Hermit Wizard

Chapter 135

Savior or Destroyer (4)

The Dragon tried to vomit in vain.

“Hump!”

It was as if the Dragon was forced into a squirt gun while its mouth was open from its point of view. It was an unacceptable disgrace to its pride as a dragon.

However, the result of the incident didn’t remain simple emotional torture.

‘What… what is it?!’

Magma was kicked up to its throat to deal with the human wizard in front of its eyes. The breath it was preparing for was just lost and disappeared. It was due to the demons stirring inside the body.

The Dragon felt extremely confused. It couldn’t understand. Suddenly, a Channel opened on his chest, and the demons came over as if waiting.

How did that happen? Was the human wizard I was confronting at that moment the contractor of demons?

However, no demons were summoned in that way. It was impossible that the body itself came over to the Channel, not the soul!

‘This is…’

It was thrilled with the sense of crisis it experienced for the first time in its life as a dragon. From the first moment it recognized itself in the egg, it felt the Mana for granted. The absolute power to support itself was gradually decreasing. Even in that critical moment, it still couldn’t move its body.

The Dragon roared.

-Qwaaaaarrrrrrrrggghhhh!

The magic circle holding the Dragon’s body would break as time passed by. Even if the attack continued, it was able to endure with a strong magic defense unique to its kind. It could endure the attack for a while, then break the resistant magic and fight back. Instead of holding on, there was also a way to sweep him away with a breath.

At that moment, an unexpected variable intervened.

‘This is… too fast!’

Its body was rapidly deprived of the Mana that allowed him to support its body in the air. The demon flowed down the Dragon’s esophagus, stomach wall, and intestines. The larger the surface area of ??the demons in contact with the organs inside its body, the faster the absorption rate of Mana became. Some had been absorbed by the mucous organ membranes and mixed into blood vessels, just like normal liquids taken by mouth.

It was molecular level penetration and molecular level seizure.

Indefinite demons were dominated by instinct rather than reason. They had met the paradise of the Dragon’s body, which was like a treasure house of abundant Mana.

They sucked up its Mana like crazy without knowing their restraint.

“Oh… no!”

The Dragon shouted, but the giant was already descending slowly.

-Qwaaaaaarrrrrrhh!

The Dragon roared once again. However, the emotions mixed with it were completely different from when it appeared. Before, it was extreme anger, but that time, it was plain fear.

It felt the loss of Mana for the first time. It felt like it was tied to an invisible rope so far, but currently, the Dragon felt like it didn’t know how to move its body in the first place. The aftermath of the loss of a life companion to support the body shook the Dragon’s body and spirit at the same time.

-Hweeeeeeiiiing!

The wind beat its head. Stiffened like a plaster, the Dragon continued to fall at an unnatural pace. The acceleration toward the ground was rising according to the progress of Mana being absorbed.

It looked like a huge island falling from the air.

-Crrk! Cuuurk!

‘… They’re self-destructive inside my body!’

The Dragon felt the liquid-shaped demons gradually evaporating inside its body. It self-destructed by absorbing an excessive amount of Mana compared to the part’s capacity that passed to that place.

However, just because the demons died, it didn’t mean that the Mana they absorbed would return to the Dragon.

Moreover, if you flip the words, it meant that the Mana had been taken away enough to kill the demons. It was too much for the Dragon to hold its neck. It was on the verge of depletion of Mana, which was like blood and oxygen that supported its body.

The Dragon looked up with eyes full of despair. A human wizard who injected him with demons appeared floating in the air. The Channel that had opened on his chest was closed, and the water stream created by the liquid demons was cut off.

He was looking down at the Dragon with cold eyes.

‘How dare you look down on me?!’

The anger didn’t last long. The enlightenment that followed drove the Dragon into shock, revealing the smile on the corner of the human’s lips as if all this was calculated.

The fall accelerated. The sky, mountain range, and horizon were mixed, making a colored whirlwind disturbing the eyes.

It thought as it moved toward the earth. It thought of reasoning that it didn’t want to admit.

