My Catastrophic‑Level Summon Devours Gates - Chapter 279
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 279
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
A tail that curved long while scraping across the ground.
The Death Knight, who had just shattered scales and driven a sword into the interior, caught the end of the trajectory.
【Order. Executing.】
Crack!
[Death Warrior 1 has been annihilated.]
The Death Warrior threw itself forward to intercept the attack aimed at the Death Knight.
Even as it was completely destroyed, it had absorbed the impact.
Yet it fell short of restraining the Drake’s tail.
During those brief moments of slowed movement.
The Death Knight recovered its weapon and infused another Aura Blade, striking back against the tail, but.
Boom!
Part of its upper body crumbled as it was hurled back dozens of meters.
“Roooaaarrr!”
The wounded Drake erupted in rage and charged forward.
“Master.”
“I’ve got it.”
[Death Space]
The Death Knight, launched by the tail’s recoil, flew toward my position.
I recovered the falling unit as it entered the Death Space’s range.
The Drake’s flank—like a dog chasing chickens.
[Aura Blade]
[Imperial Swordsmanship (Modified)_Isra Form]
[Third Form ― Full Moon Slash]
The bone sword of the fallen knight swept across.
The blade infused with Aura Blade cut through the grain between the scales.
Shhhhiiing!
A deep furrow carved into the flank.
Almost simultaneously, blood cascaded down like a waterfall onto the ground.
“….”
Sweat beaded on Roan’s forehead, trickling down along his jawline in steady drops.
For over two hours since combat began, I had maintained [Rank Collapse].
Thanks to [Black Blessing]’s excellent cost-effectiveness despite its severe penalties, I had managed to sustain it.
“How much longer can you hold?”
“….”
I couldn’t speak further while maintaining the incantation.
The penalty of [Black Blessing].
Roan nodded to convey his determination to endure a bit longer.
―Death Warrior 12 annihilated.
―Death Guard, 10 units completely destroyed.
―Death Knight, 1 unit severely damaged.
―Death Knight, 1 unit lightly damaged.
Two hours of accumulated casualties.
Bone fragments and armor scattered across the ground.
All of it bore the grim marks of the brutal battle my Underlings had endured.
Tigris hadn’t even managed to emerge.
Charging at a monster that barely responded to Aura would only fail to draw its attention anyway.
【Dragon. Death shall come for you as well.】
The Malnourished One’s chains coiled around the Drake’s wing joint.
A light shake, and the binding snapped free instantly.
[Unique Technique – Eclipse]
[Multiple Calculations]
[Glacial Spike]
[Typhoon]
[Transformation Technique – Release]
Released ice fragments bloomed like snow flowers across the Drake’s body.
Shrieeek! Shriieeeek!
The frigid shards evaporated the instant they touched its scales.
A thick mist descended, centered on the Drake.
“Effective.”
Not an attempt to inflict damage.
I stimulated its body in multiple places to dull its senses.
And obscured its vision.
Had the Drake been at full strength, such tricks would have been useless.
But with accumulated wounds, sensory disruption proved devastatingly effective.
“Roooaaarrr!”
Its front claws thrashed wildly.
The tail trailing behind its back lashed the ground with savage force.
The mist rapidly dispersed.
[Aura Blade]
[Imperial Swordsmanship (Modified)_Isra Form]
[6th Form – Flash Strike]
A blue flash pierced through the steam, striking the massive silhouette beyond.
Thanks to Spirit Eye and the Golden Ratio, I could see clearly through the vapor’s visual distortion.
The blade lodged in its neck.
“Roooaaarrgh!”
Just before the Aura-laden sword could sink deeper.
The Drake barely pulled its body back, preventing the blade from penetrating further.
I didn’t press harder either, simply withdrawing the sword.
Without hesitation, I withdrew.
“That was a bit shallow.”
“If you’d pushed any harder, Sir Isra would’ve taken the hit.”
