The First Hunter

Chapter 43. Dragon Slayer, Part II

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

4.

There are many ways to hunt. There is hunting using bows, using spear and sword, and using traps. And there is fishing! In addition, fishing is a very good hunting method. When they pick up only a few kilograms of fish, they don’t realize it, but they can see it clearly why fishing is good hunting when hundreds of kilograms of fish bite the hook. As soon as people take a fish weighing hundreds of kilograms, far out at sea, with a fishing rod, they know how great fishing is.

‘It’s impossible to kill it with a single stroke.’

The hunting method that Kim Tae-hoon prepared against the dragon was fishing. Of course, it was not about putting a hook into the mouth of the dragon.

‘What I want to use is the method of anglers who have a long battle with the fish, to wear the fish’s stamina down to the bottom and then fish it out.’

Kim Tae-hoon was planning to have a long battle with the dragon.

‘In case of the Eight-tailed Fox, it died immediately after eight swords were stuck into its heart. If it is the dragon… even if I stabbed a knife into its heart, it would not stop its heart immediately.’

It was a natural choice, the only one.

The weakness of monsters was definitely the heart. But stabbing its heart didn’t end everything. In addition, as everything about the monsters of the dark-blue grade was beyond the standard, the hunt for them did not end just by stabbing its heart.

It was even more so when it came to the Dragon’s ability to regenerate. Even if a sword was stabbed into its heart, the wound was healed away. So, what do you do to weaken that recovery?

‘So, I have to consume the Health and Mana that lays the foundation of its ability to recover, somehow. As I said before, I have no choice but to wear down its stamina to the bottom. I have to make it exhausted, giving it repeated fatal wounds and forcing it to regenerate them.’

‘Stabbing its heart is after that.’

To put it simply, Kim Tae-hoon’s work from now on was to hurt the dragon until it became noticeably weak in its ability to regenerate.

The problem was that the work had to be done on the body of a giant dragon flying a few kilometers in the air at a speed of more than three hundred kilometers per hour!

His eardrums screamed at the sound of the wind passing through his ears.

Whoo-woong! The dragon’s flight was not a simple flight, but an acrobatic course meant to fling off Kim Tae-hoon, who was sticking to its body. It rose freely, fell arbitrarily, drew a big circle in the sky like the Blue Streak at Cedar Point, and in the process, it turned its body like a top. It was using everything.

Krrr! The dragon began to rise up at right angles to drop Kim Tae-hoon, who still occupied its back.

However, Kim Tae-hoon did what he had to do on it.

Pook! He drove the Dragon Light Sword into the body of the cliff-like creature, and then hung his whole body on the Dragon Light Sword.

Then the sunlit Dragon Light Sword began to cut through the scales along the back of the black dragon. Moving with it, Kim Tae-hoon’s body also slid down the dragon’s body.

Kim Tae-hoon’s body, which had been near the neck of the dragon, arrived near the tail.

‘More.’ If he fell a little more here, it was time to fall to Jeju Island, which was now the size of a fist below him.

‘I need to make deeper, longer wounds.’ In that situation, Kim Tae-hoon was greedy, and eventually, the Dragon Light Sword that hung Kim Tae-hoon fell from the dragon’s body.

At that moment, Kim Tae-hoon reached out his left hand. The Golden Web which came out of his left hand became a rope that caught Kim Tae-hoon as he fell off of the body of the dragon.

Kim Tae-hoon used the rope to climb back onto the dragon’s body at once. He put the Dragon Light Sword onto the back of the dragon’s neck again, where he had just wounded it.

Pook!

The act of madness which had to be called beyond crazy began again. Kim Tae-hoon did it over and over again. He went through the acrobatic feat of risking his life.

Keuaaa!

The series of acrobatics of Kim Tae-hoon also gave the dragon a sense of crisis. The dragon, soaring high into the sky, turned over with a scream. The sunlight that was shining on Kim’s body disappeared, and a deep shadow was cast to him. At the same time, Kim’s body fell from the dragon’s body.

