The Regressed EX-Class Martial God Decided to Become a Thousand-Star Hunter - Chapter 52

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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 52
52.
Rest Point.
After a grueling struggle, Yoris and his party arrived at that sanctuary of respite, all of them broken and bloodied.
“Hgh…….”
“Nngh…….”
“I’m dying.”
The entire party, moaning softly, either collapsed where they stood or fell backward, sprawling across the ground.
There was nothing strange about it.
Even Yoris, the party’s strongest fighter and the one bearing the White Knight class—the highest in sheer stamina—found his ragged breathing refusing to settle, tearing from his chest in violent gasps.
Yet Yoris’s thoughts ran differently.
‘Damn brats. I took all the heat up front, and now they’re the ones sitting there looking like corpses.’
In extreme circumstances, a man’s true feelings bubble up unbidden from the depths of his mind.
The saving grace was that his patience hadn’t quite shattered enough to let those words spill from his lips.
Yoris sat silently, his back against a tree.
The heat that had flooded his mind gradually cooled.
Just as he began to feel that cooling……
“Haha—! Hahaha—! Hahahaha—!”
A burst of raucous laughter erupted.
Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned toward the source of that sound.
It was Amy, the red-haired woman bearing the Warrior class.
She looked toward Yoris and spoke.
“I’ll admit it felt good to cut loose after so long, but are you sure you’re alright? Yoris. Your opponent seemed like quite the monster.”
The faces of all those watching Amy went pale.
Because it sounded as though Yoris might immediately set off in pursuit of his opponent again.
They all knew what he truly desired.
Fortunately, when Yoris heard Amy’s rather provocative remark, his expression hardened for a moment before quickly relaxing.
He let out a soft laugh and shook his head.
“Not a chance. Even if those bastards are monsters, to have come this far they must have expended considerable strength. Hunting ‘that thing’ in such a state would be impossible.”
No—it wouldn’t even be conceivable to attempt.
His eyes held absolute conviction.
“They don’t know about ‘that thing.’ If they had, then no matter how much information they possessed, the two of them would never have come this far.”
“Hmm, true enough…… No sane person would attempt to take it down with just two people. Heh heh…….”
Yoris nodded, his expression calm, and turned to regard Emil, the mage who’d been practically carried to the Rest Point in his arms.
Emil, a syringe already lodged in his own arm, spoke without hiding his grimace.
“My apologies, Captain. I’ve just injected the Anesthetic, and I intend to take a Healing Potion immediately. Once I meditate afterward, I should be able to return to full capacity at once.”
“……Very well.”
Emil, hearing the displeasure in his response, immediately downed a Healing Potion.
Despite the Anesthetic dulling his senses, he felt a bitter agony churning deep within his body.
At once, a suppressed whimper escaped his lips.
“Hnngh—!”
As more time passed……
“Gaaaagh—!”
An outright scream tore from him.
The pain was so unbearable that even the Anesthetic couldn’t prevent his conscious mind from being swallowed by it, consuming his entire body.
Emil rolled across the ground, foam flecking his lips.
Amy burst out laughing at the sight of him.
“Hahaha—! That’s what you get for being such a fragile mage! If I’d had that injection, I’d have gone right out like a light!”
“Quiet, Amy.”
Yoris reproached her.
Their rest would not last long.
Emil’s already-grating screams were wearing on everyone’s nerves, and having her chime in only made the chaos worse.
Fortunately, seeing Yoris’s expression, Amy stifled a grin and shut her mouth.
In truth, she was just as exhausted, so it was only natural.
Silence settled over the camp as a result.
In that quiet, Anton approached Yoris and asked softly.
“……Are you truly confident? If Emil needs to recover with potions and meditate as well, it will take a minimum of two hours.”
“Emil’s patience may be weak, but his recovery is fast.”
“Is that so?”
“Above all, I say again—that thing is there. They absolutely cannot handle it.”
“You mentioned… that we’d all need to combine our strength to capture ‘that thing,’ didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
Curiosity flickered to life in Anton’s eyes.
