“Evil influence of Magura? But Magura and Valderas……”
“……He thought he defeated it. Everyone believed it. But it was all the scheme of Magura to make the Dark Lord descend to earth.”
At that time, there was a book called the ‘Immortal Book’ seal in the shrine of the Fire Draconians. It was an ancient artifact which passed down the secret to immortal life. Magura needed the Immortal Book to make the Dark Lord descend to his world.
“So Magura pretended to die and hid in Valderas’ body for a chance.”
Valderas realized too late and was already enveloped in anger and insanity. Anger and insanity was the food that the darkness loved the most.
“Besides, Valderas had been secretly influenced by Valderas for 10 years. The moment Valderas became irrational, his soul was completely captured by Magura and the darkness. He died a hero’s death at that moment.”
“Then you are the last survivor of the Fire Draconians?”
“That’s true but it could also be not true.”
“Huh?”
When Ark made a doubtful expression, Lumines clenched his teeth tightly and continued.
“The terrible evil controlling Valderas wasn’t satisfied with the mere destruction of the Fire Draconians. That fellow trapped their souls within the ruins for hundreds of years.”
Ark looked at Lumines with eyes that indicated he didn’t understand.
‘If the souls of the Fire Draconians are stuck then why are you here?’ his expression seemed to ask.
Lumines sighed and shook his head.
“Originally Dragonian was a Holy Land where is protected by wards. In order for Magura to infiltrate it, he had to use Valderas. By killing his kin, the wards were corrupted and allowed Magura in.”
It was located inside the black dome on Hwaryong Mountain. After being violated by Magura, the attribute of the wards completely changed. It now had the demonic property. Ark realized that Lumines was wrapping up his talk.
“In the end, there are two ways the souls of the Fire Draconians can be saved.”
One way was to reset Magura’s corruption and reset the wards to their original form. However, Magura hid somewhere after the incident.
‘The first method is impossible at the moment.’
The second way was to enter through the wards directly and kill the demons who had captured the souls of the Dire Draconians. But that was also impossible to achieve in the present state. Thanks to the demons’ unexpected addition, even the Draconians couldn’t enter the ward.
‘If I can’t enter then it is also impossible. But…..’
However, Ark felt doubtful at this part. Just before Lumines arrived, Ark had touched the black dome. Unlike what Lumines said, he felt like his finger was being sucked in.
“Why did my hands enter when I touched it?”
“S-such a thing? The wards…..”
“Is it true? Take a look.”
Ark put his hand on the black dome and spoke again. Then Lumines made an absurd expression like he suddenly remembered something.
“Maybe…..no, I think it should work!”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you previously say that you were brought here because of Valderas’ insignia? Can you show it to me?”
Ark pulled out Valderas’ insignia without thinking about it. But then Lumines took the insignia and a spark occurred? Lumines looked up with a convinced expression.
“That’s it. It is this!”
“Eh? What is it?”
“Isn’t this Valderas’ insignia? And Valderas is a person who had been corrupted by Magura’s magic. This insignia also contains Magura’s magic.”
“……So I’m not affected by the wards because this contains Magura’s magic…..?”
“There is no reason for a backlash against the same type of magic.”
‘Valderas…….’
All the fragmented information Ark knew then connected. At the start, the Valderas left in the medal wanted to return home. Ark had thought it was just a part of the game. But there was an inevitable reason he wanted to go there. Just before dying, Valderas had escaped from the dark chains that tied him. At the same time he recalled all his memories. He left the key to enter the wards as well as the fate of the Fire Draconians to the hero who defeated him. It really was a pity the Fire Draconians didn’t know that about Valderas.
‘Which reminds me, Lumines never once spoke badly about Valderas.’
Anyway, it became clear what Ark had to do. The next step was to enter and save the souls of the Fire Draconians. That was the next part of the quest.
“It’s not a coincidence that Valderas left this to me. It was his last will. So I will enter the wards and fight against Magura’s power to save the souls of the Fire Draconians.”
“Y-you will really do that?”
Lumines looked at Ark with eyes overflowing with expectation. Ark nodded without hesitation and the quest information window instantly appeared.
-The quest has been updated.
The Suffering Souls of the Fire Draconians (Special Quest).
