Chapter 140. Amid the Blazing Flare (2)
‘..... Churup!’
Tbong smacked his lips.
Then he looked at the statue.
“........”
It really did look delicious.
He had never seen a rock like that before.
Smooth, firm, and plenty of it.
So the plan was to blow on it, ho ho, freezing it solid. Then, take a big crunchy bite.
It would be sweet.
And absolutely savory.
‘Tboooong……..’
Like craving a midnight snack, his appetite flared.
But at the same time, danger alarms blared in his mind, bee-yoo bee-yoo.
“.........”
Tbong’s side glance rolled toward Kim Jangcheol.
Dad.
My dad.
Always so kind, my dad.
But my dad, who had absolutely no idea that Tbong had followed him to the human realm.
“............”
If Tbong blew his breath hooo now, if he froze that statue and took a bite, his dad would find out he had come along.
Then what would happen to Tbong?
‘Tbooong.......’
Would he get scolded?
Maybe.
Then, should he hold back?
Keep hiding, keep crawling around, and just take another nap?
‘Tbooooooong.......’
No, he didn’t want that.
That rock looked too delicious. He had never seen anything like it in his life. He absolutely didn’t want to miss out. He wanted to taste it no matter what.
So.
He couldn’t hold back anymore!
"Tbong-!"
Finally, at the limit of his patience, Tbong’s round eyes snapped open. He peeked out from Artanis’ embrace, far away from Kim Jangcheol.
He took a deep breath.
And exhaled!
……..Tuwahaaaak!
Tbong, who would someday be called the great Dragon King of the Frozen North, the Ice Dragon Tyrannus, unleashed the first froststorm breath of his demigod dragon life.
It shot toward the statue.
Packed with terrifying cold.
Freezing the ground along its path, condensing the air, and engulfing the statue.
Pwooooosh -!
[......14!]
The statue, which had been counting down to self-destruction, was horrified.
The sudden, overwhelming cold was too powerful. It couldn’t resist. In an instant, its consciousness dimmed. Its massive body froze solid.
…………Crack! Crack!
It hardened.
Stopped.
Even the self-destruct process.
[......13.......]
Kwaaaaduduk......!
As the statue’s massive form was trapped in glacier-like thick ice, the countdown ticking toward the clouds above froze.
Soon, everything was silent.
Whooooong……….
A breeze blew from somewhere, brushing against Kim Jangcheol’s hair. But his hair didn’t move at all.
It was completely frozen stiff.
"......Wh-what?"
Kim Jangcheol, who had been standing near the statue and got drenched in the froststorm breath like cold water, barely managed to blink his frozen eyelids.
Frost powder softly fell from his face and neck as he creaked to turn and look in the direction the breath had come from.
And his eyes met—
Far away, poking a small head out gently from Artanis’ embrace, a pair of bright, innocent eyes staring straight at him.
"Tbong!"
“.....Huh?"
"Tbobong!"
"Uh, uh?"
Toink! Dodododo!
Tbong, who had locked eyes with him.
Tbong, who leapt out from Artanis’ arms.
And Tbong, who came running this way, happily dashing with his short legs,
thud thud thud!
"Tbong! Tbobong!"
Pooof!
Tbong jumped into his arms.
Feeling that tiny weight, Kim Jangcheol’s eyes finally went wide.
"Tbong? Really?"
"Tbong!"
“.....”
It was real.
No hallucination, no mistake.
"But how?"
It was baffling.
Honestly, hard to believe.
Tbong, who should’ve been waiting at the outskirts of the abandoned land with the 3rd Star Master Raster, was here, in the royal capital.
And that Tbong had just caused all this.
“............”
Kim Jangcheol grabbed at his trembling pupils and looked back at the statue of the Archangel.
The statue looked like it had been accidentally left in a freezer for about ten years and then dug up—frozen solid like a slab of LA short ribs.
"......Did you do this?"
"Tbong!"
"Seriously, with a breath?"
"Tbobong! Tbong!"
"When did you even have a breath like this?"
"Tbongbong!"
"Just now? That was your first time?"
"T!"
"That can't be real."
"Bong!"
“............”
It made no sense.
But since the little culprit himself insisted, he had no choice but to believe it.
Kim Jangcheol barely suppressed the overwhelming absurdity and asked,
"Then, how did you end up here?"
"Tbobong! Tbong! Bong!"
“.......What? You secretly snuck into Lady Artanis’s arms when we departed?"
"Tbong!"
"Wait, what about 3rd Star Master, Uncle Raster? Does he know you followed us?"
"Tee Tee Bong!"
"He doesn’t?"
"Tbong!"
“..........”
3rd Star Master must be really panicking.
He must be desperately searching everywhere, thinking Tbong was lost.
Kim Jangcheol felt a twinge of sympathy for the 3rd Star Master.
Just then, Tbong spoke up.
"Tbobong! Tbong! Bong! T-T-Bong! Tbong!"
"......Since you followed us on your own, you'll get scolded later, but for now, you want praise?"
"T!"
".....For this thing you just did?"
"Bong!"
He pointed subtly at the statue as he asked.
Tbong proudly shrugged his tiny shoulders.
That gesture finally made Kim Jangcheol chuckle.
“....Haha."
He couldn’t not praise him.
Honestly, that had been really dangerous. If the countdown had continued, they wouldn’t have boosted their stats enough before the explosion.
"Yeah, you did well."
"Tbong!"
In the end, Tbong had personally proven the old saying—that forgiveness was easier to get than permission—and now he happily nuzzled Kim Jangcheol’s cheek, smiling with joy.
