Not A Regressor - Chapter 121

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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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I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 121
Where the Dragon Sleeps (4)
A pristine white wall revealed where the blue crystal had been extracted.
Or rather, it wasn’t a ‘wall’ at all.
‘Bone.’
Enormous.
The skeletal remains of a creature so immeasurably vast that its true dimensions defied comprehension.
‘If that’s the case…’
Kwon O-jin swallowed hard and lifted his gaze upward.
A colossal cavern stretching a full two hundred meters in height.
‘This isn’t a cavern at all… it’s the inside of something massive.’
Given that the interior was encased in solid stone and reptilians scurried about freely, he couldn’t be inside a living creature’s body.
“Just how enormous was this thing?”
If the corpse’s interior had become an entire ‘Dungeon’…
It was impossible to even fathom how colossal this being must have been when it still drew breath.
[This is… the bone of an Ancient Dragon.]
“An Ancient Dragon?”
[A creature dwelling in the Demon Realm. One of the beings closest to the Constellation.]
At the mention of a dragon, one figure naturally surfaced in my mind.
‘Cheon Joo-ryong Barbatos.’
The nine-star catastrophic beast that had taken Ha-eun’s eyes.
That dragon—a calamity incarnate—had slaughtered hundreds of awakened ones who gathered to subjugate it, then vanished somewhere without a trace.
‘…After cursing my sister, no less.’
Kwon O-jin’s eyes flashed with savage intensity.
“Can dragons really grow to this size?”
From what Ha-eun had told me, Barbatos was roughly fifty meters in length.
Certainly massive enough to warrant the title of calamity.
Yet compared to the Ancient Dragon that had created this Dungeon, the difference was like that between a Golden Retriever and a Chihuahua.
[Not all dragons can achieve such growth. Only a select few among dragons are chosen to become Ancient Dragons.]
“I see.”
In any case.
This Dungeon was constructed from the corpse of an Ancient Dragon.
‘So that’s why the Dungeon is called Where the Dragon Sleeps.’
Kwon O-jin narrowed his eyes and pushed himself upright.
“What are you doing over there?”
“Come here for a moment, sister.”
I explained to her the true nature of this Dungeon.
“W-what? You’re saying this entire Dungeon is a dragon’s corpse?”
“Most likely.”
“Wow. That’s information even our family didn’t manage to uncover.”
Isabella’s eyes sparkled as she nodded.
“Well, let’s venture deeper inside for now.”
Whether this dungeon was the corpse of an ancient dragon or not.
To clear it, we needed to descend further into its depths.
“Ugh. Knowing we’re walking around inside a corpse makes my skin crawl.”
“Hehe. I think it feels like a fantasy movie, which I quite enjoy?”
“Sheesh, your tastes are something else.”
“What’s wrong with my tastes?”
I left the two women behind—their rapport noticeably improved since our first meeting—and ventured deeper into the dungeon.
After walking for several more minutes.
“…Wait.”
Ha-eun raised her hand again this time.
“Are those Reptilians?”
“Reptilians, yes, but…
they’re dead.”
“Dead?”
I furrowed my brow and moved toward where Ha-eun was pointing.
Just as she said.
The ground was piled high with the corpses of Reptilians.
“Did they fight among themselves?”
“….”
As I examined the corpses carefully, my eyes narrowed.
‘The constellation mark of Canis Major.’
Upon activating the constellation mark, tens of thousands of scents flooded my nostrils.
The smell of moss wedged between rocks, the metallic stench of Reptilian blood, the reek of decomposing corpses.
And.
A sickly sweet, cloying stench of demonic energy clinging thickly to everything.
‘They didn’t fight among themselves.’
Someone else had killed the Reptilians.
‘Which means.’
My party wasn’t the only one to enter this place.
Before I arrived, someone had already discovered and entered this dungeon.
“Kwon O-jin? What’s wrong?”
“Isabella. You said only the Colgrand Family knew the location of this dungeon, right?”
“Yes.”
“When did you discover the dungeon?”
“Two days ago.”
“There were no signs of anyone else entering?”
“….”
