Chapter 21

Master of the Snowy Mountains (2)

Explosive power burst from a massive body roughly ten meters long.

I couldn't see the Gelu Drake's movements. All I could barely make out were blurry afterimages.

'My Agility is too low.'

Agility didn't simply mean moving fast. More precisely, it meant the ability to transmit commands from the brain through the nervous system.

That was why higher Agility allowed faster movement. The better that ability, the faster the different parts of the nervous system interacted, resulting in faster physical responses.

Conversely, it also increased the speed of processing stimuli received through the nervous system.

Reflexes that allowed an immediate response to an enemy's attack. Visual acuity that let you track an enemy's movements. Those abilities improved along with Agility.

Simply put, every action mediated by the nervous system was related to Agility. That included manual dexterity, which made it extremely difficult to improve through physical training alone.

That was why I had invested all the extra stat points from leveling up in Agility.

As a result, my current Agility stat was 8. With the +10% effect from Promote Metabolism[E+], I could raise it to 8.8.

But that wasn't enough. With so little, I could neither follow nor react to the Gelu Drake's movements.

CRUNCH!

My entire side was torn away. Before the pain could overwhelm my senses, I blocked my sensory nerves and suppressed it.

And the Gelu Drake?

Its movements were restricted while it tore into my side.

Give up bone to take flesh.

I clenched both fists tight and brought them down like hammers on the back of the Gelu Drake as it tore into me.

KABOOM!

The Gelu Drake slammed straight into the snow-covered ground.

I didn't follow up with another blow. I quickly put distance between us.

Regeneration wasn't all-powerful. The enhanced Regeneration[B-] could easily restore severed limbs, but it couldn't recover from instant death, such as losing my heart or head.

Regeneration wasn't an ability that brought the dead back to life.

And if I hadn't hastily twisted aside just now, it would have torn out my heart instead of my side.

I couldn't afford to be impatient. If I couldn't kill it in one blow, I just had to keep hitting it.

◆You can use the skill 'Regeneration[B-]' to regenerate damaged body parts.

◆You can use the skill 'Nutrient Synthesis[C+]' to synthesize the necessary nutrients.

When I activated Regeneration[B-] and Nutrient Synthesis[C+] simultaneously, my torn-away side regenerated in an instant.

It consumed an enormous number of calories, but that was fine.

I'd take some monster meat out of my Inventory—

◆Inventory is empty.

... What?

That snapped me to attention. At the same time, a string of translucent messages appeared before my eyes.

* * *

Inventory is a storage location for items owned by the player and is classified as a 'subspace.'

Only 'items' can be stored in Inventory. Furthermore, these must be 'owned' by the player.

There is no restriction on the type or number of items, provided the player owns them and they are eligible for storage.

However, items cannot be stored beyond the weight limit.

The Inventory weight limit varies according to the player's stats and is calculated as [Player's Strength stat] x [40kg].

* * *

◆Current Inventory weight limit is [880kg].

I already knew that. Inventory had a weight limit, which was why I hadn't been able to take every carcass from the monsters I hunted in the snowy mountains.

But I'd thought 880 kilograms would be enough...

It happened just then.

MURMUR, MURMUR.

Suddenly, I heard a commotion farther down the snowy mountain.

* * *

Kai led the soldiers toward the site of the explosions. And sure enough, what he finally encountered was a Gelu Drake.

The Gelu Drake was a monster classified as belonging to the dragon family. If dragons were the masters and calamities of the continent, the Gelu Drake was the master and calamity of the snowy mountains.

It rarely came down from the summit, but whenever it did, it would demolish a village or two.

The best approach was to leave it alone.

To be honest, even Kai lacked confidence. He wasn't certain he could slay a Gelu Drake on his own.

That was why the shock he felt verged on utter disbelief.

There was a man fighting the Gelu Drake alone right now.

"It's Lord Adrian!"

"Lord Adrian is fighting the Gelu Drake!"

Adrian was locked in a bloody battle with it. Blood was splashed all over the pure white snow, though whose it was, Kai couldn't tell.

And this wasn't the Gelu Drake's territory. They were a considerable distance from the summit where it lived.

Which meant Adrian hadn't lured it here. The Gelu Drake had come down of its own accord.

Kai didn't know why it had left the summit. But once it came down, it wouldn't simply go back up. It would search for prey until its belly was completely full.

And the easiest prey to find in these snowy mountains were the people of the county. At least dozens would fall victim to it. They would have to brace themselves for the destruction of a village or two.

So the Gelu Drake had to be slain.

"All troops, prepare for battle!"

At Kai's shout, the soldiers formed ranks with precision. Their disciplined movements, honed by diligent training, were on par with those of elite troops.

Even so, deep fear settled over their faces.

The Gelu Drake, master of the snowy mountains.

Casualties were all but guaranteed. At least dozens.

Perhaps they would all be wiped out.

