After Ten Millennia in Hell

Chapter 47 - Echidna (3)

'Who are these guys?'

Oh Kang-Woo stared at the guy waving his hands at him.

'Are they foreign Players?'

The guy waving at Kang-Woo had blond hair that reached his waist. He looked like a typical handsome Caucasian man with golden armor and a sword that was too luxurious to even look at. It was unlikely that these were ordinary people.

'No, wait.'

Kang-Woo's expression stiffened after looking at the other party members behind the blond man. They were each carrying a hammer, bow, shield, and staff. There wasn't anything off about the man with a shield or the brown-haired woman with a staff, but there was a problem with the short person wielding a hammer and the blonde woman wielding a bow.

'A dwarf and an elf?'

Even if it was possible for the dwarf to be a little person with a round body that made it look like he would roll over if he were hit, the blond woman with long pointed ears had an appearance that only an elf could have.

'They look like a party straight out of a fantasy .'

Kang-Woo looked at them with a troubled expression.

The young blond man in the lead walked toward Kang-Woo and shouted, "Kurgh! H-Hurry!"

"Calm down, Reynald!" The elf archer stopped the young blond man.

"Look at that demonic dragon. It's already about to die."

"Ah…"

"It won't be able to hurt anyone else."

"Fuu, that's a relief." The blond young man sighed in relief after regaining his rationality.

"Who are you?" Kang-Woo asked them using the Authority of Language.

"I am the third prince of the Arnan Empire, Reynald von Arnan," the young blond man answered kindly.

"Arnan Empire?"

"Yes. And you are…?"

Kang-Woo looked at them in confusion, unable to understand what was happening.

Thoughts of the message stating a Gate had connected with the Continent of Aernor and Reynald's mention of the Arnan Empire swirled around in Kang-Woo's mind.

'Are they really people from another world?'

There weren't many other possible conclusions he could come to based on those two pieces of information. A Gate that led to the Continent of Aernor had opened, and his summoned beast had appeared from it along with a few other people. Furthermore, a dwarf and an elf were among them. Kang-Woo was starting to believe that they were indeed people from another world.

[Hurgh. Urghhh.]

While Kang-Woo was confused, Echidna was moaning in pain.

Kang-Woo turned around and saw that Echidna, who was looking at him, was struggling to breathe.

"Damn."

Kang-Woo frowned after realizing that the demonic beast he had waited for a week to summon might die.

'I have to treat it.'

If he lost his summoned beast, then he would have to wait another three months before he could summon another one.

'I can't let that happen.'

Three months wasn't a long time, and Kang-Woo could do without a summoned beast. However, he refused to lose his summoned beast in such a stupid way.

Kang-Woo walked toward Echidna and placed his hands on its giant body.

"W-Wait!" Reynald shouted as he approached Kang-Woo. "What are you doing?!"

Kang-Woo turned his head around to him and said, "This is my summoned beast. I'm not sure why you're trying to kill it, but I can't let it die."

"Kuh! You bastard!"

"So, you're this demonic dragon's master!"

Reynald and his party members drew their weapons and aimed them at Kang-Woo.

Nonetheless, Kang-Woo ignored them and placed his hand on one of Echidna's wounds.

'It's bleeding too much.'

A lot of blood was flowing out of the parted scales.

Kang-Woo used the Authority of Blades and created a small blade. Then he cut the palm of his hands.

'Authority of Regeneration.'

Blood ran down the palm of his hand. The drops of blood that were imbued with the Authority of Regeneration seeped into Echidna's wound.

[Huff… Huff… Wh-Who are you?]

Echidna's wounds quickly started to close. The dragon that had collapsed on the ground looked at Kang-Woo.

She realized something and said in a relieved voice, [Ah… You must be my master.]

Tears dropped from the dragon hatchling's eyes, which were as large as an adult human.

[I'm sorry… for appearing in such a state.]

"…"

Kang-Woo could hear Echidna's voice inside his head, and he gazed at her with a stiff expression.

'I'm not sure what's going on, but…'

Just like what was mentioned in the message window, it seemed like Echidna thought of him as her master.

'And this current situation…'

Kang-Woo looked at Reynald's party, who were staring at him warily with their weapons brandished. It wasn't hard to guess who had hurt Echidna.

"Reveal your identity, you bastard!"

"I'm gonna ask you something," Kang-Woo said.

After discovering that Reynald's party had almost killed his summoned beast, Kang-Woo stopped talking to them politely. He couldn't waste three months waiting to summon another demonic beast, so he couldn't let Echidna die.

