Chapter 153

〈 Chapter 153 〉 Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 13

Blazing Phoenix hadn’t noticed the man and woman riding atop Black Flame Dragon at that moment.

Deep within the resting place of Chaos Dragon, all former members of the Eastern Academy who now called themselves the Illusory Dragon Group, dressed in his sacred garments, were pouring out every ounce of magic power they had.

“Commander…! This is beyond our limits!”

The seated special ability user cried out as he reached his limit. But Commander Bonghyo shook his head fiercely and harshly rebuked him.

“Foolish one! What does our Lord hate most?”

“…Waking him up while he sleeps!”

“That’s right! Thus, we must prepare a proper resting place for our Lord to sleep peacefully!”

Bonghyo shouted to the members. They too didn’t wish to disturb the slumber of the being they called Lord, but unfortunately, their limits were clear.

“A scheme to wake Him using magical resonance? Then we can counter it by releasing magic power ourselves!”

Bonghyo was a capable individual. So much so that the late genius imitator bestowed upon him the honorary title of successor. With his brilliant mind, Bonghyo quickly found a way to thwart the morning terror.

But there was one problem: their willpower was waning faster than their magic power. A member stationed outside the secret base urgently signaled.

[They’re coming! The wake-up trumpet… Wh-what?! Ack!!]

“Hmph.”

His entire body began to tremble with rising memories best left buried. Among countless melodies, why did this alarm have to resurface during this crisis? It was the wake-up trumpet used back at the academy.

“…Grr…”

Honestly speaking, it wasn’t a physically painful or irritating attack. There was no bodily damage, yet mentally, it was extremely unpleasant.

“Commander.”

“What.”

“Can’t we just stop doing this?”

“To be honest, I don’t want to either. It only gives me headaches and is such a hassle.”

Sitting cross-legged, drenched in sweat from emitting magic power for hours, even though Chaos Dragon slept soundly, the members tried to keep their spirits high watching Him snore softly.

But that’s one thing, and this is another. Irritation arose once again with the changed melody.

Dingdingding. Good morning.

“How long are they planning to keep singing this morning song?”

“This is bad. Instead of getting tired of it, we’re starting to get used to it.”

“Pull yourself together. That’s exactly what the enemy wants. Once we start getting used to it, they’ll switch to another song…!”

Bonghyo sensed the malice hidden within the cheerful melody mixed with magic power.

“They’re trying to irritate us to wake Him…! Specifically, this person!”

The alarms and trumpets covering all of China targeted only one being: Chaos Dragon. The enemy didn’t care about inconveniencing a million special ability users; their sole purpose was to wake Chaos Dragon by any means necessary.

“They must be a being similar to our Lord…”

That’s why Bonghyo couldn’t wake Chaos Dragon. Though he didn’t know who the enemy was, their intent to awaken Chaos Dragon was unmistakable.

“How do you know that?”

“Instinct!”

Perhaps because he was the first monster created by Chaos Dragon, Bonghyo quickly understood the nature of the young maiden who had become his new master.

She simply wanted to keep sleeping.

To be blunt, the Illusory Dragon Group was established by Bonghyo himself, and Chaos Dragon merely rejoiced in the slightly better bed and location provided by them.

Mattresses, toppers, comforters, sleep socks, sleep masks—every item designed for a good night’s rest was provided, and in return, Chaos Dragon freed them from child labor and transformed them into monsters. Thus, they had to protect Chaos Dragon. Under Bonghyo’s leadership, the Illusory Dragon Group worked tirelessly to center their formation around Chaos Dragon.

For the sake of comrades still trapped in child labor.

And for the benefactor who granted them new lives.

“Kruuuuugghh…!”

However, even rocks wear away when constantly dripped upon. The chirping of Bright Flames finally broke through their formation.

Goodgoodgoodmorningningning

“Huff…!”

A member’s eyes bloodshot as the repetitive melody hit him like a round robin. He suffered from anger management issues since his days alive.

“AAAAHHH!! It’s so loud!!”

“You?!”

Bonghyo was startled and tried to stop the man, but the formation had already collapsed. Holes riddled the soundproof barrier made of magic power.

“…Grrr.”

Chaos Dragon covered His ears and frowned. Bonghyo silently screamed without making a sound, but Chaos Dragon slowly sat up in bed.