“Hahaha. Your Liege Lord’s discernment is quite impressive. To see that far ahead.”
“I thought you’d reproach me for pulling back.”
Even as we conversed, every sense remained fixed on the Drake’s movements.
Cracked and shattered scales.
Dozens of sword marks carved into its body by Sir Isra, Pines, and the Death Knights remained.
Even with [Hierarchy Collapse] sealing the Dragon Race’s abilities.
“Kwauuuu.”
The creature showed no signs of flagging vitality.
It bled so profusely that the ground, already drenched, looked as crimson as it had originally been.
The Aura Blade had split the scales and carved through muscle and flesh.
Yet still no bottom was visible?
“A true monster.”
Xiao Zai and Predator – Rex, along with Centauro, were in an even worse position.
Since landing that effective hit initially.
The creature’s wariness of Xiao Zai meant almost no attacks were landing cleanly.
Meanwhile, our forces continued accumulating damage.
Additional Death Guards had been destroyed.
The armor on three of the Centauros had been half-shattered.
“Krararara!”
The Hydraigon circling overhead joined in as well.
It continued probing for openings in the Drake, but couldn’t land effective hits easily.
The Vengeance units were nearly depleted of their strength.
Even the time I’d considered them somewhat on our side wasn’t laughing with us.
This is the first time I’ve been at a disadvantage in a war of attrition.
“That’s not quite true. There was a time we struggled even at a Gate before Mega Break.”
“Thanks for reminding me. Really, truly grateful.”
Hitting me with facts without any tact.
“Hahaha. I am your Liege Lord’s first blade, after all.”
That’s not a compliment.
Department Head Jeon Hye-yeon and the Response Team Hunters circled widely around the battlefield to secure the rear.
Not to target the Drake.
But to hold back the Monster Wave that the Domestic Big Five had risked their lives to contain.
“Your judgment is quite sound.”
“Getting involved in a fight with the Drake would be a bit much.”
Our strategy is fundamentally built on the principle of prioritizing human lives.
More precisely, it’s a style of throwing away Minions that don’t matter even if destroyed.
Minimizing damage to vital forces like the Revived Ones and Death Knights.
Death Warriors and Death Guards—A-rank Undeads—drew aggro and absorbed blows with their bodies.
“Who throws away A-rank units like that in a fight?”
Even as I said it, the absurdity struck me, and I let out a small laugh.
An A-rank Hunter commands respect in any nation—a true master of their craft.
Talent treated as a quasi-tactical weapon!
Few people in the entire world would be reckless enough to throw away Minions of that caliber just to plug a gap.
“Sir Isra. Let’s do it.”
“It is dangerous.”
“It’s fine. I’ve trained hard for a moment like this.”
Given the circumstances, Sir Isra offered no further objection, though his expression remained deeply displeased.
[Stone of Chaos — Staff of Horizon Guild]
An item I’d conceived while consulting with Ingrid.
The Stone of Chaos was versatile, but not omnipotent.
For the item to manifest as I envisioned, vague thoughts alone wouldn’t suffice—I needed precise intention.
“Master. This time, I’ll join you as well.”
“Good. You’ve waited long enough.”
While the Death Warriors and Guards drew the enemy’s attention.
After completing my preparations, I channeled all my strength into my legs.
[Death Space]
I retrieved Sir Isra, Ingrid, and Pines.
Pushing off the ground, I summoned Hydraigon.
“Maximum output—incinerate it!”
“Kraaaaaaah!”
The three heads of Hydraigon, which had been grappling with an uninjured Drake, turned toward the wounded one.
Its jaws yawned wide.
[Lightning Breath]
Draining every last shred of mana, a torrent of lightning erupted in a diagonal arc.
The Drake’s once-impenetrable scales cracked and split in numerous places; it couldn’t ignore such power and retreated slightly.
Whoosh!
I seized that fleeting instant and lunged forward.
“Kwaaaah?”
The moment my figure reflected in its pupils.
