Chapter 81
Infernum tried to dodge the hook, but it was futile.
Je Hyeon-oh had already calculated his evasive movements.
"Kuaaaaagh!"
Pierced by the hook, Infernum let out a scream and lurched upward.
As he stepped back, blood streaming down his body, red scales began to sprout across his skin.
The hook was the only tool capable of attacking Infernum while he was in a temporary state of invincibility- a state achieved by transferring damage to a chosen target.
During the briefing, I had clearly asked Je Hyeon-oh to swing the hook since I would inevitably be the one chosen, and the plan had unfolded perfectly.
Once the captains confirmed the hook was embedded in Infernum, they immediately widened their distance.
Having lost a significant chunk of health in an instant, Infernum let out a ferocious howl.
Having lost his human voice, he began to transform into a Fire Dragon.
Phase 2 had begun.
I checked the remaining buff time.
15 minutes and 34 seconds.
Because we couldn’t start the battle immediately upon entry, Phase I had taken slightly longer than expected.
Je Hyeon-oh quickly donned the Crow Gloves, scooped me up with one arm, and flew as far away from the Fire Dragon as possible.
If one were close by when Infernum transformed into a dragon, they would inevitably lose over 90% of their health.
Pillars of flame erupted, completely enveloping Infernum.
Intense fire surged up to the ceiling, erasing the faint darkness that had previously lingered.
As the flames, which seemed ready to devour everything in sight, subsided, the true form of the Fire Dragon appeared.
It was a colossal dragon that looked as if it were forged from black volcanic rock and red lava.
The mountain-like entity looked down from a dizzying height.
"Insignificant creatures, daring to disturb a sacred feast."
The dragon’s rage-filled voice vibrated through the entire space, causing the chandeliers on the ceiling to crash down.
Since being hit by a falling chandelier resulted in an instant death ruling, I dodged immediately.
The loud background music grew even more aggressive.
The melody disintegrated, and metallic drum sounds mixed with exploding noise, making the song run wild.
The Fire Dragon opened its maw.
All the air in the room began to be sucked in rapidly, and a red light gathered inside the dragon’s mouth.
The light shifted from red to blue, and then to a pure, brilliant white of ultra-high temperature.
Heat haze shimmered frantically around its wide-open jaws.
The space itself was burning away from the heat of the condensing mana.
It was the Fire Dragons Breath.
"Roasted Chestnut. Is it polite to wait for it to fire?"
Clinging to Je Hyeon-oh, I ignored Dominic’s question and shouted.
"Captains!!"
Hearing my cry, Kwak Han-mook and Mo Hae-in charged toward Infernum.
A stream of flame erupted from the Fire Dragon’s mouth.
The ultra-high temperature flame shot out in a straight line before spreading in a fan shape following the dragon’s head, covering the entire area.
Contact meant instant death.
However, there was a tiny blind spot where one could avoid it: right next to the dragon’s feet.
Je Hyeon-oh and I positioned ourselves by the dragon’s left foot, while the captains took the right.
The blind spot was barely large enough for one person to stand.
Je Hyeon-oh kept me tucked under his arm, and Kwak Han-mook scooped up Mo Hae- in.
The brilliant white flames grazed our toes by a hair’s breadth.
The moment the breath passed, we dashed out again.
It was because of the impending stomp.
Enraged that it hadn’t killed a single person despite the breath attack, the Fire Dragon stomped its foot.
K-boom!
A heavy sound exploded, and the floor split wide open.
Boiling red lava was revealed through the cracks in the ground.
Had we been closer to the dragon, we would have fallen straight into the lava.
The surging lava quickly covered the entire floor.
One had to stand on broken stone fragments to be safe; touching the lava drained health rapidly.
It was a gimmick that severely restricted movement.
From the crevices where the lava flowed, Hellfire Lizards and Hellfire Hounds crawled out.
As direct subordinates of the Fire Dragon, unlike normal monsters, their bodies were black as charcoal, and lava dripped from their eyes and mouths.
The Hellfire Lizards performed long-range attacks by firing flame spheres, while the Hellfire Hounds performed close-range attacks by charging at high speed.
Monsters that were essentially boss-level for a normal dungeon swarmed us.
Mo Hae-in swung her Black Moon Blade toward the pitch-black hounds.
The Black Moon Blade flashed, drawing a massive semicircle.