Only then did she notice the anomaly, staring intently at the Reptilian corpses.
“We couldn’t find any traces, but it seems someone entered before us.”
“What? So another party killed these Reptilians?”
“Likely.”
Kwon O-jin leaned close to a Reptilian corpse and inhaled deeply.
“Based on the decomposition, more than three days have passed.”
“…So when our family discovered the Gate, someone else was already inside the Dungeon.”
“That’s right.”
I nodded and rose to my feet.
‘Someone else entered first.’
My eyes narrowed.
I recalled the thick, viscous scent of mana flowing through my nostrils.
‘The False Star Sect? Or the Black Star Society?’
I couldn’t tell which one it was.
“What should we do, Kwon O-jin?”
“What else? We keep going.”
We couldn’t turn back after coming this far.
“Besides, we just need to clear it faster than whoever went in first, right?”
Ha-eun smirked and nodded.
“Let’s pick up the pace.”
“Roger!”
“Yes!”
Our party pressed deeper into the Dungeon at a much faster speed.
Though massive swarms of Reptilians attacked us repeatedly, with Ha-eun’s expertise in mob hunting, we dispatched them without difficulty.
As we continued forward, skipping even the collection of holy stones from the corpses of fallen Reptilians.
“Hey, isn’t there something written over there?”
Ha-eun pointed at the cave wall.
Carved into the stone where she pointed were characters written in an unknown language.
“What does this say?”
“I have no idea.”
As I narrowed my eyes and approached the wall.
-Ding!
[You have acquired a clue regarding the clear conditions for ‘Where the Dragon Sleeps’.]
[The place where the Ancient Dragon Evergrace returned to nature. It is said that before dragons return to nature, they compress their mana into their hearts at the location where dragon veins flow most densely, crystallizing it.]
[Clear Condition: Obtain the ‘Dragon’s Heart’.]
“The Dragon’s Heart.”
So that was the identity of the sacred relic hidden in this Dungeon.
‘Just hearing the name makes it sound incredibly precious.’
I swallowed hard, staring at the blue message window before my eyes.
[So obtaining the Dragon’s Heart is the clear condition.]
“Then it seems those who entered first haven’t found the Dragon’s Heart yet.”
“Hehe! Let’s swallow it first, O-jin!”
Of course we should.
“Let’s pick up the pace a bit….”
I was about to say that when—
—Whoooosh!
—Crack!
A black feather flew from somewhere and embedded itself in the cave ceiling.
Screech!
A massive fissure split across the cave ceiling.
—Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!
“Ahhh! W-what is this all of a sudden?!”
“Ugh! Sister!!”
“Kwon O-jin!”
The cave trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
The blue crystals embedded in the ceiling began to pour down like rain.
“Damn it…!”
I created a wall of lightning to block the cascading blue crystals.
[D-danger!]
Vega’s scream echoed through the cavern.
And at the same moment—
—Boom!!!
“Cough!”
The blue crystals that touched my lightning wall erupted in a violent explosion.
‘The mana contained within the crystals is bursting from the impact!’
If that was the case, I couldn’t block them with lightning either.
“O-jin!”
“Dodge, sister!!”
Boom! Bang! Kaboom!!
The blue crystals that fell to the ground detonated in rapid succession.
The dungeon floor cracked as the blue crystals rained down like a carpet bombing.
The floor began to collapse in an instant.
“Tch!”
Twang!
I fired a wire at the wall and clung to it.
“Sister! Grab my hand!”
I reached out toward Ha-eun.
Rumble, rumble!
The floor cracked and shook as if an earthquake were occurring.
Ha-eun bit her pretty pink lips and kicked off hard.
“Got it!”
Like crossing stepping stones laid along a riverbank.
With nimble movements, I leaped upward, stepping on the falling stones suspended in mid-air.
Tap! Clack! Tap-tap-tap!
The distance between us closed rapidly.
When the tips of Kwon O-jin’s outstretched hand and Ha-eun’s hand barely touched━
-Crack!
“━Ah.”
Perhaps it was because we had moved too violently all of a sudden.
