Transcendent Warrior with a Dimensional Shifting Inventory

50

The wagon carrying Taydon’s heart approached Asdel Keep.

Hans, pulling the wagon with the other soldiers, felt two emotions at once.

The joy of seeing his family soon.

And the fear that a drake could attack at any moment.

Hans wasn’t alone.

Everyone marching on Asdel Keep felt the same way.

They were all on high alert for drakes.

But no one really wanted to see one.

However,

BOOM-

BOOM-BOOM!

The war horn blared.

Once long, then twice short.

It was the signal that a drake was approaching from afar.

A soldier nearby let out a small groan.

“Dammit…”

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Soon after, the war horn blared three short times.

This was the signal indicating the direction from which the drake was flying.

“Northwest!”

The soldiers all tensed up.

And just as they had been trained, they readied their arrows on their new model bows and all took aim at the sky to the northwest.

SWISH-

They heard the sound of something cutting through the air.

And at the same time, they entered the giant beast’s field of vision.

None of the soldiers there had ever seen a drake in person.

Not even General Drake.

But as they laid eyes on the beast with its wings spread wide and flying at great speed, they all knew.

‘It’s a drake!’

BOOM!

The war horn blared once, short.

It was the signal to commence firing.

The soldiers all launched their arrows at the drake at once.

**Swish-**

Thousands of arrows spread out like a net and flew toward the dragon’s flight path.

It was the anti-air volley fire training Minhyuk had taught the soldiers.

**Whoosh-**

The dragon changed its flight direction and shot up vertically.

Just like that, it escaped the volleys of arrows and continued to fly higher into the sky.

Eventually, it flew so far away that it was no longer visible.

General Drake, who had been observing the dragon’s behavior, said to Minhyuk,

“It must be bewildered!”

Professor Raymon also nodded in agreement with the general’s interpretation.

“According to ancient texts, all dragons possess appraisal abilities as a fundamental skill. It must have been startled when it realized the arrowheads were made of Star Metal and dodged them! If the arrows had been made of steel or Dwarf Steel, it would have simply ignored them and broken through.”

The dragon had dodged the arrows to avoid being injured by the Star Metal arrowheads.

As the dragon disappeared from sight, the soldiers briefly wore blank expressions.

In their minds, dragons were the strongest creatures in all of legend.

And that strongest of creatures had retreated from their combined attack.

**Wow-**

The soldiers let out a cheer in unison.

Someone shouted,

“The dragon’s a wimp!”

But it was still too early to rejoice.

**Boom!**

**Boom-**

The drums sounded again.

Two short beats and one long beat.

The dragon, which had disappeared from sight, was circling around and approaching from the southwest.

The soldiers suppressed their excitement and once again aimed their bows in unison toward the southwest.

**Swoosh-**

Once again, the sound of something slicing through the air was heard, and the dragon soon appeared.

From this phenomenon, Minhyuk realized that the dragon’s flight speed was slower than the speed of sound.

If it had been faster than the speed of sound, the dragon would have arrived before the sound.

**Boom!**

In response to the drumbeat signaling the start of the attack, the soldiers released their arrows simultaneously.

**Swish-**

The arrows flew with even greater precision than before.

**Whoosh-**

The dragon changed direction once again to dodge the arrows.

And this time, instead of flying higher into the sky, it flew far away to the north.

A short while later, a report came from the scouts to the north.

The dragon had disappeared far beyond the perimeter of the surveillance network.

It was unclear whether it had given up on the Mana Bead or was simply catching its breath.

In any case, they safely blocked the bastard’s first attack.

Minhyuk gave the order to the entire army.

“Resume the march!”

Clack-clack-

Clack-clack-

The soldiers began marching toward Asdel Fortress once again.

Soon, the swamp came into view.

Once they crossed that swamp, they would be right in the territory of Kaho.

As long as they entered Kaho’s territory, they would succeed.

Professor Raymon, who had been observing the dragon with a telescope, reported to Minhyuk.

“Its entire body is black, and there are three protrusions at the end of its tail. That is an Acala dragon.”

There were various species of dragons.

The one that attacked the expedition was an Acala dragon.

“Acala dragons can use various types of dragon language magic.”

That thing could use magic.

However, even the ancient books did not describe exactly what types of magic it could cast.

Minhyuk had to get within 2 or 3 meters to check the information on the beasts.

So, he still didn’t know exactly about it.

***

Flap-flap-

The dragon landed in a valley deep in the forest.

And it fell into thought.

It was very strange.

How did the humans know in advance the direction it was flying?

Did one of them learn the highest level of magic that predicts the future?

That couldn’t be it.

Even dragons couldn’t cast such magic.

Then how did they know in advance?

At first, it thought it was just a coincidence.

However, even when it approached the second time, they aimed their bows, already knowing the direction it would appear.

Flap-

The dragon spread its wings again and flew into the sky.

It flew very high and looked down.

Then it saw something it hadn’t seen before.

The humans were positioned at regular intervals on an elliptical line.

It looked at the closest human and cast magic.

Dragon language magic that didn’t need an incantation.

Then its eyesight was enhanced, and the human’s appearance was magnified as if it were right before its nose.

It could even clearly see the ring on the human’s finger.

With its emotional ability, it figured out the magical effect imbued in the ring.

No matter how far apart they were, it was a magical tool that allowed them to talk.

Now he finally understood.

How the humans knew in advance which way he would fly.

They had spread out their surveillance network and used the rings to communicate.

Swish-

The dragon flew at full speed towards the nearest scout.

To take the magic bead, he first had to break down the surveillance network.

Fwoosh-

The dragon breathed fire at the scout.

With his emotional magic, he had already figured out what kind of armor the scout was wearing.

