[Emergency! Emergency!]
[Hunter Train is temporarily stopping operations.]
[Attacking entity: Uranium Dragon]
[Threat level unknown…]
Ka-BLAM!
“It’s an attack!”
“Damn it, my weapon is still under repair at Blacksmith!”
“Get ready to fight right now!”
“How long has it been since we tackled the Blood Swamp Dungeon…!”
“Holy freaking hell! That damn lizard is ruining my massage time! Can’t even take a break! YO!”
“Hey! You’ve got a translation module, why are you still using that trashy tone!”
“It’s my style, bitch!”
“Do you want to die?!”
Hunters who were enjoying drinks or leisure at sports centers and amusement facilities erupted in anger at the sudden storm and quickly began to position themselves, showing they weren’t rookies.
Among the gathered hunters, some weren’t even fully dressed in their hunter suits, yet they all tensed their bodies, ready to unleash their abilities at any moment.
“Surely it can’t get in here, right?”
“There’s no way…”
The hunter train was made from high-quality Griden minerals that could only be obtained from the Smooth Plains Dungeon.
Not only were they sturdy, but the mana that clung to the minerals in nature protected them from nuclear bombardment and could withstand even the attacks of ordinary A-grade monsters without leaving a scratch.
“Everything here is reinforced Griden minerals. It’s impossible unless an S-grade monster comes in droves.”
“Shut up about impossible…!”
Unfortunately, saying “impossible” was forbidden in the hunter world.
Right after uttering those words, that “impossible event” was bound to occur.
BANG!
“Gah.”
“You made a hole in it!!”
“I didn’t think it would actually break…!”
“What is that?!”
“Is it crazy that it broke through?!”
Before they could even finish speaking, the outer wall was smashed open.
A strange shape burrowed its way into the casino area designed for hunters inside the train.
It was surely the Uranium Dragon warned about in the broadcast.
The peculiar aspect about it was how the mouth and skin of the Uranium Dragon glistened like a crocodile or lizard.
Gr-rrr…
“……”
“Damn.”
“It’s a dinosaur… that thing’s huge…”
The tough outer wall of the hunter train couldn’t withstand the force and crumbled like paper.
This meant that the Uranium Dragon might be classified as S-grade.
The appearance of the Uranium Dragon was somewhat unique compared to typical dragons.
While dragons usually flaunt a sleek, majestic physique, the Uranium Dragon was quite chubby for a dragon.
One could say…
A dinosaur.
A sparkling dinosaur.
Rather than a dragon, it resembled a T-Rex.
‘Is it a dinosaur?’
‘Why is its skin so shiny?’
‘Is that radiation?’
‘Wow! Glowing King Dragon!’
Even hunters seeing the Uranium Dragon for the first time whispered to one another, saying it looked more like a dinosaur than a dragon.
Gr-rr!
Soon, the predatory gaze of the Uranium Dragon shifted towards the hunters.
What its purpose was in attacking the hunter train was still uncertain, but that wasn’t the priority at the moment.
In the eyes of the Uranium Dragon, they must look as insignificant as cockroaches, and hunters who locked eyes with it swallowed hard in fear of death, tensing every muscle.
[..You puny little bastards.]
[So you all are here, huh?]
“What?”
“Huh..?”
“What is it?”
So it could talk?
Intelligent monsters were definitely very dangerous.
But, but….
‘Why does it speak like that?!’
It just so happened that all the hunters here had language translation modules installed on their smartwatches or Hunter Assistant Drones, and they could clearly hear the words uttered by the sparkling-skinned Uranium Dragon.
“Is that Korean?”
“Sounds like North Korean…?”
“North Korean?!”
“What the hell…”
[You little bastards! Prepare yourselves! I’ll wipe you out with my main nuclear breath!]
GRAAAH!
“……D-Defensive formation!!!”
[For the great leader Dragon!]
“That damn crazy red dragon!!”
As the massive energy began to gather in the Uranium Dragon’s mouth, hunters turned pale, scrambling to respond.
What the heck?
Did it deliberately use that tone to provoke human complacency?
While it was noted that dragons had high intelligence and could easily understand or learn human languages, no one expected such a thick North Korean dialect to come out of a dragon’s mouth.
If it was intentional, they must have succeeded spectacularly.
“HOLY SHT!!! BARRIER, YOU BTCHES, NOW!!”
“Shut your trashy mouth, you BBC bastard!”
“Whoa, you f*cking racist!”
“Stop talking nonsense and set up the barrier!!!”