“…”

Seated cross-legged with His head bowed low, Chaos Dragon looked like an insomniac patient awakened by early morning noise pollution, radiating irritation.

“…Bonghyo.”

His voice changed. In a deeply groggy tone, Chaos Dragon called out to Bonghyo, who stood up thinking, “Here it comes.”

“Yes.”

“Prepare to leave.”

Chaos Dragon’s eyes were bloodshot.

“I’m going to rip out the neck of whoever dares to crow again.”

Standing up from the bed, Chaos Dragon spoke.

* * *

“YOOOAAAH!!!”

With a shout, I swung Deokbae (the stone club). The claws aiming for my head were blocked by Deokbae, and without stopping, I struck the Monster Bird.

Keeeeeoooooooot?!

The Monster Bird screeched and crashed onto the ground. Its wings twisted and snapped as it tumbled two or three times, blood flowing from its feathers.

“Hmph. Such arrogance.”

I climbed onto the chest of the Monster Bird, which resembled a rooster, and stomped hard.

KyaAAAAAAk?!

The Monster Bird screamed and spat blue blood. Thanks to my magically enhanced body, a simple stomp seemed to have ruptured its internal organs.

“Hence, you should know your place, right?”

I raised Deokbae vertically, pinning the flailing wing. Blood spurted from the Monster Bird’s beak, and I thrust my sharpened hand toward its heart.

Psshewww!

Blood splattered on my face, but thanks to the protective layer of magic I’d formed on my skin, none actually touched my real face. Recalling where the heart should be, I fumbled around inside.

“It should be around here… Ah, here it is.”

Plop. I pulled out the rubbery heart of the Monster Bird. The connecting blood vessels tore violently under my clumsy handling, and the Monster Bird met its end from the pain.

Kerekk.

Was it perhaps excessive? Even though Phoenix herself is a bird, killing another avian-type monster felt unsettling.

“…No, not really.”

‘This could’ve been me.’

Phoenix’s strength is evident, but I, her handler, am still lacking. To defeat the Celestial Lord who rides the stars and the otherworldly deity, I must undoubtedly reach SSS Rank.

None other than me, Blazing Phoenix.

“Right. I absolutely cannot die.”

Kwa-chik. I crushed the heart and retrieved the core within. Wiping off the blood, the core shone a deep green.

“A Rank… Tch.”

I clenched the core in my hand and tossed it to Deokbae. Still in his stone club state, he greedily absorbed the core’s magic power.

Yumyum.

While Deokbae ate, I smirked at the massive magical presence I sensed from afar.

“Hmph hah. Of course they couldn’t resist jumping straight in.”

During my personal route, despite employing every method possible, Chaos Dragon never left the bed. Even in the post-route H-event scene, Chaos Dragon refused to leave the bed when the protagonist attacked during sleep.

Instead, He pulled the protagonist into bed to sleep together.

And the weakness of waking Him up and provoking explosive anger in the young lady—I knew it all too well.

“The moment the wake-up call started, He was already awake, right? But He just ignored it because it was annoying.”

Chaos Dragon is fundamentally an ethereal spirit. Since I, too, compose my physical form from magic power, reacting immediately to widespread magical vibrations would be impossible.

“Although He woke up a bit later than expected, it doesn’t matter much.”

I clenched and unclenched my fists, loosening my muscles. Now, the only task remaining is to undo the brainwashing of Chaos Dragon, leaving behind only the Spirit of the Illusory Dragon as a leader.

“Mr. Deokbae, wake up.”

I picked up the stone club and tapped it against my palm. Although Deokbae voraciously consumed the A Rank core, unfortunately, he failed to evolve past C Rank.

“Still hasn’t evolved?”

[Nah, what’s the deal? I think if I eat a little more, I might evolve.]

“So ultimately, you’re still stuck at C Rank, huh? Tch. It’d be much more advantageous to evolve before battling the gym leader.”

[Is this even a gym?]

If it weren’t for the dead Monster Bird, the neatly spread gray bricks could pass for a cultural heritage site—a training ground.

“Kinda, right? It’s the special ability users’ training ground. Shall we prepare for the guests?”

I incinerated the Monster Bird’s corpse with flames. The pungent smell of burning protein rose along with ash toward the sky.