Something like volcanic lizard leather wouldn’t be able to block a dragon’s fire for long.

Fwoosh-

The dragon breathed a long stream of fire.

This should have completely incinerated him, leaving only ash behind.

After stopping the fire, he looked at the spot where the scout had been.

However,

The scout had disappeared.

He hadn’t burned to death, not even leaving ash behind.

He had escaped.

There was a small hole where the scout had been standing.

It was an underground tunnel.

‘Thank goodness!’

The scout who had escaped the dragon’s fire and hidden deep in the tunnel heaved a sigh of relief.

Minhyuk had ordered the scouts to dig deep tunnels as soon as they arrived at their positions.

He had also given the scouts shovels made of astral metal.

Thanks to that, they were able to dig deep tunnels where they could hide in times of crisis.

Kyaaak-

The furious dragon roared.

Flap flap-

Giving up on the scout who had hidden in the tunnel, he flew to where another nearby scout was.

And once again, he breathed fire.

The same thing happened this time.

The scout hid in an underground tunnel.

Turning his head, he looked at the place he had first aimed at, and there was the scout from before peeking his head out of the tunnel, looking at him.

Whew-

Without realizing it, the dragon had gathered fire in his mouth.

He was furious.

Even as he was being humiliated by these puny humans, the wagon carrying Teidon’s heart would be getting closer and closer to the domain of protection.

He had to take the magic bead before it was too late.

Not even a dragon could enter the domain of protection.

***

With a swoosh, he flew at full speed toward where the magic bead was.

The dragon made up his mind.

This time, he would not dodge the arrows even if they came flying at him.

From Noble mtl dot com

***

The wagon carrying the magic bead arrived before the marsh.

Now, the domain of the guardian was truly just ahead.

Boom, boom, boom!

Boom-

The sound of a drum echoed.

It was a signal that the dragon was approaching from the north.

All at once, the soldiers aimed their bows toward the northern sky.

Swish-

With a sound of cutting through the wind, the dragon appeared.

Boom!

In time with the sound of the drum, the soldiers released their arrows.

Thwack, thwack, thwack-

Like a downpour, the arrows flew toward the dragon.

But this time, the dragon did not change direction.

Clang, clang-

Clang, clang, clang-

The arrowheads made of star metal pierced the dragon’s hide and dug into his flesh.

Kyaaagh-

The dragon endured the pain.

Excluding his fights with other dragons, it was the first time he had ever been wounded.

When he had hunted Kudalkang not long ago, he had not lost a single hair.

Yet now, he had been wounded by mere humans.

His pride was greatly hurt, but he could not help it.

Right now, the most important thing was to take Teidon’s heart.

The dragon, who had broken through the barrage of arrows head-on, breathed out flames.

Roar-

Fiery flames engulfed the soldiers.

The soldiers moved from their set positions to avoid the flames.

Just like that, the defensive line collapsed in an instant.

Only the wagon carrying the magic bead remained, sitting like a lump.

However, this was part of Minhyuk’s plan that he had arranged in advance.

Snap-

The dragon grabbed the iron cage containing the magic bead with his claws.

He ignored the wounds on the soles of his feet from being stabbed by the awls made of star metal.

His plan was to fly back to the dragon’s nest with the wagon carrying the magic bead just like this.

But the cart didn’t budge.

It was as if it had taken deep root in the ground.

That wasn’t the end of it.

CLANG-

A metallic sound rang out and a searing pain shot through the dragon’s ankle.

A gigantic trap with shark-like teeth had clamped down on the dragon’s ankle.

In truth, the cart was a trap designed to ensnare the dragon.

It wasn’t simply a transport device for protecting the magic bead.

‘This cart is my masterpiece!’

From afar, Valin watched over the cart.

Minhyuk had provided the idea for the cart and Valin had crafted it.

‘There’s one more crucial function left.’

BAM-

The iron bars slid open and Taydon’s heart shot forward.

BOOM-

The magic bead flew far into the distance and landed on the other side of the swamp.

The cart also had a projectile function.

Whoa-

The soldiers crossed the swamp and joined forces to push the magic bead toward the protective zone.

It was like an army of ants carrying a sugar cube.

Kyaaahk-

The dragon let out a roar and thrashed about.

However, it couldn’t easily escape the trap.

Swish, swish, swish, swish-

The soldiers who had scattered to avoid the flames showered the dragon with arrows.

In an instant, it transformed into a hedgehog.

Fwoosh-

It breathed fire in all directions.

Then, at some point, it stopped breathing fire.

‘Now’s my chance!’

Minhyuk began running toward the dragon.

It was written in the ancient books.

Even a dragon couldn’t breathe fire continuously without rest.

It needed time to catch its breath.

Minhyuk didn’t miss this opportunity.

Clatter, clatter, clatter-

He was wearing armor that increased his agility and had drunk a potion that increased his movement speed in advance.

He charged at the dragon with fearsome speed and brandished his sword.

However, a dragon is a dragon.

It swung its front leg toward Minhyuk with incredible speed.

WHAM-

The dragon’s claw tore through Minhyuk’s breastplate and dug into his flesh.

Minhyuk felt a searing heat in his chest.

SWOOSH-

A torrent of blood erupted.

An ordinary human would have died instantly from the blow just now.

However, Minhyuk’s resilience was also beyond that of an ordinary human.

Gulp-

Minhyuk swallowed a crimson potion.

He had been holding it in his mouth in preparation for a situation like this.

HISS-

In an instant, his wounds were healed.

Minhyuk charged at the dragon again.

It was difficult to attack its chest due to its forelegs.

So he aimed for its head.

However, the dragon’s skull could not be pierced by the star’s metal sword.

So there was only one place left to attack.

WHAM-

Minhyuk’s sword plunged deep into the dragon’s eye socket.