“Then, might you tell me now? What exactly is it that you’re discussing with such gravity?”
“Ah, that…?”
Slowly, as Yoris recalled what he’d witnessed three months prior, a faint dread crept across his face.
Anton, reading him, couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
‘This confident white knight?’
What on earth had he seen?
The question deepened with each passing moment.
“Hah…….”
Yoris exhaled slowly, then opened his mouth to speak.
* * *
“A, a dragon?”
At the edge of the Barren Forest.
Upon reaching a vast clearing and glimpsing the presence beyond, Kim Han-ryul breathed the name in a trembling voice.
Ju Do-gyeom’s eyes narrowed at his side.
‘A dragon.’
Yes, it was unmistakably a dragon.
Though it lay curled in sleep, its sheer size—vast enough to evoke the image of a small mountain—was undeniable.
Yet something was wrong.
In his previous life, Ju Do-gyeom had fought dragons more than once.
The most vicious had been a Titan Earth Dragon, but even setting that aside, all dragons shared unmistakable hallmarks.
Scales that gleamed and radiated brilliance, eyes commanding and fierce, a formidable presence that permeated everything, vast torrents of mana extending in all directions, and a hypersensitivity to their surroundings.
Yet this dragon before him possessed none of these.
Its scales bore no luster—only a dull, earthen hue. Its closed eyelids showed no vigor whatsoever.
Mana?
To be frank, he couldn’t even detect any.
Its presence was accordingly far dimmer than any dragon he’d known.
‘Even the sound of a motorcycle doesn’t stir it…’
Suddenly, a piece of knowledge Vivian had once shared came to mind.
-Decline isn’t a term reserved for gods alone. It’s rare, but dragons too can fall to it. In the past, they may have wielded tremendous power and glory, but through various trials, they gradually shed their strength until even their dragon heart’s mana is wholly consumed, leaving only an empty shell behind.
A Fallen Dragon.
-Unfortunately, even their reason fades, and they’re reduced to mere beasts with only a dragon’s form. That’s why even among dragons themselves, some express displeasure at the very word “dragon” being applied to such things.
-……Vivian, why are you suddenly telling me stories like this at bedtime?
-Hmm? Isn’t it interesting?
At the time, he’d thought it merely idle chatter.
But now, with this before him…
‘That scrap of trivia is actually proving useful.’
He was certain.
The dragon before him.
“It’s a Fallen Dragon.”
“A, a Fallen Dragon? What’s that?”
Ju Do-gyeom relayed Vivian’s knowledge to the bewildered Kim Han-ryul.
“……Of course, its dragon heart’s mana is gone, and so is its reason, but it’s hardly a creature to underestimate. After all, it retains all the innate physical abilities of the dragon race. Especially with degraded scales like these—its mana resistance is exceptionally high, which makes it a natural enemy to mages.”
“U, wow…….”
“In dragon terms, it’s not quite at a level worthy of such amazement, but…….”
“No, I wasn’t amazed by the Fallen Dragon. I was amazed at you.”
“……What do you mean?”
“I never knew our captain could talk this much.”
“…….”
“And it seems you’ve studied quite a lot, too?”
“……I only heard about it.”
Even in a moment like this, his teammate had to crack jokes.
‘Not displeasing, though.’
Ju Do-gyeom let out a soft laugh and stroked his chin.
At any rate.
Now he understood why the Barren Forest had been so silent.
‘A dragon’s very existence breeds fear. Any monster relying on instinct wouldn’t dare approach within smelling distance.’
The term Dragon Fear existed for good reason.
If there’s a problem, it’s this.
‘When I came here in my past life, that thing didn’t exist.’
Until now, he’d believed that his former self was the first visitor to this place and had claimed everything for himself.
Not just the enemies he’d fought.
Even his comrades who remained at the final stronghold—none of them had spoken of this Erosion Plain Mana Area.
But now, after everything that had happened so far and seeing the Fallen Dragon before his eyes, his thinking shifted entirely.
