After Regressing, I Gained the Power of the Demonic Dragon - Chapter 35

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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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Episode 35
Sang Hyuk set down the Seal Key he’d been holding in his left hand, letting it fall to the ground beneath him.
While light spilled from the key and illuminated the stone floor, he pulled the creature’s front leg toward himself with his right hand.
Thud!
The guardian beast lost its footing and tumbled sideways.
Sang Hyuk stepped in closer and pressed down on its shoulder with his left hand.
The guardian beast thrashed about with its remaining front and hind legs.
With each swipe of its claws, the stone floor cracked and splintered fragments scattered in all directions.
Curling its small body into a ball, the guardian beast twisted its head, snapping at Sang Hyuk’s wrist.
Sang Hyuk twisted his wrist to dodge the teeth, but the creature’s hind legs immediately lashed at his ribs.
Screech!
The claws tore a long gash through his garment.
Sang Hyuk kept the guardian beast’s shoulder pinned to the floor, carefully modulating his pressure.
Any more force and its small frame would shatter.
Too much restraint, and those claws would find his face in an instant.
Killing it would not have been difficult.
But what Oe Go demanded was not destruction—it was acknowledgment from the last of the guardian beasts.
Besides, this creature had guarded the treasury of the End Dragon itself to the very end.
There was no reason to kill it.
Thump.
The End Dragon’s heart beat again.
‘Dragon’s Oppression.’
Sang Hyuk concentrated the oppression ability he’d gained in the second stage onto this single guardian beast.
In that instant, fear flickered in the creature’s large eyes.
The strength drained from the front leg it was holding, and the claws that had been raking the floor went still.
Focusing the oppression on one creature consumed far less Mana than spreading it across the entire Gate Chamber.
The change from the second stage was undeniable.
“Growl……!”
Yet still, the guardian beast lifted its trembling head and glared at Sang Hyuk.
Even as it lay fallen, it kept its back to the passage and bristled every hair on its body.
It was the stance of something determined not to yield that threshold, even in death.
‘Interesting.’
Sang Hyuk’s eyes brightened as he observed the creature’s bearing.
‘Dying as it is, to show such spirit. This is no ordinary beast.’
Sang Hyuk found himself drawn to the guardian’s mettle.
Forcing its head down with strength alone would never win its acknowledgment.
Sang Hyuk withdrew his oppression and released the creature’s shoulder and front leg.
The guardian beast immediately tried to push itself up, but its front legs gave way again, buckling beneath it.
That was when it happened.
Clang!
The necklace wrapped around its neck gleamed faintly.
Mana flowed from within it, seeping into the guardian beast’s chest.
Surge!
The faintly beating heart suddenly thundered with a single powerful beat.
Eyes that had been half-closed snapped wide open, and strength returned to the drooping front legs.
Just as the guardian beast was pushing itself up from the ground—
This time, the patterns on the chain connected to the necklace flared with light all at once.
Whoooosh!
The Mana spreading through the creature’s body was then sucked away through the chain.
The stolen Mana flowed directly beyond the walls of the Gate Chamber.
“Growl…….”
The sound died mid-cry.
Strength vanished from its front legs, and the body it had been raising collapsed, its chin striking the stone floor.
The guardian beast scraped against the ground trying to rise again, but its small frame wouldn’t budge.
The necklace supplied Mana to the guardian beast.
But the chain attached to it immediately drained away everything it received.
‘Who set up something like this?’
Sang Hyuk’s eyes deepened to a dark crimson.
‘Dragon’s Eye.’
The flow of Mana—invisible to the naked eye—became visible.
The Mana flowing from the Necklace seeped into the guardian beast’s chest.
Meanwhile, the Chain fastened to the connector behind it was drawing the Mana spreading through its body back out beyond the wall.
The Necklace supplied Mana to the guardian beast, while the Chain stole it away—a system of perfect opposition.
They were separate objects, each serving its own purpose.
Sang Hyuk fixed his gaze on the connector at the back of the Necklace.
To remove the Chain, he would need to examine that point directly.
Sang Hyuk turned to the guardian beast first.
“Should I sever this Chain for you?”
A low rumble emanated from its throat.
At his question, its long ears flattened sharply backward, and wariness deepened in its enormous eyes.
Instead of answering, the guardian beast bared its teeth toward Sang Hyuk’s hand as it moved toward the Chain.
“All right. I won’t get close.”
Sang Hyuk forced himself to pull back.
Instead, he examined the Chain and the surrounding stone floor from where he stood.
The guardian beast could only move within the radius the Chain allowed.
The stone floor within that range was barely intact anywhere.
Claw marks overlapped in layers, and in the gouged furrows lay dried blood and violet fur matted together.
Beyond the Chain’s reach, however, not a single paw print remained.
Sang Hyuk could only imagine how long the guardian beast had thrashed here, desperately struggling to break the Chain.
Yet it had never once abandoned its post at the entrance to the First Storage Area.
But the Chain itself was nearly intact.
Despite being raked countless times by claws powerful enough to tear stone pillars, only shallow scratches marked its surface.
‘It’s not just simple durability,’ Sang Hyuk thought.
He traced the Chain with his eyes, following it back.
The connector attached behind the Necklace bore a scale-patterned engraving.
‘This is…’
The Seat marking carved into Tokyo Gold Dragon’s chest.
The first seal blocking the Seal Key.
And now this same pattern carved into the Chain before him.
