Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 290

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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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290. Kerimantal Crater (1)
The moment we entered the Gate, what greeted us was a volcano devoid of trees or grass. I’d grown quite accustomed to this by now. Unlike the Snow Field, I’d experienced volcanic terrain several times before.
The volcano, tinged with black and brown hues, didn’t appear particularly tall, yet ascending it seemed to demand considerable effort.
Lava flowing down from above blocked the path upward. Of course, that applied only to other Guilds.
My Guild could now easily overcome such obstacles.
-Whoooosh!
Opening a Subspace alone allowed us to cross a river of lava nearly 3 meters wide. No enemies were visible in the vicinity.
According to Chun-bae, the interior of the crater was filled with pooled lava. Still, that didn’t account for the slope itself.
“This feels like we’re on a mountain climbing trip right now?”
The Mister riding Yong-yong responded to Min-jae’s remark with a joke.
“It’s a company mountain climbing outing, so shouldn’t I report this guy to the Human Rights Commission?”
Min-jae let out a hollow laugh.
“The Human Rights Commission, really?”
“I wouldn’t know about that.”
“But if you’re going to say things like that, shouldn’t you get down and walk too?”
“Listen here, I need to keep riding. If you’re jealous, become a Dragon Knight.”
“Sigh….”
I left their banter during the journey alone. All I needed to do was reach the end of the crater and focus.
Naturally, the conversation shifted toward discussing the battlefield within the Gate.
“But this won’t be easy to fight in.”
“Right. I’ve thought about it, but the slope is steeper than expected.”
Setting aside the elementals, when considering an ancient Fire Dragon, it looked absolutely difficult.
No flat ground was visible in this crater. Even now, we were climbing an incredibly steep slope.
Fighting a flying Fire Dragon in a place like this? I could understand why the Previous Previous Master had failed.
The enemy could fly freely in the sky, while we had to fight on a slope with no flat ground.
‘Repeated evasion will cause severe stamina depletion.’
The only viable countermeasure would have been the Previous Previous Master’s magic, so the difficulties must have been immense.
Obtaining the Bone Dragon from the previous Gate truly was a godsend.
“I don’t think we can jump here. Right now, I have footing because of you, but….”
“That’s true. I can’t lay down footing for everything in a chaotic situation either.”
The reason we walked up despite having Yong-yong and the Bone Dragon was so we could also fight with our feet on the ground during the Fire Dragon battle.
It was like a preliminary trial, and the conclusion was that fighting like this would be difficult.
“For the rest, let’s fight from atop the Bone Dragon.”
I made the decision. Even if we’re outmatched in flying speed, the Bone Dragon’s back is better. The Bone Dragon moves faster than navigating through these lava river flows.
When the Fire Dragon attacks, all I can do is suppress it as much as possible.
‘This might not be so bad after all.’
As for its breath, I can simply nullify it. And honestly, if it charges at us with its body, that would be welcome.
Just like when I defeated the Earth Dragon before, I can use the Subspace’s physical immunity to deal recoil damage to its body.
-Whoooosh.
I opened a Subspace and summoned the Bone Dragon. The Mister was already flying, so there was no issue there.
“This should suffice. Everyone, let’s head up.”
“Finally!”
The expressions of Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee, who had been climbing the steep slope, relaxed slightly. Seeing Han Chul smiling as well, it must have been quite grueling.
I didn’t ride. The Bone Dragon was already equipped with a three-person saddle this time.
I couldn’t fly through the air, but I had other workarounds available.
I could use Leap even in midair. Besides, if I was going to strike the Fire Dragon, riding the Bone Dragon would be difficult anyway.
“Let’s go.”
Two dragons took flight. I quickly used Leap to follow behind them.
First, I planned to reach the crater and swiftly dispatch the flame spirits.
* * *
“It’s exactly as Chun-bae described.”
From the distant sky, the number of flame spirits in the crater appeared to be roughly fifty. Not an insignificant amount.
There weren’t many intermediate-tier ones; they seemed to consist mostly of high-tier to supreme-tier spirits.
What worried me slightly was whether the God of Play had played some tricks, but it was exactly as Chun-bae had told me.
The winged flame was stored in the Subspace, so the probability of a dragon suddenly appearing was zero.