It was clear that the bloodlust that Reynald's party emitted was directed at Echidna. This meant that Kang-Woo's goal was opposite to theirs, and the two parties would end up fighting for sure. So, Kang-Woo had no reason to be polite to an enemy.

"Why are you trying to kill Echidna?"

"It's an evil demonic dragon!"

"What did she do exactly?"

Kang-Woo tried to converse with Reynald's party. To be precise, he was trying to buy much-needed time to heal Echidna completely.

'I also want to understand the current situation better.'

All he had wanted to do was summon a high-ranking demonic beast from Hell, but things had suddenly turned complicated with the appearance of a demonic dragon and people from another world.

"It caused a terrible drought and plague! Because of that demonic dragon's magic, many innocent people have lost their lives! Was it perhaps you who commanded it to do that?" Reynald looked at Kang-Woo with eyes full of resentment.

'Drought and plague…?' Kang-Woo pondered.

It was a somewhat vague explanation.

[I told you that… it wasn't me…]

"Shut up! You evil demonic dragon! Who else could it be but you?!" Reynald shouted angrily after hearing Echidna's words.

Kang-Woo looked at Reynald in disbelief.

'It was probably just a natural disaster, you moron.'

He thought of the witch hunts that had taken place in the Middle Ages—that horrible period in history when innocent women had been thought to be the causes of plagues and droughts and therefore put to death.

'Well, I don't know who's telling the truth.'

It wasn't impossible that someone might have caused plagues and droughts on purpose, just as Reynald had said. The world that Reynald lived in was one where magic existed, so Kang-Woo couldn't say for sure that those events were just natural disasters.

'But…'

Kang-Woo looked at Echidna, who was breathing heavily.

Regardless, he was sure that it wasn't Echidna who had caused them. He didn't think that because of his trust in Echidna, whom he had met only a few minutes ago.

'How could she have possibly caused a drought?'

It may have been possible for her to cause a plague. However, for a being to cause drought, it needed to be powerful enough to bend the atmosphere to its will. If there were a being who could do that, that meant that they could interfere in the destiny of a world. In other words, it meant they would have the power to destroy an entire world. There was no way that Echidna could do something that only those who possessed power on par with the seven princes of Hell could pull off.

"Did you try to kill Echidna because of such a simple thing?"

"Simple?! Do you have any idea how many innocent people are suffering and have died because of the drought?!"

"How would I know something like that?"

"I must kill the demonic dragon to save them!" Reynald shouted with a voice filled with a sense of justice.

Kang-Woo looked at Reynald with narrowed eyes.

'I don't like this dumbass.'

Reynald was the type of person that Kang-Woo hated the most. He was a stubborn piece of shit who charged forward blindly in the name of justice—in other words, a dumbass who couldn't be reasoned with.

[Huff, huff.]

Echidna's breathing was starting to stabilize thanks to the Authority of Regeneration. The wound from where blood had been spewing out was closing swiftly.

'It seems like I've bought enough time,' Kang-Woo thought.

It would take some more time to fully heal since the wound was so deep, but it seemed like her life wasn't in danger anymore.

'A summoned beast, huh?'

Kang-Woo looked down at Echidna, whose body was over twenty meters long. He had begun the summoning hoping to get a Cerberus, but things had gone in an extremely weird direction. Still, the result wasn't bad.

'She's a dragon, after all.'

Echidna was only a dragon hatchling, but it was still amazing that Kang-Woo would be able to use a dragon as a summoned beast. She might be a bit weaker than a Cerberus at present, but the growth potential of a dragon couldn't be compared to that of a Cerberus.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you kill Echidna. She's my summoned beast," Kang-Woo stated.

He took his hand off Echidna and turned toward Reynald.

Of course, Kang-Woo wasn't completely certain as to whether Echidna had caused the plague and drought. Even if it was impossible for her to cause the drought, she might have caused the plague somehow. So, Reynald could actually be a hero, and Echidna could really be an evil being that had massacred innocent people.

'But that doesn't matter.'

What mattered to Kang-Woo was that Echidna was worth having as a summoned beast. He would use everyone that could benefit him and eliminate everything that could harm him. It didn't matter to him whether Echidna was evil, as she was valuable to him. Kang-Woo wasn't stupid enough to throw away a winning lottery ticket.

Reynald pointed his sword toward Kang-Woo and yelled in a voice filled with a strong sense of justice, "Vile demon!"

Kang-Woo smirked. "I actually am a demon, man."