Chapter 260
'I did not expect such an offer.'
The Red-Maned Dragon Race.
This race did not engage in conversation with humans in my past life.
Just like during the time before the first match when they merely looked down on Coach Davis without a word.
The Dragon Race had dominated humanity in every match and never once attempted conversation during that process.
It was as if they deemed a lower race like ours unworthy of communication.
And now, they are proposing to become one of their kin because the dragon's forehead was slashed.
[I've heard the rumors. How the Elf's trickery failed and led to their execution. I heard it was done by a being from an insignificant race.]
"..."
[Furthermore, I saw the emergence of a hidden boss with a deadly power. Despite hailing from a fundamentally weak race, it demonstrated astonishing strength. Our Dragon Race struggled to strategize against it. And now, I feel that the hidden boss shares a striking resemblance with you.]
"A hidden boss? It seems it got caught."
Struggling to strategize means it was eventually caught.
Seong Jihan, chuckling at this, provoked the Red Dragon to release a breath of fire.
[It's a matter of race. Had you been a dragon, you would have remained undefeated. If you wish to surpass the limitations of your race, become one of us.]
Identifying him as the hidden boss and now with even more confidence, the representative of the Dragon Race proposed recruitment.
Seong Jihan countered.
"Is that even possible? To become part of your clan?"
[It is possible. You need only be placed within a dragon egg.]
"…You want me to go into an egg?"
[Yes. You… will particularly be included in my egg, 'Altarkaizen'. Though a distant branch, I am a descendant of the 'Dragon Lord' who rules all dragons of the universe. It would be a great honor for you.]
"Are you saying I'd become your offspring?"
[Offspring…]
Flames rose up in front of the Red Dragon Altarkaizen.
A giant egg, tinted in red, appeared like an apparition.
[Yes. If you successfully hatch from within, that will be the case.]
Altarkaizen specifically added 'successfully' to his proposal.
=What… is this Dragon Race representative up to?
=Going into an egg? Doesn't that sound sketchy to anyone else?
=We trust Seong Jihan to make the wise decision!
The commentators voiced their concern, unable to hide the anxiety in their words, because of the overwhelming power the Dragons displayed in the first match.
They worried that Seong Jihan might actually choose to become one of them.
-Woah, even Seong Jihan is getting an offer to become a dragon…
-Humans, who live scarcely over a hundred years, versus giant lizards that live for thousands. Obviously, one would choose the latter, right?
-Yeah, become a dragon~ If we get relegated, so be it LOL.
-Don't take that offer seriously – if Seong Jihan turns into a dragon, we're doomed.
-He won't accept it… Who would accept such a suspicious offer?
And when all eyes were on Seong Jihan's response,
"Hey, I have a question."
[What are you curious about?]
"Why are dragons subservient to the elves?"
He fired back a question to the Dragon Race representative.
[What?]
"I can see that dragons are formidable from the previous match. But why is our league led by elves and not you dragons? I'm curious because the scores are identical, and naturally, dragons should accrue the most points, right?"
Seong Jihan, who never intended to become a dragon, took this opportunity to inquire about something he had always been curious about.
When encountering the Dragon Race in his past life's BattleNet, like in the first match, his team was swept away by breaths whose origin was undetectable.
Unlike the World Tree Elves who fought directly, against dragons, humanity despaired without daring to resist their overwhelming power.
Yet such a strong race was pushed back to sixth place by elves.
This remained an unsolved mystery even in his past life.
'Might as well ask while we can communicate.'
While Seong Jihan asked lightly, the reaction from the Dragons was fiercer than expected.
[Being inferior to elves… Ha. How unpleasant.]
The red egg that Altarkaizen summoned vanished in a burst of flames.
[You do not deserve to be in my egg.]
"Just because of a question?"
[Yes. One who doubts dragons does not deserve to continue the lineage of the Dragon Lord.]
"I was just curious. Between elves and dragons… there really must be something there."
Flash!
With a burst of bright yellow light in Altarkaizen's eyes, it looked like he would have devoured Seong Jihan right then if this hadn't been the coach's room.
'Is the relationship with the elves their Achilles' heel? That reaction was intense.'
Seong Jihan thought to himself as he calmly faced the dragon's fiery gaze.
Unlike the moment with Coach Davis earlier,
Seong Jihan wouldn't be cowed just because the dragon's eyes blazed.
And then,
[The opposing race, 'Red-Maned Dragons,' forfeits the second match. Humanity wins by default.]
[The opposing race, 'Red-Maned Dragons,' forfeits the third match. Humanity wins by default.]
As promised, Altarkaizen conceded two matches and displayed his teeth.
[We may have given you two matches as promised… But now, there will be no mercy.]
Swoosh!
A card floats up before Seong Jihan.
Different from the first match, this time only a select card appeared.
=The Dragon Race is not using their ban card. And their select card is… Valhalla! They are choosing the very map we wanted!
=Does comparing them to elves anger the dragons so much? They seem eager to crush us on their own confident battlefield!
=No matter what, this is the best outcome for us!
=Right! Now Seong Jihan will stay with humanity, won't he?
=I always believed in Seong from the start!
Regardless of whether the opponent dragon was furious or not, it was the best outcome for humanity.
Not only had they gained two free wins, the fourth game had Seong Jihan participating, and the map selected was Valhalla.
'Looks like I need to make a selection too.'
Seong Jihan took the select and ban cards, and submitted his choice.
Then,
[Three players among the top 10 of the 'Red-Maned Dragons' have been banned.]
[Players ranked 2, 6, and 7 have been banned. They cannot participate in the fourth game.]
While Davis had banned ranks 1, 3, and 5, resulting in a less favorable outcome for Seong Jihan,
[The map for the fourth game is decided.]