“Then let’s begin.”
The initial plan had two options. The first was to land one massive blow using a fully-charged Dragon Scale Piercing Spear and Min-jae’s maximum magic, then finish it.
The second was to simply enter and have us hold the line while Mister hunted over time.
The idea was to stack Twilight Respite, then summon the Fire Dragon and test our attacks, but the second option was chosen.
It would consume time, but Twilight Respite would be quite effective against the Fire Dragon. Everything I rushed by entering the Gate was for this reason.
“Please be careful.”
At Min-jae’s words, Mister chuckled.
“With an S-rank First Guard, Shin-hee’s barrier, and my Subspace, that’s more than enough.”
The strategy itself was simple. Mister would lead Yong-yong and face the flame spirits alone.
Yong-yong was a Red Dragon and Mister had flame resistance, so there wasn’t much danger.
The other guild members would support Mister while riding the Bone Dragon.
First Guard and barriers alone were sufficient, but I planned to intervene if things became dangerous.
“I’ll go first!”
That didn’t mean Mister would tank all the aggro alone. I’d also be rampaging below. First Guard could handle two people anyway.
With so many enemies, I’d draw aggro and tank while Mister hunted.
“Yong-yong, let’s go!”
“Kraaah!”
I dropped first, and a beat later, Yong-yong and Mister descended vertically into the crater.
Drawing aggro was simple enough. From the upper layer of the crater, above the churning lava where the spirits dwelled, I used Blaze on their heads.
-Whoosh!
It wasn’t massive damage to the flame spirits, but drawing aggro was what mattered. The situation was tilted somewhat to one side.
-Screee!
The flame spirits, emitting cries similar to animals, turned their gaze toward me. I used Leap directly from midair.
-Thud!
About eighty percent of their attention seemed focused on me. Using Leap twice with sufficient intervals, I landed on the boundary edge outside the crater.
While some of them had gotten a bit too aggressive, I’d managed to pull in roughly seventy percent. That should be enough.
-Whoooosh!
-Whoosh!
Most of them were high-tier and upper-tier spirits. The number of incoming flame projectiles alone exceeded thirty.
But there was no problem.
-Rumble!
The Subspace absorbed everything anyway. And those charging directly at me were equally meaningless.
I had two options: block with the Subspace or leap away. I chose the latter.
-Whomp!
If I kept holding my ground here, I risked drawing even more aggression.
-Boom!
Besides, Mister was making such a commotion that the attention of the spirits behind him was already shifting.
Fortunately, the Crater was quite spacious—otherwise, kiting would have been far more difficult.
-Whoooosh!
-Rumble!
Still, Mister was steadily whittling down the spirits in the distance. There were about thirteen of them, so I decided to wait until he finished those first.
It shouldn’t take long. I continued drawing aggro while watching the twilight essence accumulate around me.
* * *
Quite some time had passed. Mister had finally dealt with all the flame spirits. The area around me was now filled with twilight essence.
I didn’t need to worry about time constraints. I’d seen it before when dealing with the dead—that twilight essence lingered for quite a while.
‘Chun-bae, you said the center, right?’
I wasn’t going to summon the ancient flame dragon with a wing-flap of fire right here. First, I needed to find the hidden treasure that the Previous Previous Master had painstakingly discovered.
-Affirmative. It’s directly beneath the center of the Crater. The Previous Previous Master used detection magic to confirm it and extracted it with magic.
Our Min-jae is a mage, so he couldn’t use such versatile magic, but that didn’t matter.
Who am I? A flame-resistant A-rank level 9 owner. I could just hold my breath and dive into the lava without issue.
-Rumble!
-Rumble!
But I wasn’t quite that foolish either. I solved it by opening two Subspaces—ones I’d used before.
Since it was right in the center, I could feel it with my spatial sense. From where the wild boars had emerged, I’d obtained Gate metal, but…
I thrust my hand into the Subspace. Actually, I’d already heard about this from Chun-bae. Something tangible in the lava—I pulled it out immediately.
Even with my hand submerged in the lava, I took no damage. It just felt warm.
[Flame Spirit Orb (A-rank)]
I didn’t bother reading the description. It was an item that allowed a spirit summoner to call forth an A-rank spirit.