[Blink]
I transcended space itself.
* * *
“Kwaaaah!”
The Drake’s mental projection, uttered with all its might, carried unmistakable irritation.
‘Cursed mortal.’
Unlike the half-formed monsters spawned from the Great Rift.
This Drake, possessing a complete soul, was no slave to instinct—it was a beast capable of reason.
Drakes by nature prefer not to think things through, and
while my action radius is constrained by the ‘covenant’ formed upon emerging from the Great Rift,
it was sufficient to notice that Min-ho was scheming.
‘Is he truly just a mortal?’
He commanded an extraordinarily powerful Undead Minion I’d never heard of before,
and possessed multiple Master-class Minions capable of piercing even my own scales and drawing blood.
On top of that,
he added a sacred incantation that strangled the soul itself.
I felt the discomfort of fighting while wearing multiple shackles upon my body.
‘Still, I won’t die.’
Because of the covenant, I must watch the Monster Wave spread.
However.
When my life is in mortal danger, the binding force of the covenant disappears, and I can flee as I wish.
‘I want to devour all of them, but….’
I had underestimated the foul-smelling dead and lost far too much blood.
Even now, I didn’t think I would lose.
I only recognized them as formidable enemies I couldn’t underestimate.
It would be nice to soar up and sweep them away with my breath, but they relentlessly targeted that moment.
‘Coming down here was pointless suffering.’
With an irritated strike, I shattered another Death Warrior.
I was gradually adapting to this situation.
The enemies who could reach me were limited.
When I unleashed my offensive against them, the Aura users threw themselves in to block it.
‘When the encirclement loosens, I’ll take flight and unleash a satisfying inferno.’
Enduring the agony coursing through my entire body, waiting for the decisive moment to arrive,
the enemies radiating strong presence suddenly vanished.
I narrowed my eyes.
‘What is he plotting?’
The pathetically weak mortal began charging forward alone.
The sorcerer commanding these dead.
The one who had been thoroughly protected was now rushing out—I wanted to roar with delight.
‘I’ll tear him to shreds!’
My body tingled from the Hydraigon’s breath,
but with fierce determination, I swung my foreleg.
In that instant.
[Blink]
The mortal vanished.
I wasn’t caught off guard.
The ripple of space felt above my crown of head.
Even without seeing, I could sense the mortal’s location.
‘Fleeing to that location was a mistake.’
A two-legged mortal in the air—there was no escape.
If I swung my foreleg or tail, that pathetic mortal would be crushed flat.
Crash!
My long tail whipped through the empty air in a parabolic arc.
[Death Space]
Ingrid.
[Unique Technique – Eclipse]
[Photon Ray X 5]
[Transformation Technique – Shatter]
[Photon Stream of Destruction]
An incantation cast by the Black Sages created from Alfonse’s essence.
Stored in the Death Space with control authority secured.
Summoned directly above the Drake’s head, then unleashed as a fusion spell.
Boom!
A beam of white light collided with the tail.
A twisted trajectory.
The power contained in that flash was beyond what the Drake could withstand.
The tail snapped violently, crashing down onto the wrong section of ground.
‘How foolish. That mortal.’
With that much firepower.
It would have been better to target the torso.
I would have suffered damage equivalent to a direct hit from an Aura Blade.
But something was strange.
For the witch to possess this much firepower when she’d only been restraining me for over two hours.
Why hadn’t she used it in her attacks until now…?
As doubt flickered through the Drake’s mind.
[Death Space]
Isra.
Death Knight Pines.
Two additional Death Knights.
The Undeads who had vanished from sight appeared above my head.
“Roooaaarrr!”
Danger.
If that blade pierces my head or drives into my heart.
‘I die!!!!’
I tried to twist my body in response to the instinctive warning.
But my body had twisted severely during the tail swing, making trajectory correction impossible.
Screech!
Azure light and black radiance drove into the Drake’s vital points.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————