After Regressing, I Gained the Power of the Demonic Dragon - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21
Sang Hyeok answered with a slight shrug of one shoulder instead.
It was a response that could mean anything—or nothing.
Hongryeon quickly scanned Sang Hyeok’s visible equipment beneath the dark mask.
A silver bracelet sat on his left wrist, and a dark-crimson metal fragment was attached to his boot.
Those two pieces were the only gear that stood out.
Not even a weapon in sight.
“Surely not.”
Baren, too, noticed Sang Hyeok’s empty hands and shook his head.
“An Impossible Ranker wouldn’t enter a first Cooperative Dungeon unarmed, no matter what.”
“Right?”
Hongryeon stepped back with a disappointed expression.
Chukbok Eunyuryo examined Sang Hyeok’s hands once more before asking.
“Do you specialize in hand-to-hand combat?”
“Something like that.”
This time it was Baren who asked.
“Is this your first Cooperative Dungeon?”
“Yeah.”
Baren raised his round shield as demonstration.
“Then move behind me. As long as you don’t stray beyond the Warmth Core’s range, the basic strategy isn’t difficult.”
Sang Hyeok simply nodded at Baren’s words, which marked him as a novice.
It wasn’t wrong, exactly.
This was his first time entering a Cooperative Dungeon.
‘I suppose I am a novice here.’
But Baren didn’t yet know.
He didn’t know that this novice before him was a monster who had climbed from the first floor to the ninth without missing a single SSS, overturning the impossible verdict again and again.
Just then, the transfer circle inscribed beneath the four players’ feet glowed blue.
「Four-player matching complete.」
「Transferring to the 10th Floor Cooperative Dungeon: Frozen Gorge.」
Whoosh!
A bitter cold wind struck his cheek before the light even faded.
As his vision cleared, a snow-covered gorge stretched out endlessly before him.
Ice walls rose on both sides, so towering they seemed to have no peak.
Beyond the raging blizzard whipping through the gap, a massive blue crystal glimmered faintly.
When Sang Hyeok turned his head, a crimson crystal behind the four players pulsed with warm light.
Where the light touched, snow didn’t accumulate, and the wind that bit into flesh grew considerably gentler.
The moment Sang Hyeok’s gaze landed on the red crystal, information bloomed before his eyes.
[Warmth Core]
[Current Durability: 100%]
[Warmth Range: 15-meter radius]
The objective for this clear unfurled next.
[Basic Clear Objective]
– Protect the Warmth Core for 10 minutes.
[Complete Clear Condition]
– Destroy the Eternal Frost Core at the gorge’s end.
Hongryeon jerked her chin toward the blue crystal visible through the blizzard.
“That’s the Eternal Frost Core I mentioned.”
It didn’t look that far away.
But the moment you stepped outside the Warmth Core’s range, Freezing accumulated rapidly.
Few players ever made it that far, even piercing through the fierce blizzard.
Baren positioned his shield before the Warmth Core.
“We’ll do this the usual way. I’ll hold the front line. Hongryeon, concentrate your firepower from behind, and Chukbok, please protect the Warmth Core.”
His gaze turned to Sang Hyeok.
“Handle only the ones that slip past my shield.”
The moment Sang Hyeok gave a brief nod, the Warmth Core’s crimson light blazed brighter.
「Beginning the 10th Floor Cooperative Dungeon: Frozen Gorge.」
[Time Remaining: 10:00]
Growwwwl!
Through the blizzard, frost-covered beasts emerged from the snow.
Wolf-like creatures charged ahead, followed by a massive wild boar-shaped beast tearing through the snowfield as it barreled forward.
[Frozen Gorge Beast]
[Lv.10]
“Coming through!”
Chukbok Eunyuryo raised her staff and cast a protective blessing over Baren.
Whoosh!
White light streamed from the staff’s tip, wrapping around Baren’s armor and shield to form a thin protective barrier.
Baren advanced to the edge of the Warmth Core’s range and thrust his shield forward.
Crash!
The leading boar slammed into the shield.
Baren’s body slid backward, but his stance held firm.
As he stopped the beast’s charge, Hongryeon swept her staff through the air.
Whoooosh!
Crimson flames erupted from either side of the shield.
Wolves sprinting across the snowfield were engulfed in fire and fell one after another.
The three had repeated this dungeon so many times that each knew their role by heart.
Baren blocked the path. Hongryeon burned the funneled enemies.
Chukbok Eunyuryo healed their wounds while layering additional protection over the Warmth Core.
Then one wolf, dodging Hongryeon’s flames, slipped past the side of Baren’s shield.
It charged straight at Sang Hyeok.
Roooar!
Before Baren could even turn, Sang Hyeok stepped forward with a single stride.
Instead of dodging the rushing wolf, he extended his right hand and pressed it against the creature’s forehead.
‘Extinction.’
Crackle-crackle-crack!
The moment Sang Hyeok’s hand made contact, the wolf’s head crumbled into black sand.
The black energy raced past its neck and spread through its body in an instant.
Fisssshhh.
The charging beast fell silent and scattered into black sand at Sang Hyeok’s feet without even a cry.