‘Before I came here, someone else had already passed through.’
If that were the case, the treasures he’d obtained back then would be better understood as some stroke of fortune.
‘That earlier visitor must have hunted the dragon here.’
There was only one conclusion he could draw from the current situation.
‘Yoris.’
The famous Hunter from the Netherlands, they’d said he even carried the alias of the White Knight.
But Ju Do-gyeom had never heard of him.
Setting aside when Yoris had reached his prime, even years later when Ju Do-gyeom was preparing to throw himself seriously into hunting, he’d conducted thorough research before starting—yet he found nothing.
There was only one hypothesis that fit.
‘Yoris died here.’
Fighting against the Fallen Dragon before him.
Most likely it had been a mutual destruction.
Considering that the Fallen Dragon hadn’t existed when he’d arrived.
The pieces clicked into place.
But the problem remained unchanged.
‘To get that, I’d have to go past it.’
Beyond the sleeping Fallen Dragon.
He could see the entrance to the Underground Passage that he knew about.
If it seemed not particularly alert, could he slip past?
It looked like the simplest method, but it wouldn’t work.
The reason that massive body hadn’t woken even when hearing the loud motorcycle engine.
It wasn’t because Fallen Dragons were duller than ordinary dragons.
‘When a dragon falls, it loses all five senses.’
Its eyes can open but see nothing.
Its ears are uncovered but hear nothing.
But the moment a living creature comes within arm’s reach, it will surely sense that movement.
Since it has lost its five senses and been robbed of its intellect, its instincts must have grown sharper still.
If it had been possible to proceed that way, Yoris, who had visited this place before and entered with full preparation this time, would have easily taken the treasure from the Underground Passage.
‘In the end…’
The only way was to break through that dragon.
Just as Ju Do-gyeom’s eyes began to darken with resolve, Kim Han-ryul asked.
“What are you going to do? Either way, it sounds like it’s not going to be easy. Can the two of us actually take it down?”
“We have to.”
“…I’m just saying this in case you forgot, but there might also be those terrifying villain Hunters chasing us from behind?”
“I know.”
Ju Do-gyeom slowly rose to his feet.
Kim Han-ryul swallowed hard.
“Are you really going to do this? Wouldn’t it be better to hide somewhere and wait for them to start hunting first, then take our chance?”
“They’ll think the same way.”
If that happened, they’d get nowhere.
Just burning through stamina.
And if they ended up retreating from each other, there was no telling how new variables might shift the balance when they met again.
But beyond all that, he had no intention of getting caught in this place a second time.
Ju Do-gyeom calculated the remaining time in his head.
‘It’s about time things got close.’
Kim Han-ryul asked in a trembling voice.
“So, so you’re really going to do it then? I get it. I understand…
…
so what do I do?”
“I’ll do it alone.”
“Huh?”
…
…
.
Ju Do-gyeom stopped answering questions.
Instead, he drew out the Mana Cigarette Case from his pocket and placed it between his lips.
Kim Han-ryul, standing beside him, lit it with a bewildered expression.
As the tobacco burned, calculations turned over in Ju Do-gyeom’s mind.
‘I need to settle this as fast as possible.’
Not merely fast—this demanded a decision at extraordinary speed.
In terms of breaths.
‘Ten breaths at most.’
『Mana Cigarette effect activating.』
『Temporary Mana Rank increase: C− ⇒ C+』
He nodded and drew forth the inner force from his Dantian.
‘First…’
Sinsu Jamryeok Ki-gong activated.
One use wouldn’t suffice.
It fell far short.
Without hesitation, he triggered the technique a second time, then a third, in rapid succession.
『Temporary Strength Rank increase: C− ⇒ B−』
『Duration: 10 minutes.』
Cheonsal-seong and the Killing Eye—their ability, strictly speaking, was to invariably slay the target.
Which meant that if he couldn’t deliver an attack potent enough to kill, the ability might prove meaningless.
