Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 75

Tracking (2)

Squeak –

Skin gently torn. The meat juices flowed out, releasing the rich aroma of meat and seasoning.

The moment you put a large piece of meat in your mouth and chew it, the flavor gently explodes in your mouth.

The meat is so soft that even a child can tear it open without a knife, yet has a subtle chewiness, so you won’t miss out on the fun of chewing it.

“hmm.”

Dallen closed his eyes. When you eat a true delicacy, no words are needed.

“It’s delicious.”

After swallowing the meat that had almost melted in his mouth, he reached out again for the dragon’s tail cut into large pieces on the table.

“…Are you sure it’s okay?”

On the other hand, the chef himself, who really deserved the praise, was sitting across the table, cackling as he ate the meat.

Lucia said with an anxious look on her face.

“No matter what, you’re only eating it for the first time in a few days, so shouldn’t you start with porridge or stew?”

“The meat is as soft as porridge. “Then I guess that’s it.”

As Dallen said that, he cut the meat into large pieces and took it to his plate.

He had already eaten more than 10 servings of dragon tail meat in one sitting. The two and a half bottles of wine that accompanied it were a bonus.

“There’s a saying in my hometown: “The ghost that ate and died also has beautiful stains.”

“That’s… something that only necromancers would say.”

“When do you plan to start maturing the hind legs?”

Dallen suddenly changed the topic and put the fist-sized piece of meat back into his mouth.

The subtle scent of spices and wine wafting through the bursting meat juice. The meat gently melts on the tongue and palate.

I fell to this earth to eat this. Go away from the tuple Korean beef. It was a taste that made me think like that.

Lucia’s eyes, which were biting into the meat, turned subtly cold.

“…At this rate, I can believe that the meat in front of you is more important than Everlock’s whereabouts.”

“Well, big big. “That’s not it.”

Dallen chewed and swallowed what was left in his mouth and rinsed his mouth with wine. If you want to continue eating the delicacy, you must not displease the cook.

“To summarize, Everlock Glasden stole the Knights’ important treasure while plotting a rebellion.”

“That’s right.”

“What on earth is that treasure?”

Dallen wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and asked.

Everlock’s whereabouts themselves were not difficult to guess. Because he jumped through space with the power of Oxycyrus.

Most likely, he headed to the den of Cheongrin, the master of the decapitated sub-dragon and an old true dragon lurking deep in the crack.

However, he did not know what the knightly treasure he had taken meant.

‘In the game, after Everlock rebelled, he stole all the unclaimed holy swords.’

But this time things were different. The rebellion he started was suppressed without even a chance to steal the holy sword.

The holy sword that was used during the fight with Daelon must have disappeared, but there’s no way Lucia would make such a fuss about it.

‘Isn’t just one holy sword a big deal?’

If you think about it, the reason you came all the way to the headquarters was because you received a request to transport the holy sword. It was also a holy sword that originally lost all of its power in the devil’s hands.

Just as I was about to continue pondering, Lucia told me the correct answer.

“First of all, it is a matter kept secret within the Order except for those involved, but we have confirmed that the key to the crack barrier has disappeared along with Everlock.”

That’s a big deal. Dallen quietly put down the piece of meat he was bringing to his mouth.

The crack guarded by the Holy Knights was a huge valley leading to a labyrinth.

And usually, a valley is a landform with two cliffs next to it and an open sky above your head.

Although the Knights blocked the entrance to the rift with several fortresses, if that was really all there was to it, there was no reason why the monsters could not come out to the surface.

It’s not like there aren’t monsters with wings, and even monsters without wings can just dig their claws into the cliff and climb up.

‘What prevents that is the wall of cracks.’

More than a thousand years ago, around the time the Holy Knights were born.

After the great war that drove the demons into the rift, the Transcendents took several measures to close the rift.

The birth of the Holy Knights and the barrier mountain range surrounding the headquarters area were among those measures.

And the barrier of the crack was an invisible wall of magic that covered the upper part of the valley to prevent monsters from escaping overhead.