Though their outward appearances differed, the Mana arrangement confirmed by Dragon’s Eye showed all three shared identical structure.
Then had the current sixteenth-seat holder, True Dragon, created this Chain?
‘No, that can’t be it.’
Sang Hyuk shook his head.
The damage marks in the Gate Chamber and the age of the Chain suggested both had existed long before Amane Ren ascended to the sixteenth seat.
Yet it was equally difficult to believe True Dragon and this Chain had no connection whatsoever.
Sang Hyuk looked away from the scale-patterned engraving and turned his attention back to the guardian beast.
The link to True Dragon could be verified later.
For now, he had to save the creature’s life.
The guardian beast’s breathing grew shallower with each passing moment.
The Chain continued draining its Mana even now.
It seemed the creature had burned through all remaining strength in that last attack.
There was no time.
At that moment.
The Horn Fragment of the Beast King in his inventory trembled.
A one-time reward obtained by completing the hidden objective on the twenty-first floor.
When used on a beast in the Growth Stage, it restored both vitality and growth potential simultaneously.
‘This will keep it from dying right now, at least.’
If used on a stronger beast, the benefit would be far greater.
It wasn’t something he could repurchase from the shop, nor was there any guarantee he’d obtain the same reward again.
If he used it now, he had no idea when he’d acquire another.
Yet he had no intention of letting the guardian beast die for the sake of some future gain.
Watching it hold its post even as it faded, he was reminded of his final moments before the return—
The instant he’d thrown himself in front of the child about to be struck by the Giant Orc.
Then too, Sang Hyuk had made no calculation of profit and loss.
This moment was no different.
Without hesitation, he retrieved the fragment.
「The Horn Fragment of the Beast King resonates with Oe Go’s young guardian beast.」
[When consumed by a beast in the Growth Stage, it restores vitality and growth potential.]
Sang Hyuk did not force the fragment into its mouth.
He set it down in front of the guardian beast’s nose and withdrew his hand.
“If you eat this, your body will recover to some degree. Whether you do is up to you.”
The guardian beast flared its nostrils several times.
Its large eyes remained wary of Sang Hyuk.
Yet its nose and gaze gradually shifted toward where the fragment lay.
Growl.
A small sound escaped from its gaunt belly.
The guardian beast bared its teeth as if the sound hadn’t come from its own body.
But it couldn’t tear its eyes from the fragment.
“Grrr.”
A feeble threat.
When Sang Hyuk stepped back, the guardian beast carefully extended one of its large front paws.
It touched the fragment with the tip of a claw, then quickly drew it toward itself.
Even after hiding the fragment beneath its front paw, it didn’t eat it right away.
Only after studying Sang Hyuk’s reaction for a while did it bite the fragment with its small teeth.
Crack.
As the fragment shattered, the light condensed within it burst forth.
The light seeped into the guardian beast’s mouth and spread throughout its small body.
Whoosh!
The beast’s gaunt chest heaved deeply.
Its thin, faltering breath gradually became deeper and longer.
The fur matted with dust and blood began to gleam.
The two-pronged tail that had been sprawled on the ground stirred weakly once.
Its half-closed eyes opened wide, and its drooping elongated ears slowly stood upright.
The guardian beast pressed its front paws against the ground and struggled to rise.
Its legs still lacked full strength, and it swayed to one side, but it managed to step one front paw outward and barely kept from falling.
The creature that moments before couldn’t even lift its head was now standing on its own power again.
The guardian beast lifted one front paw tentatively, as if doubting the strength that had returned, then carefully set it back down.
Then it wagged its two-pronged tail and pricked up its elongated ears.
When its eyes met Sang Hyuk’s, it immediately puffed its fur and growled.
But with its legs still trembling, it looked less threatening than it did trying hard to appear tough.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Sang Hyuk’s mouth.
But the recovery didn’t last long.
Boom!
The pattern on the connecting clasp behind the Necklace glowed again.
The Mana building up in the guardian beast’s body drained away along the Chain.
The creature’s legs wavered, but its breathing remained more even than before, and its fur kept its sheen.
Sang Hyuk’s brow furrowed.
At least the recovery effects of the Horn Fragment of the Beast King hadn’t completely vanished.
The guardian beast braced its trembling legs and straightened its posture.
Staggering, it moved back behind the collapsed pillar.
And it positioned its small body to block the passage leading to the First Storage Area once more.
The moment it recovered, it was already guarding the entrance again.
That was when it happened.
Thump.
The End Dragon’s heart beat.
The guardian beast’s body went rigid.
Its elongated ears stood straight up.
The guardian beast looked not at Sang Hyuk’s face but directly at his chest.
Thump.
The second pulse echoed through the Gate Chamber.
Sang Hyuk hadn’t drawn upon his power.
The End Dragon’s heart was responding on its own, as if it recognized the guardian beast.
The tip of the guardian beast’s tail trembled slightly.
It took a step toward Sang Hyuk, then stopped as the Chain grew taut.
In that moment, an unfamiliar voice rang directly in Sang Hyuk’s mind.
[Master’s…… heart.]
It was a young voice.
Yet the longing and anger contained within it were unmistakable.
Sang Hyuk’s hand rose to his chest without thinking.
“You recognize this heart?”
At Sang Hyuk’s words, the guardian beast’s front talons scraped against the stone floor.
[Give it back.]
The guardian beast’s eyes snapped open with a savage gleam.
[Thief.]

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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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