“Watch out for the breath! Don’t let it burst forth!”
“Damn it! But why is that crazy lizard’s tone like that?!”
“It’s not my fault!!”
The hunters coordinated their defenses and began to spread the barrier in a tight 8 seconds.
The Uranium Dragon took 10 seconds to unleash its breath.
Although the hunters’ reactions were organized and precise, it still wasn’t enough to protect against the overwhelming disaster of dragon breath, and the hunters knew that.
Ka-BOOM!
Finally, the Uranium Dragon’s breath, filled with overwhelming mass, shot forth as hunters clenched their eyes tightly or grit their teeth to hold the barriers.
But the moment that bizarre, rainbow-like breath approached, the hunters realized.
This Uranium Dragon was not A-grade.
It was at least S-grade.
Less than a day had passed since the hunter train had departed, and an S-grade monster had arrived to intercept it.
While it wasn’t among the top tier S-grade monsters like Elder Mandragora or Emperor Goblin, it could at least be likened to the Centipede Dragon, and the breath shot forth by an S-grade monster contained enough mana that even A-grade Protector Hunters had limits in blocking it.
BAM!
“Ugh!”
“Ugh…!”
BAM!
It was breaking through.
10 seconds.
No, 5 seconds.
Everyone gathered understood clearly.
In 5 seconds, the barrier would be shattered.
The Uranium Dragon might stop its breath by then, but there was no way it would just yield after firing just one.
If it whipped its tail or slammed them down with its feet, they would be dead.
Heavenly Thunder
PPOW!
And in that moment, a blue lightning incarnate appeared before the hunters as the barrier shattered.
Some had blonde hair brimming with lightning, and while wearing a revealing Greek-style outfit with a muscular build, they quickly realized that the owner of the lightning was Zeus.
Very few could grasp the speed.
It literally appeared faster than sound, at lightning speed.
[This punk… is… trample-huh!!?]
Without a second thought, Zeus delivered a kick right to the Uranium Dragon’s jaw as it plunged its mouth into the inside of the train.
The lightning-fueled kick shattered the Uranium Dragon’s jaw, sending it flying outside.
Sounds of explosions echoed, indicating that even S-grade hunters began intercepting the Uranium Dragon as soon as the alarm rang.
“……”
Hunters let out a sigh of relief while gazing at Zeus, who had sent the Uranium Dragon flying with awe and admiration.
Clearly, even that infamous playboy known as Golden Sun was still an S-grade individual.
“Wow…”
“Hey, you hunters! Block the entrance immediately!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“There’s no way you guys can defeat that lizard, so focus on protecting civilians and the train.”
Zeus ground her teeth and muttered.
“Damn it. Just as I was about to have some fun with these pretty girls, this happens?”
“…….”
“You better not die easily, Glowing King Dragon!”
With lightning grasped in her hand, Zeus charged through the hole and out.
“Well, it’s Zeus after all.”
“…..I regret thinking that girl was anything but completely cool for even a moment.”
Once outside, Zeus stood atop the train, observing the surroundings.
“Wow, these lizard bastards…”
There were more than just a couple of them.
There were at least over ten, and while each varied in size, the smallest could easily match a T-Rex seen in movies.
[You damn Yankees!!!]
[Prepare to taste the main nuclear breath of our leader!]
That strange and bizarre tone was impossible to get used to, but the threat they posed was real.
For evidence, S-grade hunters charging out of the train to intercept the Uranium Dragon were struggling against them as well.
While not every S-grade hunter was as versatile as Yeonseo or Zeus, even considering that, the Uranium Dragon’s power was unexpectedly immense.
‘Besides, this isn’t their main force…’
The main group of Uranium Dragons, detected by Zeus’ radar through a weak lightning spread, was located towards the back where the train’s dining hall and food storage were.
No one knew how many there were, but estimating from the numbers displayed on the radar, it was over 30.
[This… foreign b*tch…!]
“What? You’re still alive?”
Without looking back, Zeus flicked her finger.
In an instant, lightning suddenly penetrated the creature’s head.
BAM!
[Ugh…!]
That wasn’t enough.
In another hit, Zeus leapt atop the Uranium Dragon, aiming to crush its spine.
THUMP!
THUMP!
BAM!
CRACK!
It appeared to be in excruciating pain as its spine shattered, allowing it to offer no further resistance and collapse.
[This… leader comrade… for…]
“You crazy bastards.”
CRACK!
With a finishing lightning blast that completely roasted the Uranium Dragon, Zeus prepared to move again to aid the struggling hunters.