Of course, until now he had never felt the power lacking.
Fundamentally, the Killing Eye revealed a point-like weakness—a spot where the target could be struck fatally—and Ju Do-gyeom’s martial art was more than sufficient to strike it with precision.
But when the opponent was a Fallen Dragon, even one that had declined, the situation appeared altogether different.
With only the Killing Eye activated, no fatal point revealed itself anywhere.
Even after inhaling from the Mana Cigarette and triggering Sinsu Jamryeok Ki-gong in succession, nothing changed.
Still, it didn’t matter.
He had more moves left in reserve.
‘Bando Bung-ik-gong activation.’
This time the inner force, colliding from within, accelerated.
Like Sinsu Jamryeok Ki-gong, he stacked it—a second time, a third.
『Temporary Agility Rank increase: C− ⇒ B−』
He stepped forward and summoned the Daebu.
Simultaneously, he channeled Mana into the Berserk Ring on his right hand.
『Berserk Ring activation.』
『For 15 minutes, all ability stats except Mana will drop 2 grades.』
『Mana: C+ ⇒ C−』
『For 15 minutes, all ability stats except Mana will rise 2 grades.』
『Strength: B− ⇒ B+』
『Agility: B− ⇒ B+』
『Stamina: C− ⇒ C+』
『Remaining uses: 4.』
Then, it appeared.
The massive dragon’s torso.
And on the long neck coiled around it, a small, crimson point.
Would it suffice?
He shook his head.
‘Not yet.’
It fell far short of what he needed to end the battle in one strike.
‘One step further.’
Ju Do-gyeom’s consciousness reached down into his body, drawing up the secret power that lay dormant in its depths.
What martial artists commonly called Innate Qi.
What the common tongue knew as life force itself.
He drew it forth, letting it propel his body forward.
Crash—!
A sound utterly different from ordinary inner force in motion rang in his ears—like a waterfall striking stone below.
Yet the inner force he had drawn did not descend toward the ground.
It rose upward.
Like an ascending dragon.
Straight, unrelenting, endless in its momentum.
In the moment that Innate Qi struck something vast above Ju Do-gyeom’s head.
Crack!
The sound of something shattering.
『Your lifespan decreases.』
『Your Upper Dantian temporarily opens.』
『All senses amplify dramatically.』
Vast.
A word rarely heard from the system, which spoke in such austere terms.
And it was precisely true.
Before Ju Do-gyeom’s eyes.
The speck that had appeared on the neck of the colossal Fallen Dragon had grown to the size of stacked shipping containers.
‘Then……’
Was there reason to hesitate?
Ju Do-gyeom kicked off the ground.
Crash!
The Flash Leap Lightning of the Seomjeon-bi propelled his form forward.
At the same moment.
The Fallen Dragon, sensing him, opened its eyes.
Despite the darkness before it, vast pupils that held the majesty of ages past.
Perceiving the insignificant creature approaching—no more than an insect—it released a presence that would shake lesser beings to their core.
That gaze seemed to speak.
—How dare a mere human presume to stand against me?
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The moment the massive body stirred from its slumber, setting the earth to trembling.
Ju Do-gyeom arrived directly before the Fallen Dragon’s slowly rising head.
He leaped into the air, grasping the Daebu in both hands and lifting it upward.
High, far above the crown of his head, so very high.
And then.
A silver blade split the world.
There was no sound of violence.
Ju Do-gyeom descended to the earth.
Halting the descending Daebu just short of the ground.
In that instant.
Roooaaarrr!
The energy wave spreading from the Daebu swept up a vast current of air, sending clouds of dirt billowing in all directions.
Kim Han-ryul watched with gaping mouth as the dust grew so thick that neither of them was any longer visible to his eyes.
Yet there was one thing that could surely be seen.
Beyond the enormous plume of earth, the shadow of a dragon’s massive head rising skyward.
Its thick, elongated neck was cleaved diagonally, then—
Slowly.
Fell to the ground.
Thud!
Beheaded.

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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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