Baren’s eyes widened as he watched from behind his shield.
Hongryeon stood frozen, staff in hand, her mouth hanging open.
Then a surviving wolf rushed toward Hongryeon’s side.
“Hongryeon!”
At Chukbok Eunyuryo’s shout, Hongryeon snapped to attention at last.
Sharp claws were almost at her face when she urgently swung her staff.
Whoooosh!
A surge of flames consumed the wolf’s body.
Baren drove the final beast back with his shield, and Hongryeon immediately swept the remaining flames in that direction.
Boom!
The beast engulfed in fire fell, and the first wave ended.
「First wave has ended.」
[Warmth Core Durability: 100%]
[Time Remaining: 08:47]
As the wave subsided, all three turned their gaze to the black sand piled at Sang Hyeok’s feet.
Chukbok Eunyuryo’s eyes darted between the black sand and Sang Hyeok’s right hand.
“The entire beast vanished from a single touch. What power are you using?”
Hongryeon too seemed to have forgotten the claws that had nearly reached her face—her eyes remained fixed on Sang Hyeok’s right hand.
“I’ve never seen anything like that.”
All three stared at Sang Hyeok at once.
But Sang Hyeok didn’t answer. Instead, he checked the Cooperation team status window first.
Despite blocking the first wave, the three still had plenty of health and mana remaining.
“Can the three of you protect the Warmth Core to the end?”
“That’s possible.”
Baren replied with guarded eyes.
“But why do you ask?”
“I’m leaving the core to you three. I’m going after the Eternal Frost Core.”
All three faces hardened simultaneously.
“Wait. If you leave the Warmth range, you’ll freeze solid before you even reach halfway to the core.”
“And even if you got there, it wouldn’t be over. Two flame mages pouring their magic at it didn’t leave so much as a scratch.”
All three showed clear signs of distress.
Sang Hyeok saw no reason to explain his power to them.
Instead, he gazed at the blue crystal at the far end of the gorge and asked.
“Don’t you want to claim the complete-clear reward?”
No one answered immediately.
Hongryeon’s gaze in particular flickered several times between the black sand lingering before Sang Hyeok’s feet and the Eternal Frost Core.
After a moment, she posed the same question as before.
This time, hope threaded thickly through her voice.
“Could you possibly be… an Impossible Ranker?”
Beneath the black mask, the corners of Sang Hyeok’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Who knows.”
Hearing that answer, Hongryeon seemed to steel herself, gripping her staff more firmly.
“Let’s believe in you. The three of us can protect the Warmth Core.”
Baren hesitated briefly, then nodded heavily.
“Understood. We’ll hold this position. But the moment your body begins to freeze, return at once.”
“I’ll cast a blessing upon you.”
As Chukbok Eunyuryo extended her staff, warm light enveloped Sang Hyeok’s body.
[Blessing of Warmth has been granted.]
[The accumulation rate of the Freezing condition is reduced.]
Sang Hyeok left the three behind and crossed the red boundary of the Warmth Core.
Whoooosh!
The blizzard descended as though it had been waiting, engulfing him entirely.
The warmth vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold that pierced to the bone.
[You have left the protective range of the Warmth Core.]
[Freezing condition is accumulating.]
[Current Freezing Level: 7%]
Though Freezing began to accumulate, Sang Hyeok did not slow his pace.
As he sprinted across the ice, the Freezing Level climbed at a visibly rapid rate.
[Current Freezing Level: 19%]
[Current Freezing Level: 34%]
White frost settled on his boots and trouser cuffs.
Yet thanks to the Boots of the Collapse Walker, his stride remained steady even on the frozen ground.
Before he’d covered half the gorge, new beasts erupted from the blizzard.
Sang Hyeok swept his right hand’s Extinction technique wide and cut straight through them.
Screeeech!
The bodies of everything touched by the black energy vanished at once.
Sang Hyeok pressed through the gap as the beasts scattered into black sand, never pausing.
Hongryeon, watching from a distance, murmured in disbelief.
“He’s actually fighting bare-handed.”
Chukbok Eunyuryo’s eyes remained fixed on the cooperation member status window.
“And the Freezing Level has already exceeded 50%.”
Thick ice was forming over the frost that covered Sang Hyeok’s legs.
His movements grew sluggish by degrees, and sensation drained swiftly from his left arm.
[Current Freezing Level: 58%]
The Blessing of Warmth was approaching its limit.
Yet Sang Hyeok did not turn back.
Thrummm.
Then the Spirit Vein Ring: Sprout on his left wrist blazed with blue light.
The cold mana flooding the gorge poured into his wrist and flowed to the heart of the dormant dragon within.
Thud.
The heart accepted the mana and beat deeply.
Crimson-black energy spread from his right shoulder down his arm to his fingertips.
His right side, already adapted through Blood Circulation Adaptation, moved even within the Freezing.
But his left arm and both legs were different.
With each step, his knees stiffened, and the ice wrapping his ankles grew thicker.
[Current Freezing Level: 71%]
At last his left foot seemed to stick to the snow, immobilized.
Sang Hyeok’s body pitched forward, but he forced strength into his right foot and barely straightened himself.
