"So, what are you going to do?"

Baekrang asked with a concerned voice.

The bald man was being treated by Tang So-Yeong.

I thought he wouldn't be seriously hurt since I had only stepped on him lightly, but considering my standards for "lightly," it seemed he got injured more than I expected.

He was crushed in the most vulnerable part of my body, so it's not surprising.

"Gek-gegek."

For now, I decided to go along with the bald man's request.

After all, I had to face Cheolduyong eventually.

He intended to kill all humans.

Such a feat couldn't possibly be achieved by an individual alone.

However, what I knew was that he had hatred for humans, and once he started slaughtering, he wouldn't stop until someone killed him.

Since he had acquired the power of the Dragon Gate, the destruction caused wouldn't be small.

If someone of my master's strength were to face him, they could easily suppress him, but before that, I couldn't predict how many would die.

Do-In's request was simple.

He wanted me to accompany him, and if he failed, I should defeat Cheolduyong in his place.

It wasn’t a bad proposal since I had to fight Cheolduyong anyway.

At least I would learn how Cheolduyong fought.

Other beasts might not be like this, but my fighting style always involved strategy.

I don’t jump into a fight and unleash all my power from the start. I assess the enemy’s numbers and gradually build up my strength.

While I do have moments when I overwhelm my enemies with sheer force, that’s only when the situation demands it.

In the wilderness where I reside, it’s impossible to know who might be targeting me.

In a scenario like this, I could observe Cheolduyong’s combat style.

I could get a rough sense of his strength, which would allow me to take control of the battle.

Cheolduyong would likely be tremendously strong.

Just by taking the power of the Dragon Gate, he would probably be as strong as the Fire Rat.

And it didn't end there.

Delopho, a creature of the Tang Clan, had naturally used the Ten Thousand Heavenly Overturn.

So what would Cheolduyong, a creature of Shaolin, show me?

He would display a martial art far superior to Delopho’s, no doubt.

I had to be ready for that.

And since he had taken the power of the Snow Mountain, I also had to consider his control over cold.

"I can block the cold to some extent," Baekrang said.

Baekrang, too, was a creature that controlled cold.

If she joined, things would be easier.

But Baekrang needed to stay here.

If the Red Dragon were around, I could easily take one of them, but right now, she was elsewhere.

I needed a creature to guard my domain.

Just in case something unexpected happened.

The Iggaksu, though reliable, couldn't match Baekrang’s intelligence, and without her, I wouldn’t be able to leave without worry.

She could stand in for me while I was away.

"Gek-gegek."

"You're going alone?"

I was heading to the Snow Mountain alone.

That was the best course of action I could take.

(continued)

I dashed towards the Snow Mountain.

Do-In held on tightly to my fur, trying to stay in place.

"We've known each other since Cheolduyong was a child," Do-In said.

Since I didn’t know when Cheolduyong would lose control, I had to listen to his past stories during the journey.

"To be precise, Cheolduyong entered Shaolin when he was still young. You might not understand how a creature entered Shaolin."

Do-In spoke as though he assumed I knew what Shaolin was.

I had a general idea of what Shaolin was, but ordinary creatures wouldn't know where it even was.

Why did he refer to Komodo this way? What was the significance?

"To begin with, it was the Abbot who killed Cheolduyong’s parents."

Do-In spoke in a calm voice.

Shaolin was a sect renowned as the pillar of orthodox martial arts.

The Abbot of Shaolin killed creatures?

This had to mean that Shaolin had become corrupted.

"And this happened right in front of Cheolduyong," he added.

Could this be why my master hated Shaolin?

To kill someone’s parents right in front of them... even beasts wouldn’t commit such an act.

"...There were unavoidable circumstances for it. The Abbot erased Cheolduyong’s memories and brought him to Shaolin."

They erased his memories and brought him there?

Had they intended to use him as a pawn?

If this was true, Shaolin was a rotting faction.

But upon further thought, it seemed unnecessary to go through all that trouble.

Why would they bother bringing a baby dinosaur in?

Of course, he had grown into someone powerful now, but Cheolduyong wasn’t originally a creature, was he?

A headbutting dinosaur. That’s all he would’ve been.

"He learned everything from Shaolin... Honestly, he progressed faster than I did."

He had learned all of Shaolin’s martial arts. It was almost certain that Cheolduyong used Shaolin’s techniques.