Kai drew his sword at the very front. To minimize the soldiers' losses, he would have to bear the full brunt of the attacks himself.

Even then, casualties would be unavoidable, but the Gelu Drake was a monster they had to slay.

Just as Kai tightened his grip on his sword—

"Pull the soldiers back!" Adrian shouted.

The Gelu Drake kept attacking even as he spoke. Barely dodging its attacks, Adrian shouted again.

"The soldiers can't handle a Gelu Drake!"

He was right. The Gelu Drake was both the master and the calamity of the snowy mountains. It hadn't earned that fearsome reputation for nothing.

But even so, this battle—

"Kai! You and I will take on the Gelu Drake ourselves!"

Adrian's voice rang out again, jolting Kai to attention.

A strategy in which only Adrian and Kai faced the Gelu Drake.

Then... they could minimize the soldiers' losses. No, not merely minimize them. They could prevent them entirely.

But Kai had never expected Adrian to say such a thing. Honestly, he'd thought Adrian would throw the soldiers to the monster as bait to save his own skin.

Instead, it was the opposite. Adrian was offering himself as bait to protect them.

'But why...?'

He was so different from the Adrian Kai knew.

Just as Kai thought, Adrian hadn't been consumed by Madness. His reason was perfectly intact. His judgment was exceptionally coolheaded.

Wasn't he holding the Gelu Drake here right now, keeping it from descending the mountain?

If Adrian hadn't held it here... what would have happened?

Kai couldn't know for sure, but countless people in the county would surely have lost their lives.

But all Adrian had done was hold it in place.

Adrian and Kai. Ultimately, the problem would only be resolved if the two of them slew the Gelu Drake.

... But could they?

Honestly, their chances weren't good. Kai would struggle to face the Gelu Drake alone. He estimated his odds of victory at a little over thirty percent.

That was the kind of monster it was.

How much would adding Adrian improve those odds?

One thing was certain.

Adrian was no longer the wastrel of the count's household.

Kai weighed his options and finally reached a decision.

"All troops. Descend the mountain immediately."

"What?!"

"B-but...!"

The soldiers cried out in surprise. Not one of them agreed with Kai's decision.

Naturally so. They were all soldiers of House Whitewolf, men who endured grueling training every day to protect the families, friends, and sweethearts they had in the county.

They knew perfectly well who would die if they fled in fear and allowed the Gelu Drake to descend the mountain.

That only strengthened Kai's conviction.

"That's an order. All troops are to descend the mountain immediately, at speed. Warn the county and evacuate its people to safety."

Until then...

"I'll find a way to hold out."

Even at his command, the soldiers were reluctant to move. It wasn't Kai they distrusted. It was Adrian.

Kai felt the same, but there was no other choice now.

"Go!"

Only when Kai finally shouted did the soldiers reluctantly begin to move, one by one.

"We'll evacuate everyone and return with reinforcements!"

"You have to stay alive until then!"

With those words, the soldiers hurried down the snowy mountain. After making sure they were leaving, Kai kicked off the snow-covered ground.

* * *

The soldiers were hurrying down the mountain.

My reason for ordering their retreat was simple.

'The heart can't be damaged.'

If the soldiers intervened, damage to the Gelu Drake's heart was all but guaranteed. Striking its heart was the surest and quickest way to bring it down, after all.

'I can't let that happen.'

There was no way I'd stand by and watch that. I had to devour the dragon genetic material imprinted in the Gelu Drake completely intact.

How could I carelessly squander genetic material like that?

But that wasn't the only reason I'd pulled the soldiers back.

They were absolutely no match for the Gelu Drake. To put it bluntly, they would be nothing more than meat shields.

Of course, that wasn't to say they wouldn't be useful.

So if I were still my old self, the wastrel of the count's household, I certainly would have sacrificed them.

But that wasn't who I was now.

As the allied army's Predator and the special warfare unit's Chief of Covert Operations, there was something I always told members of the special task force.

To survive on the battlefield, you have to sell everything you've got. You have to be willing to throw away your pride and your soul without hesitation.

But there's one exception.

Never sell out your comrades.

If it comes to selling them out, just die instead.

I would sooner die myself than offer my comrades up as sacrifices.

Of course, the soldiers of Whitewolf Castle weren't my comrades from the allied army. They were soldiers who followed the Sovereign of Bitter Cold. Strictly speaking, they were my enemies.

But what had they done wrong? Their only crime was doing whatever shit their superiors ordered them to do.

There were only so many people I had to kill. Now that I'd decided to hunt the Gelu Drake, sacrificing the soldiers was unnecessary.

Still, hunting it alone was beyond me.

That was why I'd told just one man to stay.

Formerly the Legion Commander of Bitter Cold.

Currently the head knight of House Whitewolf.

In an instant, long blond hair streaked across the snow-white world.

A movement like a flash of golden light.

SLASH!

Kai became a golden wolf, tearing into the Gelu Drake.