The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 395

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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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Chapter 395
Chapter 395
The Rough-Scaled Sea Serpent.
Blackie—the name given by my master.
Upon receiving my master’s order to hunt monsters, Blackie led the pack into the Open Sea as usual, only to encounter an overwhelming number of enemies.
“So you’re the legendary sea serpent!”
“We’ve got you cornered, beast!”
“We’ll end this here and now!”
“Roooaaarrr!”
Faced with such a massive horde, Blackie had no choice but to flee.
The previous master would have ordered mindless attacks at the first sight of monsters.
But now, my master entrusted the hunt to my own judgment.
After retreating in this manner.
“Blackie, buy me some time.”
Upon hearing my master’s new command, Blackie did everything in his power to obey.
He exhausted all the mana accumulated in the orb and summoned a tidal wave using his massive, powerful body.
And then.
Crack-boom!
Lightning erupted from the sea.
Dark clouds that once dropped thunder from the sky.
Now manifested beneath the waves.
At this awe-inspiring spectacle.
‘As expected of my master…!’
Blackie marveled.
I knew my master was strong, but I never imagined he could be this formidable.
Yet.
‘These dark clouds…’
Was it because they were magic my master had unleashed?
Something oddly familiar emanated from those clouds.
That familiarity intensified moments later when my master withdrew a crimson crystal and expanded the dark clouds with it.
Seized by this strange sensation, Blackie.
Without thinking.
Instinctively plunged the tip of his tail into the dark clouds.
“Roooaaarrrrrrrrrrr!!!”
An enormous current surged through his tail.
Pain coursed through me.
My body felt as though it might burst apart.
And yet, why?
This lightning that was electrocuting my own body.
‘Felt so familiar.’
It felt so familiar.
As soon as I thought that, the searing pain coursing through my body began to dull gradually.
Coming to his senses, Blackie instinctively began channeling the electrical current flowing into his body toward his orb.
Uuuung—.
The orb, which had been empty from generating the tidal wave, filled rapidly.
No, it wasn’t merely being filled.
To accommodate the mana flowing in as turbulently as a tidal wave.
The orb transformed, growing larger and more robust.
That wasn’t all.
Crack, crack.
As Blackie absorbed the lightning, he began molting in real time.
His old skin shed as his body expanded.
Then he shed his skin once more.
Shedding his skin repeatedly like this, the orb continued to grow.
Most crucially, the small horn-like protrusion atop Blackie’s head grew considerably larger.
“Roooaaarrr!”
Blackie was becoming a dragon.
* * *
Blackie was shedding his skin.
Repeatedly, in succession.
And with each shedding, his size swelled dramatically.
‘The orb is growing?’
Through my dark vision, I could perceive that Blackie’s orb was expanding.
What on earth was happening?
As I stood bewildered, the image of Blackie screaming with his tail pierced by Thunder Storm flashed through my mind.
On a hunch, I checked the red crystal.
‘Now that I think about it, I felt like mana was draining far more than I expected.’
The red crystal’s mana was completely depleted.
Well, it was a transcendent-grade mana stone after all.
Even for a 7th Circle spell like Thunder Storm, I had thought the mana drain was excessive.
Somehow, a considerable portion of the mana that had drained from the red crystal had flowed into Blackie’s body.
Then, shortly after.
“Roooaaarrr!”
He ceased the hissing sounds he’d made as a serpent.
His voice deepened as though he were going through a voice change, and the transformation began to stabilize.
[ ‘Blackie’ has absorbed a massive amount of mana that formed his foundation. ]
[ ‘Blackie’ endures the rampaging mana and accelerates the timing of his evolution. ]
[ ‘Blackie’ evolves into the ‘Rough-Scaled Flood Dragon’. ]
A System Message announcing Blackie’s evolution appeared before me.
‘Flood Dragon?’
Jiaolong.
A hornless dragon, or a dragon covered in scales.
It’s a subspecies of dragon—generally, those with scales are called jiaolong, those with wings are called yinglong, and those with horns are called guilong.
In other words, the weakest among dragons.
Technically, it’s so lowly that calling it a dragon at all is a stretch, but.
‘A real dragon? Already?’
No matter what anyone says, a jiaolong is still a dragon.
The jiaolong possesses strength incomparably greater than ordinary monsters or lesser serpents.
Moreover, Blackie had only recently been trained from the state of a common Rough-Scaled Sea Serpent.
And it had already evolved into a jiaolong.
The evolution speed was almost unbelievable.
Out of curiosity, I searched among my tamed beasts for one with a serpentine form and held the crimson crystal against it.
“…Ssshhh?”
Nothing happened.
I wondered if raising its level would enable evolution, but it seemed unlikely that just any creature could evolve into a dragon.
In any case, as I stood there in amazement.
“Master, thank you! Thanks to you, I was able to accumulate merit, however humbly!”
Blackie, now a jiaolong, approached me and bowed its head.
Not long had passed since it was tamed after being brought to the brink of death by my attack.
Blackie’s eyes gleamed with respect and loyalty toward me.
I suspected it was the effect of my taming skill or the ‘Elite Tamer Set,’ but even accounting for that, the reaction seemed excessive.
Well, regardless.
What did it matter?
“Congratulations.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Master.”
With the combat prowess and intellect of a jiaolong, I could entrust the protection of Star Coral Reef without worry.
Besides, hadn’t I filled the waters with powerful monsters, including boss-class creatures, not just Blackie?
With them, defending against monsters would be effortless.
In fact, with them present, there would be no need to defend at all—the monsters would be too terrified to approach in the first place.
Thinking thus.
“Shall we head back?”
