“It’s his fault!” Karsiel said, pointing at the wyvern.
Even though she had stepped on the skewer herself, the cause of it all lay with the wyvern and its owner. In a desperate plea for survival, Karsiel instinctively tattled, shifting the blame to the real culprits.
Yong-Yong stared blankly at the disfigured, saucy Cockatrice skewer beneath Karsiel’s paw. It was practically untouched, with only two of the eight pieces eaten.
This wasn’t just any skewer. It was the result of hard-earned labor, the 50,000 won he scraped together with blood, sweat, and sheer determination.
Yong-Yong remembered what he had to go through to earn that money.
“Yoon-Hee, I finished cleaning the floor!”
“I’m back with the tofu.”
“Good job! Here’s your stamp!”
He’d bought the skewers as a special treat for himself, planning to savor them slowly. But now, they were nothing more than trash.
As Yong-Yong stared at the ruined skewer dejectedly, the crowd cheered for the Wyvern Lord, who was affectionately called Ryo, and his tamer, Kanzaki Soshiro.
“You’re amazing, Soshiro!”
“Please sign my shirt!”
“You’re the best, Ryo!”
The majestic air show performed by the Wyvern Lord across the sky ignited the audience’s excitement, and applause filled the air. Soshiro waved casually at the crowd and smiled faintly as if he was used to such a reception.
“Keke.” Yong-Yong snickered mysteriously, and his eyes glinted with a dangerous light.
Watching beside him, Karsiel shivered and took a step back. She had seen that look in Yong-Yong’s eyes once before, back when she first came to Earth from her nest.
Yong-Yong turned toward the Wyvern Lord and started walking. No, not walking—he started running. With each step he took, his form grew larger. The two small horns on his head lengthened, and his innocent, cute appearance was replaced by his true Dragon Lord form.
The Wyvern Lord and his master, Soshiro, sensed something was amiss, but it was far too late. Even though it was still midday, the surroundings darkened as though night had fallen. A total eclipse, no—a massive flying object had blotted out the sun.
“What... what is that...?” the crowd murmured as they noticed a monster of a size never seen before.
Still, everyone instantly recognized what they were witnessing.
The true ruler of the skies, resembling the one that had appeared three years ago and had the world trembling in fear, had appeared again.
The sky seemed to split open as a rift tore through it, larger than any they had ever seen. It was a Fissure of a truly overwhelming size, dwarfing even the largest S-rank Great Fissures.
The dragon opened its jaws and, in one swift motion, devoured the trembling Wyvern Lord and his master whole.
The people were too stunned to flee because of the unbelievable sight before them. They simply clutched their shaking legs, watching the scene unfold in terror.
The dragon soared into the sky and disappeared into the Fissure.
It wasn’t until then that the people snapped out of their daze, and chaos erupted in the plaza.
Attempting to get as far away from the Fissure in the sky as possible, the crowd scattered in all directions, fleeing at top speed.
Watching the dumbfounded Yoon-Hee, Karsiel spoke up, suggesting they should try to stop the irate Yong-Yong.
[You have entered the Nest of Izaaz.]
Yong-Yong spat out the Wyvern Lord and Soshiro, whom he had been holding in his mouth.
Soaked and gasping for air, Soshiro looked up cautiously, his eyes widening in horror. “A-a dragon...”
Aside from Masalis, who appeared in Korea three years ago, this was the first time he had ever seen a dragon in real life. Though, one thing was certain—the dragon before him was on a far higher level than Masalis.
The Wyvern Lord shrank back, instinctively realizing the overwhelming difference in power. Soshiro, too, couldn’t help but understand; the sheer disparity made any thought of resistance impossible.
“W-why...” he muttered incomprehensibly.
This dragon had suddenly appeared in the peaceful plaza, and Soshiro had no idea where it came from or why it brought him and his wyvern into the Fissure.
The earth shook violently as if the world were coming to an end, and a massive energy flared around the dragon.
As Soshiro’s life flashed before his eyes, he closed them, ready to submit to fate.
Then, a gust of wind swept over him, striking his entire body.
Curious, Soshiro slowly opened his eyes, and his pupils shook wildly. “W-what in the...”
The source of the wind was yet another dragon. Though it was slightly smaller than the red dragon before him, its presence was also terrifying.
The brown dragon landed before Soshiro with a loud thud. He could see someone carefully dismounting from the dragon’s head—a girl who looked to be in her mid-to-late teens.
“A person...?” He gasped in shock.
The red dragon turned its head toward the girl, taking a step back as if startled. The girl sighed, walked over to Soshiro, who was slumped on the ground, and extended her hand.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Soshiro stared at the girl, too stunned to speak.
Yong-Yong wriggled furiously in Yoon-Hee’s arms, trying to break free.
“Let me go! I swear I’ll kill those guys and go to hell where my skewer is!”
Restrained tightly in Yoon-Hee’s arms, Yong-Yong snarled at the trembling Wyvern Lord across from him.
“What is happening...” Soshiro muttered as he stood in shock, watching the girl who had suddenly appeared with a light-brown dragon by her side.