The heavy blade of the moon sword smashed into a hound’s head.
With a crude crushing sound of shattering bone, the hound scattered into sparks.
Mo Hae-in didn’t stop, rotating her body in one fluid motion.
The Black Moon Blade, fueled by centrifugal force, sliced clean through the waists of two hounds attacking from the side.
Crunch!
The hounds, whose hides were as tough as volcanic rock, similarly scattered into sparks.
Mo Hae-in caught her breath for a moment, a faint smile appearing on her face.
Though she didn’t express it, she seemed to have felt stifled using ordinary swords until now.
"Hup! Saving Captain Mo!"
Kwak Han-mook swung his greatsword, knocking away a hound leaping at Mo Hae-in’s back.
As the greatsword, imbued with the white light of holy power, made contact, the hound exploded.
Mo Hae-in, dodging the bursting sparks, glared at Kwak Han-mook for a moment.
It was a look that said he was being unnecessarily distracting.
Kwak Han-mook chuckled and used the wide side of his greatsword to swat away the flame spheres fired by the lizards.
Swinging it like a baseball bat hitting a home run, he deflected the flame spheres back onto the hounds.
Yelp!
While a hound faltered after being hit by a flame sphere, he drove the greatsword down vertically.
The hound exploded in a burst of flames.
"Yiaaaaah! Holy Judgment!"
Kwak Han-mook used the Paladin’s Judgment skill.
The swords of light, enhanced by level increases and buffs, multiplied into ten blades that spread across the sky before raining down.
Watching the hounds get skewered like kebabs, Mo Hae-in asked, even while busy swinging her blade.
"Why do you shout the skill names?"
"The ’feel’ is different. You should try it too, Captain Mo."
With a face that suggested she had asked a pointless question, she focused back on the battle.
Thanks to the course meal, both of their stats had increased significantly, making the response much easier.
In Kwak Han-mook’s case, he was using a Paladin’s greatsword instead of prayer beads due to the holy bonus, and his swordsmanship was proficient.
Relieved, I kept my eyes on the front.
Je Hyeon-oh, still holding me under his arm, was flapping his wings to ascend.
He intentionally slowed his speed to lure the Hellfire Lizards into targeting him.
The lizards all raised their heads toward the slow-moving aerial target, and crimson flame spheres were fired directly at Je Hyeon-oh.
Amidst the pouring flame spheres, he folded his wings and flew acrobatically.
I curled my body as much as possible.
A flame sphere grazed my right cheek, and I smelled the ends of my hair burning.
Then, Je Hyeon-oh twisted and rotated in mid-air, dodging projectiles coming from the left and below simultaneously.
The high-heat masses exploded behind his back by a paper thin margin, scattering volcanic ash.
A beat later, another flame sphere flew toward Je Hyeon-oh’s front.
He simply tilted his head slightly, letting it pass by his ear.
Having dodged every single flame sphere, he threw me downward before the lizards could fire new projectiles.
As I flew through the air, I didn’t take my eyes off Je Hyeon-oh.
’The moment he threw me, Je Hyeon-oh tucked his wings and dove sharply.
Crash!
His metallic hand slammed down hard, splitting the lizard’s hard scales and carving deep into its flesh.
Instead of hot blood, crimson lava gushed out.
Before the lizard could even collapse with a scream, Je Hyeon-oh swung his lava-stained metallic hand toward the next target.
I shifted my gaze from Je Hyeon-oh and prepared to land.
The place I had asked him to throw me toward was Infernum’s ingredient storage.
I intended to obtain an item to counter Infernum there, and also, perhaps...
I wanted to check if there was a small Fire Dragon horn.
My body gradually approached the ground.
Thump!
I rolled clumsily across the floor.
In my heart, I wanted to land stylishly with a breakfall, but I had never learned how.
’I’ve done it plenty of times in games, though.’
If I had a class other than Chef, I might have had basic physical arts or a passive skill that allowed for breakfalls.
With a regretful thought, I took out some recovery food. Since Chefs are "glass cannons" (fragile), a single fall would have drained a fair amount of health.
[Phoenix Meringue Cookie (1100G): A dessert made by selecting the whites from a phoenix egg. It maintains its crispness forever even at room temperature.]
[(Review: A happiness that crumbles crisply and melts away. A pleasant heat spreads through the esophagus. The ultimate luxury for myself. Rating: (******).]
