came an intense aura like a bunch of clouds. It was a threatening aura equal to when the meteor fell.
‘The Summer Queen…..!’
His skin stung and his back felt cold. The Dragon’s Blessing inside his cells trembled. They were trying to shake off the Dragon Fear.
However, there was a clear difference between a Dragon Human and a full dragon, so of course, the Dragon Human would be reluctant about the dragon.
That was another reason why he had tried to gain the Demon’s Blessing.
Yeon-woo calmed himself down as much as he could and tried to distance himself as much as he could from the Summer Queen.
[Extreme fear controls your body due to Dragon Fear. You are falling into a stunned condition.]
[Your coolheadedness is being maintained with the trait ‘Cold-blooded.]
[The Demon’s Blessing is activating.]
[The Demon’s Blessing is activating.]
……
[The stunned condition has been released. You have gained resistance to Dragon Fear.]
‘It would be nice if there was another meteor left. Why did she come now?’
Yeon-woo consecutively used Blink to escape from the Summer Queen’s vision. Even though she was poisoned by the Devil Poison, the Summer Queen was still too much.
‘No way.’
He thought of why the Summer Queen had suddenly appeared. He could only think of one reason.
‘Because Vieira Dune was caught?’
Did she appear after checking the sudden quest was finished? Yeon-woo clenched his teeth. If that was the case, this was clearly his mistake.
However—
‘No, this could actually be an opportunity.’
Yeon-woo decided to accept it as an opportunity.
The Summer Queen was going to die anyway. What could she do with her broken Dragon Heart and Devil Poison?
On the other hand, Yeon-woo was still in great condition.
He hadn’t even awoken his powers or the Dragon Body. Boo was growing after swallowing the Philosopher’s Stone, and he could call out Shanon, Hanryeong, Rebecca, and Brahm as well.
Everything else aside, Yeon-woo didn’t know too much about his limits after the Philosopher’s Stone was finished.
If he used his full power, he might have a chance.
Of course, this might just be wishful thinking.
After all, there was nothing more dangerous than an angry beast. Also, the Summer Queen wasn’t weak in her current state. She was exactly as strong as she was back in the war.
‘I can’t believe she still has that much strength.’
Although he pushed the Dragon Fear away, he still felt threatened. Despite using the Cold-blooded trait, his hands and feet were asleep. Seeing her straight on like this took all the energy from him.
But Yeon-woo didn’t give up.
He trusted himself and his analysis of the current situation.
The people that he saw were alive with his Extrasensory Perception were all heading toward him.
Also, all their enmity was directed at the Summer Queen.
‘Summer Queen. You’ve made a big mistake.’
[Hidden Quest / Field Arrest (1) ]
Summary: A while ago, the Bureau decided on disciplinary action for the Red Dragon, who attacked the Kelat Auction House for personal reasons. However, there is a limit to what the Bureau can do, so help is needed.
Capture or kill the Red Dragon’s players within the given time.
You can take a percentage of the skills or artifacts of the ones you kill.
The sudden quest that the Bureau had given. Obviously, the Summer Queen was included in ‘the Red Dragon’s players’ that was mentioned.
If they could catch the Summer Queen, how many rewards would they get? Also, the Summer Queen looked critical just at a glance.
It was possible. There was no doubt this was what the survivors were thinking.
But still, no one attacked. They were checking her strength first.
Kwang!
Just then, the Summer Queen looked around after she landed. Her furious face lashed around.
She was searching for something with her vertically slit eyes.
The person who completed the quest. She was searching for the person who killed Vieira Dune.
[The Philosopher’s Stone! Where is the Philosopher’s Stone?!]
She screamed in a vehement voice. Her roar rang out over the canyons, shaking the Endless World of Night.
But of course, it wasn’t like the Philosopher’s Stone was suddenly going to appear, since Yeon-woo had already gotten rid of it.
[Give it!]
Her eyes were filled with lunacy as she searched for the person to unleash her wrath upon.
Then, Yeon-woo was in her sight. Because she was the one to give the quest, she found who it was right away.
[Give ittttt!]
She pawed the ground like she was going to crush Yeon-woo at any moment.
Yeon-woo waited for the right timing to attack.
If he was successful, he could kill the enemy who had seemed so far away with his own hands.
This was a gamble. A gamble with his life at stake.
There was a fifty-fifty chance he would succeed. No, if he was frank about it, there was less than a 10% chance he would succeed.
Yeon-woo went all in on this gamble with only a 10% chance of success because even that was pretty high.
He felt like his chest was tightening from the pressure. But still, Yeon-woo was happy for this chance.
As adrenaline pumped throughout his body, he gripped Vigrid even tighter.
Just when the Summer Queen was rushing at him, he felt a hand grip his shoulder.
When he looked back, Yeon-woo felt like all his tension faded away.
“Seseungnim.”
The Martial King was grinning at him. The other tribe members were behind him as well. It was a completely unexpected meeting. Why was the One-horned tribe here?
But now that they were here, Yeon-woo was sure that they could defeat the Summer Queen. The possibility of 10% increased to 90%.
The Martial King patted Yeon-woo’s shoulders twice, as if telling him not to worry and put his hands in his pockets as he strutted forward.
[Give it!]
“What?”
[Give it!]
“Lady, what are you talking about?”
[Give it!]
The Summer Queen was spitting out the same words over and over again, completely taken over by madness.
The Martial King smirked seeing her state and pulled his hand out in front of the Summer Queen.
“Is this what you’re looking for?”
He waved his middle finger elegantly in the air.