But there was no fall. Kim had the Golden Web and Telekinesis that was more useful than any rope. Just like a spider hanging from the ceiling, Kim hung himself on the back of the dragon.

‘Rebound.’ Kim drove his body with the force of Telekinesis. Kim Tae-hoon drew half a circle around the body of the dragon and reached its belly. Sunlight fell on him again.

Kim cut Dragon’s belly scales again with the Dragon Light Sword. The wound was deep, but the cut began to heal immediately.

‘Recovery speed is a little slower.’ But at that fact, Kim had hope instead of despair. If it was like cutting down running water when he had first slid down the body of the dragon, it was now like cutting mud on a rainy day. The ability to recover was slower than at the beginning of the battle.

‘I can plant it now.’ At the fact, he added something new.

A grenade was drawn from his waistline. Ting! As soon as the grenade was out, the safety pin and safety ring were removed on their own. Kim planted the grenade into the wound of the dragon, which is now ready to explode. When the dragon’s wound healed over and the grenade was covered, the wound exploded.

Poowhat!

Keuaaaang! The dragon, who was flying in the sky like doing the backstroke, looked up at its belly skin in fright.

Krrrr! It stared at Kim Tae-hoon, there on the scales of its belly.

Kim did not avoid the cold-hearted eyes. He looked at them with his black eyes.

‘Still, a long way to go.’ It wasn’t easy. Just having a staring contest, the Energy settled in Kim’s stomach, even though it was huge, began to churn.

On the other hand, the two relics soothed his roiling Energy just like that. The Couple-Burial-Mound Gold Earrings on his wrist and the Gilt-bronze Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Statue in the bag on his back filled quickly refilled his exhausted Energy.

‘But there’s nothing if I can’t hold on.’ The two relics also filled Kim’s confidence. In his confidence, he put the Dragon Light Sword back onto the belly of the Dragon.

Pook! The sunlit Dragon Light Sword cut the unbeatable dragon’s belly easily. The dragon just watched the process. Instead of crying out in pain, it just looked at it without spitting out a roar of anger.

Kim Tae-hoon was willing to show it again in front of such a fellow. He put a grenade into the wound which was being healed over. It was a special grenade made by melting relics, not just iron.

Poowhat! Then the grenade exploded again, and the blood and flesh of the dragon scattered in the air.

Krrrr… At that moment Dragon looked straight ahead again, and it turned itself upside down again.

Kim moved along the dragon’s body horizontally, in line with its rotation.

Whoooooooo!

Then Dragon began to fall towards the blue sea of Jeju! It seemed about to fall into the sea. It was a declaration: “Let’s see how far you can hold on!”

The dragon’s blatant will was conveyed through his whole body as he clung to its back. He, who grasped its will, clenched his teeth tightly.

‘That’s what I want.’

Bang!

Soon afterward, Kim Tae-hoon and the dragon drove into the sea.

—————————————

5.

National Palace Museum in Taiwan…

It was considered one of the four greatest museums in the world. The outside image was unusual. The National Palace Museum, which had a blue-green roof and yellow walls, settled between the feet of a mountain full of green trees and shade, showing off its splendor by shining gold when the sunlight came down.

It was the same now. The sunny old Palace Museum was shining more brightly than ever.

But the people who gathered at the museum looked the opposite. The colors of their faces were the black of a dead body.

“It doesn’t make sense. No matter how great he is, he’s making a pre-emptive strike against the dragon…”

“Korea can’t afford it. Even they can afford it, there’s no reason why we didn’t notice an inkling.”

“Right, right now, Korea’s whole power is concentrated in the occupation of Pyongyang. But Jeju Island, where the dragon is located, is in the southernmost part of the Korean Peninsula, and he had to cross the sea. No matter what South Korea wants to hide, it can’t hide a large troop movement over that long distance.”