After receiving the guidance of Valderas’ insignia, you have arrived at Hwaryong Mountain. And you have heard about the Fire Draconians’ tragic history from its only survivor, Lumines. Even after the souls died hundreds of years ago, they are even now suffering from the wards. Magura who is the main culprit in all events had his subordinates restrain the Fire Draconians. While defeating Magura’s subordinates, you should look for and free the Fire Draconians’ souls.
“I don’t know why we have to find such an annoying thing.”
Racard waiting on the side complained with disgruntled eyes. Of course an NPC wouldn’t understand the viewpoint of a user who deliberately hunted down difficult work.
“Shut up. It is natural to want to help when seeing someone in difficult circumstances.”
“Hah? Did Master have such a character?”
Naturally he didn’t have such a character. The reason that Ark risked his life on quests was for the profit. At first, Ark thought it was a jackpot if he received the Blessing of Fire again. At first, Ark thought it would be a jackpot if he received the Blessing of Fire again. But after seeing the contents of the quest, he grasped that it was different from the previous quest he received from the insignia. It was a quest to release the souls of the Fire Draconians who had been suffering for hundreds of years!
‘The reward will be much more extravagant!’
Anyway, Ark understood the information from Lumines’ words and instantly accepted the quest. Within the influence of the black sphere, a ‘space of chaos’ was created. Since the wards were influenced by the power of darkness, wicked souls were drawn in the space of chaos.
“But the identities of the subordinates Magura placed inside is still unknown. They are all huge……
“Don’t worry, I’ll figure out a way once I go inside Dragonian.”
Ark answered with a light tone. At this point, Ark had just been thinking about the bonus quest. He judged that a quest linked to the level 120 restricted quest wouldn’t be that difficult. Ark finished the suitable preparations and moved inside the wards. At first he felt a repulsive force but he was instantly drawn into the wards when he took out the insignia.
-The Lord of Darkness Valderas’ Insignia has qualified you to enter this dark restricted area.
After a long time, it felt like he foot was stepping on mud. How many metres did he walk? Suddenly Racard’s cry rang in his ear.
“Hik, Master. The ground, the ground! Stop!”
“What? Why…..heok!”
Ark stared at the ground and flinched before retreating. In front of him was a cliff dozens of metres high.
“Is this the space of chaos Lumines talked about?”
Ark looked around stupidly. The dark space had rivers of lava flowing. Just like an asteroid belt, it was thousands of floating lands stretching over hundreds of metres. Looking at the landscape caused a sense of fear but also mystery and magnificence. However, the first emotion that surfaced on Ark’s face wasn’t fear but annoyance.
“Is this land mass the place called Dragonian?”
Ark really felt like it was a game after entering this space. In order to pass through the chaos space, he had to calculate the speed and direction of the land masses before jumping.
“I don’t really like this type of game…..”
That wasn’t the only reason Ark was irritated.
Kukyakyakyakya, kukyakyakyakya!
Then Ark was surrounded by a group of monsters. Forty dark auras began rising from the ground. Their silhouette resembled a monkey while they had red eyes and sharp projections on their tongues which dragged on the ground. It was a level 300~350 monster called Wendigo. It was the parasitic monsters feeding on the chaos space that Lumines mentioned.
“Hasn’t this become more troublesome?”
The Wendigo with its spirit body was the type of monster that Ark disliked the most. It was a monster with an insubstantial body like a spectre. Although all monsters were different according to its body, they normally invalidated 50~80% of physical attacks. Of course, using Elemental Sword made it slightly better but it was difficulty to hunt compared to normal monsters.
‘I still don’t know what type of compensation……’
But the wendigoes were level 300~350. Meanwhile Ark was over level 370. The level difference was large but at the same time it was possible to receive good loot and experience from hunting them. Even with a 50 level difference, he could still get 50% of experience from hunting.
‘But why are there so many of them?’
Whenever he moved to a land of suitable size, the wendigoes would appear. Furthermore, their numbers were proportional to the land mass. The larger land mass meant that more of them would appear. Every time he moved to one region then he had to check his equipment, so it took many hours to only move a few regions. That wasn’t the only problem.
Kuaaaa!
“Phew, I’ve cleared this one alr