The moment she arrived, the ferocious red dragon had disappeared, leaving only a small red puppy in its place. It seemed that the red dragon had transformed. However, the real issue was how completely helpless the ferocious dragon was before the girl.
A puff of smoke rose from the light-brown dragon, and it also returned to its usual, adorable form.
Karsiel approached Yong-Yong with a lowered head. “Lord Izaas, they’re not to blame. I was the one who stepped on your skewer...”
Though Karsiel had tried to shift the blame earlier out of fear, she now accepted full responsibility, thinking it was her fault for stepping on the Cockatrice skewer.
Watching this scene, Yoon-Hee sighed and said, “We can always buy another skewer. Come on, let’s go and get you another one.”
Yong-Yong’s frantic struggle came to an abrupt halt. The angry scowl he had worn vanished instantly, replaced by an expression of pure excitement like a child being taken to the candy shop. Then, suddenly, as if he decided that wasn’t enough, he wiped the smile off his face and glared at Soshiro once more.
Seeing that, Yoon-Hee added, “How about I buy you two? Will that make you feel better?”
Yong-Yong’s tail started wagging. At that, Yoon-Hee smiled and set him down.
With a little cough, Yong-Yong leaped onto the head of the Wyvern Lord, raised a paw, and smacked it hard. With a loud boom, the ground caved slightly from the impact, and the Wyvern Lord let out a cry of intense pain. Yet, as soon as he made eye contact with Yong-Yong, he swallowed his agony as if nothing had happened.
“Count your lucky stars,” Yong-Yong told the wyvern, then smacked it once more for good measure and jumped off to scamper back to Yoon-Hee.
Yoon-Hee flicked his forehead.
“You’re lucky Father isn’t here. I’ll keep this a secret, so don’t pull something again.”
The mention of “Father” made Yong-Yong flinch, and he quickly nodded his head.
“I... I can’t believe this...” Soshiro couldn’t keep his mouth closed as he watched the unbelievable sight of Yoon-Hee controlling two dragons.
Until now, he had believed himself to be the top Hunter among those with taming-type skills. After all, the Wyvern Lord he had tamed was an S-rank monster. However, this girl in front of him seemed to be on a whole other level, taming even dragons.
A portal opened beside Yong-Yong that connected directly to Booth A-7 at the BEXCO convention center, where they sold the saucy Cockatrice skewers.
With his two front paws, Yong-Yong gestured toward the portal. “This way, ma’am.”
“Okay, okay,” Yoon-Hee said as she took out a ten-thousand-won bill from her wallet.
⌜A dragon suddenly appeared at BEXCO in Haeundae, Busan. It devoured Hunter Kanzaki Soshiro and his Wyvern Lord, dragging them into the Fissure... then another dragon appeared, and...⌟
⌜Fortunately, there seemed to be no serious issues, though authorities are tight-lipped about what happened inside. This is Yoon Il-Sang, reporting for KBC from Haeundae, Busan.⌟
﹂MadS******: How did Soshiro even survive that? (Likes: 966,354, Dislikes: 111,700)
﹂Hero1****: That’s that, but how come we’re the only country that keeps getting dragons? (Likes: 725,191, Dislikes: 158,729)
﹂lovec****: Soshiro’s never coming back to Korea, LOL (Likes: 449,008, Dislikes: 58,709)
﹂aoo***: That brown dragon that flew away looks exactly like the one that appeared in Bangbae-dong a while ago. It was on the news back then too. [Click for link] The Hunter’s Bureau should address this. (Likes: 345,001, Dislikes: 48,775)
﹂theg****: Maybe the world really is ending. (Likes: 246,185, Dislikes: 38,714)
﹂rlaskd***: If two dragons show up at once, who can stop them? LOL. Even a truckload of S-rank Hunters wouldn’t be able to handle it. (Likes: 197,150, Dislikes: 24,666)
﹂retlk****: Japan’s pet lizard vs. Korea’s godly dragon, wow. (Likes: 109,108, Dislikes: 4,221)
Watching the news on his smartphone, Do-Jun turned to Ae-Kyung, who was watching TV with Byeol. The screen was filled with breaking news coverage of the BEXCO incident.
Ae-Kyung spoke to Do-Jun with a serious expression. “Supervisor Lee, it seems that the Encroachment is accelerating.”
Monsters from the Core appeared on Earth, along with the emergence of Status Windows and Awakenings among humans. The Hunter’s Bureau had defined all these unusual phenomena as Encroachment.
Ae-Kyung believed that the appearance of the two dragons was also caused by the same reason.
“Two dragons appearing at once...” she muttered, biting her lip anxiously.
Fortunately, there were no casualties this time, but there was no guarantee that they would be this lucky in the future. Catching a single dragon was already difficult enough, even for the special task force.
Two dragons were beyond impossible.
“Where do those dragons live...?” she muttered.
If they could just locate their nest, maybe the Hunter’s Bureau could formulate some kind of plan. Ae-Kyung’s face grew tense as she pondered the situation.
Glancing under the table at the two dog bowls, Do-Jun muttered to himself, “Who knows.”