‘Did he accurately calculate the capacity of the demons he discharged? Perfect enough to deprive the Mana in my body and kill themselves in my body as a result? Was the Channel closed as soon as an adequate amount was discharged so that the demons who had passed into this world could be annihilated?’

The Dragon could never imagine such a possible existence. Even the same dragon kind was impossible.

The falling Dragon cried out, “You… who are you?”

With that single scream, the Dragon squeezed its final strength. It tried to overcome that situation by mobilizing Mana to maintain basic physiological functions.

It wanted to attack that man. It wanted to run away from that situation.

The desperation led to the final attack. A combination of spells that was close to the unconscious followed. The Dragon, falling with its head down, assembled and released magic just like its instinct.

Mana danced close to the flurry. The light enveloped the Dragon’s body like a messy rainstorm, and lightning, mixed with shadows, blasted off the scales. As the lift under the Dragon’s wings changed direction, one of the bone joints between its wing membranes broke, and the wicked things at the border between matter and non-material were drawn around the Dragon’s unconscious cry.

However, all of those things were only phenomena and had failed to have purpose and meaning. None of them touched the human wizard. There were no results to reverse the current situation.

Eventually, the Dragon descended to an irreversible altitude, providing only splendid eye-catching sights with silent nature and a few creatures as the audience.

And finally, its giant body hit the ground. The earth screamed with a heavy binge and fluttered in unison with the sky.

***

“Aaaaraghhh! Oh my!”

The earth shook like crazy with a roar, and Garam screamed while falling on his buttocks.

-Ghrrrrrrrrrrrng!

For a while, the sky and the ground vibrated in a frenzy.

“Eeeeeck!”

Mrs. Pearl, Garam, and Hwang Soo-rim couldn’t control their body inside the barrier and were swayed by an earthquake. Without knowing the reason, Maru watched the dumbfounded party floating in the air.

Some time passed, and finally, the ground regained stability, and the noise disappeared.

Hwang Soo-rim groaned and barely stood up. She glared at the body of the Dragon crashing into the ground. It was a large body that couldn’t be covered even by the densely covered dirt.

“… It’s definitely smaller up close than last time.”

Nevertheless, it was a body that couldn’t get into a single sight, literally like a mountain. Everyone there could be crushed just by swiping the ground with its tail.

She was worried inside. Would it ever move again?

Hwang Soo-rim knew that all of her Mana patterns had been broken. The restraint magic circle had already been broken.

[It’s okay. There is only a little Mana left in the body.]

Parvache reassured her through its will.

“Did anyone get hurt?”

Mrs. Pearl, who desperately concentrated on maintaining the barrier, only spoke out and asked after the party.

“Oh? Maru?”

She realized that Maru, attached to her neck, wasn’t in place. Soon, its whereabouts were quickly found. The tentacle pile was wriggling to fly through the sky and out of the barrier, but, of course, it was blocked by the barrier.

“Hey, come here. It’s not over yet.”

Rather than answering Mrs. Pearl’s call, Maru wriggled to get out of the barrier. He spoke, stretching its tentacles in the direction of the Dragon’s body.

“Cute…! cute…!”

Hwang Soo-rim frowned at that nonsense again.

Meanwhile, Maru continued to blow the air.

“I want… to… play… together!”

“I told you not to!”

Mrs. Pearl’s voice sounded stern. The tentacles drooped and fell from the wall as if barely getting rid of a lingering feeling.

With some time lag, Hwang Soo-rim was surprised at her realization. Those tentacles’ movements looked sullen.

She didn’t like the fact that she noticed it. How long had they been together? She couldn’t believe she was reading emotions from the movements of the tentacles!

-Seeeekkkk

“Hey, go away!”

Hwang Soo-rim, who was lost in thought for a moment, shouted in surprise. Instead of returning to Mrs. Pearl, Maru that fell from the barrier’s wall was slowly sticking out its tentacles to wrap itself around the Hwang Soo-rim’s arms.

Hwang Soo-rim escaped in fright. Instead of approaching further, Maru was floating in the air and circled as if it was twirling and swimming as if it stretched out its tentacles.