“Fortunately, there was only one key stored in the third sanctuary. “It is possible to weaken the barrier, but it is impossible to completely disarm it.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“Even that is something that doesn’t work without the leader’s authority, so it will take quite a bit of time to find a way. But even so, it is impossible for it to remain in the hands of a traitor… “.”

Lucia trailed off and fidgeted with her neatly folded hands. Dallen chuckled. He said, gently shaking the half-filled bottle of wine.

“I will help you.”

“…yes?”

“Weren’t you trying to ask for help?”

“no. No, that’s true. Well…I’ve already had so much help. “I feel sorry for always causing inconvenience.”

Lucia pursed her lips. Dallen laughed softly and drank the bottle of wine.

The sweet yet rich scent spreads throughout your mouth. It was a liquor that emphasized the refreshing and sweet taste and aroma rather than alcohol content.

This area, where the headquarters of the Holy Knights were located, was also famous for grapes and wine.

It was ironic that the casters themselves were members of the Knights Templar or their relatives, so they did not enjoy alcohol that much.

“I’ve told you many times, but I’m a mercenary.”

Dallen put down the empty bottle and opened his mouth.

“He is a person who will go anywhere as long as there is enough compensation.”

“But I’ve never heard of a dragon slayer being hired as a mercenary.”

Lucia spoke with a troubled expression. Dallen scratched his chin. So you’re saying you want to hire someone, but you have no idea how much to charge?

In fact, it was an ambiguous issue even from Dallan’s perspective.

He said he would move for a fee, but in reality, the biggest reward for him was not the gold coins offered by the client.

At some point, his focus was less on money and more on the abilities of the corpses to be recovered on the journey and the journey itself, which would thwart the apocalyptic trick.

Of course, it was also true that this was something that could be done since there were chests of gold coins in subspace.

‘But it’s not profitable for me to ask for a few more sacred tattoos or gold coins.’

Since ancient times, it was better to raise the ransom price when it was possible.

Moreover, in order to track down Everlock, one would have to go deep into the rift, even beyond the Holy Knights’ defense line.

It’s like sticking your head into the jaws of monsters, so if it’s a quest of this level of difficulty, there’s nothing you can say even if you rip off the holy relic.

He pondered while stroking his chin and soon made a decision.

“I will ask for three things in compensation.”

***

I accepted the request, but did not leave right away.

It was clear that Oxycyrus had taken refuge in the den of the true dragon Cheongrin within the rift.

As a result of tracking it with the explorer’s left eye fragment, its direction was indeed towards the inside of the crack.

And entering the crack, or even beyond the knights’ defense line, is as dangerous as stepping into the depths of the labyrinth.

It was the same for Dallan and the Knights who wanted to go in fully prepared.

After waking up after a day of rest, the first thing Dallen did was visit Knight Commander Edgar.

The reason is none other than to receive a sacred tattoo.

There were a total of three sacred tattoos he would receive.

Two as commission reward. And there is one remuneration and advance payment for the new request.

Once you get a tattoo, you can’t get another tattoo for three days, so Dallen underwent the procedure over about 10 days.

As a result, a total of three sacred tattoos were engraved on his left arm.

Two of them were placed just below the seal of the curse shield on the shoulder, and the other was placed on the back of the left hand.

“It’s all over. “Just like the two sacred tattoos I got on my shoulder earlier, these will blend into your skin in a few days.”

Edgar said after the final tattoo was engraved on the back of his hand in a two-hour procedure.

“As you know, handling sacred tattoos requires not only a significant amount of sacred power but also long-term training. “Do not take lightly the power that God gives you.”

“I understand.”

Edgar nodded happily. He gave me several pills the size of my little finger, telling me to take them if I felt any pain, and left the room.

Although it had already been nearly fifteen days since Everlock’s rebellion was suppressed, confusion due to the civil war still remained throughout the Holy Knights.

Therefore, it was not easy to see the face of even Dallan, the greatest contributor to this civil war, unless he had a sacred tattoo like this.

‘By the way, it’s divine power.’

Dallen sat down on the bed and scratched his chin. In fact, one of the reasons he came to the headquarters of the Knights was to retrieve the corpse inside the crack and gain divine power.

Not only could he not use the sacred tattoo without divine power, but he could only use some of the holy sword’s abilities.

