Ch-182. **Level Up!**
—
When the challenger first drew his sword, the dragon had not felt the slightest concern.
The Light Dragon, **Einhassar**.
Only those who had accomplished *countless* mythic feats were capable of wounding himâand in all of history, only one human had ever met that condition.
*âEven that one only managed to inflict a tiny injury on me.â*
Even that solitary figure had left nothing more than a slight scratch.
This was speaking strictly by the standards of when the challenger faced his trial.
But the challenger standing before him now was different.
*ââŠMy shell was sliced like a sheet of paper. And then my flesh was skeweredâmy innards spilled out.â*
It had simply been a swing.
There was no skill in that strike, no technique applied.
Just a pure swing of forceâand yet Einhassarâs shell and flesh were carved through as if he were nothing more than a mush-soft radish.
The dragonâs hardened outer body, the delicate structure of his musclesânone of it mattered.
It was a single blow so deadly it forced him to pour out everything to survive.
A wound truly fatal.
*ââŠHow many feats must one have accumulated to be able to deal such a blow to me?â*
No wonder he was bewildered.
Ordinary achievements werenât even close.
Even without mythic feats, one needed at least three monumental accomplishments to barely leave a thin scratch on his shell.
But **to inflict a wound of this magnitude**âEinhassar had no grasp of what kind of record that required.
*âA mythic feat is something one struggles to achieve even once in a lifetime.â*
Just *one* was nearly impossible.
So how many would someone need to pile up for a single attack to qualify as a killing strike?
Ten? Twenty?
No. Wrong.
If we were merely talking about *mythic feats*, even a hundred would not be enough to reach this level.
The challenger before him had clearly attained **feats that were themselves mythâperhaps greater than myth itselfâseveral times over**.
There was no other explanation.
And even if that *were* the explanation⊠it still made no sense.
*âHe isnât just on a different level from the past challengers⊠heâs from a different dimension entirely.â*
âŠThere was no choice but to acknowledge it now.
He had paid dearly for dismissing the reason why this challenger could not be summoned or observed.
From the beginning, he never should have regarded him as merely *a curious one*.
This individual was beyond the sum of every challenger who had ever attempted the trial.
And so⊠**he could not allow this to end here**.
*âI cannot let it end like this.â*
âŠNo, it could not end like this.
His duty was to draw the limits out of the challenger.
But as of now, **he could not see the challengerâs end**.
He could not comprehend where the limit even existed.
The Light Dragon EinhassarâŠ
For the first time, he swallowed his pride before a challenger.
And he uttered words he had never once spoken in his life.
**âPlease⊠just once more. One more trial.**
—
—
I quietly smiled.
The Light Dragon, EinhassarâŠ
Even now, the bastard was arrogant.
*âHooked.â*
I had pretended to struggle through the trial so that difficulty would rise little by little.
If I had swung the greatsword easily from the very start, Einhassar would have drastically raised the difficulty immediately.
*âThe last trial is obvious.â*
The hardest test is to injure Einhassar.
The reason I knew this was simple:
*âBecause I already challenged him as Wilhelm.â*
When playing as Wilhelm, I had naturally reached Main Quest 10.
But the situation then and now were completely different.
*âThe feats Iâve accomplished as Randolf are far greater.â*
Compared to Wilhelmâs achievements at the time I reached Main Quest 10, the feats Iâve built up now far outstrip them.
Both in **quantity and quality**, I overwhelmingly surpassed the past.
So I was certain I could injure Einhassar.
Because now, I was sprinting toward the **end of all achievements**.
It had been the same during the Wilhelm routeâbut now I had surpassed even that.
Howeverâ
*ââŠThis feels like slicing soft tofu with a razor.â*
Even I hadnât expected the blow to be *that* critical.
Truthfully, I had nearly killed him.
If I had put in just a little more sincerity, Einhassar would be dead and I would have earned the achievement **âDragon Slayer.â**
âŠWell. That wouldnât have been so bad either.
âThe trial is over, isnât it? I donât see why one more is necessary.â
But this was unexpected.
An additional trial.
Wasnât he only supposed to administer the predetermined trials?
I had never heard of him requesting an extra one.
*Originally, once the trial ended, the challenger could ask a single question. And since Einhassar was history incarnate, he would answer as far as possible.*
With luck, one could even learn where a **Unique-grade Blueprint** was located.
Naturally, I planned to ask where the **Dragon God of Earth** was.
I needed to find him before **Issera**, so I could obstruct him.
Einhassar himself had once been a Dragon Godâof course he would know the whereabouts of the others.
**âIf you accept the additional trial, naturally, an additional reward shall also be granted.**
Oh?
But since when did this guy hand out rewards personally?
A dragonâs nest was said to contain plentiful treasure, but Einhassarâs nest was barren and desolate.
Surely he wasnât going to hand me dust or stones as a gift.
âIâll decide after I hear what the reward is.â
Besides, the next trial would undoubtedly be harder.
Accepting immediately without thought would be foolish.
Einhassar spoke slowly.
**âThat which you need the most.**
His vague response made me openly frown.
