After Regressing, I Gained the Power of the Demonic Dragon - Chapter 4

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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 4
Crash!
The Guardian’s foot struck the ground.
Sang Hyeok threw himself aside to evade the falling weight.
His target was the opposite ankle, the one bearing the creature’s full mass.
He avoided the foot itself.
But the instant the Guardian’s foot touched down, the impact detonated through the floor in all directions.
Thud!
The shockwave hammered across Sang Hyeok’s back.
His body lurched forward, but he caught himself on his palms against the ground.
He hadn’t taken a direct hit, yet his breath came short.
His feet skidded backward, his shoes leaving long gouges across the gray stone.
Shards of debris erupted in his wake, striking his back and shoulders.
Only after sliding several paces did he regain his footing.
A single footfall had done all that.
If that foot landed on him even once, it would be over.
Sang Hyeok didn’t hesitate—without catching his breath, he reached toward the ankle that glowed red.
‘Annihilation Art.’
Crack!
Black energy flowed from his fingertips and met the ankle.
Hiss.
The silver exterior crumbled into black sand, perhaps the size of a palm.
But as red light spilled through the crack, new silver shell bloomed to seal the wound.
The Annihilation Art wasn’t useless.
The Guardian was simply regenerating faster.
Sang Hyeok poured in more Magical Power, but the groove didn’t deepen—only his reserves dwindled rapidly.
Glug-glug-glug.
Then the foot he’d targeted slowly lifted from the ground.
Sang Hyeok withdrew the Annihilation Art and immediately retreated.
The Guardian raised that leg higher, bringing it toward Sang Hyeok’s head.
The motion was slow enough that its trajectory was easy to read.
In the moment Sang Hyeok sidestepped—
Crash!
The enormous foot drove into the empty space where he’d stood.
The floor caved inward, and stone fragments scattered in every direction.
Sang Hyeok shielded his face with his forearm and braced against the knockback.
The instant the foot stopped, he reached out again.
Crack!
Black energy engulfed the same ankle as before.
The silver shell melted away, but red light flashed and new exterior sealed the wound once more.
Just as the first time, within seconds not a trace remained.
Its regeneration hadn’t weakened at all.
As the Guardian raised its foot again, Sang Hyeok retreated to avoid the landing zone.
Boom!
Right after the foot struck, Sang Hyeok reached for the same ankle.
This time, he concentrated the Annihilation Art into a narrower beam.
His plan was to bore deep into a single point.
Screech!
This time, a groove the size of a fist formed.
But as red light surged upward, the groove quickly shallowed, and the surface returned to a smooth, pristine silver.
Three attempts, three identical results.
The Annihilation Art, fired from distance, only stripped the exterior—it couldn’t reach the weak point beneath.
[Time Remaining: 07:12]
Magical Power was recovering slowly, thanks to the Tutorial Adjustment.
But after using the Annihilation Art three times, his reserves had fallen below half.
‘Ranged won’t work.’
Just as he’d torn the Diamond Scarecrow’s arm off, he needed to place his palm directly against the skin.
Only then could he strike the weak point inside the ankle before the outer shell regenerated.
Sang Hyeok studied the Guardian’s movement pattern.
The lift was slow, and the landing spot was perfectly predictable.
The danger lay in the shockwave that erupted in all directions the moment the Guardian landed.
But after it stamped down, the sheer weight of the creature meant its next move came a half-beat too slow.
That gap was what he needed to exploit.
Sang Hyeok widened the distance enough to weather the impact and waited for the next attack.
Crunch-crunch-crunch.
The Guardian’s foot rose slowly into the air.
Sang Hyeok sidestepped to avoid where it would land and dropped his stance to brace for the shockwave.
Boom!
The foot drove into the ground, and the shockwave detonated outward.
Sang Hyeok’s body was pushed backward, but because he’d kept his distance, he didn’t fall.
The instant the impact subsided, he pushed off the ground.
Before the Guardian could regain its balance, he charged straight toward the ankle he’d marked as his target.
Slash!
The massive ankle filled his vision.
‘Now.’
Sang Hyeok pressed his palm against it without hesitation.
Screech!
The outer shell, which had only been scored shallowly no matter how many times he’d shot it from a distance, crumbled instantly beneath his palm.
Black sand poured out, revealing the crimson glow within.