“I told you I don’t want to!”

Hwang Soo-rim said in a sharp voice. Maru then murmured, echoing through the air. After coming to that world, it was sullen by the intense rejection that followed several times.

“You’re mean…. Always say no…”

When Hwang Soo-rim heard that, she shot at the tentacles.

“Anyway, why are you always aiming at me after leaving Mrs. Pearl, who always takes care of you?!”

“Here… sweet smell… except Reclusive… only you…”

It was that nonsense again. Hwang Soo-rim shook her head. She hadn’t used perfume once, but she wondered what the hell she smelled like.

During such a scuffle, Parvache asked Garam.

[Can’t you still see the soul?]

Garam squinted and stared at the fallen Dragon. He then nodded as if he had confirmed something.

“Oh, elder, it’s starting to fade now!”

Parvache nodded.

[It’s completely passed out. Its mental barrier is weakening.]

There were higher creatures that were different from humans. That Dragon was young, but like the Dragon they had seen so far, it was protecting its inner side with a strong mental barrier. The soul couldn’t be identified even with Maek’s eyes.

Passing out didn’t completely remove the barrier, but at least it was weakening to the point where the Maek could distinguish its soul.

“Ah… but.”

Garam’s voice was mixed with discouragement.

[Why? Is it just one?]

“…Yes, it is.”

The moment the words fell, Parvache burst into disappointment not expressed in words. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pearl sighed, and Hwang Soo-rim burst into various swear words.

In Hwang Soo-rim’s lengthy sentences, Maru, who caught a few new words that didn’t come out well on TV, reviewed the pronunciation by vibrating the air as if it were very interesting.

“Damn… fuck… Shit…”

“Ah, shut up!”

Garam, who once again observed the Dragon in detail, reaffirmed the same facts and told the party.

“The only soul that dwells in that Dragon is the one that is the master of the body. The Dragon’s soul from our world is not in that body.”

Parvache lamented.

[We’ve been in vain this time again.]

Hwang Soo-rim grumbled.

“So, do we have to go find the next dragon again?”

Mrs. Pearl nodded.

“It can’t be helped.”

[I expected it, but it’s not as easy as I thought.]

“Elder, no matter how independent the dragons of this world are, they may take collective action if we continue for a long time in this way. We may need to change the method.”

[It makes sense. Let’s discuss it.]

After saying so, the toy looked up at the sky. The person who crashed the Dragon was slowly descending from the air.

***

I looked at the frozen Dragon that hit the ground. It was partly due to damage caused by the collision, but fundamentally, it was impossible to move because all of its body’s Mana had been taken away.

Parvache spoke to me with the will. It resonated clearly in my head regardless of distance.

[The Dragon is incapacitated.]

‘Good. It ended without any fuss.’

It was a plan that could’ve failed if the area had been blown away by the Dragon’s breath as soon as it appeared.

But, it was the same that time. Instead of flying there and burning everyone up, the Dragon attempted a conversation. It was trying to get what was stolen back.

The Dragon’s strong possessiveness didn’t allow it to be taken away. Whether it was real or not, the possessiveness of the Dragon was on fire. It didn’t matter whether it was of great value to the Dragon or not.

‘Actually, what that dragon had was a short dream that it would have forgotten immediately after waking up normally.’

[Yes, I felt that way, too.]

It didn’t even look like an important dream at all. However, its high mental abilities made it realize that it had just had its dream stolen by someone as soon as it woke up. The Dragon, realizing that, was very angry.

“How dare you touch my possessions!”

The Dragon’s anger rose to an appropriate level. It was so angry that it would fly out of the nest to find and beat the thief. It was fortunate to be me.

Thinking so, I stepped on the ground.

“Do we have to wait a little longer to confirm?”

Garam shook his head.

“Confirmation is over.”

I looked at the expressions of the party, and there was disappointment, anger, and irritation. I could guess the result without hearing back from them.

“Oh, it’s driving me crazy. Is it another zonk?”

Garam nodded, and I gripped my head.