His gaze fixed on his right arm, which still moved within the ice.
Crimson-black energy flowed clearly through his right shoulder and arm.
Sang Hyeok concentrated on that power.
‘Spread it to the left arm and both legs.’
Thump!
The heart of the Apocalypse Dragon beat powerfully, as if answering Sang Hyeok’s will.
The deep crimson aura that had lingered on his right shoulder and arm stretched across his chest toward his left shoulder.
Soon it spread rapidly past his waist to both thighs and calves.
The crimson aura spreading beneath his skin finally reached the tips of his toes.
「Blood Circulation Adaptation reacts to the severe abnormal condition Freezing.」
「Opening condition 2 has been satisfied.」
「Lv.10 Growth Power Dragon’s Blood Circulation opens.」
[Dragon’s Blood Circulation Stage 1]
– Magical power converted at the heart is supplied throughout the body via the bloodstream.
– Abnormal condition effects are reduced by 30%.
– You can now learn Dark Dragon Technique arts.
Crack-crack!
Deep fissures ran through the ice that covered his left arm and both legs.
As Sang Hyeok clenched and unclenched his left hand and lifted his left foot, shattered ice fragments fell onto the snow field.
The Freezing had not completely lifted.
Still, his left arm and both legs, which had been rigid, moved again.
Sang Hyeok’s eyes, having confirmed the changes in his body, fixed on the final line of the remaining notification.
‘Dark Dragon Technique arts, then.’
A new path to wielding the power of the Apocalypse Dragon had opened.
He didn’t yet know how to learn the Dark Dragon Technique, but surely he would find related clues as he ascended the tower.
There was no need to think about that until after he finished clearing this floor.
Sang Hyeok closed the notification and ran toward the end of the gorge once more.
The blizzard, fiercer than before, battered his body, but his feet no longer stopped.
“He’s moving again!”
Chukbok Eunyuryo’s voice trembled as she checked the cooperation member status window.
“My blessing has already ended and the Freezing degree has exceeded 70%. Yet he continues running.”
Hongryeon’s gaze alternated between the numbers displayed on the status window and Sang Hyeok disappearing into the blizzard.
Last time, Hongryeon had barely reached the core only by combining her strength with another flame mage.
Yet Sang Hyeok was carving that same path alone.
Hongryeon could not tear her eyes from Sang Hyeok as he receded into the blizzard.
Roooooar!
At that moment, a roar fiercer than the first erupted from deep within the gorge.
The gaze of all three turned back to the area in front of the Warmth Core.
Through the blizzard, more Frozen Gorge beasts were pouring in.
Baren raised his shield first.
“Let’s leave that to him. We must hold this place as promised.”
Crash!
Baren’s shield withstood the charge of the leading beast.
Hongryeon bit her lip and raised her staff.
“Yes. The three of us will protect the Warmth Core to the end.”
Whoooosh!
A wide wave of crimson flame spread before the Warmth Core.
Chukbok Eunyuryo continued casting protective barriers and healing from behind the two others.
While the three held back the onslaught of beasts, Sang Hyeok finally reached the end of the gorge.
The blue crystal visible through the blizzard was, up close, several times taller than Sang Hyeok himself.
From the crystal embedded deep in the ground, an unrelenting chill poured forth.
[Eternal Frost Core]
[Current Destruction Record: 0]
[Regeneration: Highest]
Even after being reduced by Dragon’s Blood Circulation, the cold radiating from the core was bitter.
Frost crept across his arm and shoulder again, and the Freezing degree continued to rise.
[Current Freezing Degree: 86%]
Sang Hyeok did not hesitate and placed his right hand against the core.
‘Extinction.’
Shriek!
The blue crystal beneath his palm immediately crumbled to black sand.
It was not that the ice had melted into water.
The part touched by Extinction was simply ceasing to exist.
Whissshhh.
A palm-sized hole appeared on the surface of the core.
Immediately, the cold air around it surged inward.
According to Hongryeon, the place melted by flames should have refrozen at that very moment.
But the hole remained.
The crystals erased by Extinction did not revive, no matter how much cold air poured in.
“First damage has occurred to the Eternal Frost Core.”
[Eternal Frost Core Damage Level: 3%]
The same notification appeared before the eyes of all three team members.
Hongryeon’s eyes widened as she poured flames toward the beasts.
“The damage level… went up.”
Last time, Hongryeon had worked together with another flame mage, pouring fire onto the core.
They’d managed to melt the surface of the blue crystal briefly, but the moment the flames weakened, the melted area refroze instantly.
The damage level hadn’t risen even 1%.
Public records didn’t display the core’s damage level.
No player had ever publicly announced raising it.
Among the current Sixteen Heaven Rankers, rumors circulated that a few had raised the damage level when they first challenged this place in their novice days, but these were merely unconfirmed stories.
It was thought that inflicting damage on the core itself was nearly impossible.
And yet now.
The masked player in black was shattering that impossibility.
The black force didn’t stop, boring deeper into the blue crystal.
Hongryeon couldn’t tear her gaze from Sang Hyeok beyond the blizzard.
All doubt that had lingered until moments ago vanished completely.
“An Impossible Ranker…….”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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