[The fourth game will take place on the warrior-exclusive map, 'Valhalla'.]
the desired map of Valhalla was confirmed.
[Human… I will show you how lowly your race is.]
Before the second game, Altarkaizen spoke thus, and Seong Jihan retorted lightly.
"Try beating the elves first. Like I did."
[You…!]
Unable to contain his anger, Altarkaizen growled.
For the dragon, simply mentioning elves seemed to be tantamount to pressing a rage button.
[Before accepting you into my clan, you must be disciplined!]
"Now who's been chastened?"
Altarkaizen, warning as such, entered the game.
'So this is how you form a team.'
Seong Jihan, who joined as the human coach, selected fifty warriors in ranking order from the player selection window, then also connected to the game.
* * *
Valhalla, the warrior's map.
In this map where 50 warriors from each team were chosen to duel in a vast hall,
[Race adjustment in progress.]
[For each Dragon, 10 human players are summoned equivalently.]
Unlike the battlefield of chaos, the race adjustment ratio had changed to 10 human players per dragon entity.
=It's a pity the exchange ratio is 10 to 1! Even though it was 50 to 1 in the disorderly plain, it was over in an instant.
=Perhaps it's because the Valhalla map is relatively small?
=In truth, the palace of Valhalla isn't small…
=With the dragon within, the place does feel cramped.
In the warrior's hall located in Valhalla, while the 50 warriors were eagerly preparing for a fierce battle,
Flash!
A bright light flashed, and a giant red dragon descended.
The massive red dragon, its head almost touching the ceiling of Valhalla,
"Wow. That's really big…"
"Doesn't BattleNet have rules about matching such giant creatures against each other? How are we supposed to fight that…"
"Would cutting even work?"
"The flaming veins between its scales… seems like you would catch on fire just getting close."
"Why is there only one over there?"
The 50 warriors, looking up at the summoned dragon, Altarkaizen, wondered.
Why was only one dragon called upon when there should have been a 10:1 correction?
Then,
Flash! Flash!
Eggs appeared around the dragon, four more in total.
"Isn't that the egg he wanted to put Seong Jihan into?"
"That seems to be the case."
During the battles between humanity and the Dragon Race, eggs were never seen.
'Was it because of the earlier talk about eggs?'
How odd.
Seong Jihan thought as he was about to prepare for battle when,
[Awake, embryonic eggs. Arise.]
At Altarkaizen's command.
Flames burst forth from the large eggs, transforming into dragon shapes.
Well, exact forms, except for their heads.
"…Why do those flame dragons have such heads?"
"They don't look like dragons…"
"That's the one we saw last time during a match with orcs, isn't it?"
"That one's an octopus…"
The flame dragons that emerged from the eggs, had dragon bodies, but each head was different: pigs, octopuses, horses.
Each one mismatched the dragon's body.
[Merge!]
Following Altarkaizen's order, the diverse flame dragons began to be absorbed by the Red Dragon.
[Ahhhh…!]
[Eek, again…!]
Screaming as they merged, Flames engulfed them.
As it absorbed the four flame dragons, a huge fire surged through Altarkaizen's body.
"…Jihan, good thing you rejected his offer. You'd almost have been used as fuel for that dragon."
"Indeed."
It removed any remaining thought he might have had about becoming a dragon as he watched the flame dragons suffer through the fusion with Altarkaizen.
But then,
Swoosh!
[How about it?]
"What are you asking?"
[Do you regret it?]
"…"
After absorbing the fire, Altarkaizen looked at Seong Jihan solemnly and said,
[You passed up the chance to merge with me.]
What's he on about?
Is that a serious question?
[You could have become a descendant of Dragon Lord Altarkaizen if you had obediently become an egg.]
"You said one would become an offspring if they hatch successfully."
[Offspring… Yes. As you've seen, didn't they become offspring? They have become very much a part of me indeed.]
Seems like the concept of offspring is slightly different between dragons and humans.
Seong Jihan, watching Altarkaizen proudly, pushed the rhetorical button once more.
"But you're strong, I see that. Yet why are you inferior to the elves?"
[Ha. This insolence…!]
Zzzap!
One word and the body of the Red Dragon transformed into a bright yellow light.
Radiance spread in all directions.
[Dragon Flare.]
Boom! Bang! Bang!
An overwhelmingly intense explosion erupted from within him.
"Ahh…!"
"We need shields…!"
Before they could react, warriors were engulfed by an instant inferno.
The blast from Altarkaizen's center not only consumed the players but also collapsed Valhalla's palace in one fell swoop.
=Th-The map is…
= It crumbled again! We thought it would be a manageable fight on the narrow Valhalla terrain…
=It suddenly expanded!
=The warriors… utterly got annihilated! Only 2 survivors remain!
Swoooosh…
After the fiery storm swept through, only Seong Jihan and the Sword King Yoon Sejin survived amidst the aftermath.
Compared to Seong Jihan, who was barely singed,
Yoon Sejin sustained more damage, his twin swords half-melted and his body mostly charred, though he remained barely alive.
"Ha… What immense power."
And then,
[Hoh… You survived too.]
Altarkaizen looked at Yoon Sejin with interest.
[Not bad as a candidate…]
Zzzap!
Before he could finish his words, a horizontal line was drawn on his head and it split in two.
In Seong Jihan's hand was the shadow sword Eclipse again.
"Is this all you can muster? With this, you aspire to become a father?"
No sooner had Seong Jihan finished speaking,
Swoosh!
The dragon's split head reattached and he spoke as if nothing happened.
[These offspring are too rebellious. Discipline is needed.]
Using the word 'offspring' again euphemistically.
Then,
[Dragon Flare.]
The dragon's body began to glow with a yellow light once more.