As I put it in my mouth and chewed, it crumbled with a snap and melted like cotton candy.
Along with an intense sweetness, heat filled my body.
It was a food particularly good for health recovery, and the recovery speed was faster than a potion.
Swallowing the sticky meringue crumbs remaining in my mouth, I ran toward the ingredient storage.
This time, there was something I could appropriately ask Dominic for help with.
"Mr. Dominic! Could you possibly use magic to help me find a Fire Dragon horn?"
However, Dominic, whom I expected to readily agree, said something unexpected.
"Did you not say you would serve me using entirely your own strength, Roasted Chestnut?"
I was speechless at his question.
The words I had said to Dominic came back to me with vivid clarity.
"This is the first dish I’m making for you, Mr. Dominic, the companion I trust and rely on most. I wanted to serve it to you using entirely my own strength. Please wait just a little longer."
I opened my lips, then closed them.
Then, I replied with a smile.
"Yes. That’s right. I was just wondering. It’ll be soon, so please wait."
I knew the location of the item I was looking for.
The ninth storage bin from the left.
As I ran toward it, a chill significantly colder than the other bins wafted over me.
Inside the giant storage bin, there was only a single item.
The horn of an Ice Dragon.
The transparent, ice-like horn shimmered with a sapphire light resembling the abyssal sea.
I put on one of the Crow Gloves I had borrowed from Je Hyeon-oh.
At that moment, a dragon’s roar echoed.
Kiegaaaah!
Simultaneous with the roar that shook the space, an immense pressure crushed my entire body.
A sensation as if the air were thinning and gravity were becoming heavier.
It was a state of paralysis caused by the roar.
Once the debuff hit, I couldn’t move an inch. It was even more fatal because a Chef’s physical abilities are poor.
I gasped for air, pressed against the glass of the ingredient storage.
After waiting a moment, I heard Kwak Han-mook shouting from afar.
"Holy Purificatiooooon!"
Following that, a white light enveloped my body. Thanks to the Paladin’s Purification skill, the debuff was lifted.
The paralysis suddenly vanished, and I almost fell over before barely steadying myself.
Fortunately, the glass of the ingredient storage was at a level that could be broken even with a Chef’s abilities.
I took out a meat tenderizer from my inventory, smashed the glass, and acquired the desired item.
[Blue Horn of the Ice Dragon (Large): The horn of an ancient Ice Dragon. When powdered and sprinkled on food, it adds the ultimate flavor. It is particularly valuable due to its size.]
It was an essential item for taking down the Fire Dragon.
I grabbed the Ice Dragon horn, which was as large as my torso, and hugged it.
As the horn touched my body, a chill ran through me that made my hair stand on end, but since the surroundings were filled with heat, it was bearable.
Pressing my pounding heart with the cool horn, I ran again.
I quickly scanned the endless line of ingredient storage bins, but no Fire Dragon horn was in sight.
It seemed the twins were safe.
I then checked the state of the battle.
The captains were skillfully stepping on small platforms above the lava, taking out the lizards and hounds.
And Je Hyeon-oh.
He was tearing into the Fire Dragon like a mad crow.
Moving his six metallic wings freely, he struck and retreated with agility, leaving the giant Fire Dragon helpless as its health dwindled.
The sound of clanging echoed continuously from his relentless attacks.
It was the sound of metallic hands targeting the dragon’s scales.
The Fire Dragon was bleeding in several places.
Since the scales were too hard to easily penetrate even with metallic hands, it seemed he had simply ripped several of them out.
By obsessively attacking the areas where the scales had been torn, he made the Fire Dragon let out groans of pain.
The number of hounds and lizards being endlessly generated from the lava began to decrease.
It felt like we would soon move to Phase 3.
’6 minutes and 12 seconds.’
The remaining buff time was cutting it close. If we weren’t careful, I’d end up being roasted by the heat of the Fire Dragon’s nest for a few minutes.
I had to kill it as quickly as possible. It was as I was running toward the pre-arranged location.
I heard the sound of chains rattling loose.
Just as I thought there was no hook gimmick in Phase 2...
I saw two hooks descending from the ceiling.
Fluttering pale pink hair shimmered in the light.
The ones caught in the hooks were the twins.
I stepped forward to run toward them.
However, the two small bodies plummeted instantly.
Straight into the wide-open maw of the Fire Dragon.