‘It’s working.’
Sang Hyeok kept his hand in place and poured more Magical Power into the Annihilation Art.
Hum!
As the crimson light spread, the carved groove rapidly filled with new outer shell.
The freshly grown shell tried to thrust his palm away.
Sang Hyeok braced his feet firmly and pushed down harder.
At that moment, the Guardian’s upper body began to lean forward slowly.
A massive palm descended to peel him away.
There was no time.
Sang Hyeok channeled more Magical Power into the Demon Dragon’s Eye.
“Hck.”
A sharp pain, as if needles were scraping the inside of his eyes, flooded through him, and blood trickled from his nose.
[The output of Demon Dragon’s Eye: Weak Point Perception currently exceeds its limit.]
[Prolonged use may result in temporary vision impairment.]
Sang Hyeok ignored the warning.
The colors around him blurred, and only the crimson glow inside the regenerating shell came into sharp focus.
It was the weak point of the ankle he’d been searching for.
Even as new shell grew over it, the crimson light remained fixed in the same spot.
There was no need to match strength against the entire shell.
There was only one place to strike.
‘There.’
Sang Hyeok concentrated the Annihilation Art, which had been spread wide, into a single point.
Black energy pierced through the new shell and consumed the crimson light.
The shadow above his head swelled rapidly.
The Guardian’s palm was now so close he could see it without lifting his gaze.
Sang Hyeok did not dodge.
If he withdrew his hand now, it would all be for nothing—back to the beginning.
As his Magical Power drained away, the sensation in his fingertips grew distant.
Sang Hyeok clenched his teeth and drove the Annihilation Art through to its end.
Crack!
The crimson light turned black.
In the next instant, the sound of metal tearing erupted from deep within the ankle.
Shriek!
The Guardian’s ankle twisted sideways.
“Roooaaaagh!”
The Guardian roared for the first time.
At the same moment.
Tilt!
The enormous body lost its balance and toppled backward.
Sang Hyeok wrenched his hand free and threw himself to the side.
The Guardian’s palm swept past his back, just grazing him.
If he’d been a moment slower, he would have been crushed flat.
Crash!
The Guardian toppled to the ground.
The floor shook violently, and the impact threw Sang Hyeok’s body sideways.
He tumbled several times before coming to rest.
“Ugh……!”
Ringing—!
A long, high-pitched whine echoed in his ears.
His whole body throbbed with pain, but he could still get up.
The edges of his vision, though, remained darkened at the periphery.
Meanwhile, the fallen Guardian’s hands groped across the ground.
As the enormous palms pressed against the earth, its upper body began to lift inch by inch.
The twisted ankle merely scraped the floor, unable to bear weight.
Yet the Guardian did not stop.
With one arm and a single functioning leg, it was hoisting its massive frame upright again.
[Time Remaining 05:48]
Sang Hyeok’s gaze shifted from the numbers to the Guardian’s head.
The Gate had more than five minutes left.
But with his Magical Power depleted and his vision narrowing, he lacked the strength to bring it down again.
He had to end this before it fully rose.
This was his last chance.
Whoosh.
As the Tutorial Adjustment kicked in, the trembling in his limbs gradually subsided.
His Magical Power refilled.
Sang Hyeok fixed his gaze on the Guardian’s forehead.
Even through his narrowed vision, the red glow there remained vivid.
The brighter it shone, the more the Guardian lifted itself from the floor.
It was the same weak point he’d found at the ankle.
This time, the target was the forehead.
Sang Hyeok pushed himself up and sprinted straight at the Guardian’s head.
The floor shattered by the Guardian’s fall was littered with stone fragments in chaotic heaps.
He stepped over the larger chunks and twisted his body to evade the jagged shards that jutted upward.
With each footfall, his back and ribs throbbed with dull pain.
But he never slowed his pace.
As he ran, the Guardian’s head rose higher still.
Sang Hyeok gritted his teeth and pushed himself faster.
Thwack!
A massive hand swept down, cutting off his path.
Even a single finger was thicker than Sang Hyeok’s torso.
One of them crashed down directly into his route.
Bang!
The Guardian’s hand struck the ground mere inches behind him.
The floor cracked, and stone dust erupted upward.
A trench deep enough to swallow a man carved itself into where he’d just been running.