âA quiz? Forget it, then.â
âThis is not something I can determine. But among what I can give, I am certain it is what you need the most.
âYou say youâll give me the reward I most need, yet you cannot choose it? Thatâs contradictory.â
ââŠYou may hear the trial and decline it. Even then, the basic reward shall still be granted.
His tone grew strange, as if he truly could say no more.
What kind of trial was he trying to give me?
Fortunately, I could listen before deciding.
Folding my arms, I spoke.
âThen let me hear this trial first.â
Einhassar lowered his massive body, gazing directly at me.
His murky eyes.
The sunken, deranged eyes of a mad dragonâunlike any other of his kind.
Just how terrifying a trial would he present?
**ââŠRelease the curse upon me. This is the final trial.**
A curse?
The sudden declaration made me tilt my head inwardly.
*âHeâs cursed?â*
But I couldnât read it.
I couldnât feel it.
I had never even heard that Einhassar was under a curse.
*âA curse even the Great Sage cannot detectâŠâ*
Would it become visible if I increased my *Truth-Seeking* level?
But I didnât have SP to level talents right now.
And the only way to obtain SP was to climb the **Tower of Rifts**.
âWill you accept?
âŠIf I accepted, I could no longer withdraw.
But accepting without even knowing what curse he carried was madness.
I let out a faint groan.
A curse on EinhassarâŠ
Who? When? How?
*âRuin.â*
If there was one possible suspectâ
It was **âRuin.â**
Einhassar had become a Light Dragon right after fighting Ruin.
It was known that the dragons who charged at Ruin the moment he appeared all died, and only Einhassar survived.
*âWhat if Ruin cursed Einhassar, making him a Light Dragon?â*
Ruinâthe one who appeared suddenly and dropped the world into destruction.
No one knew who he was or how he was born.
But one thing was certain:
*âRuin burned everything and vanished. But when he first appeared, he could not kill Einhassar. Probably because he had just been bornâhe had not yet accumulated feats.â*
He hadnât met the conditions necessary to kill Einhassar at that time.
This was deeply critical information for the worldâs lore:
Ruin wasnât **someone who ascended to become Ruin**âhe was **something newly born.**
Perhaps when a certain condition is reached, Ruin *is born*?
If someone had reached that level through accomplishments, they would have easily killed Einhassar.
*He couldnât kill himâbut he did curse him. And not just any curse, but one strong enough to drive a Dragon God insane.*
A curse so powerful that even though Ruin at the time was just born, I still couldnât detect it.
Then just how powerful was Ruin at his prime?
Yet I knew who stood at the opposite extreme of Ruin.
*âThe Goddess Leah.â*
The god who fought Ruin most fiercely was her.
And I was the one called **her knight**.
I stretched out my hand.
Simultaneouslyâ
**ââBlessing of the Starsâ is activated.**
**âYou have not met the conditions to lift âCurse of Ruin.â**
**â(1) Requirement: Possession of 4 Stars**
**â(2) Your total stat score lacks 50 points**
**â(3) Blessing of abnormal-status removal beyond regulation required**
Three conditions appeared to lift the curse.
—
—
*âTwo days left.â*
Inside the castle, **Union** sat slouched upon the throne, hands clasped before him.
Two days until his promise with Issera.
In two days he would need to down all his EXP potions and forcibly summon the Rift Guardians.
*âDamn it. I havenât even achieved my objective yet.â*
The human who had tampered with his bodyâ
He still couldnât find him.
Even though he had secured every piece of information on the bastard.
*âHe is currently acting under the name âMintChocoIsDelicious.ââ*
He even learned what the criminal circles called him.
And yet there was no way to locate him.
He only had a nameânobody actually *knew* the man.
*âAt this rate, I might as well fulfill Isseraâs request early.â*
If he carried out the task before the promised time, at least it would earn him some trust.
Finding the man in two days was almost impossible.
Union sighed and spoke.
âInventory, EXP potion.â
At that momentâ
**ăThere are no EXP potions in your inventory.ă**
Union stared at the text, his face twisting.
*ââŠWhat?â*
No EXP potions?
Did all those potions vanish at once?
Impossible.
There had to be a mistake.
âInventory, EXP potion.â
**ăThere are no EXP potions in your inventory.ă**
âInventory, Unionâs stored EXP potion.â
**ăThere are no stored EXP potions belonging to Union in your inventory.ă**
He repeated it again and againâbut the result did not change.
He rubbed his eyes, but the same result stared back at him.
Unionâs face went completely pale.
âŠâŠâŠWhat in the actual hell.
—
—
*âAhâŠâ*
Einhassarâs eye ridge twitched.
He couldnât believe the reality unfolding before him.
The challenger suddenly took out potions and began drinking them.
The problem was what happened **next**.
Fwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!
Divinity poured out endlessly.
Even witnessing it firsthand, he couldnât believe it.
In all Einhassarâs long yearsâand even though he had watched and experienced countless divine blessingsâhe had never once seen a blessing so awe-inspiring.
Noâcould something like that even be called merely a *blessing*?
Step.
Step.
In that state, the challenger began walking toward Einhassarâone step at a time.
