‘Oh my God!’
Ark who had barely stopped his momentum looked down with stunned eyes. Ark was standing unexpectedly on the edge of a cliff…… At the bottom, a river of boiling lava was flowing. The river of lava which stretched over 100 metres in the floating island with cracks in it was an surreal sight. The place Ark was hanging onto was the edge of that land. Although Ark was in a crisis, this was the reason why he couldn’t escape from the area. In order to move to another land mass, either jumping or flying was required. Just one mistake meant he would fall into the lava……Dying like that wouldn’t be so bad. But in this situation, the fire damage would destroy his equipment which had low durability.
‘That absolutely can’t happen!’
Ark barely avoided diving into the lava by grabbing the protruding rock. However, he couldn’t be relieved just yet. While Ark was holding onto the stone rock, the monsters were approaching while swinging their tongues.
“M-Master!”
Racard belatedly realized the situation and screamed.
“Ah, that’s right. Racard, leave those fellows and lure the ones over here to the other side!”
“Eh? U-understood!”
Racard flew towards Ark at full speed. But that was a fatal mistake. Racard had lured 5 monsters using Taunt, so when he flew towards Ark than they also followed. Then they collided with the monsters gathered to attack Ark. There was no need to explain the results.
“Master, I came! Eh? Eh eh eh….heok!”
“You idiot! I told you to get rid of those guys…..wah!”
Ark belatedly grasped the situation and screamed but it was too late. Grrrrrr. Those guys gathered at the edge was pushed like dominos and fell into the lava. A few of them also collided with Ark and he let go of the stone rock thanks to the impact.
“I, I don’t know. I just did what Master told me to!”
Racard shrunk away and tried to explain.
‘D-dammit! I’m falling!’
Ark felt a sense of vertigo as his seen became black. He shouldn’t have come to a place like this. No, before that……
‘If I knew this was such a disgusting place then I wouldn’t have accepted the quest!’
————————————————————————————————–
“This fellow!”
A rock fell as he heard a booming voice. After turning his head he saw a huge monster.
“Stay away! This is the territory of the Fire Draconians. This isn’t the place for a human!”
The giant form approached Ark. While the upper part was a body, the lower half was a completely alien form. With sharp claws on the four legs and flames wrapped around and scales stretching over the tail, it was unmistakably a dragon’s body. And Ark had seen a monster with the same form before. Then Racard reacted before Ark.
“Hiik, V-Valderas!”
Racard screamed and quickly hid behind Ark. That’s right. It was the final boss that appeared in the Event Quest, Valderas! But Ark realized the monster who appeared here wasn’t Valderas. Even if the monster revived for no reason, it was impossible for it to appear in this distant place. The more Ark looked closely, the more different it appeared from Valderas. Valderas was a warrior wearing plate armour who wielded a mace, while the monster that appeared on Hwaryong Mountain was wearing red leather armour. It also felt a bit small when compared to Valderas.
‘Did it say Fire Draconian just then?’
Ark came here in order to complete the quest. In other words, the quest destination was Valderas’ hometown. It was natural that there would be an existence which resembled Valderas. It was highly likely that the Fire Draconian in front of him was an NPC related to the quest. However, Ark still couldn’t relax. Even if he received the quest, what guarantee did he have that the Fire Draconians would be friendly?
‘Since it hasn’t attacked yet, it doesn’t seem to be that aggressive but……’
Ark was the one who defeated Valderas. There was no guarantee how the Fire Draconians would react to the person who killed someone in the same clan.
‘Should I check the atmosphere?’
Ark thought for a while. The Fire Draconian then lowered its upper body and asked.
“Valderas? Did you say Valderas just now?”
“Huh? That……”
Damn, did he hear Racard say the name Valderas just then? His eyes were quite sharp for someone so big. Ark glared at Racard sitting on his shoulder. Anyway, it was difficult prevaricate now that the name Valderas was heard.
‘I’ll just have to break through the front. Well, if that guy attacks then I’ll just take care of him like Valderas.’
Ark had already taken care of Valderas who was a Fire Draconian. Of course, there were thousands of users at that time and he fought the weakened Valderas underwater or else he would’ve had no chance of winning. But Ark had been level 75 at the time. Currently Ark was level 371. Even if it wasn’t underwater like with Valderas, he had confidence that he could win. Was there a reason for him to be scared? Ark considered and asked with a dignified attitude.
“Do you know Valderas?”
“Who are you to say his name?”
“I am Ark. A few years ago I came across Valderas and had no choice but to kill him with my own hands.”
“Really….. It was you? You defeated the revived Valderas?”
The Fire Draconian looked at Ark with new eyes. After a while, he sighed and rubbed his neck.
“I was passing through the southern part a while ago and listened to the news. Unfortunately, Valderas’ spirit which should’ve passed on a long time ago was resurrected to live a nightmare. But poor Valderas who had been captured by a curse was finally freed thanks to the brave actions of a human.”
The Fire Draconian shifted his gaze to Ark and spoke again.
“I am the oracle of the Fire Draconians, Lumines. As a Fire Draconian, I would like to express my gratitude for you.”
“Thank you?”
“You killed Valderas. But that is wrong. The great Fire Draconian warrior Valderas had died a long time ago. No, he was forced to disappear. It was a terrible curse which resurrected him again. Your act of defeating Valderas broke the curse and sent his spirit to where it should’ve originally gone.”
Valderas also said this just before he died. Lumines looked into the sky like he was recalling something and murmured.
“Valderas……Valderas…… Although he is the clan’s disgrace, he is also an object of sympathy. By released the wicked curse which was holding Valderas captive, you have restored his honour. As a spokesman of the Fire Draconians, I would like to express our regards and gratitude for your great achievement.”
……The talk seemed to be going well. Since the conversation was going well, Ark trembled and replied modestly.
“I just did what I had to.”
“Humility is the greatest virtue of a human. But it is a pity.”
“Huh?”
“You might not be aware of it but there is more meaning to the Fire Draconians behind your action of freeing Valderas’ soul. Whether you want it or not, the Fire Draconians have an obligation to repay you.”
“You don’t have to go that far……”
Ark waved it off with his hand while his eyes sparkled. Lumines mentioned there was something meaningful about the death of Valderas but Ark was more interested in the ‘price’ of the repayment. Repayment price! Wasn’t that a quest reward? The Fire Draconian was different from humans. In fantasy settings, a draconian was the symbol of honour!
‘What kind of compensation will be given….?’