There were two uses for it: gift it to two spirit summoners on our teams, or give it to Yong-yong as food.
I’d been continuously giving him essence potions, but I hadn’t been able to provide flame essence recently.
The question was whether Yong-yong would actually eat it…
“Yong-yong, want some?”
“Krr!”
Contrary to my worries, Yong-yong showed immediate interest. Since I’d always intended to give it to him if he wanted it, I handed it over without hesitation.
‘It’s A-rank. You need to get stronger.’
Of course, I offered a silent prayer. Yong-yong swallowed the spirit orb and glanced around nervously.
What’s wrong? Following her gaze, I spotted the Bone Dragon.
The cute little thing. After being so jealous, now that I’ve mentioned a sibling, she’s feeling anxious again?
“Don’t worry—I’ll make sure to get something special for Bone Dragon too.”
“Krr!”
Yong-yong purred contentedly and exhaled a burst of flame.
-Whoosh!
It was a brief flame, but there was something worth noting about it.
-You’ve grown stronger.
Just as Chun-bae said, despite the short burst of fire, the heat contained within felt distinctly different.
Having consumed flame-related essence, the destructive power of her breath had definitely increased. It was positive progress.
“Kraaah!”
Yong-yong, satisfied with the flames she’d unleashed, exhaled another breath more forcefully.
“Hey, save some for later.”
-It’s fine. She’s just absorbed the essence and needs to release the overflow.
If Chun-bae said so, then so be it. He was someone who’d existed in the world where the Red Dragon lived, after all.
“Mister, have you rested enough?”
“More than enough!”
After dealing with the flame spirits, we’d taken a brief rest. Mister, who’d done most of the heavy lifting, was quite exhausted.
“Whew, feels good to pull my weight for once.”
Usually hovering comfortably in the air while the team fought, Mister joked as he climbed back onto Yong-yong’s back.
“What about above?”
“All clear!”
“I’m itching for more!”
“Ready to go!”
Even the Guild members riding the Bone Dragon gave the okay sign. Now it was finally time to encounter the ancient flame dragon.
-Whooom!
I pulled the winged flame from the subspace. According to Chun-bae, changes should occur now.
About five seconds passed.
-Kuguguung!
The earth trembled. It was a vibration as if something deep within the lava filling the crater was stirring.
And the lava in the crater began to bubble and churn violently. The way the bubbles burst looked far from ordinary at a glance.
-Now you should drop the winged flame into the center of that lava.
To be honest, there’s a slight regret. Since flame-related skill efficiency improved, I benefited quite a bit when using Incinerate.
Well, since what I gain from this is a Dragon Heart, there’s no helping it.
-Plop.
Following Chun-bae’s advice, I released the winged flame into the center of the crater’s lava. The moment it touched the molten rock, the bubbling intensified dramatically.
But nothing burst forth immediately.
‘It’s descending.’
Through my spatial awareness, I felt the winged flame sinking deeper into the lava below.
Deeper beneath the lava. Further down beyond my spatial awareness range of sixty meters.
“What, what is this? Is it coming out?”
Then about three minutes passed without incident. However, I could sense that the flaming wings were reaching into the depths of that volcano.
It happened in an instant.
-Kuguguguung!
A tremor similar to when the Red Dragon had emerged from the Gate where I awakened shook the earth.
[The flaming wings have awakened the Ancient Fire Dragon.]
[The Gate transforms.]
[Ancient Fire Dragon]
-Recommended Level: 85~90
-Defeat the Ancient Fire Dragon.
The message appeared at that moment.
─────────!
A colossal roar erupted. Though it resonated as if something were trapped beneath the lava of the crater, I couldn’t suppress the chill that ran down my spine.
Guild members with lower Spirit stats than mine flinched noticeably.
“It’s coming! Battle stations!”
The Guild members who had cautiously approached when nothing changed shot skyward again.
Kuguung-!
The brief tremor was ominous.
Before I could even warn them, I felt an enormous mass register within my spatial awareness.
“It’s coming!”
And then, the Ancient Fire Dragon erupted from the crater.
───────!
Scattering lava in all directions, the Ancient Fire Dragon emerged—slightly larger than the Bone Dragon.

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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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