I turned toward the guard force stationed before Star Coral Reef, satisfied with what I had accomplished.
* * *
The guard force of Star Coral Reef.
Thanks to Mir recently, they had come to enjoy peaceful days.
“Monster invasions have dropped significantly, haven’t they?”
“Count Mir has been handling the monsters well for us.”
“Ah, this is comfortable. If things stay this easy, we’ll keep getting paid without lifting a finger. I hope it stays like this forever.”
“You idiot, if things keep getting easier, we’ll be the ones getting laid off.”
“Oh no! That can’t happen!”
“Phew, well. That’s unlikely to happen. Someone of Count Mir’s stature won’t remain as an escort force forever.”
Originally, they were always on edge, fending off monsters that attacked periodically.
Recently, with monster invasions becoming increasingly dangerous, they’d been worried about whether they should flee.
Thanks to Mir, that worry had vanished.
With the escort force’s tension easing, everyone was sprawled about as if they’d come on vacation.
“Uh, uh? That thing!”
“What? Let’s finally get some rest. Don’t make a fuss.”
“It’s a monster! A monster!”
“What?”
“A monster?”
“Count Mir should have cleared out all the monsters in this area?”
“Stop gawking and move! Monster invasion!”
“Aaahhh!”
Monsters appeared suddenly.
The escort force scrambled to their feet in panic.
However, there was a problem.
Most of them had removed their equipment and were resting comfortably, savoring the peaceful days they’d enjoyed for so long.
Just putting on their gear took considerable time.
And that wasn’t all.
Having grown complacent during their rest, they’d noticed the monsters’ approach far too late.
As a result, by the time they’d finished equipping themselves—
“Th-the monsters are right on top of us!”
The monsters had already entered striking distance.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“What in the world are those things!”
“That turtle is enormous!”
“It looks like a small island moving!”
“And what about that lobster! The size of those claws…”
“It’s a Megalodon! No, far larger than a Megalodon! It must be a Deep Sea Megalodon that inhabits the depths!”
“M-madness. How are we supposed to fight those!”
The monsters’ size was enormous.
Not only were they massive, but monsters that sailors spoke of as nightmares were among them.
Powerful monsters that adventurers commonly called ‘boss monsters’.
And the one at the very apex was—
“Th-that thing!”
“A Flood Dragon?!”
“A Flood Dragon is leading the monsters!”
“A Flood Dragon!”
“A Flood Dragon is a proper dragon! Not even an Imoogi—an actual dragon is attacking!”
A dragon, its form breaking the surface of the water.
It was a Flood Dragon.
The escort troops fell into panic, forgetting even to attack the monster.
It was unavoidable.
Against a horde of monsters of that caliber, attacking would be meaningless anyway.
Rather, jumping overboard immediately and swimming toward the Coastline offered a slightly higher chance of survival.
Thus, the escort troops’ choice split into two camps.
“Damn it, I’m running! This is just a death trap!”
“Me too!”
Those who leaped beneath the vessel to escape the monsters, swimming frantically toward the Coastline.
And.
“Grr, forget it! Attack!”
“Yeah, it’s our duty!”
“We’ve been resting long enough—we need to earn our keep!”
“Fire the signal flare and hold the line! If we hold, Mir the Count will come!”
“The Lord will come to protect us! Do whatever it takes to stop them!”
“If the monsters pass the Star Coral Reef, civilians will be attacked! We absolutely must stop them here!”
Those who grasped the vessel’s weapons despite knowing it was a losing battle.
And so, the moment they steeled themselves for death.
“There’s no need to be so vigilant.”
A familiar voice echoed from within the monster horde.
Its owner was none other than.
“Mir the Count!”
“My Lord!”
“But those monsters are…?”
“They are the new escort force that will protect the Star Coral Reef alongside you going forward.”
“Monsters as… escort force?”
“You could call them subordinates. Ah, but we should exclude those fleeing over there. They likely have breach clauses in their contracts.”
The Lord of Kalbera Territory.
It was Mir.
* * *
I’d wondered if the original escorts would be dismissed once monster guards arrived.
But more than half of them left of their own accord.
I’d have Ena handle them appropriately.
“These creatures will handle the monsters. So you need only manage the repairs of the nets surrounding the Star Coral Reef and such.”
“Um, are you truly certain? We’re worried that once you leave, Mir the Count, they might suddenly attack us.”
“That won’t happen. Right, Blackie?”
“Should any of them attack humans, I will bite them to shreds immediately. You need not worry.”
“A Flood Dragon…!”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t fill the entire escort force with monsters alone.
My tamed beasts were merely there to hold back the monsters.
Everything else required maintenance and repairs that could only be done by human hands.
“Ah, Blackie, why don’t you stay here and manage the herd while you train?”
“Is that truly acceptable?”
“Train to your heart’s content. Honestly, with just you around, most monsters won’t dare approach.”
“Thank you so much, Master!”
I had given Blackie permission to train.
A Flood Dragon was technically a dragon, but there was something lacking about calling it a true dragon.
Yet Blackie had risen to the rank of Flood Dragon with incredible potential and remarkable speed.
If she trained diligently, she might one day become a true dragon.
Perhaps she could even become a genuine Sea Dragon.
In any case, I no longer needed to remain here as its guardian.
Therefore.
“Ena.”
– I apologize for the delay, Mir. As I’ve raised the wages, people are being recruited now, so soon….
“I’ve secured the escort force.”
– Pardon?
When I told Ena this.
– My goodness….
An exclamation of wonder escaped from Ena, rare as it was.
– Mir, is it possible to recruit more of your ‘escort force’?
True to form, Ena had already begun devising ways to utilize my abilities.

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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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