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124
Shrieeeek—!
Boom—!
The sight of Ifrit was like something out of hell.
Walls collapsed in every direction, and monsters swarming toward the gaps.
A horde of ogres hurling boulders from a distance added to the considerable numbers.
Some were even visible invading the city’s interior.
“Ugh!”
“Hold them off somehow!”
The soldiers who had been at ease finally panicked and scrambled to respond.
But with the key adventurers absent, they were completely helpless.
Ding—
Running toward the city wall, Hanbit checked the message that had appeared.
[Sub-Quest #3 has been completed.]
[Sub-Quest settlement is complete.]
[You have received 1,500,000 gold.]
[30 stat points are awarded.]
[Your experience points have increased by 400,000.]
[Your level has risen by 4.]
[4 stat points are awarded.]
[The main quest branching point has been reset.]
[Main quest progress increases substantially.]
[Total main quest rewards increase substantially.]
[Main Quest #7: The Second Wave]
A second monster wave has come to Ifrit.
Help the adventurers and soldiers to repel the assault.
Objective: Defend the city from the second wave.
Reward: 300,000 gold, 100,000 experience points, 8 stat points
*Current Progress: 60%
-Wow.
-The rewards are insane. Lol.
-30 stat points?
-Why does he always get 10x?
-If you don’t like it, be born as Black Dragon. Lol.
-Garbage determinism.
Hanbit quickly scanned the long chain of messages.
The monster horde growing ever closer.
He immediately moved his hand and distributed the stat points.
[Black Dragon — Lv.64]
[Title: None]
Strength: 80
Agility: 80
Intelligence: 80
Stamina: 63
Remaining Stat Points: 0
Stats invested with a focus on raising overall power.
It was to elevate the effect of Elemental Manifestation that had been activating since the cutscene ended.
Swoosh—!
Zenon, who had gone ahead, cut through monsters as he made for the city wall.
No doubt he wanted to confirm his daughter was safe first — but he was not the kind of man to look away from danger threatening the city.
Whoosh—!
A gale surging from Hanbit’s blade.
The cold carried on that wind was growing steadily more intense.
Whether thanks to the skill’s rank rising, the preparation speed of Elemental Manifestation had quickened.
Setting aside the simple difference between flame and cold, the density with which the element converged felt different.
‘Focus only on range.’
The characteristic of the ice spirit was freezing.
Channeling this into wind swordsmanship would allow for an even better effect.
Grrk—!
Screech—!
As Hanbit closed on the monster horde, they bared their teeth and turned their attention toward him.
An overwhelming number with no visible gaps.
Even a small mistake would clearly lead straight to death.
And yet, not the slightest hesitation showed in Hanbit.
Thump—!
Lowering his stance, he twisted his body with both hands gripping the hilt.
Then, keeping his direction in view, he swept the sword in a wide horizontal arc.
Whoosh—!
Wind born along the carved trajectory.
The intense cold surging within it brought about a change.
Crack crack crack—!
The power of Glacier, riding the wind, instantly froze the air.
It spread along the arc at explosive speed.
Boom boom boom boom—!
An immense cold filling the entire field of vision in an instant.
Its force swept over the converging monsters and froze everything in place.
Thump—!
His body was somewhat drained of strength, but there was still room left.
Immediately kicking off, Hanbit moved to a position not far away.
It was the path along which the remaining monsters would pour in.
Whoosh—!
Entering the midst of the horde, Hanbit swung his sword in a wide circle.
The cold scattered along the arc immediately froze everything around him.
Crack crack crack crack—!
A range that exceeded even the sword’s arc without needing to ride the wind.
Having sufficiently confirmed the performance, Hanbit let the sword hang.
“Phew.”
As he exhaled, a white cloud of vapor bloomed.
A brief quiet that followed.
It was the viewers who broke through that atmosphere.
-Insane. Lol.
-Is that not the Snow Drake?
-Black Dragon (with a side of snow).
-Elemental king class.
-If the actual body showed up instead of traces, would RP just break?
-The planet would probably break too;
Reactions of amazement at Glacier’s power that had subdued such a vast area.
“Th, they’re all frozen!”
“What is this…….”
The soldiers and adventurers who had been fighting desperately on the wall stopped in their tracks.