In any case, since this request has put me in a rift, I can use it as an opportunity to retrieve the body.

Cheeeee……

Dallen removed the cloth covering the back of his hand and stood in front of the mirror. The back of my left hand was constantly emitting steam.

The dragon’s regenerative power, which seeks to recover from wounds, and the divine power, which seeks to maintain the sacred tattoo, oppose each other.

Fortunately, Edgar said that historically, there have been cases of humans with dragon blood successfully receiving sacred tattoos.

And it seemed to be true, seeing as the two tattoos on his shoulder were well placed.

One was completely assimilated into the skin, and the other now only had a faint trace, but inside Dallen, he was sensing a subtle ring of power connected from his shoulder.

‘I received it just in case, but I hope I don’t have to use it for this request.’

The sacred tattoo I received this time was not the type that increased my abilities.

After thinking deeply, there were many ways to increase my abilities even if I didn’t have a sacred tattoo.

So Dallen chose a type of ability that is difficult to obtain through leveling up or recovering corpses.

‘Although I was thinking about the distant future, there was also the meaning of preparing for an unexpected situation in the crack.’

Dallen rolled up his left sleeve and opened the status window.

――――――――

Name: Dallon

Level: 15

[Strength: 34] [Skill: 25] [Stamina: 30]

[Sense: 21] [Intelligence: 22] [Magic Power: 21]

Skill: Dehaman’s Armor Fighting (D) Night Vision (E) Dragon’s Blood’s Regeneration Factor (C) Leaping (E) Flame Arrow (D) Quick Freeze (D) Lapanthella’s Crushing Blade (C) Hegaleus’ Rain of Flame (C) Shooting Lightning (D) Seal of Curse (D) Secret Sword of Reredonara (B)

――――――――

I have already reached level 15.

The physical strength level increased by killing the dragon and leveling up, and finally reached 30 for the second time.

In case his body almost exploded like last time, Dallon rested well and distributed his abilities when his condition was fully recovered.

However, contrary to what I had feared, there was no significant change.

I just felt like my breath was clearer and my body was noticeably lighter.

‘And the heartbeat… it feels like something is deeper.’

The reason that some ability did not appear right away may have been because a clear image did not yet exist within Dallen.

In that sense, there was definitely room for the pulsating heart containing the factor of dragon blood to provide a clue to that image.

[Dragon blood regeneration factor (C)]

– The result of extracting regenerative factors from among the numerous special factors contained in dragon blood and applying them to humans. The incomprehensible regenerative power is the lowest level of dragon blood’s characteristics, but from the perspective of mortals, it is the ability desired more than anything else.

– 90% proficiency

The regeneration factor of Dragon Blood was already approaching 90% proficiency.

As it was the first C-grade skill acquired, its proficiency was overwhelming compared to other skills of the same class.

A C-grade skill that is scheduled to reach 100% for the first time if nothing else happens.

If the power of a domain is to materialize possibilities, then there is no need to get caught up in the classification of skills or abilities.

Dallen, who was deep in thought about the two forces reaching the border, naturally began to contemplate beyond the images as usual.

***

Another week passed. Thanks to the efforts of the leader and the Holy Knights, the knights managed to regain stability.

And Dallon was finally able to enter the crack.

He was not alone. It was a very important mission for the Knights to track down and capture Everlock and retrieve the Holy Sword and the Rift Wall key from him.

To succeed in the mission, the Knights assembled a special team.

A party comprised of inquisitors and high-ranking paladins, along with Dallan, the elder wizard Felver Valentino, and his disciples.

As he sat on his horse and left the crevice, Dallon gently stroked the head of the ax on his waist.

This is also one of the rewards requested for this request.

This hatchet, with a vague wave pattern engraved along the blade, was one of the holy relics stored in the knights’ armory.

One of the high-ranking paladins approached Dallan, who naturally pulled back his hand that was on the head of the ax and took out some beef jerky in a leather pouch.

A half-new gray beard and soft yet firm eyes.

The middle-aged man who was nominally the leader of the group was a high-ranking paladin who had lived with the sword of God for half a century.

He opened his mouth.