Because of that scene...... the King and the Archbishop were horrified.
"......"
Kim Jangcheol.
Who exactly was this man?
He seemed like a loyal servant to the royal family, but his true identity was a demon.
And now he was even keeping a hatchling dragon, treating it like a puppy.
A hatchling that just froze an Archangel statue in an instant... with that level of power?
Neither the King nor the Archbishop could believe what they were seeing.
‘Am I truly... worthy of commanding the loyalty of such a man?’
The King harbored an unfamiliar anxiety.
He wondered if he even had the right to take such a tremendous man as a vassal. He feared that, in the end, he might lose him.
The Archbishop, however, thought a little differently.
‘As expected...... the Saint of Ten!’
Without realizing it, he clenched his fist.
Honestly, from the very first moment he had seen him, he had sensed something unusual. Ever since then, he had harbored the thought that this man was highly likely to be one of the Saint of Ten.
And now, seeing this?
His intuition back then had been correct.
‘To think he commands a dragon, and not just any dragon, but a hatchling....... This is something unheard of in any history book.’
It is well known that fully grown dragons, whether dealing with humans or the demon, regard all other mortal beings as nothing more than insects. That’s why they are extremely, extremely reluctant to let their hatchlings have any contact with others.
It’s considered educationally harmful, and even more so from a safety standpoint.
But for someone to freely communicate with such a hatchling?
‘That must mean...... he has been acknowledged by the hatchling’s parent, an adult dragon!’
There’s no such thing as a hatchling surviving on its own without its parents.
From that mistaken assumption, the Archbishop developed a deep and vast misunderstanding about Kim Jangcheol, who was now nuzzling with Tbong.
But just then—
……Craack!
Suddenly, an ominous cracking sound echoed across the plaza.
The sound of something breaking, splintering.
At first, neither the King, nor the Archbishop, nor the crowd could figure out where the sound was coming from.
Then it happened again.
Craack!
“...........!”
The sound repeated, and everyone turned toward its source.
And they saw. The statue, still encased in ice.
"Huh?"
Kim Jangcheol, who had been patting Tbong, flinched. Being the closest to the statue, he noticed immediately.
The ice covering the statue...... was melting!
‘What the hell?’
At that moment—
Dwoooong!
The statue’s eyes, which had gone still when frozen, once again lit up with a blinding white flash. It shot a beam of light toward the clouds above.
[13……!]
“.........!”
The countdown resumed.
Creaking slowly, but steadily becoming more precise.
[......12!]
"Tbong?"
"Tbong?"
"You can fire another breath, right?"
"Tbong!"
"Then do it! Right now!"
He grabbed Tbong and thrust him forward.
Toward the awakening statue.
Tbong took a determined breath.
"Tboooong!"
Fwoooosh!
The froststorm breath, a bit weaker than before, engulfed the statue. The thawing statue froze solid again.
But it didn’t last long.
As soon as the breath ceased, an ominous sound once again came from the statue.
……...Craack, craaack!
And with that, Kim Jangcheol understood.
“.........”
This wasn’t going to work.
Tbong’s breath wasn’t enough.
The child was still too young.
His breath was incomplete.
‘The freezing effect is fading faster than I thought.’
[.....11!]
The countdown had slowed slightly.
But it hadn’t stopped.
‘In the end, I can’t prevent self-destruction.’
A clear instinct settled in.
"Tbong! That’s enough now!"
"Tbong?"
"Lady Artanis!"
Whoosh!
He threw Tbong.
Toward Artanis.
Beyond the range of the Archbishop’s defensive barrier.
"T...... booooong?!"
Tbong flew away.
He smiled at the little one.
Telling him it would all be okay.
That he would be okay too.
That he would make sure of it.
That to do so, he himself had to survive no matter what.
All the while, the countdown continued slowly.
Though creaking, the numbers were inexorably dragged down by time.
He opened his system window.
Invested his Happy Points.
Thanks to the little time Tbong had bought him, just as he had originally planned, he spent all his remaining Happy Points.
He was able to increase his stats as evenly as possible.
Ding-dong!
[Your maximum stamina capacity has increased by 10%.]
[Stamina: 80% (+10% purchased = 6,800 points)]
[Mental Strength: 70% (+10% purchased = 4,500 points)]
[Strength: 70% (+10% purchased = 4,500 points)]
[Dexterity: 70% (+10% purchased = 4,500 points)]
[Mana: 70% (+10% purchased = 4,500 points)]
[Current Happy Points balance: 1,053]
[You can now draw upon more than 70% of Demon King Credos’ full physical abilities.]
[The possibility of surpassing your limits has emerged.]
At that moment—
[......1.......!]
The final count burned crimson in the clouds.
Beneath it, the Archbishop’s voice rang out.
"Sir Kim Jangcheol!"
Then the sound became muffled and distant.
Three layers of defensive barriers covered the statue of the Archangel. They covered him as well. Isolated from the outside, he was now alone with the statue within the protective dome.
Ding-dong!
He activated the Nutrition Focus skill.
At that moment, the number that had counted down for 100 seconds declared its end at zero.
……..!
A flash burst forth from the statue of the Archangel.
Everything blazed in a brilliant white.
In that moment, Kim Jangcheol saw it.
Through the blazing flash, beyond the space, past the edge of the plaza.
He saw Aged Kimchi standing there.
Aged Kimchi’s eyes filled with admiration and respect, looking at him.
This one is so exciting! I'm waiting for further interaction between Aged Kimchi and Kim Jangcheol!
I really enjoy reading this, and I adore the loyalty Credos' people held to him!