The shockwave at his back rocked him forward, but Sang Hyeok never broke stride.
Beyond the haze of dust, the red glow on the forehead blazed clearly.
Without checking his momentum, he pushed hard against the ground.
Whoosh!
Sang Hyeok launched into the air.
As the forehead rushed toward him, he reached out toward the red glow.
The moment his foot touched the silver carapace, he drove his palm down with all his strength.
The Guardian’s torso surged upright, and the surface beneath him pitched steeply.
The ground fell away in an instant.
His feet began to slip, so Sang Hyeok lowered his center and poured more force into his palm.
If he fell now, there would be no second chance.
‘Annihilation Art.’
Screech—!
The silver carapace beneath his hand crumbled into black sand.
The torrent of sand cascaded down the tilted forehead.
Beneath it, a deep crimson glow emerged.
A deep, resonant hum!
Fresh outer plating sprouted rapidly from the edges of the wound.
But Sang Hyeok made no move to destroy it again.
The moment he’d shattered the ankle, he’d already understood what needed to be done.
There was only one red glow pulsing within—that alone was his target.
Sang Hyeok poured every ounce of his remaining Magical Power into that single point.
A tremendous crack split the air!
Black energy surged across the red glow.
New plating wrapped around his wrist and climbed upward, but he refused to let go.
As his Magical Power depleted, the black energy visibly weakened.
‘Just a little more…!’
Then it happened.
A sharp crack echoed out!
Hum…
Through the Tutorial Adjustment, Magical Power surged back into him in a rush.
“…!”
Sang Hyeok’s eyes blazed as he immediately channeled the restored power into the Annihilation Art.
But the danger was far from over.
A violent rush of wind!
Torrential force cascaded down from above his head.
Lifting his gaze slightly, he saw the Guardian’s palm now eclipsing his entire vision.
There remained barely a finger’s width between it and his head.
Yet Sang Hyeok did not dodge.
Instead, he pressed his hand deeper still.
“It’s over.”
A sickening crunch shattered the silence!
In that instant.
Black energy swallowed the red glow.
The red light flared once, brilliantly, then extinguished.
Where the red glow had vanished, black sand poured down.
A torrential cascade!
Simultaneously, the Guardian’s descending hand froze in place.
Mere finger’s width above Sang Hyeok’s head.
The massive palm could advance no further.
The red fire in both eyes had gone dark.
White fractures began spreading across the steel plating.
A brilliant flash burst forth!
Dazzling light erupted from between the cracks.
From the Guardian’s head through its torso and limbs, it dissolved into particles of radiant light and scattered.
As the forehead beneath his feet vanished, Sang Hyeok’s body plummeted downward.
Thud.
The moment both feet touched the ground, strength drained from his legs.
Sang Hyeok dropped to one knee, steadying himself with a hand against the floor.
As he caught his breath and raised his head, particles of light left behind by the Guardian filled the gray space, slowly dispersing.
Sang Hyeok watched in silence until the last light faded.
[Time Remaining: 04:59]
The timer continued its countdown.
But now there was nothing left to threaten Sang Hyeok.
The Immutable Guardian.
The Tower had declared from the beginning that it was not a Defeat target.
For four years, every player who’d passed through this Gate had avoided it, simply enduring the allotted time.
The Guardian that no one had ever believed could be defeated had completely vanished by Sang Hyeok’s hand.
Yet the system remained silent.
Despite the Guardian’s disappearance, not a single Clear notification appeared.
The silence stretched longer than it had when he’d torn off the Diamond Scarecrow’s arm.
It was as if the Tower itself had halted, uncertain how to process the result before its eyes.
Sang Hyeok waited, steadying his ragged breathing.
A moment passed.
「An unprecedented Clear result has been confirmed.」
[Impossible Achievement Unlocked]
[You have Cleared a target that was not designated for Clearing.]
[The Immutable Guardian has vanished.]
[Achievement Name: The One Who Achieved the Impossible]
[This achievement is being announced across all channels, East and West.]
[Republic of Korea Achievement Points +100,000]
But the notifications did not end there.
[As a reward, Demon Dragon’s Eye: Structure Analysis is unlocked.]
[As a reward, you obtain a Demon Eye Recording Stone.]
[As a reward, you obtain the Seal-Breaking Key to the Demon Dragon’s Treasury.]

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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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