Even without considering the backstory, I had gathered useful information.

"That’s why it’s dangerous. If he uses both Shaolin's martial arts and the unknown power he gained here, the damage will be uncontrollable."

I needed to be cautious of the powers of both Shaolin and the Snow Mountain.

"Rrra..."

That was enough.

I increased my speed.

"Ugh... But, Komodo, will you really meet him before me?"

I didn’t like this guy.

I had planned to observe Cheolduyong and Do-In’s fight and strategize, but as I thought more about it, I realized that wouldn’t be possible.

Cheolduyong’s hatred was far beyond what I had imagined.

Would he calmly talk to Do-In after seeing him nearly die?

No, there was no way. He would probably throw a vicious attack before any conversation even started.

It would be meaningless.

I would have to assess the situation first.

If Cheolduyong still had his senses, I’d let Do-In speak with him.

Otherwise, I would have to take him down immediately.

"Rrraaa..."

I crouched slightly to let Do-In descend.

"...I understand. Be careful."

I could tell right away that there was a powerful presence ahead.

The cold wind blew gently.

Thud.

I walked slowly toward it.

"Ho?"

I heard Cheolduyong’s voice.

"I see we have guests."

He had taken a form closer to that of a human than a dinosaur.

But unlike other creatures, he retained his defining features.

A thick head.

Sharp claws.

And his original size.

【Cheolduyong lv132】

 

【Cheolduyong】

A dragon with a steel head.

Having absorbed the power of the Dragon Gate, he became significantly stronger, but he now handles unstable power.

As the blood of the evil dragon manifests, the more slaughter he performs, the exponentially stronger he becomes.

Cheolduyong.

The status window provided more information than I expected.

The more slaughter he performs, the exponentially stronger he gets.

Thankfully, he had stayed in the Snow Mountain. If he had ventured elsewhere, he might have become too powerful for me to stop.

"I've heard the rumors, Komodo. I didn’t hear anything about fur and horns, though."

To my surprise, he spoke fluently.

He was calm and composed.

I had thought he had lost control because of the power of the Dragon Gate, but that wasn’t the case.

"Perhaps... you, like me, have taken the Dragon Gate's power."

Would it have been fine if I had sent Do-In first?

"Master of the Dragon Gate. I have a proposition for you."

A proposition?

Was he asking for a life-or-death duel using the power of the Dragon Gate?

"Join me."

Cheolduyong’s response was completely different from what I expected.

"You can do it," he said, smiling lightly with a raised corner of his mouth.

His smile was human-like.

It was as if he bore no ill will toward me.

He genuinely seemed to be speaking out of goodwill.

His tone had changed, too.

He no longer spoke formally but casually, as if talking to a friend.

"Let’s kill all those damn humans and create a world for the spiritual beings."

But the content was twisted.

"You've seen the humans," he continued.

The cold wind began to intensify.

"They are evil. They manipulate spiritual beings to their will and commit terrible acts without hesitation."

His voice was full of madness.

"Where does suffering come from?"

He spoke as though preaching to me.

"Growing old and dying is something that comes with being born."

Thud.

"Why were we born? Because we existed."

Thud.

"What is existence? It is born from attachment. And what is that attachment? It is born from thirst for something."

Thud.

"Where does thirst come from? It is..."

Cheolduyong’s speech went on.

The Twelve Nidanas, a core teaching of Buddhism.

"Suffering gives birth to more suffering."

That’s what dependent origination is.

Understanding suffering by deeply reflecting on it.

And escaping from that suffering.

But what he was proposing was something different.

"How can we escape from this suffering?"

Boom.

The Snow Mountain seemed to howl.

"The eradication of all humans."

His eyes gleamed with madness.

"We must eliminate the source of suffering. Only then will the suffering in this world disappear."

He planned to kill all humans.

That was his only goal.

"Komodo, will you accept my proposal?"

Cheolduyong reached out his hand to me.

I didn’t take his hand.

"Rrra..."

"So, a creature like you comes out like this."

Cheolduyong's expression changed.

"Aha. So that’s what it was."

Boom!

In an instant, Cheolduyong lunged forward.

I knew where he was heading.

He had discovered Do-In’s hiding spot.

Boom!

Without hesitation, he struck with an attack that could kill in a single blow.