Because every last one of the monsters they had been battling was frozen solid.
The remaining creatures had taken damage such as having a foot frozen, and were in no condition to fight.
“Black Dragon-nim!”
Just then, Avantgarde’s voice rang out from behind.
He was racing over with blazing eyes, like a madman.
“An impossible force! So this is the trace of Glacier!”
“Wow, just two swings and you can freeze that many?”
Kim Jaeha too stared wide-eyed in amazement.
That kind of power from two swings of the sword.
It brought home anew just how extraordinary a thing an elemental king’s traces were.
Though the Black Dragon wielding it was also far beyond any common sense.
“A sword that can withstand that kind of power…….”
Gorik focused on the sword in Hanbit’s hand.
It was a weapon he had never used before — perhaps it would not be a bad idea to show it to him once.
“Hold the breached sections!”
Just then, Zenon’s voice reached him from the wall.
Having seen Hanbit’s movement, he must have immediately joined the defensive battle.
“I’ll clear a little more.”
Hanbit set the wind surging along the blade once more.
Because even cleaning up the frozen monsters was beyond the current combat strength of Ifrit.
Whoosh—!
Using Elemental Amplification caused a gale to shoot up rapidly.
Taking his stance, he immediately swung his sword toward the frozen monsters.
Slash—!
The wide-spreading wind blade cleanly severed the group of frozen monsters.
He hadn’t killed them all — but what remained was theirs to deal with.
-Now that’s satisfying.
-Freeze them? Sylph would just kill them outright.
-The hidden skill all started with wind.
-Back to roots.
“I’ll join up over there.”
With the cleanup finished, Hanbit headed toward the wall with everyone.
Injured people crying out in pain throughout, and companions treating them.
The result of the wall having collapsed.
“Black Dragon-nim!”
Zenon, moving busily, came over.
Hanbit scanned the surroundings and asked:
“How do things stand?”
“Thanks to your strength, the citizens have been kept safe. It seems only a small number of monsters managed to infiltrate the interior.”
“That’s a relief. The wall is the problem.”
Hanbit turned his head and surveyed the walls damaged in multiple places.
The outer shape still held, but several sections had collapsed and the state was dangerous.
“Yes. If one more attack comes in this condition, it won’t hold. If the wall’s materials had been changed in advance it would have been different…….”
Zenon had said from the time the glass wall was being built that it was an absurd thing to do.
But citizens with no sense of urgency had continued to support the mayor steadily.
Because it was satisfying both aesthetically and economically.
“Repairing the wall is possible even now, but do you truly intend to use this?”
Gorik, standing behind them, looked at the wall and raised the question.
Now that the heirloom had been recovered, they could return to the peak of their craft.
Repairing a wall like that was no challenge at all.
But fixing it exactly as it was made no sense to him.
“That is only natural.”
Just then, a woman came walking from inside the city.
It was Pirnen, the mayor of Ifrit.
“I didn’t expect you to have returned as well.”
Pirnen, spotting Gorik, narrowed her eyes.
Then she let out a sigh and spoke.
“I came to check on the wall repairs, and it’s even more broken — does that make sense? I’m starting to feel foolish for having left it to the dwarves.”
“…You haven’t changed. Have you no thought for protecting your citizens, blinded as you are by money?”
“Well. That’s not something I need to hear from someone who abandoned his people and ran.”
-The stare-down.
-But it’s a fact though?
-If they brush each other, it’s a mortal wound.
-No no, Pirnen’s face is +20 reinforced.
The two, who had clashed more than once in the past, exchanged sharp words.
Pirnen, arms folded, held her head high and looked around.
“This has been decided. If you don’t want the dwarves put back outside the city, quietly carry out the repairs.”
“…Tch.”
At the mention of the treatment of his dwarf people, Gorik sealed his lips.
A situation where even seeing the obvious outcome, he had no choice but to comply.
But for Hanbit, it was exactly the flow he had been hoping for.
“Your Highness, how long would the wall repairs take?”
“…Not even a day. I understand the blocks are already here.”
The large glass pieces to be used in the wall repairs were already stored within the city.
It was simply that there had been no technique to work them.
“Good. Please proceed with that. Compile the costs and submit a bill.”
Pirnen, having explained with an expressionless face, turned her gaze to Hanbit.
