Jhin had originally thought this was a great chance for him to swoop in and score an easy pick, but he never imagined that while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole lurks behind—and he was the mantis!
The familiar overlord-tier monster pressure instantly pinned Kyaru to the ground. A Red Dragon flapped its wings and slowly descended to the edge of the crater the Raging Berserker Bear had made, glancing inside at his underlings, who had already been reduced to two puddles of mangled meat. Those pale-golden slitted pupils fixed on the human who still stood with his back straight, facing him head-on.
Strange—he's actually unaffected by the pressure. Could he be one of those special figures newly appearing on the continent, a "Hero" or a "Champion"?
This Red Dragon hadn't left the volcanic region lately, and it rarely communicated with the rest of its brethren, so it was inevitably a bit out of the loop. Adhering to the principle of "better to kill by mistake than let one slip away," it decided not to fuss over the killing of the underlings within its jurisdiction, and to hurry off and report to the boss that a special figure had finally come to the volcano.
Its twin wings whipped up a hurricane that made it hard to even keep one's eyes open. Just as inexplicably as it had descended, the Red Dragon left—as though it had merely come to take a look at Jhin and the others.
Though he couldn't feel the pressure, Jhin still felt a certain strain facing an overlord-tier monster. The combat instinct he'd honed through training told him that against this Red Dragon before him, he would be facing a near-certain death. Fortunately, it left without doing anything.
This sudden encounter set alarm bells blaring in his heart. If he didn't quicken the pace of growing his own strength, then forget the mutated Red Dragon—even its underlings could crush him to death at will. He had made a promise to the girls that he would definitely bring back pure dragon's blood; he couldn't just go back on his word like this.
Jhin pulled Kyaru up from where she was sprawled on the ground and patted the dust off her clothes. He didn't even bother with the lord-tier monster materials in the crater, leaving the place without looking back, to keep that Red Dragon from coming back to find them.
"Boss! I saw a special human who dared to come to our volcano!"
In front of Letishi, that Red Dragon from before was about the size of a little chick. Right now it was staring intently at its underling with both eyes, the tip of its tail flicking slightly, unable to contain its excitement. "What do you mean, a special human? Did you figure out his profession and his strength?"
"Uh... I forgot to ask. It's been so long since any human came around, I even forgot how to speak their common tongue. But being able to ignore my pressure, he's got to be an existence on the same level as a 'Hero,' no matter how you slice it."
"Did you preserve his aura?"
"Of course!" After the underling finished speaking, it raised its right claw and clenched at the empty air. Two bubbles wrapped in mist slowly drifted out. "On something like this, I would never mess up!"
After sensing the aura within, Letishi closed both eyes. A nameless ripple radiated out with it at the center, quickly blanketing the entire Red Dragon Volcano and directly locking onto the location of Jhin and Kyaru.
Letting out a bored yawn, it blinked, and a projected image appeared before it—within it were the very figures of Jhin and Kyaru.
"As expected of the boss, your Projection Perception grows more and more skillful," the Red Dragon immediately laid on a bit of flattery.
What it didn't know was that this flattery had landed right on Letishi's sore spot. You see, as a mutated Red Dragon, its talent for learning draconic magic was not high. Even this [Projection Perception], which every normal dragon could do, had taken it ninety years of human time to painstakingly master—all so that one day it could observe in advance that opponent fated to it.
"Get the hell out of here, you're disturbing my viewing!" Letishi blasted a stream of air from its nostrils, blowing the underling straight out of the cave. In irritation, it lashed its tail and sent a spray of magma flying. This behavior was no different from a human slapping the water in frustration while taking a bath—only the setting had changed from hot water to magma.
"Ahh~ Boss... why..."
Paying no mind to that idiot underling, Letishi shifted its gaze to the image, muttering under its breath: "Black hair and blue eyes, just as the prophecy said. But why is his strength so weak? Wait... how is there not even any mana in his body?"
After observing carefully with wide eyes, it confirmed that there was no mana within Jhin's body. And yet, in the image, he could grip a strangely shaped magic staff and use magic. That reminded it of a profession once known as the Ancient Mage.
They likewise had no mana within their bodies, but they were exceedingly skilled at Elemental Manipulation. Basically every Ancient Mage had to master at least three schools of elemental magic; anyone who couldn't even do that would be regarded as a disgrace to the Ancient Mages.
After confirming again and again that the human in the image was weak to an unsightly degree, Letishi decided to have the underling arrange some monsters to give this human a proper workout. Whether or not he was the human from the prophecy, having the courage to explore deep into the Red Dragon Volcano was still worth a bit of praise.
As for whether the dispatched monsters would tear this human to shreds—that was no longer its concern. If he could survive the training, then it meant he ought to be able to become the one from the prophecy. If he couldn't, then there was nothing more to say; let him fill those monsters' bellies.
Jhin still had no idea that his and Kyaru's every move was being watched by the final BOSS of the Red Dragon Volcano. After encountering the Red Dragon, he began actively seeking out battles, wrapping the wind element around himself to disperse the heat.
This trick worked better than any taunt skill. He'd only just felt the coolness when an Iron-Feathered Crimson Eagle immediately dove down from the clouds, its sharp talons—capable of easily piercing through stone—shooting straight for the back of its prey's head.
This was its favorite method: dig out the prey's brain directly and let the volcano's high heat cook it, then find a nice spot to feast to its heart's content.
"Bang, bang, bang."
Three crisp gunshots, and the Iron-Feathered Crimson Eagle peering at Jhin's brain lost its life.
The instant it saw that pitch-black muzzle, it realized the scythe of death was already resting against its neck. It tried to change direction at once, but it couldn't outmatch the speed of the jet-black lightning fired from the barrel. The black thunder effortlessly corroded and melted its steel feathers, then pierced through its flesh, carrying away its consciousness and its life.
Before this Iron-Feathered Crimson Eagle had even fallen to the ground, a Gravel Snake lurking beneath the earth shot out like lightning from the scorched soil under Jhin's feet. Before its sharp, venom-soaked twin fangs could pierce the skin of his leg, a flash of sword light streaked past, and the snake's head, no longer supported by its body, slammed straight down onto the ground—its mouth still gaping wide, wanting to inject venom into its prey.
Before Jhin could kick the snake's head aside, a ghostly-blue fireball came racing toward his utterly undefended back. Because she had been told beforehand not to interfere at will, Kyaru could only grip her magic staff tightly, her defensive magic primed and ready—the moment the fireball came within two meters and he still hadn't reacted, she would release it instantly.
Without turning his head, Jhin swung a slash of Sword Qi backhanded toward the direction where the fire element felt abnormally active in his senses.
The two collided, producing a violent explosion. Although the smoke from the blast hadn't yet dispersed, he had already locked onto the ambusher's position and immediately hoisted his rocket launcher, firing in a single direction.
Letishi watched the image and commented: "Hmm... his combat style is rather odd. But having the courage to lower the temperature inside the volcano—that courage is commendable."
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