But his attack didn’t hit Do-In.

I had blocked his head with my front paw.

"You’re charmed by a filthy human," Cheolduyong sighed, looking at me.

Boom!

With a swipe of my arm, I pushed him back.

"Do-In, why did you return?" Cheolduyong continued from a distance.

He must have realized that he couldn’t kill Do-In right away because I was here.

"Everyone is dead. Even those monks who tormented me when I was young."

A cold wind blew.

"Even the senior who pretended to protect me, the hypocrite. Everyone is dead. I barely managed to survive, and yet, why did you return?"

Cheolduyong spoke as though he didn’t understand Do-In’s actions.

"Cheolduyong."

Do-In’s eyes locked onto him.

"No, Park Gigae."

"Don’t call me by that name."

"You know nothing."

Thud.

Do-In took a step forward.

"Do you know how the Abbot took you in...?"

"You think I don’t know?"

Cheolduyong spoke as if it was ridiculous.

"Your parents weren’t just ordinary Ar-ryong."

"Huh. Are you trying to stir up things with that three-inch tongue of yours again?"

"The Abbot... did that to save you."

Puff.

Cheolduyong laughed in a grotesque way.

"Ha-ha! This is funny. Shaolin’s Abbot opened the gates of life for me?"

It was a logically impossible claim.

He was saying that killing his parents was meant to save him?

"You fool. Don’t you still understand? Your parents..."

Do-In couldn’t continue.

He had something to say, something he had to say, but he couldn’t get the words out.

"Enough. I never want to remember that again."

Cheolduyong spoke as if he was disgusted.

"Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the Abbot did such a terrible thing to save me."

Even if he did those things to save Cheolduyong, it didn’t change anything.

"Such a noble person. Why did they send me here?"

Sending Cheolduyong into this predicament didn’t change anything.

"To obtain the inner core of another spiritual being, to clash with the demonic sect. Didn’t they use me as a pawn?"

Shaolin’s goal was to acquire the inner core.

And additionally, to gain more legitimacy.

Cheolduyong must have known all of this.

"It was to treat you."

"Treatment? Ha! Treatment? What treatment are you talking about? For all those years, killing others and staining your body with blood, that’s your treatment? Ha, ha!"

Cheolduyong laughed maniacally.

"Pfft, ha-ha!"

He laughed so hard that tears streamed from his eyes.

"Seeing you stay silent, I guess you’ve run out of things to say."

He clearly had more to say, but he held it in.

Why wasn’t he speaking?

This might be his only chance.

He didn’t ask me for help just to say such things.

The cold wind intensified.

"I’ll rip that filthy three-inch tongue out and make you pay for daring to speak my parents' name."

Now, there were no more options left.

"I assume you’re trying to charm Komodo and have me fight you... Do you think that’s possible?"

It was only a matter of fighting Cheolduyong.

"...Komodo."

Do-In looked at me.

"Use every possible means to fight! No matter how great Komodo is, you can’t stop my great will!"

And with that, he stepped forward.

"...What?"

Do-In’s calling my name wasn’t asking me to defeat Cheolduyong in his place.

"Thank you."

Just like he had said earlier.

His final request was that I watch from afar as they settled this between themselves.

"...Sahyeong, are you joking?"

Cheolduyong’s face lost its smile.

There was no way Do-In could defeat the current Cheolduyong.

Yet, he still moved forward.

"Everyone is dead. Do you think a senior can defeat me alone?"

A profound inner energy erupted from Do-In’s body.

A power greater than Baekyun’s by several folds.

At the very least, he must have reached the pinnacle of his power.

But against Cheolduyong, it was pointless.

"I don’t think I can win."

Do-In could not defeat Cheolduyong.

"Finally gone mad, huh?"

He had lost his mind.

That was the only way to describe it.

If he had asked me to save him, I might have fought in his place.

But he didn’t.

"But I can stop you."

"Heh, ha-ha! This is rich..."

Cheolduyong laughed with a scornful tone.

"Park Gigae, take your stance."

"If death is your wish... I’ll gladly grant it!"

Cheolduyong took his stance.

"Sssss."

Do-In took a deep breath.

I immediately raised my hand and covered my ears.

I knew what was coming.

Boom!

A tremendous explosion shook the Snow Mountain.

One of Shaolin’s seventy-two techniques.

The Lion's Roar.