Meeting her eyes, he casually dropped a piece of news.
“Ah, incidentally — we discovered the Snow Drake in the snowy mountains.”
“…What did you say?”
The entirely out-of-nowhere statement left Pirnen taken aback.
The master of the snowy mountains, long relegated to the status of legend in the pages of history.
That it had been discovered now, after all this time, was something she could not easily take in.
“It is a serious matter to state as a lie. Are you aware of that?”
“I have also brought materials from the Snow Drake as evidence. I’ll stop by the guild, so you may receive the report at your leisure.”
“…….”
With evidence present, she could not simply dismiss it as false.
If the Snow Drake had genuinely been found, it was a matter of considerable gravity.
After briefly closing her eyes and opening them, Pirnen maintained a formal courtesy.
“I’ll need to hear the full report, but if it is true, you have delivered yet another great result. The compensation for this will be issued together once the situation is settled.”
Having said her piece, she turned sharply and made for where the injured soldiers were.
Then she said in a voice edged with irritation:
“What is this disgrace? What exactly was being left to deteriorate until the wall was in pieces? “
“What? The monsters were such that we——”
“Is it not clear why soldiers are stationed there — so that those hands can act? Furthermore, there is a report that the turret operation was delayed. This will be addressed with clear accountability.”
The soldiers were taken aback by the one-sided reprimand.
“Mayor, this wall cannot protect the city.”
Just then, one soldier rose from his position.
Pirnen narrowed her brow at those words.
“Are you placing the blame for your failures on the wall?”
“The accountability is neither here nor there. But leaving that wretched wall as it is will ultimately mean its collapse.”
-Incredible.
-He’s actually going straight at her;
-He’s a loyal subject — she’ll do something for him, right?
-Yes, you’ve been awarded workplace social exile~
At the bluntly delivered warning, Pirnen narrowed her eyes.
Then she pointed at the city and said:
“If we change the wall and the tourists fall off, and the reputation as a city of art declines — who takes responsibility for that? Can you?”
“If there is anything I can do, I will do whatever it takes.”
“No — there is nothing you can do. It is beyond the realm of possibility even if you poured out your life hundreds of times over.”
Pirnen, having crushed the soldier’s conviction, shook her head as though despairing of him.
Looking over the injured, she turned away and said:
“I will take no dissenting opinions. Once recovery is complete, move into repairs. The wall repair situation will be reported to me separately.”
Pirnen issued her final instruction and turned her steps back into the city.
“Just a moment…….”
Zenon, who had been listening quietly, appeared unable to contain himself and tried to call the mayor back.
Hanbit, stopping him, lowered his voice.
“It’s fine. Leave her be.”
“What? But in this state things will truly become dangerous.”
“There is a reason I went to recover the dwarves’ heirloom. Things could go wrong if we press too hard — please trust me.”
“…….”
At those words, Zenon watched Pirnen’s retreating figure.
He had intended to drive the problems with the wall back into her mind once more — points he had raised time and time again.
But if Black Dragon had a plan, the story was different.
Everything he had watched the man do up to today had given him more trust than anything else could.
“Understood.”
Zenon gave a nod and went to one of the soldiers.
The man who had pushed back against the mayor a moment ago.
“You’ll be alright — for now focus on recovery and getting back into order.”
Having offered some words of comfort, he continued the conversation a little further.
The soldier’s gaze rested quietly on Hanbit, and then the man gave a nod.
“I’ll do that.”
With that answer, the conversation concluded and Zenon returned.
Just then, an alert rang.
Ding—
[Main Quest #7 has been completed.]
[In accordance with performance, enhanced rewards are distributed.]
[You have received 500,000 gold.]
[12 stat points are awarded.]
[Your experience points have increased by 230,000.]
[Your level has risen by 2.]
[2 stat points are awarded.]
[Progress increases substantially.]
[Main Quest #8: Report]
The second monster wave has been successfully repelled.
The condition of the walls is poor, so the next invasion must be prepared for carefully.
Objective: Return to the adventurers’ guild and report the situation.
Reward: None
*Current Progress: 71%
Whether due to minimizing casualties, the rewards had increased by a significant margin.
Hanbit, scanning through the contents, turned his gaze toward the interior of the city wall.
“For now, let’s head to the guild.”
