The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 419: Dragon Lair (2)

Only three dragon lairs were marked on the map Beoruk handed over.

“Three... That’s not as many as I expected.”

“That’s a lot. What do you think the total number of dragons is?” When Kai made a face that said he didn’t know, Beoruk raised two fingers. “According to the kingdom’s records, the number of dragons confirmed to still exist is at least twenty.”

“And three of those lairs are in the Kingdom of Rashion...”

Thinking of it that way, it really was a large number.

“The Empire probably knows more than we do. But if it’s you, you should be able to find the dragon lord’s location through the dragons.”

“Yes, I believe it should be possible.”

There was always someone stronger, after all.

“Archduke Kai, I have a favor to ask.”

Kai looked at Berouk. “Please, go ahead.”

“You said it earlier, but I can’t help feeling uneasy.”

“What part do you mean?”

“The dragons. If possible... no, if there’s any way, I’d prefer you didn’t kill them.”

“That wouldn’t be difficult, but may I ask why?”

Beoruk himself had said it. Dragons were beings that caused disasters. Wouldn’t reducing their numbers be a service to the kingdom, even to the continent?

Beoruk answered Kai’s question with just one sentence. “Because of their monster control.”

“Monster control?”

“Yes. Around every dragon’s lair, there are huge numbers of monsters, and not of just one kind either.”

“Wait a moment...” Kai checked the map again and nodded.

The three locations marked as dragon lairs were also known among players as the best hunting grounds.

They’re places where you can settle in and farm without having to move around much.

That meant there was a wide variety of monster types and levels.

“Most dragons prefer solitude. So once they establish a lair, they can’t stand the noise around them.”

“I see... So those monsters are like a private army guarding their lair?”

“Exactly. Ordinary monsters can’t resist a dragon’s fear. Using that, they gather a massive number of monsters around their lair.”

“Then if a dragon were to die...”

“The shackles binding the monsters would be released.”

That really would be a disaster. He had felt it during the Invasion Event too. Even major cities couldn’t respond fast enough if waves of monsters poured in.

There would definitely be casualties. Probably a lot of them.

Kai, who now understood why dragons shouldn’t be killed recklessly, tilted his head.

He recalled Sinerras, the one he had killed, and flinched as he asked, “Wait, then... What about the Snowy Mountains?”

Beoruk calmly explained, “I haven’t heard any reports of monsters coming down from the mountain region. Was it a young dragon?”

“Oh, yes, it was a hatchling.”

“Then it probably hadn’t developed its control yet. You were lucky.”

“Whew, that’s a relief...”

This was why ignorance was dangerous. It was like a frog dying from a stone someone threw without thinking.

“Do not worry. The dragons’ lives won’t be in danger.”

Beoruk laughed at Kai’s confident response. “How strange. I’m sending a person into a dragon’s lair, yet I find myself more worried about the dragons...”

“Hahaha.”

With a light laugh at his joke, Kai left the audience chamber and walked down the corridor.

The first thing I should check now...

Was, of course, the newly acquired special title.

“Check title.”

[Sovereign Duke]

Rank: Special

Description: A title given to the first player to rule over a grand duchy.

Effect: +300 Dignity stat, 10% increase to all attack power. (This effect remains even when title is unequipped).

“Oh?”

It would have been better if it were a different stat, but Dignity was still a stat that became better the higher it got. The higher the Dignity, the more it lowered the base stats of any monster he faced. It was basically a lesser version of Dragon Fear.

But I can already use Dragon Fear.

Thinking that way made it feel like a useless stat, but the other effect was far more impressive than expected.

A 10% increase to all attack power...

All attack power here meant it didn’t matter what kind. Magic attack, holy attack, physical attack, poison attack. It meant the damage of all attacks increased by 10%.

It’s getting hard to calculate at this point.

Quantifying a player’s strength was exactly what stats were for. But in Kai’s case, his base stats were already too high. On top of that, they constantly increased with bonus effects, so calculating them wasn’t easy.

Well, I’ll just keep it simple and not overthink it.

He just thought his level to be around 2000. With a satisfied smile, he headed straight for the teleport gate. He was on his way to a hunting ground loved by players, Navy Valley.

***

Navy Valley. Koreans commonly called it Butterfly Gorge or Butterfly Valley. It was a hunting ground with players of many levels, from level 310 users to level 400, and one of the most popular spots in the Kingdom of Rashion. Of course, there was one reason this hunting ground was so popular. It offered a wide selection of monsters to hunt.

“Recruiting for level 330 Canyon Wolf Party!”

“Anyone want to run the Toad Lake instance dungeon?”

“Looking for a Cleric, Cleric! Seriously, why do Clerics disappear the higher the level gets?!”

Players were busy preparing for their hunts at the base camp near the entrance of the valley.

Well, there’s no benefit in standing out.

Wearing a plain gray robe instead of his usual cleric robe, Kai passed through the base camp and entered the gorge. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“It should be around here...”

Judging by the location, there seemed to be a cave somewhere within the valley, deep inside the gorge.