[Why don’t you just erase it?]

“To draw attention. Mr. Deokbae, wouldn’t the smell of fried chicken attract a lot of guests?”

[Are you the chicken boss?]

“Do you want to die?”

[Oh, finally gonna kill me? Without reviving me this time?]

Deokbae kept teasing me. For some reason, the longer time went on, the sassier he got, reminding me of Yahuang from the early days of the original story.

“…Sigh. Fine. Let’s wrap this up quickly and head back to Korea.”

[Quickly?]

“Yes. Hence, I’m drawing attention now.”

KyaAAAAaaak!

A giant bear burst through the wall. I readied my stance, raising my fist.

“B Rank, A Rank, S Rank. Catching flies drawn by the scent of food, one by one…”

Click.

I flicked my finger. My vision enveloped in blue flames as I transformed my physical form into that of a monster.

[By the time SS Rank is reached, I’ll let them come to me since I’m too lazy to go.]

Now it’s time for the monster Phoenix.

Whoosh.

Blue flames erupted from the stone club. Influenced by the activated Spirit Stone, the stone club turned into a flaming mace.

[Let’s do some warming up until Chaos Dragon arrives.]

Keyeek?!

I hurled the flaming mace toward the startled bear monster’s forehead.

Strike.

* * *

Before heading over to China,

I, Yun Yuhwa, and Rusalka pooled our wits together.

Chaos Dragon.

S-Rank monsters hiding across various regions.

And the Cube.

Each one was a bomb ready to explode at the slightest misstep, and Motae Kyung was a lunatic who could use these bombs to wreak havoc.

“Can’t we just extract Chaos Dragon?”

“Nope. Eventually, he’ll resurrect the God using the Cube. We need to find it.”

“But how do we locate the Cube? We can’t scan the whole of China with magic power.”

“We’ll borrow Chaos Dragon’s power. By causing chaos across the continent, we’ll divert Motae Kyung’s attention while thoroughly searching each area for the Cube.”

Just as Sun Icheol knows about the existence of the Cube, so does Motae Kyung.

“But he doesn’t know exactly where it is. It’ll likely take two years to discover.”

Unlike Sun Icheol, who clearly knows the location, or Cheongsong, who already possesses the Cube, Motae Kyung has spent two years combing through China with the academy, and it will take about two more years to find it.

“Is there any possibility he found it earlier?”

“Yes. Fortunately, absolutely not.”

No matter how much the world seems determined to mess with me, that fact won’t change. After casually steering the topic elsewhere, I returned to planning with them.

“Let me reiterate: the narrower Motae Kyung’s focus becomes, the better. Before he goes crazy and starts pressing missile buttons again, we need to redirect his attention back to domestic China.”

“Will your disappearance alone suffice? You’re aware that Sun Icheol’s Pine Tree Unit is modeled after Motae Kyung’s academy, right?”

“Yes. Much nastier bastards.”

In every way, nasty bastards. As the worst enemies harassing the protagonist group attempting to escape through Chinese land routes, Motae Kyung promised to reward captured heroines as common playthings for the academy, provoking them further.

“Therefore, we’ll wipe out the academy, the monsters, and Motae Kyung altogether. Over the next five and a half years, we must ensure they never cast covetous eyes on this land again. And as a bonus, we’ll knock Chaos Dragon down and bring him along.”

I pointed out the locations of S-Rank monsters stationed across China based on my memory.

“So my plan is simple.”

I spun the map with a marker.

“Chaos War.”

While previous battle stages were confined to narrow areas like Guro, Busan, or the Yalu River, this battlefield is on a much larger scale.

“We’ll unleash chaos across the entirety of China. The more chaotic, the better. The more chaos there is, the more headaches Motae Kyung will have dealing with the internal strife. To summarize simply,”

I gave them a bright smile.

“We’re throwing all plans aside and creating mayhem across the continent!”

And that’s what Blazing Phoenix excels at most.

Chaos. Confusion. After all, isn’t the opponent Chaos Dragon?

“That’s my plan.”

‘Plans always fall apart anyway.’

Even as Yun Yuhwa and Rusalka collaborated on strategies for my legal entry, dispersing Motae Kyung’s attention, and future actions, it ultimately held no meaning.

[Just kill them all.]

How wonderfully simple and perfect is this plan?