“But if Kim Tae-hoon goes on a solo dragon hunt…”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Is that possible? A solo dragon hunt!…”

Those who looked so dead were now all in power in Taiwan and the Six Snakes.

“Mao, why don’t you give us your opinion?”

“Please tell us something.”

Of course, Mao was at the center. Accordingly, he also had a terrible face.

‘No matter how I think about it, it’s impossible.’ Mao, no matter how hard he tried to think, could not figure out how Kim Tae-hoon planned to hunt the dragon.

‘Even if Kim has the Kusanagi in his hands, nothing would change.’

Clearly, Kim had the Kusanagi in his hands. The Kusanagi was definitely a powerful weapon. If it was the power of the Kusanagi, it could rip through the dragon’s scales and stab the heart beyond it.

‘But if Kim could kill the dragon with only the Kusanagi, we wouldn’t have suffered this much.’

However, the duration of the Kusanagi was limited. If he were in combat, he would have about thirty seconds to maintain the Kusanagi. The problem was that if it was a dragon, it would not die by being stabbed into the heart.

‘Moreover, the target that the Kusanagi stabs is still the dragon.’

‘Furthermore, Energy is also the resistance to monsters’ fear. If Energy is consumed quickly, resistance to the fear also reduced. This fact is bound to be even more deadly in the dragon hunt.’

‘Even if he has Energy of A rank, in fact, it’s only ten seconds or so. If I calculate the time correctly, the effective window of time to use the Kusanagi is ten seconds. He can’t kill the dragon unless he totally mutilates the dragon’s heart for those ten seconds.’

‘However, the Kusanagi is not a weapon capable of mutilation. It is not easy to swing once, and it is not too much to say that it is a miracle if he does it twice.’

In fact, Musashi was also able to cut with it only one time, apart from maintaining the Kusanagi. With this in mind, the probability that Kim would succeed in the dragon hunt was zero!

‘Even if he has a new legendary relic, it’s unlikely to become a game changer.’

No matter what a new legendary relic he acquired, nothing would be changed greatly.

‘Then, what the hell?…’

But Kim had moved. He was hunting the dragon. And given the circumstances, it was highly likely that Kim went on a solo hunt, unlike when Japan had fought with all their might to kill the Eight-tailed Fox.

‘On what basis does he dare to hunt the dragon?’

Even Mao, who had been called a teacher, was unable to understand the situation, although he has shown his insight with the same information as the wisest man so far.

That was why his face was so terrible. Even a desperate story could be accepted if he could understand it, but the situation itself was not understandable.

“Uh!”

“Red Okjo!”

A crow made of red jade came into their place, landing right in front of Mao. He met the eyes of the Red Okjo with a stiff expression, and the Red Okjo said with its beak wide open, “The dra, dra, dragon went into the sea.”

The words frightened the crowd.

“What!”

“Why did the Dragon go into the sea?”

“Does it intend to swim to the Korean Peninsula?”

“Stop talking nonsense, it doesn’t need to swim since it has wings!”

Mao was the only silent one in the space where everyone was vomiting out their horrified feelings.

“Quiet.”

He was only aware that the crow made of red jade had not shut its beak. As he expected, the open-beaked Red Okjo spoke again after about 10 minutes.

“The dra, dra, dragon has risen out of the sea. Its, its, its whole body is bleeding. The dra, dra, dragon is screaming.”

Once again, the Red Okjo stopped talking. But it did not shut its beak. The Red Okjo was still open-mouthed.

‘Oh, that’s not the end.’

‘It has more to say.’

Everyone swallowed, looking at the Red Okjo. That was all. No one spoke in this situation. After a long time, about thirty minutes, it spat out more words from its open beak, “A flash shone over the dragon.”

The voice of the Red Okjo was no longer shaking…

“Ah… the dragon is falling from the sky…”

At the end of those words, the Red Okjo shut its beak.

It was now time for anyone to talk. But there was no one who could open their mouths.