Come to think of it, Sineras’ lair was a cave too.

Keeping that in mind, Kai summoned Mimic in a quiet area.

“Kyooong!”

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too.”

After playing with it for a moment with his finger, Kai rode Mimic, now transformed into a wyvern, and flew deeper into the gorge. Flocks of harpies spotted him along the way and chased after him, but when he glared, they stopped flapping their wings.

Having Dragon Fear and the Dignity stat makes things like this convenient.

He could avoid unnecessary fights.

“According to the map, it should be around here.”

Arriving at the marked spot, Kai unsummoned Mimic. Even though it was a gorge, the depth of this part was taller than most mountains.

“Searching for a dragon’s lair here, huh...”

If he were to search on foot, he could be stuck wandering for days.

“If the body’s weak, the brain suffers... no, wait, it’s the other way around.”

Getting the homeowner to come out without an invitation wasn’t hard to do.

Dragons are beings that mostly enjoy solitude. They can’t tolerate noise once they form a lair.

All he had to do was create a situation where they had no choice but to come out.

Recalling what Beoruk had said, Kai casually waved his hand.

“Solar Photon Cannon.”

Then four holy magic circles fired beams of light that began reshaping the terrain of the gorge. Naturally, the sound that followed was deafening. No, if anything, the echoes rang even louder because it was a gorge.

“Should I try Divine Wrath this time?”

As he roamed through the gorge’s depths as if it were his own backyard for a short while, he soon began to sense a powerful presence that made the surrounding air tremble.

That was fast.

Kai broadly smiled and clasped his hands behind his back as he waited for the dragon.

—Kooooooh!

A thunderous roar shook the sky. Then, a massive red body, dozens of meters tall, landed right before Kai.

Western dragons really do look different from Harley.

Unlike Harley, who was modeled after an Eastern dragon, this dragon followed the European design. Four legs, a gigantic body, and a pair of wings on its back. The strongest creature on Earth was said to be the elephant because no animal could ignore the difference in size.

However, a dragon’s size far exceeded even that of an elephant. To put it bluntly, it could probably crush an elephant with a single stomp. Even with just its physical attributes, it lacked nothing to claim the title of strongest creature. But their true power was something else.

—How dare a bug-like human...!

More than twenty magic circles formed in the air simultaneously. It was dragon magic, known as the ancestor of all magic. This was the alpha and omega of why they were called the strongest beings.

That’s quite the variety of types and elements.

Kai calmly watched the magic and slowly raised his hand.

“Hold on a second. I don’t intend to fight.”

The red dragon shouted with a deafening roar.

—Hold on? Be gone like dust, you insect!

With that, dozens of spells poured from the magic circles, all aimed at Kai.

Letting out a light sigh, Kai lightly swept his raised hand to the side. At the same time, the spells flying toward him fizzled out in the air. Ice spears, fireballs, lightning bolts, no matter the element or form, none of the magic could overcome the Formless Sword.

—What... What happened?

The red dragon’s reptilian eyes widened, unable to grasp what had just happened.

“I told you to stop for a second. Just listen to what I have to say.”

—Silence. You reek of our kin’s blood. The reason you came here is obvious.

Why were dragons always so unwilling to listen?

Kai eventually snapped and summoned Harley.

—What is it?

“Wrap that thing up for me.”

—Do you take me for some sort of snake...?

“At least you’re not a worm. Just do it already.”

At Kai’s command, Harley grumbled but charged toward the red dragon.

—What is this now...?!

Though it smelled like kin, its appearance was entirely different. The red dragon felt a strong sense of alienation from Harley’s presence and let out Fire Breath. Harley easily countered it with the pressurized water cannon and wrapped its long body around the red dragon’s massive form.

—Argh!

Robbed of its freedom, the red dragon’s huge body collapsed forward. A cloud of dust rose, but not a speck touched Kai’s clothes.

Kai slowly walked forward and approached the red dragon’s face. “First, let’s clear up the misunderstanding. I didn’t come here today to hunt you.”

—Nonsense! You reek of our kind’s blood.

“Death Dragon Sinaras. You live in the Kingdom of Rashion—you must know the name, don’t you?”

The red dragon clamped his mouth shut. Even human history books recorded that Sineras had been half mad and had caused massive harm to humanity. A dragon who lived a near-immortal life couldn’t possibly be unaware of that.

“There was a reason for killing that one. It was an unavoidable situation.”

—Regardless, dead is still dead. Now release me first.

As the red dragon growled, Kai signaled Harley with his eyes, “Let it go.”

—It might change its mind once I release it.

“Let it do whatever it wants. But in that case, I won’t be this polite again.”

It was a kind of threat. It could rampage if it wanted, but it would pay the price for it. There was no way dragons who were smart would possibly miss the meaning behind those words.

—Hm.

As Harley slowly uncoiled his body from the red dragon, the dragon violently shook its head.

Perhaps the threat had worked well, as the creature that had been glaring at Harley and Kai finally began to speak.

—What are you, really? Why has a human come looking for me?

“Looks like you’re finally ready to talk,” Kai gently smiled.