The prosthetic limb supporting Ha-eun’s right knee shattered into pieces.
“Sister!!!!!!”
Kwon O-jin quickly leaned his body forward, but the cascade of tumbling stones prevented him from catching her.
“Tch!”
He hastily unfastened the pendant hanging from his neck and hurled it toward the falling Ha-eun.
“Vega!”
[Understood!]
The pendant floated up into the air and flew toward Ha-eun’s location.
[I shall protect Ha-eun with my own body!]
“I’m counting on you!”
Once Kwon O-jin confirmed that Vega, manifested in her true form, had caught the falling Ha-eun, he searched for Isabella.
‘Where did she go?’
Isabella was nowhere to be found—she must have already fallen through the collapsing floor below.
‘She couldn’t possibly be dead.’
She was the third-ranked enforcer of the Black Star Society.
There was no way she would die from an explosion of this magnitude.
Kwon O-jin furrowed his brow as he searched for Isabella.
-Rumble-rumble-rumble!
“Damn it.”
But that was only momentary.
Dodging the relentless cascade of blue crystals, Kwon O-jin climbed up the cave wall.
I needed to pass through the collapsing floor and move into the deeper passages of the Dungeon.
-Crash-crash-crash!
The entrance was completely sealed off by the falling rocks.
“….”
A profound silence descended.
Left alone, Kwon O-jin turned his gaze toward the passage shrouded in deep darkness.
‘Could Isabella have orchestrated this?’
Kwon O-jin furrowed his brow.
No.
It wasn’t Isabella.
‘Black feathers flew past earlier.’
Feathers I’d grown sick of seeing by now.
The feathers conjured by the Awakener of the Owl Faction shattered the ceiling.
‘So the Black Star Society arrived first.’
Cheon Do-yoon and his direct subordinates, the Night Hunters.
It seemed likely that this Dungeon was the reason they’d abruptly vacated their posts.
—Clap, clap, clap!
“Wow~ I never thought you’d survive that explosion! So this is what it means to be an Apostle of Polaris?”
Beyond the shadowed passage.
A young man walked toward Kwon O-jin with a bright smile.
Sharp, upturned eyes. A freckled, stubby nose and thin lips.
And a sinister scorpion tattoo etched on the nape of his neck.
It was a face that existed in Kwon O-jin’s memory.
‘Kang Chan-hyuk, the Poison Scorpion.’
A powerful Awakener ranked within the top thirty in South Korea, and the former Guild Master of the now-defunct Pandinius Guild.
“Kehehehe. Looks like you know who I am?”
Kang Chan-hyuk’s lips curled upward as a fierce killing intent radiated from him.
“Of course. You’re the master of the guild I destroyed with that silver tongue of yours, so naturally I’d know you, right?”
“….”
Kwon O-jin didn’t answer, instead surveying the space behind Kang Chan-hyuk.
Thud, thud.
Strange figures in black robes were walking up behind Kang Chan-hyuk.
‘Are those the Night Hunters?’
Since the Pandinius Guild had been cooperating with the Owl Faction for some time, it wasn’t particularly surprising to see Kang Chan-hyuk alongside the Night Hunters.
‘Six of them.’
Kwon O-jin’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“Kehehehe! What’s wrong? Looking for a way to escape?”
Kang Chan-hyuk shrugged his shoulders and let out a cunning laugh.
“No matter how hard you try, there’s nowhere to run. Got it? You’re completely trapped here, you bastard.”
Kehehehe!
He shrugged and pulled a sharp dagger from his pocket.
“…Trapped, you say?”
Smirk.
Kwon O-jin twisted his lips upward and drew out a metal rod.
Click!
As mana flowed into it, the rod transformed into the shape of a spear.
“You all understand nothing.”
“Huh? What nonsense is that?”
Snicker, snicker, snicker.
He laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
“I’m not the one who’s trapped.”
I exhaled a heavy breath.
Raising the spear, I lifted it high.
“You’re trapped with me.”
Crackle, crackle, crackle!!!!
Azure lightning blazed fiercely, illuminating the oppressive darkness with savage brilliance.

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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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