Even if it didn’t die, breaking its spine and roasting it with lightning made it highly unlikely that the Glowing King Dragon would remain capable of resisting.
Zeus then tried to transform herself into lightning to move again.
“Ugh, ugh?!”
However, at that moment, a heavy nausea rose from within her, causing Zeus to kneel again.
What’s happening?
She’d never experienced anything like this since becoming an S-grade hunter…?
Her body trembled uncontrollably, and she suddenly felt intensely dizzy, with parts of her body going numb.
An overwhelming chill assaulted her, and a metallic taste like lead or iron coated her mouth.
“Ah, no…”
Zeus gazed at the recently slain Uranium Dragon and realized.
The Uranium Dragon harboring radiation.
The very existence was like a massive poison, but with a difference: intangible, odorless, and a horrifying toxin that shattered cells and genes with no known antidote.
‘But radiation shouldn’t affect us…?’
Zeus looked around shakily.
“Wheeze, wheeze…!”
“Wh-What’s happening to my body?”
“F*cking…!”
“The antidote potion isn’t working.”
The situation was no better for the other hunters.
Perhaps if they were average hunters, they could have rationalized it.
Yet, these were S-grade hunters.
Even if directly struck by a nuclear bomb or exposed to hazardous radiation, they remained intact.
‘Could it be that the radiation… had mana embedded in it as it accumulated within those lizard bastards?’
If so, that would make sense.
The true danger of the Uranium Dragon was mana-infused radiation.
Ignoring the hunter’s resistance, it directly crumbled their cells while also distorting their mana.
As proof, Zeus realized that the lightning she once wielded like her own was now refusing to heed her commands.
It seemed that as the Uranium Dragon perished, the uncontrollable mana infused with radiation was pouring out of its carcass even more powerfully.
“This… is something I didn’t anticipate…”
From observing other S-grade hunters gradually losing their strength, it seemed that their abilities had begun to falter.
No one could have predicted being irradiated by dragon mana.
Of course, hunters often died in crazy situations or unexpected gimmicks, but this—radiation that dismantled even the mana of S-grade hunters—was something nobody considered.
“Damn, we’re screwed.”
[Your comrade has died!]
[Ugh, I thought that lizard dragon would die…!]
[You pathetic things! I told you to come back, but you couldn’t resist!]
[What? I will take revenge for our people’s Dragon!]
And several Uranium Dragons began approaching as they confirmed the death of Zeus and her kin.
While it was expected that they would eventually die, it was unimaginable that it would be in such a futile and ridiculous manner…
Zeus glanced back.
‘The fastest extinction of a hunter train…’
If they died, then all the A-grade hunters and civilians inside the train would also all die.
Resolving her trembling body, Zeus stood up and forcibly gathered the scattered lightning.
‘As a representative of the European Union and master of the Olympus Guild, the notorious playboy Zeus… dying crushed by a dinosaur after being exposed to radiation.’
How embarrassing for a final moment.
Zeus smirked twistedly yet took a step forward.
And at that moment.
[Miracle – Purification]
“Huh?”
With Zeus’s incredulous voice, the lightning in her grasp began to explode violently in expansion.
‘What is going on? I felt like I was about to collapse, but my body…!’
She didn’t know what was happening.
However, the mana that had been corrupted suddenly returned to normal, rising as if she had consumed an elixir.
『Spear of Heavenly Thunder』!
CRACK!
Having birthed 183 children and still a notorious playboy, Zeus was an S-grade hunter, and within a second, she quickly assessed the situation and shot lightning to pierce the heads of the approaching glowing dinosaurs.
And just as the lightning faded, a quiet voice drifted in her ears.
“While death is inevitable for humans…”
In that moment, Zeus turned her head back at the familiar voice.
Kind yet somewhat cold eyes.
Upon meeting that gaze, Zeus felt an unexpected warmth flood through her body.
“As long as this moment lasts…”
Isia.
The beautiful sister with Korea’s temporary hunter certification.
Wow, she was stunning last time they met, but now she looked incredibly beautiful.
“Don’t you dare in front of me.”
『Miracle – Great Purification』
A white-like divine power instantly surrounded the area.
The divine force swirling like a storm in battle immediately infused into the bodies of others. The hunters engaged in combat quickly regained their original conditions and began to press the Uranium Dragon hard.
In this strange yet miraculous spectacle, Zeus mumbled while gazing at Shia.
“Wow, my white sister is so cool. Is she sexy?”
“………Ugh.”
Shia’s face turned redder than ever.
